Daily Archives: November 23, 2020

2020-11-23: News Headlines

Ralph Nader (2020-11-23). Trump's Massive, Lawless, and Immoral Legacy to Our Country Will Continue Unless … counterpunch.org Trump has gotten away with almost everything throughout his bankruptcy-driven business career and his corrupt, cruel, and costly political years in the White House. Things changed on November 3, when he was retired by the voters.

MEE and agencies (2020-11-23). Israel invites Lebanese president for direct talks over maritime dispute. middleeasteye.net Israel invites Lebanese president for direct talks over maritime dispute | No indication on whether Michel Aoun intended to respond to the invitation by Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz | Mon, 11/23/2020 – 11: 51 | President Michel Aoun delivering a televised address on the eve of the country's 77th independence day, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital (AFP) | I…

Jayati Ghosh (2020-11-23). Discrimination and bias in economics, and emerging responses. mronline.org Recently, mainstream economics has been forced to acknowledge some of the explicit and implicit forms of discrimination and bias that are rampant in the discipline, thanks in particular to some brave interventions by some women economists.

MEE staff (2020-11-23). Israel's Netanyahu made secret trip to Saudi Arabia to meet crown prince, say reports. middleeasteye.net Israel's Netanyahu made secret trip to Saudi Arabia to meet crown prince, say reports | Saudi foreign minister denies meeting or any visit by Israeli officials, despite anonymous confirmations to US media | Mon, 11/23/2020 – 07: 37 | US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, L, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to make a joint statement after meeting in Jerusalem on 19 November 2020 (AFP) | Israeli…

_____ (2020-11-23). The Art of Political Lying. strategic-culture.org With idle tales this fills our empty ears; | The next reports what from the first he hears; | The rolling fictions grow in strength and size, | Each author adding to the former lies. | Here vain credulity, with new desires, | Leads us astray, and groundless joy inspires; | The dubious whispers, tumults fresh designed, | And chilling fears astound the anxious mind. | -Ovid's Metamorphosis | While the foundations of the USA tremble under the force of unprecedented vote fraud, color revolutionary operations, and the danger of a renewed fascist takeover of the Wall Street-Big Tech-NSA/FBI/CIA combine, certain…

Paul Street (2020-11-23). A Man-Child in A Promised Land. counterpunch.org The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg recently conducted a long and obsequious interview with Barack Obama. The interview was occasioned by the apparent defeat of Obama's fascist successor Donald Trump and by the recent release of the first volume of Obama's much-awaited presidential memoir A Promised Land — Obama's third book about Obama, soon to be

commondreams (2020-11-23). To Protect Wild Steelhead, Salmon, Orcas, Environmental Groups Appeal Approval of Puget Sound Commercial Net Pen Aquaculture To Washington's Supreme Court. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Amnesty International (2020-11-23). State Department's attack on the BDS Movement Violates Freedom of Expression and Endangers Human Rights Protection. globalresearch.ca Responding to the United States Department of State announcement designating the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as antisemitic and planning to identify organizations supporting BDS with a view to reviewing and halting their funding, Bob Goodfellow, the Interim …

Richard Falk (2020-11-23). A Comic Display of Geopolitical Subservience: Mike Pompeo's Visit to Israel. globalresearch.ca Prefatory Note: Posted below is a greatly modified interview on the entirely inappropriate and distasteful visit of the U.S. Secretary of State to Israel for three days. It was distasteful and regressive to a degree that defied normal levels of …

Staff (2020-11-23). Reports of Meeting Between Netanyahu, Pompeo, bin Salman Spark Fear of Iran War. truthout.org The alarming possibility of a military attack on Iran — a nation that has long been in the sights of war hawks in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel — was immediately invoked by foreign policy analysts Monday following

Ariel Natan Pasko (2020-11-23). Pollard for President of Israel. indybay.org Pollard for President of Israel, Give Him Justice…

WSWS (2020-11-23). This week in history: November 23-29. wsws.org On November 29, 1945, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed following the successful repulsion of Nazi Germany's attempt to subjugate the country, and Germany's defeat in World War II in May. The establishment of the republic involved the deposing of King Peter II and the end of the Karađorđević dynasty that he headed. It was the outcome of a mass partisan struggle against fascism.

