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FEBRUARY 1 THROUGH 9

WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 7-9, 2020


Release Chelsea Manning.  

Weekend Read:  Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt - Chris Hedges Joe Sacco.  ... a journey through contemporary American misery and what can be done to change the course, interpreted through the eyes of two of today's most relevant literary journalists…. The graphics illustrate what words alone cannot, capturing a past as it's told, where there's no longer anything left to photograph.”  
IndieBound Books  

Noam Chomsky: 'The Neoliberal Order Is Visibly Collapsing'.  TruthDig  

Trump's acquittal in impeachment 'trial' is a glimpse of America's imploding empire. ... In a hyperpartisan era, Republicans cast Trump as a victim while Democrats lamented his ‘normalisation of lawlessness’.
Guardian
 

Trump’s SOTU Speech Bristled With Fascist Politics.  TruthOut /Giroux   

The Iowa Democratic Party Did the Opposite of What It Should Have Done to Secure Its Disastrous App.  Intercept  

Brazilian Judge Declines to Move Forward With Charges Against Glenn Greenwald “for Now”  Intercept  

Attorneys From Union-Busting Law Firms Are Throwing Support Behind Joe Biden.  Intercept  

Impeachment didn't remove Trump. But what if elections won't either? ... A Democratic victory on election day should free us from the chaos of the Trump presidency. But that is far from guaranteed.  Guardian  

Bloomberg Surrogates Have Seats on DNC Rules Committees. ... After DNC Chair Tom Perez unilaterally changed the Feb. 19 presidential debate requirements, opening the door for Mike Bloomberg, two campaign surrogates are in position to propose changes to superdelegate voting rules for the July DNC Convention.  Sludge    Related:  Michael Bloomberg Is the Rich Man’s Donald Trump ... The billionaire gets special treatment from the DNC, giving his opponents a chance to highlight the dangers of plutocracy.  The Nation  

Democrats’ Wimpy Impeachment Has Made Trump Stronger Than Ever.  CounterPunch  

Both Parties Acting Exactly How Everyone Expected Them To Restore Nation’s Faith In Political Process.  Onion  

The Most Appalling Moment From Trump's State of the Union.  TruthDig  

Witness to a Farce -- Watching impeachment through the lens of the New York Times.  FAIR  

Over 100 Salvadorans Killed After Deportation From U.S.: Human Rights Watch. ... Most were killed within a year of being sent back to El Salvador — often for reasons that caused them to flee in the first place, a new report said.  HuffPost  

Woke wonk Elizabeth Warren’s foreign policy team is stacked with pro-war swamp creatures. ... With her new list of foreign policy advisors, Warren unveiled a cast of pro-war think tankers, Cold Warriors and corporate careerists united in support of the Beltway consensus. So much for “big, structural change.”   Gray Zone  

Elizabeth Warren Is Inviting a Crackdown on the Left.  TruthDig  

Clinton & Buttigieg used same (CIA?) playbook in Iowa.  MadCow  

The US government claims I'm a 'domestic terrorist'. Am I? ... I shut down an oil pipeline as part of a peaceful protest. The government thinks this is violent extremism.  Guardian  

Architect of CIA’s Torture Program Testifies Just Yards From Accused 9/11 Plotter He Waterboarded.  
Intercept  

The Hidden Costs Behind Costco’s $4.99 Rotisserie Chicken. ... Costco has been broadcasting its progressive code of ethics while simultaneously plotting to exploit farmers and wreak havoc on Midwest agriculture.  Food & Water Watch  

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020

New Details Show How Deeply Iowa Caucus App Developer Was Embedded in Democratic Establishment.  Intercept  

Economic Update: Military Spending and Debt.
RNN  

HuffPost UK editor works with gov’t censorship program while smearing anti-war scholars as tools of Russia. ... HuffPost UK ran yet another hit piece smearing academic critics of the dirty war on Syria as Russian stooges. The outlet’s executive editor, Jess Brammar, assists a British government program that censors journalism that may “compromise UK military and intelligence operations.”  Gray Zone   Related:  NY Times admits it sends stories to US government for approval before publication.... The New York Times casually acknowledged that it sends major scoops to the US government before publication, to make sure “national security officials” have “no concerns.”  Gray Zone

The Push to Create Co-ops Is Energizing a New Generation of Socialists.  TruthOut  

Richard Wolff: Global Capitalism Is Theft. .. swindling occurs when the lenders and borrowers—usually private financiers and career politicians—negotiate loans that serve their own particular interests at the expense of the taxpayers who eventually cover the costs of repaying the government’s loans plus interest on them.  
TruthDig
 

SCOTLAND

Scottish Independence is Within our Grasp if We Heed the Lesson of Toom Tabard Craig Murray

Scottish independence surveys 'show Brexit has put union at risk'. ... Pollster says 52% yes vote shows gradual increase in support for leaving UK.  Guardian  

 Tusk: EU would be enthusiastic if Scotland applied to rejoin. ... Former European council president’s remarks will boost SNP’s campaign for second independence referendum.  Guardian  

Brexit: Renewed calls for Scottish independence follow UK’s departure from EU. ... SNP deputy leader hails ‘unstoppable momentum’ behind second referendum.  Independent  

US government censorship? Social media giants disappear accounts of Iranian and Venezuelan academics, journalists. ... Professor Marandi’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were recently shut down without warning as part of a US campaign to remove so-called “pro-Iranian content” from the social media sites. Gray Zone  

The Disaster of Utopian Engineering.  
TruthDig/Hedges  

Trump Would Make Palestinian Subjugation Permanent.  CounterPunch  

This Spud’s For You. ... There’s been a long-running war over potatoes in federal programs.  HuffPost  

The FBI's China Obsession. ... The U.S. Government Secretly Spied on Chinese-American Scientists, Upending Lives and Paving the Way for Decades of Discrimination.  Intercept  

Terrorism and the Militarization of the NYPD. CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Noam Chomsky: Sanders Threatens the Establishment by Inspiring Popular Movements. TruthOut  

(2019) Money Talks, Bullshit Walks on Cable News.
CounterPunch  

Thanks to outcry by fellow inmates and Assange’s legal team, Assange was moved out of the Belmarsh healthcare unit – which has been “weaponized to arbitrarily isolate and punish a prisoner.” ... Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is moved out of solitary confinement into Belmarsh prison medical wing with other inmates as he faces fight against extradition to US on hacking charges.  DailyMail   Related:  Assange Case Exposes UK’s Solitary Confinement ‘Torture’ Loophole.  EuroperLoaded   

Dennis Kucinich: The Democratic Party Has No Soul  TruthDig  

EVIRO

We Live in a Disintegrating World.  
CounterPunch
 

Rewilding the Arctic Could Turn the Tide on Climate Change. TruthDig  

Trump’s Environmental Review Rollbacks Will Put Ranchers in Charge of Public Lands. 
CounterPunch

Forest Service Paying Timber Industry to Pick Which Trees It Wants in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. ... Documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act detail close collaboration linking logging interests, Forest Service, and State of Alaska. EarthJustice  

Faced With Climate Disaster, Australian Prime Minister Plans to Open Coal Mine.  TruthOut

