The Saudi Axis and Israel’s Drone War on the Shiite Crescent
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
Netanyahu leads the most militarily powerful state in the Middle East, but is dedicated to further settler colonialism in the Palestinian West Bank, and needs the bogey man of Iran to wag the dog of international diplomacy in favor of Israel. (Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/29/saudi-…
US Travel Industry Feels Chill as Chinese Tourists Stay Away
Xinhua | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
For tourists going to Washington, the historic White House is a centerpiece attraction. But the rhetoric coming out of the building is turning Chinese visitors away. | RELATED: | China Boycotts Saudi Shrimp, Will Buy From Iran Instead | Statistics confirmed that fear on Tuesday: the number of Chinese tourists to the U.S. capital city has seen a precipitous fall. | According to a report by Destination DC, a local tourism promotion organization, about 226,000 Chinese tourists descended…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Travel-Indust…
Satellite Photos Show Burning Iran Space Center Launch Pad
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
A rocket at an Iranian space center that was to conduct a satellite launch criticized by the U.S. apparently exploded on Thursday.
truthdig.com/articles/satellite-photos-s…
Brazil, the Amazon, and Global Warming
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Brazil has gotten a huge amount of bad press with the fires in the Amazon with the emphasis on the harm its development policies are doing to efforts to limit global warming. While the policies of Brazil’s right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, are disastrous, there is an important part of the story that is being left…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/brazil-the-a…
Amazon Fires Will Have Global Consequences. The UN Must Act
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-29
| The Amazon is burning. Nearly 75,000 fires have started in the iconic Brazilian rainforest this year to date, an 84 percent increase from the year before. Since August 10, a spate of intentionally set fires have been raging in the Amazon. But Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro, who t…
truthout.org/articles/amazon-fires-will-…
Indigenous Women of the Amazon Send a Call: The Fight for Mother Earth Is the Mother of All Fights
Osprey Orielle Lake | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
A fire burns trees next to grazing land in the Amazon basin in Ze Doca, Brazil. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/29/indige…
Brazil’s Bolsonaro causes global outrage over Amazon fires
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-29
The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world’s largest rainforest to spur development. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/29/brazils-bolsonar…
Neocolonialism Will Spell the Amazon’s Demise
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
The 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz unnecessarily handed Brazil’s Neofascist Bolsonaro a propaganda coup with which to rally his dwindling support. With his approval falling to record lows and facing international attacks of unprecedented intensity, their colonial-sounding rhetoric allowed him to appear heroically nationalistic, a defender of Brazilian sovereignty over the Amazon, when in reality he and his government are fully geared to serve the interests of foreign capital in true comprador tradition. | Jair Bolsonaro is effectively the G7’s guy. H…
truthdig.com/articles/neocolonialism-wil…
How Bolsonaro’s climate change denial & anti-indigenous policies led to massive fires in the Amazon
Amy Goodman | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-29
In Brazil, fires continue to rage in the Amazon, and new drone footage shows the smoke and flames gathering strength. A vast plume of smoke has spread across South America and the Atlantic Ocean and is visible from space. The fires are also destroying large swaths of land in Bolivia. The fires are unprecedented in …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/29/how-bolson…
“The Amazon is not empty land”: Indigenous people’s fight for life in Brazil
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/the-amazon-i…
The Open Amazon and Its Enemies: A Call for Action and Optimism
Francesc Badia i Dalmases | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
The Amazon, now on fire, has become the central political and geopolitical hot spot for humanity’s right to its own future. Optimism is the gasoline that must feed the fight. | *** | June and July have been the hottest months on …
globalresearch.ca/open-amazon-its-enemie…
Amazon ‘smart’ doorbell company partnered with 400+ police departments to surveil your neighborhood
rt.com | 2019-08-29
Over 400 US police forces have access to the video footage generated by Amazon’s “smart” Ring doorbells, creating an unprecedented – and largely unaccountable – surveillance network outside existing legal structures. | Video-sharing partnerships allow law enforcement to automatically request video from Ring owners within a designated timeframe and area, giving them access to millions of cameras that police claim have proved invaluable for investigations. Officers are not supposed to receive access to live-streaming video, and users can deny the footage requests — which come in the form of emails thanking…
rt.com/usa/467508-ring-doorbells-surveil…
No Refuge for the Amazon in Evo Morales’ Bolivia
Devin Beaulieu | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
