Daily Archives: August 16, 2020

2020-08-16: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these ‘POSTEES’ on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

The Green New Deal Just Won a Major Union Endorsement
Mindy Isser | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
Union support for the Green New Deal is growing. It’s time for America’s largest labor federation, the AFL-CIO, to get on board.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-green-new-deal…

Israeli-Emirati Peace Deal Is a Major Blow to Turkey’s Regional Ambitions
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
Yesterday, one of the most unexpected geopolitical manoeuvres took place that no one was expecting. U.S. President Donald Trump went to Twitter to announce that Washington’s “two GREAT friends, Israel and the United Arab Emirates” made a “Historic Peace Agreement.” …
globalresearch.ca/israeli-emirati-peace-…

The United Arab Emirates and Israel Join Hands: Great for Trump but More Bad News for the Middle East
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
The decision made this week by the United Arab Emirates and Israel to establish full diplomatic relations as part of a commitment to normalize the interaction between the two countries was characteristically announced by President Donald Trump because he is, …
globalresearch.ca/united-arab-emirates-i…

Weaponized Social Media Fuels “Youth” Protests
Anthony Cartalucci | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-16
US-based social-media tools are being used to reward participation in regime change with likes and shares. | Young protesters in Thailand are out demanding “human rights” and “democracy” — and for the current government to step down. | Should their demands be met — the opposition — headed by billionaire fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra and his Pheu Thai Party will take power. Thaksin Shinawatra and his political party represent neither human rights nor democracy. In fact, Thaksin Shinawatra is the worst human rights abuser in Thai history. | So how does one explain the paradoxical nature of young peopl…
thealtworld.com/anthony_cartalucci/weapo…

Turmoil in Belarus, Another US Color Revolution Attempt?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
Time and again, the CIA, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI), and USAID have been involved in US schemes to replace independent governments with pro-Western puppet ones. | Tactics include violent and non-violent labor …
globalresearch.ca/turmoil-belarus-anothe…

Trump Vows Unilateral Imposition of Snapback Sanctions on Iran
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
On Friday, the Trump regime was dealt a humiliating Security Council defeat. | Bullying, bribes, and threats failed this time, perhaps indicative of more US setbacks ahead. | Its attempt to extend an arms embargo on Iran indefinitely was supported by only …
globalresearch.ca/trump-vows-unilateral-…

Distance Learning Plan (DLP) Destroys Education, Based on Flawed Covid Figures: Letter to Superintendents of Public Schools in Minnesota
Dr. Gary G. Kohls | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
Minnesota’s superintendents of public schools have been placed in a difficult position, one that the folks at the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health (DOH) have put them in with their Distance Learning Plan 2.0. | I would like to …
globalresearch.ca/open-letter-superinten…

Dear Future Generations: Sorry
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-16
An Apology Letter to Future Generations. Sorry.
mronline.org/2020/08/16/dear-future-gene…

The Criminology of Global Warming
Thomas Klikauer | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
Due to global warming, natural disasters are set to increase, and so will global warming driven conflicts over resources…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-criminology-of…

Real Life Heroes: delivering aid under fire
news.un.org | 2020-08-16
Working from a field office in Yemen, Sonia Almassad ensures that UN relief aid reaches those who need it, in the war-torn country. She was previously posted in her home country, Syria, where she negotiated with armed groups on both sides of the conflict, sometimes at great personal risk.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1…

Hoopla Over Harris VP Selection Obscures Many Young People of Color Who Are Winning Offices Nationally
Sonali Kolhatkar | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
The debate over Biden’s running mate obscures a far more exciting development in American politics: that young people of color with clearly progressive values are running for office and winning…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/hoopla-over-harris…

Revolutionary Black resistance has a long tradition
Michaela Warnsley | liberationnews.org | 2020-08-16
Repression will always breed resistance: against this barbaric, systemic exploitation has continued a long tradition of Black liberation struggles.
liberationnews.org/revolutionary-black-r…

Video: ‘Do Not Trust the Medical or the National Security Establishment!”: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr
Robert F. Kennedy Jr | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
Nephew of President John F. Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, and tireless crusader against the tyranny of the mainstream medical establishment, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. joins today’s Liberty Report to discuss his startling discoveries about who really killed his …
globalresearch.ca/video-do-not-trust-med…

Freedom, Responsibility, and Alienation
Michael Albert | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
What is freedom? We all speak of it. We all want it. We all celebrate it. But what, really, is it? Not some deep hieroglyphic, academic definition, but what is freedom as we do or don’t live it in our daily lives?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/freedom-responsibi…

Why We Can’t Wait: Statement in Support of HR-40
Danny Glover | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
The passage of HR-40 will be one of the milestone achievements of the International Decade for People of African Descent. I pledge to work side by side with all people of good will who are committed to achieve this righteous objective. Reparations Now…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-we-cant-wait-s…

Financing Drug Development: What the Pandemic Has Taught Us
Dean Baker | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
If we want to have serious policy discussions, and not just protect existing patterns of inequality, government-granted patent and copyright monopolies have to be on the table…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/financing-drug-dev…

Lockdowns, Coronavirus, and Banks: “Following the Money”. Devastating Economic and Social Impacts
Anthony Hall | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
It usually makes sense to follow the money when seeking understanding of almost any major change. The strategy of following the money in our current convergence of crises in late summer of 2020 leads us directly to the lockdowns. The …
globalresearch.ca/lockdowns-coronavirus-…

Saul Williams on Trump & the politics of fear
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-16
mronline.org/2020/08/16/saul-williams-on…

Urgent for the Moment and the Long Haul
Max Elbaum | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
The more U.S. movements are infused with internationalism, the more we will be able to contribute to getting Washington’s bloody hands out of other countries affairs…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/urgent-for-the-mom…

Residents in East Brighton, UK demand affordable housing
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-16
Residents are protesting plans by a private company to build up to 700 homes for the ultra-rich. They have demanded that at least 40% of the homes be affordable for common people…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/16/residents…

Freedom, Responsibility, and Alienation
Collective 20 | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
What is freedom? We all speak of it. We all want it. We all celebrate it. But what, really, is it? Not some deep hieroglyphic, academic definition, but what is freedom as we do or don’t live it in our daily lives?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/freedom-responsibi…

Protesters Make Noise At Postmaster General’s Home Over Cuts
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
Protesters filled the streets outside the head of the U.S. Postal Service’s home in Northwest Washington, D.C., on Saturday, some carrying signs that read “Don’t mess with the USPS” and “Don’t stamp out our democracy.” | The demonstrators blew airhorns and banged pots as a few of them walked to the front door of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s building and pinned fake ballots to his front door, as protesters accused him and the White House of working together to undermine main-in ballots and the election. | “Hey hey, Louis DeJoy,…
popularresistance.org/protesters-make-no…

After launching air strikes in the strip, Israel shuts Gaza fishing zone
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-16
Israel has closed the Gaza Strip’s offshore fishing zone after the most intense show of aggression in recent months.Israeli air strikes targeted sites allegedly belonging to Gaza’s Hamas rulers, after which Palestinian fighters in Gaza fired two rockets into southern Israel. However, the military said Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system intercepted the two rockets.Police said rocket fallout caused damage to a house in the town of Sderot, and paramedics treated a 58-year-old man for minor wounds.Meanwhile, aerial bombing from Israel has caused considerable damage so far, including in the Buriej refugee camp i…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/08/1…

Top Dems Demand DeJoy Testimony, Citing ‘Grave Threat’ to ‘Our Very Democracy’
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
The “Postal Service is a public institution that both serves and belongs to every person in our nation.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/16/top-dem…

Top Dems Demand Postmaster General DeJoy Testify, Citing ‘Grave Threat’ to ‘Our Very Democracy’
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
The “Postal Service is a public institution that both serves and belongs to every person in our nation.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/16/top-dem…

Dems Urged to Say, ‘Yes, Snowden Should Be Pardoned’ After Trump Floats Possibility
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
The comment from the president prompted fresh praise for the former intelligence contractor who “blew the whistle on illegal government activity kept secret for years.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/16/dems-ur…

No Longer Leader of the Free World: Trump Admin. Humiliated at UN over Iran Arms Embargo
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends Security Council meeting at U.N. Headquarters in New York on September 20, 2019. (Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/no-lon…

Don’t be Hoodwinked by Trump’s UAE-Israel “Peace Deal”
Medea Benjamin | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
The normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, facilitated by the U.S., serves to prop up three repressive leaders — Trump, Netanyahu, and bin Zayed — and will cause further harm to Palestinians. It is both a shame and a sham…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/dont-be-hoodwinked…

