2020-09-15: News Headlines

Staff (2020-09-15). Pandemic Profiteering: Amazon Caught Price Gouging as Jeff Bezos's Wealth Soared to $200 Billion. democracynow.org The online giant Amazon has made an extraordinary amount of money during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many people shelter at home and shop online. A new Public Citizen report documents how Amazon set prices for essential products during the crisis at levels that would violate price gouging laws in many states, and marked up some products by as much as 1,000%. "This is an ongoing thing. They are doing this currently. They've been doing it throughout the pandemic," says Alex Harman, competition policy advocate for Public Citizen and author of the report. "They are looking to maximize profit during a pandemic."

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-15). Democrats Ignore US Military's Refutation Of 'Russian Bounties' Story. thealtworld.com NBC News Two months after top Pentagon officials vowed to get to the bottom of whether the Russian government bribed the Taliban to kill American service members, the commander of troops in the region says a detailed review of all available intelligence has not been able to corroborate the existence of such a program. | "It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me," Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of…

Staff (2020-09-15). Colonization Made California a Tinderbox: Why Indigenous Land Stewardship Would Help Combat Climate Fires. democracynow.org We examine California's history of forest management and how a century of fire suppression has made the current climate fires even more destructive. For thousands of years, Native American tribes in California would regularly burn the landscape to steward the land, but colonization led to the suppression of these tactics and decades of misguided policy. A return to these Indigenous practices could help better steward the land and foster greater climate resiliency, says Don Hankins, a pyrogeographer and Plains Miwok fire expert who teaches geography and planning at California State University, Chico. "If we all wo…

Staff (2020-09-15). Headlines for September 15, 2020. democracynow.org Trump Doubles Down on Climate Crisis Denial as West Coast Burns, World's Largest Vaccine Maker Says It Could Take 5 Years for Universal COVID-19 Vaccination, Trump Calls COVID-19 "The Plague" in April Interview with Woodward as He Called for U.S. to Reopen, Nevada City Fines Venue That Hosted Trump Rally Which Violated State's Coronavirus Restrictions, Appeals Court Gives Trump Greenlight to End Immigration Protections for 400,000 TPS Holders, Whistleblowing Nurse Says Georgia Immigration Jail Performing Forced Hysterectomies, Palestinians Form Unified Front as Israel, UAE and Bahrain Sign Deal Normalizing Relati…

Staff (2020-09-15). "Mass Voter Disenfranchisement": GOP Ramps Up Assault on Voting Rights Across U.S. Ahead of Election. democracynow.org With just seven weeks to go before the U.S. presidential election, the battle for the White House is increasingly being fought in courts across the country. From Wisconsin to Florida, Pennsylvania to Colorado, judges are making major rulings deciding who gets on the ballot, how a record number of mail-in ballots are handled and distributed, and who ultimately gets to vote on November 3. Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones and author of "Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America," says Republicans are carrying out a nationwide attack on voting rights aimed at keeping a shrinking wh…

a guest author (2020-09-15). We as workers are powerful'. workers.org By Dominic Harris The following article is based on a talk given during a Sept. 10 webinar,"Workers Defend Black lives," sponsored by Workers World Party. Dominic Harris is president of UE Local 150, Charlotte, N.C. United Electrical Workers has been in the leadership of U.S. labor organizing to defend Black . . . |

The Canary (2020-09-15). Deadly wildfires divide Trump and governors of West Coast states. thecanary.co Donald Trump pointed to how states manage forests and said: 'It will start getting cooler, just you watch.' | By | Deadly wildfires on the west coast of the US are dividing president Donald Trump and the states' Democratic leaders over how to prevent blazes from becoming more frequent and destructive. The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington have all said global warming is priming forests for wildfires as they become hotter and drier. | Debate: During a visit on Monday to California, Trump pointed to how states manage forests…

RT (2020-09-15). Congressmen demand Justice Dept INVESTIGATE Netflix over Cuties 'child exploitation'. rt.com Republican congressmen from Arizona and Colorado have demanded an investigation of "potential exploitation of children" in the now-infamous twerking-preteens film Cuties, arguing it encourages child sexual exploitation. | Reps. Andy Biggs (Arizona) and Ken Buck (Colorado) have urged the Justice Department to "open an investigation to ensure the film and its production uphold federal laws protecting children from exploitation," expressing their concerns in a letter to Attorney General William Barr. Buck shared the letter with his followers on Twitter on Tuesday. | "Cuties" creates an environment that encourages…

