Meaningless Titles and Liveable Cities: Melbourne Loses to Vienna
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2018-08-17
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has gone about its annual business of releasing its World's Most Liveable City index, the sort of flotsam that matters less to urban planners than hedge-fund managers. The previous seven time winner had been Melbourne, whose supposed ascendancy had been threatened, at points, by Vancouver and Vienna. Now, the Austrian…
counterpunch.org/2018/08/17/meaningless-titles-and-liveable-cities-melbourne-loses-to-vienna/

12 Top Former Intelligence Officials Join in Rebuking Trump
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-08-17
In a joint letter to the president, the signatories say his stripping of the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan is "an attempt to stifle free speech." | The post 12 Top Former Intelligence Officials Join in Rebuking Trump appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/12-top-former-intelligence-officials-join-in-rebuking-trump/

Dwayne "Lee" Johnson & The Monsanto Ruling With Journalists Carey Gillam and Bob Egelko
KPFA WorkWeek Radio | indybay.org | 2018-08-17
KPFA WorkWeek Radio looks at the recent court victory by Beneica Unified school district groundskeeper Dewayne "Lee" Johnson. Johnson sued the Monsanto corporation for causing cancer with the use of their product Roundup. He was drenched in the chemical and now has terminal cancer.
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/08/14/18816915.php

Monsanto Just Lost a Case Linking Its Weed Killer to Cancer
Rene Ebersole | thenation.com | 2018-08-17
Monsanto Just Lost a Case Linking Its Weed Killer to Cancer appeared first on The Nation.
thenation.com/article/monsanto-just-lost-a-case-linking-its-weedkiller-to-cancer/

Art & Music Party: Climate March Labor Contingent
Labor for Climate, Jobs & Justice | indybay.org | 2018-08-17
350 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | SEIU 1021 Office, enter on Kansas and 17th…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/08/16/18816945.php

Angela Davis: Aretha Franklin "Will Forever Animate Our Collective Sense of Desire for Change"
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-17
Aretha Franklin became the voice of the civil rights movement in 1967, when her cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" became an international sensation. Franklin was a steadfast supporter of the civil rights movement throughout her long and remarkable career. She sang at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral after his assassination in 1968. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Franklin anonymously helped fund the movement for decades. He said, "When Dr. King was alive, several times she helped us make payroll. … Aretha has always been a very socially conscious artist, an inspiration, not just an entertainer." For more, we sp…
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/17/angela_davis_icon_aretha_franklin_will

SF Mayor Breed & DPH Garcia Still Pushing Lennar Hunters Point Project "It's Safe"
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2018-08-17
At a community meeting on August 15, 2018, San Francisco Department of Public Health "Environmental Engineer" Amy Brownell told community residents that the Hunters Point Shipyard is safe and can be further developed. | Brownell whose salary is funded by the developer Lennar has been involved in the criminal cover-up of the falsification of testing in the billion dollar eco-fraud at Hunters Point Shipyard and Treasure Island. Mayor London Breed and DPH director Barbara Garcia are also aware of the criminal retaliation of OSHA health and safety whistleblowers and have colluded with the developers to cover up the m…
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/08/17/18816950.php

US Announces 'Action Group' To Coordinate Anti-Iran Efforts
Middle East Eye | iranian.com | 2018-08-17
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday the establishment of the Iran Action Group, a task-force to coordinate all of President Donald Trump's efforts against Iran. The group will be led by Brian Hook, a State Department official who served as an adviser to John Bolton in 2006, when the Iran hawk was […] | The post US Announces 'Action Group' To Coordinate Anti-Iran Efforts appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2018/08/16/us-action-group-anti-iran/

Pompeo Forms "Iran Action Group" to Coordinate Iran Strategy, Reports Directly to White House
ZeroHedge.com | mintpressnews.com | 2018-08-17
Pompeo told reporters the action group would be "directing, reviewing and coordinating all aspects of the State Department's Iran-related activity." | The post Pompeo Forms "Iran Action Group" to Coordinate Iran Strategy, Reports Directly to White House appeared first on MintPress News.
mintpressnews.com/iran-action-group/247920/