Response by the ideologically leftwing government of Evo Morales has been forced, instead, largely due to domestic pressure by Bolivians that increasingly view the response as not only as too little too late, but also directly blame Morales’ pro-development policies for ongoing destruction of the Amazon. (Photo: Evo Morales by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/29/no-ref…
Global Climate Movement: Darkest Before the Dawn
Roy Morrison | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Wild fires burning in the Amazon and Siberia, unrelenting heat waves,100 year floods happening yearly are signs of our times, the worst of times. A global climate change movement is emerging as we face the real threats to life and to global civilization posed by accelerating climate change. This is a matter of survival, not…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/global-clima…
Trump reviews Ukraine aid to ensure it’s being used in US’ interests — report
rt.com | 2019-08-29
US President Donald Trump is reviewing military aid to Ukraine to ensure American interests are being “prioritized,” according to a senior administration official, putting the funding on hold and enraging Russiagate truthers. | Around $250 million in funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, earmarked for weapons, training, equipment and intelligence support, has been frozen while administration officials review whether the money is being used “in the best interest of the United States,” the official told Politico on Wednesday. Trump reportedly wants to ensure that other nations are “paying their…
rt.com/usa/467512-trump-freezes-ukraine-…
The Grayzone’s Anya Parampil on Fox: US regime change policy fuels migration crisis
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-29
On Fox News, Anya Parampil explained how the US coup in Honduras and bipartisan support for the corrupt, right-wing President…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/29/the-grayzones…
German President Steinmeier and the Nazi massacre at Fivizzano
wsws.org | 2019-08-29
Steinmeier cannot and does not want to speak about the origins of Nazi terror, because the ruling class is in the process of returning to an aggressive and imperialist foreign policy, and rehabilitating its fascist traditions.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/29/stei…
Belarus Wants to Reset Diplomatic Ties With US: Lukashenko
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, met with the U.S. National Security Official, John Bolton, in the capital city of Minsk Thursday as the two nations seek to strengthen their diplomatic ties. | RELATED: | Bolton Bemoans Venezuela’s Upcoming Democratic Elections | During Bolton’s visit, Lukashenko expressed Belarus’ desire to ‘reset’ relations with the United States, despite Minsk’s close ties with Russia. | “Despite all the noise around your visit, there is a lot of pos…
telesurenglish.net/news/Belarus-Wants-to…
The Power to Oversee the Education System, A Historical Timeline from the Prussian Empire to the Rockefeller Dynasty
Timothy Alexander Guzman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
Throughout history, the idea of those in power to oversee the education system started in the 16th Century. The history is complex and is rarely mentioned. | The formation of the American public education system began in the Kingdom of Prussia …
globalresearch.ca/history-american-publi…
In the “New Arms Race”, Washington Can’t Get Its Story Straight
Padraig McGrath | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
As of August 18th, when the United States test-fired a cruise-missile from San Nicolas Island, California, it would not be an exaggeration to say that we have entered an exceptionally dangerous phase in Russia-US relations, perhaps more so than at …
globalresearch.ca/new-arms-race-washingt…
The Death of Arms Control
Scott Ritter | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
A deadly accident in northern Russia earlier this month caused the U.S. arms control community to stand up and take notice. The Russians claim they were testing “isotopic sources of fuel on a liquid propulsion unit,” and that only after the test was completed did the engine explode. There was a spike in radiation levels detected in the city of Severodvinsk, roughly 18 miles away, shortly after the accident. Seven people were killed as a result of the explosion, including at least two who died of acu…
truthdig.com/articles/the-death-of-arms-…
Do ratings trump accountability in journalism? Latest retracted MSNBC ‘bombshell’ suggests ‘yes’
rt.com | 2019-08-29
Lawrence O’Donnell’s walkback of a supposed “bombshell” story involving a claim that Donald Trump received loans co-signed by Russian billionaires is the latest sign that journalism has become accountability-free. | Indicating that MSNBC deliberately chose to prioritize hype over facts, O’Donnell admitted on air that the claim needed “a lot more verification before [it] can be a confirmable fact” — but he reported it anyway. | Typically, when a journalist does not have enough information to verify a claim, they wait until such time that they do. When that basic tenet of journalism is lost, the news becom…
rt.com/usa/467566-msnbc-odonnell-media-a…
‘Apologies are not enough’: Eric Trump threatens to sue MSNBC & host over Russian loan ‘smear’
rt.com | 2019-08-29
Eric Trump says he’s taking legal action against MSNBC and its host Lawrence O’Donnell for slandering and smearing the Trump family and company, while President Donald Trump took to Twitter to slam the host. | Trump responded to O’Donnell’s tweet apologizing for “en error in judgement” on his Last Word show on Tuesday night in which he claimed that the president took out bank loans with the help of Russian billionaires. The MSNBC host walked back his report after the president’s attorney complained to the network. | “Apologies are not enough,” Eric Trump later tweeted, claiming O’Donnell’s “true intent” was to…
