Daily Archives: July 9, 2020

2020-07-09: News Headlines

Aaron Morrison (2020-07-09). 'Strike for Black Lives': Planned July 20 walkout unites BLM and unions. peoplesworld.org NEW YORK (AP)—A national coalition of labor unions, along with racial and social justice organizations, will stage a mass walkout from work this month, as part of an ongoing reckoning on systemic racism and police brutality in the U.S. Dubbed the "Strike for Black Lives," tens of thousands of fast food, ride-share, nursing home, and airport workers …

Anne M. Peterson (2020-07-09). Black players demonstrate at Major League Soccer tourney. peoplesworld.org (AP)—Now that Major League Soccer has re-started, a group of Black Major League Soccer players is using the moment to call attention to systemic racism across sports and society. Black Players for Change was formerly the Black Players Coalition of MLS but changed its name this week while joining forces with the Players Coalition, the …

Ahrar Ahmad (2020-07-09). Racism in America: Police Choke-Holds Are Not the Issue. counterpunch.org While the abject inhumanity of slavery may have been legally mitigated to some extent, the institutions, practices and values of exclusion, exploitation and devaluation were not. Constitutional guarantees, and Supreme Court decisions, could be cleverly subverted by States. For example, Black people were denied the right to vote through poll taxes, arbitrary registration requirements, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries and so on. In 1940, 70 years after they had received the right to vote, only 3% of Blacks in the South were registered as voters. Less overt voter suppression efforts continue to t…

Rhea Boyd (2020-07-09). What It Means When You Wear a Mask—and When You Refuse To. thenation.com What It Means When You Wear a Mask—and When You Refuse To…

Ahrar Ahmad (2020-07-09). Racism in America: Police Choke-hold is Not the Issue. counterpunch.org While the abject inhumanity of slavery may have been legally mitigated to some extent, the institutions, practices and values of exclusion, exploitation and devaluation were not. Constitutional guarantees, and Supreme Court decisions, could be cleverly subverted by States. For example, Black people were denied the right to vote through poll taxes, arbitrary registration requirements, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries and so on. In 1940, 70 years after they had received the right to vote, only 3% of Blacks in the South were registered as voters. Less overt voter suppression efforts continue to t…

Eds. (2020-07-09). Racism, capitalism and rebellion. mronline.org I want to start by acknowledging the significance of what has happened in the last ten days. We're now in the midst of what we can definitively say is the biggest wave of mass protests in the United States since the 1960's…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-07-09). On Israel's Bizarre Definitions: The West Bank is Already Annexed. dissidentvoice.org Wednesday, July 1, was meant to be the day on which the Israeli government officially annexed 30% of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Jordan Valley. This date, however, came and went and annexation was never actualized. "I don't know if there will be a declaration of sovereignty today," said Israeli Foreign Minister, Gabi …

Sue Davis (2020-07-09). SCOTUS decides 5-4 win for abortion rights. workers.org SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective Executive Director Monica Simpson speaking at reproductive justice rally in Georgia, June 28, 2019. On June 29, the Supreme Court issued a much anticipated decision in June Medical Services v. Russo, the first reproductive justice case since anti-abortion Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and . . . |

Mark Gruenberg, John Wojcik (2020-07-09). Supreme Court rules today: Trump is not above the law! peoplesworld.org President Trump took to Twitter in a rant today after the Supreme Court, in two 7-2 decisions. said the president is not entitled to immunity from congressional and grand jury subpoenas for his tax and financial information. In his rant, Trump called the rulings rejecting his claims that he is essentially above the law "unfair." …

Gary Leupp (2020-07-09). Columbus and the Beginning of the American Way of Life. dissidentvoice.org As a Marxist agitator and lowlife who wants to, as Trump puts it in a recent teleprompted fascist address, "tear down our statues, erase our history, and indoctrinate our children" I feel obliged to make some remarks—to all the impressionable children of the world—about the moron president's ringingly stupid statement last week under Mt. Rushmore: …

Prof. Marjorie Cohn (2020-07-09). Trump Is Trying to Hide US and Israeli War Crimes by Attacking the International Criminal Court. globalresearch.ca A war crimes

Staff (2020-07-09). Strange Slow Dance Between Israel And The Gulf States, Despite Annexation. therealnews.com UAE ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba wrote an article promising normalization on the condition that Israel does not annex parts of the West Bank. Jamal Juma' of Stop The Wall pushed back with an opinion piece in Middle East Eye exposing the reality of Israeli apartheid.

