2020-08-04: News Headlines

Staff (2020-08-04). Headlines for August 4, 2020. democracynow.org Concerns Mount over Politicization of COVID-19 Vaccine, as Trump Lashes Out at "Pathetic" Dr. Birx, WHO Warns There May Never Be a Coronavirus "Silver Bullet", Trump Threatens to Sue Nevada After It Expands Voter Access, Leaked Video Shows George Floyd Pleaded for His Life, Cooperated with Police, Before He Was Killed, Video Shows LAPD Shot Peaceful Protester in the Head as He Held His Arms in the Air, Prosecutor Clears Arkansas Officers Who Pushed Black Man into the Ground for 6.5 Minutes Before He Died, Census Bureau Cuts Short Collection Efforts by One Month, Mexican Man Dies After Falling from Border Wall, Me…

Staff (2020-08-04). "It's Basically a Death Sentence": Hunger Strikers Demand Release as Virus Surges in ICE Jails. democracynow.org People being held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement jails are holding work strikes and hunger strikes over the lack of access to personal protective equipment or quality medical care, and to demand their release. We speak with Joe Mejia, an asylum seeker who was among a group of prisoners at Yuba County Jail in California who led a hunger strike while he was held there for nearly 11 months. "That place is dangerous," Mejia says. "It is a death sentence to detainees, especially right now with the coronavirus."

Staff (2020-08-04). "Release Them All": Calls Grow to Stop Jailing Immigrants as Transfers & Deportations Spread COVID. democracynow.org The U.S. government continues to hold tens of thousands of asylum seekers and immigrants in detention centers and jails, ignoring the advice of medical experts as the coronavirus continues to spread. ICE has also continued to transfer and deport people — including those who are infected — making it a global superspreader. We speak with Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, an immigration attorney and co-director of Pangea Legal Services in San Francisco, who himself is undocumented and recently got arrested at a protest outside the mansion of California Governor Gavin Newsom demanding the release of people in sta…

Staff (2020-08-04). Public Health vs. Politics: White House Scrapped Nationwide COVID-19 Testing Plan to Hurt Blue States. democracynow.org As the U.S. coronavirus death toll passes 155,000, there is still no national testing program, with widespread shortages and delays hampering efforts to contain the pandemic. This continues months after President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner launched a White House task force with the goal of establishing a national testing plan. We speak to investigative reporter Katherine Eban, whose explosive Vanity Fair report chronicles Kushner's fumbling efforts and the sudden decision to abandon the project on political grounds. "The participants expected that at any moment in early April, the plan would be announced,"

Staff (2020-08-04). Militarized BORTAC Border Patrol Raids & Ransacks Medical Camp on U.S. Border, Arrests 30 Migrants. democracynow.org In Arizona, heavily armed Border Patrol officers raided the medical camp of humanitarian group No More Deaths and detained 30 migrants whose whereabouts are now unknown. It was the second raid in just two days on the camp, which provides water, food and medical attention to refugees crossing into the United States through the scorching Sonoran Desert. "Immediately after they entered the camp, the first thing they did was round up all of the No More Deaths aid workers and zip-tie them, remove their phones," says Montana Thames, a humanitarian aid worker with No More Deaths. "It was very clear they didn't want any…

Dean Baker (2020-08-04). We Need an Economic Survival Package Not Another Stimulus. counterpunch.org There continues to be enormous confusion about what we should be trying to accomplish in the next pandemic relief package. This is best demonstrated by Republicans' obsession with getting people back to work, with a mixture of cuts to unemployment benefits and return to work bonuses. Ignoring the questionable economic logic (there is zero evidence

RT (2020-08-04). Media ramps up campaign to get Biden out of debates with Trump, offering various excuses other than their candidate's failing mind. rt.com Media outlets from the New York Times to CNN and Newsweek have offered Joe Biden various reasons over the past several days to skip debates with President Donald Trump. None mentions Biden's fading ability to speak coherently. | A New York Times opinion piece on Monday suggested that presidential debates should be scrapped altogether because they've "never made sense as a test for presidential leadership." | We didn't need the debates to tell us that Trump had chosen to be the P.T. Barnum of American politics. For him, it was (and still is) all about the show, about distracting the public from reality. | CNN p…

RT (2020-08-04). Illinois lawmaker calls for ABOLITION of 'racist' history classes until state comes up with more 'inclusive' alternative. rt.com LaShawn Ford, a Democrat in the Illinois General Assembly, has called for an immediate halt to history classes that he claims "lead to white privilege and a racist society," sparking concerns over an Orwellian revision of history. | "I'm calling on the state board of education to end the teaching of history and the local school districts to take immediate action by removing the current history books and curriculum practices that unfairly communicate our history," Ford said on Sunday at an event in Evanston, Illinois. His vague plan calls for temporarily replacing history classes by devoting greater attention t…

WSWS (2020-08-04). Teachers protest Jordan government's closure of union and harsh crackdown. wsws.org As poverty and social unrest rise, the government has used the draconian emergency laws introduced in March to curtail democratic rights.

