Daily Archives: June 12, 2020

2020-06-12: News Headlines

Alan Macleod (2020-06-12). Project Venezuela: Right-Wing Activists Push Wikipedia to Blacklist MintPress, other Alternative Media. mintpressnews.com Still unable to convince a sufficient number of their countryfolk to support them, the Venezuelan opposition has turned their efforts towards convincing an international audience — primarily Americans — to support their cause. Part of that is spending inordinate amounts of time online, arguing in English on social media, creating Now, a…

Shimbun Akahata (2020-06-12). Activists in Japan join the global Black Lives Matter movement. peoplesworld.org TOKYO—In response to the Black Lives Matter movement spreading from the United States to the rest of the world, several rounds of anti-racism demonstrations in Tokyo and Osaka have seen massive turnout—even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. On June 7, the chant "Black Lives Matter" echoed throughout downtown Osaka City. The rally was …

Andre Vltchek (2020-06-12). It is all About Race: Awful Hypocrisy to Say it is Not! dissidentvoice.org While I am following closely various discussions on Western mass media and social media, simultaneously engaging in several direct exchanges, one overwhelming leitmotif that I see is clearly emerging: "What is happening in the United States (and the UK, France and other parts of Western Empire) is not really about the race. Let us protest …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-12). Europe's top human rights court overturns French conviction of BDS activists. peoplesdispatch.org A French court had convicted 11 BDS activists for 'incitement to economic discrimination' after they organized a boycott protest against Israel outside a supermarket in France during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009-10…

MBNJSD (2020-06-11). Defund the Police, Defund the Military. dissidentvoice.org Defund the police, defund the military (Credit: CODEPINK) On June 1, President Trump threatened to deploy active-duty U.S. military forces against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters in cities across America. Trump and state governors eventually deployed at least 17,000 National Guard troops across the country. In the nation's capital, Trump deployed nine Blackhawk assault helicopters, …

Palestinian BDS National Committee (2020-06-11). European Court of Human Rights Deals Major Blow to Israel's War on Palestine Solidarity. globalresearch.ca ECHR rules unanimously that French highest court's criminal conviction of Israel boycott advocates violates the European Convention on Human Rights' freedom of expression article | *** | The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

Tracy Keeling (2020-06-11). Palestinians score huge victory against Israel's apartheid regime in a European court. thecanary.co Palestinians have scored a major victory against Israel's apartheid regime in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). | On 11 June, the ECHR passed a ruling on a French court's conviction of people boycotting Israeli goods to show solidarity with Palestinians. It found that the convictions violated the European Convention on Human Rights. | As the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement

VINS (2020-06-11). Alternatives to Policing—The Case for Public Health and Community Development Investments. projectcensored.org By Amber Yang As outrage sparks over police brutality, systemic racism, and socio-economic inequality, activists are calling to defund police. Despite other calls for anti-bias training, civilian review processes, and…

Wendi C. Thomas (2020-06-10). The police have been spying on black reporters and activists for years. I know because I'm one of them. nationofchange.org Wendi C. Thomas is a black journalist who has covered police in Memphis. One officer admitted to spying on her. She's on a long list of prominent black journalists and activists who have been subjected to police surveillance over decades.

teleSUR (2020-06-10). Dominican Republic: Police Put Down Anti-Racism Protest. telesurenglish.net Dominican Republic's Santo Domingo conservative organizations and police Tuesday confronted anti-racism activists who claimed justice for George Floyd in a demonstration. | RELATED: | "Those nationalists came and threw themselves at us and the police, instead of taking the attitude of protecting us, what they did was to stop us," said Reconocido (recognized) non-governmental organization leader Ana Maria Belique. | Reconocido…

Schiff Gold (2020-06-12). Another Month Another Trillion Added to US National Debt. anti-empire.com On Tuesday, the national debt pushed above $26 trillion. | Just 35 days ago, the debt eclipsed $25 trillion. And 28 days before that, the national debt stood at a mere $24 million. | Meanwhile, the federal government just set a record for the biggest budget deficit in any fiscal year — with four months left to go. | May's budget shortfall came in at a staggering $398.8 billion, pushing the fiscal 2020 deficit to $1.88 trillion, according to the The previous budget defici…

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-06-12). Great! Louisville Passes Law to Ban No-Knock Warrants. Now Can We Have the Same for Afghanistan? anti-empire.com Louisville All 26 members of the Louisville Metro Council voted on Thursday to pass a ban on no-knock warrants, a measure known as The unanimously passed ordinance, which still needs to be approved by the mayor, bans any search warrant that does not re…

Tom Odula (2020-06-12). Tanzania Pioneers a Far Cheaper, Less Superstitious and Far More Rational 'Cure' for COVID Than Lockdowns. anti-empire.com Editor's note: Instead of 3 months of ruinous, masochistic, and superstitious lockdowns that the West opted for, Tanzania opted for 3 days of prayers. Both worked about as well except Tanzania's cure was far less costly in livelihoods and lives. Well done Magufuli! Brilliant! | Related:
| Tanzania's president is again claiming the country is free of the coronavirus because of the power of prayer – s…