Philip Giraldi (2020-09-15). 2020 Elections: Democrats Go All-Out for Israel. globalresearch.ca Those of us who have longed for an end to America's military engagement in the Middle East have hoped for a candidate who was not tied hand and foot to Israel, which is the root cause of the badly-broken and …

Nauman Sadiq (2020-09-15). Donald Trump: The Frenemy of the Islamic World. globalresearch.ca In the Republican primaries of the 2016 US presidential elections, Mitt Romney severely castigated Trump, calling him a phony and a fraud. When Trump was elected president, he dangled the carrot of the secretary of state appointment to Romney, invited …

WSWS (2020-09-15). As Bloomberg pledges $100 million, Wall Street boosts Biden campaign. wsws.org Bloomberg's announcement is only the largest pledge of support from the financial oligarchy for the Democratic campaign.

news.un (2020-09-15). UN urges a more equal, inclusive world, marking International Day of Democracy. news.un.org The United Nations marked the annual International Day of Democracy, on Tuesday, calling on world leaders to build a more equal, inclusive and sustainable world, with full respect for human rights.

_____ (2020-09-15). Time For Unions To Give The Democratic Party An Ultimatum. popularresistance.org On Labor Day, Joe Biden did an online event with AFL-CIO pres ≠i ≠dent Richard Trum ≠ka to talk up unions. At this point in his polit ≠i ≠cal career, Biden can do these things in his sleep. His well rehearsed grab bag of pro-union lines ("My uncle in Scran ≠ton, Uncle Ed, used to say, 'Joe, you're labor from belt buck ≠le to shoe sole'") flow out eas ≠i ≠ly. The ques ≠tion for America's union mem ≠bers is whether any ≠thing tan ≠gi ≠ble will flow back to us if Biden is elect ≠ed, or if we will‚Äâ—‚Äâas has ha…

James J. Zogby (2020-09-15). "The Armageddon Election". Deep Polarization of American Society. globalresearch.ca During the weeks of uncertainty that followed the 2000 presidential election, as the tension grew amongst supporters of George W. Bush and Al Gore, my brother John Zogby conducted a poll to see how Democrats and Republicans were viewing the …

Hamilton Nolan (2020-09-15). How to Negotiate With People Who Don't Care If You Die. zcomm.org To win another stimulus bill, the Democrats need to embrace chaos…

Follow the Money (2020-09-15). 9/14/20 Trump Fund Raises in Cal While Learning of Fire Damage. indybay.org On 9/14/20, Republican Trump plans to land in Sacramento to be briefed on fire damage which has caused most of us to choke on the smoke for 28 days. Since he is cutting his staff's salaries, this can only be a fundraising trip to a wealthy state where he has no chance of winning Electoral College votes. See abc7news.com/trump-to-visit-fire-ravaged-california-monday/6420211/

_____ (2020-09-15). Allende's Political Program as Reference for a Sustainable Chile. strategic-culture.org This September marked 50 years since Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular triumphed in the country's democratic elections. On September 4, 1970, despite the CIA's funding of right-wing politics to sabotage the electoral process, Chile chose socialism and was well on the way to prove that revolution could be carried out through democratic means — a process that created yet another hindrance for U.S. plans in the region. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the U.S. was concerned that Cuban influence would ripple through the region, but it had not considered that the people would overtly choose to free its…

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-15). Biden has more chances of winning in Wisconsin, Arizona. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 15 (MNA) — The results of latest polls in the United States indicate that the Democratic Party candidate has more chance of winning than Donald Trump in November presidential election.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-09-14). Let's Be Real: President Biden Would Probably Be More Hawkish Than Trump. thealtworld.com People who dislike Trump are often reluctant to talk about this, but it looks likely that a Biden administration would be more warlike than its predecessor. | In a

Alan MacLeod (2020-09-14). Democrats Campaigning to Keep Green Party off the Ballot in Key Swing States. thealtworld.com Voter shaming did not work for the Democrats in 2016 and with this latest attempt to bar the Green Party from even standing, Democrats are choosing a high-risk strategy that could backfire on election day. | MPN— The 2020 presidential election is already underway — or, at least, it should be. Because of an ongoing legal battle, none of Pennsylvania's 67 counties will be sending out mail-in ballots today like they were originally scheduled to. Democrats are attempting to remove Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins from the ballot because of an alleged procedural mistake his running mate Ange…

WSWS (2020-09-14). Australian government, Labor opposition silent on sadistic British show-trial of Julian Assange. wsws.org The Australian political and media establishment has largely responded to the vicious attacks on Assange's legal and democratic rights by pretending that they are not occurring.

