Daily Archives: January 2, 2019

2019-01-02: News Headlines

STAFF (2019-01-02). The Collapse of the 'War on Terror' Paradigm. truthdig.com The primary post-9/11 paradigm of U.S. foreign policy has been the war on terrorism, which is to say a profound and kinetic military and counterinsurgency engagement of the U.S. Pentagon, CIA and State Department in the Greater Middle East. This paradigm succeeded the Cold War paradigm of 1946-1991, which collapsed when the Soviet Union did. | There are some signs that the "war on terror" paradigm in U.S. foreign and military policy may be winding down. Donald Trump is trying to get out of Syria, and though the Washington establishment may succeed in putting some brakes on the withdrawal, it seems likely that Tru…

Joe Lauria (2019-01-02). Rudy Giuliani: Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted. mintpressnews.com Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done "anything wrong" and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does. | "Let's take the Pentagon Papers," Giuliani told Fox News. "The Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren't they? It was in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Nobody went to jail at The New York Times and The Washington Post." | Giuliani said there were "revelations during the Bush administration" such…

aljazeera (2019-01-02). US wants access to American held in Russia on spying charges. aljazeera.com US Secretary of State Pompeo says if Paul Whelan's 'detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return'.

Democracy Now! (2019-01-02). Headlines for January 2, 2019. democracynow.org Brazil Swears In Far-Right President Jair Bolsonaro, Gov't Shutdown Enters 12th Day, Causing Chaos for Workers, Border Agents Tear-Gas Migrants at U.S.-Mexico Border, Texas: Activists Block Access to Tornillo Youth Immigration Jail, AZ: Prosecutors to Investigate Child Abuse at Immigrant Prison, Sec. of State Pompeo Reaffirms U.S. Military Relationship with Israel, Israeli PM: Bolsonaro Pledged to Move Brazilian Embassy to Jerusalem, Gaza: Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Man at Protest, U.S. and Israel Formally Leave UNESCO, North Korea: Kim Jong-un Offers Both Threats and Peaceful Overtures to U.S., Netflix Pull…

Adam Dick (2019-01-02). President Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Says Do Not Prosecute Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca President Donald Trump would do well to listen to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's Russiagate investigation lawyers, concerning the propriety of prosecuting Julian Assange of WikiLeaks who has lived in the Ecuador embassy in London since 2012 to avoid …

Roger Harris (2019-01-02). The New Congress and the Rolling Catastrophe of the US Body Politic. counterpunch.org Bathed in the soothing waters of the Blue Wave, such that it was, a new US Congress will be baptized on January 3rd. But what portends when "Mad Dog" Mattis, arch racist Jeff Sessions, and deep state spooks are canonized by self-identified liberals and leftists as bulwarks against fascism? When all mainstream "opposition" politics can be reduced to a single issue: Trump. And when the midterm elections ignored deepening impoverishment at home, endless wars abroad, and climate calamity — let alone the tax cut for the super-rich — and instead focused on the "threat" posed by (take your pick) immigrants o…

Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski (2019-01-02). Billionaires Shouldn't Control Artificial Intelligence — Lester Earnest on RAI (4/5). therealnews.com "Patents block progress" — says Lester Earnest, founder of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at Stanford, on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

Elmar Altvater and Christian Schroeppel (2019-01-02). Capitalism means Crisis and Trade War. indybay.org Capitalism contains crisis as rainclouds contain rain, said Jean Jaures, 19th-century French socialist. Big Pharma, Big Wall Street, and Big Military Industrial Complex have armies of lobbyists. False concepts that financial markets are efficient and tend to equilibrium still rule economics. We the People should govern and politics should control economics. Fighting poverty should be part of public interest.

Middle East Monitor (2019-01-02). Israeli General Sees Possible Threat From Iraq As Iran's Influence Grows. iranian.com Iran could use its growing clout in Iraq to turn it into a springboard for attacks against Israel, the chief of Israeli military intelligence said on Monday, reports Reuters. Israel sees the spread of Tehran's influence in the region as a growing threat and has carried out scores of air strikes in civil war-torn Syria against […]

Juan Cole (2019-01-02). Trump's America In 2019: Is The Mideast 'War On Terror' Paradigm Ending? iranian.com The primary post 9/11 paradigm of US foreign policy has been the war on terrorism, which is to say a profound and kinetic military and counter-insurgency engagement of the US Pentagon, CIA and State Department in the Greater Middle East. This paradigm succeeded the Cold War paradigm of 1946-1991, which collapsed when the Soviet Union […]

