Daily Archives: August 31, 2019

2019-08-31: Social Media Postees

GOP Hardliners Want China Sanctioned
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Time and again, the US, its key NATO allies and Israel blame their victims for wrongdoing committed against them. | According to the Daily Beast, Republicans are pushing for sanctions on China over how Hong Kong authorities are handling months …
globalresearch.ca/gop-hardliners-want-ch…

Will Rouhani meet Trump?
Mazda Majidi | liberationnews.org | 2019-08-31
Washington’s foreign policy establishment is dominated by “Iran Hawks,” headed by National Security Adviser John Bolton.
liberationnews.org/will-rouhani-meet-tru…

Gov. Kay Ivey’s hurtful history and the way forward
splcenter.org | 2019-08-31
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey joins a growing list of elected leaders forced to admit that they once painted their faces black and performed racist skits or minstrel shows.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/31/gov-kay-iv…

Hungering for the language of class war
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2019-08-31
Dark skies persist over coastal Brazil, where the country’s major population centres are to be found. This year, there have been 40,341 fires in the Amazon, the highest since 2010. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/30/hungering-for-th…

Amazon Fires Will Have Global Consequences. The UN Must Act
Prof. Marjorie Cohn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
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 …
globalresearch.ca/amazon-fires-global-co…

‘It’s Too Much Land For So Few Indians’, Jair Bolsonaro Holds
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-31
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro made new statements on Friday against the demarcation of indigenous lands in the Amazon saying he intends to review the areas previously assigned to ancestral communities. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro Calls On Trump To Help Put Out Amazon Fires | “It is too much land for so few Indians, and without lobbying. What are the interests behind this…
telesurenglish.net/news/Its-Too-Much-Lan…

Home video security systems increasingly linked to US police departments in violation of democratic rights
wsws.org | 2019-08-31
More than 400 police department partnerships have been established by Amazon’s Ring home security system across the US over the past year.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/31/ring…

Trump to open 16.7 million acres of Alaska rainforest for drilling
Ruth Milka | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-31
As the Amazon rainforest burns, President Donald Trump is opening a rainforest right here in the United States corporate interests. This week Trump ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open Alaska’s Tongass National Forest for logging, energy, and mining projects. The Tongass National Forest is the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. As reported by …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/31/trump-to-o…

The Pakistani PM needs to realise that nuclear warfare is never the answer
Afroze Fatima Zaidi | thecanary.co | 2019-08-31
In an op-ed in the NY Times, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has addressed the situation in Kashmir. With India’s military crackdown in Kashmir still ongoing, Khan has made an appeal to world leaders, and India in particular, to open dialogue on the issue. | The bulk of the a…
thecanary.co/opinion/2019/08/31/the-paki…

The Recolonization of Latin America and the War on Venezuela
Prof. James Petras | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
The US struck first at the ‘weakest link’ of the decolonization process. The US backed coups in Honduras and Paraguay. Then Washington turned to converting the judiciary and congress as stepping stones for launching a political attack on the strategic regimes in Argentina and Brazil.
globalresearch.ca/recolonization-latin-a…

David Swanson: Nukes- What Are They Good For?
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-31
counterpunch.org/2019/08/31/david-swanso…

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell hits Russiagate Rock Bottom
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-31
Aaron Maté slams MSNBC’s latest Russiagate dud, exposing how Lawrence O’Donnell’s embarrassing retraction is part of a pattern of bogus…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/31/aaron-mate-de…

‘CA has decriminalized illegal alien crime’: Outrage as Kate Steinle’s killer’s conviction tossed
rt.com | 2019-08-31
A California appeals court has thrown out the conviction of an illegal immigrant who shot a woman on a San Francisco pier after escaping deportation due to the city’s sanctuary policy, triggering further outrage. | Jose Ines Garcia Zarate’s conviction on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun was thrown out by a California state appeals court on Friday, reviving the furor over a case that has defined the immigration debate. The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled the judge failed to offer the jury the option of acquitting the Mexican national on the theory he only possessed the weapon “for a…
rt.com/usa/467663-zarate-conviction-over…

‘CA has decriminalized illegal alien crime’: Outrage as Kate Steinle’s killer’s conviction tossed
rt.com | 2019-08-31
A California appeals court has thrown out the conviction of an illegal immigrant who shot a woman on a San Francisco pier after escaping deportation due to the city’s sanctuary policy, triggering further outrage. | Jose Ines Garcia Zarate’s conviction on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun was thrown out by a California state appeals court on Friday, reviving the furor over a case that has defined the immigration debate. The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled the judge failed to offer the jury the option of acquitting the Mexican national on the theory he only possessed the weapon “for a…
rt.com/usa/467663-zarate-conviction-over…