Emile Badarin (2020-07-09). Israel Annexation Plan: Jordan's Existential Threat. globalresearch.ca More than any other Arab state, Jordan's past, present and future are inextricably linked to the question of Palestine. Jordan's emergence is an outcome of British imperialism, which imposed the infamous

Peoples Dispatch (2020-07-09). 'Israeli annexation plan formalises the system of apartheid'. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinian lawyer and activist Diana Buttu talks about what the Israeli administration may have in mind about implementing the annexation plans, the impact of this on the two-state theory, the future of Palestinian Authority, and more.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-07-09). Movements in the US continue on the streets in demand of structural changes. peoplesdispatch.org Protesters across the US have remained on the streets for over a month to demand justice for victims of police brutality and immediate structural changes to the capitalist racist system…

_____ (2020-07-09). Rally Protests Anti-Racist Teacher's Suspension. popularresistance.org Milton, MA – Hundreds rallied on Juneteenth (June 19) in Milton, Mass., calling for an end to systemic racism in school curriculum and voicing support for Zakia Jarrett, an African-American sixth-grade English teacher. Jarrett was briefly put on administrative leave June 5 for her remarks on police violence during a lesson on racism. | Jarrett, who has taught for 18 years, used the last line of the poem "Allowables" by Nikki Giovanni as a metaphor for racism. The line reads: "I don't think I'm allowed to kill something because I am afraid." | Jarrett explained that killing out of fear leads to systemic racism and…

_____ (2020-07-09). Supreme Court Rejects Effort To Greenlight Keystone XL Construction. popularresistance.org The Supreme Court late Monday upheld a federal judge's rejection of a crucial permit for Keystone XL and blocked the Trump administration's attempt to greenlight construction of the 1,200-mile crude oil project, the third such blow to the fossil fuel industry in a day—coming just hours after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the court-ordered shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline. | While the ruling was not a total victory for the climate—the high court said other pipeline projects can proceed as environmental reviews are conducted—green groups applauded the delay of Keystone…

RT (2020-07-09). Princeton University faculty seek to establish racial thought police & punish insufficiently diverse disciplines. rt.com Professors at prestigious Princeton University have assailed the school for its alleged "anti-Black racism," issuing a lengthy list of demands including bribing departments to hire minorities (and punishing those that don't). | Over 350 Princeton faculty members have signed on to an open letter demanding the university prioritize the fight against "anti-Black racism," which the writers insist "has a visible bearing upon Princeton's campus makeup and its hiring practices." Members of every department of the Ivy League school except Chemical and Biological Engineering and Operations Research and Financial Engine…

RT (2020-07-09). Toyota fires employees for making fun of George Floyd killing with 'that will keep them down' kneeling. rt.com Toyota has fired two high-level employees from a plant in Indiana, after they allegedly mocked the killing of George Floyd. Though their jokes got them the sack, Toyota itself has been in the spotlight for racism before. | In a video filmed by his colleagues, supervisor Patrick Talley knelt on a binder full of documents, exclaiming "that will keep them down." The onlooker who filmed the video told Yahoo News that Talley was referencing Floyd's murder, and "everyone who saw him do it was disgusted." | "It was a disgusting gesture Talley made to imply that kneeling on a black man's neck until he dies is a great…

RT (2020-07-09). Manhattan next? US Supreme Court opens Pandora's box with ruling that half of Oklahoma is 'Indian country'. rt.com While critics of US President Donald Trump gloated over the Supreme Court ruling in the matter of his taxes, another verdict returning much of Oklahoma to the Creek Nation has far bigger implications for the country down the line. | "On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise," Justice Neil Gorsuch — a Trump appointee presumed to be a conservative textualist — declared at the start of the majority opinion in