WSWS (2020-08-04). Trump installs ex-general and anti-Islam bigot in top Pentagon post. wsws.org The appointment of retired Gen. Anthony Tata was carried out by means of a maneuver designed to bypass opposition from both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

_____ (2020-08-04). Racial And Ethnic Economic Inequality And The COVID-19 Pandemic. popularresistance.org The Democracy Collaborative prepared a report, created for the Healthcare Anchor Network, that looked at how racial and ethnic disparities in the economy are showing up in the COVID-19 pandemic and in the public policy response to the pandemic. The report also covers how the economic effects of the pandemic will likely impact racial and ethnic inequality. | Every passing day brings new, painful evidence of how the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting people of color in the United States.

_____ (2020-08-04). 'How The South Won The Civil War'. popularresistance.org If you think about the Civil War as a war between two different ideologies, two different concepts of what America is supposed to be, is it supposed to be a place where a few wealthy men direct the labor and the lives of the people below them, the women and people of color below them, the way the Confederacy argued? Is that America? Or is America what Lincoln and his ilk in the Republican Party in the North defined the democracy as during the Civil War? Is it a place where all men are equal before the law and should have equal access to resources? And of course, I use the word man there, but that's because that's…

Staff (2020-08-03). What If Trump Refuses to Accept a Biden Victory? A Look at How Electoral Chaos Could Divide Nation. democracynow.org As President Trump floats the idea of delaying the election, we speak with Nils Gilman, historian and co-founder of Transition Integrity Project, which organized a bipartisan group of experts to game out what a contested November election might look like. "In every scenario except for the one where Biden won in a landslide, we ended up with severe electoral contestation, protests in the streets, crazy stories happening on social media, and the challenges went down to Inauguration Day," Gilman says.

Staff (2020-08-03). Voting Rights Activist LaTosha Brown: Trump Is Hellbent on Undermining Democracy to Win Reelection. democracynow.org With President Trump trailing in most polls, he tweeted recently that he was floating the idea of delaying the November election — something he cannot legally do — and continued his attacks on mail-in voting. "We have a president who is probably the most fascist president that we've ever had in this country," responds LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund and the BVM Capacity Building Institute. "He is hellbent on pushing the boundaries, whatever he needs to do, to undermine and undercut democracy."

Staff (2020-08-03). Headlines for August 3, 2020. democracynow.org White House's Dr. Birx Warns U.S. Has Entered New Phase in Pandemic as Death Toll Tops 155,000, Lawmakers at Standstill over Coronavirus Bill as Democratic Rep. Grijalva Goes After GOP Response, Worldwide Cases Top 18 Million as Countries Across the Globe Hit Grim New Milestones, Border Patrol Raid Arizona Humanitarian Camp for 2nd Time in 2 Days, Detain 30 Asylum Seekers, SCOTUS Rules Trump Can Move Forward with Border Wall Construction, Trump Admin to Start Charging Fees for Asylum Applications, Islamic State Claims Attack on Afghanistan Jail Which Killed At Least 29 People, Award-Winning Author Tsitsi Dangarem…

Staff (2020-08-03). "They Have No Evidence": Moroccan Journalist Omar Radi Jailed, Surveilled After Criticizing Gov't. democracynow.org Award-winning journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi spoke to us from Casablanca on July 16. Two weeks later, on July 29, last Wednesday, Moroccan authorities arrested him on what press freedom advocates call "retaliatory charges." Now a court has charged Radi with undermining state security by receiving foreign funding and collaborating with foreign intelligence, and also charged him with rape. He is reportedly being held in a prison that is a COVID hot spot, and has not been allowed to have visits from his lawyer or his parents. We feature our interview with Radi, which focuses in part on an Amnesty Int…

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2020-08-03). COVID-19 Crisis Failure, People Must Save Themselves and the Economy. dissidentvoice.org Positive COVID-19 Test (Shutterstock) The US is at a moment of truth. This week, Congress has to face up to a pandemic that is out of control and an economy that is collapsing. The Republican's and Democrat's proposals show they will fail this test. The people will need to protect themselves and lead from below. …

Glen Ford (2020-08-03). The Black Caucus and the dictatorship of (White) capital. mronline.org Black politics does not exist in the Democratic Party, because the duopoly system serves only the corporate rulers.

