Daily Archives: August 26, 2019

2019-08-26: News Headlines

Samantha Maldonado (2019-08-26). Growing backlash against unethical tech, employees of Big Tech are speaking out. peoplesworld.org SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Liz O'Sullivan was hired at the New York City-based artificial intelligence company Clarifai in 2017, she felt lucky to find work at the intersection of two of her main interests: technology and ethics. Two years later, she found herself facing a moral dilemma. Clarifai was developing aerial photography and object …

Mnar Muhawesh (2019-08-26). Breaking The Media Blackout on the Imprisonment of Julian Assange. mintpressnews.com The same media that has spent years dragging Assange's name through the mud is now engaging in a blackout on his treatment. If you are waiting for corporate media pundits to defend freedom of the press, you're going to be disappointed.

Bay Action To Free Julian Assange (2019-08-26). SF Rally To Defend Julian Assange. & Chelsea Manning. indybay.org Powell & Market St. | San Francisco…

RT (2019-08-24). Huawei, evil Chinese & decapitated cat: Bannon serving warmed-over propaganda to Trump & Americans. rt.com Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has faced the "China threat" head-on with a lukewarm propaganda film dramatizing the Huawei case in Canada, hoping to galvanize the American people (and president) for a second Cold War. | Claws of the Red Dragon — "inspired by real life events" — tells the tale of a stand-in for Huawei's Meng Wanzhou, her arrest in Vancouver on US orders, the retaliatory arrest of two Canadians for definitely not spying in China, and the Huawei-standin's totally real collusion with an especially evil Chinese government. Characters include a plucky Chinese-Canadian journalist hot…

WSWS (2019-08-24). Texas prisoner executed despite debunked forensic evidence pointing to his innocence. wsws.org The US Supreme Court denied Larry Swearingen's appeal for a stay, clearing the way for his execution.

Johnny Dwyer (2019-08-23). Unsealed Filings Detail Felix Sater's Work as an Intelligence Asset, With Significant Gaps. theintercept.com Felix Sater was among the most closely held secrets for federal prosecutors and investigators in New York for nearly a decade. Two documents unsealed Friday following a request by The Intercept reveal in greater detail the government's account of his history as an informant and intelligence asset. However, redactions in the release point to ongoing interests in the government maintaining secrecy around a man who has…

ACLU (2019-08-23). Will North Carolina's Supreme Court Allow Racism to Remain a Persistent Factor in its Death Penalty? aclu.org North Carolina's Supreme Court will determine whether evidence of racism in capital punishment can be swept under the rug. | In 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act (RJA), which allowed defendants to strike the death penalty from their cases if they could show that racial discrimination was a factor in their prosecution. The law came as a response to a series of exonerations of Black people who were falsely convicted of crimes they did not commit by all-white or nearly all-white juries. The legislature took a bold step to address was what suspected to be deeply troubling evidence of racism infe…

Mehdi Hasan (2019-08-20). Mike Pompeo Has Extreme Views on Muslims — and Liberals Don't Seem to Care. theintercept.com U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before an event on June 26, 2019. | began Mike Pompeo, before going on to claim that "silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts and, more importantly still, those that may well follow." | Pompeo's remarks were " false and irresponsible," as the Council on American Islamic Relations demonstrated at the time. Every major Muslim organization in the United States had Fidel Narváez (2019-08-20). 40 rebuttals to the media's smears of Julian Assange — by someone who was actually there. thegrayzone.com A former diplomat who worked in the Ecuadorian embassy while Julian Assange lived there in asylum debunks 40 of CNN's…

Staff (2019-08-20). DHS Was Tracking White Supremacist Terrorists, but Nobody Wanted to Listen. therealnews.com No one listened when the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sounded the alarm about the rise of white supremacist and far-right domestic terrorism, says former DHS intelligence analyst Daryl Johnson and Greg Huffman of Facing South…

Ricardo Vaz (2019-08-14). Venezuela's Maduro Reshuffles Cabinet as Supreme Court Strips Three Opposition Lawmakers of Immunity. venezuelanalysis.com The National Constituent Assembly will also evaluate bringing forward legislative elections.

splcenter (2019-08-13). SPLC joins brief opposing Kansas law targeting immigrants. splcenter.org The SPLC and 29 worker and immigrant rights organizations filed an amicus brief today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a court decision stating that a Kansas identity theft law cannot be used to turn local law enforcement into immigration agents.

Bill Blum (2019-08-13). Unequal Justice: John Roberts' Dark Legacy of Voter Suppression. progressive.org Plaintiffs are litigating voting rights cases in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and several other states. Some will succeed, some will fail, but all will be more uncertain and expensive thanks to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Sapphira Lurie (2019-08-08). Fordham U students win fight to have Palestine rights club. liberationnews.org On Aug. 5, Justice Nancy Bannon of the Supreme Court of the State of New York annulled Fordham University's decision to ban Students for Justice in Palestine from its campus.

Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz (2019-07-12). Venezuela: 'Progress' Reported in Gov't-Opposition Talks as US Sanctions Counter-Intelligence Agency. venezuelanalysis.com The agenda of the talks has not been disclosed but the topic of elections is reportedly being left for last.