Fakes for me, not for thee: US govt to use false social media profiles to monitor immigrants
rt.com | 2019-08-31
US Citizenship and Immigration officers can now use fake social media accounts to surveil foreigners seeking visas and citizenship, even after years of US lawmakers blasting foreign rivals for supposedly doing the same. | Officers have until recently been banned from creating fictitious profiles, but a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) privacy review dated July 2019 but posted online on Friday has reversed that ban. According to the review, officers with the department’s…
rt.com/usa/467715-immigration-officers-f…

Cuba and Norway Ratify Their Commitment to Peace in Colombia
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-31
Through a statement released on Friday, Cuba and Norway, the guarantor countries of the table of talks between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP), ratified their commitment to peace in the South American nation. | RELATED: | Colombia: President Duque Announces Major Attack on Former FARC | “The Republic of Cuba and the Kingdom of Norway, guarantor countries of the table of conversations between the Government of Colombia and the FA…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cuba-and-Norway-…

FARC-EP calls for renewed armed struggle
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-31
In a video released on August 29, 2019, Iván Márquez, former lead peace negotiator for the FARC-EP in the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, announced that a sector of the FARC party (name of the successor party to the FARC-EP that was founded after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016) were returning to the armed struggle under the banner of the revolutionary guerrilla organization the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo). Iván Márquez read the FARC-EP’s new manifesto dressed in military fatigues surrounded by armed companions, including the famous FARC-EP commanders El Pais…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/30/farc-ep-…

Hausmann hypocrisy: Guaido coup official raked in dollars from dictators and banking behemoths while promoting ‘democracy’ for Venezuela
Anya Parampil | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-31
Ricardo Hausmann slammed banks for doing business with Venezuela’s elected government. But financial disclosure forms filed with Harvard show the…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/31/hausmann-hypo…

Announcing the 2019 Food Sovereignty prize honorees
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-31
The U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance is very excited to announce the winners of the 2019 Food Sovereignty Prize. Urban Tilth (Richmond, CA) is the domestic honoree, and Plan Pueblo a Pueblo (Plan People to People; Venezuela) is the international honoree. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/31/announcing-the-2…

US/North Korea Talks Undermined by Pompeo and Bolton
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Trump’s “fire and fury like the world has never seen” remark about North Korea shifted to the appearance of friendship with Kim Jong-un, DJT saying “(h)e wrote me beautiful letters and we fell in love.” | Two summits and Trump’s …
globalresearch.ca/us-north-korea-talks-p…

America’s Economic Dark Side. Widening Social Inequality, Rising Poverty and Joblessness
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
This incisive ad timely article was first published in October 2013 | Former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich explained, saying: | “Of all developed nations, the United States has the most unequal distribution of income, and we’re surging towards every greater | …
globalresearch.ca/americas-economic-dark…

Monster Hurricane Dorian
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Currently at Category 4 strength, defined as having sustained winds of from 130 — 156 mph, gusts up to 30% stronger, Dorian is expected hit Florida’s Atlantic coast on Tuesday, precisely where unclear so far. | On August 31, the National …
globalresearch.ca/monster-hurricane-dori…

Heroin Addiction in America Spearheaded by US-led War on Afghanistan
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Afghanistan under US military occupation produces approximately 90% of the World’s illegal supply of opium which is used to produce heroin. The production of opium in Afghanistan has registered a 49 fold increase since 2001.
globalresearch.ca/trumps-hypocritical-co…

At least 10 teenagers injured after gunfire erupts at high school football game in Alabama
rt.com | 2019-08-31
At least six teenagers received gunshot wounds after unidentified assailants opened fire at the end of a high school football game in Mobile, Alabama. | Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste told local media that two individuals were detained in connection with the attack. He said that 10 people were injured in total, but four of the injuries were not gunshot wounds. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 18 years old. Their conditions were not immediately clear. | Witnesses say there was a fight in the stands several minutes before the end of the game. | Footage taken after the shooting shows police cars swarmi…
rt.com/usa/467665-us-footbal-shooting-vi…

Matan Kahana: Will Ultra-Right Candidates Upset Netayahu’s Re-Election Plans?
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-31
It is hard to imagine what it means to be to the “right of the Likud” or the “right of Netanyahu.” However, Matan Kahana claims that he and his party are just that and so a vote for them will ensure a strong right-wing voice in the Israeli Knesset, as though that is what is missing from Israeli politics.
mintpressnews.com/matan-kahana-ultra-rig…

Video: Yemen’s Houthis Carry Out Drone Strike on Saudi Capital
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
The Ansar Allah movement carried out a new series of strikes on Saudi Arabia in the framework of their operations to oppose the Kingdom-led intervention of Yemen. | On August 25, Yemeni forces fired 10 short-range ballistic missiles at military sites …
globalresearch.ca/video-yemen-houthis-dr…

