Left and Right Unite in Calls for Snowden Pardon Amid Speculation of a Trump Decision
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-12-14
While the idea of pardoning one of the most prolific whistleblowers of our era drew together an alliance of those on the left and right, the centrist establishment reacted with predictable vitriol to the idea.
mintpressnews.com/left-right-unite-calls…
ALBA-TCP member countries celebrate 16 years of regional integration
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-12-14
This December 14 marks 16 years since the creation of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP). The member countries of the organization held a virtual conference today to celebrate 16 years of regional integration. Heads of state and prime ministers of all member countries, among other representatives are participating in the 18th Summit of the organization. | During the meeting, themes such as the political situation of the region and the challenges to economic recovery of each nation in…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/12/14/alba-tcp-…
Radical De-Globalization: Finding Back Our Freedom and Sovereignty: Tyrants Don't Create Tyranny. Your Obedience Does
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
People are waking up. | Art is being applied to protests. As very well demonstrated in Germany the Netherlands and Denmark — see video " Lockstep" Protest Marches in Netherland, Germany, Denmark (4 December 2020). | It is not without reference tongue-in-cheek | …
globalresearch.ca/radical-de-globalizati…
Julian Assange: COVID Risks and Campaigns for Pardon
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-14
Before the January 4 ruling of District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in the extradition case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher will continue to endure the ordeal of cold prison facilities while being menaced by a COVID-19 outbreak. From November 18, Assange, along with inmates in House Block 1 at Belmarsh prison in south-east London, were…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/14/130999/
The decline of American Journalism
Paul Jay | mronline.org | 2020-12-14
The media is driven by the enormous profits made during election campaigns. Feeding the fury and the fear of all types is just good for business. Bob McChesney joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news podcast.
mronline.org/2020/12/14/the-decline-of-a…
mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/…
Does automation spell the end of capitalism?
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-14
Capitalism will not 'automatically' morph into some 'postcapitalist' or socialist system due to technology replacing the human workforce. As the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY explains, ending capitalism will require a conscious, collective action on the part of 'the many'–the working class.
mronline.org/2020/12/14/does-automation-…
mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/…
Secret Amazon reports expose the company's surveillance of labor and environmental groups
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-14
Dozens of leaked documents from Amazon reveal the company's use of Pinkerton operatives to spy on warehouse workers, labor unions and social movements.
mronline.org/2020/12/14/secret-amazon-re…
mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/…
Baltimore Amazon workers form rank-and-file safety committee to defend workers and save lives
wsws.org | 2020-12-14
We, the Amazonians of Baltimore, hereby announce the formation of an independent rank-and-file safety committee at the Amazon BWI2 Fulfillment Center. In launching the committee, our goal is to expose the conditions at our facility and the lies of management meant to cover them up. We are an organization of, for, and led by Amazon workers which will defend the rights and safety of our fellow employees.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/14/bwi2…
Jade, For Hire! The Mystery of the Missing Worker
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-12-14
Looking for work during a race and class war ain't easy, its hard enough already–why were they fired in the first place from… Jamazon.com! Find out this week in… Jade for Hire!
mronline.org/2020/12/14/jade-for-hire-th…
mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/…
Germany Unlikely to Pursue Independent Foreign Policy. Will Follow Biden
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
In an interview with The Guardian in June, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germans grew up knowing that the U.S. wanted to be a world power. Despite Washington abusing its power against some of its strongest allies, Germany, whose six-month …
globalresearch.ca/germany-unlikely-pursu…
Imperialism 2.0: Notes from the Edge of the Narrative Matrix
Caitlin Johnstone | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
The new imperialism doesn't look like old-school ground invasions, it looks like multi-front cold wars, economic warfare, blockades and starvation sanctions, drone strikes, arming proxy militias, CIA-backed coups, sprawling tech surveillance networks, mass psyops of unprecedented sophistication and narrative management …
globalresearch.ca/imperialism-notes-edge…
[UPDATED] Venezuela Investigates Maritime Accident on Migrant Route
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-12-14
An estimated twenty died presumably travelling to Trinidad and Tobago in a small boat.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/15077
Coronavirus Protocols as Tools of Repression
Ann Garrison | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
Covid-19 is a convenient excuse for governments to ban or restrict activities they don't like. | Whatever the scientific truths about coronavirus, state measures to control it undoubtedly have great potential for justifying state repression and surveillance. A friend of mine …
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-protocols-…
Israel's Isolation of Palestinian Child Prisoners Amounts to Torture
Defense for Children International, Palestine | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
Israeli authorities routinely detain Palestinian children in isolation solely for interrogation purposes, a practice that amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Defense for Children International — Palestine said in a report released today. | The 73-page …
globalresearch.ca/israel-isolation-pales…
John Pilger: The Most Lethal Virus Is Not COVID. It Is War
John Pilger | mintpressnews.com | 2020-12-14
In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Britain has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defense spending.
