Daily Archives: January 14, 2020

2020-01-14: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media!

EU Nations Push Iran in Last-Ditch Bid to Save Nuclear Deal
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-15
Britain, France and Germany trigger pact’s dispute mechanism, starting the clock on a process that could result in more sanctions on Iran.
truthdig.com/articles/eu-nations-push-ir…

Another Trump Official Has Been Caught Red-Handed
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-15
In 2017, Dow Chemical scored a long-sought-after victory: After a push from the U.S. government, China approved the import of the company’s genetically modified herbicide-resistant corn seeds. | A grateful Dow lobbyist emailed a senior Agriculture Department official whose support had been critical: “Thank you for your efforts in support of U.S. agriculture.” | That official, Rebeckah Adcock, was no stranger to Dow. Before joining the Trump administration, Adcock was the chief lobbyist for the herbicide industry’s trade group, of wh…
truthdig.com/articles/another-trump-offi…

Trump’s ex-adviser Flynn moves to withdraw guilty plea in Mueller investigation – court papers
rt.com | 2020-01-15
Former National Security Adviser to the US President, General Michael Flynn has asked the court to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming Russiagate prosecutors forced him to lie and make statements they knew were untrue. | In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Flynn argued that the prosecutors “concocted the alleged “false statements” the general was accused of making in relation to his company’s violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). | “The prosecutors concocted the alleged “false statements” by their own misrepresentations, deceit, and omissions.” | The newly-released court papers state th…
rt.com/usa/478280-flynn-guilty-mueller-w…

‘Step up to the plate!’: Trump says Apple won’t unlock devices used by ‘criminals & drug dealers’ in Pensacola shooter phone row
rt.com | 2020-01-15
US President Donald Trump has demanded that Apple help federal agencies break into a pair of devices linked to the Pensacola shooter, accusing the company of not doing enough to assist investigators. | In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump implied that the tech giant has been ungrateful to his administration, which he said is “helping [it] all of the time on TRADE,” calling on Apple to unlock two devices that belonged to the Saudi trainee who killed four at a US naval base in Florida in December. | “We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by kill…
rt.com/usa/478282-trump-apple-pensacola-…

The World Must End The US’ Illegal Economic War
Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-01-14
The United States is relying more heavily on illegal unilateral coercive measures (also known as economic sanctions) in place of war or as part of its build-up to war. In fact, economic sanctions are an act of war that kills tens of thousands of people each year through financial strangulation. An economic blockade places a …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/01/the-world-mus…

10 Ways Trump’s Actions Against Iran Hurt Americans and the Region
Nicolas J S Davies, Medea Benjamin | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
The U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government’s measured response, which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict. But the danger of a full-blown war still exists, and Donald Trump’s actions are already wreaking havoc.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/10-ways-trum…

Bernie calls for vote in Senate for No War Against Iran Act
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2020-01-14
“We must end our endless wars.”
nationofchange.org/2020/01/14/bernie-cal…

Seems Increasingly Likely Trump Just Made Up the ‘Imminent Threat’ Posed by Soleimani
Andrea Germanos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
New reporting out Monday further erodes the White House narrative that President Donald Trump was justified in ordering the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani earlier this month because Soleimani posed an “imminent” threat to American targets. | According to NBC …
globalresearch.ca/trump-just-made-up-imm…

Biden’s Pack of Lies About the Iraq War
Sam Husseini | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
While Biden and his surrogates like John Kerry continue to falsely claim that he was not for the Iraq invasion, the Sanders camp has rightly highlighted more documentation, including video, of his support for the Iraq invasion after it happened, like his statement about Bush at the Brookings Institution in July 2003: ‘The president of the United States is…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/bidens-pack-…

Two US soldiers killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-14
The two US servicemen were killed in a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. Two others were seriously injured. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/14/two-us-so…

Daniel Ortega Defends teleSUR After Juan Guaido’s Threats
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega addressed a letter on Tuesday to the President of teleSUR, Patricia Villegas, in which he expressed his complete solidarity with the news network in the face of growing threats from the self-proclaimed ‘president’ of Venezuela Juan Guaido. | …
telesurenglish.net/news/Daniel-Ortega-De…

Can Batteries Help Limit Australia’s Bushfires?
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
With at least 27 human fatalities and a scarcely credible estimate by scientists that more than one billion animals have been killed nationwide by the unprecedented blazes since September 2019, Australia’s bushfire horrors have stunned the world. | The climate crisis is contributing to the catastrophe, at least to its scale and intensity, whether or not it is its primary cause. And scientists revealed only this month th…
truthdig.com/articles/can-batteries-help…