Kyle Mizokami (2020-06-12). US Bombers Are So Ridiculously Expensive Air Force Forced to Make Up for Low Numbers by Planning Cargo Planes for Combat. anti-empire.com Editor's note: A decent article but which does not explain the background of why the Air Force is experimenting with using cargo planes in this way. Despite having a massive budget the hardware the service orders from the defense industry is so ridiculously expensive the stable just isn't large enough. That is also the reason the ancient but reliable B-52s are still kept in service (and indeed form the backbone of the nuclear and heavy bomber force) and will outlive far newer but overly-complicated and troubled machines like the B-1 from the corporate handout era: Curious taxpayers might wonder why we need the Lon…

Patrick Lang (2020-06-12). Milley Apologized for Trump? He Must Go (Trump Has Lost Control of the Pentagon). anti-empire.com Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said that he was "outraged" by the killing of George Floyd and added that the protests it sparked spoke to "centuries of injustice tow…

Pien Huang (2020-06-11). WHO Believes That Mass Protests Are Important Even in a 'Pandemic' Provided They're More Popular Than WHO. anti-empire.com In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization took time at its daily press conference to address another pressing issue: the wave of protests against police violence and racial injustice. The demonstrations began in the U.S. when George Floyd died on May 25 after a police officer had pressed a knee into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while detaining him in Minneapolis. | The protests are now spreading around the world to Europe, Africa and other regions. | "WHO fully supports equality and the global movement against racism. We reject discrimination of all kinds," said WHO director…

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-06-11). The Powers That Be Are Ecstatic That the Left Believes the Biggest Problem Right Now Are Statues of Dead White Men. anti-empire.com In the US and the EU both, we've witnessed the biggest monetary heist in history. We're sailing into a depression that central banks have set up for us over the past two decades. And we're doing so in the worst possible condition thanks to the Draconian, harebrained and unnecessary lockdowns that the politicians imposed on us. | Several of Empire's wars and occupations continue in Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria. Tension is being needlessly cultivated with China and Russia, and the entire architecture of nuclear arms control is just about done being thrown in that trash bin of history. | Simultaneously the…

CJ Hopkins (2020-06-11). Everything Was Ready for a Color-Revolution Coup Against Trump but He Refused to Bite. anti-empire.com So, the GloboCap-Resistance Unfortunately for the Resistance, Trum…

Armstrong Economics (2020-06-11). Country Formerly Known as Spain Decides to Institute a Permanent COVID Dystopia, Flog Itself to Death. anti-empire.com FROM A READER IN SPAIN FROM A FORMER COMMUNIST STATE: | The So, masks are obligatory in all closed spaces (work, office, schools, transport, shops, etc… even at home when you receive friends/family who are not living with you in the same household —…

Michael Sasso (2020-06-10). OOOPS: Black Business Ownership Collapses by 41% in US Lockdowns. anti-empire.com The Covid-19 economic shutdown has hurt African American businesses the most among racial and ethnic groups in U.S., with a 41% decline of black owners from February to April, a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows. | While the pandemic has hit entrepreneurs across the board, closing some 3.3 million small businesses at least temporarily, the sidelining of

Elle Reynolds (2020-06-10). South Dakota's Kristi Noem Runs a Victory Lap Having Steered State Through Coronavirus Without a Lockdown (VIDEO). anti-empire.com Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who has faced harsh criticism from the mainstream media for refusing to shut her state down in response to Covid-19, outlined some lessons South Dakota has learned from her unique approach to the crisis. | "My approach to this virus was to provide South Dakotans with all the information that I could, and then trust them to exercise their freedom to make the best decision for themselves and for their families," Noem said Monday. "The mainstream media has spent many hours and nearly endless column inches attacking me for that, but countless South Dakotans have thanked me fo…

Matt Taibbi (2020-06-10). America's Stats-Obsessed "Broken Window" Policing Brings Occupation to Poor Neighborhoods. anti-empire.com Editor's note: Taibbi bats it off the court with this one. Fantastic work. |
| Watching all the terrible news in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, it's been hard not to think about Eric Garner. The cases have so many similarities. Once again, an unarmed African-American man in his forties has been asphyxiated in broad daylight by a police officer with a history of abuse complaints. He and his fellow officers ignore cries of "I can't breathe," and keep subduing their target even after he stops moving, unconcerned that he's being filmed. | Five years ago, while sketching the outline for a book ab…

The Babylon Bee (2020-06-10). In Braveheart Re-Release William Wallace Just Tells the Scottish to Stay Home, Stay Safe. anti-empire.com LOS ANGELES, CA — Mel Gibson's classic film Braveheart has been deemed problematic since William Wallace encourages the Scottish to fight for their freedoms. So, Paramount Pictures announced the new Braveheart: At Home Edition, where the offending scenes have been edited to show the brave freedom fighter encouraging everyone to just "stay home" and "save lives." | "Every man dies

