Daily Archives: February 6, 2020

2020-02-06: Social Media Postees

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

A fascist coup
Victor Grossman | mronline.org | 2020-02-06
While millions this week stared at Iowa and Washington with worried amazement, confusion or anger, Germany, too, had its own messy confusion–which turned into a frightening alarm signal! | Source…
mronline.org/2020/02/06/a-fascist-coup/

Trump’s State of the Union Address: Half MAGA Rally, Half Resistance Protest, Full-on Reality TV Drama
Sarah Abed | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Tuesday’s State of the Union dubbed “the launching of the great American comeback” came just a day after the Iowa caucuses in the 2020 presidential election and a day before Trump was acquitted of both articles of impeachment by the …
globalresearch.ca/trump-state-union-addr…

Democrats Mistakenly Award Iowa Delegates for Bernie Sanders to Deval Patrick
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
Results from Monday’s Iowa caucuses continue to trickle in, with 97% of precincts reporting as of Thursday morning. Senator Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg are now in a virtual tie. Sanders maintains a lead in the popular vote, but Buttigieg has a slight advantage in what’s known as the “state delegate equivalent” race. Buttigieg has 26.2% of state delegate equivalents, while Sanders is at 26.1%. The New York Times is now predicting Sanders has a greater chance of winn…
truthout.org/video/democrats-mistakenly-…

They’re Going to Try to Steal California From Sanders (Again)
Lee Camp | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
Given what just unfolded at the Iowa caucuses, not to mention in 2016, voters in the Golden State need to look out on Super Tuesday.
truthdig.com/articles/theyre-going-to-tr…

How California Will Be Stolen From Bernie Sanders (Again)
Lee Camp | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
Given what just unfolded at the Iowa caucuses, not to mention in 2016, voters in the Golden State need to look out on Super Tuesday.
truthdig.com/articles/how-california-wil…

Bernie Sanders Reports Massive January Haul After Iowa Debacle
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign announced Thursday that it raised a staggering $25 million in the month of January alone, by far the biggest fundraising month of the senator’s campaign and a larger haul than his 2020 Democratic rivals posted in any full quarter of 2019. | The campaign said over 219,000 of the total 648,000 January donors were new, and the average donation was just over $18. Teacher was the most common profession of January donors and the most common employers were Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, the United States Postal Service, and Target. | More than 99.9% of Sanders’ donors have not max…
truthdig.com/articles/bernie-sanders-rep…

The Democrats and Iowa
Robert Fantina | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
The Iowa caucuses are over, sort of, and as of this writing, results are finally being announced, incrementally. This delay is causing great amounts of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. ‘Oh, no!’, the pundits proclaim. “This shows that the Democrats are in disarray, and it’s like handing a gift to President Donald Trump, a mere nine months prior to the next presidential election.”
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/the-democrat…

Questions for the Iowa Caucus Counters
Fred Baumgarten | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
Who decided there needed to be a “better” way to tabulate the results, and why? Why was the development of the app kept secret? Why was it rushed into use with no training or testing? What was the exact nature of the reporting “inconsistencies”? Do we have certainty that every precinct’s results were tabulated and…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/questions-fo…

Acronym group that sabotaged Iowa caucus birthed by billionaire who funded Alabama disinformation campaign
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-06
Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman funded the creation of ACRONYM, the group that sabotaged the Iowa caucus results, after bankrolling…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/06/acronym-iowa-…

Acronym group that sabotaged Iowa caucus birthed by billionaire who funded Alabama disinformation campaign
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-06
Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman not only funded the creation of ACRONYM, the group that sabotaged Iowa caucus vote results,…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/06/acronym-iowa-…

Acronym group that sabotaged Iowa caucus birthed by billionaire who funded Alabama disinformation campaign
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-06
Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman not only funded the creation of ACRONYM, the group that sabotaged Iowa caucus results; he…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/06/acronym-iowa-…

With 97 Percent of Iowa Results in, Sanders Leads Buttigieg in Popular Vote
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
A new batch of Iowa Democratic caucus results released in the early hours of Thursday morning showed Sen. Bernie Sanders almost completely wiping out Pete Buttigieg’s narrow lead in state delegate equivalents while extending his popular vote lead over the former South Bend, Indiana mayor to more than 2,500 votes. | With 97% of precincts reporting, Sanders trails Buttigieg by just three state delegate equivalents [mdash…
truthout.org/articles/with-97-percent-of…

How Corporate Media Make Pete Look Like He’s Winning
Jim Naureckas | fair.org | 2020-02-06
If you turn to the New York Times for an update on the excruciatingly and inexplicably slow counting of the votes from the Iowa caucuses, you find what looks like a bar chart showing that South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg did approximately 50 times better than any of his next closest rivals: | On closer examination, it turns out that that is not a bar chart…
fair.org/home/how-corporate-media-make-p…

Corporate Media Is Trying to Manufacture a Pete Buttigieg Win
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
The way media outlets are reporting the still incomplete Iowa caucus results to put the South Bend mayor on top is confounding.
truthdig.com/articles/how-corporate-medi…

The Iowa Fiasco Is the Death Knell of a Failed 50-Year Experiment
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
It’s time to ask why two almost entirely white states are allowed to have such a disproportionate influence over presidential nominations.
truthdig.com/articles/the-iowa-fiasco-is…

