Daily Archives: November 12, 2018

2018-11-12: News Headlines

Chris Hedges (2018-11-12). Crucifying Julian Assange. truthdig.com Julian Assange's sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has been transformed into a little shop of horrors. He has been largely cut off from communicating with the outside world for the last seven months. His Ecuadorian citizenship, granted to him as an asylum seeker, is in the process of being revoked. His health is failing. He is being denied medical care. His efforts for legal redress have been crippled by the gag rules, including Ecuadorian orders that he cannot make public his conditions inside the embassy in fighting revocation of his Ecuadorian citizenship. | Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison…

It's Going Down (2018-11-12). The Whims of Those who Rule: Our Age of Lawlessness. indybay.org Thousands of people are protesting across the country in reaction to Trump's ouster of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Led by MoveOn, progressive groups are mobilizing in fear that with Sessions' departure, the President is now taking control of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into his campaign's murky ties to Russia.

TRPLL (2018-11-12). Alamedans Say Protect Mueller's Investigation. indybay.org On November 8, a rapid response action in Alameda called for the protection of Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is overseeing the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Photos by Lynn LaRocca, please credit the photographer.

Branko Marcetic (2018-11-12). The Contradictions of the #Resistance. zcomm.org Jeff Sessions' tenure as attorney general was vastly more detrimental to democracy and the rule of law than shuttering Mueller's investigation could ever be. No one should be nostalgic for his tenure…

wsws (2018-11-12). Australia: Alleged terror attacker "known to police and intelligence agencies" wsws.org The deranged actions of an individual in need of psychological treatment were seized upon by the media and politicians to whip up resentment against immigrants, particularly Muslims.

The Iranian (2018-11-12). Saudis Close To Bin Salman Discussed Assassinating Iranian General Suleimani. iranian.com Top Saudi intelligence officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked a small group of businessmen last year about using private companies to assassinate Iranian enemies of the kingdom, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The Saudis inquired at a time when Prince Mohammed, then the deputy crown prince and defense minister, […]

Eric Ortiz (2018-11-11). Brennan and Clapper Should Not Escape Prosecution. consortiumnews.com Recently declassified documents show that the former CIA director and former director of national intelligence approved illegal spying on Congress and then classified their crime. They need to face punishment, writes John Kiriakou. By John Kiriakou Special to Consortium News… Read more →

Consortium News (2018-11-11). James Clapper and John Brennan Should Not Escape Prosecution. theantimedia.com Recently declassified documents show that the former CIA director and former director of national intelligence approved illegal spying on Congress and then classified their crime. They need to face punishment, writes John Kiriakou. (CN Opinion) — Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa made a dramatic announcement this month that almost nobody in America paid any attention to. Grassley released …

Middle East Monitor (2018-11-11). Snowden: Saudi Arabia Used Israeli Spyware to Target Khashoggi. theantimedia.com (MEMO) — US whistle-blower Edward Snowden yesterday claimed that Saudi Arabia used Israeli spyware to target murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv via a video link, Snowden claimed that software made by an Israeli cyber intelligence firm was used by Saudi Arabia to track and target Khashoggi in the lead up to his murder on …

Democracy Now! (2018-11-09). Headlines for November 9, 2018. democracynow.org SoCal Mass Shooter Was Veteran with History of Mental Health Issues, Wildfires Rage In Northern and Southern California, Judge Halts Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline, Congressional Responses to Sessions Firing Seek to Protect Mueller, Protesters Take to the Streets to Call for Protection of Mueller Probe, Trump to End Asylum for Migrants Entering U.S. Outside of Ports of Entry, Court Rules Trump Cannot End DACA, Key Midterm Races Still Uncalled, FL Races Likely Headed to Recounts, WH Press Secretary Shares Doctored Video of CNN Reporter Acosta, North Korea-U.S. Talks Postponed, Gaza: Israeli Forces Shoot and…

Fred_F (2018-11-09). Spanish law on trial as Catalan leaders face jail. greenleft.org.au In recent weeks, senior judges in the loftiest halls of the Spanish legal system — the Supreme Court, the National High Court and the Constitutional Court — have been exposed as subverters of a fair legal process, lackeys of Spain's almighty banking elite and bumbling incompetents, writes Dick Nichols from Barcelona. | The revelations of their unfitness to judge guarantees the Spanish legal establishment's impending show trials of Catalan political leaders and law officers will be the most politically explosive since the transition from the Franco dictatorship in the late 1970s. | Next January, 18 for…

Whitney Webb (2018-11-09). Post-MidTerm Democrats Raise Jeff Sessions to the Level of a Mueller-Style "Hero" mintpressnews.com Coverage of the Mueller probe and the closely related "Russiagate" controversy has been central to the Democrats' strategy of casting themselves as the antithesis to Trump.

