(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…
(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 …
(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 …
(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…
(2020-06-12). Congress Can Lead the Charge on Divesting From Law Enforcement. aclu.org As a former Hill staffer, I know how the sausage gets made: the backroom deals, the pet projects, and the extreme partisanship. Our current moment requires far more than the ego, moderation, and compromise that is typically reflected in federal legislation. This country's recognition — finally — of the devastation and destruction that comes from the over-policing and over-criminalization of Black bodies and communities warrants real, meaningful change. The acknowledgment that Black Lives Matter — finally — demands bold and visionary leadership at the national level., , That audacious vi…
(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, …
(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)
(2020-06-13). New Study: US Empire Is Falling But Will Not Fall Quietly. popularresistance.org Where will the next war occur? Who will fight in it? Why will it occur? How will it be fought? This brief summarizes a series of reports that sought to answer these questions—looking out from now until 2030. The reports took the approach of examining these questions through the lenses of several trends—geopolitical, economic, environmental, legal, informational, and military—that will shape the contours of conflict. | Military history is littered with mistaken predictions about the future of warfare that have left forecasters militarily unprepared—sometimes disastrously so—for the co…
(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…
(2020-06-12). 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…
(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). Iran, Iraq discuss expansion of healthcare cooperation. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 12 (MNA) — Iran's Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Msjedi and Iraqi Health Minister Hassan Mohammed al-Tamimi stressed the need for promoting cooperation in the health sector.
(2020-06-12). Starbucks bows to online roasting and 'cancel' calls, changes dress code to declare 'Black Lives Matter'. rt.com 
Starbucks overrode its long-standing dress code and pledged to sponsor 'Black Lives Matter' merchandise after celebrities and activists threatened to 'cancel' the coffee chain for its perceived lack of wokeness. | The company announced on Friday it would sponsor 250,000 'BLM' shirts for its employees and allow buttons supporting the cause, reversing course after just one day of social media brigading. | The shirts are intended to "demonstrate our allyship and show we stand together in unity," the executives wrote in a letter on Friday, titled 'Standing together against racial injustice'. | Black Lives Matter.
(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
(2020-06-12). Klobuchar Worked With Law Enforcement Group to Increase Police Budgets. truthout.org This article was produced by As activists around the country work to defund police departments, the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee is considering a senator who worked to boost police department budg…
(2020-06-13). Pentagon Starts Bailing Out Defense Firms. anti-empire.com 
The Pentagon has begun to bail out U.S. companies that have seen large parts of their business dry up amid the coronavirus pandemic, in a bid to make sure they can still build weapons. | On Wednesday, officials announced that five mid-tier defense companies had received a total of $135 million to "help sustain defense-critical workforce capabilities in body armor, aircraft manufacturing, and shipbuilding," according to a Defense Department
(2020-06-13). Lebanese Protesters Set Central Bank on Fire. anti-empire.com 
Demonstrators in Lebanon attempted to occupy the central bank in the capital Thursday after the country's currency sank to a record low against the US dollar. | As a result of the nation's economic crisis, the dollar rose to 6,000 Lebanese pounds from 4,000 in the last two days, prompting protesters to take to the streets in Beirut and many other cities. | twitter.com/BasedPoland/status/127152377… | They blocked roads to traffic with garbage containers and burning tires. | Forcing their way into the central bank on Hamra Street, they had to withdraw when security forces intervened. | Security for…
(2020-06-12). Congressional Budget Office: Will Take the US 10 Years to Catch Up to Where It Would Have Been Without Lockdowns. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: My personal hunch is that this is hugely optimistic. I think 3 months lost, are 3 months lost forever. It's a tall order to presume eventual convergence with where we would have been on any timescale. That said, even a convergence after a decade is still terrible news, especially when you consider how irrational and pointless the lockdowns were. |
| Please consider a CBO Key Points | CBO projects that over the 2020—2030…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(2020-06-12). Trump's Chip Ban Gives Huawei and South Korea an Enormous Incentive to Strike a Grand Bargain. anti-empire.com 
A US ban on foreign companies' sales of chips to Huawei Technologies if American equipment or software is involved will undermine America's already-weakened position in the global semiconductor equipment market, industry sources say. | Chip fabricators will remove American equipment from production lines in order to maintain market share in China, the world's largest purchaser of semiconductors. | Samsung, the world's biggest fabricator of memory as well as logic chips after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, already has set up a small production line for top-of-the-line 7-nanometer chips using only…
(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…
(2020-06-11). Children More Likely to Be Hit by Lightning Than Die of Coronavirus, Oxford-Cambridge Analysis Finds. anti-empire.com 
School children under the age of 15 are more likely to be hit by lightning than die from coronavirus, new figures suggest, amid Scientists from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford have called for "rational debate" based on the "tiny" risk to children and have suggested that it might be better for youngsters to be exposed to the virus early so they are protected in later life when…
(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 —…
(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…
(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…
(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…
(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.
(2020-06-11). 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
(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…
(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…
(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
(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…
(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
(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.
(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.
(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,