Daily Archives: September 23, 2020

2020-09-23: News Headlines

Alan Macleod (2020-09-23). Hoping to Force an Outcome, US Sanctions Opposition Parties in Venezuela Ahead of Elections. mintpressnews.com Sanctions on Venezuela are nothing new. But Secretary of State Pompeo recently took the unusual step of sanctioning leaders of local opposition parties in an attempt to pressure them to pull out of upcoming elections.

Craig Murray (2020-09-23). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 14. globalresearch.ca Monday was a frustrating day as the Assange Hearing drifted deep into a fantasy land where nobody knows or is allowed to say that people were tortured in Guantanamo Bay and under extraordinary rendition. The willingness of Judge Baraitser to …

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-23). Assange's Eleventh Day at the Old Bailey: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture. globalresearch.ca Today, the prosecutors in the Julian Assange case did their show trial predecessors from other legal traditions proud. The ghosts of such figures as Soviet state prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky, would have approved of the line of questioning taken by …

Oscar Grenfell (2020-09-23). Former CIA Director Leon Panetta: We Are Prosecuting Assange to Intimidate Others. globalresearch.ca Leon Panetta, who served as director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2009 to 2011, and then as the Obama administration's secretary for defence, has let the cat out of the bag, telling interviewers that the US …

Stefan Simanowitz (2020-09-23). Why Are Amnesty International Monitors Not Able to Observe the Assange Hearing? globalresearch.ca Earlier this month, the street outside the Old Bailey criminal court in London, where Julian Assange's extradition hearing has been taking place, was transformed into a carnival. | Inside the Old Bailey, the courtroom has turned into a circus. There have …

Jonathan Cook (2020-09-23). The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. Why is the paper so silent? zcomm.org There are conomic forces that need a media elite, just as they do a political elite, to shore up an ideological worldview that keeps those elites in power. Assange threatened to bring that whole edifice crashing down…

_____ (2020-09-23). As Assange Faces Extradition, the State of U.S. Prisons Grows Worse. strategic-culture.org John KIRIAKOU | The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is in a state of chaos. Leadership changes, Covid-19, and criminal activity on the part of BOP officers and staff members has plunged the Justice Department's largest and best-funded bureau into a scandal that, while it has not made the mainstream media, has harmed thousands of prisoners. | [The issue was raised last week in the hearing of Julian Assange in London as the state of mental health care for prisoners, cited in a BOP report, came up in witness testimony in the defense's argument against sending Assange to the U.S. to face time in a U.S. prison.] Micha…

Jonathan Cook (2020-09-23). The US Is Using the Guardian to Justify Jailing Assange for Life. Why Is the Paper So Silent? globalresearch.ca Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of arrest and extradition to the United States. Assange faces 175 …

Ben Norton (2020-09-23). Leaked docs expose massive Syria propaganda operation waged by Western govt contractors and media. thegrayzone.com Western government-funded intelligence cutouts trained Syrian opposition leaders, planted stories in media outlets from BBC to Al Jazeera, and ran a cadre of journalists. A trove of leaked documents exposes the propaganda network. By Ben Norton Leaked documents show how UK government contractors developed an advanced infrastructure of propaganda to stimulate support in the West for Syria's political and armed opposition. Virtually every aspect of the Syrian opposition was cultivated and marketed by Western government-backed public relations firms, from their …

Telesur (2020-09-23). Venezuela Denounces New Aggressions from the US. globalresearch.ca The Simon Bolivar Great Patriotic Pole (GPPSB) alerted that plans are being made to generate violence in the country, after the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to countries bordering Venezuela. | In a press conference held …

