Daily Archives: September 19, 2020

2020-09-19: News Headlines

Max Blumenthal (2020-09-19). Mainstream US reporters silent about being spied on by apparent CIA contractor that targeted Assange. thegrayzone.com Despite being spied on and having their privacy invaded by the UC Global firm that targeted Assange, reporters from major US news outlets have said nothing in protest. Meanwhile, new evidence of that firm's CIA links has emerged. A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations …

_____ (2020-09-19). Mainstream US Reporters Silent About Being Spied On. popularresistance.org A Spanish security firm apparently contracted by US intelligence to carry out a campaign of black operations against Julian Assange and his associates spied on several US reporters including Ellen Nakashima, the top national security reporter of the Washington Post, and Lowell Bergman, a New York Times and PBS veteran. | To date, Nakashima and her employers at the Washington Post have said nothing about the flagrant assault on their constitutional rights by UC Global, the security company in charge of Ecuadorian embassy in London, which seemingly operated under the watch of the CIA's then-director, Mike Pompeo.

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-19). Maduro names Pompeo's war-mongering' tour a 'failure'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 19 (MNA) — Condemning the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Latin American countries, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named it a "war-mongering" tour that has failed.

Staff (2020-09-19). US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies. therealnews.com Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a stalwart liberal in the U.S. Supreme Court since 1993, died on Friday at age 87, the court said. Ginsburg's death gives President Donald Trump a chance to expand its conservative majority with a third appointment at a time of deep divisions in America. The presidential election is just 46 days away, and the inauguration of the next president 124 days away. | Ginsburg, a champion of women's rights, died at her home in Washington of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the court said in a statement. She was surrounded by her family. | "Our Nation has lost a jurist of histo…

RT (2020-09-19). Obama urges GOP-led Senate to leave Supreme Court seat empty until after 2020 race following death of Justice Ginsburg. rt.com Former US President Barack Obama has called on the Republican-controlled Senate to delay its confirmation vote to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, citing the GOP's own playbook during his administration. | Celebrating Ginsburg's lengthy career on the court following her death on Friday, Obama said that even in her final days, the justice showed an "unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals." Going forward, however, the former president said Ginsburg's empty seat should not be filled until after the 2020 election, pointing to a principle invoked by the Republicans following the death of…

_____ (2020-09-19). Venezuela Foils CIA Terror Plot; Pompeo On Regime Change Tour. popularresistance.org Venezuela's government has announced it has foiled a potential terror attack, arresting a former CIA operative while he was on a stakeout near the country's largest oil refining facility. | Matthew John Heath was arrested with three other Venezuelans outside the Amuay and Cardon refineries in Falcon state in the west of the country, reportedly carrying a submachine gun, a grenade launcher, four blocks of C4 explosives, a satellite phone, and stacks of U.S. dollars. He has been charged with terrorism and weapons trafficking.

Editor (2020-09-19). [rewind] Filmmakers Behind 'RBG' on Justice Ginsburg's Life and Legacy. scheerpost.com [Eds. Note: With the tragic passing of feminist and progressive icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we highlight here a May 2018 conversation between Robert Scheer and the filmmakers of the excellent documentary on her life, "RBG." ] The documentary filmmakers discuss their film " RBG" on the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. While Justice Ginsburg did not grant access to… |

Anthony D. Romero (2020-09-19). In Memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020). aclu.org Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice who first rose to national prominence as an ACLU lawyer fighting for equal rights for women, has died at 87 years old., , She began Harvard Law School as a young mother and one of only nine women in her class, and became the architect of a legal strategy to eradicate gender discrimination in the United States. She modeled her approach after that of Thurgood Marshall on race discrimination, planning for a series of cases at the Supreme Court, each precedent paving the way for the next that would further expand rights and protections. In 1993, she joined the court a…