The Causes and Consequences of World War II
wsws.org | 2019-08-31
David North, the chairman of the WSWS international editorial board, delivered the following lecture at San Diego State University on October 5, 2009, marking the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/31/caus…

Debunking the Drug War
Debunking Cops | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-31
This episode covers the US government’s and law enforcement’s active role in global drug trafficking. Doug Valentine is the author of The Strength of the Wolf and The Strength of the Pack. These are two of the most important books ever written on the drug trade. Doug’s research comes mostly from first hand accounts of …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/debunking-the…

As Hurricane Dorian Threatens Florida, Gov. DeSantis & Trump—Who Haven’t Curbed CO2 Emissions—Should Resign
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2019-08-31
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, ” is doing nothing practical about the state’s carbon dioxide emissions, which are what cause sea level rise and warming oceans and monster hurricanes.” (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/31/hurric…

Factional wars and scandals wrack Australian Labor Party following election debacle
wsws.org | 2019-08-31
Decades of betrayals of the working class have come home to roost, triggering internal warfare.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/31/alpc…

Street lights glow red to help bats cross the road
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-31
A stretch of “bat-friendly” street lighting has been switched on in what is believed to be a UK first.The LED lights, which emit a red glow, will provide bats with a 60-metre-wide crossing area on the A4440, near to Worcester’s Warndon Wood nature reserve.Worcestershire County Council has described the lighting as an innovative approach to a much-needed highway crossing with a greatly reduced impact on local wildlife.It said research shows some species of bat are light shy and will not cross roads lit by white lights, which can stop them accessing food supplies and water.Standard street lights also attract insect…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/08/31/street-l…

The Best Movie Ever Made About the Truth Behind the Iraq War Is “Official Secrets”
Jon Schwarz | theintercept.com | 2019-08-31
“Official Secrets,” which opened Friday in New York and Los Angeles, is the best movie ever made about how the Iraq War happened. It’s startlingly accurate, and because of that, it’s equally inspiring, demoralizing, hopeful, and enraging. Please go see it. | It’s been forgotten now, but the Iraq War and its abominable consequences — the hundreds of thousands of deaths, the rise of the Islamic State group, the nightmare oozing into Syria, arguably the presidency of Donald Trump — almost didn’t happen. In the weeks before the U.S.-led invasion on March 19, 2003, the American and British case for war was…
theintercept.com/2019/08/31/official-sec…

Is Warren talented enough to betray the people as masterfully as Obama?
Glen Ford | mronline.org | 2019-08-31
Elizabeth Warren is seen as a counter Bernie Sanders, but she will melt (like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris) if she stops raising Democrats’ expectations to bust corporate power. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/31/is-warren-talent…

Eighty years since the outbreak of World War II
wsws.org | 2019-08-31
The official ceremony marking the most barbaric event in world history is a celebration of the kind of militarism and right-wing nationalism that accompanied its outbreak.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/31/pers…

The Making of an Album
David Rovics | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-31
As my regular readers and listeners are aware, I tend to go jaggedly back and forth in these missives between discussions of geopolitics and world history, and explorations of the minutiae of the daily life of the working musician. This one belongs in the latter category. It’s been years since I’ve had much time for …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/the-making-of…

Neoliberal Globalization: Is There an Alternative to Plundering the Earth?
Prof. Claudia von Werlhof | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Is there an alternative to making war? Is there an alternative to destroying the planet? No one asks these questions because they seem absurd…
globalresearch.ca/neoliberal-globalizati…

The Pentagon’s Map of Afghanistan: An Eldorado of Mineral Wealth and Natural Resources
Nikolai Malishevski | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Of relevance to an understanding America’s military and economic agenda in Afghanistan. First published in August 2012 | Curious information surfaced in the media [2012] — based on space reconnaissance, the US Department of Defense put together a map of Afghanistan …
globalresearch.ca/the-pentagon-s-map-of-…

9/11: Facts, Fiction and Censorship
Julie Lévesque | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
The commemoration of 9/11 on September 11, 2019 is fast approaching. | The following text (including a selection of articles) was first posted seven years ago on September 12, 2012. | *** | Whoever dares raise questions about the official 9/11 narrative, will …
globalresearch.ca/911-facts-fiction-and-…

Reckless Path to Nuclear Weapons Leaves Us Looking Over the Edge
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
After two years of analysis and inquiries, Roosevelt formally established America’s nuclear program on 19 January 1942, called the Manhattan Project — with a final $2 billion budget supporting it ($36 billion today) and employing over 130,000 people.
globalresearch.ca/reckless-path-nuclear-…

Video: Syrian Army Further Advances in Greater Idlib
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies responded to recent militant attacks near Abu Dail with a limited offensive in the area. | In the first phase of the offensive, SAA units liberated Khuwayn al-Kabir, Ard al-Zurzur, the Aghir hilltop, …
globalresearch.ca/video-syrian-army-adva…