rt.com/usa/467561-eric-trump-sue-msnbc-o…
Lawrence O’Donnell Retracts Trump-Russia Story
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
NEW YORK — MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday retracted his story about supposed Russian ties to President Donald Trump’s finances and apologized for reporting it — just as Trump’s lawyer demanded. | O’Donnell said, however, he still doesn’t know whether or not the story is true. | His public pull-back unfolded quickly in the opening minute of “The Last Word,” where 24 hours earlier the cable news host said that a source had told him that Deutsche Bank documents showed that Russian oligarchs had co-signed a loan application for Trump. | O’Donnell reported the story, based on a single source he di…
truthdig.com/articles/lawrence-odonnell-…
#Resistance goes nuts over Trump axing automatic citizenship for kids born overseas. Only he didn’t
rt.com | 2019-08-29
Mainstream media, Democrats, and #Resistance Twitter have united to eviscerate a change to citizenship policy regarding children of overseas-deployed military members. The only problem is, they’re all reading the policy wrong. | US Citizenship and Immigration Services released an update to its policies on how citizenship is assigned to children of American citizens born overseas on Wednesday. The admittedly confusing document centered on the definition of the term ‘residence’ and how it figures in the transmission of citizenship from parents to child — a potentially thorny subject, given the Trump adminis…
rt.com/usa/467511-trump-attack-citizensh…
Greta Thunberg, Frances Crowe and a Passing of the Torch
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, sailed into New York Harbor Wednesday after an occasionally harrowing, two-week trans-Atlantic voyage. Greta walks the walk, living her life with as small a carbon footprint as she can. She decided to forgo flying as part of that commitment, so, in order to make it from Europe to North America, she sailed on a zero-emissions racing yacht. The day before Greta’s arrival, on Tuesday, another activist ended a remarkable voyage. Frances Crowe, a lifelong peace activist, died at home in Western Massachusetts, surrounded by her family, at the age of 100. Frances w…
truthdig.com/articles/greta-thunberg-fra…
Live Updates: FARC Party Affirms Goal of Peace in Colombia
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
Update: Colombia’s President, Ivan Duque condemned the actions of the minority faction of the FARC and asked Interpol to step in while putting a bounty on information on those who have decided to take up arms. Duque also accused, without offering any proof, the government of Venezuela of being supportive of this faction. No mention was made of the inability of the government to provide security to social activists and former members of FARC who have been murdered since the signing of the Peace Agreement. He further announced the creation of a security detail in charge of tracking down the rebels. Finally, he s…
telesurenglish.net/news/Live-Updates-FAR…
Maduro Confirms New Dialogue With Venezuelan Opposition
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, confirmed on Wednesday that his Government resumed contacts with Norway to engage in dialogue with the opposition, after the freezing of the negotiating table in protest against the executive order imposed by the U.S. against the South American nation. | RELATED: | Cuba, Canada Meet to Discuss US Intervention in Venezuela | “I can report that contacts with the Norwegian government have resumed, there have been several meetings, contacts wit…
telesurenglish.net/news/Maduro-Confirms-…
Boris Johnson Suspends UK Parliament
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
It’s called prorogation, marking the end of a UK parliamentary session. | It’s usually for a week or two at most. Approved by Queen Elizabeth, PM Johnson is suspending it for five weeks — from either September 9 or 12 …
globalresearch.ca/boris-johnson-suspends…
“The Globalization of War” and “Towards a World War III Scenario”
Global Research | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
The Globalization of War: America’s “Long War” against Humanity, by Michel Chossudovsky | America’s hegemonic project in…
globalresearch.ca/the-globalization-of-w…
The American Gulag: Brick by Brick, Our Prison Walls Get More Oppressive by the Day
John W. Whitehead | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
” The exile of prisoners to a distant place, where they can ‘pay their debt to society,’ make themselves useful, and not contaminate others with their ideas or their criminal acts, is a practice as old as civilization itself. The …
globalresearch.ca/american-gulag/5687500
How Solitary Confinement Kills: Torture and Stunning Neglect Ends in Suicide at Privately Run ICE Prison
José Olivares | theintercept.com | 2019-08-29
Guards at an ICE jail put Efraín Romero de la Rosa in solitary confinement despite a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He killed himself after 21 days.
theintercept.com/2019/08/29/ice-solitary…
Lying for Israel: Why Nearly Everyone in Washington Does It
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
It is not often that one hears anything like the truth in today’s Washington, a city where the art of dissimulation has reached new heights among both Democrats and Republicans. Everyone who has not been asleep like Rip Van Winkle …
globalresearch.ca/lying-israel-nearly-ev…
With Sanders and Warren Surging, Is Wall Street’s 2020 Nightmare Coming True?