Ruth Conniff (2020-11-23). Middle America: A Bridge to a New Era. progressive.org Finally, we've made it to the other side—to a vision of America that includes powerful women and people of color, that looks to the future instead of wallowing in our racist past.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-23). Gantz, Ashkenazi not-informed of Netanyahu visit to S. Arabia. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 23 (MNA) — Netanyahu informed neither Gantz nor Ashkenazi of his secret visit to Saudi Arabia.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-23). Following air strikes, Iran warns Israel against violating Syria's sovereignty. peoplesdispatch.org Israel carried out airstrikes inside Syria on November 18 and again on November 21. At least three Syrian soldiers and close to 15 militiamen were killed in the airstrikes…

_____ (2020-11-23). As Racism Plagues Health Care, Unions Offer A Treatment. popularresistance.org Like many nursing homes across the country, the Genesis HealthCare center in Greenville, Rhode Island, primarily houses white residents and employs people of color. Adelina Ramos, who's Cape Verdean, works at the center as a certified nursing assistant and faces a number of challenges common to the caregiving profession. Each day, she cares for 11 dementia patients on her own, with that number sometimes rising to 18 if a co-worker can't come in. The job comes with long hours on her feet and the occasional risk of physical harm when dealing with aggressive patients.

Mitchell Plitnick (2020-11-23). Pompeo's Attack on BDS Is an Assault on Free Speech. globalresearch.ca Secretary of State Mike Pompeo broke a long-standing taboo and became the first American secretary of state to visit an Israeli settlement. Then, Pompeo announced that the United States would recognize products made in West Bank settlements as "made in …

Never Forgive, Never Forget (2020-11-23). 57 Years Since 11/22/63 Kennedy Assassination. indybay.org We managed to get rid of the worst president in memory, Nazi Trump, in this year's election, but the nuclear holocaust threat remains. Instructive to all in public speaking and war & peace as a basic issue is Pres. John Kennedy's speech on 6/10/63 at American University, now on Youtube, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZsG4qbw_tY&#038…

Elijah Magnier (2020-11-22). Comment l'Iran peut-il convaincre que le règlement de la question du nucléaire iranien est une priorité? (2). thealtworld.com De nombreux pays du Moyen-Orient estiment que les conflits actuels en Syrie, en Irak, au Yémen, en Palestine et au Liban pourraient être résolus si les USA et l'Iran s'assoyaient à la table des négociations, même si l'Arabie Saoudite et Israà´l préféreraient une guerre contre l'Iran afin de paralyser ses capacités militaires et économiques. | La ´ pression maximale ª exercée par les USA, la plus dure subie par un pays dans le monde, n'a pas réussi à soumettre l'Iran au diktat américain, ni à réduire le programme de missiles de l'Iran, ni à modifier son soutien à ses puissants alliés au Moyen-Orie…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-22). Israeli jets strike Gaza after rocket fire hits factory. middleeasteye.net Israeli jets strike Gaza after rocket fire hits factory | Israel and Hamas trade blame for fire exchanged over Gaza just a week after similar strikes | Sun, 11/22/2020 – 10: 30 | Smoke rises over Gaza buildings after an Israeli air strike on 22 November 2020 (Reuters) | Israel carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning after rockets from the blockaded territory hit an Isra…

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-11-22). The Yemen "Civil War" Arms Bonanza. Mammoth Weapons Sales to UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel. globalresearch.ca "Making billions from arms exports which fuel the conflict while providing a small fraction of that in aid to Yemen is both immoral and incoherent." So

The Canary (2020-11-22). Parties unite to call for Pat Finucane killing public inquiry. thecanary.co Four political parties in the north of Ireland have united to call for a public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane. | Mr Finucane, 39, was murdered by loyalist terrorists in front of his family in 1989 amid claims of collusion with state security forces. | In February last year, the Supreme Court ruled that investigations into the fatal shooting of the solicitor have not been effective and fell short of international human rights standards. | BREAKING: Letter from the four parties to Brandon Lewis calling on the British Government to hold a public inquiry into the killing of human rights l…

MEE staff (2020-11-22). Imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard flying to Israel after US parole ends. middleeasteye.net Imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard flying to Israel after US parole ends | Cold War spy passed on information about American intelligence agencies to Israel | Sun, 11/22/2020 – 09: 30 | Jonathan Pollard spent 30 years in prison for spying for Israel (AFP) | The spy Jonathan Pollard, who was jailed for spying against the United States in the 1980s, has been cleared to fly to Israel, where he will be welcomed by th…

MEE staff (2020-11-22). Outrage at 'normalisation' photo of Egyptian singer with Israeli celebrities in UAE. middleeasteye.net Outrage at 'normalisation' photo of Egyptian singer with Israeli celebrities in UAE | Egypt's Mohammed Ramadan sparks criticism after attendance at event with Israeli public figures in Dubai | Sun, 11/22/2020 – 16: 04 | (L-R) Omer Adam, Mohamed Ramadan and Hamad al-Mazrouie (Twitter) | Egyptian singer and actor Mohamed Ramadan has sparked a social media backlash after his image with two Israeli celebrities in…