John G. Russell (2020-08-03). The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. counterpunch.org The name Homeland Security grates on a lot of people, understandably. Homeland isn't really an American word, it's not something we used to say or say now. It has a vaguely Teutonic ring — Ve must help ze Fuehrer protect ze Homeland! — and Republicans must always be on guard against sounding Teutonic. —Peggy Noonan The federal

John Bellamy Foster (2020-08-03). A fractured empire, within and without. mronline.org Two things seem certain at this point: (1) The Trump administration will continue to extend its heavy handed neofascist tactics in the next three months, seeking to expand its political base by these means, and (2) the White House and the Republican Party will try to engineer another set of stimulus payments/tax cuts in early …

Ralph Nader (2020-08-03). Speaker Nancy Pelosi Writes to Me! counterpunch.org Years ago, Elizabeth Brennan Moynihan told me about her disgust with the Democratic Party's outside consultants. These consultants were not competent. They were arrogant, costly, and looking out first for their interests, not the candidates they were supposed to advance. She threw them out and personally took over her husband, Senator Daniel P. Moynihan's successful

Gordon Duff (2020-08-03). Vital: Will a 'President Biden' become America's 'Putin?'. thealtworld.com American elections are demonstrations to the world of how democracy can go bad. It is clear and simple. They are ruled by cash, run by 'cons' and exist inside a political system that is the most corrupt on earth. | American politics matter to the world because, quite simply, when America catches a cold, the world goes on life support. | We are going to be looking at a number of policy and leadership issues and the possibility of regime change in Washington and the potential impact, but, at the outset one issue has typified the US under Trump and that is the abandonment of all concepts outlined under the United Na…

WSWS (2020-08-03). Vote for SEP candidates in the Sri Lankan national elections! Fight for a workers' and peasants' government and socialist internationalism! wsws.org The SEP is the only party in the elections advancing an international socialist program to fight the crisis created by COVID-19, defend democratic rights and oppose imperialist war.

WSWS (2020-08-03). Congress of millionaires robs the unemployed. wsws.org Allowing federal supplemental benefits to expire for 30 million jobless workers shows the class character of both the Democratic and Republican parties.

WSWS (2020-08-03). Hong Kong delays legislative elections amid crackdown on democratic rights. wsws.org Beijing is driven above all by fears that renewed protests in Hong Kong could spread to the mainland.

The Canary (2020-08-03). Khan 'surprised' over plans to use M25 to seal off London if Covid-19 surges. thecanary.co The mayor of London has written to the prime minister to express "great surprise" that the government reportedly plans to use the M25 to seal off the capital if there is a spike in coronavirus (Covid-19) infections. | Sadiq Khan also pointed out that it has been 12 weeks since he was invited to a Cobra meeting as he warned against "riding roughshod over democratically elected representatives". | The Times reported that Boris Johnson held a "war game" session with chancellor Rishi Sunak on 29 July to run through possible options in the event of a second wave, and measures are said to include lockdown-like conditio…

yenisafak (2020-08-03). Turkey regrets US firm's signing oil deal with YPG/PKK. yenisafak.com Turkey Monday denounced a US firm's signing a deal with YPG/PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to extract, process and produce oil in northeastern Syria."We deeply regret the US support to this step, disregarding international law, violating territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of Syria, as well as being considered within the scope of financing terrorism. This act, which cannot be justified by any legitimate motive, is utterly unacceptable" the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.Turkey's remarks came after media reports that the US-based company Delta Crescent Energy LLC signed a contract wi…

yenisafak (2020-08-03). Nobel laureate, former N.Ireland party leader John Hume dies. yenisafak.com Nobel peace laureate and former leader of Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDPL) John Hume has died on Monday, according to a statement from his former party."We are deeply saddened to announce that John passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning after a short illness," a statement from the SDLP said.Hume was born in Northern Ireland in 1937 and he was regarded as an important figure in recent political history in the region.Hume, as the leader of the SDLP, was one of the key architects of the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement that ended decades of sectarian violence in North…

Bill Moyers, Heather Cox Richardson (2020-08-03). Oligarchy and Democracy From the Civil War to the Present. commondreams.org The Battle of Bull Run, Battle of Bull Run, Va. July 21st 1861, Currier and Ives. (Drawing: Library of Congress) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/service-pnp-pga-06100-06122r-1-640×461.jpg

John Buell (2020-08-03). Republican Senators Commit Political Suicide by Holding Up Stimulus in Election Year. commondreams.org Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) arrives at the Senate chamber as the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump continues at the U.S. Capitol on January 30, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/susan_collins_fake_moderate.jpg

