Daily Archives: August 25, 2019

2019-08-25: Social Media Postees

US Sanctions: A Weapon of War by Other Means
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-26
The US under both extremist wings of its war party imposes illegal sanctions on nations targeted for regime change — part of its war on these countries by other means. | European and most other nations go along even when harming …
globalresearch.ca/us-sanctions-weapon-wa…

Australian Cardinal George Pell, Child Abuse and Law
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-26
Cardinal George Pell, formerly the Vatican’s minder of cash, was confident that his conviction would not stand the withering scrutiny of the Victorian appeals court. The December convictions in the county court involving the charges of sexual assault against …
globalresearch.ca/cardinal-george-pell-c…

Israeli Airstrikes Hit Palestinian Position in Lebanon
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
Israeli air forces carried out Monday three strikes against a base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the Lebanese town of Qusaya, near the Syrian border, according to local media. | RELATED: | Iran Rejects Israeli Claim of Attacking Country’s Base in Syria | “Three Israeli airstrikes targeted the Lebanese-Syria border east of Zahle… explosions were heard in several parts of the Bekaa valley,” An-Nahar news channel reported, while videos on social…
telesurenglish.net/news/Palestinian-Posi…

Venezuela: Major Natural Gas Explosion Act of ‘Sabotage’
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says an investigation will immediately begin regarding the explosion of a natural gas-filling plant located in Miranda State on Saturday evening that forced some 6,500 residents of Ocumare del Tuy to temporarily leave their homes. | RELATED: | Maduro: #NoMoreTrump Petition Hits 5 Million | Venezuela’s Minister of Popular Power of Oil and president of Petrol of Venezuela (PDVSA) tweeted that President Maduro is starting an investigation into the case, and has a…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Major-…

High-Stakes Gamble: Iranian Envoy Gets Surprise G-7 Invite
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-25
Fissures emerge among world leaders over how to deal with Iran as the country’s foreign minister arrives as a guest of the French president.
truthdig.com/articles/high-stakes-gamble…

CIA Afghan Paramilitaries Prevent Restoration of Peace
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
US aggression in Afghanistan continues unabated in its 18th year. Prospects for restoring peace and stability to the war-torn are more illusory than likely. | Talks between Trump regime and Taliban representatives have been ongoing since July last year. | Claims about …
globalresearch.ca/cia-afghan-paramilitar…

2 Israeli Drones Crash in Beirut, Hezbollah Rejects Aggression
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
The leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, said Sunday that the two Israeli drones that exploded and crashed in the southern suburbs of Beirut were on a “suicide mission,” warning that the movement will prevent Israel from sending more drones to Lebanon. | RELATED: | Lebanon Accuses Israel of Threatening Peace in the Region | “Hezbollah will not allow such aggression,” he said, adding that “the time when Israeli aircraft come and bombard parts of Lebanon is over.” | This c…
telesurenglish.net/news/Two-Israeli-Dron…

Could Climate Catastrophe Lead to Ecofascism?
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-25
| White nationalists around the world are appropriating the language of environmentalism. | The white nationalist who allegedly massacred 22 people in El Paso in early August posted a four-page screed on the chatroom 8chan. In it, the shooter blames his attack on the “Hispanic invasion of Texas” and the impending “cultural and ethnic replacement” of whites in America. | The shooter also refers directly to the leng…
truthout.org/articles/could-climate-cata…

US Missile Test, UN Security Council Face Off: China-Russia v. US
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
At the request of Russia and China, a Thursday Security Council session was held on the Trump regime’s development of short-and-intermediate-range missiles prohibited by the landmark 1987 INF Treaty. | The key pillar of arms control (and earlier ones) are gone …
globalresearch.ca/us-missile-test-un-sec…

Max Blumenthal: US sanctions on Venezuela are ‘sociopathic’
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-25
The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal discusses his heated exchange with a former Obama official and a member of Venezuela’s far-right opposition…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/25/max-blumentha…

Counting deaths for dollars: the rise and fall of Nicaragua’s ‘human rights’ organizations
John Perry | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-25
In their hunger for US funding, Nicaraguan “human rights” NGO’s inflated the death toll during last year’s coup. Today, these…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/25/deaths-for-do…

