Monthly Archives: January 2021

2021-01-31: News Headlines

_____ (2021-01-31). On Contact: Radical As Reality Itself. popularresistance.org On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Michael Smith about civil rights attorney Michael Ratner's recently published memoir, "Moving the Bar — My Life as A Radical Lawyer". Smith was a close friend and collaborator of Ratner's for over three decades. | Michael Ratner was one of the most important civil rights attorneys in our era. He spent his life fighting on behalf of those who state and empire sought to crush, from the leaders of the prison uprising at Attica to Muslim prisoners held in Guantanamo, to Julian Assange.

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-31). 'We Should All Be Water Protectors': Ilhan Omar Visits #StopLine3 Organizers Day After Activists Block Enbridge Worksites. commondreams.org "We owe it to future generations, to the Indigenous communities we've signed treaties with, and to every living being on this planet to stop building fossil fuel infrastructure." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Liberation Staff (2021-01-31). Tacoma activists clean encampments, dump trash at city manager's doorstep. liberationnews.org The message: Provide services like trash pickup and housing to our houseless community. Pay for it by firing her and killer cops!

_____ (2021-01-31). Students Continue To Pressure Northwestern University To Abolish The Police. popularresistance.org After several months of continuous pressure on Northwestern administration to abolish University Police and divest from policing and other militarized entities, NUCNC is continuing their work into the new quarter. | Since their campaign of more than 30 days of consecutive actions, the group has not held any mass protests or demonstrations, but they continue to pressure the University and practice mutual aid — a core tenet of prison-industrial complex abolition. | "Prisons are the biggest social service we have," NUCNC member Eliza Gonring said. "So poor people, homeless people, Black people are just getting…

Anonymous (2021-01-31). VVPD Targets Mutual Aid Event, Arrests and Assaults Activists. indybay.org Vacaville Police Department targeted a local mutual aid event, and made a targeted arrest of the same Black woman they have targeted for months. Four arrests were made, leading to several injured. Three short videos are attached that depict these violent arrests.

Tina Gerhardt (2021-01-30). Stopping Keystone Pipeline Is First Step Toward Environmental Justice. zcomm.org Indigenous groups and environmental activists are also calling on President Biden to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and Enbridge Line 3…

Noa Yachot (2021-01-30). Fears Grow that Efforts to Combat US Domestic Terrorism Can Hurt Minorities. zcomm.org Civil rights advocates worry that moves to fight far-right extremism will be used against communities of color and leftwing activists…

yenisafak (2021-01-30). Houthis hail Italy's block of arms sales to Saudi, UAE. yenisafak.com Yemen's Houthi rebels have welcomed an Italian decision to suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."Italy's announcement of halting arms sales to the countries that are engaged in an aggression on Yemen is a positive move," rebel spokesman Mohamed Abdel-Salam said on Twitter.He said the move would "contribute to protecting [Yemeni] civilians and support the peace process".On Friday, Italy's Foreign Ministry announced blocking exports of arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, following warnings by activists and lawmakers about the use of weapons in violation of human rights in Yemen…

_____ (2021-01-30). UN Independent Expert: 'This Is How The Human Rights Industry Works'. popularresistance.org Indeed, a "human rights industry" exists, and many officials of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner [for Human Rights], diplomats, activists from non-governmental organisations, human rights teachers, and, of course, also many "independent experts" and rapporteurs are more or less opportunistic. | These people consider themselves "better" than others, but do not necessarily feel solidarity with the victims of human rights violations. Some of my bosses were models of integrity and professionalism, such as Professor Theo van Boven, Professor Kurt Herndl, Judge Jakob Muller, or High Commissioners Bertrand Ramch…

Editor (2021-01-30). Joe Biden Is the Embodiment of Our Fading Empire. scheerpost.com Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0] By Alfred McCoy / TomDispatch After four years of Donald Trump's fitful tenure, America is awakening from a long, troubled sleep to discover, like the fictional character Rip Van Winkle, that the world it once knew has changed beyond all recognition. In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless farmer strolls out of… |

R.R. (2021-01-30). Large "No War on Yemen" Car Caravan and Rallies in San Francisco. indybay.org Joining in a worldwide week of action, on January 25 activists in San Francisco demonstrated for an immediate halt to the U.S.-backed Saudi coalition's attack on Yemen. | Photos: Terry Scussel, Pro Bono Photo. Please credit the photographer.