The Key to a Sustainable Economy Is 5,000 Years Old
Ellen Brown | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
We are again reaching the point in the business cycle known as “peak debt,” when debts have compounded to the point that their cumulative total cannot be paid. Student debt, credit card debt, auto loans, business debt and sovereign debt …
globalresearch.ca/key-sustainable-econom…

A Conspiracy Theory That Became a “Conspiracy Fact”: The CIA, Afghanistan’s Poppy Fields and America’s Growing Heroin Epidemic
Timothy Alexander Guzman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
First published by Global Research in July 2016 | The heroin epidemic resembles the days when “Crack cocaine” became the major drug that destroyed communities across the United States and other parts of the world including the Caribbean that began in …
globalresearch.ca/a-conspiracy-theory-th…

Subitamente o Ocidente já nà£o consegue derrubar “regimes”
Andre Vltchek | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Costumava ser feito regularmente e funcionava: o Ocidente identificava um país como seu inimigo, desencadeava sua propaganda profissional contra ele, a seguir administrava uma série de sanàßàµes, esfaimando e assassinando crianàßas, idosos e outros grupos vulneráveis. Se o país nà£o …
globalresearch.ca/subitamente-o-ocidente…

Mozart Piano Concerto No 15: Yeol Eum Son, the World’s Most Outstanding Pianist
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
Forget geopolitics and the World financial crisis. | Music gives us hope. Listen carefully. | By far Yeol Eum Son is among the World’s most outstanding pianists. | It is not only musical excellence and talent. | She translates her feelings into music. Her …
globalresearch.ca/mozart-piano-concerto-…

A New Novel Transcends Space and Time to Illustrate Historical Struggle
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-31
| No one writes like Peter Linebaugh. Perhaps no one would dare to write like Linebaugh, a singular quality that will be found on virtually every page of his 2019 volume Red Round Globe Hot Burning: A Tale at the Crossroads of Commons and Closure, of Love and Terror, of Race and Class, and of Kate and Ned Despard . | This is…
truthout.org/articles/a-new-novel-transc…

Bernie Sanders’ plan to phase out nuclear power draws attacks — here’s why they’re wrong
Justin Mikulka | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-31
Attacks on the Sanders’ climate plan appear to have less to do with the ongoing viability of nuclear power as a legitimate climate solution and more to do with an ongoing effort to convince the public to subsidize another unsuccessful sector of the energy industry.
nationofchange.org/2019/08/31/bernie-san…

Neoliberals’ Attack on Sanders’ GND Plan Is a Clear and Present Danger
John Atcheson | commondreams.org | 2019-08-31
Last week Bernie Sanders released his version of the Green New Deal—a $16.3 trillion 10-year plan to get down to zero carbon in the power industry and in transportation. Right on schedule, the neoliberal establishment pounced on it as “too expensive,” not “realistic” and not “prudent.”
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/31/neolib…

Brazil announces 60-Day ban on clearing land with fire
Olivia Rosane | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-31
“What we are experiencing is a genuine crisis which could become a tragedy foretold with much larger fires than the ones we are now seeing if they are not immediately halted.”
nationofchange.org/2019/08/31/brazil-ann…

U.S. Presidential Hopeful Bernie Sanders Backs Lula’s Freedom
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-31
The United States democrat presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders made statements in favor of Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva release during a political rally held in Florence, South Carolina, on August 30. | RELATED: | Brazil Supreme Court Judge Says Lula Deserves Retrial | At the event stage designated to answer questions from the audience, a young man asked the Democrat senator on his opinion regarding the emergence of far-right governments around the world. | One o…
telesurenglish.net/news/U.S.-Presidentia…

Putin Balances Turkish Fighter Jet Interest with Syria’s Fight Against Terrorism
Sarah Abed | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
On Tuesday, the biennial MAKS-2019 International Aviation and Space Show kicked off in Russia’s Zhukovsky International Airport. This important event has drawn spectators, journalists, and photographers from around the world every odd year since 1992. What began as an entertaining …
globalresearch.ca/putin-balances-turkish…

5G Wireless Technology Is War against Humanity
Claire Edwards | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
This important article was first published in February 2019. | Disclosure about 5G — and its considerable risk for humanity — is occurring within the United Nations. This is thanks to longtime UN staff member and whistle-blower Claire Edwards, who recently …
globalresearch.ca/5g-wireless-technology…

Colombia’s President “Wants War,” FARC Dissidents Comply
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-31
Colombian activist Manuel Rozental explains that the flawed 2016 peace agreement with the FARC rebels was an important step forward, but now FARC dissidents are giving in to the government’s push for more war…
therealnews.com/stories/colombias-presid…

