Daily Archives: December 9, 2019

2019-12-09: News Headlines

Juan Cole (2019-12-09). In Wag the Dog Move, Indicted Israeli PM Netanyahu Moves to Annex 25% of Palestinian West Bank. commondreams.org This second case really is about destroying freedom of the press and entirely undermining what little is left of Israeli democracy. (Photo: Ben Amos Gershom/Prime Minister of Israel) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/net.jpeg

Norman Solomon (2019-12-09). Kerry's Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War. globalresearch.ca The spectacle of Kerry praising Biden as a seasoned leader amounts to one supporter of the Iraq catastrophe attesting to the character and experience of another supporter of the same catastrophe. | *** | On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post sent out …

Norman Solomon (2019-12-09). Kerry's Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War. indybay.org Character and Experience… in Mass Slaughter…

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-09). Israel's War Minister Naftali Bennett Threatens Iran. globalresearch.ca Israeli ruling authorities are the most extremist in Jewish state history. Arab MKs aside, the vast majority of Knesset members are militantly hardline racists, threatening regional peace and stability. | New Right party head Naftali Bennett earlier held various ministries, including …

Ralph Nader (2019-12-09). Why Not Also Go With "The Kitchen Table" Impeachable Offenses for Removal? counterpunch.org Will the Democrats move to impeach Trump for a narrow brace of violations and accept that the Senate Republicans will keep this outlaw in the White House? Or will they present the Senate with the President's many proven impeachable offenses, thereby requiring the Senate Republicans, before live national television, in a public trial to defend More

Scott Tucker (2019-12-09). Premature Democratic Socialists: Reasons for Hope and Change. counterpunch.org In the United States there was a time in the previous century when a political campaign was waged against "premature antifascists," namely against members of the socialist left who warned and fought against fascism well before World War II. In the wake of that war, the leading career politicians also worked within a corporate consensus More

Staff (2019-12-09). WATCH LIVE: House Democrats Lay Out Case for Impeaching Trump. truthout.org Members and legal staff of the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committees on Monday will lay out their case for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in a hearing scheduled to begin at 9: 00am EST. | According to the New York Times: | After hearing from constitutional scholars last week, the House Judiciary Committee turns f…

WSWS (2019-12-09). Australian PM defends secret "national security" trials. wsws.org Morrison's statement is further evidence of the creation of a police-state framework, overturning the fundamental democratic principle of public jury trials.

Pascal Zwicky and Cedric Wormwood (2019-12-09). Make Social Democracy Great Again. indybay.org Erik Olin Wright spoke of smashing, taming, escaping and eroding capitalism as alternatives of a transformational left. We must resist the "selective perception" of the elite that ignores market distortions (tax havens, stock buybacks, micro-second trading, insider trading), market failures, political failures, and the attacks on the poor, seniors, disabled, children and students.

WSWS (2019-12-09). UN Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer: "With censorship inevitably comes tyranny" wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site interviewed Nils Melzer, who denounced the role of governments and the mainstream media in the persecution of Julian Assange and warned of the dangerous consequences of the erosion of democratic rights.

WSWS (2019-12-09). Democrats, White House position themselves for impeachment vote. wsws.org The House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote articles of impeachment against Trump this week.

WSWS (2019-12-09). New York transit union offers massive concessions to block strike. wsws.org The tentative agreement agreed by the union seeks to stifle any movement by New York's subway and bus workers against the demands of the Democratic Party for major cuts.

Jud Lounsbury (2019-12-09). Trump's New Trade Deal: NAFTA with Lipstick. progressive.org The buzz inside the Beltway is that "centrist" Democrats are desperate to pass the USMCA to signal they are getting things done.

WSWS (2019-12-09). Wisconsin Democrats double down on Foxconn con job. wsws.org Despite campaigning in 2018 against the largest state subsidy in US history, Governor Tony Evers has bent over backwards to accommodate the multibillion dollar company at the expense of the working class.

Mike Rhodes (2019-12-09). 50 Years of Resistance. indybay.org This is a radio show I produced about the 50 Years of Resistance event held in Fresno in June 2019. The show features several speakers, including David Harris, Vince Lavery, Sandra Iyall and Don Teeter talking about the anti-war/Draft Resistance movement in Fresno in the late 1960's and early 70's.

Tyler Durden (2019-12-09). Controversy Erupts After Elizabeth Warren Reveals Millions in Corporate Consulting Income. theantimedia.com Elizabeth Warren revealed on Sunday night that she made nearly $2 million from legal consulting for corporate clients.

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-09). Iran False Flag, Bolivia's Coup Gov Seeks Israel's Help, Israel's Been In Yemen 'Since Day One'. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/8/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2019-12-09). Israel Threatens to Destroy All Palestinian Structures in Area C. imemc.org Israeli Minister of Defense, Naftali Bennett, has threatened to destroy all Palestinian structures in West Bank areas under complete Israeli control (Area C), including those which were funded by Europeans, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. According to Days of Palestine, Bennett made the threat during a meeting with ambassadors …

commondreams (2019-12-09). Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Urge Administration to Deny Gilead Monopoly Profits on HIV Drug Over Misconduct. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Jefferson Morley (2019-12-09). Trump's Hand-Picked Prosecutor John Durham Cleared the CIA Once, Will He Again? counterpunch.org For months, the names of Michael Horowitz and John Durham have figured in the pounding rhythms of right-wing media in which a heroically afflicted president faces down his perfidious enemies. A steady drumbeat of reports from Fox News, echoed by President Trump and Republican loyalists in Congress, proclaimed these two obscure Justice Department officials would get to the bottom of an alleged conspiracy against the Trump presidency. More

Lynda Carson (2019-12-09). The politics of Hollywood & the Trump impeachment parties. indybay.org As the impeachment of Donald J. Trump in the House of Representatives excites people across the nation and inspires people to party down with some impeachment parties in celebration, it appears that the GOP and the Republican Party has gone totally insane with their lies and feeble attempts to defend Trump from himself!

Jeet Heer (2019-12-09). Michael Bloomberg Has an Anti-Democratic Streak. thenation.com Michael Bloomberg Has an Anti-Democratic Streak…

Clay Bennett (2019-12-09). Whose Name Is on the Bullet? thenation.com Whose Name Is on the Bullet?

Staff (2019-12-09). Greta Thunberg, Rose Whipple & Eriel Deranger on Listening to Indigenous People Amid Climate Crisis. democracynow.org At the end of Friday's major climate rally in Madrid, a group of indigenous activists took the stage to sing and give speeches, but after some speeches their microphone was cut and the lights on stage were shut off as they spoke. Democracy Now! spoke to Eriel Deranger of Indigenous Climate Action and later asked Greta Thunberg and Rose Whipple about the importance of listening to indigenous voices.

Staff (2019-12-09). Police Halt Activist-Led "Toxic Tour" of Spain's "Dirtiest" Corporate Polluters Sponsoring COP25. democracynow.org In Spain, the country's biggest fossil fuel polluters are also some of the most generous sponsors for this year's U.N. climate talks. On Saturday, we joined activists on a "toxic tour" of Madrid from the Madrid stock exchange to Santander Bank. Activists explained that when Spanish President Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain would host COP25, he went to IBEX 35 — the 35 biggest listed companies in the Spanish stock exchange — offering them a 90% tax break on a $2 million sponsorship. Advocates say that these same companies "have deep and dirty links to the fossil fuel industry." But midway through, t…

Staff (2019-12-09). At Major March in Madrid, Indigenous & Youth Activists Slam Global Leaders for Climate Inaction. democracynow.org We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the 25th United Nations climate conference is in its second week and representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered for the final days of negotiations. The summit — known as COP25, or conference of parties — has so far focused on meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to "well below 2 degrees Celsius," or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But climate scientists say the talks are failing to produce the drastic measures necessary to address the climate crisis. Since the Paris Agreement four years ago, greenhouse gas emissions have risen by…

Staff (2019-12-09). Spanish Actor Javier Bardem: We Need Urgency, Ambition & Reduction to Confront Climate Crisis. democracynow.org Speakers at Friday's massive climate march in Madrid included the actor Javier Bardem. In 2007, he became the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award for acting for his supporting role in "No Country for Old Men." He addressed the crowd in Spanish.

Staff (2019-12-09). Meet the Climbing Kids: 8- & 11-Year-Old Siblings Who Rappel from Bridge Demanding Climate Action. democracynow.org As hundreds of thousands marched to the main stage during Friday's climate march in Madrid, two young children — a brother and sister aged 8 and 11 — staged an act of civil disobedience from a bridge overlooking the protest. While demonstrators marched beneath them, the two children rappelled from an overpass, dangling from ropes in mid-air to hang a banner calling for climate action. Democracy Now! briefly spoke to them after their action.

Staff (2019-12-09). Greta Thunberg at Madrid March: Hope in the Streets, Not the U.N. Climate Summit. democracynow.org Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also addressed Friday's climate march in Madrid. "The hope is not within the walls of COP25; the hope is out here with you," said Thunberg, who inspired the global youth strike movement.

Staff (2019-12-09). Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron & BP Could Be Legally & Morally Liable for Climate Crisis in Philippines. democracynow.org The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has just determined that 47 major companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Total, could be found legally and morally liable for human rights harms to Filipinos resulting from climate change. The commission found the companies could be held accountable under civil and criminal laws. Climate activists have hailed the decision as a landmark victory for climate justice. According to Greenpeace, this marks the first time big polluting companies have been found responsible for human rights harms resulting from the climate crisis. We speak to Yeb Saño, exe…

Staff (2019-12-09). Indigenous Leader Sà¥nia Guajajara: The Amazon Is Burning & Its Defenders Are Being Assassinated. democracynow.org Speakers at Friday's climate march in Madrid included Brazilian indigenous leader Sà¥nia Guajajara. A day after she spoke, two indigenous chiefs — Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara — were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.