Students Demand Action (2021-01-30). Thursday 2/4: National Gun Violence Survivors Week Summit for Youth Activists. indybay.org Online event…

_____ (2021-01-29). Toward A Revolutionary Left Framework On An Age-Old Debate. popularresistance.org Activists in the U.S. have debated race and class for decades to no resolution. Nonetheless, in this moment of U.S. imperial decay and crisis, the debate over whether race or class takes precedence in the struggle for liberation from U.S. capitalist and imperialist domination rages on. Two prominent strands of the debate have emerged over the last year which intersect with the rise of Bernie Sanders-led "democratic socialists" and the uprising against racist policing led by the slogan "Black Lives Matter." For many leaders of the Sanders camp, white supremacy is either a distraction or a secondary issue that can…

Ted Kelly (2021-01-29). U.S. empire wages 30-year war against Iraq. workers.org From the perspective of the world's youth, U.S. imperialism has been waging war on Iraq their entire lives. Iraqi children born the same year as the start of the Gulf War, who should be approaching their 31st birthdays, were killed by U.S.-imposed sanctions or bombs. This 30-year war shaped the . . . |

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2021-01-29). Will Biden End America's Global War on Children? counterpunch.org Most people regard Trump's treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy with humane immigration policies and a program to quickly find the children's families

Medea Benjamin (2021-01-29). America's overlooked crime: Will Joe Biden end the U.S. global war on children?>. salon.com Trump's treatment of immigrant children was shocking. The effect of U.S.-led wars on children's lives is much worse…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-29). Boris Johnson and the Deaths of the Hundred Thousand. dissidentvoice.org Not exactly Thermopylae. Not even close. The hundred thousand who have now been taken by COVID-19 in Britain were not determined warriors holding up the forces of a mighty empire to save their land. They were the innocent victims of infection, mismanagement and miscalculation. Central to the policy which led to such losses was a …

Tina Gerhardt (2021-01-29). Indigenous Leaders and Environmental Activists Are Standing Firm on Their Demands of President Biden. commondreams.org Indigenous groups and environmental activists are also calling on President Biden to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and Enbridge Line 3. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Samuel March (2021-01-29). "No case to answer" — Stansted 15 convictions quashed by Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Thacker & Ors v R. [2021] EWCA Crim 97 (29 January 2021), judgment here The Court of Appeal held today that a group of activists who broke into Stansted Airport in an act of protest should "never have been prosecuted" for an "extremely serious" terror-related offence under s.1(2)(b) of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act …

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies (2021-01-29). Will the Biden Administration End America's Global War on Children? juancole.com Most people regard Trump's treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy with humane immigration policies and a program to quickly find the children's families …

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2021-01-29). #TheWorldIsWatching: Youth Activists Direct Ire Over Climate Inaction at WEF Elite. commondreams.org "If only leaders were as good [at] taking real action as they were giving speeches," said Greta Thunberg. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Patrick Bond (2021-01-29). Biden-Kerry international climate politricks. zcomm.org Is U.S. President Joe Biden's January 27 Executive Order to address 'climate crisis' as good as many activists claim, enough to reverse earlier scepticism?>

Gabriela Sarmet (2021-01-29). Vale's Crime in Brumadinho. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles including the E-Book can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | Brazilian activists continue to campaign for justice two …

Sam Pizzigati (2021-01-29). Essential Workers Take the Risk, CEO's Reap the Rewards. counterpunch.org Every week, millions of us walk into a Walgreens drugstore without giving it a second thought. Maybe we should. Walgreens perfectly encapsulates the long-term economic trends of the Trump years: top corporate executives pocketing immense paychecks at the expense of their workers. At Walgreens, workers start at just $10 an hour. No chain store empire

teleSUR (2021-01-29). Argentineans Oppose Open-Pit Mining Project in Chubut. telesurenglish.net Environmental activists, scientists, educators, and health workers mobilized in Argentina to reject a mining project in the Chubut province, highlighting that the "mega-mining" industry would not solve the socio-economic crisis in the area. | RELATED: | On Jan. 26, citizens published a letter outlining their social, scientific, and environmental arguments for rejecting the PL128/20 project which seeks to init…