Norman Solomon | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
In this file photo taken on July 30, 2019 Democratic presidential hopefuls US Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders (L) and US Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren hug after participating in the first round of the second Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/29/sander…
Wall Street’s Worst Nightmare for 2020 Is Coming True
Norman Solomon | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
For the plutocrats who see Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as the greatest threat to their bottom line, this summer has gotten a bit scary.
truthdig.com/articles/wall-streets-worst…
PharmaGon: Your Antidote to Profit-Based Killing (Video)
Mark Fiore | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
The opioid-pushing pharmaceutical companies may finally be forced to pay some of their billions to help remediate the crisis they helped manufacture. The state of Oklahoma won a big court victory against Johnson & Johnson, the huge corporation that downplayed the risks of opioids while keeping the country awash in their deadly product. Johnson & Johnson and …
truthdig.com/cartoons/pharmagon-your-ant…
Authoritarianism in Britain: Johnson’s Attempt to Whittle away Democracy
Graham Vanbergen | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
I’ve been warning about this for a few years now. Authoritarianism in Britain is now the new norm and people are not calling out for what it really is. | Britain, exuding all the pomposity of a tolerant, strong and stable …
globalresearch.ca/uncivil-war-prorogue-s…
“We are waiting for war”
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-29
Israel is right here behind this wall After the recent Israeli attacks against Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, the Middle East has found itself in the midst of undeclared war. Almost everyone in Lebanon appears to agree. “This time Israel went too far. In just two days, it bombed three countries,” I am told by a …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/we-are-waitin…
California tribe hopes to conquer climate woes — With fire
Tara Lohan | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-29
More and more land in California is going up in flames. The area in the state burned by wildfires has increased by a factor of five since 1972, according to a recent study, which identified human-caused warming the likely culprit. So what’s to be done? The Karuk Tribe wants to fight fire with fire. This summer …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/29/california…
‘We Are Waiting for War’: Lebanese Say Israel Has Gone Too Far
Andre Vltchek | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
After the recent Israeli attacks against Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, the Middle East has found itself in the midst of an undeclared war. | Almost everyone in Lebanon appears to agree. “This time Israel went too far. In just two days, …
globalresearch.ca/war-lebanese-say-israe…
McDonnell says ‘dictator’ Johnson running No 10 like Bullingdon Club
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-29
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has labelled Boris Johnson a “dictator” in a speech ahead of the spending review. | McDonnell said the prime minister is running Downing Street like the Bullingdon Club, an elite group of Oxford students attended by both Johnson and former PM David Cameron. He accused Johnson of “treating us like serfs” and warned that the public would not tolerate his controversial decision to suspend parliament for more than…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/08/29/mcdonnel…
Sri Lankan president “lifts” emergency but armed forces mobilised to “maintain security”
wsws.org | 2019-08-29
When emergency rule was imposed after the April terrorist bombings, the SEP warned that the real target of the government’s measures was not terrorists, but the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/29/sril…
Trump, China and the stock markets
Deirdre Griswold | workers.org | 2019-08-29
The longer that U.S. stock markets continue to rise, the more nervous become the investors and all the financial analysts. On Friday, Aug. 23, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by over 600 points after proclamations by Donald Trump that his trade war with China would intensify, putting higher tariffs . . . | Continue reading Trump, China and the stock markets at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/29/trump-china-and-t…
New ‘dark money’ group devotes multi-million dollar budget to ads helping Democrats
Anna Massoglia and Karl Evers-Hillstrom | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-29
A new “dark money” group funded by secret donors plans to spend almost all of its $10.4 million budget on ads helping Democrats in House races heading into 2020. House Majority Forward was quietly incorporated in March but operated under the radar until its public launch in July as a new 501(c)(4) arm of House Majority …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/29/new-dark-m…
Antibiotic resistance ‘could kill humanity before climate breakdown does’
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-29
Antimicrobial resistance could soon kill at least 10 million people per year and wipe out humanity “before climate change does”, England’s chief medical officer has warned. | Professor Dame Sally Davies also cautioned…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/20…
‘Lehman Trilogy’ explores the demise of a financial empire: Buyers beware!
