Daily Archives: December 18, 2019

2019-12-18: News Headlines

Graham MacPhee (2019-12-18). Brexit Won't Deliver Sovereignty…And Neither Will Far-Right Movements Anywhere. counterpunch.org Graham MacPhee is a professor of English at West Chester University. He writes on British identity, politics, and culture, and is the author most recently of Postwar British Literature and Postcolonial Studies and co-editor of Empire and After: Englishness in Postcolonial Perspective. More

Medea Benjamin (2019-12-17). Five Years After Obama's Cuba Opening, Cubans Are Reeling From the "Trump Effect" dissidentvoice.org CODEPINK Cuba Delegation in Havana December 17, 2019, Havana, Cuba: Gloria Minor had been preparing her AirBnB in Havana for years, investing every penny her sister sent her from Miami in repairing and refurbishing her apartment. With President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro re-establishing relations five years ago, Minor was sure the expected flood of …

Staff (2019-12-17). We Need to Support Every Workers' Struggle, Including the Fight at Google. truthout.org The progressive movement in this country owes thanks to the new generation of workplace organizers, who are carrying our movement forward. Among them are four activists we should recognize and support: Laurence Berland, Rebecca Rivers, Paul Duke and Sophie Waldman, who were fired from Google for organizing their fellow workers. | Workers at Google have been protesting many of the company's actions over the last two years. A year ago, Google's decision to pay a reported $90 million in severance to…

teleSUR (2019-12-17). UK's PM Johnson to Ban Boycott Campaigns in Anti-BDS Bid. telesurenglish.net Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ban the country's public bodies from taking part in the boycott and divestment campaigns of any products coming from foreign countries including Israel. | RELATED: | Trump Redefines Anti-Semitism in Bid Against Critics of Israel | The move is seen as a way to target the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), meaning the new legislation will bar national bodies and universities from endorsing a movement meant to f…

Peoples Dispatch (2019-12-17). Activists demand release of Sahrawi human rights defender. peoplesdispatch.org Human rights defenders and activists in Western Sahara and internationally are demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir, a prominent Sahrawi human rights activist who was arrested and sentenced by Moroccan authorities last month. Lefkir's detention and imprisonment is believed to be politically motivated as she has been politically targeted and physically assaulted by the Moroccan authorities in the past for standing up against its occupation and illegal detention of activists. | According to reports, Lefkir tried to object to the sentencing of fellow activists, Mohammed Lamine S…

The Grayzone (2019-12-17). US Venezuelan embassy protectors denied right to fair trial. thegrayzone.com Four US activists protecting Venezuela's embassy in Washington, DC face prison time after the Trump administration illegally arrested them. And now…

Richard J. Evans (2019-12-17). The Deep Roots of Liberal Democracy's Crisis. thenation.com The Deep Roots of Liberal Democracy's Crisis…

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-17). UK Tories Intend Anti-BDS Legislation. globalresearch.ca Emboldened by a landslide electoral triumph last week, gaining a parliamentary majority, getting no-Brexit/Brexit done and passing anti-BDS legislation are two Boris Johnson-led Tory priorities. | More below on his aim to compromise free expression in Britain. | Efforts to enact anti-boycotting …

Whitney Webb (2019-12-16). Head of UK Israel Lobby Group Announces Gov't Plan To Ban Boycotting Israel. mintpressnews.com After an election dogged by the weaponization of anti-Semitism, the victorious UK conservative party has announced a new legislative push that would prevent the public sector from working with any individual or organization that supports a boycott of Israel's government.

Staff (2019-12-16). Trump's Executive Order on Anti-Semitism Attacks Free Speech, Palestinians, and Jews. therealnews.com Dima Khalidi discusses the legal and civil society ramifications of President Trump's executive order adopting the controversial IHRA working definition on antisemitism, defining Judaism as a race or nationality, which would threaten free speech on US campuses and sow divisions among US Jews, and criminalize the BDS movement.