'Really, Really Bad': Scientists Raise Alarm Over Warm Ocean Water Beneath 'Doomsday Glacier' in Antarctica. ... "Warm waters in this part of the world, as remote as they may seem, should serve as a warning to all of us about the potential dire changes to the planet brought about by climate change." CommonDreams

Second monarch butterfly sanctuary worker found dead in Mexico. ... Body of part-time tour guide Raúl Hernández found days after that of reserve manager Homero Gómez González in Michoacán. Guardian

... Climate Change Activists ‘Want To Kill Our Cows ... You’re Next,’ Trump Warns Iowans. ... The burger-loving president expressed worry at Des Moines rally about a threat to cows he “loves,” which he falsely attributed to the Green New Deal.  HuffPost  

Swan hunting proposal moves forward. ... The bill approved by the Senate Resources and Environment Committee would create a three-year experimental hunting season for tundra swan in North Idaho. Magic Valley  

Trump administration manipulated wildfire science to promote logging. ... Emails show Interior appointees crafted a narrative that blamed forest protection efforts for wildfires.  HCN  

The great dismantling of America's national parks is under way. ... In this waking nightmare, the Trump administration has filled the parks department with anti-public land sycophants.  Guardian  

Two Wings, Four Despotisms.  Democracy is trumped in the United States by multiple, overlapping, interrelated and mutually reinforcing forms of despotism. The Trump administration and the Trumpified Republican Party, backed by a cult-like base, embody a creepy, neofascistic variant of the disease. CounterPunch

Impreachment: The most serious offenses are against the Constitution itself: waging unauthorized wars, assassinating political leaders, droning American citizens, taking money from projects Congress authorized and using it to fund projects Congress forbid, engaging in torture, refusing to enforce health, safety and environmental laws putting the lives of 10s of thousands of people at risk, using the power of the government to enrich yourself. Too bad Congress has turned a blind eye to these kinds of transgressions for decades.

How to Not Remove a Fascist.  CounterPunch  

How Lobbyists and Insiders Could Override Voters to Choose the Democratic Presidential Nominee.
 Intercpet  

Could This Be the End of American Exceptionalism?  TruthDig  

The Bernie Blackout Is Real, and These Screenshots Prove It.  TruthOut  

Investigators Interview IRS Whistleblower Who Said Trump or Pence Audit Was Interfered With: Report.  
Daily Beast  

'People, Poor Disabled People in Particular, Are Going to Die': Trump Takes Axe to Medicaid. ... "Trump wants to destroy Medicaid while claiming to save it. This fiendish scheme is an Orwellian fable conjured up by the most shameless pack of liars to ever occupy our government."  CommonDreams  

Trump to reportedly allow use of landmines, reversing Obama-era policy. ... Defence secretary Mark Esper confirmed the policy change that would, according to a Pentagon review, increase danger to US armed forces.  Guardian     Related:  'Absolutely Horrific': Trump Preparing to Roll Back Restrictions on US Military Use of Landmines. ... "Trump's policy rollback is a step toward the past, like many of his other decisions, and sends exactly the wrong message to those working to rid the world of the scourge of landmines."  
CommonDreams
 

The Myth of the “Electable” Democrat: Neoliberal Bankruptcy, 2020 Edition.  CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 4, 2020

America: Land of Make-Believe. ... If what happens in courtrooms across the country to poor people of color is justice, what is happening in the Senate is a trial. If the blood-drenched debacles and endless quagmires in the Middle East are victories in the war on terror, our military is the greatest on earth. TruthDig/Hedges 

BERNIE

Noam Chomsky: Sanders Threatens the Establishment by Inspiring Popular Movements.  TruthOut  

As Bernie Sanders Surges Ahead of Iowa Caucus, DNC Under Fire For Changing Rules to Help Bloomberg.  DemocracyNow  

'Let Iowa Be the Beginning of a New America': Last Poll Before Caucus Shows Sanders With 7-Point Lead. ... "The whole world is looking at Iowa. The whole world is asking whether or not the people in Iowa are prepared to stand up and fight for justice," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.  CommonDreams  

Media Attacks Aren’t Slowing Sanders’s Surge — They’re Showing His Independence.  TruthOut

Bernie Sanders Is the Only Candidate Who Can Save America.  TruthDig  

DNC overhauls debate requirements, opening door for Bloomberg. ... The committee is eliminating the donor threshold, which had functionally barred Bloomberg from.  Politico  

Why Democrats share the blame for the rise of Donald Trump. ... I was part of a Democratic administration that failed to fix a rigged system – I know our current president is a symptom of our disunion, not its only cause.  Guardian/Reich  

BREXIT

Brexit: UK brings down curtain on EU membership after 47 years. ... Muted official ceremony to mark historic moment.  Independent    

Britain Belongs to the Far Right Now. TruthDig  

BoJo Johnson’s Brexit Fantasies CounterPunch

Brexit, the most pointless, masochistic ambition in our country's history, is done. ... The magic dust of populism has blinded reason, and damage and diminishment lie ahead.  Guardian  

Trump will insist NHS pays more for drugs in trade deal, says ambassador. ... Exclusive: President will put US firms first in UK trade talks, says Kim Darroch.  Guardian  

Cadre of DNC Insiders Plot Return of Super Delegates to Stop Sanders at Convention. ... "Here come the dirty tricks..."  CommonDreams  

Pentagon Racks Up $35 Trillion in Accounting Changes in One Year.  .... The Pentagon made $35 trillion in accounting adjustments last year alone -- a total that’s larger than the entire U.S. economy and underscores the Defense Department’s continuing difficulty in balancing its books.  Bloomberg  

What the El Mozote Massacre Can Teach Us About Trump’s War on the Press.  Intercept  

The Quiet Start Of Brazil’s War On The Amazon. ... A year into his presidency, Jair Bolsonaro is facing accusations of genocide against his country’s Indigenous minorities. The violence began before he even took office.  HuffPost  

The Vile Message Democrats Are Sending With Impeachment.   TruthDig  

Trump’s Deal of the Century Won’t Bring Peace…That Was the Plan.  CounterPunch  

Biden’s Flip-Flop on Free Higher Education Exposes His Hypocrisy.   TruthOut  

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FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Sanders faces mounting attacks from anxious moderates as Iowa vote nears  Guardian  

Trump’s Border Wall Takes a Fall, Literally. ... Today’s forecast: Windy with a chance of symbolism.  
Rolling Stone  

'Definition of a Rigged System,' Says Sanders Campaign After DNC Changes Debate Rules for Billionaire Bloomberg.  CommonDreams  

ISRAEL - PALESTINE

Non-Condemnatory International Reaction to Trump’s Bantustan Lite Shows the “Two State” Solution Was Always a Lie  Craig Murray  

Buried in Trump-Netanyahu Deal Is Effort to 'Torpedo' ICC War Crimes Probe. ... The plan announced Tuesday by the White House demands Palestinians "dismiss all pending actions" before the International Criminal Court.  CommonDreams

God put Trump in White House, says US ambassador to Israel. ... David Friedman says Israeli control over occupied Palestine is an 'opportunity for Biblical tourism that will grow and flourish in profound ways'  Independent  