Michael Berkowitz | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-29
peoplesworld.org/article/lehman-trilogy-…
Defence minister is caught on camera spilling the ‘unspeakable’ beans about Boris Johnson
Tracy Keeling | thecanary.co | 2019-08-29
Defence minister Ben Wallace has been caught on camera saying the ‘unspeakable’ about Boris Johnson. | Since the PM’s decision to prorogue parliament, he’s insisted that he’s only doing it so he can move forward on his “very exciting agenda” for the country. But many people suspect that’s not the case at all. Instead, they believe he’s trying scupper MPs’ involvement in t…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/08/29/defence…
Colombia: Over 8 Million People Have Been Affected by War
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
Up to August 1, 2019, the Colombian armed conflict had generated 8,874,110 “registered” victims, according to the National System of Attention and Reparation for Victims (SNARIV), an official policy instrument created in 2012 to comply with the Land Restitution and Victims Act (Law 1448). | RELATED: | Minority Faction of FARC Leadership Take Up Arms | Among the accumulated historical national data, there are also 7,535,682 people displaced from their homes, 1,009,990 homicides, 416,463 peopl…
telesurenglish.net/news/Colombia-Over-8-…
New Zealand economic forecast: “Things could turn ugly”
wsws.org | 2019-08-29
The US-China trade war, slowing growth in New Zealand’s export markets, and dampened business investment are key issues facing the local economy as the global recession looms.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/29/nzec…
Belfast workers fight layoffs, climate change
Martha Grevatt | workers.org | 2019-08-29
Workers have occupied the Harland and Wolff shipyard in the north of Ireland since July 29. They are fighting to save the last 132 jobs at the 166-year-old Belfast company, which at its peak during World War I employed 35,000 and is most famous for building the Titanic. The workers . . . | Continue reading Belfast workers fight layoffs, climate change at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/29/belfast-workers-f…
Yemeni Gov’t Forces Advance Toward Aden
Xinhua | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-29
Heavy forces of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces advanced toward Yemen’s southern port city of Aden on Wednesday, sparking street battles in the city’s eastern part. | RELATED: | US Seeks Direct Negotiations with Yemen’s Houthis | Local residents told Xinhua that intense street battles were sparked in the neighborhoods located near the main entrances of Aden as government forces attempted to storm the city. | They said that military units of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) w…
telesurenglish.net/news/Yemeni-Govt-Forc…
Ukraine’s Orthodox Church “Autocephalous Bloc”: How Poroshenko Will Wage War Against Zelensky
Politeka | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
In spring, Ukraine witnessed an event that will surely be written down in the country’s history — the presidential elections were won by Volodymyr Zelensky, a showman who had never been involved in politics before. And as Zelensky’s victory …
globalresearch.ca/ukraine-autocephalous-…
Trump Guts Methane Restrictions in Latest Assault on Climate
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-29
Amid dire scientific warnings that the international community must act immediately to slash greenhouse gas emissions, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly set to take another step in the opposite direction Thursday by unveiling a rule that would gut restrictions on the fossil fuel industry’s methane pollution. | According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the proposed rule change Thursday, the EPA’s plan would scrap regulations requiring the oil and gas in…
truthdig.com/articles/trump-guts-methane…
Sanders and Warren Back Legalization of Injection Sites for Drug Users
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-29
| Ryan Hampton has a message for politicians and the rest of us: He would have entered recovery much earlier if there were a safe consumption site in Los Angeles, where he struggled with heroin addiction for years. | Safe consumption sites, also known as overdose prevention sites, safe injection sites and supervised consumption services, are clinical but community-oriented spaces where people are provided clean supplies to use drugs, typically by injection, under the supervision of medical sta…
truthout.org/articles/sanders-and-warren…
“Kochland”: How David Koch helped build an empire to shape U.S. politics & thwart climate action
Amy Goodman | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-29
Billionaire conservative donor David Koch died Friday at the age of 79 from prostate cancer. David Koch — who was worth some $42 billion — and his brother Charles poured massive amounts of money into funding climate change denial through conservative think tanks and politicians. The Koch brothers founded the political advocacy group Americans for …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/29/kochland-h…
‘Totally not suspicious’: DARPA freaks people out with urgent request for underground complex
rt.com | 2019-08-29
DARPA has prompted panic and mockery for its bizarre Twitter shout out urgently seeking complex urban tunnel systems for unspecified “research and experimentation” at very short notice. | “Attention, city dwellers! We’re interested in identifying university-owned or commercially managed underground urban tunnels & facilities able to host research & experimentation,” the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) tweeted on Wednesday, sparking a wave of alarming theories ranging from zombie and alien invasions, to psyops and the end of the world. | Why did you pick the creepiest possible images to attach…
rt.com/usa/467549-darpa-twitter-tunnel-r…
‘We’ll always have a presence’: Trump says 8,600 US troops will stay in Afghanistan
rt.com | 2019-08-29
US President Donald Trump said that Washington plans to leave 8,600 American troops in Afghanistan, but suggested further cuts could follow — over 15 years after President Bush boasted major victories against terrorists there. | President Trump announced the possible drawdown on Thursday morning in an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. | Even if an agreement is reached with the Taliban militants, there would be no complete reduction of the military personnel. Rather the presence of US troops in the country — now at around 14,000 — will be cut by nearly 40 percent. | “We’re going down to 8…
rt.com/usa/467572-us-troops-afghanistan-…
Israeli Attacks on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. Netanyahu’s Election Strategy
Steven Sahiounie | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
Benyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of “Israel”, the occupier of Palestine, may lose the election on September 17th. He is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the occupation; however, he is facing possible defeat even though …
globalresearch.ca/israeli-attacks-on-leb…
Syrian Army Liberates Entire Hama Governorate and Idlib’s Khan Sheikhoun
Sarah Abed | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
Last week the town of Khan Sheikhoun was finally liberated by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), led by the Tiger Forces and Republican Guard. Earlier this month a truce was entered into force in Idlib. It was understood that if …
globalresearch.ca/syrian-army-liberates-…
UK Constitutional Crisis Deepens as Boris Suspends Parliament
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
It has been termed a ‘constitutional outrage’ by Speaker of the UK House of Commons, John Bercow, as the UK government announced its plan to delay the beginning of the parliamentary year till mid October in an attempt to …
globalresearch.ca/uk-constitutional-cris…
‘A Very British Coup’
Vanessa Baird | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
One must be Boris Johnson’s lucky number. He has been subjected to just one day of parliamentary scrutiny since being ‘crowned’ prime minister by the tiny fraction of the British electorate that happen to be paid-up Conservative party members….
