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Hello

This site’s been created in the hope that knowledge is power, and the
certainty that ignorance is its antithesis.   It’s mainly a compilation
of information and insight from various sources that I thought worth
passing along.

I’ll be tossing in my overvalued two cents, as well (denoted
by asterisks).   That said, I’d like to think I’m smart enough to know
what I don’t know, and that I’ll make that clear when necessary.

I’m happy to hear from folks.   Disagreement is welcome, but only if
it’s civil.  You can be as vociferous as you wish, but personal attacks
will simply be flushed as soon as they’re apparent.

Let’s do the mensch thing.

Make sense?   If so, you can leave a comment here, or reach me via email at unlikelysource@gmail.com, on Twitter at @aspiringmensch, or at my Facebook page at https://facebook.com/unlikelysource.

And a note on DEMOCRACY NOW! posts:

I may be stating the obvious, but it’s a good idea to check the DN!
Headlines every weekday.

There’s a link to them at the top right of each segment I post, or of
course you can go directly to the program site at https://www.democracynow.org on those days when nothing is posted.

And in addition to what’s here, I occasionally receive responses to my comments at sites such as Common Dreams, The Real News Network and the FAIR Blog, which I reply to.

If you’re interested in those, just click on the page link and search on “Doug Latimer” in the comments section to read them.

Thanks for visiting.   I hope you’ll find it worth your while.

—————–

ADDED 10/27/11 —  THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES page, where I park aphorisms et alia that I think are worth their own separate space.

See if you agree.

—————–

5/10/15 — Lately, I’ve been including a good bit of health and nutrition intel here, and I do see it intimately related to the other issues extant.

The posts on the duplicity and venality of food and medical corps provide obvious parallels, but I also want to focus on what we can do to improve our health, as we can’t follow our principles as assiduously as we’re obligated to if we’re not in the best condition we can be.

That said, I want to be clear that I’m no expert in these fields.  I’m trying to learn, and unlearn, what I need to do to be healthy.  In doing so, I may wander down some dead ends.  I present this information with the entreaty that you accord it both serious consideration and scrutiny.

What makes seeming sense today may be disproved tomorrow.  What appears outlandish in the present could well be validated in the future.

I hope what I pass along will be of benefit to you.

—————–

* Do what your conscience demands

And your courage allows

And never be satisfied with the limits of either *

 

 

 

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August 2019

8.22

Water Rights Group Calls on Newark Officials to Resist Privatization of City’s Water Supply Amid Lead Crisis
“While city and state officials must respond to the current crisis with urgency, they must also protect their water system from predatory corporate operators”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The vulture’s only interest is to feed on the carrion

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/22/water-rights-group-calls-newark-officials-resist-privatization-citys-water-supply

‘Time We Cast All Medals Into Spearheads of Revolution:’ Refugee-Rescuing Boat Captain Rejects Humanitarian Award
“We do not need authorities deciding about who is a ‘hero’ and who is ‘illegal'”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Those without honor have none to bestow

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/22/time-we-cast-all-medals-spearheads-revolution-refugee-rescuing-boat-captain-rejects

‘Just False’: Sanders Campaign Hits Back After WaPo Describes Pro-Labor Proposal as Change to Medicare for All Plan
“We’ve said from day one that any savings employers gain from Medicare for All must be passed on to union workers in the form of higher wages and benefits. We know that because Bernie wrote the damn bill.”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*WaPo’s (Bezos) bias

Simply Amazon

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/22/just-false-sanders-campaign-hits-back-after-wapo-describes-pro-labor-proposal-change
—

Leaked Documents Show Brazil’s Bolsonaro Has Grave Plans for Amazon Rainforest
DemocraciaAbierta had access to PowerPoints from a meeting between members of the Bolsonaro government. The slides show that the current government intends to use the president’s hate speech to diminish the power of minorities living in the region and to implement predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact for the Amazon.
by Manuella Libardi

*Fires and baleful brimstone

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/22/leaked-documents-show-brazils-bolsonaro-has-grave-plans-amazon-rainforest
–

Saving the Planet Means Fighting Bipartisan Corruption
Major donors to both parties are trying desperately to get more fossil fuels to market
by Daphne Wysham

*Hands across the aisle

And around our throats

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/21/saving-planet-means-fighting-bipartisan-corruption
—

The Real News Network
Police Use Your Money to Buy Silence of Brutality Victims
A Real News investigation reveals how the political power structure of policing allows brutal cops to silence victims with public money

*If you can’t say something nice about us

We’ll make sure you say nothing at all.

https://therealnews.com/stories/police-use-your-money-to-buy-silence-of-brutality-victims

Workers in Heat Waves Face Dangerous Exposure in the US Southwest
An extreme heat wave is covering up to 13 U.S. states. Along with the homeless population, this particularly affects workers who work outdoors, leading to numerous heat exposure deaths this year alone

https://therealnews.com/stories/workers-in-heat-waves-face-dangerous-exposure-in-the-us-southwest

How The Mainstream Media Fuels America’s Income Inequality Machine
From Medicare for All to neoliberal tax subsidies for major corporations, the mainstream media often bolsters the notion that a more fair and equitable society is not possible

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-the-mainstream-media-fuels-americas-income-inequality-machine
—

FAIR
Reporting on Global Crises Like Amazon Fires, Media Need to Focus on Who’s Fighting Them
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/reporting-on-global-crises-like-amazon-fires-media-need-to-focus-on-whos-fighting-them
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Why is the Amazon Burning?

*Not seeing the forest for the greed

http://accuracy.org/release/why-is-the-amazon-burning

What “Conflating Advocacy for Palestinian Rights with Hatred of Jewish People” Spawned

*Following their toxic logic, perhaps the Democratic “leadership” will now push for a bill condemning “self hating Jews”?

http://accuracy.org/release/what-conflating-advocacy-for-palestinian-rights-with-hatred-of-jewish-people-spawned
—

Democracy Now!
2020 Candidates Address Historical Trauma, Missing Indigenous Women & More at Native American Forum

*Pay attention to just how these candidates deal with indigenous issues when the campaign trail meanders away from Indian Country.

Does the playing pale before a different crowd?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/22/mark_trahant_christine_nobiss_mark_charles

8.20

Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Pace of Climate Change
A book entitled “Discerning Experts” explains why—and what can be done about it
by Naomi Oreskes, Michael Oppenheimer and Dale Jamieson

*We tend to forget that science is a human endeavor, and as such is subject to the frailties of our species.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/20/scientists-have-been-underestimating-pace-climate-change
–

Workplace Raids Are Not the Answer
Criminalizing undocumented labor will not curb the practice of their hiring. It only makes workers more exploitable
by Angela Stuesse

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/20/workplace-raids-are-not-answer
—

Demand Progress Education Fund: Business Roundtable’s Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds
As group of CEOs is praised for hollow statements about corporate responsibility, they push to undermine processes to hold corporations accountable to higher values

*What’s more dangerous

This pantomime of corporate “responsibility”

Or the “Huzzah!”s from “public interest advocates” who should, and perhaps do, know better?

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/20/demand-progress-education-fund-business-roundtables-hypocrisy-knows-no-bounds

Global Justice Now
Approval of Armenian Gold Mine Shows Corporate Courts ‘Crush Democracy’
Armenian Prime Minister approves controversial Amulsar gold mine in live online address
UK-registered mining company Lydian International had threatened $2 billion ‘corporate courts’ claim
Protest outside Armenian embassy in London tomorrow

*Gold plated greed

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/20/approval-armenian-gold-mine-shows-corporate-courts-crush-democracy
—

The Real News Network
Pope Francis Confronts the “Idolatry of Money” – RAI with Matthew Fox (7/8)
With his criticism of excessive capitalism and of climate change, Pope Francis has become the target of the far-right, and especially of the secretive Opus Dei sect within the Catholic Church, explains former priest Matthew Fox

*Forgive my lack of patience, but after reading the first few paragraphs, it was clear to me that Fox was engaging in the same sort of apologia for Francis that he exhibited a couple of months back, and I just don’t have the tolerance to wade through that yet again.

So riddle me this – if Francis is such a threat to these dark forces, how the deuce did he ascend the papacy? Perhaps, like our dearly departed Dear Misleader (one M. Obama, if you don’t get the epithet), his charge has been to paste a respectable face on a vile visage, talking a talk that never accompanies an honest amble.

And, to continue the analogy, might it be that the Opus Dei fascisti, as with the “birthers” and “never a n gg r”s who spewed such vitriol in his direction, do so in some measure as a way to validate Francis’ liberal bona fides?

I mean, if he counts such villains amongst his nemeses, can we doubt his heroic nature?

There may well be some honest to somebody’s god abhorrence extant, but could it be that there’s also an acknowledgment of the necessary role such PR salesmen play in the maintenance of an institution that is in dire need of a facile facelift?

I’d earnestly entreat you to ponder that possibility.

https://therealnews.com/stories/pope-francis-confronts-the-idolatry-of-money-rai-with-matthew-fox-7-8
—

FAIR
Corporate Media Filled With Nameless Voices Attacking Progressive Democrats
by Joshua Cho

*You don’t have to believe in the divinity of Ocasio-Cortez and company to know that those dissing them are dab hands at devilry.

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-filled-with-nameless-voices-attacking-progressive-democrats
—

Democracy Now!
Portland Rejects Proud Boys & Other Ultra-Right Groups as Trump Tries to Criminalize Antifa

*If you stand up, you will be counted

By the state

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/20/portland_far_right_rally_antifa_counterprotest

8.19

Kamala Harris, Who Just Clarified Her Rejection of Real M4All, to Snub Climate Forum in Favor of Big Donors
“We need a leader who prioritizes the future of humanity over rubbing elbows with millionaires and billionaires”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Ever wonder how Obama would look (and act) in drag … ?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/19/kamala-harris-who-just-clarified-her-rejection-real-m4all-snub-climate-forum-favor
—

Remembering Colombian Land Defender Hernán Bedoya
“A year before he died, Hernán warned the palm oil companies planned to plant another 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres), which would be impossible unless he and more than a dozen other campesinos were dispossessed”
by Brent Patterson

*These are not excesses, but the essence, of capitalism

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/19/remembering-colombian-land-defender-hernan-bedoya
–

A Dangerous Alliance: Governments Collaborate with Surveillance Companies to Shrink the Space for Human Rights Work
Despite the existence of these international laws and standards, states and private companies have been able to buy and use spyware freely and without any provision for accountability
by Likhita Banerji

*Filling Big Brother’s toxic toy box

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/19/dangerous-alliance-governments-collaborate-surveillance-companies-shrink-space
—

The Real News Network
The “Toxic 100” Worst Polluters of the World
Michael Ash of PERI discusses the “Toxic 100” index, which ranks the top 100 corporations in the US, including the U.S. government, according to the degree to which they pollute the air, the water and contribute to greenhouse gases. The index assists in divestment campaigns and in identifying opportunities for green growth

*Ash, like other “experts”, may be a dab hand at data collection and analysis, but exhibits an aggravating naïveté when placing the intel into political perspective, as evidenced by his accepting at face value the excuse offered by a corp’s “chief environmental officer” (an oxymoron if ever there was).

As for the reporting of pollution, shouldn’t we be suspicious of just what is … and isn’t?

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-toxic-100-worst-polluters-of-the-world

Israeli Illegal Arms Trade in South Sudan Was Disguised as “Agriculture”
Investigative journalist Sam Mednik revealed that the agricultural company Green Horizons was a front for former Israeli general Israel Ziv’s security company CST who were supplying arms to South Sudan, violating a UN Security Council arms embargo

https://therealnews.com/stories/israeli-illegal-arms-trade-in-south-sudan-was-disguised-as-agriculture

North Korea Suspends Talks With South Korea Because of U.S. Sanctions
While U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks fail to proceed because of a lack of unanimity within the Trump administration, the North suspended peace talks with the South because of the U.S.’s refusal to lift economic sanctions, says Tim Shorrock

https://therealnews.com/stories/north-korea-suspends-talks-with-south-korea-because-of-u-s-sanctions

Russia’s Anti-Gov’t Protests Draw Large Crowds, but Putin Remains Secure
Western media like to present Alexei Navalny as Russia’s main opposition leader, because his actions have sparked the recent protest wave, but he hardly represents anyone, says Alexandr Buzgalin. Rather, the protests express opposition to the Russian system

*The gummint claims the right to approve protests

And it appears the corpress follows suit.

https://therealnews.com/stories/russias-anti-govt-protests-draw-large-crowds-but-putin-remains-secure
—

FAIR
Media Blackout on Brazil’s Anti-Bolsonaro Protests
Why are New York Times and Guardian downplaying resistance to Brazil’s far-right president?
by Brian Mier

*A resistance to the reality of resistance

https://fair.org/home/media-blackout-on-brazils-anti-bolsonaro-protests
—

Democracy Now!
“They Are Irreplaceable, and They Mattered”: Group Identifies Human Remains Along the Border

*Which is more barren

The Sonoran Desert

Or the souls of those who force desperate people to try to cross it?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/19/robin_reineke_colibri_center_human_rights

8.16

Sanders Says If Israel Wants to Ban Members of Congress, It Should Not Receive Billions in US Military Aid
“The idea that a member of the United States Congress cannot visit a nation which, by the way, we support to the tune of billions and billions of dollars is clearly an outrage”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*How about instead of placing conditions on lethal “aid”

It isn’t given in the first place?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/16/sanders-says-if-israel-wants-ban-members-congress-it-should-not-receive-billions-us

Critics Denounce Trump’s “Dangerous” Claim That Locking Away Americans With Mental Illnesses Is the Answer to Gun Violence
“Painting institutions where we lock up all the people whose brains don’t work like you want them to, as the solution to gun violence would be laughable in its absurdity, if it wasn’t such a terrifying concept”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*This from a sociopath with acute narcissistic personality disorder

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/16/critics-denounce-trumps-dangerous-claim-locking-away-americans-mental-illnesses
—

The Real News Network
Trump Tweets, Then Netanyahu Bans Reps. Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib From Israel
Jim Zogby and Phyllis Bennis discuss the Trump-Netanyahu dynamic, the diminishing power of AIPAC, and the political battle against Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib

*The reports of the Israel lobby’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

I say that because what’s left out of this segment is the principal source of its power, which is Israel’s strategic importance to the imperial project. That’s been true for the better part of a century, and I see no erosion of that dynamic currently.

Yes, US public opinion has shifted to some degree, as the current regime has largely abandoned any pretense of “seeking peace”, and wreaks its violence with ever greater impunity, but it’s a minor issue for most, and certainly won’t be something Sanders will highlight in his campaign, now or should he be the nominee, and the corpress still stenographs Israeli talking points, while editorializing in its favor.

The tide is turning, and Israel’s increasingly brazen brutality will accelerate those eddies, but I don’t see a sea change in the immediate offing.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-tweets-then-netanyahu-bans-reps-ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib-from-israel
—

Petition
End Child Marriage in California
by Sara Tasneem

https://www.change.org/p/california-state-senate-end-child-marriage-in-california
—

Democracy Now!
The Great Land Robbery: How Federal Policies Dispossessed Black Americans of Millions of Acres

*Of course those policies run through administrations of both parties, and I wish many black folks understood just how their fealty to the Democrats has been repaid.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/16/vann_newkirk_great_land_robbery

Sister Helen Prejean on Fighting the Death Penalty, Meeting with the Boston Marathon Bomber & More

*If, somehow, the death penalty truly saved lives, beyond the effect of any other policies, then a moral argument could be made for it.

But even then, conscience would demand that it be seen as a terrible necessity, and undertaken with no sense of righteous vengeance.

This is, of course, the most hypothetical of postulates.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/15/sister_helen_prejean_death_penalty_part2

8.15

A Tire That Should Inspire Fear in the Heart of Workers
This sad story is as old as NAFTA
by Tom Conway

*Considering who gave us the “old” NAFTA, I’d have little trust in Pelosi and kind having the backs of workers in either country.

In truth, it would be foolhardy to let them get behind you in the first place.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/15/tire-should-inspire-fear-heart-workers
–

The Answer To Burn Out At Work Isn’t “Self-Care”—It’s Unionizing
Being in a union means that you and your coworkers work together to fix the problems at your workplace, and then negotiate for solutions with management
by Kayla Blado

*Working toward a better world begins with creating one in the workplace

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/15/answer-burn-out-work-isnt-self-care-its-unionizing
–

“World-Wide Welcome”: No, Cuccinelli, the Statue of Liberty and Lazarus Poem Are Not About European Whiteness
by Juan Cole

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/15/world-wide-welcome-no-cuccinelli-statue-liberty-and-lazarus-poem-are-not-about
–

Bernie Sanders’ Chances Depend on Taking Support from Biden, and Soon
“Scranton Joe” has proved a more difficult foil for Bernie Sanders than Hillary Clinton, particularly with working-class voters
by Matt Taibbi

*Sanders appears to have a choice to make as to whom he wishes to be friends with.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/15/bernie-sanders-chances-depend-taking-support-biden-and-soon
–

Why the Government’s Hunt for the Migrant Poor Is a Perfect Distraction From the Real Problems of Our Time
The powerful old men who rule the world have an existential advantage, which is that they won’t live to see the fruits of their hate and greed
by Jorge Majfud

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/15/why-governments-hunt-migrant-poor-perfect-distraction-real-problems-our-time
—

The Real News Network
Epstein May Be Just One Part of an Intricate Network of Sex and Power
Journalist Whitney Webb’s series looks at the sordid history tying together mobsters, oligarchs, and government intelligence agencies in a web of blackmail, exploitation, and profit

*If history is any guide, there will be no honest investigation of these connections, regardless of which party controls Congress and the presidency.

This isn’t a can of worms

It’s a nest of vipers.

https://therealnews.com/stories/epstein-may-be-just-one-part-of-an-intricate-network-of-sex-and-power

Hong Kong Protest Withdraws From Airport, but Situation Remains far From Normal
The mostly leaderless movement for Hong Kong’s democratization withdrew from the airport, allowing flights to resume, but the situation remains unresolved as long as protesters and government fail to come to an agreement on reforms. We speak to Sean Starrs in Hong Kong

https://therealnews.com/stories/hong-kong-protest-withdraws-from-airport-but-situation-remains-far-from-normal

Federal Ex-Offenders at Risk of Losing Ties to Their Community in DC
A DC real estate mega-developer has reneged on an agreement to lease one of his properties for a re-entry program for 300 men returning from federal prison. What does this mean for those men, their families, and the community?

https://therealnews.com/stories/federal-ex-offenders-at-risk-of-losing-ties-to-their-community-in-dc

Brazil’s Student Movement Mobilizes to Oppose Bolsonaro’s Education Privatization
Students rallied and marched in 207 municipalities of Brazil, to declare their opposition to right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s education reform that would privatize much of Brazil’s higher education. Mike Fox reports

https://therealnews.com/stories/brazils-student-movement-mobilizes-to-oppose-bolsonaros-education-privatization

Immigrants Welcome to the US as Long as They Are White and Wealthy
The Trump’s administration’s Kenneth Cuccinelli rewrites Emma Lazarus’s words on the Statue of Liberty, telling the poor and oppressed they’re no longer welcome. This comes right after Trump proposes to limit legal migration to the US. We speak to Michael Paarlberg of IPS

*Of course, immigration policy has never truly been about helping those “yearning to breathe free”, but about feeding them into the profit machine, which is why this is about the “chaff”, and not the “wheat” whom businesses can exploit immediately.

https://therealnews.com/stories/immigrants-welcome-to-the-us-as-long-as-they-are-white-and-wealthy
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Rep. Findely, Key Author of War Powers Resolution, and Congressional Critic of Israel, Dies

*Killer Clown wants them “to go back where they came from”

And Hoyer and ilk are fine with keeping them from going where their duty demands.

http://accuracy.org/release/rep-findely-key-author-of-war-powers-resolution-and-congressional-critic-of-israel-dies
—

FAIR
‘Black Communities Are Already Living in a Tech Dystopia’
CounterSpin interview with Ruha Benjamin on racism and technology
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/black-communities-are-already-living-in-a-tech-dystopia
—

Here’s the Evidence Corporate Media Say Is Missing of WaPo Bias Against Sanders
by Julie Hollar

*It’s clear the corpress has no love for Sanders

I just wish there were more there for them to loathe.

https://fair.org/home/heres-the-evidence-corporate-media-say-is-missing-of-wapo-bias-against-sanders
—

Democracy Now!
Child Victims Act: Hundreds File Suits as New York Extends Statute of Limitations on Sex Abuse Cases

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/15/new_york_child_victims_act

8.14

Fracking Boom in US and Canada Largely to Blame for ‘Massive’ Rise of Global Methane Levels: Study
While the rise of methane in the Earth’s atmosphere over the past decade has been “globally significant,” quick action to end fracking would have a rapid, positive impact on the environment
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/14/fracking-boom-us-and-canada-largely-blame-massive-rise-global-methane-levels-study

Rights Group Warns Against Amazon Marketing to Law Enforcement ‘Dangerous and Invasive’ Facial Recognition System It Claims Can Detect People’s Fear
“The dystopian surveillance state of our nightmares is being built in plain sight”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Smell the fear?

Smell the money

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/14/rights-group-warns-against-amazon-marketing-law-enforcement-dangerous-and-invasive
—

The Real News Network
Protests In Honduras Intensify as President Is Implicated in Drug Trafficking
Adrienne Pine and Jesse Freeston discuss Hondurans’ demand that President Juan Orlando Hernandez resign and the repressive, violent police response to protesters

https://therealnews.com/stories/protests-in-honduras-intensify-as-president-is-implicated-in-drug-trafficking

United States and Turkey Agree to a Syrian “Safe Zone,” Betraying the Kurds
Baris Karaagac discusses how the U.S allowed the Turkish government seize land in northern Syria to counter Russian and Iranian influence in spite of former Kurdish allies

https://therealnews.com/stories/united-states-and-turkey-agree-to-a-syrian-safe-zone-betraying-the-kurds

Baltimore Takes Aim at the Predatory Capitalism that Spawned Trump
Baltimore is on the cusp of adopting policies that will turn the tables on the exploitative housing policies that devastated the city and fueled Donald Trump’s rise

https://therealnews.com/stories/baltimore-takes-aim-at-the-predatory-capitalism-that-spawned-trump
—

FAIR
‘People Are Demanding Accountability for the Fossil Fuel Industry’
CounterSpin interview with Sriram Madhusoodanan about climate justice
by Janine Jackson

*Is it enough for the fossil fuel “industry to get out of the way”?

Do you tell a mass murderer to turn in his assault rifle?

How many have died, had their lives tragically destroyed?

Doesn’t justice demand more than an end to the lies and obstruction?

The evidence of the crimes is irrefutable.

The guilty should be served their just desserts.

https://fair.org/home/people-are-demanding-accountability-for-the-fossil-fuel-industry
—

Democracy Now!
“A Narco State Supported by the United States”: How Crime & Corruption in Honduras Fuel Migration

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/14/sonia_nazario_honduras_crime_corruption_migration

Ibram X. Kendi on Trump, Obama & Why “Internalized Racism Is the Real Black-on-Black Crime”

*Worth the read, but I have to say a rather pallid critique of Dear Misleader, considering the breadth of crimes he’s responsible for, including those harming black folks.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/13/ibram_x_kendi_interview_racism_antiracism

“River of Fire”: In New Memoir, Sister Helen Prejean Reflects on Decades of Fighting Executions

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/14/sister_helen_prejean_federal_death_penalty

8.13

‘Give Me Your Tired and Your Poor… Who Can Stand on Their Own Two Feet’: Top Trump Official Rewrites Statue of Liberty Greeting
“Cuccinelli may as well have this engraved on a plaque, hang it around his neck, and wear it for the rest of his life,” said the director of the ACLU’s immigrant rights project
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”[W]ho can stand on their own two feet”

From someone whose preferred posture is standing on others’ necks

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/13/give-me-your-tired-and-your-poor-who-can-stand-their-own-two-feet-top-trump-official
—

Social Security 2100—A Path to Protecting America’s Elderly Communities
Social Security’s one shortcoming is that its benefits are extremely modest by virtually any measure. We can do so much better.
by Diane Archer

*Yes, “[w]e can do so much better”

And we can do so by providing the means to a dignified life for everyone, not based on what they can contribute to that goal, but on what they need to achieve it.

If you can’t abide that, do you have the guts to explain why to those who desperately need it?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/13/social-security-2100-path-protecting-americas-elderly-communities
–

ICE: You’re Not Welcome in the South
I’m sick of the government claiming it “protects” me by locking up my Latinx neighbors while their kids are at school
by Justin Vest

*The true meaning of “family values”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/13/ice-youre-not-welcome-south
—

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Social Security Does Much More for Disadvantaged Children than Temporary Assistance

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/13/social-security-does-much-more-disadvantaged-children-temporary-assistance
—

The Real News Network
Federal Judge Continues Chelsea Manning’s Confinement and $1000 a Day Fine
Manning could be jailed for another 400 days and owe $441,000 because of an unprecedented decision by Bush-appointed Judge Tenga. Kevin Gosztola discusses the latest development

https://therealnews.com/stories/federal-judge-continues-chelsea-mannings-confinement-and-1000-a-day-fine

Bolsonaro’s Anti-Crime Crack-Down Also Targets Brazil’s Social Movements
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro’s comment that criminals should “die like cockroaches” is not only reminiscent of Philippine president Duterte, but also seeks to persecute social movements, says Mike Fox

https://therealnews.com/stories/bolsonaros-anti-crime-crack-down-also-targets-brazils-social-movements

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales Seeks An Unprecedented Fourth Term
The race for Bolivia’s presidency has begun and Evo Morales, has a good chance of winning, if voters forgive him for the term limits controversy. Linda Farthing discusses the situation in Bolivia

*It would have been enlightening to hear just how the Morales gummint “has increasingly [negotiated] with powerful elites”, and how its “agenda has been modified over time”, don’t you think?

https://therealnews.com/stories/bolivias-president-evo-morales-seeks-an-unprecedented-fourth-term
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Epstein: Blackmail?

*Reckon most all the corpress will dismiss this as “conspiracy theories”, if they mention it at all?

http://accuracy.org/release/epstein-blackmail
—

FAIR
Media Defend Biden by Attacking Dems for ‘Attacking’ Obama
by Julie Hollar

*Joe Dough embodies the same servility to the überklassifizieren as the corpress, and it appears they will pull out all the stops to pull his foot out of his mouth.

The dearly departed (from office) Dear Misleader is the very essence of personality over principle. Invoking his godhead is to be expected from those who daily traffic in the diminution of democracy.

https://fair.org/home/media-defend-biden-by-attacking-dems-for-attacking-obama
—

Democracy Now!
Ibram X. Kendi: IQ Tests, SAT Scores and Other “Intelligence” Tests Propagate Racism

*”IQ” tests measure in large measure IneQuality

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/13/ibram_x_kendi_intelligence_tests_education

How to Be an Antiracist: Ibram X. Kendi on Why We Need to Fight Racism the Way We Fight Cancer

*Recovery begins with recognition

The shame doesn’t lie in the disease

But in the denial

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/13/ibram_x_kendi_class_race_capitalism

8.12

Trump Administration Reauthorizes ‘Cyanide Bombs’ to Kill US Wildlife
Conservation groups say the devices are indiscriminate killers that should be banned
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/09/trump-administration-reauthorizes-cyanide-bombs-kill-us-wildlife
—

We Have Until Aug 13 to Oppose Trump’s Anti-Trans Healthcare Plan
The proposal is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to undermine our nation’s antidiscrimination laws
by Lindsey Kaley

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/12/we-have-until-aug-13-oppose-trumps-anti-trans-healthcare-plan
–

All or Nothing: A Green New Deal for Central America
The Trump administration is already campaigning for the upcoming elections and its main target is an easy fragile one – migration and how to put the brakes on it. Turning Guatemala into a temporary prison has been its latest achievement.
by Renata Avila

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/12/all-or-nothing-green-new-deal-central-america
–

Why Would the Democrats Want to be ‘Tough’ on Trade, as Opposed to Smart on Trade?
Over the last three decades, the United States has negotiated trade deals to benefit U.S. corporations
by Dean Baker

*I guess it depends on just whom you’re trying to be “tough on”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/12/why-would-democrats-want-be-tough-trade-opposed-smart-trade
—

The Real News Network
What Can We Learn From the History of Struggle Against White Supremacism?
White supremacism has a very long history in North America. We discuss the origins and the history of struggle against this movement with Prof. Gerald Horne, to see what we can be learned from this history for confronting white supremacism today

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-can-we-learn-from-the-history-of-struggle-against-white-supremacism

American Jews Lead Nationwide Protests to #CloseTheCamps
As 100 are arrested in New York, hundreds rally in Maryland to demand local officials stop cooperating with ICE. Hours after the protest, the Howard County Executive told TRNN he will review their ICE contracts

*You can’t “touch his heart”

There’s nothing but a black hole where his soul should be.

I don’t consider that hyperbole. The hospital “visit” (read “photo op”) in El Paso is only the most recent instance of utter disregard for the rest of humanity.

We may have to invent a more acute term than “sociopath” to encompass his actions.

https://therealnews.com/stories/american-jews-lead-nationwide-protests-to-closethecamps

Student Debt Reform, or Student Debt Forgiveness? What The Candidates’ Plans Mean
Students leaving college with their hard-earned degrees also have a significant and growing amount of debt. Which Democratic candidate’s plan is the most effective at addressing this growing problem?

*One way to look at this is if primary and secondary education is considered a right, why shouldn’t higher education be, as well? It wouldn’t be a matter of who can afford it, any more than any other right we’re guaranteed.

Now, that has to be coupled with a fair tax system, to address the issue of the wealthy also benefiting, and it has to align with a commitment to providing a quality higher education by adequately funding colleges and universities.

As with the benefits of universal healthcare, the moral merges with the monetary.

https://therealnews.com/stories/student-debt-reform-or-student-debt-forgiveness-what-the-candidates-plans-mean

Israel’s Flagship Lobby Organization Collapses
Richard Silverstein discusses the fall of The Israel Project (TIP), the best-funded organization promoting pro-Israeli propaganda in the United States and around the world. Why did TIP collapse and what does this mean for organizing around Palestinian rights?

*Language is a virus, so please, let’s not use terms like “questionable” for reprehensible tactics.

That question was answered long ago.

https://therealnews.com/stories/israels-flagship-lobby-organization-collapses

The Baltimore Trash Video Fox News Doesn’t Want You To See
A closer look at Fox News reporting reveals that the narrative espoused by President Trump that Baltimore is “rat and rodent infested” is complicated by people from outside of Baltimore using the city as their dumping ground

*Trash talk from the mother of all rubbish tips

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-baltimore-trash-video-fox-news-doesnt-want-you-to-see

Exclusive: Baltimore Cop Convicted of Pulling Gun on Pedestrian He Almost Hit
The Real News has learned a Baltimore police officer was convicted of first degree assault for pulling a gun on a pedestrian who he almost hit with his car

*It’s always a cop out, innit?

https://therealnews.com/stories/exclusive-baltimore-cop-convicted-of-pulling-gun-on-pedestrian-he-almost-hit

How Israel’s Erasure of Palestinian History Perpetuates Occupation
Prof. Ilan Pappe discusses why Israel’s agency in charge of nuclear security hid documents about the Nakba, the catastrophe in which Palestinians were driven from their land in 1948, explaining that it was an effort to eliminate the Palestinian narrative

*History is written, and erased, by the victors

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-israels-erasure-of-palestinian-history-perpetuates-occupation
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
More FBI Powers: Won’t Be White Supremacists Bearing Brunt

http://accuracy.org/release/more-fbi-powers-wont-be-white-supremacists-bearing-brunt

Democracy Now!
Jeffrey Epstein Is Dead, But Victims Call for Probes of His Sex Trafficking Ring to Continue

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/12/jeffrey_epstein_is_dead_but_victims

Hong Kong Grounds Flights as Mass Sit-in Shuts Down Airport After Weekend of Protests

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/12/hong_kong_grounds_flights_as_mass

Mass ICE Raids in Mississippi After Workers Fought for Better Conditions Leave Kids Without Parents

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/9/mississippi_ice_raids_poultry_plant_arrests

Documents Reveal Monsanto Surveilled Journalists, Activists & Even Musician Neil Young

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/9/monsanto_fusion_center_surveillance_of_critics

Behind the Lines: Shane Bauer Travels to Syria to Uncover America’s Role in the Syrian War

*I believe Bauer is sincere in his empathy for the Syrian people. That doesn’t mean I take his word as gospel. There is very little revealed truth to be had in this horror show.

What I can do is take the side of the suffering, and try to understand how to end their torment, however tortuous the path may be.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/8/behind_the_lines_shane_bauer_travels

8.8

“Don’t Look Away”: Videos and Images of Weeping Children and Loved Ones Spread as ICE Arrests 680 in Mississippi
“Children finished their first day of school with no parents to go home to tonight. Babies and toddlers remained at daycare with no guardian to pick them up. A child vainly searched a workplace parking lot for missing parents.”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*After shedding crocodile tears over “hatred”, the reptile again bares his fangs to reassure his baleful base.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/08/dont-look-away-videos-and-images-weeping-children-and-loved-ones-spread-ice-arrests

Detroit Man Who Suffered From Mental Illness and Diabetes That Trump Deported to Iraq—a Country He Had Never Even Been To—Found Dead
“The Trump administration deported a man to Iraq who was not born there, never lived there, he came to the US as a child, he spoke no Arabic, and had type 1 diabetes. He died.”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*They didn’t even send him “back to where [he] came from”.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/08/detroit-man-who-suffered-mental-illness-and-diabetes-trump-deported-iraq-country-he
—

“Culture of Violence?” You Betcha, Mr. Trump, But It’s Not The Video Games
It’s much more accurate to say that everybody in America is surrounded by a culture of violence, even if they’ve never played a video game
by Mike Ferner

*In addition to being unalterably immoral, the death penalty, especially in this instance, is utterly ineffectual. Many mass shooters are fully prepared to be killed as a consequence of their acts, or may actually seek that outcome.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/08/culture-violence-you-betcha-mr-trump-its-not-video-games
—

The Real News Network
A Fossil Fuel Baron Just Bought USA Today
GateHouse Media, a regional digital news network owned by Milwaukee Bucks owner, DNC donor, and fossil fuel investor Wes Edens, has merged with Gannett. It’s now the largest regional newspaper network nationwide.

*Considering the current state of somebody’s god awful coverage of climate crisis

Just how much lower can you go … ?

https://therealnews.com/columns/a-fossil-fuel-baron-just-bought-usa-today

New Israeli Military Strategies for Annexation and Undermining Palestinian Identity
Shir Hever discusses two new Israeli military strategies, presented by Israeli chief of staff Aviv Kochavi, who calls for a more deadly invasion of Gaza, and former general Yossi Kuperwasser’s plan of “changing the Palestinian narrative” in order to annex Palestinian land

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-israeli-military-strategies-for-annexation-and-undermining-palestinian-identity

We Must Change Land Use to Save Humanity
What you need to know about the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new Special Report

https://therealnews.com/stories/we-must-change-land-use-to-save-humanity

Death by Police is Now the 6th Leading Cause of Death Among Young Men
It was once believed that police killings were the 14th leading cause of death among young people. However, a new Rutgers University study by Frank Edwards, which used federal statistics and journalistic investigation, found that the death rate is far higher now. We discuss the research with Frank Edwards

https://therealnews.com/stories/death-by-police-is-now-the-6th-leading-cause-of-death-among-young-men

4Chan’s and 8Chan’s Internet-Brewed Racism Informs Trump’s Rhetoric
The BBC’s Mike Wendling explains the history of a message board subculture and discusses his book, “Alt-Right: From 4Chan to the White House”

https://therealnews.com/stories/4chans-and-8chans-internet-brewed-racism-informs-trumps-rhetoric

More Sanctions Against Venezuela Means More Suffering
The Trump administration’s new sanctions freeze all of Venezuela’s U.S.-based assets and those of anyone who helps Maduro, which will only increase poverty, says Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodriguez

*Negotiation may be the only way out of this, and the Maduro gummint has its own sins to atone for, but it seems to me that this would be rewarding an opposition that has engaged in all manner of harm toward the Venezuelan people, and has no legitimate place in power.

https://therealnews.com/stories/more-sanctions-against-venezuela-means-more-suffering
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Emmy-Winning Actor Takes Pro-BDS Stand in Hollywood

*Art should always be for our sake

http://accuracy.org/release/emmy-winning-actor-takes-pro-bds-stand-in-hollywood
—

FAIR
Can’t Afford a Vacation? Get Another Credit Card!
News about Americans’ dire financial straits turns into a credit card commercial
by Alan MacLeod

*My heart bleeds for the corpress.

Maybe if they found the right card … ?

https://fair.org/home/cant-afford-a-vacation-get-another-credit-card
—

Democracy Now!
Kashmir Under Siege: India Moves to Annex Territory, Heightening Tensions with Nuclear Rival Pakistan

*Killer Clown doesn’t mediate

He immolates

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/8/kashmir

Emergency Doctor to Trump: You Are Wrong, Mental Illness Is Not to Blame for Gun Violence Epidemic

*The insanity we need to address here is the culture that glorifies the gun

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/8/mental_illness_gun_violence_suicide_risk

8.7

‘Heartbreaking’ Scene on Boston Streets as Police Destroy Wheelchairs Belonging to Homeless Residents
“Can we all agree that it is inhumane and cruel and a waste of resources to crush the wheelchairs of people who are living on the street after a car accident in a full body cast?”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Homelessness is where the heartlessness is

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/07/heartbreaking-scene-boston-streets-police-destroy-wheelchairs-belonging-homeless

Bolstering Call to Expand Social Security, New Reporting Reveals How Corporations Are Offloading Pensions
Not only are pensions being offered less, existing pensions are being transferred to insurers, with employees suffering the consequences
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/07/bolstering-call-expand-social-security-new-reporting-reveals-how-corporations-are
—

Message to Congress: Big Pharma’s Trail of Greed, Power, and Cruelty Must Be Stopped
Gouges, casualties, and the congressional remedy to this national scourge
by Ralph Nader

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/07/message-congress-big-pharmas-trail-greed-power-and-cruelty-must-be-stopped
–

The Green New Deal Must Be Global
For a planet-wide climate crisis, solutions must also span the planet
by William Minter

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/07/green-new-deal-must-be-global
–

From the Royal to the Prophetic to the Apocalyptic: The Case for a Saving Remnant
by Robert Jensen

*”Few are guilty, but all are responsible”

And our responsibility is to think for ourselves

Then act, for others.

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-08-07/from-the-royal-to-the-prophetic-to-the-apocalyptic-the-case-for-a-saving-remnant
—

The Real News Network
California Legislature Climate Watchdog Committee Has Little Bite
The California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies was formed in 2016 as a watchdog on state climate policy, but activists say that, so far, it has failed to live up to its potential

*The road to hell is paved with good excuses

https://therealnews.com/columns/california-legislature-climate-watchdog-committee-has-little-bite

Climate Change Is a Key Issue for a Growing Number of Young Republicans
Republican strategists know the party will need to shift its climate platform to retain young voters, but federal Republican officials haven’t caught up to the new trend, says The New York Times’ Lisa Friedman

*Might it be that Republican strategists have seen the writing on the flood wall, and now realize that they can no longer deny the science, but have to deny the solutions, as inadequate as they are, of a Green New Deal, in favor of the placebos that align with the interests of their corporate masters?

https://therealnews.com/stories/climate-change-is-a-key-issue-for-a-growing-number-of-young-republicans

Will Germany Become the Military Power it Once Was?
Annette Groth discusses the three demands by the U.S to Germany to increase its military power and presence overseas, and the new right-wing minister of defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. For now Germany is loathe to send troops or ships to Syria or Hormuz, but Kramp-Karrenbauer has already announced her intention to increase military spending to 2% of GDP, which would turn Germany into a military giant

https://therealnews.com/stories/will-germany-become-the-military-power-it-once-was

Trump’s China Trade War Increases Risk of Recession
Trump accuses China of currency manipulation because their currency devalued in the wake of his tariffs. However, as Bill Black explains, this accusation has no basis in fact. Instead, Trump’s trade war only increases the likelihood of a recession

*Let us fervently hope that a fool and our money are soon parted

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-china-trade-war-increases-risk-of-recession

White Nationalist Terror Attack in El Paso Was Not an Isolated Incident
Gerald Horne and Arun Gupta outline the history of white terror in America and what its modern manifestation means for our future

*The corpress has also patted Killer Clown on the back anytime he does something they view as “presidential”, frequently entailing imperialist aggression, while contextualizing his domestic crimes as politics as unusual, but not beyond the pale.

You have to ask where we’d be if they actually engaged in honest journalism, don’t you just?

As for Albright, I don’t believe anything such a moral reprobate has to say about fascism is anything we couldn’t learn from a less conflicted source.

https://therealnews.com/stories/white-nationalist-terror-attack-in-el-paso-was-not-an-isolated-incident

Right-Wing Extremist Scott Presler Organizes Trash Clean Up in West Baltimore
Inspired by Trump, right-wing extremist Scott Presler organizes a “Clean Up” event in West Baltimore, but is this altruism or a political ploy for Trump?

*There’s a trash problem, all right.

Eddie was talking with it.

https://therealnews.com/stories/right-wing-extremist-scott-presler-organizes-trash-clean-up-in-west-baltimore
—

FAIR
Wired’s Gee-Whiz High-Tech Militarism
by Julianne Tveten

*Wired on war

https://fair.org/home/wireds-gee-whiz-high-tech-militarism

8.6

‘Youth and Workers Uniting Behind This Crisis’: German Labor Union Urges 2 Million Members to Join Global Climate Strike
“This is leadership. Who will follow? The world is watching,” said 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/06/youth-and-workers-uniting-behind-crisis-german-labor-union-urges-2-million-members

‘This Is Us’: In Wake of El Paso, Eddie Glaude Delivers ‘Incredibly Powerful’ Statement on US History of Racism and Violence—And You Can’t Just Blame Trump
“And if we’re gonna get past this, we can’t blame it on [Trump]. He’s a manifestation of the ugliness that’s in us.”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The American nightmare will continue, until we awaken from the American Dream

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/06/us-wake-el-paso-eddie-glaude-delivers-incredibly-powerful-statement-us-history
—

Jobs, the Environment, and a Planet in Crisis
Unions vs. Environmentalists or Unions and Environmentalists?
by Aviva Chomsky

*In this political culture, there’s an instinctual impulse to “massage” the message.

But such instincts in the face of extinction inhibit the understanding of just what we’re facing.

Politics as usual, even if taken a step further, won’t pull us away from the precipice.

If we don’t viscerally suss that, we will never muster the motivation necessary to avert our oblivion.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/06/jobs-environment-and-planet-crisis
–

Hiroshima Unlearned: Time to Tell the Truth About US Relations with Russia and to Ban the Bomb
If the US and Russia can’t settle their differences and honor their promise in the NPT to eliminate their nuclear weapons, the whole world will continue to live under threats of unimaginable catastrophic humanitarian suffering and destruction.
by Alice Slater

*Bombing the ban

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/06/hiroshima-unlearned-time-tell-truth-about-us-relations-russia-and-ban-bomb
—

Friends of the Earth
New Study: U.S. Agriculture 48 Times More Toxic to Insects Than 25 Years Ago
Neonicotinoid pesticides account for 92 percent of toxicity increase

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/06/new-study-us-agriculture-48-times-more-toxic-insects-25-years-ago
—

The Real News Network
Is the Rise in Lyme Disease Due to Weaponized Ticks?
Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases affect 400,000 Americans each year, and the reported cases are rising. Did the Pentagon weaponize ticks and unleash them on an unsuspecting public? We discuss the possibility with science writer Kris Newby

*Wonder if any of those Nazi scientists who were “rehabilitated” to fight The Red Menace had a hand in this?

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-the-rise-in-lyme-disease-due-to-weaponized-ticks
—

Democracy Now!
Never Apologize: How the NRA Fights Gun Control Even After Mass Shootings

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/5/nra_infighting_alex_yablon_the_trace

“We Can’t Wait for McConnell”: Advocates Call for Bold Action to Curb Gun Violence Epidemic

*Holding up nominees and bills to get movement on gun control is sacrificing one desperate need over another, isn’t it?

We don’t need horse trading. We need a unified front against all the obscenities.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/6/mass_shootings_epidemic_gun_control_proposals

“Fascism Will Not Go Away by Itself”: George Ciccariello-Maher on Confronting White Supremacy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/6/george_ciccariello_maher_white_supremacy

8.5

‘Despair Ends and Tactics Begin’: Extinction Rebellion Aims to Shut Down Brisbane With Mass Civil Disobedience
“Our rebellion must happen to disrupt the business as usual of a system that is accelerating the existential threat”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Doing what must be done to stop what must not

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/05/despair-ends-and-tactics-begin-extinction-rebellion-aims-shut-down-brisbane-mass
—

The Latest Massacre Shows the Second Amendment Model of ‘Slave Patrols’ Is Still in Effect
Like his presidential hero Andrew Jackson, who owned enslaved people and bragged about murdering Native American women and children, Trump speaks to an exclusively white audience
by Thom Hartmann

*Let freedom ring

Hollow

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/05/latest-massacre-shows-second-amendment-model-slave-patrols-still-effect
–

More Money, Fewer Jobs: The Stubborn Truth About Employment and the Defense Industry
The military-industrial jobs scam
by Nia Harris, Cassandra Stimpson and Ben Freeman

*A matter of national securities

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/05/more-money-fewer-jobs-stubborn-truth-about-employment-and-defense-industry
–

White Nationalist Does Massacre. Now the Gaslighting Begins
The president of the United States stokes the right-wing disinformation machine
by Adele M. Stan

*Killer Clown’s right.

The corpress created him, ceaselessly promoted him while professing a feckless distaste, and now normalize his viciousness in the face of the undeniable impact of it.

“Enemy of the people”, indeed …

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/05/white-nationalist-does-massacre-now-gaslighting-begins
—

The Real News Network
Russia’s President Putin Cracks Down, Despite Maintaining Broad Popular Support
Russia expert Tony Wood discusses the arrest and possible poisoning of Alexei Navalny, who was banned from running in local elections and protested that decision. Putin’s apparent effort to contain Navalny, even though he poses no real threat, displays Putin’s paranoia, says Wood

*Here’s a thought, and nothing more …

What if the Trump campaign did indeed seek out help from Russian mafiosi with whom he has connections, but not from the gummint itself, and they humored him with the amateurish social media “attack” that clearly had no impact, nor likely was expected to?

That might explain his obstruction antics, yet clearly not validating the ludicrous “Russia to judgment” meme pimped incessantly by the Democrats.

But whadda I know …

https://therealnews.com/stories/russias-president-putin-cracks-down-despite-maintaining-broad-popular-support

The Forgotten Rohingya Refugees
Existence is resistance: a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees live in Malaysia with no legal rights or protections

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-forgotten-rohingya-refugees

Can Cap and Invest Programs Bring Environmental Justice? (1/2)
12 states and Washington, DC are teaming up on the Transportation & Climate Initiative, but critics from Newark and Baltimore say the program excludes frontline voices and depends too much on market forces

*Remember all the righteous condemnation of those Republican reps who bolted the state over what was billed as “landmark climate change legislation” in Oregon, but appears to be similar to the TCI being discussed here?

Their actions were worthy of castigation, but the big picture is obscured by the exclusive focus on the dramatics, while the bill escapes the scrutiny it would appear to so richly deserve.

https://therealnews.com/stories/can-cap-and-invest-programs-bring-environmental-justice-1-2

Can Cap and Invest Programs Bring Environmental Justice? (2/2)
Critics of the Transportation & Climate Initiative say real transportation justice must include a plan for mass transit, and respect leadership from environmental justice communities

https://therealnews.com/stories/can-cap-and-invest-programs-bring-environmental-justice-2-2

US Withdrawal from INF Treaty Creates Greater Nuclear Instability
Sec. of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US is unilaterally withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which could have been re-negotiated if the US had acknowledged its own responsibility for the treaty’s problems

*The insane from which there is no asylum

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-withdrawal-from-inf-treaty-creates-greater-nuclear-instability

Trump’s New Tariffs on China Help Pay for his Corporate Tax Cut
Trump’s claim that China is paying for the tariffs is completely false and basically serves to redirect income from his poor supporters to his wealthy supporters. Not only that, the policy will have the consequence of further isolating the United States, says Michael Hudson

*And where do you think Killer Clown’s investment portfolio will be focused?

Toto, we’re not in Davenport anymore …

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-new-tariffs-on-china-help-pay-for-his-corporate-tax-cut

Canadians have a Right to Know if their Wine Was Made on Stolen Land
Dimitri Lascaris discusses the decision of a Canadian federal court to ban wine from illegal Israeli colonies that’s labelled as “Made in Israel.” This issue reaches far beyond Canada, as many states debate these issues around the world

*Bitter brew from a poison chalice

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadians-have-a-right-to-know-if-their-wine-was-made-on-stolen-land
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“If Guns Made People Safer U.S. Would be Safest Country”

http://accuracy.org/release/if-guns-made-people-safer-us-would-be-safest-country
—

FAIR
NPR Shreds Ethics Handbook to Normalize Regime Change in Venezuela
by Lucas Koerner

*A viscerally valid reason to despise “the liberal media”

https://fair.org/home/npr-shreds-ethics-handbook-to-normalize-regime-change-in-venezuela
—

Democracy Now!
El Paso Shooting Probed as Domestic Terrorism After Anti-Immigrant Gunman Kills 20 People

*Apparently video game companies don’t donate much to campaign coffers.

Those vile and vicious “entertainment” products are part of a toxic soup of hate, violence and greed that is endemic in this society, served up by pols and profiteers who seek personal gain from the poison they promote, and abetted by a corpress that false balances the facts into oblivion.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/5/el_paso_mass_shooting_white_supremacy

Ex-FBI Agent Speaks Out: Federal Authorities Have Downplayed White Supremacist Violence for Too Long

*The Dems chase phantom Russkies in their “resistance”, while the vile vituperation that fuels real live “threats to our national security” don’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense in the jaded eyes of the party’s “leadership”.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/5/white_nationalist_terrorism

After Dayton Shooting, Gun Violence Reporter Says Misogyny “Clear Link” Between Many Mass Shootings

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/5/el_paso_dayton_gun_violence_america

8.2

‘A Dystopian Surveillance State Being Built in Plain Sight’: Pentagon Tests Radar-Equipped Balloons to Spy on Vehicles Across Midwest
“These programs are not about stopping violence, they’re about social control”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Big Brother’s Balloon Rides

They only cost our priceless rights

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/02/dystopian-surveillance-state-being-built-plain-sight-pentagon-tests-radar-equipped
—

Environmental Working Group (EWG)
Europe Says ‘No Safe Level’ of Brain-Damaging Pesticide Trump EPA Refused To Ban
EU Food Safety Authority Poised To Ban Chlorpyrifos Over Risks to Children

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/08/02/europe-says-no-safe-level-brain-damaging-pesticide-trump-epa-refused-ban
—

The Real News Network
Over 100 Killed in Another Mediterannean Shipwreck as Europe Watches
Frederic Penard discusses the efforts of small NGOs to rescue refugees crossing the Mediterranean, against the efforts of European governments to block the entry of people fleeing war and famine

*Arms outstretched across a sea of troubles

https://therealnews.com/stories/over-100-killed-in-another-mediterannean-shipwreck-as-europe-watches

UN Report on Child Casualties Blacklists only Muslim Perpetrators
Secretary General Antionio Guterres presented the report on child casualties in war to the Security Council on Friday. Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen are the areas with the highest numbers of child casualties, followed by Palestine. Nearly all the children killed were Muslim

*Hand wringing the whitewashing

https://therealnews.com/stories/un-report-on-child-casualties-blacklists-only-muslim-perpetrators
—

Exposed by CMD
Koch Closes Plant After Huge EPA Fine
by Don Wiener

*Paper thin apologia to pimp “regs cost jobs” propaganda

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/08/01/koch-closes-plant-after-huge-epa-fine

Oregon Strengthens Public Workers’ Right to Organize
by Don Wiener

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/07/01/oregon-strengthens-public-workers-right-to-organize
—

FAIR
CNN’s Industry Spin Shows Need for Independent Debates
by Julie Hollar

*”Jeopardy!” for our democracy

https://fair.org/home/cnns-industry-spin-shows-need-for-independent-debates
—

Democracy Now!
“You’re Gonna Kill Me”: Bodycam Video Shows Dallas Officers Mocking Man as He Died Pinned to Ground

*He was white, so maybe there’s some slim chance that some measure of justice may out here.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/2/tony_timpa_family_lawsuit_bodycam_footage

Ex-Health Insurance Exec: Industry Is Using Decades-Old Scare Tactics to Fight Medicare for All

*I can speak to my own experience with the ACA. I receive a substantial premium tax credit from the gummint, but if I didn’t have the additional help from United Way’s HealthConnect program, which covers the rest of my premium, I’d be screwed as far as any decent health plan.

Even with that, deductibles and copays and coinsurance do enter into the equation when deciding what care I can afford, so while I respect Potter’s work, his remark that “People who are rich and people who are at the lower end are doing OK” just doesn’t align with my reality, and many others’.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/2/u_s_healthcare_medicare_medicaid_history

8.1

Progressives Say Kamala Harris Team ‘Inventing Conspiracies’ About Tulsi Gabbard Rather Than Addressing Critiques
“Why are people attacking the messenger rather than addressing the criticisms?”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*With Joe Dough seemingly on the skids, it appears the DNCistas may be looking to switch horses, judging by the one trick pony Russoprop that they’ve made their trademark.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/01/progressives-say-kamala-harris-team-inventing-conspiracies-about-tulsi-gabbard
—

You Don’t Save Money By Forcing People to Go Hungry
Food stamps helped me get back on my feet during a tough time. Cutting them is lose-lose.
by Jill Richardson

*No bread

Only circuses

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/01/you-dont-save-money-forcing-people-go-hungry
–

How Deregulation Led to the Opioid Epidemic
In 2001, Congress rescinded the ergonomics standard that was designed to stem a range of common disabling workplace injuries. Absent regulation, injuries increased and large numbers of people were treated with addictive pain medications
by Michael Felsen

*The relentless pain of exploitation has always been “understood” by those who have and serve power

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/01/how-deregulation-led-opioid-epidemic
—

The Real News Network
Does China’s New Military Strategy Paper Display a New Assertiveness?
China’s military has developed a new strategy paper that emphasizes the need to keep Hong Kong and Taiwan. Does this signal a new military assertiveness from China? Or is it a reaction to US foreign policy?

https://therealnews.com/stories/does-chinas-new-military-strategy-paper-display-a-new-assertiveness

Why Yet Another General Election for Spain?
Spain’s Socialist party PSOE and the leftist Unidas Podemos party failed to form a coalition government and now new elections loom if new talks go nowhere. It looks like PSOE’s lack of interest in a leftist coalition was the reason for the failure, says Sebastiaan Faber

*So just why have Unidas Podemos’ electoral fortunes faded?

That seems a obvious question to ask, and yet …

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-yet-another-general-election-for-spain
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Anti-Nuclear Activists Facing 25 Years in Prison Urge Dismissal of Charges

*To paraphrase Robert Fulghum

It will be a great day when conscience is celebrated

And armed conflict is cast aside

http://accuracy.org/release/anti-nuclear-activists-facing-25-years-in-prison-urge-dismissal-of-charges

July 2019

7.31

With Nation’s Attention on Democratic Debate, McConnell Advances Over a Dozen Lifetime Trump Judges
“Confronting this generational shift in our courts will be one of the most pressing issues for the next president—in fact, the viability of his or her entire agenda depends on it”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Courting disaster

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/31/nations-attention-democratic-debate-mcconnell-advances-over-dozen-lifetime-trump

US Eyeing Militarization of Antarctic as Well as Arctic
Treaty that “has been the cornerstone of governance” for most southerly continent could soon be torn up
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/31/us-eyeing-militarization-antarctic-well-arctic
—

USDA to Biotech: Call Your Own Compliance
USDA, in its desire to maximize trade in GE crops as soon as possible and everywhere, has proposed a rule that would make it exceedingly difficult to assess a GE plant’s risks
by Steve Suppan

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/31/usda-biotech-call-your-own-compliance
—

The Real News Network
Brazilians Fight Far-Right Campaign to Silence Greenwald & Intercept Leaks
Hundreds of Brazilians rallied in defense of U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald, on Tuesday. Greenwald has been threatened to be deported, imprisoned, and even killed, because of his role in the release of the on-going bombshell Intercept leaks, which revealed right-wing bias in the corruption investigations that saw former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva jailed

https://therealnews.com/stories/brazilians-fight-far-right-campaign-to-silence-greenwald-intercept-leaks

Hong Kong Protests: A Reaction to Beijing’s Growing Effort for Control
Protesters have expanded their demands, after China’s central government has conceded to their initial demand of cancelling an extradition law. As the protests continue in Hong Kong, Adam Ni says it is unlikely they will expand to the mainland

*”People’s Liberation Army”

As ironic as “Homeland Security”

https://therealnews.com/stories/hong-kong-protests-a-reaction-to-beijings-growing-effort-for-control
—

FAIR
Ronald Reagan’s Racism Should Come as No Surprise
by Jim Naureckas

*Is it “historical amnesia”

Or historical amenability?

https://fair.org/home/ronald-reagans-racism-should-come-as-no-surprise
—

Democracy Now!
Sanders & Warren Fight “Republican Talking Point” That Medicare for All Is About Reducing Coverage

*But it’s a DNCista talking point as well, innit?

And wouldn’t it be nice if “the goal of Democrats has always been to aspire to solve the problems that people face in their lives”?

Sadly, empiricism doesn’t allow for that conclusion.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/31/cnn_debate_healthcare_abdul_el_sayed

Warren Denounces White Supremacy as Domestic Terrorism; Marianne Williamson Calls for Reparations

*I don’t watch these debatable “debates”, and I don’t know squat about Williamson, but she sounded anything but “a little bit kooky”, and I’d like to hear her “eloquence” and “passion” from every other candidate, which is of course foolish to expect.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/31/cnn_democratic_presidential_debate_reparations_racism

“We Don’t Want Another President Obama”: Activist Urges Democrats to Reframe Immigration Debate

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/31/cnn_democratic_debate_immigration_erika_andiola

Warren Backs “No First Use” Nuclear Policy as Buttigieg Calls for Withdrawal from Afghanistan

*Regardless of what’s said now, it’s naïve to believe that Sanders or Warren, much less any other possible election victor, will have the courage of their proclaimed convictions.

Absent massive popular pressure, “compromises” will be made in the name of “pragmatism”. Even with its presence, there’s no guarantee that justice and reason will reign.