Evolution of US-Israel Relations During Trump Presidency
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
Preferential treatment for Israel has long been a prerequisite for success in the corridors of power in Washington, where ambitious politicians long ago learned to fear the wrath of ‘the Israel lobby’, and at the same time yearn for the …
globalresearch.ca/evolution-us-israel-re…

Video: Israeli-UAE Peace Deal Marks Tectonic Shift in Middle Eastern Balance of Power
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
The Middle East is on the brink of the new tectonic shift in the regional balance of power. The previous years were marked by the growth of the Iranian and Hezbollah influence and the decrease of the US grip on …
globalresearch.ca/video-israeli-uae-peac…

COVID-19: Who’s Scheming?
Dr. Pascal Sacré | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-16
In order for us to be on the same wavelength, I have to define that word. Conspiracy Theorist: An advocate of Conspiracy theory. | It’s like saying, racist: defender of a theory of racism. We don’t get very far …
globalresearch.ca/covid-19-whos-scheming…

Iran oil production at 1.93mn bpd in July
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (MNA) — In its latest report, OPEC announced that Iran’s oil production volume stood at 1.936 million barrels per day (bpd) in July 2020.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162343/Iran-oil-pro…

Altruism, patience key to overcome threats, pressure: Zarif
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message on Sunday said that culture of altruism, fortitude and martyrdom have been the keys to protect the country against threats and pressures.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162318/Altruism-pat…

Trump has committed worst crimes against Iranian nation
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Donald Trump, the current US President, has committed the ‘worst crimes and hostilities’ against the noble Iranian nation.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162355/Trump-has-co…

Russia’s proposal on UNSC summit with Iran remains on table
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Despite Trump’s refusal to support Moscow’s proposal for an online conference of leaders of the UNSC states, Germany, and Iran, the Russian deputy foreign minister stressed that the proposal remains on the table.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162344/Russia-s-pro…

Tehran-Vienna flights resumed on Sat
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Abbas Bagherpour, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Austria, announced on Saturday the resumption of flights from Tehran to Vienna by Iran Air.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162312/Tehran-Vienn…

Iran-Iraq fights resumes under health protocols conditions
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — An Iranian airliner announced that the flights to Iraqi international airports including Najaf, Basra, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Baghdad have resumed under some health protocol conditions.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162314/Iran-Iraq-fi…

History will record such betrayal to Palestinians: envoy
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Referring to UAE-Israeli tie normalization, Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Seyyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that history will record such betrayal to Palestinians.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162327/History-will…

Ghalibaf congrats Lebanon victory in 33-day war anniversary
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — In messages to his Lebanese counterpart and Secretary General of Hezbollah Resistance Movement, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf offered congratulations on the anniv. of Lebanon victory in the 33-day war.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162335/Ghalibaf-con…

Tehran-Tashkent direct flights to be launched
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Uzbekistan has welcomed Iran’s suggestion for launching a direct flight between Tehran and Tashkent.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162331/Tehran-Tashk…

Iran COVID-19 update: 2,133 new cases registered
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry announced 2,133 new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, putting the total number of cases in the country at 343,203.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162339/Iran-COVID-1…

US cannot trigger its ‘snapback’ plan: Zarif
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the Americans are aware that they are not able to trigger ‘snapback’ mechanism as it is illegal and not acceptable.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162333/US-cannot-tr…

Trump and US presidential election
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162337/Trump-and-U…

UAE to suffer severely for normalizing ties with Zionists
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Secretary-General of the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada said that the United Arab Emirates will sustain severe damage for its normalizing ties and compromise with the Israeli regime.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162354/UAE-to-suffe…

Yazd earns $103 million in exports during four months
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — More than 860,000 tons of non-oil commodities worth $103 million were exported from Yazd province, central Iran, during the first four months of the current fiscal (March 20- July 21), a senior official said.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162328/Yazd-earns-1…

VIDEO: Oil tanker breaks in half off Mauritius coast
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — A Japanese bulk carrier that struck a coral reef last month off the Mauritius coast broke apart Saturday afternoon. Spilling 1,000 tons of fuel oil, the ship is feared to create a marine ecological disaster around Mauritius.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162346/VIDEO-Oil-ta…

Rockets hit US embassy in Baghdad: report
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — Sources reported a rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on Sunday night.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162358/Rockets-hit-…

Minister of Defense attends press conference on Sunday
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami attended a press conference on Sunday due to the upcoming occasion of Defense Industry Day on August 21.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162351/Minister-of…

Top General warns UAE against normalizing ties with Israelis
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — A top Iranian commander denounced the United Arab Emirates’ decision to normalize ties with the Israeli regime, calling on Abu Dhabi to reconsider its move.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162338/Top-General-…

UAE summons Iran’s chargé d’affaires
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-16
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — The UAE summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires to Abu Dhabi on Sunday and criticized President Rouhani’s remarks on Israeli-UAE relations.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162353/UAE-summons-…

All across America elected officials urge Congress to take on a clean energy stimulus plan
Maegan Brejnik | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
COVID-19 has had a detrimental effect on the national economy. In order for the nation to recover quickly and efficiently, Congress must issue a stimulus package for clean energy sectors. Elected Officials to Protect America is urging Congress to take action to ensure our national recovery.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

Trump’s Mafia State
Masha Gessen | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
The recovery from Trumpism will not be a process of merely returning to a system of government as it was before, to a fictitious normal state as it existed before Trump. The recovery process will only be possible as a reinvention of institutions – as a redefinition of all that politics means to us, of what it means to be a democracy, if that is what we want to be.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

Sunday 8/23: The Oakland Greens present “The People’s Education System”
Vicente Cruz | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
ZOOM Event…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883593…

“They’re Trying To Boot Us Out” Unite-Here 2 Concession Workers Protest Owner Of Giants
LaborVideo Project | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Hundreds of Giants Unite Here Local 2 concession workers protested the union busting tactics of Giant’s billionaire owner Howard Johnson.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883592…

Friday 8/21: Online Event: Covid’s Hidden Toll with Filmmakers Daffodil Altan and Andrés Cediel
Revolution Books | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Revolution Books, 2444 Durant Ave. Berkeley CA 94704…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/16/1883594…

Saturday 9/5: Strike Debt Bay Area Book Group: Modern Monetary Theory
Strike Debt Bay Area | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Online via Zoom | EMAIL STRIKE.DEBT.BAY.AREA@GMAIL.COM FOR ZOOM INFO A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE MEETING.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

Friday 8/28: 2020 Black National Convention Livestream (M4BL)
Movement for Black Lives | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

Saturday 8/22: Swing Left SF Phone Bank Training for Introverts (& Friends)
Swing Left San Francisco | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Online Event…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

Monday 8/17: Call to Action: Demand McConnell & Senate Return to Pass COVID Relief, Fund USPS & Voting!
Poor People’s Campaign | indybay.org | 2020-08-16
Online via Livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/15/1883593…

US Sanctions Are Strangling A Lebanon In Crisis
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
The Lebanese econ ≠o ≠my crashed into the equiv ≠a ≠lent of a brick wall some ≠time in the last few months of 2019. The Lebanese pound (or lira), which was pegged to the dol ≠lar and appeared to be sta ≠ble for well over two decades, start ≠ed to decline at a rate that threat ≠ened the com ≠plete col ≠lapse of the econ ≠o ≠my. In the mean ≠time, the Trump admin ≠is ≠tra ≠tion had been busy build ≠ing a ‚Äã”Great Wall” of sanc ≠tions around Lebanon, even as the coun ≠try as a whole was drown ≠ing in a moun ≠tain of debt. | The firs…
popularresistance.org/us-sanctions-are-s…

Popular Viral Video Firm Sues Facebook Over Russian Propaganda Label
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
An online media company is suing social media giant Facebook for falsely smearing it as a Russian state-controlled propaganda outlet. Maffick, the owner of In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed, has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in a Northern California district court for defamation, intentional interference and violating section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, unjustly causing them economic and reputational harm, claiming that Facebook’s actions represent unfair competitive practices. | Go to any of the Maffick-owned Facebook pages, including In The Now …
popularresistance.org/popular-viral-vide…

Beirut Explosion: It Is Late, But It Is Early Morning If We Insist
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
Nothing happens in Beirut and Lebanon that is transparent; plots of all kinds unravel against the ordinary hopes of the population. After the deadly explosion, it was impossible to imagine that the most reasonable explanation would be accepted. Rumors flew around, except the rumors did not have their impact. It was clear to the people that this time — unlike so many times previously — it was their own political system that had to be held accountable for the enormous explosion, which came in the midst of a pandemic, a currency and economic crisis, and a long-standing and unresolved political quagmire.
popularresistance.org/beirut-explosion-i…