Staff (2019-12-09). Headlines for December 9, 2019. democracynow.org House Judiciary Committee Holds Impeachment Hearing Today, FBI Opens Terrorism Probe into Air Base Shooting That Killed 3 Sailors, Hundreds of Thousands March in Madrid as COP25 Enters Second Week, Iraq: Gunmen Kill 25 Anti-Government Protesters in Baghdad, India: 43 People Killed in a Fire in Factory in Delhi, Evo Morales Travels to Cuba for Medical Appointment, Protests Against Economic Inequality Continue in Chile & Colombia, Two Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Killed, Hundreds of Thousands Pour into Streets for Pro-Democracy March in Hong Kong, France: Protests Continue Against Macron's Pension Overhaul, Finland…

The Canary (2019-12-09). DUP accuses Boris Johnson of breaking his word on union commitment. thecanary.co Boris Johnson has been accused of breaking his word over his commitment to protect the union between Great Britain and the north of Ireland by the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.As the prime minister faced fresh questions over trade within the UK after Brexit, Arlene Foster said government officials had told her there would need to be checks.Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the sense of some in the unionist community that Johnson's deal was a "betrayal", she said: "I think it is right for the leadership of unionism in Northern Ireland to try to work with the prime minister of the day to get t…

Ian S. Thompson (2019-12-09). Three Ways the "Fairness for All Act" Doesn't Protect LGBTQ People from Discrimination. aclu.org On Friday, Congressman Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and | several of his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives introduced | the so-called "Fairness for All Act." The bill is being described by its | supporters as a compromise that protects both LGBTQ people and religious | liberty. | In reality, the bill facilitates the Trump | administration's ongoing efforts to give a greenlight to those who would turn | LGBTQ people away from jobs, health care, housing, even taxpayer-funded | programs, simply because of who they are. The bill also weakens some | longstanding protections in federal and state laws…

Staff (2019-12-09). 8- and 11-Year-Old Siblings Rappel From Bridge Demanding Climate Action. truthout.org As hundreds of thousands marched to the main stage during Friday's climate march in Madrid, two young children — a brother and sister aged 8 and 11 — staged an act of civil disobedience from a bridge overlooking the protest. While demonstrators marched beneath them, the two children rappelled from an overpass, dangling from ropes in mid-air to hang a banner calling for climate action. Democracy Now! briefly spoke to them after their action. | TRANSCRIPT: | AMY GOODMAN: As hundreds…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2019-12-09). 'Staggering' New Data Shows Income of Top 1% Has Grown 100 Times Faster Than Bottom 50% Since 1970. commondreams.org New data released by an economist focused on inequality and the accumulation of wealth by top earners explains the numbers behind Sen. Bernie Sanders' often-cited statistic that the three richest Americans hold more wealth than the 160 million people who make up the bottom 50% of the population. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/picmonkey20image2.jpg

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2019-12-09). Setting Gallup Record, Quarter of Americans Say They or Family Member Delayed Medical Care Over Cost in Last Year. commondreams.org "This is the 'choice based' system Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg want to preserve." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/medicare_for_all_14_0.jpeg

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2019-12-09). Update: Buttigieg Campaign Reverses Course, Will Open Doors to the Press for Big-Dollar Fundraisers. commondreams.org The move follows a weekend of sustained activist pressure demanding Buttigieg open the events. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/petey.jpeg

RT (2019-12-09). Mexico president says senators accepted changes to USMCA trade pact. rt.com Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that the country's senators have accepted proposed changes to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as US lawmakers mull ratifying the trade pact. | Lopez Obrador told reporters that he "respectfully requests" that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi make a decision about the trade agreement. | The deal was struck more than a year ago, but must be ratified by legislators in the three countries before it goes into effect. | "It's the time, it's the moment," Reuters quoted Lopez Obrador as saying. "I am optimistic, very optimistic, t…

Common Dreams staff (2019-12-09). WATCH LIVE: House Democrats Lay Out Their Case for Impeachment of President Donald Trump. commondreams.org "We need to make it clear within those articles that there is a pattern of conduct here, that Ukraine was the most egregious example of the president abusing his office while he was president of the United States," said committee member Rep. Pramila Jayapal. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-12-09_at_8.01.24_am.png

Brian Finlay (2019-12-09). SNP MP candidate roasts Lib Dem tax plans for low earners branding them 'absolute cruelty'. thecanary.co On 8 December, SNP MP candidate for Central Ayrshire Dr Phillippa Whitford took part in Channel 4's 'Everything but Brexit' debate. She roasted the Lib Dem's tax plans. And Whitford didn't hold back. She even branded the tax plans "absolutely cruelty": | @Dr_PhilippaW puts Labour, Liberal Democrats and Tories to shame by listing progressiv…

Jon Queally, staff writer (2019-12-09). Harris, Booker, Sanders, and Warren Among 27 Senate Democrats Calling on Trump to Fire White Nationalist Stephen Miller. commondreams.org A month after explosive emails exposed depth of Miller's hateful ideology, letter to president says his top policy advisor "must be removed." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/stephen-miller-breitbart_0.png

Paul Abowd (2019-12-08). The "Bernie Blackout" Is in Effect — and It Could Help Sanders Win. theintercept.com Sen. Bernie Sanders faced a media blackout that helped sink his 2016 run for president. Ahead of 2020, the trend continues: Sanders gets less media coverage and a higher rate of negative coverage than his top rivals for the Democratic nomination. But this time, says The Intercept's D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim, the blackout could actually help Bernie win.

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-08). Israel Bombs Gaza, Israeli Bot Group Caught Spreading Hate & US Admits Houthis Not "Iran Proxy" thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/7/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

RT (2019-12-08). Nadler says vote 'possible' on Trump articles of impeachment this week, Republicans protest. rt.com House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has said that his panel may vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump this week. However, Republicans say he is trying to railroad impeachment through Congress. | "It's possible" that the committee may vote on the articles this week, Nadler (D-New York) told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. He added that there is "a lot to consider" in deciding which charges to bring against Trump. | Before determining what impeachable offenses to charge the president with, Nadler's committee will hold a hearing on Monday. Republicans on the committee clai…

Julie Hollar (2019-12-07). How Media Turn Support for Public Schools Into Opposition to Children of Color. fair.org by Julie Hollar | Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic presidential candidates are rejecting the Obama administration's embrace of charter schools, and media observers aren't taking kindly to it. "Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools," blared a recent New York Times headline ( 11/26/19). "The front-runners for the presidential nomination are moving away from the charter school movement, and black and Latino families ask why…

Edward J. Martin (2019-12-07). The Origins of Democratic Socialism: Robert Owen and Worker Cooperatives. dissidentvoice.org Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — and its two predecessor organizations, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM) — emerged in the early 1970s, during a long-term rightist movement in the United States. The DSA's contribution to the American Left was its new founded identity as a radical organization born …

Eric Zuesse (2019-12-07). Some False Statements Made in the Trump-Impeachment Hearings. dissidentvoice.org In the December 4th statement that was made by Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan was this: We have become the shining city on a hill. We have become the nation that leads the world in understanding what democracy is. One of the things we understand most profoundly is it's not a real democracy, it's …

Robert Mackey (2019-12-07). Even Hunter Biden Admits His Work in Ukraine Was a Mistake. Why Can't His Father Say That? theintercept.com Biden's bizarre claim that "no one has said my son did anything wrong" in Ukraine reveals an inability to accept that legal behavior can also be unethical.

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-07). US Claims "Fresh Intelligence" Of Iran Attacks Yet Provides Zero Evidence — MSM Blindly Regurgitates. thelastamericanvagabond.com Here we go again with "fresh intelligence" to justify the continued sanctions and destabilization of Iran. It's a plan that has been well documented even by their own writings (See Which Path to Persia? — 2009). Of course, complicating U.S. foreign policy is the involvement of Israel. The Last American Vagabond covers the latest political posturing, distortion, and general …

RT (2019-12-07). 'People are flushing toilets 10 times': Trump mulls pouring conservation rules down the drain & Twitter cannot hold it. rt.com President Donald Trump is taking aim at water efficiency laws, arguing that they paradoxically encourage waste due to weak water pressure. He vowed to seek "commonsense" solutions to America's toilet troubles. | Despite ongoing Democratic impeachment efforts in Washington, a trade row with Beijing and another war of words heating up with Iran, the president took time on Friday to address a problem much closer to home — perhaps lurking in your very own bathroom. | "We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers, and other elements of bathrooms," the president said. "You turn on…

Mark Gruenberg (2019-12-06). Virginia unions, Dem allies push to repeal right-to-work-law. peoplesworld.org ARLINGTON, Va.—Energized by wins in November that swept Democrats — notably pro-worker lawmakers — into a legislative majority in the state capital of Richmond, Virginia unions and progressive Democratic allies launched a big push to repeal the Old Dominion's 72-year-old "right to work" law. Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia Labor Council and convener …

Alan Macleod (2019-12-06). Study Reveals How UK Intelligence Works with Media to Smear Jeremy Corbyn. mintpressnews.com The United Kingdom goes to the polls December 12 in a pivotal vote that will decide the future of the country. Like in 2017, the Labour Party, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, is surging towards the ruling Conservative Party in the last weeks of campaigning. But he will not become Prime Minister if the UK's security services have anything to do with it. Corbyn, frequently compared to Bernie Sanders in terms of ideology, spent decades in the political wilderness, a lonely leftist voice among a party embracing neol…

Tyler Durden (2019-12-06). Hillary Casually Drops 'Russian Asset' Smear on Bernie Sanders in New Interview. theantimedia.com Are we just going to ignore that Hillary Clinton, today, just implied that Bernie Sanders is also a Russian asset?>

