Daily Archives: August 11, 2020

2020-08-11: News Headlines

Dr. C. Stephen Frost (2020-08-11). End Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca Repost, first published on February 11, 2020 | On Nov 22, 2019, we, a group of more than 60 medical doctors, wrote to the UK Home Secretary to express our serious concerns about the physical and mental health of Julian Assange.1 …

Staff (2020-08-11). Lebanon's Gov't Resigns Amid Public Rage over Beirut Blast, But Protesters Demand Structural Change. democracynow.org After days of protests, Lebanon's government has resigned following the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut that killed 200 people and injured thousands. The port blast, the source of which was 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate left unattended in a warehouse for more than six years, occurred as Lebanon was already facing political, economic and public health crises. We speak with Ziad Abu-Rish, a historian and research fellow at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies and co-director of Bard College's Masters of Arts program in human rights and the arts, who says despite public outrage toppli…

Staff (2020-08-11). How the Pandemic Defeated America: Ed Yong on How COVID-19 Humiliated Planet's Most Powerful Nation. democracynow.org As the world passes a grim milestone of 20 million coronavirus cases, we look at how the pandemic humbled and humiliated the world's most powerful country. Over a quarter of the confirmed infections and deaths have been in the United States, which has less than 5% of the world's population. Ed Yong, a science writer at The Atlantic who has been covering the pandemic extensively since March, says existing gaps in the U.S. social safety net and the Trump administration's "devastatingly inept response" made for a deadly combination.

F. William Engdahl (2020-08-11). Towards a US-China War? The Creation of a Global Totalitarian System, A "One World Government"? globalresearch.ca If we step back from the details of daily headlines around the world and try to make sense of larger patterns, the dominant dynamic defining world geopolitics in the past three years or more is the appearance of a genuine …

Mindy Isser (2020-08-11). The Green New Deal Just Won a Major Union Endorsement. What's Stopping the AFL-CIO? commondreams.org American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten greets a crowd of striking teachers in Grand Park on January 22, 2019 in downtown Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Monica Moorehead (2020-08-11). Student-athletes organize for health, Black Lives Matter, labor rights. workers.org Since March 12, the coronavirus has impacted every sector of U.S. society, not only health but also social life. With all the suffering going on and with no national public health care system in the U.S., different sectors of society are seeking to protect themselves by preventing the spread of . . . |

a guest author (2020-08-11). Utah teachers challenge state's reopening plans. workers.org By Alyssa Faith and Summer Autumn School districts across Utah are planning to open with in-person classes for the start of the new school year, despite the state having twice the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus as they did when schools closed in March. Governor Gary Hubert requested school . . . |

RT (2020-08-11). Americans give up citizenship in record-smashing numbers as expats find 'pandemic & political climate too much to bear' — report. rt.com Americans are ditching their US citizenship in droves thanks to an unbearable political atmosphere and the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, new research shows, indicating that both residents and expats are cutting ties in record numbers. | More than 5,800 Americans renounced their citizenship in the first half of 2020, according to a

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-08-11). U.S. and China Will Not Go to War Before the Presidential Elections as Some Speculate. globalresearch.ca Wang Yunfei, a recently retired Chinese naval officer announced online that U.S. President Donald Trump could launch a "controlled" military conflict with China in the South China Sea to increase his chances in the upcoming presidential election. Some analysts …

Peter Koenig (2020-08-11). Global Destruction, ‚Ä®The COVID-19 Lockdown: Economic and Social Impacts. globalresearch.ca Planned Destruction of World-wide Economy | What we have to realize is that the global, country-by-country destruction — happening simultaneously — is not a coincidence. | It has been planned for decades. Thousands of pages were written alone for the preparation of …

Philip Giraldi (2020-08-11). Horror in Beirut. A Critical Examination. The Catastrophe in A Broader Context. globalresearch.ca The Establishment explanation for what occurred in Beirut's port on August 5th is that the horrific series of explosions that killed hundreds, injured thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless was a terrible accident that came about due to …

Rep. Ron Paul (2020-08-11). Coronavirus Is the New 'Terrorism'. globalresearch.ca House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed the next multi-trillion dollar "coronavirus relief" spending bill that will support testing, tracing, treatment, isolation, and mask policies that have been part of a "national strategic plan" she has been advocating. The Trump administration …

