Civil Rights Are on the Chopping Block in New Supreme Court Term
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-10-13
| This term, the Supreme Court will decide whether people can be fired for being transgender or LGBQ, if people brought to the U.S. as children can be deported, whether states can impose restrictions on abortion that disproportionately harm poor women, how firm the separation between church and state is, the scope of the Second Amendment and whether criminal defendants can be convicted by less-than-unanimous juries. | Millions of people will be impacted by the results of these cases. "The court's de…
truthout.org/articles/civil-rights-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-new-supreme-court-term/

IMF Hands $4.2 Billion in Loans for Ecuador for Julian Assange
Martin Armstrong | globalresearch.ca | 2019-10-12
This article was first published in April 2019, following the granting of a $4.2 billion IMF loan to Ecuador. | It should be understood that the conditions underlying this loan are intended to impoverish an entire country. | The IMF policy conditionalities …
globalresearch.ca/imf-hands-4-2-billion-loans-ecuador-julian-assange/5675232

Calls rise to demand the release of Julian Assange
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-10-12
Singer MIA has joined the call to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after visiting him in London's high-security Belmarsh prison.The rapper and songwriter — real name Mathangi Arulpragasam — is one of a number of celebrity supporters who have been to see Assange since he was sent to Belmarsh earlier this year after spending seven years in the Ecuadorean embassy in the capital to avoid extradition.Asked how the whistleblower was faring, the musician said: It's difficult to describe… he shouldn't be in there.Julian Assange is facing extradition to the US (Victoria Jones/PA)She also s…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/10/12/calls-rise-to-demand-the-release-of-julian-assange/

Six months since the brutal arrest of WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange
wsws.org | 2019-10-12
While Assange is subjected to what amounts to torture in a British prison, the war criminals he has done so much to expose walk free.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/12/pers-o12.html

Edward Snowden: The man who exposed the electronic surveillance of everyone by US intelligence
wsws.org | 2019-10-12
The memoir Permanent Record by the former intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden is an important account of the life of the man behind the exposure of secret global electronic surveillance programs run by the NSA and CIA.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/12/snow-o12.html

Right-wing extremist network behind fascist synagogue attack in Germany
wsws.org | 2019-10-12
The reality is that the "ideological inciters" of the right-wing terrorist attack in Halle hold top positions within the state and security apparatus, the intelligence agencies, the military and the federal government.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/12/hall-o12.html

Here's an Idea: Don't Pay Them
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2019-10-12
Here's an Idea: Don't Pay Them…
thenation.com/article/trump-ukraine-pompeo/

Alaska Supreme Court hears oral arguments in kids' climate change lawsuit
Joaqlin Estus | nationofchange.org | 2019-10-12
'Is there a time to declare that air that sustains life is a fundamental right?'…
nationofchange.org/2019/10/12/alaska-supreme-court-hears-oral-arguments-in-kids-climate-change-lawsuit/

Right-wing extremist network behind fascist synagogue attack in Germany
wsws.org | 2019-10-11
The reality is that the "ideological inciters" of the right-wing terrorist attack in Halle hold top positions within the state and security apparatus, the intelligence agencies, the military and the federal government.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/11/hall-o12.html

China Will Shake the Whole World: About Farmers and Artificial Intelligence
Marc Vandepitte | globalresearch.ca | 2019-10-11
For the first time in recent history, a poor, underdeveloped country has in no time developed into an economic superpower, with a major impact on world affairs. How has this been made possible? What does this mean for the rest …
globalresearch.ca/china-farmers-artificial-intelligence/5691635

What Fourth Amendment? Court ruling says FBI snooped on private data of MILLIONS of Americans
rt.com | 2019-10-11
The phone records, emails, and data of millions of American citizens collected by the NSA haven't just been sitting in a vault somewhere. Rather, they've been searched and pored over by the FBI, apparently unconstitutionally. | According to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court ruling, issued last year and declassified this week, the FBI has been searching through records collected by the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance program. By searchi…
rt.com/usa/470676-fbi-spy-millions-americans/

In the Ukraine Scandal, Trump Won't Be Taking the Fall Alone
Joan Walsh | thenation.com | 2019-10-11
In the Ukraine Scandal, Trump Won't Be Taking the Fall Alone…
thenation.com/article/trump-ukraine-pence-pompeo-mulvaney/

Trump nominates John Sullivan as US ambassador to Russia
rt.com | 2019-10-11
US President Donald Trump has nominated Deputy Secretary of State John Joseph Sullivan as the new ambassador to Russia. If confirmed by the Senate, he will fill the spot vacated by the departure of Jon Huntsman. | Sullivan, 59, has served as deputy secretary since May 2017. He was acting secretary of state in March and April 2018, following the resignation of Rex Tillerson and the confirmation of current Secretary Mike Pompeo. | Most of his previous government experience has been in law, rather than diplomacy. Early on in his career, Sullivan clerked for a Fifth Circuit appeals judge and Supreme Court Justice…
rt.com/usa/470725-sullivan-ambassador-russia-nomination/