Staff (2019-12-16). COP25 Was a Failure, But Activists' Collective Organizing at the Talks Was Unprecedented. democracynow.org The COP25 United Nations climate summit ended in failure Sunday, after negotiators failed to agree to a deal that would limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — a key goal of the Paris Agreement. Scores of civil society groups condemned governments in the European Union, Australia, Canada and the U.S. for a deal that requires far less action than needed to avert catastrophic climate change. Indigenous leaders and environmentalists blasted the United Nations for marginalizing civil society groups over two weeks of negotiations at the climate summit, while welcoming polluters.

Staff (2019-12-13). COP25: Developing Countries Charge Ahead with Bold Climate Plans as Rich Countries Drag Their Feet. democracynow.org As this year's United Nations climate summit wraps up in Madrid, Spain, many activists, scientists, indigenous and grassroots climate leaders say that rich countries most responsible for the climate emergency have spent the talks dialing back ambition and blocking progress. This comes as deadly droughts, flooding, cyclones and wildfires rage around the world. This week, more than 70 developing countries have announced they will accelerate their climate plans, and 72 countries have signed onto goals to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But major emitters Australia, China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia have…

Staff (2019-12-12). "We Want People Power Solutions": Activists Ousted from COP25 for Protesting Corporations at Summit. democracynow.org Inside the halls of the U.N. climate summit, hundreds of activists gathered Wednesday to demand rich countries step up their efforts to finance climate action. The protest began just as Democracy Now! was finishing our live broadcast, and we spoke to some of the people there from around the world, including Rita Iyke-Uwaka of Friends of the Earth Nigeria; Angela Valenzuela of Fridays for Future in Santiago, Chile; Sandra Tukup of CONFENIAE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon); Amalen Sathananthar of Artivist Network; Brandon Wu of ActionAid USA; and Nina Gualinga, an indigenous lea…

Fight Back (2019-12-10). Milwaukee: People's Climate Coalition marches on Wells Fargo, Chase Bank. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI — Several hundred people gathered on the morning of December 6 in downtown Milwaukee at Zeidler Park to demand that the big banks like Wells Fargo, Chase and other corporations divest from the fossil fuel industry. | Several classrooms worth of children from local public schools attended the event in support of a safe and livable planet for their futures. The People's Climate Coalition, consisting of local climate justice groups, put out the call and organized the event. | All representatives from the coalition and its allies were given an opportunity to speak. Each highlighted in different wa…

Staff (2019-12-10). Amazonian Forest Protectors Rally Outside COP25 Amid Death of Two Indigenous Chiefs. democracynow.org On Monday, indigenous activists from the Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon rallied outside the COP25 venue to protest the targeting of indigenous forest protectors and the destruction of their lands, known as the "lungs of the Earth." Their protest came just days after two indigenous chiefs, Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara, were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.

Staff (2019-12-10). "Listen to Mother Earth": Indigenous Youth Leaders at COP25 in Madrid Protest Fossil Fuel Extraction. democracynow.org "Our movements must be bigger than recycling and braver than holding signs," said Rose Whipple, a member of the Santee Dakota and Ho-Chunk, and youth delegate with SustainUS, who joined a panel of youth climate activists at the United Nations climate summit in Madrid, Spain. Indigenous peoples from Canada and the United States are at the summit, speaking out against extraction, new pipeline projects and the environmental devastation of their territories, and calling for movements to center the rights of indigenous peoples.