Corporate Media Is Trying to Manufacture a Pete Buttigieg Win
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
The way media outlets are reporting the still incomplete Iowa caucus results to put the former South Bend mayor on top is confounding.
truthdig.com/articles/how-corporate-medi…

DNC Calls for a ‘Recanvass’ of Iowa Results After Delays
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
“Enough is enough,” party leader Tom Perez writes on Twitter, after days of chaos; Buttigieg and Sanders are nearly tied for first.
truthdig.com/articles/dnc-calls-for-a-re…

The Iowa Fiasco Rings the Death Knell of a Failed 50-Year Experiment
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
It’s time to ask why two almost entirely white states are allowed to have such a disproportionate influence over presidential nominations.
truthdig.com/articles/the-iowa-fiasco-is…

How Corporate Media Make Pete Look Like He’s Winning
Jim Naureckas | fair.org | 2020-02-06
by Jim Naureckas | If you turn to the New York Times for an update on the excruciatingly and inexplicably slow counting of the votes from the Iowa caucuses, you find what looks like a bar chart showing that South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg did approximately 50 times better than any of his next closest rivals: | On closer examination, it turns out that that is…
fair.org/home/how-corporate-media-make-p…

Republican and Democratic Parties in Turmoil
George Ochenski | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
Stumbling into February, both major political parties in the U.S. are in disarray as they face uncertain, unplanned and uncontrollable futures going into a crucial election year. For Republicans, it’s the dangerous and perhaps foolish choice to acquit a corrupt president who has been impeached. For Democrats, it’s looking like Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/republican-a…

Guyana: Global Witness Accuses Exxon of ‘Exploitative’ Contract
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
Guyana loses $55 billion with its current oil license deal with Exxon shows an analysis of the international human rights and anti-corruption group Global Witness. | RELATED: | Houthis Bombs Aramco Oil Field in New Attack on Saudi Arabia | The group urged the Guyanese government to renegotiate the deal as they found that the rushed deal left the country with a lower profit share from Exxon’s Stabroek oil license than countries generally get from such negotiations. | The investig…
telesurenglish.net/news/global-witness-a…

Duh, Jared! So who built the PA as a ‘police state’?
Jonathan Cook | zcomm.org | 2020-02-06
By pushing the Middle East peace process to its logical conclusion, Donald Trump has made crystal clear something that was supposed to have been obscured: that no US administration has ever really seen peace as the objective of its “peacemaking”
zcomm.org/znetarticle/duh-jared-so-who-b…

Russia-Belarus Relations: ‘The Moment of Truth’ Has Arrived. Belarus Drifting Westward?
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Belarusian President Lukashenko’s dramatic declaration that “the moment of truth has come” for bilateral relations ahead of his meeting with his Russian counterpart on Friday raises all sorts of questions about the future of their ties, though nobody should be …
globalresearch.ca/russian-belarusian-rel…

‘All Journalists at Risk’ if Assange Handed to US Jailers
Ben Chacko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
All journalists will be at risk if Julian Assange is extradited to the US and jailed for publishing classified information, a packed debate at London’s Frontline Club heard today. | Mr Assange faces up to 175 years behind bars if convicted …
globalresearch.ca/all-journalists-risk-a…

Don’t Extradite Assange meeting in London: The political issues
wsws.org | 2020-02-06
The aim of the Don’t Extradite Assange group is to rehabilitate the Labour Party and the trade unions, its “left” representatives in particular, and to corral the movement in defence of Assange under their control.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/06/deam…

Aida Merlano: Ivan Duque Persecutes Me to Assassinate Me
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
The former Colombian congresswoman, Aida Merlano, said Thursday that Colombian President Iván Duque is chasing her to assassinate her. | “I apologize for entering the country like this, illegally,” Merlano said during her statement at a special hearing held at the Palace of Justice, in Caracas, where she said she was set up by the leaders of the country’s traditional political machine. | RELATED: | US and Colombia Carrying out Military Exercises in Cartagena | She stressed that t…
telesurenglish.net/news/Aida-Merlano-Iva…

Can the U.S. and Iran Avoid a Disastrous Collision?
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
With the United States walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)–more commonly known as the Iran accord–we all enter into a heightened zone of danger. Trump is threatening a war on Iran through his statements and tweets, and now by his actions, assassinating serving Iranian and Iraqi generals on Iraqi soil. Assassinations…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/can-the-u-s-…

Can the U.S. and Iran Avoid a Disastrous Collision?
Prabir Purkayastha | zcomm.org | 2020-02-06
Source: Independent Media Institute With the United States walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)–more commonly known as the Iran accord–we all enter into a heightened zone of danger. Trump is threatening a war on Iran through his statements and tweets, and now by his actions, assassinating serving Iranian and Iraqi generals Read…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/can-the-u-s-and-ir…

Can the U.S. and Iran Avoid a Disastrous Collision?
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
With the United States walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)–more commonly known as the Iran accord–we all enter into a heightened zone of danger. Trump is threatening a war on Iran through his statements and tweets, and now by his actions, assassinating serving Iranian and Iraqi generals on Iraqi soil. Assassinations are illegal in international law, but then Trump’s understanding of domestic and international law is limited by what he thinks he can get away with. A war in the region now threatens its entire oil and shipping infrastructure, and can also take down the entire gl…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/can-the-u-s-…