Can Batteries Help Limit Australia’s Bush Fires?
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
With at least 27 human fatalities and a scarcely credible estimate by scientists that more than one billion animals have been killed nationwide by the unprecedented blazes since September 2019, Australia’s bushfire horrors have stunned the world. | The climate crisis is contributing to the catastrophe, at least to its scale and intensity, whether or not it is its primary cause. And scientists revealed only this month th…
truthdig.com/articles/can-batteries-help…

To Manage Fires, Australia Must Follow the Lead of Aboriginal Communities
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
Since September 2019, Australia has been ravaged by bushfires. You know the statistics: about 18 million acres burned, around 2,000 homes destroyed, and nearly 1 billion animals affected. The fires have also affected Aboriginal com…
truthout.org/articles/to-manage-fires-au…

The Deadly Failures of Conservative Government in Australia in the Face of Ferocious Fires
Kenneth Good | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
The Morrison government is engaged in distorting and obscuring the causes of the bushfires raging across parts of Australia since October 2019. This is being done for ideological and political reasons by a conservative government with an established record of climate denial and coal addiction. The huge scale of the disaster is clear.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/the-deadly-f…

Australia’s Pine Gap spy base likely involved in the assassination of Qassem Suleimani
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
No-one within the Australian media and political establishment has raised the question as to whether the Pine Gap spy base in central Australia played a role in the killing.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/pine…

The World Must End the US’ Illegal Economic War. Sanctions Imposed on 39 Countries
Kevin Zeese | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
The United States is relying more heavily on illegal unilateral coercive measures (also known as economic sanctions) in place of war or as part of its build-up to war. In fact, economic sanctions are an act of war that kills …
globalresearch.ca/world-must-end-us-ille…

US Clearing Anti-War Voices Off the Web in Vast Censorship Operation
Darius Shahtahmasebi | theantimedia.com | 2020-01-14
(TMU)

Zionism and ‘Anti-Semitism’: A Chronicle of a Smear Foretold
Yoav Litvin | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
With the 2020 Presidential elections fast approaching, the progressive campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is gaining traction. Several interest groups have grown increasingly anxious of Sanders’ Democratic Socialist agenda, including ruling class Republicans, corporate Democrats and their joint ally

Misrepresenting Marx’s Ecology: A response to Daniel Tanuro’s “was Marx an ecosocialist?
John Bellamy Foster | mronline.org | 2020-01-14
Daniel Tanuro is an agricultural engineer and leading socialist activist who has made numerous contributions to ecosocialist thought and practice, most notably, in his book Green Capitalism: Why It Can’t Work. Yet, this has been coupled with persistent claims that there are “fundamental flaws” in Karl Marx’s ecological critique of capitalism. | Source…
mronline.org/2020/01/14/misrepresenting-…

An Interview with Embattled Catalan President Quim Torra
Thomas S. Harrington | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
The Catalan conflict is generating a constitutional crisis in Madrid with far-reaching implications for the future of the European Union. In a stunning and legally questionable move on January 3, Spain’s Central Electoral Commission voted to remove Catalan President Joaquim Torra from office immediately. In a speech the same evening, Torra rejected the legitimacy of the ruling, saying he responds only to the will of the Catalan people and the Catalan Parliament. The following day, the Catalan Parliament robustly backed him and his position on the matter. Meanwhile, during the investiture debate of Socialist Prime…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/an-interview…

Russia’s Unsuccessful Libyan Peace Summit Was a Good Start
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Russia’s Libyan peace summit in Moscow didn’t succeed with its stated objective of getting the warring parties to agree to a ceasefire agreement after they failed to find any common ground with one another, but it was nevertheless a good …
globalresearch.ca/russia-unsuccessful-li…

India’s Kashmiri Detainee Self-Censorship Demand Is Undemocratic
Andrew Korybko | asia-pacificresearch.com | 2020-01-14
asia-pacificresearch.com/india-kashmiri-…

Macron Forced to Back Down over Pension Reform Amidst Raging Protests
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Once again the French have shown the world now to protest, and that protesting works. President Emmanuel Macron was forced to roll back his plans for pensions reform over the weekend as demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday in …
globalresearch.ca/macron-forced-back-dow…

Martinique: Protests in Support of Environmental Activists
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Over one hundred people Monday gathered at the House of the Unions in support of seven environmental activists who were summoned by the courts in Fort-de-France, the capital of the Caribbean island of Martinique, a French overseas territory. | RELATED: | 8th Caribbean Peoples Assembly Debates the Crisis of Capitalism | Authorities blocked the entrance to the Palace of Justice to prevent the arrival of a march in support of seven anti-chlordecone young activists. | “Concentrat…
telesurenglish.net/news/Martinique-Prote…