Ending Palestinian Statehood as ‘Path’ to Palestinian Statehood.  FAIR

‘How can this be a capital?’: Trump’s Middle East plan makes ‘a joke’ of Palestinian hopes. ... Trump administration proposal does away with long-held idea that the two sides will negotiate Jerusalem's future.  Independent  

The Biggest Political Party in America You’ve Never Heard Of.  LA Progressive  

The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With the Dems.  CounterPunch  

Pro-Israel Group Behind Latest Attack Ads on Sanders. TruthDig  

Wilbur Ross: Coronavirus Outbreak in China Will Boost the U.S. Economy. ... Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross proclaimed this week that coronavirus will be good for American jobs: “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.”  Cheat Sheet  

MSNBC’s Owners Shower Biden With Campaign Cash. ... 94% of Comcast executives’ and vice presidents’ contributions to Democratic presidential candidates have gone to Joe Biden, a Sludge review of FEC records finds.  Sludge  

The Davos Set's Most Dangerous Delusion.
TruthDig

How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment Against Chevron Lost Everything. 
Intercept

The Real John Bolton.  CounterPunch  

Livestock Ranchers, Miners, Loggers and Oilmen–Welfare Queens All–Have Been Raping and Plundering the American West.  CounterPunch  

2 truths and 31 lies Joe Biden has told about his work in the Civil Rights Movement. ... Since the early 1970s, Joe Biden has been a serial liar when it comes to his "work" in the Civil Rights Movement. It's the equivalent of stolen valor and is fundamentally disqualifying.  SubStack  

The ‘Useful Idiots’: How These British Academics Helped Russia Deny War Crimes At The UN. ... University lecturers have accused rescue workers the White Helmets of mass murder in Syria – to condemnation from Amnesty International and others.  HuffPost

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WEEKEND OF JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 2, 2020

The Disaster of Utopian Engineering.  TruthDig  

Mutually Assured Madness: Immunity to the 25th Amendment.  CounterPunch  

An Open Letter to the Green Party for 2020. LA Progressive   Related:   Why the Green Party isn’t the Problem.  CounterPunch   Related: Sorry Chomsky and Friends, The Green Party isn’t the Problem.  CounterPunch   

Iran is Not Responsible for US Deaths in Iraq.  CounterPunch  

Is the DNC Planning to Go to War Against the Left?.  TruthDig  

“Yet Another Declaration of War on Palestinians”: Rashid Khalidi on Trump’s Middle East “Peace” Plan  DemocracyNow   Related:  Mehdi Hasan: Trump’s Middle East Plan Is a Policy of Apartheid & Settler Colonialism.  DemocracyNow  

‘This Type of Surveillance Threatens Us All’
CounterSpin interview with Chip Gibbons on FBI vs.1st Amendment. FAIR  

Noam Chomsky Is the Antidote to Trump's Facism. ... In addition to the obvious terrors -- gutting our social safety net, near-wars with North Korea and Iran, the family separations, and the everyday racism and xenophobia -- the Trump era has been threaded with two subtler but no less damaging afflictions: confusion and paranoia  TruthDig  

Trump Is Growing Concerned About Bernie Sanders, While His Advisers Think the Vermont Senator Will Be Easy to Beat.  Intercept  

“Shit-Life Syndrome,” Trump Voters, and Clueless Dems.  CounterPunch    Related:  The bad news is we’re dying early in Britain – and it’s all down to ‘shit-life syndrome’ ... Life expectancy figures are going into reverse. But abandoning Brexit could save us.  
Guardian (2018).  

Big Pharma Won’t Let Us Import Medicine From Canada, But Insists on Sending Carcinogen-Contaminated Pills to the Public.  LA Progressive

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FEBRUARY 10 THROUGH 20

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Donald Trump 'offered Julian Assange a pardon if he denied Russia link to hack'. ... WikiLeaks published emails damaging to Hillary Clinton in 2016. ... Offer claim made at WikiLeaks founder’s extradition hearing.  Guardian   Related: Trump offered to pardon Assange if he covered up Russian interference in US election, court told. ... Wikileaks founder allegedly has evidence of visit from Republican congressman to Ecuadorian embassy on president’s behalf.  Independent    

Palestinians Reject Trump's Middle East Plan en Masse .  TruthDig  

Even With Corbyn Gone, Antisemitism Threats Will Keep Destroying the UK Labour Party.
CounterPunch    Related:   The electability business: is Bernie Sanders America's Corbyn? ... Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders have similar histories and similar messages, but where do they differ?  Guardian  

U.S. Judge Sides With Migrants Over ‘Inhumane And Unsanitary’ Border Patrol Conditions. ... The ruling bars the agency from holding migrants more than 48 hours if they’ve been fully processed.  HuffPost  

Migrant Children Are Still Being Detained in Chicago. ... Heartland Alliance describes itself as a human rights and anti-poverty organization; but it operates five child migrant detention centers in the city.  
In These Times   

Fox Has Been “More Fair”: Why Bernie’s Team Has Had It With MSNBC. ... The liberal network’s talk of “digital brown shirts” and Fidel Castro admiration has Sandersworld seeing red. (More like “MSDNC,” says Glenn Greenwald). The blowback is classic Sanders-campaign ref-working -- and a sign of a deepening Democratic divide.  Vanity Fair  

Sinn Fein’s Victory is Ireland’s ‘Brexit Moment’ When Left-Out Voters Turn on the Elite.  CounterPunch   Related:  Sinn Féin’s Day Is Coming... Last Irish election was a historic breakthrough for Sinn Féin, the most-voted party for the first time. An organizer for the party writes how austerity drove a working-class backlash — and how Sinn Féin plans to turn voter revolt into real change.  Jacobin   

Buttigieg and Centrist Dems Want a Military Response to Climate Change. That’s Dangerous. ... The Pentagon sees climate victims as threats.  In These Times
Related:  War Is an Enormous Threat to the Climate Movement... Unless challenged, U.S. military power imperils any serious response to the climate crisis.  In These Times  

‘This Is an Apocalyptic Future That We’re Facing’ ... CounterSpin interview with Karl Grossman on the weaponization of space  FAIR  

When Bloomberg News’s Reporting on China Was Challenged, Bloomberg Tried to Ruin Me for Speaking Out.  Intercept  

Bill Barr Is Even Worse Than You Realize
The attorney general is on a tear, shredding the rule of law, just as he threatened he would.  The Nation

Time Warp UK.  Craig Murray   Related:  
Cummings and Johnson face backlash over sacking of advisrs.  Guardian  

Trump Is Blowing Up a National Monument in Arizona to Make Way for the Border Wall.  Intercept  

Trump’s Gutting of NEPA Will Cut the Public Out of Public Lands Decisions.  CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Extradition of Assange Would Set a Dangerous Precedent.  TruthOut  

Julian Assange Must be Freed, Not Betrayed.  CounterPunch  

Julian Assange: Australian MPs call on UK to block US extradition. ... Politicians from WikiLeaks founder’s home country have flown to UK to visit him in jail.
Guardian  

Netanyahu Boasts That He Destroyed Free Speech in America.  ... Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption and is facing an election soon, just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine First Amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel.   TruthDig  