SF Journalists Protest Detention Camps And Terror Against Immigrants
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
Journalists spoke out against the detention camps and racist attacks on immigrants and migrants. Journalists are threatened by major corporate media not to take political stands or face termination. The San Francisco Chronicle prohibits journalists and photograpers from marching in rallies. The use ] of “objective” journalism by the bosses is to shutdown free speech.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/30/1882585…

Mind+Body Fun-raiser + ZUMBATHON
Oakland Peace Center | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
Oakland Peace Center | 111 Fairmount Avenue (enter on 29th St.) | Oakland, CA 94611…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/30/1882583…

2019 Folsom Community Service Day ~ 170th Anniversary of the Gold Rush Town, Negro Bar, CA
Khubaka, Michael Harris | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
Together, we are poised for a special 170th Anniversary of Negro Bar, Sacramento County by utilizing both private and public resources to forever preserve and interpret our unique contributions to the forward flow of humanity.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/30/1882585…

Anti-War Protest: U.S. Out of Yemen
SF Demo | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
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 | Terry Scussel, Pro Bono Photo.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/29/1882581…

During Global Month of Action For Yemen, SF Protesters Make Demands of Pelosi
End the Genocide in Yemen | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
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…

People’s Park: AntiFascism and Park Defense
Anon-E-Moose | indybay.org | 2019-08-31
After anti-fascists announced plans for a rally in People’s Park, the UCB chancellor sent out a press release that the UC is determined to move forward on their plans to eradicate the park.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/31/1882586…

Macedonia Is Macedonian — Common Sense Dictates It
Bill Nicholov | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-31
If an ethnic group told you that a certain name used to describe them is deeply offensive, would you continue to use that name and even try to convince them that it is not offensive? | No. So stop calling me …
globalresearch.ca/macedonia-macedonian/5…

Hong Kong mass rally banned as Chinese troops deployed in show of force
wsws.org | 2019-08-30
Beijing is well aware that the protracted protests are being driven by underlying student and working class concerns about escalating social inequality.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/hong…

Reading the Tea Leaves in Hong Kong
Jonathan Power | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
In 1995 in a little remembered event Li Ruthuan, a member of the Chinese Politburo(containing the top seven in the government), made a speech likening the Chinese take-over of Hong Kong to the case of a lady who had agreed to sell a 100-year-old Yi-Xiang teapot that was famous for the taste of the tea it poured. Unbeknown to her, its…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/reading-the-…

Israel increases attacks on Iran allies amid deepening ties to UAE, Saudi
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-30
The recent Israeli bombings of Iranian-allied groups in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria come amid deepening ties between Israel and the…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/30/israel-attack…

Is a Rouhani-Trump Meeting Imminent?
Press TV | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-30
PressTV Interview Transcript www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qsp1UcXqEo&#038… Peter Koenig 29 August 2019 Background Tehran and Washington have been locked in a dispute since last year when the US unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear agreement and re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran. On Monday, President Donald Trump said he is ready to meet his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani within …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/is-a-rouhani-…

‘Good luck determining what happened’: Trump says US not involved in Iranian satellite ‘incident’
rt.com | 2019-08-30
US President Donald Trump denied any American involvement after reports of a failed Iranian satellite launch, in which a rocket is said to have exploded on a launch pad. Iran, meanwhile, has not issued any accusations of the sort. | In a tweet on Friday, the president assured Washington had nothing to do with the apparently botched satellite mission, and wished Tehran “good luck” in figuring out what went wrong. He also attached an image of damage done to the launch site. | “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at S…
rt.com/usa/467649-trump-us-iran-satellit…

The Amazon Inferno
Evaggelos Vallianatos | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
One of the lasting highlights of my teaching at the University of New Orleans in 1991-1992 was my travel to Brazil in January 1992 for a conference on climate change. This was a rehearsal for the June 1992 Earth Summit on Climate Change in Rio. My conference took place in Fortaleza, a beautiful town in…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/the-amazon-i…

Bolsonaro Calls On Trump To Help Put Out Amazon Fires
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro stated on Friday that he requested the U.S. help fight the fires that are currently engulfing the Amazon region. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro Attacks Blacks and Calls Brazil ‘Garbage’ | Bolsonaro said that he may have an update on his request after speaking with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump earlier in the day. | Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Bolsonaro said news on this front could materialize after Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and the pres…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bolsonaro-Calls-…

How Larry Fink, Joe Biden’s Wall Street Ally, Profits From Amazon Cattle Ranching, a Force Behind Deforestation
Robert Mackey | theintercept.com | 2019-08-30
The giant investment firm BlackRock has contributed to the climate crisis by investing in a Brazilian meatpacker, JBS, linked to Amazon deforestation.
theintercept.com/2019/08/30/amazon-rainf…