German government places Socialist Equality Party on subversive watch-list
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-17
Last month Germany's domestic intelligence agency added the Socialist Equality Party to its official list of "left-wing extremist" organizations subject to state monitoring.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/17/germ-a17.html

Fired Tesla employee alleges company spied on workers, knew of drug dealing at plant
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-17
An employee fired from Tesla's 'Gigafactory 1' battery plant has accused the electric-car maker of spying on its staff and failing to investigate reports that a Mexican cartel may be selling drugs inside the facility.
rt.com/usa/436177-musk-tesla-employee-lawsuit/

'If Trump Wants to Do It, He'll Just Do It': White House Aides Reportedly Fear the President Is 'Eager' to Go After More of His Critics
Matthew Chapman, AlterNet | alternet.org | 2018-08-16
Trump got away with stripping John Brennan of his clearance. Now he wants to go after even more people. | According to a new report in The Washington Post, President Donald Trump is not satisfied with stripping former CIA director John Brennan of his security clearance. He wants to terminate more clearances: President Trump has told advisers that he is eager to strip more security clearances as part of an escalating attack against people who have criticized him or played a role in the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, two White House officials said. If true, this impulse from Trump would lend more credence to the idea that stripping Brennan of clearance was a deliberate act of political targeting for Brennan's role in encouraging the investigation of Russia — which Trump himself has openly admitted in. . .
alternet.org/more-intelligence-officials-could-lose-clearances-investigating-russia

Kris Kobach, Trump's Top Vote Suppressor, Wins Kansas Primary
Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-08-16
Kris Kobach is the frontrunner to become the next governor of Kansas after winning the Republican primary. And even though Kobach's vote suppression efforts have faced legal setbacks, Trump's stacking of the Supreme Court may soon hand him another victory, says investigative journalist Greg Palast | The post Kris Kobach, Trump's Top Vote Suppressor, Wins Kansas Primary…
therealnews.com/stories/kris-kobach-trumps-top-vote-suppressor-wins-kansas-primary

US creates Iran Action Group to 'change regime's behavior'
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-16
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — a fierce critic of the Tehran leadership — has announced the creation of a so-called Iran Action Group. It comes amid Washington's campaign of economic pressure against Iran and its allies.
rt.com/usa/436153-pompeo-iran-action-group/

Cereal killers: Monsanto weedkiller that can 'probably' cause cancer found in children's breakfasts
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-16
A hearty bowl of oatmeal is a healthy way to start your day, but according to a new study, that bowl of oatmeal can contain dangerous levels of glyphosate, a weed-killing chemical linked to cancer.
rt.com/usa/436069-monsanto-weedkiller-cancer-cereal/

Punctured batteries, massive waste: Whistleblower accuses Tesla of sloppy production (PHOTOS)
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-16
A former Tesla technician took to Twitter to detail what he says is extensive evidence of malpractice and waste at the electric carmaker's factories, and potentially deadly battery defects in its cars.
rt.com/usa/436067-tesla-batteries-waste-whistleblower/

Assange should be given immunity if US wants him to testify — Rand Paul
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-16
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent more than 2,200 days in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, should be granted immunity from prosecution if he agrees to testify in the US, Senator Rand Paul has said.
rt.com/news/436141-assange-rand-paul-immunity/

Trump Strikes Back at 'Ringleader' Brennan
Consortiumnews.com | consortiumnews.com | 2018-08-15
At war with current and former intelligence officials since before he was elected, Donald Trump on Wednesday moved to strip Barack Obama's CIA chief of his security clearance, though worse may be in store for John Brennan, says Ray McGovern…. Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/08/15/trump-strikes-back-at-ringleader-brennan/

US Provided "Intelligence" and Bomb Used in Massacre of Yemeni Schoolchildren
Whitney Webb | globalresearch.ca | 2018-08-15
Last Thursday's horrific bombing of a bus full of school children in northern Yemen was carried out using a weapon sold to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition by the United States, photo …
globalresearch.ca/us-provided-intelligence-and-bomb-used-in-massacre-of-yemeni-schoolchildren/5650685

The World's Most Liveable Cities: Melbourne Loses to Vienna
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2018-08-15
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has gone about its annual business of releasing its World's Most Liveable City index, the sort of flotsam that matters less to urban planners than hedge-fund …
globalresearch.ca/the-worlds-most-liveable-cities-melbourne-loses-to-vienna/5650670

