President Trump Is Impeached
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-19
WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanors. | The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over the charges that the 45th president abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. Then a majority of the House approved a second charge, that he obstructed Congress in its investigation. | The ar…
truthdig.com/articles/president-trump-is…
The House Impeaches Trump
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2019-12-19
The House Impeaches Trump…
thenation.com/article/impeachment-vote-t…
House Democrats IMPEACH President Donald Trump, case now goes to US Senate
rt.com | 2019-12-19
The US House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.” The Republican-majority Senate will now take up the president’s trial. | The outcome of Wednesday’s vote came as little surprise, with the Democrat-controlled House voting along party lines in what their GOP opponents perceive as a partisan attack on a sitting US leader. | Trump thus becomes the third-ever US president to be impeached by the House, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both were acquitted in the Senate, and remained in office till the end of their ter…
rt.com/usa/476182-trump-impeachment-vote…
Tulsi Gabbard votes ‘present’ on both impeachment articles, stoking liberal ire on Twitter
rt.com | 2019-12-19
Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard has broken ranks with her party and voted “present” on two articles of impeachment, slamming the process as “partisan.” The vote drew swift condemnation from Twitter’s more progressive quarters. | Voting “present” over “yes” or “no” in Wednesday’s full House vote for two impeachment articles passed in committee last week, Gabbard became one of only a tiny minority of Democrats to swim against the current in her own party. | “I could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal…
rt.com/usa/476241-tulsi-votes-present-im…
‘Political suicide march for Democratic Party’: Trump chides House Dems after they vote to impeach him
rt.com | 2019-12-19
US President Donald Trump has come down hard on Democrats after the House voted mostly along party lines to approve articles of impeachment, arguing that with the vote they declared “hatred” and “disdain” for American voters. | Also on rt.com | | By impeaching Trump, Democrats have made him more powerful than they could ever imagine | The House voted to impeach Trump for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” Wednesday evening, paving the way for a formal trial in the Republican-majority Senate, which is expected to throw the case ou…
rt.com/usa/476242-trump-suicide-march-de…
Trump makes fascistic appeal in impeachment letter
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
While Trump is seeking to exploit the impeachment to rally a right-wing movement, the Democratic Party is fearful of and hostile to mobilizing mass popular opposition to Trump.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/trum…
Impeachment (and removal): Good for public health
LDGTHH | nationofchange.org | 2019-12-18
We need to save American lives now. The best remedy would be to annul an illegitimate election. At the very least, impeach.
nationofchange.org/2019/12/17/impeachmen…
If GOP Senate Saves Trump, He Can Face Impeachment Again, Rep. Al Green Says
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
President Donald Trump is on the cusp of being impeached by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, with a historic vote set today on whether to formally accuse him of abusing his power in dealing with Ukraine to help himself politically, and then obstructing Congress by blocking their investigation. Trump lashed out directly at the vote on Tuesday, calling the proceedings to remove him from office an “attempted coup.” Should the House approve either of the articles of impeachment, the Re…
truthout.org/video/if-gop-senate-saves-t…
Impeachment: What Lies Beneath?
Jim Kavanagh | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
The Democrats have now revealed the hand they’re going to play for impeachment. I have been vehemently arguing against playing this game and pointing out how futile it is, but, seeing the two cards actually laid out on the table, even I am gobsmacked at what a loser of a hand they’ve got.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/impeachment-…
Protests Erupt in All 50 States to Demand Impeachment of Trump
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
Hours before the expected House vote on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets across the United States Tuesday night to show Congress that there is a ” nationwide movement” behind the effort to hold the president…
truthout.org/articles/protests-erupt-in-…
The Real Shadow Policy of the Trump Administration Is Racist Extremism
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
The Democrats are pursuing two charges in their impeachment of Donald Trump: First, that the president tried to enlist Ukraine’s help for his own political gain. And second, that he’s continued to obstruct Congress in its investigation into this abuse of power. | Trump’s transformation of the Oval Office into both a branch of his business empire and the dirty tricks division of his re-election campaign is certainly disturbing. But the narrowness of these charges should not obscure the broader patte…
truthout.org/articles/the-real-shadow-po…
As House Nears Impeachment Vote, Trump Declares Disbelief
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-18
Prior to the vote on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress, the president insists on Twitter that he’s done nothing wrong.