Dave Lindorff (2019-12-06). Conviction and Removal Aren't the Issue; It's Impeachment of Trump That is Essential. counterpunch.org A lot of pundit verbiage and Democratic Party internal debate as well is being wasted on the question of whether Trump could be convicted successfully in a Senate currently run by a lickspittle Republican majority afraid of their shadows and devoid of any concern for the fate of Constitutional government. Let's accept that the 20-plus More

Jon Schwarz (2019-12-06). The Supreme Court Case That Made Michael Bloomberg's Campaign Possible — and Doomed Kamala Harris. theintercept.com Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California suspended her presidential campaign on Tuesday. Why? Because, she said, she did not "have the financial resources we need to continue. I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign." | Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who definitely is a billionaire, has spent at least $57 million of his own money since he jumped into the race on Novem…

Matthew Hoh (2019-12-06). Authorizations for Madness; The Effects and Consequences of Congress' Endless Permissions for War. counterpunch.org I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can…Its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. — Dwight Eisenhower. For the first time in decades, passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has been delayed due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. The disagreements at the center of the delay in Congress are, as usual, partisan More

Peter Koenig (2019-12-06). Hong Kong: Pure Western Insanity. dissidentvoice.org The impunity with which the US aggresses Hong Kong is insane. Equally or more insane is western media coverage of what is going on in Hong Kong. Not one word on how the incredible "pro-democracy" vote of the rather unimportant District Council Elections was achieved. Of the 18 District Councils, 452 of 479 seats (71%) …

Andrew Levine (2019-12-06). Whatever Happened to the Obama Coalition? counterpunch.org Kamala Harris is out. This makes me almost sad; she was a snarky debater and, for a "moderate," she wasn't all that bad. Perhaps her managers ought to have stressed that point: "Better Than Booker" would have been a fine slogan for her to run on. Now, with Harris gone, it falls to that dreadful Obama wannabe to take the lead in keeping talk of "reviving the Obama coalition" on the front burner. More

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-06). The US Is Manufacturing A War With Iran Under Cover Of The Impeachment Distraction. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/5/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Staff (2019-12-06). COP25: Alternative Climate Summit Honors Those "Suffering the Crimes of Transnational Corporations" democracynow.org We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, began Monday and will continue through next week, as environmental leaders from around the world gather to negotiate global solutions to the climate crisis. Activists have converged on Madrid for the conference and are hosting an alternative summit of their own: Cumbre Social por el Clima — the Social Summit for the Climate. The alternative summit has been organized by social justice and environmental groups to draw attention to the ongoing political repression in Chile, corporate influence on the climate su…

Staff (2019-12-06). "It's Our Future": Meet the Youth Activists Behind Fridays for Future Movements in Uganda and Chile. democracynow.org In Spain, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Madrid to take part in today's strike as well as a major march set for 6 p.m. local time. Greta began the climate strike movement last year when she started skipping school every Friday to stand in front of the Swedish parliament, demanding action to prevent catastrophic climate change. Her protest spread, quickly going global. We speak with two youth climate strikers: Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is the founder of Fridays for Future Uganda and Angela Valenzuela is a coordinator with Fridays for Future in Chile, where this year's U.N. clima…

Staff (2019-12-06). Why Are Some of Spain's Biggest Polluters Sponsoring U.N. Climate Summit? democracynow.org A group of climate activists walked out of a panel at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Thursday to protest the presence of Shell, BP and Chevron. Representatives from the oil companies were taking part in an event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association. This comes as the Spanish government is facing criticism for reaching out to Endesa, Spain's biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, to sponsor the U.N. climate talks. We speak with Pascoe Sabido, a researcher and campaigner for the Corporate Europe Observatory, who has been organizing toxic tours of Madrid to expose the corporations a…

Staff (2019-12-06). Headlines for December 6, 2019. democracynow.org Pelosi Calls On Democrats to Proceed With Drafting Articles of Impeachment, Joe Biden Lashes Out at Iowa Town Hall over His Son Hunter's Work in Ukraine, Pentagon Weighs Sending Up to 14,000 More U.S. Troops to Middle East, Saudi Aramco Raises $25.6 Billion in Historic IPO, 140,000 Died Globally from Measles in 2018, 62 Refugees Died after Boat Capsized off Coast of Mauritania, Shocking Video Shows How Border Patrol Let Teenage Asylum Seeker Die in Custody, French Workers Continue National Strike into Second Day, Uber Says It Received 3,000 Reports of Sexual Assault in U.S. in 2018, The Guardian: Ilhan Omar and R…

Jeffrey St. Clair (2019-12-06). Eat an Impeachment. counterpunch.org Impeachment is the most under-utilized, but politically potent check on executive power in the Constitution. It's there for a reason and the authors of our organizational parchment surely envisioned it being used more frequently than once every 60 years. Indeed, impeachment may well be the only defense we have against the rising authoritarian powers of a presidency which seeks to impose its will under the cover of the Unified Theory of the Executive. And let us not forget that impeachment is a more democratic form of deposing of a ruler than the process that put him or her into power, since both the congressional…

RT (2019-12-06). That's a bit rich: Biden says paycheck doesn't matter, jobs are 'about dignity'. rt.com Democrat hopeful Joe Biden says jobs aren't just about money, but his words rang hollow for critics who shot back with reminders about low wages and the former vice president's son getting a cushy gig at a Ukrainian oil company. | Biden's latest pitch to voters promised to bring "dignity" back to the working middle class. | "A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about dignity. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything is going to be okay — and mean it. Too many people today can't do that," Biden tweeted on Friday. | A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about…

Alan MacLeod (2019-12-06). With People in the Streets Worldwide, Media Focus Uniquely on Hong Kong. fair.org Unlike protests against US client states, the Hong Kong demonstrations were frequently given the approving "pro-democracy" label (CNN, 8/30/19). | 2019 may be remembered as the year of the protest, as demonstrations are engulfing the world. From the Yellow Vests in France to demonstrations in Lebanon, Gaza, Chile, Ecuador and Haiti, sustained movements all over the planet have taken to the street demanding change. Yet US corporate media have been disproportionately interested in only one: the Hong Kong protests.

Tyler Durden (2019-12-05). Judge Orders Hunter Biden to Reveal How Much He Made at Ukrainian Oil Company. theantimedia.com Hunter Biden has been ordered by an Arkansas judge to produce five years of financial records in his paternity case.

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-05). CNN Says US Has "Fresh Intelligence" Of Iran Prepping Attack But Can't Show It & More NYT Propaganda. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/4/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Akela Lacy (2019-12-05). South Bend's Police Chief, Close Ally of Pete Buttigieg, Promotes Officer Involved in Controversial Choking Death. theintercept.com The recent promotion of officer Dave Johnson is yet another example of the mayor's failure to adequately address troubling race relations in South Bend.

Alice Speri (2019-12-05). New Legislation Aims to End the "School to Confinement Pathway" theintercept.com Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts introduced new legislation Thursday aimed at ending the "school to confinement pathway." The bill targets discriminatory and punitive school discipline policies that push black and brown students out of schools at disproportionately high rates, often directly into the criminal justice system. | The bill offers incentives to states and schools that commit to ban most suspensions and expulsions, as well as corporal punishment and the physical restraint of students. It also allots resources to the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights at a time when the Trump administrat…

John Nichols (2019-12-05). Speaker Pelosi Seeks Articles of Impeachment. thenation.com Speaker Pelosi Seeks Articles of Impeachment…

Elie Mystal (2019-12-05). The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack. thenation.com The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack…

Staff (2019-12-05). Sweden Provides Free Higher Education, Universal Healthcare, Free Daycare — Why Can't the U.S.? democracynow.org Medicare for All and tuition-free universities have been at the core of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns, creating a stark division between progressive candidates and their centrist counterparts. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed to make Medicare for All and public universities cost-free by taxing massive corporations and the super wealthy, and earlier this year, Sanders introduced legislation that would cancel student loan debt. His plan would be paid for with a new tax on Wall Street, he says. It would also make public universities and community colleges free — a key pil…

Staff (2019-12-05). Aminatou Haidar Honored For Decades of Peaceful Resistance in Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony. democracynow.org In Stockholm, Democracy Now! sat down with one of the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award: Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar. For over three decades, Haidar has led a peaceful campaign to resist the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, which is often called Africa's last colony. Morocco has occupied Western Sahara — a small region just south of Morocco in northwest Africa — since 1975. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the occupation. Peaceful protesters, led by women, are routinely beaten in the streets. Despite this violent repress…

Staff (2019-12-05). Edward Snowden: If I Came Back to the U.S., I Would Likely Die in Prison for Telling the Truth. democracynow.org The Right Livelihood Awards celebrated their 40th anniversary Wednesday at the historic Cirkus Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where more than a thousand people gathered to celebrate this year's four laureates: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei, Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, the Yanomami Hutukara Association; and Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. The Right Livelihood Award is known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four deca…

Staff (2019-12-05). Headlines for December 5, 2019. democracynow.org Constitutional Experts Debate Impeachment at House Judiciary Committee Hearing, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes Sues CNN over Story about Nunes' Ukraine Meeting, Trump Departs NATO Early after Video of Other World Leaders Mocking Him, Report: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Hit Record High in 2019, Colombia Holds Third National Strike in Two Weeks, Workers Strike Across France Today over Macron's Pensions Plan, Hand Grenade Thrown over Wall of Migrant Shelter in Madrid, India: Rape Survivor Attacked on Her Way to Court in Latest Assault on Women, Head of Japanese Aid Agency Killed in Afghanistan, AG Barr Threatens Commun…

Mark Fiore (2019-12-04). The DNC: Finding Your Perfect Match! progressive.org We're in the business of creating the perfect Democratic nominee.

Robert Mackey (2019-12-04). By the Republicans' Absurd Definition, Boris Johnson Meddled in the 2016 Election. theintercept.com Reporters should ask Donald Trump if Boris Johnson "meddled" in the 2016 election by denouncing him as stupid and insane for proposing to ban Muslims.