Evo Morales Warns of US Threats Against Him
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
Forner Bolivian president Evo Morales said Wednesday that one of the reasons for his candidacy as a senator is to “shield himself from the threats” from the United States, following the coup d’état that took place in Nov.2019. | RELATED: | Evo Morales Named Candidate for Bolivian Senate | “The United States is targeting me, and I clearly remember what happened in Libya and Iraq. That is one of the reasons why I thought of being a candidate for le…
telesurenglish.net/news/Evo-Morales-Warn…

US and Colombia Carrying out Military Exercises in Cartagena
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
The U.S. Special Operations Command South spokesperson Cesar Santiago reported that Colombia and his country are developing joint military exercises in Cartagena. | RELATED: | FARC Leader Sends Letter to Duque About Persecution of Members | “This exercise will help build interoperability between the armies of the U.S. and Colombia, ensuring that we are ready to respond quickly in support of our partners in case of a crisis,” Santiago said, as reported by local media RCN. | On…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-and-Colombia-…

Jeremy Corbyn praises ‘very important’ new pledge from deputy candidate Richard Burgon
Ed Sykes | thecanary.co | 2020-02-06
Labour Party deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon has announced a pledge to give party members a veto on military action abroad. And outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn has praised this as “a very important development idea for our policies”. | On Wednesday, Burgon recalled the “disastrous and illegal” invasion of Iraq as he put forward a plan for a members’ vote on military action

Chinese Doctors Are Using Cuban Antivirals Against Coronavirus
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
The Recombinant Interferon Alpha 2B (IFNrec), an antiviral produced by the Cuban biotech industry, is being used by Chinese doctors to treat patients infected by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, which has affected more than 28,000 people and has killed 564 patients worldwide. | RELATED: | China Tests Russian Vaccine to Combat New Coronavirus | Since Jan. 25, the ChangHeber Company located in Changchun city has been producing the famous Cuban antiviral, which is one of 30 medicines chosen by…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuban-antiviral-…

New Zealand’s coronavirus travel ban stokes tensions with China
wsws.org | 2020-02-06
The Labour Party-led government’s decision to suspend inbound travel from China is a nationalist move that is stoking tensions with China.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/06/cban…

Chinese Slams “Racist” Reports by German Media over Coronavirus
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
The Chinese embassy in Germany on Wednesday slammed reports by a German magazine over the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China, saying they are racist and xenophobic. | RELATED: | Chinese Doctors Are Using Cuban Antivirals Against Coronavirus | The Chinese embassy in Germany denounced in a statement media outlets in Germany “that are self-claimed to objectivity an…
telesurenglish.net/news/Chinese-Slams-Ra…

An American Drama: Republican Senators Sabotaged Donald Trump’s Impeachment Trial
Prof Rodrigue Tremblay | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
The die is cast. –History will record that Republican senators in the U.S. Senate used their majority to sabotage the impeachment trial of Donald Trump and, in so doing, de facto exonerated him of abuse of power and of obstruction …
globalresearch.ca/american-drama-republi…

At acquittal protests, Trump foes vow to keep pressure on through election
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-02-06
WASHINGTON–On to, and through, November. That was the prevailing vow foes of GOP President Donald Trump took in nationwide demonstrations on the evening of Feb. 5, just minutes after the GOP-run Senate voted almost unanimously along party lines not to convict him on impeachment charges of abuse of power and defiance of congressional investigations. “Nov. …
peoplesworld.org/article/at-acquittal-pr…

Trump Unleashes Fury at Impeachment Enemies at Prayer Event
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
The president takes issue with “love your enemies” credo in a jarring speech amid others’ calls for unity at National Prayer Breakfast.
truthdig.com/articles/trump-unleashes-fu…

Trump emerges strengthened after Democrats’ impeachment debacle
wsws.org | 2020-02-06
From the beginning of the Trump presidency, the Democrats have worked to channel mass popular opposition to Trump behind their own right-wing, militarist agenda.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/06/pers…

What’s Next Front in Trump’s Battle Over Presidential Powers?>
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
Both in Federal courts and in the Senate, U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyers have argued that the Constitution confers on a president broad protection from scrutiny by Congress, prosecutors, and the judiciary for his actions. | RELATED: | Trump Gets Away With It: Senate Votes Against Impeachment | This expansive view of presidential powers may have helped the Republican president win acquittal, and for now, he is the first impeached president to seek re-election. | The final verd…
telesurenglish.net/news/Whats-Next-Front…

Trump Administration Reintroduces Catastrophic Reagan-Era Disability Cuts
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
You might have missed it amid the impeachment coverage, but the Trump administration has recently rolled out plans for draconian cuts to everything from Medicaid to school lunches. | Latest on the chopping block…
truthout.org/articles/trump-administrati…

Trump’s ‘Red Meat’ SOTU Speech: US Political Crisis Now Deepens
Jack Rasmus | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
If anyone thinks the recent impeachment and Senate trial was the high point of the growing conflict between the two political parties, Republican (correct that: Trumpublicans now) and Democrat, they haven’t seen anything yet. The worst, much worse is yet to come in the months leading up to the November 2020 elections.
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/trumps-red-m…