Amazon Forest: 2 Landowners Arrested for Burning 5,000 Hectares
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
Brazilian police arrested on Thursday two owners of the Ouro Verde farm for burning 5,000 hectares of forest within the Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area, at the state of Para in the southern part of the Amazon region. Authorities also found workers who remained trapped in their farm in conditions similar to slavery. | RELATED: | US Defends Brazil’s Sovereign Right To (Not) Fight Amazon Fires | Suspects are expected to respond to charges of environmental damage, pollu…
telesurenglish.net/news/Amazon-Forest-2-…

As Amazon fires rage, Bolsonaro wants more Indigenous land for business
Leo Correa, Mario Lobao, Anna Jean Kaiser | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-30
ALTAMIRA, Brazil (AP) — As fires raged in parts of the Amazon, Mydje Kayapo sat in a small boat looking out over the Curua River in the Bau indigenous reserve. The smell of smoke filled the air, and Kayapo was worried. “The fire is coming closer and closer to our reserve,” he told a visiting …
peoplesworld.org/article/as-amazon-fires…

EU Sends Technicians to Help Mitigate Fires in Bolivia
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
On Friday, seven countries representing the European Union sent squadrons of technicians to Bolivia in order to help the South American country put out the fires in the Chiquitania region located in the department of Santa Cruz. | RELATED: | Bolivia’s Amazon Fire Hotspots Reduced by 85% | According to Bolivian Foreign MInister Diego Party, the E.U. technicians were deployed to the Chiquitania region, where they are working with local civil defense teams to put out these massive forest fires. | P…
telesurenglish.net/news/EU-Sends-Technic…

Kashmiri Pride and Dignity: My Grandfather’s Dream Will Not Be Forgotten
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
In Kashmir, dissenting voices, even those of legislators and parliamentarians of opposition parties, have been muzzled. And with the lack of accountability suspension of phone and internet services in the Valley, the populace of Kashmir continues to remain incommunicado. In doing so, the federal government has ignored constitutional checks and balances that ought to prevent…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/kashmiri-pri…

India crows over US support for its assault on Kashmir
wsws.org | 2019-08-30
For almost four weeks, Jammu and Kashmir has been under a state of siege, with cell phone and internet service suspended, thousands held without charge, and security forces terrorizing the population.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/kash…

Roots of the Kashmir conflict
Siddika Degia | workers.org | 2019-08-30
The writer is a Muslim woman born in a rural village in Gujarat, India. India, one of the oldest civilizations, fell under British colonial rule starting in the late 1700s. With British imperialism came the reinforcement of dividing people by religious groups, castes, languages spoken and nationalities, so that the . . . | Continue reading Roots of the Kashmir conflict at Workers.org
workers.org/2019/08/29/roots-of-the-kash…

Millions of Residents Wait in Fear of Being Stateless in India
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
Millions of people are waiting in northeast of India with fear of being declared stateless as authorities were set to publish a citizenship list on Saturday that aims to identify as “illegal”, undocumented immigrants who have settled in the region over the past several decades. | RELATED: | India’s Top Court to Hear Challenge on Revoking of Kashmir Special Status | The preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam began in 2015 to determine “legitimate” inhabit…
telesurenglish.net/news/Millions-of-Resi…

Maduro: Venezuela-China Relations ‘At Their Best’
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
President Nicolas Maduro says he’s “determined to expand and liberate Venezuela’s production” in the face of the U.S. economic blockades being placed on the South American nation. Maduro tells Chinese media his country is “resisting” the sanctions by growing the nation’s agricultural, oil and mining sectors. | RELATED: | Venezuela Concerned About Resurgence of Conflict in Colombia | “We are determined to expand and liberate the productive forces of Venezuela, recovering macroecon…
telesurenglish.net/news/Maduro-Venezuela…

FRSO labor delegation arrives in Caracas, Venezuela
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-30
Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s trade union delegation arrived in Caracas, Venezuela for the “1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and Its People,” starting on August 29. | Delegates from most of the Latin America and Caribbean countries, as well as some other parts of the world are participating. This includes labor delegations and trade union leaders from Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Argentina, Nigeria, Portugal, France, the UK and Spain.
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/30/frso-lab…

Does scathing Comey report preview a Russiagate reckoning?
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-30
A scathing DOJ report rebukes former FBI director Jim Comey for leaks about the Trump-Russia investigation. Scholar and author Stephen…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/30/scathing-come…

Trump Hits Lebanon Bank with His Favorite Econo-Political Battering Ram
Marwa Osman | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-30
The fact that the U.S. sanctions countries whenever its president pleases could in itself be considered a hostile act. Even in wartime, these sorts of collective punishments are illegal under the Geneva Conventions.
mintpressnews.com/trump-sanctions-econom…