Donald Trump’s Plan for America: Make it Ignorant.  CounterPunch  

Company Behind Iowa Caucus App Has a Deeply Troubling Plan to Manipulate Voters.  TruthOut      Related:  Docs: Shadow Inc. Directly Tied to Liberal Media Operation. ... “The fact that we are getting framed as nefarious for doing what the right has been doing is bullshit,” said Acronym CEO Tara McGowan.  Vice  

“We Americans claim to be a peace-loving people. We hate bloodshed; we are opposed to violence. Yet we go into spasms of joy over the possibility of projecting dynamite bombs from flying machines upon helpless citizens. We are ready to hang, electrocute, or lynch anyone, who, from economic necessity, will risk his own life in the attempt upon that of some industrial magnate. Yet our hearts swell with pride at the thought that America is becoming the most powerful nation on earth, and that she will eventually plant her iron foot on the necks of all other nations.
Such is the logic of patriotism.” - Emma Goldman

Trump, Barr and the Radical Republicans Are Out for Revenge. ... And Just as Their Biden Derangement Syndrome Gains Traction, the Former Vice President’s Election Prospects Fade.  DC Report  

Timeline: How the DNC Manipulated 2016 Presidential Race. CounterPunch  

Who's Afraid of Democratic Socialism?  TruthDig  

Ralph Nader on Bloomberg’s Plot to Stop Bernie, the Rot Within the DNC, and His Recent Call With Pelosi.  Intercept  

New Hampshire 2020: In Supreme Irony, the Horse Race Favors Bernie Sanders. ...Sanders and Trump are political opposites, but they’re on the same path to victory.  Rolling Stone  

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FEBRUARY 18, 2020

The New Rules of the Game. ... The quadrennial political game of least worst, or how to scare the public to vote for presidential candidates who serve corporate power, comes this season with a new twist. Donald Trump, if he faces Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar or Michael Bloomberg, will continue to be an amalgamation of Adolf Hitler, Al Capone and the Antichrist. But should Bernie Sanders manage to evade the snares, traps and minefields... 
TruthDid/Hedges
 

BLOOMBERG SPECIAL

2015 Michael Bloomberg stated, "I, for example, am not in favor, have never been in favor, of raising the minimum wage."

Bloomberg once said a $10-an-hour living-wage proposal reminded him of Soviet Communism.

Bloomberg derided a proposal for paid sick leave as "a godawful law.

“If you show up with cancer & you’re 95 years old, we should say...there’s no cure, we can’t do anything.

Mike Bloomberg’s ‘Wizard Of Oz’ Campaign Hid His Record Behind The Curtain. ... The presidential candidate’s unprecedented spending obscured his “Great and Terrible” record.  HuffPost  

Michael Bloomberg's education 'reforms' would be a disaster for public schools. ... Like Trump, Bloomberg is a fervent backer of privatizing and dismantling public schools across the country.  Guardian   

The Corporate Media Is Directly Profiting from Mike Bloomberg’s Rise as He Spends Fortune on TV Ads.  DemocracyNow  

(2001) Bloomberg’s Sexual Blind Spot.
Village Voice  

How Bloomberg-Funded Center for American Progress Censored a Report on NYPD Surveillance of Muslims. DemocracyNow  

The Corporate Media Is Directly Profiting from Mike Bloomberg’s Rise as He Spends Fortune on TV Ads.  DemocracyNow  

(2001) Bloomberg’s Sexual Blind Spot.  
Village Voice
 

How Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Deep Pockets Have Let Him Win Friends and Buy Influence. DemocracyNow  

Bloomberg is avoiding all scrutiny. It's time to take a long, hard look at his views. ... I unearthed a clip of the mayor speaking about stop-and-frisk that should make every American question his suitability to be president.  Guardian  

Michael Bloomberg said to be considering Hillary Clinton as possible vice-president. ...Former New York mayor’s campaign refuses to rule out report.  Independent  

Once a longshot, Bloomberg is gaining ground in California. Will it last? ... Despite skepticism from some quarters, centrist voters focused on beating Trump could be the ex-mayor’s key to success.  Guardian  

Mike Bloomberg Is Paying Influencers to Post Fake Messages to Make Him Look Cool.  TruthOut  

'Grotesque Corruption': Emily's List, Center for American Progress Sold Out to Michael Bloomberg. ... It was “disconcerting” to be asked to remove the chapter “because of how it was going to be perceived by Mayor Bloomberg.”  CommonDreams  

TV Executives Celebrate Unprecedented Flood of Bloomberg Campaign Spending.  Intercept

Rep. Rashida Tlaib: Trump’s “Racist” Plan Would Legalize the Theft of Palestinian Land.  
DemocracyNow

Students’ university essays reported to police under ‘overzealous’ government counter-terror measures. ... Exclusive: Free speech is being stifled and trust destroyed because of Prevent, experts say.  Independent  

Documents: Inside The US Army’s Massive $2 Million Propaganda Campaign For ‘Independence Day’ Sequel.  ShadowProof  

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FEBRUARY 17, 2020

From Public Citizen’s analysis of Trump’s budget cuts
- Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security. $1 Trillion+
- SNAP: $182 Million
- K-12 education: $85 Billion
- Section 8 rental assistance: $79 Billion
- NIH funding: $77 Billion
- 26% cut to EPA
- Eliminates HUD affordable housing program
- $1.4 trillion in new tax cuts

‘Death Star’: Trump’s campaign manager has built a $1 billion disinformation machine — but there’s a way to beat it.  RawStory  

Thugs R Us: Roger Stone Prosecutors All Quit After DOJ Meddles in Sentencing To Appease Mad King and There's More.  CommonDreams  

ISRAEL - PALESTINE - US

There are few real heroes in Congress. Betty McCollum, who just put out a statement that refers to AIPAC as a “hate group,” is one of them. Her comments come just days after AIPAC pulled ads that targeted pro-Palestine lawmakers and implied they were worse than the terrorist group ISIS.

Klobuchar Has Pushed Extreme Right-Wing Policy on Israel/Palestine.  TruthOut  

AIPAC Is Helping Fund Anti-Bernie Sanders Super PAC Ads in Nevada.  Intercept  

UN lists 206 companies with business ties to Israeli settlements in West Bank. Download copy )
 ... Benjamin Netanyahu's government criticises 'blacklist' as tool of political pressure that could see enterprises named facing boycotts or divestment.Independent   Related:  UN approves blacklist of companies profiting from settlements. ... PM blasts ‘anti-Israel circus,’ and Livni blames him, as resolution passes in Human Rights Council, after fruitless US, EU bid to soften language.  Times of Israel  

‘They’ve incited hate’: The Democratic congresswoman taking on AIPAC. ... In an exclusive interview, Rep. Betty McCollum responds to AIPAC ads that suggested she was 'more sinister' than ISIS because of her work for Palestinian rights.  +972 Magazine  

America and Israel Against the World.TruthDig

Decades After a Palestinian American Activist Was Assassinated in California, Two Suspects in His Killing Are Living Openly in Israel.  Intercept  

No. 1 Sponsor of Terrorism? US Media Name Iran, but Overlook a Candidate Closer to Home.  FAIR  

Accusing US of Crimes Against Humanity, Venezuela Calls on ICC to Investigate Sanctions. ... With punishing sanctions, the Trump administration has given "a death sentence to tens of thousands of Venezuelans per year," foreign minister Jorge Arreaza said.  CommonDreams