Fight Back (2019-12-09). Arizona educators, progressives confront ALEC summit and Betsy DeVos. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – On December 4, a coalition of union educators, immigrant rights, police crimes, and climate change activists confronted the agenda of corporations like UPS and energy industry giants and billionaires like Charles Koch and Sheldon Achelson. At its height the crowd numbered around 200 with signs reading: "ALEC: Oligarchy in progress" and "Privatization, criminalization, incarceration, climate change, imperialism: #ALECisBehindIt." | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a notorious organization of hardcore conservatives, was holding its States and Nation Policy Summit in Arizona. ALEC hoste…

Susan Price (2019-12-06). Scores of Papua activists across Indonesia await trial for treason. greenleft.org.au self-determination James BalowskiIssue 1248 Indonesia West Papua Indonesian occupation of West PapuaDecember 7, 2019Surya Anta Ginting, the national spokesperson for the pro-…

Hatewatch Staff and Rachel Janik (2019-12-06). Trump Officials Address Event Featuring Anti-LGBTQ Activists. splcenter.org A conference ostensibly meant to showcase "family policy" reveals how anti-LGBTQ groups have embraced strong-family rhetoric to push their agenda of intolerance.

David Bacon (2019-12-04). Twenty Years After Seattle's WTO Protests. progressive.org On November 30, 1999, thousands of activists flooded downtown Seattle, protesting the global economic order and forging a new understanding of the world, a vision very much in play today.

Kathy Kelly (2019-12-02). Trident is the Crime. zcomm.org The U.S. nuclear weapon arsenal creates anguish, fear and futility worldwide. Yet "holy ground" exists as activists work toward abolition of nuclear weapons…

Moon Of Alabama (2019-11-19). There Are Riots In Iran And The Usual Suspect Are On It. thelastamericanvagabond.com There are a few riots in Iran and Amnesty International is on it: Amnesty International @amnesty — 15: 50 UTC ∑ Nov 19, 2019 At least 106 protesters in 21 cities have been killed in #Iran, according to reports we have received. Verified video footage, eyewitness testimony & information gathered from activists outside Iran reveal a harrowing …

Hatewatch Staff (2019-11-13). Evangelical Franklin Graham Addresses Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group's Event. splcenter.org Influential evangelical leader Franklin Graham has continued his anti-LGBTQ associations by speaking to a hate group that brands "trans" activists as guilty of harming children.

Ricardo Vaz (2019-11-01). Venezuelan Leftist Parties and Unions Stage Protest, Demand Gov't Answers. venezuelanalysis.com Dozens of activists demanded better wages and respect for collective bargaining rights.

2019-12-18: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

Brexit Won't Deliver Sovereignty…And Neither Will Far-Right Movements Anywhere
Graham MacPhee | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Graham MacPhee is a professor of English at West Chester University. He writes on British identity, politics, and culture, and is the author most recently of Postwar British Literature and Postcolonial Studies and co-editor of Empire and After: Englishness in Postcolonial Perspective.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/brexit-wont-…

UK's PM Johnson to Ban Boycott Campaigns in Anti-BDS Bid
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-17
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ban the country's public bodies from taking part in the boycott and divestment campaigns of any products coming from foreign countries including Israel. | RELATED: | Trump Redefines Anti-Semitism in Bid Against Critics of Israel | The move is seen as a way to target the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), meaning the new legislation will bar national bodies and universities from endorsing a movement meant to f…
telesurenglish.net/news/UKs-PM-Johnson-t…

We Need to Support Every Workers' Struggle, Including the Fight at Google
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-17
The progressive movement in this country owes thanks to the new generation of workplace organizers, who are carrying our movement forward. Among them are four activists we should recognize and support: Laurence Berland, Rebecca Rivers, Paul Duke and Sophie Waldman, who were fired from Google for organizing their fellow workers. | Workers at Google have been protesting many of the company's actions over the last two years. A year ago, Google's decision to pay a reported $90 million in severance to…
truthout.org/articles/we-need-to-support…

Five Years After Obama's Cuba Opening, Cubans Are Reeling From the "Trump Effect"
Medea Benjamin | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-17
CODEPINK Cuba Delegation in Havana December 17, 2019, Havana, Cuba: Gloria Minor had been preparing her AirBnB in Havana for years, investing every penny her sister sent her from Miami in repairing and refurbishing her apartment. With President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro re-establishing relations five years ago, Minor was sure the expected flood of …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/five-years-af…