Campus Workers Sue UNC System Over Unsafe Working Conditions
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
North Carolina university employees are suing the UNC System, saying working conditions are unsafe as tens of thousands of students return to campuses during the coronavirus pandemic. | “Essential workers across UNC System campuses continue to report to work with inadequate protective equipment to ensure their safety,” the UE150, NC Public Service Workers Union said in a statement Monday. | Some university employees, including housekeepers and other campus workers, are provided one or two masks per week and many don’t have access to face shields or gowns, according to the union.
popularresistance.org/campus-workers-sue…

‘BlueLeaks’ Publishers Pursued As ‘Criminal Hacker Group’ By DHS
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
The dump of the damning “Blue Leaks” files in late June provided the public with over 250 gigabytes of video, audio, and other data from a broad range of law enforcement agencies across the US. Yet, the organisation behind it insists it is not responsible for the hacking itself. | The US Department of Homeland Security is persecuting Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets), the group that was the first to publish the “BlueLeaks” trove of hacked police files in June, as a “criminal hacker group”, similar to WikiLeaks, as follows from a bulletin circulated to fusion centres around the country earlier this summer…
popularresistance.org/blueleaks-publishe…

Belarus: Imperialists Run The Same Tired Old Script
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-16
The Western establishment narrative managers always follow the same patterns. Just like they fixated on Hong Kong protests, while ignoring those in US-aligned France or Israel, now they’re cheering on protests in Belarus. | Imperialist pundit and Obama administration Cold Warrior Michael McFaul recently tweeted the following: | “Belarusians, inside and outside of the country, have reached out to me this week to ask why the West is so indifferent to their courageous fight for democracy. I can’t explain. Can you?” | I am not highlighting this tweet because it is remarkable…
popularresistance.org/belarus-imperialis…

‘Worse than CNN’: Trump blasts Fox News’ weekend coverage as ‘unwatchable’ and advises supporters to change the channel
rt.com | 2020-08-16
Donald Trump has taken his sporadic criticisms of Fox News to a new level, calling the network “worse than Fake News CNN” when it comes to its weekend programming and advising his supporters to switch over to a minor competitor. | Trump said Fox News is simply “not watchable” during weekend afternoons. “It is worse than Fake News,” the president tweeted, on a day when his timeline was mostly filled with condolence messages about the passing of his younger brother Robert the night before. | Not only did Trump slam Fox News’ coverage, but he also offered supporters advice about what they should be watching inste…
rt.com/usa/498169-trump-fox-news-oann-tw…

‘Boycott Sandals’?: Holiday resort chain cancelled by Twitter users over sponsorship of Sean Hannity’s ‘racist’ Fox News show
rt.com | 2020-08-16
A holiday resort chain which sponsors Sean Hannity’s Fox News show has found itself in the crosshairs of cancel-happy Twitter users after the host convinced the platform to mark a critical video of him as “manipulated media.” | The video which sparked the latest social media drama showed Hannity making comments critical of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, juxtaposed with footage of Donald Trump, which made it appear as though Hannity was targeting the president, whom he staunchly supports. | After getting the footage flagged as “manipulated media” by Twitter, MeidasTouch, the liberal group who put the video togeth…
rt.com/usa/498161-boycott-sandals-sean-h…

Portland protesters hurl rocks at police on 80th night of BLM demonstrations, riot declared & 2 officers hospitalized (VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-08-16
The 80th night of Black Lives Matter protests in Portland turned violent, with police declaring yet another riot as demonstrators threw rocks and projectiles at officers and their vehicles. Police said two cops were hospitalized. | More than 200 people showed up to an anti-police brutality protest in East Portland on Saturday night. What began as peaceful demonstration later turned violent as protesters began moving into residential areas, throwing rocks and projectiles at police property and officers. | Portland Police eventually declared the demonstration a riot early on Sunday, arresting several people as t…
rt.com/usa/498165-portland-protests-blac…

‘Lack of evidence is evidence’: WH official sparks confusion with bungled attempt to argue against mail-in voting
rt.com | 2020-08-16
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has raised eyebrows on social media after claiming in a discussion with CNN’s Jake Tapper that a lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud is in fact “the definition” of fraud. | During the lengthy verbal battle in which neither Tapper or Meadows budged from their respective positions, the CNN host insisted universal mail-in voting in November’s presidential election will not lead to fraud because various states already engage in mail-in voting and have no issues. | Meadows, meanwhile, insisted that while mail-in voting can work in some states, to do it nationwide would…
rt.com/usa/498170-mark-meadows-jake-tapp…

At least 3 cops shot at Cedar Park, Texas after gunman opens fire & barricades himself inside
rt.com | 2020-08-16
Three police officers in Texas have been shot after they were met with gunfire while responding to a call in Cedar Park, a suburb of Austin. There have been reports that the suspect, barricaded in a house, has taken hostages. | The incident unfolded on Sunday afternoon, after police were called to a home off Natalia Cove in Cedar Park, a major Austin suburb with a population of about 80,000 people. | In the ensuing standoff, three responding police officers were shot, Cedar Park Police have confirmed. All three officers were taken to hospital and are in stable condition, Chief Mike Harmon reported, while advis…
rt.com/usa/498171-cedar-park-officers-sh…

‘Seems to be a split decision’: Trump says he’ll take ‘a very good look’ at idea of pardoning Snowden
rt.com | 2020-08-16
For the second time in a week, US President Donald Trump has indicated that he might be considering pardoning former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, noting that the issue has long transcended party lines. | Asked if he wants to pardon Snowden at a press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday, Trump responded that while he was “not that aware of the Snowden situation,” he would “start looking at it.” | Trump, who once labelled the former CIA contractor turned-whistleblower a “traitor,” argued that there is no consensus within the American political establishment on the matter. | “There are many people.
rt.com/usa/498130-edward-snowden-pardon-…

‘This is who you are now, GOP’: Obama security advisor Rice freaks out over Snowden pardon idea, is roasted for right-wing stance
rt.com | 2020-08-16
The fact they are even considering a pardon for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden shows how low the Republican party has sunk under Donald Trump, believes Susan Rice, former national security advisor in the Obama administration. | The possibility that criminal charges against Snowden may be dropped was floated by the US president this week. The idea triggered an outpouring of public support, including from such senior US officials as Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky. There were also some strongly negative…
rt.com/usa/498152-rice-snowden-pardon-go…

Lebanon: Pearl on the New Silk Road or Zone of Dark Age Chaos
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-16
Many voices have been quick to enter the chorus of commentators hypothesizing the manifold possible causes of the devastating explosions which occurred on the afternoon of August 4 in Beirut which has led to mass anarchy and the surprising resignation of the government on August 11th. | While I have no great novel contribution to offer in that growing array of hypotheses (which are slowly turning into noise), I would like to share an insight which addresses a too-often-overlooked aspect of the role of…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/16/le…

Does the CIA Actually “Control” the Mainstream Media Like Some Claim?
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-16
The CIA could never (and doesn’t) regulate every movie, video game and YouTube video. But influencing and observing certain VIPs is a much easier potential task. Watch the video and read more in the article by Wayne Maden.
strategic-culture.org/video/2020/08/16/d…

What Would a President Harris Mean for Whites?
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-16
Sen. Harris is not particularly extreme by today’s standards, but her life is about acquiring power. Once she has it, she would surely wield it against us. She is likely to restrict freedom of speech and other constitutional rights. Even those who have criticized her in the past would cheer it on.
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/16/wh…

The Real Meaning of the Gettysburg Battlefield
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-16
Streetwise Professor | After Trump’s suggestion that he would give his nomination acceptance speech at the White House triggered potential legal objections, his campaign mooted the possibility of giving the speech at the Gettysburg battlefield. This triggered paroxysms of insanity that are remarkable even against the background of repeated paroxysms of insanity that have been playing on a loop for almost 4 years now. | Leading the Stupid Parade was CNN’s Jerry Diamond: “This is a President who has consistently positions himself as a defender of Confederate symbols and monuments to Confederate generals.” He was so…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/16/re…

Teenagers taking legal action against Ofqual amid A-level results anger
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-16
A-level students who feel let down by a “ridiculous and insane” marking system are launching legal action against England’s exam regulator Ofqual.Thousands of teenagers were left angered after almost 40% of predicted grades were downgraded by the regulator’s “moderation” algorithm, leaving many missing out on their first-choice universities.”The Government is playing politics with our futures”: Student Curtis Parfitt-Ford has launched a legal bid against Ofqual to “force them to come up with a fairer system”.Despite getting the grades he was predicted, he said he couldn’t stand by and watch his friends and…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/08/16/teenager…