Trump’s Trade War with China: Imagine What Would Happen if China Decided to Impose Economic Sanctions on the USA?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
In formulating these veiled threats, the Trump administration should think twice. These measures would inevitably backlash on the U.S. economy. China is not dependent on US imports. Quite the opposite. America is an import led economy with a weak manufacturing base, heavily dependent on imports from the PRC.
globalresearch.ca/imagine-what-would-hap…

France: ‘G7 and Its Summit Are Illegitimate’, Aurelie Trouve
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
Environmental activists, human rights defenders, gender activists and social leaders began on Wednesday a “counter-summit” to protest the Group of Seven (G7) meeting which will be held in Biarritz, in the Basque Country, in France, from August 24 to 26….
globalresearch.ca/france-g7-summit-illeg…

Nuclear Lands: A Story of Plutonium
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-25
counterpunch.org/2019/08/25/nuclear-land…

Donald Trump: Israel’s Chump
Kurt Nimmo | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
Ponzi finance–with its reliance on hedge funds, speculation, and other financial instruments of mass destruction–will usher in the next recession, far worse than the last one that began a decade ago. | Just about every American knows the vaunted middle class …
globalresearch.ca/donald-trump-israels-c…

Hong Kong Crisis: Made in America
Tony Cartalucci | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
Claims that Western interests are driving unrest in Hong Kong to undermine China have been decried across the Western media as “fake news,” “disinformation,” and even grounds for censorship from platforms like Facebook and Twitter. | Yet a look at the …
globalresearch.ca/hong-kong-crisis-made-…

The Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump: A Threat to American Democracy and an Agent of Chaos in the World?
Prof Rodrigue Tremblay | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
When 46.1% of Americans who voted for Trump in November they did not know precisely “what they were buying”. They did not expect that the promised “change” the Republican presidential candidate envisioned and promised was going to be, in fact, “chaos” and “turmoil” in the U.S. government.
globalresearch.ca/the-imperial-presidenc…

Boris Johnson, GMOs and Glyphosate: Irresponsible, Negligent and Criminal?
Colin Todhunter | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
In his first speech to parliament as British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: | “Let’s start now to liberate the UK’s extraordinary bioscience sector from anti-genetic modification rules and let’s develop the blight-resistant crops that will feed the world.” | Johnson reads …
globalresearch.ca/boris-johnson-gmo-glyp…

The Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump: A Threat to American Democracy and an Agent of Chaos in the World?
Prof Rodrigue Tremblay | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
When 46.1% of Americans who voted for Trump in November they did not know precisely “what they were buying”. They did not expect that the promised “change” the Republican presidential candidate envisioned and promised was going to be, in fact, “chaos” and “turmoil” in the U.S. government.
globalresearch.ca/imperial-presidency-do…

Interview: Lebanese Solidarity with Palestinian Refugees
Jana Nakhal | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
Author’s Note | For two months, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have been in rebellion against new labor laws discriminating against them and against Syrian refugees. Already denied more than 70 jobs, in order to work in Lebanon Palestinians must now apply …
globalresearch.ca/interview-lebanese-sol…

Online BBC Fake News on 5G Decoded: Health Impacts Denied Despite Overwhelming Scientific Evidence
Claire Edwards | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
Listen to BBC radio: Under the Radar Episode 4 — 5G Friend or Foe? (July 2019) here. | *** | Open letter to the “Under the Radar” BBC Programme Producer | I was hoping that I could leave it to others to …
globalresearch.ca/online-bbc-fake-news-5…

Argentina: The Political Pendulum May be Swinging Left Again in Latin America
Nino Pagliccia | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
The primary vote in Argentina last August 11 indicated quite a strong rejection of neoliberal policies in a region that has seen a wave of right-wing governments coming to power in the last ten years. The current neoliberal president Mauricio …
globalresearch.ca/argentina-political-pe…

Caribbean Islands on Alert as Storm Dorian Closes
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
The Barbados government issued a warning against tropical storm Dorian Sunday morning as it was located 515 miles east-souttheast border of Barbados. It was the only island under an advisory. | RELATED: | Louisiana Calls State Emergency Ahead of Tropical Storm Barry | The storm packed 40 mph (65 kmh) winds as it headed west at 13 mph early on Sunday morning. It was forecasted to be near central Lesser Antilles late on Monday or early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC)…
telesurenglish.net/news/Caribbean-Island…