Mike Whitney (2020-08-02). Seattle's "Bolshevik Revolution" globalresearch.ca "We are coming to dismantle this deeply oppressive, racist, sexist, utterly bankrupt system of capitalism. We cannot and will not stop until it is dismantled, and we replace it with a socialist world, based on solidarity, genuine democracy, and equality." …

Bob Scofield (2020-08-02). Is a Second Trump Presidency a Lesser Evil Than a Biden Presidency? dissidentvoice.org In this essay I will sketch an outline for an argument that, from a left-wing and especially an environmentalist perspective, a second Trump presidency will be a lesser evil than a Biden presidency. Before doing so, I will discuss my personal views on lesser-of-two-evils voting, protest voting, and the article that led me to stumble …

Elaheh Farmand (2020-08-02). Insurance industry profits over people's lives: Democrats reject Medicare for All. liberationnews.org What people need is not more profits for private companies and corporate bailouts, but a universal, socialist healthcare system.

RT (2020-08-02). Trump is Mussolini, riots are peaceful, but federal agents are terrorists — top black Democrat turns to trite #Resistance rhetoric. rt.com Rep. Jim Clyburn was a key figure behind securing Joe Biden's nomination, and will be instrumental in picking his running mate. However, his views of late are show denial of reality and falling back on #Resistance tropes. | Jim Clyburn's name carries gravitas in both Washington and his home state of South Carolina. Clyburn's endorsement is considered to have pushed Joe Biden ahead of Bernie Sanders in the state's primary election, securing him the black vote. The veteran lawmaker and House Majority Whip is expected to vet Biden's eventual choice of running mate, given Biden has promised to consider a black wom…

RT (2020-08-02). 'Sleepy Joe' Biden 'never leaves his basement' and won't win Texas, Trump says. rt.com President Donald Trump has bashed his basement-dwelling presidential opponent, Joe Biden, and touted his own support for "Oil, Gas, Guns, & God," after a fundraising trip to the Lone Star State. | "Was in the Great State of Texas this week and explained that the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats, headed up by their great leader, Sleepy Joe Biden (who never leaves his basement), are strongly against 'Oil, Gas, Guns, & God," Trump tweeted on Sunday. | "Must be tough to win Texas on that platform!" he added. | Was in the Great State of Texas this week and explained that the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats, hea…

RT (2020-08-02). Syria says US 'stealing' oil after American energy firm signs deal with Kurdish rebels. rt.com The Syrian government has accused the US of "stealing" the country's oil reserves, which Washington claimed to be protecting from terrorists. American lawmakers admitted that a deal has been signed with Kurdish rebels. | When President Donald Trump pulled US troops out of Syria last October, it was not the full withdrawal promised in his anti-interventionist campaign speeches. Instead, a contingent was left behind in areas of north Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, ostensibly to protect the region's oilfields from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists. | Also on rt.com

RT (2020-08-02). Members of Congress returning to DC from Lewis funeral in Georgia won't have to follow quarantine rule made for everybody else. rt.com Politicians who attended the funeral of Congressman John Lewis in Georgia won't have to worry about Washington's new quarantine rules as they return to the city because they're deemed too essential to lock down. | A 'Who's Who' of Democrat politicians attended Thursday's funeral in Atlanta, despite a state ban on gatherings of more than 50 people. Some 50

RT (2020-08-02). No press allowed at GOP convention, Trump to be nominated behind closed doors — reports. rt.com This month's Republican National Convention will take place behind closed doors and with no press present, reports suggest. The move is the latest in a series of twists and changes to the convention. | Originally slated to take place in Jacksonville, Florida, the Republican National Convention was canceled last month due to a rise in coronavirus cases. Beforehand, it had been moved there from Charlotte due to virus restrictions applied by North Carolina Governor Ray Cooper, a Democrat. After canvassing a number of other cities as potential hosts, the GOP has fallen back on Charlotte, albeit for a convention wi…

Adam Shah (2020-08-02). The One Percent's Attack on Unemployment Benefits Shows How Broken Our Democracy Is. zcomm.org The dignity of work is restored when employment leads to working people securing living wages and having their voices heard…

Dean Baker (2020-08-02). An Economic Survival Package, not a Stimulus Package. cepr.net There continues to be enormous confusion about what we should be trying to accomplish in the next pandemic relief package. This is best demonstrated by Republicans' obsession with getting people back to work, with a mixture of cuts to unemployment benefits and return to work bonuses. Ignoring the questionable economic logic (there is zero evidence …

_____ (2020-08-02). 'We Are On The Cusp Of Something Great'. popularresistance.org Since the nation erupted after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, Black organizers and community members have been working around the clock to channel mass protests into tangible victories. Nikita Mitchell, 26, is national coordinator of The Rising Majority, formed in 2017 by the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition that includes Black Lives Matter. Rising Majority is led by Black people and people of color, and brings social movements together in an anti-racist, anti-capitalist Left for radical democracy.