Powerful stories from care home staff on the front line of the pandemic
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-16
Care home staff are drained and daunted by the highs and lows of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, one NHS worker has said. Carers were drafted in from the public sector to support privately-run institutions which bore the brunt of last spring’s surge in cases. They described an emotional rollercoaster punctuated by grief at losing residents but also immense celebration as a 99-year-old first sat up in bed after defeating the virus. | One said: The past few months have definitely been a draining, sometimes, and challenging period. The circumstances and some events we have seen have been unfortunate. To see some…
thecanary.co/feature/2020/08/16/powerful…

India sends team to Mauritius to assist in oil spill
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
India has sent technical equipment and a team of specialists to Mauritius to help local authorities deal with an environmental crisis after an oil spill from a Japanese ship, a government official said on Sunday.A Japanese bulk carrier struck a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island nation on July 25, spilling about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil and triggering a state of “environmental emergency”.The carrier split on Saturday, and the oil spill spread over a vast area of endangered corals, fish and other marine life in what some scientists called the country’s worst ecological disaster.Scientists say the full impact o…
yenisafak.com/en/world/india-sends-team-…

China’s local COVID-19 cases fall as Xinjiang cluster recedes
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
China’s new locally transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus fell to a one-month low as a cluster in the western region of Xinjiang receded, data released by the country’s health authority showed on Sunday.The number of locally transmitted cases in China dropped to four on Aug. 15, all of which were in Xinjiang, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That compares with eight cases nationwide a day earlier and is the lowest since July 16.No new locally transmitted cases were recorded on Aug. 15 in the city of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province after provincial authorities there reported fresh i…
yenisafak.com/en/world/chinas-local-covi…

Putin tells Belarusian leader Lukashenko Russia ready to help militarily if necessary
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in a phone call on Sunday that Moscow stood ready to provide help in accordance with a collective military pact if necessary, the Kremlin said in a statement.The Kremlin said in the same statement that external pressure was being applied to Belarus. It did not say by who.Belarus has been rocked by a week of street protests after protesters accused Lukashenko of rigging a presidential election last Sunday.
yenisafak.com/en/world/putin-tells-belar…

Iran says to export arms once UN embargo lifted
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
“Iran will export and sell weapons” once the UN-mandated embargo is lifted, Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami told reporters on the sidelines of the National Defense Industry Day in Tehran.He said Iran will “use all its capacities to meet its arms requirements” by exporting weapons after the 13-year embargo expires in October.On Saturday, the UN Security Council turned down a US draft to extend an arms embargo on Iran.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had urged the UNSC members to vote for the move, said the Council’s “failure to act decisively” was “inexcusable”.US officials accuse Iran of supplying weapons…
yenisafak.com/en/world/iran-says-to-expo…

China’s local COVID-19 cases fall as Xinjiang cluster recedes
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
China’s new locally transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus fell to a one-month low as a cluster in the western region of Xinjiang receded, data released by the country’s health authority showed on Sunday.The number of locally transmitted cases in China dropped to four on Aug. 15, all of which were in Xinjiang, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That compares with eight cases nationwide a day earlier and is the lowest since July 16.No new locally transmitted cases were recorded on Aug. 15 in the city of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province after provincial authorities there reported fresh i…
yenisafak.com/en/world/chinas-local-covi…

UAE phone lines to Israel open after accord to normalise relations
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
Telephone lines between the United Arab Emirates and Israel were open on Sunday, calls made by Reuters reporters showed, after the two countries moved to normalise diplomatic relations last week.It was not clear when exactly a block on telephone calls made from the UAE to Israel was lifted, but historically calls were not possible.The UAE’s Telecoms Regulatory Authority did not immediately respond to a request to comment.More Israeli news websites that were previously blocked in the UAE were also now able to be viewed on UAE internet connections on Sunday.An official in Israel’s Communication Ministry told Reuter…
yenisafak.com/en/world/uae-phone-lines-t…

Virus claims 6 lives in Libya, 2 in Sudan
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
Health authorities in Libya and Sudan on Sunday confirmed additional fatalities due to the coronavirus pandemic.In a statement, Libya’s National Center for Disease Control said six people had died from COVID-19 and 411 others tested positive.The country’s tally now rose to 7,738 confirmed cases, including 145 deaths, and 894 recoveries.In Sudan, the Health Ministry recorded two deaths along with 103 infections and 10 recoveries.The country’s total infections now stand at 12,314, including 798 deaths, and 6,350 recoveries.The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed nearly 769,000 lives in at least 188 countries and regions…
yenisafak.com/en/life/virus-claims-6-liv…

One killed in bomb blast in Iraq’s Kirkuk
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
One person was killed and two others were injured in a bomb explosion in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to an Iraqi police officer.The blast took place in al-Riyadh, a town west of Kirkuk city, the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.There was no claim of responsibility for the blast, but the officer suggested that the Daesh/ISIS terror group was behind the attack.Since the start of the year, suspected Daesh/ISIS terrorists have stepped up attacks, particularly in the area between Kirkuk, Saladin (north), and Diyala (east), known as the…
yenisafak.com/en/world/one-killed-in-bom…

Screen addiction causes children to lose ability to draw
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-16
The normalization of technology has rendered some children incapable of drawing a simple picture, and the number keeps rising daily, according to a Turkish child development specialist.The new school year in Turkey will begin with remote classes Aug. 31. Aysenur Bekaroglu believes screen addiction in children is much more pronounced when learning is primarily dictated by a device.”But this is the best of a bad lot,” she said. “Rather than children being left uneducated, online education is the best option.”Bekaroglu said schools are not only a center for education but a place to socialize, where children have pee…
yenisafak.com/en/technology/screen-addic…

In Denial: Australia, Human Rights and Climate Change
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-16
When the complaint was lodged in May 2019, there was a sense of the audacious about it. Eight Torres Strait Islanders had taken the trouble to petition the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Committee, citing climate change and Australian violations as their main concern. Australia, they claimed, had violated their fundamental rights under the International Covenant …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/in-denial-aus…

Our Race Against the Clock to Affirm Water as a Human Right
Maude Barlow | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
A demonstrator holds a sign during a Detroit water shutoffs rally in 2014. (Photo: uusc4all/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/our-ra…

The Basic Case for a Wealth Tax
Bob Lord, Lee Price | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
People participate in a “March on Billionaires” event on July 17, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/basic-…

Military Recruiters Don’t Belong in High Schools
Sidney Miralao | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
There’s a group of outsiders in schools we should be wary of: the U.S. military. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/milita…

‘Stop Lukashenko’: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Against Belarusian Leader for Eighth Straight Day
Common Dreams staff | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
Demonstrators are demanding new elections amid outcry over authorities’ violent crackdown on dissent. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/16/stop-lu…

Coronavirus: Have We Already Missed the Opportunity to Build a Better World?
Martin Parker | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
A wind farm in Rochale in the UK. (Photo: Robin Mulligan/CC BY 2.0) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/corona…

Solidarity Forever: Essential Workers, Public Goods, and How We Are in This Together
Cynthia Kaufman | commondreams.org | 2020-08-16
“As we build our way out of the COVID-19 crisis, we need to amplify the narratives that are emerging about who the real heroes are in our society,” the author writes. (Photo: Giles Clarke/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/16/solida…

An escape route for Brazil
Boaventura de Sousa Santos | zcomm.org | 2020-08-16
The only possible escape route for Brazil is to make sure that, in 2022 at the latest, the hellish nightmare of Bolsonarismo is democratically brought to its end…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/an-escape-route-fo…

How the Israel-UAE Deal puts the Bogus Peace Industry Back in Business
Jonathan Cook | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-16
If there is one conclusion to draw from the agreement this week between Israel and the United Arab Emirates — with Israel temporarily “suspending” its threat to illegally annex parts of the West Bank, in return for “full normalisation” with the Gulf state — it is this: The peace industry is back in business. But this …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/how-the-israe…

The Democrats and Republicans: Two wolves hunting the United States Postal Service
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
While they posture as defenders of postal workers, the Democrats have played a critical role in the privatization of the USPS and the decay of American democracy.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/demo…

Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama agree: Trump’s attack on Postal Service a direct assault on 2020 election
Julia Conley | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-15
“Democracy must be saved. Trump must be defeated.”
nationofchange.org/2020/08/15/bernie-san…

Sanders Warns of Trump Effort to ‘Destroy the Post Office to Sabotage This Election’
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-15
The warning from the Vermont senator follows a USPS announcement that it’s halting its collection of mailboxes in multiple states—which voting rights advocates rebuked as evidence of “massive voter suppression.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/15/sanders…