But that’s our best, and only, shot to avoid the abyss.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/31/cnn_debate_foreign_policy_mehdi_hasan

7.30

In Joyful Act of Resistance, Pink Seesaws Installed at Border Fence
“We are all connected”
by Jenna McGuire, newsroom staff
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/30/joyful-act-resistance-pink-seesaws-installed-border-fence

Democrats Urged to ‘Oppose This Takeover’ as McConnell Rushes to Confirm 19 Right-Wing Judges Before Recess
“Senators must put an end to this blatant disrespect to our judicial system, traditions, and democracy”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*It’s tempting to dis the Dems’ invertebrate nature, but their fecklessness has more to do with the soul than the spine.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/30/democrats-urged-oppose-takeover-mcconnell-rushes-confirm-19-right-wing-judges-recess
—

Hong Kong Protesters and Militant Chinese Workers Point the Way to a New Kind of Internationalism
We can remain warily optimistic that, regardless of the system of government that rules over them, workers and civil society are still the force from which even the most powerful states derive legitimacy
by Michelle Chen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/30/hong-kong-protesters-and-militant-chinese-workers-point-way-new-kind
—

The Real News Network
The Lines Between Us: The Modern History of Baltimore Apartheid (1/2)
As Trump unloads a racist attack on Baltimore, we speak with author Lawrence Lanahan, who charts the history of segregation from redlining to the civil rights movement

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-lines-between-us-the-modern-history-of-baltimore-apartheid-1-2

Democrats Use Trump’s Tweets to Hide Neoliberal Policy Failures
The reactions to Trump’s tweets show that the “Diverter in Chief” has effectively derailed the conversation around Baltimore City, and has allowed establishment Democrats to avoid their own culpability in the segregation and poverty in our cities

*If only “outrage” led to just outcomes

https://therealnews.com/stories/democrats-use-trumps-tweets-to-hide-neoliberal-policy-failures
—

FAIR
Media Downplay Climate Disruption’s Ever-Growing Role in Driving Migration
by Joshua Cho

https://fair.org/home/media-downplay-climate-disruptions-ever-growing-role-in-driving-migration
—

Democracy Now!
“The Brink of Political Revolution”: Puerto Rican Protests Continue Amid Political Uncertainty

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/30/puerto_rico_ricardo_rossello_resignation_aftermath

Exterminating the Future: World Outcry Grows as Brazil Rapidly Expands Deforestation of Amazon

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/30/bolsonaro_amazon_deforestation_indigenous_leader_murdered

Four Immigrants Have Died at Stewart ICE Facility in Georgia. Advocates Want It Shut Down

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/30/pedro_arriago_santoya_ice_custody_death

7.29

‘Complete Chaos’: Latest DCCC Controversy Claims Top Aide of Chair Cheri Bustos as Racial Representation Controversy Continues
“Reminder: it’s only July 2019. Stay tuned to find out which pile of dog shit the DCCC chair manages to step in next.”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*I’m certain many will say that the Dems are “shooting themselves in the foot”

But that’s not really where their guns are aimed, is it?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/29/complete-chaos-latest-dccc-controversy-claims-top-aide-chair-cheri-bustos-racial
—

Never-ending Growth?
The fatal flaw in the plan to end poverty and save the planet
by Joan Martinez Alier and Nick Meynen

*Magical thinking

Tragical ending

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/29/never-ending-growth
–

Retirement Shouldn’t Mean Poverty
Social security helps, but growing inequality means millions of elders are just barely making it
by Katherine Newman

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/29/retirement-shouldnt-mean-poverty
–

Indigenous People Demand an End to Detention on Stolen Lands
“As the original caretakers of these lands and territories, we have inherent authority over migration and demand an end to these barbaric acts”
by Guillermo Torres

*The border is an artifice

The pain it bisects a bitter reality

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/29/indigenous-people-demand-end-detention-stolen-lands
–

How America’s Wars End (Messily)
And the Afghan war will be no exception
by Danny Sjursen

*Sjursen, as so many other opinionators on the subject do, omits the primary reasons for the invasion and continuing occupation of Afghanistan, which are geopolitical and economic (read “resource plundering”) in nature.

“Terror” is the political pretext for that naked neocolonialism. Empires are loath to let go of what they deem rightfully theirs, and only do so when they’re forced to face the cost.

The tragic irony for the peoples of those battered lands is, as with Vietnam and the dirty wars in Latin America, they often get a large measure of what they want in the end, anyway.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/29/how-americas-wars-end-messily
—

Sunrise Movement
Sunrise Movement Rejected in Attempt to Visit Beacon Hill Offices, Demand Climate Action

*Taking an indefinite recess from responsibility

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/29/sunrise-movement-rejected-attempt-visit-beacon-hill-offices-demand-climate
—

Petition update
After a Delay, The Mail-order Pharmacy States, “Once It Leaves Our Place It’s No Longer Our Concern”
by Loretta Boesing

https://www.change.org/p/stop-forcing-mail-order-pharmacy/u/24876235
—

Democracy Now!
Russia Arrests Nearly 1,400 at Opposition Protest as Leading Activist Is Possibly Poisoned in Jail

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/29/moscow_opposition_protests_alexei_navalny

7.26

‘Unprecedented, Wasteful, and Obscene’: House Approves $1.48 Trillion Pentagon Budget
“Wanna know how broken and captured Washington is by the Pentagon and the corruption of our nation’s ‘defense’ budget? Well, look no further than the soon to be enacted budget ‘deal.'”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Being a “progressive” means never having to say just how sorry you really are.

This only tightens the NATO noose around Russia’s neck, so how the deuce that aligns with the imbecilic epithet of “Moscow Mitch” eludes me

But I guess that’s just the Vulcan in me.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/26/unprecedented-wasteful-and-obscene-house-approves-148-trillion-pentagon-budget

‘A Message That Would Fit Just Fine in a Paul Ryan Speech’: Biden Pilloried for Ad Celebrating Private Health Insurance Industry
“This web ad from Joe Biden attempts to pit working people and generations against one another to perpetuate a broken healthcare system that values health insurance CEOs’ paychecks over people’s lives”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Joe’s dough shows

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/26/message-would-fit-just-fine-paul-ryan-speech-biden-pilloried-ad-celebrating-private

Trump DOJ Denounced for Approving ‘Anti-Competitive, Anti-Consumer’ Merger of Sprint and T-Mobile
If the merger is allowed to move forward, critics warn, “consumers can expect to see higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovative offerings across the board”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Communications breakdown

It’s always the same

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/26/trump-doj-denounced-approving-anti-competitive-anti-consumer-merger-sprint-and-t
—

Warehouse Worker Resource Center
#NoTechForICE, WWRC Demands at Amazon Warehouse in San Bernardino

http://www.warehouseworkers.org/notechforice-wwrc-protests-at-amazon-warehouse-in-san-bernardino
—

FAIR
MSNBC’s Anti-Sanders Bias Makes It Forget How to Do Math
by Katie Halper

*This fudge has a distinctly fetid taste and aroma

https://fair.org/home/msnbcs-anti-sanders-bias-makes-it-forget-how-to-do-math

The ‘Total Anarchy’ of Wet Cops
by Josmar Trujillo

*Of blood and water

https://fair.org/home/the-total-anarchy-of-wet-cops
—

Democracy Now!
Despite Faulty Drugs & Racist Implementation, Trump Is Bringing Back the Federal Death Penalty

*None of the reasons given seem to address the ultimate moral bar to putting someone to death

Life should be taken only to prevent life from being taken, or grievous harm inflicted.

A prisoner poses no threat to do so. The death penalty is merely inhumanity posing as a response to same.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/26/trump_administration_federal_death_penalty_announcement

Judge Halts Trump’s Asylum Ban That Represents a “Relentless Attack on the Very Idea of Asylum”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/26/federal_judge_blocks_trump_asylum_ban

Child Separation & Prison Camps: China’s Campaign Against Uyghur Muslims Is “Cultural Genocide”

*I have no doubt that much of this horror is actually occurring. I also know that desperate people will do whatever they can to place their oppressors in as dark a shadow as possible, and that those who care nothing about them will use that to their advantage.

Painting China as intent on global domination, and thus a mortal threat to the West, is a dangerous game. The regime in China combines the worst elements of capitalism and supposed communism, and their Belt and Road Initiative is a facade for dominating the economies of many developing nations.

But we should be talking about viciousness toward these countries from the West, as well. There are no good guys here, and a belief in the West as one’s savior is unsupported by the historical evidence, to put it mildly.

See this iniquity for what it is, but don’t let it be used by equally vile parties for their own malevolent ends.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/26/china_xinjiang_uyghurs_internment_surveillance

Ash Sarkar: Boris Johnson Is Not Fit to Be British Prime Minister

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/25/ash_shakar_boris_johnson_is_not

7.25

‘Progressive Except Palestine’? Khanna and Pressley Draw Fire Over Vote Condemning Nonviolent BDS Movement
“If Pressley doesn’t get Palestine on this most basic and limited point she’s made her position clear. This is an Israel lobby resolution targeting a nonviolent resistance movement.”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/25/progressive-except-palestine-khanna-and-pressley-draw-fire-over-vote-condemning
—

Public Citizen
Coverage of Climate Denial by Conservative Think Tanks Has Increased
Deniers to Be at Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., Today

*Lose the “false balance”

Or we fall off the ledge

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/25/coverage-climate-denial-conservative-think-tanks-has-increased
—

The Real News Network
Study: Breaching ‘Carbon Threshold’ Could Trigger Mass Extinction in Oceans
MIT scientist Daniel Rothman explains that the earth’s oceans may be at the ‘precipice of excitation,’ due to carbon in the oceans, which would unleash a mass extinction of life

https://therealnews.com/stories/study-breaching-carbon-threshold-could-trigger-mass-extinction-in-oceans

New York Blackout Prompts Call for Publicly Owned Energy
Energy mismanagement in New York City and California has sparked questions about their ownership models. Democracy Collaborative’s Johanna Bozuwa says making utilities public would help foster democracy and fight the climate crisis

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-york-blackout-prompts-call-for-publicly-owned-energy

Netanyahu Becomes Longest-Serving Prime Minister in Israel History
Shir Hever compares the world of founding Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, who pushed a collective spirit and built an Israeli security elite, to that of populist Benjamin Netanyahu, who has profited from the spoils of colonialism while building a cult of personality.

*Do you get the sense that Steiner grew up with this “Exodus” narrative, and is really reluctant to abandon it? That he has this glorified vision of Ben-Gurion and early Israel, albeit with “flaws”, and sees the nation as “having lost its way” in the Bibi era?

If so, I think Hever set the record straight, and hopefully disabused Steiner of such foolish notions, although I wouldn’t put scared money on it.

https://therealnews.com/stories/netanyahu-becomes-longest-serving-prime-minister-in-israel-history

Mueller’s Seven-Hour Testimony Changed Nothing
Former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley talks about Mueller’s past incompetence and describes how the hearing is the movie following the book and amounted to “Much Ado About Nothing.”

*This is all political theater – absurdist to the core – with the Democratic “leadership” determined to “Russia to judgment” to “exonerate” themselves from “losing” to this bileful buffoon, and to make impeachment impossible by avoiding the mountains of evidence that lie beyond the Urals.

If Killer Clown “wins” again, it will be in no small measure due to these Machiavellian machinations

And we may not live long to regret it.

https://therealnews.com/stories/muellers-seven-hour-testimony-changed-nothing

Progressive Churches Challenge the Hard-Line Conservative Evangelical Narrative on Immigration
In contrast to the unwavering support that conservative and evangelical religious groups give President Trump, progressive churches and synagogues are fighting on the front lines against the administration’s anti-immigrant policies

*I fear “dialogue” is only preaching to the inverted.

And isn’t there something in Revelations about orange hair being “the mark of the beast”?

https://therealnews.com/stories/progressive-churches-challenge-the-hard-line-conservative-evangelical-narrative-on-immigration
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
House Condemns Boycotts for Palestinian Rights

*Apparently, membership in “The Squad”, and the “Progressive” Caucus, is a tangential sort of thingie, innit?

http://accuracy.org/release/house-condemns-boycotts-for-palestinian-rights
—

FAIR
The NYT’s Six Percent Solution for Student Debt
by Jim Naureckas

*Owing a debt to sophistry

https://fair.org/home/the-nyts-six-percent-solution-for-student-debt
—

Democracy Now!
“A Victory for the People of Puerto Rico”: Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Resigns Following Mass Protests

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/25/puerto_rico_ricardo_rossello_resignation_announcement

Ryan Grim: Tom Perez Was Elected Head of DNC Thanks to a “Silent Coup” in Puerto Rico in 2017

*The DNC has committed to “transparency”, all right

Transparent opportunism

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/25/ryan_grim_tom_perez_puerto_rico

Protests Erupt in London as Boris Johnson Is Sworn In as New Prime Minister, Promising Hard Brexit

*Clammy hands across the water

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/25/ash_sarkar_boris_johnson_uk_pm

7.24

“He Might’ve Stayed a Minute”: Coal Miners With Black Lung Slam McConnell for Brushing Them Off in Healthcare Meeting
“It was a worthless trip, that’s the way I feel,” said one of the 120 coal miners who traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Republican leader
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Malignant Mitch is the alpha and omega of the soulless servant of greed, but I have to wonder how many of these miners voted for him, cheering his bile toward others, now tragically aware of his venom spewed on their own lives.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/24/he-mightve-stayed-minute-coal-miners-black-lung-slam-mcconnell-brushing-them
—

The Rise of Corporate Nations
Multinational corporations are increasingly encroaching on the functions of sovereign states
by Lorenzo Marsili

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/24/rise-corporate-nations
–

What Kind of Trade Policy Should Progressives Support?
NAFTA 2.0 simply locks in existing drives toward ecological collapse and social inequality. A better deal would put people—and nature—first
by Ethan Earle, Manuel Pérez Rocha and Scott Sinclair

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/24/what-kind-trade-policy-should-progressives-support
—

Public Citizen
With FTC Settlement, Expect Facebook to Violate Privacy Again and Again

*A slap on the wrist?

More like one on the back

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/24/ftc-settlement-expect-facebook-violate-privacy-again-and-again
—

The Real News Network
Israel Demolishes 70 More Palestinian Apartments in East Jerusalem
Jeff Halper, a leader of the anti-demolitions movement, discusses the destruction of Palestinian homes, along with the history and politics that allows this violation of international law to continue

*This inhumanity is only “difficult to cover” due to the corpress’ complicity in whitewashing Israel’s crimes. There’d be no impediment were these “incremental” demolitions carried out by an official enemy, would there?

https://therealnews.com/stories/israel-demolishes-70-more-palestinian-apartments-in-east-jerusalem
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Questions for Mueller

*Ask me no questions

And I’ll still tell you some lies

http://accuracy.org/release/questions-for-mueller
—

FAIR
What Do Black Voters Want? NYT’s Edsall Says It’s What ‘Conservative’ Democrats Want
by Jim Naureckas

*Labels often tell us more about the labeler than the labeled

https://fair.org/home/what-do-black-voters-want-nyts-edsall-says-its-what-conservative-democrats-want

Media Can’t Quit ‘Trump Supporters Support Trump’ Stories
by Julie Hollar

*The caption to the photo accompanying the Monday Times piece states that his supporters “have largely overlooked” his vicious tirade(s).

o·ver·look

verb

/ˌōvərˈlo͝ok/

1. fail to notice (something).

synonyms: miss, fail to notice, fail to observe, fail to spot, fail to see, leave, leave unnoticed

How do you “overlook” something you steadfastly defend?

I’m just asking …

https://fair.org/home/media-cant-quit-trump-supporters-support-trump-stories
—

Nutrition Action
Can some people with type 2 diabetes go off—and stay off—their meds?

https://www.nutritionaction.com/daily/diabetes-and-diet-cat/can-some-people-with-type-2-diabetes-go-off-and-stay-off-their-meds

7.23

‘This Is the Beginning’: New Study Warns Climate Crisis May Have Been Pivotal in Rise of Drug-Resistant Superbug
Research argues that deadly Candida auris “may be the first example of a new fungal disease emerging from climate change”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/23/beginning-new-study-warns-climate-crisis-may-have-been-pivotal-rise-drug-resistant

“It’s as Bad as It Looks”: Pelosi Under Fire for Debt Ceiling Deal That Hands GOP Power to Kneecap Progressive Agenda
“It sets up a crisis of the first year of the next president’s administration,” said a former congressional staffer. “We’re letting them light the fuse on another bomb and place it squarely in the middle of the next president’s first year.”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Taking out insurance in case Sanders or Warren slips past the slimeball tactics to keep them from the nomination, wins the election, and attempts to do at least some of what they proclaim?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/23/its-bad-it-looks-pelosi-under-fire-debt-ceiling-deal-hands-gop-power-kneecap

‘An Insult to All Afghans’: Kabul Outraged After Trump Floats Plan to Kill Millions, Wipe Afghanistan Off Face of the Earth
The U.S. president said he has not acted on the plan because he doesn’t “want to kill 10 million people”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*A perfect storm of buffoonery and bloodlust

Is there no more apt epithet for this quintessentially American incubus than “Killer Clown”?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/23/insult-all-afghans-kabul-outraged-after-trump-floats-plan-kill-millions-wipe
—

Physicians for a National Health Program
Medicare for All Unlikely to Cause Surge in Hospital Use: Harvard Study
Analysis finds no increase in hospitalizations after previous large coverage expansions; increased care for newly insured was counterbalanced by small decreases for the healthy and wealthy

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/23/medicare-all-unlikely-cause-surge-hospital-use-harvard-study
—

The Real News Network
Corruption, Mismanagement, and Disrespect Fuel Puerto Rico Protests
The political crisis in Puerto Rico is deepening, with a massive strike and hundreds of thousands taking to the streets, demanding Governor Rosselló resign for his corrupt management of the island. Activist Julio Lopez Varona analyzes the situation

https://therealnews.com/stories/corruption-mismanagement-and-disrespect-fuel-puerto-rico-protests

Uncertainty Looms Over Boris Johnson’s Response to Iranian Seizure of British Tanker
Could Trump and Bolton push Britain out of the Iran nuclear treaty? Eksandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi discusses whether Boris Johnson could act as the U.S.’ errand boy if he assumes power as prime minister

*What Killer Clown doesn’t seem to suss is that the “negotiating tactics” he used to screw workers and contractors don’t translate to this level – at least not with gummints not susceptible to intimidation – and his bullsh t could very well wreak havoc in the geopolitical china shop, with countless lives destroyed in the process.

https://therealnews.com/stories/uncertainty-looms-over-boris-johnsons-response-to-iranian-seizure-of-british-tanker
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Rowley on Ruling Against Mueller’s Anti-Russian Charges

*Brandishing boogeymen has always been a bipartisan pastime

http://accuracy.org/release/rowley-on-ruling-against-muellers-anti-russian-charges
—

FAIR
Western Media Losing Enthusiasm for Failing Coup in Venezuela
by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz

*Some would see this as a failure of the mainstream media to do their job.

Those with a historical perspective based in reality would view it as assiduous adherence to their assigned task.

https://fair.org/home/western-media-losing-enthusiasm-for-failing-coup-in-venezuela

‘These Terms Have a History and a Power We Have to Acknowledge’
CounterSpin interview with Lawrence Glickman on racism & euphemism
by Janine Jackson

*Corpress euphemismo obscures the face of racism as effectively as a pointy white hood

https://fair.org/home/these-terms-have-a-history-and-a-power-we-have-to-acknowledge

Mother Jones Is Failing Its Namesake
by Naomi LaChance

*The Mother of all hypocrisy

https://fair.org/home/mother-jones-is-failing-its-namesake

7.22

Trump’s Brand of Fascism Is Distinct But No Less Dangerous Than Last Century’s Fascism
While there are indeed substantial differences between the fascism of the past and what we see today, the general historical trajectory will inevitably remain the same
by Santiago Zabala

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/22/trumps-brand-fascism-distinct-no-less-dangerous-last-centurys-fascism
–

The U.S. Is Flooding the World With Guns. Congress Can Stop That.
Gun exports reached record levels in 2017 and again in 2018. Can Congress stop Trump from loosening the rules even further?
by John Lindsay-Poland

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/22/us-flooding-world-guns-congress-can-stop
—

The Real News Network
Republicans Are Transforming Federal Courts for the Next Generation
The Nation’s Elie Mystal says conservative think tanks and Senate Majority Leader McConnell are creating a right-wing federal court system with Trump’s help that will affect generations to come

*Of course this is searingly serious sh t, but I find it interesting (though I could employ a more apt term) that no mention is made of the number of Democratic votes these reactionary nominees received, aside from the pathetic pantomime of the Supreme Court hearings, or the fact that there are any number of judges nominated by the Democrats that have engaged in their own “retarding” of our rights, if not on the scale of Republican backed jurists.

But this was an unpaid political announcement on behalf of the Democratic Party, so one shouldn’t be surprised.

https://therealnews.com/stories/republicans-are-transforming-federal-courts-for-the-next-generation

Yemen’s Houthis Maintain Upper Hand, as Peace Talks Proceed
A UN-brokered ceasefire to protect the port of Hodeidah appears to be holding, while the United Arab Emirates are withdrawing, having achieved their objectives, says Patrick Cockburn. Also, US Congressional effort to stop US support for the war is having an effect

https://therealnews.com/stories/yemens-houthis-maintain-upper-hand-as-peace-talks-proceed

Ecuador Takes Harmful IMF Loan, Even Though it Doesn’t Need it
According to an analysis of the Center for Economic and Policy Analysis, Ecuador’s recent IMF loan of $4.2 billion comes with strings that will hurt economic growth. Ecuador doesn’t even need the loan, says the report’s co-author, Andrés Arauz

https://therealnews.com/stories/ecuador-takes-harmful-imf-loan-even-though-it-doesnt-need-it

Unpaid Caregiving Increases Risk of Poverty in Retirement
Christian Weller discusses his PERI study showing that people who care for children or elderly parents are less likely to have decent savings for retirement. The risk is higher for women, and especially for single women

*A woman’s work is never done

Being devalued

https://therealnews.com/stories/unpaid-caregiving-increases-risk-of-poverty-in-retirement

Will the Afghan Peace Agreement Be a Face-Saving Fig Leaf?
Afghanistan is making progress for a peace agreement, but such an agreement will not necessarily mean an end to war or even assure the Afghan government’s survival, says Matthew Hoh

*The war is background noise for most Americans

For Afghans, it’s the soundtrack to their shattered lives

https://therealnews.com/stories/will-the-afghan-peace-agreement-be-a-face-saving-fig-leaf
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Mueller’s Own Report Undercuts Its Core Russia-Meddling Claims”

*On the corpress menu

Fact free fudge

http://accuracy.org/release/muellers-own-report-undercuts-its-core-russia-meddling-claims
—

FAIR
‘White Men Have No Electability Advantage’
CounterSpin interview with Brenda Choresi Carter on the electability myth
by Janine Jackson

*But it isn’t for lack of trying on the corpress’ part to give them one, is it?

https://fair.org/home/white-men-have-no-electability-advantage

Media Just Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplifting’ Perseverance Porn
by Alan MacLeod

*Now, is it that the corpress is “unable to see” the reality these stories so tragically illustrate

Or is it that they wish us not to see it?

https://fair.org/home/media-just-cant-stop-presenting-horrifying-stories-as-uplifting-perseverance-porn
—

Democracy Now!
“All Sides Need to Begin to De-escalate”: Tensions Between Iran, U.K. & U.S. Spark Fears of War

*Okay, sure … you don’t want to “benefit the hard-liners within Iran”

But what have the “reformers and moderates” achieved with their “engagement with the West”?

The nuclear deal was agreed to in order to remove the vicious US sanctions, meant to “deter” a non-existent nuclear weapons program. Had Madame Mayhem become president, that agreement would have held, but what does it say about US intentions that the Iranian gummint felt it necessary to have to make such a deal in the first place?

Iranians deserve a truly democratic society, as we all do, but is rapprochement with those willing to immiserate and imperil their lives for geopolitical gain the path toward that future?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/22/iran_strait_hormuz_tensions_us_uk

“If Not Now, When Will We Stand?” Native Hawaiians Fight Construction of Telescope on Mauna Kea

*You don’t need a giant telescope to see the injustice inflicted right before your eyes

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/22/mauna_kea_thirty_meter_telescope_resistance

7.19

It’s Time to Stop Arguing Whether Gun Laws Work
We need to think critically about how “protecting guns” is harming our children
by Lauren Gambill

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/19/its-time-stop-arguing-whether-gun-laws-work
–

Did Obama’s Trade Legacy Just Hammer the Green New Deal?
The path towards achieving climate goals must address the revamping of trade rules
by Ben Lilliston

*It’s only “bold” if it goes to the black heart of the matter

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/19/did-obamas-trade-legacy-just-hammer-green-new-deal
—

The Real News Network
Kamala Harris Goes After the Black Vote With a Homeownership Plan
Will Kamala Harris’ home ownership proposal address the persistent issue of the racial homeownership and wealth gap, or will her plan create more problems for the very people she aims to help?

*In the end, does it matter how many band aids you slap on a gaping wound?

https://therealnews.com/stories/kamala-harris-goes-after-the-black-vote-with-a-homeownership-plan

Mandela Would have Turned 101 – What Has Become of his Legacy?
South African scholar and activist Rasigan Maharajh describes South Africa as a microcosm of capitalism’s world crisis in a conversation that takes us from corruption to hope. We also discuss anti-apartheid activist and singer Johnny Clegg, who died on July 16th

*So what is Mandela’s legacy?

The man had enormous moral cachet, deserved or not. How did we put that to use?

Did he speak out about the devolution of the revolution? Did he stand foursquare with those who had so much hope for a free South Africa, only to be tragically betrayed?

Can it be said that he himself betrayed that trust?

Whatever one concludes, I would caution against the creation of icons. Pedestals are inherently unstable platforms, with a distressing tendency to topple over on those gathered in adoring admiration around them.

https://therealnews.com/stories/mandela-would-have-turned-101-what-has-become-of-his-legacy
—

Petition
Public Citizen
Protect Workers from Deadly Heat

https://publiccitizen.salsalabs.org/heatprotect
—

FAIR
Tech Reporter’s Breaking Stories May Have Cost Him His Job
Olivia Riggio

*In the corpress world, if you want to keep your job

You better not do it.

https://fair.org/home/tech-reporters-breaking-stories-may-have-cost-him-his-job
—

Democracy Now!
“For Sama” Documentary Compiles Five Years of Footage from Aleppo by Syrian Citizen Journalist

*There’s no question that Assad is a brutal bastard, and that Russia and Iran have blood on their hands, no matter how one views their geopolitical conflict with the West and allies.

I’d caution taking this account as holy writ, however. Much of it may well be tragically true, but desperate people will often twist the truth to further their struggle for their freedom and their very lives. I’m not seeking to disparage them for doing so, if that is indeed the case.

But we should always be circumspect when weighing such tales, and I’d have like to have seen the hosts exercise that sort of prudence, e.g., in regards to the claim of regime responsibility for the chemical attack. There is credible analysis counter to that that I feel should have been raised.

This a moving story, but understandable sympathy for these folks’ plight should not cloud our critical faculties.

Too much is at stake.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/19/for_sama_documentary_compiles_five_years

7.18

‘That Is a Lie’: Video Clearly Shows Trump Did Nothing to Stop Racist ‘Send Her Back’ Chant at Rally
Despite the president’s claim that he “started speaking very quickly” to stop the chant at his North Carolina rally, video shows he let the chants finish before resuming his speech
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*If Killer Clown (or anyone with power) said the earth is flat, the corpress would respond with something along the lines of

“Satellite imagery appears to show a spherical planet.”

Unless the lie served their masters’ ends, in which case they’d simply stenograph, and maybe quote an “expert” or two who concurred with it.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/18/lie-video-clearly-shows-trump-did-nothing-stop-racist-send-her-back-chant-rally

‘Unprecedented’ Decline of Plants and Animals as Global ‘Red List’ Reveals Nearly One-Third of Assessed Species Under Threat
“We must act now both on biodiversity loss and climate change”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/18/unprecedented-decline-plants-and-animals-global-red-list-reveals-nearly-one-third
—

The Green New Deal Must Include Regenerative Agriculture and an End to Factory Farming
A millennial perspective on why the way we farm and how we consume food must be part of the conversation when it comes to the climate crisis
by Kelsey Kruger

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/18/green-new-deal-must-include-regenerative-agriculture-and-end-factory-farming
—

Friends of the Earth
Trump’s EPA Continues to Delay Federal Ban on the Brain-damaging Pesticide Chlorpyrifos, Leaving States to Take Action

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/18/trumps-epa-continues-delay-federal-ban-brain-damaging-pesticide-chlorpyrifos
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Official Secrets” Highlights Lies of Iraq War

http://accuracy.org/release/official-secrets-highlights-lies-of-iraq-war
—

Democracy Now!
Nearly 100,000 in Puerto Rico Protest Demanding Gov. Rosselló Resign over Lewd Texts & Corruption

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/18/seg_1_puerto_rico

7.17

The Exploitation Time Bomb
Worsening economic inequality in recent years is largely the result of policy choices that reflect the political influence and lobbying power of the rich. There is now a self-reinforcing pattern of high profits, low investment, and rising inequality—posing a threat not only to economic growth, but also to democracy
by Jayati Ghosh

*Perhaps instead of progressively taxing the obscene wealth of the exploitocracy

We should be working to ensure it never makes it to their pockets in the first place?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/17/exploitation-time-bomb
–

Why Are Progressive Democrats Backing an Anti-BDS Bill That Was Introduced at an AIPAC Conference?
“They are deluding themselves”
by Michael Arria

*How many scare quotes can you put around “progressives”?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/17/why-are-progressive-democrats-backing-anti-bds-bill-was-introduced-aipac-conference
–

The Media Uses Coal Miners To Attack the Green New Deal—Then Ignores Their Pension Fight
In 34 stories about coal miners, the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico did not once cover miners’ pension and healthcare demands
by Sarah Lazare

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/17/media-uses-coal-miners-attack-green-new-deal-then-ignores-their-pension-fight
—

The Real News Network
Sudan Transition to Civilian Rule Endangered as Foreign Interests Prevail
With the alleged foiling of a coup attempt, the Sudanese military is consolidating its rule, despite a nearly signed transition agreement. Part of the problem is that Gulf states want to see the military in charge, especially since Sudanese soldiers are fighting in Yemen, says Prof. Khalid Ahmad

https://therealnews.com/stories/sudan-transition-to-civilian-rule-endangered-as-foreign-interests-prevail
—

FAIR
To Media, No Democrat Can Possibly Be Right-Wing
by Alan MacLeod

*It’s undeniably true that Ocasio-Cortez et alia aren’t on the “far left”.

My question is why, if that’s defined as a sincere and unwavering commitment to the realization of a life of dignity for every single person on this planet, would anyone be afraid to be labeled as such?

https://fair.org/home/to-media-no-democrat-can-possibly-be-right-wing

‘Journalism Is Helping to Normalize the Concentration Camps’
CounterSpin interview with Arun Gupta on immigration abuses
by Janine Jackson

*That “objective” detachment on the part of the corpress isn’t present when sins, real or imagined, of official enemies, abroad or at home, are the subject, is it?

Then the jingoism jingles, and the moral umbrage erupts, don’t it just?

https://fair.org/home/journalism-is-helping-to-normalize-the-concentration-camps
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Venezuela: “Humanitarian Intervention” That Isn’t

*Yanqui, go back where you came from

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuela-humanitarian-intervention-that-isnt
—

Democracy Now!
“They Didn’t Do Their Job”: Eric Garner Family Outraged DOJ Won’t Prosecute His Death by Police

*A “Sorry” excuse for a “progressive”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/17/eric_garner_justice_dept_no_charges

Amazon Workers Demand Fair Pay & Conditions as Company Continues Undercutting Rivals

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/17/amazon_workers_prime_day_strike

7.16

As Trump Sows Discord, Chief of Staff Mulvaney Reportedly Focused on ‘Building Empire for the Right Wing’
“Cabinet members are pressed weekly on what regulations they can strip from the books and have been told their performance will be judged on how many they remove”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/15/trump-sows-discord-chief-staff-mulvaney-reportedly-focused-building-empire-right
—

Trump Murdered the Iran Deal—And Europe Isn’t Too Happy About It
The U.S. behavior regarding such international agreements, Macron said, was “insane”
by Vijay Prashad

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/16/trump-murdered-iran-deal-and-europe-isnt-too-happy-about-it
–

McDonald’s: Stop Exploiting Our Schools
So-called “McTeacher’s Nights” rip off teachers, schools, and McDonald’s workers under the guise of raising funds
by Cecily Myart-Cruz

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/16/mcdonalds-stop-exploiting-our-schools
–

The Workers in Our Homes Deserve Rights
A new bill would give nannies, house cleaners and home care workers long overdue protections
by Ai-jen Poo

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/15/workers-our-homes-deserve-rights
–

I Had an Abortion and Now I’m Not Ashamed
The personal is still political. And it’s planetary, too.
by Rebecca Gordon

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/15/i-had-abortion-and-now-im-not-ashamed
—

The Real News Network
Ruthless Philippine President’s High Popularity Is the Result of Failed Democracy
As the death toll in President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs keeps climbing, so does his popularity. How can this be? Walden Bello says it is the result of a failed liberal democracy in the Philippines

https://therealnews.com/stories/ruthless-philippine-presidents-high-popularity-is-the-result-of-failed-democracy

As Republicans Push Pro-Life Agenda, Maternal and Infant Death Rates Rise
Not only have maternal and infant health mortality rates increased in the U.S., but these rates are double for black women compared to their white counterparts–no matter what their education or income level. Community Doulas and midwives think they have part of the solution

https://therealnews.com/stories/as-republicans-push-pro-life-agenda-maternal-and-infant-death-rates-rise

Trump’s Racist Tweets Fan Hatred, Defining the Coming Election
Professors Gerald Horne and Kimberly Moffit examine how Trump’s targeted tweet storm against progressive women of color who serve in Congress works to further divide the Democratic party, while dredging up America’s racist settler-colonial past

*Not much useful intel here, to my mind, although I always appreciate Professor Horne’s historical offerings.

I didn’t know, but I’m hardly surprised, that Lincoln could have gone done in history as “The Great Eliminator”.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-racist-tweets-fan-hatred-defining-the-coming-election

Pharma Companies Win Case Against Drug Price Transparency
One of the Trump administration’s promises leading up to 2020 is to reduce prescription drug prices, but the plan has stalled after a big court loss, and other blows to Trump’s grand healthcare plan. Wendell Potter discusses the implications

*Given that the Democratic “leadership” is foursquare opposed to any meaningful change in healthcare, would control of Congress lead to same, even with a “progressive” president?

Would anything emanating from Capitol Hill be much less of a feckless feint than Killer Clown’s dog and pony show discussed here?

https://therealnews.com/stories/pharma-companies-win-case-against-drug-price-transparency

UN Report on Venezuela Fails to Reflect the Causes and Severity of the Economic Crisis – Why? (2/2)
Alfred de Zayas says the UN Human Rights Council’s report on Venezuela left out essential aspects in its otherwise damning report on Venezuela because the council has increasingly fallen under the sway of the demands of the US government

https://therealnews.com/stories/un-report-on-venezuela-fails-to-reflect-the-causes-and-severity-of-the-economic-crisis-why-2-2
—

Democracy Now!
“Who Is the DNC Loyal To?”: Dahr Jamail Questions DNC Veto of Primary Climate Debate

*The Pentagon’s acknowledgment of climate crisis doesn’t merit any credit. They logically see it as a threat to the status quo, and are preparing to use the innumerable weapons at their disposal to fend off that threat, with dire consequences for folks across the globe.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/16/who_is_the_dnc_loyal_too

Taina Bien-Aimé on Jeffrey Epstein’s Arrest, Alex Acosta, Fighting Sexual Trafficking and More

*The dark underbelly is fed by the dark heart hidden in plain sight

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/12/taina_bien_aime_on_jeffrey_epsteins

Cruelty Is the Point: Communities Fight Back as Threat of ICE Raids Terrorize Immigrant Families

*What can be said?

We see utter inhumanity writ large across the nation, and the corpress, with few exceptions, engages in its usual normalizing of such viciousness, “both siding” and expressing at best a detached “worry” toward a policy that can only elicit unreserved outrage from anyone with half a heart.

When it comes to the ingress of common human decency, the Fourth Estate is a gated community.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/15/immigration_detention_ice_raids_elora_mukherjee

7.12

Are We Underestimating Trump Yet Again?
Progressives and liberals have to accept the ugly fact that a sizable portion of America’s population is susceptible to Trump’s propaganda because they back the president’s xenophobic, anti-immigrant, racist, sexist, homophobic, corporatist, and war-mongering agenda
by Sonali Kolhatkar

*It is reasonable to assume that Killer Clown’s act won’t elicit an encore, but that’s just the problem.

As has been the case since “the founding of the republic”, reason has little to do with political fortune.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/12/are-we-underestimating-trump-yet-again
–

Remnants of War
The Taliban, U.S. Government, and every other warring party in Afghanistan must be asked: “How many more civilians, including children, are you willing to kill and maim?”
by Kathy Kelly

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/12/remnants-war
—

Food & Water Watch
US House Votes 220-197 to Address PFAS Forever Chemical Crisis Against Trump Administration’s Desire to Shirk Responsibility

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/12/us-house-votes-220-197-address-pfas-forever-chemical-crisis-against-trump
—

The Real News Network
Amazon in Danger of Total Destruction Under Brazil’s Right-Wing President Bolsonaro
If another 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest is destroyed, it could start a vicious cycle of self-destruction, unleashing enormous amounts of CO2 and massively impacting regional and global climate, says Alexander Zaitchik

*Asphyxiation through exploitation

https://therealnews.com/stories/amazon-in-danger-of-total-destruction-under-brazils-right-wing-president-bolsonaro

De Zayas: UN Human Rights Council’s Report on Venezuela is ‘Unbalanced’ (1/2)
Former lawyer for the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Alfred de Zayas, says that High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s report on human rights in Venezuela mostly ignores the severity and responsibility of US sanctions against Venezuela

*You can’t give Bachelet a pass on this. She’s fully aware of the mendacity of her staff, and she enables it. The question is why.

Well, one reason might be that Killer Clown is putting a great deal of political and financial pressure on the UN, and this may be one way to appease the mofo, at the expense of the lives of so many Venezuelans.

https://therealnews.com/stories/de-zayas-un-human-rights-councils-report-on-venezuela-is-unbalanced-1-2
—

FAIR
‘This Is Designed to Shape the Electorate to Retain Political Power’
CounterSpin interview with Steven Rosenfeld on gerrymandering
by Janine Jackson

*The Democrats are complicit in this, as even in their own supposed self interest, they should be screaming bloody murder about being screwed electorally, yet the party “leadership” would rather blather about rapscallion Russkies.

And voter turnout is suppressed not only by these sleazy tactics, but by fetid corpocandidates that inspire only the feeble minded to hope that change is just around the corner.

https://fair.org/home/this-is-designed-to-shape-the-electorate-to-retain-political-power

For NYT, Inconvenient Facts Equal ‘Russian-Style Disinformation’
by Teddy Ostrow

*Pay no heed to dis information

What lies nestled in our broadsheet is all dat you need know

https://fair.org/home/for-nyt-inconvenient-facts-equal-russian-style-disinformation
—

Democracy Now!
Know Your Rights: How Immigrant Rights Activists Are Preparing for Looming ICE Deportation Raids

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/12/trump_ice_raids_know_your_rights

7.11

Accusing Adam Schiff of ‘Criminalizing Routine Reporting,’ Groups Call for Stripping CIA-Backed Provision From Intelligence Legislation
“Schiff is clearly the resistance to the resistance, and he should drop this provision from his bill”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/11/accusing-adam-schiff-criminalizing-routine-reporting-groups-call-stripping-cia
—

O-I-L: The Missing Three-Letter Word in the Iran Crisis
The fossil fuel’s enduring sway in U.S. policy in the Middle East
by Michael T. Klare

*It’s aggravating that Klare has to tarnish a solid analysis of US motives in the Middle East by giving credence to contentless claims of Iranian shipping attacks, and parroting baseless accusations of “Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons”.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/11/o-i-l-missing-three-letter-word-iran-crisis
–

The Quake to Make Los Angeles a Radioactive Dead Zone
Nothing significant has been done to improve safety at two coastal reactors upwind of ten million people that are surrounded by earthquake faults in a tsunami zone like the one where the four Fukushima reactors have already exploded
by Harvey Wasserman

*Greed makes all other sins possible

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/11/quake-make-los-angeles-radioactive-dead-zone
–

Democrats Are Failing the Country by Letting Trump Off the Hook
Democrats have essentially been shouting, “Do whatever you want, Mr. Trump! We are terrified of our own shadow and will let you get away with anything!”
by Ryan Cooper

*Want a reason?

This is the corrupt and collusive life of the elites. This is the ruling class.

Perhaps a single sorry excuse for a human being can fall from grace, but to open a can of worms that would call into question the whole of the power structure?

Pols won’t, and the corpress won’t.

Never have … never will.

It all falls to us, doesn’t it just?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/11/democrats-are-failing-country-letting-trump-hook
—

Amnesty International USA
USA: Survivors of Gun Violence Face Lifetime of Pain and Expense

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/11/usa-survivors-gun-violence-face-lifetime-pain-and-expense
—

The Real News Network
Jeffrey Epstein: The Lawlessness of Patriarchy and Power
Author David Rosen asks whether justice will prevail in the insidious web of power that protects pedophilic predators who sexually prey on young girls. Will Epstein’s prosecution uncover the intricate relations of the powerful that include Trump, Clinton, and others?

*The Christofascists stick their fingers in their ears and sing hosannas to the most high at these sickly sins, yet scream bloody murder for the damnation of any victim that would deign to remove the sinister seed so vilely thrust into them.

https://therealnews.com/stories/jeffrey-epstein-the-lawlessness-of-patriarchy-and-power

Why Did the California Assembly Table Oil Setbacks Bill?
Frontline communities in California have clamored for 2500 feet between oil drilling and homes and schools. California oil drilling impacts working-class Latino communities most directly, but Assembly Latino Caucus Chairwoman Lorena Gonzalez tabled AB 345 after taking thousands in industry campaign dollars

*Is it a reasonable assumption that few of those represented by these unions live in the impacted areas, and none of their “leaders” do?

https://therealnews.com/columns/why-did-the-california-assembly-table-oil-setbacks-bill
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Epstein: Protected Because He Is a Spy? — A Backgrounder

*A vile asshole

And a veiled “asset”?

http://accuracy.org/release/epstein-protected-because-he-is-a-spy-a-backgrounder
—

Democracy Now!
The U.S. Women’s Soccer World Cup Win Was a Victory for Title IX & the Fight for Equal Pay

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/11/uswnt_world_cup_win_title_ix

Alex Acosta Enabled Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex Crimes. Now He’s Gutting Funding for Trafficking Victims

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/11/alex_acosta_jeffrey_epstein_sex_trafficking

7.10

Calling for Dignity for All Immigrants, Families Separated by Obama Administration Demand Apology From Biden
“We cannot sit back and allow Biden to defend the three million deportations and the unprecedented expansion of detention that happened under his watch. We need more from the party that claims to support us.”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The symptoms are more acute

But the disease is hereditary

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/10/demanding-dignity-all-immigrants-families-separated-obama-administration-demand

Weakening TV Programming Rules, GOP-Controlled FCC Throws Kids Under the Bus
“Today’s decision by the FCC will be remembered as one in which the commission’s three GOP members embodied the worst qualities of Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Queasy kid stuff

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/10/weakening-tv-programming-rules-gop-controlled-fcc-throws-kids-under-bus

Pelosi, After Railing Against AOC and Others in NYT Interview, Tells Critics in Caucus Not to Vent Criticism on Twitter
“You got a problem? See Maureen Dowd. Going off the past couple weeks, that seems to be the new complaint policy.”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Salmonella in the “sausage”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/10/pelosi-after-railing-against-aoc-and-others-nyt-interview-tells-critics-caucus-not
—

Blame US Trade Policy for Sky-High Drug Prices
Skyrocketing drug prices were a major issue in the 2016 US presidential campaign, and the Trump administration has since announced measures to bring them down. Why, then, is the administration also pushing for intellectual-property rules that give pharmaceutical giants even more price-gouging power?
by Jayati Ghosh

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/10/blame-us-trade-policy-sky-high-drug-prices
–

Conservatives Grasp at Straws After CBO Minimum Wage Analysis Shows Clear Benefits
Increasing minimum wage to $15 an hour would be very good news for American workers
by David Dayen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/10/conservatives-grasp-straws-after-cbo-minimum-wage-analysis-shows-clear-benefits
–

How Multinationals Pad Their Budgets With the Wealth of Developing Countries
Tax havens are a geopolitical nightmare, and transfer pricing is a legal accounting trick to get money into tax havens
by Tanya Rawal-Jindia

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/10/how-multinationals-pad-their-budgets-wealth-developing-countries
—

The Real News Network
Greece’s Syriza Government Loses Election After Imposing Harsh Austerity (1/2)
Former Deputy Defence Minister Costas Isychos says Greek voters punished Alexis Tsipras for betraying his anti-austerity mandate

*Tsipras should have been “punished” for his duplicity, but those who voted for New Democracy will find they’ve punished themselves, as well.

https://therealnews.com/stories/greeces-syriza-government-loses-election-after-imposing-harsh-austerity-1-2

Greek Neo-Nazi Party Golden Dawn Rejected by Greek Voters (2/2)
Greece’s Former Deputy Defence Minister Costas Isychos says support for the far-right remains strong despite neo-Nazi defeat

https://therealnews.com/stories/greek-neo-nazi-party-golden-dawn-rejected-by-greek-voters-2-2

Poll: Religion in Decline in Arab Countries, Anger at the U.S Growing
James Zogby of the Arab American Institute discusses the results of a large survey conducted by the BBC in 11 Arab countries among 25,000 responders. The results show interesting developments in Arab public opinion on matters of religion and politics

https://therealnews.com/stories/poll-religion-in-decline-in-arab-countries-anger-at-the-u-s-growing

US Violates Nuclear Non-Proliferation Obligations, Undermining Credibility With Iran and N. Korea
Trump administration officials display a basic lack of understanding and deploy contradictory policies towards Iran and North Korea, despite dealing with a similar problem: nuclear proliferation. We discuss the issue with Phyllis Bennis and Tim Shorrock

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-violates-nuclear-non-proliferation-obligations-undermining-credibility-with-iran-and-n-korea

A World Without Ice
Dahr Jamail on his book “The End Of Ice” and the significance of the many studies showing glaciers and sea ice around the world are melting at an unprecedented speed

*We don’t need hope to act

Only a heart

https://therealnews.com/stories/a-world-without-ice-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
NoMoreCamps.org

http://accuracy.org/release/nomorecamps-org
—

Democracy Now!
The Inhumane Treatment of Migrants Is Not New. It’s a Key Part of a Decades-Old Bipartisan Policy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/10/john_carlos_frey_immigration_detention_conditions

John Carlos Frey: America’s Deadly Stealth War on the Mexico Border Is Approaching Genocide

*Huddling the tired and poor

Into mass graves

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/10/john_carlos_frey_sand_and_blood

How the Climate Crisis Is Pushing Central Americans Out of Their Homes Toward the U.S.

*I would call it persecution to have to endure regimes supported by the US who only exacerbate the plight of these sad souls.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/10/john_carlos_frey_immigration_us_mexico

How Investigative Reporting & Survivor Testimony Toppled Billionaire Serial Abuser Jeffrey Epstein

*Hopefully the Herald will continue to pursue the links between and among these slimeballs, especially the POSs … I mean, the POTUSs … but the larger question is whether the corpress en masse will do so, keeping this in the national spotlight.

If history is any guide, confidence in that shouldn’t be seen as a rising stock.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/9/jeffrey_epstein_new_charges_sex_trafficking

Despite Death Threats, Glenn Greenwald Speaks Out About Exposing Large Corruption Scandal in Brazil

*I’d doubt that all this is any “revelation” to those on the right who are now crying “Foul!”, given their roles in creating the climate for it, and aiding and abetting the demonization of their opponents for political gain.

I’d suspect that, as in the States, there are rightists that are wary of just where Bolsonaro’s taking the country. They fear that he, like Trump, may be killing the goose laying the golden eggs, unleashing forces that aren’t amicable to their economic and political agenda.

They may see this as an opportunity to rein in that threat, while garnering some cred as “defenders of democracy”.

It’s a theory …

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/9/glenn_greenwald_sergio_moro_corruption_investigation

7.8

War, Memory and Gettysburg
Time has long since erased these gruesome sights and smells from the battlefield national park, along with the disorienting confusion, fear and deafening noise of combat
by Chris Hedges

*War has been glorified for millennia, and the studied ignorance of its horror disencumbers it from its rightful place in the trash heap of history

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/08/war-memory-and-gettysburg
—

The Real News Network
As Activists Push Democratic Climate Debate, DNC Donors Profit from Oil, Gas
For Democrats, the presidential primaries will end in Milwaukee at its convention in July 2020. It will be heavily funded by fossil fuel investors, Wes Edens and Marc Lasry, who also own the Milwaukee Bucks.
by Steve Horn

*”Concern” for climate from natural gas bags

https://therealnews.com/columns/as-activists-push-democratic-climate-debate-dnc-donors-profit-from-oil-gas
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Kamala Harris’ Claims About Her Record on Big Banks “Doesn’t Withstand a Moment’s Scrutiny”

*A sheep in wolf’s clothing

http://accuracy.org/release/kamala-harris-claims-about-her-record-on-big-banks-doesnt-withstand-a-moments-scrutiny
—

Democracy Now!
Jeffrey Epstein, a Billionaire Friend of Presidents Trump & Clinton, Arrested for Sex Trafficking

*I wonder if the corpress will ask Killer Clown or Slick’s Willie about their friendship with this piece of sh t, and if they do, will any effort be made to pursue that sorry story?

To say I have my doubts on the latter is understatement in excelsis.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/8/jeffrey_epstein_a_billionaire_friend_of

Charges Dropped Against Pregnant Shooting Victim Amid Outcry over the Criminalization of Pregnancy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/8/seg_3

Lynn Paltrow on Fetal Personhood Laws & the Criminalization of Pregnancy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/8/lynn_paltrow_on_fetal_personhood_laws

7.5

‘Gross Violation of Logic and Sense’: Open Letter From Nearly 140 Scholars Implores SF School Board Not to Destroy Historic Mural
“Let’s stand up for the integrity of art as well as for historical interpretation, and for a shared analysis of the political reality of the United States in the past and the present”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*I agree with the signatories, but I think this has to be dealt with in the spirit of understanding the very real pain such depictions, shorn of context, can evoke in the descendants of the victims portrayed, and not as a confrontation between the “ignorant” and the “enlightened”.

“Educate, don’t eradicate” should be taken to include that sensitivity and respect.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/05/gross-violation-logic-and-sense-open-letter-nearly-140-scholars-implores-sf-school

Global Effort to Plant a Trillion Trees ‘Overwhelmingly’ Among Most Effective—and Cheapest—Solutions to Climate Emergency: Study
“We have solutions ready to go; we’re just missing the political will to act”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Seeing the forest

For the trees

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/05/global-effort-plant-trillion-trees-overwhelmingly-among-most-effective-and-cheapest
—

How Working-Class Movements Are Moving Beyond the Confines of Capitalism
We must rebuild the imagination of the working class and combat the capitalist narrative that has made it easier for us to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism
by Celina della Croce

*And it also will require a transformation of labor “leadership” from one that, at best, works for the interest of workers in one economic area (and often falters in fulfilling that responsibility), to one that places paramount a solidarity with any and all exploited by capital, nationally and internationally.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/05/how-working-class-movements-are-moving-beyond-confines-capitalism
–

What Does It Mean to Abolish ICE?
Our demand is not a return to the so-called civility of the Obama years, but an unapologetic end to an apparatus that preemptively criminalizes migration, and enforces a hierarchy based on the accident of birth
by Natascha Elena Uhlmann

*You can’t reform rot

You can only rid and replace it

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/04/what-does-it-mean-abolish-ice
–

An Open Letter to Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers Regarding the Humanitarian Crisis at the Border
Let us carry the torch reignited by the CTU and the UTLA to illuminate the collective imagination and the bold dream for justice
by Eric W. Maroney

*Raising the village that will raise the child

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/04/open-letter-randi-weingarten-and-american-federation-teachers-regarding
—

The Real News Network
Facebook’s Libra Currency Monetizes Identity and Threatens Privacy
Bill Black discusses Feacebook’s new proposed crypto-currency, called “Libra.” Facebook could use this technology to standardize identity and create a world of ultimate surveillance, and then profit from it, says Black

*All your databases are belong to us

https://therealnews.com/stories/facebooks-libra-currency-monetizes-identity-and-threatens-privacy

7.3

As Drivers Live in Their Cars Due to Poverty Wages, Uber Co-Founder Buys Record-Breaking $72.5 Million Mansion
“This is a perfect example of the one percent stealing from the rest of us”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Taking the taxi to the dark side

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/03/drivers-live-their-cars-due-poverty-wages-uber-co-founder-buys-record-breaking-725
—

Medicare for All Means Real Choice: One Health Card, Good Anywhere You Go
You can go to any doctor, any hospital or clinic or other provider you prefer. All networks are gone. So are all surprise medical bills. So are all out of network charges. So are all premiums, all deductibles, all co-pays for such basics as emergency care, doctor’s visits, mental health, dental, vision, long term care, and so much more.
by Bonnie Castillo

*Can we say

“I’m pro choice, and I vote”?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/03/medicare-all-means-real-choice-one-health-card-good-anywhere-you-go
–

With Move to Destroy or Cover Mural, San Francisco’s ‘Progressive’ School Board Is Embarrassing Itself
The school board should keep its hands off the mural, because we cannot learn about our nation’s history of cruelty and oppression if we destroy depictions of it
by Peter Dreier

*I’m not black or indigenous, so I don’t believe I have the right to label as “ridiculous” the arguments of those who are over this mural, and I don’t believe them to be, in any event.

I do believe them to be misplaced, and in the same category as attempts to eliminate the use of the word “n gg r” (which I won’t spell out, solely to avoid my comment being barred) and other bigoted epithets, regardless of the circumstances.

The intense pain that largely drives these actions is very real, and cannot be dismissed, but I feel that the best way to address it is to confront the hateful history that has engendered it, as Arnautoff attempted to do.

Context is everything in such circumstances, yet has been obliterated here and in other instances. Aside from Dreier’s insensitive attitude toward those calling for the mural’s removal or concealment, I agree with his stance.

Educate, don’t eradicate.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/03/move-destroy-or-cover-mural-san-franciscos-progressive-school-board-embarrassing
—

The Real News Network
G20 Members Dole Out Coal Subsidies Despite Climate Crisis Talk
A new report documents G20 member states giving $63.9 billion in subsidies per year to King Coal, while professing the urgency of the climate crisis. The study says this may “underestimate the actual amounts of support provided,” due to lack of transparency in finance figures

*With apologies to John Prine

Mr. Peabody’s coal train is making a haul

https://therealnews.com/stories/g20-members-dole-out-coal-subsidies-despite-climate-crisis-talk
—

FAIR
Buttigieg Goes for Big Bucks as NYT Oversells His Small-Donor Support
by Jim Naureckas

*Another example of the corpress abetting the climate for democratic diminution, then reporting as though that mise en scène was the natural order.

And just what does “educated” mean, and is its opposite “ignorant”?

https://fair.org/home/buttigieg-goes-for-big-bucks-as-nyt-oversells-his-small-donor-support
—

Democracy Now!
Border Agents Caught Posting Racist, Sexist Messages About Migrants & AOC in Secret Facebook Group

*Even when mainstream reporters like Thompson do solid investigative reporting, they almost invariably place the sins they uncover in an “aberrational” context, as though they are not intimately entwined with an American sociopolitical culture that is defined in large measure by such moral corruption.

As for those Democratic reps’ condemnation of these horrors, didn’t every one mentioned, aside from Ocasio-Cortez, vote for a “compromise” (“compromised” in truth) funding bill for these agencies?

Will deeds finally match words as the fallout unfolds?

Don’t hold your breath … despite the smell.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/3/border_patrol_facebook_group_offensive_posts

Scott Warren of No More Deaths Faces Retrial for Providing Humanitarian Aid to Migrants in Arizona

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/3/no_more_deaths_scott_warren_retrial

7.2

Busting Right-Wing Talking Point, ‘Groundbreaking’ Study Shows Federal $15 Minimum Wage Would Not Cause Job Losses in Low-Wage States
“A $15 federal minimum wage by 2024 will have widespread positive effects for working women and men, kids and communities of color, without causing any job loss”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Well, the corporate cozy congressos conspiring to keep the status quo might just lose *their* jobs …

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/02/busting-right-wing-talking-point-groundbreaking-study-shows-federal-15-minimum-wage
—

Fight for the Future
Facial Recognition Invading Public Schools

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/02/facial-recognition-invading-public-schools

Center for Food Safety Sues Trump Administration for Unlawfully Keeping Secret the Reasons for Gutting the School Lunch Nutrition Program

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/02/center-food-safety-sues-trump-administration-unlawfully-keeping-secret-reasons
—

The Real News Network
Victor Pate Leads Hunger Strike for Solitary Confinement Reform in New York
Eddie Conway talks to Pate, the statewide organizer for New York’s Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, about the demands they are making to state lawmakers to bring the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act to the floor to vote

https://therealnews.com/stories/victor-pate-leads-hunger-strike-for-solitary-confinement-reform-in-new-york

G20: Trump’s ‘America First’ Policies Reflect the Limits of Globalization
Despite Trump’s affinities with authoritarian leaders such as India’s Modi and Russia’s Putin, he continues to destabilize the existing neoliberal consensus, and now BRICS countries are taking up the neoliberal mantle, says Patrick Bond

*The greedy spat over how to keep the needy squashed flat

https://therealnews.com/stories/g20-trumps-america-first-policies-reflect-the-limits-of-globalization
—

FAIR
NBC News Whitewashes Colombia’s Right-Wing President
by Harrison Malkin

https://fair.org/home/nbc-news-whitewashes-colombias-right-wing-president

7.1

‘If Grandma Is on the Table, No One Will Blink at the Price’: A Former Drug Company Manager Explains Industry Price-Setting
by Fran Quigley

*This is not an eccentricity of capitalism

This is its essence

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/01/if-grandma-table-no-one-will-blink-price-former-drug-company-manager-explains
–

After Biden’s Sharp Decline, Wall Street Investors Reassessing Other Blue Chips
Like any other stock, Wall Street is looking for a winner it can own
by Norman Solomon

*Looking for someone to keep their foot on our necks

Not in their mouth

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/07/01/after-bidens-sharp-decline-wall-street-investors-reassessing-other-blue-chips
—

Food & Water Watch
Advocacy Group Calls on Harvard to Fire Governor Responsible for Flint Crisis “Before the End of His First Day”

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/07/01/advocacy-group-calls-harvard-fire-governor-responsible-flint-crisis-end-his
—

The Real News Network
U.S. Sanctions Block Medicine from Venezuela, Killing Thousands
Ordinary Venezuelans talk about how the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult to access life-saving medications

https://therealnews.com/stories/u-s-sanctions-block-medicine-from-venezuela-killing-thousands

Brazilians Celebrate LGBT Pride, Rejecting Bolsonaro’s Homophobic Backlash
Brazil’s LGBT community celebrated across the country over the last week, for Gay Pride. Michael Fox reports

https://therealnews.com/stories/brazilians-celebrate-lgbt-pride-rejecting-bolsonaros-homophobic-backlash

Why is Aid to Palestine Ineffective?
Policy analyst Jeremy Wilderman discusses his study of aid effectiveness to Palestine through the perceptions of development organizations and donors, highlighting how they tend to ignore the impact of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian economy

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-is-aid-to-palestine-ineffective
—

Petition update
Victory! NRATV is gone!
by Brad Chase

https://www.change.org/p/jeff-bezos-remove-nratv-from-amazon-s-streaming-service-website/u/24768545
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’”

*Harris’ “stirring” debate performance?

