Monthly Archives: May 2020

2020-05-21: News Headlines

commondreams (2020-05-20). CODEPINK to Hack BlackRock's Annual Shareholders Meeting. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Bruce Lerro (2020-05-19). Left Gatekeepers Through the New Left: Monitored Rebellion. dissidentvoice.org The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders Cultural containment meant "ring around the pinkos" Leftist Patron Saints What do the following people have in common: Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Naomi Klein, Robert Reich, Michael Albert, Howard Zinn, Amy Goodman, Medea Benjamin, Norman Solomon, Chris Hedges, …

K.J. Noh and Claudia Chaufan (2020-05-19). Why is Sam Husseini Channeling Neocon Conspiracy Theories on Covid-19? dissidentvoice.org Journalist Sam Husseini, was once known for challenging the Neocon warmongers on the Iraq War in a former lifetime. He now seems to have joined them, becoming a promoter of anti-China Neo-con conspiracy theories on the origins of Covid-19. Husseini recently wrote a series of articles that recycle a large amount of right wing disinformation—alt-right …

Eleanor J. Bader (2020-05-19). Staging a Defense of Reproductive Rights. progressive.org As anti-choice activists try using the pandemic to stop abortions, this nonprofit theater group pushes back.

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-05-21). Trump Condemned for Ditching Treaty That Has 'Helped Prevent Nuclear War for Nearly Three Decades'. commondreams.org In a move that alarmed nuclear experts, anti-war activists, and policymakers around the world, the U.S. government notified international partners on Thursday that President Donald Trump is withdrawing the country from the Treaty on Open Skies over alleged Russian violations. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-05-21). 'This Is My Retirement': Trump's Covid-19 Vaccine Czar Refuses to Sell Stock Holdings of Major Drug Company. commondreams.org The chief adviser overseeing President Donald Trump's task force aimed at discovering a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2020 has refused to divest his shares in his former pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-05-20). After Coronavirus Triggers 17% Emissions Drop, Experts Say Only 'Fundamental Structural Change' Can Save Humanity's Future. commondreams.org After an analysis revealed Tuesday that lockdowns from the coronavirus pandemic caused planet-heating emissions to drop in early April by an unprecedented 17%, climate scientists and activists warned that progress will quickly be erased if the world returns to business as usual and called for systemic changes in the global energy, food, and transportation sectors. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Global Research News (2020-05-21). Selected Articles: Warmongering Amid COVID-19. globalresearch.ca To say that the public has become disillusioned and wary of constant doomsday media reports and news coverage is a gross understatement — people see their world changing and they want to understand what is happening, and why. They want …

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-20). How the British Empire Created and Killed George Orwell. strategic-culture.org The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), happily amplified by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the United States which carries its World News, continues to pump out its regular dreck about the alleged economic chaos in Russia and the imagined miserable state of the Russian people. | It is all lies of course. But amid all their countless fiascoes and failures in every ot…

Toby Blomé (2020-05-21). Memorial Day Peace Caravan. indybay.org Sponsored by CODEPINK | All invited to join Peace Caravan, with cars decorated with anti-war relevant signs and colorful visuals. We'll travel across the Golden Gate Bridge, thru the Presidio, and end up at Sen. Dianne Feinstein's SF Home for: Rally, Press Conference and Memorial Altar.

Labor Video Project (2020-05-21). SF SEIU 1021 PPE, Secret Top Down Concession Bargaining, Outsourcing & Privatization. indybay.org SEIU 1021 union activists and leaders speak out about the distribution of PPE masks by the local, top down concession bargaining and the outsourcing and privatization of public services to non-profits done secretly from the membership.