Yanis Iqbal (2021-01-28). The Biden Administration: Hardening of US Stance on Venezuela. dissidentvoice.org Joe Biden has been sworn in as the President of USA. For Venezuela, nothing has changed. The same belligerence, the same sanctions, and the same imperialism — the American empire continues to be cruelly hostile to the UN-recognized government of Nicolas Maduro. Inviting an Anti-Chavista Criminal Auguries of an ever-intensifying imperialist attack against Venezuela have …

Staff (2021-01-28). As Biden Issues Groundbreaking Climate Orders, Activists Push to Ban Fracking. truthout.org On Wednesday, the Biden administration delivered a second surge of orders responding to activist demands to address the climate emergency head-on at every level of the federal government. Like no mandate a U.S. president has signed off on before, the

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies (2021-01-28). Will Biden End America's Global War on Children? commondreams.org Nothing in Biden's long record in public life suggests that he will, unless the American public and the rest of the world act collectively and effectively to insist that America must end its war on children and finally become a responsible, law-abiding member of the human family. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Online News Editor (2021-01-28). Australian court resumes media trial over cardinal Pell coverage. laprensalatina.com Sydney, Australia, Jan 28 (efe-epa).- An Australian court Thursday resumed the contempt trial against more than 20 media outlets and journalists for the coverage of the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal George Pell, who was exonerated. These outlets include publications of tycoon Rupert Murdoch's media empire and Fairfax, which owns The Age newspaper, and are …

Alex Kotch (2021-01-28). Meet the Real Dark Money GOP Donors Who Funded Those Who Voted to Overturn the Election. commondreams.org Major companies and executives of Wall Street firms, fossil fuel businesses, a casino empire, and a shipping giant supplied super PACs and other outside spending groups with hundreds of millions of dollars to elect the Republican election deniers. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

teleSUR (2021-01-28). Gender Activists Protest Against Rape of a Teenager in Argentina. telesurenglish.net Over 300 women mobilized in Buenos Aires (Argentina) to demand the arrest of Humberto Garzon, who is accused of raping an 18-year-old Venezuelan girl. | RELATED: | Chanting "Garzon rapist, to jail aggressor", the demonstrators gathered peacefully in the Balvanera neighborhood to show solidarity with the victim identified as L.A.R. | The girl responded to a job offer at the "Garzon Uniformes" store specialized in clothing fo…

2021-01-30: News Headlines

Tina Gerhardt (2021-01-30). Stopping Keystone Pipeline Is First Step Toward Environmental Justice. zcomm.org Indigenous groups and environmental activists are also calling on President Biden to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and Enbridge Line 3…

yenisafak (2021-01-30). Houthis hail Italy's block of arms sales to Saudi, UAE. yenisafak.com Yemen's Houthi rebels have welcomed an Italian decision to suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."Italy's announcement of halting arms sales to the countries that are engaged in an aggression on Yemen is a positive move," rebel spokesman Mohamed Abdel-Salam said on Twitter.He said the move would "contribute to protecting [Yemeni] civilians and support the peace process".On Friday, Italy's Foreign Ministry announced blocking exports of arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, following warnings by activists and lawmakers about the use of weapons in violation of human rights in Yemen…

Noa Yachot (2021-01-30). Fears Grow that Efforts to Combat US Domestic Terrorism Can Hurt Minorities. zcomm.org Civil rights advocates worry that moves to fight far-right extremism will be used against communities of color and leftwing activists…

_____ (2021-01-30). UN Independent Expert: 'This Is How The Human Rights Industry Works'. popularresistance.org Indeed, a "human rights industry" exists, and many officials of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner [for Human Rights], diplomats, activists from non-governmental organisations, human rights teachers, and, of course, also many "independent experts" and rapporteurs are more or less opportunistic. | These people consider themselves "better" than others, but do not necessarily feel solidarity with the victims of human rights violations. Some of my bosses were models of integrity and professionalism, such as Professor Theo van Boven, Professor Kurt Herndl, Judge Jakob Muller, or High Commissioners Bertrand Ramch…

R.R. (2021-01-30). Large "No War on Yemen" Car Caravan and Rallies in San Francisco. indybay.org Joining in a worldwide week of action, on January 25 activists in San Francisco demonstrated for an immediate halt to the U.S.-backed Saudi coalition's attack on Yemen. | Photos: Terry Scussel, Pro Bono Photo. Please credit the photographer.