Evangelical Missionary Leads Brazil Office for Isolated Tribes
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
The government of ultra-right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Wednesday the appointment of an evangelical missionary to head the office responsible for Brazil’s uncontacted Indigenous peoples. | RELATED: | Brazilian Indigenous Tribes to Sue Bolsonaro Over Crude Remarks | Despite an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the nomination from national and international organizations, the Indigenous Affairs Agency ( FUNAI) designated…
telesurenglish.net/news/Evangelical-Miss…

Trudeau Government’s Effort to Overthrow Venezuelan Government
Yves Engler | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-02-06
What’s more likely to shape Canadian policy in the Hemisphere: human rights and democracy or bankers’ bottom-line? Last week Venezuelan politician Juan Guaidó was fêted in Ottawa. The self-declared president met Canada’s Prime Minister, international development minister and foreign minister. Trudeau said, “I commend Interim President Guaidó for the courage and leadership he has shown …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/02/trudeau-gover…

Republicans Have Weakened Congress in Order to Protect Trump
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
In the United States, money is synonymous with merit. There is a presumption at the core of capitalism’s narrative that if you are wealthy, you earned it through virtue and “hard work,” not theft or nepotism. This mythology helped fuel the deregulation that led to the financial crisis, and it is also part of President Trump’s rise. Trump’s wealth earned him prestige in the eyes of millions, who in turn handed him the power of the presidency. And Trump’s wealth and power has now led Congress to declare him ab…
truthout.org/articles/republicans-have-w…

Trump’s Imaginary World, Maduro’s Real World
Maria Paez Victor | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
Trump gave his State of the Union to his Congress this week. He is the president behind the curtain. But he is not the benevolent, comical, trickster, wanna-be Wizard of the famous story, but a malevolent and armed ogre that threatens his country and the world. He spreads lies like magic dust into his people’s eyes…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/trumps-imagi…

Trump’s Imaginary World, Maduro’s Real World
stclair | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
Trump gave his State of the Union to his Congress this week. He is the president behind the curtain. But he is not the benevolent, comical, trickster, wanna-be Wizard of the famous story, but a malevolent and armed ogre that threatens his country and the world. He spreads lies like magic dust into his people’s eyes…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/trumps-imagi…

Maduro: ‘the US Does Not Appoint President in Venezuela’
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro Wednesday reminded Donald Trump that the president of Venezuela is chosen by the Venezuelan people and not the United States. | RELATED: | Venezuela Commemorates 28th Anniversary of National Dignity Day | “In Venezuela, the president is not appointed by the U.S. president; the People choose him through elections,…
telesurenglish.net/news/Maduro-the-US-Do…

Syrian Army’s Offensive in Idlib Deepens Rift Between Russia and Turkey
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Major strains are appearing in Russian-Turkish relations, particularly over the Syrian Army’s latest offensive against Turkish-backed jihadists in Idlib and Russia’s non-agreeance with Turkey’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood government based in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Last week Turkish…
globalresearch.ca/syrian-army-offensive-…

To March or Not to March: Why are the Streets Nearly Empty?
Howard Lisnoff | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
I couldn’t get to the January 25th antiwar rally. Viewing photographs of that sparsely attended rally drives home the fact that the antiwar movement is nearly dead in the US. Perhaps it is dead and I cannot bring myself to accept that fact? Only days later, bellicose Trump presented a laughable plan for peace in the…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/to-march-or-…

Draft UN Resolution Condemns Trump Middle East ‘Peace’ Plan
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
A draft United Nations Security Council resolution rebuked Tuesday President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel peace proposal and condemned Israeli plan to annex its illegal settlements in Palestinian territories. | Tunisia and Indonesia circulated the draft text to council members. Though it …
globalresearch.ca/draft-un-resolution-co…

Fascists align with conservatives to kick out Die Linke in eastern Germany
Morning Star | peoplesworld.org | 2020-02-06
Protests were sparked in Germany’s eastern state of Thuringia Wednesday after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party–which has ties to neo-Nazis–joined forces with two conservative parties in the state parliament to oust incumbent Die Linke (Left Party) President Bodo Ramelow. State elections were held in October, but the left-wing premier was unable to form …
peoplesworld.org/article/fascists-align-…

The ‘Deal of the Century’ Challenge for Palestinians
Ramzy Baroud | zcomm.org | 2020-02-06
The Palestinian leadership cannot be absolved from its responsibility towards the Palestinian people, and its unmitigated failure to develop a comprehensive national strategy…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-deal-of-the-ce…

America’s Newest Proxy Battle Could Spark World War 3
Maj. Danny Sjursen | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
The Trump administration has put the U.S. on a collision course with Russia in Central Asia. It risks nothing less than a nuclear cataclysm.
truthdig.com/articles/americas-newest-pr…

NASA’s Record-Setting Koch, Crewmates Safely Back From Space
Staff | truthdig.com | 2020-02-06
MOSCOW

Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-06
Turkey has given the Syrian government until the end of this month to withdraw from recently seized territory in Idlib province.

Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action

Embassy Protection Collective: “We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law”
Venezuela Analysis | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-06
In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Embassy Protection Collective: “We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law”

Emergency legislation for terror law offenders in UK sets anti-democratic precedent
wsws.org | 2020-02-06
Whatever measures are used initially against terrorists will be deployed more widely against workers and youth who defy the class war offensive of the ruling elite.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/06/sent…

A possible Communist redefinition of love
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-02-06
In In Praise of Love, Alain Badiou defined love as a form of “minimal communism [where] the real subject of a love is the becoming of the couple and not the mere satisfaction of the individuals that are its component parts.”(1) Earlier in the book, Badiou provided a more elegant statement, associating the act of […] | Source…
mronline.org/2020/02/06/a-possible-commu…

A Neoliberal Legacy: America’s Fascism Problem Runs Much Deeper Than Trump
Roger D. Harris | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-06
In recent years, the press reports of racist young whites attracted to far-right persuasions including flirting with fascism. But are they the cause or the consequence?
mintpressnews.com/neoliberal-legacy-amer…

Let’s Move the Goalposts. The US-China Confrontation
Larry Romanoff | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
The prospect of ‘moving the goalposts’ is a peculiarly American strategy to ensure that America will always win. To accomplish this, one either moves the goalposts in position to receive the ball regardless of how badly-aimed it might be, or …
globalresearch.ca/lets-move-goalposts/57…

Huawei Sues US Verizon Wireless Co. for Patent Infringement
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
China’s high-tech firm Huawei Wednesday filed a lawsuit in Texas against U.S. carrier Verizon, seeking compensation for what it said were infringements of its intellectual property rights. | RELATED: | Chinese Huawei Beats Trump’s Ban, Makes a $58.3 Billion Profit | Huawei’s lawsuit argues that Verizon should pay the Chinese company for its use of a variety of…
telesurenglish.net/news/huawei-goes-sues…

Trump threatens to block aid as Puerto Rico is hit by new earthquake
wsws.org | 2020-02-06
More than a month after an ongoing earthquake swarm began, the Trump administration is threatening to veto a bill that would allocate $4.7 billion in emergency aid to the island.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/06/puer…

Federico Fellini: Author of Cinema
Gaither Stewart | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
The cinema world is marking the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Federico Fellini (b. January 20,1920-d. October 31, 1993) in Rimini on the shores of the Adriatic Sea on the east coast of Italy. Exhibits of his films and his life are being shown all over Italy, while a major show, “Fellini 100”,…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/federico-fel…

Jeremy Hunt’s new role ‘holding the government to account’ on health policy is a sick joke
John Ranson | thecanary.co | 2020-02-06
Rather quietly, Jeremy Hunt has sidled back towards the political limelight, with a new role in parliament. But it’s one that says so much about the rot in our political system. | In 2016, Hunt declared that being health secretary was likely to be his “last big job in politics”. Since then, he’s been foreign secretary and run for the Tory leadership (and the accompanying keys to Number 10). Clearly over-qualified to fit into the current cabinet, Hunt has been grazing on the backbenches. | But now, Hunt…
thecanary.co/opinion/2020/02/06/jeremy-h…

Interview: Trump’s Nuclear Insecurities and Other Secrets from the Author of “The Bomb”
Fred Kaplan | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
In this interview, Bulletin contributing editor Dawn Stover speaks with Fred Kaplan about his just-published book, The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War (Simon & Schuster). Kaplan is a national-security columnist for Slate and the author …
globalresearch.ca/interview-trump-nuclea…

Triumphal Divisions: Trump’s State of the Union Address
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
In this year of the presidential elections, President Donald J. Trump shows little sign of cowering. It had been some time in coming, but here was a businessman talking to a Congress long in the pocket of business, a seemingly …
globalresearch.ca/triumphal-divisions-tr…

The ‘Deal of the Century’: Revealed and Reviled
Hasan Abu Nimah | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Last week, on January 28, US President Donald Trump officially revealed his long-awaited ‘”Deal of the Century”: The plan for resolving the century-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Except for some additional details, the lengthy document did not add much to what …
globalresearch.ca/deal-century-revealed-…

Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) Lawyers Question Legality of Saudi Arms Ship Due to Dock in UK
CAAT, Campaign Against Arms Trade | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Lawyers from Leigh Day, representing Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to the Government Legal Department seeking clarification as to the licence under which a Saudi vessel will be allowed to enter and subsequently leave the UK following its …
globalresearch.ca/campaign-against-arms-…

America Down the Rabbit Hole. Have We Landed in The Place of Silliness and Nonsense?
Philip A Farruggio | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice chases the white rabbit and falls down the well into a world of silliness and nonsense. Not so for our dear Amerika and us working stiffs. The world that we have found ourselves …
globalresearch.ca/amerika-down-rabbit-ho…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and “Predictive Justice” in Our Courts
Dr. Jaspal Kaur Sadhu Singh | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-06
Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Talking to Strangers, wrote of the difficulty faced by a judge whether to allow bail to an accused. Gladwell, in essence, highlights that being human, there is a propensity for judges to make a …
globalresearch.ca/ai-predictive-justice-…

