Pompeo and MBS agree on 'importance' of Yemen de-escalation
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2019-01-15
Top US diplomat and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meet in Riyadh for talks on range of issues.
aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/pompeo-mbs-agree-importance-yemen-de-escalation-190114085552762.html
Will Trump's AG Pick William Barr Face Questions over Gitmo, Mass Incarceration & NSA Surveillance?
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-01-15
Senate confirmation hearings begin today for William Barr, President Trump's nominee for attorney general to replace Jeff Sessions, who was fired in November. Barr served as attorney general for George H.W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. During that time, he was involved in the pardon of six Reagan officials for the Iran-Contra scandal and oversaw the opening of the Guantánamo Bay military prison, which was initially used to indefinitely detain HIV-positive asylum seekers from Haiti. Barr also openly backed mass incarceration at home and helped develop a secret Drug Enforcement Administration program which became a "blu…
www.democracynow.org/2019/1/15/will_trumps_ag_pick_william_barr
Media Reports "Good News": Kids Are Dying in Venezuela, Sanctions are Working
David William Pear | globalresearch.ca | 2019-01-15
The Guardian's Tom Phillips' article Venezuela Crisis Takes Deadly Toll on Buckling Health System (January 06, 2019) is more good news for US psychopaths, such as Trump, Bolton and Pompeo. Children are dying in Venezuela. Sanctions are working! | Tom is … | The post Media Reports "Good News": Kids Are Dying in Venezuela, Sanctions are Working… appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/media-reports-good-news-kids-are-dying-in-venezuela-sanctions-are-working/5665440
Trump, Bolton and the Syrian Confusion
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-01-15
It's a messy, though typical picture. US President Donald Trump wants to pull out forces in Syria. When announced in December, jaws drooped and sharp intakes of breath were registered through the Washington establishment. Members of the military industrial complex … | The post Trump, Bolton and the Syrian Confusion appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/trump-bolton-syrian-confusion/5665559
William Barr May Be Worse on Immigration Than Jeff Sessions
John Washington | theintercept.com | 2019-01-15
Though a lot of attention will be on attorney general nominee William Barr's stance on executive power, and how it could affect the Mueller investigation, during the Senate confirmation hearings starting today, his legacy on immigration also merits strict scrutiny. Since he likely will be confirmed, Barr's hard-line immigration stance, which runs lockstep with President Donald Trump's, may set the stage for a new volley of attacks against immigrants and asylum-seekers. Migrants, attorneys, and advocates should be prepared. | Although former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was a hawk as well, Barr has a history of…
theintercept.com/2019/01/15/william-barr-confirmation-hearings-immigration/
The Republican Party Is a Pack of Cowards
Shared by candice | truthout.org | 2019-01-15
Let me see if I have this straight: Over the course of this past weekend, the president of the United States of America was exposed as being the target of a 2017 counter-intelligence investigation by the FBI. The FBI initiated its unprecedented investigation after Donald Trump fired then-Director James Comey but before Robert Mueller was tapped to begin his own investigation, because the agency feared the president might be wo…
truthout.org/articles/the-republican-party-is-a-pack-of-cowards/
Yemen's Houthis Are Doxxing the US Troops Working With the Saudis
Randi Nord | theantimedia.com | 2019-01-15
(GPA) — In efforts to expose the criminals responsible for the ongoing genocide against Yemeni civilians, Yemeni Intelligence has started publishing the names and personal information of the US troops in charge of the Saudi command centers where airstrikes are ordered. Washington tries to keep a tight lid on the extent of its involvement in Yemen. However, …
Yemen's Houthis Are Doxxing the US Troops Working With the Saudis
India: Administrative detention for facebook posts: Kishorchandra Wangkhem
amnesty | amnesty.org | 2019-01-15
Kishorchandra Wangkhem, a journalist based in Manipur, India, was arrested in August, and again in November 2018, because of Facebook posts where he criticised the government. While he was released on bail in both cases, on 27 November, he was arrested under the National Security Act (NSA). This draconian administrative detention law allows for him to be imprisoned for 12 months without charge or trial, in violation of regular criminal justice safeguards. The High Court of Manipur will hear his challenge to his detention under the NSA on 1 February 2019.
amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/9687/2019/en/
Grim Middle East Reality. Permanent US Occupation. American Forces will Stay Indefinitely
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-01-14
US forces came to Syria, Iraq, elsewhere in the region, and virtually everywhere else worldwide to stay. Bolton and Pompeo made similar comments on Syria, indicating no timeline for withdrawal. | US forces will stay indefinitely — on the phony pretext … | The post Grim Middle East Reality. Permanent US Occupation. American Forces will Stay Indefinitely appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/grim-middle-east-reality-permanent-us-occupation-american-forces-will-stay-indefinitely/5665399
The Twitter Smearing of Corbyn and Assange
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-01-14
Historian and U.K. analyst Mark Curtis checks out the Twitter accounts of journalists whose names have been associated with the Integrity Initiative, a British "counter disinformation" program. By Mark Curtis British Foreign Policy Declassified The U.K.-financed Integrity Initiative, managed by… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/01/14/the-twitter-smearing-of-corbyn-and-assange/
'Not Qualified': Critics Decry Bigoted Views of Trump's Pick to Replace Kavanaugh on DC Circuit Court
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-01-14
President Donald Trump is hoping to fill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's former seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit with a former law professor whose early writings on the government and justice betrayed misogynist and bigoted views—leaving critics concerned on Monday that the president is remaking the country's second-highest court in his own image. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-01-14_at_3.25.43_pm.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/01/14/not-qualified-critics-decry-bigoted-views-trumps-pick-replace-kavanaugh-dc-circuit?cd-origin=rss
'Shameful': Colorado Supreme Court Denounced for Siding With Big Oil Profits Over Public Health in Youth-Led Suit
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-01-14
The court's ruling was condemned by one environmentalist as "hard proof that the law is written against the best interests of the people, and in favor of oil and gas industry profits" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/colorado.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/01/14/shameful-colorado-supreme-court-denounced-siding-big-oil-profits-over-public-health?cd-origin=rss
Poland: Mayor of Gdansk Dies After Stabbing
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-01-14
The mayor of Gdansk, Pawel Adamovicz, was stabbed Monday while participating in a charity event attended by thousands. | RELATED: | Poland Reverses Anti-Democratic Supreme Court Reform | Adamovicz died in the hosptial from the abdominal injuries he sustained after several hours of surgery trying save him failed. The assailant stabbed the mayor, seriously wounding him in the heart, diaphragm, and other major organs said the surgeon who who treated him. | Pawel Adamowicz has become a well-kn…
telesurenglish.net/news/Poland-Mayor-of-Gdansk-Dies-After-Stabbing-20190114-0003.html
CO Supreme Court Hands Another Victory to Oil and Gas Industry
commondreams | commondreams.org | 2019-01-14
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/01/14/co-supreme-court-hands-another-victory-oil-and-gas-industry?cd-origin=rss
Israel to Deport Human Rights Watch Director for Supporting BDS
Middle East Monitor | theantimedia.com | 2019-01-13
(MEMO) — Israel will deport the Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s regional office, Omar Shakir, refusing a Supreme Court petition. On Thursday the Israeli government submitted its response to a Supreme Court petition previously filed by Shakir in a bid to fight the deportation order against him. The response stated that: "[Shakir] promoted the boycott of …
Israel to Deport Human Rights Watch Director for Supporting BDS
William Barr's Unsolicited Memo to Trump About Obstruction of Justice
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-01-11
Barr's critique of the Mueller investigation raises serious questions about his views of presidential power. Senators should demand answers. | Last month, news broke that in June 2018, President Trump's current nominee for attorney general, William P. Barr, sent an unsolicited 20-page memo to the Justice Department critiquing special counsel Robert Mueller's current investigation into Russian election interference. | Barr, who previously served as attorney general under Preside…
aclu.org/blog/executive-branch/william-barrs-unsolicited-memo-trump-about-obstruction-justice
Watch the 12th Vigil for Julian Assange Here
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-01-11
Consortium News broadcast the 12th Unity4J online vigil for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange on Friday, hosted by Consortium News Editor Joe Lauria. Julian Assange is a wanted man because he published classified information that revealed the crimes and corruption of… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/01/11/watch-the-12th-vigil-for-assange-here-live-at-4-pm-today/
Mike Pompeo Lied About the U.S. and the Middle East. Here's the Truth
Mehdi Hasan | theintercept.com | 2019-01-11
Trump's secretary of state gave a speech in Cairo that obscured the U.S. role in the Middle East. America has not been a force for good. | The post Mike Pompeo Lied About the U.S. and the Middle East. Here's the Truth. appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2019/01/11/mike-pompeo-speech-cairo/
What Are Federal Employees' Rights to Protest the Government Shutdown?