Staff (2020-09-23). Who Is Amy Barrett? Front-Runner to Replace RBG Is Anti-Abortion Member of Patriarchal Catholic Group. democracynow.org We look at President Trump's top pick for a woman to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is a devout Catholic who has taken conservative stances on abortion, gun rights, immigration and LGBTQ rights. Barrett's involvement with the conservative Catholic group People of Praise, whose members pledge a lifelong loyalty oath to the group, has also raised questions about her ability to rule independently. "There's some real concerns about whether her involvement in there will affect her ability to be impartial a…

Staff (2020-09-23). Headlines for September 23, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Tops 200,000, On Track to Double by Year's End, FDA Reportedly Planning Stricter Guidelines for Release of COVID-19 Vaccine, Pentagon Spent $1 Billion of Coronavirus Funds on Military Supplies, Trump Says Coronavirus "Affects Virtually Nobody" as U.S. Death Toll Tops 200,000, U.N. Secretary-General Warns of New Cold War as Trump Attacks China over Coronavirus, Sen. Mitt Romney Backs Rapid Vote on Trump's Supreme Court Nominee, Officer Involved in Breonna Taylor's Killing Defends Actions, Calls Protesters "Thugs", Federal Agents Tapped Cellphones of Portland Protesters, President Trump…

Staff (2020-09-23). No Más Bebés: ICE Hysterectomy Scandal Recalls 1970s LA, When a Hospital Sterilized Chicana Patients. democracynow.org As immigration authorities say they have stopped sending women to a Georgia gynecologist accused of sterilizing female prisoners without their consent, we continue our look at United States' disturbing history of forced sterilization with the producer and historian behind the 2016 documentary called "No Más Bebés," which tells the story of how a whistleblower doctor spoke out about a large number of tubal ligations performed on mostly Latinx patients at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center some 46 years ago. "Quite often they did not understand the terminology. They did not, in some cases, understand the lan…

Staff (2020-09-23). People of Praise: Former Member of Group Tied to SCOTUS Front-Runner Amy Barrett Calls It a "Cult" democracynow.org As President Trump appears poised to announce a nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, we speak with a former member of the secretive Catholic group People of Praise, known for its rigid gender roles and lifelong loyalty oaths, which apparent front-runner Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a member of. "Many call it a community, but I describe it as a cult," says Coral Anika Theill, who was a member of People of Praise from 1979 to 1984 and is now speaking out against the organization.

Dr. Jack Rasmus (2020-09-23). A Most Dire Warning. The 2020 November Elections. Chaos in America… globalresearch.ca The rumor today is that Romney will reportedly say he'll support Trump's 3rd SCOTUS vote. So there you have it! 2020 election Game Over! | Trump will now get his 3rd Supreme Court nominee accepted by McConnell's Senate—either before Nov. 3 …

Prof. Marjorie Cohn (2020-09-23). Ginsburg's Legacy Is Vast, But a Trump Appointee Could Overturn Her Best Rulings. globalresearch.ca When I was sworn in to practice before the Supreme Court in 2007, I sat near the front of the gallery. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the five-foot-tall justice, was barely visible over the bench behind which she sat. On two …

Staff (2020-09-23). A 6-3 court could cement minority Republican rule for decades. therealnews.com The Appeal's Daniel Nichanian discusses the consequences of Trump filling the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-09-23). Much at stake for workers in federal appeals courts. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON —If there ever were six months which proved the importance of federal appeals courts to workers, the first half of 2020 was it. Both for, and often against, those judges, especially on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, determined workers' fate, even more so than the U.S. Supreme Court or …

Staff (2020-09-23). A 6-3 court could cement minority Republican rule for decades. therealnews.com The Appeal's Daniel Nichanian discusses the consequences of Trump filling the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Dianne Mathiowetz (2020-09-23). Whistleblower exposes: ICE abuses detainees. workers.org EDITOR'S NOTES: As we go to press, a Sept. 21 press release from Georgia Detention Watch announced that Cipriano Chavez-Alvarez, 61, is the third detainee at the Stewart Detention Center located in Lumpkin, Georgia to die of COVID-19. Press conference on ICE abuse, Ocilla, Ga., Sept. 15. Whistleblower Dawn Wooten . . . |