Staff (2019-12-04). "Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists. democracynow.org The Right Livelihood Award is marking its 40th anniversary. The award was established in 1980 to honor and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us." It has since become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, the award has been given to activists and grassroots leaders around the globe. A number of them have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's winners are: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades; Chi…

Staff (2019-12-04). Brazilian Indigenous Leader Davi Kopenawa: Bolsonaro is Killing My People & Destroying the Amazon. democracynow.org Democracy Now! sat down with Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa, one of this year's Right Livelihood Award honorees, along with the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. Kopenawa is a shaman of the Yanomami people, one of the largest Indigenous tribes in Brazil, who has dedicated his life to protecting his culture and protecting the Amazon rainforest. He says indigenous people in the Amazon are under threat from business interests as well as politicians, including far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a long history of anti-indigenous statements and policies. "He doesn't like indigenous pe…

Staff (2019-12-04). U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention. democracynow.org A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…

Staff (2019-12-04). Headlines for December 4, 2019. democracynow.org House Impeachment Report Accuses Trump of Soliciting Foreign Interference in 2020 Election, Report: Europe Could Face Annual Extreme Heat Waves Due to Climate Change, Kamala Harris Ends Her 2020 Presidential Campaign, ProPublica: McKinsey Helped Trump Speed Up Mass Deportation Program, Detained Asylum Seekers Protest in Winnfield, Louisiana, House Votes for Bill to Punish China over Mass Imprisonment of Muslims, ICC Begins Hearing over Alleged U.S. Military Torture in Afghanistan, Rikers Island Officers Stood By as Teenager Attempted to Hang Himself, Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Assassination of Fred Hampton…

Jason Ditz (2019-12-03). Pompeo: US Will Prevent Cuba, Venezuela From 'Hijacking' Protests in Latin America. theantimedia.com Pompeo positioned the US as in favor of "democratic" protests in the region, while accusing Cuba and Venezuela of trying to "hijack" them.

Brendan Oswald (2019-12-03). Think You're Tired of the Ukraine Scandal? So Are the Ukrainians! progressive.org Biden, Burisma, and the US impeachment hearings have crowded out media coverage of pressing domestic issues in Ukraine.

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-03). Pompeo Says US Will "Help Prevent" Protests For "Legitimate" Governments & US Bombs Afghan Family. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/2/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Staff (2019-12-03). Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights. democracynow.org December 3 is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. "Unfortunately, disability-based discrimination is still a global phenomenon," says Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and disability rights activist from Ethiopia who in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Nigussie is the director for advocacy and rights at Light for the World and the former chair of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind women's wing. She has been blind since the age of five. Yetnebersh Nigussie speaks with us in Stockholm. She is one of many former Right Livelihood Award recipie…

Staff (2019-12-03). Indigenous Protectors Are Defending the Amazon and "Paying With Their Lives" democracynow.org This week we're on the road in Stockholm, Sweden, where we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." One of this year's recipients of the award is Yanomami indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. The Right Livelihood Foundation has praised them for "their courageous determination to protect the forests and biodiversity of the Amazon, and the lands and culture of its indigenous peoples." The award comes as indigenous forest protectors and uncontacted tribes in Brazil are increasingly unde…

Staff (2019-12-03). "We Are Facing a Global Emergency": Greta Thunberg Arrives Back in Europe to Attend Climate Talks. democracynow.org From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who arrived Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal, after traveling for three weeks across the Atlantic in the 48-foot catamaran La Vagabonde, refusing to fly because of the high carbon footprint of air travel. Thunberg was on her way to attend COP25 in Santiago, Chile, when the conference was abruptly relocated due to mass demonstrations against a proposed subway fare hike. She sounded a rallying cry to…

Staff (2019-12-03). My Generation Needs to Say "Enough": A Swedish Climate Striker Speaks Out About Fridays For Future. democracynow.org From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, whose school strike for climate started in Stockholm when she began standing outside the Parliament building every school day to demand bold climate action more than a year ago. Her act of resistance soon became a global movement, with millions of youth around the world leaving school and taking to the streets to demand swift action to halt the climate crisis. Greta has just arrived in Lisbon,…

Ryan Cristián (2019-12-02). Nicaragua Marked Next For US "Liberation", Trump Blames "Vicious World" For Khashoggi Murder & More. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/1/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Barry Healy (2019-12-02). Leonard Cohen: the poet, his muse and his penis. greenleft.org.au music Barry HealyIssue 1248 Australia Leonard CohenDecember 3, 2019Maryanne & Leonard, Words of Love
| Documentary film directed by Nick Broomfield
| In cinemas | As I emerged from the media preview for this film, I heard another viewer mutter that it was "the most self…

John Nichols (2019-12-01). Ilhan Omar and the Politics of 'Radical Love'. progressive.org The Minnesota Congresswoman wants to redefine U.S. foreign policy as we know it.

Matt Bruenig (2019-12-01). The Usual Incoherence on Student Benefits Is Back. peoplespolicyproject.org Of all the welfare state topics, student benefits manages to consistently attract the most incoherent and weird arguments, and the recent spate of arguments on this front are no exception. In the last week, a student benefit dustup has been instigated by Pete Buttigieg ostensibly being against free public college for millionaires and billionaires while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are ostensibly for it. | This has set off the usual round of commentary about how Buttigieg is arguing for means-testing while Warren and Sanders are arguing f…

Fight Back (2019-11-30). DPRK tests new weapon system and strengthens defenses. fightbacknews.org Washington DC — The Democratic People's Republic of Korea tested a new rocket launching system on November 29. | According to a report from the Korean Central News Agency, "Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, inspected the test-fire of the super-large multiple launch rocket system conducted by the Academy of Defense Science." | In a related development, Kim Kye Gwan, advisor to the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK, commented on past meetin…

Julie Hollar (2019-11-27). We're Still Waiting for 'Early and Often' Climate Debate Questions. fair.org As the Democratic Party prepared for its first presidential primary debates in June, climate activists pushed the DNC to schedule a single-issue debate on the climate crisis, given the urgency of the problem and the lack of attention given to it in previous debates. DNC chair Tom Perez refused, saying he had "the utmost confidence" that climate disruption would be discussed in the debates "early and often" (FAIR.org, 6/18/19). | Now that seven nights of debates have passed, and multiple…

Ryan Cristián (2019-11-23). Iran False Flag Prep, US Government's Staggering Bolivia Hypocrisy, Netanyahu Indicted & Patriot Act. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/22/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Activist Post (2019-11-22). Congress Quietly Unites To Extend "Temporary" Patriot Act Under Cover Of The Impeachment Distraction. thelastamericanvagabond.com The only time Republicans and Democrats can agree is when they are discussing the expansion of the permanent war and surveillance state. The Last American Vagabond takes a closer look at the many layers of deception about how legislation gets pushed through which contains buried provisions that further erode the U.S. Constitution and liberty. This is …

Ryan Cristián (2019-11-20). Israel Carries Out 'Wide-Scale Strikes' In Syria, US Gov Withholds Food/Meds From Iran & Patriot Act. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/20/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

Ryan Cristián (2019-11-18). US Says Israeli Settlements Are Legal, 23 Killed In Bolivia As Violent Coup Ignored & Venezuela Flop. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/18/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …

2019-12-09: Social Media Postees

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

Kerry's Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War
Norman Solomon | indybay.org | 2019-12-09
Character and Experience… in Mass Slaughter…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/07/18828714.php

Kerry's Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War
Norman Solomon | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-09
The spectacle of Kerry praising Biden as a seasoned leader amounts to one supporter of the Iraq catastrophe attesting to the character and experience of another supporter of the same catastrophe. | *** | On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post sent out …
globalresearch.ca/kerry-endorsement-biden-fits-two-deceptive-supporters-iraq-war/5697069

Israel's War Minister Naftali Bennett Threatens Iran
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-09
Israeli ruling authorities are the most extremist in Jewish state history. Arab MKs aside, the vast majority of Knesset members are militantly hardline racists, threatening regional peace and stability. | New Right party head Naftali Bennett earlier held various ministries, including …
globalresearch.ca/israel-war-minister-naftali-bennett-threatens-iran/5697136

Why Not Also Go With "The Kitchen Table" Impeachable Offenses for Removal?
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-09
Will the Democrats move to impeach Trump for a narrow brace of violations and accept that the Senate Republicans will keep this outlaw in the White House? Or will they present the Senate with the President's many proven impeachable offenses, thereby requiring the Senate Republicans, before live national television, in a public trial to defend…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/09/why-not-also-go-with-the-kitchen-table-impeachable-offenses-for-removal/

Premature Democratic Socialists: Reasons for Hope and Change
Scott Tucker | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-09
In the United States there was a time in the previous century when a political campaign was waged against "premature antifascists," namely against members of the socialist left who warned and fought against fascism well before World War II. In the wake of that war, the leading career politicians also worked within a corporate consensus…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/09/premature-democratic-socialists-reasons-for-hope-and-change/

In Wag the Dog Move, Indicted Israeli PM Netanyahu Moves to Annex 25% of Palestinian West Bank
Juan Cole | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
This second case really is about destroying freedom of the press and entirely undermining what little is left of Israeli democracy. (Photo: Ben Amos Gershom/Prime Minister of Israel) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/net.jpeg
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/09/wag-dog-move-indicted-israeli-pm-netanyahu-moves-annex-25-palestinian-west-bank?cd-origin=rss

WATCH LIVE: House Democrats Lay Out Case for Impeaching Trump
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-09
Members and legal staff of the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committees on Monday will lay out their case for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in a hearing scheduled to begin at 9: 00am EST. | According to the New York Times: | After hearing from constitutional scholars last week, the House Judiciary Committee turns f…
truthout.org/articles/watch-live-house-democrats-lay-out-case-for-impeaching-trump/

Australian PM defends secret "national security" trials
wsws.org | 2019-12-09
Morrison's statement is further evidence of the creation of a police-state framework, overturning the fundamental democratic principle of public jury trials.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/tria-d09.html

