Daily Archives: September 24, 2020

2020-09-24: News Headlines

Chris Hedges (2020-09-24). Chris Hedges: The Cost of Resistance. mintpressnews.com Princeton, New Jersey (

Craig Murray (2020-09-24). Your Man in the Public Gallery: Assange Hearing Day 15. globalresearch.ca When Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, the US Government

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-24). Assange on Trial: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture. counterpunch.org September 22. Central Criminal Court, London. 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 James Lewis QC: suggest that Assange, accused of 17 counts of

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-24). Assange's Twelfth Day at the Old Bailey: Autism, Suicide and Prisons. dissidentvoice.org September 23. Central Criminal Court, London. Following the script sheet of the previous day, the non sequitur, pop medical view of the prosecution was again in sharp evidence at the Old Bailey. In an effort to make the road for Julian Assange's extradition to the United States for 17 charges under the US Espionage Act …

sputniknews (2020-09-24). Assange is a 'Resilient Man' Who Isn't at Risk of Suicide If Extradited, Government Expert Says. sputniknews.com A psychiatrist testifying for the government says that whilst the WikiLeaks publisher is suffering from mild clinical depression he does not think he is a suicide risk if he is extradited to the United States to face espionage charges.

sputniknews (2020-09-24). #FreeAssange Campaign Targeted by Concerted Spambot Attack During Extradition Hearing. sputniknews.com WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who faces up to 175 years in prison for his role in obtaining and publishing classified US diplomatic cables, is now at the centre of a series of extradition hearings at London's Central Criminal Court.

Jonathan Cook (2020-09-24). The US is Using the Guardian to Justify Jailing Assange for Life. Why is the Paper So Silent? counterpunch.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 that his exposure of US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan amounts to "espionage".

A. Majumdar (2020-09-24). PDF of September 24 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. Whistleblower: ICE abuses detainees ALSO: Migrant caravan for residency; Defend BLM activist lawyers; Trump, Biden, and U.S. decline; 'Free Palestine' webinar; U.S. Cold War vs TikTok; Is Marxism still relevant? WORKERS ORGANIZE: Illinois; North Carolina. WORLD: Editorial: Ginsburg & SCOTUS. WORLD: Belarus; Bolivia. TEAR DOWN THE . . . |

Steven Hill (2020-09-24). Corona-fied: Employers Spying on Remote Workers in Their Homes. counterpunch.org Disturbing increases in the use of digital surveillance technologies by employers to monitor their remote workers are raising alarm bells. With the number of remote workers surging as a result of the pandemic—42 percent of U.S. workers are now doing their jobs from their kitchens, living rooms, and home offices—a number of employers have begun requiring their workers to download spying software to their laptops and smartphones.

Eds. (2020-09-24). U.S. & Guyana unveil joint Military patrols on oil-rich Venezuela border. mronline.org U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo completed a whirlwind tour of Surinam, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia to boost anti-Venezuela efforts.

RT (2020-09-24). 'Vote him out', 'Honor her wish': Protesters chant as Donald Trump pays respect to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. rt.com US President Donald Trump was loudly booed as he paid his respects to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as calls intensify for him to hold off on nominating a replacement until after the November election. | The president and his wife, Melania, silently paid their respects to Ginsburg on Thursday morning at the Supreme Court, where the recently-deceased judge is lying in state as part of a three-day event to honor her life. | As Trump and the First Lady appeared, a crowd that had gathered across the street began booing the pair and chanting "vote him out." They also chanted "honor her wish" [mdas…

Kenn Orphan (2020-09-24). RBG and America's Priestly Class. counterpunch.org "It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice." — Howard Zinn The history of most ancient

Morgan Marietta (2020-09-24). 3 ways a 6-3 Supreme Court would be different. zcomm.org Perhaps the most important ramification of a 6-3 conservative court is that it will return many policies to local control.

ERA Coalition (2020-09-24). Wednesday 9/23: Recording: Supreme Court Lying in Repose Ceremony for Justice Ginsburg (watch anytime). indybay.org Online recording…

yenisafak (2020-09-24). 2020 US ELECTION: What you need to know right now. yenisafak.com Court battles over how votes are tallied have now spread to almost every competitive state, as the effect of the pandemic has led the two sides to clash over seemingly mundane issues such as witness signatures, postmarks, and the use of drop boxes for ballots.- With speculation swirling over his pick for the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump heads to Florida on Thursday, hoping to shore up support in that hotly contested state. On Wednesday, the president, who has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election, declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.- Retired Gene…

yenisafak (2020-09-24). US to announce more Iran sanctions on Thursday, top envoy says. yenisafak.com The United States will slap new sanctions on a number of Iranian officials and entities including a judge who sentenced Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari to death, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams told a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.Navid Afkari was executed earlier this month after being convicted of stabbing a security guard to death during anti-government protests in 2018, Iranian state media reported, in a case that has sparked international outcry. Iran's Supreme Court rejected a review of the case in late August.

Elie Mystal (2020-09-24). The Media Is Missing the Republicans' Supreme Court Power Grab—Again. thenation.com The Media Is Missing the Republicans' Supreme Court Power Grab—Again…

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.

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 …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-09-23). Assange's Eleventh Day at the Old Bailey: Suicide, Hallucinations and Psychological Torture. dissidentvoice.org September 22. Central Criminal Court, London. 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 James Lewis QC: suggest that Assange, accused of 17 counts …

_____ (2020-09-23). Report, Tuesday, September 22: Julian Assange Hearing. popularresistance.org Julian is profoundly worried that his medical history will be used to discredit him and all that he has worked for, to paint the achievements of Wikileaks in promoting open government and citizen knowledge as the fantasy of a deranged mind. I have no doubt this will be tried, but fortunately there has been a real change in public understanding and acknowledgement of mental illness. I do not think Julian's periodic and infrequent episodes of very serious depression will be successfully portrayed in a bad light, despite the incredibly crass and insensitive attitude displayed today in court by the US Government, who…

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 …

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 …

WSWS (2020-09-23). Assange faces "very high risk of suicide," medical expert tells court. wsws.org Kopelman's evidence confirms the warnings made since November 2019 by Doctors for Assange that Assange is suffering "psychological torture" and "could die in prison."

_____ (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…

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 …

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-23). US-Guyana Maritime Patrols Near Venezuela Border Denounced as Latest American Imperialism. commondreams.org Pompeo says the joint naval and air patrols in the disputed, oil-rich region are meant to fight drug trafficking, but critics see them as the latest U.S. aggression toward Maduro. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/guyana.jpg

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 Ginsburg.

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 …

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 …

WSWS (2020-09-23). Democrats capitulate as Republicans secure votes to install far-right justice on Supreme Court. wsws.org For all their bluster, the Democrats were focused on preventing a plunge in the stock market by reaching a government funding deal with the Republicans before the September 30 deadline.

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.

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…

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). 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.

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.