Daily Archives: August 12, 2020

2020-08-12: News Headlines

Jenny Gonzales (2020-08-12). The Deforestation of Brazil's Amazon. globalresearch.ca The latest INPE (National Institute for Space Research) deforestation data for the Brazilian Amazon, released last Friday, comes as the result of the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, say critics.

Mary Filippo (2020-08-12). Review of My Mis-Education in 3 Graphics. mronline.org My Mis-Education in 3 Graphics is a document of the filmmaker's darkly humorous journey through the mind-boggling constructs of mainstream economics.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-08-12). March For Our Lives shifts to new strategy. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—March For Our Lives, the massive student-led anti-gun organization that poured youthful activists into the streets—and into voting booths—two years ago, is shifting strategy, but its platform stays the same, with one big new emphasis. That emphasis, said co-founder David Hogg and Executive Director Alexis Confer, both now college students, is to link up and …

Riva Enteen (2020-08-12). Kamala Harris? Really? Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. counterpunch.org Kamala Harris might be the perfect lens to reveal who the Democrats really are. A good run-down on her track record highlights her assertion that "It is not progressive to be soft on crime." As a San Francisco social worker, I sat on the school district committee that met with families of chronically truant students.

Raouf Halaby (2020-08-12). Teaching Palestinian Children to Love Beethoven, Bizet, and Mozart is a Threat to a Depraved Israeli Society. counterpunch.org The subject box of a mid-March email from Jerusalemite Palestinian author and scholar read: "Simply Reflecting." Samia Khoury's 16/March/2020 message was a concise and tellingly prescient homily on the pathetically worsening universal condition of humanity as well as the depraved banality to which Israel's Jewish leaders have descended. The topics included the spread of Covid-19,

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-08-12). Turkey Marks 100 Years Since Treaty of Sèvres. Renewed Hostilities with Greece. globalresearch.ca Yesterday marked the 100-year anniversary from when the Treaty of Sèvres was signed. The Treaty of Sèvres saw the Ottoman Empire dismembered, with Greece, Syria and Armenia gaining old lost lands, an independent Kurdistan established, and France, Britain and Italy …

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-08-12). Serbia's Intention to Buy Chinese Weapons. US Concerns. globalresearch.ca Belgrade's announcement that it may purchase the Chinese FK-3 anti-aircraft missile system was enough for the U.S. to express concern about Serbia's future, not only with Europe, but with the entire world. | The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade said that | "procuring …

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-12). Mass Looting in Chicago, My Neighborhood Under Siege. globalresearch.ca I awoke Monday morning to distressing news, alerted me by pre-dawn email from my residential building's management. | I and other building residents were told about overnight vandalism and mass looting of retail shops along Chicago's Magnificent Mile in our neighborhood …

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-12). Joe Biden Picks Kamala Harris as Running Mate. Biden-Harris vs. Trump-Pence. Who is Kamala Harris? globalresearch.ca Whenever US presidential and congressional elections are held, voters get to choose between two pro-war, pro-corporate empowerment, anti-progressive right wings of the one-party state. | Names and faces change, results always the same. Dirty business as usual wins every time — …

Tony Cartalucci (2020-08-12). Exposing US Color Revolution in Thailand Aimed at China. globalresearch.ca Western media — after claiming recent protests in Thailand were "leaderless" and comprised of "students," decries arrest of US-funded lawyer leading them — never mentions US funding. | *** | The Western media was quick to decry the arrest of 34 year-old …

Zero Hedge (2020-08-12). Bailing on Boeing: Order Cancellations Exceed New Sales for Sixth Straight Month. globalresearch.ca The embattled manufacturer saw customers abandon plans to buy 43 of its 737 MAX planes in July, where cancelled orders once again outpaced the company's sales, according to Boeing has net negative orders of 836 planes this year…

Daisy Luther (2020-08-12). #WhiteHouseSiege — This Group Plans to "Lay Siege to" and "Occupy" the White House Next Month. globalresearch.ca The group that takes credit for the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 has a new and even more outrageous plan in mind. They intend to "occupy" the White House. | Adbusters, an online magazine that describes itself as "a global …

John W. Whitehead (2020-08-12). This Is America: Where Fascism, Totalitarianism and Militarism Go Hand in Hand. globalresearch.ca "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem."—Ronald Reagan | There's a pattern emerging if you pay close enough attention. | Civil discontent leads to civil unrest, which leads to protests and counterprotests….