Lebanese Focus New Wave of Protests Against Banks
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Lebanese protesters took the streets of Beirut Tuesday to resume protests, rallying outside banks and demanding access to their deposits. | RELATED: | Lebanon’s Hassan Diab is Named New Prime Minister | “Everything we’re suffering from is because of the banks and the central bank’s policies,” Ali, a 21-year-old college student, said at the protest in Beirut’s Hamra commercial district. “This is why there’s no longer any money, and prices are rising.” | After almost three weeks of relative c…
telesurenglish.net/news/Lebanese-Focus-N…

Libya: How Did We Get Here?>
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
The Libyan War broke out in the Spring of 2011 after weeks of wide-scale protests against the government of President Muammar Gaddafi. | RELATED: | Libya Talks in Russia Progress but Fail to Sign Ceasefire | The protesters were calling for Gaddafi to step down from the presidency, despite holding the role since his rise to power in the late 1960s and earl…
telesurenglish.net/news/Libya-How-Did-We…

Iran Announces Arrests in Downing of Ukrainian Jet
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
TEHRAN, Iran–Iran said Tuesday that authorities have made arrests for the accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which killed all 176 people on board and set off protests in the country demanding accountability after officials initially concealed the cause of the crash. | Iran’s Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said “some individuals” were arrested after “extensive investigations.” His statement on the judiciary’s website did not say how many people had been detained or name those arrested. | Iran at first dismissed allegations that a missile had brought down the plane, but in the fac…
truthdig.com/articles/iran-announces-arr…

Riot Police Evict Oakland Moms Who Reclaimed Vacant Home to Fight Homelessness
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
Update: Riot police evicted four mothers experiencing homeless Tuesday morning from the investor-owned home in Oakland they were occupying in protest of the city’s housing crisis. Two of the mothers were arrested. | In Oakland, California, a group of mothers fighting homelessness is waging a battle against real estate speculators and demanding permanent solutions to the Bay Area h…
truthout.org/video/riot-police-evict-oak…

Riot Police Evict Oakland Moms Who Reclaimed Vacant Home to Fight Homelessness
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
Update: Riot police evicted a group of mothers experiencing homeless Tuesday morning from the investor-owned home in Oakland they were occupying in protest of the city’s housing crisis. Two of the mothers were arrested. | In Oakland, California, a group of mothers fighting homelessness is waging a battle against real estate speculators and demanding permanent solutions to the Bay…
truthout.org/video/riot-police-evict-oak…

Kenyan university staff set to strike unless revised wages implemented
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-14
The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) issued a strike notice on January 9, in protest against the Kenyan government’s failure to honor the wage hike agreement signed with unions representing university staff last year. They have warned that teachers will be downing tools from January 20. | With the new academic year set to start, at least 35 universities in the country will be affected by the impending strike unless the government averts it by releasing the money promised in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed on October 28, 2019. The deadline for the implementation of the CBA was November 30, 2…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/14/kenyan-un…

Biden, Buttigieg and corporate media are eager for Sanders and Warren to clash
Norman Solomon | nationofchange.org | 2020-01-14
Keeping eyes on the prize this year will require a united front that can strengthen progressive forces, prevent any corporate Democrat from winning the party’s presidential nomination, and then go on to defeat Donald Trump.
nationofchange.org/2020/01/14/biden-butt…

Trump and Congress Double Down on Demonizing Iran
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
If one seriously seeks to understand how delusional policymakers in Washington are it is only necessary to examine the responses by the president and Congress to the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. The first response came in …
globalresearch.ca/trump-congress-double-…

Iran to Sue the US and Trump for Killing General Soleimani
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
According to Iran’s Judiciary Spokesman Gholamhossein Esmayeeli, the country’s ruling authorities will sue the US in international courts for Soleimani’s assassination. | “This brutal act was a violation of human rights and all international rules,” Esmayeeli stressed, adding: | “Martyr Soleimani | …
globalresearch.ca/iran-sue-us-trump-kill…

US Defense Secretary Esper Says Trump Lied to Justify Killing Soleimani
Arabi Souri | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Mark Esper, the former US Secretary of Defense (it’s a matter of time now) said that his chief Donald Trump lied to the US citizens about the justification to carry out the most heinous murder crimes against two top …
globalresearch.ca/us-defense-secretary-e…