Refineries Are Spewing Cancer-Causing Benzene as Trump Slashes Enforcement
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
On a spring evening in 2018, the sky across the New Orleans metro area lit up with fiery light. Friends and neighbors turned to each other with raised eyebrows, anxiety and dark humor. Did a nuclear bomb go off? Is an asteroid about to fall into Lake Pontchartrain? Is this the end? | We would soon learn from the evening news that a massive fireball had erupted from the aging oil refinery in Chalmette, a community on the Mississippi Rive…
truthout.org/articles/refineries-are-spe…

A Brutal Attack on Justice and Civil Liberties in Imran Khan’s Pakistan
Ayesha Khan | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
When Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan he vowed to eradicate inequality. As an opposition leader he campaigned on the slogan, Do nahin, aik Pakistan (Not two but one Pakistan) and his party, Tehreek Insaaf, which translates as “The Party of Justice,” promised justice for all. Yet the very idea of justice has been turned on its head…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/a-brutal-att…

Why are Democratic Candidates Taking Money From Union-Busting Lawyers?
Andrea Beaty | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
The Iron Workers Union endorsed Joe Biden last week, citing his dedication to “defend rights and jobs of American workers”, and calling him “a friend to union ironworkers”. The union endorsement marks one of many that Democratic candidates are fighting for by unveiling detailed labor plans and promising to overturn “right-to work laws” that weaken…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/why-are-demo…

From the UN, New Ammo for Egalitarians
Sam Pizzigati | counterpunch.org | 2020-02-06
Irrelevance can sometimes be liberating, and, at the United Nations in New York, folks have been feeling fairly irrelevant for quite some time now. Decades ago, debates on the UN General Assembly floor would make headlines the world over. These days the UN typically slips into the daily news cycle only when world leaders annually…
counterpunch.org/2020/02/06/from-the-un-…

‘Measles Has Killed 4,500 Children in DR Congo’ MSF Recalls
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-06
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Thursday reported that around 4,500 children died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2019 as a result of the worst measles outbreak of the last decade. | RELATED: | DR Congo Suffers World’s Largest Measles Outbreak Ever: WHO | Three of four deaths of minors occurred due to a contagious di…
telesurenglish.net/news/Measles-Has-Kill…

Women Fight for Dignity and Survival in the Trump-Putin Era
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
Last month, as hundreds of thousands of people showed up for the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., a few miles from my home, I was at a karate dojo testing for my first belt. My fellow practitioners, ranging in age from five into their seventies, looked on as I hammered my fist through a two-inch piece of wood. The words of one of the black belts there ec…
truthout.org/articles/women-fight-for-di…

Biden’s and Buttigieg’s Top Fundraisers Come From the Finance Sector
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
Beginning in the fall, the Revolving Door Project was one of a handful of voices drawing attention to Democratic primary candidates’ failure to release the names of their most important fundraisers. In op-eds, newsletters, and across other forums throughout the fall we repeatedly made the case that this consequential information could not stay hidden. | Why were we so insistent? A candidate’s list of top fundraisers, or bundlers, provides clearer insight than perhaps any other piece of campaign materia…
truthout.org/articles/bidens-and-buttegi…

Biden’s and Buttegieg’s Top Fundraisers Come From the Finance Sector
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
Beginning in the fall, the Revolving Door Project was one of a handful of voices drawing attention to Democratic primary candidates’ failure to release the names of their most important fundraisers. In op-eds, newsletters, and across other forums throughout the fall we repeatedly made the case that this consequential information could not stay hidden. | Why were we so insistent? A candidate’s list of top fundraisers, or bundlers, provides clearer insight than perhaps any other piece of campaign materia…
truthout.org/articles/bidens-and-buttegi…

Insurers Should Support People, Not the Fossil Fuel Industry
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
On November 8, 2018, I was trapped in my car as embers fell all around me in Paradise, California, and the thought that kept going through my head was, “This can’t be the same fire [that had been reported 10 miles away only two hours before]. Fires can’t move like that.” | I should know: I spent nearly a decade studying wildland fire history, fire ecology and fire behavior in southern California for the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies. | But it was the same fire. | I thought a lot of other things on th…
truthout.org/articles/insurers-should-su…

National Archives Is Destroying Records About Victims of Trump’s ICE Policies
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-02-06
Last month, the National Archives and Records Administration apologized for doctoring a photo of the 2017 Women’s March to remove criticisms of President Trump. The shocking revelation that the agency had altered the image was first reported in The Washington Post. In an exhibit called “Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote,” the National Archives had displayed a large image of the first Women’s March. But signs referencing Trump had been blurred to remove his name

Sanders declares victory in Iowa as DNC demands a ‘recanvass’
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has declared victory in the Iowa caucus after three days of chaotic counting and recounting, calling the popular vote in his own favor with 97 percent of precincts reporting. | “What I want to do is thank the people of Iowa for the victory they gave us on Monday night,” Sanders said in a press conference on Thursday. With some 97 percent of precincts reporting, the Vermont senator is ahead in the popular vote by over 6,000, but still lags slightly in delegates behind South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg. | Thank you Iowa for bringing our campaign to victory! W…
rt.com/usa/480270-sanders-victory-popula…