UN Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer: "With censorship inevitably comes tyranny"
wsws.org | 2019-12-09
The World Socialist Web Site interviewed Nils Melzer, who denounced the role of governments and the mainstream media in the persecution of Julian Assange and warned of the dangerous consequences of the erosion of democratic rights.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/melz-d09.html

Wisconsin Democrats double down on Foxconn con job
wsws.org | 2019-12-09
Despite campaigning in 2018 against the largest state subsidy in US history, Governor Tony Evers has bent over backwards to accommodate the multibillion dollar company at the expense of the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/foxh-d09.html

New York transit union offers massive concessions to block strike
wsws.org | 2019-12-09
The tentative agreement agreed by the union seeks to stifle any movement by New York's subway and bus workers against the demands of the Democratic Party for major cuts.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/mtac-d09.html

Trump's New Trade Deal: NAFTA with Lipstick
Jud Lounsbury | progressive.org | 2019-12-09
The buzz inside the Beltway is that "centrist" Democrats are desperate to pass the USMCA to signal they are getting things done.
progressive.org/dispatches/trumps-new-trade-deal-nafta-with-lipstick-lounsbury-191205/

Democrats, White House position themselves for impeachment vote
wsws.org | 2019-12-09
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote articles of impeachment against Trump this week.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/09/impe-d09.html

WATCH LIVE: House Democrats Lay Out Their Case for Impeachment of President Donald Trump
Common Dreams staff | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
"We need to make it clear within those articles that there is a pattern of conduct here, that Ukraine was the most egregious example of the president abusing his office while he was president of the United States," said committee member Rep. Pramila Jayapal. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-12-09_at_8.01.24_am.png
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/09/watch-live-house-democrats-lay-out-their-case-impeachment-president-donald-trump?cd-origin=rss

Make Social Democracy Great Again
Pascal Zwicky and Cedric Wormwood | indybay.org | 2019-12-09
Erik Olin Wright spoke of smashing, taming, escaping and eroding capitalism as alternatives of a transformational left. We must resist the "selective perception" of the elite that ignores market distortions (tax havens, stock buybacks, micro-second trading, insider trading), market failures, political failures, and the attacks on the poor, seniors, disabled, children and students.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/07/18828691.php

50 Years of Resistance
Mike Rhodes | indybay.org | 2019-12-09
This is a radio show I produced about the 50 Years of Resistance event held in Fresno in June 2019. The show features several speakers, including David Harris, Vince Lavery, Sandra Iyall and Don Teeter talking about the anti-war/Draft Resistance movement in Fresno in the late 1960's and early 70's.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/07/18828715.php

Controversy Erupts After Elizabeth Warren Reveals Millions in Corporate Consulting Income
Tyler Durden | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-09
Elizabeth Warren revealed on Sunday night that she made nearly $2 million from legal consulting for corporate clients.
theantimedia.com/elizabeth-warren-reveals-millions-corporate-consulting-income/

Iran False Flag, Bolivia's Coup Gov Seeks Israel's Help, Israel's Been In Yemen 'Since Day One'
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-09
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/8/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/iran-false-flag-bolivias-coup-gov-seeks-israels-help-israels-been-in-yemen-since-day-one/

Israel Threatens to Destroy All Palestinian Structures in Area C
IMEMC News & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-09
Israeli Minister of Defense, Naftali Bennett, has threatened to destroy all Palestinian structures in West Bank areas under complete Israeli control (Area C), including those which were funded by Europeans, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. According to Days of Palestine, Bennett made the threat during a meeting with ambassadors …
imemc.org/article/israel-threatens-to-destroy-all-palestinian-structures-in-area-c/

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez Urge Administration to Deny Gilead Monopoly Profits on HIV Drug Over Misconduct
commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/09/sanders-and-ocasio-cortez-urge-administration-deny-gilead-monopoly-profits-hiv?cd-origin=rss

Trump's Hand-Picked Prosecutor John Durham Cleared the CIA Once, Will He Again?
Jefferson Morley | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-09
For months, the names of Michael Horowitz and John Durham have figured in the pounding rhythms of right-wing media in which a heroically afflicted president faces down his perfidious enemies. A steady drumbeat of reports from Fox News, echoed by President Trump and Republican loyalists in Congress, proclaimed these two obscure Justice Department officials would get to the bottom of an alleged conspiracy against the Trump presidency.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/09/trumps-hand-picked-prosecutor-john-durham-cleared-the-cia-once-will-he-again/

The politics of Hollywood & the Trump impeachment parties
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2019-12-09
As the impeachment of Donald J. Trump in the House of Representatives excites people across the nation and inspires people to party down with some impeachment parties in celebration, it appears that the GOP and the Republican Party has gone totally insane with their lies and feeble attempts to defend Trump from himself!
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/09/18828764.php

Michael Bloomberg Has an Anti-Democratic Streak
Jeet Heer | thenation.com | 2019-12-09
Michael Bloomberg Has an Anti-Democratic Streak…
thenation.com/article/bloomberg-authoritarian-centrist-presidential/

Whose Name Is on the Bullet?
Clay Bennett | thenation.com | 2019-12-09
Whose Name Is on the Bullet?
thenation.com/article/whose-name-is-on-the-bullet/

Indigenous Leader Sà¥nia Guajajara: The Amazon Is Burning & Its Defenders Are Being Assassinated
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
Speakers at Friday's climate march in Madrid included Brazilian indigenous leader Sà¥nia Guajajara. A day after she spoke, two indigenous chiefs — Firmino Prexede Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara — were gunned down in a drive-by shooting Saturday in Brazil.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/indigenous_leader_sonia_guajajara_at_cop25

Police Halt Activist-Led "Toxic Tour" of Spain's "Dirtiest" Corporate Polluters Sponsoring COP25
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
In Spain, the country's biggest fossil fuel polluters are also some of the most generous sponsors for this year's U.N. climate talks. On Saturday, we joined activists on a "toxic tour" of Madrid from the Madrid stock exchange to Santander Bank. Activists explained that when Spanish President Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain would host COP25, he went to IBEX 35 — the 35 biggest listed companies in the Spanish stock exchange — offering them a 90% tax break on a $2 million sponsorship. Advocates say that these same companies "have deep and dirty links to the fossil fuel industry." But midway through, t…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/toxic_tour_of_spains_dirtiest_corporate

Spanish Actor Javier Bardem: We Need Urgency, Ambition & Reduction to Confront Climate Crisis
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
Speakers at Friday's massive climate march in Madrid included the actor Javier Bardem. In 2007, he became the first Spanish actor to win an Academy Award for acting for his supporting role in "No Country for Old Men." He addressed the crowd in Spanish.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/spanish_actor_javier_bardem_at_cop25

Meet the Climbing Kids: 8- & 11-Year-Old Siblings Who Rappel from Bridge Demanding Climate Action
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
As hundreds of thousands marched to the main stage during Friday's climate march in Madrid, two young children — a brother and sister aged 8 and 11 — staged an act of civil disobedience from a bridge overlooking the protest. While demonstrators marched beneath them, the two children rappelled from an overpass, dangling from ropes in mid-air to hang a banner calling for climate action. Democracy Now! briefly spoke to them after their action.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/meet_the_climbing_kids_8_11

Greta Thunberg, Rose Whipple & Eriel Deranger on Listening to Indigenous People Amid Climate Crisis
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
At the end of Friday's major climate rally in Madrid, a group of indigenous activists took the stage to sing and give speeches, but after some speeches their microphone was cut and the lights on stage were shut off as they spoke. Democracy Now! spoke to Eriel Deranger of Indigenous Climate Action and later asked Greta Thunberg and Rose Whipple about the importance of listening to indigenous voices.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/greta_thunberg_rose_whipple_on_listening

At Major March in Madrid, Indigenous & Youth Activists Slam Global Leaders for Climate Inaction
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the 25th United Nations climate conference is in its second week and representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered for the final days of negotiations. The summit — known as COP25, or conference of parties — has so far focused on meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to "well below 2 degrees Celsius," or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But climate scientists say the talks are failing to produce the drastic measures necessary to address the climate crisis. Since the Paris Agreement four years ago, greenhouse gas emissions have risen by…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/madrid_climate_march_cop25

Greta Thunberg at Madrid March: Hope in the Streets, Not the U.N. Climate Summit
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also addressed Friday's climate march in Madrid. "The hope is not within the walls of COP25; the hope is out here with you," said Thunberg, who inspired the global youth strike movement.
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/greta_thunberg_at_madrid_march_cop25

Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron & BP Could Be Legally & Morally Liable for Climate Crisis in Philippines
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-09
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines has just determined that 47 major companies, including Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Total, could be found legally and morally liable for human rights harms to Filipinos resulting from climate change. The commission found the companies could be held accountable under civil and criminal laws. Climate activists have hailed the decision as a landmark victory for climate justice. According to Greenpeace, this marks the first time big polluting companies have been found responsible for human rights harms resulting from the climate crisis. We speak to Yeb Saño, exe…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/9/shell_exxonmobil_chevron_bp_could_be

SNP MP candidate roasts Lib Dem tax plans for low earners branding them 'absolute cruelty'
Brian Finlay | thecanary.co | 2019-12-09
On 8 December, SNP MP candidate for Central Ayrshire Dr Phillippa Whitford took part in Channel 4's 'Everything but Brexit' debate. She roasted the Lib Dem's tax plans. And Whitford didn't hold back. She even branded the tax plans "absolutely cruelty": | @Dr_PhilippaW puts Labour, Liberal Democrats and Tories to shame by listing progressiv…
thecanary.co/trending/2019/12/09/snp-mp-candidate-roasts-lib-dem-tax-plans-for-low-earners-branding-them-absolute-cruelty/