Trump and Esper: No Evidence, Just a “Sneaky Feeling”. Time for the Invaders to Go Home
Steven Sahiounie | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he didn’t see any specific evidence that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was planning an imminent attack, which had been widely used by Trump as the …
globalresearch.ca/trump-esper-no-evidenc…

And We Allow This Madness to Continue
Cathy Breen | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
Try as I did, I found it impossible to send New Year’s greetings to friends in Iraq given the unthinkable and shameless actions of Trump and his regimein the last weeks. His decision to assassinate Iranian Major General Qasim Soleimani at the Baghdad airport led to the Iraqi Parliament voting to expel all foreign troops from…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/and-we-allow…

Refuting Pompeo claim, Iraq sticks to demand that U.S. troops get out
Matt Trinder | peoplesworld.org | 2020-01-14
The Iraqi government announced yesterday that it will not sign an agreement to keep U.S. forces in the country. On Jan. 5, the Iraqi parliament voted unanimously to demand an end to the presence of foreign forces in the country. The vote came two days after Iranian Major General Qasam Soleimani was killed by a …
peoplesworld.org/article/refuting-pompeo…

Trump Signed Off on Soleimani’s Assassination in June
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on the assassination of the Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in June, which was seven months before he was assassinated by the American forces. | RELATED: | Trump: Doesn’t Really Matter If Soleimani Posed Imminent Threat | In an exclusive article released last week, NBC News reported that Trump approved the assassination of Soleimani after it was presented to him during a meeting in June. | Trump’s decision to assassinate Soleimani follow…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Signed-Off…

Iran Welcomes “Constructive” Measures to Save Nuclear Deal
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi said Tuesday that Iran welcomes any constructive measure which aims at saving the 2015 nuclear deal. | RELATED: Trump Signed Off on Soleimani’s Assassination in June | “As in the past, Iran is fully ready to receive any well-intended and constructive measures to salvage this important international deal, and it supports any initiative in this regard,” Mousavi said. | “In the meantime, Iran clarifies it to all and particularly to three European parties of the deal that any breach of vows, mal-intention and unconst…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Welcomes-Co…

US Commits Acts of War, But No One Is Asking the Hard Questions
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-14
Gen. Soleimani was an ally in the fight against ISIS, just as Saddam was an ally against Iran. Why did the U.S. turn against them?
therealnews.com/stories/us-acts-of-war-h…

Israel Extends Detention of Two Palestinian Prisoners, Days Before Release
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-01-14
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said the Israeli government renewed the administrative detention of Shorouq al-Badan, 25, for six more months, on Monday, only two days before her scheduled release, the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported. Badan, from Bethlehem, was arrested July 2019, and was supposed to be …
imemc.org/article/israel-extends-detenti…

Israeli Colonists Rams A Palestinian Girl With Car Near Bethlehem
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-01-14
Palestinian medical sources have reported, Tuesday, that a teenage Palestinian girl was injured after an illegal Israeli colonist rammed her with his car near Bethlehem, south of occupied Jerusalem, in the West Bank. Ahmad Ghazal, the deputy head of Kisan Village Council, said the wounded girl has been identified as …
imemc.org/article/israeli-colonists-rams…

Carlos Ghosn, Julian Assange and the class justice of the New York Times
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
The Times, which welcomed the arrest of journalist Julian Assange last year, has effectively endorsed the decision by Carlos Ghosn to flee charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/ghos…

Julian Assange attends procedural hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
Since his last hearing on December 19, the WikiLeaks founder has had just two hours total to review evidence relating to the US extradition request with his legal team.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/assa…

US to Iraq: ‘Vote All You Want, We’re Not Leaving!’
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
President Trump’s decision earlier this month to assassinate Iran’s top military general on Iraqi soil

Assassination of Iran’s General Suleimani planned months in advance
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
The claim by the Trump administration that its drone missile assassination was carried out in the face of an “imminent” threat stands exposed as a lie.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/iran…

Berlin, London and Paris threaten Iran over 2015 nuclear treaty
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
After the recent US assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, the European powers are denouncing not Washington, but Tehran, as a threat to the Middle East.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/euir…

Sanders Takes Ten Point Lead Over Biden, Warren in California Tracking Poll
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
With a ten-point jump since November, Sen. Bernie Sanders has surged to the lead in a California tracking poll less than two months before the state’s Democratic primary on Super Tuesday

Venezuela and Red Cross Monitor Protection for Blockade Victims
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
The Venezuelan Government and the International Red Cross today reviewed the cooperation agreements for the protection of the victims of the U.S. blockade. | RELATED: | ‘US Did Not Consider the Venezuelan People’s Strength’ Maduro | Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and the head of the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Arnaud de Baecque, analyzed the progress of the projects here, accor…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-and-Re…