The NSA's Role in a Climate-Changed World: Spying on Nonprofits, Fishing Boats, and the North Pole
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2018-08-15
In the northernmost place in the United States, Point Barrow, Alaska, a National Security Agency collection site has allowed analysts to observe Russia's military buildup 24/7, as melting Arctic ice opens a new conflict zone. The NSA has also monitored a dispute between India and Pakistan over access to the Indus River system, which is fed by glaciers high in the Himalayas, now shrinking. And as fisheries are facing increasing pressure from seas whose currents and temperatures have already been altered significantly by climate change, the NSA has listened in on phone conversations and monitored the movement of fishing boats engaged in potentially illegal practices that threaten dwindling stocks. | Previously unreleased documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show how the agency has gathered intelligence meant to support U.S. interests related to environmental disasters, conflicts, and resources. In…
theintercept.com/2018/08/15/nsa-snowden-documents-climate-change/

Before Snowden, an NSA Spy Tried to Incite Change From the Inside. He Called Himself the "Curmudgeon" of Signals Intelligence
Peter Maass | theintercept.com | 2018-08-15
Rahe Clancy thought the NSA had become too corporate. So he wrote an agitated series of missives — for the agency. | The post Before Snowden, an NSA Spy Tried to Incite Change From the Inside. He Called Himself the "Curmudgeon" of Signals Intelligence. appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/08/15/nsa-sigint-curmudgeon-sidtoday/

328 NSA Documents Reveal "Vast Network" of Iranian Agents, Details of a Key Intelligence Coup, and a Fervor for Voice-Matching Technology
Margot Williams | theintercept.com | 2018-08-15
Highlights from the seventh release of the internal NSA newsletter, SIDtoday. | The post 328 NSA Documents Reveal "Vast Network" of Iranian Agents, Details of a Key Intelligence Coup, and a Fervor for Voice-Matching Technology appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/08/15/nsa-edward-snowden-whistleblower-document-leaks/

Monsanto Guilty Verdict Is Only The Beginning
F. William Engdahl | globalresearch.ca | 2018-08-15
A jury trial in California has resulted in a guilty verdict against the agrichemical and GMO giant, Monsanto, now Bayer/Monsanto. The judge has ordered Monsanto to pay damages of USD 289 …
globalresearch.ca/monsanto-guilty-verdict-is-only-the-beginning/5650659

NSA Cracked Open Encrypted Networks of Russian Airlines, Al Jazeera, and Other "High Potential" Targets
Micah Lee | theintercept.com | 2018-08-15
The agency broke into virtual private networks for several key targets, including two government entities in Iraq. | The post NSA Cracked Open Encrypted Networks of Russian Airlines, Al Jazeera, and Other "High Potential" Targets appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/08/15/nsa-vpn-hack-al-jazeera-sidtoday/

Hatewatch Headlines 8/16/2018
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2018-08-15
Antifa/alt-right equivalencies plague media reports; Infowars website goes dark; Kobach now Kansas GOP's nominee for governor; and…
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/08/15/hatewatch-headlines-8162018

Mueller investigation seeks to implicate WikiLeaks and Julian Assange in "Russian interference"
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-15
The purported evidence of ties between Russian intelligence, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks is threadbare to the point of being ludicrous.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/15/cred-a15.html

Cables document CIA Director Haspel's direct role in torture at black site in Thailand
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-15
The 16 cables from Haspel published by the National Security Archive document scenes fit for a medieval dungeon.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/15/hasp-a15.html

Two new pamphlets from Mehring Books
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-15
Mehring Books is pleased to announce that two new pamphlets–The World Socialist Web Site and the Defense of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and The 2018 Teacher Rebellion–are available for online purchase.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/15/mehr-a15.html

Historic Ruling Against Monsanto Finds Company Acted with "Malice" Against Groundskeeper with Cancer
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-14
California jurors have awarded $289 million in a historic verdict against Monsanto in the case of a school groundskeeper who developed cancer after using its weed killer, Roundup. We speak with Brent Wisner, the lead trial counsel for Dewayne Lee Johnson, who has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Doctors say he is unlikely to live past 2020. Johnson's was the first lawsuit to go to trial alleging glyphosate causes cancer. Filed in 2016, it was fast-tracked for trial due to the severity of his illness.
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/14/historic_ruling_against_monsanto_finds_company