The Struggle Continues (2020-09-19). Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg 1933-2020. indybay.org By now, we have seen the TV tributes and read the many thoughts on the Internet regarding Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg who died today at age 87. My favorite is from the ACLU at www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/in-memory-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-1933-2020/?initms_aff=nat&initms_chan=soc&utm_medium=soc&initms=200919_rbg_obit_tw&utm_source=tw&utm_campaign=rbg&utm_content=200919_obit&ms_aff=nat&ms_chan=soc&ms=200919_rbg_obit_tw

Women's March, Demand Justice, others (2020-09-19). Saturday 9/19: Candlelight Vigil for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Supreme Court & Nationwide. indybay.org U.S. Supreme Court and at courthouses across the nation…

yenisafak (2020-09-19). Attack foiled as explosives-laden car found in NW Syria. yenisafak.com A potential terrorist attack was thwarted as authorities seized a vehicle rigged with explosives in northwestern Syria on Saturday.A car found in Syria's Afrin region was fitted with 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of explosives connected to mobile phones for remote detonation, according to a statement by the governor's office of Turkey's southern Hatay province.Police in Afrin received intelligence reports that a bomb-laden vehicle prepared in the Tal Rifat region, under the control of the PYD/YPG/PKK terrorist organization, was sent to the Operation Olive Branch area in Afrin for an attack on security forces or civil…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-18). Exposing War Crimes Should Always Be Legal. Committing And Hiding Them Should Not. thealtworld.com each frustrating day making it clearer than the day before that what we are watching is nothing other than a staged performance by the US and UK governments to explain why it's okay for powerful governments to The Assange defense team is performing admirably, making the arguments they need to make to try and prevent an extradition that will set a precedent which will

Craig Murray (2020-09-18). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 12. globalresearch.ca A less dramatic day, but marked by a brazen and persistent display of this US Government's insistence that it has the right to prosecute any journalist and publication, anywhere in the world, for publication of US classified information. This explicitly …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange's Eighth Day at the Old Bailey: Software Redactions, the Iraq Logs and the Extradition Act. dissidentvoice.org September 17. Central Criminal Court, London. The extradition trial of Julian Assange at the Old Bailey struck similar notes to the previous day's proceedings: the documentary work and practise of WikiLeaks, the method of redactions, and the legacy of exposing war crimes. In the afternoon, the legal teams returned to well combed themes: testimony on …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-18). Assange on Trial: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm. counterpunch.org Day Seven September 16. Central Criminal Court, London. Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange's extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases. John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record

Kevin Gosztola (2020-09-18). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange: At Extradition Trial, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower Dismantles False Narrative. globalresearch.ca Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless …

Daniel Ellsberg (2020-09-18). U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. zcomm.org "Now the American press is staring right down the barrel at the use of the Espionage Act against American journalists and publishers for doing journalism."

The Canary (2020-09-18). Assange 'offered win-win deal by Trump to avoid extradition. thecanary.co The WikiLeaks founder's extradition hearing was told that Trump associates sought the source of leaks from the Democratic National Committee. | By | WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was offered a "win-win" deal by Donald Trump to avoid extradition by revealing the source of the hacking of Democratic party emails, a court has heard. | Trump approval: | Barrister Jennifer Robinson said she was asked to attend the meeting by her client, Assange, with Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Trump associate Charles Johnson at the Ecuador…

sputniknews (2020-09-18). Venezuela's President Maduro Calls Pompeo's 'War-Mongering' Tour a 'Failure'. sputniknews.com The US Department of State earlier announced Pompeo would be visiting South America with the aim of showing support for local democracies and containing the "threat" coming from "Maduro's illegitimate regime".