DUP accuses Boris Johnson of breaking his word on union commitment
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-12-09
Boris Johnson has been accused of breaking his word over his commitment to protect the union between Great Britain and the north of Ireland by the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.As the prime minister faced fresh questions over trade within the UK after Brexit, Arlene Foster said government officials had told her there would need to be checks.Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the sense of some in the unionist community that Johnson's deal was a "betrayal", she said: "I think it is right for the leadership of unionism in Northern Ireland to try to work with the prime minister of the day to get t…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/12/09/dup-accuses-boris-johnson-of-breaking-his-word-on-union-commitment/

Three Ways the "Fairness for All Act" Doesn't Protect LGBTQ People from Discrimination
Ian S. Thompson | aclu.org | 2019-12-09
On Friday, Congressman Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and | several of his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives introduced | the so-called "Fairness for All Act." The bill is being described by its | supporters as a compromise that protects both LGBTQ people and religious | liberty. | In reality, the bill facilitates the Trump | administration's ongoing efforts to give a greenlight to those who would turn | LGBTQ people away from jobs, health care, housing, even taxpayer-funded | programs, simply because of who they are. The bill also weakens some | longstanding protections in federal and state laws…
aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/three-ways-the-fairness-for-all-act-doesnt-protect-lgbtq-people-from-discrimination

8- and 11-Year-Old Siblings Rappel From Bridge Demanding Climate Action
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-09
As hundreds of thousands marched to the main stage during Friday's climate march in Madrid, two young children — a brother and sister aged 8 and 11 — staged an act of civil disobedience from a bridge overlooking the protest. While demonstrators marched beneath them, the two children rappelled from an overpass, dangling from ropes in mid-air to hang a banner calling for climate action. Democracy Now! briefly spoke to them after their action. | TRANSCRIPT: | AMY GOODMAN: As hundreds…
truthout.org/video/8-and-11-year-old-siblings-rappel-from-bridge-demanding-climate-action/

'Staggering' New Data Shows Income of Top 1% Has Grown 100 Times Faster Than Bottom 50% Since 1970
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
New data released by an economist focused on inequality and the accumulation of wealth by top earners explains the numbers behind Sen. Bernie Sanders' often-cited statistic that the three richest Americans hold more wealth than the 160 million people who make up the bottom 50% of the population. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/picmonkey20image2.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/09/staggering-new-data-shows-income-top-1-has-grown-100-times-faster-bottom-50-1970?cd-origin=rss

Harris, Booker, Sanders, and Warren Among 27 Senate Democrats Calling on Trump to Fire White Nationalist Stephen Miller
Jon Queally, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
A month after explosive emails exposed depth of Miller's hateful ideology, letter to president says his top policy advisor "must be removed." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/stephen-miller-breitbart_0.png
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/09/harris-booker-sanders-and-warren-among-27-senate-democrats-calling-trump-fire-white?cd-origin=rss

Setting Gallup Record, Quarter of Americans Say They or Family Member Delayed Medical Care Over Cost in Last Year
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
"This is the 'choice based' system Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg want to preserve." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/medicare_for_all_14_0.jpeg
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/09/setting-gallup-record-quarter-americans-say-they-or-family-member-delayed-medical?cd-origin=rss

Update: Buttigieg Campaign Reverses Course, Will Open Doors to the Press for Big-Dollar Fundraisers
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-12-09
The move follows a weekend of sustained activist pressure demanding Buttigieg open the events. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/petey.jpeg
commondreams.org/news/2019/12/09/update-buttigieg-campaign-reverses-course-will-open-doors-press-big-dollar?cd-origin=rss

Mexico president says senators accepted changes to USMCA trade pact
rt.com | 2019-12-09
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that the country's senators have accepted proposed changes to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as US lawmakers mull ratifying the trade pact. | Lopez Obrador told reporters that he "respectfully requests" that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi make a decision about the trade agreement. | The deal was struck more than a year ago, but must be ratified by legislators in the three countries before it goes into effect. | "It's the time, it's the moment," Reuters quoted Lopez Obrador as saying. "I am optimistic, very optimistic, t…
rt.com/newsline/475421-mexico-senators-trade-pact/

The "Bernie Blackout" Is in Effect — and It Could Help Sanders Win
Paul Abowd | theintercept.com | 2019-12-08
Sen. Bernie Sanders faced a media blackout that helped sink his 2016 run for president. Ahead of 2020, the trend continues: Sanders gets less media coverage and a higher rate of negative coverage than his top rivals for the Democratic nomination. But this time, says The Intercept's D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim, the blackout could actually help Bernie win.
theintercept.com/2019/12/08/the-bernie-blackout-is-in-effect-and-it-could-help-sanders-win/

Israel Bombs Gaza, Israeli Bot Group Caught Spreading Hate & US Admits Houthis Not "Iran Proxy"
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-08
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/7/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/israel-bombs-gaza-israeli-bot-group-caught-spreading-hate-us-admits-houthis-not-iran-proxy/

Nadler says vote 'possible' on Trump articles of impeachment this week, Republicans protest
rt.com | 2019-12-08
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler has said that his panel may vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump this week. However, Republicans say he is trying to railroad impeachment through Congress. | "It's possible" that the committee may vote on the articles this week, Nadler (D-New York) told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. He added that there is "a lot to consider" in deciding which charges to bring against Trump. | Before determining what impeachable offenses to charge the president with, Nadler's committee will hold a hearing on Monday. Republicans on the committee clai…
rt.com/usa/475339-nadler-impeachment-vote-possible/

How Media Turn Support for Public Schools Into Opposition to Children of Color
Julie Hollar | fair.org | 2019-12-07
by Julie Hollar | Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic presidential candidates are rejecting the Obama administration's embrace of charter schools, and media observers aren't taking kindly to it. "Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools," blared a recent New York Times headline ( 11/26/19). "The front-runners for the presidential nomination are moving away from the charter school movement, and black and Latino families ask why…
fair.org/home/how-media-turn-support-for-public-schools-into-opposition-to-children-of-color/

The Origins of Democratic Socialism: Robert Owen and Worker Cooperatives
Edward J. Martin | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-07
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — and its two predecessor organizations, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM) — emerged in the early 1970s, during a long-term rightist movement in the United States. The DSA's contribution to the American Left was its new founded identity as a radical organization born …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/the-origins-of-democratic-socialism-robert-owen-and-worker-cooperatives/

Some False Statements Made in the Trump-Impeachment Hearings
Eric Zuesse | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-07
In the December 4th statement that was made by Stanford University law professor Pamela Karlan was this: We have become the shining city on a hill. We have become the nation that leads the world in understanding what democracy is. One of the things we understand most profoundly is it's not a real democracy, it's …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/some-false-statements-made-in-the-trump-impeachment-hearings/

Even Hunter Biden Admits His Work in Ukraine Was a Mistake. Why Can't His Father Say That?
Robert Mackey | theintercept.com | 2019-12-07
Biden's bizarre claim that "no one has said my son did anything wrong" in Ukraine reveals an inability to accept that legal behavior can also be unethical.
theintercept.com/2019/12/07/joe-biden-iowa-voter-hunter-damn-liar/

US Claims "Fresh Intelligence" Of Iran Attacks Yet Provides Zero Evidence — MSM Blindly Regurgitates
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-07
Here we go again with "fresh intelligence" to justify the continued sanctions and destabilization of Iran. It's a plan that has been well documented even by their own writings (See Which Path to Persia? — 2009). Of course, complicating U.S. foreign policy is the involvement of Israel. The Last American Vagabond covers the latest political posturing, distortion, and general …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/tdwu-clips/us-claims-fresh-intelligence-iran-attacks-yet-provides-zero-evidence-msm-blindly-regurgitates/

'People are flushing toilets 10 times': Trump mulls pouring conservation rules down the drain & Twitter cannot hold it
rt.com | 2019-12-07
President Donald Trump is taking aim at water efficiency laws, arguing that they paradoxically encourage waste due to weak water pressure. He vowed to seek "commonsense" solutions to America's toilet troubles. | Despite ongoing Democratic impeachment efforts in Washington, a trade row with Beijing and another war of words heating up with Iran, the president took time on Friday to address a problem much closer to home — perhaps lurking in your very own bathroom. | "We have a situation where we're looking very strongly at sinks and showers, and other elements of bathrooms," the president said. "You turn on…
rt.com/usa/475256-trump-toilet-flushing-regulations/

Hillary Casually Drops 'Russian Asset' Smear on Bernie Sanders in New Interview
Tyler Durden | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-06
Are we just going to ignore that Hillary Clinton, today, just implied that Bernie Sanders is also a Russian asset?>…
theantimedia.com/hillary-russian-asset-smear-bernie-sanders/

Study Reveals How UK Intelligence Works with Media to Smear Jeremy Corbyn
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-06
The United Kingdom goes to the polls December 12 in a pivotal vote that will decide the future of the country. Like in 2017, the Labour Party, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, is surging towards the ruling Conservative Party in the last weeks of campaigning. But he will not become Prime Minister if the UK's security services have anything to do with it. Corbyn, frequently compared to Bernie Sanders in terms of ideology, spent decades in the political wilderness, a lonely leftist voice among a party embracing neol…
mintpressnews.com/new-study-reveals-uk-intelligence-smear-campaign-against-jeremy-corbyn/263231/

Conviction and Removal Aren't the Issue; It's Impeachment of Trump That is Essential
Dave Lindorff | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-06
A lot of pundit verbiage and Democratic Party internal debate as well is being wasted on the question of whether Trump could be convicted successfully in a Senate currently run by a lickspittle Republican majority afraid of their shadows and devoid of any concern for the fate of Constitutional government. Let's accept that the 20-plus…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/06/conviction-and-removal-arent-the-issue-its-impeachment-of-trump-that-is-essential/