Staff (2020-09-14). "These Are Climate Fires": Oregon Firefighter Ecologist Says Devastating Blazes Are a Wake-Up Call. democracynow.org President Trump has said little about the wildfires raging in California, Oregon and Washington for three weeks, other than to suggest poor forest management was primarily to blame. But the states' governors are pushing back and directly linking the fires to the climate crisis. "These are climate fires," says Timothy Ingalsbee, an Oregon-based wildland fire ecologist and former wildland firefighter who now directs Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology. "Though some scientists hesitate to attribute a single event to climate change, these are exactly the conditions predicted by climatologists."

Staff (2020-09-14). Pandemic, Wildfires & Heat Wave: Undocumented Farmworkers Face "Triple Threat" as West Coast Burns. democracynow.org As devastating fires burn across the West Coast, some of the most vulnerable people are farmworkers — many of whom are undocumented. Despite the risks of the pandemic and the climate-fueled fires, many feel they have to keep working even if that means working inside evacuation zones. The state of California has repeatedly allowed growers to continue harvesting despite evacuation orders putting workers at great risk. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the agriculture worker program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says farmworkers who speak out against unsafe working conditions risk losing their jobs.

Staff (2020-09-14). "Trump Is Criminality Personified": Rev. William Barber on Protecting the Vote & Mobilizing the Poor. democracynow.org With less than two months before November, the Poor People's Campaign has launched a push to register tens of millions of poor and low-income voters, who could decide the fate of the election. "Voting is power unleashed," says Rev. Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach. "We've got to train the people on the power of the vote, the power to protect the vote, and the power to shape public policy by the vote." The initiative is called MORE, which stands for Mobilizing, Organizing, Registering, Educating People for a Movement That Votes.

Staff (2020-09-14). Headlines for September 14, 2020. democracynow.org Historic Climate-Fueled Wildfires Kill 35 People, Burn 5 Million+ Acres Across West Coast, Trump Holds Packed Rally as U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Near 200,000 , ICE Flew Migrant Prisoners to Virginia, Fueling Outbreak, to Skirt Rules on Flying ICE Staff, WHO Says World Saw Biggest Daily Rise in Global Cases, Court Blocks Floridians with Unpaid Felony Conviction Fines from Voting, Trump Defends Police Killing of Portland Anti-Fascist Activist, Palestinians Decry Israeli Normalization Deals with UAE and Bahrain, Intra-Afghan Peace Talks Kick Off in Doha, Salvadoran Ex-Colonel Convicted for 1989 Murder of Jesuit Priest…

_____ (2020-09-14). Unipolar Spin: Why Imperial Leftists Vilify Russia's Social Democracy. strategic-culture.org A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth. In reading countless articles from the Atlantic Council press outlets (NYT, WaPo, VICE News, et al), we take for granted that modern Russia is a right-wing regime controlled by an authoritarian personality bent on total domination. As a result, the debate then gets framed on why or whether its right for leftists to attack it as such, since this is used to further justify collective punishment (sanctions) against a whole people. | What escapes us is why creating propaganda that will result in collective punishment is in any way the business of self-declared leftists i…

Ralph Nader (2020-09-14). Trump's Broken Promises to His Voters — He Didn't Deliver! counterpunch.org Trump voters are not inclined to change their minds. Some of them are forever Republicans and will only vote the GOP ticket; they are called hereditary voters. Others can't stand the Democratic Party nominees, won't vote for the Libertarian ticket, and will only vote for Trump. Some love Trump because of his anti-immigrant stance, deregulation

WSWS (2020-09-14). COVID-19 outbreak at Virginia migrant detention center caused by repression of anti-police brutality protesters. wsws.org The outbreak at the Farmville detention center demonstrates the capitalist class's disdain for democratic rights and the lives of the entire population.