Solidarity on ending illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe
Amadi Ajamu | workers.org | 2019-08-30
On Aug. 18, the 39th Southern African Development Community Summit of the Heads of State and Government held in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, declared Oct. 25, A Day of Solidarity to Lift the Illegal Sanctions Imposed on Zimbabwe. The 16-member states of SADC have resolved to conduct actions in their . . . | Continue reading Solidarity on ending illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe at Workers.org
workers.org/2019/08/30/solidarity-on-end…

A Voting Calculus
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
“Reality is not always probable, or likely” Borges tells us, but we are yet, presumptuously and foolishly, driven to find a logic and its calculus, especially regarding U.S. presidential elections. And so: Immigration:…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/a-voting-cal…

Communist Party USA: 100 years in struggle for peace, democracy, socialism
People’s World Editorial Board | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-30
One hundred years ago this weekend, on Sept. 1, 1919, 128 women and men, meeting in a hall in Chicago, founded the Communist Party of America. In their founding Manifesto, the members declared: “The world is on the verge of a new era. Europe is in revolt. The masses of Asia are stirring uneasily. Capitalism …
peoplesworld.org/article/communist-party…

US escalates regime-change machinations against Venezuela
wsws.org | 2019-08-30
Having failed to instigate a military coup, the US and its puppet Juan Guaidó are attempting to flesh out a parallel government loyal to Washington.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/vene…

Make America … More Like Canada
Sam Pizzigati | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
We Americans tend not to pay much attention to our northern neighbors. Often, entire election cycles can come and go without anyone running for national office saying anything about Canada. But that’s changing. Canada now looms much larger in our politics, mainly because Canadians enjoy a health care system far superior to our own. Canada’s…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/make-america…

American service member killed in Afghanistan as Trump vows US will ‘always’ stay there
rt.com | 2019-08-30
An American serviceman was killed in Afghanistan in combat operations, NATO said in a statement. The news comes just a day after President Trump announced there would “always” be a US presence in the country. | The soldier died on Thursday during a combat mission, the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan announced in a statement on Friday, but withheld the serviceman’s identity, per the organization’s policies. | Also on rt.com | | ‘We’ll always have a presence’: Trump says 8,600 US troops will stay in Afghanistan | The serviceman is the third American fa…
rt.com/usa/467643-us-soldier-killed-afgh…

Ecuador: Ola Bini Faces New Charges Similar to Prior Ones
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-30
Ola Bini was called to appear at a court hearing in Quito on Thursday by Ecuador state prosecutors who now say they want to change the charges against the Swedish expert in open software development who has been under investigation by the government since April for supposedly “hacking” state computer systems. | RELATED: | Ecuadorean Tribunal Court Upholds Prison Order for Swedish Privacy Rights Activist Ola Bini | The hearing to change the charges…
telesurenglish.net/news/Ecuador-Ola-Bini…

Capitalism, Socialism, and Existential Despair
Chris Wright | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-30
Decades ago, Edward Said remarked that contemporary life is characterized by a “generalized condition of homelessness.” Decades earlier, Martin Heidegger had written that “Homelessness is coming to be the destiny of the world.” Around the same time, fascists were invoking the themes of blood and soil, nation, race, community, as intoxicating antidotes to the mass …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/capitalism-so…

The Hitler-Stalin Pact, Reconsidered
Louis Proyect — Pawe≈Ç Szelegieniec | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
On August 26th, an article titled “The Hitler-Stalin Pact of August 23, 1939: Myth and Reality” appeared on CounterPunch. It made many useful points about the right of the USSR to conclude a non-aggression pact with any capitalist nation in light of the invasion that nearly destroyed it in the early 1920s. While Cold War…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/the-hitler-s…

Google says hackers have been putting ‘monitoring implants’ in iPhones for years
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-30
Hackers have been using compromised websites to install “monitoring implants” in iPhones for years, according to researchers at Google.The malicious software gathers users’ images, contacts and other information.Ian Beer, from Google’s Project Zero, said in a blog post that the hacked sites had received thousands of visitors each week.Beer said: There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, to install a monitoring implant.Project Zero is the technology company’s team for examining new security vulnerabilities.B…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2019/08/3…

Hollywood reboots Russophobia for the New Cold War
Max Parry | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-30
‚ÄãIt is an age-old question as to the extent art reflects the world we live in. Bertolt Brecht allegedly said to the contrary that art was “not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” The Marxist German playwright devised theatrical methods designed to distance the audience from the …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/hollywood-reb…

Trump targets China’s century-old debt in latest trade war maneuver — report
rt.com | 2019-08-30
The Trump administration may be eyeing long-defaulted Chinese bonds as a weapon in its ongoing trade war with Beijing, according to people who hold the antique debt and say they’ve met with the president to discuss it. | Trump’s top trade warriors are “studying” the possibility of calling in century-old debts incurred by China before the nation went communist, according to a Bloomberg report published on Thursday. China doesn’t recognize the debt, of course, and decades of attempts to collect by owners of the aging bonds (which sell on eBay as collectors’ items) have amounted to naught, but with a full-blown e…
rt.com/usa/467593-trump-china-antique-de…