Staff (2020-08-02). What Has Happened to Police Filmed Hurting Protesters? So Far, Very Little. truthout.org It has been almost two months since a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car accelerated into Brooke Fortson during a protest over police violence. She still doesn't know the name of the officer who hit her or whether that person is still policing the city's streets. The officer did not stop after hitting Fortson and instead turned around, nearly hitting other demonstrators in the process, and sped off. | The LAPD almost surely knows who the officer is. The squad car's number is clearly visible…

Eoin Higgins, staff writer (2020-08-02). 'The Clock Is Ticking': Bernie Sanders Calls on Senate to Act Quickly on Covid Relief Bill. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bernie_sanders_iowa_trump_impeachment_1_0.jpg

Terry Everton (2020-08-01). An Ignorant, Racist US Senator. dissidentvoice.org Another head scratcher. Arkansas Republican senator, Tom Cotton defended the institution of slavery by quoting the slave-owning so-called founding fathers who opined that slavery "was the necessary evil upon which the union was built…"

RT (2020-08-01). Xenugate: Resurfaced VIDEO of top contender for Biden's VP pick addressing Scientology church in LA goes viral. rt.com California Rep. Karen Bass, thought to be on the shortlist of potential running mates for Joe Biden, has appeared in a resurfaced clip giving a glowing speech to a new Scientology church — a group widely deemed a predatory "cult." | Dated from the 2010

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2020-08-01). 170th Anniversary of California and Negro Bar history still hidden? indybay.org I've read lots of articles about Negro Bar and changing the name. But with our close tie to Mexico in the history of California, no one has mentioned that Negro means black in Spanish! | Are we also going to have to change the Spanish language? | So many of our towns and cities have some form of Spanish in their naming. They either start with San or Santa or the whole name is a Spanish word. So I rest my case. | Please bring this up in the next article about the name Negro being black in Spanish. | Laurie Kendall, Folsom…

sputniknews (2020-08-01). Obama's Half-Brother Says Ex-US President 'Wants People to Worship' Him. sputniknews.com In July, Barack Obama's half-brother Malik Obama, who supported Republican US President Donald Trump in the US 2016 election despite his brother's endorsement of fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, published a memoir titled 'Big Bad Brother From Kenya', in which he suggested that his brother was "cold and ruthless" to his Kenyan family.

_____ (2020-08-01). The Biden Rule: 'No Men Need Apply!'. strategic-culture.org Patrick BUCHANAN | There is a real possibility that, this coming week, Joe Biden will be selecting the 47th president of the United States. | For the woman Biden picks — he has promised to exclude from consideration all men, black, brown, white or Asian — has a better chance of succeeding to the presidency than any vice presidential nominee in U.S. history, other than perhaps Harry Truman. | In 1944, the Democratic establishment engineered the dumping of radical Henry Wallace from Roosevelt's ticket. They could see from FDR's physical deterioration that he would not last through a full fourth term.

_____ (2020-08-01). Moncada's Significance in Cuban Revolutionary History. strategic-culture.org "When Batista's coup took place in 1952, I'd already formulated a plan for the future. I decided to launch a revolutionary programme and organise a popular uprising. From that moment on, I had a clear idea of the struggle ahead and of the fundamental revolutionary ideas behind it, the ideas that are in History Will Absolve Me." | Just one year later, Fidel Castro would

_____ (2020-08-01). When Corporate Power Is Your Real Government, Corporate Media Is State Media. strategic-culture.org Caitlin JOHNSTONE | astonishingly horrible article the other day titled "Latin America Is Facing a 'Decline of Democracy' Under the Pandemic" accusing governments like Venezuela and Nicaragua of exploiting Covid-19 to quash opposition and oppress democracy. | The article sources its jarringly propagandistic claims in multiple US government-funded narrative management operations like the Wilson Center and the National Endow…

Adam Shah (2020-08-01). The 1 Percent's Attack on Unemployment Benefits is a Sign of Our Broken Democracy. commondreams.org The long-term systemic reason that working people are willing to accept jobs that cannot provide enough income to cover basic needs is because they are unable to organize and demand higher wages. Unionization is clearly tied to higher and more equal wages. (Photo: SEIU via Twitter) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/union_0.jpg

Rajiv Agarwal, Patrick Rossignol, William B White, Bryan Williams (2020-08-01). [Correspondence] Individual patient risk assessment and cost—benefit analysis of patiromer in AMBER — Authors' reply. thelancet.com Eoin O'Sullivan and Iain MacIntyre raise important questions about the relevance of the AMBER study, relating to individual-level decision making and the cost—benefit of our approach.1…