Bradley Crowder (2020-09-14). Beating Trump isn't enough. peoplesworld.org Popular forces today are in crisis, reeling from a half century of neoliberal assault and organizational and ideological collapse. Unions are at their lowest density rates in a century. The historic gains of the democratic struggles to secure voting rights, access to reproductive health, and more are also under assault on all fronts. Now, together, …

Marc Brodine (2020-09-14). Want to stop fascism in America? Defeat Trump in November. peoplesworld.org Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, "November is about defeating fascism." She's right. While we shouldn't take anything Trump says at face value, since he often says things that are lies, distortions, or just outrageous in order to distract, the fact that he has already repeatedly cast doubt on the results of the fall elections is worrisome. He …

Staff (2020-09-14). Sanders supporters strike surprise blow against Rhode Island's Democratic establishment. therealnews.com Progressives in Rhode Island explain how grassroots organizers, inspired by Bernie and AOC, defeated the state's powerful Democratic machine.

RT (2020-09-14). The only way to stop California wildfires? Elect Joe Biden, claims former competitor Tom Steyer. rt.com Democrat activist and former presidential hopeful Tom Steyer says the wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are due to climate change, and the "only solution" to them is Joe Biden. | The number-one thing people can do to stop the wildfires raging, according to Steyer, is to "elect a different president who is going to recognize the problem, deal with it forcefully at home, deal with it forcefully overseas." And the "only solution" to the fires, Steyer told CNN's 'New Day,' is "honest to God, Joe Biden." | .

RT (2020-09-14). Videos of Biden touching young girls flagged as 'child sexual exploitation' by Twitter despite being official public footage. rt.com C-Span footage of Joe Biden interacting with girls is being flagged by Twitter for violating their Child Sexual Exploitation Policy after popping up online during an argument about the politician's character. | The dispute on social media saw Texan progressive activist Johnny Graz seeking to Another commenter, who goes by the name 'Jake Koenig,' sought to support Graz's argument by posting a video compilation of Biden tou…

RT (2020-09-14). 'Grinch DeBlasio': NYC mayor scorched online for 'cancelling' the Thanksgiving Day Parade due to Covid-19. rt.com New York's mayor Bill De Blasio got a lot of hate online after announcing that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be "reinvented" and held virtually this year due to safety concerns around the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. | "It will not be the same parade we are used to," De Blasio said at a press conference on Monday. "It will be a different kind of event. [Macy's is] reinventing the event for this moment in history." | The mayor attempted to downplay the scale of these changes by reminding citizens that the fourth of July fireworks show was also greatly scaled back. | You will be able to feel the spiri…

Esmeralda Chang (2020-09-14). The Second Installment of The Confessions and Polemics of Esmeralda "The Red" Chang. dissidentvoice.org In this segment of my confessions and polemics I discuss the following topics: Attending the Jimmy Dore Show, The 2020 Democratic Convention, and Daoist Anarchism. Attending the Jimmy Dore Show As someone in her early 70s I don't get out much, especially during the COVID quarantine. But last February before the stay-at-home orders my cousin, …

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-14). Joe Biden's Pro-War History … Vote Independent. globalresearch.ca Businessman Trump is a political novice, a geopolitical know-nothing. | Longtime Washington insider Biden has been active politically since 1973 as a US senator, vice president, and presidential aspirant. | He never met a US war of aggression against a nation threatening …

WSWS (2020-09-14). Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks mailing out of absentee ballots pending ruling on Green Party ballot access. wsws.org The Democratic party has led the charge in purging third-party candidates, including the Greens, from the November ballot.

Rebecca Keetch (2020-09-14). Canadian Auto Workers Fight for Contract Transparency. globalresearch.ca As bargaining at the Detroit 3 automakers kicks off in Canada, union members are fighting back against a longstanding undemocratic contract ratification process. In an unprecedented development, the Solidarity Movement, a rank-and-file movement within Unifor, has launched a petition to …

Laura Flanders (2020-09-14). Resisting Authoritarianism One Co-Op at a Time. counterpunch.org A popularly-elected republic overturned by a reactionary armed revolt—there are myriad reasons why the painful history of the Spanish Civil War might pop into one's head at this particular moment. For one thing, that conflict reminds us just how fast dictatorship can kill democracy. Backed by Hitler and Mussolini, General Francisco Franco seized power in