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-01-10
People don't lose their First Amendment rights if they work for the government. | Standing up for your First Amendment right to protest can be challenging — especially if you're a government employee. | Since Dec. 22, nearly 800,000 government employees nationwide have been affected by the partial federal government shutdown, putting a stop to work and paychecks. Despite President Trump's claim that federal workers " agree 100 percent with what I'm doing," many have wond…
aclu.org/blog/free-speech/employee-speech-and-whistleblowers/what-are-federal-employees-rights-protest
Farewell to bblum6
Dave Markland | zcomm.org | 2019-01-10
Bill Blum passed away early last month in Virginia. Many Z Net readers will know his canonical book, Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since WWII, or remember his regular newsletter Anti-Empire Report. My first contact with Bill came in 1995 when I wrote him about something he had written on the Cold War. Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/farewell-to-bblum6/
Pennsylvanians Should Know How the State Police Is Monitoring Social Media
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-01-10
The Pennsylvania State Police is blocking access to its social-media-monitoring policy by claiming it could harm "public safety." | "Sunshine is the best disinfectant.", , That's a line that is used so much that it's become almost trite. But it's oft-repeated because it is so true. And here in the Keystone State, the Pennsylvania State Police is doing everything in its power to block access to its policy on monitoring social media. So we're headed to the state Supreme Court to get it. | The ACLU of Pennsylvania's attempt to obtain the st…
aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/pennsylvanians-should-know-how-state-police
William Arkin on Homeland Security's Creeping Fascism and Why the CIA & FBI Won't Save Us from Trump
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-01-09
Longtime NBC reporter and analyst William Arkin announced he was leaving the network last week in a blistering letter that took aim at the mainstream media for encouraging perpetual warfare and bolstering the national security state. In his letter, Arkin writes of Trump,…
www.democracynow.org/2019/1/9/william_arkin_on_homeland_securitys_creeping
New Documents Reveal a Covert British Military-Intelligence Smear Machine Meddling In American Politics
Max Blumenthal | grayzoneproject.com | 2019-01-09
The Integrity Initiative has mobilized an international disinformation campaign across Europe. Now, with government and right-wing foundation money, this massive… | The post New Documents Reveal a Covert British Military-Intelligence Smear Machine Meddling In American Politics appeared first on Grayzone Project.
grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/08/new-documents-reveal-a-covert-british-military-intelligence-smear-machine-meddling-in-american-politics/
Venezuela: Suspected Plotters Tortured
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2019-01-09
| (Washington, DC) — Venezuelan intelligence and security forces have detained a…
hrw.org/news/2019/01/09/venezuela-suspected-plotters-tortured
Venezuelan Ex-Magistrate Flees to Miami, Pledges to 'Collaborate' with US Authorities
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-01-07
Venezuela's Supreme Court claims Christian Zerpa fled a sexual harassment investigation.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14208
A Tough Time to Be a Spy, NPR Reports – Current and former CIA officials are only sources for story on espionage getting harder
Belen Fernandez | fair.org | 2019-01-06
NPR ( 1/3/19) reports on the CIA finding it harder to sneak into other countries to commit espionage. | Imagine, for a moment, that a prominent media outlet in Iran decided to produce a story about the trials of being an Iranian spy in this technological day and age–in which the all-pervasiveness of surveillance mechanisms and social media complicates slightly the process of entering other countries under false identities. | It's safe to assume that the United States would find this…
fair.org/home/a-tough-time-to-be-a-spy-npr-reports/
US Secretary of State Pompeo Enlists Allies to 'Return Democracy' to Venezuela
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-01-03
US allies Brazil and Colombia have repeatedly voiced support for regime change efforts.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14202
SPLC statement on Supreme Court's denial of Trump administration's request to immediately enforce asylum ban
Melissa Crow, Senior Supervising Attorney of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project | splcenter.org | 2018-12-21
splcenter.org/news/2018/12/21/splc-statement-supreme-court-denial-asylum-ban