Two tactics in the fight against Trump and the right
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-20
On December 18 the U.S. House of Representatives voted by a 230-197 margin to impeach President Donald Trump. The day before, thousands of people turned out at hundreds of protests across the country to support the impeachment effort. | Trump was impeached by a party-line vote on two counts: first, for abuse of power after he withheld military aid from the Ukraine in an effort to get the government there to investigate Joe Biden’s son for corruption; and second, for obstruction of justice because of his campaign to cover up his actions. | What was not voted on were Trump’s many other crimes against the people, in…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/20/two-tac…
The Fix is In
Richard Ward | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The impeachment and trial of Donald Trump is aimed as much at Bernie Sanders (and, to a lesser extent, Liz Warren, though she’s rapidly falling in line with the establishment) as it is at the President, if indeed it is aimed at him at all. As is often said, the Democratic Party establishment would rather…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-fix-is-i…
The Radical Underuse of Impeachment
David Swanson | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Al Capone wasn’t prosecuted for tax evasion because it’s cool or smart or strategic to prosecute murderers for lesser crimes, but because proving murder in court was going to be more difficult. That’s not analogous to a Congressional impeachment, but the opposite of how Congress operates. Congress sits on indisputable evidence of the greatest crimes…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-radical-…
DNC Should Change Its Process to Stop Shutting Out Candidates of Color
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
Within a day of President Trump’s impeachment, the Democratic presidential candidates held their final debate of the year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. On the stage were Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang. Amna Nawaz, the first Pakistani American and first Muslim American to moderate a presidential primary debate, questioned Yang about being the only no…
truthout.org/video/dnc-should-change-its…
As Democratic Field Gets Whiter, DNC Should “Press Pause” & Fix Process Shutting Out People of Color
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
Within a day of President Trump’s impeachment, the Democratic presidential candidates held their final debate of the year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. On the stage were Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang. Amna Nawaz, the first Pakistani American and first Muslim American to moderate a presidential primary debate, questioned Yang about being the only nonwhite candidate on the stage. We get response from Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/democrat…
Debate: Is Impeachment the Best Way to Get Rid of Trump
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-20
Jacobin Magazine hosted articles on either side, Real News now hosts their debate. Does Impeachment make any sense? Yes or No?
therealnews.com/stories/debate-is-impeac…
Impeachment: The road to nowhere leads to . . . nowhere
Richard Becker | liberationnews.org | 2019-12-20
Capping months of mind-numbingly repetitive “debates,” the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted on Dec. 17 to impeach President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
liberationnews.org/impeachment-the-road-…
Marjorie Cohn, Dorothee Benz on Impeachment
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-12-20
Media…
fair.org/home/marjorie-cohn-dorothee-ben…
One day after impeachment: Democrats back Trump trade, budget bills
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
One day after the US House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against President Trump, the House passed Trump’s top policy priority for 2019, the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, by a massive bipartisan margin.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/trad…
The Hill Can’t Stop Spreading Misinformation About Trump’s Impeachment
Parker Molloy | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
As has been the case throughout his presidency, The Hill tends to take everything Trump and his allies say at face value, sharing their statements repeatedly without indicating whether they’re actually true. (Photo: Ceci Freed / Media Matters | Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/hill-c…
11 Pro Impeachment Activists Arrested at McConnell’s Office
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-20
By The People is a grassroots group that has been pushing for impeachment for a long time. Instead of taking a pause to celebrate victory, they showed up at Senator McConnell’s office to demand that the Senate take the charges against Trump seriously. Watch Marc Steiner interview By The People volunteer Adiel Pollydore about the…
therealnews.com/stories/11-pro-impeachme…
The Politics of Trump’s Impeachment
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Several features stand out in the impeachment quest against President Donald J. Trump. There is constitutional discourse as mythology and fetish. There is outrage that the executive office could have been used to actually investigate political opponents through foreign …
globalresearch.ca/politics-trump-impeach…
The United States of Impeachment
Maj. Danny Sjursen | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
How, exactly, did I get here? My political journey has somehow taken me from canvassing for Obama north of Fort Knox, KY in 2008, to voting for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primary outside of West Point, NY in 2016, to — gulp! — “defending” Trump against impeachment in 2019. What a long, strange, trip it has been, as they say. Truth is, I couldn’t sleep last night and have been watching CNN’s wall-to-wall impeachment coverage since 4AM. When the clock struck a reasonable hour on East Coas…
truthdig.com/articles/the-united-states-…
“The Shooters are Coming!” War on Terror, War on Education
Andrea Mazzarino | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
One day in October 2001, shortly after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, I stood at the front of a private high school classroom. As a new social studies teacher, I had been tasked with describing violence against women in that country. I showed the students an article from the front page of the New York Times featuring…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-shooters…