RT (2020-07-09). Kavanaugh & Gorsuch rule against Trump in Supreme Court tax returns case. rt.com Trump's hotly-pursued tax returns may see the light of day, after the Supreme Court ruled that his financial records can be handed over to a New York grand jury in a decision supported by three conservative justices. | In a 7-2 ruling, the court found that a subpoena issued to Trump's accounting firm, Mazars LLP, can be enforced, and dismissed Trump's lawyers' argument that he is immune from criminal proceedings. The request was part of a criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, and years of Trump's tax returns will now have to be turned over to a grand jury. | Justices Neil Gorsuch a…

RT (2020-07-09). 'Liberating 5th Avenue': New York mayor paints BLACK LIVES MATTER outside Trump Tower. rt.com Signaling where his priorities lie amid an epidemic of coronavirus and violence, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a stretch of 5th Avenue outside Trump Tower to be painted with the words 'Black Lives Matter'. | City workers closed off the street on Thursday morning and began painting the mural, as De Blasio boasted about "liberating 5th Avenue" and finally giving credit to African-Americans for building New York and the US. | | "We are not denigrating anything, we are liberating Fifth Avenue." | New York City Mayor Bill de Blasi…

RT (2020-07-09). 'Coping' mechanism: Ford workers request company stops providing US police with vehicles amid reckoning on cop violence. rt.com The Great Awokening has finally pulled into the automobile industry amid the growing Black Lives Matter movement. Ford's CEO is apparently not on board with the idea though, praising the role of law enforcement. | In the United States, two-thirds of police cars are Fords. Now, some Ford employees The internal letter is…

RT (2020-07-09). Not a 'racist' plan anymore? Democrats rejoice over Biden's $700bn 'Buy American' promise. rt.com Joe Biden unveiled a $700 billion 'Buy American' initiative, drawing praise from both liberals and conservatives on social media, but some noted that similar plans by the Trump administration were previously framed as 'racist.' | Biden's economic pitch includes plans for a $400 billion, four-year increase in government spending on US-made goods and services — topped by a $300 billion investment in research and development for US technology. | "This will be the largest mobilization of public investments in procurement, infrastructure and (research and development) since World War II," Biden's senior advise…

Laborfest (2020-07-09). Wednesday 7/15: LaborFest 2020: US Public Health System, COVID, Racism & Capitalism. indybay.org This is a free Zoom based event. You can be anywhere to view and participant. Please visit the LaborFest 2020 website URL to register and to receive a Zoom invitation to the event.

CEWPAPH (2020-07-09). Alternative "Declaration of Independence Day" on July 4. indybay.org On the fourth of July, a CodePink caravan declared independence from racism, war, and climate devastation – all interconnecting systems of death. | Top Photo: Demonstrators use stencils to paint a message on the street in front of Nancy Pelosi's Pacific Heights Home. It reads, Pelosi Defund War $.

Ramona du Houx (2020-07-09). Elected Officials demand an end to the environmental injustices in communities of color. indybay.org From the heart of the city to the suburbs and rural communities, protesters have risen up against the systemic racism. One group of public servants from states across the country insist on legislative action to end to the environmental injustices in communities of color.

Refuse Fascism Bay Area (2020-07-09). Saturday 7/11: Bring Trump Pence OUT NOW! to the Great Highway. indybay.org Great Highway at Lincoln Way, San Francisco…

Staff (2020-07-09). Belgian Princess Condemns Her Family's Brutal Colonial History in Congo & Calls For Reparations. democracynow.org Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. have sparked a reckoning about racism and colonialism across the world, including in Belgium, where a growing movement is demanding the country address systemic racism and make amends for its violent colonial legacy. King Philippe issued an unprecedented statement "expressing regret" for Belgium's brutal colonial rule in Congo under Leopold II, who ran the country as his personal fiefdom and under whose command millions of Congolese were enslaved and killed. "It's an erased history," says Belgo-Congolese journalist and activist Gia Abrassart. We also speak with Princess Esm…

Staff (2020-07-09). Viagra? Yes. Birth Control? No. SCOTUS Sides with Trump & Limits Free Contraception Under Obamacare. democracynow.org The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to reproductive rights when it sided with the Trump administration in letting employers deny people access to free birth control based on religious or moral grounds, hollowing out a mandate under the Affordable Care Act that requires most private health insurance plans to provide cost-free birth control. "It's a really deeply disappointing ruling," says Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. "These individuals are effectively on their own to find and pay for their contraception."