Ref. “Macbeth”, Act 5, Scene 5

http://accuracy.org/release/kamala-harris-was-not-a-progressive-prosecutor
—

FAIR
‘Government-Run Healthcare’ Is a Product of Health Industry–Run Media
by Michael Corcoran

*What’s in a name?

Control of the narrative

https://fair.org/home/government-run-healthcare-is-a-product-of-health-industry-run-media
—

Democracy Now!
Trump Makes History by Walking into North Korea. Could This Help to Finally End the Korean War?

*I have to wonder if the end game for the US is “opening up” the North Korean economy — i.e., access for corps to cheap labor, and whatever resources that might exist in the country — perhaps as a hedge against further rifts in the economic relationship with China

But whadda I know?

And I still think Killer Clown wants that Nobel, even if he considers a million bucks or so chump change.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/1/trump_kim_jong_un_dmz_meeting

“We Will Not Be Quiet! Stonewall Was a Riot!”: Queer Liberation March Returns Pride to Radical Roots

*Dumping the pot of PR gold at the end of the rainbow

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/1/queer_liberation_march_nyc_pride_stonewall

June 2019

6.28

On ‘Hottest Day in History of France,’ World Told ‘Do Not Look Away’ as Police Tear-Gas Climate Campaigners in Paris
“Watch this video and ask yourself,” said Greta Thunberg, “who is defending who?”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/28/hottest-day-history-france-world-told-do-not-look-away-police-tear-gas-climate

‘Beyond Spin Control’: Anti-Busing Past Not Going Away as Biden and Staff Dig Themselves Deeper
“Joe Biden’s campaign going all in on states rights in the civil rights debate. Just rejecting the entire premise of the civil rights movement!”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/28/beyond-spin-control-anti-busing-past-not-going-away-biden-and-staff-dig-themselves
—

Donald Trump, Rapist-In-Chief
If rape isn’t a “high crime and misdemeanor,” what is?
by Jud Lounsbury

*Literally, he’s ravished dozens.

Figuratively, there’s no one he hasn’t.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/28/donald-trump-rapist-chief
–

Nuclear IQ, Presidential Debates, and Our Future
by Robert Dodge

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/28/nuclear-iq-presidential-debates-and-our-future
–

Supreme Court Refuses to Stop Partisan Gerrymandering
With the Supreme Court shirking its responsibility, other strategies for getting fair maps are more important than ever
by Yurij Rudensky and Annie Lo

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/28/supreme-court-refuses-stop-partisan-gerrymandering
—

The Real News Network
Just 15 Minutes on Climate Change in First 2 Democratic Debates
The climate crisis poses an existential threat to humanity, but from the first two Democratic debates, you’d never know it
by Dharna Noor

*An inhospitable climate to reason and reality

https://therealnews.com/columns/just-15-minutes-on-climate-change-in-first-2-democratic-debates

Mexico’s Dilemma: Tariffs or Impose Trump’s Draconian Immigration Policies
The Trump administration is forcing Mexico to impose equally harsh immigration policies as Trump has been imposing on the US, which are actually illegal and endangering the lives of migrants and refugees from Central America, says Laura Carlsen

*AMLO can you go?

As far as Killer Clown cares, it appears.

https://therealnews.com/stories/mexicos-dilemma-tariffs-or-impose-trumps-draconian-immigration-policies

Sanders & Warren Pitch Rival Plans to Address $1.6 Trillion in Student Debt
Renowned education expert Kevin Kumashiro says the plans put forth by two of the leading Democratic presidential candidates are a step in the right direction, but America’s fundamentally broken education system needs to be radically changed from top to bottom

*We can’t afford our current educational system in more than one sense of the term.

https://therealnews.com/stories/sanders-warren-pitch-rival-plans-to-address-1-6-trillion-in-student-debt
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Biden’s Deceits on * Busing * Iraq War

*The vileness of Joe Crow’s busing backing isn’t debatable

In more than one sense

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-deceits-on-busing-iraq-war
—

Democracy Now!
Supreme Court Hands GOP Big Victory on Gerrymandering, Ensuring “Massive Election Rigging”

*The packing pays off

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/28/supreme_court_hands_gop_big_victory

Remembering Stonewall: On 50th Anniversary, Leaders of Uprising Look Back on Sparking the LGBTQ Movement

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/28/remembering_stonewall_on_50th_anniversary_leaders
—

Got insomnia?
Who couldn’t use a little more sleep? Or at least a little more good-quality sleep. Here’s what can help…and what’s a waste of money.
by Caitlin Dow
Nutrition Action

https://www.nutritionaction.com/daily/dietary-supplements/got-insomnia

6.27

‘Terrifying’ and ‘Unacceptable’: Outrage Mounts Over Manslaughter Charge for Alabama Woman Who Miscarried After Being Shot in the Stomach
Critics warn the case threatens reproductive rights nationwide by advancing the anti-choice concept of “fetal personhood”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*And had that child been born, can there be any doubt that the state of Alabama would have moved heaven and earth to ensure a happy and healthy life for it?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/27/terrifying-and-unacceptable-outrage-mounts-over-manslaughter-charge-alabama-woman
—

“What Does War Have to Do With Me?”
Combat viewed from the rooftops and beyond
by Nick Turse

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/27/what-does-war-have-do-me
—

The Real News Network
Climate Change is Devastating India With Heat Waves and Water Shortages
India’s climate disasters are fueled by its governments’ resource mismanagement and fossil fuel consumption, says political economist Shouvik Chakraborty

https://therealnews.com/stories/climate-change-is-devastating-india-with-heat-waves-and-water-shortages

German Bank Closes Account of Jewish Voices for Peace Over BDS Support
Shir Hever discusses the bank’s decision to close Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East’s bank account. This is the second time since Hitler that a Jewish account was closed, this time because of pressure from Israel to block the boycott and divestment movement

https://therealnews.com/stories/german-bank-closes-account-of-jewish-voices-for-peace-over-bds-support

Progressive Leads Queens DA Race, Shocking the Establishment
31-year-old Public Defender Tiffany Caban ran an AOC-style grassroots campaign calling for an end to mass incarceration and radical reform to the prosecutor’s office

*If this election is to have true significance, folks will have to go from cheerleaders to constructive critics real quick like. No matter how politically attractive a candidate, then office holder, may be, they have to be constantly pushed to live up to their proclamations.

In the end, it’s not about personalities, but principles.

https://therealnews.com/stories/progressive-leads-queens-da-race-shocking-the-establishment
—

FAIR
On Child Concentration Camps, What’s Needed Is Not an Argument, but Action and Resistance
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/on-child-concentration-camps-whats-needed-is-not-an-argument-but-action-and-resistance

6.26

Benefits for All or Just Some? Sanders Student Debt Plan Highlights 2020 Debate Over Universal vs. Means-Tested Programs
While some 2020 Democrats push means-tested policies tailored specifically to low-income Americans, Sen. Bernie Sanders argues universal programs are more just and politically effective
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*I would tend to agree with the universality argument, but only if wealthy recipients are paying their share for funding these programs through equitable taxation.

You can’t dine and dash on the buffet, then scream about not getting “my piece of the pie”.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/26/benefits-all-or-just-some-sanders-student-debt-plan-highlights-2020-debate-over
—

20 Ways You Can Help Immigrants Now
While Congress stalls, you can take other kinds of actions to help immigrants in transition, in detention, and in crisis
by Julia Travers

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/26/20-ways-you-can-help-immigrants-now
–

On Being Very Much Against Biden Without Demonizing Him
Biden deserves to be called out, challenged, and defeated in the primary, because of his troubling stances on the politics of race and gender, because of his ties to Wall Street, and because of his general fecklessness. And yet…
by Jeffrey C. Isaac

*Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Madame Mayhem’s class loyalty was a prime factor in her “loss” to Killer Clown, and Joe Dough’s dances with wolves could very like lead to déjà vu all over again.

As for adopting “a bold agenda”, being the consummate opportunist, he might indeed talk some measure of the talk, if he deemed it in his careerist interest to do so

But, like Pelosi and Schumer, if elected he would do all within his power of office to ensure that agenda is never implemented to any effective degree.

So how pyrrhic would that “victory” be?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/26/being-very-much-against-biden-without-demonizing-him
–

How the Worst Values of Sports Are Taking Over America
From the ballpark to team Trump
by Robert Lipsyte

*”History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.”

– Karl Marx

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/26/how-worst-values-sports-are-taking-over-america
—

The Real News Network
Honduras Erupts on Eve of 10th Anniversary of Coup
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez has sent the military into the streets to repress protests. At least 3 have been killed recently. Professor Adrienne Pine talks about how these events relate to the 2009 coup

*Barbecuing the backyard

https://therealnews.com/stories/honduras-erupts-on-eve-of-10th-anniversary-of-coup

Istanbul Election Shakes President Erdogan’s Power
Baris Karaagac discusses Ekrem Imamoglu’s victory in Istanbul’s mayoral election. President Erdogan had forced new elections after his party lost in March, and now the governing party has lost control of all Turkey’s major cities

https://therealnews.com/stories/istanbul-election-shakes-president-erdogans-power

Venezuelan Community Builds Solidarity Pharmacy to Counter US Sanctions
The economic sanctions have severely affected Venezuela’s ability to import life-saving medicines. At least one community, however, is responding by creating their own solidarity pharmacy. Michael Fox reports

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuelan-community-builds-solidarity-pharmacy-to-counter-us-sanctions
—

FAIR
So Who Is Reporting That Trump Sanctions Have Killed Thousands of Venezuelans?
by Joe Emersberger

*Ignoring inconvenient fatalities

https://fair.org/home/so-who-is-reporting-that-trump-sanctions-have-killed-thousands-of-venezuelans
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Biden’s Record: Segregationists, Wall Street, War

*A record only a mother f ck r (especially one he could be running against) could love

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-record-segregationists-wall-street-war
—

Democracy Now!
Juan González: There Are Refugees in Desperate Need of Help in Airports Across the United States

*The callous and the caring

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/26/juan_gonzalez_migrants_chaos_at_airports

Trump Admin Moves 100 Migrant Kids Back to “Child Jail” Despite Concern over Inhumane Conditions

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/26/child_jail_facilities_at_us_border

AOC Joins Other Progressives to Vote Against Dems on Funding Bill for DHS, Call for Abolition of ICE

*”[T]remendous apprehensions” of pissing off Majority Leader Pellagra, perhaps?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/26/house_progressives_vote_against_dhs_funding

DHS Whistleblower Who Spoke Out Against Obama-Era Immigration Jails Condemns Conditions on Border

*Inhumanity is the most bipartisan of policies

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/26/dhs_whistleblower_we_made_specific_warnings

Jonathan Kozol on “When Joe Biden Collaborated with Segregationists”

*Will any other Democratic presidential candidate treat Jaundiced Joe with the same contempt he displays for justice?

Could I have engaged in a greater waste of keystrokes?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/26/jonathan_kozol_on_when_joe_biden

6.25

Critics Not Buying Trump’s “She’s Not My Type” Dismissal of Latest Sexual Assault Accuser
“She’s not my type is not ‘I didn’t do it”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*It appears he’d have to be caught on tape boasting about his “conquests” for the corpress to give this the attention it deserves.

Hold on …

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/25/critics-not-buying-trumps-shes-not-my-type-dismissal-latest-sexual-assault-accuser

Citing CIA’s Dark History, Librarians Protest Agency’s Recruiting at Their Conference
“Everything they stand for is a violation of the values of librarianship, so we protested”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Indexing iniquity

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/24/citing-cias-dark-history-librarians-protest-agencys-recruiting-their-conference

UN Expert Warns Inequality and Austerity Are Intensifying Global Mental Health Crisis
“We must end austerity and start investing in people and communities,” said U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The gravest mental health crisis is the sociopathy extant in our “leaders”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/24/un-expert-warns-inequality-and-austerity-are-intensifying-global-mental-health
—

The Hybrid War Against Iran
Sanctions, the information war, and the American sabotage
by Vijay Prashad

*Ignorance is a weapon as malign as any munition

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/25/hybrid-war-against-iran
–

Burning Down the Future
The march of corporate totalitarianism intends to transform all of us into serfs regardless of our religious beliefs or ethnicity
by Chris Hedges

*A towering inferno of infernal inhumanity

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/24/burning-down-future
–

Most Democratic Candidates Still Afraid to Criticize Israel’s Violations of Palestinian Rights
Because of the pervasive presence and power of pro-Israel forces, elected officials have long taken a “hands off” approach to dealing with this issue
by James Zogby

*Now, let’s push this back a few decades, and shift the subject to apartheid South Africa

And then ponder this pusillanimity.

Or perhaps cowardice isn’t the proper description for the absence of humanity on offer.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/24/most-democratic-candidates-still-afraid-criticize-israels-violations-palestinian
—

The Real News Network
Cop Caught on Body Cam Arresting a Man for Talking
The illegal arrest by a Baltimore City cop has lead to charges of false imprisonment and misconduct, but also reveals a deep-rooted reason why police seek to silence critics

*Call a cop

What they actually are

https://therealnews.com/stories/cop-caught-on-body-cam-arresting-a-man-for-talking

How a Baltimore Billionaire Won a Tax Cut Trump Said Would Help the Poor
ProPublica’s Jeff Ernsthausen explains how a poorly-designed map boosted billionaire Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s development company

*Opportunist Zones

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-a-baltimore-billionaire-won-a-tax-cut-trump-said-would-help-the-poor
—

FAIR
NYT Presents Social Security Cuts as ‘Solution’ to Problem of Social Security Cuts
by Joshua Cho

https://fair.org/home/nyt-presents-social-security-cuts-as-solution-to-problem-of-social-security-cuts

WaPo Doesn’t Want Voters to Know Medicare for All Will Cut Their Health Costs
by Jim Naureckas

*First do no harm

To Bozos’ healthcorp holdings

https://fair.org/home/wapo-doesnt-want-voters-to-know-medicare-for-all-will-cut-their-health-costs
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
* Can Dems Debate Climate? * “Primarying” House Democrats

*The donkeys (okay … asses) ignore the elephant in the room

http://accuracy.org/release/can-dems-debate-climate-primarying-house-democrats

Biden, Sanders and Getting to Roots of Problems with Education

http://accuracy.org/release/biden-sanders-and-getting-to-roots-of-problems-with-education

6.24

The Insulin Racket
Insulin is a 100-year-old drug whose wholesale price has tripled in ten years. The reasons why explain everything wrong with America’s broken prescription drug market
by Natalie Shure

*Not mentioned are the millions stuffed in pols’ pockets by Big Pharma to ensure obscene profit über alles, and certain death for those unable to hold up under the crushing weight of “what the market will bear”.

“Promote the general welfare” rings as hollow as the empty souls who subvert it in service to mammon.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/24/insulin-racket
–

How Immigration Changed A Small-Town Sweden That Never Existed
Now that these towns are dying, the immigrants who are helping to prop them up with their labor and citizenship are accused of undermining local culture by their mere presence
by Christian Christensen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/24/how-immigration-changed-small-town-sweden-never-existed
–

New Draft of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ Treaty Affirms Protection for Women and LGBTIQ Persons. The Fight Wasn’t Easy—and It Isn’t Over Yet
Whether the treaty makes its way into law or not, one thing is clear: History will remember that all of us working together can make a difference, because all of us, not some of us, have rights that must be protected
by Lisa Davis

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/24/new-draft-crimes-against-humanity-treaty-affirms-protection-women-and-lgbtiq
—

The Real News Network
Are Immigration Detention Centers Concentration Camps?
Aviva Chomsky discusses the reality of refugees coming to the U.S in light of the controversial statement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that refugees are kept in concentration camps

*A concentration of callous calculation

https://therealnews.com/stories/are-immigration-detention-centers-concentration-camps

The Central Park 5 and the Rise of Donald Trump
The Central Park/Exonerated 5 case is a horrifying example of the injustices committed against marginalized youths in the criminal justice system–and it has a deep connection to the rise of Donald Trump

*Good to see Ford again, and hopefully we’ll see more of him. His presence raises the quality of commentary here that too often doesn’t give the network’s donors their money’s worth.

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-central-park-5-and-the-rise-of-donald-trump

Human Rights Lawyer Condemns Canada’s Support For Honduras’s Repressive Regime (2/2)
Prisilla Alvarado, a lawyer acting for imprisoned human rights defender Edwin Espinal, condemns Canadian support for the regime of Juan Orlando Hernandez

https://therealnews.com/stories/human-rights-lawyer-condemns-canadas-support-for-hondurass-repressive-regime-2-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
BadBlues: RootsAction Announces List of Democrats who “Deserve to Be ‘Primaried’”

*Hands across the aisle

And around our throats

http://accuracy.org/release/badblues-rootsaction-announces-list-of-democrats-who-deserve-to-be-primaried
—

Democracy Now!
“Somebody Is Going to Die”: Lawyer Describes Chaos, Illness & Danger at Migrant Child Jail in Texas

*And all the corpress does is echo Trumped up talking points about “being overwhelmed”.

There’s plenty of soullessness to go around.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/24/somebody_is_going_to_die_lawyer

Japanese-American Internment Survivors Protest Plan to Jail Migrant Kids At Fort Sill, a WWII Camp

*Fighting in the present, and for the future

Because they know the past all too well

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/24/stop_repeating_history_japanese_americans_incarcerated

Targeted for Being a Friend of Julian Assange? Ola Bini Released After Two Months in Ecuadorian Jail

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/24/targeted_for_being_a_friend_of

6.21

‘Not On Our Watch’: Rights Groups Rally to Help Immigrant Communities Ahead of Reported Weekend Raids by ICE
“ICE is doing this to not just rip apart hundreds of families apart but also to terrorize everyone else. This is the definition of terrorism”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/21/not-our-watch-rights-groups-rally-help-immigrant-communities-ahead-reported-weekend

Because ‘Another World Is Possible,’ Tens of Thousands of Activists Stage Climate Mobilizations in Germany
With anti-coal Ende Gelände action in one city and Fridays for Future rally in another, activists demand urgent climate action
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/21/because-another-world-possible-tens-thousands-activists-stage-climate-mobilizations
—

The Real News Network
Senate Deals Blow to US-Saudi/UAE Arms Deal
With seven Republican senators joining all Democrats, the Senate voted to nix an $8 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia and UAE, because of the war in Yemen. But the battle to stop US involvement is far from over, says Hassan el -Tayyab

*It’s important to keep in mind that most all the “peaceniks” in Congress don’t oppose “The Global War on Terror” ©, and that there will always be loopholes in any “anti-war” legislation to allow the Empire to drone on and on.

https://therealnews.com/stories/senate-deals-blow-to-us-saudi-uae-arms-deal

Quebec Bans Public Workers from Wearing Religious Clothing or Symbols
Dimitri Lascaris discusses the right-wing Coalition Avenir Quebec’s (CAQ) law that bans the wearing of any religious symbols or clothing by public employees, and the resistance that is rising

https://therealnews.com/stories/quebec-bans-public-workers-from-wearing-religious-clothing-or-symbols

Billionaires Can Buy Sex and Not Go to Jail. Why Can’t You?
A new law introduced in New York state would decriminalize all sex work, but it faces pushback from the NY National Organization of Women and others groups. The law follows in the wake of last year’s FOSTA SESTA, which has negatively impacted sex workers and online free speech advocates

*Makes sense to me, but there are other folks legitimately concerned with exploitation and violence who disagree, and I’d like to hear their response to D’Adamo’s arguments.

https://therealnews.com/stories/billionaires-can-buy-sex-and-not-go-to-jail-why-cant-you
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Kozol: Biden Opposed School Desegregation, Refuses to Disown, It Wasn’t About “Civility”

*Even should the “opinion makers” decide to cut their losses on Joe Dough in favor of another “centrist” champion, they will bemoan the demise of “a good man caught in the vise of these unforgiving times.”

Oy gevalt …

http://accuracy.org/release/kozol-biden-opposed-school-desegregation-refuses-to-disown-it-wasnt-about-civility
—

Democracy Now!
Trump Pulls Back from Iran Attack as Bolton & Pompeo Continue to Push for War

*Perhaps cautious at present, but if the cannons fire, the corpress will déjà vu all over again, cheering themselves hoarse as the body count climbs.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/21/trump_cancels_iran_strikes_after_drone

Her Mother Was Killed by U.S.-Backed Security Forces. Now Lucrecia Mack Is in Guatemala’s Congress

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/21/lucrecia_hernandez_mack_guatemala_politics_seg

6.20

Refusing to Comply With ‘Dehumanizing’ Rules Any Longer, Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic Defies Regulators
A state-mandated, medically unnecessary exam prior to an abortion “is just assault,” clinic officials say
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The Hippocratic and the hypocritic

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/20/refusing-comply-dehumanizing-rules-any-longer-missouris-last-abortion-clinic-defies

Pentagon Releases, Then Deletes, Document Detailing Use of Nuclear Weapons to Restore ‘Strategic Stability’ for US Military
“At a time of rising nuclear tensions, casually postulating about the potential upsides of a nuclear attack is obtuse in the extreme”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Not only are there no adults in the room

They’ve been locked out.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/20/pentagon-releases-then-deletes-document-detailing-use-nuclear-weapons-restore
—

The Exceptionally American Historical Amnesia Behind Pompeo’s Claim of ‘40 Years of Unprovoked Iranian Aggression’
From a CIA coup and supporting the Shah’s brutality to enabling chemical attacks, shooting down a civilian airliner and training terrorists,‘aggression’ between the US and Iran is overwhelmingly one-sided
by Brett Wilkins

*To forget the past is to forsake the future

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/20/exceptionally-american-historical-amnesia-behind-pompeos-claim-40-years-unprovoked
–

From Galápagos to Guam: US Military Bases are a Threat to Local Communities
My family’s home has been forced to leave our ecological future in the hands of the United States military, one of the largest polluters globally
by Leilani Rania Ganser

*The sh t spread by the imperial footprint

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/20/galapagos-guam-us-military-bases-are-threat-local-communities
–

The Scary New Math of Factory Farm Waste
Factory farms are exempt from reporting requirements under the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Now a new tool can provide solid evidence of the environmental harm they can cause.
by Tia Schwab

*If we don’t know sh t, we can’t do nothin’ about it

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/20/scary-new-math-factory-farm-waste
—

Patriotic Millionaires
New Jersey Professor and Patriotic Millionaire Condemns NJ Axe on the Millionaires’ Tax
“Lawmakers are leaving an estimated $447 million in yearly revenue on the table thanks to the empty threats of a few tax-averse millionaires”

*Joe Dough is no doubt proud of his fellow Democraps

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/20/new-jersey-professor-and-patriotic-millionaire-condemns-nj-axe-millionaires-tax
—

The Real News Network
Congressional Hearing on Slavery Reparations Draws Huge Crowd
Large and passionate crowds gathered to witness historians, economists, academics, and politicians testify for the first time in nearly a dozen years on H.R. 40, the landmark House bill to convene a commission to study reparations

*The next line of defense beyond refusal is co-optation, and I’d urge a very close and clear eyed look at just who purports to be supporters, why it might be in their interest to do so, and how they could attempt to place a detour on the road to justice.

https://therealnews.com/stories/congressional-hearing-on-slavery-reparations-draws-huge-crowd

Billions Stolen From Black Families by Predatory Lending
White collar criminologist Bill Black analyzes the new study, “The Plunder of Black Wealth in Chicago,” opening the way for a fruitful conversation about reparations and our future

*We must learn the lessons of the past

For those who torment us surely do

https://therealnews.com/stories/billions-stolen-from-black-families-by-predatory-lending

Venezuelan Opposition Scrambles in Wake of Humanitarian Aid Scandal
An opposition-oriented website uncovered a $125,000 corruption scandal involving associates of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaidó. Independent journalist Dan Cohen tracked down the details of this story

*You lie down with running dogs

You get fleeced

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuelan-opposition-scrambles-in-wake-of-humanitarian-aid-scandal
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Iran Attack? * Pretext for War * Impeaching Bolton

http://accuracy.org/release/iran-attack-pretext-for-war-impeaching-bolton
—

FAIR
‘Governments and Corporations Were Figuring Out a Way to Behave With Impunity When It Comes to Oil’
CounterSpin interview with Sandy Cioffi on oil in Nigeria
by Janine Jackson

*Oil spills and spilled blood

https://fair.org/home/governments-and-corporations-were-figuring-out-a-way-to-behave-with-impunity-when-it-comes-to-oil

6.19

Vowing Not to ‘Demonize’ the Rich, Biden Tells Billionaires ‘Nothing Would Fundamentally Change’ If He Was Elected
It “might be the most honest thing he’s said since he defended segregated schools”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*What a (ruling) class act

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/19/vowing-not-demonize-rich-biden-tells-billionaires-nothing-would-fundamentally-change
—

Physicians for Human Rights
Medical-Legal Collaboration Leads to Justice in Serial Rape Case in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Physicians for Human Rights and Nobel Peace Prize co-Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege publish piece in The Lancet on collaborative approach to evidence collection that supported first conviction of serial sexual violence as a crime against humanity in the DRC

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/19/medical-legal-collaboration-leads-justice-serial-rape-case-democratic-republic
—

The Real News Network
Honduran Security Forces Tear-Gas International Human Rights Delegation
Human rights experts from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. were forced to flee a protest against the radically neoliberal policies of Juan Orlando Hernandez. Dimitri Lascaris reports from Honduras

https://therealnews.com/stories/honduran-security-forces-tear-gas-international-human-rights-delegation

The Trump Administration’s Intimidation of Latino Activists
In Arizona pro-immigrant and voter registration activists are being intimidated, both by the state and right wing white supremacy groups

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-trump-administrations-intimidation-of-latino-activists

Capitalism = Extinction?
In her Jacobin article ‘Socialism or Extinction’, TRNN’s climate bureau producer Dharna Noor boils down the UN’s IPBES report to help us see what could lie ahead and how it is related to our economic system

*I don’t know of anyone you’d want to listen to who’s saying “Socialism or nothing, right now.”

Capitalism is like a cancerous tumor that can’t simply be cut out. It has to be shrunk through effective treatment until it is benign, as a healthy physiology matures to replace it.

But it must be replaced, not “reformed”. So-called “social democracy” has wilted in the heat of neoliberal onslaught.

The vampire will always rise, until the stake has been driven through its heart.

https://therealnews.com/stories/capitalism-extinction

Scandals Show How Lack of Oversight Makes US Healthcare the Most Expensive in the World
Lucrative inside deals and seven-figure salaries at a publicly funded hospital reveal how self-enrichment drives up healthcare costs, not providing care for patients

*All together now

“First do no harm

(To our bank accounts)”

https://therealnews.com/stories/scandals-show-how-lack-of-oversight-make-us-healthcare-the-most-expensive-in-the-world
—

FAIR
Still Manufacturing Consent: An Interview With Noam Chomsky
by Alan MacLeod

*Chomsky could have employed his own obscurity in the US as a prime example of his thesis, don’t you reckon?

https://fair.org/home/still-manufacturing-consent-an-interview-with-noam-chomsky
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
When Joe Biden Collaborated With Segregationists

*Could it be that the corpress believes Joe Dough has inserted his foot in his mealy mouth one too many times, and will be looking for another centrista to champion?

So sadly, it’s a buyer’s market, innit?

http://accuracy.org/release/when-joe-biden-collaborated-with-segregationists
—

Democracy Now!
Big Tech’s War for Your Wallet: Facebook Sparks Outrage After Announcing Plans for Digital Currency

*There’s a tremendous “convenience factor” to being über alles, isn’t there just?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/19/big_techs_war_for_your_wallet

“I Thought We Were Going to Be Executed”: Police Held Family at Gunpoint After 4-Year-Old Took Doll

*”[I]f we had been under President Obama and Attorney General Holder … “

We were for eight years, so why was nothing done?

Take that as rhetorically as you wish.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/19/i_thought_we_were_all_going

6.18

Straight to Wall Street Fundraiser After Leaving Poor People’s Forum, Biden Tells Fat Cat Donors: ‘You Guys Are Great’
Billionaire Trump backer was among those solicited by the 2020 Democratic candidate
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*If he keeps this up, I’d like to think it’s gonna make it hard for the corpress to continue to pimp him

Then I remember that this is the good ol’ US and A, and there is no manufacturing crisis when it comes to consent.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/18/straight-wall-street-fundraiser-after-leaving-poor-peoples-forum-biden-tells-fat-cat
—

Whether It’s the New NAFTA or the Old NAFTA, It Serves the 1 Percent
One percenters like Mulvaney, self-dealing corporate honchos and fancy-pants corporate lobbyists negotiated the deals. They didn’t give a damn about jobs or wages or workers’ welfare
by Leo Gerard

*There’s always a massive trade deficit in fairness

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/18/whether-its-new-nafta-or-old-nafta-it-serves-1-percent
—

The Real News Network
Mali’s Civil War Fueled by Climate Crisis and Corporate Greed
Baba Aye discusses the failure of French and German peacekeepers in Mali and the real role they play, after almost one hundred people were killed in a Dogon village and Fulani are blamed for the attack

*The resources flow north via a river of blood

https://therealnews.com/stories/malis-civil-war-fueled-by-climate-crisis-and-corporate-greed

The World Bank Helps Investors Choose the Law They Want (1/2)
This is one of many examples that show how far the world has shifted from the paradigm of peace and social justice proposed in Philadelphia after WW2, to today’s concept of ‘Total Market’ where human beings are like ammunition in a capitalist competition and financial markets are the final arbitrator and supreme legislator of human life. Law Professor Alain Supiot speaks at the International Labor Organization

*Isn’t it “a legal fiction” that capitalism can be regulated to be compatible with any expansive notion of social justice, if one takes its history as a guide?

Precisely “because human beings are selfish, violent and vindictive”, or more precisely, because those in power are such (indeed, that is how they claimed their place in the social hierarchy), they will always seek to undo any restraint on their rapaciousness, even if it will ultimately lead to their, and our, demise.

Perhaps humanity on the grand scale is incapable of constructing a social order based on the principles of peace and justice

But we’re all we got, brudda, so make do, or die.

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-world-bank-helps-investors-choose-the-law-they-want-1-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
U.S. Suicide Epidemic: It’s Hitting Trump’s Base Hard

*Killer Clown

A man with a (suicide) mission

http://accuracy.org/release/us-suicide-epidemic-its-hitting-trumps-base-hard
—

FAIR
Previewing the Democratic Debates: Every Flavor of NBC, Trusting Corporate Media on Climate
by Julie Hollar

*What’s not debatable

Corpress confinement to the conventional lack of wisdom

https://fair.org/home/previewing-the-democratic-debates-every-flavor-of-nbc-trusting-corporate-media-on-climate

At Vox Media, Workers Win a Voice Beyond Wages
by Ari Paul

https://fair.org/home/at-vox-media-workers-win-a-voice-beyond-wages
—

Democracy Now!
Mohamed Morsi: Six Years After Coup, Egypt’s First Democratically Elected President Dies in Court

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/18/egypt_mohamed_morsi_dead_at_67

6.17

‘Everything You Need to Know’: With Warren and Sanders Not an Option, Wall Street Abuzz Over Biden, Harris, and Buttigieg
“Biden and Buttigieg are running in the Wall Street primary. Sanders and Warren are declaring that Wall Street is the enemy. There are two sides, and eventually you have to choose one.”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*More than one Wall to worry about

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/17/everything-you-need-know-warren-and-sanders-not-option-wall-street-abuzz-over-biden

‘Brink of Catastrophe’ as Trump Muslim Ban Keeps Refugees in Limbo
“These are families who put their trust in the United States at their most desperate hour”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/17/brink-catastrophe-trump-muslim-ban-keeps-refugees-limbo

Proposal to ‘Pave Paradise’ in Galapagos Islands for US Military Airstrip Met With Criticism in Ecuador and Beyond
“Galapagos is NOT an ‘aircraft carrier’ for gringo use”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*I’ll add my own musical allusion

They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call some place paradise
Kiss it goodbye

— “The Last Resort”, the Eagles

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/17/proposal-pave-paradise-galapagos-islands-us-military-airstrip-met-criticism-ecuador
—

The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange
This is the gravest assault on press freedom in my lifetime
by Chris Hedges

*Would it be telling to ask the herd of Democratic presidential candidates during the debates how they will deal with this case should they be elected?

Will any, including the sainted Bernard, give a ringing defense of due process and of the right of the public to be informed of crimes committed in their name?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/17/coming-show-trial-julian-assange
–

Trump Heights on Stolen Golan an Indictment of Colonial White Privilege
Given that Trump is a narcissistic fraud, it is appropriate that his name be attached to the illegal Israeli theft of Syrian territory
by Juan Cole

*The heights of iniquitous impudence

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/17/trump-heights-stolen-golan-indictment-colonial-white-privilege
—

The Real News Network
Community-Driven Solutions Are Key to the Bay Area’s Declining Gun Violence
What lessons can Baltimore learn from the Bay Area’s success in reducing homicides? We speak to two Oakland-based experts ahead of our June 18th town hall in Baltimore

https://therealnews.com/stories/community-driven-solutions-are-key-to-the-bay-areas-declining-gun-violence

Millions of Brazilians Join General Strike and Protests Against President’s Austerity Reforms
In what has become the largest mobilization against Brazil’s right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, millions of Brazilians joined in the general strike, shutting down schools, banks, and public transportation. They are demanding a halt of the pension reform and the release of imprisoned ex-president Lula da Silva. Mike Fox reports from Brazil

https://therealnews.com/stories/millions-of-brazilians-join-general-strike-and-protests-against-presidents-austerity-reforms
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Despite #MeToo, Hiding Malfeasance Still Legal

*The silence of the wolves

http://accuracy.org/release/despite-metoo-hiding-malfeasance-still-legal

6.14

‘The Changes Are Really Accelerating’: Alaska at Record Warm While Greenland Sees Major Ice Melt
“The numbers needing relocation will grow, the costs are going up, and people’s lives and cultural practices will be impacted”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Soon only the response will be glacial

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/14/changes-are-really-accelerating-alaska-record-warm-while-greenland-sees-major-ice
—

The Armed Bureaucracy
“Sooner or later they end up in a cage, where (they) belong”
by Robert C. Koehler

*A police state of mind

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/14/armed-bureaucracy
—

The Real News Network
What Future for the UK with One-Third of Children in Poverty?
Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur, says the alarming rise of poverty in the UK is deliberate–and so too in the US

*Alston says the gummint is in denial.

No.

They are of denial.

That is the sine qua non of austerity.

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-future-for-the-uk-with-one-third-of-children-in-poverty

Largest Animal Epidemic in History Is Due to Industrial Farming
The African Swine Fever outbreak, which has now spread to China, could result in the slaughter of 200 million hogs this year, in an effort to get the disease under control. Rob Wallace of the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps outlines the causes and possible solutions

*Greed breeds disease

https://therealnews.com/stories/largest-animal-epidemic-in-history-is-due-to-industrial-farming
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Persian Gulf of Tonkin?

*With such a collusive corpress

War means never having to say more than a sorry excuse

http://accuracy.org/release/persian-gulf-of-tonkin
—

FAIR
Study Linking US Sanctions to Venezuelan Deaths Buried by Reuters for Over a Month
by Joe Emersberger

*Bear this (and innumerable other examples) in mind the next time you hear that the corpress is “credulous” or “naïve”, and not an active participant in the propaganda parade.

You have to make up your own lies before you believe them.

https://fair.org/home/study-linking-us-sanctions-to-venezuelan-deaths-buried-by-reuters-for-over-a-month
—

Democracy Now!
Vijay Prashad: U.S. Rushes to Blame Iran for Tanker Attacks as Much of World Pushes for Diplomacy

*Who lies

Who dies

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/14/us_blames_iran_oil_tankers_attack

Ola Bini Was Friends with Julian Assange. He Has Spent Two Months in Jail Without Charge in Ecuador

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/14/ola_bini_ecuador_arrest_wikileaks_assange

“Advocate”: Israeli Attorney Lea Tsemel Reflects on Defending Palestinians Who Resist Occupation

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/14/lea_tsemel_advocate_documentary_israel_palestine

Defending the Palestinian Resistance Movement: New Film Chronicles Life of Pioneering Israeli Lawyer

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/14/defending_the_palestinian_resistance_movement_new

National Security Laws Are Being Used as Excuse to Clamp Down on Press Across the Globe

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/14/national_security_laws_are_being_used

6.13

Two Iraqi Peace Activists Confront a Trumpian World
As the Trump administration weighs war, Iraqis prepare a carnival for peace
by Laura Gottesdiener

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/13/two-iraqi-peace-activists-confront-trumpian-world
—

Oceana Shines Light on Possible Illegal Fishing and Human Rights Abuses at Sea

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/13/oceana-shines-light-possible-illegal-fishing-and-human-rights-abuses-sea
—

The Real News Network
Sexuality and the End of the Catholic Church – RAI with Matthew Fox (6/8)
The refusal of the Church to purge abusers and pedophiles from the clergy and accept human sexuality as a blessing is leading to the end of the Church as we know it, says Matthew Fox on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*I don’t say this to dis Fox, but when we talk about “defending the Church at all costs”, it seems he goes to lengths to defend it as a “reformable” institution, as well as making excuses for its primary PR agent, Francis, rather than seeing it as an irredeemable appendage and accessory to power and wealth that should be stuffed down the garbage disposal of history.

The humanistic spirituality I believe he sincerely seeks will not be found in any vestige of that corrupt cathedral. A new edifice must be erected which values the divine over dogma, and exalts our freely chosen capacity for it.

WWJD?

Sumpin’ like that.

https://therealnews.com/stories/sexuality-and-the-end-of-the-catholic-church-rai-with-matthew-fox-6-8

Targeted by the Inquisition – RAI with Matthew Fox (5/8)
Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict, launched a campaign in defense of murderous dictatorships in Latin America and to purge the Church of liberation theology and priests like Matthew Fox – on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/targeted-by-the-inquisition-rai-with-matthew-fox-5-8

California Defies Trump Policies by Giving Medicaid to Some Undocumented Young Adults
California’s act to cover healthcare for undocumented people sets up a national debate on the politics of immigration and healthcare

*The walls within our borders are higher and heavier than anything that could be built on them

https://therealnews.com/stories/california-defies-trump-policies-by-giving-medicaid-to-some-undocumented-young-adults

Israeli Authorities Confiscate and then Attempt to Sell Palestinian Classrooms
Ali Abunimah discusses the complicity of the EU, which donated pre-fabricated classrooms to Palestinian schoolchildren, but did not ensure that they would be used for the purpose of education, rather than as a way for the Israeli occupation forces to pillage Palestinian property for their own profit. Thanks to media outrage the sale of the classrooms is on hold

https://therealnews.com/stories/israeli-authorities-confiscate-and-then-attempt-to-sell-palestinian-classrooms

Germany Passes Deportation Legislation
Germany’s parliament adopted the first part of a new legislation packet to restrict the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees in Germany, denying them the right to work, sending them to prison once room in the deportation centers runs out, and even allowing apartment raids in search of “illegal” immigrants

*Going down the Volksgemeinschaft

https://therealnews.com/stories/germany-passes-deportation-legislation

Daniel Ellsberg on the Release of the “Top Secret” Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg describes the tension waiting for the publishing of the Pentagon Papers story: “The Times was on lock down with armed guards.. they were fearing an injunction”

*Was the corpress antiwar, or simply acknowledging a reality all too plain – that the loss of American lives was no longer politically sustainable for this project?

The bombing bled on, as the troops came home, and there was no hue and cry from that corner to end the slaughter.

As for the war being “lost”, the utter irony is that US and global capital now, in large measure, have the Vietnam they sought

And at only the cost of a few hundred thousand lives.

https://therealnews.com/stories/daniel-ellsberg-on-the-release-of-the-top-secret-pentagon-papers
—

Petition
#StopWaitingForAnOrgan: No more lives lost to an outdated system
by Jennifer Flick

https://www.change.org/p/stopwaitingforanorgan-no-more-lives-lost-to-an-outdated-system
—

FAIR
Japan Facing Nightmare Scenario of Longer Lives, Low Unemployment, Less Crowding
by Dean Baker

https://fair.org/home/japan-facing-nightmare-scenario-of-longer-lives-low-unemployment-less-crowding
—

Democracy Now!
No More Deaths: Mistrial Declared After Jury Refuses to Convict Scott Warren for Aiding Migrants

*”Political” or not, do we have the right to disobey inhumane and unjust laws?

If a soldier is duty bound not to follow unlawful orders, are we not also as citizens called on to defy those laws that transgress our humanity?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/13/no_more_deaths_mistrial_declared_after

Justice for Layleen Polanco: Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/13/justice_for_layleen_polanco_community_demands

6.12

How Fears of Abolition Shaped the Second Amendment
Little did Madison, Jefferson, or Henry realize that one day in the future, weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as “persons” by a dysfunctional Supreme Court, would use his slave-patrol militia amendment to protect their “right” to manufacture and sell guns to individuals who would use them to murder schoolchildren
by Thom Hartmann

*A fetid constitutional fiction of the present bastard birthed by a foul constitutional fact of the past

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/12/how-fears-abolition-shaped-second-amendment
—

The Real News Network
Rising Water Rates Hurt Black Baltimore Most, Study Shows
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund shows an “explicit link between race and water affordability.” To fight this, they propose litigation and new legislation.

https://therealnews.com/stories/rising-water-rates-hurt-black-baltimore-most-study-shows

It Could Take 2,800 Years to Clean Alberta’s Old Oil and Gas Wells
To speed the clean up process, regulators would have to mandate a stricter schedule—but that could cost tens of billions of dollars, much of it coming from taxpayers, says Regan Boychuk, oil sands expert and Reclaim Alberta co-founder

*And thanks to their crimes of avarice, these corps have all but ensured that there will be no society to deal with this in far less than three millennia.

https://therealnews.com/stories/it-could-take-2800-years-to-clean-albertas-old-oil-and-gas-wells

Leaked Messages Confirm: Imprisonment of Brazil’s Lula da Silva was Politically Motivated
The website The Intercept received a massive archive of communications between prosecutors and judges, involving Brazil’s corruption cases. Initial analysis reveals that former president Lula da Silva’s prosecution and conviction were politically motivated. Mike Fox discusses the ramifications

https://therealnews.com/stories/leaked-messages-confirm-imprisonment-of-brazils-lula-da-silva-was-politically-motivated
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
How Was Barr, Central to Iran-Contra Cover-up, Deemed Honorable?

*Barr, Biden, Bush and a collusive corpress

Bs minus any sense of morality, and a C minus any claim of public service

Graded on a sliding scale into the abyss

http://accuracy.org/release/how-was-barr-central-to-iran-contra-cover-up-deemed-honorable
—

FAIR
Euphemisms All the Way Down
by Sam Husseini

*Language is a virus in a diseased culture

https://fair.org/home/euphemisms-all-the-way-down
—

Democracy Now!
Facing Affordable Housing Crisis & Record Homelessness, New York Passes Landmark Rent Protection Law

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/12/facing_affordable_housing_crisis_record_homelessness

Overcrowding, Rotten Food & Nooses: DHS Watchdog Confirms Horrific Conditions at Immigrant Jails

*Is it the ultimate rhetorical question to ask if these children and adults were Caucasian, wouldn’t there be a deafening condemnation from every corner of society?

Yet in reality it is the silence from so many that could be described as such.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/12/overcrowding_rotten_food_nooses_dhs_watchdog

6.11

‘We Have to Fight Back’: Progressives Call for Mobilization as Koch Brothers Open Their Pockets to Protect Corporate Democrats
“While we might not have millions of dollars from fossil fuel barons or wealthy elites, we have thousands of grassroots activists who are motivated by the vision of a just future for all”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*And the DNCistas will happily snort this Koch to keep their party going

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/11/we-have-fight-back-progressives-call-mobilization-koch-brothers-open-their-pockets

In Just One Decade, Corporations Destroyed 50 Million Hectares of Forest—An Area the Size of Spain
“These companies are destroying our children’s future by driving us towards climate and ecological collapse”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Call for corps to “change” align with Einstein’s alleged definition of insanity.

A decade of do nothing would empirically acknowledge that reality, you would think.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/11/just-one-decade-corporations-destroyed-50-million-hectares-forest-area-size-spain
—

Medicare for All Is Coming… Because Even the “Insured” Are Not Safe in This For-Profit System
So-called “experts” tell us that Americans love this system and it would be too costly or too complicated to change it. But even those with private insurance or employee-provided coverage know this simply is not true.
by Bonnie Castillo

*These experiences cover us with something

But it don’t smell like insurance

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/11/medicare-all-coming-because-even-insured-are-not-safe-profit-system
—

The Real News Network
Hong Kong Authorities Bow to Beijing, Determined to Ignore a Million Protesters
Hong Kong residents have taken to the streets to protest against the growing influence of mainland China over the city. But the protests are falling on deaf ears, says Prof. Sean Starrs

https://therealnews.com/stories/hong-kong-authorities-bow-to-beijing-determined-to-ignore-a-million-protesters

Israeli Private Intelligence Company Black Cube Out of Control
Shir Hever discusses the dangers of privatizing security and intelligence, as a private company called Black Cube that claims to use Israeli Mossad procedures hires out its services to the highest bidder and goes after international as well as Israeli activists, business people, and politicians

https://therealnews.com/stories/israeli-private-intelligence-company-black-cube-out-of-control

Hopkins Hospital and Nurses Reach Settlement On Unionization Efforts
by Jaisal Noor

*An in-hospital-ble environment for labor rights

https://therealnews.com/columns/hopkins-hospital-and-nurses-reach-settlement-on-unionization-efforts

Original Sin and the War on Liberation Theology – RAI with Matthew Fox (4/8)
Former priest Fox talks about questioning the concept of original sin, the assassination of John Paul I, John Paul II reviving the Inquisition led by Cardinal Ratzinger, and the concept that there is no love without justice – Matthew Fox on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*The original sin of hierarchical religion is its seemingly infinite capacity for utter hypocrisy

https://therealnews.com/stories/original-sin-and-the-war-on-liberation-theology-rai-with-matthew-fox-4-8

Venezuelan Families Build Solidarity Amid Crisis
Once a month, 181 families in Caracas, Venezuela, collectively buy tons of produce, directly from a cooperative in Lara state, five hours away. The project, known as Alpargata, shows how the economic crisis is also building solidarity. Mike Fox reports from Venezuela

*I think I read an AP piece on this the other day.

Yeah … right.

AP, aka “American Propaganda”

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuelan-families-build-solidarity-amid-crisis
—

FAIR
‘It’s Seen by Indigenous Activists as a Template for Similar Confrontations Around the Globe’
CounterSpin interview with Reynard Loki on indigenous oil victory
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/its-seen-by-indigenous-activists-as-a-template-for-similar-confrontations-around-the-globe
—

Democracy Now!
Press Freedom Under Attack: Australian Police Raid Network for Exposing War Crimes in Afghanistan

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/11/press_freedom_australia_police_raid_journalists

6.10

Why an “Apology Tour” Is Needed: An Open Letter to Joe Biden
Pretending that you don’t have much to apologize for is not viable
by Norman Solomon

*Is an apology in order

Or an abdication?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/10/why-apology-tour-needed-open-letter-joe-biden
–

Charter Schools Are a Major Dividing Line for the 2020 Democratic Candidates—Education Fights in Pennsylvania Point the Way
Charter schools now cost Pennsylvania taxpayers over $1.8 billion annually and account for over 25 percent of the state’s basic education funding
by Jeff Bryant

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/10/charter-schools-are-major-dividing-line-2020-democratic-candidates-education-fights
–

Trump’s Mexico Tariff Deal Is Fake News. Mexico Has Been Enforcing U.S. Immigration Policy For Years
The only thing the Mexican government surrendered in the war of words was its dignity
by Julio Ricardo Varela

*AMLO can you go?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/10/trumps-mexico-tariff-deal-fake-news-mexico-has-been-enforcing-us-immigration-policy
—

The Real News Network
D Day: Mythology of America as Liberator Feeds Trump’s Militarism
It was the Soviet army that broke Hitler’s back at Stalingrad, but the myth that the American army liberated Europe serves aggressive U.S. policy, including Trump targeting Iran – historian Peter Kuznick joins Paul Jay

*The past is always twisted to the ends of the present

https://therealnews.com/stories/d-day-mythology-of-america-as-liberator-feeds-trumps-militarism
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Trump’s Mexico “Distraction” * Colombia: “Security Crisis”

*”[W]e need trade agreements that work for the people, and not only large transnational corporations.”

Anything that works for global capital perforce won’t “work for the people”, if you’re being empiric about the matter.

http://accuracy.org/release/trumps-mexico-distraction-colombia-security-crisis

Biden’s Flip, Flops

*If you have any faith in this farce

The Joe’s on you

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-flip-flops
—

FAIR
YouTube Continues to Selectively Enforce Its Terms of Service
by Justin Anderson

*Pinkwashing brown shirts

https://fair.org/home/youtube-continues-to-selectively-enforce-its-terms-of-service

North Korea Law of Journalism Strikes Again as Envoy Rises From Dead
by Alan MacLeod

*Fact checking at the demonization door

https://fair.org/home/north-korea-law-of-journalism-strikes-again-as-envoy-rises-from-dead

6.7

‘Class of 0000’ Campaign Denounces ‘Cowardly’ Censorship of Student Call for Climate Action
“Before every revolution the group in power feels threatened, so they do everything they can to censor those who are speaking out…This is our revolution this time.”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Hopefully these students’ last lesson will be that no matter how anodyne you make your plea for reason, you’ll catch hell for it, so you may as well raise your own hell

And you just might find that’s the only way your call will be truly heard.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/07/class-0000-campaign-denounces-cowardly-censorship-student-call-climate-action
—

Reopen Linda Fairstein’s Cases and Hold New York’s Criminal Justice System Accountable
Our criminal justice system is stacked against people of color, especially young people of color, from the moment they come into contact with law enforcement to when they enter probation
by Carmen Perez

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/07/reopen-linda-fairsteins-cases-and-hold-new-yorks-criminal-justice-system
—

The Real News Network
Saudi King Calls ‘Despots’ to Mecca for Emergency Meeting on Iran
Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil says Saudi attempts to create a united front against Iran have dismally failed

https://therealnews.com/stories/saudi-king-calls-on-despots-to-mecca-for-emergency-meeting-on-iran
—

Democracy Now!
Animal Rights Activists: Cops Punish Protesters While Letting Corporations Off for Animal Torture

*Whole Foods

Complete farce

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/7/animal_rights_activists_cops_punish_protesters

6.6

The Quiet Killer at the Core of Patriotism
Doesn’t it make sense, in this land of 357 million guns, that our national glorification of war will have some unintended consequences here at home
by Robert C. Koehler

*Teaching to kill is a lesson never learned

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/06/quiet-killer-core-patriotism
—

Direct Action Everywhere
Animal Activist Disrupts Jeff Bezos at AI Conference, Asks for Amazon to Stop Selling Cruel Products
Amazon chicken supplier guilty of criminal animal cruelty, whistleblower prosecution, say activists

*How will WaPo cover this?

Like a wet, smothering blanket

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/06/animal-activist-disrupts-jeff-bezos-ai-conference-asks-amazon-stop-selling-cruel
—

The Real News Network
D-Day: How the US Supported Hitler’s Rise to Power
Historian Peter Kuznick joins Paul Jay to discuss the role of Ford, GM, and other industrialists in rearming Germany and supporting Hitler’s rise to power

*Kuznick maintains the “Saint Franklin” line so many liberals and progressives are loath the cross, but we shouldn’t we ask why someone so adroit in his use of the bully pulpit refused to sound the alarm on the rise of fascism, and corporate culpability in it?

“Antiwar sentiment” doesn’t explain or excuse his silence and inaction, does it?

https://therealnews.com/stories/d-day-how-the-us-supported-hitlers-rise-to-power

Has Indonesia Bucked the Global Rightward Trend?
The conflict between incumbent and winning president Jokowi and his conservative challenger Prabowo has led to violent protests, 8 deaths, and hundreds of injured, but Prabowo’s challenge to the election result has largely failed. Does this mean that the rightward shift has been halted?

https://therealnews.com/stories/has-indonesia-bucked-the-global-rightward-trend
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Postol on Syrian Attacks: OPCW Guilty of “Deception”

*Waving the false flag

http://accuracy.org/release/postol-on-syrian-attacks-opcw-guilty-of-deception
—

FAIR
WSJ Says CIA Chief Wouldn’t Do Anything ‘Inappropriate’—Despite Record of Torture and Coverup
by Joshua Cho

*Glowing the dark

https://fair.org/home/wsj-says-cia-chief-wouldnt-do-anything-inappropriate-despite-record-of-torture-and-coverup
—

Democracy Now!
Meet the Animal Rights Activists Facing Prison Time for Rescuing Ducks, Piglets from Factory Farms

*Caging conscience

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/6/direct_action_everywhere_dxe_duck_farm

6.5

Don’t Call Latest Abortion Bans ‘Heartbeat Bills,’ Doctors Say, Warning of Medically Inaccurate Right-Wing Talking Points
“To defeat the laws, we must fight the lies”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*No heartbeat = heartless in more than one sense

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/05/dont-call-latest-abortion-bans-heartbeat-bills-doctors-say-warning-medically

Not ‘Freedom Gas’ But ‘Failure Gas’: First-of-Its-Kind Report Details Planetary Perils of US Fracking Infrastructure Boom
“These projects aren’t just associated with health and safety risks: if even a fraction of them come to fruition, they will condemn the planet to a future of climate chaos”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Stepping on the gas

Driving us over the cliff

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/05/not-freedom-gas-failure-gas-first-its-kind-report-details-planetary-perils-us
—

A Shorter Working Week Isn’t a Luxury—It’s An Ecological Necessity
Working less wouldn’t just free ourselves to spend time doing the things we love: it could be the key to staying within our planet’s boundaries
by Philipp Frey

*Working the planet to death

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/05/shorter-working-week-isnt-luxury-its-ecological-necessity
—

The Real News Network
Oshawa GM Plant Workers “Collateral Damage”
The GM plant in Oshawa has shrunk from 23,000 jobs in the early 1980s to 300 today. Taxpayers bailed out GM to save jobs and productive capacity. A democratic just transition that saves the community and the jobs are possible, says former Assistant to the President of the Canadian Autoworkers Union, Sam Gindin

*Never trust the man with his boot on your neck to take the right step

https://therealnews.com/stories/oshawa-gm-plant-workers-collateral-damage

Austria’s Far Right Gains Ground Despite Massive Corruption Scandal
Austria’s right-wing FPÖ party was forced to leave the governing coalition in the wake of a serious corruption scandal, but nonetheless went on to increase its vote in the European Parliamentary election. We analyze why with Walter Baier

https://therealnews.com/stories/austrias-far-right-gains-ground-despite-massive-corruption-scandal

Canadian Inquiry Demands Justice for Genocide of Indigenous Women and Girls
Dr. Pamela Palmater of Ryerson University says PM Justin Trudeau had an opportunity to take the lead on the recommendations of the inquiry, but he didn’t. She has no confidence that the political will exist to end the genocide against Indigenous women and girls.

*Justice never trickles down

It always bubbles up

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadian-inquiry-demands-justice-for-genocide-of-indigenous-women-and-girls
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Cuba Embargo, Denounced at UN, “Violates Sovereignty” and “Freedom of Travel”

http://accuracy.org/release/cuba-embargo-denounced-at-un-violates-sovereignty-and-freedom-of-travel
—

FAIR
Corporate Media Have Second Thoughts About Exiling Julian Assange From Journalism
by John O’Day

*Should we discount the possibility that this is all merely a pantomime of journalistic independence, to be followed by an even more compliant corpress’ kid glove approach to classified intel (other than that intended to further state interests)?

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-have-second-thoughts-about-exiling-julian-assange-from-journalism
—

Democracy Now!
Republicans Clash with Trump over Proposed Tariffs of Up to 25% on All Mexican Imports

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/5/republicans_clash_with_trump_over_proposed

Trans Activist: ICE Must Be Held Accountable for Trans Salvadoran Asylum Seeker’s Death

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/5/trans_activist_ice_must_be_held

“We’re Left to Defend Ourselves on the Margins”: 8 Black Trans Women Have Been Murdered This Year

*Whatever conflicts exist between cis women’s rights and transgender rights, an imperative sense of solidarity among all oppressed people has to inform how those issues are addressed, given the literally deadly serious stakes involved.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/5/were_left_to_defend_ourselves_on

6.4

The American Cult of Bombing and Endless War
The very Dark Side of US air power
by William Astore

*Flights of flagitious fancy

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/04/american-cult-bombing-and-endless-war
–

Duncan Hunter Admits His Marine Unit ‘Killed Probably Hundreds of Civilians’ in Iraq
Republican congressman counts ‘women and children’ among his probable victims as he brushes off war crimes during interview
by Brett Wilkins

*What frightens me perhaps more than this sociopath’s blood lust is the fact that so many persons entered a voting booth and neatly filled in the circle next to his name.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/04/duncan-hunter-admits-his-marine-unit-killed-probably-hundreds-civilians-iraq
–

How Guns Literally Go to Men’s Heads
Guns can be thought of as a drug—an intoxicating, mind-altering, power-conferring drug that leads to aggression and, in the United States, to around 40,000 deaths a year
by Thom Hartmann

*When I hold you in my arms

And I feel my finger on your trigger

I know nobody can do me no harm

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/04/how-guns-literally-go-mens-heads
—

The Real News Network
Is Pope Francis Doing Enough to Root Out Sex Abuse in the Church? – RAI with Matthew Fox (2/8)
Pope Francis announced new rules requiring pedophilia and sexual abuse to be reported to Church superiors, but survivors are critical, saying police need to be informed – on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*I’ll never cease to be amazed how obviously insightful persons such as Fox can not see what is before their eyes.

He desperately wants to believe Francis is something other than a PR man for the Church, tasked with (publicly) cleaning up the scandals its baked in sins made a foregone conclusion, in much the same manner as Obama’s presidency.

And like Dear Misleader, there is a wilful blindness to his fraudulent nature, driven by a fealty to personality over principle.

As for the institution itself, it was always corrupt and lustful for power, and no amount of “reform” will change that. Again, the analogy holds with the Democratic Party, or indeed the facade of “democracy” extant in the US and elsewhere.

Imagine, as the man said … and let your open eyes lead your open heart.