John Nichols (2018-11-09). If Trump and Whitaker Undermine the Mueller Investigation, That's an Impeachable Offense. thenation.com If Trump and Whitaker Undermine the Mueller Investigation, That's an Impeachable Offense…

pip.hinman (2018-11-09). Civil rights under threat in name of national security. greenleft.org.au One of the usual threats trotted out by governments proposing what would otherwise be considered radical attacks on civil liberties is national security. | The Australian newspaper reported on June 8 that Attorney-General Christian Porter was demanding urgent passage of two separate espionage and foreign interference bills following "intelligence advice of an accelerated escalation in hostile foreign activity over the past 12 months". | The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security had just published a 400-page report containing 60 recommendations, giving the green light to the first bill, the Es…

Gabriel Thompson (2018-11-09). 'All We've Got Are Protests and People Power'. thenation.com 'All We've Got Are Protests and People Power'

Democracy Now! (2018-11-08). Headlines for November 8, 2018. democracynow.org California: Mass Shooter Kills At Least 12 at Student-Filled Bar, Trump Fires AG Sessions, Puts New Loyalist in Charge of Mueller Probe, WH Bans CNN Reporter Acosta as Trump Spars with Reporters, At Least 15 Midterm Races Still Uncalled, GOP Congressmembers Facing Indictments Re-elected, Voters Weighed In on Abortion Rights Measures in WV, AL, OR, Philippines: Lawyer Fighting Duterte's Drug War Shot Dead, Poland: Warsaw Mayor Bans Annual Far-Right March, Cameroon: Almost 80 Kidnapped Students Released…

Democracy Now! (2018-11-08). Trump Fires AG Sessions, Installs New Loyalist Whitaker to Oversee Mueller Probe. democracynow.org President Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, replacing him with a Trump loyalist who has called special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation a "witch hunt." Matthew Whitaker, formerly Jeff Sessions's chief of staff, will now take charge of the Russia inquiry, prompting questions about the future of the Russia investigation and whether Trump will target Robert Mueller next. Some experts are raising questions about the legality of putting Whitaker in charge rather than Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had been overseeing the Russia probe. The ACLU wrote in a statement, "Jeff…

Akela Lacy (2018-11-07). Women Built the 2018 Midterm Blue Wave — but the Last One Washed Them Out. theintercept.com Twenty-seven years ago, Anita Hill sat before a Senate committee and explained that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. At the time, only two women served in the upper chamber, and neither were on the Judiciary Committee. | The optics of Hill's hearing, along with the events that led up to and followed it, drove a record number of women to action — and into the Senate. | In 1992, the year following the hearing, now famously known as the "Year of the Woman," Americans voted four women into the Senate. That constituted a

Robert Mackey (2018-11-07). Jeff Sessions Replaced by Aide Who Said Mueller Should Be Barred From Probing Trump Finances. theintercept.com Donald Trump replaced Jeff Sessions with an acting attorney general who has argued that Robert Mueller should be barred from investigating Trump's finances.

Consortiumnews (2018-11-06). The West is Failing Julian Assange. consortiumnews.com While the media focused on Julian Assange's cat rather than his continuing arbitrary detention, evidence shows that Britain worked hard to force his extradition to Sweden where Assange feared he could then be turned over to the U.S., as Stefania… Read more →

aclu (2018-11-06). The Supreme Court Will Decide Whether Maryland Can Display a 40-Foot Latin Cross. aclu.org The case could drastically alter longstanding precedent protecting the separation of church and state and send a devastating message to non-Christians | Last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it will decide whether a state government's display of a gigantic, 40-foot Latin cross as a war memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland, violates the separation of church and state. | On the surface, the case appears to be about one religious monument located at one busy intersecti…

Consortiumnews (2018-11-03). Break-in Attempted at Assange's Residence in Ecuador Embassy. consortiumnews.com An attempt was made on Oct. 29 to break into the Ecuadorian embassy, where security has been removed and apparently new surveillance devices installed, reports Joe Lauria. Break-in Attempted at Embassy; Fears Raised of Abduction By Joe Lauria Special to… Read more →