Matt Sedlar (2020-07-31). The Future of Trust-Busting Is in Joe Biden's Hands. cepr.net The New Republic See article on original site Pigs are flying! Up is down! The public approves of how Congress handled something! After Wednesday's much-anticipated hearing with the chief executive officers of Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple, onlookers in the media and activist community generally thought that the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust members showed …

Staff (2020-07-31). Rev. James Lawson: John Lewis's Life Is Call to Action Against U.S. Violence & Plantation Capitalism. democracynow.org As mourners gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to honor the life of Georgia Congressmember John Lewis, among those who spoke was civil rights icon Rev. James Lawson, who helped to train John Lewis in nonviolence when Lewis was a student in Nashville. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once described Rev. Lawson as "the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world." Lawson invoked John Lewis's life as a call to action. "We will not be quiet as long as our nation continues to be the most violent culture in the history of humankind," Lawson said. We feature his extended remarks.

Staff (2020-07-31). Civil Rights Hero John Lewis Remembered at Funeral as "Patriot Who Risked His Life" for Democracy. democracynow.org As family, friends and dignitaries paid their final respects at the Atlanta funeral of John Lewis, the civil rights leader and 17-term Georgia Congressmember was remembered as a singular force for equality and justice. The funeral took place at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, once led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where senior pastor Rev. Raphael Warnock contrasted Lewis' legacy with "some in high office who are much better at division than vision," and described the late politician as "a true American patriot who risked his life and bled for the hope and promise of democracy."

Staff (2020-07-31). Barack Obama: Honor John Lewis by Renewing Voting Rights Act & Ballot Access in the U.S. democracynow.org In his stirring eulogy at the funeral service for Congressmember John Lewis, President Barack Obama said expanded voting rights would be the greatest way to honor the civil rights icon's legacy. In a speech that condemned the status of American democracy without ever naming the sitting president, Obama called for election day to be declared a national holiday, full Congressional representation for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the end of the filibuster, which he called a "Jim Crow relic." "You want to honor John? Let's honor him by revitalizing the law he was willing to die for," Obama said in reference…

Staff (2020-07-31). Headlines for July 31, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 1,000 for Fourth Consecutive Day, U.S. Economy Recorded Worst Quarterly Drop on Record as Coronavirus Spread, New Orleans Protesters Block Eviction Court Proceedings as Rent Comes Due, Brazil's First Lady Tests Positive for COVID-19 as Deaths Top 91,000, Coronavirus Cases Spike in European Countries that Lifted Lockdowns, Donald Trump Suggests Election Delay, Sparking Bipartisan Outrage, U.S. Postal Delays Spark Fears Over Mail-In Ballots in November Election, Civil Rights Icon and Georgia Congressmember John Lewis Laid to Rest, Herman Cain, Co-Chair of Black Voices for Trump, Dies of…

RT (2020-07-31). Ilhan Omar under fire after campaign paid over $1.6 million to husband's firm. rt.com Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's re-election campaign paid out more than $600,000 to a consulting firm headed by her husband in July, bringing the total disbursements to the company to over $1.6 million this election cycle. | According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) The payments, which account for 77 percent of the disbursements from the congresswoman's campai…

Richard D. Wolff (2020-07-31). The Consequences of Inequality Can Be Fatal. counterpunch.org Capitalism, as Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century shows, relentlessly worsens wealth and income inequalities. That inherent tendency is only occasionally stopped or reversed when masses of people rise up against it. That happened, for example, in western Europe and the U.S. during the 1930s Great Depression. It prompted social democracy in Europe and

Subhash Rai (2020-07-31). Rich big tech, dead democracy. peoplesdispatch.org Evidence that Big Tech has had a chilling effect on start-ups and investors is one thing, but the ubiquitous nature of the platforms in their specific ways does effect every aspect of life, not just in the US but across the world…

Andrew Taylor (2020-07-31). GOP sneaks $8 billion for military weapons into coronavirus relief bill. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON (AP) — A new $1 trillion COVID-19 response package by Senate Republicans is supposed to give the government more weapons to battle the surging coronavirus pandemic. But GOP lawmakers have more than just the "invisible enemy" in mind. The Republican measure includes billions for F-35 fighters, Apache helicopters and infantry carriers sought by Washington's powerful defense …

CounterSpin (2020-07-31). Alex Main on Bolivia Coup, Carol Anderson on Voter Suppression. fair.org Media…

RT (2020-07-31). US' global media agency launches probe into 'election interference' after VOA runs Biden campaign ad targeting Muslims. rt.com The head of the US agency for Global Media has announced an investigation into state-funded Voice of America (VOA) for possible election meddling, after its service in Urdu promoted a clip of Joe Biden courting Muslim votes. | The probe,