truthdig.com/articles/as-house-convenes-…
A Modest Proposal for Improving Senate Impeachment Trials
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) makes no bones about his position on the likely upcoming impeachment trial of US president Donald Trump. “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,” he tells CNN International’s Becky Anderson. “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.” Well,…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-modest-pro…
We Must Come Together to Beat Back Neoliberal Fascism
Henry Giroux | truthdig.com | 2019-12-18
This article was originally published on Truthout. | This week in the United States, the impeachment hearings made clear that President Trump abused his office and committed a crime against the Constitution. Not only did he attempt to pressure the Ukrainian government into investigating his presidential political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in exchange for military aid, Trump also used the power of his administration to pressure loyal followers, such as Rudy Giuliani (his personal lawyer) to…
truthdig.com/articles/we-must-come-toget…
India’s Government is going to war against its own people
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2019-12-18
On December 13, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights released a powerful statement that criticized India’s new citizenship law. This “fundamentally discriminatory” Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 would expedite citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from India’s neighboring countries. But in the list of those minorities, it names only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/17/indias-governmen…
India is Gradually Leaning Toward a Dangerous Unitarianism
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
One of the unfortunate calamities of India’s historical past is that today religio-cultural tensions continue to sharpen divisions along communal lines in the country. The Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens of India have increased the impetuousness and insanity that the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/india-is-gra…
How Skewed Polling and Media Bias are Warping American Attitudes About the Green New Deal
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
What are opinion polls and what exactly do their outcomes signify? Their results are predicated on two things: 1) The level of information the respondents have been exposed to. 2) The framing of the questions on the poll. What is missing, when the media report the results of these polls, is their own failure to…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/how-skewed-p…
The US-NATO-Israel Sponsored Al Qaeda Insurgency in Syria. Who Was Behind the 2011 “Protest Movement”?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
It was not a protest movement, it was an armed insurgency integrated by US-Israeli & allied supported “jihadist” death squads. From Day One, the Islamist “freedom fighters” were supported, trained & equipped by NATO & Turkey’s High Command.
globalresearch.ca/syria-who-is-behind-th…
Boeing’s Perilous Bungling Requires New Leadership
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
The Boeing executives and marketeers responsible for over-ruling Boeing engineers on the 737 MAX are still in charge of this very troubled aerospace company. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and the rubber-stamp Board of Directors, with two trophy ambassadors, are still running Boeing — thirteen months after the deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia and nine…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/boeings-peri…
Boeing’s Perilous Bungling Requires New Leadership
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Boeing has displayed an egregious pattern of mismanagement. The company is in trouble from contractors, the Department of Defense, and NASA. California Representative John Garamendi said Boeing had “serious quality issues” with the KC-46 aerial tanker used by the military and accused the company of “pushing profits over quality and safety.” According to NASA’s Inspector General Paul Martin, NASA “essentially paid Boeing higher prices to address a schedule slippage caused by Boeing’s 13-month delay.”
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/boeings-peri…
Afghanistan War — The Crime of the Century
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
“We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan. We didn’t know what we were doing.” So said Gen. Douglas Lute, who oversaw the US war on Afghanistan under Presidents Bush and Obama. Eighteen years into the longest war …
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-war-crime-…
Afghan Papers Inadvertently Document WaPo’s Role in Spreading Official Lies
Joshua Cho | fair.org | 2019-12-18
by Joshua Cho To get the secret history of the media’s role in the Afghan War, you have to compare the Washington Post’s Afghanistan Papers ( 12/9/19) with what…
fair.org/home/afghan-papers-inadvertentl…
What Everyone Is Missing About the Afghanistan Papers
Darius Shahtahmasebi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
If you need more proof that lawmakers in the U.S. couldn’t care less about America’s woeful commitment to human rights abroad–or even care about the public who vote them into office–look no further than the recent Afghanistan papers and the …
globalresearch.ca/what-everyone-missing-…
WW editorial: Fight for socialism enters new decade
Minnie Bruce Pratt | workers.org | 2019-12-18
We are coming to the end of another year, another decade. What are the significant events to consider? The U.S. war on Afghanistan, begun in 2001, continued, while the bankruptcy of U.S. imperialism was recently revealed by the Washington Post in “The Afghanistan Papers.” This review of internal U.S. government . . . | Continue reading WW editorial: Fight for socialism enters new decade at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/44953/
AMLO Is Bringing New Hope to Mexico
Rick Sterling | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Jeremy Corbyn lost the election but one of his political friends, the progressive Mexican leader named Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been in power for one year. He is carrying out the plans and priorities described in his 2018 …
globalresearch.ca/amlo-is-bringing-new-h…
I Never Saw a World So Fragmented!
Andre Vltchek | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
It is amazing how easily, without resistance, the Western empire is managing to destroy “rebellious” countries that are standing in its way. | I work in all corners of the planet, wherever Kafkaesque “conflicts” get ignited by Washington, London or Paris….
globalresearch.ca/never-saw-world-so-fra…
Genocide, Sanctions and Incirlik: Erdoğan Will Not Kick Out NATO from Its Bases Despite Threats
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoƒüan has dropped a bombshell by announcing that he could shut down the NATO-controlled Incirlik airbase that hosts U.S. nuclear bombs and the U.S. missile warning radar at Kurecik military base, in response to Washington’s threats …
globalresearch.ca/genocide-sanctions-inc…
US War Budget Bill with Anti-Russia, Anti-Turkey, Anti-Syria Provisions
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
So-called annual US National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) are all about enriching the nation’s military, industrial, security complex by prioritizing militarism and endless wars of aggression against invented enemies to advance the nation’s imperium. | NDAA measures are hostile to peace, …
globalresearch.ca/us-war-budget-bill-ant…
Video: Russia Deploys its Uran-9 Combat Robots in Syria
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
In late 2019, photos and footage showing Russia’s Uran-9 combat robot deployed in Syria appeared online. They became a rare visual evidence of the Uran-9 combat deployment in the war-torn country, which, according to official sources, took place in 2018….