Trump targets China’s century-old debt in latest trade war maneuver — report
rt.com | 2019-08-30
The Trump administration may be eyeing long-defaulted Chinese bonds as a weapon in its ongoing trade war with Beijing, according to people who hold the antique debt and say they’ve met with the president to discuss it. | Trump’s top trade warriors are “studying” the possibility of calling in century-old debts incurred by China before the nation went communist, according to a Bloomberg report published on Thursday. China doesn’t recognize the debt, of course, and decades of attempts to collect by owners of the aging bonds (which sell on eBay as collectors’ items) have amounted to naught, but with a full-blown e…
rt.com/usa/467593-trump-china-antique-de…

Making a Killing From Killing
Paul Atwood | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
The “permanent warfare state” has been erected on the backs of American taxpayers by fraudulent claims of threats to our national security. In the case of “terrorists” these adversaries were the result of our own interventions in Muslim countries. In truth, no nation is, or ever has been, or ever will be capable of invading the U.S. or otherwise subjecting us to its will. Should collapse be our fate we will have none but ourselves to blame for accepting a dysfunctional system sustained by the dishonesty of our government officials and the establishment media that consistently fail to fulfill their obligation to h…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/making-a-kil…

Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament: The British ruling class declares war on democratic rights
wsws.org | 2019-08-30
The move by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to prorogue the “Mother of Parliaments” and govern by executive fiat is part of a turn toward dictatorial forms of rule by the ruling classes throughout the world.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/30/pers…

Trump’s personal assistant resigns after caught leaking information to media — report
rt.com | 2019-08-30
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s personal assistant and ‘veteran’ of the administration, has reportedly stepped down after she was accused of sharing details about the Trump family and the White House’s inner workings with media. | The scoop on Westerhout’s exit through the Trump administration’s revolving door was reported by the New York Times on Thursday. | Also on rt.com | | ‘Leaks real, the news is fake’: Reporters hit out at Trump trashing of media | US President Donald Trump was reportedly made aware of Westerhout’s ‘betrayal’ on Thursday. The woman…
rt.com/usa/467591-westerhout-resigned-tr…

A New Film Blows the Whistle on War
Ed Rampell | progressive.org | 2019-08-30
If the press is the “fourth estate,” the cinema is arguably the fifth. “Official Secrets” indicts Blair, Bush, and other mass murderers in the court of public opinion–at a theater near you.
progressive.org/dispatches/new-film-offi…

The Worker’s Friend? Here’s How Trump Has Waged His War on Workers
Steven Greenhouse | commondreams.org | 2019-08-30
Workers listen to President Donald Trump speak at the International Union of Operating Engineers International Training and Education Center in Crosby, Texas. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP Photo) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/30/worker…

Trump’s personal assistant resigns after caught leaking information to media — report
rt.com | 2019-08-30
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s personal assistant and ‘veteran’ of the administration, has reportedly stepped down after she was accused of sharing details about the Trump family and the White House’s inner workings with media. | The scoop on Westerhout’s exit through the Trump administration’s revolving door was reported by the New York Times on Thursday. | Also on rt.com | | ‘Leaks real, the news is fake’: Reporters hit out at Trump trashing of media | US President Donald Trump was reportedly made aware of Westerhout’s ‘betrayal’ on Thursday. The woman…
rt.com/usa/467591-westerhout-resigned-tr…

Let’s Make the Next Debates Good for Something
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
Do we really need three-ring circus “debates” to figure out that the only two candidates in the running for president who should be taken seriously are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren? Perhaps with Joe Biden still leading the pack; the sooner he is put back out to pasture, the better. Perhaps with Kamala Harris running…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/lets-make-th…

Trump’s Camps: the Odious Comparison
Christopher Brauchli | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
That the comparison can be made is odious–so are the conditions. So is the one imposing them. He is the most odious of all and his stench pervades the country. He wasn’t the first one to implement it when confronted by those he has made helpless. It happened in Hitler’s Germany. It was not a…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/trumps-camps…

The Great Cost and Myth of U.S. Defense Spending
Melvin Goodman | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-30
Journalists and pundits regularly refer to U.S. defense spending as greater than the next seven or eight countries. Nonsense! U.S. defense spending when correctly tabulated exceeds the defense spending of the rest of the global community. Current defense spending is greater than $1 trillion and the bipartisan support for U.S defense spending assures continued increases. Many of the largest spenders on defense, moreover, are our treaty allies.
counterpunch.org/2019/08/30/the-great-co…