Ex-US marine held in Russia for spying was misled, says lawyer
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2019-01-22
Lawyer claims USB drive given to his client was meant to contain information on Russian culture, not state secrets.
aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/marine-held-russia-spying-misled-lawyer-190122133408028.html

The Little Brett Kavanaughs from Covington Catholic High
Raouf Halaby | counterpunch.org | 2019-01-22
On Friday, January 17, 2019, a sordid modern day short-lived tragedy unfolded in close proximity to the Lincoln Memorial. A national site that serves as an aide mémoire to the most divisive time in the nation's history and the subsequent slow healing process, the Lincoln Memorial is a hallowed tiny piece of ground that stands…
counterpunch.org/2019/01/22/the-little-brett-kavanaughs-from-covington-catholic-high/

Supreme Court rules in favor of Trump's transgender military ban
RT | rt.com | 2019-01-22
The US Supreme Court has ruled that President Trump's ban on transgender people in the military can go ahead, ending almost two years of legal wrangling. | …
rt.com/usa/449430-supreme-court-transgender-ban/

Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Trump's Ban on Transgender Service Members
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2019-01-22
In a decision LGBTQ rights advocates immediately denounced as an "awful attack" on the rights of transgender Americans, the Supreme Court's conservative majority on Tuesday gave a green light to President Donald Trump's widely condemned ban on transgender people serving in the military. | While one nationwide injunction against the ban remains in effect–meaning Trump's policy cannot yet be implemented–Slate's Mark Joseph Stern noted that the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling makes it likely that the remaining injunction will "soon be reversed." | "This is heartbreaking and temporary," declared ACLU staff att…
truthdig.com/articles/supreme-court-gives-green-light-to-trumps-ban-on-transgender-service-members/

SPLC statement on Supreme Court's decision to lift injunctions against Trump's transgender military ban
splcenter | splcenter.org | 2019-01-22
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to temporarily lift injunctions against the Trump administration's ban on open service by transgender Americans is just that: temporary.
splcenter.org/news/2019/01/22/splc-statement-supreme-court%25E2%2580%2599s-decision-lift-injunctions-against-trump%25E2%2580%2599s-transgender

Top US court lets military implement transgender restrictions
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2019-01-22
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed lower court orders preventing the Pentagon from implementing restrictions.
aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/top-court-lets-military-implement-transgender-restrictions-190122150031140.html

'Not dead yet!' Fox & Friends apologizes for airing premature Bader Ginsburg obit
RT | rt.com | 2019-01-22
Fox & Friends has apologized profusely after accidentally airing a graphic memorializing the still-living Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during prime Trump viewing hours. | …
rt.com/usa/449381-fox-airs-ginsburg-obit/

'Shameful, Bigoted, Cruel': Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Trump's Ban on Transgender Service Members
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-01-22
"We will all keep fighting to take down this discriminatory ban. In court, at the ballot, and through our transformation of public discourse and understanding." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/trans_supreme_court.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/01/22/shameful-bigoted-cruel-supreme-court-gives-green-light-trumps-ban-transgender?cd-origin=rss

Amid mounting coup threats in Venezuela, Maduro begs Trump for dialog
WSWS | wsws.org | 2019-01-22
Venezuelan security and intelligence agents suppressed an abortive rebellion by a National Guard unit early Monday morning, provoking protests.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/22/vene-j22.html

Marie Colvin, Homs and Media Falsehoods about Syria
Rick Sterling | mintpressnews.com | 2019-01-21
In April 2014 I was part of an international delegation which visited Syria for five days. The delegates came from many different countries. Among the notables were the Irish Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire, a Syrian-British heart surgeon, and Julian Assange's father. We spent time in Damascus and then traveled by bus to Latakia and then Homs. In each city we had meetings with political, religious and social leaders but also had time to wander about and talk with people on the streets. | In Latakia, I met Lilly Martin, an American woman who married a Syrian and has lived there, raising a family for the past twenty…
mintpressnews.com/marie-colvin-homs-media-falsehoods-syria/254053/

Exclusive: They Spy with Their Little Eye
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-01-19
The Five Eyes, a part of what the NSA calls internally its "global network," have their dirty fingerprints all over the latest spying scandal engulfing New Zealand, writes exiled Kiwi journalist and activist Suzie Dawson. NZ Spy Scandal: Elephants In The Room;… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/01/18/exclusive-they-spy-with-their-little-eye/