Jamal Rich (2020-09-23). Poor People's Campaign and progressive allies take fight to Mitch McConnell's doorstep. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—On Monday, Sept. 21, just days after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's death, organizers from the D.C. Poor People's Campaign and other major local organizations demonstrated by foot and car caravan outside of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's house to demand that he not appoint yet another extreme right Supreme Court justice, that …

ERA Coalition (2020-09-23). Wednesday 9/23: Recording: Supreme Court Lying in Repose Ceremony for Justice Ginsburg (watch anytime). indybay.org Online recording…

Health Care Voter (2020-09-23). Wednesday 9/30: What's At Stake: Gender, Health Care & the Supreme Court w/ Health Care Voter. indybay.org Online…

sputniknews (2020-09-23). Wall Street Reportedly Braces for Market Volatility in Case of US Supreme Court Vote Before Election. sputniknews.com Later this week, President Donald Trump is expected to announce his choice for Supreme Court justice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on 18 September due to cancer complications. Democrats insist that the new justice should be nominated after the 3 November presidential election.

Staff (2020-09-23). Romney Crowns His Hypocrisy by Backing McConnell's Push to Fill Ginsburg's Seat. truthout.org Mitt Romney — a politician who has made a career of bending hypocrisy into bold new shapes — signaled yesterday that he will support Donald Trump's intention to stuff a new far-right Supreme Court nominee on to the still-warm seat of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. | Romney's decision to

Staff (2020-09-23). Front-Runner to Replace RBG Is Anti-Abortion Member of Catholic Group. truthout.org We look at President Trump's top pick for a woman to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is a devout Catholic who has taken conservative stances on abortion, gun rights, immigration and LGBTQ rights. Barrett's involvement with the conservative Catholic group People of Praise, whose members pledge a lifelong loyalty oath to the group, has also raised questions about her ability to rule independen…

_____ (2020-09-23). Protest At Mitch McConnell's House Over Supreme Court Vacancy. popularresistance.org A crowd of protesters swarmed outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Kentucky home after the Republican leader said he would move to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death. | About 100 protesters gathered outside McConnell's Louisville home on Saturday after he said he would push for a Senate vote on filling the seat with the presidential election is less than seven weeks away, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. | The demonstrators called out "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Mitch McConnell has got to go," "vote him out" and ditch Mitch."

_____ (2020-09-23). US Bully In Last Chance Saloon. popularresistance.org US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this week the reimposition of international sanctions against Iran. Trouble is nobody is listening to Washington's remonstrations any longer. Not only has the emperor no clothes, he's lost bullying power too. | The Trump administration asserts it has the legal right to invoke "snapback" UN sanctions on Iran over Washington's baseless allegations that Tehran is in breach of the 2015 international nuclear accord. This is in spite of the fact that the American side forfeited its legal rights when it unilaterally quit the nuclear deal in May 2018.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-22). Assange's Tenth Day at the Old Bailey: Bolting Horses, Death Penalties and Plots of Eviction. globalresearch.ca Today was one of reiteration and expansion. Computer scientist Christian Grothoff of the Bern University of Applied Sciences supplied the relevant chronology on what led to the publication of unredacted US State Department cables, the subject of such concern for …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-22). Assange's Tenth Day at the Old Bailey: Bolting Horses, Death Penalties and Plots of Eviction. dissidentvoice.org September 21. Central Criminal Court, London. Today was one of reiteration and expansion. Computer scientist Christian Grothoff of the Bern University of Applied Sciences supplied the relevant chronology on what led to the publication of unredacted US State Department cables, the subject of such concern for the prosecution. This proved a mild taster of what …