RT (2020-07-31). #IStandWithRingo: Iowa senator draws ire of dog lovers after criticizing opponent for 'taking selfies' with her pet. rt.com Iowa Senator Joni Ernst provoked a storm of criticism on Twitter after attempting to shame her election opponent for the crime of taking selfies with her dog and ultimately learned the hard way: leave the pets out of it. | The incumbent Republican senator who is seeking re-election in November blasted her opponent, Democrat Theresa Greenfield, for her lack of leadership which was apparently demonstrated by the fact that she takes pictures with her dog. | Speaking during a campaign conference call on Wednesday, Ernst called out Greenfield, saying she "has been hiding in her basement taking selfies with her dog…

RT (2020-07-31). Political narrative overwhelms hearing on Covid-19 as lawmakers from both parties attempt to pinch opponents. rt.com A Covid-19 related hearing on the Hill saw a vivid clash between GOP congressman Jim Jordan and Dr. Anthony Fauci over the risk of protests, while other Democrats and Republicans didn't miss the chance to score political points. | Steve Scalise (R-LA) began his monologue by deconstructing the title of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, which he read as 'Urgent need for a plan'. | "That's not the title of a hearing, that's a political narrative, a false political narrative," he added, because "if there wasn't a plan" there would not have been a hearing. | Rep. Steve Scalise deconstructs…

RT (2020-07-31). War IS a game? US House rejects AOC's amendment to bar Pentagon from recruiting on Twitch as over 100 Dems side with GOP. rt.com Congress has voted to kill an amendment that would have blocked the military from recruiting through streaming platforms like Twitch, with nearly half of Democrats in the House joining the effort to strike down the measure. | A House vote of 196-292 easily quashed the appropriations bill

_____ (2020-07-31). Are the Democrats Plotting a 'Maidan Trap' for Trump at 'Peaceful' Portland Protests? strategic-culture.org By now it is abundantly clear that the Democrats will do just about anything to ensure Trump's defeat in November. That would include the proliferation of violence in major American cities to provide optics to the narrative that the US leader has been an unmitigated disaster for the United States. Will Portland, Oregon become Donald Trump's Maidan? | During the public grilling of Attorney General William Barr on July 28, the Democrat's pushed one argument above all others: Democratic cities had been enjoying their 'summer of love' that saw righteous folks peacefully protesting against police abuse until Darth Tru…

Nick Pemberton (2020-07-31). Does The Left Stand With Uighurs? counterpunch.org As the American left forces itself to reckon with its neglect of the minority underclass in its central planning of democratic socialism, a similar reckoning should be happening in relation to China and its treatment of the Muslim minority population and its increasing reach in Africa. Under the guise of economic empowerment for the upper

Norman Solomon (2020-07-31). Why Bernie Sanders Delegates Should Keep Fighting. commondreams.org Just as Biden's chances of winning the presidency would improve if he embraced Medicare for All, his prospects would also be enhanced by adopting popular positions that are especially important to racial minorities. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/biden_sanders_cd_0.jpg

Aída Chávez (2020-07-31). Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Lieu Introduce Amendment to Curtail Federal Crackdown on Protesters. zcomm.org The amendment would prohibit funds from being used to send federal agents into American cities…

Jordan Uhl (2020-07-31). Congress Refuses to Kick the Military Off of Twitch. thenation.com Congress Refuses to Kick the Military Off of Twitch…

teleSUR (2020-07-31). Democrats Criticize Trump for Raising Funds in Florida. telesurenglish.net Democratic leaders and the presidential candidate Joe Biden Friday criticized President Donald Trump for a private fundraising event scheduled this Friday in Florida. | RELATED: | Trump was expected in Tampa for a meeting with sheriffs, a round table on COVID-19, and a fundraising event for his reelection campaign. | Previously, Biden said that the U.S. President has repeatedly downplayed the problems caused by the pandemic.

Jack Delaney (2020-07-31). "Operation Gideon": The Amphibious Assault against Venezuela. globalresearch.ca On May, 3, U.S. mercenaries and the

Karma Samtani (2020-07-31). Congressional Primary Challengers Seek to Keep Progressive Tide Going. progressive.org Two leftwing, underdog candidates in Missouri and Massachusetts have a real chance of unseating their corporate-funded Democratic opponents.