Critical hours in Bolivia
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-15
These are critical hours in Bolivia. The protests have been going on nationally for more than a week; the de facto government has deployed police, military and armed civilian groups. The escalation has not ceased and the demand for Jeanine àÅñez’s resignation has been established, but what will be the consequences?>…
mronline.org/2020/08/15/critical-hours-i…

Tensions rise in Bolivia as far-right groups mobilize against national strike
Peoples Dispatch | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
Over 140 major highways and roads have been blocked by protesters across Bolivia to demand that the general elections be held on September 6 and for the de facto president, Jeanine àÅñez, to resign immediately…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/tensions-rise-in-b…

Form independent rank-and-file safety committees of educators, parents and students!
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
We are launching the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee to unite all those opposed to the unsafe reopening of schools and provide the necessary leadership to prepare for a nationwide general strike to halt the reopening of schools.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/rank…

For a general strike against the reopening of German schools!
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
By demanding a return to face-to-face teaching amid rising coronavirus infection rates, German state governments of all stripes are putting the health and lives of countless teachers, students and parents at risk.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/gene…

Brazilian teachers report 36 COVID-infected schools after one week of classes in Manaus
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Virtually all Brazilian states and capitals have ongoing plans to reproduce the homicidal model of school reopenings in Manaus.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/braz…

Hawaii schools to reopen August 17 as opposition grows
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
In a fight for their lives and those of thousands of students, educators and parents oppose the new reopening plan that has students and teachers reporting to school sites for in-person instruction for one week prior to full distance learning.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/hawa…

The Pandemic Revealed That Child Care Is Vital Work
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-15
The COVID-19 pandemic has created several shifts across the labor landscape while exposing how piecemeal family care policies have left workers in precarious situations. The closure of schools at the end of the spring semester and uneven plans for reopening this fall have prompted questions about how a society and economy can function without sustainable care work. In this interview with M.A.R.CH. co-founder Phuong Nguyen, we discuss what the Memphis-based organization has meant within the vibrant social justice scene and how developing care policies in a right-to-work state could impact the future of childcare m…
popularresistance.org/the-pandemic-revea…

Fauci warns against herd immunity: “the death toll would be enormous”
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of world’s leading experts on infectious disease, warned against the relaxation of efforts to combat COVID-19, declaring, “The death toll would be enormous and totally unacceptable.”
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/covi…

[Editorial] Humanitarian crises in a global pandemic
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
On Aug 19, the world will mark a UN World Humanitarian Day very different from any other. But while COVID-19 captures the world’s focus, other humanitarian crises also need attention, as evidenced most recently by the tragic aftermath of the explosion in Beirut.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31749-9/fulltext?rss=yes

U.S. mercenaries sentenced to 20 years for invasion attempt in Venezuela
| workers.org | 2020-08-15
Telesur published the following report Aug. 8. Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported Friday [Aug. 7] that the two former U.S. military officers, Luke Denmnan and Airan Berry, who participated in the failed invasion attempt in Venezuela [May 4], were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Former members of . . . | Continue reading U.S. mercenaries sentenced to 20 years for invasion attempt in Venezuela at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/08/50591/?utm_source=rs…

Popular Viral Video Firm Sues Facebook over Russian Propaganda Label
Alan MacLeod | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-15
The company behind In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed is taking on media giant Facebook, who it claims is falsely labeling it as Russian state-controlled propaganda. | MPN– On online media company is suing social media giant Facebook for falsely smearing it as a Russian state-controlled propaganda outlet. Maffick, the owner of In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed, has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in a Northern California district court for defamation, intentional interference and violating section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, unjustly causing them economic and reputational harm, claiming that Facebook’s actions re…
thealtworld.com/alan_macleod/popular-vir…

Popular Viral Video Firm Sues Facebook over Russian Propaganda Label
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-15
The company behind In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed is taking on media giant Facebook, who it claims is falsely labeling it as Russian state-controlled propaganda.
mintpressnews.com/popular-viral-video-fi…

Following Outrage, Trump Pulls Nomination of “Unapologetic Racist’ William Perry Pendley to Oversee Nation’s Public Lands
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-15
“Pendley never should have been nominated, and the fact that he was shows you what you need to know about this administration’s conservation priorities.” | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/15/followi…

The show trial of Julian Assange: A cruel and pseudolegal farce
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Yesterday’s hearing in London made clear, if any further proof was needed, that the prosecution of Assange is a shameful and degrading show trial, intended to railroad an innocent man to prison or death.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/pers…

How the U.S. helped push Lebanon to the brink of collapse, and now threatens more sanctions
Ben Norton | mronline.org | 2020-08-15
While the media blames the crisis in Lebanon solely on corruption, the U.S. government unleashed a “maximum pressure” campaign to push regime change and crush Lebanese resistance with sanctions and aggressive hybrid warfare.
mronline.org/2020/08/15/how-the-u-s-help…

COVID-19 Coronavirus “Fake” Pandemic: Timeline and Analysis
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-15
On January 30, a far-reaching decision was taken by the WHO without the support of expert opinion at a time when the coronavirus outbreak was limited to Mainland China. 150 confirmed cases outside China, when the decision was taken, 6 in the US, 3 in Canada, 2 in the UK, etc. In early March, 430 cases in the US.
globalresearch.ca/ncov-2019-coronavirus-…

Michel Chossudovsky: Biographical Summary
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-15
There are a number of deliberate “errors” and omissions in Michel Chossudovsky’s wikipedia entry. Defamatory statements. | The same applies to the wikipedia entry for Global Research which has been merged with Chossudovsky’s entry. The objective is to smear GR. …
globalresearch.ca/michel-chossudovsky-bi…

Video: IDF Intercepts Rockets Fired From Gaza Strip
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-15
Earlier in the day, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement that “Palestinian rioters” in Gaza “hurled explosives & attempted to approach the security fence” leading to Israel.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/2020081510801…

[World Report] Lebanon faces humanitarian emergency after blast
Sharmila Devi | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The explosion in Beirut is further straining the health system and food supplies, as well as risking the country’s COVID-19 response. Sharmila Devi reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31750-5/fulltext?rss=yes

Refinery Shutdown, Santa Barbara Co. Staff Report Jeopardize ExxonMobil Offshore Drilling
Dan Bacher | indybay.org | 2020-08-15
However, opponents of offshore drilling say two unrelated developments that took place yesterday could undermine these plans. A coalition of conservation, environmental justice and indigenous groups is calling on the oil company to abandon this project and decommission its offshore rigs.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883591…

Maduro Hails Russian COVID-19 Vaccine as Comms Minister Tests Positive
Manuela Solé | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-08-15
The South American nation has a 70 percent COVID-19 recovery rate.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14969

Reflections on Marxism and Law: A Review of Igor Shoikhedbrod’s Revisiting Marx’s Critique of Liberalism
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-15
The book complicates the common narrative that Marx was the quintessential critic of liberal rights. Shoikhedbrod’s close and careful reading of Marx’s texts is insightful and targeted. The book helps readers to think about the role of law and rights under capitalism, and also to imagine its future in a communist society.
mronline.org/2020/08/15/reflections-on-m…

Eight years on from the Marikana massacre and protesters remind us ‘the lives of African mineworkers matter’
Peadar O’Cearnaigh | thecanary.co | 2020-08-15
On 16 August 2012, police opened fire on striking miners at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa. Miners had been striking for a living wage. After police opened fire, 34 people died, 78 were injured and 250 were arrested. A further ten people died in incidents related to this strike.
thecanary.co/global/2020/08/15/eight-yea…

The Plight of Refugees and Migrant Workers under Covid
Graham Peebles | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-15
In a world where nationalism and social division is increasing, bigotry growing, are the words refugee, asylum seeker, migrant worker, derogatory labels triggering prejudice and intolerance? Such terms create an image of ‘the other’, separate and different, strengthening tribalism, feeding suspicion, our common humanity denied. Under the shadow of Covid-19 those living on the margins …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/the-plight-of…

Journalists in Malaysia persecuted for exposing treatment of migrant workers
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
The government’s investigation into seven Al Jazeera journalists, including a police raid of their offices, is part of a broader crackdown on press freedom.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/mala…

ICE Guards ‘Systematically’ Sexually Assault Detainees
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-15
Guards in an immigrant detention center in El Paso sexually assaulted and harassed inmates in a “pattern and practice” of abuse, according to a complaint filed by a Texas advocacy group urging the local district attorney and federal prosecutors to conduct a criminal investigation. | The allegations, detailed in a filing first obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, maintain that guards systematically assaulted at least three people in a facility overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — often in areas of the detention center not visible to security cameras.
popularresistance.org/ice-guards-systema…

Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad denounce eviction of families from Quilombo Campo Grande
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Dozens of movements and organizations across the world have denounced the eviction of 450 families from Quilombo Campo Grande and manifested their solidarity with the MST…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/noam-chom…