globalresearch.ca/very-british-coup/5687…
America’s Hidden Iatrogenic Epidemic of Drug and Vaccine-induced Disorders
Dr. Gary G. Kohls | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
An iatrogenic condition is a state of ill health caused by medical, surgical, drug or vaccine treatments. It may qualify as the 3rd most common cause of death in the United States. | For much more information about this hidden | …
globalresearch.ca/america-iatrogenic-epi…
Will Hezbollah Respond to Israel? When? And at What Cost?
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
The “Axis of the Resistance” has been informed about Hezbollah’s intention to respond to Israel imminently, confirmed sources within the decision-making leadership. The main offices of militant leadership and all gathering of forces have been abandoned or forbidden, and a | …
globalresearch.ca/hezbollah-will-respond…
Unelected UK leaders make a mockery of global posturing about ‘democracy’
Ed Sykes | thecanary.co | 2019-08-29
By moving to suspend parliament, the UK’s unelected prime minister Boris Johnson is making a mockery of the country’s global posturing about ‘democracy’. | One journalist summed this up perfectly, saying: | Boris Johnson unlike @NicolasMaduro has never been elected to lead any country & as he was…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/08/29/unelect…
How Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce Killed an Anti-Pollution Bill of Rights
H. Claire Brown | theintercept.com | 2019-08-29
Emails reveal that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce enlisted a key Republican lawmaker in a successful effort to nullify the Lake Erie Bill of Rights.
theintercept.com/2019/08/29/lake-erie-bi…
The next European country as a strategic target of the far-right
Boaventura de Sousa Santos | mronline.org | 2019-08-29
Nationalism has always been, to some degree, a feature across Europe’s political spectrum, but in recent years, fostered by the likes of Donald Trump and funded by American religious ‘conservatives’ there has been an explosion in voter support for right-wing and populist parties. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/29/the-next-europea…
Koch’s poisonous gifts
Editor | workers.org | 2019-08-29
The death this August of right-wing multibillionaire David Koch immediately unleashed a spate of extensive obituaries in the corporate media. These mini-biographies describe him and his brother Charles Koch as “philanthropists” and financiers of right-wing ideas and political movements. The media attention on David Koch’s death brings to mind a . . . | Continue reading Koch’s poisonous gifts at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/29/kochs-poisonous-g…
Billionaires are a Sign of Economic Failure
Max Lawson | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
The New York Times published an editorial comment on its front page in January 2019, provocatively entitled “abolish billionaires.” The editorial raised a serious question: what if instead of being a sign of economic success, billionaires are a sign of economic failure? In what ways can the boom in billionaires, and the dramatic increase in extreme…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/billionaires…
A Plea From the Animal Kingdom
Pandion Haliaetus | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Let me start by stating that I am an osprey. Many of you on Long Island know of me as a fish-hawk. As with many in the human population, I spend a great deal of time near the shores and coastlines of this area. Now, many of my fellow wild creatures of this nation, and the entire…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/a-plea-from-…
Under the U.S. Eye: When is the Time for Honduran Democracy?
Suyapa Portillo Villeda | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
A U.S. Federal court released documents in which a known narcotrafficker, Don H, implicated Honduran elites and politicians in the drug business. Most untenable is the revelation that the sitting president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, took drug money as bribes for himself and the Nationalist party.
