2020-02-13: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-14). Anti-BDS laws are meant to censor & control speech, journalist Abby Martin tells RT after suing Georgia govt over cancelled talk. rt.com Barred from speaking at a public university over her refusal to sign a pledge of allegiance to Israel, journalist Abby Martin is now suing the state of Georgia, arguing its anti-BDS legislation sets fire to the First Amendment. | Slated to give a keynote talk at a media literacy conference at Georgia Southern University later this month, Martin was asked to sign what amounts to a loyalty oath to the State of Israel, mandated under a 2016 Georgia law barring the government from hiring contractors who boycott Israeli products or associate with the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Martin t…

RT (2020-02-13). Legendary Soviet spy who saved Krakow from Nazi-made flood dies days after turning 103. rt.com A Soviet spy credited with saving the Polish city of Krakow from devastation has died in Moscow. His biography reads like a thriller novel, from battling Nazi invaders in Poland to training elite commandos in the 1980s. | Over his long life, Aleksey Botyan was many things. He was born in 1917, just as the Russian Empire was collapsing and shattering into pieces. His family lived in the territory that became part of Poland in the 1920s. | Fighting since day one: | He might have lived as a village schoolteacher — his first choice of career — but in 1939 he was conscripted into the Polish Army j…

RT (2020-02-13). Pakistani court suspends corporal punishment for children 'in good faith for their benefit'. rt.com –ê court in Pakistan has suspended until further notice a penal code article that activists say allowed teachers to physically punish students. | On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court suspended Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Court, which deals with the power parents, teachers, and legal guardians have over children. The section in question says that "Nothing which is done in good faith for the benefit of a person under twelve years of age… is an offence by reason of any harm which it may cause." | The decision came as the result of a petition by famous pop singer and human rights campaigner She…

Medea Benjamin (2020-02-13). Can the World's Second Superpower Rise From the Ashes of Twenty Years of War. mintpressnews.com While our government's war propaganda has convinced many Americans that we are powerless to stop its catastrophic wars, it has failed to convince most Americans that we are wrong to want to.

Michael Albert (2020-02-13). Disagreement and Vituperation. zcomm.org [This is a transcript of Episode 58 of the Podcast titled RevolutionZ.] Recently nine long-time progressive/revolutionary activists — myself, Noam Chomsky, Kathy Kelly, Ron Daniels, Leslie Cagan, Norman Solomon, Cynthia Peters, Bill Fletcher, and Barbara Ehrenreich — co-signed an open letter to the Green Party about campaign strategy in swing states. The letter had two

Chuck Collins (2020-02-13). Taxing Wealth Emperors in the Empire State. zcomm.org The Strong For All coalition is pressing for "budget justice," a package of higher taxes on the very rich rather than austerity budget cuts and new levies that hit the non-wealthy…

Staff (2020-02-13). Sanders and AOC's Fracking Ban Angers Centrists and Their Fossil Fuel Backers. truthout.org House Democrats have finally unveiled a flurry of climate bills aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but activists say only one proposal represents the "gold standard" for tackling the climate crisis: Legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that would ban fracking nationwide. While none of these bills are likely to become law under President Trump, together they form the contours of a fierce debate among Democrats and environmentalists over the f…

BDS South Africa (2020-02-12). South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Slams Donald Trump's Israel Plan as Apartheid. globalresearch.ca The National Coalition for Palestine (NC4P), Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) and BDS South Africa welcome the speech delivered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa. | Addressing the AU, as the newly elected …

Staff (2020-02-12). Concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Hits Record High. truthout.org The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit a record high Monday, according to a reading from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that elicited fresh calls from climate activists and scientists for the international community to end planet-heating emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation. | According to NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory, an atmospheric baseline station in Hawaii, the

RT (2020-02-11). Jussie Smollett indicted in Chicago on multiple counts in relation to 2019 hoax attack. rt.com Actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted on several counts, stemming from him falsely claiming to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. He was previously charged over the hoax, only to see the charges dropped. | The charges against the former 'Empire' star were filed by special prosecutor Dan Webb and confirmed by the Cook County Clerk's Office on Tuesday. Smollett was indicted on six counts, including disorderly conduct, all related to lying to law enforcement or filing false police reports. | "A Cook County grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging Jussie Smollett with making four separat…

John Whitehead (2020-02-11). We're All in This Together: A Case for Not Giving Up on the American Dream. mintpressnews.com America has been a warring nation—a military empire intent on occupation and conquest—for so long that perhaps we, the citizens of this warring nation, have forgotten what it means to live in peace, with the world and one another.

Staff (2020-02-11). Headlines for February 11, 2020. democracynow.org New Hampshire Voters Head to Polls for First Primary of 2020, Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 1,000, with Over 42,000 Confirmed Cases, Chuck Schumer Calls for Investigation into Trump's Retaliation-Motivated Firings, DOJ Reviewing Ukraine Info from Giuliani, DOJ Charges 4 Chinese Military Hackers in 2017 Equifax Breach, El Salvador President Bukele and Armed Officers Confront Lawmakers over Military Funding, Fears Mount for 5 Activists Detained in Philippines, Sinn Féin Scores Major Victory in Ireland, Syrian and Turkish Forces Step Up Attacks as 100,000s Face Humanitarian Disaster, Massive Locust Swarms Threaten Cro…

Whitney Webb (2020-02-11). Buttigieg Campaign Aggressively Targeting Progressive Activists, Media. mintpressnews.com Between efforts to censor information critical of Buttigieg on social media and harass independent media outlets and their reporters at his rallies, it appears that a concerted effort is underway to control the narrative around the DNC primaries…

Leo Zeilig (2020-02-10). Climate Change and Rebellion: an interview with John Molyneux. mronline.org In an interview with the socialist writer and activist, John Molyneux, ROAPE's Leo Zeilig asks him about climate change, capitalism and socialist transformation. In an important initiative John has recently founded the Global Ecosocialist Network (GEN) which brings together activists and researchers from across the Global North and South. |

Alan Macleod (2020-02-10). Journalist Abby Martin Sues State of Georgia Over Law Requiring Pledge of Allegiance to Israel. mintpressnews.com "This censorship of my talk based on forced compliance to anti-BDS laws in Georgia is just one level of a nationwide campaign to protect Israel from grassroots pressure."

Staff (2020-02-10). Headlines for February 10, 2020. democracynow.org Coronavirus Deaths Soar as First U.S. Citizen Succumbs to Disease, Iowa Dem. Party Officially Gives Buttigieg the Lead as Candidates Prepare for New Hampshire Vote, Trump Budget Seeks Boost to Military and Nuclear Spending, Cuts to Social Programs and EPA, Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan, Trump Fires Key Impeachment Figures Following Acquittal, Thai Soldier Kills 29 People in Shooting Rampage, Brazilian Police Kill Hitman Suspected of Involvement in Marielle Franco's Assassination, Temperature Reaches Record-Breaking 65 Degrees in Antarctica, Extinction Rebellion Activists Demand New York Divest from Foss…

pip.hinman (2020-02-10). Activists oppose Trump's 'deal' on Palestine. greenleft.org.au

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Medea Benjamin (2020-02-02). Why aren't Americans rising up like the people of Chile and Lebanon? zcomm.org The tinder for a revolutionary movement is everywhere…

splcenter (2020-01-23). Animated by Conspiracy Theories, Far-Right Extremists Seize Opportunity to Rally Around Guns in Virginia. splcenter.org Far-right extremists — from antigovernment activists and heavily armed militias to organized hate groups — came together Monday for a show of force in Richmond, Virginia, to oppose statewide gun safety proposals.