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| Four
Related articles on Mosul
2 - The Devastation of Mosul. ... Iraq’s Prime Minister formally declared
victory over Isis in the northern city of Mosul, saying their defeat marks the
“collapse” of the self-proclaimed caliphate. 3
- Victory in Mosul for now but Islamic State is not defeated yet. ... The
Iraqi city is in ruins and its people are torn apart by suspicion and hatred in
the wake of IS rule. Evening
Standard 4
- Patrick Cockburn with several commentary on Mosul. Independent
|
Trump’s
Embrace of the Saudi Crown Prince, and a Qatar Nightmare Scenario. CounterPunch
Yale
historian warns Trump’s rise perfectly mirrors frightening ascent of Fascism
and Nazis in the 1930s. RawStory
The
New McCarthyism Is Destroying the Democratic Party. ... For more than a year now,
the collective U.S. ruling class, with Democratic Party and corporate media operatives
in the vanguard, has frozen the national political discourse in a McCarthyite
time warp. TruthDig
With
New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons.
Intercept
July 17, 2017
How Elite
Billionaires Like Sheldon Adelson and Peter Thiel Are Restricting Press Freedom
in America. ... With one vengeful tycoon in the White House, another the brains
behind Hulk Hogan's $140-million lawsuit and Adelson controlling a Las Vegas newspaper,
a new documentary depicts the ways U.S. journalists are increasingly being silenced.
Haaretz
Russia Trumps Ecocide
at the Petroleum Broadcasting System. CounterPunch
Video: Naomi Klein and
Jeremy Corbyn Discuss How to Get the World We Want. Intercept
Whistleblower
John Kiriakou Tells Robert Scheer How the CIA Returned to Its Violent Roots After
9/11. ... Kiriakou, who spent two years in prison for publicly disclosing the
CIA’s use of waterboarding in interrogations, tells Scheer about the inner
workings of the agency and why he felt compelled to speak out. TruthDig
Trump’s
Flirtation with Violence. ... Some people might have dismissed Donald Trump’s
recent tweet of a video clip showing him punching the face of a man with a CNN
logo on his head as yet another example of the US president’s vulgar buffoonery
– unseemly, perhaps, but par for the course. But others have pointed to something
more sinister – and for good reason. Project-Syndicate
Trump
claims he can’t be sued for inciting rally violence. ... The president’s
lawyers claim immunity from a lawsuit brought by protesters hurt at 2016 rally.
Politico
The
NRA Is Playing a Deadly Game in Labeling the Left as Violent. TruthDig
NRA-TV smears Women’s
March participants by blaming them for violence from an entirely different day.
Rawstory
Google spends millions
on academic research to influence opinion, says watchdog. ... The tech company
has funded 329 papers on public policy since 2005, according to the US-based Campaign
for Accountability. Guardian
Trump Tax Agenda: 'Astonishing'
Cuts for Rich Like Him and Hikes for Middle Class. ... Trump's tax proposals "would
result in an increase in taxes for nearly 1 in 5 American households" while
cutting taxes drastically for the wealthiest Americans.
CommonDreams
Noam
Chomsky on the prospects for nuclear war under Trump. Conversations
Weekend of July 14-16, 2017
WEEDEND
READ:
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good
Politics - by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith. ... For eighteen years,
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been part of a team revolutionizing
the study of politics by turning conventional wisdom on its head. They start from
a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about
the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they
have to.
Barnes
and Noble
Now They
Hate Universities: Trumpie Anti-Intellectualism Infects GOP. ... A new Pew poll
finds that 58% of Republicans now say that colleges and universities have a negative
impact on the United States. But this finding is a very recent development. In
2015, 54% of Republicans held that colleges and universities have a positive influence
on the US. TruthDig
Former
FCC Commissioner on How Greater Media Consolidation is a Threat to Democracy and
Free Speech. Democracy
Now
122
Countries Overcome U.S. Opposition and Pass Landmark U.N. Global Treaty to Ban
Nuclear Weapons. Democracy
Now
Emboldened
by Trump, U.S. Border Officials Are Lying to Asylum Seekers and Turning Them Away.
Intercept
Yemen
cholera epidemic: 300,000 cases confirmed but vaccine plans 'on hold'. ... UN
fears shipping of up to one million vaccine doses will be delayed or even shelved
completely by precarious security situation. Independent
Environmental
defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals, ,,, Exclusive
Activists, wildlife rangers and indigenous leaders are dying violently at the
rate of about four a week, with a growing sense around the world that ‘anyone
can kill environmental defenders without repercussions’. Guardian
Israel’s
Ever-More Sadistic Reprisals Help Shore up a Sense of Victimhood. CounterPunch
Glenn
Greenwald: Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails Aren't a "Smoking Gun" or Evidence
of Criminal Collusion. Democracy
Now
U.S.,
UK and France Denounce Nuclear Ban Treaty. ... The U.S., UK and France have never
shown enthusiasm for banning and eliminating nuclear weapons. It is not surprising,
therefore, that they did not participate in the United Nations negotiations leading
to the recent adoption of the nuclear ban treaty, or that they joined together
in expressing their outright defiance of the newly-adopted treaty. CounterPunch
How big tobacco has survived death and taxes. ...The world’s five major tobacco
companies are thriving, profitable and increasing sales, despite many predictions
of the industry’s decline.