Iowa disaster redux: DNC demands recanvass as more sordid details emerge about Shadow app’s backers
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Increasingly glaring irregularities in the Iowa caucus have forced DNC chair Tom Perez to call for a recanvass, as new revelations about those who funded the fiasco suggest a campaign to steal not just the election, but the party. | Just when it looked like the Iowa caucus nightmare was over, with 97 percent of precincts reporting and so many “inconsistencies” glossed over to reach that point that the most corrupt banana republic would raise an eyebrow, Perez has called for a do-over. “In light of the problems that have emerged” and “to assure public confidence in the results,” the party leader ordered its Iow…
rt.com/usa/480266-iowa-caucus-recanvass-…

Staaanley! Bojo’s father accidentally reveals China’s ‘concern’ at PM Johnson’s lack of support over coronavirus
rt.com | 2020-02-06
PM Boris Johnson’s father

Pablo Escobar’s hitman Popeye dies of cancer at 57, showing little remorse for his killings
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Pablo Escobar’s former hitman Jhon Jairo Velasquez Vasquez, aka Popeye, has died of stomach cancer. The notorious killer called himself a “holy warrior” in an interview with RT and said that “taking up arms is always an option.” | Vasquez was known as the right hand of the notorious drug lord, commanding Escobar’s army of hitmen. He surrendered to Colombian law enforcement in 1992, a year before his boss was killed. | While in custody, Popeye confessed to personally committing hundreds of murders and orchestrating thousands more. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison

Coronavirus kills 69 more people in China’s Hubei as total cases soar beyond 30,000
rt.com | 2020-02-06
China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of a lethal viral outbreak, has reported just shy of 2,500 additional cases of the illness and 69 new deaths, bringing the worldwide disease toll to over 30,000, with at least 635 fatalities. | As the spread of the novel coronavirus begins to slow in Hubei, the World Health Organization said on Thursday that it was too early to conclude that the outbreak had reached its peak, with the executive director of the agency’s Health Emergencies Program, Mike Ryan, telling a conference in Geneva it was “too early to make predictions on numbers.” The day before marked one of the de…
rt.com/news/480272-coronavirus-hubei-dea…

Russia praises China for transparent coronavirus updates
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Moscow welcomes the prompt and transparent information exchange with China on the new coronavirus outbreak, said Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, Aleksey Volin. | “China is providing transparent updates on developments around the new coronavirus outbreak. Every day they report the number of new cases, deaths and recoveries, detailing their steps to fight the epidemic. There is enough information to gauge the real picture,” Volin said in an interview to Russia-China: Top News. | Volin stressed that the transparency and verifiability of the coronavirus-related updates is bei…
rt.com/sponsored-content/480243-russia-c…

‘Opioid genocide’: RT’s Keiser Report digs into US drugs overdose crisis
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Electronic patient records systems used by doctors across the United States have been programmed to automatically suggest opioids for treatment. This was part of a secret deal between the software makers and drug companies. | That is competition on both a software and a macroeconomic level, say the hosts of Keiser Report. | “So, here you have corporations involved in brainwashing, in distorting the information field, involved in adversely programming their computers to prescribe opioids to patients for profit, even though it’s killing more people than we lost in Vietnam,” says Max Keiser. | Stacy Herbert ex…
rt.com/business/480235-us-opioids-genoci…

PHONY liberal media turns Republican Romney into HERO for sticking it to Trump (just like it did McCain & Bush)
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Mitt Romney is the latest token Republican being hoisted up on the shoulders of the mainstream media thanks to his “courageous” decision to defy Donald Trump by voting with Democrats to impeach the president. | You would think the Utah senator single-handedly defeated Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and then rescued a few kittens out of trees on his way home the way the media is writing about him. | The New Yorker declared that the former presidential candidate “seized” a chance to “rewrite his own place in history” with his impeachment vote. | An opinion piece in the Washington Post deemed the decision “cou…
rt.com/usa/480263-mitt-romney-trump-impe…

Trump slams Romney & Pelosi for faith-based hypocrisy during impeachment
rt.com | 2020-02-06
US President Donald Trump took a veiled swipe at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the sole Republican senator to vote for his removal, Mitt Romney, slamming those who use their faith to justify “doing what they know is wrong.” | Trump avoided calling the sanctimonious pair out by name during the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, but everyone listening seemed to know which “very dishonest and corrupt people” he was referring to with his accusations of rank religious hypocrisy. | #NationalPrayerBreakfast pic.twitter.com/79XCLpD7GP– CSPAN (@cspan)
rt.com/usa/480250-trump-slams-pelosi-rom…

Trump slams Romney & Pelosi for faith-based hypocrisy during impeachment
rt.com | 2020-02-06
US President Donald Trump took a veiled swipe at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the sole Republican senator to vote for his removal, Mitt Romney, slamming those who use their faith to justify “doing what they know is wrong.” | Trump avoided calling the sanctimonious pair out by name during the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, but everyone listening seemed to know which “very dishonest and corrupt people” he was referring to with his accusations of rank religious hypocrisy. | President Trump: “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong. Nor do I like…
rt.com/usa/480250-trump-slams-pelosi-rom…

‘Water terrorism’: New Delhi accuses Pakistan of wasting TWICE what India gets under river sharing treaty
rt.com | 2020-02-06
India has dismissed Pakistani media reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government seeks to breach a decades-old water sharing treaty between the two countries, accusing Islamabad of covering up its own immense waste. | Prompted by press reports claiming India had drafted proposals to construct dams in the disputed Kashmir region in alleged violation of the Indus Waters Agreement, PK Saxena, New Delhi’s Indus Waters commissioner, said the allegation…
rt.com/news/480190-india-pakistan-water-…