South Front (2020-08-11). Video: Chaos in Lebanon, Marked by Start of New Round of Israeli-Iranian Standoff. globalresearch.ca The explosion in the port of Beirut in early August that caused thousands of casualties became a trigger point for the further development of the already existing crisis in Lebanon. | In the following week days after the August 4 explosion, …

Fight Back (2020-08-11). Minneapolis: Proposed charter amendment on police won't be on November ballot. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) was joined by community supporters and Jamar Clark's family for a press conference demanding community control of the police and a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). After working on CPAC for years, organizing has been kicked into high gear by the uprising for George Floyd and empty responses from local politicians. Two months after nine Minneapolis City Council members declared a "commitment to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department," even their empty promises have stalled out. | One such response was a city charter amendme…

Jordan Schachtel (2020-08-11). Sweden Debunks the Covid Hysteria: No Lockdown, No Masks, No Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Here in the United States, we have become inundated with tales of COVID-19 doom and gloom. In America, the mainstream narrative is rife with hopelessness. | We are told that there is simply no way to stop this virus without repetitive …

Renee Parsons (2020-08-11). America's Political Crisis: Organized Riots and the Economic Lockdown. globalresearch.ca In case you missed it, not one member of the Democratic hierarchy: not the DNC Chair, not one Democratic Member of Congress, Governor or Mayor, has spoken out to criticize the

Jay Stanley (2020-08-11). Tracking Apps Are Unlikely to Help Stop COVID-19. globalresearch.ca Proposals to use the tracking capabilities of our cell phones to help fight COVID-19 have probably received more attention than any other technology issue during the pandemic. Here at the ACLU, we

Barbara Boland (2020-08-11). DNC Delegates: Biden Team 'A Horror Show' of 'Disastrous' Foreign Interventionism. globalresearch.ca Former National Security Advisor

Michael J. Matt (2020-08-11). Video: The Great Reset: Covid-19 and the WEF Plan to Impose A New World Order. globalresearch.ca Michael J. Matt takes a look at some good news regarding the Covid recovery rate before exploring what's really going on with the global pandemic. | To understand this, he takes us to Switzerland—to the World Economic Forum—where the movers and …

Sholto Byrnes (2020-08-11). The Flaw in the US Plan to Rally Democracies Against China. globalresearch.ca US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called last week for "a new alliance of democracies" to fight what he called "the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party". In a speech delivered at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in California, Mr …

Brett Wilkins (2020-08-11). Teaching Torture: The Death and Legacy of Dan Mitrione. zcomm.org Although Dan Mitrione has been dead for half a century, his legacy lives on in the words and deeds of a new generation of US torturers…

Michael Harris (2020-08-11). Friday 9/18: Juneteenth Holiday Education Symposium. indybay.org Historic Gold Mining Town | Negro Bar, California | Historic Folsom District…

Earth Day Network (2020-08-11). Thursday 8/13: How Citizen Science Can Help Save the Bees. indybay.org Online via livestream & Zoom…

_____ (2020-08-11). School Bus Drivers: 'No Reopening Without Safety First!'. popularresistance.org Boston school bus drivers say, "No school reopening without Union-planned and -designed health and safety procedures!" | Teachers, nurses, bus drivers and monitors, custodians, paraprofessionals, food workers demand a seat at the planning table, now! | First step: Nurses in every school, bus yard, and food and nutrition facility to ensure frontline Emergency COVID-19 Worksite Standard Operating Procedures. | Transdev: Stop the fraud! Hire professional bus and facility disinfecting companies, now!