Glenn Greenwald (2019-01-02). Five Weeks After the Guardian's Viral Blockbuster Assange/Manafort Scoop, No Evidence Has Emerged — Just Stonewalling. theintercept.com The U.S. media is very adept at being outraged when they're denounced as "Fake News." They should think more about why that attack resonates for so many.

teleSUR (2019-01-01). Brasilia Militarized as Far-right Jair Bolsonaro Takes Oath. telesurenglish.net Far-right Jair Bolsonaro, who has vowed to crack down on left-wing opposition, progressive politics, and open up the Amazon harming the Indigenous population, was sworn in as Brazil's president Tuesday. | RELATED: | US: Mike Pompeo Starts Interventionist Latin American Tour | The neoliberal, racist, homophobic, and misogynistic former army captain scored the B…

Consortium News (2019-01-01). Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Admits Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted. theantimedia.com Donald Trump's lawyer said on Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and he compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers. (CN) — Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had done "nothing wrong" and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as …

Julia Conley, staff writer (2019-01-01). 'You Are Courting a Fascist': Pompeo Gives Inauguration US Blessing as Brazilians Brace for 'Repugnant' Bolsonaro. commondreams.org While progressives, women's rights advocates, journalists, and the LGBTQ community were among the many mourning Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo angered critics Tuesday with a celebratory tweet congratulating the proud misogynist, who has defended Brazil's former military dictatorship. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-01-01_at_11.29.23_am1.jpg

Serge Halimi (2018-12-31). Prisoner for Free Speech: the Relentless Pursuit of Julian Assange. counterpunch.org CNN correspondent Jim Acosta returned to the White House on 17 November, a few days after a US judge had forced President Donald Trump to reverse the revocation of his press pass. Smiling before 50 or more photographers and cameramen, Acosta said triumphantly: 'This was a test and I think we passed the test. Journalists need to know that in this country their First Amendment rights of freedom of the press are sacred, they're protected in our constitution. Throughout all of this I was confident and I thought that … our rights would be protected as we continue to cover our government and hold our leaders accounta…

Consortiumnews (2018-12-31). Giuliani Says Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted. consortiumnews.com Donald Trump's lawyer said on Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and he compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers. By Joe Lauria Special to Consortium News Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said… Read more →

Human Rights Watch (2018-12-31). UAE: Rights Defender's Conviction Upheld. hrw.org | | Ahmed Mansoor speaks to Reuters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 30, 2011. | © 2011 Reuters | The United Arab Emirates Federal Supreme Court, the country's court of last resort in state security cases, on December 31, 2018, upheld a 10-year sentence for Ahmed Mansoor, an award-winning human rights activist, Human Rights Watch said today. | In May, an Abu Dhabi court sentenced Mansoor to 10 years in prison for "defaming" the UAE on s…

WSWS (2018-12-31). US intelligence think tank conducted "false flag" operation impersonating Russian election interference. wsws.org New Knowledge sought to influence the 2017 Alabama election and make it appear that Russia was intervening to back the Republican candidate.

Consortiumnews (2018-12-28). Watch Replay of 10th Online Vigil for Julian Assange. consortiumnews.com Consortium News on Friday night broadcast live the 10th online vigil for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Among the guests was Francis Boyle, a University of Illinois international law professor, who spoke about his experiences with the U.S.-British extradition treaty. Other guests… Read more →

Democracy Now! (2018-12-28). A Path to Freedom? Journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal Wins Chance to Reargue Appeal in 1981 Police Killing. democracynow.org Former Black Panther and award-winning journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner but has always maintained his innocence. On Thursday, a Philadelphia judge ruled Abu-Jamal can reargue his appeal in the case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The judge cited then-Chief Justice Ronald Castille's failure to recuse himself from the case due to his prior role as Philadelphia district attorney when Abu-Jamal was appealing. We get an update from Johanna Fernández, professor of history at Baruch College-CUNY and one of the coordinators of the Campaign t…

Consortiumnews (2018-12-27). A Reuters Report on Iran That Spurred US Diatribes. consortiumnews.com This year, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made speeches about corruption and property confiscation in Iran that borrowed animating details from a skewed, 5-year-old story that is gaining influence, writes Ivan Kesic. By Ivan Kesic in Zagreb, Croatia Special to… Read more →

