(2020-07-16). The Dollar "Has Us by the Throat": Chinese Party Official Urges Decoupling. anti-empire.com 
With all eyes on Trump's Tuesday evening Rose Garden speech which unveiled that he'll sign new and punitive measures indirectly targeting China — namely the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, a bipartisan measure to penalize banks that work with Chinese officials found to be interfering in Hong Kong affairs — it remains that arguably the most important recent statements out of China came not from current government officials, but from Zhou Li, the 65-year-old former deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department. He's considered an important voice who echoes the outside the box thi…
(2020-07-16). Moderna's Vaccine Side Effect Is COVID-19. anti-empire.com 
The findings are likely to increase hopes that a vaccine can be brought to market quickly. However, a number of patients in the trial experienced side effects, some of them severe. The vaccine will move into a much larger late-stage trial later this month that's likely to determine whether it's approved by U.S. re…
(2020-07-15). For Russian Experts, Taliban Bounty Report Just Doesn't Make Sense. anti-empire.com 
From the very start of the American-led invasion of Afghanistan almost 19 years ago, Russian experts were shaking their heads and However, the Kremlin warmly welcomed the occupation. It provided intelligence and
(2020-07-15). 10 Reasons Why Defunding Police Should Lead to Defunding War. strategic-culture.org If we find indiscriminate state violence in our streets appalling, we should feel similarly about state violence abroad, write Medea Benjamin and Zoltán Grossman. | Medea BENJAMIN, Zoltán GROSSMAN | Since George Floyd was murdered, we have seen an increasing convergence of the "war at home" against black and brown people with the "wars abroad" that the U.S. has waged against people in other countries. | Army and National Guard troops have been deployed in U.S. cities, as militarized police treat our cities as occupied war zones. In response to this "endless war" at home, the growing and thunderous cries for defun…
(2020-07-15). Trump Struggles to Say What He Would Do With Another Term for Second Time in a Week. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: Despite the Democrats doing everything in their power to throw the election by nominating a vegetable, tacitly getting behind looting and riots, and carpet-bombing the economy and civil liberties (a severe flu season somehow required it) Trump is still losing. The Democrats somehow managed to put together an even weaker case for their ticket than in 2016, but Trump still looks likely to lose to it. | Why? Because Trump 2016 and Trump 2020 are not the same proposition. Where in 2016 it could only be strongly suspected that Trump won't stand or fight for anything, in 2020 that is crystal clear. Trump…
(2020-07-15). Why Woke Leftists Love the Lockdown. anti-empire.com 
In one sense, it feels as if freedom in the West is constantly expanding, from the liberalism of the 1960s to the 'great awokening' of the past decade, in which even our freedom to choose and express an identity has dramatically expanded. | Yet, as the global response to the pandemic has shown, we have simultaneously been content to see entire nations placed under collective house arrest. | Moreover, it has been remarkable just how few people have questioned the lockdown's suppression of freedom, with most criticism of, for example, the UK government's response to the pandemic coming from those who would see the…
(2020-07-15). Taiwan's Military Is a Hollow Shell. anti-empire.com 
As threats of military aggression from China Even as the military refits itself with flashy
(2020-07-15). China to Sanction Lockheed Martin, Cut It Off From Its Rare Earths. anti-empire.com 
China will impose sanctions on US-based arms producer Lockheed Martin, the main contractor of the recertification of its Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) air defense missiles of the island of Taiwan. | The sanctions will likely feature the cut-off of material supply including rare earths, which are crucial to advanced weapons production, and business restrictions on Lockheed Martin's suppliers that have business in the Chinese mainland, Chinese aviation industry experts said on Tuesday. | The US on Thursday announced the approval of an arms deal to Taiwan involving the recertification of PAC-3 air defense mi…
(2020-07-15). New York State's Pension Fund Divests from 22 Coal Companies. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-07-15). Defying 'Logic and the Law,' HHS Inspector General Allows Trump's Vaccine Czar to Maintain Big Pharma Investments. commondreams.org Ethics watchdogs on Wednesday slammed a ruling this week that Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive now heading the Trump administration's coronavirus vaccine task force, does not have to disclose or divest his investments in the industry. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-07-13). As the Arctic Burns, Trump Bailouts Fossil Fuel Industry with Billions. globalresearch.ca The Arctic is once again on fire. And the extremely warm temperatures in the region — and concurrent wildfires — are another urgent reminder that we need to divest from fossil fuels as soon as possible. | They are a pressing …