(2020-07-11). 'Another phony hit job': Trump slams NYT for 'made up' story about alleged Russian bounties in Afghanistan. rt.com 
A sensational New York Times report which alleged that Russia paid the Taliban to target US forces in Afghanistan was pure fabrication, Donald Trump has claimed after the Pentagon and intel agencies dismissed the story. | The claim that Moscow had placed bounties on US and coalition troops operating in Afghanistan, first reported by the Times last month, has been widely discredited by senior military and intelligence officials. Defense Secretary Mark Esper testified earlier this week that "all the defense intelligence agencies have been unable to corroborate that report." | Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gener…
(2020-07-11). How the Pentagon failed to sell Afghan government's bunk 'Bountygate'. zcomm.org Another New York Times Russiagate bombshell turns out to be a dud, as dodgy stories spun out by Afghan intelligence and exploited by the Pentagon ultimately failed to convince US intelligence agencies…
(2020-07-11). Anti-Trump camp in meltdown over VIDEO of dancing Roger Stone after his prison term's commuted. rt.com 
Political huckster Roger Stone celebrated the commutation of his prison sentence in typically flamboyant style: by gyrating to music in a video that went viral and hit a raw nerve with his opponents and those of President Trump. | Ensnared by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 'Russiagate' probe, Stone was sentenced in February to three years in prison for interfering with the investigation and tampering with witnesses — charges the long-time Republican maintained were baseless. Trump commuted his sentence on Friday — a move that doesn't overturn his conviction, but spares him a stint behind bars. | Fa…
(2020-07-11). The Hypocrisies of Recognition: The Supreme Court, Native Americans and the McGirt Case. dissidentvoice.org The Supreme Court of the United States has barely had time to gather its collective breath this last few days. Among its decisions, including those dealing with President Donald Trump's financial records, was that of McGirt v Oklahoma. The case furnishes a detailed discussion on the extent Native American self-governance survived the assaults of the …
(2020-07-11). [World Report] US Supreme Court upholds abortion rights, for now. thelancet.com The court's decision means that Louisiana's three abortion clinics will remain open. Susan Jaffe reports.
(2020-07-11). "Most Important Indian Law Case in Half a Century" zcomm.org Supreme Court Upholds Tribal Sovereignty in OK…
(2020-07-10). Supreme Court Rules Trump Is Not Above the Law, But Public Unlikely to See Tax Returns by Election. democracynow.org 
In a pair of 7-2 rulings, the Supreme Court rejected President Trump's claim of absolute immunity under the law. The court ruled a Manhattan grand jury could have access to the president's tax returns, but it remains unlikely any of Trump's tax records will be seen before the election. "Legally, Trump had a big loss," says investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, founder and editor of DCReport.org. "Politically, he got a big win out of this court."
(2020-07-10). "Most Important Indian Law Case in Half a Century": Supreme Court Upholds Tribal Sovereignty in OK. democracynow.org 
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that much of eastern Oklahoma, constituting nearly half the state, is Native American land, recognizing a 19th century U.S. treaty with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump nominee, joined the court's liberal wing in a narrow 5-4 ruling that found state authorities cannot criminally prosecute Indigenous peoples under state or local laws. The court's bombshell decision — which also impacts the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole Nations — is a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights. "It's a landmark case…
(2020-07-10). Headlines for July 10, 2020. democracynow.org Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Claim of Absolute Immunity, Court Says Much of Oklahoma Remains Indian Country in Landmark Indigenous Sovereignty Case, Hospitals Face Surge as U.S. Reports Record 65,000 New Coronavirus Cases, Surge in Cases Directly Tied to Early Reopenings in Florida, Arizona, Texas, Bolivia's Interim President Tests Positive; India, S. Africa & Mexico Report New Record Highs, 1.3 Million More File for Unemployment as GOP Rejects Extending Jobless Aid, Biden Unveils $700 Billion "Buy American" Economic Recovery Plan, St. Louis Police Break Up City Hall Encampment, With Veto-Proof Majority,…