Laura Tiernan (2020-09-22). Explosive Evidence from Trump Insider: Assange Dragged from Embassy "on the Orders of the President" globalresearch.ca Alt-right media personality Cassandra Fairbanks' witness testimony was read out in court yesterday, providing evidence that Julian Assange's April 2019 arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was politically motivated and directed by United States President Donald Trump. | Fairbanks …

_____ (2020-09-22). Assange's Removal From Embassy Was Directed By US President. popularresistance.org Julian Assange's removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy was done so "on direct orders from the [US] president", according to information provided to American journalist Cassandra Fairbanks. | Ms Fairbanks' explosive testimony would appear to support to position that Mr Assange's prosecution has a political dimension and reflected a shift in the government's attitude with a change in administration from that of former president Barack Obama. | According to Ms Fairbanks' witness statement, which was read into the court by the defence in Mr Assange's extradition hearing on 21 September 2020…

_____ (2020-09-22). Report, Monday, September 21: Julian Assange Hearing. popularresistance.org Monday was a frustrating day as the Assange Hearing drifted deep into a fantasy land where nobody knows or is allowed to say that people were tortured in Guantanamo Bay and under extraordinary rendition. The willingness of Judge Baraitser to accept American red lines on what witnesses can and cannot say has combined with a joint and openly stated desire by both judge and prosecution to close this case down quickly by limiting the number of witnesses, the length of their evidence, and the time allowed for closing arguments.

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-22). Assange on Trial: Bolting Horses, Death Penalties and Plots of Eviction. counterpunch.org September 21. Central Criminal Court, London. Today was one of reiteration and expansion. Computer scientist Christian Grothoff of the Bern University of Applied Sciences supplied the relevant chronology on what led to the publication of unredacted US State Department cables, the subject of such concern for the prosecution. This proved a mild taster of what

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-22). Assange a suicide risk if extradition becomes imminent, says witness to court. peoplesdispatch.org In the first of a round of medical testimonies coming up this week, neurophysicist Michael Kopelman stated that Assange is a likely to attempt suicide if faced with extradition…

Editor (2020-09-22). Chris Hedges: The Cost of Resistance. scheerpost.com By Chris Hedges / Original to Scheerpost Two of the rebels I admire most, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher, and Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, are in jail in Britain. That should not be surprising. You can measure the effectiveness of resistance by the fury of the response. Julian courageously exposed the lies, deceit, war crimes and corruption of the ruling imperial… |

WSWS (2020-09-22). Assange dragged from embassy "on the orders of the president" wsws.org Cassandra Fairbanks testified that Arthur Schwartz, a wealthy Republican Party donor and key Trump ally, had provided her with evidence of plans by the Trump administration to impose the death penalty.

Noam Chomsky (2020-09-22). The train wreck of the 2020 US election. zcomm.org Interview on the 2020 US election, the state of humanity, the breakdown of democracy, the rise of conspiracy theories, the prosecution of Julian Assange, the role of satire — and what helps to keep him going amidst all this…

_____ (2020-09-22). The War on Assange Is a War on Truth. strategic-culture.org Ron PAUL | It is dangerous to reveal the truth about the illegal and immoral things our government does with our money and in our name, and the war on journalists who dare reveal such truths is very much a bipartisan affair. Just ask Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was relentlessly pursued first by the Obama Administration and now by the Trump Administration for the "crime" of reporting on the crimes perpetrated by the United States government. | Assange is now literally fighting for his life, as he tries to avoid being extradited to the United States where he faces 175 years in prison for violating the "Es…

sputniknews (2020-09-22). Assange is at 'Very High Risk of Suicide' Should Extradition Occur, Neuropsychiatrist Tells Court. sputniknews.com The WikiLeaks publisher, who faces up to 175 years in prison for his role in obtaining and publishing classified US documents, has been kept at Belmarsh maximum-security prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on 11 April 2019.