RT (2020-11-22). Israel ratifies deal with UAE allowing first visa-free travel to Arab state. rt.com Israel has ratified a visa exemption agreement with the United Arab Emirates — its first such deal with an Arab state — as rapprochement between the former foes continues at a rapid pace. | Israeli ministers unanimously voted to support the treaty during a cabinet meeting on Sunday. | The visa exemption agreement had been signed between the sides in Tel-Aviv in October, when two UAE ministers paid a historic visit to Israel. The government in Abu Dhabi reportedly ratified it earlier this month. | This means that Israeli and UAE citizens will be able travel to each other's countries without applying…

Zack Buck (2020-11-22). While the Supreme Court deliberates on the ACA, Congress and the White House may act. salon.com The Affordable Care Act's third date with the Supreme Court was Nov. 10, and it will be months before a decision…

news.un (2020-11-22). First Person: Four years on, hopes of return still distant for refugee pianist. news.un.org When UN News first interviewed award-winning Palestinian pianist Aeham Ahmad in 2016, he was a recent arrival in Germany, having fled a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. Four years on, he wants to return home, but accepts that his chances are slim.

_____ (2020-11-22). When Fascists Roam The Streets, Staying Home Isn't An Option. popularresistance.org The Million MAGA March in Washington, D.C. on November 14th has become a flashpoint about how the Left should respond to the far-Right in a post-2020 election terrain. Footage distorted to fit a narrative of unprovoked violence against conservatives, Proud Boys employing specific fighting tactics to down as many people as possible; police splitting up crowds, standing with riot shields facing only one way, conveniently absent once the Proud Boys found the antifascists. Much of the conversation, however, has centered on the conflict between showing up or staying in.

sputniknews (2020-11-21). Video: Factory Building in Israel's Ashkelon Damaged After Rocket Launch From Gaza. sputniknews.com Rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip are frequently reported in the area, with the latest incident described by the Israeli military on Sunday, 15 November. According to IDF, two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward central and sourthern Israel.

Susan Jaffe (2020-11-21). [World Report] US Supreme Court poised to keep the Affordable Care Act. thelancet.com A lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act may be floundering after Supreme Court justices questioned why the law should be dismantled. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Matthew J.L. Ehret (2020-11-21). John F. Kennedy and America's Lost Patriotic Heritage. dissidentvoice.org Man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe…. — President Kennedy, 1961 Inaugural Address Where China and Russia are currently leading a new paradigm …

Richard Horton (2020-11-21). [Comment] Offline: Holocaust education—a medical imperative. thelancet.com As school students in England in the 1970s, we were taught the bare facts of the Holocaust. And that is where we left it. A fact of history, a fact certainly to be remembered, yet a fact that seemed very distant from contemporary times. But last week, the Ontario Medical Association, together with Doctors Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, held a webinar to discuss the case for teaching the Holocaust in medical schools. The meeting was led by Dr Frank Sommers, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Yves Engler (2020-11-21). Double Standard Blatant on Israel and China "Foreign Influence" in Canada. dissidentvoice.org Foreign influence in Canada is bad if it comes from China, but not even worth mentioning if it comes from Israel. That seems to be the position of the Globe and Mail. Canada's 'paper of record' is so gripped with anti-Chinese fervor that it is blind to a blatant double standard. Contrasting the Globe and …

WSWS (2020-11-21). Fascist Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse released after posting $2 million bail. wsws.org The bail money was raised by defense attorneys and generously supported by Republican party donors.

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-21). Netanyahu Seeks to Smash the Joint List and Cement Permanent Rule by Israel's Far-Right. dissidentvoice.org Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is only weeks away from the scheduled start of his long-awaited corruption trial — the endgame in a series of investigations that have been looming over him for years. As a result, he has been taking extraordinary measures to save his political skin. One of the most surprising is his …

Seye Abimbola, Madhukar Pai (2020-11-21). [Perspectives] Will global health survive its decolonisation? thelancet.com There are growing calls to decolonise global health. This process is only just beginning. But what would success look like? Will global health survive its decolonisation? This is a question that fills us with imagination. It is a question that makes us reflect on what Martin Luther King Jr saw when he said in 1968, in the last speech he gave before he was killed, that "I've been to the mountaintop…and I've seen the Promised Land." If what he saw was an equal, inclusive, and diverse world without a hint of supremacy, then, that world is still elusive.