(2020-07-10). 'I Could Live With That': How the CIA Made Afghanistan Safe for the Opium Trade. strategic-culture.org Jeffrey ST. CLAIR | "I decided I could live with that." | — Stansfield Turner, Jimmy Carter's CIA director, on the extreme level of civilian casualties in the CIA's covert war in Afghanistan. | The first indelible image of the war in Afghanistan for many Americans was probably that of CBS anchorman Dan Rather, wrapped in the voluminous drapery of a mujahedin fighter, looking like a healthy relative of Lawrence of Arabia (albeit with hair that seemed freshly blow-dried, as some viewers were quick to point out). From his secret mountainside "somewhere in the Hindu Kush," Rather unloaded on his audience a barr…
(2020-07-10). "I Could Live With That": How the CIA Made Afghanistan Safe for the Opium Trade. counterpunch.org 
Jimmy Carter later confessed in his memoirs that he was more shaken by the invasion of Afghanistan than any other event of his presidency, including the Iranian revolution. Carter was convinced by the CIA that it could be the start of a push by the Soviets toward the Persian Gulf, a scenario that led the president to seriously consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
(2020-07-10). The collapse of the New York Times' "Russian bounties" campaign. wsws.org Less than two weeks after it kicked off a media frenzy, the Times published an editorial effectively conceding that there was no factual basis for its reporting that Russian military intelligence had paid bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers.
(2020-07-10). Twitter data-mining tool Dataminr fed police real-time info on Black Lives Matter ers, despite promises not to spy. rt.com 
An analytics firm parsing Twitter data in real time for law enforcement and media has been caught funneling detailed info on anti-police-brutality marches to the very agencies users are ing, despite promises not to. | Dataminr, a CIA-funded artificial intelligence startup that mines Twitter's real-time content stream for behavioral patterns and other analytics, has been caught feeding info on police brutality ers from that "firehose" stream back to law enforcement. While the developers had promised they wouldn't enable domestic surveillance after a series of scandals in 2016, Dataminr is once aga…
(2020-07-10). New evidence shows FBI knew General Flynn was not 'agent of Russia' but prosecuted him anyway. rt.com 
President Donald Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn was "not acting as an agent of Russia" by the FBI's own determination, yet the Mueller probe was based on that claim and his legal odyssey still continues. | New evidence provided by the Justice Department to Flynn's legal team this week, and made public on Friday as part of a court filing, shows that the FBI determined Flynn wasn't a Russian agent, and believed he did not deliberately lie to agents during his January 2017 interview. | A handwritten document shows the officials believed there were no reasonable grounds for prosecution under…
(2020-07-10). New evidence shows the FBI knew General Flynn was not 'agent of Russia' but prosecuted him anyway. rt.com President Donald Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn was "not acting as an agent of Russia" by the FBI's own determination, yet the Mueller probe was based on that claim and his legal odyssey still continues. | New evidence provided by the Justice Department to Flynn's legal team this week, and made public on Friday as part of a court filing, shows that the FBI determined Flynn wasn't a Russian agent, and believed he did not deliberately lie to agents during his January 2017 interview. | A handwritten document shows the officials believed there were no reasonable grounds for prosecution under…
(2020-07-10). Google vows to ban companies profiting from secretly spying on people, but doesn't think to include itself. rt.com 
In an effort to combat the monitoring of people's activities without their knowledge, Google is changing its policies to prohibit the advertising of spyware products. The spy-happy tech giant evidently failed to grasp the irony… | In a published update, Google Although Google doesn't explicitl…
(2020-07-10). Supreme Court rules against Trump on releasing tax returns, but allows delay. wsws.org While Trump failed in his effort to assert absolute presidential immunity, the court rulings will push back any release of his financial documents until after the election.
