Daily Archives: October 15, 2019

2019-10-15: News Headlines

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2019-10-15). A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange. globalresearch.ca Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens. In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated, not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its …

John W. Whitehead (2019-10-15). One Man Against the Monster: John Lennon vs. the Deep State. counterpunch.org "You gotta remember, establishment, it's just a name for evil. The monster doesn't care whether it kills all the students or whether there's a revolution. It's not thinking logically, it's out of control." —John Lennon (1969) John Lennon, born 79 years ago on October 9, 1940, was a musical genius and pop cultural icon. He More

Julia Conley, staff writer (2019-10-15). Advocacy Group Calls On Democratic Candidates to Share How They Would Remake Judiciary to Work for All Americans—Not Corporations. commondreams.org The advocacy group Demand Justice on Tuesday urged Democratic presidential candidates to apply the same focus on the future U.S. Supreme Court and the entire judicial branch that President Donald Trump did in 2016—allowing him to immediately begin shaping the federal courts for generations to come when he took office. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/32517811281_be97bf5d20_o1.jpg

Staff (2019-10-15). Confidentiality Laws Limit Trump Administration's Search for Citizenship Data. truthout.org | | Months after the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the administration is trying a different way to collect data on the citizenship status of everyone living in the United States. The administration's renewed effort, announced via executive order in July, has raised concerns about how the administration is allowed to use the i…

Kenneth Peres (2019-10-15). Legalized Political Corruption Is So Much Bigger Than Trump: A Journey in 7 Charts. commondreams.org Attendees hold signs as they listen to speakers during a rally calling for an end to corporate money in politics and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision at Lafayette Square near the White House on Jan. 21, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-4618967001.jpg

WSWS (2019-10-15). US Supreme Court term begins with new threats to democratic rights. wsws.org The newly consolidated 5-4 far-right majority on the court is poised to hand down rulings imposing further restrictions on abortion rights, gay rights and basic civil liberties.

Maggie Hermann (2019-10-15). Solving New Orleans Mental Health Crisis – October Events. indybay.org WTUL News and Views Dj Maggie interviews Janet Hays, (Healing Minds NOLA), Judge Kern Reese (Civil District Court ) and Kenn Barnes, (The Louisiana Supreme Court) to discuss upcoming events addressing alternatives to incarceration, homelessness and death for people with serious mental illnesses. Audio – 25: 10…

Jake Johnson, staff writer (2019-10-15). US State Dept. Under Fire for Using Official Website to Promote Pompeo's "Christian Nationalist Talking Points" commondreams.org "The Department of State looks more like it should be representing the Republic of Gilead from The Handmaid's Tale than an America that respects religious equality under the law." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/state_pompeo_christian_leader.jpg

Binoy Kampmark (2019-10-14). A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange. dissidentvoice.org Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens. In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its citizens in overseas theatres. Mamdouh Ahmed Habib, a dual Australian-Egyptian national, was detained in Pakistan …

WSWS (2019-10-14). US impeachment inquiry: State Department official testifies in defiance of Trump ban. wsws.org Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is the first Trump administration official to testify before the House Intelligence Committee since the White House declared its policy of noncooperation with the impeachment inquiry.

The Canary (2019-10-14). Catalan leaders convicted by Spain's Supreme Court for secession attempt. thecanary.co Spain's supreme court has convicted 12 former Catalan politicians and activists for their roles in the secession movement of 2017.The court sentenced former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds.Journalists waiting outside the court (AP/Paul White)The 12 were tried for their actions in a 2017 attempt by Catalonia to break away from Spain following an independence referendum that Spain declared illegal.Grassroots pro-secession groups have previously said that if any of the defendants were found guilty they would organise protests and "peaceful civil disobedienc…

Fight Back (2019-10-14). Tampa Bay demands Supreme Court uphold LGBT job rights. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On October 7 and 8, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied against the lack of federal job protections for LGBT workers. On October 8, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began discussions on three cases that relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against job discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," in order to decide whether sexual orientation and gender identity are also protected under Title VII. Tampa Bay SDS held two rallies in response to this, as a part of a National SDS call to action. SDS demanded that…

