Daily Archives: August 10, 2020

2020-08-10: News Headlines

Howard Lisnoff (2020-08-10). Revolutionaries Living in a System of Growing Fascism. counterpunch.org Watching the documentary The Weather Underground (2002) (see Independent Lens review, PBS) is a painful experience. Included with this award-winning documentary about Vietnam-era revolutionaries is the smaller and separate interview with David Gilbert, who remains imprisoned in New York for his part in the 1981 Brinks robbery in which some of those involved in the robbery killed two policemen

RT (2020-08-10). Victim of 'systemic racism'? Biden's Ferguson anniversary tweet flops… as his own DOJ justified Michael Brown shooting. rt.com Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden seemingly forgot what was made clear by his own administration when he was vice president under Obama: Evidence shows that Michael Brown was killed while assaulting a police officer. | That was the

Ralph Nader (2020-08-10). Ranking the Infinite Greed, Power and Controls of Giant Corporations. zcomm.org At the end of the day, we are all paying the price of the full measure of the infinite avarice spiraling from these corporate supremacists and their private governments of controls…

Russell Pearce (2020-08-10). Not Just a Bad President, Trump is a "Holmesian Bad Man." Act Accordingly. aclu.org "If you want to know the law, you must look at it as a bad man does, who cares only for the material consequences," wrote legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Not as a good one, who finds his reasons for conduct, whether inside the law or outside of it, in the vaguer sanctions of conscience." , , Donald Trump is a Holmesian bad man, and an even worse president, pushing the bounds of corruption and authoritarianism, unbound by norms, the rule of law, a sense of shame, or even care for others. To deal with such a bad man and bad president — one who truckles to adversaries like Russian P…

WSWS (2020-08-10). US Supreme Court defends deadly jail conditions in California. wsws.org The high court decision denies inmates their right to safety during a deadly pandemic and at the same time shows contempt for the lives of the poor.

Ed Rampell (2020-08-10). The Killing that Awakened the City that Never Sleeps. progressive.org A new documentary reflects on the killing of a Black teenager in 1989, drawing parallels to today's Black Lives Matter protests.

WSWS (2020-08-10). German government continues to boost military spending and cover for fascists. wsws.org The billion-euro armament projects are aimed at expanding Germany's ability to make war, including the upgrading of the elite KSK force, which is riddled with fascists.

Fight Back (2020-08-10). Tampa Bay SDS wins major victory in their Increase Black Enrollment campaign. fightbacknews.org Tampa Bay SDS wins major victory in their Increase Black Enrollment campaign | By Eithne Silva | Tampa, Fl – On August 4, the president of the University of South Florida (USF) released a statement to the public announcing changes being made to improve Black student life. Some of these changes include demands that Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) brought to USF administration through their Increase Black Enrollment campaign. | In the fall of 2019, after a string of white supremacist activity on campus as well as the lowest proportion of black students at USF in a decade, Tampa Bay SDS launched th…

G2MIL (2020-08-10). Video: The NATO Conquest of Eastern Europe. globalresearch.ca General Dwight Eisenhower was the first NATO supreme allied commander. | After assuming that post in 1951, General Eisenhower wrote about NATO's goal: | "If in 10 years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned …

Refuse Fascism Bay Area (2020-08-10). Saturday 9/5: San Francisco: Nationwide Mass Protest to Demand Trump Pence Out Now! indybay.org San Francisco: Rally Embarcadero Plaza, Market St & Steuart St, then March to San Francisco City Hall…

Register Peace & Freedom or Green (2020-08-10). Social Security & Medicare Cut to Be Permanent if Nazi Trump Reelected. indybay.org Nazi Trump signed an illegal order on 8/8/20 to cut the payroll tax for Social Security and Medicare and promised on national TV to make it permanent if he is re-elected. This is a long-standing Republican Party program, outlined in their platform as they want to privatize both programs.

Dan Bacher (2020-08-10). Senate Committee Votes Against Bill to Create Health and Safety Setbacks Around Oil Wells. indybay.org "The fact that dozens of Spanish speaking residents who are currently poisoned by the fugitive emissions coming out of oil wells near their homes and schools were denied the opportunity to express their support for AB345 during yesterday's hearing is just another example of the environmental racism that they have endured, being unheard," said Nayamin Martinez, Director of CCEJN and a member of the VISION coalition.