_____ (2020-09-22). Chris Hedges: The Cost Of Resistance. popularresistance.org Two of the rebels I admire most, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher, and Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, are in jail in Britain. That should not be surprising. You can measure the effectiveness of resistance by the fury of the response. Julian courageously exposed the lies, deceit, war crimes and corruption of the ruling imperial elites. Roger has helped organized the largest acts of mass civil disobedience in British history, shutting down parts of London for weeks, in a bid to wrest power from a ruling class that has done nothing, and will do nothing, to halt the climate emergency and…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-22). Assange is a champion of the cause of freedom, says Brazil's Lula in letter. peoplesdispatch.org Ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva published a letter on Monday September 21 in the international newspaper The document shared by British press warns about the risks of the

WSWS (2020-09-22). Thirteen former national presidents demand an end to the British show-trial of Julian Assange. wsws.org The statement demonstrates that the attempt to prosecute Assange for exposing war crimes is widely viewed as an act of imperialist banditry that brands Britain and the US as rogue states.

Jonathan Cook (2020-09-22). The US is using the Guardian to justify jailing Assange for life. dissidentvoice.org Julian Assange is not on trial simply for his liberty and his life. He is fighting for the right of every journalist to do hard-hitting investigative journalism without fear of arrest and extradition to the United States. Assange faces 175 years in a US super-max prison on the basis of claims by Donald Trump's administration …

Global Research News (2020-09-22). Selected Articles: US Sanctions and Assange's Extradition Trial. globalresearch.ca If you look to Global Research as a resource for information and understanding, to stay current on world events, or to experience honesty and transparency in your news coverage, please consider making a

Staff (2020-09-22). Whistleblower Nurse in ICE Jail Alleges Forced Sterilization & Neglect Amid 8th COVID Death. democracynow.org As ICE confirms the 20th person to die in its detention in fiscal year 2020, making it one of the deadliest periods in the agency's history, we talk to the whistleblower at the center of an explosive complaint that accuses an ICE jail in Georgia of failing to adhere to coronavirus safety protocols and performing a large number of unwanted hysterectomies on detainees. The doctor who carried out the procedures became known to women inside the facility as "the uterus collector." Whistleblower Dawn Wooten, a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center, says the neglect and abuse at the facility was "jaw-dropping." We…

Staff (2020-09-22). Headlines for September 22, 2020. democracynow.org GOP, Trump Charge Forward with Effort to Replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Supreme Court, DOJ Designates New York City, Seattle, Portland as "Anarchist" Cities, CDC Again Retracts Information About Coronavirus on Website; HHS Head Azar Exerts Control Over FDA, 150+ Countries, Not Including the U.S., Join U.N.'s Effort to Fairly Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine, House Report Finds Immigrant Prisoners Denied Access to Essential Care, Forced into Labor, Mexican National Dies in Georgia Immigration Prison, One Week into Peace Talks, Scores Killed in Bloody Day of Fighting Across Afghanistan, 6 People Killed in Colombian Mass…

Jack Rasmus (2020-09-22). Ginsburg's Death and Trump's Emerging Legal Coup D'Etat. counterpunch.org On Friday, Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg, died. Mitch McConnell are Donald Trump now moving rapidly to replace with a 3rd right wing nominee to the SCOTUS. Democrats mount feeble and futile defense, saying McConnell should not proceed with nomination based on McConnell's own argument back in Feb. 2016 used to thwart the nomination of Obama's

Jesse Jackson (2020-09-22). Death of a Supreme Court Justice Famed for Consensus-Building Is Used to Sow Divisions. commondreams.org Americans must make certain that Trump and the senators understand that this outrage will cost them politically, not help them. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mcconell.jpg

Mark Gruenberg (2020-09-22). Unions praise Justice Ginsburg, demand no replacement till next presidency. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Top union leaders—and the woman worker who triggered one of the justice's most-memorable dissents—praised the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many coupled it to demands there be no replacement for her on the High Court bench until after the next presidential inauguration, Jan. 20, 2021. Ginsburg, 87, the senior progressive and intellectual …