Janine Jackson (2019-10-11). 'The Public Is Clearly on the Side of Net Neutrality'. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed Free Press's Craig Aaron about the net neutrality setback for the October 4, 2019, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…

RT (2019-10-11). Trump nominates John Sullivan as US ambassador to Russia. rt.com 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…

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

Trevor Aaronson (2019-10-10). A Declassified Court Ruling Shows How the FBI Abused NSA Mass Surveillance Data. theintercept.com 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…

Robin Savannah Carver (2019-10-10). The Supreme Court Needs to Protect Trans People from Discrimination. progressive.org "I wasn't hired because I am trans. And in more than half the country—twenty-nine states, in fact —that's perfectly legal."

Staff (2019-10-09). Divided Supreme Court Hears Landmark LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination Case. democracynow.org 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…

Staff (2019-10-09). Headlines for October 9, 2019. democracynow.org Trump Won't Cooperate with Impeachment Probe, Prompting Constitutional Crisis, Turkish Attack on Kurds in Syria Imminent After U.S. Steps Aside, Afghanistan Claims al-Qaeda Leader Died in U.S.-Led Attack That Killed 40 Civilians, Trump Admin Planning Withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty, Wife of U.S. Diplomat Claims Immunity After Crash That Killed Motorcyclist, Supreme Court Hears Arguments in LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination Cases, 800,000 Californians Face Blackouts as PG&E Cuts Power Amid Wildfire Fears, Steven Reed Elected First Black Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, NBC Producer Says Matt Lauer Raped Her in 2014, U…

Alex Emmons (2019-10-09). The Espionage Act Is Again Deployed Against a Government Official Leaking to the Media. theintercept.com 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…

Janine Jackson (2019-10-08). 'Political Interference in the Whistleblower Disclosure Process Is Horrifying' – CounterSpin interview with Dana Gold on whistleblower protection. fair.org 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…

Staff (2019-10-08). Headlines for October 8, 2019. democracynow.org Trump Touts "Great and Unmatched Wisdom" as U.S. Abandons Kurdish Allies, State Dept. Orders Ambassador Gordon Sondland Not to Testify to Impeachment Inquiry, Federal Judge Rejects Trump's "Repugnant" Argument Against Turning Over Tax Records, Ecuador's President Moves Government From Capital as Anti-Austerity Protests Grow, Bolivia Rains Quell Fires After 10 Million Amazon Acres Burn, 700+ Arrested as Extinction Rebellion Protests Demand Climate Action, Swedish Climate Activist Greta Thunberg to Visit Standing Rock Reservation, Supreme Court Opens New Term with Justice Clarence Thomas Absent, Asylum Seekers Esco…

Staff (2019-10-07). "We Have to Mass Mobilize": Laverne Cox & Chase Strangio Sound the Alarm on Major LGBTQ SCOTUS Cases. democracynow.org 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…

CounterSpin (2019-10-04). Dana Gold on Whistleblower Protections, Craig Aaron on Net Neutrality Setback. fair.org Media…

2019-10-15: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-10-15
Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens. In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated, not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its …
globalresearch.ca/support-parliamentarians-julian-assange/5691880

One Man Against the Monster: John Lennon vs. the Deep State
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2019-10-15
"You gotta remember, establishment, it's just a name for evil. The monster doesn't care whether it kills all the students or whether there's a revolution. It's not thinking logically, it's out of control." –John Lennon (1969) John Lennon, born 79 years ago on October 9, 1940, was a musical genius and pop cultural icon. He…
counterpunch.org/2019/10/15/one-man-against-the-monster-john-lennon-vs-the-deep-state/

Confidentiality Laws Limit Trump Administration's Search for Citizenship Data
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-10-15
| Months after the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the administration is trying a different way to collect data on the citizenship status of everyone living in the United States. The administration's renewed effort, announced via executive order in July, has raised concerns about how the administration is allowed to use the i…
truthout.org/articles/confidentiality-laws-limit-trump-administrations-search-for-citizenship-data/