Uphold Palestinian Struggle In All Its Forms
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-15
Fifty years ago, Palestinian intellectual Ghassan Kanafani put forward a clear position about the boycott of Israel. Kanafani was, at the time, not only an esteemed novelist and short story writer. He was also one of the leading spokespeople of the Palestinian armed revolution, representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. | “Our boycott of Israel is not based on an emotional position, but rather, it comes from the nature of our confrontation against this enemy. Boycott is in itself a statement,” Kanafani wrote. | His remarks came in response to a debate between Israeli and Palestinian students…
popularresistance.org/uphold-palestinian…

UAE, Israel deal against democracy in Arab world: Experts
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-15
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel made a deal earlier this week to forestall Tel Aviv’s controversial plans to annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank and start a new era of normalization.Although the deal was supported by the West and regional countries namely, Egypt, Oman and Bahrain, the agreement sparked uproar in Palestine and on Arab streets.The Emirates became the third Arab country to recognize Israel after Jordan and Egypt, in a move touted as doing the Palestinians a favor.Palestinian groups, however, denounced the agreement, saying it does nothing to serve the Palestinian cause and ignore…
yenisafak.com/en/news/uae-israel-deal-ag…

Needed: Indicators for Measuring Injustice and Societal Decay
Ralph Nader | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-15
Economic indicators — data points, trends, and micro-categories — are the widgets of the big information industry. By contrast, indicators for our society’s democratic health are not similarly compiled, aggregated, and reported. Its up and down trends are presented piecemeal and lack quantitative precision. We can get the process started and lay the basis for …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/needed-indica…

Needed: Indicators for Measuring Injustice and Societal Decay
Ralph Nader | commondreams.org | 2020-08-15
A demonstrator holding a “People Over Profit” sign at a protest in Brooklyn on June 5, 2020. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/15/needed…

The Politics of War: What is Israel’s Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?
Ramzy Baroud | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
The future of Lebanon is, once more, in the hands of war generals.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-politics-of-wa…

How The US Helped Push Lebanon To The Brink Of Collapse
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-15
As the people of Lebanon suffer through one of the worst economic crises in their nation’s conflict-ridden history, the Donald Trump administration is exploiting the disaster to force regime change and weaken Lebanese resistance groups. | A massive explosion on August 4 devastated Lebanon’s capital Beirut, killing more than 150 people, wounding thousands, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, and ravaging a sizable chunk of the city. | The massive blast also destroyed Lebanon’s most important port, where 80 percent of food was imported into the country.
popularresistance.org/how-the-us-helped-…

A Message to the Left About Kamala Harris — And Us
Richard Eskow | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
“Should activists sit this election out? Not if you believe in activism.”
zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-message-to-the-l…

Activists in Denmark demand a consent based law against rape
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Copenhagen on August 14, Friday, to demand that the government draft a consent law to ensure proper legal protection for rape victims. The gathering was organised by around 24 groups including Everyday Sexim Project, Women’s Council, Denmark’s Social Democratic Youth (DSU), Socialist Youth Front (SUF), Red Green Youth etc. The participants in the march wore masks and gloves adhering to COVID-19 safety protocol. | According to Arbejderen.dk (The Worker), the demonstrators demanded that the government should immediately announce and submit proposals for a new consent-based rape la…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/activists…

Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/labo…

Amid mounting political crisis, Colombia faces world’s highest COVID-19 death rate
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Over the past weeks, the country has registered the highest per capita COVID-19 death rate in the world, 43.1 deaths per million people, compared to 32.9 per million for Brazil and 24.4 for the US.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/colo…

Powerful windstorm leaves 4 dead, 1.5 million without power across US Midwest
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Workers, who have lost everything in the storm, will be crowded into shelters and aid centers where social distancing will prove to be very difficult, putting thousands more at needless risk of contracting COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/dere…

Big oil faces mounting legal battles over climate threats to its New England Oil terminals
Dana Drugmand | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-15
The communities surrounding these terminals are constantly at risk of being inundated with a stew of oil and toxic materials.”
nationofchange.org/2020/08/15/big-oil-fa…

INSIGHT: The Simple Fix For Corporate Income Tax–Tax Stock Returns
Karen Conner | cepr.net | 2020-08-15
Bloomberg Tax See article on original site It is time for a major and simple overhaul of the corporate income tax system. The main problem with the current system is that it is focused on the wrong target. Instead of taxing corporate profits, we should be taxing stock returns. Before explaining how this alternative would …
cepr.net/insight-the-simple-fix-for-corp…

The Basic Case for a Wealth Tax
Bob Lord | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
America’s 12 wealthiest now control $1 trillion of wealth. The only practical way to address this extreme wealth concentration: a tax on accumulated grand fortune…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-basic-case-for…

Prisoners’ Justice Day in Canada
Michael Welch | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-15
“Solitary is used against prisoners who continue to resist against the oppressive environment within the system, and it is used to extremes that are hard for anyone to believe possible in a modern-day society. It is used to wear us …
globalresearch.ca/prisoners-justice-day-…

India’s Independence Day 2020 — distressed people, indifferent rulers
Subodh Varma | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Just a few days before this 73rd anniversary of India gaining Independence, on August 9, hundreds of thousands of workers, employees, agricultural laborers, farmers, and other laboring people protested in all corners of the country, demanding income support, more jobs, end to retrenchment, more foodgrains, better healthcare to deal with the pandemic, and also, an end to policies that favor the rich (both domestic and foreign). | The protest captures the essence of these difficult times that India is passing throu…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/indias-in…

Don’t Forgive Bastards: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
Caitlin Johnstone | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-15
A lot of evil hides behind the irrational assumption that there is a limit to the amount of evil your government would be willing to perpetrate. | “Forgiveness” is a concept that is constantly exploited by manipulative abusers. If anything our world suffers from an overabundance of forgiveness: toward murderous power structures, toward lying news media, toward rapacious oligarchs and cronyistic politicians. Don’t forgive them. | I’m distrustful of anyone who prattles on about the importance of forgiveness, because those who do so tend to do it because they have a vested interest in the concept. They’re usually ei…
thealtworld.com/caitlin_johnston/dont-fo…

Uganda looks online for answers to COVID economic crisis
news.un.org | 2020-08-15
From banking, to food delivery, and taxi bookings, Uganda is rapidly becoming accustomed to many of the online tools that are commonplace in developed economies, and which don’t rely on face-to-face interactions. The UN is supporting this shift, as a way to help developing economies recover from the global economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1…

On right-wing violence in Texas, media’s silence sends message
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-15
Hank Gilbert, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Louie Gohmert in Texas’ 1st congressional district, held a rally in Tyler, Texas, on July 26 against federal law enforcement agencies’ recent intervention in Portland, Oregon. But armed participants of a “Back the Blue” counter-protest crashed the event, beating and robbing attendees in the park.
mronline.org/2020/08/15/on-right-wing-vi…

“Putin’s govt. is depending on IMF and financial institutions to escape the crisis”
Muhammed Shabeer | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Roman Kononenko of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation talks about how the country’s establishment has responded to the crisis of capitalism and its response to US imperialism…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/putins-go…

Minneapolis Police Sweep West Powderhorn Encampment, Pepper Spray Defenders
Unicorn Riot | unicornriot.ninja | 2020-08-15
Minneapolis, MN — On August 14, 2020, Minneapolis Police along with the Park Police pepper sprayed houseless advocates while doing a sweep of the West Powderhorn Sanctuary tent encampment. Tents were bulldozed in scenes reminiscent of July 20 clearing of East Powderhorn. | Hours before severe…
unicornriot.ninja/2020/minneapolis-police-sweep-west-powderhorn-encampment-pepper-spray-defenders/

Prisoners’ Justice Day in Canada, The Rights of Prison Inmates. The Prison Reform Movement
Michael Welch | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-15
“Solitary is used against prisoners who continue to resist against the oppressive environment within the system, and it is used to extremes that are hard for anyone to believe possible in a modern-day society. It is used to wear us …
globalresearch.ca/prisoners-justice-day-…

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot announces police crackdown
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
One thousand police officers are being deployed into downtown Friday evening after a press conference in which the Democratic mayor announced a plan to tighten police control of the city, involve more police agencies, increase social media surveillance and further limit access to the wealthy downtown.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/chic…

Infiltration of US protests against police brutality used to delegitimize demonstrations, undermine democratic rights
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Police infiltration of protests has a renewed significance at a time when democratic rights have been stretched to the point of breaking.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/poli…