2020-05-20: News Headlines

Gloria Rubac (2020-05-20). Political Prisoners Teach-In: 'Greetings from Texas, death penalty capital'. workers.org These slightly edited remarks were given April 24 at the "U.S. Empire vs. Political Prisoners" webinar teach-in sponsored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal, incarcerated for 39 years by the U.S. state. By Gloria Rubac Greetings from the state . . . |

(2020-05-20). "Weapons of mass incompetence" workers.org By Vijay Prashad These slightly edited remarks were given April 24 at the "U.S. Empire vs. Political Prisoners" webinar teach-in sponsored by Mobilization4Mumia and held in honor of the 66th birthday of political prisoner and revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal. We are in Corona shock. The bourgeois order has become a prison. . . . |

Marwa Osman (2020-05-19). International Al Quds Day 2020-MES EP.54. thealtworld.com Pro-Palestine activists across the world are making plans to replace street rallies with online events to commemorate this year's International Quds Day as the coronavirus pandemic has restricted social life and mass gatherings across the globe. How will this year's Quds Day affect Palestine? To discuss this issue with us from Montreal is Susane Khalil political scientist and researcher, founder of the Canaan Association and Host and produce of the radio show "Palestine 11 thousand years of history". | Israel's repression of Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank and Gaza has become more brutal over time.

Bruce Lerro (2020-05-19). Left Gatekeepers Through the New Left: Monitored Rebellion. dissidentvoice.org The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders Cultural containment meant "ring around the pinkos" Leftist Patron Saints What do the following people have in common: Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Naomi Klein, Robert Reich, Michael Albert, Howard Zinn, Amy Goodman, Medea Benjamin, Norman Solomon, Chris Hedges, …

K.J. Noh and Claudia Chaufan (2020-05-19). Why is Sam Husseini Channeling Neocon Conspiracy Theories on Covid-19? dissidentvoice.org Journalist Sam Husseini, was once known for challenging the Neocon warmongers on the Iraq War in a former lifetime. He now seems to have joined them, becoming a promoter of anti-China Neo-con conspiracy theories on the origins of Covid-19. Husseini recently wrote a series of articles that recycle a large amount of right wing disinformation—alt-right …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-05-19). Prominent Hirak movement activists released in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org Two prominent activists related to the Hirak protest movement in Algeria were released on Monday after an Algiers court reduced one's sentence and awarded the other a suspended sentence. The duo was convicted on frivolous and trumped up charges…

Eleanor J. Bader (2020-05-19). Staging a Defense of Reproductive Rights. progressive.org As anti-choice activists try using the pandemic to stop abortions, this nonprofit theater group pushes back.

Fight Back (2020-05-17). Boisterous Nakba Day car rally rolls through Minneapolis suburb. fightbacknews.org Columbia Heights, MN – Just outside city limits from Northeast Minneapolis, Central Avenue was awash with Palestine flags during Friday rush hour as Palestinian-Americans and solidarity activists commemorated Al-Nakba. Nakba Day, held each year on May 15, remembers the 1948 ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians from their national homeland by Zionist settlers. Around 60 cars and dozens of families drove in a long caravan through the heavily Arab-American neighborhood, with chants of "From the river to the sea…" echoing for blocks. The protest was one of many actions that happened…

Staff (2020-05-15). Climate Crisis: KXL Ruling, Unity Task Force, California Pollution, and TRNN's New Climate Reporter. therealnews.com Climate activists get a big court win on Keystone XL as the Biden and Sanders camps unite. California has delayed air pollution rules at the behest of industry during COVID-19 as polluting oil tankers line its coast.

Staff (2020-05-09). Women In Prisons Say They're Being Punished For Speaking Out About COVID-19 Risks. therealnews.com Women say they're being punished for contacting people outside about their living conditions. Activists are planning an action May 23 at Jessup Correctional Facility in response.

Hatewatch Staff (2020-05-04). Facebook Is Go-To Platform For Organizing Protests Against Social Distancing. splcenter.org As COVID-19 continues to pose a lethal threat worldwide, fringe, right-wing activists are using Facebook to mobilize protests of stay-at-home orders in several states.

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.