(2020-07-10). Supreme Court Correctly Rules that Trump is Not Above the Law. aclu.org Donald Trump, who often behaves as though he has never read the Constitution, received an important civics lesson from the Supreme Court yesterday when it ruled in two cases involving his personal financial records, including tax returns that he has long sought to conceal, that there is an important difference between being president and king. As the Supreme Court emphatically — and on this point, unanimously — reminded us all, the president may occupy the highest office in the land, but he is not above the law. , , Chief Justice Roberts wrote the Court's opinion in both cases. The first case, Tru…
(2020-07-10). The Supreme Court's Public-Health Approach to Abortion Rights. thenation.com The Supreme Court's Public-Health Approach to Abortion Rights…
(2020-07-10). Supreme Court Rules Against Oklahoma In Creek Nation Case. popularresistance.org Above photo: BB/PA Images. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's reservation was not officially terminated at Oklahoma statehood, as justices issued a decision that may upend state jurisdiction in much of eastern Oklahoma. "The federal government promised the Creek a reservation in perpetuity," the 5-4 decision states. "Over time, Congress …
(2020-07-10). UN Calls Soleimani's Killing an Arbitrary Execution, US Rejects. telesurenglish.net U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Friday rejected a United Nations report accusing Iranian General Qasem Soleimani's assassination as illegal. | RELATED: | The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Agnes Callamard also called Soleimani's death an "arbitrary execution" given that Washington has not yet provided evidence to justify the Iranian general was planning attacks against the U.S. | "The at…
(2020-07-10). Has the Durham Investigation of the Russiagate Hoax Been Deep-Sixed? thealtworld.com I never had any expectation that the Trump Justice (sic) Department would investigate the Obama DOJ, FBI, and CIA officials who commited felonies while creating the Russiagate hoax that was intended to drive President Trump from office. The Washington Establishment never lowers the boom on its own. | Attorney General William Barr and US Attorney John Durham are establishment figures. So are the alleged targets of their investigation. But Trump is not an establishment figure. He challenged the establishment openly in his inaugeration speech, and the establishment has been after him ever since. | The alleged invest…
(2020-07-10). Scheer Intelligence: The Price Of Ignoring The Ferguson Uprising. popularresistance.org August 9 will mark six years since 18-year-old Michael Brown was murdered by policeman Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Miss. Since then, Wilson has walked free and the systemic issues that have plagued this nation throughout its history have gone unaddressed. That changed with the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, which so thoroughly shocked Americans and established that the lessons from Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement that rose from it never had been absorbed. | Now, at a moment of heightened awareness about racism, Black Lives Matter leaders and Black s and artists such as t…
(2020-07-09). Viagra? Yes. Birth Control? No. SCOTUS Sides with Trump & Limits Free Contraception Under Obamacare. democracynow.org 
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to reproductive rights when it sided with the Trump administration in letting employers deny people access to free birth control based on religious or moral grounds, hollowing out a mandate under the Affordable Care Act that requires most private health insurance plans to provide cost-free birth control. "It's a really deeply disappointing ruling," says Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. "These individuals are effectively on their own to find and pay for their contraception."
(2020-07-09). SCOTUS decides 5-4 win for abortion rights. workers.org 
SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective Executive Director Monica Simpson speaking at reproductive justice rally in Georgia, June 28, 2019. On June 29, the Supreme Court issued a much anticipated decision in June Medical Services v. Russo, the first reproductive justice case since anti-abortion Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and . . . |
(2020-07-09). Racism in America: Police Choke-Holds Are Not the Issue. counterpunch.org 