Reina Robinson (2020-08-10). BREAKING: Reina Robinson Launches Campaign for Vallejo City Unified School District Truste. indybay.org Reina Robinson announced her candidacy for the Vallejo City Unified School District's newly created Trustee Area 2 today, along with a major community endorsement from Vallejo Girls Youth Empowerment Group. Her candidacy for VCUSD Trustee Area 2 comes nearly two years after the City of Vallejo was found to be in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

Staff (2020-08-10). When Things Feel Dire, Remember Real Change Begins at the Grassroots Level. truthout.org Right now feels like a challenging time to be an American fighting for equality, fighting for justice. We have COVID-19, an economic crisis, and the violence against Black Americans and anti-Blackness in the foreground. But we also have people across the nation rising up to say, in the words of Ella Baker, "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." | This is our moment to make sure we do what we can, where we are, with what we have. | We don't have to do it all. There's a saying that goes, "many h…

yenisafak (2020-08-10). Israel says ready for war with Lebanon: Gantz. yenisafak.com Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Monday Israel is ready for a war with Lebanon if such war is imposed on Tel Aviv. | In his briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz warned that such war would have serious consequences on Lebanon. | "While [Hezbollah leader Hasan] Nasrallah is our biggest enemy in the north, he is Lebanon's biggest problem." He said. | Gantz also said that the situation in the Middle East in the past decade was fragile and uncertain, stressing that Israel will continue efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear power, and from operati…

Institute for Middle East Understanding (2020-08-09). Israeli Crimes Against Humanity: Remembering the Sabra and Shatila Massacre. globalresearch.ca First published on September 17, 2012 | The Gaza massacre is part of longstanding process of Israeli crimes against humanity. This article describes one of the worst atrocities in modern Middle Eastern history committed against the people of Palestine. This article …

Yanis Iqbal (2020-08-09). The Attack on Indigenous Rights in Brazil. globalresearch.ca On 5 August, 2020, the Brazilian Supreme Court

Staff (2020-08-09). What Is the US-Mexico Border to Indigenous Peoples Who Have Lived There? truthout.org For Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the U.S.-Mexico border is increasingly a symbol and tool of genocide. When this border was created, Indigenous peoples of the region were divided, including the Yaqui, O'odham, Cocopah, Kumeyaay, Pai, Apache, and Kickapoo. These peoples are represented by 26 sovereign tribal nations in the United States with tribal relatives residing in Mexico. Indigenous peoples tend to understand and talk about the U.S.-Mexico border in different terms from those who under…

reenvia Red Latina sin fronteras (2020-08-09). E$paña: No somos esclavos! indybay.org E$paña: °No somos esclavos! -reclamo antirracista de trabajadorxs agrícolas inmigrantes- | "A los negros aquí nos tratan como mierda"

Gordon Duff (2020-08-09). As Israel's Regime Change War on Hezbollah ramps up, This Devastating Image Haunts. thealtworld.com I'm not an expert on explosives but damn, that looks like a nuke going off. That mushroom cloud…. Infrared, coloriz…

RT (2020-08-09). Israeli parliament to vote on bill that could end Netanyahu's political career. rt.com Israel's parliament will vote on a bill that would ban an indicted prime minister from forming a government. If passed, the law could put an end to the political career of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is charged with fraud and bribery. | "We are submitting the bill that would prevent an indicted person from running for Prime Minister because the current situation can't continue," Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition Yesh Atid-Telem coalition, said. | In November, Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009, was indicted with fraud, bribery and breach of public trust after he was accused of accepting lavish gift…

The Canary (2020-08-09). BBC finally apologises over use of racist term in news report. thecanary.co BBC director-general Tony Hall has apologised for a news report which contained a racist term.More than 18,000 people complained to the BBC over the broadcast, which saw social affairs correspondent Fiona Lamdin repeat a racial slur allegedly used in a suspected racially-motivated attack in Bristol.After the broadcaster initially defended the report, Hall said in a statement that the BBC "now accepts that we should have taken a different approach at the time of broadcast and we are very sorry for that".Lord Hall said the corporation is 'very sorry' (Ben Stansall/PA)He said the report had caused "distress" to many…

_____ (2020-08-09). Federal Judge Calls On Supreme Court To Overturn 'Qualified Immunity'. popularresistance.org Handing down a ruling to dismiss a civil lawsuit which alleged a police officer violated a Black man's Fourth Amendment rights during a traffic stop in 2013, a federal judge in Mississippi made clear that he sided with the plaintiff—and demanded the U.S. Supreme Court overturn legal precedent that makes it nearly impossible for the judicial system to hold officers accountable for rights violations. | Calling for an end to qualified immunity, which dates back to a 1982 ruling and shields police from civil liability in most cases, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves turned his ruling into a plea for just…

Pan Africanism Today Secretariat (2020-08-09). The lessons of South Africa's 1956 Women's March resonate to this day. peoplesdispatch.org On August 9, 1956, nearly 20,000 women marched in South Africa against apartheid-era Pass Laws. The struggles they waged and the demands they raised are especially relevant today…

Israel Shahak (2020-08-09). "Greater Israel": The Zionist Plan for the Middle East. globalresearch.ca When viewed in the current context, the war on Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing wars on Syria and Iraq, the war on Yemen, must be understood in relation to the Zionist Plan for the Middle East…

Shane Quinn (2020-08-09). The Rapid Postwar Increase of America's Nuclear Arsenal. globalresearch.ca Hitler had, as early as June 1942, decided against the development of an atomic bomb — on both racial and pragmatic grounds. By the summer of 1944, Allied intelligence accounts were flowing in that a Nazi atomic bomb was non-existent.