The fight to save CHamoru, a language the US military tried to destroy. ... Residents of the Mariana Islands are pushing to revive their indigenous language amid fears it might soon die out.  Guardian  

Trump’s Homelessness Czar Seeks to Further Criminalize the Homeless.  TruthOut  

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WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 14-16, 2020

Weekend read:  Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward.  Fear is the most intimate portrait of a sitting president ever published during the president’s first years in office. The focus is on the explosive debates and the decision-making in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, Air Force One and the White House residence. Fear review - Guardian

Conversation between Richard Wolff and Chris Hedges on understanding socialism  RT  

CIA controlled global encryption company for decades, says report. ... Swiss government orders inquiry after revelations Crypto AG was owned and operated by US and German intelligence.  The Guardian  

The Census Is Not Safe From Donald Trump  
TruthDig
 

Paid by the Pipeline. ... A Canadian Energy Company Bought an Oregon Sheriff’s Unit.  Intercept  

Trump Quietly Slashed Pay Raise for Federal Workers a Day Before Claiming US Economy Is Best 'In History' ... "This is just the latest action in Donald Trump's war on civil servants."  CommonDreams  

“It’s Armageddon Time for the Democratic Party”  Intercept  

The Establishment Now Has Three Horses in the Race — and None Won New Hampshire.  TruthOut  

Why are Democratic Candidates Taking Money From Union-Busting Lawyer.  CounterPunch  

The Pundits Wrote Off Bernie’s Candidacy. In Iowa and New Hampshire, He Proved Them Wrong.  
Intercept  

Wall Street Invading Wet’suwet’en Territory.  CounterPunch  

American Cannibals: The golden Age of White-colar Crooks.  ... A Slow-Motion Looting. ... over the last two years, nearly every institution of American life has taken on the unmistakable stench of moral rot. Corporate behemoths like Boeing and Wells Fargo have traded blue-chip credibility for white-collar callousness. Elite universities are selling admission spots to the highest Hollywood bidder. Silicon Valley unicorns have revealed themselves as long cons (Theranos), venture-capital cremation devices (Uber, WeWork) or straightforward comic book supervillains (Facebook).  HuffPost Special Report  

(2016) A Blueprint for a New Party.  Jacobin  

“Shit-Life Syndrome,” Trump Voters, and Clueless Dems.  CounterPunch  

About Last Week – and the Accelerated Drives to Extinction and Fascism.  CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Former US drone operator recalls dropping a missile on Afghanistan children and says military is ‘worse than the Nazis’. ... ‘That image on the screen is still in my head. Whenever I think about it, it still hurts me’, Brandon Bryant says.  Independent  

Meet the 'Mafia' That Plunged the Border Patrol Into Crisis.  TruthDig  

The Climate Crisis Is Threatening Bees. Here’s What’s Helping To Save Them. ... From supporting farmers to citizen science, communities are working to protect these vital pollinators.  HuffPost  

NEOLIBERALISM

Neoliberals Weaponized Human Rights to Justify Global Exploitation   TruthDig  

Sanders Threatens the Establishment by Inspiring Popular Movements.  TruthOut  

Capitalism’s Political Servants: Trump and Johnson.  CounterPunch  

Mexico Is Showing the World How to Defeat Neoliberalism.  TruthDig  

Neoliberal Order Collapsing ?? ... “As the neoliberal order is visibly collapsing, it is giving rise to ‘morbid symptoms’  Noam Chomsky  

Neoliberalism - Alive and Well and Living in the Pockets of Billionaires.  Why the Democratic and Republican Establishments Can’t Stop Insurgents
Jacobin  

GOP “Climate Plan” Calls for Planting Trees But No Emissions Reduction.  TruthOut  

AIPAC Must Stop Bernie Sanders – at All Costs. ... 'Never Bernie' AIPAC now sounds a lot like a pro-Trump caucus, not a bipartisan pro-Israel lobby. But it has no choice.  Haaretz  

See who gives The GasBag loot in your area. ... Donor locator map for the impeached Chief Executive Donald J. Trump.  Donald Trump Watch   

How Brian Kemp STOLE The Georgia Election. ... Cenk Uygur talks to Palast on The Young Turks' Rebel HQ.  Greg Palast    Related: Kemp Loses Vote Purge Suit Brought by Reporter Palast.
Greg Palast

Did Washington use a false pretext for its bloody escalation in Iraq? ... Iraqi officials indicate that ISIS – not Ketaib Hizbullah – attacked a US military base in Iraq, setting off the escalation that led to the US attacking the latter group and killing Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Were we lied to again?
Gray Zone
 

The “Final Solution” for Palestine? CounterPunch 

New Report Details How Fossil Fuel Industry's Climate Destruction Also Exacerbates Human Rights Abuses. ... "Even in the face of the clearest scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels is literally setting the planet on fire, this sector continues to invest in the same old model and often misinforms society about the climate crisis and its causes."  CommonDreams  

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FEBRUARY 12, 2020

The Issue Dividing Democratic Candidates Is Hidden in Plain Sight.  CounterPunch  

Psychopath Nation -- Why our foreign policymakers can’t quit interventionism.  The New Republic  

ENVIRONMENT

Climate Justice and Indigenous Rights Advocates Rally in Solidarity With Wet'suwet'en People as RCMP Continue Raids. ... "Indigenous rights equals climate justice."  CommonDreams  

Fueled by 'Eco-Anxiety,' Majority in US Believe Climate Crisis Most Crucial Issue Facing Society: Poll. ... The survey, which also showed that young people are stressed about the planetary emergency and how it affects their lives, comes after Iowa caucusgoers indicated the issue is a top priority for voters. CommonDreams  

No ‘Bridge’ Needed To Renewable Energy, Fossil Fuels Only Bridge Us To Climate Chaos. ... The fracking industry wants to convince the world to give them more time to squeeze out profits, even though it’s ruining our planet. But we have the technology to move to renewable energy ASAP, and if we’re going to survive climate change, we don’t have any more time to fool around with fossil fuels.  Food & Water Watch  

Trump's Final Plan to Open Treasured Public Lands in Utah Called 'Sellout' to Big Oil. ... The administration's new managment plans "are the latest in a series of insults... that began when Trump illegally dismantled Bears Ears and Grand Staircase at the behest of corporate interests two years ago."  CommonDreams  

Brazil's Bolsonaro unveils bill to allow commercial mining on indigenous land. ... Bolsonaro expects ‘pressure from environmentalists’. ... ‘Genocide’ fears for isolated tribes as ex-missionary named to head Brazil agency.  Guardian  

Energy Insurrection ... Puerto Rico’s Power Failures Inspired a Rooftop Solar Movement. But Officials Are Undermining It -- in Favor of Natural Gas.  Intercept  

More Than 75% of Democrats Would Support a Socialist for President: Gallup. ... "When Americans -- especially millennials -- think of 'socialism,' they primarily think about Bernie Sanders, Western European democracies, income equality, and access to healthcare."  CommonDreams  

More money, less transparency: A decade under Citizens United. ... Over the last decade we saw ... $4.5 billion in non-party outside spending ... $1.2 billion given to candidates, parties and other groups by the top 10 donors ... $963 million in outside spending by groups that don’t disclose their funders.  
Open Secrets
 