While the abject inhumanity of slavery may have been legally mitigated to some extent, the institutions, practices and values of exclusion, exploitation and devaluation were not. Constitutional guarantees, and Supreme Court decisions, could be cleverly subverted by States. For example, Black people were denied the right to vote through poll taxes, arbitrary registration requirements, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries and so on. In 1940, 70 years after they had received the right to vote, only 3% of Blacks in the South were registered as voters. Less overt voter suppression efforts continue to t…
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court rules today: Trump is not above the law! peoplesworld.org 
President Trump took to Twitter in a rant today after the Supreme Court, in two 7-2 decisions. said the president is not entitled to immunity from congressional and grand jury subpoenas for his tax and financial information. In his rant, Trump called the rulings rejecting his claims that he is essentially above the law "unfair." …
(2020-07-09). Grumpy Trump hits out at Supreme Court decision, calls New York a 'hellhole'. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has branded his home state a "hellhole," after the Supreme Court ruled a Manhattan prosecutor can subpoena his financial records. To Trump, the decision was just another move in the "witch hunt" against him. | In a 7-2 ruling on Thursday, the court found that a subpoena issued to Trump's accounting firm may be enforced, dismissing Trump's legal team's argument that the president is immune to criminal proceedings. The subpoena was issued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, after allegations of 'hush money' payments to porn star Stormy Daniels surfaced in 2018. | Also on rt.com…
(2020-07-09). Kavanaugh & Gorsuch rule against Trump in Supreme Court tax returns case. rt.com 
Trump's hotly-pursued tax returns may see the light of day, after the Supreme Court ruled that his financial records can be handed over to a New York grand jury in a decision supported by three conservative justices. | In a 7-2 ruling, the court found that a subpoena issued to Trump's accounting firm, Mazars LLP, can be enforced, and dismissed Trump's lawyers' argument that he is immune from criminal proceedings. The request was part of a criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, and years of Trump's tax returns will now have to be turned over to a grand jury. | Justices Neil Gorsuch a…
(2020-07-09). Manhattan next? US Supreme Court opens Pandora's box with ruling that half of Oklahoma is 'Indian country'. rt.com 
While critics of US President Donald Trump gloated over the Supreme Court ruling in the matter of his taxes, another verdict returning much of Oklahoma to the Creek Nation has far bigger implications for the country down the line. | "On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise," Justice Neil Gorsuch — a Trump appointee presumed to be a conservative textualist — declared at the start of the majority opinion in
(2020-07-09). The Global Reset — Unplugged. "The Deep State" globalresearch.ca Imagine, you are living in a world that you are told is a democracy — and you may even believe it — but in fact your life and fate is in the hands of a few ultra-rich, ultra-powerful and ultra-inhuman oligarchs. They may be called Deep State, or simply the Beast, …
(2020-07-09). US Supreme Court Ratifies Native American Territory in Oklahoma. telesurenglish.net The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday ruled that almost half of the Oklahoma state is a Native American reservation before the criminal justice system. So the state's authorities do not have the power to process cases involving Native Americans. | RELATED: | The decision is one of the most important legal victories for this group in decades. It was written by conservative judge Neil Gorsuch and it obtained five votes in favor and four against.
(2020-07-09). US Supreme Court decisions attack separation of church and state and workers' rights. wsws.org The court's assault on workers takes the form of an assault on secularism.
(2020-07-09). Demand Justice Statement on Supreme Court Case Regarding Trump's Financial Records. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court's Decision in Trump v. Mazars Underscores Costs of Rep. Neal's Delays. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court ruling denounced as 'dangerous and serious' attack on women's right to contraceptive care. nationofchange.org "No employer is welcome into the exam room when I talk to patients about their contraception options, why should they be able to dictate the method from their corner office?" asked one physician.