The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries,…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-real-les…
Joe Biden Criticized at Democratic Debate over Iraq, Afghanistan Wars & Failure to Close Gitmo
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
Former Vice President Joe Biden sparred with Senator Bernie Sanders about his support for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and faced scrutiny over his failure to close Guantánamo Bay during President Obama’s tenure in the White House at Thursday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles. We look at the candidates’ foreign policy stances with award-winning investigative reporter Azmat Khan, a New York Times Magazine contributing writer and a Future of War fellow at the New America Foundation.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/joe_bide…
War is Good for Business and Organized Crime: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Opium Trade. Rising Heroin Addiction in the US
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Despite president Trump’s announced US troop withdrawal, the Afghan opium trade continues to flourish. It is protected by US-NATO occupation forces on behalf of a nexus of powerful financial and criminal interests.
globalresearch.ca/war-is-good-for-busine…
The Afghanistan Fiasco and the Decline and Fall of the American Military
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
A devastating investigative report was published in the Washington Post on December 9th. Dubbed the “Afghanistan Papers” in a nod to the Vietnam War’s famous “Pentagon Papers,” the report relied on thousands of documents to similarly expose how …
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-fiasco-dec…
The Real Lesson of Afghanistan? Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
The debacle in Afghanistan is only one case in a fundamentally flawed U.S. policy with worldwide consequences. New quasi-governments installed by U.S. “regime change” in country after country have proven more corrupt, less legitimate and less able to control their nation’s territory than the ones the U.S. has destroyed.
mintpressnews.com/real-lesson-afghanista…
The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is that Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on …
globalresearch.ca/real-lesson-afghanista…
The “Afghanistan Papers”: Deep State Narrative Management
Kit Knightly | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
The Big Reveal for the Washington Post this week is the release of the Afghanistan Papers. A series of interviews and documents “compiled in secret” and then the subject of a “legal challenge” from the US government. | The WaPo baldly …
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-papers-dee…
Key Takeaways From Democratic Presidential Debate in L.A
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
LOS ANGELES — Democratic presidential candidates offered two very different debates during their final forum of 2019. In the first half, they spent much of their time making the case for their electability in a contest with President Donald Trump. The second half was filled with friction over money in politics, Afghanistan and experience. | MONEY TALKED | The candidates jousted cordially over the economy, climate change and foreign policy. But it was a wine cave that opened up the fault lines in the 2020 field. | That wine cave, highlighted in a recent …
truthdig.com/articles/key-takeaways-from…
The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work
MBNJSD | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-20
The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries, …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/the-real-less…
Judge says Assange extradition hearing will take “three to four weeks” as political opposition mounts
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Assange appeared physically unwell, but followed the proceedings carefully via videolink from Belmarsh maximum security prison.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/assa…
Medical observers blocked from attending Assange hearing
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Dr. David Morgan and Dr. Marco Chiesa are among the more than 100 doctors from around the world who have issued three open letters to the UK and Australian governments protesting Assange’s brutal persecution.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/doct…
Women Politicals: Still Defiant
Linda Ford | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-20
As Australian activist John Pilger recounts his visit to the world’s most abused US/UK political prisoner, Julian Assange, he gives us the brutal details of how the friends and families of political prisoners also face punishment, gauntlets, humiliation. And he tells of the terrible conditions and terrible treatment meted out to Assange, and the weakened, …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/women-politic…
Across the Balkans: Assassination in Sarajevo
Matthew Stevenson | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
On one of my days in Sarajevo–in lingering snow and ice–I went in search of Gavrilo Princip, the assassin who killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife, touching off the crisis that led to World War I, and the end of many empires. In summer 1976, on my first visit to Sarajevo, I had seen…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/across-the-b…
BDS movement defiant after Tories announce anti-boycott measures and threaten international solidarity
Tom Anderson | thecanary.co | 2019-12-20
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigners have responded defiantly to Tory plans to pass an anti-BDS law. | The law is a threat to any international solidarity campaign which seeks to boycott companies or products because of the state policies of another country. As such, it presents a threat to international solidarity efforts as a whole. | Boycotting Israeli apartheid: | BDS is an international movement calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. It also calls for grassroots groups to initiate boycott campaigns against companies complicit in Israel…
thecanary.co/opinion/2019/12/20/bds-move…
Bernie Sanders’ Climate Change Message Cheered in L.A. Debate
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
The Vermont senator receives widespread applause when he challenges what he considers a flimsy question on the issue of the climate crisis.