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-pope-francis-doing-enough-to-root-out-sex-abuse-in-the-church-rai-with-matthew-fox-2-8

U.S. Prepares Sanctions to Block Food Program for Millions of Venezuelans
The United States is preparing sanctions against a major Venezuelan government subsidized food program that distributes important food staples to over half of Venezuelans each month. The impact would be devastating. Mike Fox reports from Venezuela

*Certain to be blithely ignored by the corpress stateside and among “the coalition of the killing”

https://therealnews.com/stories/u-s-prepares-sanctions-to-block-food-subsidy-for-millions-of-venezuelans
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Mass Protests in: * Sudan * Honduras

http://accuracy.org/release/mass-protests-in-sudan-honduras
—

FAIR
‘It Puts You Into a Process That Hugely Favors the Employer’
CounterSpin interview with Celine McNicholas on forced arbitration
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/it-puts-you-into-a-process-that-hugely-favors-the-employer
—

Democracy Now!
Damning Canadian Inquiry Calls the Murder and Disappearance of Indigenous Women & Girls Genocide

*Righteous words, and certainly long overdue, but Buller’s brushing off of criticism of the commission, as well as her studied avoidance of any expressed skepticism toward the Trudeau administration, well warranted given its actions and inaction, doesn’t fill me with confidence that this was much more than an exercise in damage control, whether that was her and her team’s intent or not.

It will be up to the indigenous communities and their supporters to breath fiery life into those words. Many no doubt will take on that struggle, and let us hope they will prevail over others who will merely posture as they seek to maintain their positions on the political game board.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/6/4/murders_of_indigenous_women_in_canada

6.3

Pompeo Admits Kushner Peace Plan Likely Unworkable as Trump’s Son-in-Law Openly Dehumanizes Palestinian People
“I get why people think this is going to be a deal that only the Israelis could love,” secretary of state says in leaked audio
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*And a primary reason the b st rd can safely spew this bile is a corpress that covers for him by producing ledes that highlight his “uncertainty”, rather than his inhumanity.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/03/pompeo-admits-kushner-peace-plan-likely-unworkable-trumps-son-law-openly-dehumanizes

‘Industry Front Group’ Claims to Promote Public Health While Fighting Chemical and Food Safety Regulations, Study Finds
“Industry wolf disguised as scientific health charity”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*A snake in the glass towers

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/03/industry-front-group-claims-promote-public-health-while-fighting-chemical-and-food
—

This May Feel Like the 1930s, But History Doesn’t Have to Repeat Itself
The left needs to end its sectarianism. Broad alliances and radical policies are required urgently.
by Nick Dearden

*The shoe rack of the soulless

Guccis on the greedy’s feet

Jackboots on our necks

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/06/03/may-feel-1930s-history-doesnt-have-repeat-itself
—

Direct Action Everywhere
30+ Arrested as Hundreds of Animal Rights Activists Descend on Slaughterhouse, Locking Necks to Slaughter Line
Activists Claim Cruelty Laws are Unenforced, Whistleblowers Prosecuted

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/03/30-arrested-hundreds-animal-rights-activists-descend-slaughterhouse-locking

Beyond Nuclear Appeals Against Proposed National High-Level Radioactive Waste Dump Targeted at New Mexico
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission urged to overrule its licensing board, reject Holtec International’s illegal application

*Waste … not

Want … not

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/06/03/beyond-nuclear-appeals-against-proposed-national-high-level-radioactive-waste

The Real News Network
US-China Trade War: Trump Attempts to Veto China’s Industrial Policy
The U.S. bans Huawei products, allegeing “security threats”. Pressure to prevent China from putting conditions on foreign investors won’t change China’s industrial policy, which is a vital part of their development planning, says Mark Weisbrot

*What both gummints have in common is economic policy that seeks to ensure the domination of capital over labor.

That’s stating, not the bleeding, but the bloody obvious, innit?

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-china-trade-war-trump-attempts-to-veto-chinas-industrial-policy

Dramatic Increase in Political Violence in Colombia due to Abandonment of Peace Agreement
Recent human rights reports show that murders of social leaders have skyrocketed since Colombia’s right-wing President Ivan Duque came into office in 2017. Activist Manuel Rozental speaks to us about the situation from one of the most affected areas

*I don’t see how a piece in the Times could have the impact Rozental attributes to it. Three people care about the horrors in Colombia in the US, and none of them have any power to do anything about them.

I may be wrong, but I’d like that argument expanded upon.

https://therealnews.com/stories/dramatic-increase-in-political-violence-in-colombia-due-to-abandonment-of-peace-agreement
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Big Tech Dominance: Is Antitrust the Solution?

http://accuracy.org/release/big-tech-dominance-is-antitrust-the-solution

Why Are So Many Shooters Military Veterans?

http://accuracy.org/release/why-are-so-many-shooters-military-veterans

May 2019

5.31

‘Coalition Against Death Alley’ Kicks Off 5-Day March for Environmental Justice in Louisiana’s Petrochemical Corridor
“What we are seeing illustrated now is intentional genocide,” says one march organizer about the regional pollution
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/31/coalition-against-death-alley-kicks-5-day-march-environmental-justice-louisianas
—

Fantasy and Fatality in the Facebook Era
A lamentation for my father
by Kristine Mattis

*Humans are the only species wilfully incapable of reason

And willingly capable of delusion

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/31/fantasy-and-fatality-facebook-era
—

National Iranian-American Council
NIAC Responds to State Department’s Decision to Suspend Funding to Grantee Using Funds to Attack U.S. Civil Society

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/31/niac-responds-state-departments-decision-suspend-funding-grantee-using-funds

Food & Water Watch
Senate Democrats Question USDA Over “Big Ag Bailout” Money

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/30/senate-democrats-question-usda-over-big-ag-bailout-money
—

The Real News Network
Facial Recognition Technology Ban for Police Is Important, but Not Enough
San Francisco, the ‘Silicon Valley’ city where facial recognition technology has been developed, is one of the first cities to recognize the risk to city residents of false recognition and over-reliance on technology

*Big Brother views

Big Business screws

https://therealnews.com/stories/facial-recognition-technology-ban-for-police-is-important-but-not-enough

Opposition Demand for Maduro’s Resignation a Non-Starter, Says Norwegian Official
An unnamed Norwegian official with inside knowledge of the talks between the Venezuelan opposition and government in Oslo said the opposition “needs to be more realistic.” We discuss the talks with Norwegian Venezuela specialist Eirik Vold

*I’ve been around too long to pretend to know how this will turn out, but I don’t believe the US will accept “a negotiated solution”, and will continue to turn the screws on the Venezuelan people, while possibly throwing a lot of money at military honchos to foment a split and violent confrontation, then backing it without direct armed intervention should they succeed in their ploy.

It’s as safe a bet as any …

https://therealnews.com/stories/opposition-demand-for-maduros-resignation-a-non-starter-says-norwegian-official

Netanyahu Government Falls – Will New Elections Change Anything?
Lia Tarachansky unpacks the power struggle between former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his former ally, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and the split between right-wing secularists and ultra-Orthodox Jews

https://therealnews.com/stories/netanyahu-government-falls-will-new-elections-change-anything
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
On Russia, Did Mueller Overstate His Own Report?

*”Next on The Rachel Maddow Show”

Not

http://accuracy.org/release/on-russia-did-mueller-overstate-his-own-report
—

FAIR
A Million Extinctions Eclipsed by One Royal Grandbaby
by Janine Jackson

*You could call it “infantile”

But that would be far too kind, wouldn’t it?

https://fair.org/home/a-million-extinctions-eclipsed-by-one-royal-grandbaby
—

Democracy Now!
Ask for Jane: Meet the Underground Feminist Group That Provided Abortions Before Roe v. Wade

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/31/seg_2_jane_collective_update_with

Remembering Dr. George Tiller, 10 Years After the Abortion Provider Was Assassinated in Kansas

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/31/seg_3_storycorps_please_update_with

These Women Provided Illegal Abortions Before Roe v. Wade. Will Activists Have to Go Underground Again?

*As with the segment Wednesday on the mensches working on the border, this reminds us that our better angels await their flying orders, if we can but muster the courage and compassion to issue them.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/31/these_women_provided_illegal_abortions_before

5.30

The Real News Network
Victorious Grassroots Caucus Faces Challenge From Longtime Incumbent in Teachers Union Election
by Jaisal Noor

*A teaching moment

https://therealnews.com/columns/victorious-grassroots-caucus-faces-challenge-from-longtime-incumbent-in-teachers-union-election

Rising Seas Could Generate 187 Million Climate Refugees by 2100
Dr. Roger Cooke explains that, according to a new study, sea levels could rise by over 2 meters by the end of the century

*The only certainty is that addictive avarice will obstruct the struggle for our survival.

https://therealnews.com/stories/rising-seas-could-generate-187-million-climate-refugees-by-2100

Last Slave Ship Found on Alabama Coast Validates Descendants’ Stories
The slave trade was abolished in 1808, but this ship, the Clotilda, sailed in 1860 and was sunk by its owner once he won his bet and sold his human cargo. Historian Sylviane Diouf discusses the discovery

*History, even when it does deal with these sins, tends to obscure the humanity of those who suffered them.

Empathy requires opening a window into the flesh, blood and soul of others far past, and present.

https://therealnews.com/stories/last-slave-ship-found-on-alabama-coast-validates-descendants-stories
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Rowley Scrutinizes Mueller’s Statement

*With “heroes” like this, who needs villains?

(Well, the “hero”, for one)

http://accuracy.org/release/rowley-scrutinizes-muellers-statement

5.29

The Bottom Line: Go for the Money
The knowledge of how activists can impact industry is powerful, especially if used strategically
by Rivera Sun

*Modifying corporate behavior shouldn’t be an end in itself.

The end game needs to be the end to their existence.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/29/bottom-line-go-money
–

Taking Farmers for a Ride
Trump’s trade disruptions are inflicting real pain, but they’re also exposing the frailty of an agriculture economy built for big business
by Ben Lilliston

*A stake through the heartland

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/29/taking-farmers-ride
—

Food & Water Watch
DOE Release Touts Exports of “U.S. Molecules of Freedom” in Orwellian News Release

*”[M]olecules of U.S. freedom”

Nary an atom of U.S. principle

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/29/doe-release-touts-exports-us-molecules-freedom-orwellian-news-release
—

The Real News Network
Sen. Graham’s Call for Military Intervention in Venezuela: A Scare Tactic?
Sen. Lindsey Graham issued one of the most explicit threats of military intervention against Venezuela yet. But does he mean it and does he truly believe Venezuela is a threat to the United States, or is he just trying to scare the Maduro government? We discuss the latest escalation with CEPR’s Alex Main

https://therealnews.com/stories/sen-grahams-call-for-military-intervention-in-venezuela-a-scare-tactic
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
European Crisis Beyond the Elections

http://accuracy.org/release/european-crisis-beyond-the-elections
—

Democracy Now!
Scott Warren Provided Food & Water to Migrants in Arizona; He Now Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison

*Use a soul, go to jail

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/29/scott_warren_provided_food_water_to

No More Deaths: Scott Warren & Catherine Gaffney on How Humanitarian Aid Is Criminalized Near Border

*It’s difficult not to despair of our species’ profound flaws.

Stories such as this provide a much needed reminder, and model, of our capacity for selfless sacrifice.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/29/no_more_deaths_scott_warren_speaks

5.28

With Viral Tweet, Activist Urges Defeat of Massive Grand Canyon Development That Threatens Local Tribe’s Water
“There’s no national news coverage about this and some very rich people want to keep it that way”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call someplace paradise
Kiss it goodbye

“The Last Resort” – the Eagles

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/28/viral-tweet-activist-urges-defeat-massive-grand-canyon-development-threatens-local
—

An Anti-Trust Reboot Could Give Democrats Traction in Rural America
For decades Democrats and Republicans have let corporate concentration and power grow, while the incomes of farmers and farmworkers shrink
by Anthony Pahnke and Jim Goodman

*The stench emanates from CAFOs

And corporate HQs

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/28/anti-trust-reboot-could-give-democrats-traction-rural-america
—

The Real News Network
T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Endangers Free Media
Richard Wolff discusses the 26 billion merger by T-Mobile and Sprint, which the FCC announced is “in the public interest.” The merger could create an even bigger media and telecommunication monopoly that will crush medium and small enterprises

*Well, yeah, it’ll “benefit the consumers”

But you have to ask what’s being consumed, and by whom.

https://therealnews.com/stories/t-mobile-and-sprint-merger-endangers-free-media

The New Authoritarians
David Renton discusses his new book “The New Authoritarians: Convergence on the Right”. Although the new wave of right-wing politicians is not fascist, it is dangerous and must be studied closely in order for the left to have a chance to fight back. The book focuses on the U.S, UK and France, and shows the connections which build up the alt-right and the populist right

*Perhaps Israel’s cover for protofascism could be called “brown shirt washing”?

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-new-authoritarians

Marijuana Activist Faces 10 Years in Prison for Using Facebook Live
A 20-year-old student activist was charged with felony wiretapping for using Facebook Live while in the office of Rep. Andy Harris, known for pushing back against the legalization of marijuana in DC

*Law and the ordained order

https://therealnews.com/stories/marijuana-activist-faces-10-years-in-prison-for-using-facebook-live
—

Democracy Now!
EU Parliamentary Elections: Left and Far-Right Parties Gain as Centrists Falter

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/28/eu_parliamentary_elections_left_and_far

Green Party Wins Record Support in EU Elections as Youth-Led Climate Strikes Grow

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/28/green_party_wins_record_support_in

Paul Mason: Brexit Party’s Success in EU Elections Shows Failure of Conservatives & Labour

*We can see it as all of a piece

Or we will see it all left in pieces

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/28/paul_mason_brexit_partys_success_in

5.27

Glam Shots for One, Not for the Other: Different Media Standard for Hope Hicks and Chelsea Manning Draws Backlash
“Chelsea Manning doesn’t get this treatment”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The only “#Resistance” from the corpress

Is to reality

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/27/glam-shots-one-not-other-different-media-standard-hope-hicks-and-chelsea-manning

US Army Tweet Inadvertently Triggers Responses Revealing ‘Real, Painful, and Horrifying Human Costs of War’
“How has serving impacted you?” the Army asked. The responses poured in.
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*A parade of unsung pain

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/26/us-army-tweet-inadvertently-triggers-responses-revealing-real-painful-and-horrifying
—

The Only Solution to America’s Political Crisis
If we’re serious about popular sovereignty, we’ll stick around to “dismantle the corporate state” that birthed both Trump and the inauthentic opposition party
by Paul Street

*We sh t

Or get flushed down the pot.

But first we desperately need to be potty trained.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/27/only-solution-americas-political-crisis
–

The Life-saving Work of Abortion Funds
Across the country, local groups have long been doing the work of filling the gaps in access to the procedure
by Kalena Thomhave

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/27/life-saving-work-abortion-funds
–

The Secret Money Behind the Push to Ban Abortion
An index from the Institute for Southern Studies
by Sue Sturgis

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/26/secret-money-behind-push-ban-abortion
—

The Real News Network
US Sanctions Leave Millions of Venezuelans Without Water
“You can’t blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He’s mean and he’s blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end.” — Yolimar Contreras

*”We had to destroy the village to [en]s[l]ave it”

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-sanctions-leave-millions-of-venezuelans-without-water

Iran Economic Sanctions Kill as Effectively as Bombs
The Trump administration’s illegal economic sanctions against Iran make it impossible to import essential medicines, says CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot

*Even if the screams of the economy – and the people – didn’t fall on the deaf ears of the corpress

Their cheers would just as surely drown them out.

https://therealnews.com/stories/iran-economic-sanctions-kill-as-effectively-as-bombs

Three Ways To Discipline Corporate Global Governors (2/2)
No stakeholder-based global governance system comes close to matching the democratic legitimacy of a citizen-based and nation-state-based governance system, says Harris Gleckman, who advocates three alternatives to the current corporate-driven multi-stakeholder system and its self-selected global governors

*Any system needs to nudge folks out of their national silos, and give them some skin in the global game, which they already have, whether they suss that or not.

Seeing beyond state centered issues to shared global interests of peace, justice and survival is a psychosocial imperative for all humanity.

https://therealnews.com/stories/three-ways-to-discipline-corporate-global-governors-pt-2-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Unprecedented” Attack on Freedom of the Press

*AI has no trouble finding stars to do fundraisers, but can’t seem to locate a true prisoner of uncompromising conscience under its well connected nose.

http://accuracy.org/release/unprecedented-attack-on-freedom-of-the-press

5.24

New Data Reveals ‘Alarming Escalation’ of Threats Towards Abortion Facilities
“Anti-choice individuals and groups have been emboldened by the rhetoric of President Trump, Vice President Pence, and other elected officials”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*In Jesus’ name

Mayhem

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/24/new-data-reveals-alarming-escalation-threats-towards-abortion-facilities
—

Assange, Espionage, and the Cult of Personality
Whatever schadenfreude some people—including some journalists, pundits and politicians—may feel over the idea of Assange spending time behind bars (regardless of the charge), the fact remains that criminalizing the work of journalism is ultimately destructive for any country that wants to call itself a democracy
by Christian Christensen

*Of course, even if Assange were pure as the driven Swedish snow, the corpress would revile him; perhaps more so, as they’d have nothing to use against him in their campaign of demonization to cover their own supine servitude to power, and their inherent hypocrisy toward the role of journalism in society, which they claim to hold holy.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/24/assange-espionage-and-cult-personality
—

Center for Food Safety
Decision on Monarch Butterfly’s Endangered Species Protection Extended to 2020
Butterfly’s vulnerability to climate change calls for further population modeling

*Don’t suss this

If action’s needed yesterday, why is there agreement to extend the deadline to decide to do so?

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/24/decision-monarch-butterflys-endangered-species-protection-extended-2020
—

The Real News Network
AFL-CIO Budget Declares Organizing Unimportant
A leaked copy of the budget for the largest labor federation in America drops funds for organizing from 30 percent to less than 10 percent. Union activist and scholar Bill Fletcher, Jr. analyzes its impact

*The question is can you build a new plane, when the “leadership” will be intent on sabotaging it? In the case of the Democratic Party, I think it’s foolish to try to “take it over”, given its corrupt and calcified nature.

The AFL-CIO could be likewise a lost cause, and the best path forward is to get the hell out of the desert, and build that plane somewhere else.

Someone more informed about the dynamics within the labor movement will have to make that call.

https://therealnews.com/stories/afl-cio-budget-declares-organizing-unimportant

Far-Right Israeli Organization Publishes List of ‘Disloyal’ Professors
Hilla Dayan discusses the right-wing Zionist group Im Tirtzu, and the scare campaign against leftist and progressive professors going on in Israel

*Steiner posed the question regarding the political indoctrination of youth, but it wasn’t explored, and I’d like to hear about the whats, whys and hows of that phenomenon.

https://therealnews.com/stories/far-right-israeli-organization-publishes-list-of-disloyal-professors

Daniel Ellsberg on Julian Assange’s Espionage Charges
The US Department of Justice issued an 18-count indictment against Julian Assange for violating the 1917 Espionage Act. We speak to Daniel Ellsberg about the dangerous implications this move has for journalism in the United States

*The corpress won’t stand on principle

They have none.

There may be some handwringing, alongside additional assaults on Assange’s character, but as Ellsberg states, “responsible journalists” bow to the security state, and that, among another malefactions, is why they deserve to be deemed an enemy of the people.

https://therealnews.com/stories/daniel-ellsberg-on-julian-assanges-espionage-charges
—

FAIR
NYT Parrots US Propaganda on Hezbollah in Venezuela
by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz

*So why would the corpress fret about what Assange’s indictment means for “freedom of the press”, when this is how they honor it?

https://fair.org/home/nyt-parrots-us-propaganda-on-hezbollah-in-venezuela
—

Democracy Now!
Jeremy Scahill: New Indictment of Assange Is Part of a Broader War on Journalism & Whistleblowers

*”[T]o every journalist in this country, to every person of conscience”

Imagine were those synonymous

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/24/jeremy_scahill_new_indictment_of_assange

Assange Is Indicted for Exposing War Crimes While Trump Considers Pardons for War Criminals

*Ellsberg says some foolish things at times, I’m sorry to say.

No, Killer Clown and Bush’s Brutal Brain aren’t “traitors”, as the America they would betray doesn’t exist. As for being “patriots”, Trump is loyal to no one but himself, and Cheney has fealty to an imperial, imperious state that is the essence of American exceptionalism.

His faith in the scales falling from the eyes of the corpress is likewise at odds with reality. They won’t stand up for “press freedom”. Their fear will be expressed in even greater servility to the security state, if that is indeed possible.

They will faithfully stenograph the collapse of the facade of democracy in this country.

It will die in their darkness, unless we, not them, find the courage to challenge that fearsome fate.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/24/assange_is_indicted_for_exposing_war

Eve Ensler Reads from Her New Book “The Apology” & Discusses Surviving Years of Abuse

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/14/eve_ensler_reads_from_her_new

5.23

‘What Could Be More Important?’: World Leaders, Media Ignore Biodiversity Report Detailing Mass Extinction Event Now Underway
“The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Are we royally rogered?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/23/what-could-be-more-important-world-leaders-media-ignore-biodiversity-report

‘Vague, Overly Broad, and Sweeping in Scope’: Lawsuits Take Aim at Efforts to Criminalize Anti-Pipeline Protests
“It’s hard to convince or even ask people with children to organize against pipelines if a mother will risk a felony”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The protest to prison pipeline, or the pipeline protest to prison

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/23/vague-overly-broad-and-sweeping-scope-lawsuits-take-aim-efforts-criminalize-anti
—

The Real News Network
How the U.S. Crackdown on Abortion Laws Influences Other Countries
As Americans struggle to decide the fate of reproductive rights state by state, the U.S. government has imposed a “Gag Rule” that would remove U.S. federal funding from any country or international organization that provides abortions or even advises women that abortion is their choice

*”Certainly I think the United States has been looked to as a leader when it comes to human rights and civil rights.”

Then why would there have been any need for your organization?

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-the-u-s-crackdown-on-abortion-laws-influences-other-countries

Guaidó Out of Gas (1/2)
After several US backed failed coup attempts, Juan Guaidó sends an envoy to Oslo to join opposition for talks with the government. Former Chief of Staff to Nicolás Maduro, Temir Porras joins Sharmini Peries for analysis

https://therealnews.com/stories/guaido-out-of-gas-1-2

Guaidó Out of Gas (2/2 )
The US has failed in its regime change venture in Venezuela. Former Chief of Staff to Nicolás Maduro, Temir Porras joins Sharmini Peries for analysis

*Or perhaps they’re simply buying time to revise their strategy, before declaring negotiations “useless” and implementing Plan B?

https://therealnews.com/stories/guaido-out-of-gas-2-2

There Are no Nation-States, Only Corporate Global Governors (1/2)
While in the past transnational corporations were powerful actors, there were at least formal governors of national states; not anymore in the current ‘multi-stakeholder’ organization of globalization, as described by Harris Gleckman

*Voluntary manslaughter

https://therealnews.com/stories/there-are-no-nation-states-only-corporate-global-governors-pt-1-2

Chicago’s New Mayor to End Water Shutoffs
The move will help tens of thousands who are struggling with rapidly increasing bills, but there is still work to be done to make Chicago’s water affordable, says organizer Jenya Polozova

https://therealnews.com/stories/chicagos-new-mayor-to-end-water-shutoffs
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Arguments for Taxing Wall Street Trading

http://accuracy.org/release/arguments-for-taxing-wall-street-trading
—

Democracy Now!
Allan Nairn: Deadly Protests Erupt in Indonesia as U.S.-Trained Generals Wage a War on Democracy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/allan_nairn_deadly_protests_erupt_in

Allan Nairn: Impeachment Inquiry Should Focus on Trump’s Actual Atrocities, Not a Russia Plot

*Nairn’s spot on, but not due to Mueller’s “integrity”. He’d find (or not find) whatever serves his political allegiance, as he has throughout his “career”.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/allan_nairn_impeachment_inquiry_should_focus

“India Loses Again, and the World Loses with It”: Siddhartha Deb on Modi’s Landslide Re-election

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/india_loses_again_and_the_world

5.22

Blaming Dead Pilots Brought to You by Boeing
Why would they do this? To shift the blame. After all, there is an active criminal investigation focused directly on Boeing and the responsible executives.
by Russell Mokhiber

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/22/blaming-dead-pilots-brought-you-boeing
–

Foreign Aid That Costs an Arm and a Leg — Literally
The U.S.-funded Israeli military is shooting so many unarmed Palestinians that the UN is warning of an amputation crisis in Gaza
by Phyllis Bennis

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/22/foreign-aid-costs-arm-and-leg-literally
–

America Needs a Long-Term Care Program for Seniors
By 2035, seniors will outnumber children. A new plan in Washington state shows how we can care for them — and for their caretakers
by Sarah Anderson

*The bitter fruit of elders buried

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/22/america-needs-long-term-care-program-seniors
—

ACLU
HUD Moves to Allow Anti-Trans Discrimination in Federally Funded Homeless Shelters

*A stitch away from a scarlet “T”

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/22/hud-moves-allow-anti-trans-discrimination-federally-funded-homeless-shelters

Fight for the Future
Telecom-Friendly House Democrats Are Pushing a Letter to Undermine Net Neutrality

*So now, what’s worse

That these reps are so stupid as to be taken in by this transparent scam

Or that they’re so corrupt that they’re in on it?

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/22/telecom-friendly-house-democrats-are-pushing-letter-undermine-net-neutrality
—

The Real News Network
Without Medicare for All, the Healthcare System Will Collapse – Wendell Potter RAI (7/7)
The healthcare system is unsustainable; without a Medicare for All system, only the wealthiest will be able to afford decent care – Wendell Potter on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*Will the full frontal assault of the corpress on universal healthcare cloud enough minds to keep it in the closet?

The futhermuckers are bound and determined to find out.

https://therealnews.com/stories/without-medicare-for-all-the-healthcare-system-will-collapse-wendell-potter-rai-7-7

44 States File Suit Against Drug Companies for Inflating Prices
Ending patent monopolies and prosecuting big pharma will drive prescription drug prices down, says Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works

*A patent on pleonexia (look it up)

https://therealnews.com/stories/44-states-file-suit-against-drug-companies-for-inflating-prices

Waiting for Guaido (2/7)
Why did Edgardo Lander and the Citizens Platform for the Defense of the Constitution meet with Juan Guaidó? The potential for violence, military intervention, and even civil war, made it important to find ways to de-escalate, says Lander

https://therealnews.com/stories/waiting-for-guaido-pt-2-7

Canada’s Anti-Venezuela Policy: A Result of Material Interests and US Subordination
Canada has followed the Trump administration’s lead on Venezuela, but it’s charting a very different path with regard to Cuba. Yves Engler explains that while there are material reasons for the difference, Canada has followed the U.S. lead for a long time

*”Good cops” still carry Tasers

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadas-anti-venezuela-policy-a-result-of-material-interests-and-us-subordination
—

Petition
Fight for $15
McDonald’s is FAILING to protect workers from violence in their stores

https://fightfor15.org/s-petition/mcdonalds-violence-petition
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
New Assessments from Leading Scientist Accuse OPCW Leadership of Rigging on Alleged Syrian Chemical Weapons Attacks Used to Justify U.S. Bombings

*Gulf of Toxin

http://accuracy.org/release/new-assessments-from-leading-scientist-accuse-opcw-leadership-of-rigging-on-alleged-syrian-chemical-weapons-attacks-used-to-justify-u-s-bombings
—

FAIR
WaPo Hypes ‘Space Capitalists’—One of Whom Owns the Paper
by Julianne Tveten

*Paving a (sociopath)way to the stars

https://fair.org/home/wapo-hypes-space-capitalists-one-of-whom-owns-the-paper
—

Democracy Now!
How ICE Is Using Solitary Confinement to Punish Asylum Seekers, Including LGBT & Disabled Immigrants

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/22/solitary_voices_ice_is_using_solitary

“Modern-Day Indentured Servitude”: How Predatory Lenders Devastated New York City’s Taxi Drivers

*Taxi to the dark side

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/22/modern_day_indentured_servitude_how_predatory

5.21

The Real News Network
Wendell Potter RAI (6/7)
Wall Street demands medical insurance companies maintain their profits under the Affordable Care Act, which means they get even more aggressive in denying coverage and creating insurance models that under-insure patients – Wendell Potter on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*This trope about Congressional ignorance of this sinister scam is horsesh t, unless you deem it wilful ignorance. Any pol with an ounce of concern for their constituents would educate themselves ASAP on such grave matters.

Of course, many are perfectly aware, and hold their greedy mitts out for these larcenous vultures’ largesse.

https://therealnews.com/stories/more-die-from-medical-insurance-aggressive-prior-authorization-than-before-aca-wendell-potter-rai-6-7

How Johns Hopkins’ Influence Haunts Baltimore (2/2)
In Part Two, Antero Pietila, author of “The Ghosts Of Johns Hopkins,” discusses recent protests by students, community members and Hopkins employees over the institution’s relationship with Baltimore

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-johns-hopkins-influence-haunts-baltimore-2-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Postol: Newly Revealed Documents Show Syrian Chemical “Attacks Were Staged”

http://accuracy.org/release/postol-newly-revealed-documents-show-syrian-chemical-attacks-were-staged

Venezuela Embassy Protectors: Out of Jail, Focusing on Building Peace Movement

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuela-embassy-protectors-out-of-jail-focusing-on-building-peace-movement

Warnings of Venezuela Becoming U.S. Puppet from Honduras Expert

http://accuracy.org/release/warnings-of-venezuela-becoming-us-puppet-from-honduras-expert
—

FAIR
‘We’re Still Going to Be Making Sure People Have Access to Abortions They Want and Need’
CounterSpin interview with Jill Heaviside and Oriaku Njoku on reproductive rights assaults
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/were-still-going-to-be-making-sure-people-have-access-to-abortions-they-want-and-need
—

Democracy Now!
Detained, Abused & Denied Medical Care: How Trump Immigration Policies Led to Child Deaths at Border

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/21/detained_abused_denied_medical_care_how

Jennifer Harbury: Deaths of Guatemalan Children at Border Have Roots in Decades of U.S.-Backed Genocide

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/21/jennifer_harbury_deaths_of_guatemalan_children

Family of Jailed Saudi Feminist Loujain Al-Hathloul: She Was Waterboarded, Flogged & Electrocuted

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/21/family_of_jailed_saudi_feminist_loujain

5.20

Despite Anti-American ‘Baiting’ by NYT, Sanders Makes ‘No Apologies’ for Opposing Reagan-Backed Death Squads
“I plead guilty to, throughout my adult life, doing everything that I can to prevent war and destruction”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”Are you now, or have you ever been, possessed of a conscience?”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/20/despite-anti-american-baiting-nyt-sanders-makes-no-apologies-opposing-reagan-backed
—

Can It Happen Here?
It’s not the hate that’s new. It’s the apparent sense of entitlement.
by Laura Flanders

*”He sees no problem.”

He hasn’t looked in the mirror.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/20/can-it-happen-here
–

From Greta Thunberg to Parkland: Young Activists and the Right-Wing Smear Industry
These attacks have become an industry supposedly rooted in a worldview that worships rights and individual freedoms, but, in actual fact, is rooted in a hatred of activism, principle, and dedication
by Christian Christensen

*The man’s spot on, save for that last sentence.

They *can* imagine the damage

That’s why they try so viciously to do it.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/20/greta-thunberg-parkland-young-activists-and-right-wing-smear-industry
–

The War on Women Is Still On
In Trumpistan, legislative attempts to ban abortion are a blatant sign that women are under attack. In Canada, the war on women is escalating, but slowly and stealthily.
by Antonia Zerbisias

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/20/war-women-still
—

The Real News Network
How Johns Hopkins’ Influence Haunts Baltimore (1/2)
Antero Pietila, author of “The Ghosts Of Johns Hopkins” charts the rise of the influential Baltimore-based university while the city embraced segregation

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-johns-hopkins-influence-haunts-baltimore-pt-1-2

Trump-Bolton Aggression Against Iran Contained by Russia, Japan, China, and EU
Vijay Prashad says the very dangerous statements, economic sanctions and military aggression unleashed by Washington this week against Iran was countered by cool headed diplomacy by Japan, Russia, EU and China

*When it comes to identifying the interests of those caught between the imperial desires of the US and China

The diagnosis must be one of bipolar disorder.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-bolton-aggression-against-iran-contained-by-russia-japan-china-and-eu

Trump’s 2020 Military Budget Is $500 Billion More Than He Claims
If all the hidden parts are added together, the true military budget would be close to $1.25 trillion, says William Hartung of the Center for International Policy

*Patriotism is the preferred refuge of a profiteer

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-2020-military-budget-is-500-billion-more-than-he-claims

New Abortion Laws ‘Go Against Common Sense’
Conservatives have launched a new attack on abortion rights, which go against both medical science and common sense, says Anoa Changa, but the point is to bring the issue to the new conservative Supreme Court majority

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-abortion-laws-go-against-common-sense

Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Is Being Pushed By ‘Islamophobia Industry’
Civil rights lawyer and activist Arjun Singh Sethi says, “Even the CIA actually came out and said it would be a mistake, because in many ways the Muslim Brotherhood more recently has been a force of moderation and democratization in the Middle East”

*I don’t disagree with Sethi’s premise, but I’d have like to have seen a more critical take on the Brotherhood. Positing it as simply “a force of moderation and democratization”, especially in the subheading, is misleading.

As is so often the case, one doesn’t have to accept every accusation against those the West deems “terrorists” or “dictators” to acknowledge their contradictions.

https://therealnews.com/stories/muslim-brotherhood-terrorist-designation-is-being-pushed-by-islamophobia-industry

Trump’s Huawei Ban Confirms ‘Telecommunications Are Geopolitical Weapons’
As Trump warns of the surveillance danger of Huawei, the real concern of consumers should be the fact they are being surveilled by the U.S. government and all tech companies, says Yasha Levine

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-huawei-ban-confirms-telecommunications-are-geopolitical-weapons
—

FAIR
There’s Far More Diversity in Venezuela’s ‘Muzzled’ Media Than in US Corporate Press
by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz

*Of Orwell and oil wells

https://fair.org/home/theres-far-more-diversity-in-venezuelas-muzzled-media-than-in-us-corporate-press
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Sanders Joins Calls to Break Up Facebook

*Now just how much you reckon that T shirt Zuckie’s wearing cost?

Mine was three bucks at St. Vinnie’s.

http://accuracy.org/release/sanders-joins-calls-to-break-up-facebook
—

Democracy Now!
Bottle of Lies: How Poor FDA Oversight & Fraud in Generic Drug Industry Threaten Patients’ Health

*Has anyone been prosecuted for murder, much less mass murder, for these crimes?

Has the corpress treated these horrors as just that?

Do you think there’s a connection between the latter and the former?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/20/bottle_of_lies_how_poor_fda

Why Did the FDA Go Easy on Generic Drug Makers After Inspections Exposed Quality & Safety Concerns?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/20/why_did_the_fda_go_easy

5.17

‘Speak Up and Be Allies’: Men Asked to Join Women in Sharing Stories of Abortion
“Women should not have to face this fight alone. Men, it’s on us to listen, to speak out, and to take action”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Booker’s posturing, as per usual

But he’s spot on, and men need to be on that spot, side by side with women.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/17/speak-and-be-allies-men-asked-join-women-sharing-stories-abortion

Texas State Bill Would Make Protesting Pipelines a Felony on Par With Attempted Murder
“This needs to be a nation-wide story”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*What I fear is those who do interfere with or “damage” equipment being thrown under the bus by “peaceful protest” groups as a “pragmatic” compromise.

It’d be yet another example of “déjà vu all over again”

And again … and again … and again …

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/17/texas-state-bill-would-make-protesting-pipelines-felony-par-attempted-murder
—

Bill de Blasio Can’t Run for President as a Progressive If He Doesn’t Fire Daniel Pantaleo
This level of moral cowardice is disqualifying for a would-be president
by Carmen Perez

*Perez makes a damning case against this liberal darling, then professes faith in his ability, which would necessitate a desire, to change.

Highly illogical, Captain … but then so is quoting Lewis, given his record in Congress and alignment with the DNCistas.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/17/bill-de-blasio-cant-run-president-progressive-if-he-doesnt-fire-daniel-pantaleo
–

As Climate Crisis Threatens, Does Ford Have Something to Hide About Its Stance on Emissions Regulations?
It’s time for this top automaker to come clean with its investors
by Madeline Page and Rachel Curley

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/17/climate-crisis-threatens-does-ford-have-something-hide-about-its-stance-emissions
–

Where Is the Democratic Alternative to Forever War?
by Danny Sjursen

*Man, I wish I’d had Prof. Sjursen grading my papers in college

‘Cause I’d “F” ’em all.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/17/where-democratic-alternative-forever-war
—

The Real News Network
German Parliament Criminalizes Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement
Germany becomes the first country in the world to criminalize the BDS movement. Shir Hever, TRNN Correspondent in Germany and expert on Palestine-Israel, responds

*Taking a left turn into a democratic dead end

https://therealnews.com/stories/german-parliament-criminalizes-boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-movement

Health Insurance Abuses Continue in Spite of ACA – RAI with Wendell Potter (5/7)
We revisit Wendell Potter’s whistleblowing testimony that exposed how the insurance industry is more interested in pleasing Wall Street than in people’s care, and asked him if these abuses continued after the passing of the ACA–Wendell Potter on Reality Asserts Itself, hosted by Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/health-insurance-abuses-continue-in-spite-of-aca-rai-with-wendell-potter-5-7

What Would It Mean to Win? (2/2)
Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of Jacobin and author of The Socialist Manifesto, explains what socialism could actually look like in the United States in Part 2 of his interview

*There are other critiques I could make, but I’ll restrict myself to the absence of a call for a revolution of values, to an appeal to our better angels, our sense of common and communal humanity, our ability to empathize, and not simply ask, “What’s in it for me?”

Any true transformation of the human condition has to start with that, doesn’t it? Yes, we may be motivated by a desperate need to change our own dire circumstances, but in order to realize that, a spirit of camaraderie is essential. We have to have each other’s backs to move forward, and to do that we have to see ourselves in others, or we won’t hang together as our antagonists seek to hang us separately.

Is that too idealistic? I dearly hope not, for all our sakes.

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-would-it-mean-to-win-pt-2-2

Chelsea Manning Back in Prison After Refusing to Testify
Freed eight days ago, Manning was subpoenaed before a new grand jury investigating Assange. Despite grave danger to her health, she refused to testify, saying she would rather die in prison than change her principles

*Imagine if our “elected representatives” had a fraction of the integrity and courage on display here

And imagine, with exceedingly rare exception, is all we’ve ever been able to do.

https://therealnews.com/stories/chelsea-manning-back-in-prison-after-refusing-to-testify
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Arrested in Unprecedented Raid

*Not seeing any “bold” condemnation of this police state of mind from who passes for “progressive” pols in DC, have you?

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuelan-embassy-protectors-arrested-unprecedented-raid
—

FAIR
For Corporate Media, Space Belongs to Washington
by Joshua Cho

*So just how do you become “chief national security correspondent”

Win the Sycophantic Stenographer to the Four Stars contest five years running?

https://fair.org/home/for-corporate-media-space-belongs-to-washington
—

Democracy Now!
What Does a Post-Roe America Look Like? As Anti-Choice Laws Multiply, Many Already Are Living In It

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/17/what_does_a_post_roe_america

Immigrant Activists Maru Mora-Villalpando & Ravi Ragbir Keep Speaking Out Despite Deportation Threat

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/17/immigrant_activists_maru_mora_villalpando_ravi

5.16

Amid GOP Assault on Abortion Rights, DCCC-Backed Fundraiser for Anti-Choice Democrat Blasted as ‘Demeaning to Women’
“At a time when we need every pro-choice voice we can get, this is reprehensible for a leader in the Democratic Party”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*It might be enlightening to ask the 337 declared Democratic presidential candidates about this, wouldn’t it?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/16/amid-gop-assault-abortion-rights-dccc-backed-fundraiser-anti-choice-democrat-blasted

Sorry, Critics Tell Warren, Greening US Empire’s “Powerful War Machine” No Answer to Climate Crisis
“Fighting the climate crisis is not about enabling the largest and most powerful military in human history to be more efficient in its destructive missions”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Anyone “shocked” by this hasn’t been paying attention, and despite all the cheerleading for Saint Bernard extant, when push comes to shove, acts such as pimping for obscenely expensive, pollution producing and fault-ridden fighter planes to be manufactured amongst the lovely sugar maples of Vermont isn’t my idea of taking on “imperialism” or the MIC.

But I’m funny that way.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/16/sorry-critics-tell-warren-greening-us-empires-powerful-war-machine-no-answer-climate
—

Trump: Importing Dangerous Medicines and Food and Keeping Consumers in the Dark
Messrs. Trump, Azar, and Perdue better wake up before innocent Americans lose their lives due to corporate indentured government officials failing to properly do their jobs
by Ralph Nader

*In response to Nader’s final question, how many disasters have already done so, to no effect?

A complicit corpress – which may take note of them, only to “false balance” them to death, then move on – bears signal responsibility for that state of affairs.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/16/trump-importing-dangerous-medicines-and-food-and-keeping-consumers-dark
—

The Real News Network
Toronto Residents Face Off Against Google over Waterfront ‘Smart City’
A subsidiary of Google wants to build a ‘Smart City’ on Toronto’s waterfront, but with billions of dollars in real estate and infrastructure at play, residents are pushing back against a proposal that they say could have terrible consequences for public services as well as privacy

*So why are cities starved of funds?

Because they don’t tax corps at necessary and justified levels.

Then they agree to deals like this “to enhance revenue”.

Those collusive carts leave the horses in the dust.

https://therealnews.com/stories/toronto-residents-face-off-against-google-over-waterfront-smart-city

Why Socialism? With Bhaskar Sunkara
Most people know capitalism is unjust. Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara says he wrote “The Socialist Manifesto” to lay out an alternative

*It’s true that many people understand the inherent injustice of capitalism, but there are also many who really don’t know who our antagonists are, and are susceptible to “divide and conquer”. Pounding away on that point is imperative.

But many of those who do suss that reality are still leery of “the state”, and not without reason. We have to make clear what it should be within a socialist paradigm. It is not hierarchical; it is … us. It is the expression and the instrument of our collective will, which is realized through our efforts through the state.

It also isn’t simply a centralized institution. It is comprised of gummint at all levels, but able to coordinate nationally to effect policy across the country.

Couple more points

I’ll give Sunkara the benefit of the doubt, and assume he meant to say, “It isn’t [just] personal corruption or a lack of fortitude, or whatnot”, ’cause empiricism demands that those factors be prominently pronounced when addressing the betrayal of “liberalism”.

Lastly, while it may be true that we are not all responsible for imperialism, we are complicit in it to the degree of our lack of commitment to confronting it, which is massive in these here United States, innit?

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-socialism-with-bhaskar-sunkara

Fight Against Voter Suppression Continues in Georgia
Plaintiffs argue before the GA Supreme Court that malfunctioning voting machines caused tens of thousands of missing votes in the Georgia Lt. Gov. race. What could it mean if this case goes forward?

*What if they gave an election

And nobody gamed?

https://therealnews.com/stories/fight-against-voter-suppression-continues-in-georgia

History Repeats Itself as Corporations Join Big Green to Craft Market-Based Climate Plan
A decade ago, corporations teamed up with environmental groups to create the US Climate Action Partnership. Now they’ve formed the CEO Climate Dialogue, which again will push market-based solutions to the climate crisis.

*The wool may have been dyed green

But the wolves’ hearts are still black

https://therealnews.com/columns/history-repeats-itself-as-corporations-join-big-green-to-craft-market-based-climate-plan
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Venezuelan Embassy: “Outrageous” U.S. Behavior vs “People Power”

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuelan-embassy-outrageous-u-s-behavior-vs-people-power
—

FAIR
‘People With a Lot of Money Are Really Determining What Culture Is’
CounterSpin interview with Amin Husain on decolonizing museums
by Janine Jackson

*Art should be for our sake

https://fair.org/home/people-with-a-lot-of-money-are-really-determining-what-culture-is
—

Democracy Now!
The World Just Took a Major Step To Curb Plastic Pollution, But the U.S. Refused to Join Effort

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/16/the_world_just_took_a_major

5.15

‘This Is Awesome!’: Maine on Track to Ensure More Equitable Access to Abortion With New Insurance Rules
The effort by Maine’s Democrat-controlled Legislature to expand access to the procedure comes as Republican lawmakers in other states work to roll back reproductive rights nationwide
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Great, but how will folks working for “religious employers” be covered?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/15/awesome-maine-track-ensure-more-equitable-access-abortion-new-insurance-rules
—

The Green New Deal Needs an Anti-war Message
Advocates of a Green New Deal must reckon with the fact that our very ability to implement these ambitious climate-saving programs requires the basis of peace
by Arturo Desimone

*Silos never let the sunshine in

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/15/green-new-deal-needs-anti-war-message
–

Trump’s Potential War With Iran Is All John Bolton’s Doing. But It Might Also Be His Undoing.
The Iranian government knows the national security adviser wants a war, and is banking on the fact that the president doesn’t
by Trita Parsi

*I think the key question is whether anyone with an inkling of what would happen if war comes has an ear in which to whisper in Killer Clown’s tiny little mind.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/15/trumps-potential-war-iran-all-john-boltons-doing-it-might-also-be-his-undoing
–

Why Everyone in the U.S. Who Counts Wants Julian Assange Dead
It’s not for being a jerk that the Establishment state wants the Wikileaks publisher dead. They want him dead for publishing videos like these.
by Thomas Neuburger

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/15/why-everyone-us-who-counts-wants-julian-assange-dead
—

The Real News Network

Teachers Say Union Election Is Undemocratic
Baltimore educators complained of a ballot that heavily favors incumbent candidates, inconvenient voting hours, and long voting lines
by Jaisal Noor

*Designed by Elections USA

Inspired by Elections DNC

https://therealnews.com/columns/teachers-say-union-election-is-undemocratic

Why Many Venezuelans Are Still Chavistas
Despite the dramatic economic crisis and the constant political conflict in Venezuela, there still is a significant proportion of the population that consider themselves to be “Chavistas.” Ed Augustin examined some of the reasons for this in Caracas

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-many-venezuelans-are-still-chavistas

Guaidó Calls for US Military Cooperation, but few Venezuelans Support the Move
Parallel president and opposition leader Juan Guaidó says he would like to coordinate with the U.S. military, but following his failed April 30 coup attempt, few Venezuelans show interest. Mike Fox reports from Caracas

https://therealnews.com/stories/guaido-calls-for-us-military-cooperation-but-few-venezuelans-support-the-move

Eurovision Artist Boycott Curbed by Qatari Aid
As’ad Abukhalil discusses the role which Qatar plays in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Qatar has saved the Palestinian Authority from financial collapse. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas has allied himself with Qatar’s staunch enemy Saudi Arabia

*Pots and kettles

And the fetid stew served up to the starving

https://therealnews.com/stories/eurovision-artist-boycott-curbed-by-qatari-aid

Medical Insurance Companies Can Decide Who Lives and Dies – RAI with Wendell Potter (4/7)
Whistleblower Wendell Potter says the death of a young woman denied care by the insurance company he worked for was a turning point in his life; he says these practices are still taking place under the Affordable Care Act – on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*First do no harm

To our “fiduciary obligation”

https://therealnews.com/stories/medical-insurance-companies-can-decide-who-lives-and-dies-rai-with-wendell-potter-4-7
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Israeli NSO Group Behind WhatsApp Hack Targeting Human Rights Workers

http://accuracy.org/release/israeli-nso-group-behind-whatsapp-hack-targeting-human-rights-workers
—

FAIR
ACTIVISM UPDATE: WaPo Editor Responds on Polio, Pakistan and the CIA
by Jim Naureckas

https://fair.org/home/activism-update-wapo-editor-responds-on-polio-pakistan-and-the-cia

Media Stenography Turns Beheaded Saudi Protesters Into ‘Terrorism’
by Esha Krishnaswamy

*The first law of international reportage

Allies tell no lies

https://fair.org/home/media-stenography-turns-beheaded-saudi-protesters-into-terrorism
—

Democracy Now!
Alabama Passes Near Total Ban on Abortion as Part of “Stealth Campaign” to Overturn Roe v. Wade

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/15/alabama_passes_near_total_ban_on

5.14

‘Disgraceful’: While Reaping $21 Billion Windfall From Trump Tax Cuts, Report Shows, AT&T Slashed 23,000 Jobs
“Taxpayers aren’t going to let AT&T get away with receiving over $21 billion in tax cuts and then destroying the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*With apologies to Led Zep

“Communication shakedown

It’s always the same”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/14/disgraceful-while-reaping-21-billion-windfall-trump-tax-cuts-report-shows-att
—

Venezuela Embassy Protection Collective Defies Unlawful “No Trespass” Order
As this saga of the future of the Venezuela Embassy in Georgetown continues to unfold, history will record this as a key turning point in U.S.-Venezuela relations
by Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright

*Have any members of the congressional “#Resistance” been spotted in the vicinity?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/14/venezuela-embassy-protection-collective-defies-unlawful-no-trespass-order
—

Free Press
Free Press Report and FOIA Documents Expose Trump FCC’s Neglect Toward Puerto Rico

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/14/free-press-report-and-foia-documents-expose-trump-fccs-neglect-toward-puerto

National Nurses United
New Report – Johns Hopkins Hounding Thousands of Patients With Medical Debt Lawsuits, Seizing Wages
Disproportionate impact on African American Baltimore residents

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/14/new-report-johns-hopkins-hounding-thousands-patients-medical-debt-lawsuits
—

The Real News Network
Brazil’s Bolsonaro: ‘Exterminator of the Future’
Alexander Zaitchik discusses the environmental policies of the Brazilian president’s first four months in office as former Brazilian Ministers of Environment warn that he is undoing decades of environmental protection

*Silence, aside from the periodic pimping of “investment opportunities”, from the “free press” in the States

https://therealnews.com/stories/brazils-bolsonaro-exterminator-of-the-future
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
On Iran: U.S. in Danger Being “Sleepwalked into Military Confrontation” by Bolton

http://accuracy.org/release/on-iran-u-s-in-danger-being-sleepwalked-into-military-confrontation-by-bolton

Grounding Bezos

*A (socio)pathway to the stars

http://accuracy.org/release/grounding-bezos
—

FAIR
ACTION ALERT: WaPo Must Acknowledge CIA Role in Pakistan Polio Crisis
by Adam Johnson

*Truly sickening corpress complicity, in more ways than one

https://fair.org/home/action-alert-wapo-must-acknowledge-cia-role-in-pakistan-polio-crisis
—

Democracy Now!
Will John Bolton’s Dream to Bomb Iran Come True? Ex-Iranian Ambassador Warns About U.S. Escalation

*As with Venezuela, the corpress has enabled the worst impulses of Killer Clown’s circus of death toward Iran, and will continue to do so there and across the globe, until they are seen as the empire pimping mouthpiece that they have always been.

They are truly the enemies of many peoples.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/14/will_john_bolton_s_dream_to

The Apology: Eve Ensler’s New Book Is the Letter She Wishes Her Abusive Father Had Written

*The inhuman is all too human

It can’t be exorcised until its vessel is made human again

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/14/the_apology_eve_enslers_new_book

5.13

Center for Biological Diversity
Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration Renewal of Oregon Ranchers’ Grazing Permit

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/13/lawsuit-targets-trump-administration-renewal-oregon-ranchers-grazing-permit
—

The Real News Network
Can We Reach 100% Renewable Energy?
Movements pushing for 100% renewables are gaining momentum. Stanford’s Mark Z. Jacobson says we have the technology to get there

*Jacobson didn’t answer Noor’s question about lithium mining, which relates to the larger question of who profits from a transition to renewables, both in providing the materials needed and generating the energy required.

Changing the “product” without transforming the production structure from exploitative to egalitarian can’t be considered a “just transition”, can it?

https://therealnews.com/stories/can-we-reach-100-renewable-energy

Can Biden ‘Make America Moral Again?’
Biden is countering Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan with “Make America Moral Again.” But bipartisan deals with Strom Thurmond, the crime bill, Anita Hill, and more, shows he lacks the moral high ground. Jacqueline Luqman and Adolph Reed discuss Biden’s record

*Serving up a cuppa cankered Joe

Oh, MAMA …

https://therealnews.com/stories/can-biden-make-america-moral-again

The MMT Debate With Dean Baker & Randall Wray
We continue our series of discussions about Modern Money Theory and funding the Green New Deal with host Paul Jay

*We can’t fiddle with the finances while our home burns.

Whatever the cost, we do it, or we die.

Any debate over paying for it has to be placed in that context, and presented to the public with the utmost urgency it demands.

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-mmt-debate-with-dean-baker-randall-wray

Venezuela’s Maduro Government Not Near Collapse
Andrej Hunko, a member of Germany’s parliament, recently visited with President Maduro and parallel president Juan Guaidó. Hunko discussed the importance of a negotiated solution, humanitarian aid to Venezuela, and more

*Words matter

You don’t call a coup leader (or servant, in truth) a “parallel president”, do you?

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuelas-maduro-government-not-near-collapse
—

Fight For $15
Sign your name to say thanks to working moms everywhere!

https://fightfor15.org/s-petition/20190510-mothers-day/?utm_campaign=LowPay
—

Petition update
Tell the House Subcommittee on Health to make PrEP a part of preventative care
Victory with WARNING
by Will Scheffer

https://www.change.org/p/we-have-a-drug-that-prevents-hiv-infection-why-aren-t-we-making-it-affordable/u/24542308
—

Democracy Now!
Arundhati Roy on the Indian Election and Narendra Modi’s “Far-Right, Hindu Nationalist” Agenda

*I have a great deal of respect for Roy, but I think it’s foolish to pimp Gandhi for simply making a dishonest political calculation, realizing that Congress can’t campaign as “BJP light”, and so adopting liberal language, much as the Dems do here, while remaining firmly in the service of those who exploit the very people they claim to stand for.

Have I missed something here?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_on_the_indian_election

Arundhati Roy on Why She Admires WikiLeaks & Opposes Assange’s Extradition to the U.S.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_on_why_she_admires

Arundhati Roy: Capitalism Is “a Form of Religion” Stopping Solutions to Climate Change & Inequality

*Regarding another “form of religion”, and its proclaimed commitment, as alluded to here, to service to humankind

Ask yourself in just what the Vatican has its money invested?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_capitalism_is_a_form

Arundhati Roy: A U.S. Attack on Iran Would Be “Biggest Mistake It Has Ever Made”

*And this is why I have that respect for Roy

But I have to take issue with her assertion that “toppling the Taliban” was the US’ “sole aim” in Afghanistan. Geopolitical and economic considerations have driven that ceaseless horror show, not “revenge”.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_a_us_attack_on

Arundhati Roy on the Power of Fiction: Literature is “The Simplest Way of Saying a Complicated Thing”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_on_the_power_of

Arundhati Roy on Kashmir, the Danger of U.S. Attacking Iran & Her New Book “My Seditious Heart”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/arundhati_roy_on_kashmir_the_danger

The Trace’s Mike Spies on “Secrecy, Self-Dealing, and Greed at the NRA”

*Is it a metaphor or an analogy to say that the NRA has shot itself in the foot?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/10/the_trace_s_mike_spies_on

5.10

‘Victory’: Saudi Ship Leaves Port Without French Weapons
France is among the Western countries fueling the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing of Yemen
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/10/victory-saudi-ship-leaves-port-without-french-weapons

187 Countries Just Took ‘Crucial’ Step to Stop Rich Nations From Treating Global South as Dumping Ground for Plastic Waste
“Today’s decision demonstrates that countries are finally catching up with the urgency and magnitude of the plastic pollution issue”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/10/187-countries-just-took-crucial-step-stop-rich-nations-treating-global-south-dumping
—

When Will the Contented Classes Rise Up in Rebellion?
When will the people who recognize just how bad things have become for the most vulnerable—and the nation at large—unfurl the flag of rebellion against the plutocrats and the autocrats?
by Ralph Nader

*The nightmare won’t end until we wake up

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/10/when-will-contented-classes-rise-rebellion

What I Lost (and Can Never Get Back) When My Father Was in Guantanamo North
There should not be a place on this planet where individuals are separated based on who they are, monitored like rats in a cage, and cut off so inhumanely from the outside world
by Sara Jayyousi

*Only the soulless can conceive its destruction in others

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/10/what-i-lost-and-can-never-get-back-when-my-father-was-guantanamo-north
—

Trump’s Most Nakedly Corrupt Tweet Yet
As the president props up lobbyists and cronies, Democrats must respond with aggressive oversight
by David Dayen

*Another slice of rancid Tweetie pie

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/10/trumps-most-nakedly-corrupt-tweet-yet
—

The Real News Network
The Making of a Medical Insurance Spin Doctor – RAI with Wendell Potter (3/7)
Wendell Potter, author of ‘Deadly Spin: How Corporate PR is Killing Healthcare and Deceiving Americans’, traces his life from growing up poor and Republican in Tennessee, to radicalization during the Vietnam War, to cynical journalist who just wanted to make money – on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-making-of-a-medical-insurance-spin-doctor-rai-with-wendell-potter-3-7

Trump Up in Polls; Who Benefits From Economic Growth?
GDP growth up, stock market up, will the economic expansion continue and who are the winners? Dean Baker and Randall Wray join host Paul Jay

*Whatever the “economic indicators” say, there are a lot of folks f cked by this economy, and reason would dictate that the Dems would want to appeal to them.

Of course, reason don’t rate in a duopoly, and so you have a Bermuda Triangulation bent on competing for those voters doing relatively well, ’cause they really don’t want the wretched electorally active.

And the Republicans relish that shriveled playing field.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-up-in-polls-who-benefits-from-economic-growth

Sudan Protests Intensify Demands for Civilian Government
Khalid Medani speaks to Eddie Conway about Sudanese opposition to al-Bashir and the sit-in that continues through Ramadan

https://therealnews.com/stories/sudan-protests-intensify-demands-for-civilian-government
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
New Trump Nominee and the Pentagon Accounting Scandal

*There’s just no accounting for waste

http://accuracy.org/release/new-trump-nominee-and-the-pentagon-accounting-scandal

Racism of the Venezuelan Opposition

*Keep in mind that these bastards are who corpress punditocrats of all colors hail as “liberators”

http://accuracy.org/release/racism-of-the-venezuelan-opposition
—

FAIR
‘A Nice Guy, Everybody Loved Him’
With San Diego synagogue shooter, media once again normalize white male violence
by Alan MacLeod

*White privilege is never red penciled

https://fair.org/home/a-nice-guy-everybody-loved-him
—

Democracy Now!
Trump Steps up War on Whistleblowers: Air Force Vet Daniel Hale Arrested For Leaking Drone War Info

*It’s always instructive to play the “flipside” game.

How would the US gummint react if another state decided to target those it determined to be “terrorists” here?