Hatewatch Staff (2020-07-09). TRS Radio Network Member Arrested in Virginia for Stickers Linking to Hate Site. splcenter.org Police in Norfolk, Virginia, have arrested a man affiliated with The Right Stuff (TRS) podcast network, a white nationalist hate group and propaganda organ.

_____ (2020-07-09). How Black And Brown Workers Are Redefining Strikes. popularresistance.org During George Floyd's funeral on June 9th, Black dockworkers in Charleston, S.C., shut down the nation's 4th busiest port and gathered to show their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. | "All operations stopped, the terminals were shut down, no machines were working, trucks were backed up for miles along the interstate because we weren't moving anything on the terminal," said Ken Riley, a Black dockworker and President of ILA Local 1422. | The actions were part of a nationwide effort in which the International Longshore Association, which is 65% Black, shut down all the ports on the East and Gulf Sho…

_____ (2020-07-09). The State And White Supremacy. popularresistance.org As an ongoing phenomenon, the analysis of what is referred to as the George Floyd, or now the "Black Lives Matter" demos, must be necessarily tentative. It has been instructive to observe how the energy and passion of the spontaneous militant response to the murder of George Floyd went from a movement that saw the burning of a police station transformed into one in which, according to Martin Schoots-McAlpine , the most militant demand was to make "minor amendments to municipal budgets." I will resist the temptation of attempting to address all the components and will only focus on one central element in this shor…

_____ (2020-07-09). Israel's Attacks On Iran's Nuclear Sites Signal A New Phase Of Conflict. popularresistance.org Over the past week, mysterious explosions and fires have wracked key infrastructure connected to Iran's nuclear programme at Natanz and Parchin, key facilities engaged in uranium enrichment and the production of rocket fuel for ballistic missiles. | The US and Israel have accused Iran of violating UN resolutions and the nuclear deal in testing new ballistic-missile technology. Although Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly denied any intent to create nuclear weapons, even going so far as to issue a fatwa against it, Iran's enemies are convinced it plans to "go nuclear". | The recent attacks…

yenisafak (2020-07-09). We know how to keep the peace, says Serbian president. yenisafak.com Serbia's president on Thursday attested that his government would be able to maintain peace and stability in the country amid a second day of violent protests.In a video message recorded while en route to Paris, Aleksandar Vucic likened Wednesday's riots in the northern city of Novi Sad to an incursion of fascist units into the city in 1941. Vucic urged people in Novi Sad and the rest of the country to avoid confronting the "thugs.""We, as the state, will do that. We will work and we will win. We will preserve peace for our country. Surrender was never an option," Vucic said."I am now flying to Paris to fight for…

yenisafak (2020-07-09). Bosnia pays tribute to 1995 Srebrenica genocide victims. yenisafak.com Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday bid farewell to nine newly identified victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. | The remains of the genocide victims were placed on minivans laden with flowers in the Bosnian city of Visoko on Thursday morning for their final journey to rest in a cemetery. | The victims will be buried in the village of Potocari, northwest of Srebrenica, on Thursday to mark the genocide's 25th anniversary. | A truck carrying the victims' remains arrived at the Presidential Council Building in the capital Sarajevo. Bosnian officials and members of the public prayed for the victims and placed flowe…

Amy Porte, Meg Brizz (2020-07-09). Saturday 7/11: Black Lives Matter. indybay.org Slade Park, Novato…

Michael Harris (2020-07-09). California Reparations Bill AB 3121 – Senate Process in flow… indybay.org The signs and symbols surrounding the California State Capitol are coming down and few know the reason they were put in place. Reparative Justice hidden, cloaked in secrecy and does not mention Slavery thoroughout the State of California… limited narrow focus may do additional harm… yet not sure it matters because the Black Lives "in the building" is all that matters.