truthdig.com/articles/bernie-sanders-cli…
Church of Scotland Calls on Israel to Make Holy Sites Accessible to Gazans during Holidays
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
The Church of Scotland, today, called on Israel to affirm the right of Palestinian Christians in the blockaded Gaza Strip to visit their holy sites and families, during the Christmas holiday. “At this time of year, when Christians from across the world will be looking to, and visiting, Bethlehem and …
imemc.org/article/church-of-scotland-cal…
Report: UN Body Criticizes Israel’s Racial Segregation Policies
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
A United Nations human rights committee has called on Israel to “ensure equal treatment for all persons on the territories under its effective control and subject to its jurisdiction” — inside Israel, in the Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, and in the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to a press …
imemc.org/article/report-un-body-critici…
Hawaii governor issues ultimatum to Mauna Kea protesters
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
Indigenous Hawaiian activists have been blockading the entrance to the Mauna Kea summit for the past five months in order to stop the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The proposed construction of the TMT observatory at the site considered sacred by Native Hawaiians, has been heavily opposed by the Indigenous population and environmentalists alike. | On December 19, Hawaiian governor David Ige issued an ultimatum to the protesters participating in the blockade, demanding that they leave the…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/hawaii-go…
Chronicle of a Coup Foretold
Brian Mier | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Will the US left work to normalize the impending coup attempt in Mexico the way it did for Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Nicaragua? Last July I gave a speech in the Left Forum in Brooklyn. When it was over, A young activist stood up and announced, in perfect English, that they were an anarchist from…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/chronicle-of…
Media, Human Rights Groups Silent Over Politically-Motivated Murder of Journalist in Bolivia
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Sebastian Moro’s last known words before he was found were denouncing the kidnappings of government officials and mob attacks on journalists and media outlets.
mintpressnews.com/human-rights-groups-me…
Baltasar Garzon to Be Evo Morales’ Lawyer to Invalidate Warrant
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-20
Bolivia’s President in exile Evo Morales Thursday announced that Spanish jurist Baltasar Garzon will represent him in the efforts to invalidate the arrest warrant issued by the coup-born government. | RELATED: | Coup Leaders in Bolivia Issue Arrest Warrant for Evo Morales | “We formed an international team with Baltasar Garzon… We will act legally against t…
telesurenglish.net/news/Baltasar-Garzon-…
Capitalism and the Limits of Greening
Carl Boggs | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The idea of a Green New Deal, including the one proposed by a group of Democrats led by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is hardly novel on the world scene, though potentially consequential for American politics. European Green parties, for example, introduced far-reaching policies in support of an ecological (sustainable) model of development as early as 1980. A few other European leftist parties later arrived at their own “greening” initiatives to mitigate climate disruption. The much-smaller U.S. Greens followed suit. Even the authoritarian Chinese government has introduced its own program to curb green…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/capitalism-a…
Diversity Rules Environment, OK?