mintpressnews.com/john-pilger-lethal-vir…
www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads…
The Most Lethal Virus Is Not Covid. It Is War
John Pilger | zcomm.org | 2020-12-14
Britain has no enemies other than those within who betray the trust of its ordinary people, its nurses and doctors, its carers, elderly, homeless and youth, as successive neo-liberal governments have done, Conservative and Labour…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-most-lethal-vi…
Puerto Rico 2021: A Shift In Perspective, A New Opposition
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-14
One of the things often taken for granted by the independence and socialist movement is knowing when to claim a victory. As a consequence of suffering so many blows throughout its history, the movement has become reflexively cynical when having to assess some kind of partial victory or progress. Let's recall, among other signature chapters, in 1976 the Puerto Rican Independence Party received 80,000 votes, which, when combined with those of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party, equaled nearly 100,000 votes. Or the founding and progress of the Workers United Movement (MOU), which managed to bring together the country'…
popularresistance.org/puerto-rico-2021-a…
Resisting Amazon Is Not Futile
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-14
It seems eons ago, the youth-led climate strike of September 20, 2019 that brought four million people onto the streets worldwide. I was on the sidewalk outside Seattle City Hall, watching thousands of school-skippers march by. And then behind the teens came waves of exuberant people, no more than a decade or two older, their homemade signs held aloft: tech workers, including hundreds of Amazon workers who had stepped out of their comfortable cubicles and palatial glass towers to join the global walkout. | They had every right to step lightly. Just a day earlier, the budding Amazon Employees for Climate Justice h…
popularresistance.org/resisting-amazon-i…
"Fish Wars" and Brexit. European Fishing Vessels in British Waters
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
Warring over fish in the twenty-first century might seem an unlikely proposition. But the deployment of four Royal Navy ships to deter European fishing vessels from encroaching on British waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit has tongues wagging. …
globalresearch.ca/fish-wars-brexit/57321…
Report Details 'Staggering' Number of Attacks on US Journalists, Press Freedoms in 2020
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
"This report shows an unprecedented press freedom crisis engulfing the United States." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/12/14/report-…
'Grossly Insufficient': ExxonMobil Lambasted Over Emissions Reduction Plan That Pledges No Reduction in Absolute Emissions
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
"Any company that fails to keep pace with what science demands threatens its future while endangering the rest of us with escalating climate impacts and systemic risks to the global economy." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/12/14/grossly…
'The Actual Scandalous Headline Is Medics Need Two Jobs to Survive': AOC Defends Paramedic Outed by NY Post
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday night was among those who came to the defense of a New York City paramedic who the New York Post outed and attempted to shame in a recent article about her decision to earn extra money via nude modeling. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/news/2020/12/14/actual-…
Venezuelan Gold Seized by the Bank of England: British Court Accepts Guaidó's Appeal
Orinoco Tribune | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
Thursday December 10 the British Supreme Court accepted the appeal issued by the lawyers of the opposition for exiting deputy Juan Guaidó, and ruled in favor of hearing his appeal regarding control of Venezuela's gold reserves, valued at $1.3 …
globalresearch.ca/venezuelan-gold-seized…
Evasions and Cover-ups by Western Governments over Funding of Terrorist Groups in Syria Start to Unravel
Vanessa Beeley | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-12-14
Evidence of Dutch and British funding for extremists who've beheaded children & carried out ethnic-cleansing grows by the day. Yet most of the mainstream media — including the BBC — still try to keep this truth silent. Recently, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte effectively blocked a Parliamentary motion to allow an external independent investigation of …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/12/evasions-and-…
dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/20…
Pandemic Failure, Vaccine Success Indict American Monopoly Capitalism
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
This vaccine victory is bittersweet. We have lost so many Americans to the virus, who didn't have to die. Many of them died because of stubbornly pro-capitalist public policy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2020/12/14/pandem…
ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Action on Kansas Voting Lawsuit
commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/12/14/acl…
Vaccine Equity: Why Communities of Color & Incarcerated People Should Get Early Access to Shots
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
As the first shipments of a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine arrive across the United States, healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes will receive the first shipments, and epidemiologist Camara Phyllis Jones says communities of color with high rates of COVID-19 should also get consideration for early access.