Mexico takes action on coup in Bolivia and bolsters CELAC
W. T. Whitney Jr. | peoplesworld.org | 2020-01-14
Mexico’s government intervened recently in two difficult situations beyond its borders. One is turmoil in Bolivia following a U.S.-assisted coup. The other concerns renewing the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). At issue there is regional integration and independence. Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced out of office on Nov. 10. Two days …
peoplesworld.org/article/mexico-takes-ac…

Chile: NIHR Asks To Investigate Chemicals Used By Riot Police
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
The Chilean National Institute of Human Rights (NIHR) informed this Monday that it will ask the Ministry of Health and the police (Carabineros) to investigate which chemicals were used against this weekend’s demonstrations. | RELATED: | Chile Charges State Oil Company Over Environmental Failures | The entity indicated on its website that this event wa…
telesurenglish.net/news/chile-nihr-asks-…

CLEAN Future Act Is ‘Shameful’ and ‘Greenwashing,’ say Climate Justice Groups
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-14
Democrats’ CLEAN Future Act calls for “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 but doesn’t require a fossil fuel industry phaseout. Critics say the bill lacks ambition and ignores the short timeline for radical action dictated by climate science.
therealnews.com/columns/clean-future-act…

Colombia: ‘Staggering number’ of human rights defenders killed in 2019
news.un.org | 2020-01-14
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, is “deeply troubled by the staggering number of human rights defenders killed in Colombia” last year, its spokesperson said on Tuesday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/01/1…

We ‘Slaughtered’ Jeremy Corbyn, Says Israel Lobbyist
Asa Winstanley | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
The lobbyist is part of CAA, one of the most active right-wing Zionist groups promoting the false notion that Britain’s Labour Party became an anti-Semitic party after Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership in 2015. | *** | A prominent Israel lobbyist in …
globalresearch.ca/we-slaughtered-jeremy-…

UN Top Court to Rule on Emergency Measures in Myanmar Genocide
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest court, will issue a ruling on a request for provisional and special measures in a genocide case against Myanmar on Jan. 23, Gambia’s Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said Monday on Twitter. | RELATED: | Bosnia Indicts Ex-Serb Army General Over Srebrenica Genocide | The mainly Muslim West African country instituted the case in November, alleging Buddhist-majority Myanmar was committing “an ongoing g…
telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Top-Court-to-…

The Trump Administration Weakens Standards for ICE Detention Facilities
Eunice Cho | aclu.org | 2020-01-14
Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officially released a new version of its National Detention Standards (NDS), which govern the treatment of immigrant detainees held in almost 140 facilities in 44 states. These facilities include local and state jails and prisons

Even When You Change Its Name, Solitary Confinement Is Torture
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
This piece was co-published with Solitary Watch. | If he took 13 steps in his size 11 shoes, Brandon Serna had walked the length of his cell. If he took more than six steps, he’d walked its width. For more than one year, the 40-year-old spent over 16 hours each day locked in this cell with his 30-year-old cellmate. | This is life in the “restricted movement” unit (RMU) at Indiana’s Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. I…
truthout.org/articles/even-when-you-chan…

Guatemalan organizations denounce political persecution of Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual
Zoe PC | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-14
Daniel Pascual, who is appearing as a defendant in a defamation case on Tuesday, has faced constant attacks because of his work to defend human rights and Indigenous and peasant communities in Guatemala…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/14/guatemala…

Guatemalan Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual denounces political persecution
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-14
On January 14, the legal process against Guatemalan Indigenous leader Daniel Pascual is set to begin. Pascual is accused of defamation, slander and injury by the son of a high-ranking military official and interior minister during the dictatorship of Ríos Montt. | According to Pascual’s organization the Committee for Peasant Unity -CUC- the charges are unfounded and in violation of the Constitution as well as several international conventions that Guatemala has ratified. Due to his visible role in the defense of human rights and vulnerable communities in Guatemala, Pascual has long been subjected to a systematic…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/14/guatemala…

The 40 Year Cold War With Iran
John Feffer | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
The United States has been in a 40-year cold war with Iran. Just like the cold war with the Soviet Union, the conflict between Washington and Tehran has been fought largely through proxies: in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq. Iranian-aligned organizations like Hezbollah have attacked U.S. targets, such as the 1984 embassy bombing in Beirut.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/the-40-year-…