Advocacy Group Calls On Democratic Candidates to Share How They Would Remake Judiciary to Work for All Americans—Not Corporations
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-10-15
The advocacy group Demand Justice on Tuesday urged Democratic presidential candidates to apply the same focus on the future U.S. Supreme Court and the entire judicial branch that President Donald Trump did in 2016—allowing him to immediately begin shaping the federal courts for generations to come when he took office. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/32517811281_be97bf5d20_o1.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2019/10/15/advocacy-group-calls-democratic-candidates-share-how-they-would-remake-judiciary?cd-origin=rss

Legalized Political Corruption Is So Much Bigger Than Trump: A Journey in 7 Charts
Kenneth Peres | commondreams.org | 2019-10-15
Attendees hold signs as they listen to speakers during a rally calling for an end to corporate money in politics and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision at Lafayette Square near the White House on Jan. 21, 2015 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-4618967001.jpg
commondreams.org/views/2019/10/15/legalized-political-corruption-so-much-bigger-trump-journey-7-charts?cd-origin=rss

Solving New Orleans Mental Health Crisis – October Events
Maggie Hermann | indybay.org | 2019-10-15
WTUL News and Views Dj Maggie interviews Janet Hays, (Healing Minds NOLA), Judge Kern Reese (Civil District Court ) and Kenn Barnes, (The Louisiana Supreme Court) to discuss upcoming events addressing alternatives to incarceration, homelessness and death for people with serious mental illnesses. Audio – 25: 10…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/10/14/18827295.php

US Supreme Court term begins with new threats to democratic rights
wsws.org | 2019-10-15
The newly consolidated 5-4 far-right majority on the court is poised to hand down rulings imposing further restrictions on abortion rights, gay rights and basic civil liberties.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/15/cour-o15.html

US State Dept. Under Fire for Using Official Website to Promote Pompeo's "Christian Nationalist Talking Points"
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-10-15
"The Department of State looks more like it should be representing the Republic of Gilead from The Handmaid's Tale than an America that respects religious equality under the law." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/state_pompeo_christian_leader.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2019/10/15/us-state-dept-under-fire-using-official-website-promote-pompeos-christian?cd-origin=rss

A Coalition of Support: Parliamentarians for Julian Assange
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-10-14
Australian politicians, and the consular staff of the country, are rarely that engaged on the subject of protecting their citizens. In a couple of notorious cases, Australian authorities demonstrated not only an indifference, but a consciously venal approach to its citizens in overseas theatres. Mamdouh Ahmed Habib, a dual Australian-Egyptian national, was detained in Pakistan …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/10/a-coalition-of-support-parliamentarians-for-julian-assange/

US impeachment inquiry: State Department official testifies in defiance of Trump ban
wsws.org | 2019-10-14
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is the first Trump administration official to testify before the House Intelligence Committee since the White House declared its policy of noncooperation with the impeachment inquiry.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/10/14/impe-o14.html

Tampa Bay demands Supreme Court uphold LGBT job rights
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-10-14
Tampa, FL – On October 7 and 8, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied against the lack of federal job protections for LGBT workers. On October 8, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began discussions on three cases that relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against job discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," in order to decide whether sexual orientation and gender identity are also protected under Title VII. Tampa Bay SDS held two rallies in response to this, as a part of a National SDS call to action. SDS demanded that…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/10/14/tampa-bay-demands-supreme-court-uphold-lgbt-job-rights

Catalan leaders convicted by Spain's Supreme Court for secession attempt
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-10-14
Spain's supreme court has convicted 12 former Catalan politicians and activists for their roles in the secession movement of 2017.The court sentenced former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds.Journalists waiting outside the court (AP/Paul White)The 12 were tried for their actions in a 2017 attempt by Catalonia to break away from Spain following an independence referendum that Spain declared illegal.Grassroots pro-secession groups have previously said that if any of the defendants were found guilty they would organise protests and "peaceful civil disobedienc…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2019/10/14/catalan-leaders-convicted-by-spains-supreme-court-for-secession-attempt/

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/

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/

"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/