I don’t think it would matter just how “precise” the strikes were, would it?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/10/trump_steps_up_war_on_whistleblowers

“Black Mama’s Bail Out Day”: Movement Grows to Free Black Women From Jail for Mother’s Day

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/10/black_mamas_bail_out_day_movement

“We Have No Reason to Trust the Police”: Sandra Bland Arrest Video Reignites Anger Over Her Death

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/10/we_have_no_reason_to_trust

Explosive Investigation Uncovers Greed & Infighting at NRA, Shattering “Myth” of the Group’s Power

*The right to bear alms

To the bank

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/10/explosive_investigation_uncovers_greed_infighting_at

5.9

Silence From Press Industry Group As Trump Administration Purges White House Reporters
“Now, the White House has a structure in place that could allow it to remove whoever it wishes to remove”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*This is anathema to the very notion of independent journalism

But then, so is the vast majority of corpress coverage.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/09/silence-press-industry-group-trump-administration-purges-white-house-reporters

‘Alexa, Stop Spying on My Kids’: FTC Complaint Charges Amazon’s Echo Dot Violates Child Privacy Law
“Amazon markets Echo Dot Kids as a device to educate and entertain kids, but the real purpose is to amass a treasure trove of sensitive data that it refuses to relinquish even when directed to by parents”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Sleazy kid stuff

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/09/alexa-stop-spying-my-kids-ftc-complaint-charges-amazons-echo-dot-violates-child
—

US PIRG
You’re Not Alone: CFPB Complaints on the Rise

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/09/youre-not-alone-cfpb-complaints-rise
—

The Real News Network
Trump and Kushner Middle East Peace Deal Is a Trojan Horse for Further Occupation
Phyllis Bennis discusses the recent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the real nature of Kushner’s supposed “deal of the century”

*Nothing but a peace of sh t

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-and-kushner-middle-east-peace-deal-is-a-trojan-horse-for-further-occupation

Institute for Public Accuracy
Trump State Department in “Wholesale Violation” of Law at Venezuelan Embassy

*Resistance without the f cking faux hashtag of a feckless and fetid Democratic “leadership”

http://accuracy.org/release/trump-state-department-in-wholesale-violation-of-law-at-venezuelan-embassy
—

FAIR
‘Bernie Speaks’—and Politico Hears Deviations From Cold War Orthodoxy
by Teddy Ostrow

*Backing the building of a boondoggle of a murder machine in his home state doesn’t qualify as “damaging” (and it doesn’t, tragically, even to most every visible voice on “the left”), but this sh t does?

Careful you don’t cut yourself as we pass through the cracked looking glass.

https://fair.org/home/bernie-speaks-and-politico-hears-deviations-from-cold-war-orthodoxy

‘How Does the US Compensate the World for the Damage It Has Done?’
CounterSpin interview with Basav Sen on beyond the Paris Accord
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/how-does-the-us-compensate-the-world-for-the-damage-it-has-done
—

Democracy Now!
The Gig Is Up: Rep. Deb Haaland Introduces Bill to Make Uber & Lyft Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes

*They may not get your comment placed in the pending pile

But Uber and Lyft are four letter words of the most profane ilk.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/9/the_gig_is_up_rep_deb

Striking Driver Speaks Out: Uber & Lyft Are “Slave Systems” That Exploit Workers

*Driving on a road to nowhere

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/9/striking_driver_speaks_out_uber_lyft

Gig Economy Drivers Strike: Uber Has Built Its $90 Billion Empire on an Anti-Worker Model

*A rigged gig

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/9/gig_economy_drivers_strike_uber_has

5.8

Africa Must Raise Taxes to Better Fight Climate Change
Africa is now the most vulnerable region to climate change, although it has only marginally contributed to it
by Léonce Ndikumana

*Untaxed to death

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/08/africa-must-raise-taxes-better-fight-climate-change
—

Western Environmental Law Center
Analysis: Public Overwhelmingly Wants EPA Ban on Wildlife-Killing ‘Cyanide Bombs’

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/08/analysis-public-overwhelmingly-wants-epa-ban-wildlife-killing-cyanide-bombs
—

The Real News Network
Russia-China Alignment Challenge U.S. Hegemony
Trump’s China tariffs and aggressive military build up is pushing Russia and China to seek a closer relationship which serves China’s growing global influence – Prof. Richard Sakwa joins Sharmini Peries

*No white hats in this coat room

https://therealnews.com/recent-content

Trump and Mnuchin Break the Law By Refusing to Release President’s Tax Records
White collar criminologist Bill Black explains how the administration’s stance on Trump’s taxes is illegal and what the possible consequences could be—or should be

*”… once it’s put back under honest leadership.”

Doesn’t something have to have been in place before it’s “put back” … ?

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-and-mnuchin-break-the-law-by-refusing-to-release-presidents-tax-records

Fear Mongering and Capitalism: A Recipe for Fascism? (1/2)
The effort to sell security to the people of the US is based on stoking irrational fears, something Trump has taken to new extremes, but which Democrats are guilty of as well, explains Charles Derber, who discusses his new book

*Fear defines humanity

And defiles it

https://therealnews.com/stories/fear-mongering-and-capitalism-a-recipe-for-fascism-1-2

Fear Mongering and Capitalism: A Recipe for Fascism? (2/2)
Progressives have been notoriously bad at countering the right-wing fear/security narrative, says Charles Derber. The trick is to address the real dangers, of climate change, economic insecurity, and war

*Can we pledge our allegiance to the colors of our confreres

Instead of the colors of our flags?

https://therealnews.com/stories/fear-mongering-and-capitalism-a-recipe-for-fascism-2-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Scrutinizing the Bolton/Pompeo/Trump Threats to Iran

*Parsi seems to be everyone’s “go to expert” on Iran.

I view him as an Obamaphile who constantly places “the deal” in the context of preventing Iran’s attainment of a nuclear weapon, when the evidence gainsays that theory.

The benefit was that it blunted the neocon drive to war, and provided some relief from the devastating sanctions regime, but it’s analogous to convicting an innocent person, then placing them on parole.

Iran agreed because it had little choice, given the alternative, don’t you think?

http://accuracy.org/release/scrutinizing-the-bolton-pompeo-trump-threats-to-iran
—

FAIR
‘Climate Change Is the Real Job Killer’
CounterSpin interview with Joe Uehlein on Green New Deal
by Janine Jackson

*But it ain’t just the jobs, however “livable” the wage

It’s who owns the work.

“Going green” without going greedless will only reproduce the exploitative hierarchy that’s always defined labor relations. We need the “green”, but we also need a “new deal” that gives workers control over their conditions.

The time is so very now.

https://fair.org/home/climate-change-is-the-real-job-killer

Corporate Media Target Gabbard for Her Anti-Interventionism—a Word They Can Barely Pronounce
by Owen Walsh

*The corpress, as much as the state, is an unalloyed pimper of imperialism, but something tells me that word has never crossed Congressmember Gabbard’s lips with any conviction, and that makes their task that much easier.

https://fair.org/home/corporate-media-target-gabbard-for-her-anti-interventionism-a-word-they-can-barely-pronounce
—

Democracy Now!
Billion Dollar Loser: NYT Report on Trump’s Taxes & Massive Losses May Prompt Fraud Investigation

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/8/billion_dollar_loser_nyt_report_on

5.7

Will the U.S. Start a War Against Iran?
Trump—with Bolton and Pence—seek to provoke a war. These are dangerous men with a dangerous agenda.
by Vijay Prashad

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/07/will-us-start-war-against-iran
—

FAIR
Failed ‘Coup’ a Fake Corporate News Story Designed to Trick Venezuelan Soldiers—and US Public
by Dave Lindorff

*Fake news only a mother f cking POTUS could love

https://fair.org/home/failed-coup-a-fake-corporate-news-story-designed-to-trick-venezuelan-soldiers-and-us-public
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Environmental Disasters and Their Beneficiaries

*”Disaster capitalism”

Oxymoronic in excelsis

http://accuracy.org/release/environmental-disasters-and-their-beneficiaries
—

Democracy Now!
As Countries Seek Trade With China, Imprisoned Uyghur Muslim Community Has Become “Collateral Damage”

*This is naked, unpardonable repression, but terms like “world domination” are meant to provoke Western fears of “The Red and Yellow Menace”, and we have to be clear on the reality.

China seeks vast economic and political power, and its neo “Silk Road” will tighten a belt around the necks of developing countries. But unlike the US, it doesn’t seek global hegemony, not out of any distaste for the prospect, but out of practical considerations.

It doesn’t seek confrontation with the West, other than within what it considers its sphere of influence, but a corrupt concord with Western capital that benefits both exploiters.

That is the global threat it poses.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/7/as_countries_seek_trade_with_china

Joe Biden’s Son Hunter Is Invested in China’s Mass Surveillance Program Used to Monitor Uyghur Muslim

*”[A] corrupt concord with Western capital … “

Case in point

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/7/joe_bidens_son_hunter_is_invested

5.6

The Reality Behind the ‘Surging’ U.S. Economy
A tiny uptick in wages won’t do much to help Americans squeezed by debt and facing rising prices for medicine, child care, housing, and other essentials
by Sarah Anderson

*There are lies

Damn lies

And “economic indicators”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/06/reality-behind-surging-us-economy
–

Creeping Toward Tyranny
Capitalists, throughout history, have backed fascism to thwart even the most tepid forms of socialism
by Chris Hedges

*He is not the alpha, but the omega of a soulless social order

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/06/creeping-toward-tyranny
—

Center for Food Safety
Defenders of Organic Integrity Win Victory for Transparency and Open Government
Organic producers and stakeholders gain access to documentation of Trump decision to withdraw animal welfare standards for organic livestock

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/06/defenders-organic-integrity-win-victory-transparency-and-open-government

Environmental Working Group (EWG)
Mapping the PFAS Contamination Crisis: New Data Show 610 Sites in 43 States
EWG: PFAS Chemicals Must Be Regulated as a Class, Not One by One

*Humanity is the only species clever enough to poison itself

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/06/mapping-pfas-contamination-crisis-new-data-show-610-sites-43-states

Food & Water Watch
Alarming New Report: Factory Farming and Fossil Fuels Are A Double Whammy for Ecosystems

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/06/alarming-new-report-factory-farming-and-fossil-fuels-are-double-whammy
—

The Real News Network
Why I’m Pro-Detente with Russia – RAI with Stephen Cohen (5/5)
I realized it wasn’t the Soviet Union that was the great danger, it was the potential of nuclear war, and it’s still the case today, says Stephen Cohen on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*I think Cohen’s nostalgia for an era of intellectual honesty and rigor is unwarranted. It may be true that the space for countering the conventional narrative was a bit roomier at one point, but I’d posit it was more a matter of a conceit among those with the final say to present themselves as “open minded” to align with their academic and journalistic facades of “objectivity”.

When it came to actually acting upon that proclaimed dedication, don’t we see the proof in the putrid pudding produced? That veneer, or skin, if you will, has worn off with time, revealing an acutely unjust dessert.

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-im-pro-detente-with-russia-rai-with-stephen-cohen-5-5

The Calm After the Storm in Venezuela: Opposition and Government Measure Support in Streets
It would seem that the April 30th coup effort by Juan Guaidó backfired and energized the Chavista base while it demoralized the opposition. Mike Fox reports from Caracas

*And WaPo said the gummint rally “drew about 500 people”.

Funny how all the corpress cameras went on the blink at the same time, innit?

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-calm-after-the-storm-in-venezuela-opposition-and-government-measure-support-in-streets

Assange Extradition Will Have Chilling Effect on Investigative Journalism, Free Speech
We speak to Julian Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, about the first extradition hearing Assange had in London, where he refused to voluntarily turn himself over to US authorities

*What danger to “press freedom” is there for a supine stenographer class?

The corpress will be first in line for torches to light the way for the lynch mob.

https://therealnews.com/stories/assange-extradition-will-have-chilling-effect-on-investigative-journalism-free-speech

Guilt by Association? Arrest of Assange Friend Has No Basis
Cyber-security and privacy expert Ola Bini was arrested in Ecuador the same day that Ecuador revoked Julian Assange’s asylum. A court now affirmed his pre-trial detention, while his parents and his lawyers say it has no basis

https://therealnews.com/stories/guilt-by-association-arrest-of-assange-friend-has-no-basis
—

Petition
Special Books by Special Kids
YouTube: Reinstate SBSK comment sections on YouTube

*Money talks

While compassionate mouths are muted

https://www.change.org/p/youtube-reinstate-sbsk-comment-sections-immediately
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation

http://accuracy.org/release/palestine-inside-out-an-everyday-occupation
—

Democracy Now!
The Occupation is a Crime of Aggression: Gazans React After 25 Palestinians, 4 Israelis Die

*Provocation falls to the corpress cutting floor, as their timeline for these spasms of bloodletting always commence at the launching of the first rocket.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/6/the_occupation_is_a_crime_of

Ex-Blackwater CEO Erik Prince Makes a Comeback Under Trump Selling Mercenary Armies Around the World

*With The Deep State ™ an ambivalent ally, perhaps Killer Clown is looking to outsource the dirty tricks concession.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/6/ex_blackwater_ceo_erik_prince_makes

The Complete Mercenary: Matthew Cole on Erik Prince’s Improbable Comeback Under Trump

*The man’s a self dealing psychopath, but just imagine the horrors this delusional degenerate could conjure if he were “militarily competent”.

And there’ll be no indictment, but if Killer Clown somehow saw that to his advantage, he’d throw Prince under the bus in a nanosecond.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/6/the_complete_mercenary_matthew_cole_o

5.3

Farm Country: Don’t Get Fooled Again
Big ag companies killed family farms and polluted our water, while politicians blamed our immigrant neighbors. Let’s not turn on each other again
by Cherie Mortice

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/05/03/farm-country-dont-get-fooled-again
—

Physicians for Human Rights
Federal Funds Should Not Be Used to Detain Children at the U.S. Southern Border
Physicians for Human Rights calls on congressional leaders to reject administration’s Emergency Supplemental Budget Request toward harmful detention practices

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/03/federal-funds-should-not-be-used-detain-children-us-southern-border
—

The Real News Network
South Africa is Bracing for an Electoral Storm Over the Climate Crisis (1/2)
Prof. Vishwas Satgar provides a climate justice critique of South African political parties: What are the commitments of the ANC, DA, and EFF to a deep, just, life-sustaining transition?

https://therealnews.com/stories/south-africa-is-bracing-for-an-electoral-storm-over-the-climate-crisis-1-2

South Africa is Bracing for an Electoral Storm Over the Climate Crisis (2/2)

https://therealnews.com/stories/south-africa-is-bracing-for-an-electoral-storm-over-the-climate-crisis-2-2

Left Media Coverage of Venezuela Questioned
Prominent Venezuelan sociologist and intellectual Edgardo Lander says while it’s correct to oppose U.S. intervention and interference, Left media should not minimize the responsibility of the Maduro government for the economic crisis

*One of the central tenets of Marxism, as I understand it, is the imperative of self criticism. Allied with that is the necessity for supporters of ostensibly socialist experiments to constructively critique them.

To abstain from doing so does no favors for the people, but grants their enemies a wide playing field to exploit the faults extant, while we irresponsibly cheer from the sidelines as the game is lost.

https://therealnews.com/stories/left-media-coverage-of-venezuela-questioned

Barr Hearings on Mueller Report Display the Threat to Democracy
Attorney and activist Kamau Franklin dissects the questioning of Attorney General Barr on his handling of the Mueller report

*The Democratic “leadership” has little credibility outside that portion of the public that identify with the party. Most other folks will see whatever they do to be political gaming, and it is just that, as Pelosi et alia don’t give a rodent’s rear about morality or legality.

I view it as akin to an accusation by the US against an “official enemy”. Maybe they’re guilty, maybe not, but it’s a matter of pots and kettles. The US has no cogency to call out any other country; likewise the Dems are seen as trying to win political points.

Perhaps letting folks like Ocasio-Cortez or Omar (not that I see either as Jesus on a stick) take point would change that dynamic, but I think we all know that ain’t gonna happen.

So, as Franklin submits, this all becomes campaign fodder for ’20, and Killer Clown can twisty tweet sweatless till next November.

https://therealnews.com/stories/barr-hearings-on-mueller-report-display-the-threat-to-democracy
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
At Venezuelan Embassy: U.S. Government Ignoring Vienna Convention, “Facilitating Right-Wing Mob’s Illegal Acts”

*Recall all the punditrious outrage at disrupting Trumplers’ off clock activities?

Come true thuggery, can you hear that pin drop?

http://accuracy.org/release/at-venezuelan-embassy-u-s-government-ignoring-vienna-convention-facilitating-right-wing-mobs-illegal-acts
—

Democracy Now!
Mass. Judge Refuses to Halt Pro-Palestinian Event at UMass Featuring Roger Waters & Linda Sarsour

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/3/mass_judge_refuses_to_halt_pro

We Can’t Back People Who Hate Our Kids: Kentucky & Minnesota Teachers of Year Boycott Trump Meeting

*Teach your children well

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/3/we_can_t_back_people_who

“We Shall Overcome”: Remembering Folk Icon Pete Seeger on What Would Have Been His 100th Birthday

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/3/we_shall_overcome_remembering_folk_icon

5.2

Peace Activists Arrested While Trying to Deliver Food and Medicine to Blockaded DC Venezuelan Embassy
Members of the Embassy Protection Collective have lived on the property with permission from the Maduro government for weeks
by Common Dreams staff

*Any calls from the corpress for “civility” from the partidarios del golpe?

Silly question, mis amigos.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/02/peace-activists-arrested-while-trying-deliver-food-and-medicine-blockaded-dc
—

Jewish Voice for Peace
Victory—Judge Rules in Support of Panel Discussion on Palestinian Human Rights at UMass
“To shut down the event would be to violate the First Amendment”

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/05/02/victory-judge-rules-support-panel-discussion-palestinian-human-rights-umass
—

FAIR
‘There Are Ways to Uplift the Resilience of Communities’
CounterSpin interview with Tina Vasquez on covering immigration
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/there-are-ways-to-uplift-the-resilience-of-communities
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Issues with Mueller: Was There a Russian “Attack”? Why Didn’t He Question Assange?

http://accuracy.org/release/issues-with-mueller-was-there-a-russian-attack-why-didnt-he-question-assange
—

Democracy Now!
A Debate on Maduro: Two Venezuelans Oppose U.S. Intervention But Differ on Steps Ahead

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/2/a_debate_on_maduro_two_venezuelans

George Monbiot on U.K. Climate Emergency & the Need for Rebellion to Prevent Ecological Apocalypse

*Will we move from symbolism to symbiosis?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/2/george_monbiot_on_uk_climate_emergency

5.1

Biden Sides With Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo in Backing Coup Effort in Venezuela
Democratic frontrunner characterizes effort to overthrow elected goverment of President Nicolas Maduro at gunpoint just another benign effort to “restore democracy” in Latin America
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*You can’t say the bastard isn’t acting “presidential”, can you?

But of course it “works”. Look at the receding of “the pink tide” in Latin America, and the rise of protofascism in the Philippines and elsewhere.

Even when things don’t go according to plan, gains are made. Look at Vietnam, and tell me global capital isn’t pleased with the prospects. The devastation wrought laid the foundation for their “investment in an emerging market”.

These are indeed catastrophes, but only for the peoples of these countries, and in a different context and degree, for us here in “the land of liberty”.

Such power can afford bumbles

Humanity suffers regardless of their bungles.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/01/biden-sides-trump-bolton-and-pompeo-backing-coup-effort-venezuela
—

The Real News Network
Riveting Testimony at Historic Hearing on Medicare for All – RAI with Wendell Potter (2/7)
The House Rules Committee heard powerful testimony about the urgency of passing Medicare for All from Ady Barkin, who is in late stages of ALS. Wendell Potter on Reality Asserts Itself hosted by Paul Jay

*My sense is many of those co-sponsors are merely posturing, and once the DNCistas put the hammer down on their campaign funding, you’ll see a lot of Demorats deserting the single payer ship.

As with so many subjects, I’d love to be proven mistaken.

https://therealnews.com/stories/riveting-testimony-at-historic-hearing-on-medicare-for-all-rai-with-wendell-potter-2-7

Thousands Die, Millions Injured on the Job, and No Businesses Prosecuted
Bill Black describes how OSHA’s few underfunded inspectors can’t do their jobs, and prosecutors don’t prosecute businesses for non-compliance

*Don’t bet your life on any candidate pushing this

If you’re working in these areas, you already are.

https://therealnews.com/stories/thousands-die-millions-injured-on-the-job-and-no-businesses-prosecuted
—

FAIR
Venezuela: It’s Only a Coup if the US Government Says So
Media side with Trump cronies rather than common sense in labeling coup a ‘protest’
by Alan MacLeod

*Coup d’étached from reality

https://fair.org/home/venezuela-its-only-a-coup-if-the-us-government-says-so
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Time to Pursue an International Cyber Treaty?

*” … financial resources needed to address them”

Perhaps dominance (a profitable one) trumps detente?

http://accuracy.org/release/time-to-pursue-an-international-cyber-treaty

Venezuela: U.S Sanctions Killing Tens of Thousands

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuela-u-s-sanctions-killing-tens-of-thousands
—

Democracy Now!
As Venezuela Coup Attempt Fails to Overthrow Maduro, Guaidó Calls for More Street Protests

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/1/as_venezuela_coup_attempt_fails_to

April 2019

4.30

How the Pentagon Took Ownership of Con Man Donald Trump
When it comes to raising money based on false claims, this president has nothing on the Pentagon. And worse yet, like America’s wars, the Pentagon’s long con shows no sign of ending
by William Astore

*Conned … or complicit?

Every prez has known the reality of the MIC

They get co-creative credit for it.

(Yes, even every liberal’s favorite Republican commander in chief, Ike, who I imagine warned of it out of worry that greedy corps might screw up the imperial status quo by grasping for a bridge to riches too far.)

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/30/how-pentagon-took-ownership-con-man-donald-trump
—

Social Movements Under Intense Attack Despite Colombia ‘Peace Plan’
The U.S. government has interfered with the internal affairs of Colombia since the nation’s founding as a nation in 1810
by Medea Benjamin

*An “ally”, thus no antipathy (or coverage) from the corpress

And needless to say, no coup plotting from Killer Clown’s circus of death.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/30/social-movements-under-intense-attack-despite-colombia-peace-plan
—

ACLU
New Documents Reveal DHS Claiming Broad, Unconstitutional Authority to Search Travelers’ Phones and Laptops
ACLU, EFF Move for Summary Judgement to Block Warrantless Searches of Electronic Devices at Airports, U.S. Ports of Entry

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/30/new-documents-reveal-dhs-claiming-broad-unconstitutional-authority-search
—

The Real News Network
Venezuela’s Guaidó Falsely Claims Military Uprising in Progress: Mainstream Media Falls in Line
Tuesday morning self-declared president and opposition leader Juan Guaidó called on the military and the population to oppose the Maduro government. Only a few thousand civilians and very few soldiers heeded the call. Mike Fox reports from Caracas

*Let’s please don’t hear anything about the corpress being “fooled” or “misled” here. They can see the same circumstances as Fox.

Their “reporting” is blatant propaganda in support of this charade. For all their bristling at Killer Clown’s cries of “FAKE NEWS!”, they are past masters at it when empire’s involved, regardless of whose amoral ass sh ts in the Master Bathroom loo at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

https://therealnews.com/stories/dly043019_fox_venezuela

Spain’s Center-Left Wins Without Majority, Rules out Coalition With Podemos for Now
Spain’s centre-left Socialist Party won significantly in Sunday’s election, but forming a government on its own is out of reach. Far-right Vox party enters parliament for first time. Prof. Sebastiaan Faber analyzes the result

https://therealnews.com/stories/spains-center-left-wins-without-majority-rules-out-coalition-with-podemos-for-now

Study: As Climate Crisis Has Worsened, So Has Global Economic Inequality
In a new study out by Stanford researchers reviewing half a century of data has found that as rich countries get richer, they also have more temperate climates and face less of the brunt of climate impacts

https://therealnews.com/stories/study-as-climate-crisis-has-worsened-so-has-global-economic-inequality
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
* Secretary of Navy “Lied to Congress” * U.S. Withdrawal from Arms Trade Treaty

http://accuracy.org/release/secretary-of-navy-lied-to-congress-u-s-withdrawal-from-arms-trade-treaty
—

Democracy Now!
With U.S. Support, Venezuelan Opposition Launch a Coup in Latest Attempt to Oust Maduro

*There may be no expectation that this coup will succeed, but rather will provoke a reaction from the government that can be used to justify intervention, whether from mercenaries, the Colombian military or US forces – or some combination of these.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/30/with_us_support_venezuelan_opposition_launch

Former DHS Analyst: Trump Administration Not Taking White Nationalist Threat Seriously Enough

*What would you expect, since these murderers are allies of the administration?

But, of course, Dear Misleader likewise shied away from targeting them, out of political calculation. Meanwhile, the definition of “domestic terrorism” has been expanded to encompass nonviolent resistance to everything from pipelines to pig factories.

As for “the Muslim variety”, the “vigor and strategy” extant in that realm has often resulted in rights abuses and fearmongering that have nothing to be with an earnest attempt to thwart “terrorism”.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/30/former_dhs_analyst_trump_administration_not

4.29

‘Superbugs’ Could Kill 10 Million Annually Without Urgent Action, Warns New Report
“Unless the world acts urgently, antimicrobial resistance will have disastrous impact within a generation,” says new publication
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/29/superbugs-could-kill-10-million-annually-without-urgent-action-warns-new-report

Following Trump Rally, Nurse Smashes ‘Perhaps One of the Sickest Accusations Levied by This Deranged Dictator Yet’
The president reasserted the anti-choice lie at a Wisconsin rally
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*And maybe some corpress hack will ask a half assed question about it, which Killer Clown will SOP lie past, and the matter will be quickly forgotten, as the herd resumes grazing on the fetid fields of Russiagate.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/29/following-trump-rally-nurse-smashes-perhaps-one-sickest-accusations-levied-deranged
—

The End of War Is Just a Beginning
Will technology stamp a “Forever” on America’s wars?
by Allegra Harpootlian and Emily Manna

*There’s this fraught concern with “mistakes”

Shouldn’t we be afraid that this is gotten “right”?

Does “precision” in immoral and illegal wars make them somehow less abhorrent?

If the premise is inhuman, it doesn’t matter that its prosecutors are, as well.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/29/end-war-just-beginning
—

The Real News Network
From Jim Crow Kentucky to Red Square – RAI with Stephen Cohen (4/5)
Prof. Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University and of Russian studies and history at New York University, and author of “War with Russia? From Putin and Ukraine to Trump and Russiagate”, discusses the forces that shaped his political thinking on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

*As a son of the South, having grown up in apartheid Miss’ssippi in the ’60s, I have to say that while sports (football more so than basketball there) did play some role in mitigating aspects of expressed racism, what changed the nature of systemic racism, to the degree that it could be said to have done so, was the blood, sweat and tears of black folks fighting for their rights as human beings.

The struggle is far from finished, needless to say.

https://therealnews.com/stories/from-jim-crow-kentucky-to-red-square-rai-with-stephen-cohen-4-5

Bernie Sanders Supports Voting Rights for the Imprisoned
Corporate media’s twisted narrative frames voting rights as “letting terrorists and rapists vote.”; Anoa Changa and Norman Solomon join host Jacqueline Luqman to discuss the battle over voting rights for people in jail

https://therealnews.com/stories/bernie-sanders-supports-voting-rights-for-the-imprisoned
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Legal Escalation Against Catholic Activists Facing 25 Years for Anti-Nuclear Weapons Action

http://accuracy.org/release/legal-escalation-against-catholic-activists-facing-25-years-for-anti-nuclear-weapons-action
—

FAIR
Comcast-Owned MSNBC in the Tank for Joe Biden’s Presidential Run
by Justin Anderson

*Comcast offers up a cup of jaundiced Joe, with a Kool-Aid chaser

https://fair.org/home/comcast-owned-msnbc-in-the-tank-for-joe-bidens-presidential-run

4.26

Dying Healthcare Activist Ady Barkan to Testify at Congress’s First-Ever Medicare for All Hearing
“It will take immense effort and teamwork for me to attend this hearing, but that is what is required—from me and thousands of other healthcare heroes—to deliver us the change that the American people deserve”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/26/dying-healthcare-activist-ady-barkan-testify-congresss-first-ever-medicare-all

Amid Fears of Federal Attack on Roe, Kansas Supreme Court Guarantees Right to Abortion in the Conservative State
The court explicitly wrote that “like men,” pregnant women have the “right to personal autonomy” in Kansas
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/26/amid-fears-federal-attack-roe-kansas-supreme-court-guarantees-right-abortion
—

FAIR
Dozens Condemned by Media as ‘Gang Members’ Not Actually Gang Members, Study Confirms
by Adam Johnson

*Banging the gang gong for fun and profit

https://fair.org/home/dozens-condemned-by-media-as-gang-members-not-actually-gang-members-study-confirms

‘The War on Drugs Is Just One of Several Being Waged in the Philippines’
CounterSpin interview with Amee Chew on the Philippines under Duterte
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/the-war-on-drugs-is-just-one-of-several-being-waged-in-the-philippines

For NYT, Israel Is Always Nearing ‘Apartheid,’ but Never Quite Gets There
by Gregory Shupak

*An apartheid from reality

https://fair.org/home/for-nyt-israel-is-always-nearing-apartheid-but-never-quite-gets-there
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
The Antitrust Case Against Facebook

*No amount of emojis can put a happy face on this greed fueled gigantism

http://accuracy.org/release/the-antitrust-case-against-facebook
—

Democracy Now!
Roe v. Wade Under Threat: Planned Parenthood Pres. Speaks Out as State Laws Threaten to Ban Abortion

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/26/roe_v_wade_under_threat_planned

4.25

Warren Wins Applause for Addressing High Black Maternal Mortality Rates, But Experts Say Plan to Fix Crisis Needs Work
“When it actually comes time to make policy, you have to bring all the stakeholders to the table”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”[A]n incredibly detailed answer”

That, like her plan for bankster crime (see today’s segments on the subject at The Real News Network), doesn’t seem to have sought input from anyone with actual experience in the area.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/25/warren-wins-applause-addressing-high-black-maternal-mortality-rates-experts-say-plan
—

American Healthcare Horror Stories: An Incomplete Inventory
What should be unthinkable in a healthcare system are everyday occurences in the United States
by Fran Quigley

*In every other “developed” country, healthcare is a right

In the “sweet land of liberty”, it’s a racket.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/25/american-healthcare-horror-stories-incomplete-inventory
—

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
National Civil Rights Organization Calls for Facebook to Immediately Remove Militia Group Postings Holding Migrants Hostage

*Letting them get away with murder?

Not just yet

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/25/national-civil-rights-organization-calls-facebook-immediately-remove-militia
—

The Real News Network
Baltimore City Hall and Mayor’s Homes Raided By FBI
A scandal engulfing Mayor Catherine Pugh and many associates expands with federal involvement, as calls for systemic change grows

*Municipal sewage

https://therealnews.com/stories/baltimore-city-hall-and-mayors-homes-raided-by-fbi

The Untold Story of the Nation’s Biggest School Cheating Scandal (3/3)
In Part Three, authors Shani Robinson and Anna Simonton argue a lack of efforts to confront poverty and excessive standardized testing continue to set up students to fail

*Railroading teachers

Throwing children under the train

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-untold-story-of-the-nations-biggest-school-cheating-scandal-3-3

Sen. Warren Wants to Jail Those Who Caused 2008’s Meltdown
Bill Black examines the historical context of Warren’s bills for easier prosecution of banks and corporate leaders

*For the corpress, “experts” come in extremely limited editions

https://therealnews.com/stories/sen-warren-wants-to-jail-those-who-caused-2008s-meltdown

If Current Laws Prosecuting Bankers Aren’t Used, What Can Warren Change?
Bill Black demolishes the notion that we can’t prosecute banksters with the laws we now have in place

*Black stated in the first segment that the corpress ignored him and others who had successfully prosecuted such crimes.

Warren did likewise.

We should ask why.

https://therealnews.com/stories/if-current-laws-prosecuting-bankers-arent-used-what-can-warren-change
—

Petition
Washington state legislators: Female Genital Mutilation is an American issue. States need to protect girls and ban FGM!
by Abid Saifee

https://www.change.org/p/washington-state-legislators-female-genital-mutilation-is-an-american-issue-states-need-to-protect-girls-and-ban-fgm
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Report: U.S. Sanctions on Venezuela Are Responsible for Tens of Thousands of Deaths

*Liberated from the tyranny of existence

http://accuracy.org/release/report-us-sanctions-on-venezuela-are-responsible-for-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths
—

Democracy Now!
A “Death Trap” in Raqqa: Amnesty Finds U.S.-Led Coalition Killed More Than 1,600 Syrian Civilians

*These are war crimes, so why is Amnesty talking about “mistakes”?

Perhaps because it is Amnesty, which will condemn Western “enemies”, like Venezuela, for sins actual and imagined, but has a penchant for foregoing a full step toward holding the US and allies unconditionally culpable for theirs.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/25/a_death_trap_in_raqqa_amnesty

Navy SEALs Tried for Months to Report Superior for War Crimes and Were Told to “Let It Go”

*And neither the Times nor any other corpress outlet will look beyond this. They’ll treat it as an aberration, rather than the logical consequence of a malignant military mindset that has existed for centuries, from indigenous genocide to atomic horror to the War of Terror.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/25/navy_seals_tried_for_months_to

4.24

‘This Is Their Land’: Indigenous Activists Protest Bolsonaro’s Environmental Policies in Brazil
“It was very difficult for us, our ancestors, to win these rights and little by little they are decreasing”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/24/their-land-indigenous-activists-protest-bolsonaros-environmental-policies-brazil

Facebook’s Hire of Patriot Act Co-Author Raises Questions on Company’s Commitment to Privacy
“What could go wrong?”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*This doesn’t “raise questions” about Facebook’s ethics

It answers them.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/24/facebooks-hire-patriot-act-co-author-raises-questions-companys-commitment-privacy
—

The Most Dangerous Time for Women’s Rights in Decades
Merely banning abortion isn’t enough for some on the rabid right — a few are even threatening women with the death penalty
by Martha Burk

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/24/most-dangerous-time-womens-rights-decades
—

Fight for $15
McDonald’s Added to the “Dirty Dozen”

*Sleaze amongst the grease

https://www.facebook.com/Fightfor15/photos/a.591503887546999/2440888785941824
—

The Real News Network
Is the Turkish-Russian S-400 Missile Deal Sabre Rattling Among Superpowers?
Turkey could take possession of the Russian S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system by 2020 in a $2.5 billion deal. What is this doing to the NATO alliance where Turkey is a member? It is an ‘unfreezing’ of Cold War geopolitics, says Professor Richard Sakwa

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-the-turkish-russian-s-400-missile-deal-sabre-rattling-among-superpowers
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Biden’s “Disastrous” Legislative Record

*A cup of jaundiced Joe

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-disastrous-legislative-record
—

Democracy Now!
Supreme Court Appears Set to OK Census Citizenship Question Despite Risk of Undercounting Millions

*Whiting out a more colorful country

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/24/a_threat_to_democracy_justices_appear

Bernie Sanders Spurs Debate on Prisoner Voting Rights, But the Idea Is “Not as Radical as It Seems”

*My original view was that once released, fully or on parole, you should be able to vote, regardless of your conviction. That didn’t happen in Florida, where those convicted of murder or sexual offenses didn’t have their right to vote restored.

I felt, though, that while incarcerated, the loss of that right was part and parcel of punishment. Given the arguments presented here, I’m now inclined to support voting for prisoners. The loss of freedom should be the only consequence of conviction for the incarcerated.

If a person doesn’t lose their right to be treated humanely, then that same sensibility should be extended to the right to vote. The experience of Maine, Vermont and many other countries provides no evidence of any deleterious effect.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/24/bernie_sanders_spurs_debate_on_prisoner

4.23

Digital Rights Defenders Sound Alarm Over Big Tech’s Efforts to ‘Erode’ California’s Landmark Privacy Law
“We will not let them kill strong privacy bills in the dark”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/23/digital-rights-defenders-sound-alarm-over-big-techs-efforts-erode-californias

‘Coming Mass Extinction’ Caused by Human Destruction Could Wipe Out 1 Million Species, Warns UN Draft Report
Far-reaching global assessment details how humanity is undermining the very foundations of the natural world
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The dominion effect

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/23/coming-mass-extinction-caused-human-destruction-could-wipe-out-1-million-species
—

Daniel Ellsberg Speaks Out on the Arrest of Julian Assange
“Without whistleblowers we would not have a democracy. And there have to be people to distribute work and publish it.”
by Dennis Bernstein

*No “closing” of “ranks”

Only the cell door

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/23/daniel-ellsberg-speaks-out-arrest-julian-assange
—

The Real News Network
U.S. Hoped Putin Would be a ‘Sober Yeltsin’ – RAI with Stephen Cohen (3/5)
After the fall of the Soviet Union, a dysfunctional and pro-American Russian President Yeltsin presided over the chaos of the 1990’s; when Putin came to power, the West was very disappointed at the independent and nationalist character of the Putin led state and the demonization began – Stephen Cohen joins Paul Jay on Reality Asserts Itself

*Cohen exhibits a sort of Russophilia that, while not as dangerous as the Russophobia that could get us all killed, still is intellectually dishonest, if perhaps not wilfully.

Putin isn’t The Devil Incarnate. Russia isn’t intent on expansion, other than as a reaction, as in Crimea, to Western provocation. But to posit Putin as a kind of wise man who always acts reasonably is to ignore the blood spilled in Syria, the domestic repression, and the external assistance to fascist forces is to deny a dangerous reality in its own right.

That said, I do appreciate a perspective that contradicts the conventional narrative on Russia, although I wish I was more knowledgeable on the subject in order to better distinguish what rings true, and what is blowing smoke rings.

https://therealnews.com/stories/u-s-hoped-putin-would-be-a-sober-yeltsin-rai-with-stephen-cohen-3-5

‘Mafioso Capitalism’ and the Suicide of Peru’s President
Prof. Gerardo Renique discusses the three other ex-presidents already in jail over the Odebrecht scandal, and Alan Garcia’s death, just as he was about to be arrested for corruption

https://therealnews.com/stories/mafioso-capitalism-and-the-suicide-of-perus-president

Comedian Zelenskiy Wins Ukrainian Presidency in Landslide
In a contest against incumbent Petro Poroshenko, the TV comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy won an overwhelming majority of 73%, signaling a hunger for real change in Ukraine

*Comic relief, or a comic farce?

https://therealnews.com/stories/comedian-zelenskiy-wins-ukrainian-presidency-in-landslide

The Untold Story of the Nation’s Biggest School Cheating Scandal (2/3)
In Part Two, authors Shani Robinson and Anna Simonton discuss the role real estate developers and corporate interests played in the destruction of Atlanta’s black neighborhoods

*A legal lynching aided and abetted by a fact free press

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-untold-story-of-the-nations-biggest-school-cheating-scandal-2-3

Earth Day: How Can Climate Activists Fight Misinformation?
Award-winning filmmaker Josh Fox talks about his new book, The Truth Has Changed, and how climate movements can—and must—fight misinformation campaigns

*Fox has gone through a lot of sh t, so I don’t want to rag on him, but I have to wonder if his allusion to “the Russians” implies a not so healthy gulp of the Russiagate Kool Aid, and his seemingly naïve faith that he and others had made “enormous headway” with Madame Mayhem on fracking could be interpreted as succumbing to the same sort of misinformation he seeks to expose.

Perhaps the picture will become clearer with the second part of the interview.

https://therealnews.com/stories/earth-day-how-can-climate-activists-fight-misinformation
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Russiagate” Used to Demonize WikiLeaks

http://accuracy.org/release/russiagate-used-to-demonize-wikileaks
—

Democracy Now!
Right-Wing Vigilantes Hold Migrants Hostage on U.S. Border. Did Border Patrol Give Tacit Approval?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/23/right_wing_vigilantes_hold_migrants_hostage

Charges Dropped for U. of Arizona Students Who Called Border Patrol “Murder Patrol” at Campus Event

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/23/charges_dropped_for_u_of_arizona

4.22

Academia, Grassroots Organizations, and Debt
Forming a genuine collaboration
by Ann Larson

*Analysis absent action is essentially academic autoeroticism

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/22/academia-grassroots-organizations-and-debt
–

Things Didn’t Go Well When Betsy DeVos Was Confronted With Her Department’s Charter School Fraud
One billion awarded by the federal government’s Charter Schools Program (CSP) went to charter schools that never opened or opened for only brief periods
by Jeff Bryant

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/22/things-didnt-go-well-when-betsy-devos-was-confronted-her-departments-charter-school
—

The Real News Network
Modern Monetary Theory – A Debate: Randall Wray (1/4)
Randall Wray, one of the founders of the economic theory known as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) lays out some of its main arguments. Paul Jay hosts

*So here’s a question

Why do we need money? Why is it necessary to buy and sell?

(Okay … that’s two questions. So sue me.)

Amorphous, I realize, but no one ever talks about this

So give it a go.

https://therealnews.com/stories/modern-monetary-theory-a-debate-randall-wray-pt-1-4

Modern Monetary Theory – A Debate: Gerald Epstein (2/4)
Gerald Epstein outlines his criticisms of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Paul Jay hosts

https://therealnews.com/stories/modern-monetary-theory-a-debate-gerald-epstein-pt-2-4

Canada is Warming at Twice the Rate of the Globe, Says New Report
Greenpeace Canada analyst Keith Stewart hopes the study serves as a wake-up call for Trudeau government, but says “You can’t wake up a man who’s only pretending to be asleep” on climate change

*The pols aren’t asleep

But they strive to keep us comatose

https://therealnews.com/stories/canada-is-warming-at-twice-the-rate-of-the-globe-says-new-report

Cut Military Aid, Not Humanitarian Aid, to Reduce Refugee Numbers
Trump’s announcement cutting humanitarian aid to Central America will not have much effect. It’s the military aid that reinforces brutality in Guatemala and Honduras, says Prof. Adrienne Pine

https://therealnews.com/stories/cut-military-aid-not-humanitarian-aid-to-reduce-refugee-numbers
—

Petition update
Unconscionable, Even For Boeing
by Melissa Bumstead

*Boeing

Death in the skies

Death on the ground

We got you covered

https://www.change.org/p/no-more-kids-with-cancer-clean-up-the-santa-susana-field-lab/u/24419453
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Biden’s Deceitful Record on Iraq Invasion

*”So are they all … all honorable men”

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-deceitful-record-on-iraq-invasion
—

Democracy Now!
Sri Lankan Gov’t Responds to Unprecedented Attacks with Surveillance, Social Media Blackout, Curfew

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/22/sri_lankan_govt_responds_to_unprecedented

4.19

Decrying ‘Toxic Alliance’ of Macron and Polluters, Climate Campaigners Stage One of France’s Largest Ever Acts of Civil Disobedience
“Instead of regulating the activities of these polluting multinationals, Emmanuel Macron is rolling out the red carpet!”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/19/decrying-toxic-alliance-macron-and-polluters-climate-campaigners-stage-one-frances

‘Oppressed Labor’ Not Backing Down as Stop & Shop Strike Enters Second Week
“We want our pension to be left the way it is, our healthcare not to be taken away from us, to keep our time and a half”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”America’s version of socialism”

That claptrap hardly qualifies as kosher, either.

Oy gevalt …

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/19/oppressed-labor-not-backing-down-stop-shop-strike-enters-second-week

‘Shocking Attack’ in Northern Ireland That Killed Journalist the Latest Incident of Escalating Violence
A number of stressors, chief among them the political instability that comes from the U.K.’s ongoing Brexit struggles, may be to blame for the recent uptick in unrest
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/19/shocking-attack-northern-ireland-killed-journalist-latest-incident-escalating
—

Armed Bounty Hunters Raided Our Clients’ Home to Prevent Private Companies from Losing $1,670
Predatory and exploitative behavior on the part of bail bonds agents is not only widespread throughout the country, but is directly incentivized because of how the for-profit bail industry operates
by Andrea Woods and Alex Rate

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/19/armed-bounty-hunters-raided-our-clients-home-prevent-private-companies-losing-1670
—

Amnesty International USA
Turkey: Love Wins as ‘Outrageous Ban’ on All LGBTI Events in Ankara Is Lifted

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/19/turkey-love-wins-outrageous-ban-all-lgbti-events-ankara-lifted
—

The Real News Network
The Untold Story of the Nation’s Biggest School Cheating Scandal (1/3)
Authors Shani Robinson and Anna Simonton say the Atlanta school cheating scandal resulted in black educators being scapegoated for the failures of policymakers

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-untold-story-of-the-nations-biggest-school-cheating-scandal-1-3

The Baltimore Uprising: Four Years Later
by Brandon Soderberg

https://therealnews.com/columns/baltimore-uprising-four-years-later

Trump Administration Working to Divide Caribbean Against Venezuela
The island nations of the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, have become increasingly divided as the Trump administration is working to win them back and oppose the Maduro government in Venezuela. Jeb Sprague discusses the development and what it means for the region

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-administration-working-to-divide-caribbean-against-venezuela

Arsonists Leave Fascist Symbols at the Highlander Center
The Highlander Center has been at the heart of civil rights, labor, and poor people’s struggles in this country for the last 87 years. Some people see this arson as an act of war

*This sh t is real

And we better be as real as it is

https://therealnews.com/stories/arsonists-leave-fascist-symbols-at-the-highlander-center
—

FAIR
‘The FBI Appears to Be Engaged in a Modern-Day Version of COINTELPRO’
CounterSpin interview with Nusrat Choudhury on FBI targeting of black activists
by Janine Jackson

*Instigation for the Information Age

https://fair.org/home/the-fbi-appears-to-be-engaged-in-a-modern-day-version-of-cointelpro

4.18

Private Health Insurance Stocks ‘In Free Fall’ as Medicare for All Gains Momentum
“Insurance industry stocks dropping as the Medicare for All movement heats up—we’ve got some serious people power on our hands!” said National Nurses United
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/18/private-health-insurance-stocks-free-fall-medicare-all-gains-momentum

Turning to ‘Liars’: Outrage From Critics as Facebook Solicits Far Right Site for Fact-Check Help
“The Daily Caller allowed a white [supremacist] to write and publish an article promoting his own white supremacist rally, where a woman was murdered”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”Don’t Be Evil”

Outsource it

(Yeah, I know that’s from Google’s PR hacks. Cut me some artistic slack … )

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/18/turning-liars-outrage-critics-facebook-solicits-far-right-site-fact-check-help
—

Nearly 100,000 Pentagon Whistleblower Complaints Have Been Silenced
There is a giant sucking sound in the center of the Pentagon, and whatever’s down there feeds on trillions of secretive dollars, then shits out incalculable death and destruction
by Lee Camp

*Which flows faster

The money, or the blood?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/18/nearly-100000-pentagon-whistleblower-complaints-have-been-silenced
—

Koch Network and Christian Right Celebrate Apparent Hagedorn Victory in Wisconsin Supreme Court Race
by David Armiak

*The reason these statewide races are often so close is due to the fact that “liberal” (by comparison) candidates aim to sway many of the same voters as their reactionary competition, and in doing so, convey a “pragmatic” message that fails to motivate the unengaged or disillusioned to come to the polls.

Call it “Bermuda Triangulation”.

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/04/04/koch-network-christian-right-celebrate-apparent-hagedorn-victory-wisconsin-supreme-court-race
—

Center for Biological Diversity
Legal Petition: North Carolina Energy Monopolies Violating Customers’ First Amendment Rights

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/18/legal-petition-north-carolina-energy-monopolies-violating-customers-first
—

The Real News Network
Is Trump for Detente or Militarism? – RAI with Stephen Cohen (2/5)
Trump’s stated aim is to reduce tensions with Russia, but is it motivated by peaceful objectives or is it preparations for aggression towards Iran and China – Stephen Cohen joins host Paul Jay for a spirited discussion on Reality Asserts Itself

*There are so many contradictions under the tent of Killer Clown’s circus that it really isn’t possible to make clear sense of them, is there?

I’ll just say that he absolutely pimps “Amerika über alles”, as it’s the putrid patriotic red white and blue meat he throws his base.

Does he buy his own sales pitch? He does whatever his tiny but tricky little mind tells him is to his benefit. He’d be perfectly happy as a Russian oligarch or Saudi prince (as long as Putin or MBS let him bloviate to his heart’s content).

His only allegiance is to the state of his ego and bank account.

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-trump-for-detente-or-militarism-rai-with-stephen-cohen-2-5

US ‘Tightens Noose’ on Cuba
Sec. of State Pompeo announced that Cuban Americans and US citizens who lost property after Cuba’s 1959 revolution can now sue companies that have benefited from this property. This represents an important intensification of sanctions on Cuba, says Jeb Sprague

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-tightens-noose-on-cuba

Black Alliance For Peace Revives Black Anti-War Tradition (1/2)
The US has been at war in the Middle East for 28 years, starting with Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, then into Afghanistan, Syria, and now we are learning of military bases, operations, and troops in African nations

https://therealnews.com/stories/black-alliance-for-peace-revives-black-anti-war-tradition-pt-1-2

Why Should Americans Care About NATO/US In Africa? (2/2)
The anti-war movement rightfully focuses on the expansion of US military action around the world, but what connection does that have to everyday struggles in poor and Black communities in the U.S. like Baltimore? Why should Baltimoreans care about endless expanding war?

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-should-americans-care-about-nato-us-in-africa-pt-2-2

Faked Emissions May Send Volkswagen CEO to Prison
Bill Black examines the corrupt corporate worlds of Germany and the U.S. and how Trump ignores corporate malfeasance

*And all this time we were getting fahrvergnügened

https://therealnews.com/stories/faked-emissions-may-send-volkswagen-ceo-to-prison
—

FAIR
Media Cheer Assange’s Arrest
by Alan MacLeod

*Think on this

Would the “#Resistance” corpress ever malign Killer Clown in this manner, or any of his Mafiosi?

Makes clear who’s seen as a true threat to the media status quo, don’t it just?

https://fair.org/home/media-cheer-assanges-arrest
—

Outlets Denounced as ‘Enemies of People’ Still Promote Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Narratives
by Joshua Cho

*Strained, at times

But hardly strange bedfellows

https://fair.org/home/outlets-denounced-as-enemies-of-people-still-promote-trumps-anti-immigrant-narratives
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Mueller and Barr’s Real History of Cover-ups

*Russian dressing on a slimy salad of home grown graft

http://accuracy.org/release/mueller-and-barrs-real-history-of-cover-ups
—

Democracy Now!
Chomsky: By Focusing on Russia, Democrats Handed Trump a “Huge Gift” & Possibly the 2020 Election

*Concise analysis of major party strategy and tactics

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/18/chomsky_by_focusing_on_russia_democrats

4.17

‘Prohibition Only Ends Once’: 421 For All Group Takes Aim at Cannabis Criminal Justice Reform
“On 4/20, we celebrate the cannabis plant. On 4/21 we celebrate the people who are focused on these crucial matters of cannabis justice, amplify their message, and have a call to action to continue the work”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/17/prohibition-only-ends-once-421-all-group-takes-aim-cannabis-criminal-justice-reform
—

Walruses Are Jumping Off Cliffs to Their Deaths—Yes, Because of Climate Change
Animal lovers of the world must bear witness to the walrus’s peril
by Shaye Wolf

*If we don’t haul out of our death spiral

The edge of the cliff awaits us all

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/17/walruses-are-jumping-cliffs-their-deaths-yes-because-climate-change
–

Don’t Fall for the Hype of Free Trade Agreements
NAFTA 2.0 is not about feeding people or doing right by American farmers or Canadian farmers or Mexican farmers—it is about furthering corporate profit.
by Jim Goodman

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/17/dont-fall-hype-free-trade-agreements
—

MADRE
Global Indigenous Women’s Delegation Visits North Dakota to Share Strategies to Oppose Mega Oil and Gas Projects, Impact on Women and Girls

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/17/global-indigenous-womens-delegation-visits-north-dakota-share-strategies-oppose
—

The Real News Network
Unprecedented US Efforts to Expel Venezuela’s Representative to the UN
In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration, under VP Pence, is making an all-out effort to have the UN expel Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN

https://therealnews.com/stories/unprecedented-us-efforts-to-expel-venezuelas-representative-to-the-un
—

FAIR
‘Purity Tests’: How Corporate Media Describe Progressives Standing Up for Principles
by Alan MacLeod

*As pure as the driven snow job

https://fair.org/home/purity-tests-how-corporate-media-describe-progressives-standing-up-for-principles
—

Democracy Now!
Extinction Rebellion: Meet the Famed Climate Attorney Who Superglued Herself Outside Shell’s U.K. HQ

*I’m so happy the bobbies are exhibiting “utter professionalism and courtesy”

We’ll see how long that lasts.

In other countries, climate activism can get you killed

And Killer Clown would like nothing better than for the US to be the poster boy for that viciousness.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/17/extinction_rebellion_climate_activists_glue_themselves

Libyan Humanitarian Crisis Worsens as Over 170 Killed, 18K Displaced in Warlord Assault on Tripoli

*Painting your opponents as Islamic extremists isn’t just “a dog whistle to the far right” in the West, is it?

Old school imperialists’ ears perk up at the sound, as well.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/17/libyan_humanitarian_crisis_worsens_as_over

ICC Makes “Dangerous Decision” to Drop Probe into U.S. War Crimes in Afghanistan After U.S. Pressure

*Above the law

Beneath contempt

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/17/icc_makes_dangerous_decision_to_drop

4.16

Thawing Permafrost Emitting Higher Levels of Potent Greenhouse Gas Than Previously Thought: Study
Nitrous oxide is nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/16/thawing-permafrost-emitting-higher-levels-potent-greenhouse-gas-previously-thought

Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Traumatized American Women, Study Shows—And May Have Made Them Less Safe
The Supreme Court Justice’s confirmation hearings left Americans fearful for women’s rights and safety and left many men less likely to believe a woman’s allegations of assault
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/16/kavanaughs-confirmation-traumatized-american-women-study-shows-and-may-have-made
—

A Path to Democratic Socialism Means a Path To Climate Justice
Through ecosocialism, we can fight climate change and extreme inequality at the same time
by Thea N. Riofrancos

*Can we be as radical as the future we face?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/16/path-democratic-socialism-means-path-climate-justice
—

The Real News Network
Did The House’s New Climate Committee Snub the Sunrise Movement?
The first House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis hearing featured youth climate activists—but not the ones with the Sunrise Movement who demand a Green New Deal

*Insipid sound without fulsome fury

An insignificant nothing

https://therealnews.com/columns/did-the-houses-new-climate-committee-snub-the-sunrise-movement

Special Report: Haitian Resistance is Rising; US Complicity in Atrocities (2/2)
An unknown number of Haitians were killed, raped, and burned alive in La Saline, Haiti, the home of African Diaspora liberation. Margaret Prescod talks about what she found

*Taking wagers on whether the Black Caucus will do anything of consequence on this horror. A search on “black caucus haiti” serves up a nothingburger.

https://therealnews.com/stories/special-report-haitian-resistance-is-rising-us-complicity-in-atrocities-2-2
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Examining the Center for American Progress

*As with anything DNCista, a truly “constructive” criticism of this neoliberal nest of vipers would result in its destruction.

http://accuracy.org/release/examining-the-center-for-american-progress
—

FAIR
US Media Lament Internet Censorship—in China, Not US
by Julianne Tveten

*Isn’t it necessary to make a distinction between Western hypocrisy and market mongering, and legitimate concern over Chinese gummint censorship?

I don’t want Google colluding with any state’s desire to control its citizenry.

https://fair.org/home/us-media-lament-internet-censorship-in-china-not-us
—

Democracy Now!
Denied Entry to U.S., BDS Co-Founder Omar Barghouti Condemns McCarthyite Repression in U.S. & Israel

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/16/denied_entry_to_us_bds_co

Rep. Ilhan Omar Faces Death Threats & “Dangerous Hate Campaign” as Right-Wing Attacks Continue

*The Democratic “leadership” has Omar’s back

In its sights

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/16/rep_ilhan_omar_faces_death_threats

4.15

Greenlighting ‘Censorship Machine,’ EU Adopts Controversial Copyright Rules
“This is a deeply disappointing result which will have a far-reaching and negative impact on freedom of speech and expression online”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/15/greenlighting-censorship-machine-eu-adopts-controversial-copyright-rules

Attendees of Secret Meeting for ‘US Military Assault’ on Venezuela Revealed
“Few of these figures are well known by the public, yet many have played an influential role in US plans to destabilize Venezuela”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/15/attendees-secret-meeting-us-military-assault-venezuela-revealed
—

The Toxic Lure of “Guns and Butter”
Top Democrats keep aiding and abetting what Dr. King called “the madness of militarism”
by Norman Solomon

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/15/toxic-lure-guns-and-butter
–

How Progressives Can Fix the Progressive Income Tax
Taxes on the wealthy should be linked not just to the top of the income ladder, but also to the bottom
by Sam Pizzigati

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/15/how-progressives-can-fix-progressive-income-tax
—

The Real News Network
Medicare for All Divides Democrats but Might Unite the Nation
Michael Lighty speaks on Sanders’ Medicare for All bill, the corporate-fueled war inside the Democratic Party, and the battle for American minds

https://therealnews.com/stories/medicare-for-all-divides-democrats-but-might-unite-the-nation

“Stunning and Revealing” – DCCC Demands Loyalty Oath From Political Consultants
As Jeff Cohen points out, political fear of progressives and corporate power have pushed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) towards strategies for stopping primary challenges

*Following the money

On all fours

https://therealnews.com/stories/stunning-and-revealing-dccc-demands-loyalty-oath-from-political-consultants

California Dreamin’ of Climate Action by Newsom, But Will He Deliver?
After Jerry Brown’s mixed record, climate advocates hope Governor Gavin Newsom will up the ante on climate policy. Early on, details remain murky.