Video: How and Why Iran Shot Down Ukrainian Boeing
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
On January 10, SouthFront released a video entitled ” What’s Behind Boeing Crash In Iran” on the January 8 airliner crash near Tehran. This video was produced because the Iranian side released new facts and details regarding the incident….
globalresearch.ca/video-how-why-iran-sho…

Sito russo: USA responsabili dell’errore umano che ha causato l’incidente dell’aereo ucraino
Stop NATO | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Il sito militare russo Avia.pro ha affrontato il problema dell’incidente a causa di un errore umano del Boing ucraino 737 in Iran, l’8 gennaio, pochi minuti dopo il decollo, che ha causato la morte di 179 passeggeri e membri dell’equipaggio….
globalresearch.ca/sito-russo-usa-respons…

Demonizing the Shia: How the West Perpetuates False Claims About Iran’s Regional Influence
Patrick Cockburn | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
I was in Iraq in April 1991 when government security forces crushed the Shia uprising against Saddam Hussein’s regime, killing tens of thousands and burying their bodies in pits. I had been expelled from Iraq to Jordan at the start of the rebellion in March and then, to my surprise, allowed to return, because Saddam…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/demonizing-t…

Charlottesville City Council Passes Resolution Against War on Iran
David Swanson | zcomm.org | 2020-01-14
The normalization of murder bestowed on us by the Obama years will not end well and must urgently be reversed…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/charlottesville-ci…

Charlottesville City Council Passes Resolution Against War on Iran
David Swanson | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
Charlottesville Virginia’s City Council voted Monday evening to adopt a resolution opposing war on Iran and urging passage by Congress of Senator Tim Kaine’s privileged resolution. The City Council re-affirmed the position it had taken in 2012 in passing a resolution against war on Iran. The latest threat of war on Iran is particularly Trumpian, but it has…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/charlottesvi…

Sanders’ rise in polls alarms Democratic political establishment
wsws.org | 2020-01-14
The increased support for the Vermont senator is linked to mounting antiwar sentiment in the midst of the Iran crisis.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/14/dems…

Iranian Opposition–1970s to 2020
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
In the mid-1970s, I did a fair amount of organizing work with Maryland members of the Iranian Student Association. Our goal was to end the rule of the US-installed Shah of Iran. Some of my work involved helping the Iranian students write their leaflets in American English. In 1976, I attended some meetings in Washington,…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/iranian-oppo…

Iranian Opposition: 1970s to 2020
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
In the mid-1970s, I did a fair amount of organizing work with Maryland members of the Iranian Student Association. Our goal was to end the rule of the US-installed Shah of Iran. Some of my work involved helping the Iranian students write their leaflets in American English. In 1976, I attended some meetings in Washington,…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/iranian-oppo…

164 “Peace-Keeping” Military Bases Worldwide: US Bases in Iraq Advance Its Regional Imperium
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
According to the Pentagon, US forces are in 164 (of the world’s 193) countries. | They’re on over 1,000 US bases of varying sizes and on others of host countries. Much information about their numbers, troop strength, and location is secret….
globalresearch.ca/us-bases-iraq-advance-…

Don’t Be Surprised If Biden’s Iraq War Vote Eats Him Alive Tonight
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
The 637th Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential season takes place in Iowa tonight, the last one before that state’s caucus voters head to the polls early next month. | What? Oh, sorry, it’s actually the seventh debate of the season, my bad. The anticipation is just eating me up. | Few things in life could be more stimulating than watching the candidates try to discuss war with Ir…
truthout.org/articles/dont-be-surprised-…

Argentina: Facing Another Debt Crisis
Eric Toussaint | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Let us remember that when Macri started his mandate in December 2015 he accepted all the injunctions formulated by a New York magistrate, who had ruled in the favor of vulture funds against Argentina. This has made it possible for …
globalresearch.ca/argentina-facing-anoth…

Permanent War and Poverty or Widespread Truth Awareness?
Mark Taliano | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
What are we really supporting when we refuse the truth and accept the war lies and the permanent war agenda? | We are supporting al Qaeda/ISIS, Empire’s proxies. We are supporting the military dictatorship of Washington-led NATO and the collapse of …
globalresearch.ca/permanent-war-poverty-…

For Western Media, the Only Coup in Venezuela Is Against Guaidó
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
The international corporate media enter crisis mode following the replacement of Juan Guaidó as head of the nation’s National Assembly.
truthdig.com/articles/for-western-media-…

For Western Press, the only Coup in Venezuela is against Guaidó
Lucas Koerner | mronline.org | 2020-01-14
The international corporate media have entered crisis mode following the replacement of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as head of the country’s National Assembly. | Source…
mronline.org/2020/01/14/for-western-pres…