Lack of Specialized Doctors Affects Care in Paraguay
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
The lack of specialized doctors to provide proper medical coverage is one of Paraguay”s most serious health issues, Public Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni has warned. | RELATED: | Paraguay Opposition Denounces ‘Impunity Pact’ Over Impeachment Rejection | The minister said the lack of resources keeps the system from providing integral and dignified health care throughout the country. ‘We lack human resources and we are focused in training them,’ added the official. | Maz…
telesurenglish.net/news/Lack-of-Speciali…

Crisis in Brazil
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-25
truthdig.com/cartoons/crisis-in-brazil/

The “Irresponsibility” of Small Nations. US Missile Tests
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
After falsely accusing Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Washington unilaterally repudiated the treaty. Thus did the US military/security complex rid itself of the landmark agreement achieved by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev that defused the Cold …
globalresearch.ca/irresponsibility-small…

Iran Rejects Israeli Claim of Attacking Country’s Base in Syria
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council said Sunday that Israeli military’s statement about hitting Iranian sites on Syria are lies. | RELATED: | Safe Zone in Northern Syria is Fully Operational: Turkish MoD | “This is a lie and is not true,” Rezaei, a former chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), told local media adding, “America [U.S.] and Israel do not have the power to attack Iran’s centers and positions and the Zionist…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Rejects-Isr…

How Amazon and Silicon Valley Seduced the Pentagon
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-25
| This article was co-published with Fortune. | Mattis was about to fly to the West Coast, where he would personally swear Bezos in at Amazon’s headquarters before moving on to meetings with executives from Google and Apple. Soon phone calls and emails began bouncing around the Pentagon. Security clearances are no trivial matter to defense officials; they exist to ensure that people with access to sensitive information aren’t, say, vulnerable to blackmail and don’t have conflicts of interest. Laster also contende…
truthout.org/articles/how-amazon-and-sil…

How Amazon and Silicon Valley Seduced the Pentagon
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-25
| This article was co-published with Fortune. | On Aug. 8, 2017, Roma Laster, a Pentagon employee responsible for policing conflicts of interest, emailed an urgent warning to the chief of staff of then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis. Several department employees had arranged for Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, to be sworn into an influential Pentagon advisory board despite the fact that, in the year since he’d been nominated, Bezos had never completed a required background check to obtain a security clearance.
truthout.org/articles/how-amazon-and-sil…

Double Standards in Iran Reporting
Florian Zollmann | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Iran has not attacked any country militarily in the last 100 years. This is mostly unmentioned in the media. Demonizations occur in the Iran reporting. In comparison, reporting about human rights in Saudi Arabia is not on the agenda.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882562…

Seven Whispers of the White Dove
Iranian Students Association in America | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Hertz Hall | 101 Cross-Sproul Path | University of California | Berkeley, CA 94720…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882564…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 30)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 29)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 24)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 26)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 28)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 31)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…

#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 27)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…

Sen. Jeff Merkley Speaks: His New Book on Trump’s War Against Migrant Families
World Affairs SF | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
World Affairs, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, San Francisco 94108…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…

#SaveTheAmazon: Action at Brazilian Consulate in Solidarity w/ Amazon’s Indigenous Peoples
Brasil Solidarity Network & others | indybay.org | 2019-08-25
Brazilian Consulate | 300 Montgomery Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94104…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882564…

Black Sea-Caspian Sea Connectivity Is the Future of Eurasian Integration
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
This week’s first-ever Caspian Economic Forum in Turkmenistan resulted in the unveiling of an exciting new vision of Eurasian integration through Russian Prime Minister Medvedev’s proposal to prioritize Black Sea-Caspian Sea connectivity. | *** | Most of the international media didn’t report | …
globalresearch.ca/black-sea-caspian-sea-…

Why is the Far-Right Rising Globally? (1/2)
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-25
Walden Bello, author of “Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far-Right,” argues that the far-right is in ascendancy at the moment not only in reaction to the failures of neoliberalism, but also because of the failures of liberal democracy…
therealnews.com/stories/why-is-the-far-r…

Newark’s Water Crisis is One of Thousands That Are Worse Than Flint’s
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-25
Lead poisoning is a public health emergency in poor working class communities across the United States, raising crime rates, causing school dropouts, filling our prisons and creating human tragedy…
therealnews.com/stories/newarks-water-cr…