With People in the Streets Worldwide, Media Focus Uniquely on Hong Kong
Alan MacLeod | fair.org | 2019-12-06
Unlike protests against US client states, the Hong Kong demonstrations were frequently given the approving "pro-democracy" label (CNN, 8/30/19). | 2019 may be remembered as the year of the protest, as demonstrations are engulfing the world. From the Yellow Vests in France to demonstrations in Lebanon, Gaza, Chile, Ecuador and Haiti, sustained movements all over the planet have taken to the street demanding change. Yet US corporate media have been disproportionately interested in only one: the Hong Kong protests.
fair.org/home/with-people-in-the-streets-worldwide-media-focus-uniquely-on-hong-kong/

Authorizations for Madness; The Effects and Consequences of Congress' Endless Permissions for War
Matthew Hoh | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-06
I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can…Its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. — Dwight Eisenhower. For the first time in decades, passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has been delayed due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans. The disagreements at the center of the delay in Congress are, as usual, partisan…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/06/authorizations-for-madness-the-effects-and-consequences-of-congress-endless-permissions-for-war/

Hong Kong: Pure Western Insanity
Peter Koenig | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-06
The impunity with which the US aggresses Hong Kong is insane. Equally or more insane is western media coverage of what is going on in Hong Kong. Not one word on how the incredible "pro-democracy" vote of the rather unimportant District Council Elections was achieved. Of the 18 District Councils, 452 of 479 seats (71%) …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/hong-kong-pure-western-insanity/

Virginia unions, Dem allies push to repeal right-to-work-law
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-12-06
ARLINGTON, Va.–Energized by wins in November that swept Democrats — notably pro-worker lawmakers — into a legislative majority in the state capital of Richmond, Virginia unions and progressive Democratic allies launched a big push to repeal the Old Dominion's 72-year-old "right to work" law. Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia Labor Council and convener …
peoplesworld.org/article/virginia-unions-dem-allies-push-to-repeal-right-to-work-law/

The Supreme Court Case That Made Michael Bloomberg's Campaign Possible — and Doomed Kamala Harris
Jon Schwarz | theintercept.com | 2019-12-06
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California suspended her presidential campaign on Tuesday. Why? Because, she said, she did not "have the financial resources we need to continue. I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign." | Meanwhile, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who definitely is a billionaire, has spent at least $57 million of his own money since he jumped into the race on Novem…
theintercept.com/2019/12/06/kamala-harris-bloomberg-billionaire-buckley-valeo-supreme-court/

Whatever Happened to the Obama Coalition?
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-06
Kamala Harris is out. This makes me almost sad; she was a snarky debater and, for a "moderate," she wasn't all that bad. Perhaps her managers ought to have stressed that point: "Better Than Booker" would have been a fine slogan for her to run on. Now, with Harris gone, it falls to that dreadful Obama wannabe to take the lead in keeping talk of "reviving the Obama coalition" on the front burner.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/06/whatever-happened-to-the-obama-coalition/

The US Is Manufacturing A War With Iran Under Cover Of The Impeachment Distraction
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-06
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/5/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/us-manufacturing-war-with-iran-under-cover-impeachment-distraction/

The Reasons Republicans Are Still Backing Trump
Rebecca Gordon | thenation.com | 2019-12-06
The Reasons Republicans Are Still Backing Trump…
thenation.com/article/trump-republican-party-history/

Why Are Some of Spain's Biggest Polluters Sponsoring U.N. Climate Summit?
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-06
A group of climate activists walked out of a panel at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid on Thursday to protest the presence of Shell, BP and Chevron. Representatives from the oil companies were taking part in an event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association. This comes as the Spanish government is facing criticism for reaching out to Endesa, Spain's biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, to sponsor the U.N. climate talks. We speak with Pascoe Sabido, a researcher and campaigner for the Corporate Europe Observatory, who has been organizing toxic tours of Madrid to expose the corporations a…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/6/big_polluters_sponsoring_cop25_climate_summit

"It's Our Future": Meet the Youth Activists Behind Fridays for Future Movements in Uganda and Chile
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-06
In Spain, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has arrived in Madrid to take part in today's strike as well as a major march set for 6 p.m. local time. Greta began the climate strike movement last year when she started skipping school every Friday to stand in front of the Swedish parliament, demanding action to prevent catastrophic climate change. Her protest spread, quickly going global. We speak with two youth climate strikers: Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is the founder of Fridays for Future Uganda and Angela Valenzuela is a coordinator with Fridays for Future in Chile, where this year's U.N. clima…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/6/fridays_for_future_movements_uganda_chile

COP25: Alternative Climate Summit Honors Those "Suffering the Crimes of Transnational Corporations"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-06
We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, began Monday and will continue through next week, as environmental leaders from around the world gather to negotiate global solutions to the climate crisis. Activists have converged on Madrid for the conference and are hosting an alternative summit of their own: Cumbre Social por el Clima — the Social Summit for the Climate. The alternative summit has been organized by social justice and environmental groups to draw attention to the ongoing political repression in Chile, corporate influence on the climate su…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/6/cop25_alternative_climate_summit_honors_those

Eat an Impeachment
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-06
Impeachment is the most under-utilized, but politically potent check on executive power in the Constitution. It's there for a reason and the authors of our organizational parchment surely envisioned it being used more frequently than once every 60 years. Indeed, impeachment may well be the only defense we have against the rising authoritarian powers of a presidency which seeks to impose its will under the cover of the Unified Theory of the Executive. And let us not forget that impeachment is a more democratic form of deposing of a ruler than the process that put him or her into power, since both the congressional…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/06/eat-an-impeachment/

That's a bit rich: Biden says paycheck doesn't matter, jobs are 'about dignity'
rt.com | 2019-12-06
Democrat hopeful Joe Biden says jobs aren't just about money, but his words rang hollow for critics who shot back with reminders about low wages and the former vice president's son getting a cushy gig at a Ukrainian oil company. | Biden's latest pitch to voters promised to bring "dignity" back to the working middle class. | "A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about dignity. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything is going to be okay — and mean it. Too many people today can't do that," Biden tweeted on Friday. | A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about…
rt.com/usa/475247-biden-paycheck-job-ukraine/

Judge Orders Hunter Biden to Reveal How Much He Made at Ukrainian Oil Company
Tyler Durden | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-05
Hunter Biden has been ordered by an Arkansas judge to produce five years of financial records in his paternity case.
theantimedia.com/hunter-biden-ukrainian-oil-company/

CNN Says US Has "Fresh Intelligence" Of Iran Prepping Attack But Can't Show It & More NYT Propaganda
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-05
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/4/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/cnn-says-us-has-fresh-intelligence-of-iran-prepping-attack-but-cant-show-it-more-nyt-propaganda/

South Bend's Police Chief, Close Ally of Pete Buttigieg, Promotes Officer Involved in Controversial Choking Death
Akela Lacy | theintercept.com | 2019-12-05
The recent promotion of officer Dave Johnson is yet another example of the mayor's failure to adequately address troubling race relations in South Bend.
theintercept.com/2019/12/05/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police-chief/

New Legislation Aims to End the "School to Confinement Pathway"
Alice Speri | theintercept.com | 2019-12-05
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts introduced new legislation Thursday aimed at ending the "school to confinement pathway." The bill targets discriminatory and punitive school discipline policies that push black and brown students out of schools at disproportionately high rates, often directly into the criminal justice system. | The bill offers incentives to states and schools that commit to ban most suspensions and expulsions, as well as corporal punishment and the physical restraint of students. It also allots resources to the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights at a time when the Trump administrat…
theintercept.com/2019/12/05/criminalization-students-school-prison-pathway/

Speaker Pelosi Seeks Articles of Impeachment
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2019-12-05
Speaker Pelosi Seeks Articles of Impeachment…
thenation.com/article/pelosi-articles-impeachment-announcement/

The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack
Elie Mystal | thenation.com | 2019-12-05
The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack…
thenation.com/article/turley-impeachment-hypocrisy/

Sweden Provides Free Higher Education, Universal Healthcare, Free Daycare — Why Can't the U.S.?
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-05
Medicare for All and tuition-free universities have been at the core of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns, creating a stark division between progressive candidates and their centrist counterparts. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed to make Medicare for All and public universities cost-free by taxing massive corporations and the super wealthy, and earlier this year, Sanders introduced legislation that would cancel student loan debt. His plan would be paid for with a new tax on Wall Street, he says. It would also make public universities and community colleges free — a key pil…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/sweden_vs_united_states_social_welfare

Edward Snowden: If I Came Back to the U.S., I Would Likely Die in Prison for Telling the Truth
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-05
The Right Livelihood Awards celebrated their 40th anniversary Wednesday at the historic Cirkus Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, where more than a thousand people gathered to celebrate this year's four laureates: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Chinese women's rights lawyer Guo Jianmei, Brazilian indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, the Yanomami Hutukara Association; and Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades. The Right Livelihood Award is known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four deca…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/edward_snowden_amy_goodman_interview_sweden

Aminatou Haidar Honored For Decades of Peaceful Resistance in Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-05
In Stockholm, Democracy Now! sat down with one of the winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award: Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar. For over three decades, Haidar has led a peaceful campaign to resist the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, which is often called Africa's last colony. Morocco has occupied Western Sahara — a small region just south of Morocco in northwest Africa — since 1975. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the occupation. Peaceful protesters, led by women, are routinely beaten in the streets. Despite this violent repress…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/5/aminatou_haidar_sahrawi_activist_right_livelihood

The DNC: Finding Your Perfect Match!
Mark Fiore | progressive.org | 2019-12-04
We're in the business of creating the perfect Democratic nominee.
progressive.org/dispatches/the-dnc-finding-your-perfect-match-fiore-191104/

By the Republicans' Absurd Definition, Boris Johnson Meddled in the 2016 Election
Robert Mackey | theintercept.com | 2019-12-04
Reporters should ask Donald Trump if Boris Johnson "meddled" in the 2016 election by denouncing him as stupid and insane for proposing to ban Muslims.
theintercept.com/2019/12/03/someone-please-ask-trump-boris-johnson-meddled-2016-calling-unfit-office/