How Capitalism Underdeveloped Rural America.  Jacobin  

The Left Becomes Center: Financial Transactions Taxes and Beyond.  CounterPunch/Baker 

Left Election Strategy: Lesser Evil or Independent Left?  CounterPunch  

The DNC Can't Slow Bernie Sanders' Momentum.  TruthDig  

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FEBRUARY 11, 2020

What Is Happening to Assange Will Happen to the Rest of Us.  TruthDig/Hedges  

Trump Budget to Propose 'Savage' Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security While Hiking Pentagon and Wall Funds. ... "This budget is Trump's pledge that as long as he stays in office, slashing Social Security, Medicaid, and whatever's left of SNAP will remain a White House priority."  CommonDreams  

The Erasure of Elizabeth Warren Continues. ... The media is ignoring that Warren beat Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner, and outperformed her final polling.  The Nation  

Iowa debacle fueled by anti-Bernie billionaires, Russiagate hucksters, failed DNC elites. ... the shadowy network of billionaires, Democratic elites, and Russiagate profiteers behind the Shadow app that ruined the Iowa caucuses, and a wider effort to stop Bernie Sanders’ progressive momentum.Gray Zone

Meet Mark Mellman: the Centrist, Pro-Israel Operative Behind the Anti-Sanders Ads in Iowa.  Intercept  

CORRUPTING NATIOINAL ARCHIVES
FROM I.C.E. TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Data Safe Havens from Trump's Colossal Arrogance - As newly instated U.S. president Donald Trump is making moves to censor scientific data at several public federal agencies, some are turning to Canada as a safe haven for data backups.

Erasing History: The National Archives is Destroying Records About Victims of Trump’s ICE Policies.  DemocracyNow  

Internet Archive - Wayback Machine  

Protect What Matters. ... PageFreezer simplifies compliance and litigation by automatically archiving websites, social media, mobile text messages, and enterprise collaboration platforms in a cloud-based dashboard.  PageFreezer  

Penn program in Enviromental Humanities. ... a group of U.S. scientists and environmentalists working around the clock to ‘rescue’ the climate change information that is slowly being wiped from U.S. federal websites. Penn Arts & Sciences

Canada becomes data safe haven under Donald Trump administration. ... As newly instated U.S. president Donald Trump is making moves to censor scientific data at several public federal agencies, some are turning to Canada as a safe haven for data backups.    IT World Canada  

Help Us Keep the Archive Free, Accessible, and Reader Private.  Archive Blog  

National Archives Hangs Altered Photo of DC Women’s March.  Nonprofit Quarterly  

ICE Plans to Start Destroying Records of Immigrant Abuse, Including Sexual Assault and Death. IndyBay  

Why History May Never Tell the Truth About ICE ... The Trump administration, along with The National Archives, poses a threat “to our nation’s capacity to protect and learn from history,” says Columbia professor Dr. Matthew Connelly.  ColorLines  

Preservation Acts. ... Toward an ethical archive of the web.  Harpers  

Yes, a Progressive President Could Cancel Student Debt on Day One — by Following the Grassroots.  Intercept

More money, less transparency: A decade under Citizens United. ... Ten years after the Supreme Court’s historic decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, OpenSecrets is taking a look at the dramatic ways America’s campaign finance system has been altered in the decade since.OpenSecrets

Ireland’s Decades-Old Political Duopoly Could End Today.  Jacobin    Related:  Earth-Shaking Irish Election Sees Left-Wing Sinn Fein Party Win Biggest Share Of Votes. ... Sinn Fein, the party historically linked to the Irish Republican Army, bested centrist parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.  HuffPost  

Federal Judge Reverses Conviction of Border Volunteers, Challenging Government’s “Gruesome Logic”  Intercept

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FEBRUARY 10, 2020

The Clinton Machine Will Do Anything to Stop Bernie Sanders. TruthDig  

Elizabeth Warren Is Inviting a Crackdown on the Left.  TruthDig  

Don’t Let Corporate Media or DNC Fool You -- Sanders Scored a Big Win in Iowa.  TruthOut  

'Real power is fear': what Machiavelli tells us about Trump in 2020 ... “Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear.” - Donald Trump March 2016  .  Guardian  

The Game is Rigged.  CounterPunch  

Quick Thoughts from the Cesspool of London. Craig Murray  

Risk of Nuclear War Rises as U.S. Deploys a New Nuclear Weapon for the First Time Since the Cold War.  DemocracyNow  

America's Newest Proxy Battle Could Spark World War 3.  TruthDig  

Wars Without Victories, Weapons Without End.  CounterPunch  

The Dramatic Fall of Chile as Latin America’s Neoliberal Role Model.  CounterPunch  

Trump’s SOTU Speech Bristled With Fascist Politics.  TruthOut  

US homeless student population reaches 1.5m, the highest in a decade. ... A study reports a 15% increase in the past three years among homeless students, with a 137% spike in those living on the streets.  
Guardian

‘These Are New Tactics Being Employed to Silence Journalism’. ... CounterSpin interview with Rainey Reitman on Greenwald persecution.  FAIR  

A Sordid New Genre of Stories Emerges in Corporate Media.  TruthDig  

Bolton’s Battle With Government Censorship.  CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 21 THROUGH 29

WEEKEND OF FEB 28 - MAR 1, 2020

Weekend Read: Understanding Power: The Indispensible Chomsky - Noam Chomsky. ... In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions, all published here for the first time, Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during Vietnam to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America’s imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change.  Indie Bound s

ASSANGE  EXTRADITION "TRIAL"
Began Feb. 24 in London

Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing Day 4  Craig Murray  

Your Man in the Public Gallery – The Assange Hearing Day 3.  Craig Murray  

Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing Day 2. Craig Murray  

Your Man in the Public Gallery -- Assange Hearing Day 1.  Craig Murray  

Julian Assange was 'handcuffed 11 times and stripped naked' . ... WikiLeaks founder’s lawyers complain of interference after first day of extradition hearing.  Guardian

With Wikileaks, Julian Assange Did What All Journalists Should Do.
CounterPunch/Cockburn
 

Julian Assange asks to sit with lawyers for extradition case. ... Earlier, WikiLeaks founder likened to Alfred Dreyfus as QC argued that extradition for political reasons is prohibited.  Guardian  

Julian Assange and the Imperium’s Face: Day One of the Extradition Hearings.  CounterPunch  

As Assange’s trial begins, his lawyers highlight risk of extradition with CIA spying operation’s ‘extreme measures’ ... Assange’s lawyers pointed to CIA surveillance by a Sheldon Adelson-backed private contractor and the Trump administration’s public contempt for the defendant as evidence that the Wikileaks founder would face grave risks if extradited.  Gray Zone  

Trump administration targeting 'enemy of America' Julian Assange, court told. ... (His) life is at risk if he is extradited to US, judge in London hears. Guardian

Amid the din, Julian Assange struggles to hear case against him. ... From inside court 2, WikiLeaks’ co-founder thanks those ‘disgusted’ by extradition proceedings.  Guardian  