Brett Kavanaugh is a Threat to Racial Justice and Voting Rights
Marjorie Cohn | zcomm.org | 2019-01-19
In light of the proliferation of laws that pose obstacles to voting, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to further eviscerate the Voting Rights Act…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/brett-kavanaugh-is-a-threat-to-racial-justice-and-voting-rights/

We have had enough of Trump and the war on women
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-01-19
Enough is enough. Trump, his administration, and his backers are waging war on women, and millions of women are making it clear that we are not going to be pushed backwards. From the massive Women's Marches, to the midterm elections, to the constant, everyday resistance, women are standing up against Trump's reactionary agenda. | Trump and his supporters in the Senate want to pack the Supreme Court and roll back reproductive rights, and they have gotten a start by appointing the drunken misogynist Brett Kavanaugh. Accompanying the administrations outrageous policy of placing immigrants in detention, Trump's Justi…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/1/18/we-have-had-enough-trump-and-war-women

Roaming Charges: Sometimes an Establishment Hack is Just What You Need
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2019-01-18
Trump had to reach pretty deep into the recycling bin to extract the rusty figure of William Barr as a loyal replacement for J. Beauregard Sessions at the Justice Department. After he dusted him off, what did Trump see in this relic from the Poppy Bush era, that shining reign of triumphant globalists that Trump publicly claims to loath? A cursory scan of Barr's CV, which is about as deep a look as Trump is likely to have given, shows all the field marks of a well-worn grey man of Swamptown, a malted Scotch institutionalist, if not an honorary member of the Deep State itself. Surely Trump hesitated when he read, o…
counterpunch.org/2019/01/18/roaming-charges-sometimes-an-establishment-hack-is-just-what-you-need/

Watch Replay of 13th Vigil for Assange
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-01-18
Watch Friday's broadcast here on Consortium News that discussed the latest news on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks publisher continues to resist pressure to leave the Ecuador Embassy and be sent to the U.S. for prosecution, even as he has been… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/01/18/cn-to-broadcast-13th-vigil-for-assange-today-at-4-pm-est/

The Justice Department Shouldn't Be Snooping on Journalists
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-01-18
Rolling back Justice Department rules that protect journalists' privacy would undermine freedom of the press. | At a time when President Trump regularly attacks the news media, the Department of Justice may be preparing to make it easier for the government to obtain journalists' private communications data. | The public relies on both journalists and whistleblowers for vital information about our government's most controversial activities. Weakening the current rules that protect reporters — as wel…
aclu.org/blog/free-speech/freedom-press/justice-department-shouldnt-be-snooping-journalists

Alaska Governor's Mass-Firing of State Workers Violated the First Amendment
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-01-18
Gov. Dunleavy's actions are a throwback to a corrupt spoils system that our system strived to eradicate for generations. | Days after being elected governor of Alaska, Michael Dunleavy requested resignations from more than 1,200 at-will state employees. Those who didn't resign were later fired. This kind of political retaliation against non-political state workers is an attack on the very foundations of free speech and good government. | It is not unusual for newly elected chief executives at the federal, state, and local levels to replace political appointees. But such political tests can only reach so far down…
aclu.org/blog/free-speech/employee-speech-and-whistleblowers/alaska-governors-mass-firing-state-workers

Ya nos cansamos de Trump y de la guerra contra las mujeres
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-01-18
°Ya basta! Trump, su administración, y los elites que le respaldan, hacen la guerra contra las mujeres y millones de mujeres declaran que no dejen ningún paso para atrás. Desde las marchas masivas de las mujeres, a las elecciones recientes, a la resistencia constante, diario, mujeres están levantándose en contra de la agenda reaccionaria de Trump. | Trump y sus simpatizantes en el Senado quieren llenar La Corte Suprema y volver al reves los derechos reproductivos. Empezaron por nombrar el misógino borracho Brett Kavanaugh a La Corte Suprema. Además de la política de detener los inmigrantes indefinitivamente…
www.fightbacknews.org/node/7202

Was that the Onion or Reuters Quoting Mike Pompeo on Venezuela?
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2019-01-16
This Reuters article says "The Maduro regime is illegitimate and the United States will work diligently to restore a real democracy to that country," Pompeo told reporters in Abu Dhabi, where he is on a tour of Middle East countries. " [emphasis added] The Onion might have simply changed "countries" above to "dictatorships" or, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/was-that-the-onion-or-reuters-quoting-mike-pompeo-on-venezuela/

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

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/

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 The Grayzone.
grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/08/new-documents-reveal-a-covert-british-military-intelligence-smear-machine-meddling-in-american-politics/

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

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