Trump’s Latest Debacle: an Incompetent and Deceitful National Security Team
Melvin Goodman | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
For the past three years, the conventional wisdom has been that the United States and the Trump administration have been fortunate in not having to face a national security crisis. The killing of Qassim Suleimani is Trump’s first (self-inflicted) crisis, and his national security team has failed in every aspect.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/trumps-lates…

Venezuela Condemns US Sanctions Against Assembly’s New Leadership
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Venezuela’s government denounced Monday a new attack by the United States of unilateral and coercive sanctions against Venezuelan officials, including lawmakers from the opposition who were elected on Jan. 5 as the National Assembly’s new leadership. | RELATED: | Desperate Juan Guaido Vows Again to Plunder teleSUR’s Signal | In the statement released by Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza on his Twitter account, the authorities said that U.S.’s President Donald Trump’s adminis…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Condem…

Almost 1,000 Migrants Returned to Libya This Year Already: IOM
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
More than 950 refugees and migrants, among them 136 women and 85 children were intercepted in the Mediterranean in the first two weeks of 2020 and returned to inhumane detention centers in war-ravaged Lybia, one of the least safe countries for them, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). | RELATED: | African Migrants in Egypt Face Increasingly Violent Racism | ”
telesurenglish.net/news/Almost-1000-Migr…

Libya: No Ceasefire As Rival Factions Leave Moscow Without Deal
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Libya’s General Kalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA), refused to sign an agreement that would have formalized a tentative ceasefire Tuesday in Russia, despite been already signed by the head of the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj. | RELATED: | Libya: How Did We Get Here? | “The draft [agreement] ignores many of the Libyan ar…
telesurenglish.net/news/No-Ceasefire-in-…

Khalifa Haftar refuses to formalize Libyan ceasefire
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-01-14
The warlord who had initially agreed to the ceasefire proposed by Russia and Turkey withdrew saying that it did not address his concerns. His rival group, the Government of National Accord, has already signed the agreement…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/14/khalifa-h…

Pundits Go Nuts Over New Russian Hacking Conspiracy
Caitlin Johnstone | theantimedia.com | 2020-01-14
(CJ Opinion)

Sanders Surges Ahead of Warren and Biden in California
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
New polling data from the Public Policy Institute of California finds the Vermont senator in the lead after climbing 10% since November.
truthdig.com/articles/sanders-surges-ahe…

The Montessori Schools Set to Track Students’ Every Move
Sarah Lahm | progressive.org | 2020-01-14
At schools that were meant to foster self-paced learning in the natural world, the billionaires behind Facebook and Amazon are funding new data-seeking tech.
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/…

How an Israeli Spy-Linked Tech Firm Gained Access to the US Gov’t’s Most Classified Networks
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-14
Through its main investors, SoftBank and Lockheed Martin, Cybereason not only has ties to the Trump administration but has its software running on some of the U.S. government’s most classified and secretive networks.
mintpressnews.com/cybereason-investors-o…

Guatemala: Giammattei Takes Office in a Poor, Insecure Country
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Guatemala’s new president Alejandro Giammattei Tuesday takes office under pressure from the United States President Donald Trump on immigration and security issues. | RELATED: | US Plans to Send Mexican Asylum Seekers to Guatemala | This former director of the Penitentiary System, who will rule Guatemala from 2020 to 2024, must decide his stance quickly on the Asylum Cooperation Agreement (ACA)‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚&Aum…
telesurenglish.net/news/Guatemala-Giamma…

The US Is Waging a Stealth War at the Mexico Border
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-14
In recent decades, U.S. immigration policies have aggressively targeted families fleeing violence and poverty in Mexico and Central and South America, spawning a network of detention centers that now exist indefinitely along our southern border. The U.S.’s approach to tackling undocumented immigration has come under fire for its use of brutal tactics such as deliberately separating families, placing them in confinement under harsh conditions, and denying them adequate medical and legal counsel. | On today’s program, Joh…
truthout.org/audio/the-us-is-waging-a-st…

Painter of Disquiet: Félix Vallotton at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Prof. Sam Ben-Meir | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Félix Vallotton, an artist who has been largely neglected relative to his contemporaries, such as Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard. This makes the present exhibition all the more …
globalresearch.ca/painter-disquiet-felix…

Harry and Meghan “Exit”: The Royal Family Propaganda Machine
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-01-14
Royal gossip is worth its weight in gold on the British media circuit. Buckingham Palace knows that, and seeks to control, as much as it can, the way that gold is distributed. | The recent fuss over the premature retirement, or …
globalresearch.ca/harry-meghan-exit-roya…