globalresearch.ca/video-uran-9-combat-ro…
Video: Assad Sends Warning to US Forces in Syria. The Looting of Syria’s Oilfields
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The US-led coalition is selling oil looted at oilfields in southern Deir Ezzor to Turkey, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with China’s Phoenix Television. Assad said that “the Turkish regime plays a direct part in selling the …
globalresearch.ca/video-assad-sends-warn…
The insider: How national security mandarins groomed Pete Buttigieg and managed his future
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2019-12-18
Pledging to “end endless wars,” Pete Buttigieg claims he has “never been part of the Washington establishment.” But years before…
thegrayzone.com/2019/12/17/national-secu…
Getting away with murder: ‘clash’ as media euphemism for ‘massacre’
Alan MacLeod | mronline.org | 2019-12-18
After deposing Evo Morales in a U.S.-backed coup November 11, Bolivia’s military selected Jeanine Añez as president. Añez immediately signed a decree pre-exonerating security forces of all crimes during their “re-establishment of order,” understood by all sides as a license to kill. Those same forces have now conducted massacres of Morales supporters near the cities […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/18/getting-away-wit…
Ousted President Evo Morales Says Transnational Corporations, US Gov’t Were Behind Bolivia Coup
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-18
In a tell-all interview with Glen Greenwald from Mexico, ousted Bolivian President Evo Morales recounted the US’ heavy hand in fomenting a coup in his country and the reasons behind it.
mintpressnews.com/bolivia-evo-morales-in…
De-Facto Bolivian President to Issue Arrest Warrant for Morales
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The self-proclaimed president of Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez, said on Saturday that an arrest warrant could be issued for the democratically elected President, Evo Morales, in the coming days. | “If he has to come to Bolivia, he knows that | …
globalresearch.ca/de-facto-bolivian-pres…
Honduras: More Than 100 Children Died of Dengue During 2019
teleSUR, jg-JF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-18
Honduras’ Health Ministry Tuesday published an epidemiological report revealing that 177 people have died from dengue during 2019, a figure which includes 101 cases of children. | RELATED: | Honduras: 7 Sentenced in Murder Case of Environmental Activist | The Arbovirosis Surveillance coordinator Gustavo Urbina explained that no more deaths have been…
telesurenglish.net/news/more-than-100-ch…
Free Julian Assange, Before It’s Too Late. Sign to Stop the USA Extradition
change | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Julian Assange has been forcibly removed from political asylum and has been arrested. He is no longer in the Ecuadorian Embassy and instead is in British police custody. Julian Assange now faces the prospect of extradition to the USA to …
globalresearch.ca/free-julian-assange-st…
“Sweden’s Government Skips Answering Questions on Its Aid to the Allies of al-Qaeda in Syria”
Patrik Paulov | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Why has Sweden been very tight-lipped about and shied away from publically talking about its aid to what it prefers to call Syrian ‘opposition’ during the 8-year terror war on Syria? And has Swedish tax money benefited terrorists? | This topic, …
globalresearch.ca/sweden-government-skip…
Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary
Deirdre Griswold | workers.org | 2019-12-18
Growth. Atlanta climate crisis protest, Sept. 27. Every day, the price of stocks on Wall Street go up and down depending on the growth of the economy. Growth of mineral extraction, growth of agriculture, growth of manufacturing and especially growth of sales and growth of capital. When growth slows down, . . . | Continue reading Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/44941/
Saudi Oil Attack and Choreographed Protests in Iran-aligned Countries
Nauman Sadiq | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Since the planting of limpet mines on oil tankers off the coast of the UAE in May, the subsequent downing of the US surveillance drone in the Persian Gulf and the brazen attack on the Abqaiq petroleum facility and the …
globalresearch.ca/saudi-oil-attack-chore…
Catalonia: Pro-Independence Rally at Real Madrid Soccer Match
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-18
Over 32,000 Catalans have confirmed their participation in the pro-independence rally that will be staged two hours before the Real Madrid and Barcelona soccer match begins at the Nou Stadium in Barcelona at 6: 00 pm local time on Wednesday. | RELATED: | Spain: Catalan Parliament Presses for Independence | This protest was summoned by the “Democratic Tsunami” (Tsunami Democrà tic), which is a pro-independence movement that seeks to make people aware of the Catalonian struggle. | Barcelona a…
telesurenglish.net/news/Catalonia-Pro-In…
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Spends Her Birthday Imprisoned
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-18
Military whistleblower Chelsea Manning spent her 32nd birthday behind bars yesterday for continuing to refuse to testify against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange. She has been in prison since May after a U.S. District Judge ordered her incarceration for not recognizing the legitimacy of the grand jury. She tweeted that she was grateful for t…
mintpressnews.com/whistleblower-chelsea-…
Brisbane forum calls for broad support for Assange and Manning
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The resolution adopted by the forum focussed on the need to take the defence of the WikiLeaks founder out to the working class globally.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/foru…
The Richest Country’s Empty Plates. 50 Million Hungry Americans
Larry Romanoff | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
In July of 2013, Rose Aguilar wrote a wonderful article for al-Jazeera (1), in which she discussed the dire hunger crisis that envelops the US today. In her article, she brought back a memory of something I had long forgotten, …