Democracy Now! (2018-12-27). "RBG": As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Recovers from Surgery, a Remarkable Film Charts Her Trajectory. democracynow.org Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital following surgery that removed two malignant growths in her left lung. Doctors called the surgery a success and said there's no sign that Ginsburg's cancer has spread. The health of the liberal 85-year-old justice—the oldest sitting justice on the Supreme Court bench—has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. In November, she was hospitalized after a fall that resulted in three fractured ribs. She previously fractured two ribs in 2012 and has twice survived cancer—pancreatic cancer in 2009 and colon cancer in…

Democracy Now! (2018-12-26). Headlines for December 26, 2018. democracynow.org 8-Year-Old Guatemalan Migrant Dies in U.S. Custody, Trump Warns of "Very Long" Government Shutdown over Border Wall, 800,000 Federal Employees Furloughed or Working Without Pay, Supreme Court Blocks Trump's Asylum Ban, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Lung Cancer Surgery, ICE Strands Hundreds of Migrants in Winter Cold for Christmas, Stocks Plunge as Trump Assails Federal Reserve, Syria: Israeli Warplanes Bomb Sites Near Damascus, U.S. Ends Support to Kurdish Militias as Turkish Troops Mass for Invasion, Trump to Replace James Mattis with Patrick Shanahan on January 1, U.S. Anti-ISIS Envoy Quits over…

Melissa Crow, Senior Supervising Attorney of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project (2018-12-21). SPLC statement on Supreme Court's denial of Trump administration's request to immediately enforce asylum ban. splcenter.org

stuart_m (2018-12-08). How George HW Bush's 1989 invasion of Panama set the stage for US wars to come. greenleft.org.au The death of George H.W. Bush has dominated the U.S. news for days, but little attention has been paid to the defining event of Bush's first year in office: the invasion of Panama. On December 19, 1989, Bush Sr. sent tens of thousands of troops into Panama, ostensibly to execute an arrest warrant against its leader, Manuel Noriega, on charges of drug trafficking. General Noriega was once a close ally to Washington and on the CIA payroll. | In a nationally televised address, Bush claimed the invasion was needed to defend democracy in Panama. During the attack, the U.S. unleashed a force of 24,000 troops equipped w…

peter_b (2018-12-07). Jury fails to agree on verdict in trial of Kurdish journalist. greenleft.org.au NSW Supreme Court judge Lucy McCallum discharged the jury on December 6 after it failed to agree on a verdict in the trial of Kurdish journalist Renas Lelikan on "foreign fighter" charges under Australia's draconian "anti-terrorism" laws. | Lelikan denied this charge, insisting he was not a combatant but a journalist reporting on the Kurdish liberation struggle. | A February 15 hearing will be told if the prosecution intends to ask for a re-trial. Lelikan remains free on bail, with relaxed conditions. | The case had been going on for nine weeks, four of which have been taken up with the jury's deliberation. | Phi…

Paul Kawika Martin (2018-12-04). With INF Ultimatum, Trump's Maximalist Approach Strikes Again. peaceaction.org Washington, D.C. — December 4, 2018 — In response to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement that the U.S. will formally announce its intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 60 days if Russia does not come into compliance with the treaty by then, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy […]

Yanis Varoufakis (2018-11-29). On Julian Assange and the Political Economy & future of Europe. zcomm.org Interview on the socio-economic transformations taking place within the core of the European Union and how much time is left until it disintegrates…

Chris Hedges (2018-11-26). Crucifying Julian Assange. zcomm.org Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria, journalist and editor-in-chief, Consortium, discuss efforts to force #WikiLeaks publisher, #JulianAssange, out of the Ecuador Embassy in London and extradite him to the USA to stand trial.

2019-01-02: Social Media Postees

President Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Says Do Not Prosecute Julian Assange
Adam Dick | globalresearch.ca | 2019-01-02
President Donald Trump would do well to listen to Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's Russiagate investigation lawyers, concerning the propriety of prosecuting Julian Assange of WikiLeaks who has lived in the Ecuador embassy in London since 2012 to avoid … | The post President Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Says Do Not Prosecute Julian Assange appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/president-trumps-lawyer-rudy-giuliani-says-do-not-prosecute-julian-assange/5664504