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-08-12). Is a "Color Revolution" Possible in Belarus? globalresearch.ca The political crisis in Belarus is getting worse day after day. As a result of elections in the country, a violent wave of protests began in several cities. The focus of the demonstrations is Minsk, the country's capital. In the …

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-08-12). Macron Lectures Lebanon: The Condescending Politics of Aid. globalresearch.ca The

John C. A. Manley (2020-08-12). Is the Face Mask Epidemic "Bringing on the Dumbing Down of Society?" globalresearch.ca "The mask is just as detrimental to society as vaccinations," says Rose Davidson in

Richard Gage (2020-08-12). A Courageous Family Needs Your Help to Seek Justice for the Murder of Their Son on 9/11. globalresearch.ca I'm writing this article today because

Prof Rodrigue Tremblay (2020-08-12). The U.S. Presidential Election: A Referendum on Donald Trump's Character or a Campaign on Law-and-Order? globalresearch.ca "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." —Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States, 1861-65. | "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' …

Shane Quinn (2020-08-12). 80 Years Ago: Fall of France, the Wehrmacht's Advance Through the Ardennes Forest. globalresearch.ca Eight decades ago in the late summer of 1940 the Wehrmacht's generals, at Adolf Hitler's behest, were beginning preparations for a massive invasion of the USSR. Morale within the German Army was very good indeed, for obvious reasons. Within six …

Jenn Zhu (2020-08-12). Crisis of Civilization. The Manifestation of the Beauty of Humanity. The Legacy of Ancient Chinese Philosophy. globalresearch.ca I have once written a long story based on part of my own life experiences and some other real materials which might have caused some stir among the people who happened to have read it, in which the protagonist is …

Jeff Harris (2020-08-12). The Medical Assessment of Covid: America Desperately Needs a "Second Opinion" globalresearch.ca Doctors are human and subject to human mistakes. Even doctors with exceptional "expert" credentials are still human and like all humans fallible. That's why patients often seek a second or even third opinion from other expert physicians BEFORE implementing a …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-08-12). Guyana Geopolitics: Washington's New Game Plan Against Venezuela. globalresearch.ca Having gained its political independence a few decades ago, Guyana is a small South American country with little international relevance. Without major economic or geopolitical projections, the country has agriculture and mining as its main activities, not being a fully …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-12). Protesting Thai students call for prime minister's resignation and reforms to monarchy. peoplesdispatch.org Thousands of students participated in anti-government demonstrations at the Thammasat University near Bangkok on Tuesday. Students have been protesting for the past few days demanding reforms…

Staff (2020-08-12). What the Nazis Learned from Jim Crow: Author Isabel Wilkerson on the U.S. Racial Caste System. democracynow.org In her extensively researched new book, "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents," Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson argues the United States' racial hierarchy should be thought of as a caste system, similar to that in India. In a wide-ranging interview, she describes how she also looks at the ways Nazi Germany borrowed from U.S. Jim Crow laws. "The Nazis needed no one to teach them how to hate," Wilkerson says. "But what they did was they sent researchers to the United States to study Jim Crow laws here in the United States, to study and to research how the United States had managed to subordinate…

RT (2020-08-12). Wanna bet? US statisticians give Trump 'exact same odds' against Biden as the ones he beat in 2016. rt.com The major statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight has US President Donald Trump's odds of winning the November election at 29 percent — exactly the same chances he was said to have had in 2016 before he went on to win. | Nate Silver's website, named for the total number of electors in the US electoral college, unveiled its forecast,

The Canary (2020-08-12). Exam results fiasco — what is happening across the nations? thecanary.co The question of what to do with A-level and GCSE students in a year when exams have been cancelled has been a tricky equation to solve.The government on Tuesday came up with an answer for England, but it still has not pleased everyone. Here is a closer look. | — What was the problem?The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic forced sustained school closures across the UK during the back end of the spring term and the majority of the summer term.It has meant pupils have been unable to sit GCSE or A-level exams, crucial in deciding how best to continue their education, where to look for work or training, or which col…

The Canary (2020-08-12). Science and politics tied up in global race for a coronavirus vaccine. thecanary.co The announcement on Tuesday by Russian president Vladimir Putin that his country was the first to approve a coronavirus vaccine has been met by doubts about the science and safety.But it also underscored how the competition to have the first vaccine is about international rivalries as well as science.The first nation to develop a way to defeat the novel coronavirus will achieve a kind of moonshot victory and the global status that goes along with it.That is valuable to Putin, whose popularity at home has declined amid a stagnant economy and the ravages of the virus outbreak.Russian President Vladimir Putin announ…

Newsclick (2020-08-12). Brexit, COVID and the continuing ambiguity in Britain. peoplesdispatch.org Vijay Prashad, Executive Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, talks to Musician Pandit G of the Asian Dub Foundation speak of the power of music and community in fighting the evils of society.