2019-08-26: Social Media Postees

SF Rally To Defend Julian Assange. & Chelsea Manning
Bay Action To Free Julian Assange | indybay.org | 2019-08-26
Powell & Market St. | San Francisco…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/18825655.php

Breaking The Media Blackout on the Imprisonment of Julian Assange
Mnar Muhawesh | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-26
The same media that has spent years dragging Assange's name through the mud is now engaging in a blackout on his treatment. If you are waiting for corporate media pundits to defend freedom of the press, you're going to be disappointed.
mintpressnews.com/media-blackout-imprisonment-espionage-act-julian-assange/261510/

Growing backlash against unethical tech, employees of Big Tech are speaking out
Samantha Maldonado | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-26
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Liz O'Sullivan was hired at the New York City-based artificial intelligence company Clarifai in 2017, she felt lucky to find work at the intersection of two of her main interests: technology and ethics. Two years later, she found herself facing a moral dilemma. Clarifai was developing aerial photography and object …
peoplesworld.org/article/growing-backlash-against-unethical-tech-employees-of-big-tech-are-speaking-out/

Huawei, evil Chinese & decapitated cat: Bannon serving warmed-over propaganda to Trump & Americans
rt.com | 2019-08-24
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has faced the "China threat" head-on with a lukewarm propaganda film dramatizing the Huawei case in Canada, hoping to galvanize the American people (and president) for a second Cold War. | Claws of the Red Dragon — "inspired by real life events" — tells the tale of a stand-in for Huawei's Meng Wanzhou, her arrest in Vancouver on US orders, the retaliatory arrest of two Canadians for definitely not spying in China, and the Huawei-standin's totally real collusion with an especially evil Chinese government. Characters include a plucky Chinese-Canadian journalist hot…
rt.com/usa/467176-bannon-huawei-china-propaganda-film/

Texas prisoner executed despite debunked forensic evidence pointing to his innocence
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
The US Supreme Court denied Larry Swearingen's appeal for a stay, clearing the way for his execution.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/exec-a24.html

Unsealed Filings Detail Felix Sater's Work as an Intelligence Asset, With Significant Gaps
Johnny Dwyer | theintercept.com | 2019-08-23
Felix Sater was among the most closely held secrets for federal prosecutors and investigators in New York for nearly a decade. Two documents unsealed Friday following a request by The Intercept reveal in greater detail the government's account of his history as an informant and intelligence asset. However, redactions in the release point to ongoing interests in the government maintaining secrecy around a man who has…
theintercept.com/2019/08/23/unsealed-filings-detail-felix-saters-work-as-an-intelligence-asset-with-significant-gaps/

Will North Carolina's Supreme Court Allow Racism to Remain a Persistent Factor in its Death Penalty?
aclu.org | 2019-08-23
North Carolina's Supreme Court will determine whether evidence of racism in capital punishment can be swept under the rug. | In 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act (RJA), which allowed defendants to strike the death penalty from their cases if they could show that racial discrimination was a factor in their prosecution. The law came as a response to a series of exonerations of Black people who were falsely convicted of crimes they did not commit by all-white or nearly all-white juries. The legislature took a bold step to address was what suspected to be deeply troubling evidence of racism infe…
aclu.org/blog/capital-punishment/racial-disparities-and-death-penalty/will-north-carolinas-supreme-court

40 rebuttals to the media's smears of Julian Assange — by someone who was actually there
Fidel Narváez | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-20
A former diplomat who worked in the Ecuadorian embassy while Julian Assange lived there in asylum debunks 40 of CNN's…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/20/cnn-media-smears-julian-assange-fidel-narvaez/

DHS Was Tracking White Supremacist Terrorists, but Nobody Wanted to Listen
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-20
No one listened when the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sounded the alarm about the rise of white supremacist and far-right domestic terrorism, says former DHS intelligence analyst Daryl Johnson and Greg Huffman of Facing South…
therealnews.com/stories/dhs-was-tracking-white-supremacist-terrorists-but-nobody-wanted-to-listen

Venezuela's Maduro Reshuffles Cabinet as Supreme Court Strips Three Opposition Lawmakers of Immunity
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-08-14
The National Constituent Assembly will also evaluate bringing forward legislative elections.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14628

SPLC joins brief opposing Kansas law targeting immigrants
splcenter.org | 2019-08-13
The SPLC and 29 worker and immigrant rights organizations filed an amicus brief today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a court decision stating that a Kansas identity theft law cannot be used to turn local law enforcement into immigration agents.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/13/splc-joins-brief-opposing-kansas-law-targeting-immigrants

Unequal Justice: John Roberts' Dark Legacy of Voter Suppression
Bill Blum | progressive.org | 2019-08-13
Plaintiffs are litigating voting rights cases in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and several other states. Some will succeed, some will fail, but all will be more uncertain and expensive thanks to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
progressive.org/dispatches/unequal-justice-john-roberts-dark-legacy-of-voter-suppression-blum-190812/

Fordham U students win fight to have Palestine rights club
Sapphira Lurie | liberationnews.org | 2019-08-08
On Aug. 5, Justice Nancy Bannon of the Supreme Court of the State of New York annulled Fordham University's decision to ban Students for Justice in Palestine from its campus.
liberationnews.org/fordham-u-students-win-fight-to-have-palestine-rights-club/