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-05-19). No—Argue Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters, Monia Mazigh, and 100+ Others—Canada Does Not Deserve UN Security Council Seat. commondreams.org "Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage," warns open letter from activists, artists, and academics. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Zero Hedge (2020-05-14). "My Job Is To Make Syria A Quagmire For The Russians": CIA Doctrine Made Official Policy. iranian.com Like with the disastrous Iraq quagmire years before the US war machine came to Syria under Obama, Washington's rationale and justification for occupying the Syrian Arab Republic has shifted and changed drastically multiple times over. When ultimately what started as US covert regime change efforts targeting Assad failed (based ostensibly in "protecting civilians"), the official mission then …

Daniel Ben-Ami (2020-05-20). The Global COVID Lockdown Is Pushing the Third World to the Brink. anti-empire.com

Indian migrant worker walking home breaks down

| Perhaps the most striking statistics of the many quoted during the In some cases, they do not have any access to running water at all, perhaps having to walk long distances in search…

Tim Stelloh (2020-05-20). Peak Government: Canadian Air Force Jet Crashes Into a Home While Celebrating Health Care Workers. anti-empire.com A member of an elite Canadian air force squadron died Sunday after a jet crashed into a British Columbia home during a celebration for front-line workers in the The Royal Canadian Air Force identified the deceased as Capt. Jenn Casey, a public affairs officer who joined the "Snowbirds" in 2018. Another team member, Capt. Richard MacDougall, was seriously injured. | The crash occurred shortly before noon local time in Kamloops, northeast of Vancouver. The flight was part of Operation Inspiration, a nationwide mis…

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-05-20). Colorado Forced to Revise Its Virus Tally After ALCOHOL POISONING Counted as COVID-19 Death. anti-empire.com A Republican state representative asked prosecutors to bring criminal charges against Colorado's top public health official Thursday, claiming that she illegally falsified death records to inflate COVID-19 death totals. | Rep. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park) issued a formal letter requesting an investigation and criminal charges by George Brauchler, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. Brauchler is also a Republican. | Baisley accuses Jill Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), of "falsely altering death certificates." CDPHE collects and repo…

Marko Marjanović (2020-05-20). 145,000 Ukrainians Accepted Into Russian Citizenship in Just Four Months of 2020. anti-empire.com Related:
| Machine translated from Russian. | Russia granted citizenship to 215.9 thousand people in the first four months of 2020. This is 2.5 times more than for the same period last year, follows from the

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-05-19). VIDEO: Lukashenko Publicly Calls Out Putin for Blundering With Lockdown — Putin's Reaction Says It All. anti-empire.com At the latest summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, Lukashenko of Belarus also had something to say about covid-19 and lockdowns (be sure to switch on the subtitles): | www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QEgB33L08A&#038… | Putin's posture and shuffling of papers says it all. I've never seen him look smaller.The current situation in the world and…

Fredrik Erixon (2020-05-19). Sweden Has Covid-19 Beat, Leaving Everyone Who Locked Down With Egg on Their Face. anti-empire.com

"Polls show that more than 50 per cent think they have had coronavirus or that they will get it"

| The culture of social distancing does strange things to us. A few weeks ago I got an invitation to an offline work dinner, and I can't remember the last time I had such a sudden rush of joy. Even if life in Sweden over the past two months have been surprisingly normal, the truth is that we all have hunkered down a bit. Many of us have worked from home. The first two weeks, I admit, felt as life in remission — like a sudden gift of time. But then we all sunk into the apathy of having our lif…

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-05-19). Hunger, Misery, Chaos, Brutality, and Humiliation: The Nightmare That Is India's Lockdown. anti-empire.com Related: twitter.com/Anurag_Dwary/status/12619374… | twitter.com/satishjha/status/12624381016… | twitter.com/Benarasiyaa/status/126227456… | twitter.com/KanwardeepsTOI/status/124450… | twitter.com/Benarasiyaa/statu

Labor Video Project (2020-05-20). SF SEIU 1021 PPE, Secret Top Down Concession Bargaining, Outsourcing & Privatization. indybay.org SEIU 1021 union activists and leaders speak out about the distribution of PPE masks by the local, top down concession bargaining and the outsourcing and privatization of public services to non-profits done secretly from the membership.