Assange’s Defense Details CIA-Backed Espionage Operation, Trump’s Politicization Of Justice Department.  ShadowProof  

Free Julian Assange! ... By depriving the WikiLeaks founder of his freedom, prosecutors in the US and Britain are intimidating journalists -- and abetting torturers, war criminals, and kleptocrats everywhere.  The Nation  

Trump’s SOTU Speech Bristled With Fascist Politics. ... Subverting Trump's Culture of Cruelty.TruthOut/Giroux

Pentagon’s Own Map of U.S. Bases in Africa Contradicts Its Claim of “Light” Footprint. Intercept

The Reason America's Forever Wars May Actually Never End  TruthDig  

NSA Whistleblower Reality Winner Submits Clemency Petition Alongside More Than 4,000 Letters of Support.  Intercept  

Pete Buttigieg's Vile Turn as the Anti-Sanders Candidate.  TruthDig  

“The Billionaire Election”: Anand Giridharadas on How 2020 Is a Referendum on Wealth Inequality.
DemocracyNow

Biden, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar Backed By Vulture Funds Set to Profit From Puerto Rico. ... The candidates say they support Puerto Rico, but they are holding onto campaign contributions from executives at hedge funds that recently negotiated an agreement that would force Puerto Rico to make cash payments, limiting funds available for the island's rebuilding efforts.  Sludge  

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FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing
Day 2.
Craig Murray  

Assange Extradition Hearing: Chelsea Manning’s Grand Jury Resistance A Major Hurdle For Prosecutors.  ShadowProof  

Legal Team Files Motion to Release Chelsea Manning. Manning Legal Team     Related: The Law Says Chelsea Manning Must Be Freed From Prison.  
Intercept  

U.S. Intelligence Is Intervening in the 2020 Election. President Trump’s ongoing purge of the intelligence community, along with Bernie Sanders’ surge in the Democratic presidential race, has triggered an unprecedented intervention of U.S. intelligence agencies in the U.S. presidential election on factually dubious grounds.  TruthDig  

Will the Democratic Party Deny Sanders the Nomination Even If He Wins?  TruthOut  

A 'brokered convention' designed to block Bernie Sanders would be a poison pill.  If the Democratic party doesn’t allow the person with most delegates to become the nominee, it will be a disaster.  Guardian  

Tycoon Battle-Bots Battle Bernie.  CounterPunch  

Finally, Can We All Agree? Everything We Were Told About Bernie Sanders Was Wrong.  Intercept  

There’s Little Chance for Change in Lebanon, Except for More Suffering,  CounterPunch  

When Two Judges Knocked Down Sentences to Protect Immigrants From Deportation, Amy Klobuchar’s Office Appealed and Won. Intercept  

(2014) Obama's Approach to the Bush Torture Regime Has Failed. ... If you have a working conscience, it is impossible to defend the merits of President Obama’s decision to shield architects of the Bush administration’s torture program from legal action.  
The New Republic
 

“Disloyal” Trump Aides May Be Purged and Replaced With Fox News Pundits. ... Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, has compiled a list of “snakes” and “deep state” officials to replace.  
TruthOut
 

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing
Day 1 Craig Murray  

Julian Assange was 'handcuffed 11 times and stripped naked' . ... WikiLeaks founder’s lawyers complain of interference after first day of extradition hearing.  
Guardian

Ginni Thomas: Supreme Court justice's wife leading right-wing effort to purge officials 'disloyal' to Trump. ... Network of conservative activists alleged to have prepared memos for president.  Independent  

Will the Democratic Party Deny Sanders the Nomination Even If He Wins?  TruthOut  

Sanders & Socialism: Debate Between Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman & Socialist Economist Richard Wolff.  DemocracyNow  

'Air of Desperation,' Says Sanders Campaign, as Democratic Establishment Launches All-Out Effort to Stop Bernie. ... "You've got candidates, you've got super PACs, all piling on to stop Bernie Sanders. They know he has the momentum in the race."  
CommonDreams
 

The Attacks on Bernie Sanders Supporters Are Going From the Ridiculous to the Deranged.  Jacobin  

Bernie Sanders Plunges to First Place.  FAIR  

"Unconscionable": Fury as Federal Appeals Court Upholds Trump's Anti-Women, Anti-Choice "Gag Rule"  CommonDreams  

America's War on Dissent Began a Century Ago  
TruthDig
 

Yale Study Says Medicare for All Would Save U.S. $450 Billion, Prevent Nearly 70,000 Deaths a Year.  DemocracyNow  

More Real-Time Reflections from Your Friendly South Loop Marxist .  CounterPunch  

Pentagon prepares to accelerate use of AI in war by adopting ‘ethical principles’. ... New principles lay foundation for 'deployment and the use of AI by the Department of Defense'  Independent  

When Two Judges Knocked Down Sentences to Protect Immigrants From Deportation, Amy Klobuchar’s Office Appealed and Won.  Intercept  

Corporate Media Is Practically Baying for a Police State.  TruthDig  

Public Lands “Collaboration” is Lousy Management.  CounterPunch  

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FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Your Man in the Public Gallery -- Assange Hearing
Day 1.  Craig Murray  

he Zionist Colonization of Palestine. ... The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the product of ancient ethnic hatreds. It is the tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same land. It is a manufactured conflict, the outcome of a 100-year-old colonial occupation by Zionists and later Israel, backed by the British, the United States and other major imperial powers.  TruthDig/Hedges  

The DNC May Have Paved The Way For Julian Assange’s Acquittal.  ShadowProof  

Julian Assange supporters set out stall as extradition hearing begins. ... US lawyers to give opening arguments for deporting WikiLeaks founder to face charges of espionage.  Guardian  

'The People Versus the Oligarch': Bloomberg Planning All-Out Media Assault on Sanders Ahead of Super Tuesday. ... "The Bloomberg machine turns its billions onto Sanders in a first test of what the general election will look like."  CommonDreams  

US intelligence briefer appears to have overstated assessment of 2020 Russian interference.  CNN  

FOREVER WARS - COUNT ON THEM
No wars without profit

Western powers could help conclude the war in Yemen swiftly – instead they're protracting it for profit. ... The United States, United Kingdom and France continue to provide weapons for a war that they admit in private moments is morally bankrupt and strategically counterproductive.  Independent  

Russiagate 2.0 drowns out Trump’s reckless escalation of US-Russia nuclear arms race
Amid new fear-mongering about “Russian interference,” former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Trump’s overlooked, reckless escalation of the US-Russia arms race.  Gray Zone  

The CIA’s Complicity in Recent Global Atrocities Revealed   TruthDig    Related:  The CIA’s Role in Operation Condor. CounterPunch

Democrats Want to End Endless Wars, With a Catch.  Intercept  

Danny Sjursen, Why No Retired Generals Oppose America's Forever Wars ... Where Have You Gone, Smedley Butler?  Tom Dispatch  

‘This Is an Apocalyptic Future That We’re Facing’ ... CounterSpin interview with Karl Grossman on the weaponization of space  FAIR  

The FBI Is Investigating Erik Prince for Trying to Weaponize Crop Dusters.  Intercept  