*Less smoke, perhaps

But the mirrors remain

https://therealnews.com/columns/california-dreamin-of-climate-action-by-newsom-but-will-he-deliver

Arab Spring Arrives Late in Algeria: New Elections Called
Baba Aye discusses the protests in Algeria, the colonial legacy that still shapes the country’s politics today, and the decision of independence hero Bouteflika to step down

*”And a parting on the left
Is now a parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight”

— “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, the Who

https://therealnews.com/stories/arab-spring-arrives-late-in-algeria-new-elections-called

UK Labour Party’s “Witch Hunt” Victimizes Jewish Black Party Activist
Jackie Walker’s surreptitiously taped words taken out of context led to a 2016 suspension; now she has been expelled. We discuss the case with Jackie Walker herself

*Sh-i-t like this just illuminates the imperative to place our faith in principles, not parties or personalities, if we truly wish to see those principles put into practice.

https://therealnews.com/stories/uk-labour-partys-witch-hunt-victimizes-jewish-black-party-activist

Special Report: Massacres in Haiti – Pacifica’s Margaret Prescod
An unknown number of Haitians were killed, raped, and burned alive in La Saline, Haiti, the home of African Diaspora liberation. Margaret Prescod talks about what she found

https://therealnews.com/stories/special-report-massacres-in-haiti-pacificas-margaret-prescod

Ecuadorian President’s Motives for Surrendering Assange: Vengeance & IMF Loan?
$4.2 billion IMF loan, submission to the US, and vengeance appear to have been President Moreno’s true motives for revoking Assange’s asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy, says Ecuador’s former foreign minister Guillaume Long

https://therealnews.com/stories/ecuadorian-presidents-motives-for-surrendering-assange-vengeance-imf-loan

EU Plastics Ban: “Doesn’t Go Far Enough”
Jerri-Lin Scofield and Jonathan Latham argue that EU plastics ban is far too limited and that recycling plastics does not deal with the main problem these materials cause

*A shame we can’t recycle our garbage as effectively as pols and the powers they serve do theirs

https://therealnews.com/stories/eu-plastics-ban-doesnt-go-far-enough
—

Petition
Patagonia
Wild Orcas Need Wild Salmon!

https://www.change.org/p/wild-salmon-and-southern-resident-killer-whales-are-on-the-brink-of-extinction
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
International Court Caving to Trump Pressure

*Court of least retort

http://accuracy.org/release/international-court-caving-to-trump-pressure
—

Democracy Now!
Allan Nairn: Indonesian General Tied to Mass Killings Plots to Arrest Critics If He Wins Presidency

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/15/allan_nairn_indonesian_general_tied_to

Trump vs. Mother Earth: Indigenous Activist Dallas Goldtooth Slams Trump’s Pipeline Executive Orders

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/15/trump_vs_mother_earth_indigenous_activist

4.12

Citing Assange’s Work Exposing US ‘Atrocities,’ UK Labour Leaders Speak Out Against Extradition Effort
The WikiLeaks publisher, says shadow home secretary, “is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by U.S. administrations and their military forces”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/12/citing-assanges-work-exposing-us-atrocities-uk-labour-leaders-speak-out-against
–

Author of ‘Crude’ Op-ed Yanked from Boston Globe Defends Sarcastic Take on Unaccountable Trump Officials
“I don’t understand what is so crazy about suggesting that the people responsible for ruining lives and tearing families apart and losing fucking track of children should be held somewhat accountable”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Piss on food

Horrors!

Piss on people

Horrors bloodlessly chronicled

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/12/author-crude-op-ed-yanked-boston-globe-defends-sarcastic-take-unaccountable-trump
—

The Martyrdom of Julian Assange
We must, in every way possible, put pressure on the British government to halt the judicial lynching of Assange
by Chris Hedges

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/12/martyrdom-julian-assange
—

The Real News Network
Sudan’s President Carries Out Coup to Defuse Movement Against Him
Prof. Khalid Ahmad says that what looks like a military coup against Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir is actually of the president’s own making, to defuse the growing movement and ICC indictment against him

https://therealnews.com/stories/sudans-president-carries-out-coup-to-defuse-movement-against-him

Assange Arrested for Exposing U.S. War Crimes – Paul Jay
Wikileaks released Manning’s leaked documents and exposed multiple crimes committed by the U.S. government and armed forces – Jay says this is getting lost in the corporate media coverage of Assange’s arrest

*”Democracy Dies in Darkness”

And the corpress draw the curtains

https://therealnews.com/stories/assange-arrested-for-exposing-u-s-war-crimes-paul-jay

Rising Rents Threaten Berlin’s Diversity, Activists Demand Expropriation
A grassroots movement in Berlin wants a referendum on expropriating more than 200,000 privately-owned apartment buildings from landlords and handing them over to public ownership, and tens of thousands took to the streets last week in support

https://therealnews.com/stories/rising-rents-threaten-berlins-diversity-activists-demand-expropriation

Students, Residents Protest Johns Hopkins ICE Contracts and Private Police
As student occupation continues, professors join in calls for the university to abandon plan for armed police

https://therealnews.com/stories/students-residents-protest-johns-hopkins-ice-contracts-and-private-police
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Contrary to Reports, the U.S. Gov. Can Add Charges After Assange Extradition

http://accuracy.org/release/contrary-to-reports-the-u-s-gov-can-add-charges-after-assange-extradition

Rep. Barbara Lee’s Startling Vote to Boost Military Spending

*She supported Madame Mayhem’s candidacy

Did that “startle” these folks?

Oy …

http://accuracy.org/release/rep-barbara-lees-startling-vote-to-boost-military-spending
—

FAIR
Assange’s ‘Conspiracy’ to Expose War Crimes Has Already Been Punished
by Joe Emersberger

*Assange assuredly isn’t “one of us”, or “in the club”

Which is why he’s being beaten with it.

https://fair.org/home/assanges-conspiracy-to-expose-war-crimes-has-already-been-punished
—

Democracy Now!
Noam Chomsky: We Must Confront the “Ultranationalist, Reactionary” Movements Growing Across Globe

*I don’t see any movement led by such compromised personalities as Saint Bernard as capable of successfully confronting the darkness growing daily around us.

Chomsky is unquestionably intelligent enough to grasp that reality.

Why he doesn’t appear to is a profound mystery to me.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/12/noam_chomsky_we_must_confront_the

Chomsky: Nuclear Weapons, Climate Change & the Undermining of Democracy Threaten Future of Planet

*Yes, they are institutional problems, but that doesn’t absolve individuals within those institutions of the responsibility to act to change those dynamics.

Many persons have done so, and paid a heavy price, but their sacrifice has often led to at least the tempering of the harm caused by greed and the lust for power.

Those with power perpetuate that “lack of choice”, wilfully. Let’s not view them as somehow blameless for their “predicament”.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/12/chomsky_nuclear_weapons_climate_change_the

Chomsky: Trump Radically Interfered with Israel’s Election to Help Re-elect Netanyahu

*The “guardians of democracy” make sure “Americagate” stays locked

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/12/chomsky_trump_radically_interfered_with_israels

4.11

Watch: Rep. Katie Porter Uses Basic Budget Math to Expose Jamie Dimon on Starvation Wages at JPMorgan Chase
“Mr. Dimon, you know how to spend $31 million a year in salary, and you can’t figure out how to make up a $567 a month shortfall”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*$567 is likely what Dimon pays for a high end blow job.

I’m surprised he didn’t suggest that as an “income supplement” for his employee.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/11/watch-rep-katie-porter-uses-basic-budget-math-expose-jamie-dimon-starvation-wages
—

The Man Who Saw Trump Coming A Century Ago
A reader’s guide for the distraught
by Ann Jones

*The distended shape of things to come

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/11/man-who-saw-trump-coming-century-ago
—

The Real News Network
Assange and Manning Under Arrest: Trump Admin Goes All Out Against Whistleblowers (1/2)
Shortly before Assange’s arrest in London Thursday morning, we spoke to former National Lawyers Guild president Marjorie Cohn about Manning’s refusal to testify against Assange and the precarious situation Assange is in

*Only the brain damaged would believe that the global corpress will approach this in a “but for the grace of (somebody’s) God go I” manner.

Craven and complicit, they will dutifully yield to the security state, stenographing their risible rationale, perhaps raising the meekest of objections over “press freedom” to appear something other than the courtiers the clear eyed espy them to be.

https://therealnews.com/stories/assange-manning-under-arrest-trump-whistleblowers-1-2

Assange and Manning Under Arrest: Trump Admin Goes All Out Against Whistleblowers (2/2)

https://therealnews.com/stories/assange-manning-under-arrest-trump-whistleblowers-2-2

Netanyahu’s Election Crusade Succeeds In Spite of Corruption Indictments (1/2)
Shir Hever and Lia Tarachansky discuss the continuing rise of the far-right in Israel and the future of the Israeli state following Netanyahu’s probable reelection

https://therealnews.com/series/netanyahus-brilliant-election-strategy-overcomes-corruption-indictments

Netanyahu’s Election Crusade Succeeds In Spite of Corruption Indictments (2/2)

*Re Omer-Man’s perspective

If you understand the reality, and yet ignore it

How do you hope to change it?

https://therealnews.com/stories/netanyahus-election-crusade-succeeds-in-spite-of-corruption-indictments-2-2
—

Petition
Color Of Change
Tell corporate charities: Stop the flow of funds to hate groups

*Giving till it kills

https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stop-funds-to-hate-groups
—

FAIR
Dictator: Media Code for ‘Government We Don’t Like’
by Alan MacLeod

*A name game to fit a nefarious narrative

https://fair.org/home/dictator-media-code-for-government-we-dont-like
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Assange Arrest: “Nuclear Option” Against the First Amendment?

http://accuracy.org/release/assange-arrest-nuclear-option-against-the-first-amendment
—

Democracy Now!
Julian Assange of WikiLeaks Arrested in London; Faces U.S. Charge Related to Chelsea Manning Leaks

*The corpress could care less about revealing US crimes, but they may not be too keen on the prospect of being prosecuted by foreign gummints.

Will that translate into opposition to a pending show trial?

I certainly wouldn’t put scared money on it.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/11/julian_assange_of_wikileaks_arrested_in

Sudanese Military Topples Omar al-Bashir as Anti-Government Protesters Vow to Stay in Streets

*”[A] force for counterterrorism in the region”

It bears constant repeating that the US views “terrorism” through varying lenses, seeking to manage such situations to maximize its advantage. That may entail fierce confrontation, or covert collaboration.

The battle isn’t against “terrorism”, but against obstacles to its (not our) interests. In the broader view, the presence of a bogeyman is a benefit to those interests.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/11/sudanese_military_topples_omar_al_bashir

4.10

My Father Was Killed on 9/11 When I Was Five, But What I Experienced at Guantánamo Bay Did Not Feel Like Justice
On life and the pursuit of death at America’s offshore prison where my outrage coexists with a yearning to understand
by Jessica Bram Murphy

*Holding onto humanity in the midst of its institutionalized absence

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/10/my-father-was-killed-911-when-i-was-five-what-i-experienced-guantanamo-bay-did-not
—

Food & Water Watch
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Sweeps Iowa’s Water Crisis Under the Rug
Despite over 10,000 factory farms and almost no Clean Water Act regulation, EPA denies petition to withdraw Iowa’s pollution program

*Smells like shit in every respect

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/10/us-environmental-protection-agency-sweeps-iowas-water-crisis-under-rug
—

The Real News Network
More Sanctions on Venezuela: Operation Florida 2020 (1/2)
Senators Menendez and Rubio introduced a bipartisan bill to the Senate to intensify US and international pressure on the government of Venezuela. Mark Weisbrot says this is largely possible because members of Congress are unaware of the suffering the sanctions are causing in Venezuela

*Ignorance is no excuse, but if – a hefty “if” – ignorance does play a part, it’s of a wilful sort, isn’t it?

Isn’t it your charge as a congressmember to understand the impact of your actions?

There I go all Vulcan again.

https://therealnews.com/stories/more-sanctions-on-venezuela-operation-florida-2020-pt-1-2

Pompeo: Sanctions Increase “Pain and Suffering” in Venezuela (2/2)
Sec. of State Mike Pompeo recently openly admitted that the sanctions are causing pain and suffering and that this would accelerate the process of toppling the Maduro government. Mark Weisbrot discusses the approach and what Democrats and progressives could do to stop this

*Is it that Democratic reps don’t know “what they’re actually doing”

Or know precisely what they’re doing, ’cause they’ve done it time and again, as Wilpert points out?

“Hands across the aisle” here have always strangled innocents abroad.

https://therealnews.com/stories/pompeo-sanctions-increase-pain-and-suffering-in-venezuela-pt-2-2

Don’t Celebrate: Mueller Report Continues Russiagate Narrative
The Mueller report, while finding no collusion by Trump, did reinforce the narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections to sow discord and disinformation, reinforcing the idea that Russia is an existential threat to the United States

*What does MSNBC stand for?

M y check is
S igned by
N
B
C

(Okay, it’s a stretch … sue me)

A corpress outlet is a corpress outlet. “Liberal” or no, it’s there to further the power structure’s narrative. MSNBC exists to coopt liberalism, to ensure it remains safely within the bounds of accepted “disagreement”

And, of course, on imperialism, as we see not only with this rabid Russia to judgment, but also with the silence on the high tech hell wrought in Yemen with our tax dollars, there is next to nary a sliver of light between elite views.

https://therealnews.com/stories/dont-celebrate-mueller-report-continues-russiagate-narrative

Netanyahu’s Proposal to Annex West Bank Kills Delusion About Two-State Solution
Rabbi Mivasair discusses the implications of Netanyahu’s probable reelection and his last-ditch effort to appease the far-right in Israel, by declaring his willingness to annex the West Bank

*Isn’t it telling that Palestinians in the prospectively annexed areas – if they are granted citizenship; by no means a certainty, I wouldn’t think – would have more rights under the ninth class citizenship Palestinians in Israel proper are subjected to, than in their current situation?

https://therealnews.com/stories/netanyahus-proposal-to-annex-west-bank-kills-delusion-about-two-state-solution
—

Democracy Now!
A Vote to Maintain Apartheid? Israel’s Netanyahu Set to Win 5th Term After Vow to Annex West Bank

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/10/a_vote_to_maintain_apartheid_israels

Academic Freedom at Risk After Decades of Right-Wing Attacks and Cuts to Education

*How do you have a segment on academic freedom, and the guest talks seemingly approvingly about administrations protecting the speech of “conservative speakers”, yet says nothing – and nothing is asked – about how those administrations have censored the speech of professors and others who challenge the conventional narrative on Israel or other areas?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/10/academic_freedom_at_risk_after_decades

4.9

For Military Contractors, Tax Day Is Pay Day
Lockheed Martin’s CEO took home $20 million while enlisted soldiers got just $20,000. Why? Because corporations have hijacked the military.
by Lindsay Koshgarian

*The F-35 is a bipartisan boondoggle

Just ask Saint Bernard about Vermont’s fork in the pork pie.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/09/military-contractors-tax-day-pay-day
–

America’s Self-Inflicted Wound: 100 Years of the War on Drugs
On the dead end of prohibition
by Alfred W. McCoy

*McCoy frames the strategy of prohibition as a “failure”, but for whom?

Certainly for humanity … but for those prosecuting the war on drugs?

Like “terrorism”, the aim is not to “win”, but to perpetuate a fear of the demon to justify policies meant to maintain power.

If the dragon is slain, what need of the knight?

(And the Florida measure did not restore voting rights to all felons. Those convicted of murder or sexual violence were excluded.

All that glitters is rarely unalloyed gold)

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/09/americas-self-inflicted-wound-100-years-war-drugs
—

The Real News Network
Does Obama Speak for Progressives?
On Saturday in Berlin, President Obama said progressives shouldn’t attack other progressives, saying it’s a “circular firing squad.” But are corporate Democrats within the progressive camp?

*The Republicans are the greater danger

The Democrats are the reason they are

And while I’ll likely let out a primal scream, then vote for a Biden or someone else as vile, should that be the reality, wouldn’t it be a revelation for Sanders, instead of shilling for them as he did for Madame Mayhem, to abstain from sugar coating their sins, making the case for voting for them with no illusions?

Might being straight up with folks possibly lead to more votes for the Democratic candidate, now seen as nothing more than the least worst choice, rather than being fed a load of horse hockey that turns off so many from going to the polls?

Needless to say, I won’t be ponying up ten bucks on the prospect.

https://therealnews.com/stories/does-obama-speak-for-progressives

Emboldened by Mueller Report, Trump Stages Border Drama
Trump hands even more aggressive border policy to Stephen Miller, and uses border controversy to bury more aggressive action against Iran

*Jay points out that Killer Clown’s border bombast is not “self-defeating”; that he wants “more drama at the border.”

As with “terrorism”, the goal isn’t to end the caravans, but to exploit them.

Slime thrives in the dung of demagoguery

https://therealnews.com/stories/emboldened-by-mueller-report-trump-stages-border-drama

Indian Elections: Raul Gandhi’s Minimum Income Program Highlights Modi Government Failures
“It’s bringing policy attention and public attention back to the issue of poverty, to the issues of deprivation and the fact that this government has not delivered at all for the bottom 50 percent, much less the bottom 20 percent”, says economist Jayati Ghosh

https://therealnews.com/stories/indian-elections-raul-gandhis-minimum-income-program-highlights-modi-government-failures
—

Democracy Now!
Trump Purges DHS Leadership, Threatening to Make Immigration Policies Even More Draconian

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/9/trump_purges_dhs_leadership_threatening_to

Kirstjen Nielsen’s Cruel Legacy: Outgoing DHS Secretary Proudly Separated Families & Caged Children

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/9/kirstjen_nielsens_cruel_legacy_outgoing_dhs

4.7

Researchers Warn Arctic Has Entered ‘Unprecedented State’ That Threatens Global Climate Stability
“Never have so many Arctic indicators been brought together in a single paper.” And the findings spell trouble for the entire planet.
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/08/researchers-warn-arctic-has-entered-unprecedented-state-threatens-global-climate
—

It’s Time to End U.S. Military Aid to the Philippines
U.S. taxpayer funds are bankrolling the worsening human rights crisis in the Philippines. Movements are rising to shut that aid off.
by Amee Chew

*As usual, no outrage for Master Mayhem’s mass murdering best bud

When his bromance is simply bipartisan business as usual.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/08/its-time-end-us-military-aid-philippines
–

Tech Companies Need to Get Serious About Confronting Hate
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other large tech companies already have policies that ban hateful, violent, and harassing content. It is clear they need to do much more.
by Carmen Scurato

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/08/tech-companies-need-get-serious-about-confronting-hate
—

The Real News Network
Sec. of State Pompeo Protecting Bush Jr. from War Crimes Prosecution (1/2)
With the revocation of the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s US visa, Pompeo and Bolton are trying to make sure that high-level US government officials are never prosecuted for war crimes committed in Afghanistan or elsewhere, says law professor Francis Boyle

https://therealnews.com/stories/sec-of-state-pompeo-protecting-bush-jr-from-war-crimes-prosecution-pt-1-2

Sec. of State Pompeo Protects Bush Jr. from War Crimes Prosecution (2/2)

https://therealnews.com/stories/sec-of-state-pompeo-protects-bush-jr-from-war-crimes-prosecution-pt-2-2

Unemployment is Down – Why Aren’t Wages Up?
In the recent jobs report, employment increased rapidly, but wage growth slowed down. Why? Gerald Epstein joins Paul Jay

*”[I]f the labor unions can figure out ways to support and accommodate these kinds of movements … “

Well, gee … if unions haven’t figured that out by now …

Of course, this *is* the US of A, innit?

https://therealnews.com/stories/unemployment-is-down-why-arent-wages-up

Will Trump’s Trade Wars Raise Wages?
Are the trade negotiations with China and the rewriting of NAFTA aimed at raising wages or profits? Gerald Epstein joins Paul Jay

*”[P]erhaps public-private partnerships … “

Perhaps Epstein has something else in mind, but PPPs as most often constituted have this disconcerting tendency to do just that on us, don’t they?

https://therealnews.com/stories/will-trumps-trade-wars-raise-wages

What is a “Guaidó”? A Cowboy in Caracas (1/2)
Former Catholic priest and Wyoming native Charlie Hardy talks about his recent experiences in Venezuela and looks back on 25 years living among the poorest of Venezuela’s poor

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-is-a-guaido-a-cowboy-in-caracas-pt-1-2

What is a “Guaidó”? A Cowboy in Caracas (2/2)

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-is-a-guaido-a-cowboy-in-caracas-pt-2-2

Does Socialism Make People Lazy?
In our series responding to viewer mail, Paul Jay joins Taya Graham to give his views on questions raised by viewers

*Okay, maybe I’m ascribing too much humanity to humanity, so to speak, and I should only speak for myself, but if a society (which is, or should be, our “family”) provides for not only our material but also our social, emotional needs, wouldn’t we feel motivated to do our best for that “family” due to that, and thus there would be no necessity for incentives based on wealth?

For me, knowing I’m valued as a human being, that my voice is listened to, and that my effort is recognized and appreciated, along with having what I need to live a dignified life, is sufficient to motivate me to contribute to society to the extent to which I’m able.

Are we evolved enough as a species to be satisfied with such a world?

https://therealnews.com/stories/does-socialism-make-people-lazy

External Powers Fuel Bloodshed in Libya
General Khalifa Haftar of Libya has been a very disruptive force in the formation of the UN’s unity government, says Vijay Prashad, the author of the book, “Arab Spring, Libyan Winter”

https://therealnews.com/stories/external-powers-fuel-bloodshed-in-libya

Oil Politics Drive Turmoil in Libya
With two of the largest oil producers, Iran and Russia, under U.S. sanctions, all profiteering eyes of the west turn to oil rich Libya, says Vijay Prashad, the author of the book, “Arab Spring, Libyan Winter”

*The blood flows

So the oil will

https://therealnews.com/stories/oil-politics-drive-turmoil-in-libya
—

FAIR
Ignoring Lessons of #metoo, Media Scrutinize Biden’s Accusers
by Naomi LaChance

*For the corpress, nothing short of rape on streaming video qualifies as unalloyed depravity

Even “pussy grabbing”, judging by Killer Clown’s pass.

And, of course, none of Biden’s defenders’ political motives are questioned, are they just?

https://fair.org/home/ignoring-lessons-of-metoo-media-scrutinize-bidens-accusers

4.5

‘I Don’t Know, Man’: Joe Biden Cracks #MeToo Joke to Room Full of Union Workers
Former vice president, said head of women’s advocacy group, “needs to own and learn from his mistakes—and that includes listening to the people who say that he harmed them and apologizing to them directly—not making jokes about it a day later”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*He gets it

He just doesn’t want it

And we sure as shit shouldn’t give it to him

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/05/i-dont-know-man-joe-biden-cracks-metoo-joke-room-full-union-workers
—

How VAWA Takes on the Systems That Perpetuate Domestic and Sexual Violence
#MeToo not only shed light on the pervasiveness of sexual violence—it also showed how people, systems, and institutions have been complicit in silencing survivors and fostering ongoing and escalating violence
by Sandra Park

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/05/how-vawa-takes-systems-perpetuate-domestic-and-sexual-violence
—

National Nurses United
Nurses Volunteering Medical Services See Sharp Increase in Numbers of Migrants Recently Released from Federal Detention

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/05/nurses-volunteering-medical-services-see-sharp-increase-numbers-migrants

Corporate Accountability
In Response to Mounting Pressure, Providence Mayor Ends Water Privatization Plan

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/05/response-mounting-pressure-providence-mayor-ends-water-privatization-plan

IfNotNow
Hundreds of Jewish College Students and Other Young Jews Blocking the Doors to Birthright Headquarters as well as 3rd Avenue; Over 20 Willing to Risk Arrest
Young American Jews, blocking doors to Birthright Headquarters, demand that Birthright confront the crisis of Israel’s occupation and choose freedom and dignity over their donors’ propaganda

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/05/hundreds-jewish-college-students-and-other-young-jews-blocking-doors-birthright
—

The Real News Network
What Baltimore’s Children’s Book Scam Says About Corporate Power
Baltimore Beat Editor-in-Chief Lisa Snowden-McCray discusses the fallout from the unfolding Healthy Holly corruption scandal

*For the exploitocracy

Corruption is child’s play

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-baltimores-childrens-book-scam-says-about-corporate-power

New York Sues Big Pharma for Opioid Crisis
Sackler and PurduePharma profited from “suffering and death,” NYC AG Letitia James says. White collar criminologist Bill Black discusses the case

*I dunno …

If something is so vile, such as rape, should we seek to “kind of [contain] and [regulate]” it, or should we work to end it?

The nature of the beast that is capitalism is such that it can never be tamed.

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-york-sues-big-pharma-for-opioid-crisis

EU Clamps Down on Freedom of Speech in name of Copyright Protection
Julia Reda of the Pirate Party warns that the law does not protect creators, but large interest groups. Internet platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter will install filters and ban access to material individuals upload who do not buy the rights for everything they use

*Greed has a perpetual copyright in a capitalist world

https://therealnews.com/stories/eu-clamps-down-on-freedom-of-speech-in-name-of-copyright-protection
—

FAIR
Tips for a Post-Mueller Media from Nine Russiagate Skeptics
Evidence-based journalists on the mistakes media made and how to get it right moving forward
by Katie Halper

*Yasha Levine nails it, don’t he?

This really isn’t primarily about Killer Clown. It’s meant to absolve the Clintonistas of any responsibility for his circus of death and dystopia (not that Madame Mayhem’s ascension wouldn’t have been largely a matter of degree, not kind), and to fill the putrid pockets of the arms industry by playing Russian roulette with nuclear armageddon.

And the corpress did indeed do their job; one they’ve toiled assiduously at from long before the Gulf of Tonkin.

https://fair.org/home/tips-for-a-post-mueller-media-from-nine-russiagate-skeptics

Calling Racism by Its Real Name
by Janine Jackson

*Will Killer Clown ever be subject to “truth in labeling”?

The betting window’s open

https://fair.org/home/calling-racism-by-its-real-name

Democracy Now!
“Corporate Homicide”: Ralph Nader Demands Boeing Recall Jets After Ethiopia Crash Kills His Niece

*Flying blind(ed by greed)

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/5/corporate_homicide_ralph_nader_demands_justice

How Trump’s Call for More Military Spending by NATO Countries Benefits U.S. Weapons Manufacturers

*So why is a program that used to bill itself as “the exception to the rulers” hosting a guest who’s pimping the primacy of NATO, one of those rulers’ primary assets, rather than calling for its extinction?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/5/how_trumps_call_for_more_military

4.4

Ayatollah Trump: The Global Rise of the Christian Right
Islamic extremism gets all the press, but Trump is just one of a growing number of Christian extremists in positions of political power
by John Feffer

*From Killer Clown to Killer Crowned

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/04/ayatollah-trump-global-rise-christian-right
–

India, Pakistan, and a Planet in Peril
South Asia’s nuclear-armed neighbors pull back from the abyss…barely
by Dilip Hiro

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/04/india-pakistan-and-planet-peril
–

‘The Essence of Being Palestinian’: What the Great March of Return is Really About
Their protests are a collective statement, a cry for justice, an ultimate reclamation of their narrative as a people—still standing, still powerful and still hopeful after 70 years of Nakba, 50 years of military occupation and 12 years of unrelenting siege
by Ramzy Baroud

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/03/essence-being-palestinian-what-great-march-return-really-about
—

The Real News Network
What California’s Death Penalty Moratorium Means For The Marginalized
Davey D discusses Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order and California’s prison industrial complex—from Tookie Williams to Prop 66

*The iniquitous irony of the death penalty is that it could serve only as a deterrent to the capital crimes of the powerful persons who support it, whose position has ensured that they have never been subject to it.

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-californias-death-penalty-moratorium-means-for-the-marginalized

Trump and Pelosi Both Cater to Private Health Insurance – Wendell Potter
Trump’s “great healthcare plan” and opposition to Medicare for All’s “socialism” and Pelosi’s defense of the ACA and opposition to single-payer are both aimed at garnering support from the private insurance industry

*They call themselves the “healthcare” industry

And the Strategic Air Command’s motto is “Peace is Our Profession”

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-and-pelosi-both-cater-to-private-health-insurance-wendell-potter

Fossil Fuel Trade Associations Spent $1.4 Billion on Ads in Past Decade
The American Petroleum Institute spent over half of that total on contracts with the PR giant Edelman, says Kert Davies of the Climate Investigations Center

*”Propaganda” is misspelled as “advertising”

https://therealnews.com/stories/fossil-fuel-trade-associations-spent-1-4-billion-on-ads-in-past-decade

New Chicago Mayor Promises to Reduce Crime by Fighting Poverty
Chicago overwhelmingly elected its first Black and openly gay woman to lead a major city. Micah Uetricht of In These Times analyzes the result

*De Blasio déjà vu all over again … ?

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-chicago-mayor-promises-to-reduce-crime-by-fighting-poverty

‘Obscene’ Bipartisan Applause for NATO in Congress
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress fanning the fire of a ‘Russian threat.’ Peter Kuznick says it is an ‘obscene bipartisan spectacle applauding war’; Pietro Shakarian discusses the self-serving NATO expansion and the hyperbolic Russia threat narrative

*If you’re jonesing to do the imperial dance of death

You can’t boogie without a boogeyman

https://therealnews.com/stories/obscene-bipartisan-applause-for-nato-in-congress
—

Petition
Justice for Port Drivers
Rio Tinto, Stop Doing Business with NFI Industries

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/rio-tinto-stop-doing-business-with-nfi-industries
—

FAIR
Highlighting Israel’s Claims of Conquest, NYT Creates Confusion on Status of Occupied Territory
by Joshua Cho

*The paper of (a broken) record

https://fair.org/home/highlighting-israels-claims-of-conquest-nyt-creates-confusion-on-status-of-occupied-territory

To Ramp Up Fear of Russia in Africa, NYT Downplays Massive US Military Presence on Continent
by Adam Johnson

*Can’t say the Times has “a light footprint” when it comes to a heavy handed imperial narrative, can you?

https://fair.org/home/to-ramp-up-fear-of-russia-in-africa-nyt-downplays-massive-us-military-presence-on-continent
—

Democracy Now!
After Algerian President Resigns, Demonstrators Demand Government Overhaul & Vow to Keep Protesting

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/4/after_algerian_president_resigns_demonstrators_demand

The Invisible People: France’s Yellow Vest Revolt Against Macron & Elites Reaches 20 Weeks

*Liberté, égalité, fraternité

(Some restrictions apply)

I’d be curious to know how Le Pen’s Rassemblement National has tried to capitalize on this discontent.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/4/the_invisible_people_frances_yellow_vest

4.3

Bold New Campaign Highlights How ‘Nature Can Save Us’ From Climate and Ecological Breakdown
“The protection and restoration of these ecosystems can help to minimize a sixth great extinction, while enhancing local people’s resilience against climate disaster”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*As trees fall in the rainforests, the corpress only hears its master’s voice

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/03/bold-new-campaign-highlights-how-nature-can-save-us-climate-and-ecological-breakdown
—

Why Congress Must Lift the Spending Caps to Help Low-Income Families
What are the human impacts of reduced spending for human needs programs?
by Deborah Weinstein

*The deaths from a thousand cuts

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/03/why-congress-must-lift-spending-caps-help-low-income-families
–

Let’s get ‘creaturely’: A new worldview can help us face ecological crises
by Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen

*A truly new deal necessitates a truly new depth of insight

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-04-03/lets-get-creaturely-a-new-worldview-can-help-us-face-ecological-crises
—

Environmental Working Group (EWG)
Trump Wants to Let Hog Farmers Decide if Pork is Safe

*Letting the swine guard the hog house

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/03/trump-wants-let-hog-farmers-decide-if-pork-safe

Fight for $15
In Nationwide Protests, Workers Declare McDonald’s Move to End Lobbying Against Minimum Wage Isn’t Enough
Cooks, Cashiers Call Fast-Food Giant’s Announcement ‘A Day Late, $15 and a Union Short’

*No more “special sauce” (maybe)

But the sleazy grease remains

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/04/03/nationwide-protests-workers-declare-mcdonalds-move-end-lobbying-against-minimum
—

The Real News Network
Defence of European Empires was Original NATO Goal
Another major factor driving the creation of NATO was a desire to bolster colonial authority and bring the world under a US geopolitical umbrella. Part 2 in Yves Engler’s series on NATO on the occasion of its 70th anniversary

*Whatever the color of the kettle, is it the purview of a perfidious pot to paint it for us?

https://therealnews.com/columns/defence-of-european-empires-was-original-nato-goal

Is Global Recession Looming?
According to Heiner Flassbeck, former head of UNCTAD, there are many factors pointing to a convergence in a normal cyclical downturn, deepening recession in Europe, complicated by a potential hard Brexit–with host Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-global-recession-looming

Trump Dumps Nearly 1M People From Food Stamps
Trump administration toughens work requirements for people struggling the most—and 48% are white men. Chuck Collins from IPS discusses the implications

*Hammocks for rentiers

Hammers for renters

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-dumps-nearly-1m-people-from-food-stamps

The Anti-Democratic Roots of NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must be understood from its roots, which are anti-democratic, says Yves Engler, while discussing his four part print series on The Real News

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-anti-democratic-roots-of-nato
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
NATO’s Record of Destabilization

http://accuracy.org/release/natos-record-of-destabilization
—

FAIR
‘A Lot of That Science They Point to Is Science They Paid For’
CounterSpin interview with Carey Gillam on Monsanto lawsuit

https://fair.org/home/a-lot-of-that-science-they-point-to-is-science-they-paid-for
—

Democracy Now!
Chicago Makes Herstory: First African-American Woman and Gay Chicago Mayor Wins in Landslide

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/3/electoral_history_in_chicago_first_african

AMLO: How Mexico’s New Leftist President Has Navigated Corruption, Inequality and Trump

*Given the steps he’s taken – and hasn’t taken – how the label “leftist” belongs in the segment headline, other than in a highly relative sense, is a mystery to me.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/3/amlo_a_look_at_mexican_president

4.2

US Government’s Refusal to Confirm or Deny It Put American Journalist on Drone Kill List Called ‘Chilling’
“The government seeks to shield itself from all inquiry into the process by which it acts as prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Should a distinction be made between US citizens and foreign individuals who are targeted?

If so, what legal constraints are there on another nation’s targeting for execution someone in the US alleged to be involved in terrorist acts?

American exceptionalism shuns the light of reciprocity.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/02/us-governments-refusal-confirm-or-deny-it-put-american-journalist-drone-kill-list
—

The Case for Using Ranked Choice Voting in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries
To make the 2020 primary campaign more democratic, we should demand a system that takes all voter preferences into account. That system is ranked choice voting.
by Adam Eichen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/02/case-using-ranked-choice-voting-2020-democratic-presidential-primaries
–

Supreme Court Draws, Quarters The Eighth Amendment
The most disturbing and grotesque of originalist fantasies is now law
by Elie Mystal

*Keep in mind that the Democratic “leadership” is willy nilly signing off on such sadists nominated for lower court seats.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/02/supreme-court-draws-quarters-eighth-amendment
–

The South Dakota Legislature Has Invented a New Legal Term to Target Pipeline Protesters
The new law gives the state the authority to sue individuals and organizations for “riot boosting,” but it does not clearly describe what speech or conduct it considers to be “riot boosting”
by Andrew Malone and Vera Eidelman

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/02/south-dakota-legislature-has-invented-new-legal-term-target-pipeline-protesters
—

The Real News Network
The Origins of Venezuela’s Economic Crisis
Venezuela has become a popular argument against socialism amongst conservatives because of the deep economic crisis it is currently traversing. Defenders of the Bolivarian project, though, say that US sanctions and economic war are to blame for the crisis. Greg Wilpert presents an analysis that tries to take all the factors into account

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-origins-of-venezuelas-economic-crisis

Showdown in Chicago: Lightfoot vs. Preckwinkle
No matter who wins – Lori Lightfoot or Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago will have elected an African American woman mayor for the first time in history, says Camille Erickson of In These Times

*You have to wonder if Erickson’s hope is born more of desperation than empirical consideration.

How well movements on the ground keep the new mayor’s feet, regardless of their color and gender, to the fire, will determine if that hope is realized.

https://therealnews.com/stories/showdown-in-chicago-lightfoot-vs-preckwinkle
—

FAIR Extra!
Single-Payer & Interlocking Directorates
by Kate Murphy

*Conflict of disinterest

https://fair.org/extra/single-payer-and-interlocking-directorates
—

Democracy Now!
As Trump Threatens Another Obamacare Repeal, Mother Warns That Losing ACA Would “Wipe Me Out”

*If healthcare is a right, “affordability” doesn’t enter into it, does it, any more than our right to have a healthy environment.

To be considered worthy of the name, a society commits to providing the resources necessary to ensure those rights.

It’s just commons sense.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/2/as_trump_threatens_another_obamacare_repeal

“The Status Quo Is Not Sustainable”: How Medicare for All Would Fill Gaps in Obamacare Coverage

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/2/the_status_quo_is_not_sustainable

4.1

Google Urged to Boot ‘Anti-LGBTQ and Anti-Immigrant’ Right-Winger From AI Ethics Council
“Not only are [Kay Coles] James’ views counter to Google’s stated values, but they are directly counter to the project of ensuring that the development and application of AI prioritizes justice over profit”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Waiting for the heartwarming tribute icon of Phyllis Schlafly on the Google home page

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/01/google-urged-boot-anti-lgbtq-and-anti-immigrant-right-winger-ai-ethics-council
—

Why Trump’s Goon in Charge of Medicare and Medicaid Should Resign Immediately
Verma’s attacks on Medicare are more subtle but no less dangerous
by Alex Lawson

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/01/why-trumps-goon-charge-medicare-and-medicaid-should-resign-immediately
–

Equal Pay Day Is a Reminder That you Can’t Mansplain Away the Gender Pay Gap
To close the gender pay gap, women need to see real wage growth faster than their male counterparts
by Elise Gould

*A woman’s work is never done

Being devalued

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/01/equal-pay-day-reminder-you-cant-mansplain-away-gender-pay-gap
—

The Real News Network
How Big Tech Has Helped Big Oil Automate the Climate Crisis
Companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have triumphantly announced themselves as petroleum production partners, Gizmodo reporter Brian Merchant has documented in a recent report

*Considering how the Post has been a ad rag for Amazon, and how the corpress en masse has been “false balancing” climate issues in the main for donkey’s years, I’d advise against the advice to “don’t worry … be happy” about its climate coverage.

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-big-tech-has-helped-big-oil-automate-the-climate-crisis

Toxic Coal Ash Afflicts Puerto Rico And The Dominican Republic
Environmental attorney Ruth Santiago talks to TRNN about litigation against American energy giant AES

https://therealnews.com/stories/toxic-coal-ash-afflicts-puerto-rico-and-the-dominican-republic

Trump’s Fed Nominee Has “Far Out Ideas,” But Progressive Criticism of the Fed is Important
Stephen Moore, Trump’s new nominee for the Federal Reserve Board, has some wacky ideas, but is correct about the need to keep interest rates low, says CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-fed-nominee-has-far-out-ideas-but-is-right-about-keeping-rates-low

Witch Hunt: Controversy Over Anti-Semitism and the British Labour Party
Filmmaker Jon Pullman discusses his film “Witch Hunt”, about the suppression of critical voices in the Labour Party and the influence of the Israeli lobby

*Is Zionism itself anti-Semitic?

Do its adherents seek to compel Jews to side with its racism and oppression, which go beyond Arabs?

If so, how is that a positive act in the context of a people who have been the victims of such evil for so many centuries?

https://therealnews.com/stories/witchhunt-controversy-over-anti-semitism-and-the-british-labour-party
—

Deep Faith in the Deep State Gives Dems a Set Back
Our weekly panel discusses the Mueller Report, as the Democrats and their media allies put their eggs in the Russiagate basket and handed Trump a PR victory – Jacqueline Luqman, Jeff Cohen and host Paul Jay

*The Democraps are a “basket” case, but not because of “horrible strategy”, but rather due to this being the only strategy a neoliberal imperialist entity can implement.

As we see with their sabotaging of any policy that vaguely smells of “progressivism”, winning elections is always a secondary consideration to a steadfast defense of the status quo and the narrative it wants advanced

And if triangulation leads to strangulation of their electoral opportunities, they’re down with that.

https://therealnews.com/stories/deep-faith-in-the-deep-state-gives-dems-a-set-back

On NATO’s 70th Anniversary Important to Remember its Anti-Democratic Roots
Formally, NATO was the West’s response to an aggressive Soviet Union, but the notion that the US, or even Western Europe, was threatened by the Soviet Union after World War II is laughable
by Yves Engler

https://therealnews.com/columns/on-natos-70th-anniversary-important-to-remember-its-anti-democratic-roots

Brexit: Will Tories Risk an Election Corbyn Might Win?
A third defeat for Theresa May’s Brexit plan sets up April 12 as the drop-dead date for an unlikely agreement in Parliament, a second referendum, a hard Brexit, or a general election where Jeremy Corbyn will present a progressive vision for Brexit and the future – Leo Panitch joins Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/brexit-will-tories-risk-an-election-corbyn-might-win
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
NATO Expansion: The Skeptics Were “Proven Correct”

*I’m not clear on just what Kennan meant by “wisely and moderately”, but I do know that the US would have reacted precisely in the obverse if the situation were reversed.

http://accuracy.org/release/nato-expansion-the-skeptics-were-proven-correct
—

Democracy Now!
U.K. in Crisis: Facing No Deal, Parliament Votes on Brexit After Rejecting May’s Plan for Third Time

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/1/uk_in_crisis_facing_no_deal

Why the Real Migration Crisis Is in Central America, Not at the Southern U.S. Border

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/1/why_the_real_migration_crisis_is

“Our Will of Life Is Stronger Than Despair”: Palestinian Ahmed Abu Artema on Israeli Attacks on Gaza

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/1/our_will_of_life_is_stronger

March 2019

3.29

Climate Crisis Could Expose Half a Billion More People to Tropical Mosquito-Borne Diseases by 2050
“Climate change is going to kill a lot of people. Mosquito-borne diseases are going to be a big way that happens.”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/29/climate-crisis-could-expose-half-billion-more-people-tropical-mosquito-borne

‘Shame!’: DHS Asks for Power to Deport Unaccompanied Children
“Don’t it make you feel proud to be an American?”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*A more efficient gummint

Child abuse streamlined

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/29/shame-dhs-asks-power-deport-unaccompanied-children
—

The Real News Network
Maryland Becomes Sixth State to Adopt $15 Minimum Wage
Maryland’s legislature overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of what critics describe as a watered-down minimum wage proposal
by Jaisal Noor

*The curse of compromise is that often “progress” becomes its own impediment

https://therealnews.com/columns/maryland-becomes-sixth-state-to-adopt-15-minimum-wage

Push to Reverse Obscure Shipping Law Could Flood Puerto Rico with Fracked Gas
After Hurricane Maria, the oil and gas industry and allied legislators have begun push to create Puerto Rico exemption to century-old shipping law, the Jones Act
by Steve Horn

https://therealnews.com/columns/push-to-reverse-obscure-shipping-law-could-flood-puerto-rico-with-fracked-gas

Kamala Harris Calls for Teacher Raises—An Anomaly in Presidential Politics
Democratic frontrunner calls for $315 billion investment—education activists, such as Lois Weiner, say it’s still not enough

*A more accurate headline would be “Harris Postures for Votes”

And that’s assuredly no “Anomaly in Presidential Politics”, is it?

https://therealnews.com/stories/kamala-harris-calls-for-teacher-raises-an-anomaly-in-presidential-politics

A Dangerous Precedent: US Recognition of Israel’s Annexation of the Syrian Golan
Phyllis Bennis explains that Trump’s decision is a setback for peace all over the world. The US has isolated itself diplomatically in support of Netanyahu’s campaign to win the elections, but recovery will be long

https://therealnews.com/stories/a-dangerous-precedent-us-recognition-of-israels-annexation-of-the-syrian-golan

Russia Defies US Threats Over Venezuela
Trump insists Russia ‘get out’ of Venezuela; Vijay Prashad says Russia is protecting its own economic interests, billions in outstanding loans

*When it comes to imperialism, the only “#Resistance” from the Democraps is to change

https://therealnews.com/stories/russia-defies-us-threats-over-venezuela
—

Democracy Now!
The World Is Watching: Woman Suing Harvard for Photos of Enslaved Ancestors Says History Is At Stake

*A higher education in utter hypocrisy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/29/the_world_is_watching_woman_suing

43 Years: Meet the Man Held in Solitary Confinement Longer Than Any Prisoner in U.S. History

*The human spirit can be stronger than the staunchest flesh

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/29/43_years_meet_the_man_held

Freed Prisoner Albert Woodfox on Transformation & Hope After Four Decades in Solitary Confinement

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/29/freed_prisoner_albert_woodfox_on_transformation

3.28

‘Most Destructive Pathogen Ever’ Has Created Zombie-Like Apocalypse for World’s Amphibians
“If it were a human pathogen, it’d be in a zombie film”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/28/most-destructive-pathogen-ever-has-created-zombie-apocalypse-worlds-amphibians

Not Piracy But ‘A Matter of Survival’: Refugees Take Control of Ship Headed Back to ‘Hell’ in Libya
“‘Pirates’—a new label for refugees who refused to return to slave camps in Libya”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/28/not-piracy-matter-survival-refugees-take-control-ship-headed-back-hell-libya
—

Trump-Linked Christian Fundamentalists Are Pouring Dark Money Into Europe, Boosting the Far Right
The rise of far-right movements in Europe aligns with a significant increase over the last five years in spending by Christian groups here in the United States
by Claire Provost and Mary Fitzgerald

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/28/trump-linked-christian-fundamentalists-are-pouring-dark-money-europe-boosting-far
–

Scott Walker to Head ‘Slow Moving Coup’ to Repeal-and-Replace U.S. Constitution
Hiding behind the goal of a “balanced budget,” is a movement about using constitutional change to destroy the power of the federal government
by Jud Lounsbury

*Odd that a “balanced budget”, which is a false flag for slashing funding for programs that foster a somewhat more equitable society, should be juxtaposed with an attempt by those who actively work toward an even more exploitative and unequal one.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/28/scott-walker-head-slow-moving-coup-repeal-and-replace-us-constitution
—

Drug Policy Alliance
DPA Creates Satirical “Country Club Cannabis” Brand, Urging New York State To Legalize It Right
The non-profit partnered with creative agency Virtue to get New York’s leaders to prioritize DPA’s model for equitable marijuana legalization rooted in racial and economic justice

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/28/dpa-creates-satirical-country-club-cannabis-brand-urging-new-york-state-legalize

Free Press: HUD Action Against Facebook Just a First Step in Protecting Users’ Civil Rights

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/28/free-press-hud-action-against-facebook-just-first-step-protecting-users-civil
—

The Real News Network
Puerto Rico Faces a Flood of Fracked Gas in Wake of Hurricane Maria
The gas industry and its allies in Congress hope to push LNG exports to the island’s electricity grid, ravaged from climate change-fueled natural disaster

*LNG = NBG

https://therealnews.com/stories/puerto-rico-faces-a-flood-of-fracked-gas-in-wake-of-hurricane-maria

Re-Decentralizing the Internet: The Fight to Unlock a Future of Digital Freedom (2/2)
It is within the means of the international community to redesign the worldwide digital ecosystem to ensure critical functions performed in the digital world uphold the public interest and deliver a safe and inclusive digital future, explains Michael Kwet

*Lifting the cloud of societal control

https://therealnews.com/stories/re-decentralizing-the-internet-the-fight-to-unlock-a-future-of-digital-freedom-pt-2-2

Concert Helps Raise $9K for Hopkins Nurse Allegedly Fired For Union Organizing
Nurse Vivian Obijekwu says she was fired from Johns Hopkins Hospital—while 8 months pregnant—for organizing fellow workers to fight discrimination. Local organizers held a concert to show solidarity and raise funds for her

https://therealnews.com/stories/concert-helps-raise-9k-for-hopkins-nurse-allegedly-fired-for-union-organizing

City Settles, Agrees to Reforms with Fired Black Police Chief who Claimed Discrimination

https://therealnews.com/columns/city-settles-agrees-to-reforms-with-fired-black-police-chief-who-claimed-discrimination

Venezuela Is in Economic Crisis, Not Humanitarian Crisis
Max Blumenthal describes his experience on the ground in Venezuela to host Paul Jay, and talks about how the depiction of the country in broad humanitarian crisis is being used as a rationale for intervention in its domestic politics

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-is-in-economic-crisis-not-humanitarian-crisis
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Russia and NATO Expansion

*”Not an inch”

But a mile

http://accuracy.org/release/russia-and-nato-expansion
—

FAIR Extra!
Free Speech Includes the Right to Say ‘No Thanks’
by Gregory Shupak

*Makes you wonder what he woulda said about Goebbels, don’t it just?

https://fair.org/home/free-speech-includes-the-right-to-say-no-thanks
—

Democracy Now!
Fighting Racial Bias in an Age of Mass Murder: Prejudice from the Coffee Shop to Charlottesville

*Given the visceral prejudices embedded in this society, the best we can hope for is to be “recovering” racists and bigots, ever mindful of our susceptibility to bias.

This isn’t about guilt. We only need be ashamed if we don’t acknowledge and act on that realization.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/28/fighting_racial_bias_in_an_age

3.27

‘We Can’t Trust the Permafrost Anymore’: Doomsday Vault at Risk in Norway
“Not good”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/27/we-cant-trust-permafrost-anymore-doomsday-vault-risk-norway
—

The Real News Network
Humane Capitalism or Fascism and War – Q&A with Paul Jay
A viewer asks why did Paul say that capitalism led to World War II, and another viewer asks if humane capitalism is the answer to today’s problems – Paul Jay joins Taya Graham

*I think Jay’s comments are cogent, in the main, but sociopathic greed (Is that redundant?) is a visceral component of capitalism. It obviously predates capitalism, as some humans have sought to exploit others from time immemorial, but that desire to exploit is what gave rise to capitalism, as it did its antecedents, such as feudalism.

So, yes, there is a dynamic beyond greed, a survival of the fittest (or the fiercest), that mitigates against “humane capitalism”, but compulsive greed is what drives that dynamic, and why capitalism contains the seeds of its own ultimate destruction.

https://therealnews.com/stories/humane-capitalism-or-fascism-and-war-qa-with-paul-jay

Could Banning Menthol Cigarettes Have Deadly, Unintended Consequences?
Retired Police Commander Neill Franklin and harm reduction specialist Ricky Morris say city bans on menthol cigarettes could lead to further criminalization of communities of color

https://therealnews.com/stories/could-banning-menthol-cigarettes-have-deadly-unintended-consequences

The Internet into the Present: A Worldwide Web of Digital Colonialism (Pt 1/2)
Big Tech is reinventing colonialism in the digital era, says Michael Kwet, in discussing centralized control of the internet at the root of current problems like privacy and monopoly power and the associated rise of Big Data and the surveillance society

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-internet-into-the-present-a-worldwide-web-of-digital-colonialism-pt-1-2

“We Are Swimming in an Ocean of Lies” on Venezuela
Former UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas says Michelle Bachelet needs to change her team and visit Venezuela herself, or she is going to continue to get an “unprofessional, one-sided, politicized report” on the state of the country

https://therealnews.com/stories/we-are-swimming-in-an-ocean-of-lies-on-venezuela
—

FAIR
Residents an Afterthought in Public Housing Privatization Coverage
by Teddy Ostrow

*When “progressives” got all wet over de Blasio’s election

They should have taken a good smell of just what was soaking them.

https://fair.org/home/residents-an-afterthought-in-public-housing-privatization-coverage
—

Democracy Now!
OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma to Pay $270 Million Legal Settlement That Will Fund Addiction Center

*The question is why did these lies go unchallenged by state and federal regulators?

That’s a bipartisan malfeasance, isn’t it?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/27/oxycontin_maker_purdue_pharma_to_pay

“The Opioid Crisis Isn’t White”: How the Lethal Epidemic Affects Communities of Color

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/27/the_opioid_crisis_isnt_white_how

An Invisible Crisis: Native American Tribes Ravaged by Opioids Take On Purdue Pharma & the Sacklers

*I’d have liked to have heard more on the “cultural ways of knowing and cultural ways of treating addiction” that Bohlen spoke of.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/27/an_invisible_crisis_native_american_tribes

Are Federal Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids Hurting Patients with Chronic Pain?

*The big picture often doesn’t fit the frame

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/27/are_federal_guidelines_for_prescribing_opioids

3.26

Obama Pilloried for Playing the ‘How You Gonna Pay for It?’ Card on Progressive Agenda
“No president since FDR has been handed as many opportunities to transform the U.S. into something that doesn’t threaten the stability of life on this planet. He has refused every one”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*He may no longer be “up on the presidential podium”, as the song goes

But he will always be “Dear Misleader” to me

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/26/obama-pilloried-playing-how-you-gonna-pay-it-card-progressive-agenda

‘Dark Day for Internet Freedom’: EU Approves Rules to Create Online Censorship Machine
“Never forget what they did here,” tweeted NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”[W]ell-intentioned” … for whom?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/26/dark-day-internet-freedom-eu-approves-rules-create-online-censorship-machine
—

Venezuela, US Solidarity, and the Future of Socialism
Despite committed work by relatively isolated intellectuals and activists, too many social democrats in the US—willing to attack Trump on almost anything else—have either remained relatively quiet or (worse) largely accepted the premises of his imperialist foreign policy
by Steve Striffler

*The contradictions of Chavismo, and there were and are many, pale in comparison to those of its opponents at home and abroad. That said, they can and should be critiqued, and that can be done while remaining foursquare defiant against neoliberalism and imperialism.

Solidarity should not be afforded any government, but the people of a nation. To the degree that Chavismo is an expression of their will to create a just society, it should be defended against assaults from Yanquis and regional rightists.

The Democratic Party, regardless of “wing”, will never provide safe harbor for such sentiments.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/26/venezuela-us-solidarity-and-future-socialism
—

The Real News Network
Democrats’ Russophobia Hid Trump’s Real Crimes
Gerald Horne and Jeff Cohen join host Paul Jay to unpack the Democratic and corporate media obsession with Russiagate, the foreign policy implications, and how it let Trump off the hook on major policy issues

https://therealnews.com/stories/democrats-russophobia-hid-trumps-real-crimes

Homicide and Baltimore’s Black Butterfly – RAI with Eddie Conway (12/12)
Murders take place in Baltimore at a rate that compares with New York, thirteen times the size; Eddie Conway says deep poverty, unemployment, and brutal policing are contributing factors to the murder epidemic – on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/homicide-and-baltimores-black-butterfly-rai-with-eddie-conway-12-12

Ecuador’s Lenin: Talks Progressive, Acts Conservative
Local elections in Ecuador over the weekend show that President Lenin Moreno has condemned his own party to irrelevance, while former President Rafael Correa’s new party makes a strong showing

https://therealnews.com/stories/ecuadors-lenin-talks-progressive-acts-conservative

Mexico Update: 100 Days In, Progressive President Riding High in Polls
Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador’s approval rating is through the roof—Laura Carlsen reports from Mexico City on what has been achieved and what has not

*The Prime Directive is always to place your faith in principles, not parties or personas

https://therealnews.com/stories/mexico-update-100-days-in-progressive-president-riding-high-in-polls
—

FAIR
Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela’s Cuban Doctors
by Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz

https://fair.org/home/pathological-deceit-the-nyt-inverts-reality-on-venezuelas-cuban-doctors
—

Democracy Now!
“Hold Israel Accountable”: Palestinians Call on Int’l Community to Oppose Golan Heights Annexation

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/26/hold_israel_accountable_palestinians_call_on

Fears of New Gaza Invasion Rise as Israel Launches Airstrikes and Mobilizes Along Border

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/26/fears_of_new_gaza_invasion_rise

“Suicide Is Preventable”: Public Health Advocates Push to End Stigma After Parkland & Newtown Suicides

*No mention of the suicide toll from the inequities of society, from crushing poverty and oppression, or from the pressure to be “successful” in a profit driven system.

This segment may as well have been on NPR or CNN.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/26/suicide_is_preventable_public_health_advocates

Psychiatry Prof. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber on the Questions to Ask to Help Screen for Suicide Risk

*Again, a failure to go beyond the surface of society’s sins.

You want to prevent veteran suicides?

End the wars that spawn the horrors they endure, witness and commit.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/26/psychiatrist_kelly_posner_gerstenhaber_on_the

3.25

‘State of Emergency’: Pine Ridge Reservation Flooding Exposes Racial Divide in Climate Crisis
“We’re seeing the differential impact of climate change unfold before our eyes in real time”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/25/state-emergency-pine-ridge-reservation-flooding-exposes-racial-divide-climate-crisis
—

Medicare for America
Yes, your premiums are gone, your co-pay to see the doctor is eliminated, and you don’t have to worry about your deductible or wait for insurance company approval to get that test
by Michael Lighty

*Snake Oil, the Sequel

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/25/medicare-america
–

Rural America Needs Medicare for All, and Fast
I’m a registered nurse from rural Iowa. In communities like mine, privatized care is an extractive industry—and it’s drying up
by Barb Kalbach

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/25/rural-america-needs-medicare-all-and-fast
–

‘We’re Only Getting Started on our Climate Campaign’
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a environmental direct action network that has been actively engaging in civil disobedience since October 2018
by Mark Matthews

*Talk isn’t cheap

It’s unconscionably costly

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/25/were-only-getting-started-our-climate-campaign
–

Why School Psychologists Are Worried About the Mental Health of America’s Students
Fourteen million students attend a school with a police officer but no school counselor, nurse, psychologist or social worker
by Angela Mann

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/25/why-school-psychologists-are-worried-about-mental-health-americas-students
—

U.S. PIRG
California Avocados Recalled in Six States Over Listeria Fears
Second major recall in less than a week underscores food safety system concerns

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/25/california-avocados-recalled-six-states-over-listeria-fears
—

The Real News Network
Will Corruption Scandal Sink Netanyahu Weeks Before Election?
The upcoming election in Israel is increasingly focused on the corrupt arms deals between Israel and Germany, from which Prime Minister Netanyahu personally profited from in the millions of dollars. TRNN’s Shir Hever discusses the implications

https://therealnews.com/stories/will-corruption-scandal-sink-netanyahu-weeks-before-election

Democratic Hopefuls Reject AIPAC
So far no Democratic presidential candidates have committed to speaking at this year’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference. Is this a shift in Democratic foreign policy towards Israel? What does this mean for AIPAC, one of the country’s most influential lobby groups?

*The question to ask is

Would any of these candidates have made this choice of their own volition?

As for Hever’s contention that it’s “[o]nly Republican politicians who are willing to consider these things”

See Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Honduras, et alia.

https://therealnews.com/stories/democratic-hopefuls-reject-aipac

Neoliberal Policies Are Tanking the Argentine Economy
Even with the IMF’s largest loan ever, Argentina cannot seem to avoid rising unemployment, high inflation, and recession. CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot explains that this is because they are following the usual failed neoliberal recipe

*In this instance, doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result, is not the definition of insanity

It’s the epitome of inhumanity.

https://therealnews.com/stories/neoliberal-policies-are-tanking-the-argentine-economy
—

FAIR
The Homeless 8-Year-Old Chess Champion and Other Horrific ‘Uplifting’ Stories
by Alan MacLeod

*Grit and predetermination

https://fair.org/home/the-homeless-8-year-old-chess-champion-and-other-horrific-uplifting-stories

Everyone Washington Supports, by Definition, Is a Moderate Centrist
by Alan MacLeod

*Was there mention of Der Fuhrer’s “adorable ‘Little Tramp’ moustache”?

https://fair.org/home/everyone-washington-supports-by-definition-is-a-moderate-centrist
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
AIPAC and Israel’s Influence

*Some “Gates” are closed to the public

http://accuracy.org/release/aipac-and-israels-influence

Russiagate: “Massive Gift for Trump”

*Pimpers of a “Putin puppet” are the ones left dangling

http://accuracy.org/release/russiagate-massive-gift-for-trump
—

Democracy Now!
As Mueller Finds No Collusion, Did Press Overhype Russiagate? Glenn Greenwald vs. David Cay Johnston

*I believe both narratives can be critiqued, but the context is clear, to my mind

The Democrats have used this Russia to judgment to obscure their servility to neoliberalism and imperialism, and have, as Greenwald stated, contributed to more than a few seconds ticking off the Doomsday Clock.