South Front (2020-08-12). Video: Crisis in Belarus as Sign of Global Division. globalresearch.ca Over the past days, Belarus, an eastern European state bordering with Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, has become a scene of a new regime change attempt on the territory of the former USSR. | On August 9, the country held presidential …

South Front (2020-08-12). Video: Lights, Camera, Action: Staging of Protests in Belarus. globalresearch.ca In Belarus presidential elections were held. According to the Central Election Committee, the turnout was quite high and amounted to about 84% of the population. The results of the exit poll confirm the victory of the current President of Belarus, …

Michael Harris (2020-08-12). Friday 9/18: Juneteenth Holiday Education Symposium. indybay.org Historic Gold Mining Town | Negro Bar, California | Historic Folsom District…

Earth Day Network (2020-08-12). Thursday 8/13: How Citizen Science Can Help Save the Bees. indybay.org Online via livestream & Zoom…

_____ (2020-08-12). Utah Teachers Oppose Schools Reopening. popularresistance.org 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 districts open for in-person learning, while leaving planning and procedures up to individual school districts. School boards have been making minimal changes without input from teachers, school employees and parents. | The Granite Education Association, representing teachers in Utah's largest school district, held a rally outside the district offices…

_____ (2020-08-12). UC Santa Cruz Reinstates Graduate Students After Months-Long Strike. popularresistance.org The University of California has agreed to reinstate 41 UC Santa Cruz graduate student workers who were fired in March after waging a months-long 'wildcat' strike. The strike for a cost of living adjustment galvanized students at nearly every single campus in the UC's 285,000-student system. | Last week, following months of protests, campus negotiations, and outcry from elected officials, the University of California agreed to reinstate the 41 teaching assistants. | The university also agreed to offer the 41 students, who had lost their teaching appointments, an additional quarter of funding and an employment gua…

yenisafak (2020-08-12). Turkey lays 1,750 km streamer under Mediterranean Sea. yenisafak.com Turkey announced on Wednesday that it had laid two streamer cables on the Eastern Mediterranean Sea bed as part of its ongoing hydrocarbon exploration activities."By Aug. 23, a total 1,750 kilometers of streamer (seismic cable) was laid under the Mediterranean Sea for two-dimensional seismic exploration," Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said on Twitter.Turkey's seismic research vessel, the MTA Oruc Reis was "x-raying the seas."As part of the country's hydrocarbon surveying activities, Turkey released a NAVTEX (navigational telex) on Aug. 10, 2020, announcing that the Oruc Reis would begin cond…

Steven Sahiounie (2020-08-12). Mohammed bin Salman Faces His Biggest Threat to the Throne. US Law Suit against Saudi Crown Prince. globalresearch.ca Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, has been able to dodge legal responsibility in the death of Jamal Khashoggi, while US President Trump has defended and supported him. It appears

Manlio Dinucci (2020-08-12). What Is Italy Doing for Nuclear Disarmament? globalresearch.ca On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, reiterated that "Italy strongly supports the goal of a world free from nuclear weapons." He was echoed by the …

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2020-08-11). Scores of Education Experts Call on Schools to Reject Screen-Saturated Return to Learning. commondreams.org "Now is the time for parents and teachers to come together and demand what children really need." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

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…

Dean Baker (2020-08-11). Financing Drug Development: What the Pandemic Has Taught Us. cepr.net We are still very much in the middle of the pandemic, with the U.S. seeing tens of thousands of new infections daily, and the world experiencing hundreds of thousands of new infections. However, it is not too early to look at areas where we need to reevaluate public policy, most importantly in financing the research …

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). Western countries fighting 'info war' to discredit Russian Covid-19 vaccine are 'endangering lives of their citizens' — developer. rt.com Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine against Covid-19, has already become subject to coordinated information attacks from nations that have political differences with Moscow. | That's according to the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) which bankrolled the research. Kirill Dmitriev claims that, whether inspired by commercial concerns or just malice, the politicized approach of a number of Western countries ultimately jeopardizes the health and safety of their own citizens. | In the development and trials of the vaccine, Russia used a proven platform that had been tested on thousands of people over the…

RT (2020-08-11). The world's first Covid-19 vaccine: Everything we know about Russia's 'Sputnik V'. rt.com On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country had registered the world's first coronavirus vaccine, named 'Sputnik V'. | The president said that one of his daughters had tested the drug on herself. | What we know about the vaccine: : | Read more | | Developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the dose is based on a platform already used for six other vaccines,…

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 …