Joe Emersberger (2018-11-03). Assange Case Shows Support for Free Speech Depends on Who's Talking. fair.org by Joe Emersberger Julian Assange, whom the UN has declared to be "arbitrarily detained" by Britain and Sweden, is used by the Guardian ( 10/17/18) to illustrate a gag story on "nightmare flatmates." | The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in February 2016 that the governments of the UK and Sweden had forced WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange into a condition of arbitrary detention in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has been since 2012. The group's …

Consortiumnews (2018-11-03). LIVE: Assange Emergency Meeting. consortiumnews.com Watch live an emergency meeting being held on new threats to Julian Assange. Read more →

2018-11-12: Social Media Postees

Crucifying Julian Assange
Chris Hedges | truthdig.com | 2018-11-12
Julian Assange's sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London has been transformed into a little shop of horrors. He has been largely cut off from communicating with the outside world for the last seven months. His Ecuadorian citizenship, granted to him as an asylum seeker, is in the process of being revoked. His health is failing. He is being denied medical care. His efforts for legal redress have been crippled by the gag rules, including Ecuadorian orders that he cannot make public his conditions inside the embassy in fighting revocation of his Ecuadorian citizenship. | Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison…
truthdig.com/articles/crucifying-julian-assange/

Alamedans Say Protect Mueller's Investigation
TRPLL | indybay.org | 2018-11-12
On November 8, a rapid response action in Alameda called for the protection of Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is overseeing the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Photos by Lynn LaRocca, please credit the photographer.
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/11/11/18818996.php

The Contradictions of the #Resistance
Branko Marcetic | zcomm.org | 2018-11-12
Jeff Sessions' tenure as attorney general was vastly more detrimental to democracy and the rule of law than shuttering Mueller's investigation could ever be. No one should be nostalgic for his tenure…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-contradictions-of-the-resistance/

The Whims of Those who Rule: Our Age of Lawlessness
It's Going Down | indybay.org | 2018-11-12
Thousands of people are protesting across the country in reaction to Trump's ouster of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Led by MoveOn, progressive groups are mobilizing in fear that with Sessions' departure, the President is now taking control of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into his campaign's murky ties to Russia.
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/11/09/18818954.php

Australia: Alleged terror attacker "known to police and intelligence agencies"
wsws | wsws.org | 2018-11-12
The deranged actions of an individual in need of psychological treatment were seized upon by the media and politicians to whip up resentment against immigrants, particularly Muslims.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/11/12/intl-n12.html

James Clapper and John Brennan Should Not Escape Prosecution
Consortium News | theantimedia.com | 2018-11-11
Recently declassified documents show that the former CIA director and former director of national intelligence approved illegal spying on Congress and then classified their crime. They need to face punishment, writes John Kiriakou. (CN Opinion) — Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa made a dramatic announcement this month that almost nobody in America paid any attention to. Grassley released …

James Clapper and John Brennan Should Not Escape Prosecution

Brennan and Clapper Should Not Escape Prosecution
Eric Ortiz | consortiumnews.com | 2018-11-11
Recently declassified documents show that the former CIA director and former director of national intelligence approved illegal spying on Congress and then classified their crime. They need to face punishment, writes John Kiriakou. By John Kiriakou Special to Consortium News… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/11/11/john-brennan-and-james-clapper-should-be-prosecuted-for-breaking-the-law/

Snowden: Saudi Arabia Used Israeli Spyware to Target Khashoggi
Middle East Monitor | theantimedia.com | 2018-11-11
(MEMO) — US whistle-blower Edward Snowden yesterday claimed that Saudi Arabia used Israeli spyware to target murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Addressing a conference in Tel Aviv via a video link, Snowden claimed that software made by an Israeli cyber intelligence firm was used by Saudi Arabia to track and target Khashoggi in the lead up to his murder on …

Snowden: Saudi Arabia Used Israeli Spyware to Target Khashoggi

Spanish law on trial as Catalan leaders face jail
Fred_F | greenleft.org.au | 2018-11-09
In recent weeks, senior judges in the loftiest halls of the Spanish legal system — the Supreme Court, the National High Court and the Constitutional Court — have been exposed as subverters of a fair legal process, lackeys of Spain's almighty banking elite and bumbling incompetents, writes Dick Nichols from Barcelona. | The revelations of their unfitness to judge guarantees the Spanish legal establishment's impending show trials of Catalan political leaders and law officers will be the most politically explosive since the transition from the Franco dictatorship in the late 1970s. | Next January, 18 for…
greenleft.org.au/content/spanish-law-trial-catalan-leaders-face-jail