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Arguments for Withholding Financial Records From NY Prosecutors and Congress. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-07-09). Racism in America: Police Choke-hold is Not the Issue. counterpunch.org While the abject inhumanity of slavery may have been legally mitigated to some extent, the institutions, practices and values of exclusion, exploitation and devaluation were not. Constitutional guarantees, and Supreme Court decisions, could be cleverly subverted by States. For example, Black people were denied the right to vote through poll taxes, arbitrary registration requirements, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, white primaries and so on. In 1940, 70 years after they had received the right to vote, only 3% of Blacks in the South were registered as voters. Less overt voter suppression efforts continue to t…
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court Rejects Effort To Greenlight Keystone XL Construction. popularresistance.org The Supreme Court late Monday upheld a federal judge's rejection of a crucial permit for Keystone XL and blocked the Trump administration's attempt to greenlight construction of the 1,200-mile crude oil project, the third such blow to the fossil fuel industry in a day—coming just hours after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the court-ordered shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline. | While the ruling was not a total victory for the climate—the high court said other pipeline projects can proceed as environmental reviews are conducted—green groups applauded the delay of Keystone…
(2020-07-09). Supreme Court Affirms Tribal Jurisdiction on Oklahoma Reservation Lands. truthout.org The United States Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that nearly half the entire state of Oklahoma, as far as federal criminal law is concerned, is still under the jurisdiction of Native American tribes. | The plaintiff in the case, Jimcy McGirt, is a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Although charged and convicted in state courts,
(2020-07-09). A Bad Day for Trump Is a Good Day for the Country. truthout.org If you were hoping to see Donald Trump's financial records before the 2020 election, today was not your day. If you were hoping to go to bed tonight in a nation with a president and not a sovereign, sleep tight, because you won. | In two Supreme Court decisions freighted with the potential for generational impact —
(2020-07-09). Holding US Government to Its Treaty Promises 'For Once,' Supreme Court Rules Nearly Half of Oklahoma Still Native American Territory. commondreams.org Indigenous leaders in Oklahoma hailed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in McGirt vs. Oklahoma as a victory for tribal sovereignty, as the court affirmed that nearly half of the state falls within a Native American reservation. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/supremecourt_3.jpeg …
(2020-07-09). 'No One Is Above the Law': Supreme Court Allows New York Prosecutor to Subpoena Trump Financial Records. commondreams.org The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance can obtain President Donald Trump's financial records as part of an investigation into hush-money payments made to women during the 2016 election, but blocked Congress from seeing the records for the time being. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/tax_returns_0_0_0_0.jpg …
(2020-07-09). In Wake of Supreme Court Ruling, Powerful House Democrat Richard Neal Faulted as 'Biggest Obstacle' to Getting Trump Tax Returns. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/richie.jpg …
(2020-07-09). Iran denies US seizure of Iranian arms on way to Houthis in Yemen. yenisafak.com Iran on Thursday denied that U.S. forces had seized a boat carrying Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying the charge was aimed at extending a U.N. arms embargo on Tehran.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Washington on Wednesday that U.S. and unidentified allied forces had interdicted a vessel off Yemen's coast on June 28 that was carrying Iranian arms to the Houthis."Lying, accusations and spreading hatred are key elements of America's foreign policy, especially in the current regime," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, quoted by state television. "Pompeo's remarks stem fr…
(2020-07-09). Pompeo says US continuing to work to establish dialogue with North Korea. yenisafak.com U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that Washington is continuing to work to establish dialogue with North Korea and is very hopeful the conversation can continue, though he declined to comment on timing or specifics."We continue to work to establish dialogue and have substantive conversations about how we might deliver this really good outcome, this outcome of delivering and stability to the entire peninsula," Pompeo told reporters following U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun's three days of talks in Seoul.
(2020-07-08). How the Pentagon failed to sell Afghan government's bunk 'Bountygate' story to US intelligence agencies. thegrayzone.com Another New York Times Russiagate bombshell turns out to be a dud, as dodgy stories spun out by Afghan intelligence…
(2020-07-08). Canada's membership in the Five Eyes alliance promoting conflict with China. mronline.org 
It is time Canadians debate whether they want to be part of an intelligence group driving hostile relations with China.
(2020-07-08). Illinois Supreme Court rules Chicago police can't destroy disciplinary records. peoplesworld.org 
CHICAGO—"No matter whether th' Constitution follows th' flag or not, th' Supreme Court follows th' election returns," Chicago Daily News columnist Finley Peter Dunne, speaking as his favorite character, Mr. Dooley, told his friend Hennessy in 1900. Dunne was talking of the U.S. Supreme Court, but his line could just as easily have applied to …
(2020-07-08). TikTok violates children's privacy & feeds them with Nazi memes, media and NGOs wail — just in time to justify US ban. rt.com 
TikTok has failed to protect children's privacy and can't even keep them safe from froth-mouthed Nazis, US NGOs and media have declared, just in time to give Washington a reason to ban the popular Chinese-made app. | The US Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department are reportedly probing accusations that TikTok failed to protect children's privacy in keeping with a 2019 agreement, according to representatives of tech policy groups whose anti-Tiktok grievances neatly coincide with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's hints earlier this week that Washington is seeking to ban the wildly popular micro-vlogging p…