Prior to 9/11: US Covert Support to Al Qaeda in Macedonia, “Financing Both Sides”
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
This essay was first published by antiwar.com in April 2001, barely 5 months before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. | It was subsequently published by Global Research when the site was launched in September 2001. …
globalresearch.ca/prior-to-911-us-covert…

Israel bombs Iraq, escalating violence targeting Iran
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-24
An Israeli bombing of a weapons depot allegedly used by Iran is the first Israeli strike on Iraq in nearly…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/24/israel-bombs-…

68 Protesters Detained as Leaders Gather at G-7 Summit
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-24
BIARRITZ, France–The Latest on the Group of Seven summit (all times local): | 11: 05 p.m. | French authorities have detained 68 people taking part in a tense protest near the G-7 summit. | The regional administration says those detained are accused of throwing projectiles, concealing their faces or possessing objects that could be used as weapons. | Police fired tear gas, water cannon and dispersion grenades at a crowd of about 400 mostly peaceful anti-capitalism demonstrators Saturday in the town of Bayonne. The regional administration says n…
truthdig.com/articles/68-protesters-deta…

It’s Time to Indict Aung San Suu Kyi for Genocide Against the Rohingya in Myanmar
Mehdi Hasan | theintercept.com | 2019-08-24
Aung San Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is an essential part of the decimation of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. She should face trial.
theintercept.com/2019/08/24/aung-san-suu…

Trump Administration Revives Clause That Kept Nazi-Era Refugees From the US
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| During the Nazi era, roughly 300,000 additional Jewish refugees could have gained entry to the U.S. without exceeding the nation’s existing quotas. | The primary mechanism that kept them out: the immigration law’s “likely to become a public charge” clause. Consular officials with the authority to issue visas denied them to everyone they deemed incapable of supporting themselves in the U.S. | It is not possible to say what happened to these refugees. Some immigrated to other countries th…
truthout.org/articles/trump-administrati…

Israel’s Ban on Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar Backfires
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| During Congress’s August recess, a group of 41 Democratic and 31 Republican congressmembers traveled to Israel on a delegation sponsored by American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC subsidizes congressional trips to Israel in order to further the “special relationship” between Israel and the United States. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid: $3.8 billion annually. AIPAC is the chief Israel lobby in the United States and a consistent apologist for Israel’s oppressive policies t…
truthout.org/articles/israels-ban-on-ras…

Twitter relying on US/European gov-funded regime-change groups to crack down on foreign states
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-24
Twitter is relying on organizations funded by the US government and European allies, such as right-wing lobby group Freedom House,…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/24/twitter-relyi…

G7: Police Fire Tear Gas, 17 Counter-Summit Activists Arrested
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
French riot police fired tear gas at anti-capitalism protesters in Bayonne, a town near Biarritz, the luxurious resort where the Group of Seven (G7) leaders are meeting for their three-day annual summit. | RELATED: | G7 Summit Starts Amid Discontent with Amazon Fires, Trade Wars | Police also used water cannons on demonstrators who were holding the planned marches in Bayonne, 8km from the G7 venue. | Earlier, thousands of environmental activists, human rights defenders, social…
telesurenglish.net/news/G7-Police-Fire-T…

Amazon Crisis: Mass Protests Erupt Across Brazil
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
Demonstrations against the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and in defense of the Amazon rainforests lasted until late Friday night in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and dozens of cities throughout Brazil. The Brazilian security forces did not even try to prevent the mobilization of thousands who took to the streets. | RELATED: | Brazil: Bolsonaro Now Blames Governors for Fires at the Amazon | On Friday night, the former captain made a radio and television statement promising to fi…
telesurenglish.net/news/Amazon-Crisis-Ma…

Bolivia: Supertanker Makes ‘Successful’ 2nd Pass in Chiquatania
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The Bolivian government says its efforts to douse the major fire in the country’s Chiquitania region was “successful”, after the Boeing 747 ‘Supertanker’, the largest of its kind in the world, made a second round Saturday to help extinguish the fires across the 700,000 hectares of forest in the nation’s arid southeastern. | RELATED: | Brazil: Bolsonaro Blames the Amazon Fires on Environmentalists | Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana said the tanker focused on the area around Taperas, a savannah-like zone located between the mountain ranges of San Jose and Ipias. | Quintana said the plane, will…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Supertan…

Brazil Isn’t the Only Far-Right Government Destroying the Planet
Basav Sen | progressive.org | 2019-08-24
As the Amazon burns, the terrifying parallels between the U.S. and Brazilian governments highlight the damage authoritarian leaders are doing.
progressive.org/dispatches/brazil-far-ri…