Sophia Purdy-Moore (2020-11-21). Protests erupt in Brazil following the brutal killing of a Black man by white security guards. thecanary.co Anti-racism protests have erupted in Brazil following the brutal killing of a Black man by two white security guards outside a Carrefour supermarket in Porto Alegre on 19 November. The Reminiscent of George Floyd's murder: | The incident was caught on

Sarah Hawkes (2020-11-21). [Perspectives] The banality of the patriarchy. thelancet.com When German—American philosopher Hannah Arendt covered the 1961 trial of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann for The New Yorker magazine—her reports led to her book of 1963, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil—she was struck by the concept of banality. Arendt wrote that Eichmann, this bureaucrat who was "medium-sized, slender, middle-aged, with receding hair, ill-fitting teeth, and nearsighted eyes" was responsible for participation in one of the greatest crimes in history. The banality to which Arendt referred, however, was not Eichmann's unexceptional physical appearance, but "an inabi…

Dan Cohen (2020-11-20). How Joe Biden Plans to Make The American Empire Great Again. mintpressnews.com Behind his rhetoric, Joe Biden will seek nothing less than global supremacy, escalating a new and even more dangerous arms race that risks the destruction of humanity, what he calls "decency" and "normalcy."

Stephen Lendman (2020-11-20). Possible US Strike on Iran? globalresearch.ca Since Iran ended a generation of US/UK-installed fascist tyranny in 1979, both wings of US duopoly rule waged dirty war on the country and its people by other means. | They stopped short of attacking Iranian territory militarily. | Will US hardliners …

_____ (2020-11-20). Jewish-Led Groups Condemn Pompeo For Declaring Boycott-Divestment Movement Anti-Semitic. popularresistance.org Jewish peace activists led a wave of stinging rebuke of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday after he declared the peaceful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian human rights "anti-Semitic" while visiting an illegal Israeli settler colony built on stolen West Bank land. | Pompeo became the first top U.S. diplomat to visit an Israeli settlement in the unlawfully occupied West Bank of Palestine as he lunched at a winery in Psagot, located on a hill formerly known as Jabel Tawil until Israeli forces conquered it in 1967.

Shatha Hammad (2020-11-20). Palestinians with disabilities battling PA for vital healthcare. middleeasteye.net Palestinians with disabilities battling PA for vital healthcare | Covid-19 has exposed a deeply flawed health insurance system that lets disabled Palestinians down badly | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 16: 17 | Disability rights activists including Abdelrahman Awwad (C) and Shatha Abu Srour (R) have staged a sit-in for nearly three weeks in Ramallah. The banner reads: "We die of coronavirus and we die of medic…

Vijay Prashad (2020-11-20). It is freedom, only freedom which can quench our thirst. mronline.org In the 1980s, after Mozambique won its independence from Portugal in 1974, the South African apartheid regime and the settler-colonial army of Rhodesia backed an anti-communist faction against the government of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO).

_____ (2020-11-20). The AMA Officially Recognized Racism As A Public-Health Threat. popularresistance.org The American Medical Association has officially defined racism as a public health threat that has created substantial health inequality. | Racism, both systemic and structural, has historically perpetuated health inequality and cut short the lives of many Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in the US and around the world. | Over the last year, a number of county and state authorities have also labelled racism a public health threat. | Among them are county councils in San Bernardino, California, and Montgomery, Maryland, as well as authorities in Michigan, Nevada, Cleveland, Denver, and Indianapolis.

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-20). "I Am Greta" isn't About Climate Change. It's About the Elusiveness of Sanity in an Insane World. counterpunch.org Erich Fromm, the renowned German-Jewish social psychologist who was forced to flee his homeland in the early 1930s as the Nazis came to power, offered a disturbing insight later in life on the relationship between society and the individual. In the mid-1950s, his book The Sane Society suggested that insanity referred not simply to the

Patricia Gorky (2020-11-20). Georgia emerges as central target of far right mobilization. liberationnews.org Tensions in Georgia, a state playing a key role in the outcome of the 2020 election, are rising. Far right groups continue to mobilize around the unfounded claims of widespread election fraud in the state.

Raul Diego (2020-11-20). Predictive Programming? Israeli Publishers Have Been Writing About a COVID-Like Pandemic for Years. mintpressnews.com The general public's willing acceptance of the draconian restrictions placed on mobility and freedom of assembly due to the coronavirus was "predicted" in fictional novels and other artistic creations over the last few decades. Is it a matter of life imitating art or something more sinister?

Dennis Broe (2020-11-20). 'Lovecraft Country': Liberating 1950s apartheid America one monster at a time. peoplesworld.org It's now a done deal with the series already out in its entirety, but the best pilot and one of the best shows of the year is HBO's Lovecraft Country. The series is a second stunner by showrunner Misha Green after the too quickly aborted success of Underground, about the underground railroad. Lovecraft Country refashions …

commondreams (2020-11-20). Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump Must Proceed, Defendants Need to Be Held Accountable. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Refuse Fascism Bay Area (2020-11-20). Saturday 11/21: Trump: You're Fired. Now Get the Hell OUT! indybay.org Castro & Market, San Francisco…