Stephen Corry | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Could some of the most talked of solutions to climate chaos have the reverse effect and make things worse? Some critics think so, and they aren’t “deniers” who think climate change isn’t real. The concept of “net zero” carbon emissions, for example, might actually help industry pollute, because one of the commonest ways to reach for it is through “carbon offsets.” This means that if a corporation is responsible for a ton of carbon dioxide emissions — which is bad — but at the same time it funds a project which “captures” (or “sequesters”) a ton of carbon — which is good — then the “net emi…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/diversity-ru…
Climate Crisis Threatens a Third of Plant Species, Endangering Food Supply
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
Botanists have made a new census of terrestrial plants — only to find that with nearly 40% of them rare, or extremely rare, this may put food at risk. | And a second team of researchers, in a separate study, has established that some of these rare or vanishing species could include the wild relatives of some of the planet’s most popula…
truthout.org/articles/climate-crisis-thr…
Climate Crisis Rages in Australia, With 14 of 15 Hottest Places in World and Sydney Fire-Besieged
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
Residents defend a property from a bushfirein Taree, north of Sydney.(Photo: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/climat…
Activists Demand a Migrant Justice Platform as Democratic Candidates Discuss Immigration in Debate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
Protesters for immigrant rights demonstrated outside the Democratic debate Thursday in Los Angeles, displaying a banner that read “Migrant Justice on Day One” and demanding a moratorium on deportations and immigrant worker protections. We look at how the candidates responded, with Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer for RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. “I’m really happy that immigration came up this time around,” she notes. “In the past few debates, the issue didn’t even come up.”
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/democrat…
China Accuses US of Interfering in Internal Affairs
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-20
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump claiming progress on issues from trade to North Korea and Hong Kong, Chinese leader Xi Jinping accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs. | RELATED: | China Expected to Have Lifted Over 10m out of Poverty in 2019 | The two leaders spoke a week after their envoys sealed a “Phase 1” agreement aimed at ending an 18-month trade war that has rattled markets and raised tensions. A White House official said they spoke on Friday…
telesurenglish.net/news/china-accuses-us…
India’s Government is Going to War Against Its Own People
Vijay Prashad | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
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, and Christians. It does not name Muslims.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/indias-gover…
India’s Government Is Going to War Against Its Own People
Vijay Prashad | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
The BJP government was particularly ruthless against protests atJamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi. (Photo: Indian Express) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/indias…
Hawaiian protestors stay firm at Mauna Kea
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
Barely hours after announcing that the law enforcement personnel at the Mauna Kea protest site shall be withdrawn, on December 19, Hawaii’s governor David Ige has given an ultimatum to protesters to disperse. Protesters have decried the ultimatum, stating that the announcement that the police will stand down was not done in the earnest but was an attempt to clear the protests. These protests are against the construction of a large astronomical observatory project that was proposed at the summit of Mauna Kea. The indigenous inhabitants of the island state have opposed the telescope over what they consider to be a…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/hawaiian-…
UN independent experts ‘deeply disturbed’ by alleged mistreatment of detained Iranian protesters
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
Sixteen independent UN human rights experts called on Friday for the release of arbitrarily detained protesters in Iran who have allegedly been abused while in custody.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1…
Iraq frees 2,700 protesters as deadlock over prime minister’s post continues
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
In the absence of a consensus, the deadline for proposing a name for the next prime minister has been postponed to December 22. More than 496 people have been killed and more than 25,000 injured since the protests in Iraq began on October 1…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/iraq-free…
Argentina: Lawmakers Approve Solidarity Law to Resolve Crisis
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-20
Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies Friday approved the “Social Solidarity and Productive Reactivation” Bill sent by President Alberto Fernandez as part of his emergency plan to resolve the crisis inherited from Mauricio Macri’s administration (2015-2019). | RELATED: | Argentina to Freeze Gas and Electricity Rates | After a parliamentary session that lasted more than 15 hour…
telesurenglish.net/news/Argentina-Lawmak…
Activist Marty Gottesfeld Silenced for Writing About Prison Corruption While Serving Time
Barrett Brown | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
As I’ve recently learned from his wife, activist and prison journalist Marty Gottesfeld — recently sentenced to ten years for a denial of service attack on the website of the Boston hospital that was holding a young girl against her will and that of her family while denying her treatment for the painful condition they…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/why-was-acti…
Inside Journalist Tareq Haddad’s Spectacular Departure from Newsweek
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Tareq Haddad’s exposé of the corruption and collusion at the heart of modern journalism is something long-discussed by academics, but rarely does such a clear example present itself.