Staff (2020-06-10). We Won't Win the Climate Fight Without Youth Leadership. truthout.org Jamie Margolin, 18, youth climate lawsuit litigant and founder of youth-led climate activist group By noon on a typical day in school, as Margolin chronicles in her guide for youth activists,

RT (2020-06-11). European Court of Human Rights backs BDS activists convicted in France, orders Paris to pay €101,000 in compensation. rt.com The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that France violated the rights of 11 pro-Palestinian activists when it convicted them for campaigning against Israeli goods, and has ordered the government to pay damages. | The criminal conviction against the activists with the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement "had no relevant and sufficient grounds," the ECHR

RT (2020-06-11). Soros & Steyer exposed as backers of 'paramilitary' left-wing group in undercover Project Veritas VIDEO. rt.com As part of its series of undercover videos exposing left-wing organizations like Antifa, Project Veritas released footage claiming to show far-left Democrat activists bragging about George Soros funding and political connections. | Tom Steyer — who unsuccessfully campaigned for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination for 2020 — and liberal financier George Soros are both named as financial contributors in the new clip on Refuse Fascism, an organization dedicated to removing President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence from office. | Andy Zee, national organizer for the group, mentions…

_____ (2020-06-12). Court of Human Rights Deals Major Blow To Israel's War On Palestine Solidarity. popularresistance.org The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled unanimously that the French highest court's 2015 criminal conviction of activists with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement advocating nonviolent boycotts of Israeli goods violated article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. | Reacting to the breaking news, Rita Ahmad from the Palestinian-led BDS movement said: | This momentous court ruling is a decisive victory for freedom of expression, for human rights defenders, and for the BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality. It confirms a 2016 European U…

_____ (2020-06-12). Statues In The US and Around The World Are Being Beheaded And Torn Down. popularresistance.org "Monuments and statues in the US and around the world that are dedicated to controversial historical figures with legacies of slavery and racism have become the target of demonstrations during the #BlackLivesMatter protests. In several cases, the statues have even been toppled by activists taking matters into their owns hands. | "At a demonstration in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday night, a 93-year-old statue of Christopher Columbus was brought down, set on fire, and thrown into a lake as bystanders chanted 'Tear it down.' Left in place where the statue had previously stood was a cardboard sign with the words 'Co…

_____ (2020-06-12). Calls To Eliminate School Police Intensify Amid Protests. popularresistance.org Amid calls to defund municipal police in the wake of George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police, two Oakland Unified school board members are pushing to eliminate the district's police force. | This is an acceleration of a demand that dates back nine years, when activists began calling on the district to dissolve its police department after a black student was shot and killed by a district police sergeant. | The proposal by board members Roseann Torres and Shanthi Gonzales says the district would call on Oakland City Police in emergencies. It has the support of the teachers' union. It's unclear if the resolutio…

_____ (2020-06-11). Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone Forms Around Emptied East Precinct. popularresistance.org The first night in the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone that has formed in the wake of police giving up the week-long blockade of the East Precinct was rainy and peaceful and full of speeches from activists, agitators, poets, and socialist city council members. | "I guess whatever the fuck we're doing is effective," one organizer identified as Magik said over a megaphone early in the night as police were still clearing the area. "They are going to move up. They are going to get everybody out of here and we are free to move through these streets and protest and march." | "Yesterday we were on 11th and Pine.

_____ (2020-06-10). The Police Have Been Spying On Black Reporters And Activists for Years. popularresistance.org On Aug. 20, 2018, the first day of a federal police surveillance trial, I discovered that the Memphis Police Department was spying on me. | The ACLU of Tennessee had sued the MPD, alleging that the department was in violation of a 1978 consent decree barring surveillance of residents for political purposes. One of the first witnesses called to the stand: Sgt. Timothy Reynolds, who is white. To get intel on activists and organizers, including those in the Black Lives Matter movement, he'd posed on Facebook as a "man of color," befriending people and trying to infiltrate closed circles.

Jason Cohen (2020-06-09). One step closer to freedom for Ana Belen Montes. workers.org For close to 20 years Ana Belen Montes, a Puerto Rican woman, has been held hostage in a federal prison located in Fort Worth, Texas. Due to the hard work of dedicated activists an international movement in solidarity with Montes has forced the federal government to grant her early release . . . |

People's World Correspondents (2020-06-09). National uprising continues: Reports from around the country. peoplesworld.org During this national uprising against racist police violence, People's World is being inundated with correspondence from local reporters and activists around the country—more than we can possibly print. Presented here are just a few recent selections submitted from towns and cities across the United States. FREDERICK, MARYLAND Carl Gentile In an unprecedented show of solidarity, …

Ajit Singh (2020-06-09). Hong Kong's 'pro-democracy' movement allies with far-right US politicians that seek to crush Black Lives Matter. thegrayzone.com As a Hong Kong protest leader promotes far-right condemnations of US anti-racism demonstrations and activists shut down a Black Lives…