As for Killer Clown, he has no “divided loyalties”

Only a singular one … to himself.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/25/as_mueller_finds_no_collusion_did

3.22

Progressives Refuse to Back Down as DCCC Moves to Kneecap Primary Challengers
“Don’t think for one second that it’ll stop us—or the grassroots army we stand with—from backing bold, inclusive populists who will better represent their districts in Congress over neoliberal corporate Dems”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*One for the oldsters

Are the DCCCistas Blue Cheer or Deep Purple fans?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/22/progressives-refuse-back-down-dccc-moves-kneecap-primary-challengers

‘Outrageous. Unacceptable.’: Indiana Teachers Shot ‘Execution-Style’ With Pellets in School Shooting Drill
“In New Zealand, they respond to a mass shooting by banning semi-automatics five days later. In America, we respond to near-daily mass shootings by…literally shooting teachers.”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Almost makes you wish these teachers had been armed, don’t it just?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/22/outrageous-unacceptable-indiana-teachers-shot-execution-style-pellets-school
—

How Billionaires Are Using Hate to Divide Us
The only way to deal with them is with solidarity
by Leo Gerard

*We stand, together

Or we fall, apart

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/22/how-billionaires-are-using-hate-divide-us
–

Unfair State Tax Codes Also Exacerbate Racial Inequity
Regressive state and local tax codes are worsening both income inequalities and widening racial income and wealth gaps by requiring communities of color to contribute a larger share of their income in taxes
by Misha Hill

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/22/unfair-state-tax-codes-also-exacerbate-racial-inequity
–

Let’s Not Restore or Mythologize Obama
Obama’s tenure paved the way for the rise of Trump
by Jeff Cohen

*A slick style masking a slimy substance

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/22/lets-not-restore-or-mythologize-obama
—

The Real News Network
Eddie Conway: 5-Year Anniversary of His Release From Prison ​- RAI (11/12)
We continue our Reality Asserts Itself series with TRNN Executive Producer Eddie Conway, who spent 44 years as a political prisoner and is now in the leadership of TRNN

https://therealnews.com/stories/%E2%80%8Beddie-conway-5-year-anniversary-of-his-release-from-prison-%E2%80%8B-rai-11-12

Monsanto’s Weed Killer is “Substantial Factor” in Cancer, Says Jury
Monsanto is about to face 11,200 more trials over the potential carcinogen in Roundup, which has prompted legislation to limit the chemical’s use

https://therealnews.com/stories/monsantos-weed-killer-is-substantial-factor-in-cancer-says-jury

Might Makes Right: Trump Endorses Israeli Annexation of Golan Heights
Trump tweeted that the US should recognize Israel’s annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights, which Israel has been occupying for 52 years. TRNN’s Shir Hever explores what this means for the region

*The Heights of hubris

https://therealnews.com/stories/might-makes-right-trump-endorses-israeli-annexation-of-golan-heights

Maryland Advances Bill For a $15 Minimum Wage in Six Years
The General Assembly advanced a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, but critics say it’s been severely watered down

*The “sausage” smells

https://therealnews.com/columns/maryland-advances-bill-for-a-15-minimum-wage-in-six-years
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Trump’s Recognition of Golan Violates International Law

http://accuracy.org/release/trumps-recognition-of-golan-violates-international-law
—

Democracy Now!
“Remember the South”: Devastating Cyclone Idai Another Example of Global South Paying for Polluters

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/22/remember_the_south_devastating_cyclone_idai

“Water Is Life”: Midwestern Floods Threaten Indigenous Communities at Forefront of Climate Crisis

*The New Deal as the same old sorry deal

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/22/water_is_life_midwestern_floods_threaten

Our History Is the Future: Lakota Historian Nick Estes on Indigenous Resistance to Climate Change

*Estes is speaking of the true soul of socialism.

It’s a lesson “democratic socialists” need to take to heart.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/22/our_history_is_the_future_lakota

3.21

Major EU Websites Go Dark With #Blackout21 Protest Ahead of Vote to Create Internet ‘Censorship Machine’
“This is the last chance for Europeans who care about access to knowledge and the sharing of diverse information on the internet to make their voice heard”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/21/major-eu-websites-go-dark-blackout21-protest-ahead-vote-create-internet-censorship
—

Greedy Boeing’s Avoidable Design and Software Time Bombs
Boeing’s sales-driven avoidance of producing effective manuals with upgraded pilot training was courting disaster as was outrageously leaving many of the pilots in the dark
by Ralph Nader

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/21/greedy-boeings-avoidable-design-and-software-time-bombs
–

Jim Crow in our Climate Crisis
Our extreme weather is blowback from energy systems that were designed and operated in ways that entrenched inequalities
by Alycee Lane

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/21/jim-crow-our-climate-crisis
—

Petition
Demand Mayor Karen Weaver fix the corroded pipes in Flint!
by Dawn Lawler

https://campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/thefinalpiece
—

Democracy Now!
The Hidden U.S. Air War in Somalia: Amnesty Accuses U.S. of Possible War Crimes for Civilian Deaths

*We need to ask why Amnesty questions the US narrative here, yet promotes it in Venezuela, don’t you think?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/21/the_hidden_us_air_war_in

Anti-Government Protests Continue in Haiti; New Details Emerge About Role of U.S. Mercenaries

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/21/anti_government_protests_continue_in_haiti

Kushner, Inc.: Vicky Ward on How Jared and Ivanka’s Greed & Ambition Compromise U.S. Foreign Policy

*Tillerson didn’t find all this “abhorrent” because they were immoral and illegal acts

He was pissed that they were interfering with his immoral and illegal acts.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/21/kushner_inc_vicky_ward_on_how

3.20

‘Military Keynesianism is Back!’: Democrats and Trump Agree on Pentagon Increase, Quibble on Details
“Killing people in the Global South is ‘Good for the Economy’™”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*The Democraps’ true colors have always been blue, white and blood red

And green

Lots and lots of green

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/20/military-keynesianism-back-democrats-and-trump-agree-pentagon-increase-quibble
—

Organic Farms Are Under Attack From Agribusiness, Weakened Standards
For the health of our planet and agrarian justice—consumers need to become co-producers, learning about why it is such a struggle for smaller farms to thrive, and acting in solidarity by paying fair prices, buying direct or seeking out meaningful labels
by Elizabeth Henderson

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/20/organic-farms-are-under-attack-agribusiness-weakened-standards
—

National Iranian-American Council
NIAC Applauds Senators Harris, Sanders for Joining Warren in Backing JCPOA Return

*I read this, from a “progressive” organization, and I think, “What if Iran sought to ‘extract concessions’ from the US, ‘to shape [its] calculations, including on human rights and [global] issues'”?

Iran has much to answer for, though not every accusation has merit, but should a far worse perpetrator on a global scale be its judge and jury?

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/20/niac-applauds-senators-harris-sanders-joining-warren-backing-jcpoa-return
—

The Real News Network
China the Target of Pentagon’s Massive Military Budget – Horne and Jay
Acting Secretary of Defense justifies the increase in military spending with three words: “China, China, China” – Historian Gerald Horne joins Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/china-the-target-of-pentagons-massive-military-budget-horne-and-jay

Billions From Deutsche Bank Despite Trump’s Bankruptcies, Defaults, and Financial Malfeasance
The latest developments about Trump’s relationship to Deutsche Bank could be the unraveling with Deutsche Bank and Trump facing a serious legal probe on bank fraud by the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Rep. Maxine Waters

*Typical Times and wider corpress coverage of such scandals, to cast doubt on the überexecs’ culpability.

As to whether the Democraps will do much more than posture …

https://therealnews.com/stories/billions-from-deutsche-bank-despite-trumps-bankruptcies-defaults-and-financial-malfeasance
–

Petition
TripAdvisor
Stop covering up sexual assaults
by K. K.

https://www.change.org/p/tripadvisor-stop-covering-up-sexual-assaults/sign
—

FAIR
When They Don’t Ignore, US Media Often Disparage Palestinians’ Right of Return
by Gregory Shupak

https://fair.org/home/when-they-dont-ignore-us-media-often-disparage-palestinians-right-of-return
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
NoToNATO.org: Trump a NATO Booster

http://accuracy.org/release/notonato-org-trump-a-nato-booster
—

Democracy Now!
Trump & Bolsonaro Join Forces to Back Regime Change in Venezuela & to Attack Media as “Fake News”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/20/trump_bolsonaro_join_forces_to_back

The Torture Machine: Flint Taylor on Chicago Police Brutality from Fred Hampton to Today

*Do you “build trust” between a rapist and his victim?

You can’t “reform” something fundamentally rotten

You toss it in the trashcan of history.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/20/the_torture_machine_flint_taylor_on

The Roots of Police Violence in Chicago: How Cops Have Targeted Communities of Color for Decades

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/20/the_roots_of_police_violence_in

Court Upholds Chicago Officer’s 7-Year Sentence for Killing Unarmed Black Teenager Laquan McDonald

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/20/court_upholds_chicago_officers_7_year

3.19

UNESCO Report Shows World’s Most Vulnerable and Poor Paying More Than Rich for Clean Water
Ensuring broader access to drinking water and sanitation services requires “more holistic, integrated, and people-centered approaches to water resource management and environmental policy-making”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/19/unesco-report-shows-worlds-most-vulnerable-and-poor-paying-more-rich-clean-water
—

Meet the Press Chuck Todd and the Boeing Blackout
If the political journalist and anchor does decide to cover the story, he might want to focus on his colleagues’ reporting on the emerging criminal investigation into Boeing
by Russell Mokhiber

*2015

That would be *before* Killer Clown’s Circus of Death and Deceit came to town, wouldn’t it?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/19/meet-press-chuck-todd-and-boeing-blackout
—

Public Citizen
Court Upholds DOL Wage Rates for Migrant Farmworkers
Ruling Will Protect Foreign and U.S. Workers’ Earnings

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/19/court-upholds-dol-wage-rates-migrant-farmworkers
—

The Real News Network
Kamala Harris’ Record as Tough-On-Crime Prosecutor Far From Progressive – Documentary Report
Democrat and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris says she supports a Sanders-style progressive agenda, but given her record as AG of California, can she be trusted to enact it if elected?

*Dear Misleader in drag

https://therealnews.com/stories/kamala-harris-record-as-tough-on-crime-prosecutor-far-from-progressive-documentary-report

Admissions Scandal Exposes the Fraud of Meritocracy
Bribery and corruption is the real problem in college admissions, not affirmative action, says historian Gerald Horne–with host Paul Jay

https://therealnews.com/stories/admissions-scandal-exposes-the-fraud-of-meritocracy

Capitalism and Militarized Policing: A Perfect Match
A recent string of police scandals reveals how heavy-handed policing and monetized misery work in tandem to exacerbate the county’s entrenched social ills

https://therealnews.com/stories/capitalism-and-militarized-policing-a-perfect-match

Venezuela Tops CIA’s Agenda for Brazil’s President
On his first visit to the U.S., President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro eagerly receives his instructions from the CIA and Trump’s foreign policy team. Alex Main of CEPR analyses the visit

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-tops-cias-agenda-for-brazils-president
—

Democracy Now!
ACLU: The U.S. Is Acting Like an Authoritarian Regime by Barring ICC Officials Probing War Crimes

*The legitimate criticism of the ICC is rooted in how long it dragged its feet, isn’t it?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/19/aclu_the_us_is_acting_like

The Military-Industrial Complex: Trump’s Ties to Boeing in Spotlight Amid Probes of 737 MAX 8 Jets

*The Eisenhower trope once more

Might it not have been the case that Ike, as an old soldier, wasn’t keen on corps telling the military what to do to advance their interests?

Perhaps he felt that the Pentagon was fully capable of figuring out how to accomplish that objective on their own.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/19/the_military_industrial_complex_trumps_ties

3.18

‘Illuminating Exchange on Health Care’ Reveals Beto Doesn’t Think Insurance Industry Motivated by Greed
“Beto is anti Medicare for All, which last time I checked, had the support of the vast majority of Democrats and even a slim majority of Republicans”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Don’t you just know this pap will be reverberating through the echo chambers of the “papers of record”‘s editorial pages, whose authors will have to strive mightily to avoid creaming themselves at the thought of such übercentrism ascendant.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/18/illuminating-exchange-health-care-reveals-beto-doesnt-think-insurance-industry
—

Chelsea Manning and the New Inquisition
The celebrated U.S. Army whistleblower has always insisted her leak of the classified documents was prompted solely by her own conscience and she has refused to implicate WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange
by Chris Hedges

*I don’t believe the corpress has anything to worry about. Killer Clown at some point will return to pimping his baleful brand on his own dime, and he won’t have the tools to prosecute his intraclass spat, if indeed he really would have wished to.

With that, the fourth estate will gladly make common cause with the other three to implement the age of digitized dystopia, high sounding slogans notwithstanding.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/18/chelsea-manning-and-new-inquisition
—

The Real News Network
Is Corbyn’s Socialism Possible Within the EU? – Lapavitsas and Jay
With the Conservative Party in disarray, can the Labour Party take advantage of the “Brexit moment”– Costas Lapavitsas joins host Paul Jay

*I don’t think we got an actual explanation for why Corbyn and company didn’t immediately renounce the actual anti-Semitism within the party, do you? And of course when they didn’t, they allowed their opponents to false flag the issue.

As for their “radicalism”, which isn’t socialism any way you cut it, as with the “New Democrats” on this side of the pond, what’s talked about is often walked around, innit?

Pols know which way the strongest wind blows

Blowhards are moved by blowing hard.

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-corbyns-socialism-possible-within-the-eu-lapavitsas-and-jay

Trump and GOP Steeped in Corruption, as Corp. Dems Push Cold War Fever
Our weekly roundup panel looks at the fracture lines in the Republican Party and the corporate Democrats continue their frenzy about Russia – with Jacqueline Luqman, Jeff Cohen and host Paul Jay

*Killer Clown has no loyalty to anyone but himself. If he feels bin Salman or anyone else is a liability, he’ll throw them under the bus, but there’s also his arrogance, which might prevent him from doing so, as it may seem to him a blow to his self esteem to feel he’s being forced to do so.

In the end, the schmenge will do what he perceives to be in his own best interest, and it’s often not a straightforward task to determine how he arrives at that conclusion.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-and-gop-steeped-in-corruption-as-corp-dems-push-cold-war-fever

40,000 UC Workers Are About to Strike Over Race, Class, and Gender
UPTE-CWA and AFSCME workers are holding a one-day strike March 20 not just over wages and benefits, but over a larger social struggle for dignity in their work

https://therealnews.com/stories/40000-uc-workers-are-about-to-strike-over-race-class-and-gender
—

FAIR
NPR’s Source on Mosque Murders Can’t Recall People Ever Being Murdered in a Mosque Before
by Jim Naureckas

*Selective memory

Defective morality

https://fair.org/home/nprs-source-on-mosque-murders-cant-recall-people-ever-being-murdered-in-a-mosque-before
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Trump and Bolsonaro Meeting

*The stench of sulfur will be overwhelming

http://accuracy.org/release/trump-and-bolsonaro-meeting

Will New Zealand (and the U.S.) Finally Follow Australia on Gun Laws?

http://accuracy.org/release/will-new-zealand-and-the-u-s-finally-follow-australia-on-gun-laws

Blum, Documenter of U.S. Interventions, Memorialized

*The Sherwin-Williams of coups

The blood runs red, as well

http://accuracy.org/release/blum-documenter-of-u-s-interventions-memorialized
—

Democracy Now!
After Deadly 1996 Massacre, Australia Overhauled Its Gun Laws. New Zealand Now Plans to Do the Same

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/18/after_deadly_1996_massacre_australia_overhauled

State-Sponsored Islamophobia & Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Embolden Right-Wing Terrorists

*Words don’t kill

They create killers

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/18/state_sponsored_islamophobia_trumps_anti_immigrant

Former Neo-Nazi: President Trump May Be Complicit in Growing Threat of White Supremacy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/18/former_neo_nazi_president_trump_may

3.15

‘Don’t Do It. Don’t Share the #Christchurch Footage’: Demand Goes Out for Blackout of Gunman’s Horrific Video
“Don’t watch it. It is a nightmare. Hearts are with New Zealand & muslim friends. What a horrible day. Numb.”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”It’s not a video game or a movie”, but those play a salient role in enuring us to these horrors, don’t they?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/15/dont-do-it-dont-share-christchurch-footage-demand-goes-out-blackout-gunmans-horrific

Lots of F’s for These D’s: Report Card Shows Majority of Senate Democrats Aiding Trump’s Right-Wing Court Takeover
“A disappointing number of Democrats have buried their heads in the sand and helped Trump and Mitch McConnell to pack the courts with judges representing the far-right fringe of the country”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*These Democraps aren’t “bur[ying] their heads in the sand”

Their burying ours

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/15/lots-fs-these-ds-report-card-shows-majority-senate-democrats-aiding-trumps-right

In Era of Aging Reactors, Nuclear Industry’s Push for Deregulation Sparks Warning of ‘Collision Course’ With Disaster
Critics raise alarm about ongoing efforts to shift to “self-assessments” for safety and limit information shared with the public
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Playing with fire

And flood

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/15/era-aging-reactors-nuclear-industrys-push-deregulation-sparks-warning-collision
—

Earthjustice
Trump’s Methylene Chloride Rule Leaves Workers Exposed to Deadly Chemical
EPA abandons proposed ban on commercial uses of paint-stripping chemical linked to dozens of workers’ deaths

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/15/trumps-methylene-chloride-rule-leaves-workers-exposed-deadly-chemical
—

The Real News Network
Historic Yemen Vote: Despite Possible Veto, ‘Great Leverage for Peace Talks’
The Senate’s vote, invoking the War Powers Act and withdrawing U.S. support for the war in Yemen, could still be vetoed by Trump, but it can provide a way forward for ending this horrific war, say Shireen Al-Adeimi and Hassan El-Tayyab

*I’d have liked these objections to have been acknowledged and discussed

http://tinyurl.com/https-www-aclu-org-blog-nati

https://therealnews.com/stories/historic-yemen-vote-despite-possible-veto-great-leverage-for-peace-talks

Class Struggle Over Brexit – Lapavitsas and Jay
The Brexit process is in chaos after a series of votes concludes with the government asking the EU for a three-month extension; Jeremy Corbyn calls for an election to let people decide on their future — Paul Jay and Costas Lapavitsas

https://therealnews.com/stories/class-struggle-over-brexit-lapavitsas-and-jay
—

FAIR
Colleagues Defend Tucker Carlson’s ‘Ideas’—That Iraqis Are ‘Monkeys,’ Child Rape Is ‘Commitment to Love’
by Janine Jackson

*What would we do without “the liberal media”?

Be more liberal … ya think?

https://fair.org/home/colleagues-defend-tucker-carlsons-ideas-that-iraqis-are-monkeys-child-rape-is-commitment-to-love
—

Democracy Now!
White Supremacist Kills 49 Muslim Worshipers in New Zealand as Islamophobic Hate Crimes Rise Globally

*I don’t believe Killer Clown will be banning white Australians from entering the US.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/15/white_supremacist_kills_49_muslim_worshipers

Anand Giridharadas: College Bribery Scandal Highlights How America Is Rigged for Wealthy & Powerful

*”Merit” badge of dishonor

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/15/anand_giridharadas_college_bribery_scandal_highlights

Journalist’s Struggle to Find Bone Marrow Match Exposes Racial Disparity in National Registry

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/15/journalists_struggle_to_find_bone_marrow

Danielle Sered: To End Mass Incarceration, We Must Radically Change How We Approach Violence

*I think different psychosocial dynamics are at play when it comes to crimes of the powerful, and as such, I feel there is a place for punishment to fit the crime.

That doesn’t have to mean imprisonment. It could entail the permanent loss of that power, wealth and privilege, which I think could result in the perpetrator being more amenable to the strategies and tactics Sered advocates, once shorn of their sense of invulnerability.

It might also serve as an effective deterrent to others of that class. Their crimes are motivated by their position, or their desire to attain it, and the certainty of their losing same could be a mighty disincentive to abuse it.

Of course, that position perforce is an exploitative one, whether through legal or illegal means, and the ultimate solution to their trangressions is a society devoid of the pathways to such power.

I can dream, can’t I?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/15/danielle_sered_to_end_mass_incarceration

3.14

ACLU Offers Legal Guidance for US Students Joining Friday’s Global Climate Strike
“If you’re a public school student, you don’t check your constitutional rights at the schoolhouse doors”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/14/aclu-offers-legal-guidance-us-students-joining-fridays-global-climate-strike

‘Don’t Sell Out to Big Cable’: Internet Defenders Warn Democrats Against Watering Down Net Neutrality Bill
“We don’t care which party you’re from: if you’re helping Big Cable slowly poison net neutrality and the free and open internet, we’re going to make sure everyone knows”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Standing on principle

With all their weight

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/14/dont-sell-out-big-cable-internet-defenders-warn-democrats-against-watering-down-net
—

The Fatal Flaws in a Congressional Resolution to End US Support for the Saudi-Led Yemen War
by Hina Shamsi

*Honest “mistakes” … or not

The devils always appreciate the details

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/targeted-killing/fatal-flaws-congressional-resolution-end-us-support-saudi
—

The Real News Network
Baltimore Is Slaughtering Black Children
In the aftermath of a shooting at Frederick Douglass High School, teacher Daniel Parsons argues Baltimore is systematically failing its young people

*If there’s to be any hope, persons like Parsons have to be heard and heeded.

https://therealnews.com/stories/baltimore-is-slaughtering-black-children

Trump’s Militarized Budget Slashes Medicare, Medicaid, and Clean Energy
Preparing for war with the largest peacetime military budget paid for with devastating cuts to the poor, ending environmental regulation, destroying retirement and healthcare. Do divided Democrats have an answer? Lindsay Koshgarian of IPS analyzes the proposal

*The trough the military porkers gorge from extends across the aisle

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-militarized-budget-slashes-medicare-medicaid-and-clean-energy

Guaidó Claims He Can Authorize Foreign Military Intervention in Venezuela
Temir Porras, Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under Hugo Chavez, says Guaidó’s assertion on Fox News is a violation of the Venezuelan constitution; Porras says the only way to avoid a blood bath is a negotiated political solution

*A voice exiled from the corpress wilderness

https://therealnews.com/stories/guaido-claims-he-can-authorize-foreign-military-intervention-in-venezuela
—

Petition
RootsAction
Stop the Retaliatory Prosecution of Whistleblower Brigitte Fuzellier

*”That a Catholic organization could orchestrate a ceaseless campaign of revenge against a single individual is beyond anyone’s imagination.”

Far from beyond mine …

https://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=13621
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
What Does Beto O’Rourke Actually Stand For?

*A man of principles?

Don’t Beto on it

http://accuracy.org/release/what-does-beto-orourke-actually-stand-for
—

FAIR
Worry About the Old, Not the Rich, HuffPost Tells Readers
by Dean Baker

*Don’t trust anyone over 30 ($millon)

(Actually, a lot less than that, but then I’d lose my artistic license)

https://fair.org/home/worry-about-the-old-not-the-rich-huffpost-tells-readers
—

Democracy Now!
Until We Reckon: Mass Incarceration, Violence & the Radical Possibilities of Restorative Justice

*A first step often is made to foreclose the second

A half step to hobble a full stride

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/14/until_we_reckon_mass_incarceration_violence

3.13

After Last Version Blocked, Iowa’s New Ag-Gag Bill ‘Gives Middle Finger to Free Speech, Consumer Protection, Food Safety, and Animal Welfare’
“Consumers have a right to know how their food is produced and how animals at factory farms are mistreated”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/13/after-last-version-blocked-iowas-new-ag-gag-bill-gives-middle-finger-free-speech
—

An Apology for a Different Plane Crash, 30 Years Later
While most Americans have no memory of this incident, in Iran the date of the deaths of 290 innocent people at the hands of the U.S. military is marked every year just as the 9/11 attack is remembered every year in the United States
by Medea Benjamin

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/13/apology-different-plane-crash-30-years-later

The Rightful Owners of a Key Island Military Base for the U.S. Would Like It Back, and the UN Agrees
The Chagos Archipelago belongs to the country of Mauritius; it’s not a bargaining chip for the American empire
by Vijay Prashad

*Some people we “liberate”

Some lands we liberate from the people

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/13/rightful-owners-key-island-military-base-us-would-it-back-and-un-agrees
—

The Real News Network
Venezuela Update: Massive Blackout, US Unconventional Warfare?
While Venezuela struggled with the most massive blackout in its history, president Maduro said there is evidence that a US cyber-attack caused the blackout. Meanwhile, Trump administration officials continue the offensive against Venezuela, and the NYT uncovers false reporting

*Yeah, I guess you could say the Times “uncover[ed] false reporting”

If you mean that their initial coverage constituted same.

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-update-massive-blackout-us-unconventional-warfare

German Jewish Peace Group Wins Peace Prize; Then Attacked as being Anti-Semitic
Shir Hever talks about the Göttingen Peace Prize and how it transformed the debate around Palestinian rights in Germany, despite efforts by right-wing politicians to prevent the prize from being given to Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East

*”Some of my best friends are Jews

As long as they’re not anti-Semitic.”

https://therealnews.com/stories/german-jewish-peace-group-wins-peace-prize-then-attacked-as-being-anti-semitic

As Ukraine’s Presidential Race Heats Up, Politics Shift to the Right
A brand new face entered the Ukrainian presidential race, promising to clean up the country’s corrupt politics, but the three main candidates are all pro-West and political discourse has moved to the right as the far-right continues to gain influence. Prof. Tarik Cyril Amar analyzes the situation

https://therealnews.com/stories/as-ukraines-presidential-race-heats-up-politics-shift-to-the-right

Israeli Policies Force Family Separations
Al Haq’s director Shawan Jabarin discusses a new report exposing the complex system of restrictions Israeli authorities impose to control access to Palestinian territory and to stop family reunification. The consequence is to slowly force Palestinians out to preserve a Jewish majority in areas controlled by Israel

https://therealnews.com/stories/israeli-policies-force-family-separations
—

FAIR
‘What Is Terrorism?’ NYT Asks—but Offers No Answers
by Joshua Cho

*What’s in a name?

Control of the narrative

https://fair.org/home/what-is-terrorism-nyt-asks-but-offers-no-answers
—

Democracy Now!
Ralph Nader’s Grandniece Died in Ethiopian Plane Crash; Now He Is Urging Boycott of Boeing Jet

*Fuck waiting for the next horror

Prosecute all culpable NOW

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/13/ralph_naders_grandniece_died_in_ethiopian

Cheating, Bribes & Lies: DOJ Charges Dozens of Rich Parents & Coaches in College Admission Scandal

*Merit crock cracy

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/13/cheating_bribes_lies_doj_charges_dozens

3.12

The School Shooters of the Planet
Linking gun violence at home to America’s wars abroad
by Allegra Harpootlian

*Even if every “dangerous terrorist” were “taken out” “surgically”, with no “collateral damage”, what would be the reaction to another nation doing the same to the dangerous terrorists headquartered in D.C.?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/12/school-shooters-planet
—

The Real News Network
UK Parliament Rejects Latest Brexit Deal, Corbyn Calls for New Elections
Parliament rejected Theresa May’s latest Brexit deal by a vote of 391-242 just 17 days before Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union

https://therealnews.com/stories/uk-parliament-rejects-latest-brexit-deal-corbyn-calls-for-new-elections

Is ICE Trying to Intimidate Anti-Trump and Anti-ICE Protest?
An investigation published in The Nation discovered that ICE has been tracking anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests in New York City. Activists find this especially disturbing in light of ICE’s effort to deport immigration rights activist Ravi Ragbir

*There can’t be a “chilling effect” if your being spooked isn’t known, which is perhaps why the spreadsheet was released?

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-ice-trying-to-intimidate-anti-trump-and-anti-ice-protest
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
“Biden’s Disastrous Legislative Legacy”

*Likely nary a nub of this vile history will pass the lips of the other candidates, including our sainted Bernard

http://accuracy.org/release/bidens-disastrous-legislative-legacy

FlyersRights.org Calls on FAA to Ground Boeing 737 MAX 8

*Greed poses a flight risk

http://accuracy.org/release/flyersrights-org-calls-on-faa-to-ground-boeing-737-max-8
—

Democracy Now!
Justice for Stephon Clark: Protests Erupt as DA Fails to Charge Cops Who Killed Unarmed Black Father

*”The thin blue line”

And the wide red river

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/12/justice_for_stephon_clark_protests_erupt

Extended Conversation on the Fight for Hampshire College as Student Sit-In Enters 41st Day

*”Think for yourself, then act for others” isn’t the lesson the exploitocracy wants learned, is it?

And notice how Null avoids talking about Subject Matter, which I’d suspect is just what Subject Matter coached him to do.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/12/extended_conversation_on_the_fight_for

3.11

‘They Treat Us Like Robots’: Frequent 911 Calls From Amazon Warehouses Reveal Employees Driven to Despair
“It’s this isolating colony of hell where people having breakdowns is a regular occurrence”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/11/they-treat-us-robots-frequent-911-calls-amazon-warehouses-reveal-employees-driven

Climate Crisis Be Damned, ‘Shale Revolution’ Poised to Make US Net Exporter of Oil in Three Years
“The second wave of the U.S. shale revolution is coming,” says International Energy Agency
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

*This junkie extracts rather than injects.

Without intervention, the result will be the same, for all concerned.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/11/climate-crisis-be-damned-shale-revolution-poised-make-us-net-exporter-oil-three
—

Israel’s Stranglehold on American Politics
Israel’s dominance of the Democratic Party is eroding and increasingly losing legitimacy in the eyes of the public
by Chris Hedges

*I have a great deal of respect for Hedges, but he seems oblivious to the fact that, whether under Rabin, Netanyahu or any other PM, for the US, Israel is a bulwark against any challenge to imperialism in the Middle East. Its strategic value allows it, through its stateside lobby, to “wag the dog”, in some measure, which I imagine Rabin saw as ultimately antithetical to the Zionist project.

So I’m curious as to how Hedges would define “a true friend of Israel”, given its role and its aims, regardless of Labour or Likud ascendancy.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/11/israels-stranglehold-american-politics
—

Center for Food Safety
FDA Lifts Import Ban on Genetically Engineered Salmon
Consumer, Native, and Environmental Groups Decry FDA Decision

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/11/fda-lifts-import-ban-genetically-engineered-salmon
—

The Real News Network
Billionaire Owners of Purdue Pharma Pushed Opioid Drug OxyContin Knowing it Could Kill
Released depositions revealed that Richard Sackler, owner of Purdue Pharma, lied to physicians about the danger of OxyContin. Now Purdue Pharma is considering declaring bankruptcy to avoid lawsuits. Tarbell.org founder Wendell Potter discusses the case

*First do no harm

For which we can be held criminally liable

https://therealnews.com/stories/billionaire-owners-of-purdue-pharma-pushed-opioid-drug-oxycontin-knowing-it-could-kill

Trump’s “Coalition of the Willing” Against Venezuela Has Legitimacy Issues of Their Own
Many right-wing South American governments that are supporting Trump’s effort to oust Venezuela’s President Maduro have their own legitimacy issues, such as Brazil and Honduras. Others are deeply dependent on the US, such as Argentina and Colombia. CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot analyzes the coalition

*The US doesn’t “meddle”

It metastasizes

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-coalition-of-the-willing-against-venezuela-has-legitimacy-issues-of-their-own
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Breaking: U.S. Contractors Recently Arrested in Haiti Have Ties to Prominent Elites and Politicians

http://accuracy.org/release/breaking-u-s-contractors-recently-arrested-in-haiti-have-ties-to-prominent-elites-and-politicians

Lies About Venezuela

*”The enemy of the (Venezuelan) people”

http://accuracy.org/release/lies-about-venezuela
—

Democracy Now!
Journalists, Lawyers & Activists Targeted in Sweeping U.S. Intelligence Gathering Effort on Border

*Don’t look like much of “a new era” in Mexico with the sainted AMLO, do it now?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/11/journalists_lawyers_activists_targeted_in_sweeping

Glenn Greenwald: Chelsea Manning’s Refusal to Testify Against WikiLeaks Will Help Save Press Freedom

*Democraps have no problem making up “the difference” with the Repugnicans when their imperial duty calls, do they?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/11/glenn_greenwald_chelsea_mannings_refusal_to

Greenwald: White House Spread False Story About Venezuela Burning Aid Trucks to Win Support for War

*”‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’

And we keep the curtains drawn

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/11/greenwald_white_house_spread_false_story

3.8

Nearly 1.4 Million Puerto Ricans Facing ‘Dangerous’ Food Stamp Cuts as Trump and Congress Fail to Act
“The fact that we’ve had to reduce benefits to those that need it the most is alarming. Puerto Ricans are being treated unequally and that is unfair”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/08/nearly-14-million-puerto-ricans-facing-dangerous-food-stamp-cuts-trump-and-congress

Trump to Divert Up to $385 Million From Crucial Health Programs To Pay for ‘Government-Sanctioned Child Abuse’
Added to what was taken last year, say critics, that’s “almost $1 billion in HHS funds diverted from real public health emergencies to sink into manufactured ones”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/08/trump-divert-385-million-crucial-health-programs-pay-government-sanctioned-child

‘Turning Its Back on Millions of Workers,’ Trump Admin Moves Backward With New Overtime Pay Rule
Labor advocates say president is once again “siding with corporate interests over those of working people”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/08/turning-its-back-millions-workers-trump-admin-moves-backward-new-overtime-pay-rule
—

A Privacy-Focused Facebook? We’ll Believe It When We See It.
Above all, Facebook needs to be transparent about its business model
by Gennie Gebhart

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/08/privacy-focused-facebook-well-believe-it-when-we-see-it
—

MADRE
Feminist Foreign Policy Jumpstart:New Spark for Global Grassroots Women’s Voices in US Policymaking

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/08/feminist-foreign-policy-jumpstartnew-spark-global-grassroots-womens-voices-us

National Nurses United
RN Volunteers Provide the Critical Gift of Medical Aid to Migrant Detainees
Fifth group of Registered Nurse Response Network nurses to staff emergency shelter

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/08/rn-volunteers-provide-critical-gift-medical-aid-migrant-detainees
—

The Real News Network
Chelsea Manning Jailed for Refusing to Cooperate with Wikileaks Grand Jury
Chelsea Manning said her testimony before her court martial is all she has to say, standing by her resistance to secret grand juries as her activist ancestors did before her. Kevin Gosztola, Managing Editor of Shadowproof, discusses the case

*Whatever her current anatomical state

This lady has some big balls

https://therealnews.com/stories/chelsea-manning-jailed-for-refusing-to-cooperate-with-wikileaks-grand-jury

Thousands Mark International Women’s Day Worldwide
In Leeds, UK, dozens demanded an end to austerity and equal pay for equal work

*A woman’s work is never done

Being devalued

https://therealnews.com/stories/thousands-mark-international-womens-day-worldwide

Can the Jewish National Fund Dedicated to Ethnic Cleansing be Considered a Charity in Canada?
Rabbi David Mivasair, Corey Balsam and Ismail Zayid discuss their joint efforts to revoke the JNF’s charity status in Canada, but the Canadian authorities have a long history of supporting Israeli colonization in Palestine

https://therealnews.com/stories/can-the-jewish-national-fund-dedicated-to-ethnic-cleansing-be-considered-a-charity-in-canada

Is Sanders’ Democratic Socialism … Socialism?
Sanders says that medicare for all, a living wage, and other reforms is the socialism that’s possible, but is he too reserved on strengthening public ownership? – with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon and host Paul Jay

*”It doesn’t mean we shut up in our criticism of things we think need to be criticized … “

But that’s always what happens, isn’t it?

And that’s why “the possible” doesn’t expand, because that’s always sacrificed to “pragmatism”.

Half steps have to lead to full strides.

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-sanders-democratic-socialism-socialism
—

FAIR
Debate Over Labeling Omar Obscures Vital Debate on Israel/Palestine
by Katie Halper

https://fair.org/home/debate-over-labeling-omar-obscures-vital-debate-on-israel-palestine

3.7

Chelsea Manning Faces Contempt Hearing After Refusal to Answer Grand Jury Questions
“In solidarity with many activists facing the odds, I will stand by my principles”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/07/chelsea-manning-faces-contempt-hearing-after-refusal-answer-grand-jury-questions

Plan for Wheelchair-Accessible Cells at Gitmo Paint ‘Chilling Picture’ of Detainees Held Without Trial For Rest of Their Lives
“President Trump appears to be planning to detain men—the vast majority of whom have never been charged with a crime or faced a trial—until they die”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/07/plan-wheelchair-accessible-cells-gitmo-paint-chilling-picture-detainees-held-without
—

From Mowing the Grass to Cutting the Flesh
How young women learn to hate their genitals
by Rebecca Gordon

*A metaphorically malevolent “grabbing by the pussy”

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/07/mowing-grass-cutting-flesh
—

Re-Inhabiting Planet Earth
What may be history’s ultimate moment of human arrogance: the belief in a sense of separateness from and superiority to nature so thorough that we have, with our monstrous intelligence, the ability and therefore the right to play Bad God and make the whole planet go poof
by Robert C. Koehler

*One way or another, life as we know it will end.

The question is whether we have it within us to be reborn.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/07/re-inhabiting-planet-earth
—

The Real News Network
Clinton-Era Official Says Left Should Lead Following Center-Right Failures
March 7, 2019
Bill Black analyzes former Assistant Secretary of Treasury Brad DeLong’s statement that neo-liberals should get out of the way and let the left lead since coalition with Republicans did not work

*So I have to ask

If DeLong’s so goddamn “brilliant”, how could he not suss what this good ol’ boy from Miss’ssippi figured out decades ago?

The DNCistas weren’t “played”; they willingly played the game – as did Blair in the UK, among others – in service to their class interests.

To intimate anything else is to posit them as absolute fools who shouldn’t play with matches, much less possess the power to set aflame society.

And while I despise them, I don’t for a nanosecond doubt their sinister smarts.

https://therealnews.com/stories/clinton-era-official-says-left-should-lead-following-center-right-failures

City Passes Law That Could Shutter Massive Trash Incinerator
Baltimore Mayor Pugh signed the Clean Air Act into law. It will force the city’s trash incinerator to drastically lower emissions—or shut down

https://therealnews.com/columns/city-passes-law-that-could-shutter-massive-trash-incinerator
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Breaking: Documents Show Gov Tracking Journalists and Lawyers at Border

*Okay, so will “alternative media” outlets scrutinize the López Obrador administration’s involvement in this?

The use of present tense indicates a continuity of collusion, doesn’t it?

http://accuracy.org/release/breaking-documents-show-gov-tracking-journalists-and-lawyers-at-border
—

Democracy Now!
Historian Greg Grandin on the Racist and Violent History of U.S. Border Agents

*Is it the dark underbelly of “the American experiment”

Or simply its undergirding?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/6/greg_grandin_on_the_racist_and

U.S. Has Supplied UAE $27B in Arms Despite Nation’s Links to Torture, Mercenaries & Child Soldiers

*Be aware that “stopping the war” may well not be synonymous with ending the dynamics that have fueled it.

The devils have always appreciated the details.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/7/us_has_supplied_uae_27b_in

3.6

Let’s Change Europe From the Ground Up
The DiEM25 manifesto proposes immediate financial changes within the existing structures of the EU, to end austerity and fund a green, and hopefully post-capitalist, future. It operates across the continent.
by Yanis Varoufakis

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/06/lets-change-europe-ground
–

Nuclear Brinkmanship Is Back: Why We Need a New Peace Movement
Nuclear modernization is one of the most wasteful aspects of a bloated military budget and drains the economy of persons and resources needed to mitigate the damage climate change is already inflicting
by John Buell

*How mortal these fools will find themselves to be

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/06/nuclear-brinkmanship-back-why-we-need-new-peace-movement
—

The Real News Network
Cuba’s New Constitution Indicates Gradual Changes Underway
Cubans voted 87 percent in favor of a new Constitution, which ratifies economic changes already underway, but also indicates some important social changes. Evangelical churches, though, managed to prevent the ratification of same-sex marriage, says Prof. Elizabeth Dore

*”Venezuela, the Sequel”?

The growth of these evangelical entities, allied with the Catholic Church, lays the groundwork for “popular discontent” to be exploited by Killer Clown and the Bloody Brothers – Bolton, Abrams and Rubio – not to mention the entire bipartisan empire enterprise.

Dear Misleader sought a pliant Cuba via the siren song of “economic development”, opening the way for US capital to gradually erase the social state and redux the corruption of the ANC in South Africa.

The current imperial impulse is to go for the jugular.

https://therealnews.com/stories/cubas-new-constitution-indicates-gradual-changes-underway

Study: Loss of Stratocumulus Clouds Could Precipitate Extreme Global Warming
Professor Tapio Schneider discusses a new study examining the relationship between stratocumulus cloud formation and high levels of atmospheric CO2

*Salient example of scientific understatement

“Life is possible. It just looks very different from what we’re used to.”

https://therealnews.com/stories/study-loss-of-stratocumulus-clouds-could-precipitate-extreme-global-warming
—

FAIR
‘It’s as if Korea as a Country Just Doesn’t Exist to Them’
CounterSpin interview with Tim Shorrock on Korea Summit
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/its-as-if-korea-as-a-country-just-doesnt-exist-to-them
—

Democracy Now!
Greg Grandin on “The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America”

*”[U]s[ing] foreign policy to establish domestic legitimacy” may have lost some degree of currency with the public, but it’s a sure fire staple of eliciting support from the politicia and media, don’t you think?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/6/greg_grandin_on_the_end_of

3.5

What’s Worse Than Ticket Scalpers? Stock Scalpers.
A new Wall Street Tax proposal would crack down on the high frequency traders that are cheating the rest of us
by Sarah Anderson

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/05/whats-worse-ticket-scalpers-stock-scalpers
—

An Open Letter to the Washington Office on Latin America About Its Stance on US Effort to Overthrow Venezuelan Government
We believe that the Trump administration’s regime change effort in Venezuela is wrong in every way: morally, legally, and politically
by Greg Grandin, Noam Chomsky, Sujatha Fernandes and Daniel Hellinger

*CC this to Senator Sanders (who *does* back the “humanitarian aid” farce)

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/05/open-letter-washington-office-latin-america-about-its-stance-us-effort-overthrow
—

The Real News Network
Venezuela Update: Guaidó Returns, US Continues Threats
Self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó returned to Venezuela without incident, despite having violated a travel ban. NSC chair John Bolton continued his threats against Maduro, warning him not to arrest Guaidó and reaffirming the US’s right to intervene in Latin America

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-update-guaido-returns-us-continues-threats

Why Did Jeremy Corbyn Support a Second Brexit Referendum?
Prof. Leo Panitch says Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn held out as long as he could and made a tactical decision to support a second referendum on Brexit

*It’s not that a “long run strategic perspective” is perforce a sellout, but what almost always accompanies it is a “kiss and make up” concord with centristas, rather than a concerted effort to change the circumstances which make such a “pragmatic” decision seemingly necessary.

Thus we experience “déjà vu all over again”

And again … and again …

I fully expect this to be the case as the US hurtles toward the ’20 elections.

https://therealnews.com/stories/why-did-jeremy-corbyn-support-a-second-brexit-referendum

France’s Macron Moves to Equate Anti-Semitism with Anti-Zionism
Sonia Fayman of the Union of French Jews for Peace discusses President Macron’s efforts to blur the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism

https://therealnews.com/stories/frances-macron-moves-to-equate-anti-semitism-with-anti-zionism

Protests Hit Brazil During Carnival
It is generally assumed that Carnival in Brazil is mostly just a big party. However, as Mike Fox reports from Brazil, it actually has its origins in politically motivated concerns, and this is true now more than ever

*Dancing to democracy’s beat

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-politics-of-brazils-carnival
—

FAIR
Venezuela-Baiting: How Media Keep Anti-Imperialist Dissent in Check
by Alan MacLeod

*Ironic how red baiting is almost always directed at those determined to flee from anything remotely related to “socialism”.

(And let’s not count “democratic socialism” in that category. At least in the US and A, that’s simply another term for reheated New Deal liberalism.)

https://fair.org/home/venezuela-baiting-how-media-keep-anti-imperialist-dissent-in-check
—

Petition update
Tell the House Subcommittee on Health to make PrEP a part of preventative care
Discrimination
by Will Scheffer

https://www.change.org/p/we-have-a-drug-that-prevents-hiv-infection-why-aren-t-we-making-it-affordable/u/24249762
—

Democracy Now!
Inside the Secretive U.S. Air War in Somalia: How Many Civilians Have Died as Strikes Escalate?

*Wreaking wicked shit in “shithole countries”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/5/inside_the_secretive_us_air_war

“How to Hide an Empire”: Daniel Immerwahr on the History of the Greater United States

*Would it be fair to say that “the medical community” didn’t de-deify Rhoads due to his exposure as a monster, but rather out of fear of its exposure as an enabler of such horrors if they didn’t?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/5/how_to_hide_an_empire_daniel

3.4

“When We Say ‘Pharma Greed Kills,’ This Is What We Mean”: Critics Respond to Possible Purdue Bankruptcy
“Well, this is certainly the Trumpian way out”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Nothing short of a credible threat of prison will break this malignant addiction to profit.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/04/when-we-say-pharma-greed-kills-what-we-mean-critics-respond-possible-purdue
—

It’s Carnaval in Brazil—What ‘Marielle Presente’ Means for Women of Color Across the Globe
The name and image of Marielle Franco—an intersectional representation of the many wars being fought—serves as more than just a reminder
by Tanya Rawal-Jindia

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/04/its-carnaval-brazil-what-marielle-presente-means-women-color-across-globe
—

Israel Lobbies Slam Ilhan Omar Even as They Try to Bankrupt Small Leftist Arkansas Paper Over Israel Boycott
The Israel lobbies that direct campaign money to representatives and senators insist that Israeli policy of imposing Jim Crow discrimination on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories never be criticized on the floor of Congress
by Juan Cole

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/03/04/israel-lobbies-slam-ilhan-omar-even-they-try-bankrupt-small-leftist-arkansas-paper
—

Council on American-Islamic Relations
CAIR Calls on FBI to Take Seriously Threat to ‘Assassinate’ Minn. Rep. Ilhan Omar

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/04/cair-calls-fbi-take-seriously-threat-assassinate-minn-rep-ilhan-omar

Public Citizen
Public Citizen Urges FEC to Close Its Donor Disclosure Loophole
Court Orders Agency to Rewrite Its Faulty Disclosure Rules for Independent Expenditure

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/04/public-citizen-urges-fec-close-its-donor-disclosure-loophole
—

The Real News Network
Could a National Legal Pot Law Finally Happen?
With Cory Booker’s proposal to legalize marijuana on a federal level, TRNN looks at the current politics surrounding legalization in the nation’s capital and statehouses across the country to see if the time has finally come for a federal law to decriminalize pot

https://therealnews.com/stories/could-a-national-legal-pot-law-finally-happen

Sanders on Venezuela – Does His Critique of US Policy Go Far Enough?
At the CNN town hall, Sanders opposed U.S. intervention in Venezuela, refused to call Maduro a dictator, or recognize Guaido, but he didn’t call for an end to sanctions – with Jacqueline Luqman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Solomon and host Paul Jay

*If you’re expecting any US pol to truly confront imperialism, you’re smoking something more potent than anything I’m familiar with.

It’s up to us to call their kabuki, and construct a movement that doesn’t seek to “build a better Bernie”, but forces him and all others to respond to an overwhelming public demand that the US cease to be “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today”, as the man said.

I have a dream, too …

https://therealnews.com/stories/sanders-on-venezuela-does-his-critique-of-us-policy-go-far-enough

Canada’s Corrupt Foreign Policy Come Home to Roost
Justin Trudeau’s government is engulfed in a major political scandal that lays bare corporate power in Ottawa. But, the important role of the engineering and construction giant SNC Lavalin in Canadian foreign policy has largely been ignored in discussion of the controversy.
by Yves Engler

https://therealnews.com/columns/canadas-corrupt-foreign-policy-come-home-to-roost

3rd Anniversary of Berta Cáceres Murder in Honduras: Downward Spiral and Hope
The murder trial of environmental and indigenous activist Berta Cáceres leaves many issues unresolved. Meanwhile, the human rights situation in Honduras has been getting worse, even as Berta continues to inspire activists with her example

https://therealnews.com/stories/3rd-anniversary-of-berta-caceres-murder-in-honduras-downward-spiral-and-hope

Netanyahu Indictments May Amount To Nothing, His Real Crimes Go Unpunished
Shir Hever discusses Netanyahu’s indictment for bribery, malfeasance in office and breach of public trust as only a fraction of his crimes, his refusal to resign & his attack against the left & the media

https://therealnews.com/stories/netanyahu-indictments-may-amount-to-nothing-his-real-crimes-go-unpunished

Canada’s Hypocritical Double-Standard on Haiti and Venezuela
Canada is supporting Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, who has lost all legitimacy, if he ever had any, and at the same time it is in the forefront in opposing Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, who had a more legitimate election and has more supporters, says Yves Engler

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadas-hypocritical-double-standard-on-haiti-and-venezuela
—

Petition
Wisconsin College Board: DO NOT change exam costs and deadlines
by Jennifer Wander

*A test of ills

https://www.change.org/p/tell-the-college-board-not-to-add-more-expense-and-stress-for-students-taking-exams
—

Petition update
Tell the House Subcommittee on Health to make PrEP a part of preventative care
This Petition Has Died Like My Friends
by Will Scheffer

https://www.change.org/p/we-have-a-drug-that-prevents-hiv-infection-why-aren-t-we-making-it-affordable/u/24240647
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
What Happened to Syria? What’s Next?

http://accuracy.org/release/what-happened-to-syria-whats-next
—

FAIR
‘This Policy Has Led to Reduced Access to Critical Health Services’
CounterSpin interview with Nina Besser Doorley on Trump’s global gag rule
by Janine Jackson

*”Grabbing ’em by the pussy” on a global scale

https://fair.org/home/this-policy-has-led-to-reduced-access-to-critical-health-services
—

Democracy Now!
It Is Time to Indict Israel: Norman Finkelstein on Growing Push for ICC to File War Crimes Charges

*Does “violence” on the part of the oppressed against a murderous tormentor “justify” its use of lethal, or any other kind of force?

Were Nazis justified in returning fire from members of the Jewish resistance?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/4/it_is_time_to_indict_israel

Big Tech Stole Our Data While Democracy Slept: Shoshana Zuboff on the Age of Surveillance Capitalism

*It’s frustrating, and not a little depressing, that someone so intelligent still believes that capitalism, of any sort, can be “tamed”.

It’s not a matter of the “dominant” form of capitalism. Capitalism will always seek to dominate, and its historical “defeats”, while meaningful in some sense, in the main simply necessitated a shift in strategy to regain lost ground, as we have seen done time and again up till the present day.

Zuboff’s faith in the corrective potential of democracy is misplaced, I fear. We’ll have to evolve, and goddamn quickly, to truly realize that potential.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/1/big_tech_stole_our_data_while

3.1

Saudis Join With US to Kill EU Effort to Create Dirty Money Blacklist
“Governments must ask themselves whether they are on the side of autocrats or their citizens!”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/01/saudis-join-us-kill-eu-effort-create-dirty-money-blacklist

In ‘Historically Dubious’ CPAC Speech, Pence Claims ‘Freedom’ Ended Slavery
“Think he’s arguing that capitalism ended slavery which is… an interesting perspective!” — Christopher Mathias, HuffPost
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Arbeit macht frei

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/01/historically-dubious-cpac-speech-pence-claims-freedom-ended-slavery

‘To Punish an Outspoken Whistleblower,’ Chelsea Manning Subpoeaned to Testify Before Grand Jury
Subpoeana likely related to WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/01/punish-outspoken-whistleblower-chelsea-manning-subpoeaned-testify-grand-jury
—

The Real News Network
How Profit Makes Policing Immune to Reform
TRNN takes a closer look at recent efforts to reform one of the most corrupt police departments in the country, and how even the dysfunction fuels profit for law enforcement in general

*If minor pot possession is no longer incarcerable, why is Mosby only seeking to go back a few years to vacate convictions?

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-profit-makes-policing-immune-to-reform

Role Reversal in India-Pakistan Conflict
Whenever there is a clash between India and Pakistan, media and pundits present India as the good guys. In this case, at least, India is the aggressor and Pakistan is seeking dialogue, says Lahore Professor Junaid Ahmad

https://therealnews.com/stories/role-reversal-in-india-pakistan-conflict

Trump Missed his Opportunity for a Deal on North Korean Sanctions
The two sides may have been close to making an important agreement on denuclearization and lifting sanctions. It’s not clear what went wrong, but it seems that hardliners prevented an agreement, says Tom Collina of Ploughshares

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-missed-his-opportunity-for-a-deal-on-north-korean-sanctions

A Climate Sociologist Explains the Green New Deal (1/2)
Daniel Aldana Cohen, a sociologist and writer for Jacobin Magazine, explains why the Green New Deal must harness and expand the power of the public sector, and why its proponents cannot cut deals with the fossil fuel industry

*If the GND truly contains the elements that Cohen describes, then it’s a better package than I’ve assumed it to be, but the devils are still out to screw with the details.

Stating the bleeding obvious, there can be a deep chasm between what’s on paper, and what becomes policy. The pressure will be enormous to ensure same, and must be exceeded by popular demands to adhere to the stated principles, and push beyond them.

That will necessitate a broad swath of the public engaged in that endeavor, beyond simply polling preferences for it. How that is encouraged, organized and implemented will determine its fate, and our own.

https://therealnews.com/stories/a-climate-sociologist-explains-the-green-new-deal-pt-1-2

A Climate Sociologist Explains the Green New Deal (2/2)

*A meaty discussion of climate change and housing, minus the methane

https://therealnews.com/stories/a-climate-sociologist-explains-the-green-new-deal-pt-2-2

Venezuelans Who Oppose Nicolas Maduro Say Trump Wants To Control Venezuela’s Resources
In an affluent part of Caracas, TRNN Correspondent Dimitri Lascaris discusses Venezuela’s crisis with ordinary Venezuelans

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuelans-who-oppose-nicolas-maduro-say-trump-wants-to-control-venezuelas-resources

Venezuela and American Manifest Destiny – Gerald Horne
A core concept of “Americanism” is the belief that the United States has a God given right to control all of the Americas in the name of democracy and freedom–but in reality, for plunder and commercial interest – historian Gerald Horne joins Paul Jay

*It’d be revealing to see how many “anti-military interventionists” have voted for sanctions, don’t you think?

Perhaps, for at least some, their opposition has less to do with any fealty to national sovereignty than calculating the best and least (American) bloodless way to achieve regime change?

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-and-american-manifest-destiny-gerald-horne
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
U.N. Report of Israeli Crimes and the Efforts to Silence Critics

*The screech of “Foreign interference!” falls silent

http://accuracy.org/release/u-n-report-of-israeli-crimes-and-the-efforts-to-silence-critics
—

FAIR
Facebook Wants You to Know if You’re Getting Your News From the Wrong Government
by Jim Naureckas

*And is following In the Now a data bit Facebook might feel patriotically obliged to share with our “freedom defending” gummint?

https://fair.org/home/facebook-wants-you-to-know-if-youre-getting-your-news-from-the-wrong-government
—

Democracy Now!
Age of Surveillance Capitalism: “We Thought We Were Searching Google, But Google Was Searching Us”

*Information overlord

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/1/age_of_surveillance_capitalism_we_thought

February 2019

2.28

WATCH: Democrat Ilhan Omar Questions Madeline Albright on Use of Sanctions and Failures of US Military Intervention
“As someone who understands the horrors of war firsthand,” noted Minnesota Democrat, “I worry when we fail to consider the human toll of war and our moral responsibility to the people of these countries”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”[T]argeted”

At the health and well being of the peoples of North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.

Why would you be “honored” to speak with someone who first earned the appellation “Madame Mayhem”, before Her Royal Clintoness reprised the role?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/28/watch-democrat-ilhan-omar-questions-madeline-albright-use-sanctions-and-failures-us
—

Why the “Anthropocene” Is Not “Climate Change”
Slowing climate change is crucial but navigating its challenges is only possible if it is understood as one facet of planetary overshoot
by Julia Adeney Thomas

*Nearsighting the big picture

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/28/why-anthropocene-not-climate-change
–

Glyphosate Found in 19 of 20 Beers and Wines Tested
“While these levels of glyphosate are below EPA risk tolerances for beverages, it is possible that even low levels of glyphosate can be problematic”
by Olivia Rosane

*Drunk on profit

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/28/glyphosate-found-19-20-beers-and-wines-tested
–

The Rapid Victory of the West Virginia Teacher Strike Shows What Happens When Progressives Join the Fight Against School Privatization
The hope is that the solidarity shown by progressive opposition to school privatization in West Virginia can rub off on states where charters are more abundant
by Jeff Bryant

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/28/rapid-victory-west-virginia-teacher-strike-shows-what-happens-when-progressives
—

The Real News Network
Canadian Company Profits from Apartheid Israeli Railway
Jonathan Kuttab discusses the lawsuit against the Canadian company Bombardier, which is building an illegal railway through occupied and confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank, violating international law

*Steamrolling justice

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadian-company-profits-from-apartheid-israeli-railway
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Why Did Hanoi Summit Really Fail?

*And maybe Killer Clown was tipped that the Nobel committee was leaning toward someone else for yet another farcical “Peace” Prize?

http://accuracy.org/release
—

Democracy Now!
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Grills Michael Cohen, Laying Out Plan to Probe More Trump Crimes

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/28/rep_alexandria_ocasio_cortez_grills_michael

2.27

Popularity of #SayNoToWar Hashtag in India and Pakistan Indicates Appetite For Peace
“Those cheering the loudest for war are sitting the farthest from the battlefield”
by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Declining to dance to the drums of war

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/27/popularity-saynotowar-hashtag-india-and-pakistan-indicates-appetite-peace
—

Food & Water Watch
USDA Quietly Approves New Line Speed Waivers for Chicken Plants
Salmonella performance standard violator still has its waiver; JBS benefits most under new program established by its food safety chief

*The fox in charge of the slaughterhouse

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/27/usda-quietly-approves-new-line-speed-waivers-chicken-plants

Earthrights International
Historic Supreme Court Win: World Bank Group Is Not Above The Law

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/27/historic-supreme-court-win-world-bank-group-not-above-law
—

The Real News Network
Specter of Fascism: Cohen Says Trump Won’t Leave Peacefully in 2020
Hearings reveal deepening systemic corruption, further degeneration of GOP, progressive members standout in questioning – Jacqueline Luqman, Henry Giroux and Carmen Russell-Sluchansky join Paul Jay

*The “crisis in civic education” isn’t new, or confined to “rural America”. The ghost of Howard Zinn could speak to that.

American exceptionalism in its myriad manifestations is a catechism that we are all taught, and that relatively few ever recover from. And “MAGA” plays into that, with people from all socioeconomic strata buying into it.