mintpressnews.com/newsweek-journalist-ta…
Early PG&E Blackouts Forewarned Later Problems
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
SAN FRANCISCO — The state senators grilling the CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. were upset — like millions of other Californians, some spent days in the dark when the nation’s largest utility shut off power during windstorms this fall. | The lawmakers demanded that the executive explain why blackouts intended to prevent downed power lines from sparking deadly wildfires caused so much trouble of their own. | The explanation CEO Bill Johnson offered the Capitol hearing room: Several smaller outages that PG&E triggered in the year before its debacle began in mid-October went well, giving his company…
truthdig.com/articles/early-pge-blackout…
UN Envoy: Israel Has Pushed Forward Plans to Build 22,000 New Housing Units in Settlements
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
The United Nations Middle East envoy reported, on Wednesday, that Israel had pushed forward plans to construct over 22,000 housing units in settlements, in the occupied West Bank, since a UN resolution reaffirmed their illegality three years ago. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, …
imemc.org/article/un-envoy-israel-has-pu…
The Real Reasons Tulsi Gabbard Did Not Vote to Impeach Donald Trump
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Gabbard’s decision had much more to do with a desire to censure Trump over his real crimes: carrying out wars without congressional approval, illegally “occupying and pillaging” Syria, ” and continuing to support Saudi Arabia’s “genocidal war” in Yemen.
mintpressnews.com/war-pillaging-and-peac…
Leaked Information on Trump’s No-Peace/Deal of the Century
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Information on what may be in Trump’s no-peace/peace plan was leaked before — its accuracy unknown unless and until a plan is released. | It hardly matters. It was dead before arrival. Trump’s one-sided support for Israel is more extreme than …
globalresearch.ca/leaked-information-tru…
Stand for peace and harmony says Guterres, following meeting with Pope Francis
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
In the midst of “turbulent and trying times”, all the world’s people must stand together in peace and harmony, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday. António Guterres was speaking following an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, who he thanked for his strong support for the global Organization.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1…
Massive protests against controversial judicial reforms rock Poland
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
On Wednesday, December 18, massive mobilizations took place in over 160 locations in Poland under the banner of “Today judges — tomorrow you”, to protest the new judicial reforms proposed by the incumbent right-wing government led by the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS). Thousands of people, many carrying Polish flags, gathered in front of Poland’s parliament in Warsaw. Marches were also organized in Wroclaw, Torun, Poznan, Szczecin, Katowice, Bialystok and other cities. The call for the protest was given by the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD), the judiciary association “Iustitia Polska”
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/massive-p…
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Doctors in Zimbabwe are continuing their walkout in the face of intensifying repression while 1,200 German Amazon workers protested low pay by staging a walkout.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/wkrs…
Democrats Invoke Russiagate to Advance Bill Lobbied for by Big Oil
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-20
Two bills that would allow the United States to expand its fossil fuel infrastructure in the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries have advanced to the the Senate–and Democrats backing them have invoked “Russiagate” to push them through.
therealnews.com/columns/democrats-invoke…
Video: Syrian Army’s Large Scale Ground Operation in Greater Idlib
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
The Syrian Army has finalized military preparations and is awaiting orders to launch a large-scale ground operation in Greater Idlib, according to reports by Syrian media. The operation will allegedly be aimed at liberating the militant-held part of the M5 …
globalresearch.ca/video-syrian-army-last…
Syria: Lack of consensus following face-to-face talks, underscores need for broader process
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
The second session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, aiming to create a new post-war political road map for the country, failed to get off the ground due to lack of consensus over the agenda, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1…
‘Who Has Given the Americans the Right to be in Syria?’ China Asks
Press TV | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
“Who have given the Americans the right to do this? And, at whose invitation is the US protecting Syria’s oil fields?” Xie Xiaoyan said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday. | “Let’s think the other way around: will the | …
globalresearch.ca/who-has-given-american…
International Criminal Court to Launch Full Investigation Into Israeli War Crimes
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-20
“In brief, I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.”