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/camara_p…
www.democracynow.org/images/story/93/557…
Shut It Down: Calls Grow to Close Fort Hood After Probe into Murders & Sexual Assaults at Army Base
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
The U.S. Army has fired or suspended 14 officers and soldiers stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, following an investigation into sexual assaults and murders at the base, including the bludgeoning to death of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillén, whose remains were found in July. "These are institutional failures at scale. And by the Army's own admission, and in this report, it's clear that this is not unique to Fort Hood," says Pam Campos-Palma, an Air Force veteran who leads the Vets for the People project at the Working Families Party. "The military is dealing with large-scale corruption and crime, and it should be…
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/fort_hoo…
www.democracynow.org/images/story/94/557…
Greta Thunberg: 5 Years After Paris Agreement, World Is "Speeding in the Wrong Direction" on Climate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who launched the global Fridays for Future youth climate movement, issued a stark warning on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement that the world is not doing enough to keep global heating below 2 degrees Celsius — the target set in the landmark 2015 deal. "The gap between what we need to do and what is actually being done is widening by the minute. We are still speeding in the wrong direction," Thunberg said in a video message posted on social media.
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/greta_th…
www.democracynow.org/images/story/92/557…
Ignore the Spin, The Hague's ICC Ruling on British War Crimes in Iraq Is Damning
Symon Hill | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court recently reported that there was "reasonable basis to believe" that British troops committed war crimes in Iraq. She declared that there was evidence of crimes including unlawful killing, rape, torture and inhumane treatment …
globalresearch.ca/hague-ruling-british-w…
Max Blumenthal Meets Rafael Correa In Venezuela
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-14
Max Blumenthal interviews former Ecuador President Rafael Correa, who was in Venezuela to observe its legislative elections and show support to a government under sustained economic and political attack by the US. | Correa addresses issues ranging from the repression in his country under the watch of its outgoing neoliberal president, Lenin Moreno, to the persecution of Julian Assange and the role of a CIA contractor in targeting him and the Wikileaks founder. | Blumenthal and Correa also discuss the prospect of a left-wing victory in Ecuador's upcoming national elections, and what the US-backed government is doi…
popularresistance.org/max-blumenthal-mee…
Video: Ron Paul: This Worries Me Much More than Covid
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
If you're concerned about the overreach of government in juicing asset prices to dangerous levels, picking economic winner and losers, and constraining our personal freedoms — you have very good right to be. | So says lifelong champion of free markets, …
globalresearch.ca/video-ron-paul-this-wo…
COVID Whistle Blower Raided with Gestapo Tactics!