Editor (2021-01-30). Joe Biden Is the Embodiment of Our Fading Empire. scheerpost.com Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0] By Alfred McCoy / TomDispatch After four years of Donald Trump's fitful tenure, America is awakening from a long, troubled sleep to discover, like the fictional character Rip Van Winkle, that the world it once knew has changed beyond all recognition. In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless farmer strolls out of… |

Students Demand Action (2021-01-30). Thursday 2/4: National Gun Violence Survivors Week Summit for Youth Activists. indybay.org Online event…

Ted Kelly (2021-01-29). U.S. empire wages 30-year war against Iraq. workers.org From the perspective of the world's youth, U.S. imperialism has been waging war on Iraq their entire lives. Iraqi children born the same year as the start of the Gulf War, who should be approaching their 31st birthdays, were killed by U.S.-imposed sanctions or bombs. This 30-year war shaped the . . . |

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2021-01-29). Will Biden End America's Global War on Children? counterpunch.org Most people regard Trump's treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy with humane immigration policies and a program to quickly find the children's families

Medea Benjamin (2021-01-29). America's overlooked crime: Will Joe Biden end the U.S. global war on children?>. salon.com Trump's treatment of immigrant children was shocking. The effect of U.S.-led wars on children's lives is much worse…

_____ (2021-01-29). Toward A Revolutionary Left Framework On An Age-Old Debate. popularresistance.org Activists in the U.S. have debated race and class for decades to no resolution. Nonetheless, in this moment of U.S. imperial decay and crisis, the debate over whether race or class takes precedence in the struggle for liberation from U.S. capitalist and imperialist domination rages on. Two prominent strands of the debate have emerged over the last year which intersect with the rise of Bernie Sanders-led "democratic socialists" and the uprising against racist policing led by the slogan "Black Lives Matter." For many leaders of the Sanders camp, white supremacy is either a distraction or a secondary issue that can…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-29). Boris Johnson and the Deaths of the Hundred Thousand. dissidentvoice.org Not exactly Thermopylae. Not even close. The hundred thousand who have now been taken by COVID-19 in Britain were not determined warriors holding up the forces of a mighty empire to save their land. They were the innocent victims of infection, mismanagement and miscalculation. Central to the policy which led to such losses was a …

Tina Gerhardt (2021-01-29). Indigenous Leaders and Environmental Activists Are Standing Firm on Their Demands of President Biden. commondreams.org Indigenous groups and environmental activists are also calling on President Biden to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and Enbridge Line 3. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Samuel March (2021-01-29). "No case to answer" — Stansted 15 convictions quashed by Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com Thacker & Ors v R. [2021] EWCA Crim 97 (29 January 2021), judgment here The Court of Appeal held today that a group of activists who broke into Stansted Airport in an act of protest should "never have been prosecuted" for an "extremely serious" terror-related offence under s.1(2)(b) of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act …

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies (2021-01-29). Will the Biden Administration End America's Global War on Children? juancole.com Most people regard Trump's treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy with humane immigration policies and a program to quickly find the children's families …

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2021-01-29). #TheWorldIsWatching: Youth Activists Direct Ire Over Climate Inaction at WEF Elite. commondreams.org "If only leaders were as good [at] taking real action as they were giving speeches," said Greta Thunberg. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Patrick Bond (2021-01-29). Biden-Kerry international climate politricks. zcomm.org Is U.S. President Joe Biden's January 27 Executive Order to address 'climate crisis' as good as many activists claim, enough to reverse earlier scepticism?>

Gabriela Sarmet (2021-01-29). Vale's Crime in Brumadinho. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles including the E-Book can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | Brazilian activists continue to campaign for justice two …

Sam Pizzigati (2021-01-29). Essential Workers Take the Risk, CEO's Reap the Rewards. counterpunch.org Every week, millions of us walk into a Walgreens drugstore without giving it a second thought. Maybe we should. Walgreens perfectly encapsulates the long-term economic trends of the Trump years: top corporate executives pocketing immense paychecks at the expense of their workers. At Walgreens, workers start at just $10 an hour. No chain store empire

teleSUR (2021-01-29). Argentineans Oppose Open-Pit Mining Project in Chubut. telesurenglish.net Environmental activists, scientists, educators, and health workers mobilized in Argentina to reject a mining project in the Chubut province, highlighting that the "mega-mining" industry would not solve the socio-economic crisis in the area. | RELATED: | On Jan. 26, citizens published a letter outlining their social, scientific, and environmental arguments for rejecting the PL128/20 project which seeks to init…

