2020-12-11: News Headlines

Chauncey K. Robinson, Matt Bernico (2020-12-11). PW Podcast: Rev. Liz Theoharis talks voter suppression and poverty. peoplesworld.org Beyond the Page is a companion podcast to the award-winning publication People's World. With every episode, we'll take you deeper into the topics covered at PeoplesWorld.org. Our program brings you in-depth interviews with journalists and activists on the most pressing stories in progressive politics, labor, and the struggle for socialism in the United States. As …

Alan MacLeod (2020-12-11). U.S. media, pols rage after Venezuelans defy U.S. empire to re-elect socialists. mronline.org Despite the fact that the election was overseen by 1,500 international observers, U.S. pols and media pundits alike labeled it a sham before it even took place.

_____ (2020-12-11). Nineteen Tragic Facts About The COVID-19 Economy. popularresistance.org Above photo: Activists in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston rally against evictions. In 24 states, eviction moratoriums have expired. Michael Dwyer/The Associated Press. NOTE: These are important numbers to know as the year comes to a close and Congress continues to fail to provide what people need to survive this pandemic and recession/depression. This is …

Ashley Curtin (2020-12-11). New York state's pension fund will divest from fossil fuel. nationofchange.org This is being hailed as "the most aggressive divestment target set by any U.S. pension fund by a decade."

Editor (2020-12-11). Jon Wiener: What Aaron Sorkin Got Wrong in 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'. scheerpost.com Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play " The Trial of the Chicago 7," an Aaron Sorkin film that recently aired on Netflix, brought an important chapter in the history of American activism to screens around the globe. Based on real events, the film dramatizes the 1969 trial of eight activists who were arrested during the Vietnam War protests that took place in Chicago at the 1968… |

Peter Boyle (2020-12-11). Thai democracy activists defy escalating repression. greenleft.org.au Despite growing number of democracy activists facing charges under Thailand's notorious lèse majesté law, the youth-led movement keeps up its mass mobilisations, reports Peter Boyle.

RT (2020-12-10). Former Yeltsin-era oligarch Khodorkovsky denies he admitted guilt to Putin in exchange for 2013 presidential pardon. rt.com Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's wealthiest man, clashed with Vladimir Putin, on Thursday, over whether he had privately confessed he was guilty of fraud, as a $50 billion legal battle over his former oil empire rages on. | On Thursday, the president told reporters that the oligarch had "indirectly admitted [guilt], in a letter to me and asked for release ahead of schedule because his mother was sick and dying." The president added that "I might be wrong, but I think it's required by law that someone has to admit their guilt — because how else can you pardon them?" | However, in a statement to his MBK…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-10). Anti-imperialists around the world extend solidarity for Assange. peoplesdispatch.org Anti-imperialist movements from around the world have extended their solidarity to the Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange. The call for action was made in a joint statement, released on December 10, by a global coalition part of the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle. In the call for action, scheduled to fall on International Human Rights Day, movements have demanded an end to the "inhuman conditions" that Assange has been subjected to in Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom. | Activists are encouraged to sign an

Andrew Korybko (2020-12-10). Will Joe Biden Stop Funding the Saudi-UAE War on Yemen? globalresearch.ca Pro-Yemeni activists hope that Biden will stay true to his prior promise to stop funding the GCC's War on Yemen, but even if he does what's arguably the morally right thing, he'll probably be doing it for geopolitical reasons even …

Terrell Jermaine Starr (2020-12-10). Activists Fight Voter Suppression in Georgia Runoffs. zcomm.org Groups go to court to reverse wrongful purge of 200,000 voters that could have significant impact on the election's outcome…

Michael Albert (2020-12-10). On Participatory Economics, Pt. 1. zcomm.org 'What do you want?' is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation, and degradation…

commondreams (2020-12-09). American Sustainable Business Council Celebrates NY State Pension Fund Move to Divest from Fossil Fuels. commondreams.org ______________________________…

MBNJSD (2020-12-08). Why Jeh Johnson Would Be a Better Defense Secretary Than Michèle Flournoy. dissidentvoice.org CODEPINK protests killer drones at DC home of Jeh Johnson (Credit: CODEPINK) President-elect Biden's choice for Secretary of Defense has turned out to be one of the most controversial and difficult of his Cabinet appointments. The early front-runner, Michèle Flournoy, was originally seen as a shoo-in and was touted as a great breakthrough for women, …

Media Lens (2020-12-08). Stuck in a Lift with John Pilger: News and How to Use It by Alan Rusbridger. dissidentvoice.org Noticing the way journalists seemed unable to resist commenting on our work, even if it was just to slag us off, Glenn Greenwald tweeted us in 2012: 'You are really deeper in the heads of the British establishment-serving commentariat than anyone else — congrats.' ((Greenwald, Twitter, 12 September 2012.)) If that was true then, our relationship …

Betsey Piette (2020-12-08). Palestine Writes: A labor of love. workers.org Originally scheduled to take place in New York City this March, but canceled due to the pandemic, the Palestine Writes Literature Festival aired as a virtual event on Dec. 2-6. The event brought together writers, artists, publishers, booksellers, activists and scholars for conversations about art, literature and the intersection between . . . |

Paul Craig Roberts (2020-12-08). In America Democracy Destroyed Democracy. thealtworld.com In the United States democracy was destroyed by democracy. Read on and you will learn what I mean. | When I refer to the US as a democracy usually a couple of readers will inform me that the US is a republic, not a democracy. They are behind the times. The US was born as a republic, but the Lincoln Republicans valued empire more than the republic and destroyed the republic by overthrowing the secession of the Southern states with military force. | Once states rights were overthrown, the other parts of the structure built by the Founding Fathers of the Republic were discarded. Women and people who were not propert…