Brazilian Indigenous Leader Davi Kopenawa: Bolsonaro is Killing My People & Destroying the Amazon
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-04
Democracy Now! sat down with Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa, one of this year's Right Livelihood Award honorees, along with the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. Kopenawa is a shaman of the Yanomami people, one of the largest Indigenous tribes in Brazil, who has dedicated his life to protecting his culture and protecting the Amazon rainforest. He says indigenous people in the Amazon are under threat from business interests as well as politicians, including far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a long history of anti-indigenous statements and policies. "He doesn't like indigenous pe…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/4/yanomami_indigenous_leader_protecting_amazon

U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-04
A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/4/un_report_seven_million_children_deprived

"Alternative Nobel Prize:" Right Livelihood Award Celebrates 40 Years Honoring Grassroots Activists
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-04
The Right Livelihood Award is marking its 40th anniversary. The award was established in 1980 to honor and support those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us." It has since become known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Over the past four decades, the award has been given to activists and grassroots leaders around the globe. A number of them have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's winners are: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Sahrawi human rights leader Aminatou Haidar, who has challenged the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara for decades; Chi…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/4/right_livelihood_award_fortieth_anniversary

Pompeo: US Will Prevent Cuba, Venezuela From 'Hijacking' Protests in Latin America
Jason Ditz | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-03
Pompeo positioned the US as in favor of "democratic" protests in the region, while accusing Cuba and Venezuela of trying to "hijack" them.

Pompeo: US Will Prevent Cuba, Venezuela From 'Hijacking' Protests in Latin America

Think You're Tired of the Ukraine Scandal? So Are the Ukrainians!
Brendan Oswald | progressive.org | 2019-12-03
Biden, Burisma, and the US impeachment hearings have crowded out media coverage of pressing domestic issues in Ukraine.
progressive.org/dispatches/think-youre-tired-of-the-ukraine-scandal-oswald-191203/

Pompeo Says US Will "Help Prevent" Protests For "Legitimate" Governments & US Bombs Afghan Family
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-03
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/2/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/pompeo-says-us-will-help-prevent-protests-for-legitimate-governments-us-bombs-afghan-family/

Indigenous Protectors Are Defending the Amazon and "Paying With Their Lives"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-03
This week we're on the road in Stockholm, Sweden, where we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." One of this year's recipients of the award is Yanomami indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa and the organization he co-founded, Hutukara Yanomami Association. The Right Livelihood Foundation has praised them for "their courageous determination to protect the forests and biodiversity of the Amazon, and the lands and culture of its indigenous peoples." The award comes as indigenous forest protectors and uncontacted tribes in Brazil are increasingly unde…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/3/seg_4

"We Are Facing a Global Emergency": Greta Thunberg Arrives Back in Europe to Attend Climate Talks
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-03
From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who arrived Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal, after traveling for three weeks across the Atlantic in the 48-foot catamaran La Vagabonde, refusing to fly because of the high carbon footprint of air travel. Thunberg was on her way to attend COP25 in Santiago, Chile, when the conference was abruptly relocated due to mass demonstrations against a proposed subway fare hike. She sounded a rallying cry to…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/3/greta

My Generation Needs to Say "Enough": A Swedish Climate Striker Speaks Out About Fridays For Future
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-03
From Stockholm, Sweden, we're covering the 40th Anniversary of the Right Livelihood Awards, widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." This year's recipients include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, whose school strike for climate started in Stockholm when she began standing outside the Parliament building every school day to demand bold climate action more than a year ago. Her act of resistance soon became a global movement, with millions of youth around the world leaving school and taking to the streets to demand swift action to halt the climate crisis. Greta has just arrived in Lisbon,…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/3/fridays_for_future

Meet Yetnebersh Nigussie: A Blind Ethiopian Lawyer Fighting for Global Disability Rights
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-03
December 3 is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. "Unfortunately, disability-based discrimination is still a global phenomenon," says Yetnebersh Nigussie, a lawyer and disability rights activist from Ethiopia who in 2017 received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize." Nigussie is the director for advocacy and rights at Light for the World and the former chair of the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind women's wing. She has been blind since the age of five. Yetnebersh Nigussie speaks with us in Stockholm. She is one of many former Right Livelihood Award recipie…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/3/international_day_of_persons_with_disabilities

Nicaragua Marked Next For US "Liberation", Trump Blames "Vicious World" For Khashoggi Murder & More
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-02
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/1/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/nicaragua-marked-next-for-us-liberation-trump-blames-vicious-world-for-khashoggi-murder-more/

Leonard Cohen: the poet, his muse and his penis
Barry Healy | greenleft.org.au | 2019-12-02
music Barry HealyIssue 1248 Australia Leonard CohenDecember 3, 2019Maryanne & Leonard, Words of Love | Documentary film directed by Nick Broomfield | In cinemas | As I emerged from the media preview for this film, I heard another viewer mutter that it was "the most self…
greenleft.org.au/content/leonard-cohen-poet-his-muse-and-his-penis

The Usual Incoherence on Student Benefits Is Back
Matt Bruenig | peoplespolicyproject.org | 2019-12-01
Of all the welfare state topics, student benefits manages to consistently attract the most incoherent and weird arguments, and the recent spate of arguments on this front are no exception. In the last week, a student benefit dustup has been instigated by Pete Buttigieg ostensibly being against free public college for millionaires and billionaires while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are ostensibly for it. | This has set off the usual round of commentary about how Buttigieg is arguing for means-testing while Warren and Sanders are arguing f…
peoplespolicyproject.org/2019/11/30/the-usual-incoherence-on-student-benefits-is-back/

Ilhan Omar and the Politics of 'Radical Love'
John Nichols | progressive.org | 2019-12-01
The Minnesota Congresswoman wants to redefine U.S. foreign policy as we know it.
progressive.org/magazine/ilhan-omar-politics-of-radical-love-nichols/

DPRK tests new weapon system and strengthens defenses
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-11-30
Washington DC — The Democratic People's Republic of Korea tested a new rocket launching system on November 29. | According to a report from the Korean Central News Agency, "Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, inspected the test-fire of the super-large multiple launch rocket system conducted by the Academy of Defense Science." | In a related development, Kim Kye Gwan, advisor to the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK, commented on past meetin…
fightbacknews.org/2019/11/30/dprk-tests-new-weapon-system-and-strengthens-defenses

We're Still Waiting for 'Early and Often' Climate Debate Questions
Julie Hollar | fair.org | 2019-11-27
As the Democratic Party prepared for its first presidential primary debates in June, climate activists pushed the DNC to schedule a single-issue debate on the climate crisis, given the urgency of the problem and the lack of attention given to it in previous debates. DNC chair Tom Perez refused, saying he had "the utmost confidence" that climate disruption would be discussed in the debates "early and often" (FAIR.org, 6/18/19). | Now that seven nights of debates have passed, and multiple…
fair.org/home/were-still-waiting-for-early-and-often-climate-debate-questions/

Iran False Flag Prep, US Government's Staggering Bolivia Hypocrisy, Netanyahu Indicted & Patriot Act
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-23
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/22/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/iran-false-flag-prep-us-governments-staggering-bolivia-hypocrisy-netanyahu-indicted-patriot-act/

Congress Quietly Unites To Extend "Temporary" Patriot Act Under Cover Of The Impeachment Distraction
Activist Post | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-22
The only time Republicans and Democrats can agree is when they are discussing the expansion of the permanent war and surveillance state. The Last American Vagabond takes a closer look at the many layers of deception about how legislation gets pushed through which contains buried provisions that further erode the U.S. Constitution and liberty. This is …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/constitutional-rights/congress-quietly-unites-to-extend-temporary-patriot-act-under-cover-of-the-impeachment-distraction/

Israel Carries Out 'Wide-Scale Strikes' In Syria, US Gov Withholds Food/Meds From Iran & Patriot Act
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-20
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/20/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/israel-carries-out-wide-scale-strikes-syria-us-gov-withholds-food-meds-from-iran-patriot-act/

US Says Israeli Settlements Are Legal, 23 Killed In Bolivia As Violent Coup Ignored & Venezuela Flop
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-18
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/18/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/us-says-israeli-settlements-are-legal-23-killed-in-bolivia-as-violent-coup-ignored-venezuela-flop/

CAP's Topher Spiro Is Trying to Deceive Journalists By Lying
Matt Bruenig | peoplespolicyproject.org | 2019-11-17
It's been fun to see how the Center for American Progress (CAP) navigates this year's presidential election. For insider political reasons, they can't support Biden or Sanders. But for a long time, it was unclear who the alternative candidate they could support would be. | When Kamala Harris was rising, CAP's staff was doing overtime boosting her on Twitter and in the press, including boosting Harris's absurd health care proposal. But Harris's collapse put an end to that strategy. Recently Warren has risen as the alternative and so CAP has been working to promote her campaign, which puts CAP in the comical positi…
peoplespolicyproject.org/2019/11/17/caps-topher-spiro-is-trying-to-deceive-journalists-by-lying/

Warren's Head Tax Is Not More Popular Than A Payroll Tax
Matt Bruenig | peoplespolicyproject.org | 2019-11-17
As we know by now, Elizabeth Warren's Medicare head tax proposal is a regressive mess ( I, II, III, IV). Warren's team knows this. The goal of the proposal i…
peoplespolicyproject.org/2019/11/17/warrens-head-tax-is-not-more-popular-than-a-payroll-tax/

Bolivia's New US-Made Dictatorship, Netanyahu Wins As Gaza Loses & Iran's Protests Are Trump's Fault
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-11-17
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (11/16/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/bolivias-new-us-made-dictatorship-netanyahu-wins-as-gaza-loses-irans-protests-are-trumps-fault/