Post-MidTerm Democrats Raise Jeff Sessions to the Level of a Mueller-Style "Hero"
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2018-11-09
Coverage of the Mueller probe and the closely related "Russiagate" controversy has been central to the Democrats' strategy of casting themselves as the antithesis to Trump. | The post Post-MidTerm Democrats Raise Jeff Sessions to the Level of a Mueller-Style "Hero" appeared first on MintPress News.
mintpressnews.com/from-resist-to-assist-post-midterm-democrats-raise-jeff-sessions-to-the-level-of-a-mueller-style-hero/251680/

If Trump and Whitaker Undermine the Mueller Investigation, That's an Impeachable Offense
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2018-11-09
If Trump and Whitaker Undermine the Mueller Investigation, That's an Impeachable Offense…
thenation.com/article/trump-whitaker-mueller-impeachment/

Civil rights under threat in name of national security
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2018-11-09
One of the usual threats trotted out by governments proposing what would otherwise be considered radical attacks on civil liberties is national security. | The Australian newspaper reported on June 8 that Attorney-General Christian Porter was demanding urgent passage of two separate espionage and foreign interference bills following "intelligence advice of an accelerated escalation in hostile foreign activity over the past 12 months". | The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security had just published a 400-page report containing 60 recommendations, giving the green light to the first bill, the Es…
greenleft.org.au/content/civil-rights-under-threat-name-national-security

'All We've Got Are Protests and People Power'
Gabriel Thompson | thenation.com | 2018-11-09
'All We've Got Are Protests and People Power'…
thenation.com/article/feminists-birddog-aca-kavanaugh/

Trump Fires AG Sessions, Installs New Loyalist Whitaker to Oversee Mueller Probe
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-11-08
President Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, replacing him with a Trump loyalist who has called special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation a "witch hunt." Matthew Whitaker, formerly Jeff Sessions's chief of staff, will now take charge of the Russia inquiry, prompting questions about the future of the Russia investigation and whether Trump will target Robert Mueller next. Some experts are raising questions about the legality of putting Whitaker in charge rather than Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had been overseeing the Russia probe. The ACLU wrote in a statement, "Jeff…
www.democracynow.org/2018/11/8/trump_fires_ag_sessions_installs_new

Jeff Sessions Replaced by Aide Who Said Mueller Should Be Barred From Probing Trump Finances
Robert Mackey | theintercept.com | 2018-11-07
Donald Trump replaced Jeff Sessions with an acting attorney general who has argued that Robert Mueller should be barred from investigating Trump's finances. | The post Jeff Sessions Replaced by Aide Who Said Mueller Should Be Barred From Probing Trump Finances appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/11/07/jeff-sessions-replacement-matthew-whitaker-mueller-trump-finances/

The West is Failing Julian Assange
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-11-06
While the media focused on Julian Assange's cat rather than his continuing arbitrary detention, evidence shows that Britain worked hard to force his extradition to Sweden where Assange feared he could then be turned over to the U.S., as Stefania… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/11/06/the-west-is-failing-julian-assange/

The Supreme Court Will Decide Whether Maryland Can Display a 40-Foot Latin Cross
aclu | aclu.org | 2018-11-06
The case could drastically alter longstanding precedent protecting the separation of church and state and send a devastating message to non-Christians | Last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it will decide whether a state government's display of a gigantic, 40-foot Latin cross as a war memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland, violates the separation of church and state. | On the surface, the case appears to be about one religious monument located at one busy intersecti…
aclu.org/blog/religious-liberty/government-promotion-religion/supreme-court-will-decide-whether-maryland-can

LIVE: Assange Emergency Meeting
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-11-03
Watch live an emergency meeting being held on new threats to Julian Assange. Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/11/03/live-assange-emergency-meeting/

Break-in Attempted at Assange's Residence in Ecuador Embassy
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-11-03
An attempt was made on Oct. 29 to break into the Ecuadorian embassy, where security has been removed and apparently new surveillance devices installed, reports Joe Lauria. Break-in Attempted at Embassy; Fears Raised of Abduction By Joe Lauria Special to… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/11/03/break-in-attempted-at-assanges-residence-in-ecuador-embassy/