International Criminal Court to Launch Full Investigation Into Israeli War Crimes
Top Criminal Court to conduct official probe into alleged war crimes in Palestine
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
Following a “thorough, independent and objective assessment”, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Friday that she plans to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine, but asked the Court for a further ruling over territorial jurisdiction.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1…
PCHR Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12 — 18 December 2019)
PCHR | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
Summary This week, PCHR documented 149 violations of the international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory. As part of the Israeli violations of the right to life and bodily integrity: In terms of excessive use …
imemc.org/article/pchr-weekly-report-on-…
Israeli Air Force Fires Several Missiles Into Gaza
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
The Israeli air force fired, on Friday at dawn, several missiles into a few areas in the besieged Gaza Strip, causing damage. The army claimed it was retaliating to one shell reportedly fired from the coastal region. Media sources in Gaza said the army fired at least two missiles into …
imemc.org/article/israeli-air-force-fire…
Trump’s Executive Order Targets Federal Funding to Universities in Suppression of Speech on Palestinian Rights
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
(photo: A classroom in Gaza destroyed in Israel’s 2014 attacks. Credit:…
imemc.org/article/trumps-executive-order…
More Fascist Nonsense from a Disgraced President
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
In the demented mind of the disgraced fascist oligarch Donald “Perfect Call” Trump, “the Radical Left Democrats have been trying to impeach me from Day 1.” This is nonsense on at least three levels. First, the reigning forces in the dismal, demobilizing, neoliberal and dollar-drenched Democratic Party are anything but radical or Left. They are…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/more-fascist…
Trump’s Judaism Order Has Nothing to Do With Fighting Anti-Semitism
Sarah Gertler | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The Trump administration says it’s anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. That’s the gist of a recent executive order that would treat campus calls to boycott Israel over its treatment of Palestinians as anti-Semitic discrimination on the basis of “national origin.” Days after the order, the synagogue I most often attend here in Washington, D.C. became another…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/trumps-judai…
Divisiveness and Beyond
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Divisiveness “Narrative,” the word, is in its political heyday. Politicians need to assert their narrative before their opponent does it for them. They need to change it or find it or test it or deny it. We live in an angry jousting of competing narratives, each seeking to crush, scrunch, destroy and annihilate the other.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/divisiveness…
A Juarez Refugee Christmas
Kent Paterson | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
As temperatures dip near or below freezing, scores of Mexican refugees huddle in their makeshift tents of layered plastic sheeting at the foot of the Santa Fe Bridge that connects Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, with El Paso, Texas. Many small children form part of the group. No colorfully wrapped packages wait below a Christmas tree. No…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/a-juarez-ref…
Gladio: the Story of a Conspiracy
Gaither Stewart | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Rome. Albert Camus in his essay “L’Exil d’Hélène” discusses contemporary disregard for the Greek value of limits. Camus writes that only the artist by his nature recognizes his limits, limits which the historic spirit disregards. The very idea of a super-secret organization like Gladio to remake the world in its own image reflects that same…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/gladio-the-s…
A Tempestuous Noise
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
I first became aware of William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest in Junior High. Our English class was reading Romeo and Juliet and each student was assigned to read another Shakespeare work of our own choosing. I chose King Lear, mostly because I felt an affinity with Lear’s youngest daughter Cordelia. Later in my life I would…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/a-tempestuou…
If You See Something, Say Something
Missy Comley Beattie | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
I crossed a wooden footbridge, holding my younger grandson in my left arm. My right hand held the hand of my older grandson. Suddenly the bridge shifted. Planks broke, jutting up, down, creating gaps. Balance gone, I fell against the few planks that remained intact, managing to keep the baby close to my side, yet…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/if-you-see-s…
Good Riddance to the WTO
Walden Bello | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is on its last legs now that the Trump administration has blocked the appointment or reappointment of judges to the appeals court of its Dispute Settlement Mechanism — which is the central pillar of the 24-year-old multilateral body. Do I regret the demise of the World Trade Organization now that…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/good-riddanc…
Where Are the Teamsters Going?