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/under-the-u-…
The Stupidity of Smart Devices and Smart Cities
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Insentience cannot have intelligence, but the modern public relations revolution would have you think otherwise. Smart phones, smart bombs, and, it follows, Smart Cities (capitalising such terms implies false authority), do not exist in that sense, whatever their cheer squad emissaries in High Tech land claim. They are merely a masterfully daft celebration of tactically…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/the-stupidit…
Environmental Collaborators, Hang Your Heads in Shame
George Ochenski | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
The so-called “collaborative” movement in Montana was launched as the Consensus Council about 25 years ago during the administration of Republican Gov. Marc Racicot. Its task, supposedly, was to find solutions to thorny natural resource issues. Its members were hand-picked by Racicot to represent industry and other “stakeholders,” and of course the outcomes were predictably…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/environmenta…
Night and Day, Being and Nonbeing
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Matter, energy, space and time: the entirety of physical existence. Einstein unravelled their truth: they are all entwined, a four dimensional yin-yang, the image of gravity. But, what gave him pause that he could never fully overcome was the yin-yang of existence and nonexistence: quantum reality. And that is what we live within and are:…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/night-and-da…
Indonesia’s Journalists Grapple With Islamism
Andreas Harsono | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
In early January 2016, journalists in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta chatted about a doctor who had left her husband, moving to Kalimantan Island and joining a back-to-the-land movement called Gafatar. Journalists working for various Indonesian media outlets reported that her husband had filed a “missing person” report with the Yogyakarta police, saying she’d been…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/indonesias-j…
Trump’s Other Wall
Jack Rasmus | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Trump brags about the ‘wall of money’ now flowing into the US from abroad–from Europe, Asia, emerging market economies–as the global economy slides into recession there faster than in the US. He thinks that is great news for the US economy. But it’s quite the opposite.
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/trumps-other…
PG&E Free: Revolutionary Energy at Stone Edge Farm in Sonoma, California
Jonah Raskin | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
“The bourgeoisie has played a most revolutionary role.” — Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto Pacific Gas & Electric has never had many loyal friends, not since 1905 when the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company and the California Gas and Electric Corporation merged to form the utility giant usually referred to as PG&E. The company has been…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/pge-free-rev…
Trump has Blocked Wage Gains for American Workers
Lawrence Wittner | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
On June 19, 2019, President Donald Trump bragged at his re-election kickoff rally in Orlando that, thanks to his leadership, the wages of American workers “are rising at the fastest rate in many decades.” The reality, however, is that they are not. Indeed, wages rose at a faster rate only a few years before, under his predecessor. And a key…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/trump-has-bl…
The Reality Brokers (or the Rise of the Automagicians)
John Steppling | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-29
Whether it’s Twitter or Snapchat or whatever, the overriding quality associated with each platform is limited space for expression and impermanence. Snapchat is designed to literally disappear before your eyes. Twitter is particularly pathological in that it is all but impossible to have discussions, or debates there, but excels at individual declarations of fact — the users own sense of ‘fact’ that is.
counterpunch.org/2019/08/29/the-reality-…
Johnson to suspend UK parliament to push through Brexit in a major assault on democratic rule
wsws.org | 2019-08-29
Johnson’s efforts to bypass parliament and govern by executive fiat are part of an international turn toward dictatorial forms of rule throughout the world.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/29/bori…
The Boris Coup: 1.3 Million Sign Petition to Stop UK Parliament Being Shut
Oliver Rowland | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
The petition against the prorogation of parliament — i.e. ending the current session (believed by opponents to be a deliberate move to stop opposition to a no-deal Brexit) — is the fastest-growing petition to the UK parliament and government after …
globalresearch.ca/1-3-million-sign-petit…
Johnson Shuts Down Parliament to Help Ensure No-Deal Brexit
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-29
The Nation Editor D.D. Guttenplan walks through the political intricacies of the current “coup” in Britain and analyzes the political and economic consequences of the worldwide right-wing push…
therealnews.com/stories/johnson-shuts-do…
Taxpayers Have Been Ordered to Pay Over $2 Million For Discriminating Against LGBTQ People
aclu.org | 2019-08-29
Government officials should know that discrimination comes with a cost to taxpayers. | Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that the Commonwealth of Kentucky was liable for $224,000 for the actions of Kim Davis, who refused to do her job and issue marriage licenses (to same-sex or different-sex couples) as county clerk. | While Davis’ story made national headlines, her case isn’t the only one in the past year where a court case filed by the ACLU has led to a bill for discriminatio…
aclu.org/blog/lgbt-rights/lgbt-nondiscri…
‘Your Life Will End’: As GOP’s Islamophobic Attacks Continue, Rep. Ilhan Omar Shares Terrifying Reality of Death Threats
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday offered her perspective on the threats and threatening political rhetoric targeting her and her family due to her position as one of the first Muslim women in Congress. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/29/your-li…
‘Sociopathic Disregard for Our Future’: Trump EPA Set to Gut Restrictions on Planet-Warming Methane Emissions
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
“At a time when the federal government’s job should be to help localities and states move faster toward cleaner energy and a cleaner economy, the government is walking off the field.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/29/sociopa…
Leaked UN Draft Report Warns Rising, Warming Oceans ‘Poised to Unleash Misery’ Worldwide
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
A draft United Nations report warns “the same oceans that nourished human evolution are poised to unleash misery on a global scale unless the carbon pollution destabilizing Earth’s marine environment is brought to heel,” according to Agence France-Presse, which exclusively reported on the 900-page scientific assessment Thursday. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/29/leaked-…
Calling for End of “War Against Nature,” Greta Thunberg’s Arrival in US Brings Swell of Attention to Global Climate Strike
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-29
“Something that’s really common among young people is we just aren’t given that platform. Now, Greta and millions of other kids are showing that we don’t need it handed to us. We can fight for the platform.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/29/calling…
The Other Man-Made Disaster Ravaging the Amazon
Leo Schwartz | thenation.com | 2019-08-29
The Other Man-Made Disaster Ravaging the Amazon…
thenation.com/article/peru-la-pampa-ille…
Sacred means sacred: what’s so hard to understand?