globalresearch.ca/richest-country-empty-…
Legislation on Surprise Medical Bills Gains Momentum in Congress
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
After months of hearings and negotiations, millions of dollars in attack ads, full-court press lobbying efforts and countless rounds of negotiations, Congress appeared to be moving toward a solution to the nation’s surprise medical bill problem. Sort of. | Surprise bills, the often-exorbitant medical bills that come when a patient doesn’t realize they’ve been seen by a provider outside their insurance network, have in recent months been viewed as public enemy No. 1 on Capitol Hill. | Two committees, the…
truthout.org/articles/legislation-on-sur…
The US’ Impending Nord Stream II Sanctions Support the Three Seas Initiative
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Trump is expected to sign into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2020 which mandates the imposition of sanctions on companies involved in Nord Stream II’s construction, but while this crafty move isn’t expected to seriously impede the project …
globalresearch.ca/us-impending-nord-stre…
North Korean-US tensions rise as end-of-year deadline approaches
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
In the absence of any US sanctions’ relief or meaningful talks, North Korea has threatened to resume its nuclear- and missile-testing program.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/nkor…
Driver’s Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants Approved in New York, New Jersey
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
People in New York and New Jersey are celebrating two victories for immigrants’ rights. In New York, thousands of undocumented people waited in line for hours at Departments of Motor Vehicles on Monday to apply for a driver’s license, as the “Green Light Law” went into effect six months after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it. The law allows undocumented people to apply for a driver’s license using alternative forms of identification instead of providing a Social Security Number. Meanwhil…
truthout.org/video/drivers-licenses-for-…
$1.4 Trillion Spending Bill Will Boost War Budget and Fund Trump’s Wall
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
The leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus condemned the $1.4 trillion spending package that passed the House Tuesday, calling the legislation a massive giveaway to the Pentagon an…
truthout.org/articles/1-4-trillion-spend…
The Stubborn Persistence of the Military-Industrial State
William Hartung | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
I’ve been writing critiques of the Pentagon, the national security state, and America’s never-ending military overreach since at least 1979 — in other words, virtually my entire working life. In those decades, there were moments when positive changes did occur. They ranged from ending the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1994 and halting U.S.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/the-stubborn…
Revving the Solar Engine to Support Local Jobs, Clean Energy
Orion Thornton | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Of all the federal government programs struggling out there, there’s one that’s actually working — the federal investment tax credit (ITC) for renewable energy systems. The ITC is a federal incentive for homeowners, businesses, farmers and ranchers that is reducing the cost of going solar and helping increase the amount of clean energy installed around the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/revving-the-…
The Very Bad Space Force Deal
Karl Grossman | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Unless grassroots action somehow stops it, it looks likely that the Trump scheme for a Space Force, a sixth branch of United States armed forces, will happen. The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the $738 billion military policy bill that gives Trump his sought-for Space Force as he moves for what he terms…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/the-very-bad…
A Totalitarian Republic?
Dan Corjescu | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Faction: A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community –James Madison The executive of the modern state is but…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-totalitari…
A Mined History: The Bougainville Referendum
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
It would be an understatement to claim that Bougainville, that blighted piece of autonomous territory in Papua New Guinea, had been through a lot. Companies have preyed upon its environment with extractive hunger. Wars and civil strife have beset its infrastructure and economy. Some 900 kilometres from the PNG mainland, it has been what might…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-mined-hist…
Sin Taxes & Other Orwellian Methods of Compliance That Feed the Government’s Greed
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/sin-taxes-ot…
US Senate: Republicans Pass Bill Creating Trump’s ‘Space Force’
teleSUR, jg, JF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-18
The U.S. Senate Tuesday approved to pass a US$738 billion defense policy bill that creates President Donald Trump’s “Space Force” and gives federal employees 12 weeks of paid paternity leave. | RELATED: | US Congress Rejects $175m Funding for Middle East ‘Deal of the Century’ | The Republican-controlled Senate voted 86-8 in favor of th…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-senate-passed…
Overlooked Congressional Rebuke of Trump’s Position on Israeli Settlements
James J. Zogby | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The most stunning rebuke to the Trump Administration’s unilateral effort to legitimise Israeli settlements did not come from Arab and European leaders. Over the years, their statements of condemnation have become so predictable that both Israel and the US routinely …
globalresearch.ca/overlooked-congression…
Moratorium on 5G: American Scientists, Doctors and Healthcare Practitioners’ Letter to President Trump
Environmental Health Trust | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