Brazilian Troops Deploy to Fight Amazon Fires
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-24
RIO DE JANEIRO– Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry. | President Jair Bolsonaro also tried to temper global concern, saying previously deforested areas had burned and that intact rainforest was spared. Even so, the fires were likely to be urgently discussed at a summit of the Group of Seven leaders in France this weekend. | Some 44,000 troops will be available for “unprecedented” operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Br…
truthdig.com/articles/brazilian-troops-d…

Leaked documents show Brazil’s Bolsonaro has grave plans for Amazon rainforest
Manuella Libardi | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
eaked documents show that Jair Bolsonaro’s government intends to use the Brazilian president’s hate speech to isolate minorities living in the Amazon region. The PowerPoint slides, which democraciaAbierta has seen, also reveal plans to implement predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact. | The Bolsonaro government has as one of its priorities to strategically occupy the Amazon region to prevent the implementation of multilateral conservation projects for the rainforest, specifically the so-called “Triple A” project. | “Development projects must be implemented on the Amazon basin to…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/leaked-doc…

G7 Summit Starts Amid Discontent with Amazon Fires, Trade Wars
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The European Council (EC) President Donald Tusk said on Saturday that it is difficult to imagine the European Union (EU) approving a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Mercosur as long as Brazil does not stop the Amazonian fires. | RELATED: | ‘Counter-G7 Summit’ Rejects Cynicism of Developed Nations | “The burning Amazon rainforest has become another depressing sign of our times. Of course we stand by the EU-Mercosur agreement … but it is hard to imagine a harmonious process of ratific…
telesurenglish.net/news/G7-Summit-Starts…

“Child Actorvism” and the Extinction Agenda of Neoliberal Racists
Mathew Maavak | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-24
There is no shortage of social justice causes trumpeted by the West‚Ä with a revolving medley of “child actorvists” at the forefront. The logical observer may question whether these endless multi-billion dollar campaigns have had any tangible effect at all, except in serving as a stalking horse for mass-mediated interferences in the affairs of other …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/child-actorvi…

US commander says navy ready for Venezuela intervention
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
The threat by the head of the US Southern Command came as both Trump and Maduro confirmed that US and Venezuelan officials have been holding direct talks.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/vene…

Safe Zone in Northern Syria is Fully Operational: Turkish MoD
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The safe zone in northern Syria is fully operational now after weeks of negotiations between the U.S. and Turkish defense officials, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Saturday by the state-owned Anadolu news agency. | RELATED: | Syrian Army Opens Humanitarian Corridor For Terror Victims | Akar pointed out that the two sides agreed to force out the ‘terrorists’ that were occupying several areas in the northern part of the country. | Prior to the imple…
telesurenglish.net/news/Safe-Zone-in-Nor…

Bernie Sanders’ Manhattan project: The game-changing Green New Deal
Juan Cole | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ breathtaking Green New Deal, with an advertised price tag of $16.3 trillion, is aimed at nothing less than saving the planet from the worst consequences of global heating. | The plan aims to create 20 million new, well-paying jobs. It should be noted that one possible outcome of big Federal R&D monies and a rapid shift to renewables would be to revivify the US industrial sector, which has fallen to only 12 percent or so of the US GDP. Although the price tag seems formidable, Sen. Sanders points out that climate inaction wil…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/bernie-san…

Insulin Prices Killed Josh Wilkerson. Now His Mother Is Taking On Big Pharma
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| When Josh Wilkerson was a boy, he would page through his family’s church directory to find people celebrating birthdays that day so he could call and wish them, “Happy Birthday!” He played Little League baseball and loved pro wrestling, often pantomiming the faux violence he saw on TV with his three brothers. One time, he peed on his brother’s bed after they’d fought and blamed it on spilled apple juice. | He was, in other words, a vibrant, lighthearted kid. “He was normally easygoing a…
truthout.org/articles/insulin-prices-kil…

Henry A. Giroux and the culture of neoliberal fascism
Christian Fuchs | mronline.org | 2019-08-24
HENRY A. GIROUX’s book The Terror of the Unforeseen analyzes the conditions that have enabled and led to Donald Trump’s rule and the consequences of that rule, that have ushered in an authoritarian version of capitalism. Giroux provides a realistic analysis that holds out the hope that, through collective efforts, change is possible and democracy […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/24/henry-a-giroux-a…