Vijay Prashad (2020-09-18). Wise People Know That Winning a War Is No Better Than Losing One. dissidentvoice.org Liu Bolin (China), Guernica, 2016 Dedicated to Soni Prashad, 1929-2020, who spent her life looking for a better world. US President Donald Trump and his 'war council' — led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — have amplified their aggression against China. What began as a trade dispute in the 1990s has now escalated into …

MEE staff (2020-09-18). Islamic State's 'canary caliph' gave intelligence to US in 2008, documents claim. middleeasteye.net Islamic State's 'canary caliph' gave intelligence to US in 2008, documents claim | Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla identified dozens of fellow militants as well as the structure of al-Qaeda, US government documents allege | Fri, 09/18/2020 – 19: 26 | Mawla was arrested in 2008 by US forces and interrogated in Umm Qasr, southern Iraq, at Camp Bucca (AFP/File photo) | The current leader of the Islamic State…

RT (2020-09-18). Facebook sued for allegedly spying on Instagram users through phone cameras. rt.com Social media giant Facebook secretly used iPhone cameras to obtain "extremely private and intimate" information about the uses of its Instagram picture and video sharing app, a new US lawsuit claims. | The legal action follows Instagram users reporting in July that they had noticed the FaceTime symbol, which indicates that an iPhone camera is on, was showing up when they scrolled their feeds. | At the time, Facebook denied spying accusations and blamed the issue on a bug, which, it said, triggered false notifications that Instagram was accessing cameras. | However, now a lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Sa…

WSWS (2020-09-18). Democrats engineer removal of Green Party presidential candidates from Pennsylvania ballot. wsws.org The Pennsylvania Supreme Court kicked the Green Party off the November presidential ballot on Thursday on the basis of undemocratic procedural considerations.

sputniknews (2020-09-18). US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, Dies of Pancreatic Cancer. sputniknews.com Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, has passed away from complications related to pancreatic cancer, SCOTUS announced Friday.

Raul Diego (2020-09-18). Pentagon's Top Spy Agency Turns To AI for Targeting and Operations Planning. mintpressnews.com Reminiscent of the 1983 sci-fi classic WarGames, the DIA's new MARS program aims to create a system that uses AI to scour volumes of foreign intelligence and make decisions on how to act on it.

_____ (2020-09-18). Scheer Intelligence: How Today's Uprisings Compare To The 1960s Rebellions. popularresistance.org The 1960s live on in U.S. memory as an era of counterculture rebellions and the civil rights movement that changed the course of the nation's history. The mass uprisings that took place from coast to coast have been immortalized in myriad films and books, but these often focus on well known figures rather than the everyday Black and Chicano youths that fueled the movement. In their new book, Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the 1960s, renowned historians Mike Davis and Jon Wiener set out to capture the complete history of the city's revolutionary political scene by focusing on the working class Americans who are so…

_____ (2020-09-18). Wise People Know Winning A War Is No Better Than Losing One. popularresistance.org US President Donald Trump and his 'war council' — led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — have amplified their aggression against China. What began as a trade dispute in the 1990s has now escalated into the United States making an existential challenge against China. | The threat against China is made not for irrational reasons, but for perfectly rational ones, which are laid out below in our Red Alert no. 9 (also available as a separate download from our website). These have to do with the emergence of China as a major economic and technological power.

sputniknews (2020-09-18). US State Dept. Hands Over 16,000 Pages of Biden Probe Records to House Panel – Chairman. sputniknews.com WASHINGTON, September 19 (Sputnik) – The panel's subpoena is part of the committee's investigation of Pompeo's alleged use of State Department resources to smear Biden.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-17). Assange's Seventh Day at the Old Bailey: Diligent Redactions and Avoiding Harm. dissidentvoice.org September 16. Central Criminal Court, London. Proceedings today at the Old Bailey regarding Julian Assange's extradition returned to journalistic practice, redaction of source names and that ongoing obsession with alleged harm arising from WikiLeaks releases. John Goetz of Der Spiegel added his bit for the defence, making an effort to set the record straight on …

Craig Murray (2020-09-17). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 10. globalresearch.ca The gloves were off on Tuesday as the US Government explicitly argued that all journalists are liable to prosecution under the Espionage Act (1917) for publishing classified information, citing