The Collapse of the 'War on Terror' Paradigm
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2019-01-02
The primary post-9/11 paradigm of U.S. foreign policy has been the war on terrorism, which is to say a profound and kinetic military and counterinsurgency engagement of the U.S. Pentagon, CIA and State Department in the Greater Middle East. This paradigm succeeded the Cold War paradigm of 1946-1991, which collapsed when the Soviet Union did. | There are some signs that the "war on terror" paradigm in U.S. foreign and military policy may be winding down. Donald Trump is trying to get out of Syria, and though the Washington establishment may succeed in putting some brakes on the withdrawal, it seems likely that Tru…
truthdig.com/articles/the-end-of-the-mideast-war-on-terror-paradigm/

The New Congress and the Rolling Catastrophe of the US Body Politic
Roger Harris | counterpunch.org | 2019-01-02
Bathed in the soothing waters of the Blue Wave, such that it was, a new US Congress will be baptized on January 3rd. But what portends when "Mad Dog" Mattis, arch racist Jeff Sessions, and deep state spooks are canonized by self-identified liberals and leftists as bulwarks against fascism? When all mainstream "opposition" politics can be reduced to a single issue: Trump. And when the midterm elections ignored deepening impoverishment at home, endless wars abroad, and climate calamity — let alone the tax cut for the super-rich — and instead focused on the "threat" posed by (take your pick) immigrants o…
counterpunch.org/2019/01/02/the-new-congress-and-the-rolling-catastrophe-of-the-us-body-politic/

Rudy Giuliani: Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted
Joe Lauria | mintpressnews.com | 2019-01-02
Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had not done "anything wrong" and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as major media does. | "Let's take the Pentagon Papers," Giuliani told Fox News. "The Pentagon Papers were stolen property, weren't they? It was in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Nobody went to jail at The New York Times and The Washington Post." | Giuliani said there were "revelations during the Bush administration" such…
mintpressnews.com/rudy-giuliani-julian-assange-not-prosecuted/253420/

US wants access to American held in Russia on spying charges
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2019-01-02
US Secretary of State Pompeo says if Paul Whelan's 'detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return'.
aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/access-american-held-russia-spying-charges-190102145959611.html

Billionaires Shouldn't Control Artificial Intelligence — Lester Earnest on RAI (4/5)
Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski | therealnews.com | 2019-01-02
"Patents block progress" — says Lester Earnest, founder of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at Stanford, on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay | The post Billionaires Shouldn't Control Artificial Intelligence — Lester Earnest on RAI (4/5) appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/billionaires-shouldnt-control-artificial-intelligence-lester-earnest-on-rai-4-5

Capitalism means Crisis and Trade War
Elmar Altvater and Christian Schroeppel | indybay.org | 2019-01-02
Capitalism contains crisis as rainclouds contain rain, said Jean Jaures, 19th-century French socialist. Big Pharma, Big Wall Street, and Big Military Industrial Complex have armies of lobbyists. False concepts that financial markets are efficient and tend to equilibrium still rule economics. We the People should govern and politics should control economics. Fighting poverty should be part of public interest.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/01/02/18820058.php

Israeli General Sees Possible Threat From Iraq As Iran's Influence Grows
Middle East Monitor | iranian.com | 2019-01-02
Iran could use its growing clout in Iraq to turn it into a springboard for attacks against Israel, the chief of Israeli military intelligence said on Monday, reports Reuters. Israel sees the spread of Tehran's influence in the region as a growing threat and has carried out scores of air strikes in civil war-torn Syria against […] | The post Israeli General Sees Possible Threat From Iraq As Iran's Influence Grows appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2019/01/01/israeli-general-sees-possible-threat-from-iraq-as-irans-influence-grows/

Trump's America In 2019: Is The Mideast 'War On Terror' Paradigm Ending?
Juan Cole | iranian.com | 2019-01-02
The primary post 9/11 paradigm of US foreign policy has been the war on terrorism, which is to say a profound and kinetic military and counter-insurgency engagement of the US Pentagon, CIA and State Department in the Greater Middle East. This paradigm succeeded the Cold War paradigm of 1946-1991, which collapsed when the Soviet Union […] | The post Trump's America In 2019: Is The Mideast 'War On Terror' Paradigm Ending? appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2019/01/01/mideast-war-on-terror-ending/

Five Weeks After the Guardian's Viral Blockbuster Assange/Manafort Scoop, No Evidence Has Emerged — Just Stonewalling
Glenn Greenwald | theintercept.com | 2019-01-02
The U.S. media is very adept at being outraged when they're denounced as "Fake News." They should think more about why that attack resonates for so many. | The post Five Weeks After the Guardian's Viral Blockbuster Assange/Manafort Scoop, No Evidence Has Emerged — Just Stonewalling appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2019/01/02/five-weeks-after-the-guardians-viral-blockbuster-assangemanafort-scoop-no-evidence-has-emerged-just-stonewalling/