Joe Allen | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) held its 44th annual convention in Chicago in early November, where it endorsed Sean O’Brien for General President and Fred Zuckerman for General Secretary-Treasurer in the 2021 Teamster election. They will run on the “Teamsters United” slate and challenge the incumbent leadership, whether it is led by the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/where-are-th…
Panama: A Grieving People Recalls 30 Years of the US Invasion
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-20
For the first time over the last 30 years, Panamanian authorities agreed to declare “National Day of Mourning” on December 20, which is the date on which the United States invaded Panama in 1989.‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã | RELATED: | A Brief History of the US Interference in the Caribbean Basin | “The government acknowledges declaring December 20 as a day of national mourning to honor Panamanians and all the innocent…
telesurenglish.net/news/Panama-A-Grievin…
Fiery Disagreements Erupt at Sixth Democratic Debate
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
At the sixth Democratic primary debate, a smaller field displayed greater distinctions and fiery disagreements. The PBS/Politico debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, opened with questions echoing GOP talking points, such as claims about the alleged economic harm of wealth taxes (which Warren rebuffed well) but eventually ventured into real substance with challenging questions about Guantánamo Bay, Israel and Pal…
truthout.org/articles/fiery-disagreement…
After Nearly a Century, 2020 May Usher in the Equal Rights Amendment
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
The year 2020 could finally bring the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) — the constitutional amendment banning sex-based discrimination that was passed by Congress in 1972 but has been in limbo since 1982, the deadline by which 38 states were required to have ratified it. | If the amendment succeeds, it will be in large part because of Nevada State Sen. Pat Spearman, who championed the legislation that made her state the 36th to ratify the ERA in 2017, 45 years to the day after Co…
truthout.org/articles/after-nearly-a-cen…
Governor Orders Police at Mauna Kea to Stand Down
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
The Thirty Meter Telescope will not be built atop Mauna Kea at this time. Hawai’i Governor David Ige announced in an internal memo Thursday morning that law enforcement personnel will be leaving the site. | The telescope, an object of controversy, is still slated to be built. The construction will now be delayed. “They are not abandoning Hawai’i,” Gov. Ige said in a press conference this afternoon. “We believe at this point in time, it made sense for us to bring our state law enforcement home.” | Nearly a thousand peop…
truthout.org/articles/governor-orders-po…
Industry Money Backs Attorneys General Pushing for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
A group of 18 state attorneys general is calling for construction to proceed on the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline proposed to carry fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina, through both ecologically and socially vulnerable a…
truthout.org/articles/industry-money-bac…
Civil liberties group warns rise in Taser use due to ‘social control rather than personal protection’
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-12-20
The use of Taser stun guns by police forces in England and Wales reached a record high last year, new figures show. | The weapons were fired on 2,500 occasions between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019, which is thought to be the highest number recorded. | Tasers — which deliver a high-voltage electric shock — were deployed in 23,000 incidents in the 12 months to the end of March, according to the Home Office. But police monitoring group Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) warned that it suspects tasers are used “unlawfully, as a…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/12/20/civil-li…
Dread and Circuses: Powerful Forces Diverting Attention From Imperative Measures Through Crass Distractions
Randall Amster | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
It would probably be redundant by now to point to Eisenhower’s departing warning about the military-industrial complex, except for the fact that it continues to be prophetic and grows increasingly manifest every day. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/dread-…
Trump gets Space Force as GOP, Dems pass $738b. war budget
C.J. Atkins | peoplesworld.org | 2019-12-20
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a massive $738 billion defense spending bill today that has now passed both the House and Senate with overwhelming support from both Republican and Democratic lawmkers. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) covers military spending through Sept. 30 of next year and ups the Pentagon budget by …
peoplesworld.org/article/trump-launches-…
At the Wende, ‘Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain’
Eric A. Gordon | peoplesworld.org | 2019-12-20
CULVER CITY, Calif.–The extraordinarily vital and creative Wende Museum of the Cold War is currently commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1961-89), with a magnificent exhibition, Medea Insurrection: Radical Women Artists Behind the Iron Curtain. The show originated at the Albertinum (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden–the State Art Collection of Dresden), curated …
peoplesworld.org/article/at-the-wende-me…
Federal judge rules US government is entitled to seize proceeds from Edward Snowden’s book sales and speaking fees
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
A federal court ruled Tuesday in favor of the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking all proceeds from the whistleblower’s recent memoir Permanent Record.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/snow…
“Wine Cave Full of Crystals”: Warren & Buttigieg Spar over Donors, But Poverty Is Left Out of Debate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