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-17). News Media Who Ignore The Assange Trial Are Admitting They Don't Care About Journalism. thealtworld.com The Sydney Morning Herald just published an article titled " It's actually a rather shocking smear piece for the SMH, who has been one of the better Australian publications at giving Assange a fair hearing over the years. The article's author Latika Bourke spends an inordinate amount of time waxing on about Assange's naughty "outburst" and how he was…

Abdul Rahman (2020-09-17). WikiLeaks' Guantanamo files exposed inhumane American 'war on terror'. peoplesdispatch.org The documents published by Wikileaks in 2011 revealed how top US officials were directly involved in the torture and illegal detention of many innocents. This explains the US attempt to punish Julian Assange for revealing their failures…

_____ (2020-09-17). Assange Court Report September 16: Afternoon. popularresistance.org A famous Vietnam era whistleblower, 89-year-old Daniel Ellsberg, has told a court that he feels "a great identification," with both Julian Assange and his source Chelsea Manning, who, he said, "were willing to suffer the risk of imprisonment or even death to get information to the American public." | Ellsberg, a former US Marine officer who served with the US State Department in Vietnam during the war years, is best known for leaking a huge tranche of US government documents on the war to the New York Times in 1970, documents that showed that the government had been lying to the American people about the conflict…

WSWS (2020-09-17). Journalist Andrew Fowler: If Assange is extradited, the same can happen to any of us. wsws.org "The attempt by the State to control information is at the heart of the charges against Assange. Its physical manifestation is there every day in the court."

Staff (2020-09-17). Daniel Ellsberg Warns U.S. Press Freedom Under Attack in WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Extradition Case. democracynow.org Legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg says Julian Assange's extradition hearing in London could have far-reaching consequences for press freedoms. The WikiLeaks founder faces an ever-evolving array of espionage and hacking charges related to the release of diplomatic cables that revealed war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Assange faces almost certain conviction, if extradited, and 175 years in prison. "The American press has remained in kind of a state of denial for 40 years, really, since my case, that the Espionage Act has wording in it that could be aimed directly at…

_____ (2020-09-17). Good Ellsberg, Bad Assange. popularresistance.org Opponents of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange often hold up Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg as an example of someone who was responsible for a good leak. They insist WikiLeaks is not like the Pentagon Papers because supposedly Assange was reckless with sensitive documents. | On the seventh day of an extradition trial against Assange, Ellsberg dismantled this false narrative and outlined for a British magistrate court why Assange would not receive a fair trial in the United States. | Assange is accused of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of conspiracy to commit a computer crime…

pip.hinman (2020-09-17). Julian Assange's treatment amounts to torture — it must end. greenleft.org.au

_____ (2020-09-17). Nurse Alleges Forced Sterilizations, Medical Malpractice At Immigrant Detention Center. popularresistance.org A whistleblower complaint filed on behalf of a nurse who worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in southern Georgia until July alleges that a number of immigrant women detained there were subjected to sterilization through hysterectomies without their consent. | In the complaint, filed by the legal advocacy group Project South, the former nurse describes conditions at the center as akin to an "experimental concentration camp." | The complaint also details the refusal of the center's administrators to carry out COVID-19 testing or implement protective measures, putting detainees an…

John Bachtell (2020-09-17). GOP election sabotage scheme using Wisconsin Green Party stalls. peoplesworld.org The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Sept. 14 against placing the Green Party on the 2020 election ballot. The decision vacated a hold the same court had put on sending ballots to municipalities and 1 million absentee ballots to voters last week. Under Wisconsin law, election officials must send more than a million requested mail-in ballots …