CIA spied on Julian Assange 24/7 in Ecuadorian embassy
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-10-10
The CIA was given 24/7 video and audio surveillance of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange while he lived under asylum at…
thegrayzone.com/2019/10/10/cia-spied-on-julian-assange-in-ecuadorian-embassy/

A Declassified Court Ruling Shows How the FBI Abused NSA Mass Surveillance Data
Trevor Aaronson | theintercept.com | 2019-10-10
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that the FBI may have violated the rights of potentially millions of Americans — including its own agents and informants — by improperly searching through information obtained by the National Security Agency's mass surveillance program. | U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, who serves in the District of Columbia and the FISA court, made his sweeping and condemnatory assessment in October 2018 in a 138-page ruling, which was declass…
theintercept.com/2019/10/10/fbi-nsa-mass-surveillance-abuse/

The Supreme Court Needs to Protect Trans People from Discrimination
Robin Savannah Carver | progressive.org | 2019-10-10
progressive.org/dispatches/SCOTUS-trans-people-deserve-job-protection-carver-191010/

Reaction to Jock Palfreeman's illegal detention continues to grow
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-10-09
civil rights Pip HinmanIssue 1240 Bulgaria political prisoner paroleOctober 9, 2019On October 7, three Bulgarian judges from the Supreme Court of Cassation decided they would need up to two months to review…
greenleft.org.au/content/reaction-jock-palfreeman%E2%80%99s-illegal-detention-continues-grow

Divided Supreme Court Hears Landmark LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination Case
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-09
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in three cases that will determine whether LGBTQ people can be fired from their jobs due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Among the court's conservative justices, only Neil Gorsuch appeared open to prohibiting such workplace discrimination. One of the cases centers on a transgender woman from Michigan named Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job at a funeral home in 2013. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision in the three cases by early next summer. We speak to James Esseks, director of the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, who attended Tu…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/9/supreme_court_lgbtq_sex_discrimination_cases

The Espionage Act Is Again Deployed Against a Government Official Leaking to the Media
Alex Emmons | theintercept.com | 2019-10-09
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced its eighth prosecution under President Donald Trump for leaking sensitive information to the media, expanding a crackdown on press disclosures that began during the Obama administration and has only accelerated under Trump. | In an eight-page indictment unsealed on Wednesday, prosecutors alleged that Henry Kyle Frese, a 30-year-old counterterrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency, accessed intelligence reports unrelated to his job and discussed their contents with two reporter…
theintercept.com/2019/10/09/the-espionage-act-is-again-deployed-against-a-government-official-leaking-to-the-media/

'Political Interference in the Whistleblower Disclosure Process Is Horrifying' – CounterSpin interview with Dana Gold on whistleblower protection
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2019-10-08
Janine Jackson interview the Government Accountability Project's Dana Gold about whistleblower protection for the October 4, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/political-interference-in-the-whistleblower-disclosure-process-is-horrifying/

The Trump Administration Is Fighting at the Supreme Court to Let Employers Fire Queer and Trans Workers
Natasha Lennard | theintercept.com | 2019-10-08
Three cases before the Supreme Court threaten to gut sex discrimination laws. Already imperiled transgender and queer workers could be the hardest hit.
theintercept.com/2019/10/08/supreme-court-trans-queer-workplace-discrimination/

"We Have to Mass Mobilize": Laverne Cox & Chase Strangio Sound the Alarm on Major LGBTQ SCOTUS Cases
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-10-07
At the start of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in three cases to determine whether LGBTQ people can be fired from their jobs due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of sex, as well as race, color, national origin and religion, but the Trump administration claims the law does not cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The cases mark the first time the Supreme Court will rule on LGBTQ rights since conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh re…
www.democracynow.org/2019/10/7/trans_rights_us_supreme_court_hearings

Dana Gold on Whistleblower Protections, Craig Aaron on Net Neutrality Setback
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-10-04
Media…
fair.org/home/dana-gold-on-whistleblower-protections-craig-aaron-on-net-neutrality-setback/

Young Lords remember martyrs and march for the future
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-10-03
Chicago, IL – A standing room only crowd filled the Holy Covenant United Methodist Church on September 29 to commemorate Reverend Bruce Johnson and Eugenia Johnson. The reverend and his wife Eugenia were remembered for supporting the Young Lords and their role in the struggle against poverty, war and oppression. They were savagely murdered in their own home 50 years ago, stabbed to death, during a U.S. government campaign of repression known as COINTELPRO or the Counterintelligence Program. | Ministers of the United Methodist Church, the Bishop of Chicago's Episcopal Church and leaders from the Presbyterian McCo…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/10/3/young-lords-remember-martyrs-and-march-future