Prabir Purkayastha (2020-08-09). Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the threat of nuclear extinction. peoplesdispatch.org It is difficult to believe that the US view of the justness of its possession of nuclear power, while threatening others, is not underpinned by the belief of many in white supremacy…

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-09). West wants to avoid strategic coop. between Iran, East. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 09 (MNA) — In a tweet on Sunday, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani wrote that the west is in favor of avoiding Iran from developing ties with the eastern countries.

Autonomous Anti-Fascists in Marin (2020-08-09). Friday 8/14: F*ck Trump: Anti-Fascist Counter Protest. indybay.org DeLong Avenue Overpass in Novato.

_____ (2020-08-09). National Uprising Exposes Divisions In The Ruling Class… popularresistance.org For weeks on end, the George Floyd protests against racism and police violence shook America. Support for the movement overflowed all demographic boundaries as an estimated 10% of all American adults—some 25 million people—participated in at least one protest. However, although mass gatherings have continued unabated in some cities, in most of the country the torrential river has inevitably receded into its banks as it was deprived of a revolutionary outlet—for now. | The revived BLM movement has been a treasure trove of practical experience for the millions who drove it forward.

RT (2020-08-08). Portland protesters attack another police HQ, throw rocks and fireworks at officers (VIDEOS). rt.com Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland fired rocks and fireworks at police on the 71st night of demonstrations in the city, with some even wearing body armor and shields as they clashed with officers. | On Friday night, demonstrators made their way to the Penumbra Kelly Building in Portland, a headquarters shared by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Portland Police Bureau. | Portland Police said in a statement on Saturday that they warned the crowd several times that arrests would be made for trespassing, but not all protesters cooperated. Some eventually took to launching rocks and fireworks at the…

RT (2020-08-08). 'Why not a diverse Latino?' Maxine Waters claims Biden 'can't go home without black woman VP,' gets mocked for 'racism'. rt.com Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters was roasted online after saying 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden has no other choice but to pick a black woman as his running mate, suggesting he owed a debt to African American voters. | "We know that we're going to have a black woman as vice president," Waters said in an Let me guarantee you this, based on everything…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-08). The Likud Conspiracy: Israel in the Throes of a Major Political Crisis. dissidentvoice.org Protests against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have raged on for weeks, turning violent sometimes. Israelis are furious at their government's mediocre response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially as COVID-19 disease is experiencing a massive surge throughout the country. Netanyahu warned protesters, thousands of whom have been rallying outside his residence in Jerusalem, against "anarchy …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams (2020-08-08). Supreme Court Rules Jail Does Not Have to Provide Basic Protections to Inmates. indybay.org Even as prisons across the US report a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Supreme Court ruled on August 5th that prisons do not have to provide basic protections to inmates.

_____ (2020-08-08). Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Under House Arrest. popularresistance.org The Colombian Supreme Court of Justice has ordered the preventive home detention of Senator and former President Alvaro Uribe for the crimes of procedural fraud and bribery. The Latin American right-wing leader became the first former president to receive this type of arrest order, suspected of trying to manipulate the statement of a defendant who linked him to the creation of paramilitary groups. "The deprivation of my freedom causes me deep sadness for my wife, for my family and for the Colombians who still believe that I have done something good for the country," lamented Uribe…

Paul Von Blum (2020-08-08). Street Artists Rise to the Occasion. progressive.org In the midst of international protests against racist violence, artists are using their skills to send a clear message: Black lives matter.

_____ (2020-08-08). Utah Protesters Face Charges With Potential Life Sentence. popularresistance.org Salt Lake City, UT – Some Black Lives Matter protesters in Salt Lake City could face up to life in prison if they're convicted of splashing red paint and smashing windows during a protest, a potential punishment that stands out among demonstrators arrested around the country and one that critics say doesn't fit the alleged crime. | The felony criminal mischief charges are more serious because they carry a gang enhancement. Prosecutors said Wednesday that's justified because the protesters worked together to cause thousands of dollars in damage, but watchdogs called the use of the 1990s-era law troubling, especial…

sputniknews (2020-08-08). Police Say 5,000 People Rally Near Netanyahu Residence, Media Report About 15,000. sputniknews.com TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – About 5,000 people gathered in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Saturday evening as anti-government protests in Israel entered the fifth consecutive weekend, police told Sputnik.