Guardian
July 13, 2017
Comply
or Die: the Police State’s Answer to Free Speech Is Brute Force. ... “Since
when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak
with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is
that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our
agents. We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to
challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet.” - Justice William
O. Douglas. CounterPunch
Facing
the New Assault on Civil Rights. ... The Trump administration has launched an
unprecedented rollback of civil rights and voting rights. Those who care about
building a more perfect union face harsh headwinds. We’ve gone from an administration
seeking to fulfill these rights to one seeking to repeal these rights. CounterPunch
WATCH:
Cops under fire for racially profiling black Florida state attorney after pulling
her over for dark window tint. RawStory
Mexico
Spied on Human Rights Investigators & Families of Missing Students Instead
of the Kidnappers. Democracy
Now
Charter
Schools Are Constantly Burning Out Teachers - And They Often Like It That Way.
... Former NJ Charter teacher Rann Miller explains why high turnover helps strengthen
the charter agenda. AlterNet
Richard
Wolff Breaks Down the Meaning of Terms Such as ‘Conservatives’ and ‘Socialists’
YouTube
(9min)
Saudi
Arabia has played Donald Trump like a fiddle when it comes to the dispute with
Qatar. ... With the prospect of Qatar being thrown out of the Gulf Cooperation
Council and driven into the arms of Iran, the horrible reality is that the Middle
East crisis may be one of Trump’s own making. Independent
July 12, 2017
Warning
of Sixth Mass Extinction, Scientists Implore Global Action. ... "All signs
point to ever more powerful assaults on biodiversity in the next two decades,
painting a dismal picture of the future of life, including human life." CommonDreams
Misinforming
the Majority: A Deliberate Strategy of Right-Wing Libertarians. ... Many individuals
who follow politics and journalists think that the right-wing playbook began with
the Koch brothers. However, in her groundbreaking book, Nancy MacLean traces their
political strategy to a Southern economist who created the foundation for today's
libertarian oligarchy in the 1950s.
TruthOut
The
Airline Industry’s Collusion With the Feds.
CounterPunch
Former
FCC Commissioner on How Greater Media Consolidation is a Threat to Democracy and
Free Speech. DemocracyNow
The
Intercept’s parent company, First Look Media, has taken steps to provide
independent support for the legal defense of Reality Winner, the NSA contract
employee who was recently arrested in the first instance of the Trump administration
using the 100-year-old Espionage Act to prosecute an alleged journalistic source.
Intercept
White
House looks to replace U.S. troops in Afghanistan with mercenaries. This will
not end well. ThinkProgress
Why
Does the U.S. Hate Iran? Think Oil and Strategic Power. Paul
Street
July 11, 2017
Chris
Hedges and Noam Chomsky: How the U.S. Became an Oligarchy That Makes War on the
Middle Class. Part 1 of 2 YouTube
Chris Hedges
and Noam Chomsky: How the U.S. Became an Oligarchy That Makes War on the Middle
Class Part 2 of 2 YourTube
Noam
Chomsky July 2017 - The Emerging World Order YouTube
Jared
Kushner Tried and Failed to Get a Half-Billion-Dollar Bailout From Qatar. ...
Not long before a major crisis ripped through the Middle East, pitting the United
States and a bloc of Gulf countries against Qatar, Jared Kushner’s real estate
company had unsuccessfully sought a critical half-billion-dollar investment from
one of the richest and most influential men in the tiny nation, according to three
well-placed sources with knowledge of the near transaction. Intercept
The
Qatar crisis has nothing to do with Al Jazeera and everything to do with the war
in Syria. ... It is about taming the one Gulf nation which has the potential to
outshine the Saudi kingdom and dictate the outcome of the Syria war. Independent
"Trying
to Build in the Rubble of Neoliberalism": Michelle Alexander and Naomi Klein
on Bringing Movements Together. Truth-Out
Paul
Krugman: The GOP Is Never Returning to Reality. ... It's not just Trump. The entire
party has embraced post-truth politics. AlterNet
In
a Lawsuit Affidavit, NSA Whistleblower William Binney Confirms U.S. Government
Spies on Citizens. TruthDig
"Too
Broke" for Universal Healthcare? US to Spend $406 Billion More on F-35. ...
There always another $27 billion or lying around, it seems, when Lockheed Martin
needs more money for expensive weapons system. CoummonDreans
.
| JULY
24 THROUGH 31  July 31, 2017 Richard
W. Painter?--This guy- Sebastian Gorka-- is nuts. Kelly should fire him. Time
to Reassess the Roles Played by Guccifer 2.0 and Russia in the DNC ‘Hack’.