Klobuchar Has Pushed Extreme Right-Wing Policy on Israel/Palestine.  TruthOut  

Bernie Sanders and the Revenge of the Superdelegates.  CounterPunch  

Bernie Sanders' plans may be expensive but inaction would cost much more. ... Facing existential challenges, we must spend heavily on a Green New Deal, Medicare for All and similar plans.  Guardian

Immigration, and How People Are Valued. 
Craig Murray

A Trump Sentence Commutation Attorneys Generals Liked.  CounterPunch  

The Child Police of Guerrero. .... Increasing numbers of children are becoming involved in the drug wars in Mexico. Now, one indigenous group is recruiting children for its police force. Spiegel  

Religion is a Repeating Chapter in the History of Politics.  CounterPunch  

'A Travesty and a Disgrace': Trump Quietly Issues Memo That Could Abolish Union Rights for 750,000 Federal Workers. ... "This administration will not stop until it takes away all workers' rights to form and join a union."  CommonDreams  

The Feud Between Trump and Barr Is a Grand Illusion  TruthDig  

‘I’ll Rule You Peasants With An Iron Fist,’ Says Bloomberg To Standing Ovation During DNC Debate.  Onion  

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FEBRUARY 24, 2020

MSNBC in 'Full-Blown Freakout' Mode as Bernie Sanders Cements Status as Democratic Frontrunner. ... "Nazi comparisons, commentators near tears, and even a stunning admission that maybe they don't understand the country anymore."  CommonDreams  

(Note: Assange extradition trial begins today) -Roger Waters on Julian Assange  Craig Murray  

Chief magistrate in Assange case received financial benefits from secretive partner organisations of UK Foreign Office. ... The senior judge overseeing the extradition proceedings of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange received financial benefits from two partner organisations of the British Foreign Office before her appointment, it can be revealed.  Daily Maverick  

Assange’s Extradition Case: Critical Moment for the Anti-war Movement.  CounterPunch  

Chelsea Manning's Lawyers Demand Her Release, Decry 'Punitive' Incarceration. ... "No matter how much you punish me, I will remain confident in my decision," said the whistleblower.  CommonDreams  

Leaked Reports Show EU Police Are Planning a Pan-European Network of Facial Recognition Databases.  Intercept  

New Mexico Sues Google For Collecting Children’s Data In Schools. ... The suit accuses Google of using its “education services package” to spy on children and their families.  HuffPost  

Bloomberg Versus Bernie: The Upcoming Battle?  CounerPunch  

Google to move UK citizens’ data to US, putting it under control of Trump government.  Independent  

The CIA’s Complicity in Recent Global Atrocities Revealed   TruthDig  

Factchecking NPR’s Attempted Takedown of Bernie Sanders.  FAIR  

‘The only uncertainty is how long we’ll last’: a worst case scenario for the climate in 2050  Guardian  

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Was a Cover-Up, Not a Cleanup  TruthDig  

Newly Released Database Shows How China Criminalized Muslim Faith. ... The information offers the fullest view yet into how Chinese officials decided who to put into and let out of detention camps.  HuffPost  

Here’s Mike Bloomberg’s Soon-to-Be-Released Higher Education Plan.  Intercept    Related:  Michael Bloomberg's education 'reforms' would be a disaster for public schools. ... Like Trump, Bloomberg is a fervent backer of privatizing and dismantling public schools across the country.  Guardian  

Religion is a Repeating Chapter in the History of Politics.  CounterPunch    Related:  The Wonders of Modern Life Briefly Explained: An Anthropology of the Industrial Revolution.  CounterPunch  

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WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 21-23, 2020

Weekend Read: Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O’Neill.  A journalist's twenty-year fascination with the Manson murders leads to shocking new revelations about the FBI's involvement in this riveting reassessment of an infamous case in American history Indie Bound   Rolling Stone review.  

Pardoning Julian Assange: Trump, WikiLeaks and the DNC.  CounterPunch   Related:  Julian Assange case is the Dreyfus of our age, says John McDonnell. ... Shadow chancellor compares US extradition case to 19th-century treason trial  Guardian   Related:  
Lawyers to seek asylum for Julian Assange in France. ... Assange’s European defence team say it is their duty to raise case with Emmanuel Macron.
Guardian
 

Bernie Sanders and the Revenge of the Superdelegates. ... Unless Bernie Sanders wins enough delegates to capture the Democratic Party nomination on the first ballot, he is not going to be the nominee. The reason will be that the superdelegates–those same people who were his wrath in 2016–will come back to deny him the nomination.  CounterPunch  

Mike Bloomberg Ran Stasi-Style Police and Surveillance Operations Against Muslim Americans.  Intercept  

Seeing Through the Lies – US Edition. ... The Guardian has, in a feat of some skill, contrived to give its readers the impression that (Roger) Stone has been convicted for Trump/Wikileaks links, when that is in fact the precise opposite of the truth.    Craig Murray  

DEMOCRACY DIES IN THE DARKNESS
Border Patrol as the SS

The Border Patrol Is the American SS. ... After decades of nurturing a culture of violent, racist abuse, Customs and Border Protection cannot be seen as just another working-class job. Like Hitler’s SS, we must see CBP not as a place where good people do bad things, but where bad people do bad things.  Jacobin  

Does Donald Trump have a secret police force waiting in the wings?  ... Border Patrol does not believe they are a civilian law enforcement agency. They believe they are kin to the Marine Corps. They do not believe they are accountable to Congress, which is why they have no issues lying to them even while under oath. ... Border Patrol believes it is not required to answer to local police, FBI, CIA or any other law enforcement agency. They claim to be the “premiere” law enforcement agency, superior to all others. They say they will become a “national police force” to be used by a president to enforce laws even among citizens.    RawStory   

Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities. ... Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country.  NY Times    

Migrant Children Are Still Being Detained in Chicago. ... Heartland Alliance describes itself as a human rights and anti-poverty organization; but it operates five child migrant detention centers in the city. In These Times

NPR and the Escalating Attack on Single-Payer Health Care. CounterPunch   Related:  Trump’s War Budget Slashes Support for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  Real News Network  

Trump vowed to not cut Social Security and Medicare -- hours before proposing just that The president is either brazenly lying about his 2021 budget or doesn’t know what’s in it.  Vox  

Robert Reich: Trump Could Try to Rig the 2020 Elections. TruthDig  

Economic Update: Capitalism’s Uneven Development. ... an introductory discussion by Professor Wolff on the heavy social costs which flow capitalism's systematically uneven economic development.
 Real News Network  

Dr. Justin Frank: "On a fundamental level, Donald Trump does not believe in America" ... Psychoanalyst and author on Trump's "God complex" and our dangerous collective addiction to his unhinged behavior. ... Two weeks ago, the Republican Party crowned Donald Trump a de facto king and dictator through his show trial and "acquittal" in the U.S. Senate. Trump and his regime's enforcers, agents, sycophants and other minions have taken that travesty as permission to launch a full-on assault on the rule of law, the Constitution, democracy and the American people.  Salon  

Trump’s Acquittal Has Ushered in a New Era of McCarthyist Purges.  TruthOut   

Corporate America Can’t Handle Any Form of Dissent. Shareholder activism is a limited tool for mitigating the worst abuses of corporations. But now, major business groups are fighting to restrict people’s ability to engage even in that.  Jacobin  

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