3 foreigners stabbed in tourist hotspot Maldives, police investigating links to EXTREMISM
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Maldives police are investigating three “suspected extremists” in a stabbing of three men, an Australian and two Chinese nationals. The attackers may be sympathizers of Islamic State terrorist group. | The incident occurred on Tuesday evening at Hulhumale, the fourth-largest island of the archipelago, according to a police report. The three victims are in stable condition. | The investigation of the incident of stabbing that occurred at Hulhumale’ last night is ongoing. We are also checking the validity of a video that is being circulated on the social media claiming to be related to it.– Maldives Police…
rt.com/news/480201-maldives-stabbing-tou…

Russia was second-biggest energy exporter to US in Autumn 2019, volumes hit 8-year high
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Given the dire state of Russia-US political relations, and Washington’s steadfast defense of its alliance with Saudi Arabia, it seems almost unbelievable that Moscow sends more energy exports America’s way than Riyadh. | Nevertheless, figures recently published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) say it’s true: Russia is America’s second-biggest source of crude oil and petroleum products. | Despite years of sanctions, the autumn of 2019 saw the amount of Russian ‘black gold’ sold to the US reach levels not seen since before the 2013/14 Ukraine crisis. Last October, imports sharply increased, with…
rt.com/russia/480242-russia-big-energy-e…

Russian General Staff chief, NATO commander in Europe meet in Baku to discuss incidents prevention
rt.com | 2020-02-06
The chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov met in Baku, Azerbaijan with the Commander-in-Chief of NATO forces in Europe General Tod Wolters and discussed incidents prevention, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. | They exchanged opinions of strategic stability and situations in crisis regions and discussed practical steps to prevent military incidents, according to the Russian military. | Earlier on Thursday, Gerasimov met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilkham Aliyev and hold a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Colonel-General Nijmeddin Sadykov, TA…
rt.com/newsline/480253-russian-general-s…

Russian General Staff chief, NATO commander in Europe meet in Baku to discuss incident prevention
rt.com | 2020-02-06
The chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov met in Baku, Azerbaijan with the Commander-in-Chief of NATO forces in Europe General Tod Wolters and discussed incident prevention, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. | They exchanged opinions of strategic stability and situations in crisis regions and discussed practical steps to prevent military incidents, according to the Russian military. | Earlier on Thursday, Gerasimov met with Azerbaijan’s president, Ilkham Aliyev, and held a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Colonel-General Nijmeddin Sadykov,…
rt.com/newsline/480253-russian-general-s…

About 500,000 EU citizens yet to apply for new UK immigration status after Brexit
rt.com | 2020-02-06
An estimated 500,000 EU nationals in Britain have yet to apply for a new immigration status, which most will need to remain in the country after Brexit. | The government is introducing the biggest shake-up of Britain’s border controls in decades, ending the priority given to EU migrants over those from other countries after leaving the bloc last week, Reuters said. | About 3 million EU citizens and their family members have applied for “settled status,” a form of permission from the government to remain in Britain. The scheme was launched nationally in March last year. | Interior minister Priti Patel said she…
rt.com/newsline/480236-eu-citizens-brita…

ÔªøRussian champion gymnast Alexandra Soldatova hospitalized after ‘suicide attempt’
rt.com | 2020-02-06
Russian four-time world champion rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Soldatova has been hospitalized in Moscow after an alleged suicide attempt, according to reports. | READ MORE: Russian world champion gymnast Alexandra Soldatova sparks concern after passing out at competition | The 21-year-old was taken to a hospital with multiple deep cuts on her left arm which led to severe blood loss on Wednesday. | “The 21-year-old Soldatova was taken to a Moscow hospital on February 5th with bodily injuries re…
rt.com/sport/480217-alexandra-soldatova-…

‘There was no suicide attempt’ – Soldatova coach DENIES attempt to take own life by gymnast – reports
rt.com | 2020-02-06
The coach of Russian rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Soldatova denies her charge has been hospitalized after a suicide attempt, claiming the 21-year-old is undergoing unspecified tests and will be released from hospital tomorrow. | READ MORE: Russian world champion gymnast Alexandra Soldatova sparks concern after passing out at competition | On Thursday, it was reported that Soldatova had been rushed to a Moscow hospital on February 5 for treatment in its critical care unit for multiple deep cuts…
rt.com/sport/480234-soldatova-suicide-at…

BBC struggles to pronounce Irish politician’s name, makes him ‘Russian’ as on-air gaffes continue
rt.com | 2020-02-06
BBC’s Newsnight has been ridiculed this week after an online clip of the program was shared on social media, showing the presenter struggling to say a politician’s real (and rather simple) name. | With its non-phonetic pronunciation, the English language can be an impenetrable tongue-twisting maze. But as tourists struggle to say the places Leicester Square and Edinburgh correctly, it seems the BBC has problems with simple names. According to BBC Newsnight’s policy editor, Lewis Goodall, the next taoiseach (prime minister of Ireland) could be a man called ‘Mikhail’ Martin. It’s obviously not an easy denominati…
rt.com/uk/480252-bbc-presenter-politicia…