US Venezuelan embassy protectors denied right to fair trial
The Grayzone | thegrayzone.com | 2019-12-17
Four US activists protecting Venezuela's embassy in Washington, DC face prison time after the Trump administration illegally arrested them. And now…
thegrayzone.com/2019/12/16/venezuelan-em…

Activists demand release of Sahrawi human rights defender
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-17
Human rights defenders and activists in Western Sahara and internationally are demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Mahfouda Bamba Lefkir, a prominent Sahrawi human rights activist who was arrested and sentenced by Moroccan authorities last month. Lefkir's detention and imprisonment is believed to be politically motivated as she has been politically targeted and physically assaulted by the Moroccan authorities in the past for standing up against its occupation and illegal detention of activists. | According to reports, Lefkir tried to object to the sentencing of fellow activists, Mohammed Lamine S…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/17/activists…

The Deep Roots of Liberal Democracy's Crisis
Richard J. Evans | thenation.com | 2019-12-17
The Deep Roots of Liberal Democracy's Crisis…
thenation.com/article/empire-democracy-s…

UK Tories Intend Anti-BDS Legislation
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
Emboldened by a landslide electoral triumph last week, gaining a parliamentary majority, getting no-Brexit/Brexit done and passing anti-BDS legislation are two Boris Johnson-led Tory priorities. | More below on his aim to compromise free expression in Britain. | Efforts to enact anti-boycotting …
globalresearch.ca/uk-tories-intend-anti-bds-legislation/5698031

Head of UK Israel Lobby Group Announces Gov't Plan To Ban Boycotting Israel
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-16
After an election dogged by the weaponization of anti-Semitism, the victorious UK conservative party has announced a new legislative push that would prevent the public sector from working with any individual or organization that supports a boycott of Israel's government.
mintpressnews.com/uk-conservative-ban-bo…

Trump's Executive Order on Anti-Semitism Attacks Free Speech, Palestinians, and Jews
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-16
Dima Khalidi discusses the legal and civil society ramifications of President Trump's executive order adopting the controversial IHRA working definition on antisemitism, defining Judaism as a race or nationality, which would threaten free speech on US campuses and sow divisions among US Jews, and criminalize the BDS movement.
therealnews.com/stories/trumps-executive…

COP25 Was a Failure, But Activists' Collective Organizing at the Talks Was Unprecedented
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-16
The COP25 United Nations climate summit ended in failure Sunday, after negotiators failed to agree to a deal that would limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — a key goal of the Paris Agreement. Scores of civil society groups condemned governments in the European Union, Australia, Canada and the U.S. for a deal that requires far less action than needed to avert catastrophic climate change. Indigenous leaders and environmentalists blasted the United Nations for marginalizing civil society groups over two weeks of negotiations at the climate summit, while welcoming polluters.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/16/cop25_fa…

COP25: Developing Countries Charge Ahead with Bold Climate Plans as Rich Countries Drag Their Feet
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-13
As this year's United Nations climate summit wraps up in Madrid, Spain, many activists, scientists, indigenous and grassroots climate leaders say that rich countries most responsible for the climate emergency have spent the talks dialing back ambition and blocking progress. This comes as deadly droughts, flooding, cyclones and wildfires rage around the world. This week, more than 70 developing countries have announced they will accelerate their climate plans, and 72 countries have signed onto goals to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. But major emitters Australia, China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia have…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/13/cop25_de…

"We Want People Power Solutions": Activists Ousted from COP25 for Protesting Corporations at Summit
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-12
Inside the halls of the U.N. climate summit, hundreds of activists gathered Wednesday to demand rich countries step up their efforts to finance climate action. The protest began just as Democracy Now! was finishing our live broadcast, and we spoke to some of the people there from around the world, including Rita Iyke-Uwaka of Friends of the Earth Nigeria; Angela Valenzuela of Fridays for Future in Santiago, Chile; Sandra Tukup of CONFENIAE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon); Amalen Sathananthar of Artivist Network; Brandon Wu of ActionAid USA; and Nina Gualinga, an indigenous lea…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/12/cop25_pr…