Fight Back (2020-08-11). Philippines: Condemnation of the murder of Randall Echanis. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Jose Maria Sison, National Democratic Front of the Philippines Chief Political Consultant. | In the strongest terms, I condemn the murder of Randall (Randy) Echanis and his neighbor who were unarmed. Randall was a peaceful social activist. He was a mild-mannered man of 71 years. He had a consistent modest personality with a high level of education and intellect. He had long dedicated himself to his social advocacy and had made tremendous sacrifices for many decades. | He was outstanding as an advocate of genuine land reform, rural development and n…

Margot Rathke (2020-08-11). Why the Stimulus Deal Should Include Free College. commondreams.org "Even before the pandemic, the exorbitant cost of higher education was holding our country back. That's especially true now." (Image: via Inequality.org/IPS) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Manlio Dinucci (2020-08-11). Cosa fa l'Italia per il disarmo nucleare? globalresearch.ca Nel 75 ∞ anniversario del bombardamento atomico di Hiroshima e Nagasaki, il presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella ha ribadito che ´l'Italia sostiene con forza l'obiettivo di un mondo libero da armi nucleari ª. Gli ha fatto eco il presidente della Commissione Difesa …

Prof. Robert Abele (2020-08-11). How Video and Online Reading Is Undermining Cognition. Protecting and Sustaining Classroom Teaching. globalresearch.ca As the Coronavirus rages uncontrolled in the United States and elsewhere, in education we are once again relying on online delivery of courses. That of course is really the only sensible alternative we have. However, as we ramp up for …

Global Research News (2020-08-11). Selected Articles: Five Ways "The New Normal" Is Getting Worse and Worse. globalresearch.ca We hope that by publishing diverse view points, submitted by journalists and experts dotted all over the world, the website can serve as a reminder that no matter what narrative we are presented with, things are rarely as cut and …

Alan MacLeod (2020-08-10). Trump Appoints Disgraced Iran-Contra Hawk Elliott Abrams as Iran Envoy. globalresearch.ca Activists, the UN, and even mainstream news outlets expressed dismay at the Trump administration's decision to appoint regime-change champion Elliot Abrahams to the role of Special Representative for Iran. | *** | The Trump administration has appointed disgraced neoconservative hawk Elliott …

Medea Benjamin (2020-08-10). Elliott Abrams' Appointment as the Next U.S. Special Representative for Iran. Spells Disaster. globalresearch.ca The appointment of Elliott Abrams to replace Brian Hook as the next U.S. Special Representative for Iran is another low point for the Trump administration's disastrous policy towards Iran. The dangerous conflict resulting from Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement …

Gareth Porter (2020-08-10). Don't Delay Military Withdrawal from the Middle East. globalresearch.ca The Quincy Institute's "

Galina Angarova (2020-08-10). As Indigenous Peoples, We Are Resilient. globalresearch.ca Today, we celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples and all Indigenous leaders who have been fighting for our rights. Today, we remember the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations that took place in …

Kevin Zeese (2020-08-10). Era of US Domination of Latin America Coming to an End: Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia. globalresearch.ca Despite its failings at home, the United States intervenes in countries across multiple continents seeking to control their governments and resources. | This week, we look at the US' latest efforts in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia to undermine their independence and …

The Stop Golden Rice Network (2020-08-10). Why We Oppose Golden Rice. counterpunch.org The push for corporate-led solutions to hunger and malnutrition is alarming. In particular, Golden Rice is now being proposed as a solution to the worsening hunger and malnutrition associated with the pandemic. Agrochemical transnationals (TNCs) and collaborating institutions such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are using concerns over food security during the pandemic

RT (2020-08-10). 'Give them soy lattes and foot massages' — Ted Cruz roasted for mocking pandemic payments. rt.com Republican Senator Ted Cruz was hammered online after he mocked a Democrat colleague's calls for higher coronavirus payments to Americans. Cruz's brand of 'let them sip soy' humor went down like a lead balloon. | Though President Donald Trump recently signed a slew of executive orders extending unemployment benefits, pausing evictions, deferring student loan payments and implementing a payroll tax cut, the American people have yet to receive another stimulus check from the federal government. | With Congress set to debate a second round of checks in the coming days, some Democrats have called for a more genero…

The Canary (2020-08-10). Widespread calls for PM to boost testing as he prepares for schools reopening. thecanary.co Boris Johnson is facing widespread calls to boost coronavirus testing and tracing in order to safely reopen schools to all pupils without imposing further restrictions on businesses or social lives.The prime minister said it is the "national priority" to get children back in class in England next month, but he has been warned by scientific advisers that "trade-offs" may be necessary to keep transmission down. | Teachers, scientists, opposition politicians and the children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield have all called for improvements to testing before pupils return.Longfield welcomed Johnson's commitm…