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-29
Aboriginal rights Djab Wurrung people Sue BoltonIssue 1235 Australia Green Left Weekly Fighting FundAugust 29, 2019No government would consider the idea of bulldozing a roa…
greenleft.org.au/content/sacred-means-sa…
“Israel” Will Never Let Iran Build a Pipeline to Syria Unless Russia Is Involved
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
It’s impossible to imagine any realistic scenario where “Israel” would sit back and let its number one enemy strengthen its influence in the region unless Russia was involved as a stakeholder for keeping Iran in check. | *** | Iran is reportedly…
globalresearch.ca/israel-will-never-let-…
Cambodia Is Showing How Small Countries Could Stand Up to the US
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
Cambodia, unlike its similarly sized and in many cases much larger peers in the international community, is relentless in is criticism of the US’ blatant intervention in its domestic political affairs, showing how small countries could stand up to the …
globalresearch.ca/cambodia-showing-how-s…
Let’s Save the Amazon! Let’s Save the Planet!
Network in Defense of Humanity | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-29
“Tomorrow will be too late to do what we should have done a long time ago.” Fidel Castro Ruz, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 12, 1992 | The Network in Defense of Humanity joins the …
globalresearch.ca/save-amazon-save-plane…
Venezuela migrant crisis begs a ‘coherent, predictable and harmonized’ response: UNHCR
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-29
There is “no end in sight” to the massive movement of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, now at around 4.3 million in number, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) shared on Thursday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
Millions in Idlib ‘counting on your support to make the violence stop’, UN relief chief tells Security Council
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-29
Despite an agreement signed nearly a year ago on a halt to further escalation in Syria’s war-battered Idlib, “the bombing and fighting go on in plain sight, day in and day out”, the UN humanitarian chief told the Security Council on Thursday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
UN health experts warn ‘dramatic resurgence’ of measles continues to threaten the European region
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-29
Europe has lost ground in eliminating measles, as the number of countries having achieved or sustained elimination of the disease has declined, the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) warned on Thursday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
‘Ground Zero’: Report from the former Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-29
Every year on August 29, at the initiative of Kazakhstan, the UN and its Member States mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests. This year, the Day coincides with the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb test at the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan. UN News travelled to the remote, eerily beautiful region, for this report.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
Bringing nuclear test ban treaty into force a ‘central pillar’ of global disarmament push, says UN chief
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-29
The legacy of nuclear testing is “nothing but destruction,” and in a world of rising tensions, “our collective security depends” on bringing a global treaty into force that bans nuclear explosions, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1…
Emergency Palantir Mass Mobilization to Stop ICE Terror
R.R. | indybay.org | 2019-08-29
An angry group of activists mobilized on August 23 at the headquarters of Palantir Technologies in Palo Alto. Just 3 days earlier Palantir renewed its ICE Investigative Case Management contract that enables ICE to track the every move of undocumented immigrants until 2022; protesters responded quickly and loudly. | Photos by Jack Owicki, Pro Bono Photo. Please credit the photographer.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/27/1882574…
Protesters Force Palantir to Empty HQ
Fight for What’s Right | indybay.org | 2019-08-29
Palantir, the secretive $20 billion data-analysis company whose work with ICE has even led some of its own employees to make a fuss, succumbed to the power of protesters on August 23. The main office at 100 Hamilton, Palantir’s world headquarters, was emptied in advance of the arrival of demonstrators. | Photo credit: Cornelia Grimes, Pro Bono Photo…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/27/1882575…
City Attorney Stonewalls Homeless Activists on Settlement Conference
Robert Norse | indybay.org | 2019-08-29
After leveling the Ross Camp, sending its 200-300 residents fleeing into the parks, greenbelt, downtown, and neighborhoods, and fencing off the area, the City is now refusing to sit down and work out compromise settlement terms as suggested by Judge Edward Devila. It apparently prefers to incur more costs.at the expense of its homeless residents.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/29/1882579…
During Global Month of Action For Yemen, SF Protesters Make Demands of Pelosi
End the Genocide in Yemen | indybay.org | 2019-08-29
As separatists and government-backed forces battle for control of the Yemeni capital, innocent civilians suffer. Yemeni-Americans and allies gathered in front of San Francisco’s federal building on August 16 with a message for Nancy Pelosi. | PHOTOS: Please credit the photographer as noted | Cornelia Grimes, Pro Bono Photo.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/29/1882580…