Milwaukee: People's Climate Coalition marches on Wells Fargo, Chase Bank
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-10
Milwaukee, WI — Several hundred people gathered on the morning of December 6 in downtown Milwaukee at Zeidler Park to demand that the big banks like Wells Fargo, Chase and other corporations divest from the fossil fuel industry. | Several classrooms worth of children from local public schools attended the event in support of a safe and livable planet for their futures. The People's Climate Coalition, consisting of local climate justice groups, put out the call and organized the event. | All representatives from the coalition and its allies were given an opportunity to speak. Each highlighted in different wa…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/9/milwauke…

"Listen to Mother Earth": Indigenous Youth Leaders at COP25 in Madrid Protest Fossil Fuel Extraction
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-10
"Our movements must be bigger than recycling and braver than holding signs," said Rose Whipple, a member of the Santee Dakota and Ho-Chunk, and youth delegate with SustainUS, who joined a panel of youth climate activists at the United Nations climate summit in Madrid, Spain. Indigenous peoples from Canada and the United States are at the summit, speaking out against extraction, new pipeline projects and the environmental devastation of their territories, and calling for movements to center the rights of indigenous peoples.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/10/listen_t…

Amazonian Forest Protectors Rally Outside COP25 Amid Death of Two Indigenous Chiefs
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-10
On Monday, indigenous activists from the Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon rallied outside the COP25 venue to protest the targeting of indigenous forest protectors and the destruction of their lands, known as the "lungs of the Earth." Their protest came just days after two indigenous chiefs, Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara, were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/10/indigeno…

Arizona educators, progressives confront ALEC summit and Betsy DeVos
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-09
Tucson, AZ – On December 4, a coalition of union educators, immigrant rights, police crimes, and climate change activists confronted the agenda of corporations like UPS and energy industry giants and billionaires like Charles Koch and Sheldon Achelson. At its height the crowd numbered around 200 with signs reading: "ALEC: Oligarchy in progress" and "Privatization, criminalization, incarceration, climate change, imperialism: #ALECisBehindIt." | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a notorious organization of hardcore conservatives, was holding its States and Nation Policy Summit in Arizona. ALEC hoste…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/8/arizona-…

Scores of Papua activists across Indonesia await trial for treason
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2019-12-06
self-determination James BalowskiIssue 1248 Indonesia West Papua Indonesian occupation of West PapuaDecember 7, 2019Surya Anta Ginting, the national spokesperson for the pro-…
greenleft.org.au/content/scores-papua-activists-across-indonesia-await-trial-treason

Trump Officials Address Event Featuring Anti-LGBTQ Activists
Hatewatch Staff and Rachel Janik | splcenter.org | 2019-12-06
A conference ostensibly meant to showcase "family policy" reveals how anti-LGBTQ groups have embraced strong-family rhetoric to push their agenda of intolerance.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/12/06/trump…

Twenty Years After Seattle's WTO Protests
David Bacon | progressive.org | 2019-12-04
On November 30, 1999, thousands of activists flooded downtown Seattle, protesting the global economic order and forging a new understanding of the world, a vision very much in play today.
progressive.org/dispatches/twenty-years-…

Trident is the Crime
Kathy Kelly | zcomm.org | 2019-12-02
The U.S. nuclear weapon arsenal creates anguish, fear and futility worldwide. Yet "holy ground" exists as activists work toward abolition of nuclear weapons…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/trident-is-the-crime…

There Are Riots In Iran And The Usual Suspect Are On It
Moon Of Alabama | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-19
There are a few riots in Iran and Amnesty International is on it: Amnesty International @amnesty — 15: 50 UTC ∑ Nov 19, 2019 At least 106 protesters in 21 cities have been killed in #Iran, according to reports we have received. Verified video footage, eyewitness testimony & information gathered from activists outside Iran reveal a harrowing …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/conspiracy/t…