Dissecting the Beirut coverup: Ammonium nitrate not explosive and Lebanon was nuked before
Gordon Duff | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-15
We start with the text below in response to a Russia Today video where a so-called explosives expert explained Beirut. RT has become quite unreliable for the past year, a distinct pro-Israel bias, has repeatedly attacked Syria’s President Assad and is backing racist-supremacist elements in the US. | RT cleaned this off, which reports the Israeli bombers at 30 seconds onward: | We also burn Rick Sanchez as a fake anti-Zionst who went to RT because of equally fake media prosecution. We recognize the “OP…
thealtworld.com/gordon_duff/dissecting-t…

On the picket line
Sue Davis | workers.org | 2020-08-15
Solidarity with Philadelphia sanitation workers Even though trash has been piling up on Philadelphia streets during this steamy summer, there’s acknowledgment between city officials and the sanitation workers’ union, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 427 of District Council 33, that it’s because many workers have been . . . | Continue reading On the picket line at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/08/50595/?utm_source=rs…

The Same Racist Rhetoric Used To Oppose D.C. Statehood Keeps The Federal Government Dysfunctional
Karen Conner | cepr.net | 2020-08-15
Talking Points Memo See article on original site The House’s passage of legislation approving D.C. statehood in late June marked a milestone in the political struggle for full enfranchisement of the district, which, until recently, was a majority African-American city, and would become America’s most predominantly African-American state. The bill, passed largely along party lines, …
cepr.net/the-same-racist-rhetoric-used-t…

UAW announces COVID outbreak at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville with 32 new cases
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
There were 32 new COVID-19 cases reported last week at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/ford…

China’s Message to Donald: What Do You Want from Us?
Lin Liangduo | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-15
Translated from Chinese for Global Research; first published in January 2020. | Enough is enough. Enough hypocrisy for this one world. | What do you want from us, anyway? What Do You Really Want from Us? | When we were the sick man …
globalresearch.ca/chinas-message-to-dona…

Jail Took My Mom
Messiah Rhodes | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
Filmmaker on How His Mother Broke the Cycle of Incarceration & Shaping DNC Policy…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/jail-took-my-mom/

Palestinian Liberation Movement marks global day of action
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-08-15
The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network called for global Days of Resistance from Aug. 7 through 9 to protest the ongoing conquest of Palestinian land by Israeli occupation forces. In a statement announcing the action, the organization said, “Today, the program of Israeli annexation continues to threaten Palestinians in the . . . | Continue reading Palestinian Liberation Movement marks global day of action at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/08/50597/?utm_source=rs…

Government watchdog concludes acting heads of Homeland Security were illegally appointed by Trump
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
The Government Accountability Office report is a soft rebuke to Donald Trump, who has frequently circumvented congressional approval in order to install acting department heads loyal to him.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/unin…

Tear Gas Ted has a Tantrum
David Rovics | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-15
If the Portland Police decide they need to start killing protesters, the mayor has just justified it in advance. The liberal landed gentry dripping with multi-generational wealth and entitlement, as represented by Tear Gas Ted Wheeler, has made a pronouncement: the good folks trying to burn down the police station there in outer east Portland …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/tear-gas-ted-…

Face to Face with Mumia in a historic interview in 1996
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-08-15
On March 28, 1996, Workers World Party leading members Monica Moorehead and Larry Holmes traveled to a remote rural township in central Pennsylvania to pay a visit to the dungeon within a dungeon, death row. For at least two hours, they interviewed a shackled Mumia Abu-Jamal from across a thick . . . | Continue reading Face to Face with Mumia in a historic interview in 1996 at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/08/50604/?utm_source=rs…

MST families violently evicted after 60 hours of resistance
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Military Police in Minas Gerais violently evicted families who live at the Quilombo Campo Grande camp. The families had resisted the eviction order for 60 hours, but on Friday August 14 the police resorted to violent tactics such as launching tear gas and sound grenades. The 450 families who live at Quilombo Campo Grande had been living for the past 22 years in the area where sugar mill Ariadnópolis once functioned. The mill went bankrupt and closed down activities in 1996. Since then, the landless families organized in the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement revitalized the land, and produced organic coffee, corn,…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/mst-famil…

Modi government intensifies repression one year after its constitutional coup against Kashmir
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
The Modi government’s illegal abrogation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status and imposition of a state-of-siege in the Muslim-majority region have been conspicuously ignored by the US and other major imperialist powers.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/kaan…

White Allies for Black Lives Matter
Gary Olson | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-15
We’re now emerging from an intense period of racial justice protests that began after the killing of George Floyd. It was exhilarating and pride-inspiring to witness the multitudes in the Lehigh Valley (Pa) who “took it to the streets” on behalf of racial equality, especially the waves of Black and white young people. According to …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/white-allies-…

High-tech workplace surveillance: New report warns of dystopian mass surveillance amid COVID-19
Ashley Curtin | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-15
“The speed at which these new privacy-shredding technologies have been unleashed is alarming, especially given that none of them have been proven to be effective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.”
nationofchange.org/2020/08/15/high-tech-…

Profiteering off the pandemic
Robert Reich | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-15

nationofchange.org/2020/08/15/profiteeri…

Turkey, Syria, and the Kurds
Abdullah àñcalan | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
For over two decades, Kurdish leader Abdullah àñcalan has been held in the Turkish prison on ƒ∞mralƒ± Island. In this op-ed for Jacobin, he calls for a “democratic nation project” able to unite citizens of different ethnic backgrounds and cultural traditions.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/turkey-syria-and-t…

US elections could call into question fundamentals of democracy
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-15
Eugene Puryear of BreakThrough News talks about the nomination of Kamala Harris as the vice-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, as well as issues around voter suppression and fraud…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/15/us-electi…

Jacobin Magazine on the selection of Kamala Harris: Stick with the Democrats!
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
There is truly nothing too foul the Democratic Party could do that would lead Jacobin and the DSA to conclude that the party cannot be reformed.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/jaco…

The World Bank’s Poverty Illusion
Mel Gurtov | zcomm.org | 2020-08-15
Creating an economy based on social justice cannot be accomplished with quick fixes or “reforms.” It really is a revolutionary enterprise…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-world-banks-po…

Lebanon’s oligarchs and imperialist backers seek to exploit outrage over Beirut port blast
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Amid mass anger over the port explosion, a campaign against Hezbollah is bound up with the US aggression against Iran.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/leba…

Evans-Frantz: Sen. Leahy Should Lead on Global COVID Response
Karen Conner | cepr.net | 2020-08-15
Brattleboro Reformer See article on original site While Vermont has had the lowest death rate from COVID, most of us have heard how this pandemic is killing tens of thousands of our fellow Americans. However, we have heard less about the toll this pandemic is taking in developing countries. On July 31, the U.S. House …
cepr.net/evans-frantz-sen-leahy-should-l…

In honor of Negro National Leagues: Only the ball was white
Gloria Rubac | workers.org | 2020-08-15
This year, 2020, is the 100th birthday of the Negro National Leagues. Not Major League Baseball’s National League, but the Negro National Leagues. I’d like you to meet some of my heroes: Cool Papa, Peach Head, Double Duty, Satch, Buck and Peanut. Even if you are a sports fan, you . . . | Continue reading In honor of Negro National Leagues: Only the ball was white at Workers.org
workers.org/2020/08/50601/?utm_source=rs…

Workers denounce cover-up and intimidation around COVID-19 infections at Fiat Chrysler Belvidere plant
wsws.org | 2020-08-15
Belvidere workers continue to speak out against management and UAW concealing information and shaming workers for stating concerns as Boone and Winnebago counties launch investigation into the spread of disease at the plant.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/15/fcab…

Virtual Concert unites Pacific with the world in battling COVID-19
news.un.org | 2020-08-15
The first-of-its-kind televised and digitally streamed Pacific Unite: Saving Lives Together concert called on regional leaders and citizens to unite in the global fight against COVID-19, the United Nations said on Saturday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1…

[Correspondence] COVID-19’s impact on Australia’s health research workforce
Anna Peeters, Greg Mullins, Denise Becker, Liliana Orellana, Patricia Livingston | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen health and medical research promoted as countries establish resilient health systems and rapidly responsive prevention, detection, and treatment methods. However, the pandemic will probably negatively affect the capacity and outcomes of the health and medical research sector itself.1…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31533-6/fulltext?rss=yes

[World Report] COVID-19 worsens Zimbabwe’s health crisis
Munyaradzi Makoni | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Years of neglect and doctors’ strikes have pushed the Zimbabwean health system to the brink. Munyaradzi Makoni reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31751-7/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] COVID-19 is an opportunity for reform in dentistry
Richard G Watt | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to have devastating health, economic, and social effects, and is profoundly affecting the delivery of health services. Because of the infection risks associated with aerosol generated procedures, such as the use of high-speed drills, dental services across much of the world have been essentially closed since late March, 2020. During this period there was limited access to emergency dental care. Consequently, many desperate people with excruciating dental pain and acute oral infections have resorted to do-it-yourself dentistry, including the extraction of molar teeth without…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31529-4/fulltext?rss=yes