Brasilia Militarized as Far-right Jair Bolsonaro Takes Oath
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-01-01
Far-right Jair Bolsonaro, who has vowed to crack down on left-wing opposition, progressive politics, and open up the Amazon harming the Indigenous population, was sworn in as Brazil's president Tuesday. | RELATED: | US: Mike Pompeo Starts Interventionist Latin American Tour | The neoliberal, racist, homophobic, and misogynistic former army captain scored the B…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brasilia-Militarized-with-12000-Troops-for-Inauguration-of-Neoliberal-Far-right-Bolsonaro-20190101-0012.html

Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Admits Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted
Consortium News | theantimedia.com | 2019-01-01
Donald Trump's lawyer said on Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and he compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers. (CN) — Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange had done "nothing wrong" and should not go to jail for disseminating stolen information just as …

Trump's Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Admits Julian Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted

'You Are Courting a Fascist': Pompeo Gives Inauguration US Blessing as Brazilians Brace for 'Repugnant' Bolsonaro
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-01-01
While progressives, women's rights advocates, journalists, and the LGBTQ community were among the many mourning Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo angered critics Tuesday with a celebratory tweet congratulating the proud misogynist, who has defended Brazil's former military dictatorship. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-01-01_at_11.29.23_am1.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2019/01/01/you-are-courting-fascist-pompeo-gives-inauguration-us-blessing-brazilians-brace?cd-origin=rss

Prisoner for Free Speech: the Relentless Pursuit of Julian Assange
Serge Halimi | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-31
CNN correspondent Jim Acosta returned to the White House on 17 November, a few days after a US judge had forced President Donald Trump to reverse the revocation of his press pass. Smiling before 50 or more photographers and cameramen, Acosta said triumphantly: 'This was a test and I think we passed the test. Journalists need to know that in this country their First Amendment rights of freedom of the press are sacred, they're protected in our constitution. Throughout all of this I was confident and I thought that … our rights would be protected as we continue to cover our government and hold our leaders accounta…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/31/prisoner-for-free-speech-the-relentless-pursuit-of-julian-assange/

Giuliani Says Assange Should Not Be Prosecuted
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-12-31
Donald Trump's lawyer said on Monday that WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange should not be prosecuted and he compared WikiLeaks publications to the Pentagon Papers. By Joe Lauria Special to Consortium News Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/12/31/giuliani-says-assange-should-not-be-prosecuted/

UAE: Rights Defender's Conviction Upheld
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-31
Ahmed Mansoor speaks to Reuters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 30, 2011. | © 2011 Reuters | The United Arab Emirates Federal Supreme Court, the country's court of last resort in state security cases, on December 31, 2018, upheld a 10-year sentence for Ahmed Mansoor, an award-winning human rights activist, Human Rights Watch said today. | In May, an Abu Dhabi court sentenced Mansoor to 10 years in prison for "defaming" the UAE on s…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/31/uae-rights-defenders-conviction-upheld

US intelligence think tank conducted "false flag" operation impersonating Russian election interference
WSWS | wsws.org | 2018-12-31
New Knowledge sought to influence the 2017 Alabama election and make it appear that Russia was intervening to back the Republican candidate.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/31/know-d31.html

Watch Replay of 10th Online Vigil for Julian Assange
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-12-28
Consortium News on Friday night broadcast live the 10th online vigil for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. Among the guests was Francis Boyle, a University of Illinois international law professor, who spoke about his experiences with the U.S.-British extradition treaty. Other guests… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/12/28/watch-the-10th-online-vigil-for-assange-here-tonight/

A Path to Freedom? Journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal Wins Chance to Reargue Appeal in 1981 Police Killing
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-28
Former Black Panther and award-winning journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner but has always maintained his innocence. On Thursday, a Philadelphia judge ruled Abu-Jamal can reargue his appeal in the case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The judge cited then-Chief Justice Ronald Castille's failure to recuse himself from the case due to his prior role as Philadelphia district attorney when Abu-Jamal was appealing. We get an update from Johanna Fernández, professor of history at Baruch College-CUNY and one of the coordinators of the Campaign t…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/28/a_path_to_freedom_journalist_mumia