“Imagine there’s no countries” …

https://therealnews.com/stories/specter-of-fascism-cohen-says-trump-wont-leave-peacefully-in-2020

Police Investigating Themselves Leads to Predictable Results
A deeper look at how police influence investigations into in-custody deaths, and what activists are trying to do to reform it. A discussion among Jacqueline Luqman, Stephen Janis, and Taya Graham

https://therealnews.com/stories/police-investigating-themselves-leads-to-predictable-results

Sanders and Systemic Racism: Did he Answer the Critics?
In the CNN Town Hall, Bernie Sanders acknowledged he could have been stronger in his approach to racial inequities; he was asked if he supported reparations for descendents of African slaves – a discussion with Jacqueline Lukman, Eugene Puryear, Norman Soloman, hosted by Paul Jay

*Is it the place of an “independent” media outlet to build a better Bernie? Isn’t its charge to critique politicians honestly, rather than provide “constructive criticism” (and often cheerlead – see Nina Turner’s turn as a show host)?

It’s Sanders’ responsibility to address his myriad faults, which I have little faith he is committed to doing.

It’s TRNN’s, and all other “progressive” media’s, responsibility to present facts and analysis to shine light on how pols and parties adhere to the principles they proclaim.

https://therealnews.com/stories/sanders-and-systemic-racism-did-he-answer-the-critics

What Does Venezuela Tell Us About Socialism in the USA? – with Paul Jay
According to Trump, the crisis in a small country with an oil based economy, facing onerous sanctions, discredits the progressive socialist movement in the United States – Paul Jay joins host Jacqueline Luqman

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-does-venezuela-tell-us-about-socialism-in-the-usa-with-paul-jay

Middle Class Loses, Plutocrats Win With Trump’s Tax Cuts
Trump’s “middle class tax cut” is a tax hike. Economist Bill Black says Trump could have been a popular President, if he hadn’t lied about middle class tax cuts and building infrastructure

*Pelosi et alia don’t “believe” their dogma. It allows them to push for austerity, which is what their Wall Street masters desire.

As for her legislative acumen, she may be quite “skilled” at maintaining her title, but betraying those suffering at the border in order to push Killer Clown into a corner, among other double dealings, ain’t the kind of “leadership” I want from a “public servant”.

(I may have burned out my quotes key)

https://therealnews.com/stories/middle-class-loses-plutocrats-win-with-trumps-tax-cuts
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
From Cohen to Venezuela: Hollowness of “Russiagate”

http://accuracy.org/release/from-cohen-to-venezuela-hollowness-of-russiagate
—

Democracy Now!
As India and Pakistan Issue Veiled Nuclear Threats, New Ceasefire Urged to Defuse Kashmir Conflict

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/27/as_india_and_pakistan_issue_veiled

dream hampton on Making “Surviving R. Kelly” & the Grassroots Activists That Helped Bring Him Down

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/27/dream_hampton_on_making_surviving_r

Disarmament Expert on N. Korea Summit: An International Process Is Needed to Reduce Nuclear Threat

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/27/disarmament_expert_on_n_korea_summit

2.26

Survival of the Richest
Building a great wall of wealth
by Nomi Prins

*If we finally get our heads out our asses, and act on our best impulses

Maybe … just maybe … this won’t “end well” for the exploitocracy.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/26/survival-richest
—

The Real News Network
ICE Entraps Foreign Students: Not New, but Immigration Criminalization is Intensifying
While the Trump administration is continuing many of the anti-immigrant policies of the Clinton and Obama administrations, his efforts to criminalize all immigrants represents a new twist, says Prof. Aviva Chomsky

https://therealnews.com/stories/ice-entraps-foreign-students-not-new-but-immigration-criminalization-is-intensifying

Will Militarizing Schools Make Them Safer?
by Jaisal Noor

https://therealnews.com/columns/will-militarizing-schools-make-them-safer

Massive Protest in Support of the Bolivarian Revolution Largely Ignored
While the world’s attention was focused on the Venezuelan opposition, as it tried to transport US aid into Venezuela against the government’s will, a major protest took place in Caracas that was opposed to US intervention in Venezuela

*The camera doesn’t lie

So it’s turned off

https://therealnews.com/stories/massive-protest-in-support-of-the-bolivarian-revolution-largely-ignored
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
India-Pakistan Nuclear Threat

http://accuracy.org/release/india-pakistan-nuclear-threat
—

FAIR
The Return of the Inexplicable Republican Best Friend
Media present GOP left-bashing as good-faith advice
by James Graham and Adam Johnson

*If only “progressives” and “democratic socialists” gave the duopolistic status quo something to truly be scared shitless about.

Well, I can dream, can’t I?

The nightmare will come soon enough.

https://fair.org/home/the-return-of-the-inexplicable-republican-best-friend
—

Democracy Now!
Incarceration Is a Deadly Health Risk: Former Chief Medical Officer of NYC Jails Speaks Out

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/26/incarceration_is_a_deadly_health_risk

2.25

‘Everyone. Needs. To. Watch…’ Democrat Dianne Feinstein Explain to Children Why She Won’t Back Green New Deal
“This is a fight for our generation’s survival. Her reaction is why young people desperately want new leadership in Congress.”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone”

Oscar Wilde

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/22/everyone-needs-watch-democrat-dianne-feinstein-explain-children-why-she-wont-back
—

Extinction Rebellion
“It is our sacred duty to rebel in order to protect our homes, our future, and the future of all life on Earth”
by Chris Hedges

*Violence, force, armed struggle – whatever you care to call it – has had its victories, often admittedly to ultimately devolve. It is a tactic, as is nonviolent civil disobedience, and both must be carried out with intense discipline. The totality of circumstances dictate the strategy, with no guarantee the choice will be “the right one”.

While I can take issue with Hallam’s wholesale dismissal of force, his overarching point is indisputable

A Green Deal – or a Green New Deal – won’t save us from the abyss. This is existential shit, and the existence so many of us in the developed world have known must face extinction, if we as a species are to avoid that fate.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/25/extinction-rebellion
—

The Real News Network
Israeli Interference in British Politics: Targeted against Corbyn
Asa Winstanley discusses the coordinated incitement campaign against critical voices in the UK. On the same day that the Israeli lobby attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in the U.S, British right-wing activists launched an attack on Human Rights Watch, and later on Jeremy Corbyn

https://therealnews.com/stories/israeli-interference-in-british-politics-targeted-against-corbyn

Is Participatory Democracy the Solution to Venezuela’s Crisis?
Atenea Jimenez, speaker of a network of communes in Venezuela, says that grassroots, collective decision-making is the key to solving Venezuela’s crisis

*Is “socialism” to blame

Or its absence?

https://therealnews.com/stories/is-participatory-democracy-the-solution-to-venezuelas-crisis

Palestine and Rule of Power
Alaa Tartir discusses his new edited anthology: “Palestine and Rule of Power: Local Dissent vs. International Governance”, a new look into how international aid and also the Palestinian security reform are mechanisms which are used to crush Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation

*I don’t see any difference between the aims of US and European aid; only perhaps the means to achieve them. Both seek to ensure Israeli dominance over the area.

At one point both may have wished for an enervated Palestinian state which could be declared the “solution” to the situation, but internal Israeli politics and external pressure from its emissaries abroad made that infeasible, and so today the US has abandoned that strategy, and Europe, while it may still favor that outcome, essentially only pays lip service to the creation of a Palestinian state.

https://therealnews.com/stories/palestine-and-rule-of-power

Canada’s “Humanitarian Aid” for Venezuela: Provocation or Genuine Concern?
Canadian analyst Yves Engler discusses the history of Canadian humanitarian aid, which all too often works to support US foreign policy interests and has nothing to do with genuine concern for people’s suffering

*No one is being “sort of seduced by the idea of aid”, unless they’re utter fucking idiots

Which, you know, maybe they are … but I sincerely doubt that.

CUPE and the rest see this as a way to split the difference – to appear critical of Killer Clown’s circus of death, while ensuring the myth of Western “humanitarian concern” is never questioned, and thus the entire edifice of foreign policy, rather than picking and choosing when to object to it at a convenient time.

See “Good War, Afghanistan – Bad War, Iraq”.

https://therealnews.com/stories/canadas-humanitarian-aid-for-venezuela-provocation-or-genuine-concern

Trump’s Border Wall: Who Profits?
Infrastructure, military, and security companies line up to take a piece from the budget for the border wall, funded by Trump’s national emergency declaration

*Wall of venal voodoo

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-border-wall-who-profits

What is at Stake in Venezuela: National Sovereignty
NYU history professor Greg Grandin discusses the history of the concept of national sovereignty as it originated in Latin America, but was repeatedly challenged by the US. The latest US threats against Venezuela once again threaten to make the concept irrelevant and would serve as justification for more unilateral interventions

*”What do you do with a sovereign leader who is unjust to his own people?”

You don’t send a mass murderer to deal with a serial killer

https://therealnews.com/stories/what-is-at-stake-in-venezuela-national-sovereignty

Racially Discriminatory Lending Leads to Black Community Wealth Decline
Baltimore study shows predatory lending by major banks across the nation led to massive home foreclosures and wealth theft in Black communities

https://therealnews.com/stories/racially-discriminatory-lending-leads-to-black-community-wealth-decline

Spain Struggles for its Identity as Catalan Independence Leaders Face Trial
The trial against 12 Catalan independence leaders exposes the extent to which Spain’s status as a coherent nation-state is being questioned. The governing socialist party is now feeling the consequences of the loss of a no-confidence vote, says Sebastiaan Faber

https://therealnews.com/stories/spain-struggles-for-its-identity-as-catalan-independence-leaders-face-trial

US Sanctions on Venezuela Possibly Worse than Iraq Sanctions Before War
News about humanitarian aid shipments to Venezuela almost never compare how tiny a fraction this aid is relative to the devastating damage that US sanctions against Venezuela have caused, which is now as draconian as the pre-Iraq war sanctions were, says CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot

https://therealnews.com/stories/us-sanctions-on-venezuela-possibly-worse-than-iraq-sanctions-before-war
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Former UN Expert on Venezuela: U.S. Government “Weaponizing Aid”

http://accuracy.org/release/former-un-expert-on-venezuela-u-s-government-weaponizing-aid
—

Democracy Now!
Vandana Shiva: We Must Fight Back Against the 1 Percent to Stop the Sixth Mass Extinction

*A deep dive into corporate criminality, which is far too pale a pejorative to describe the horrors evinced.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/22/vandana_shiva_we_must_fight_back

The Coup Has Failed & Now the U.S. Is Looking to Wage War: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Speaks Out

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/25/the_coup_has_failed_now_the

2.22

‘Terrifying’: Rapid Loss of Biodiversity Placing Global Food Supplies at Risk of ‘Irreversible Collapse’
“This should be at the top of every news bulletin and every government’s agenda around the world”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/22/terrifying-rapid-loss-biodiversity-placing-global-food-supplies-risk-irreversible
—

The U.S.-Venezuela Aid Convoy Story Is Clearly Bogus, but No One Wants to Say It
At best, you are helping provide cover for a campaign designed to starve the Venezuelan people; at worst, you are enabling a military conflict that will drag on for years
by Adam Johnson

*”Doing something” has almost always been precipitated by the reality of already having done something that has created the supposed need to “do something”.

As for entreaties to the corpress, I fear Johnson isn’t merely pissing in the wind

He’s whizzing in the whirlwind.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/22/us-venezuela-aid-convoy-story-clearly-bogus-no-one-wants-say-it
–

How Scott Walker Made Wisconsin the National Poster Child for Dark Money Corruption
by Mary Bottari
Exposed by CMD

*Just as Keating “was not called out on his dark money roots” by Democraps on the committee, I have to wonder what if any holy hell was raised by them in Wisconsin over the legislative lead paint protection subterfuge.

https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/02/15/how-scott-walker-made-wisconsin-the-national-poster-child-for-dark-money-corruption
–

As Cleanup Dispute Looms, Peabody-Linked Group Pushes Navajo Nation to Buy West’s Largest Coal Plant
by Sharon Kelly
DeSmogBlog

https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/02/21/cleanup-peabody-coal-texas-public-policy-foundation-navajo-generating-station
—

The Real News Network
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Former Lawyer on the DA’s Challenge to his Appeal
Rachel Wolkenstein, Mumia’s former lawyer, talks about DA Larry Krasner, known as a progressive DA, challenging Mumia’s right to appeal, which she deems as a further attempt for a cover-up and more evidence that Mumia’s case needs to be dismissed

https://therealnews.com/stories/mumia-abu-jamals-former-lawyer-on-the-das-challenge-to-his-appeal

Trump’s Border Wall: Powerful Symbol for the Republican Party’s Far Right
NYU History Professor Greg Grandin puts Trump’s call for a border wall in the context of US history, politics, and the right-wing imagination

*It’s frustrating when someone with a good grasp on reality like Grandin posits Sanders as an avatar of “socialism”.

He’s a social democrat, as are his cohorts, with all the contradictions that come with that.

Our choice is among barbarism, a “socialism” that seeks co-existence with a “responsible” capitalism (a non sequitur if ever there was), and a true socialism, or whatever term you care to employ, that squarely confronts exploitation and the profit system that perforce will perpetuate it.

Faced with the abyss, we have no choice save the last, do we?

https://therealnews.com/stories/trumps-border-wall-powerful-symbol-for-the-republican-partys-far-right

Artists Call for Eurovision Boycott, if Event Held in Israel (Pt 1/2)
Danielle Alma Ravitzki explains how the Israeli government uses the Eurovision song contest to whitewash and pinkwash its crimes against Palestinians. This year the contest will take place in Tel-Aviv, and artists from around the world are calling for a boycott

https://therealnews.com/stories/artists-call-for-eurovision-boycott-if-event-held-in-israel-pt-1-2
—

FAIR
Venezuela Coverage Takes Us Back to Golden Age of Lying About Latin America
by Mark Cook

*”[B]ut the corporate media have straight-facedly pretended to believe it.”

Thank you, Mr. Cook.

The corpress doesn’t naïvely “swallow” the lies of power

They wilfully regurgitate them.

https://fair.org/home/venezuela-coverage-takes-us-back-to-golden-age-of-lying-about-latin-america

‘The Afghan Government Is as Corrupt as Governments Come’
CounterSpin interview with Phyllis Bennis on Ending the Afghan War
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/the-afghan-government-is-as-corrupt-as-governments-come
—

Democracy Now!
This Is Not Humanitarian Aid: A Maduro Critic in Venezuela Slams U.S. Plan to Push Regime Change

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/22/this_is_not_humanitarian_aid_a

2.21

Progressives Should Support Open Borders—With No Apology
Supporting freedom of movement isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s a political winner for the left
by Khury Petersen-Smith

*Of course, open borders would bring the “undocumented” out of the shadows, and into the struggle for worker dignity

And that’s a primary reason for its being anathema to the political duopoly, don’t you reckon?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/21/progressives-should-support-open-borders-no-apology

IHCHR: 11,800 Civilians Killed In US-Led Air Strikes in Syria, Iraq
“We have massively destroyed the infrastructure and given the population a disgusting image of what may be a Western-style liberation, leaving behind the seeds of an imminent resurgence of a new adversary,” admitted a French military officer in a recent and rare rebuke to the U.S.-led coalition
by Brett Wilkins

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/21/ihchr-11800-civilians-killed-us-led-air-strikes-syria-iraq
–

Arts Organizing Lifts Oakland Teachers Strike
An interview with Joe Brusky on arts organizing in the teachers union movement
by David Solnit

*Art for our sake

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/21/arts-organizing-lifts-oakland-teachers-strike
–

The Government Cannot Force E-mail Companies to Copy and Save Your Account ‘Just in Case’
Making sure that email gets proper Fourth Amendment protection is one of the ACLU’s priorities
by Melodi Dincer and Kristin M. Mulvey

*Loopholes for snoopholes

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/21/government-cannot-force-e-mail-companies-copy-and-save-your-account-just-case
–

“A Modern-Day Draft, if Marketed Carefully and Cleverly”
FOIA request uncovers Selective Service messaging for the commission tasked with recommending fate of mandatory draft registration
by Edward Hasbrouck

*Fodder figuring

https://couragetoresist.org/modern-day-draft
—

Democracy Now!
Ending the Punishment of Poverty: Supreme Court Rules Against High Fines & Civil Asset Forfeiture

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/21/ending_the_punishment_of_poverty_supreme

Climate Denier to Head New Trump Panel Despite Once Comparing Climate Scientists to Nazis

*The Pentagon doesn’t want “war and conflict” to occur outside of their own agency

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/21/climate_denier_to_head_new_trump

2.20

‘Illegal Boondoggle’: US Government Rebuked for Giving 1,400 Private Companies Access to Dubious Terrorism Watchlist
“We call on congressional leadership to investigate the private sector dissemination of watchlisting information that stigmatizes the innocent and makes none of us safer”
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/20/illegal-boondoggle-us-government-rebuked-giving-1400-private-companies-access

Warren Proposal Would Use Tax on Ultra-Rich to Help Fund Universal Childcare Plan
“We’re the richest country on the planet. We shouldn’t be denying our kids the high-quality early education they need.”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Maybe we wouldn’t have to worry about nickel and diming plutocrats if we stopped them from stealing fistfuls of Benjamins from us?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/19/warren-proposal-would-use-tax-ultra-rich-help-fund-universal-childcare-plan
—

Immigrants Aren’t the Emergency—Unchecked Capitalism Is
Communities like mine, in small-town Michigan, are told to blame immigrants when greedy corporations hurt us. We don’t buy it.
by Sarah Schulz

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/20/immigrants-arent-emergency-unchecked-capitalism
–

Earthjustice
Groups Sue Trump’s EPA Over Failure to Ban Deadly Paint Strippers
EPA unlawfully permitting chemical linked to dozens of deaths to remain on the market

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/19/groups-sue-trumps-epa-over-failure-ban-deadly-paint-strippers
—

The Real News Network
Venezuela: The Epicenter of the “Pink Tide” and Now of the Right-Wing Rollback
The effort to rollback Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution must be seen as part of a determined effort to pry open all economies to transnational capital – it’s about access, says sociologist of globalization William I. Robinson

*The Pink Tide shot itself in the foot

And now global capital is aiming for the head

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-the-epicenter-of-the-pink-tide-and-now-of-the-right-wing-rollback
—

FAIR
When India Tries to Regulate Amazon, US Media Qualms About Monopoly Disappear
by John O’Day

https://fair.org/home/when-india-tries-to-regulate-amazon-us-media-qualms-about-monopoly-disappear
—

Democracy Now!
Saudis Facing Criminal Charges in the U.S. Keep Disappearing. Is the Kingdom Helping Them Escape?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/20/saudis_facing_criminal_charges_in_the

2.19

They Took My House, They Took My Life, They Took Everything.
Israeli police forcibly expelled a Palestinian family from their home in the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday and promptly turned it over to right-wing Jewish settlers
by Abby Zimet, Further columnist

https://www.commondreams.org/further/2019/02/18/they-took-my-house-they-took-my-life-they-took-everything
–

Accusing Richard Branson of Playing Into Regime Change Plot, Roger Waters Warns Against ‘Live Aid-ish’ Concert Near Venezuela Border
“Do we really want Venezuela to turn into another Iraq or Syria or Libya? I don’t, and neither do the Venezuelan people.”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Maybe his best bud Obama will favor us with a tune.

I have a suggestion – the old Temptations’ hit, “Smiling Faces”

“They lie

And I got proof”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/19/accusing-richard-branson-playing-regime-change-plot-roger-waters-warns-against-live
—

Organizers Oust Amazon HQ2 From New York
Invest in communities, New Yorkers say, not a labor-busting, tax-avoiding corporation that profits off hate
by Negin Owliaei

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/19/organizers-oust-amazon-hq2-new-york

How the U.S. Is Strangling Haiti as It Attempts Regime Change in Venezuela
Their message is simple: if you won’t let us breathe, we won’t let you breathe, and if you suffocate Venezuela, you suffocate us
by Vijay Prashad

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/19/how-us-strangling-haiti-it-attempts-regime-change-venezuela
—

The Real News Network
White Supremacy and the Progressive Movement
Host Jacqueline Luqman is joined by Paul Jay to discuss the importance of combating white supremacy within the context of a broad people’s movement

*It’s not an “either/or”, and it’s not a “both”.

White supremacy is one expression of exploitation and oppression, but you don’t treat a disease by ignoring its symptoms. You deal with the symptoms while acutely aware of the disease that creates them.

Your goal is to cure the disease, but to do so, you have to ameliorate the symptoms within the context of a holistic approach.

There’s no pill for that … only a commitment to an empathic connection to all who suffer under a system fueled by greed and a lust for power.

https://therealnews.com/stories/white-supremacy-and-the-progressive-movement
—

Democracy Now!
Venezuela in Crisis: As U.S. Pushes Regime Change, Fear Grows of Civil War & Famine

*So, Rodríguez believes that the installation of a ally to Killer Clown, Bolsonaro and the other protofascisti in the hemisphere “can be very good”, and no one challenges that view?

Prashad, whom I have some respect for, is mute on this, as are the hosts of a program entitled “Democracy Now!”

And you wonder why watching it is often utterly frustrating and infuriating … ?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/19/venezuela_in_crisis_as_us_pushes

Amazon’s Defeat in NYC Galvanizes Movement to End Billion-Dollar Corporate Welfare

*Kim’s mealy mouthing on de Blasio and the sellout unions doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence as to how this bill will ultimately shake out.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/19/amazons_defeat_in_nyc_galvanizes_movement

2.18

Swedish Activist Fined for Viral Live-Streamed Protest Against Deportation of Afghan Asylum Seeker
“It is right to save lives and wrong to be punished for trying”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*When principles take flight

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/18/swedish-activist-fined-viral-live-streamed-protest-against-deportation-afghan-asylum
—

Worshipping the Electronic Image
Trump is a creature—maybe the poster child—of the modern, post-literate culture
by Chris Hedges

*Image unconscious

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/18/worshipping-electronic-image
–

How a Failing Capitalist System Is Allowing Amazon to Cripple America
There may be no better argument for democratic socialism in America than the way individual state leaders have been falling over each other trying to lure corporations to their states with tax subsidies
by Paul Buchheit

*Any system based on profit rather than communal principles will fail us, and any “democratic socialism” that attempts to tame that venal beast, rather than replace it, will do likewise.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/18/how-failing-capitalist-system-allowing-amazon-cripple-america
–

China Is Flooding the Middle East With Cheap Drones
Throughout the war on terror, the U.S. shattered norms on unmanned execution. Now the technology is spreading throughout the region
by Jakob Reimann

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/18/china-flooding-middle-east-cheap-drones

A Long War of Attrition With China
The only way to save civilization is for the U.S. and China to declare peace and focus together on human salvation
by Michael Klare

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/18/long-war-attrition-china

Border Patrol Detained Me for Speaking Spanish in Montana. Then My Town Turned Against Me.
“My friend and I were illegally targeted and detained by a Customs and Border Protection agent, just for speaking Spanish to each other in a convenience store”
by Ana Suda

*Brave souls in a town lacking one

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/17/border-patrol-detained-me-speaking-spanish-montana-then-my-town-turned-against-me
—

The Real News Network
Are Palestinians Living under a Double Occupation? (1/2)
Legislator Mustafa Barghouti discusses President Abbas’s dissolution of the Legislative Council, the attempt to alter the Paris Accords, and explores Palestinians’ life under double occupation. With Israeli elections approaching, the Palestinian leadership does not challenge Israeli political parties to take a position on the occupation

https://therealnews.com/stories/are-palestinians-living-under-a-double-occupation-1-2

First Step in New York State Towards Universal Rent Control
State Senator Julia Salazar introduced a bill that would cap annual rent increases by no more than 150% of the consumer price index. We speak to Sen. Salazar about the proposal

https://therealnews.com/stories/first-step-in-new-york-state-towards-universal-rent-control

Warsaw Conference’s War with Iran Agenda, Met with Low Level Delegations from European Allies
Pompeo, Netanyahu urged Arab leaders to consolidate and prepare for war with Iran at Warsaw Conference. Europe sent low level delegations. A leaked video from the conference reveals that Arab leaders are ready to abandon solidarity with Palestinians. We speak with Vijay Prashad for analysis.

https://therealnews.com/stories/warsaw-conferences-war-with-iran-agenda-met-with-low-level-delegations-from-european-allies

New Poll Shows Increased Bipartisan Desire to Act on Climate Change
The results, released in December, also show widespread bipartisan support for a Green New Deal and renewable energy

*A long journey from awareness and concern to action commensurate with the crisis at hand, which will remain the case as long as advocates for “a Green New Deal” soft pedal just how radical change must be to give us any chance of survival.

https://therealnews.com/stories/new-poll-shows-increased-bipartisan-desire-to-act-on-climate-change

Does Recognition of Parallel Gov’t in Venezuela Violate International Law?
A recent study conducted by the German parliament’s independent scientific research service found that international recognition of the self-proclaimed “interim president” Juan Guaidó probably constitutes a violation of international law. We discuss the study’s implications with Andrej Hunko, who commissioned the study

https://therealnews.com/stories/does-recognition-of-parallel-govt-in-venezuela-violate-international-law

Trump Declares an Imperial Presidency – Paul Jay
Trump’s emergency order threatens to create an all powerful presidency and weaken a constitutional order that allows the elites to settle their differences within an electoral process – Paul Jay joins guest-host Jacqueline Luqman of ‘Luqman Nation’

*Democrats use a scalpel to carve up the world to capital’s liking.

Republicans go for the meat cleaver

And the more blood, the better.

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-declares-an-imperial-presidency-paul-jay

2.15

Blow to ‘Powerful Corporate Interests’ as Federal Court Throws Out Pipeline Company Lawsuit Against DAPL Water Protectors
Greenpeace lawyer confident that decision will deter other companies “from abusing the legal system in their quest to bully those who speak truth to power”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/15/blow-powerful-corporate-interests-federal-court-throws-out-pipeline-company-lawsuit
—

National Emergencies: Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions on Presidential Powers
When the President threatens to use those same emergency authorities to try paying for a border wall after Congress has refused, we watch closely. And so should you.
by Cindy Cohn and Shahid Buttar

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/15/national-emergencies-constitutional-and-statutory-restrictions-presidential-powers
–

On Valentine’s Day, An End to Amazon’s Two-Bit Romance With New York
A fond farewell to this ‘No low-rent rendezvous’
by Laura Flanders

*Do we want better “terms of engagement” from slimy suitors

Or do we tell them to go fuck *themselves*, and build a communal relationship meant to last?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/15/valentines-day-end-amazons-two-bit-romance-new-york
–

The Realized Temptations of NPR and PBS
Over the years, without regular critiques by liberal and progressive groups, both NPR and PBS have bent to the continual right-wing antagonism in Congress that decreased public budgets
by Ralph Nader

*The Corporation

Faux Public Broadcasting

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/15/realized-temptations-npr-and-pbs
—

Center for Biological Diversity
Court Rejects Oil Industry’s Retaliatory Lawsuit Against L.A. Youth Groups

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/15/court-rejects-oil-industrys-retaliatory-lawsuit-against-la-youth-groups
—

The Real News Network
How Haiti’s Spontaneous Uprising is Connected to Venezuelan Solidarity (1/2)
Kim Ives of Haiti Liberté unravels how the new Haitian revolt entangles Duvalier style corruption of money stolen from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe program and subtle US intervention

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-haitis-spontaneous-uprising-is-connected-to-venezuelan-solidarity-1-2

How Haiti’s Spontaneous Uprising is Connected to Venezuelan Solidarity (2/2)

*Killer Clown and Madame Mayhem

Nothing strange about such bedfellows when it comes to imperious imperialism.

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-haitis-spontaneous-uprising-is-connected-to-venezuelan-solidarity-2-2

‘Victory’ Deal Reached to End First Denver Teachers Strike in 25 Years
Journalist Eric Blanc discusses the tentative agreement to end the Denver teachers strike

*Okay, so let’s start talking about how to “create a new political instrument”

Instead of “fighting for the soul” of a soulless Democrapic Party.

https://therealnews.com/stories/victory-deal-reached-to-end-first-denver-teachers-strike-in-25-years
—

FAIR
Court Strikes Down FCC’s Mean-Spirited Effort to Reinforce Digital Divide
by Janine Jackson

https://fair.org/home/court-strikes-down-fccs-mean-spirited-effort-to-reinforce-digital-divide
—

Democracy Now!
Immigrant Activists: Democrats Are Capitulating to Trump by Approving Border, DHS Funding

*The yawning chasm between resistance and “#Resistance”

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/15/immigrant_activists_democrats_are_capitulating_to

Asylum Seekers Are Being Imprisoned in an Abandoned Factory in Mexico Under Trump Admin Policy

*Doesn’t really matter who the president of México is to these folks, does it?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/15/asylum_seekers_are_being_imprisoned_in

2.14

More Border Surveillance Tech Could Be Worse for Human Rights Than a Wall
By pushing for expanded surveillance as an “alternative” to a literal barrier, Democrats have caved to the president’s worst impulses
by Evan Greer

*Follow the money, honey

Who does the tech sector give a shitpot full of campaign cash to … ?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/14/more-border-surveillance-tech-could-be-worse-human-rights-wall

35 Days Without Pay Show How Precarious Federal Jobs Have Become
Private companies profited off the shutdown as federal workers living paycheck to paycheck—long vilified by the right—struggled to get by
by Hana Sarfan

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/14/35-days-without-pay-show-how-precarious-federal-jobs-have-become
—

The Real News Network
In Caracas, Ordinary Venezuelans Speak to The Real News About Venezuela’s Crisis
Citizens of Venezuela wait in line to sign a petition denouncing U.S. imperialism. Dimitri Lascaris reports from Caracas

https://therealnews.com/stories/in-caracas-ordinary-venezuelans-speak-to-the-real-news-about-venezuelas-crisis
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Emergency Powers “Impeachable”: “All You Need is One Brave Member”

*Add it to the list of impeachable offenses, and the Democraps’ politically calculated passes on doing shit all about them

http://accuracy.org/release/emergency-powers-impeachable-all-you-need-is-one-brave-member

Sanders-Khanna Bill on Saudi Assault on Yemen and War Powers Clears House

*Click and read at the ACLU link. Do you accept that these loopholes are mere “errors”?

Every congressmember has taken Posturing 101 – including the “progressive” ones.

http://accuracy.org/release/sanders-khanna-bill-on-saudi-assault-on-yemen-and-war-powers-clears-house
—

Democracy Now!
Roberto Lovato: Elliott Abrams Is Bringing Violence of 1980s U.S. Latin America Policy to Venezuela

*I don’t know who induces the bile to rise higher in my throat

Abrams and his murderers’ row, or Pelosi and her hyperhypocritical “#Resistance” shills.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/14/roberto_lovato_elliott_abrams_is_bringing

One Year After Parkland, 1,200 More Kids Are Dead by Gunfire—But Students Still Fight for Gun Safety

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/14/one_year_after_parkland_1_200

2.13

What it Really Takes to Secure Peace in Afghanistan
Constant military surveillance of Afghans yields almost no real intelligence about the problems they face each day. An unusual group of volunteers uses a far different approach
by Kathy Kelly

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/13/what-it-really-takes-secure-peace-afghanistan
–

Growing a Green New Deal: Agriculture’s Role in Economic Justice and Ecological Sustainability
by Fred Iutzi and Robert Jensen

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-02-13/growing-a-green-new-deal-agricultures-role-in-economic-justice-and-ecological-sustainability
—

Petition
No more lives lost to an outdated organ procurement system
by Jennifer Flick

https://www.change.org/p/stopwaitingforanorgan-no-more-lives-lost-to-an-outdated-system
—

FAIR
ACTION ALERT: MSNBC’s ‘Resistance’ to Trump’s Venezuela Coup Ranges from Silence to Support
by Adam Johnson

*Mock the “Clown”

Rock the “Killer”

https://fair.org/home/action-alert-msnbcs-resistance-to-trumps-venezuela-coup-ranges-from-silence-to-support
—

Democracy Now!
Venezuela Accuses U.S. of Secretly Shipping Arms After Weapons Found on Plane with Possible CIA Ties

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/13/venezuela_accuses_us_of_secretly_shipping

Atlanta School Cheating Scandal: The Untold Story of Corporate Greed & Criminalization of Teachers

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/13/atlanta_school_cheating_scandal_the_untold

2.12

Giving Trump Far Too Much in Shutdown Deal, Progressives Warn Democrats ‘Throwing Immigrants Under the Bus’
“This isn’t just about stopping Trump’s wall—this is about standing on the right side of history, and standing with the most vulnerable”
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Spineless Democraps put *our* backs against The Wall

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/12/giving-trump-far-too-much-shutdown-deal-progressives-warn-democrats-throwing

Because Society ‘Leaps Forward’ When People Take Action, UK Headteachers Union Backs Student #ClimateStrike
“When you get older pupils making an informed decision, that kind of thing needs to be applauded”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*It’s not the students who need to learn the lesson

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/12/because-society-leaps-forward-when-people-take-action-uk-headteachers-union-backs

Study Shows Toxic Pesticide Levels in Families Dropped by 60% After One-Week Organic Diet
“This important study shows how quickly we can rid our bodies of toxic pesticides by choosing organic,” says researcher
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/12/study-shows-toxic-pesticide-levels-families-dropped-60-after-one-week-organic-diet
—

Why Does the United States of America Want to Overthrow the Government of Venezuela?
A look at what drives the US to persist in its interventions—diplomatic, economic and military—against the Venezuelan government
by Vijay Prashad

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/12/why-does-united-states-america-want-overthrow-government-venezuela
—

A Green New Deal for India?
A new report from the Political Economy Research Institute puts forth a proposal to boost equity while lowering carbon emissions. Shouvik Chakraborty, an author of the report, explains

https://therealnews.com/stories/a-green-new-deal-for-india

City Council Approves Bill That Could Shut Down Massive Trash Incinerator
Baltimore City Council unanimously approved a bill that would impose stricter pollution requirements on the city’s trash incinerator and could force it to shut down

https://therealnews.com/columns/city-council-approves-bill-that-could-shut-down-massive-trash-incinerator
—

FAIR
‘MBS Has Ushered in an Era of Unprecedented Crackdowns and Repression of Political Speech’
CounterSpin interview with Sarah Aziza on Saudi repression of women
by Janine Jackson

*If any action is taken by gummints to counter MBS’ murderous megalomania, it won’t be due to any concern for Saudis and their rights, but for the damage his vile vainglory could do to their own interests.

https://fair.org/home/mbs-has-ushered-in-an-era-of-unprecedented-crackdowns-and-repression-of-political-speech

Facts Don’t Interfere With Propaganda Blitz Against Venezuela’s Elected President
by Joe Emersberger

https://fair.org/home/facts-dont-interfere-with-propaganda-blitz-against-venezuelas-elected-president
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Rep. Omar and the Truth About AIPAC

http://accuracy.org/release/rep-omar-and-the-truth-about-aipac
—

Democracy Now!
Denver Teachers Strike over Bonus-Based Pay System, Demanding Reliable Salary Plan & Better Wages

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/12/denver_teachers_strike_over_bonus_based

Wright State Faculty Ends One of the Longest Strikes at a Public University in U.S. History

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/12/wright_state_faculty_ends_one_of

The End of Ice: Dahr Jamail on Climate Disruption from the Melting Himalayas to Insect Extinction

*Jamail speaks of “doing the right thing”, and I am in complete agreement with that sentiment

Which is why when I see the flaws in the “Green New Deal”, the compromises that will be made in the name of “pragmatism”, without getting into motivations, I know that these efforts won’t be enough.

Perhaps it’s moot … that regardless of how well we struggle, we’re doomed to lose

But can’t we go out with the bang of just “doing the right thing”, instead of the whimper of political calculus that played so large a part in our demise?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/12/the_end_of_ice_dahr_jamail

2.11

As Omar ‘Unequivocally’ Apologizes, Critics Rip Democratic Leaders for Trying to ‘Silence Criticism’ of AIPAC
“What the congresswoman said is very uncontroversial,” noted journalist Glenn Greenwald. “Everyone knows AIPAC is an extremely intimidating lobby, just like the NRA is. There’s nothing wrong with pointing that out.”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Wholly predictable how Pelosi and cabal would react, and perhaps also the case regarding Omar’s backpedaling.

Will she keep her head down on this and related issues now?

History isn’t encouraging, but I’d love to have my pessimism proved misplaced.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/11/omar-unequivocally-apologizes-critics-rip-democratic-leaders-trying-silence

Scientists Warn Crashing Insect Population Puts ‘Planet’s Ecosystems and Survival of Mankind’ at Risk
“This is the stuff that worries me most. We don’t know what we’re doing, not trying to stop it, [and] with big consequences we don’t really understand”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/11/scientists-warn-crashing-insect-population-puts-planets-ecosystems-and-survival
—

Real Net Neutrality Is More Than a Ban on Blocking, Throttling, and Paid Prioritization
Net neutrality is a principle. It is not just a set of rules against specific discriminatory practices.
by Katharine Trendacosta

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/10/real-net-neutrality-more-ban-blocking-throttling-and-paid-prioritization
–

Australian Judge Strikes Down Coal Mine in Part Because of Its Carbon Emissions
The next phase will be suing companies like ExxonMobil, who knew they were destroying the earth but actively suppressed the evidence for it and funded vast campaigns of climate change denialism
by Juan Cole

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/10/australian-judge-strikes-down-coal-mine-part-because-its-carbon-emissions
–

Meet the Militant Flight Attendant Leader Who Threatened a Strike—And Helped Stop Trump’s Shutdown
It’s entirely possible that workers could again get furloughed and cut off from pay. And Sara Nelson wants everyone to understand how her members are willing to sacrifice in response.
by David Dayen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/10/meet-militant-flight-attendant-leader-who-threatened-strike-and-helped-stop-trumps
—

The Real News Network
Mexico’s Lopez Obrador’s Position on Venezuela Marks Return to Foreign Policy Tradition
Mexico is making a large contribution towards the prevention of civil war in Venezuela, by returning to long-established foreign policy tradition of neutrality, which the previous president had completely abandoned, says John Ackerman

https://therealnews.com/stories/mexicos-lopez-obradors-position-on-venezuela-marks-return-to-foreign-policy-tradition

How Aggressive Policing Fuels America’s Inequality Machine
The recent in-custody police death of Anton Black and inadequate civilian oversight in Baltimore reveal how the underlying imperative of policing in the U.S. is not public safety, but instead heightening the rampant inequality that continues to plague urban America

*You can’t reform rot

You can only remove it

https://therealnews.com/stories/how-aggressive-policing-fuels-americas-inequality-machine

Senate Democrats, Republicans Have Ex-Fracking Lobbyists Running Senate Energy Committee
The Senate Energy Committee leadership on both sides of the aisle is staffed up by former fracking industry lobbyists who worked as colleagues at same group

https://therealnews.com/stories/senate-democrats-republicans-have-ex-fracking-lobbyists-running-senate-energy-committee

Blood for Oil in Venezuela?
Vijay Prashad discusses the extent to which US interest in Venezuelan oil and other natural resources is driving Trump’s policy of seeking regime change. The link is not that straight-forward, but it is there, says Prashad

https://therealnews.com/stories/blood-for-oil-in-venezuela

Did Justin Trudeau’s Office Obstruct Justice in Canada’s Worst Corporate Corruption Scandal?
TRNN’s Dimitri Lascaris, former class action lawyer who pursued SNC-Lavalin in court, discusses the PMO’s legal exposure

https://therealnews.com/stories/did-justin-trudeaus-office-obstruct-justice-in-canadas-worst-corporate-corruption-scandal
—

FAIR
Western Media Fall in Lockstep for Cheap Trump/Rubio Venezuela Aid PR Stunt
by Adam Johnson

*Are these “mysterious assumptions”

Or malevolent assistance?

How many times does history have to repeat itself before a spade is indelibly stamped a spade?

https://fair.org/home/western-media-fall-in-lockstep-for-cheap-trump-rubio-venezuela-aid-pr-stunt
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
AIPAC: Power and Origins

*Padlocking the Israelgate

http://accuracy.org/release/aipac-power-and-origins

You Paid More to Netflix Last Month Than It Paid in Taxes Last Year: $0

http://accuracy.org/release/you-paid-more-to-netflix-last-month-than-it-paid-in-taxes-last-year-0
—

Democracy Now!
Glenn Greenwald: As Bezos Protests Invasion of His Privacy, Amazon Builds Global Surveillance State

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/11/glenn_greenwald_as_bezos_protests_invasion

Glenn Greenwald Defends Rep. Ilhan Omar: Criticizing Israeli Lobby & AIPAC Is Not Anti-Semitic

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/11/glenn_greenwald_defends_rep_ilhan_omar

“This Is Just the Beginning”: Greenwald on Rising State Violence & Homophobia in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/11/this_is_just_the_beginning_greenwald

2.8

We All Have “Skin in the Game.” That’s Why We Need Medicare for All.
On the ongoing push to skin patients needing care
by Chuck Idelson

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/08/we-all-have-skin-game-thats-why-we-need-medicare-all
–

Ricardo Hausmann Is Taking Milton Friedman’s Lessons to Venezuela
Will the legacy of putting neoliberal academic theories over the people win again?
by Tanya Rawal-Jindia

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/08/ricardo-hausmann-taking-milton-friedmans-lessons-venezuela
–

The Venezuela Myth Keeping Us From Transforming Our Economy
“Capitalism is quite simply incapable of regulating itself, and that is precisely where progressive governments and progressive government legislation needs to step in”
by Ellen Brown

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/08/venezuela-myth-keeping-us-transforming-our-economy
–

The Right-Wing Press and Violence Against Women: Terrible When Abroad, Ignored When at Home
To these outlets, progressive politics on gender equality is not evidence of a more enlightened view of society, but of a capitulation to the tyranny of egalitarianism
by Christian Christensen

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/08/right-wing-press-and-violence-against-women-terrible-when-abroad-ignored-when-home
—

National Organization for Women (NOW)
Pope Francis Must Act Now – Reform on Sexual Abuse is Long Overdue

*We’ll see how PF tries to PR his way out of this

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/08/pope-francis-must-act-now-reform-sexual-abuse-long-overdue
—

The Real News Network
Geo-Political Realignments Over Venezuela
On the heels of the hard-line anti-Maduro Lima Group meeting in Ottawa, countries favoring a negotiated solution, including Uruguay, Mexico, and Bolivia, met in Montevideo on Thursday. The final declaration, however, compromises Venezuela’s sovereignty, according to Bolivia. We discuss the outcome with Miguel Tinker Salas and Greg Wilpert

https://therealnews.com/stories/geo-political-realignments-over-venezuela

Trump Admin Determined to Overthrow Venezuela’s Maduro
Trump’s efforts to overthrow the Maduro government in Venezuela reached new heights when it halted a Senate resolution supporting self-proclaimed president Guaidó because it also included a line against the use of US military force in Venezuela. We discuss the ramifications with CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot

https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-admin-determined-to-overthrow-venezuelas-maduro

Cryptocurrency Firm Loses Codes and Gets Hacked, Millions Lost
Recent developments in the cryptocurrency world highlight the dangers of trading in this type of “coin.” But how important is cryptocurrency to the financial world and why should we care? We discuss the issue with white collar criminologist Bill Black

*Oy gevalt …

But why is Steiner laughing about this joker’s death

Even if he is a schmuck?

https://therealnews.com/stories/cryptocurrency-firm-loses-codes-and-gets-hacked-millions-lost

The Green New Deal Must Take on the Fossil Fuel Industry
Greenpeace’s Janet Redman says the Green New Deal proposal from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Markey is a step towards unprecedented climate action, but that it must mandate a phase-out of oil, gas, and coal

*If this were a football game, I’d have to make our survival a 30 point dog.

Taking the points is most likely a lock, but do keep in mind

If you win, we all lose.

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-green-new-deal-must-take-on-the-fossil-fuel-industry
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Shouldn’t Green New Deal Proposals Address Fossil Fuels?

*A half step most always takes us in the wrong direction

http://accuracy.org/release/shouldnt-green-new-deal-proposals-address-fossil-fuels
—

FAIR
‘Venezuela’: Media’s One-Word Rebuttal to the Threat of Socialism
by Alan MacLeod

*The irony in all this is that no one mentioned in this piece could accurately be called a socialist – including Maduro – if by “socialism” one means an socioeconomic system organized around cooperation for the common good, with no place for corporate profit, no matter how well “regulated” and “equitably” taxed they may be.

Which is why the smart money is on our inevitable extinction, as we piddle around with “Green New Deals” and cling to cults of “progressive” personality, while our handbasket to hell awaits our barmy bums.

https://fair.org/home/venezuela-medias-one-word-rebuttal-to-the-threat-of-socialism
—

Democracy Now!
Dems Accuse Trump Admin of “State-Sponsored Child Abuse” as Separated Migrant Children Scandal Grows

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/8/dems_accuse_trump_admin_of_state

2.7

Despite Promises of ACA, Study Shows Two-Thirds of Personal Bankruptcies Still Caused by Illness and Medical Bills
“We need to move ahead from the ACA to a single-payer, Medicare for All system that assures first-dollar coverage for everyone”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*”Affordable Care”?

Just an “Act”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/despite-promises-aca-study-shows-two-thirds-personal-bankruptcies-still-caused

‘This Needs to Happen Nationally’: Ohio City Ditches Columbus Day to Make Election Day Paid Holiday
The city of Sandusky, Ohio is swapping Columbus Day for Election Day starting in 2020, ending the yearly celebration of Christopher Columbus and instead ensuring all city workers can get to the polls
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/needs-happen-nationally-ohio-city-ditches-columbus-day-make-election-day-paid

Border Town in Arizona to Trump: Tear Down This Wall… of ‘Inhuman’ Razor Wire
The unanimously approved resolution characterized the installation of the razor wire, recently installed by U.S. Army personnel, as “not only irresponsible but inhuman”
by Jon Queally, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/border-town-arizona-trump-tear-down-wall-inhuman-razor-wire
—

The Real News Network
Global Tech Companies Renew Push for Control Over All Data
Google, Amazon and Facebook, among others, have developed e-commerce rules that would benefit them and, with the help of the US government, hope to have them adopted by the World Trade Organization. CEPR’s Deborah James discusses the implications

*All your database are belong to us

https://therealnews.com/stories/global-tech-companies-renew-push-for-control-over-all-data
—

RootsAction Education Fund
Stacy Bannerman has spent sixteen years speaking out against the Iraq War, even as she was living with — and nearly died from — the consequences

https://act.rootsaction.org/o/6503/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=218121
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Former UN Official on Venezuela: “Nothing More Undemocratic Than a Coup”

*A coup de grasp

http://accuracy.org/release/former-un-official-on-venezuela-nothing-more-undemocratic-than-a-coup
—

Democracy Now!
Political Scientist: Blackface Is a National Problem & Virginia’s Top Officials Must Step Down

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/7/political_scientist_blackface_is_a_national

Meet Victorina Morales, an Undocumented Immigrant Who Spent Five Years as Trump’s Housekeeper

*Scaling the wall of silence

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/7/meet_victorina_morales_an_undocumented_immigrant

2.6

Fresh off ‘MAGA Field Trip,’ Steve Bannon, Erik Prince Among Right-Wing Crew Plotting Out Privatized Border Wall
New reporting by Politico sheds light on big players behind anti-immigrant effort
by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/06/fresh-maga-field-trip-steve-bannon-erik-prince-among-right-wing-crew-plotting-out

‘Breathtaking and Terrifying’: UN Food Relief Agency Partners With CIA-Funded Software Firm Palantir
Data privacy advocates decried the $45 million deal as “horribly irresponsible and potentially incredibly harmful”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*Should we be afraid that “WFP is jumping headlong into something they don’t understand”

Or into something they do?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/06/breathtaking-and-terrifying-un-food-relief-agency-partners-cia-funded-software-firm
—

An Open Letter to Rep. Pramila Jayapal Regarding Medicare for All
We applaud your efforts to improve the legislation from previous versions by including guaranteed access to vital services such as reproductive health and long-term care, but have two serious questions about the future of private insurers and exactly who might be left out of an otherwise universal system
by Isabel Ostrer, Chris Cai and Ana Malinow

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/06/open-letter-rep-pramila-jayapal-regarding-medicare-all
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The Real News Network
VA Governor Northam Won’t Address Racist Reality, Runs From Blackface Past
The reemergence of blackface as an issue, around Gov. Northam’s inaction, exposes the depth of American racism. Our panel with Jacqueline Luqman and Eddie Conway explores the topic

*Anyone who believes Northam was capable of acting in any way other than how he did is a stone fool, and no doubt. He only regrets the exposure, not the act itself.

And so to say that he “should *probably* resign” is a non sequitur in excelsis.

https://therealnews.com/stories/va-governor-northam-wont-address-racist-reality-runs-from-blackface-past
—

FAIR
NYT Reports on ‘Perception’ of Subway Danger—but Can’t Perceive Racism
by Neil deMause

https://fair.org/home/nyt-reports-on-perception-of-subway-danger-but-cant-perceive-racism

US Media Ignore—and Applaud—Economic War on Venezuela
by Gregory Shupak

https://fair.org/home/us-media-ignore-and-applaud-economic-war-on-venezuela
—

Democracy Now!
Puerto Rico: Vulture Funds to Make a Killing as Judge Approves Deal to Restructure Island’s Debt

*The position of employee pension funds in this makes plain that capitalism is never a “win/win”.

Profit is always made at the expense of someone else.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/6/puerto_rico_vulture_funds_to_make

2.5

Living Like It Matters: Silver Linings in the Very Dark Cloud of Climate Catastrophe
Death offers wise and consoling advice if you have the courage to listen
by Elizabeth West

*We’ve gone on as who we’ve been led to be

Can we go out as who we would want to be?

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/05/living-it-matters-silver-linings-very-dark-cloud-climate-catastrophe
—

Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Lawsuit Dismissed Against American Studies Association, Steven Salaita, others for Israel Boycott

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2019/02/05/lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-studies-association-steven-salaita-others
—

The Real News Network
Regime Change Canadian Style for Venezuela
The Lima Group met in Ottawa and signed the Ottawa Declaration to oust President Maduro from power in Venezuela. 13 conservative Latin American governments, plus Canada, officially recognized Juan Guaido as the transitional President of Venezuela and accepted Venezuela’s membership to the Lima Group. Yves Engler, Dimitri Lascaris, and Greg Wilpert discuss the outcome

https://therealnews.com/stories/conservative-governments-of-latin-america-plus-canada-endorse-regime-change-efforts-in-venezuela

Media Savvy Newcomer Wins El Salvador’s Election: Another Rightward Shift?
Nayib Bukele won El Salvador’s presidential election, capitalizing on his newcomer status and the FMLN’s crisis as it was being stymied by the country’s conservative forces. We analyze the result with CISPES coordinator Alexis Stoumbelis

*Lesson for the FMLN et alia

If you don’t stand by your stated principles

Don’t expect to find too many folks willing to stand by you

https://therealnews.com/stories/media-savvy-newcomer-wins-el-salvadors-election-another-rightward-shift
—

Democracy Now!
Trial of El Chapo Highlights Failure of U.S. War on Drugs, But Will U.S. Ever Be Held to Account?

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/5/trial_of_el_chapo_highlights_failure

2.4

In Response to Lies and Hate, Let Me Make Some Things Clear About My Climate Strike
If everyone listened to the scientists and the facts that I constantly refer to—then no one would have to listen to me or any of the other hundreds of thousands of school children on strike for the climate across the world. Then we could all go back to school.
by Greta Thunberg

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/03/response-lies-and-hate-let-me-make-some-things-clear-about-my-climate-strike
–

There Is a Real National Emergency in America, It’s Just Not the Wall
Walling in the Opioid Crisis?
by Rajan Menon

*”[M]ake you look better to everybody” … ?

Effective action in this area would not absolve Killer Clown of his soulless sins in so many others, would it?

A foolish way to end a salient screed.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/03/there-real-national-emergency-america-its-just-not-wall
—

Courage to Resist
Registry Launches as Draft Registration of Women Nears

https://couragetoresist.org/protective-registry-launches-as-draft-registration-of-women-nears
—

The Real News Network
Evenly Matched Pro- and Anti-Government Marches in Venezuela
TRNN Correspondent Dimitri Lascaris reports from the ground in Caracas about Saturday’s pro- and anti-government marches, highlighting their peacefulness and equal size

https://therealnews.com/stories/evenly-matched-pro-and-anti-government-marches-in-venezuela

Venezuela Primer Part 1: Why Did Venezuelans Elect Hugo Chávez?
Over and over again US media outlets make the claim that Venezuela was the “jewel of Latin America” before Hugo Chavez was elected in 1998, and that his election marked the country’s downfall. In Part 1 of this Venezuela primer, on the 20th anniversary of Chavez first taking office on February 2, 1999, we look at what led up to his election

https://therealnews.com/stories/venezuela-primer-pt-1-why-did-venezuelans-elect-hugo-chavez

Judge: Providing Water to Dying Immigrants in Desert is a Crime
In Tucson, Arizona, a US Magistrate handed down guilty verdicts against four No More Deaths activists, who were leaving water for border crossers, along the US-Mexico border. The activist group calls the decision a retaliation for releasing an incriminating report about the Border Patrol. A fifth activist faces an upcoming trial and potentially decades in prison

*Guilty of a conscience

https://therealnews.com/stories/judge-providing-water-to-dying-immigrants-in-desert-is-a-crime

Over 40% of US Households Are One Paycheck Away From Poverty
Far more households in the US are at risk of joining the ranks of the poor, should they lose their job or face a financial emergency, showing that millions are vulnerable and this number is increasing, says Kasey Wiedrich of Prosperity Now

*As long as we’re dependent on selling our labor to survive, we will always be at the mercy of the buyers

https://therealnews.com/stories/over-40-of-us-households-are-one-paycheck-away-from-poverty

Prosecutor Refuses to Try Pot Cases, But Police Pledge to Continue to Arrest
Baltimore’s State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s recent decision to stop prosecuting marijuana possession cases prompted pushback from the police commissioner, despite overwhelming evidence arrests for pot disproportionately impact African-Americans

https://therealnews.com/stories/prosecutor-refuses-to-try-pot-cases-but-police-pledge-to-continue-to-arrest

French Yellow Vest Protests Continue for 12th Week, Despite Government Resistance
Despite a brief lull over the holidays, the anti-neoliberal and anti-tax yellow vest protests continued in France for a 12th consecutive Saturday. We speak to Cole Stangler in Paris, shortly after the 10th week of protests

https://therealnews.com/stories/french-yellow-vest-protests-continue-for-12th-week-despite-government-resistance

Pugh’s Office Trying to Weaken Bill to Stop Baltimoreans from Losing Homes Over Water Bills
by Dharna Noor

*I’m conflicted on just whom I have more disdain for

Republican govs of red states

Or Democratic mayors of blue cities.

https://therealnews.com/columns/pughs-office-trying-to-weaken-bill-to-stop-baltimoreans-from-losing-homes-over-water-bills
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
After U.S. INF Withdrawal, Plowshares Activists, Facing Years in Prison, Warn of Nuclear Peril

http://accuracy.org/release/after-u-s-inf-withdrawal-plowshares-activists-facing-years-in-prison-warn-of-nuclear-peril
—

Democracy Now!
Historian: Americans Must Face Violent History of Blackface Amid Virginia Gov. Racist Photo Scandal

*There’s a difference between not knowing, and not caring.

Northam, Kelly et alia knew, know, and didn’t and don’t care.

I say this as a Southern boy who didn’t have any trouble knowing as soon as the reality smacked me upside the head.

Those who ducked have no excuse.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/4/historian_americans_must_face_violent_history

Lights Back On at NYC Jail After Hundreds Protest, But Prisoners Still Without Heat in Winter

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/4/lights_back_on_at_nyc_jail

2.1

‘Yiiiiikes’: John Bolton Threatens to Send Venezuela’s Maduro to Offshore US Prison at Guantánamo
“Also seems like the Trump administration is expecting tomorrow to be showdown day in Venezuela as protests expected nationwide”
by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Common Dreams

*How many Dems posturing against “military intervention” voted for the sanctions that have set the stage for same?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/yiiiiikes-john-bolton-threatens-send-venezuelas-maduro-offshore-us-prison-guantanamo

Anthropologist Debunks Bill Gates’ BS Narrative That Free-Market Capitalism Has Solved Crisis of Global Poverty
Calling billionaire Microsoft co-founder ‘completely wrong,’ Jason Hickels says “those defending poverty line you should be willing to live on it. Lookin’ at you, Bill.”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

*A Bono fide hypocrite of the first order

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/anthropologist-debunks-bill-gates-bs-narrative-free-market-capitalism-has-solved

European Colonizers’ Genocide of 56 Million Native Americans So Devastating “It Literally Cooled the Planet”
“Beyond horrifying”
by Julia Conley, staff writer
Common Dreams

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/01/european-colonizers-genocide-56-million-native-americans-so-devastating-it-literally
—

The U.S. 12-Step Method to Conduct Regime Change
What is happening to Venezuela is nothing unique in American history
by Vijay Prashad

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/us-12-step-method-conduct-regime-change
–

Will Iran Sanctions Herald the Fall of the Imperial Dollar?
Europe’s new mechanism for circumventing U.S. sanctions may or may not work, but the effort is certainly evidence of a world increasingly frustrated with living under the financial hegemony of Washington
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/01/will-iran-sanctions-herald-fall-imperial-dollar
—

The Real News Network
Russia, China on Defense and No Iranian Nuclear Bomb – US Intelligence Report
Russia and China are responding to “perceived US unilateralism and interventionism” – Paul Jay joins Taya Graham to analyze the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community

*It’s not what the corpress is “buying”

It’s what it’s selling

https://therealnews.com/stories/russia-china-on-defense-and-no-iranian-nuclear-bomb-us-intelligence-report

Bayer-Monsanto Merger: Endangering Our Health, Food, Farms & Planet
The US Department of Justice finalized its approval of the Bayer/Monsanto merger. A new monopoly will be created over agricultural pesticides and industrial seed production, with farmers locked into industrial farming and our health endangered

https://therealnews.com/stories/bayer-monsanto-merger-endangering-our-health-food-farms-planet

Surveillance Video, Independent Forensic Expert Raise Fresh Questions about Anton Black’s Death in Police Custody
The video, along with a independent analysis of the autopsy report by an outside forensic pathologist, reveal a different depiction of events that lead to the death of 19-year-old Anton Black in police custody

https://therealnews.com/stories/surveillance-video-independent-forensic-expert-raise-fresh-questions-about-anton-blacks-death-in-police-custody
—

Institute for Public Accuracy
Venezuela Analysis

http://accuracy.org/release/venezuela-analysis
—

FAIR
The Same Media That Opposed Democracy in South Africa Now Warn Against It in Israel/Palestine
by Gregory Shupak

*Justice demands one state, but that would be only the first step in a just solution, as evidenced by the corrupt and colluding ANC’s “rapprochement” with the white elite.

No doubt there are Palestinian “leaders” who’d relish a replay of that sad outcome.

https://fair.org/home/the-same-media-that-opposed-democracy-in-south-africa-now-warns-against-it-in-israel-palestine

Media Rally Around ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan
by Gunar Olsen

https://fair.org/home/media-rally-around-forever-war-in-afghanistan
—

Democracy Now!
A Modern-Day Lynching?: “Always in Season” Looks at 2014 Hanging in NC & Legacy of Racial Terrorism

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/1/a_modern_day_lynching_always_in