A broad coalition of scientists, doctors and advocates sent a National 5G Resolution letter to President Trump demanding a moratorium on 5G until potential hazards for human health and the environment have been fully investigated by scientists independent from the …
globalresearch.ca/dozens-us-doctors-heal…
Scotland to Push for Second Independence Referendum Post-election
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The Scottish independence movement has come a long way since I was a child. A few decades ago the Scottish National Party was on the fringes of politics and even when the Scottish parliament was founded, it was a Labour …
globalresearch.ca/scotland-push-second-i…
400,000-plus Blast Trump Administration Plan for Old-growth Clearcutting in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
More than 400,000 people and dozens of local tribal, government, business and national recreation groups have flooded the U.S. Forest Service with comments opposing its plan to undo safeguards that prevent clearcutting and road building in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. …
globalresearch.ca/400000-plus-blast-trum…
The Crumbling of America
Larry Romanoff | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
In June of 2013 an Interstate bridge on a main commercial corridor between Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, Canada, collapsed and fell into the river below after being hit by a truck. This was not a high-speed collision; the truck simply …
globalresearch.ca/crumbling-america/5698…
Boris Johnson’s Britain
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Britain is looking drenched at the moment; colours blue and yellow seem to be streaking through the country. The Scottish Nationalists have re-asserted control lost to the Conservatives in 2016. In the rest of the country, seats never touched by …
globalresearch.ca/boris-johnson-britain/…
The E-cigarette Vape Increases Potential for Lung Bacteria to Cause Harm and Increase Inflammation. New Research
Queen’s University Belfast News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have discovered that bacteria often found in the lungs became more harmful and caused increased inflammation when they were exposed to e-cigarette vape. | The results of the three-year study, published today (Wednesday 18 December) in …
globalresearch.ca/new-research-shows-e-c…
GM Oshawa auto assembly ends production, eliminating 5,000 jobs
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The Unifor union suppressed all opposition to the closure of the factory while stoking animosity toward Mexican autoworkers.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/osha…
US Army XVIII Airborne Corp posts sympathetic portrayal of Nazi war criminal on Facebook
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The publication of a glowing portrayal of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper by the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corp’s Facebook page exposes a constituency within the military for fascism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/face…
China withdraws request for UNSC meeting over Kashmir after France says it’s a bilateral issue — report
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Beijing reportedly withdrew its request for a UN Security Council meeting on the Kashmir issue after other members, led by France, shot down the proposal, insisting the dispute should thrashed out between India and Pakistan. | The meeting was slated for Tuesday and would have been the second closed-door meeting of the UNSC on Kashmir since consultations were first held on August 16. The situation has flared up since India revoked the region’s decades-old special autonomy on August 5. New Delhi argued that the move would help to combat terrorism and boost the region’s economy as a result of better integration w…
rt.com/news/476150-kashmir-un-meeting-ca…
Bolivian AG orders arrest of ousted president Morales over ‘terrorism’
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Bolivia’s coup-imposed government now has a court order for the arrest of former President Evo Morales, issued on the grounds of his alleged incitement of riots and “terrorism” in the divided South American nation. | A photo of the arrest order has been shared on Twitter by Arturo Murillo, the interior minister of the “transitional” government of Jeanine Anez. He had previously promised to jail Morales “for the rest of his life,” calling him a “terrorist.” | Gobierno interino de Bolivia gira orden de aprehensión contra Evo Morales por sedición y terrorismo | El Ministro de Gobierno boliviano, Arturo Murillo, d…
rt.com/news/476221-bolivia-orders-arrest…
“Not the End of It”: If GOP Senate Saves Trump, Rep. Al Green Says He Can Face Impeachment Again
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-18
President Donald Trump is on the cusp of being impeached by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, with a historic vote set today on whether to formally accuse him of abusing his power in dealing with Ukraine to help himself politically, and then obstructing Congress by blocking their investigation. Trump lashed out directly at the vote on Tuesday, calling the proceedings to remove him from office an “attempted coup.” Should the House approve either of the articles of impeachment, the Republican-controlled Senate will hold a trial with all 100 senators acting as jurors, with a two-thirds supermajority…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/18/not_the_…
Impeachment Day? House Votes on Charging Trump with Abuse of Power & Obstruction of Justice
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-18
As thousands of protesters rally to impeach President Trump in cities across the country ahead of a vote today on impeachment by the full Democrat-controlled House, we hold a roundtable discussion with Rep. Al Green of Texas, who became the first member of Congress to call for impeachment from the floor of the House of Representatives in 2017; Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent and Supreme Court reporter for Slate, host of the “Amicus” podcast; and Mark Green, co-author of “Fake President: Decoding Trump’s Gaslighting, Corruption, and General Bullsh*t.”