[Comment] Childhood adversity and death of young adults in an affluent society
Michael P Dunne, Franziska Meinck | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Adversity in childhood can induce health, social, and economic problems that persist throughout the adult years and might be fatal. Systems for child protection, poverty alleviation, and family support are designed to minimise harm, and it is reasonable to expect that the impact of adversity should be lowest in affluent countries that have comprehensive social services. However, research from high-income countries has shown startling links between childhood adversity and premature death. Brown and colleagues1 in the USA, for example, followed up 17‚Äà000 adults who self-reported multiple adversi…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)30899-0/fulltext?rss=yes

[Perspectives] The caregiver’s dilemma: in search of sustainable medical empathy
Jamil Zaki | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
In 2015, our daughter Alma was delivered by emergency caesarean section at a local children’s hospital. I listened for her cries, but she was silent. The medical team, too, was eerily quiet, gripped with concern. Alma struggled to live. We learned later that during her birth she had suffered a stroke. In those first moments as a parent, I realised two things. First, I wanted to protect my daughter more than anything I’d ever wanted. Second, I had already failed.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31685-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Interference in scientific research on COVID-19 in Turkey
Hasan Bayram, Nurdan Kà∂ktàºrk, Osman Elbek, Oƒüuz Kƒ±lƒ±nàß, Abdullah Sayƒ±ner, Elif Daƒülƒ±, Turkish Thoracic Society | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as it was later named, was first identified in Wuhan, China, on Jan 7, 2020.1 Over the following months, the virus rapidly spread throughout the world. The disease, COVID-19, was characterised as a pandemic by WHO on March 11, 2020. On the same day, the Turkish Ministry of Health reported the first case in Turkey.2 According to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data platform, which analyses the genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2, the disease reached Turkey mainly through Iran, with whom Turkey has strong commercial and touristic ties, and…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31691-3/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] COVID-19 combination prevention requires attention to structural drivers
Kent Buse, Alessandra Nilo, Jules Kim, Mark Heywood, Jeff Acaba | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Richard Horton draws parallels between the colliding pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV, observing that both “exploit and accentuate inequalities”.1 He and others2 advocate that responses to COVID-19 learn from HIV combination prevention approaches. However, it is key that in doing so, prevention measures go beyond the behavioural interventions they call for, to include interventions that are structural and systemic in nature.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31723-2/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Donation and transplantation activity in the UK during the COVID-19 lockdown
Alex R Manara, Lisa Mumford, Chris J Callaghan, Rommel Ravanan, Dale Gardiner | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
As of May 14, 2020, over 11‚Äà000 patients with COVID-19 in the UK were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs), with a median length of stay of 9 days.1 The COVID-19 pandemic had the immediate effect of severely reducing living and deceased organ donation and transplantation activity, as happened in other countries.2 On March 23, 2020, the same day that the UK Government announced lockdown restrictions, National Health Service (NHS) Blood and Transplant altered the age acceptance criteria for deceased donors to protect ICU bed capacity and maximise use of organs available for transplantation.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31692-5/fulltext?rss=yes

[Articles] Trajectories of childhood adversity and mortality in early adulthood: a population-based cohort study
Naja H Rod, Jessica Bengtsson, Esben Budtz-Jà∏rgensen, Clara Clipet-Jensen, David Taylor-Robinson, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Nadya Dich, Andreas Rieckmann | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Almost half of Danish children in our study experienced some degree of adversity, and this was associated with a moderately higher risk of mortality in adulthood. Among these, a small group of children had multiple adversities across social, health, and family-related dimensions. This group had a markedly higher mortality risk in early adulthood than that of other children, which requires public health attention.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)30621-8/fulltext?rss=yes

[Commentary] Leverage of genetic variants proxying smoking intensity to explore the broad health consequences of smoking
Dipender Gill | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The recent explosion in large-scale genetic association study data and genotyped biobanks offers an unprecedented opportunity to leverage natural genetic variation for inferring causal effects using the Mendelian randomization paradigm [1, 2]. In this approach, genetic variants are used to proxy modification of an exposure and study its effect on an outcome [1]. The random allocation of genetic variants means that such associations are relatively devoid of the confounding and reverse causation bias that can hinder causal inference in observational research [1].
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30242-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Obituary] Tom Arie
Geoff Watts | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
Innovator in psychogeriatric medicine. He was born in Prague, Czech Republic, on Aug 9, 1933, and died of cancer in Kenninghall, UK, on May 24, 2020, aged 86 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31686-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] COVID-19 trial co-enrolment and subsequent enrolment
Elie Gertner | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many clinical trials around the world assessing all stages of infection, from prophylaxis to the treatment of severely ill patients who are dependent on a ventilator. In our experience, if the patient’s medical condition deteriorates despite the intervention of one clinical trial, the attending physician, patient, or family members might request that the patient be enrolled in a second or third clinical trial.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31537-3/fulltext?rss=yes

[Commentary] Understanding the vulnerability of people with disabilities to HIV: Who is at risk?
Jill Hanass-Hancock | thelancet.com | 2020-08-15
The latest Lancet HIV paper by Pierre De Beaudrap and colleagues illustrates why we need disability-focused research to address vulnerabilities of those who have been left behind in the response to HIV and AIDS [1].
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30240-6/fulltext?rss=yes

The Heat: U.S. presidential politics
Anand Naidoo | america.cgtn.com | 2020-08-15
The U.S. presidential race heats up as Democrats prepare to formally anoint Joe Biden in the race for the White House. As Democrats take center stage next week to formalize their party’s ticket for November’s national election, gone will be the mass gathering of party …
america.cgtn.com/2020/08/15/the-heat-u-s…

Police bust 357kg of opium in Yazd province
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (MNA) — The police forces of Yazd province in central Iran have seized 357 kilograms of opium in three separate operations.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162278/Police-bust-…

$6.3bn of non-oil products exported in Q1
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — According to the announcement made by the Iranian ministry of industry, the country could manage to export $6.3 billion of non-oil products in the first 3 months of the present Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21, 2020).
en.mehrnews.com/news/162275/6-3bn-of-non…

Rouhani meets with new Iranian envoys
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — Iran’s new ambassadors to six countries met with President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran before embarking on their new missions.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162273/Rouhani-meet…

Homa open-air hall ready for inauguration
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — Homa open-air hall, designed to host concerts and theater performances, is ready for inauguration and a video of its construction process has been released.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162271/Homa-open-ai…

UAE-Israel agreement, clear violation of Palestinians’ rights
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — The Secretariat of Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution in a statement on Sat. condemned the infamous Emirati-Zionist agreement to normalize relations, calling it a clear example of historic loss for the Emirati government.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162276/UAE-Israel-a…

Iran produces over 9.4mn tons of steel ingot in four months
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — Islamic Republic of Iran produced 9,483,000 tons of steel ingot in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (from March 21 to July 22), showing a nine percent hike as compared to the same period of last year.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162268/Iran-produce…

US should thank Dominican for saving it from total isolation
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — Referring to the failure of US bid to extend an arms embargo on Iran, Ambassador to Pakistan Seyyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that the US should be so thankful of the Dominican Republic that saved it from total isolation.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162282/US-should-th…

Russia showed its seriousness on defending intl. law: envoy
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-15
TEHRAN, Aug. 15 (MNA) — Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said that Russia’s vote against the unprincipled and destructive US resolution shows its determination to uphold international law and oppose unilateralism.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162272/Russia-showe…

Saturday 8/22: “No Fascist USA!”: A New Book Talk w/ Authors Hilary Moore & James Tracy
Powell’s Books & City Lights Books | indybay.org | 2020-08-15
Online via Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883592…

Leaking Fossil Fuel Wells: An Economic, Health, and Climate Crisis
Sarah Heins | indybay.org | 2020-08-15
Leaking oil and gas wells in California are a health, economic, and climate crisis. The government needs to hold fossil fuel companies responsible to protect their citizens.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883591…

Sunday 8/23: The Oakland Greens present “The People’s Education System”
Vicente Cruz | indybay.org | 2020-08-15
ZOOM Event…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/1883593…

California Judicial Council vote to end ban on evictions is a ticking time bomb
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2020-08-15
Frances Hailman, Eleanor Walden & Lynda Carson Are Organizers At Tenant’s Rally To Help Save The Section 8 Program In Berkeley Years Ago:…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/1883590…