Momtaza Mehri (2020-07-08). Anti-racism requires so much more than 'checking your privilege'. zcomm.org Self-reflection is welcome. But until we undo the structures that hold up anti-blackness across the world, injustice will persist…

Makani Themba (2020-07-08). In Mississippi's Covid Island, Trying Not to Get Wet. thenation.com In Mississippi's Covid Island, Trying Not to Get Wet…

Lyn Neeley (2020-07-08). Milton, Mass.: Rally protests anti-racist teacher's suspension. workers.org Hundreds rallied on Juneteenth (June 19) in Milton, Mass., calling for an end to systemic racism in school curriculum and voicing support for Zakia Jarrett, an African-American sixth-grade English teacher. Jarrett was briefly put on administrative leave June 5 for her remarks on police violence during a lesson on racism. . . . |

RT (2020-07-08). 'Redress for systemic racism'? California State University faculty demand free tuition for non-white students… & segregation. rt.com Lamenting declining minority enrollment, California State University's faculty union has called for tuition-free education for nonwhite students, nixing a ban on affirmative action, and… segregating students and faculty by color? | The California Faculty Association has published a list of

Staff (2020-07-08). COVID Exposes "Significant Racial Health Inequities" as Black, Brown & Indigenous People Suffer Most. democracynow.org The coronavirus continues to hit communities of color the hardest, with federal data showing African American and Latinx people are nearly three times more likely to be infected and twice as likely to die from the virus compared to their white neighbors. There were "pretty significant racial health disparities" even before COVID-19 ravaged the country, says Dr. Uché Blackstock, emergency medicine physician in New York and founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, a company working to fight racism and bias in health services. "What we saw in the pandemic these first few months is these really significant racial…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-07-08). Civil Rights Groups Say Internal Facebook Audit Confirms Company Business Model 'Relies on Racism and Hate'. commondreams.org "There are real-life consequences when social media networks provide platforms for violent white supremacists, allowing them to incubate, organize, and recruit new followers to their hateful movements." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

RT (2020-07-08). San Francisco's CAREN Act will 'criminalize reporting minorities,' conservatives say. rt.com San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton is outraged at white women calling the police on minorities. His creatively named CAREN Act would put an end to this, but conservatives claim it's just more discrimination. | Walton introduced the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies (CAREN) Act on Tuesday. Its name is a nod to 'Karen', which has become internet slang for a white woman who demeans store assistants, demands to speak to the manager, or, crucially here, feels unduly threatened by minorities. | Racist 911 calls are unacceptable that's why I'm introducing the CAREN Act at today's SF Board of…

RT (2020-07-08). You became RACIST yourself, users tell Reddit as it issues (& removes) ban on content portraying 'people of color' as 'aggressors'. rt.com Reddit has announced that any type of content deemed offensive to people of color will not be allowed. But as outrage mounted among users over the policy,…

commondreams (2020-07-08). NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Supreme Court's Reckless Decision to Green Light Trump's Attacks on Birth Control Access. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Ashley Curtin (2020-07-08). Supreme Court's ruling delays Keystone XL Pipeline construction furthermore. nationofchange.org "No oil pipeline is safe, and TransCanada's record over the past decade does little to assuage concerns of a spill."

Mark Gruenberg (2020-07-08). Illinois Supreme Court rules Chicago police can't destroy disciplinary records. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO—"No matter whether th' Constitution follows th' flag or not, th' Supreme Court follows th' election returns," Chicago Daily News columnist Finley Peter Dunne, speaking as his favorite character, Mr. Dooley, told his friend Hennessy in 1900. Dunne was talking of the U.S. Supreme Court, but his line could just as easily have applied to …

RT (2020-07-08). 'God made you impotent for a reason': Viagra rises to top Twitter trend after SCOTUS ruling on birth control healthcare mandate. rt.com If pregnancy is God's will, so is erectile dysfunction, argued critics of the new US Supreme Court ruling that allowed employers to exclude birth control from health insurance plans on religious or moral grounds. | On Wednesday, the court upheld a Trump administration rule which allows employers to opt out of an Obamacare mandate to cover birth control in their insurance plans. Amid an impassioned social media outpouring from both supporters and detractors, came a flood of comments pointing out that erectile dysfunction drug Viagra will still be covered. | Many critics seized on that to argue that SCOTUS favor…