2020-09-04: News Headlines

_____ (2020-09-04). Richard Wolff: The Declining Empire With Chris Hedges. popularresistance.org On this week's Economic Update, Prof. Wolff discusses the following: Denmark's new taxes on banks and rich people to help workers doing dangerous jobs; West Virginia AG sues Walmart and CVS for complicity in opioid scandal; and US State Department urges universities to sell shares in Chinese corporations. On the second half of the show, Prof. Wolff interviews author and journalist Chris Hedges on signs of the declining US empire.

Ted Kelly (2020-09-04). Prison-industrial complex: Harvard students demand divestment. workers.org A student-led organization called the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign is fighting to dismantle the prison-industrial complex, starting with their own school's administration. Research has exposed that portions of Harvard University's $39 billion endowment are invested in the notorious prison profiteers GEO Group and Core Civic. The website of the campaign, . . . |

Saul Foster (2020-09-04). Killing in Kenosha: 'Blue Lives' terror comes of age. mronline.org The killing of two Black Lives Matter protesters by a vigilante represents a new departure for violent reaction, argues Wisconsin activists Michael Billeaux.

Staff (2020-09-04). He exposed police corruption, now cops won't leave him alone. therealnews.com The story of cop watcher Otto The Watchdog reveals how American law enforcement uses the criminal justice system to retaliate against critics and their families. But Otto is not alone, First Amendment activists, auditors and protesters all around the U.S. are feeling the blue backlash.

_____ (2020-09-04). Germany: Extreme Right Marches Under Anti-Lockdown Banner. popularresistance.org The large Berlin demonstration and rally against the federal government's corona policy on August 29 was a moral victory for the right and neo-Nazis. Pictures of fascists occupying the stairs to the Reichstag building with the Reichsflag (symbol of the empire overthrown by the revolution in 1918 and the Nazi dictatorship 1933-45) are circulating around the world and trigger alarms, especially among anti-fascists. | Such symbolic images also serve to weld the right scene together. After all, more members of the extreme right are likely to have marched through the federal capital unified and unmolested on this day…

_____ (2020-09-04). Black-Led Resistance Movements Are Paving The Way For Reparations. popularresistance.org Months after the police killing of George Floyd sparked racial justice protests around the world, Black Lives Matter activists are once again flooding the streets — this time in response to the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Among the demands that continue to ring out is the call for reparations, or payment to people of African descent. Several African countries — including Namibia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — have also joined the call, demanding reparations from European countries for the perpetration of genocide under colonialism.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-03). Russiagate Or Impeachment, Because Those Were Fake Things. indybay.org Caitlin Johnstone writes about the end of illusions. | "Peace is not everything, but without it, everything becomes nothing" (Willy Brandt). You can have peace or the US empire. You can't have both.

Josh Schlossberg (2020-09-03). Voters Can't Get MAD Enough to Get Happy. counterpunch.org Larry Penner vouches that "the Democrats could run Mad magazine's 'What, Me Worry?' Alfred E. Neuman for president and still carry the Empire State by a wide margin" ("True blue New York," Queens Chronicle, August 27). That's a harsh assessment … of Neuman. Unlike Democratic politicians in solidly blue states, or Republicans in their red-state

Eliza Egret (2020-09-03). Rest in power, David Graeber. thecanary.co Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber has died at just 59-years-old. His books Debt: The First 5000 years and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory have influenced countless radicals and activists. | Yesterday the best person in a world, my husband and my friend . — Nika Dubrovsky (@nikadubrovsky) American-born anthropologist and activist David Graeber — credited with the rallying cry "We a…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-03). Kerala rises against political murder of communist youth activists. peoplesdispatch.org Tens of thousands of people took part in the protest against the murder of two Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) activists Haq Muhammed and Mithilaj in the Indian State of Kerala.

commondreams (2020-09-03). North Carolina Abortion Providers and Reproductive Justice Activists File Sweeping Litigation Challenging Multiple Abortion Restrictions. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-02). Russiagate Or Impeachment, Bec ause Those Were False Things. indybay.org Caitlin Johnstone writes about the end of illusions. | "Peace is not everything, but without it, everything becomes nothing" (Willy Brandt). You can have peace or the US empire. You can't have both.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-09-02). Postal worker leader Dimondstein says 'mass movements' are the key now. peoplesworld.org

WSWS (2020-09-02). Waiting for the Barbarians: "You are an obscene torturer. You deserve to be hanged!" wsws.org Based on the 1980 novel by South Africa-born writer J.M. Coetzee, with also—importantly—a screenplay by Coetzee, the film is set on the remote outskirts of a fictional (or composite) "Empire" sometime apparently in the 19th century.

WSWS (2020-09-02). US-China conflict over TikTok intensifies as Trump's forced divestiture deadline approaches. wsws.org The drive to force the Chinese-owned video sharing app to be sold to a US company was countered by Beijing's imposition of export restrictions on software components of the platform.

Steve Sweeney (2020-09-01). In Turkey, unions and women's organizations call for defense of women's rights. peoplesworld.org Activists have called for an organized defense of women's rights in Turkey, where at least 15 women have been murdered in the last 10 days. Thirteen were killed by men and two died in suspicious circumstances. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is trying to take Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention, which obliges signatories to …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-01). Filipino activists reiterate demands for protection from political murders. peoplesdispatch.org Human rights advocacy group Karapatan Alliance has approached the Philippines supreme court seeking protection. The group has documented the murder of 185 human rights defenders and social movement activists since July 2016…

First Bumping with Trumpers (2020-09-01). Police Violence Against BLM Activists at Golden Gate Bridge. indybay.org On August 30, white supremacist group "Walk Away" organized a pro-Trump demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge. BLM demonstrators, some of whom had not been allowed bridge entry on August 21 for their own protest, also showed up, | Here are 5 mp4 videos each less than 20 seconds long. Credit goes to @WallofMany…

_____ (2020-09-01). Wall Street Moving To Make A Mint Off The Mail, JPMorgan Postal Bank. popularresistance.org Imagine if activists and elected officials were clamoring for emergency provision of food and McDonald's offered to place a drive-thru window in every post office. Calling it #postalfood. That makes as much sense as JPMorgan's Chase recent attempt to place its own ATMs in every post office and call it #postalbanking. According to recent reports, Chase — the largest bank in the United States, with $3.2 trillion of assets — has offered to lease space from USPS in exchange for the "exclusive right" to solicit postal banking customers. Wall Street has consistently opposed the return of postal banking sinc…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-01). US embassy coordinating assassinations of Iraqi activists. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 01 (MNA) — Secretary-General of the Tribal Council of Southern Iraq, Muhammad al-Danbus, told MNA that the US embassy in Baghdad is home to an assassination cell targeting Iraqi activists.