Staff (2020-08-08). Abolishing Police Is a Step Toward Ending White Supremacy and Capitalism. truthout.org Something has come unstuck. The common sense about policing has abruptly changed. | This shift was a long time coming: Prison abolitionists — a movement of scholars and activists, notably spearheaded by Black women such as Angela Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore — have spent decades organizing toward a goal of abolishing the prison system. The Black Lives Matter movement and a new generation of Black-led organizing have kindled a new moment in which a world without police feels truly pos…

Various Contributors (2020-08-08). Poor People's Campaign, Black civic groups condemn McConnell's obstructionism. zcomm.org On the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival and Black civic organizations representing millions of people worldwide announced a covenant to resurrect the protections of the Voting Rights Act…

Staff (2020-08-07). "The World's Most Dangerous Man": Mary Trump on Her Uncle, President Trump, & Why He Must Be Ousted. democracynow.org "In my family, being kind was considered being weak," says Mary Trump, President Trump's niece, a clinical psychologist and author of "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man." We spend the hour with Mary Trump, discussing her book the president doesn't want people to read, in which she describes his upbringing in a dysfunctional family that fostered his greed, cruelty and racist and sexist behaviors — which he is now inflicting on the world. Mary Trump also discusses the president's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, his long history of lies and misrepresentati…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-07). Apartheid or One State: Has Jordan Broken a Political Taboo? counterpunch.org What will it take for the idea of a two-state solution, which was hardly practical to begin with, to be completely abandoned? Every realistic assessment of the situation on the ground indicates, with palpable clarity, that there can never be a viable Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Politically, the idea

Miko Peled (2020-08-07). Susan Abulhawa Embodies the Spirit of Palestinian Resistance in Her New Book: Against the Loveless World. mintpressnews.com Writer and political activist Susan Abulhawa weaves a daring tale of a Palestinian woman's defiant experience in solitary confinement at an Israeli prison.

RT (2020-08-07). Israel shot down drone on Golan Heights overnight — military. rt.com Israel's military said on Friday it had shot down a drone overnight that crossed into Israeli airspace near Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. The strategic plateau is at the frontier with Syria. | The army said the incident was not connected to the triggering of sirens later in the day by a false alarm regarding a drone infiltration, Reuters reports. | Israel has been on high alert as tensions have escalated with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Earlier in the week Israeli aircraft attacked targets in Syria. | Most of the Golan Heights were captured by Israel from Syria in a war in 1967.

Staff (2020-08-07). DNC Platform Condemns BDS But Not Israel's Occupation of Palestine. truthout.org Due to a series of decisions by the Democratic National Committee's (DNC's) platform committee, progressives are concerned that the Biden-led Democratic Party's foreign policy toward Israel and Palestine will more closely resemble that of Republicans than that of the Democratic rank-and-file. | There has already been much consternation among party activists over

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-08-07). 'Enraging and Inexcusable': Louisiana Supreme Court Rules Black Man Convicted of Garden Tool Theft 20 Years Ago Should Die in Prison. commondreams.org A 62-year-old Black man is expected to spend the rest of his life in Louisiana's largest maximum-security prison after the state Supreme Court denied his request to overturn his life sentence, 23 years after his conviction for attempting to steal a pair of hedge clippers. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-08-07). Prohibited From Holding Police Officer to Account, Federal Judge Calls on Supreme Court to Overturn 'Qualified Immunity'. commondreams.org Handing down a ruling dismissing a civil lawsuit which alleged a police officer violated a Black man's Fourth Amendment rights during a traffic stop in 2013, a federal judge in Mississippi made clear that he sided with the plaintiff—and demanded the U.S. Supreme Court overturn qualified immunity. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Fight Back (2020-08-07). Waupaca, WI: Black Lives Matter protest disrupted by cops, protester violently arrested. fightbacknews.org Waupaca, WI – On the afternoon of August 1, members of United Action Oshkosh (UAO) and supporters of Black Lives Matter from the Fox Valley area gathered with local supporters in the small town of Waupaca for a march. Nearly 30 people plus a small caravan of cars turned out for the rural action. | The Black Lives Matter march was the second in Waupaca for many of those in attendance, including the organizers from UAO. At the first march, the protest was greeted by a resistant police force and a slew of racists in their cars. At one point, one of these cars tried to drive through the back of the small march, nearl…

WSWS (2020-08-07). Violent, secretive fascistic networks operating inside California police stations. wsws.org Alongside rampant brutality, a secretive police culture has emerged featuring tattoos, occult rituals and symbols, codes of silence, and barbecues to celebrate murder.

WSWS (2020-08-07). Fascist death squads preparing to carry out mass murder in Germany. wsws.org Police officers, former military officers and far-right operatives engaged in a vast conspiracy to hoard large quantities of munitions and weaponry, establish safe houses, identify political opponents, and procure the necessary materials to secretly dispose of dead bodies.