TruthDig
Henry
Giroux on a Politics of Cruelty Without Euphemisms. TruthOut/Giroux
Elizabeth
Warren's Pet Project Has Already Returned $12 Billion to Swindled Families - So
Naturally Republicans Want It Dismantled. ... The GOP's assault on the Consumer
Finance Protection Bureau is an opportunity for Warren to taunt her opponents.
July 28-30, 2017Weekend
Read: The Democrats
Are A Lost Cause. ... Hillary was a two time loser. Weirdly, her people are still
in charge of the Democratic Party. Clintonista militant moderates haven’t
learned a thing from Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump — so they’re trying
to sell Democratic voters on more of the same.
The future of fake news: don't believe everything you read, see or hear. ... A
new breed of video and audio manipulation tools allow for the creation of realistic
looking news footage, like the now infamous fake Obama speech. The
Guardian Policing
for Profit: Jeff Sessions & Co.’s Thinly Veiled Plot to Rob Us Blind.
... “Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion;
they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed
in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle
— a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could
be applied to him, he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism.
It is the aim of the Bill of Rights, if it has any remaining aim at all, to curb
such prehensile gentry. Its function is to set a limitation upon their power to
harry and oppress us to their own private profit.” - H.L. Mencken. Counter
Punch Joshua
Green on the "Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump & the Storming
of the Presidency" Democracy
Now Ratepayers
Foot the Bill for Utilities' Push Against Rooftop Solar. TruthOut
A
Suggestion for Bernie: On Crimes Detectable and Not. Counter
Punch |
| End of Empire Donald
Trump and the Coming Fall of American Empire. ... Even as President Donald Trump
faces ever-intensifying investigations into the alleged connections between his
top aides and family members and powerful Russian figures, he serves as commander
in chief over a U.S. military that is killing an astonishing and growing number
of civilians. The
Intercept Pentagon
Study Declares American Empire Is 'Collapsing' ... Report demands massive expansion
of military-industrial complex to maintain global "access to resources."
AlterNet
|
Newly
Declassified Documents Confirm U.S. Backed 1953 Coup in Iran Over Oil Contracts.
Democracy
Now
A
Shameful Silence: Where is the Outrage Over the Slaughter of Civilians in Mosul?
Counter
Punch
Netanyahu
Tells European Leaders Concern for Palestinian Rights Is “Crazy”. The
Intercept
"A
Forgotten Crisis": Yemen's Aid Workers Speak Out About the World's Worst
Humanitarian Disaster. Democracy
Now
Poland's president to veto controversial laws amid protests. ... Andrzej Duda
says he will block proposed legislation that would have put supreme court under
control of ruling party. The
Guradian
ALEC's
Scary Plan For Electing Your Senators
The radical right is intent on destroying
democracy as we know it. AlterNet
Forensic
studies of “Russian hacking” into Democratic National Committee computers
last year reveal that on July 5, 2016, data was leaked (not hacked) by a person
with physical access to DNC computers, and then doctored to incriminate Russia.
TruthDig
How
Deranged Are Trump Supporters? New Poll Shows That It's Worse Than You Ever Imagined
... Seventy-two percent of Trump voters consider the Russia story overall to be
"fake news"; only 14% disagree. AlterNet
Trump’s
disordered personality has spawned a level of mayhem and incompetence that defies
imagination. RawStory
July 24, 2017
| TRUMP AND THE RUSSIAN MOB Married
to the Mob: Investigative Journalist Craig Unger on What Trump Owes the Russian
Mafia. Democracy
Now!
Trump’s Russian Laundromat "Trump
and the Russian Money Trail": Trump's Ties to Oligarchs Go Back Decades.
|
Meet
the GOP Insider Who Created White Nationalist Richard Spencer. ... Long before
Donald Trump’s election ushered in an era of resurgent white nationalism,
a disaffected Republican named William H. Regnery II was brooding about the demographic
plight of white people and plotting their rescue. TruthDig
5
Reasons Why Extraordinary Presidential Powers Make It Very Difficult to Nail Trump,
His Family or His Team. ... Pardon power and absolute lack of morals make for
a toxic, lawless cocktail. AlterNet
Nixon’s
Justice Department warned that the president can’t pardon himself. ... “Under
the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” ThinkProgress
Six
months into America's nightmare, how likely is Trump's impeachment? ... There
are only so many possible fates for the president: an early departure, defeat
in his re-election bid or a second term. Which will it be? Guardian
A New Class
Politics. ... Class is back on the agenda of the European left. That is good news.
The reasons, however, are unfortunate. Counter
Punch
Amnesty
Accuses U.S. Coalition of War Crimes in Mosul: Scale of Death Much Higher Than
Acknowledged. Democracy
Now!
Cameroonian Troops Tortured and Killed Prisoners at Base Used for U.S. Drone Surveillance. Intercept
How
the UAE is Recruiting Hackers to Create the Perfect Surveillance State. Intercept
Donald Trump urged to intervene
in case of Saudi student facing execution for protesting the Kingdom's rulers.
... Theresa May accused of 'deafening silence' on the imminent beheading of 14
young men and urged to use influence. Independent
-