How Monsanto Plants Stories, Suppresses Science & Silences Dissent to Sell a Cancer-Linked Chemical
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-14
As Monsanto comes under scrutiny for allegedly hiding the dangers of its weed killer, Roundup, we talk to a reporter who says the company attempted to censor and discredit her when she published stories on their product that contradicted their business interests. Carey Gillam is a veteran investigative journalist and author of "Whitewash – The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer and the Corruption of Science."
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/14/how_monsanto_plants_stories_suppresses_science

SPLC sues Trump administration for approving Arkansas Medicaid work requirement
splcenter.org | splcenter.org | 2018-08-14
Cesar Ardon was a welder for 15 years before he had surgery last year to remove a baseball-sized tumor over his right ribs.
splcenter.org/news/2018/08/14/splc-sues-trump-administration-approving-arkansas-medicaid-work-requirement

Can Big Internet Security Problems Be Fixed Retroactively? (2/2)
Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-08-13
Cybersecurity, affordable Internet access for all, market share concentration in US & Chinese Internet giants, e-commerce and cross-border free flow of data, ownership of citizens' collective data and the value-added of artificial intelligence are all material in a wide ranging discussion on global Internet governance issues with Richard Hill | The post Can Big Interne…
therealnews.com/stories/can-big-internet-security-problems-be-fixed-retroactively-2-2

Business Models of NSA & Companies Like Google Are About the Same? (1/2)
Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-08-13
In a wide ranging discussion on global Internet governance issues, Richard Hill explains that at the international level the US is deliberately structuring Internet governance to ensure unrestricted corporate freedom and to favor its own surveillance apparatus and largely denies certain Internet services should be public services or public goods | The post Busine…
therealnews.com/stories/business-models-of-nsa-companies-like-google-are-about-the-same-1-2

'Hulking muscled guards': CIA cable gives steamy description of 'enhanced' interrogation
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-13
A declassified cable detailing torture at a CIA blacksite in Thailand operated by now-CIA Director Gina Haspel employed hokey language perhaps better suited for an erotic novel — as opposed to documenting the agency's actions.
rt.com/usa/435841-cia-cable-fifty-shades-torture/

Senator Richard Burr: a Longtime Fan of Torture
Consortiumnews.com | consortiumnews.com | 2018-08-11
Newly released declassified documents prove once and for all that CIA Director Gina Haspel oversaw torture in Thailand, which the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee knew all along, as Ray McGovern explains. By Ray McGovern Special to Consortium News… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/08/11/senator-richard-burr-a-longtime-fan-of-torture/

Declassified cables sent by CIA Director Gina Haspel reveal extreme torture of al-Qaeda suspect
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-11
The extreme torture of a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist, including waterboarding, forced nudity and a "walling technique," have been detailed in newly declassified cables sent by a current CIA director Gina Haspel.
rt.com/usa/435735-gina-haspel-cia-torture/

Jury orders Monsanto to pay California man $289mn in 'probably carcinogenic' Roundup trial
RT | rt.com | 2018-08-10
A groundskeeper who developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after using Monsanto's weed-killers for years is entitled to $39 million in compensation and $250 million in punitive damages, a California jury has decided.
rt.com/usa/435693-monsanto-roundup-cancer-trial/

Do Historic Victories & Tight Races in Primaries Mean Dems Could Retake Senate & House in November?
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-08
Voters headed to the polls Tuesday for a special election in Ohio and primaries in Michigan, Kansas, Missouri and Washington. A special election in Ohio's 12th Congressional District remains too close to call, but Republican Troy Balderson has already claimed victory over Democrat Danny O'Connor to serve the remainder of former Republican Congressmember Pat Tiberi's term. Balderson leads by just 1,754 votes, and thousands of absentee and provisional ballots still need to be counted. O'Connor is hoping to pull off a major upset. President Trump won the district in 2016 by a margin of more than 11 percent. In Michi…
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/8/do_historic_victories_tight_races_in