The Jimmy Dore Show | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-12-14
 …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/12/covid-whistle…
Thursday 12/17: FREE ASSANGE Stand for US HR 1175/1162: Drop Charges Against Assange & Snowden
Bay Action 2 Free Assange | indybay.org | 2020-12-14
Vineyard Shopping Center -Grass Area- in Morgan Hill…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/13/1883892…
UN rapporteur Nils Melzer demands Assange's immediate release after ten years' arbitrary detention
wsws.org | 2020-12-14
Melzer's statement was issued amid a major coronavirus outbreak in Belmarsh Prison, that threatens the WikiLeaks publisher's life, and in the lead-up to a ruling on his extradition to the United States.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/14/assa…
Actions in SF, Oakland & San Jose To Demand Dropping Of Charges Against Assange/Snowden
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-12-14
Speak-outs were held at the Congressional offices of Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Zoe Lofgren and the home of Nancy Pelosi on December 10 /11 to call for support for Congressional Resolutions 1175 and 1162 which called for dropping the charges against Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. A statement was already read by fomer OSHA WPP Investigator and lawyer Darrell Whitman representing Whistleblowers United.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/13/1883891…
Actions in SF, Oakland & San Jose To Demand Dropping Of Charges Against Assange/Snowden
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-12-14
Speak-outs were held at the Congressional offices of Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Zoe Lofgren and the home of Nancy Pelosi on December 10 /11 to call for support for Congressional Resolutions 1175 and 1162 which called for dropping the charges against Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. A statement was already read by fomer OSHA WPP Investigator and lawyer Darrell Whitman representing Whistleblowers United.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/13/1883891…
Julian Assange Is a Conscientious Objector. Time Will Vindicate Him
Megan Sherman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
Julian Assange today, but the press is united in wilful ignorance of his plight. The dearth of stories about his show trial in a kangaroo court in London is evident. It has never been easier …
globalresearch.ca/julian-assange-conscie…
World Is "Speeding in the Wrong Direction" on Climate Says Greta Thunberg
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-14
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who launched the global Fridays for Future youth climate movement, issued a stark warning on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement that the world is not doing enough to keep global heating below 2 degrees Celsius — the target set in the landmark 2015 deal. "The gap between what we need to do and what is actually being done is widening by the minute. We are still speeding in the wrong direction," Thunberg said in a video message posted on social me…
truthout.org/video/world-is-speeding-in-…
truthout.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/…
UN human rights chief 'appalled' at Iran execution, questions trial process and verdict
news.un.org | 2020-12-14
Iran's decision to hang media activist Ruhollah Zam on Saturday was an appalling violation of human rights that followed a deeply flawed trial process, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Monday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/12/1…
ILO study finds migrants earn much less than locals, and the gap is widening
news.un.org | 2020-12-14
The gap between wages paid to migrant and national workers is big and growing, and may widen further because of the pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report published on Monday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/12/1…
South Korean Kia workers strike again as GM and union push vote on rejected contract
wsws.org | 2020-12-14
The autoworkers' struggles are continuing even though the Korean Metal Workers Union has isolated the negotiations and strikes at the three major auto companies.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/14/skor…
Imperial launches Sustainability Strategy
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-12-14
Imperial's new Sustainability Strategy sets out the roadmap to 2026 and beyond.
imperial.ac.uk/news/210573/imperial-laun…
Climate Change Can be Addressed in Coronavirus Relief, Study Says Development Group Urges
Zach Conti | indybay.org | 2020-12-14
As countries address their debt crises, policy responses can reduce climate change, asserts a new study. "Linking Debt Relief and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Experience," examines previous debt relief processes to learn how debt and climate responses can work in tandem.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/14/1883892…
Loujain al-Hathloul: Saudi Arabia uses tweets supporting women's rights as evidence
MEE staff | middleeasteye.net | 2020-12-14
Loujain al-Hathloul: Saudi Arabia uses tweets supporting women's rights as evidence | Activist's support for women's right to drive and criticism of kingdom's guardianship system cited by prosecutor in terrorism court | MEE staff | Mon, 12/14/2020 – 14: 29 | Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul is being tried in a terrorism court (AFP) | The Saudi public prosecutor on Monday cited tweets about a campaign to let women drive…
www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-…
www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/file…
Iranian girls at intl. weightlifting c'ships for 1st time
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-12-14
TEHRAN, Dec. 14 (MNA) — Iran's junior girls are to participate in the 2021 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Junior World Championships for the first time in the history of the country.
en.mehrnews.com/news/167162/Iranian-girl…
Europe's Anti-Russia Sanctions Result in Extensive Economic Losses and Growing Tensions with Russia
Strategic Culture Foundation | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
New data out this week indicates that the European Union has suffered aggregate economic losses amounting to over ‚Ǩ120 billion due to its policy of imposing sanctions against Russia. That's according to figures released by the Dusseldorf Chamber of Commerce …
globalresearch.ca/europe-anti-russia-san…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Warned FDA About Ingredient in Pfizer COVID Vaccine that Likely Caused Life-Threatening Reaction in Two UK Healthcare Workers