RT (2020-09-17). Pennsylvania Supreme Court kicks Green Party candidate off state's November ballot. rt.com The Green Party's candidate has been disqualified from the upcoming November elections in Pennsylvania after the state's Supreme Court deemed his paperwork to have been improperly submitted. | Howie Hawkins was disqualified from the ballot on Thursday when the Supreme Court overruled an earlier decision by a lower court. | According to the top court, the Green candidate was booted from the election over improperly delivered paperwork. The minor parties have to collect signatures to nominate their candidate, and while the Green Party delivered signatures by hand by the August 3 deadline, it decided to fax in an…

sputniknews (2020-09-17). Israeli Security Forces Accuse Palestinian Woman of Spying, Recruiting for Hezbollah. sputniknews.com Israeli authorities have arrested a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, accusing her of spying for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Alan Macleod (2020-09-16). "A Disgrace": Amnesty International Blocked From Monitoring Trial of Julian Assange. mintpressnews.com Amnesty International's Europe Director described the hearings against Assange as an "assault on the right to freedom of expression" that would have a "chilling effect on media freedom."

Anish R M (2020-09-16). Assange will not get a fair trial in US, says Pentagon Papers publisher in testimony. peoplesdispatch.org In the recent set of testimonies, Assange's defense team dismantled the prosecution's argument that Assange caused any harm by publishing classified names…

_____ (2020-09-16). Day Nine: Julian Assange Extradition Hearing. popularresistance.org Things became not merely dramatic in the Assange courtroom today, but spiteful and nasty. There were two real issues, the evidence and the procedure. On the evidence, there were stark details of the dreadful regime Assange will face in US jails if extradited. On the procedure, we saw behaviour from the prosecution QC that went well beyond normal cross examination and was a real attempt to denigrate and even humiliate the witness. I hope to prove that to you by a straightforward exposition of what happened today in court, after which I shall add further comment.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange on Trial: Supermax Prisons and Special Administrative Measures. counterpunch.org DAY FIVE Having had a coronavirus scare towards the end of last week, necessitating a brief suspension of proceedings for September 11, the extradition proceedings for Julian Assange resumed with Eric Lewis. The chairman of the board of Reprieve, who has cut his teeth on representing Afghan detainees in US custody and those in Guantánamo,

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-16). Assange's Sixth Day at the Old Bailey: US Prison Conditions and Politicised Prosecutions. dissidentvoice.org September 15. Central Criminal Court, London. Today, witnesses appearing in the extradition trial of Julian Assange fleshed out some points touched upon the previous day: the fate awaiting the WikiLeaks publisher in the US prison system, and the political nature of process. Before commencing, Judge Vanessa Baraitser was a touch peeved. She noted that one …

WSWS (2020-09-16). London bus drivers resolve to fight for Assange's freedom. wsws.org The first action of the newly formed London Bus Drivers Rank-and-File Safety Committee was to pass a resolution calling for the defence of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

_____ (2020-09-16). Assange Would Not Have Fair US Trial, Witness Tells Old Bailey. popularresistance.org Julian Assange's extradition hearing resumed yesterday morning after a coronavirus test for a member of the prosecution's legal team came back negative. | Mark Summers QC, one of Assange's lawyers, asked District Judge Vanessa Baraitser to give a direction mandating the use of masks for the remainder of the hearing. She responded that government guidance on wearing masks in public places in the Old Bailey "does not include the well of the court," before saying, "those that wish to wear masks in the well of the court are welcome to do so" but "there is no obligation to do so, and I make no direction."

Noam Chomsky (2020-09-16). Chomsky, Walker and Ellsberg Defend Julian Assange. zcomm.org Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, and Daniel Ellsberg oppose the extradition of Julian Assange to the US to face charges under the Espionage Act…

RT (2020-09-16). Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg testifies in Assange's defense, says WikiLeaks exposed 'war crimes' in 'public interest'. rt.com Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg — whose 'Pentagon Papers' leak exposed illegal US bombing during the Vietnam War — said Julian Assange would not see a fair trial if extradited to the US, comparing the publisher's case to his own. | Testifying at Assange's extradition hearing on Wednesday, Ellsberg said the WikiLeaks co-founder would be denied a chance to defend himself if sent to the US for a trial, noting that, like in his own case, Assange would not be permitted to argue his publications were in the 'public interest.' | "I observe the closest of similarities to the position I faced, where the expos…