Amberin Zaman (2020-07-31). US Oil Company Signs Deal with Syrian Kurds. globalresearch.ca Sources told Al-Monitor the agreement to market oil in territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces was signed "with the knowledge and encouragement of the White House." | *** | The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria has signed an agreement …

Jim Miles (2020-07-31). "The War That Ended Peace". How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs. globalresearch.ca Having just read

Project Censored (2020-07-31). Episode 100 — Are The Democrats The New Conservative Party? And Abolishing The Police w/Professor Beth Baker. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon host Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Los Angeles, Beth Baker. Along The Line is a…

Fight Back (2020-07-31). Federal $600 a week addition to unemployment insurance runs out. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – 25 million Americans or more are losing their additional $600 a week in unemployment insurance benefits even as the number of people applying for unemployment benefits continues to rise. Up to one-third of all renters have already lost eviction protection from the federal government, and the Republican proposal does not include extending it. Millions of other households are under threat of losing their electrical power for not paying their bills. | The depth of the economic crisis stoked by the uncontrolled COVID-19 pandemic was shown this morning, July 30, in the Commerce Department's report on Gr…

Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman (2020-07-31). Fascist Ohio's Bribed $60 Million Nuke Reactor Meltdown. counterpunch.org While Trump pumps his private gestapo into cities like Portland and Seattle, Ohio's homegrown fascist legions launched a blitzkrieg of their own. On Saturday, July 18, about a thousand heavily armed militia members, white nationalists and Trump supporters showed their lack of color at a statehouse rally in downtown Columbus. The "Stand for America 2020"

_____ (2020-07-31). Here's How We Remake The Economy. popularresistance.org To defend the $600 unemployment payments as both morally and economically necessary is not to suggest that the CARES Act is a sufficient solution to our economic problems. Nor, says Pavlina Tcherneva, Associate Professor of Economics at Bard College and a Research Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute and advisor to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, is the Democratic-led HEROES Act, which would extend the payments through January 2021 if Senate Republicans and the Trump administration would support it. Dr. Tcherneva studies the impact of unemployment on growth, income inequality and public health, an…

_____ (2020-07-31). What Has Happened To Police Filmed Hurting Protesters? popularresistance.org It has been almost two months since a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car accelerated into Brooke Fortson during a protest over police violence. She still doesn't know the name of the officer who hit her or whether that person is still policing the city's streets. The officer did not stop after hitting Fortson and instead turned around, nearly hitting other demonstrators in the process, and sped off. | The LAPD almost surely knows who the officer is. The squad car's number is clearly visible in one of the multiple videos that captured the incident.

Staff (2020-07-31). Voter ID Law Handed Wisconsin to Trump in 2016. It Could Happen Again in 2020. truthout.org Donald Trump's 2016 Wisconsin win was a shock to the Democratic Party — but then, the Democratic Party is always shocked — because Wisconsin was supposed to be a safe state for Hillary Clinton. | Democrats had crushed it seven elections in a row, helped by the massive vote from the famously progressive, activist University of Wisconsin student population. | But then, on Election Day 2016, a giant hunk of the student vote simply… vanished. And the Milwaukee Black vote also seemed…

Staff (2020-07-31). Barack Obama: End the Filibuster to Restore Voting Rights Act. truthout.org In his stirring eulogy at the funeral service for Congressmember John Lewis, President Barack Obama said expanded voting rights would be the greatest way to honor the civil rights icon's legacy. In a speech that condemned the status of American democracy without ever naming the sitting president, Obama called for election day to be declared a national holiday, full Congressional representation for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the end of the filibuster, which he called a "Jim Crow relic." "You want to…

Karen Bernal, Christian T. Shaughnessy (2020-07-31). The Case for Who Should Not Be Vice President: Joe Biden, Are You Listening? commondreams.org Donald Trump will not be defeated without the votes of the progressive base, which now skews toward younger people of color and for which issues of social injustice are paramount. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/barb_0.jpeg

James Zogby (2020-07-31). Why Is the Democratic Party So Timid on Palestinian Rights? commondreams.org President Donald Trump, right, looks over to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 28. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/netanyahu_6.jpg

Yang Mei, Samuel E. Weinberg, Lihui Zhao, Adam Frink, Chao Qi, Amir Behdad, Peng Ji (2020-07-31). Risk stratification of hospitalized COVID-19 patients through comparative studies of laboratory results with influenza. thelancet.com There are significant differences in the clinical and laboratory courses between COVID-19 and influenza. Risk stratification in hospitalized COVID-19 patients using laboratory data could be useful to predict clinical outcomes and pathophysiology of these patients.

Peter Bolton (2020-07-31). Trump has floated idea of postponing the 2020 election. But it's not like the US was ever a democracy in the first place. thecanary.co US President Donald Trump has sparked outrage by suggesting the US presidential election should be postponed. Though he later seemingly

Tobita Chow (2020-07-31). The Democratic Platform on China Is a Failure of Imagination. thenation.com The Democratic Platform on China Is a Failure of Imagination…