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/18/impeachm…
Democrats Take a Small Step Toward Decriminalizing Sex Work
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-18
Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren appear to be reconsidering their votes for a 2018 package of laws known as SESTA-FOSTA that is widely criticized by activists and the media for shutting down websites that sex workers use to screen clients and make thei…
truthout.org/articles/democrats-take-a-s…
Deficit hawks once again show their hypocrisy on military spending
Bernie Sanders | zcomm.org | 2019-12-18
Instead of massive spending on a bloated military budget, tax breaks for billionaires and huge subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, we need to invest in the working families of this country and protect the most vulnerable…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/deficit-hawks-once…
Remembering America’s First (and Longest) Forgotten War on Tribal Islamists
Danny Sjursen | zcomm.org | 2019-12-18
It Was “Progress” All the Way Then, Too…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/remembering-americ…
Starmer praises Corbyn’s ‘radicalism’ as Blair blusters from the sidelines
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-12-18
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has warned Labour must not “oversteer” away from the left wing politics of Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of the party’s crushing general election defeat.Starmer, who confirmed he was “seriously considering” a run for the leadership, said Corbyn had been right to make Labour an “anti-austerity” party.In a clear attempt to distance himself from the legacy of Tony Blair, he said the party could not afford to go back to “some bygone age”.His intervention came as the former prime minister delivered a crushing verdict on Labour’s election performance, saying the party had gone into the…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/12/18/starmer-…
Brexit Won’t Deliver Sovereignty…And Neither Will Far-Right Movements Anywhere
Graham MacPhee | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Graham MacPhee is a professor of English at West Chester University. He writes on British identity, politics, and culture, and is the author most recently of Postwar British Literature and Postcolonial Studies and co-editor of Empire and After: Englishness in Postcolonial Perspective.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/brexit-wont-…
Brexit and the Collapse of British Labour: A Post-Mortem on the UK Election
Dr. Jack Rasmus | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
On December 12, 2019, the British parliamentary election gave conservative Boris Johnson a big victory, and leveled an historic defeat on the British Labour Party not witnessed since 1935. Johnson now has an absolute majority in Parliament and his quick …
globalresearch.ca/brexit-collapse-britis…
WATCH: The House of Representatives Considers Articles of Impeachment
The Nation | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
WATCH: The House of Representatives Considers Articles of Impeachment…
thenation.com/article/house-representati…
What ‘The New York Times’ Got Wrong on Bolivia
Greg Grandin | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
What ‘The New York Times’ Got Wrong on Bolivia…
thenation.com/article/bolivia-times-mora…
America’s First ‘Endless War’ Was Fought in the Philippines
Danny Sjursen | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
America’s First ‘Endless War’ Was Fought in the Philippines…
thenation.com/article/moro-war-tomdispat…
Will the Sanders/Warren Truce Hold On Debate Night?
Jeet Heer | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
Will the Sanders/Warren Truce Hold On Debate Night?
thenation.com/article/warren-sanders-dem…
Every Generation Gets Its Own ‘Little Women’
Erin Schwartz | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
Every Generation Gets Its Own ‘Little Women’…
thenation.com/article/little-women-film-…
Trump Creates a New Nation
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The pandering by Donald Trump and those around him to Israel and to some conservative American Jews is apparently endless. Last Wednesday the president signed an executive order that is intended to address alleged anti-Semitism on college campuses by cutting …
globalresearch.ca/trump-creates-new-nati…
Donald Trump says all US administrations ‘abused power’… hours before his House impeachment vote
rt.com | 2019-12-18
US President Donald Trump has slammed his expected impeachment as a sham “to get at the President” with a “vague abuse of power” — that he claims all White House administrations have engaged in. | The US President launched his scathing Twitter attack at his political opponents ahead of a historic House of Representatives vote on Wednesday on whether to impeach him. While on the one hand he said he “did nothing wrong” as president, on the other he somehow admitted that there had been a “vague” abuse of power which had apparently always happened in the past. | Trump tweeted: “They just wanted to get at the…
rt.com/usa/476205-trump-power-abuse-impe…
Poetic revenge: GOP’s impeachment-themed Christmas POEM has Twitter spitting out its eggnog
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Spreading some Christmas spirit, the GOP House Oversight Committee has posted a lengthy impeachment-themed holiday poem. While the verses may not pass muster with Yeats or Milton, Twitter received the gift with glee — mostly. | Written along the lines of Clement Clarke Moore’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ the Republican committee shared the satirical poem to Twitter on Tuesday night in nine parts, poking fun at members of the Democratic “Coastal Impeachment Squad,” and taking special pleasure in mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. | “‘Twas the night before #impeachment and all through the House, P…
rt.com/usa/476147-republican-committee-i…
‘Our beautiful flag & republic’: Pelosi panders patriotically in impeachment debate kickoff, triggering Republican rage
rt.com | 2019-12-18
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi waxed poetic about American democracy in her opening remarks to the House debate on the impeachment of President Donald Trump, infuriating Republicans (and the man himself), who slammed her “hypocrisy.” | Pelosi warned that “our founders’ vision of a republic is under threat from the White House,” calling Trump “an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections, the basis of our democracy” as the House embarked on a six-hour debate that would culminate in voting on the articles of impeachment on Wednesday. | These were no mere opinions, the California D…