Media Availability: Prabir Purkayastha on How Big Data’s Threat to Elections and Democracy Is Quickly Becoming a Global Problem
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-24
The cost of the 2016 U.S. elections was $6.5 billion if we combine the presidential and congressional elections. The Indian Parliamentary election of 2019 outspent the 2016 U.S. 2016 election, costing about $8.6 billion. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/24/media-availabili…

Huawei, evil Chinese & decapitated cat: Bannon serving warmed-over propaganda to Trump & Americans
rt.com | 2019-08-24
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has faced the “China threat” head-on with a lukewarm propaganda film dramatizing the Huawei case in Canada, hoping to galvanize the American people (and president) for a second Cold War. | Claws of the Red Dragon — “inspired by real life events” — tells the tale of a stand-in for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, her arrest in Vancouver on US orders, the retaliatory arrest of two Canadians for definitely not spying in China, and the Huawei-standin’s totally real collusion with an especially evil Chinese government. Characters include a plucky Chinese-Canadian journalist hot…
rt.com/usa/467176-bannon-huawei-china-pr…

Centrists Are Going to Kill Us
John Atcheson | commondreams.org | 2019-08-24
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a rally at Howard University May 13, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/24/centri…

Can We Reach 100 Percent Renewable Energy in Time to Avert Climate Catastrophe?
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| Ten years ago, two climate scientists, Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi, published a groundbreaking article in Scientific American outlining a road map for becoming 100 percent reliant on energy generated by water, wind and sun by 2030. This was something that needed to be done “if the world has any hope of slowing climate change,” the researchers warned at the time. | The article proved incendiary. “First of all, nobody believed…
truthout.org/articles/can-we-reach-100-p…

Unifor convention gives centre-stage to Trudeau, Freeland and the Liberal re-election campaign
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
Unifor is spearheading a massive union drive to keep the big business, pro-austerity, pro-war Trudeau Liberal government in power.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/unif…

Air pollution now linked to degenerative eye disease and mental health problems in children
Alexandra Jacobo | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
It seems like nearly every week a new study is coming out to warn us of a new link between air pollution and various health problems. This week two new studies have revealed a link between air pollution from cars, general air pollution, and serious health problems. | A new study conducted by researchers in the United States and Denmark showed a connection between air pollution and an increased risk of mental health problems in people that spend their childhood in areas with high levels of air pollution. | When looking at the insurance data for 151 million individuals collected between 2003 and 2013 in the Unit…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/air-pollut…

“We are all equal!” Captain who saved refugees refuses award from Paris mayor
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
Klemp repudiated the award and denounced the anti-refugee polices of the Paris authorities.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/klem…

How an application for propane fracking attempts to circumvent New York’s fracking ban
Justin Mikulka | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
Four years after New York announced the state was banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Tioga Energy Partners, LLC has filed an application with the state to frack for natural gas, but there’s a catch. The company is proposing to swap propane into the industry standard mix that usually calls for water. | Environmental advocates consider this application to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and specifically a propane gel, an attempt…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/how-an-app…

Trump’s Concentration Camps for Children
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-24
This week, the Trump Administration declared that immigrant children can be detained indefinitely, and in conditions that can be described as concentration camps. We talk to Sasha Abramsky of The Nation…
therealnews.com/stories/trumps-concentra…

Trump Regime Threatens Illegal Sanctions on Nations Legally Buying Iranian Oil
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
The US under both extremist right wings of its war party is a rogue state by any definition. | It operates extrajudicially at home and abroad. It’s increasingly repressive and totalitarian, heading toward full-blown tyranny if the present trend continues unchecked….
globalresearch.ca/trump-regime-threatens…

World Watching the Fate of Iranian Tanker
Prof. Vijay Prashad | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
At 11: 30pm on Sunday, August 18, the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya-1 left the shores of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. This ship had been detained about six weeks previous by British Royal Marines and Gibraltar officials. The …
globalresearch.ca/world-watching-fate-ir…

Australia joins US naval operation against Iran, foreshadows involvement in South China Sea
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
Sixteen years after the Iraq war, US imperialism has plans for even more catastrophic crimes–against both Iran and China.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/auir…