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies (2021-01-28). Will Biden End America's Global War on Children? commondreams.org Nothing in Biden's long record in public life suggests that he will, unless the American public and the rest of the world act collectively and effectively to insist that America must end its war on children and finally become a responsible, law-abiding member of the human family. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Mirinda Crissman (2021-01-28). Direct action against ICE. workers.org On Jan. 18, 30 anti-racist activists attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in San Francisco. They cited their solidarity with "those locked within the modern plantation system." This band of militant anti-racists painted the walls, smashed windows and breached the inside of the building. They explained in their statement . . . |

Staff (2021-01-28). As Biden Issues Groundbreaking Climate Orders, Activists Push to Ban Fracking. truthout.org On Wednesday, the Biden administration delivered a second surge of orders responding to activist demands to address the climate emergency head-on at every level of the federal government. Like no mandate a U.S. president has signed off on before, the

Stephanie Pavlick (2021-01-28). After landmark international treaty, anti-nuclear demonstrators rally in Pittsburgh. liberationnews.org On Jan. 22, a broad coalition of organizations including PSL Pittsburgh, ANSWER Coalition, the Green Party of Allegheny County, Code Pink, and others joined for a rally and speakout at the PNC Bank headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh. This action was the latest in years of work on the part of local activists in a movement …

Devonte Sullivan (2021-01-28). St. Pete protests Desantis' draconian anti-BLM protester bill. liberationnews.org Dozens of activists gathered along Central Avenue in St. Petersburg on Saturday, rallying in the streets against the fascist policies introduced by Ron Desantis and the Florida Legislature this past September.

Yanis Iqbal (2021-01-28). The Biden Administration: Hardening of US Stance on Venezuela. dissidentvoice.org Joe Biden has been sworn in as the President of USA. For Venezuela, nothing has changed. The same belligerence, the same sanctions, and the same imperialism — the American empire continues to be cruelly hostile to the UN-recognized government of Nicolas Maduro. Inviting an Anti-Chavista Criminal Auguries of an ever-intensifying imperialist attack against Venezuela have …

Alex Kotch (2021-01-28). Meet the Real Dark Money GOP Donors Who Funded Those Who Voted to Overturn the Election. commondreams.org Major companies and executives of Wall Street firms, fossil fuel businesses, a casino empire, and a shipping giant supplied super PACs and other outside spending groups with hundreds of millions of dollars to elect the Republican election deniers. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Online News Editor (2021-01-28). Australian court resumes media trial over cardinal Pell coverage. laprensalatina.com Sydney, Australia, Jan 28 (efe-epa).- An Australian court Thursday resumed the contempt trial against more than 20 media outlets and journalists for the coverage of the sexual abuse trial of Cardinal George Pell, who was exonerated. These outlets include publications of tycoon Rupert Murdoch's media empire and Fairfax, which owns The Age newspaper, and are …

teleSUR (2021-01-28). Gender Activists Protest Against Rape of a Teenager in Argentina. telesurenglish.net Over 300 women mobilized in Buenos Aires (Argentina) to demand the arrest of Humberto Garzon, who is accused of raping an 18-year-old Venezuelan girl. | RELATED: | Chanting "Garzon rapist, to jail aggressor", the demonstrators gathered peacefully in the Balvanera neighborhood to show solidarity with the victim identified as L.A.R. | The girl responded to a job offer at the "Garzon Uniformes" store specialized in clothing fo…

Online News Editor (2021-01-27). Taliban reject US treasury report over Al Qaeda links. laprensalatina.com Kabul, Jan 27 (efe-epa).- The Taliban on Wednesday rejected a report by the United States Treasury Department claiming that Al Qaeda was gaining strength in Afghanistan with the collaboration and protection of the Taliban. "We strongly reject this report. The report has been compiled by partisan and warmongering circles based on false information," Taliban spokesperson …