rt.com/usa/476222-pelosi-impeachment-deb…
‘Mind your business’: Mixed reaction in India after 19 American universities condemn police amid Citizenship Act protests
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Students and faculties from more than a dozen American universities have produced a joint statement decrying police abuses on Indian college campuses. However, not everybody has welcomed the message from abroad. | A collective effort of several top schools, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Stanford, the 400 signatories voiced “solidarity” with demonstrators protesting the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act and slammed police excesses in quelling the unrest. | We express full solidarity with students across universities in India who are peacefully protesting against the recent passing of the unconst…
rt.com/news/476148-us-universities-india…
Blair decries Corbyn’s ‘terminal ineptitude’ as leader of a cult-like, ‘glorified protest movement’ Labour Party
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Tony Blair, the former Labour Party leader and British prime minister from 1997 to 2007, has warned that his party is “marooned on fantasy island” and faces an existential crisis as a result of its shift towards the far left. | Pulling no punches in a speech in central London Wednesday morning, Blair claimed that the rout of Corbyn’s Labour Party in last week’s UK general election was “no ordinary defeat.” | “The takeover of the Labour Party by the far left turned it into a glorified protest movement with cult trimmings, utterly incapable of being a credible government,” he said. | “The result has brought sham…
rt.com/uk/476175-blair-corbyn-terminal-i…
President of China Media Group: Western Media are ‘going too far’ in their coverage of Hong Kong
rt.com | 2019-12-18
According to a Sino-Italian news app, on December 15, the head of China Media Group, Shen Haixiong, gave an exclusive interview to TGCOM 24, a channel owned by Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster, ‚ÄéMediaset S.p.A.‚Äé | When asked whether Chinese and Western media were covering the events in Hong Kong in an unbiased and objective manner, Shen Haixiong replied that some Western broadcasters are “going too far” in their reporting of the situation, clearly favoring one side over the other. | “For example, they don’t show you young people picking fights with the police or ot…
rt.com/sponsored-content/476160-western-…
British NHS ‘completely contaminated’ by private industry — John Pilger
rt.com | 2019-12-18
The UK national healthcare system has been infested by insatiable corporatism to the detriment of its patients, award-winning journalist John Pilger told RT. He warns that the situation is now set to get even worse. | The National Health System (NHS) is on the edge the abyss and simple funding increase would hardly resolve this issue, the BAFTA award-winning documentary filmmaker told RT’s Going Underground. The problem? UK healthcare has been plagued with a systemic flaw and its name is “corporate managerial culture that is rife throughout the NHS.” | ‘Destructive corporatism’: | Pilger believes that…
rt.com/uk/476229-john-pilger-uk-nhs-corp…
Poland may leave EU due to simmering row over judicial reform — supreme court
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Poland may be forced to part ways with the EU if a controversial judicial reform championed by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) comes to fruition, despite vocal opposition from Brussels, Poland’s Supreme Court warned on Tuesday. | “Contradictions between Polish law and EU law… will in all likelihood lead to an intervention by the EU institutions regarding an infringement of the EU treaties, and in the longer perspective [will lead to] the need to leave the European Union,” said the court, which has been at odds with the right-wing government since 2015, when PiS rose to power. | EU institutions, namely…
rt.com/newsline/476145-poland-leaves-eu-…
Russia’s new 5gen supersonic stealth Su-57 fighter jets ace all objectives in Syria trials — Chief of Staff
rt.com | 2019-12-18
The testing of Russia’s most advanced combat aircraft has yielded superb results, a senior military official has revealed, as the stealth aircraft enters its mass-production phase. | The jets “have successfully accomplished all of their tasks” during trials in Syria, Chief of General Staff General Valery Gerasimov told a group of foreign military attachés on Wednesday. | Gerasimov said that the campaign against militants in Syria has provided a “new impetus for further improvement” of all types of weaponry, including airborne. He added that the Air Force has taken delivery of 139 warplanes of various de…
rt.com/russia/476166-russia-su57-jets-sy…
World powers haven’t backed refugee ‘safe zone’ in N. Syria, Erdogan says
rt.com | 2019-12-18
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said world powers have not yet offered any support for his planned “safe zone” in northern Syria, where Turkey intends to resettle a million Syrian refugees, according to broadcaster NTV. | “Not even the countries we regard as the most powerful and respected have come out yet in response to our call on the safe zone,” Erdogan was quoted on Wednesday as telling reporters in Geneva, where he attended the Global Forum on Refugees. | Ankara has said the zone will let refugees camped out in its territory to return safely to their own country, and help secure its border with Syria. | W…
rt.com/newsline/476186-world-refugee-syr…
Newsweek trusts Bellingcat more than Reuters — journalist who quit over ‘suppressed’ OPCW story to RT
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Blind trust in controversial ‘citizen investigation’ outlet Bellingcat prompted Newsweek editors to drop a report on the latest OPCW leaks, the author of the piece who resigned from the magazine after the incident told RT. | Tareq Haddad announced his resignation from Newsweek last week, accusing the magazine of “suppressing” his attempt to report on a leaked email casting doubts on the results of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigation into an April 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria, which allegedly killed dozens of civilians. The OPCW sent a fact-finding mission to th…
rt.com/news/476137-newsweek-bellingcat-o…
Ex-Pussy Riot star Alekhina ‘arrested for defending political prisoners’ in Moscow – reports