A Reuters Report on Iran That Spurred US Diatribes
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2018-12-27
This year, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made speeches about corruption and property confiscation in Iran that borrowed animating details from a skewed, 5-year-old story that is gaining influence, writes Ivan Kesic. By Ivan Kesic in Zagreb, Croatia Special to… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/12/27/a-reuters-report-on-iran-that-fueled-us-diatribes/

"RBG": As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Recovers from Surgery, a Remarkable Film Charts Her Trajectory
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-27
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital following surgery that removed two malignant growths in her left lung. Doctors called the surgery a success and said there's no sign that Ginsburg's cancer has spread. The health of the liberal 85-year-old justice–the oldest sitting justice on the Supreme Court bench–has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. In November, she was hospitalized after a fall that resulted in three fractured ribs. She previously fractured two ribs in 2012 and has twice survived cancer–pancreatic cancer in 2009 and colon cancer in…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/27/rbg_as_justice_ruth_bader_ginsburg

Headlines for December 26, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-26
8-Year-Old Guatemalan Migrant Dies in U.S. Custody, Trump Warns of "Very Long" Government Shutdown over Border Wall, 800,000 Federal Employees Furloughed or Working Without Pay, Supreme Court Blocks Trump's Asylum Ban, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Lung Cancer Surgery, ICE Strands Hundreds of Migrants in Winter Cold for Christmas, Stocks Plunge as Trump Assails Federal Reserve, Syria: Israeli Warplanes Bomb Sites Near Damascus, U.S. Ends Support to Kurdish Militias as Turkish Troops Mass for Invasion, Trump to Replace James Mattis with Patrick Shanahan on January 1, U.S. Anti-ISIS Envoy Quits over…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/26/headlines

8-Year-Old Guatemalan Boy Dies in Border Patrol Custody Days After High Court Rejects Asylum Ban
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-26
For the second time this month, a Guatemalan child has died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Eight-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo died in New Mexico on Christmas Eve, after being detained since December 18. This follows the death of a 7-year-old indigenous Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal Maquín, who died on December 8, two days after she and her father presented themselves at the border in a bid for asylum. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's asylum ban, which attempted to deny asylum to anyone entering the country from outside of a legal port of entry. Supreme Court Chief…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/26/8_year_old_guatemalan_boy_dies

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

How George HW Bush's 1989 invasion of Panama set the stage for US wars to come
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-08
The death of George H.W. Bush has dominated the U.S. news for days, but little attention has been paid to the defining event of Bush's first year in office: the invasion of Panama. On December 19, 1989, Bush Sr. sent tens of thousands of troops into Panama, ostensibly to execute an arrest warrant against its leader, Manuel Noriega, on charges of drug trafficking. General Noriega was once a close ally to Washington and on the CIA payroll. | In a nationally televised address, Bush claimed the invasion was needed to defend democracy in Panama. During the attack, the U.S. unleashed a force of 24,000 troops equipped w…
greenleft.org.au/content/how-george-hw-bush%E2%80%99s-1989-invasion-panama-set-stage-us-wars-come

Jury fails to agree on verdict in trial of Kurdish journalist
peter_b | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-07
NSW Supreme Court judge Lucy McCallum discharged the jury on December 6 after it failed to agree on a verdict in the trial of Kurdish journalist Renas Lelikan on "foreign fighter" charges under Australia's draconian "anti-terrorism" laws. | Lelikan denied this charge, insisting he was not a combatant but a journalist reporting on the Kurdish liberation struggle. | A February 15 hearing will be told if the prosecution intends to ask for a re-trial. Lelikan remains free on bail, with relaxed conditions. | The case had been going on for nine weeks, four of which have been taken up with the jury's deliberation. | Phi…
greenleft.org.au/content/jury-fails-agree-verdict-trial-kurdish-journalist

With INF Ultimatum, Trump's Maximalist Approach Strikes Again
Paul Kawika Martin | peaceaction.org | 2018-12-04
Washington, D.C. — December 4, 2018 — In response to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement that the U.S. will formally announce its intention to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 60 days if Russia does not come into compliance with the treaty by then, Paul Kawika Martin, Senior Director for Policy […] | The post With INF Ultimatum, Trump's Maximalist Approach Strikes Again appeared first on Peace Action…
peaceaction.org/2018/12/04/with-inf-ultimatum-trumps-maximalist-approach-strikes-again/