South Front (2020-08-10). Lebanon: President Macron Pushes "Neo-expansionism" globalresearch.ca The current geopolitical position of France is shaped by a variety of factors. As one of the key actors in the Mediterranean region, Paris is now primarily a European leader in countering Turkey's expansionist policy. Relations between the two countries …

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-10). Trump's Payroll Tax Deferral Aims to Weaken and Kill Social Security and Medicare. globalresearch.ca All politicians lie. Rare exceptions prove the rule. | Trump is Exhibit A, a serial liar never to be trusted, a menace to virtually everything just societies hold dear. | Last February 8 he tweeted: "We will not be touching your Social …

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-10). Trump Usurps Congressional Appropriations Authority. globalresearch.ca On Saturday, Trump unconstitutionally breached exclusive congressional appropriations authority. | Under Article I, section 9, clause 7 of the US Constitution (the appropriations clause), "(n)o money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." | Congress …

Russell Pearce (2020-08-10). Not Just a Bad President, Trump is a "Holmesian Bad Man." Act Accordingly. aclu.org "If you want to know the law, you must look at it as a bad man does, who cares only for the material consequences," wrote legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Not as a good one, who finds his reasons for conduct, whether inside the law or outside of it, in the vaguer sanctions of conscience." , , Donald Trump is a Holmesian bad man, and an even worse president, pushing the bounds of corruption and authoritarianism, unbound by norms, the rule of law, a sense of shame, or even care for others. To deal with such a bad man and bad president — one who truckles to adversaries like Russian P…

Jean Shaoul (2020-08-10). War Crimes in Afghanistan Covered up by UK Ministry of Defence. globalresearch.ca The government has been caught out lying about evidence on the killing of civilians in Afghanistan by the elite Special Air Service (SAS). | Three years into a civil case in the High Court brought by Saiffulah Yar into the deaths …

Rev. William Alberts (2020-08-10). Cognitive Without Conscience. counterpunch.org President Trump took a cognitive test, and touted his performance as "amazing." The test: he repeated "Person, Woman, Man, Camera and TV" in that order. It is a dementia test that measures memory, not morality, the capacity to recall, not intelligence. Seventy-four-year-old Trump proposed that his 2020 presidential opponent, seventy-seven-year-old Joe Biden take the test

Project Censored (2020-08-10). Episode 101 — A 3rd Reconstruction And Critical Environmental Media Literacy w/Professor Jeff Share. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon host University of Los Angeles' Jeff Share. Along The Line is a non-profit, education-based podcast that provides listeners…

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-08-10). Macron Takes Advantage of Explosion to "Conquer Lebanon" globalresearch.ca All relevant events on the international stage have some geopolitical effects. Terrorist attacks, natural catastrophes, accidents and other tragedies also have implications for the power game between nations. In fact, any atypical event can completely change the way of relations …

Felicity Arbuthnot (2020-08-10). Unending "9/11s", "A Sad Kind of Freedom.": "Dear USA, Your 9/11 is our 24/7." globalresearch.ca This article was published by GR ten years ago in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. | On September 12, 2001, The Atlantic Council meeting in Brussels invoked article 5 of the Washington Treaty. An Attack against one member state …

Ray McGovern (2020-08-10). Brent Scowcroft: Could He Have Stopped the 2003 Invasion Of Iraq? globalresearch.ca Brent Scowcroft badly served his friend George H. W. Bush on Iraq by not doing all he could to stop Bush's son from committing a war of aggression, writes Ray McGovern, who used to brief H.W. | *** | Some of the …

Prof. John Ryan (2020-08-10). Ukraine's Complex Historical Background and The Contemporary Era. globalresearch.ca Ukraine has a complex historical background and most people have little knowledge of this. The western part of Ukraine known as Galicia has an especially complex history. Going back for more than a thousand years, this region had been settled …

Pepe Escobar (2020-08-10). Who Profits from the Beirut Blast? globalresearch.ca The narrative that the Beirut explosion was an exclusive consequence of negligence and corruption by the current Lebanese government is now set in stone, at least in the Atlanticist sphere. | And yet, digging deeper, we find that negligence and corruption …

Stop Golden Rice Network (2020-08-10). Asian Network Mounts Week-long Protest vs Golden Rice. asia-pacificresearch.com