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Maria Alekhina, a Russian political activist best known for her role in ‘punk band’ Pussy Riot, for which she served a prison term, says she has been arrested by Moscow police. | Alekhina was taken to a precinct on Wednesday, she told Mediazona, an outlet founded by fellow Pussy Riot organizer Petr Verzilov, and TV channel Dozhd. She said the police want to question her over a protest event she participated in mid-November. | The protest involved hanging a banner showing photos of ten people, who Alekhina and other activists call political prisoners, from a bridge in front of the Kremlin. Another organizer, co…
rt.com/russia/476194-pussy-riot-alekhina…
That’s what the man says: Kremlin backs top general’s assessment that NATO is drilling for large-scale war
rt.com | 2019-12-18
The Kremlin has said that it trusts the opinion of a senior Russian general, who has said that NATO’s intensified drills this year are an indication that the military bloc is preparing for a major conflict. | Valery Gerasimov, the chair of the Russian General Staff, shared the wary view that the Russian military have about NATO’s maneuvers on Tuesday as he gave a year-end briefing to foreign military attaches in Moscow. | Also on rt.com | | Intensified drills on Russia’s doorstep indicate NATO is gearing up for major conflict — Moscow’s top general…
rt.com/news/476178-nato-big-war-kremlin/
US opposes lifting UN sanctions on key Pyongyang exports
rt.com | 2019-12-18
The United States opposed on Tuesday a draft resolution proposed by China and Russia that would terminate UN sanctions on key North Korean exports. Washington called the measure “premature,” citing Pyongyang’s threat to conduct “an escalated provocation,” AP reports. | The draft resolution circulated to UN Security Council members would terminate sanctions on North Korean exports including textiles and seafood with the intent of enhancing the livelihood of the civilian population. | It would also lift a ban on North Koreans working overseas and terminate a decision to repatriate all those earning income abroad…
rt.com/newsline/476159-us-sanctions-un-k…
Fake GRU agent with crush on last Tsar detained over weapons & accused of raping own daughter he fathered with cousin ‘wife’
rt.com | 2019-12-18
A seemingly respectable religious family is suspected of hiding a despicable story of domestic abuse and incestuous rape. Police have already arrested the father for stashing an illegal arsenal of firearms. | If all details about the 10-member family at the center of the story currently floating around in the media are confirmed, it may well give fodder to a horror movie script. Officials have, so far, been restrained in their reporting, but what they said is already disturbing. | On Monday evening, police went to the family home in the village of Khimozi, which is located some 30km (18.6 miles) south of St. P…
rt.com/russia/476174-gru-child-rapist-ar…
100-strong terrorist cell busted in Russian prison where management was on the take — investigators
rt.com | 2019-12-18
A wide-ranging probe involving multiple agencies has busted a large terrorist cell operating inside a prison in southern Russia. Senior management at the jail stand accused of taking bribes to turn a blind eye. | The jihadist ring was organized by a man from the southern republic of Dagestan, who was serving a sentence for illegal possession of firearms, Russian law enforcement said on Wednesday. | Footage of police action relevant to the case published by the Investigative Committee. | The prison where he was serving his term is located in Kalmykia, a region just north of Dagestan. Since his arrival in 201…
rt.com/russia/476199-terrorist-ring-russ…
Russia’s crude oil output could surpass 12 million bpd by 2035
rt.com | 2019-12-18
Russia’s crude oil and condensate production could rise to more than 12 million bpd by 2035, if global demand for liquid hydrocarbons continues to grow, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, said in a new forecast. | In the report ‘Major Trends in the Global Liquid Hydrocarbon Market to 2035,’ Lukoil has modeled three different scenarios for Russia’s opportunities and challenges in oil production in the long term. | The ‘Equal Opportunities’ scenario considers that global oil and gas demand will rise and Russia ca…
rt.com/business/476181-russia-oil-output…
Germany’s Spiegel brushes off Browder’s complaint about ‘misrepresenting’ Magnitsky story
rt.com | 2019-12-18
British investor Bill Browder has lashed out at Der Spiegel weekly by accusing it of distorting the story of the death of his auditor Sergey Magnitsky. The outlet maintains it is Browder who has some questions to answer. | Der Spiegel published an investigative bombshell last month, detailing various flaws in the story about Magnitsky’s death that Browder — a US-born investor who became Russian President Vladimir Putin’s self-proclaimed “enemy number one” — used to convince Western governments to impose sanctions against Russian officials over supposedly endemic human rights violations. | Also on rt.
rt.com/news/476138-spiegel-browder-magni…
European planet-studying spacecraft launches from S. America atop Russian Soyuz rocket
rt.com | 2019-12-18
A European spacecraft launched from South America on Wednesday on a three-year mission to study planets in other solar systems. The Characterizing ExOPlanets Satellite (CHEOPS) mission blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana at 08: 54 GMT atop a Russian Soyuz rocket, AP reports. | The launch came 24 hours after a first attempt was delayed shortly before liftoff because of a software problem in the upper stage of the rocket. | The satellite is the first mission dedicated to studying bright nearby stars that are already known to have planets, and will focus on “planets in the super-Earth to Neptune size range,” th…
rt.com/newsline/476172-european-satellit…
US sanctions won’t stop completion of Russian natural gas pipeline to Europe — Kremlin
rt.com | 2019-12-18
The latest US sanctions targeting Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will deliver natural gas to Germany, will not stop the project, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. | “We assume that [Nord Stream 2] will be completed,” he told journalists when asked whether Washington’s potential sanctions might result in construction being suspended. | Peskov’s comments followed the approval of a bill by the US Senate, which would sanction companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2. It is expected to be signed by US President Donald Trump later this week. | Also on rt.com…
rt.com/business/476171-nord-stream2-us-s…