Peru: Top Court Deems Constitutional Dissolution of Congress
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
Peru’s Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that President Martin Vizcarra’s dissolution of congress was constitutional, dismissing a legal claim from the former President of the legislative body Pedro Olaechea. | RELATED: | Peru: President Vizcarra’s Cabinet Approve Decree To Elect New Congress | With four votes in favor and three against, the magistrates debated for…
telesurenglish.net/news/Peru-Top-Court-D…

Spain: 1 Killed, 6 Injured in Big Chemical Factory Explosion
telesurenglish.net | 2020-01-14
One person was killed, another was missing and six were injured Tuesday in an explosion and fire at a chemical factory in the northeastern town of Tarragona in the Spanish semi-autonomous region of Catalonia, local authorities reported. | RELATED: | Spain: New Coalition Government Takes Oath of Office | Rescue services called the blast a “chemical accident,” adding the fire had been contained and that several of the injured had suffered burns. The affected company is Industrias Qu…
telesurenglish.net/news/Spain-1-Killed-6…

Central American Caravan for the Disappeared Seeks to Reunite Families
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-01-14
A caravan of Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans, heads north towards Mexico looking for lost and disappeared loved ones.
therealnews.com/stories/caravan-central-…

More than 1,000 ancient woodlands under threat, charity warns
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-01-14
More than 1,000 ancient woodlands are at risk of damage or destruction from development, the Woodland Trust has warned. | Figures from the charity show it is aware of 1,064 ancient woods at risk from housing, infrastructure and other developments. | It is the highest number of woods at risk since the Trust started compiling data in 1999, and the first time it has topped the thousand mark. | Of the cases the Trust has identified, 801 are live planning applications, while the remaining 263 are included in council site allocation plans for areas outlined for future development such as housing or business use. | The…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/20…

Understanding France’s General Strike
Gabriel Rockhill | zcomm.org | 2020-01-14
Yellow Vests and Global Class Warfare…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/understanding-fran…

Warren Refuses to Elaborate After Accusing Sanders of Sexism
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-01-14
She claims that in a 2018 conversation, Sanders disagreed with her that a woman could beat Donald Trump in the 2020 general election.
truthdig.com/articles/elizabeth-warren-r…

Soldiers Abduct Nineteen Palestinians In The West Bank
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-01-14
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Tuesday at dawn, nineteen Palestinians, including siblings, from several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported. The PPS office in Jenin, in northern West Bank, said the soldiers invaded and ransacked many homes in several parts of the governorate, and …
imemc.org/article/soldiers-abduct-ninete…

Minutes After His Release, Soldiers Abduct A Palestinian Who Spent 18 Years In Prison
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-01-14
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, Tuesday, a Palestinian man just minutes after his release from prison, after he was held captive for 18 years. The PPS said the Palestinian political prisoner, Ismael Affana, from occupied East Jerusalem, was released from the Negev Detention Camp, …
imemc.org/article/minutes-after-his-rele…

Detainee Zahran Suspends Hunger Strike
IMEMC News | imemc.org | 2020-01-14
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees Affairs has reported that detainee Ahmad Zahran, 42, has suspended the hunger strike, which lasted for 113 days, after reaching an agreement with the Israeli Prison Authority regarding his continued Administrative Detention without charges or trial. Lawyer Jawad Bulus, the head of the …
imemc.org/article/detainee-zahran-suspen…

Rush elections are like a non violent coup against public consciousness
Antonio Carty | zcomm.org | 2020-01-14
Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar, has just announced snap election for February 8th? that’s about 3 weeks, how does a legitimate public debate and campaign by opposition party’s have a proper chance to lodge an alternative to this self proclaimed ‘Government of Ireland’ who instead of getting any real progress on the fundamental outstanding problems people Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/rush-elections-are-like…

The Fed Protects Gamblers at the Expense of the Economy
Ellen Brown | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-14
Although the repo market is little known to most people, it is a $1-trillion-a-day credit machine, in which not just banks but hedge funds and other “shadow banks” borrow to finance their trades. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the central bank’s lending window is open only to licensed depository banks; but the Fed is now…
counterpunch.org/2020/01/14/the-fed-prot…

We Shall See
Badri Raina | zcomm.org | 2020-01-14
(Transcreation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s contentious/celebrated poem “Hum Dekhengei” written In 1979 as critique of Zia ul Haq’s oppressive Islamist rule) Inevitable that we shall see Dawn of the promised day, When pinnacles of tyranny Will come to be blown away Like bales of cotton loosely held, When the ground shall shudder underneath The Read…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/we-shall-see/