During Thursday’s Democratic debate, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg sparred over money’s role in politics and who funds their campaigns. The main difference between their approaches to taking funding is that Warren’s policies have been consistently clear on issues of inequality, while Buttigieg is “more of a cipher,” says Heather McGhee, distinguished senior fellow and former president of Demos. Meanwhile, moderators did not ask candidates about their platforms to tackle poverty in the U.S. “The word ‘poverty’ has yet to be mentioned by a moderator, and this is not a matter just of semantics,”
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/poverty_…
Bush fires claim lives and property as Australia endures hottest days in recorded history
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
The development of catastrophic conditions has been predicted and warned about for years.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/fire…
Illegal Israeli Colonists Attack Shepherd, Unleash Their Dogs Toward Him Near Bethlehem
Saed Bannoura | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
Many fanatic Israeli colonists, illegally squatting on Palestinian lands, attacked a Shepherd from Kisan village, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and unleashed their dogs at him, causing various injuries. Ahmad Ghazal, the deputy mayor of Kisan Village Council, said the colonists came from the illegal Ibei Hanahal …
imemc.org/article/illegal-israeli-coloni…
The War on Terror Is Eating Our Young
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
At home or abroad, whether we know it or not, in…
truthdig.com/articles/the-war-on-terror-…
Charlotte Kates: The Palestinian Economy Under Israeli Occupation
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
Press TV interviewed Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, about Israel’s occupation of Palestine and control of the Palestinian economy. “Israel consistently uses Palestinians as a captive, colonial market, to buy its goods, to work in its factories, and denies Palestinians the right to economic independence …
imemc.org/article/charlotte-kates-the-pa…
Illegal Israeli Colonists Burn Two Palestinian Cars, Write Racist Graffiti, Near Nablus
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
A group of fanatic Israeli colonists, illegally squatting on private Palestinian lands burnt, on Friday at dawn, two Palestinian cars and wrote racist graffiti, in Far’ata village, west of Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors Israel’s illegal colonialist …
imemc.org/article/illegal-israeli-coloni…
Pakistan court sentences to death former US-backed military strongman Musharraf
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
The court ruling, provoking an open conflict between the judiciary and the military, has deepened the political turmoil engulfing Islamabad.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/mush…
“Doughnut Economics”: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
Bryant Brown | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Kate Raworth calls herself ‘a renegade economist’. She was born in 1970 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and then followed it with a master’s degree in Economics for Development, both from Oxford University where she …
globalresearch.ca/doughnut-economics-sev…
In New Round of Tests, Monsanto’s Weedkiller Still Contaminates Foods Marketed to Children
Dr. Olga Naidenko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Major food companies like General Mills continue to sell popular children’s breakfast cereals and other foods contaminated with troubling levels of glyphosate, the cancer-causing ingredient in the herbicide Roundup. | The weedkiller, produced by Bayer-Monsanto, was detected in all 21 oat-based …
globalresearch.ca/new-round-tests-monsan…
Whistleblowing: A Draft Law to Silence Whistleblowers
Yasmine Motarjemi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
On 16th December 2019, the Swiss “Conseil des Etats” the upper house of the Swiss Parliament, approved the draft law on whistleblowing, in pipeline since 2003. The proposed law on whistleblowing and related labour laws in Switzerland are not only …
globalresearch.ca/whistleblowing-draft-l…
A Smaller, Whiter, Meaner Democratic Debate
Ruth Conniff | progressive.org | 2019-12-20
Yang made sense, Biden welcomed the hatred of billionaires, and Klobuchar made mincemeat of Buttigieg.
progressive.org/dispatches/a-smaller-whi…
Bolivian coup regime issues arrest warrant for Evo Morales
Zoe PC | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
The attorney general of the coup regime issued a warrant for Morales accusing him of sedition, terrorism and financing of terrorism. This is seen as a bid to contain his influence during the presidential elections scheduled for March 2020…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/bolivian-…
‘I Was Wrong’: Bernie Sanders Admits Barbara Lee Only Member of Congress in 2001 Who Had it Right on Afghan War
Jon Queally, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
commondreams.org/sites/default/files/sty… …
After Telling Moderator Climate Question ‘Misses the Mark,’ Sanders Says Real Issue Is Will We ‘Save the Planet for Our Children and Grandchildren’
Jon Queally, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
“Instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year on war, globally, on weapons of destruction,” said Sanders, “maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy which is climate change.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/20/after-t…
‘A Win for the Planet!’: Dutch Supreme Court Issues Landmark Ruling Mandating Climate Action
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
Advocates for climate action celebrated Friday after the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld a landmark ruling that found the Dutch government is obligated under international human rights law to more ambitiously reduce greenhouse gas emissions that drive global heating. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/20/win-pla…
‘Deeply Disturbing’: Indian Minister to Cancel Meeting With US Lawmakers Over Rep. Jayapal’s Kashmir Criticism
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
commondreams.org/sites/default/files/sty… …