Trump Fine-tunes Peace Deal with Taliban
M. K. Bhadrakumar | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
The US President Donald Trump’s remarks at the Oval Office in the White House on August 20 regarding the Afghan peace talks and related issues exuded an overall sense of satisfaction that the “endless war” is finally ending –although …
globalresearch.ca/trump-fine-tunes-peace…

Sasha Abramsky on Trump’s New Attack on Immigrants
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-08-23
Media…
fair.org/home/sasha-abramsky-on-trumps-n…

Weekend Read: ICE’s deliberate cruelty
splcenter.org | 2019-08-23
Five days after taking office, President Trump signed “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” — an executive order calling for the hiring of thousands of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the use of state and local police to enforce immigration law.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/24/weekend-re…

‘Crime does pay’: CNN hires disgraced ex-FBI director Andrew McCabe
rt.com | 2019-08-23
What does one get for leaking to the media, lying to federal investigators about it, and allegedly participating in a plot to derail an American election? If you answered jail time, too bad. The correct answer is a job at CNN. | …
rt.com/usa/467172-mccabe-cnn-russiagate-…

US escalates preparations for nuclear war with Russia and China
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
After withdrawing from the INF treaty, the US is accelerating its preparations to fight a nuclear war with China or Russia by testing and stockpiling dangerous new weapons in a nuclear arms race.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/nucl…

WATCH: Plane cabin fills with smoke moments before emergency landing
rt.com | 2019-08-23
Horrified passengers of Hawaiian Airlines were lucky to escape disaster after their cabin filled with smoke during a flight to Honolulu on Thursday. Their plane made an emergency landing before the crew evacuated all on board. | Seven passengers, five adults and two children, were hospitalized after suffering “smoke-related symptoms,” the airline said in a statement. | Also on rt.com | | Watch Swiss fighter jets shadow Russian GOVERNMENT PLANE as ‘act of hospitality’ | Smoke began filling the cabin 20 minutes before the flight from Oakland, California lan…
rt.com/usa/467124-hawaiian-airlines-smok…

More Russiagate unraveling? Ex-CEO says FBI instructed him to have relationship with Maria Butina
rt.com | 2019-08-23
Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne has told media that he was ordered by the FBI to initiate a romantic relationship with imprisoned Russian gun activist Maria Butina, seemingly confirming claims made by her lawyer. | Byrne, who resigned from the online retail company on Thursday, explained to CNN’s Chris Cuomo that he had been asked by the FBI — on the orders of then-director James Comey — to “rekindle a romantic relationship” with Butina. | Taken aback by the claim, Cuomo interjected: “You believe that Jim Comey knew that you were being asked to do these things in the name of the United States gove…
rt.com/usa/467136-butina-byrne-fbi-infor…

Kashmir: Decentralize Power and Revive Regional Political Institutions
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Introduction As the decade of the 1990s dawned, the politicial, cultural and socioeconomic fabric of Kashmir was severely impaired by the free rein given to Indian military and paramilitary forces to quell dissidence, and also by Pakistan-trained militants who, in a no holds barred conflict, inflicted atrocities on their co-religionists as well. New Delhi hadn’t…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/kashmir-dece…

Kashmir on the edge of the abyss
Tariq Ali | mronline.org | 2019-08-23
Tariq Ali on the situation in Kashmir. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/23/kashmir-on-the-e…

Climate change, Amazon fires come to France with G7 protests
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-23
BIARRITZ, France–The continuing controversy over international action — or lack of it — to deal with climate change, and the latest big threat to the environment, the massive Brazilian Amazonian wildfires, will descend on the G7 summit here this weekend. The object: To force the leaders of the world’s top industrialized nations to do something …
peoplesworld.org/article/climate-change-…

‘Counter-G7 Summit’ Rejects Cynicism of Developed Nations
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
Less than 24 hours before the Group of Seven (G7) Summit begins, over 15,000 police and military have been drafted into Biarritz to prevent environmental, gender and social activists from reaching this French elegant town. | RELATED: | ‘G7 Summit Should Address Crisis at the Amazon’, Germany Says | “I know there’s 15,000 police and it doesn’t scare me,” activist Genevieve Legay said, adding that the “desperate” French government might use its security forces to hit “us who are aski…
telesurenglish.net/news/Counter-G7-Summi…

GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon
Lee Fang | theintercept.com | 2019-08-23
This summer, fires are being used to clear wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate. One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks destroying another fifth, a loss that would be catastrophic for the global ecosystem. | The disaster is widely blamed on interests seeking to clear the world’s largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. Documents reveal that those interests a…
theintercept.com/2019/08/23/gop-lobbyist…

Amazon Fires Put the Planet at Risk
Tierra Curry | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
In Brazil, the Amazon rainforest is now burning at a record rate. The greedy, short-sighted policies of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro are jeopardizing indigenous peoples and countless plants and animals. Indeed, in the midst of a climate emergency, Bolsonaro’s policies to slash environmental protections and develop the Amazon for mining, ranching and farming jeopardize…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/amazon-fires…

GateHouse’s Takeover of Gannett: Bad News for Journalism and the Planet
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2019-08-23
USA Today’s “Just the FAQs” video ( 8/20/19) on the Amazon fires–which promises to explain, “How does this affect our planet?”–manages to avoid ever using the words “climate” or “global warming.” (There is one reference to “carbon and greenhouse gases,” not further explained.) | by Janine Jackson | USA Today ran a piece ( 8/20/19) on the Amazon fires in which “anthr…
fair.org/home/gatehouses-takeover-of-gan…

Bolivia Orders World’s Largest Air Tanker to Combat Amazon Fires
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced on Wednesday that Bolivia had contracted a Boeing 747 ‘Supertanker’ to help extinguish huge forest fires in the Amazon that have that spilled over from Brazil. By Wednesday evening, the government confirmed that the tanker …
globalresearch.ca/bolivia-orders-world-l…

Bolsonaro May Send Army to Fight Massive Amazon Fires
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-23
France accuses the Brazilian leader of lying over his commitment to save the rainforest, which is seen as crucial to slowing global warming.
truthdig.com/articles/bolsonaro-may-send…

Wildfires rage throughout the Amazon rainforest
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
The Amazon rainforest supplies one-fifth of the world’s oxygen and plays a key role in the planet’s climate.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/fire…

Mura Indigenous Tribe Vows to Protect Sacred Amazon Land
teleSUR, TR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
A record number of wildfires have raged for weeks and are decimating the Brazilian Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest whose protection scientists say is critical to the fight against climate change. | The blazes have nearly doubled this year compared with the same period in 2018, according to Brazilian officials, prompting a global outcry. | The wildfires come against the backdrop of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has railed against environmental fines for farmers and called for indigenous reserves and other protected areas to be opened up for development. | The Mura tribe has long had…
telesurenglish.net/news/Mura-Indigenous-…

The Amazon Is Burning Because the World Eats So Much Meat
Eliza Mackintosh | commondreams.org | 2019-08-23
A satellite image from NASA shows the fires raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in August 2019. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/23/amazon…

Meditation on a Racist Nation
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
What You Gonna’ Do When the World’s on Fire? is a powerful film. Set in a Black neighborhood in the US deep South years after the flooding from hurricane Katrina, the film tells a story of hope and despair, anger and love, and joy and sorrow. Political in the sense that all human experience is…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/meditation-o…

US Navy “Ready” to “Restore Democracy” in Venezuela through Military Means?
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
“I’m not going to detail what we’re planning and what we’re doing, but we’re ready to implement policy decisions, and we’re ready to act … | The United States Navy is the most powerful navy in the world. … | If there …
globalresearch.ca/us-navy-ready-to-resto…

Venezuela’s Maduro Confirms Secret Trump Talks as US Navy ‘Ready’ For Action
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-08-23
US Southern Command chief said US Navy will “do what needs to be done.”
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14634

Suddenly West is Failing to Overthrow “Regimes”
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-23
It used to be done regularly and it worked: The West identified a country as its enemy, unleashed its professional propaganda against it, then administered a series of sanctions, starving and murdering children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. If the country did not collapse within months or just couple of years, the bombing would …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/suddenly-west…

The War on Indigenous People is a War on the Biosphere Itself
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
“Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” — E.O. Wilson “Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” –Cree Proverb…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/the-war-on-i…

Indigenous People’s Rights and Canada’s ‘Vampire’ Pension Plan
Prof. James K. Rowe | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Wet’suwet’en people have never ceded their land through treaty; like many Indigenous people they continue to practice relations of responsibility with the places and beings that give them life, including protecting them from ecological devastation. In January 2019, the RCMP …
globalresearch.ca/indigenous-peoples-rig…