Ryan Grim (2020-09-14). Rhode Island's Progressive Wave Was Four Years in the Making. zcomm.org In 2016, a WFP-backed candidate unseated Rhode Island's House majority leader. Insurgents have been making progress ever since…

_____ (2020-09-14). The greatest loss of democracy and liberty in modern Britain. truepublica.org.uk At TruePublica, we believe in social cohesion, the rule of law, civil liberty, human rights and of course, democracy. Recent events, both Brexit and Covid-19, have given this government, in particular, an opportunity to act in bad faith and create a space for emergency legislation used to abuse the normal workings of representative and parliamentary …

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-14). 'Outrageous': Sanders Blasts AstraZeneca for Raising Drug Prices Despite $1.2 Billion From Taxpayers for Covid-19 Vaccine. commondreams.org Big drug companies don't need more subsidies. We need to end their greed." —Sen. Bernie Sanders | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/astra.jpg

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-09-14). Beyond Attacking Trump, Sanders Says Biden Campaign Must 'Give People a Reason to Vote for Joe'. commondreams.org "I think Biden is in an excellent position to win this election, but I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump," the Vermont senator said on Sunday. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bernie_biden.jpg

Thom Hartmann (2020-09-14). How Should America Respond When Its President Commits Negligent Homicide? commondreams.org U.S. President Donald Trump turns around to greet supporters after speaking at a campaign event at Xtreme Manufacturing on September 13, 2020 in Henderson, Nevada. Trump's visit comes after Nevada Republicans blamed Democratic Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak for blocking other events he had planned in the state. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/trump_rally_homicide.jpg

Wilfred Chan (2020-09-14). Did US Lobbying Efforts Backfire for Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy Movement? thenation.com Did US Lobbying Efforts Backfire for Hong Kong's Pro-Democracy Movement?

_____ (2020-09-13). Manufacturing Disgrace: Reuters Distorts Chevron V. Donziger. popularresistance.org Independent journalist Chris Hedges (ScheerPost, 8/25/20) wrote: | The flagrant corruption and misuse of the legal system to abjectly serve corporate interests in the Donziger case illustrates the deep decay within our judiciary and democratic institutions. | One of those deeply decayed institutions is the corporate media, as a review of several years of Reuters coverage of the case illustrates. | Attorney Steven Donziger has been under house arrest since August 6 of last year.

_____ (2020-09-13). The US Is Borrowing Its Way To Fascism. popularresistance.org Viewing the GOP convention seemed a little like binge-watching the last several years' parade of none-too-subtle signs of incipient fascism. We saw extreme nationalism, scapegoating immigrants and foreigners in general, white supremacy, "strong (narcissistic)-man" government, aggressive foreign policies, and hysterical red-baiting. Those signs reflect how capitalism's deepening crisis undermines both the centre-left (Democrat) and centre-right (GOP) and shifts politics further right and further left. Trump represents the anti-centre right, Bernie Sanders the anti-centre left.

Sasha Abramsky (2020-09-13). Is Trump Planning a Coup d'État? zcomm.org Many observers—including Republicans—worry that he is. They're organizing now to stop him. Given the administration's record of embracing "numerous corrupt and authoritarian practices," huge numbers of Americans must be ready to take to the streets…

Alex Lawson (2020-09-13). We Must Take The Vaccine Industry Into Public Ownership. zcomm.org Only by taking the vaccine industry into full public ownership, with small "d" democratic controls in place, can we provide an internationalized response to this and future pandemics that properly recognizes vaccines as a global public good…

Basav Sen (2020-09-13). This Is a Climate Emergency. We Need More Than Half-Measures from Democrats. zcomm.org How to get the Democrats' climate policy from "better than the Republicans" to "sufficient to save the planet."

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-13). Azerbaijani clerics condemn Charlie Hebdo's blasphemous move. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 13 (MNA) — The clergymen of the Republic of Azerbaijan have held a rally to condemn French weekly Charlie Hebdo's republication of blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Mehr News Agency (2020-09-13). VIDEO: People of Kermanshah deplore blasphemy against Prophet. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Sep. 13 (MNA) — People of the western Iranian city of Kermanshah held demonstrations on Sunday to condemn French weekly Charlie Hebdo's republication of blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

sputniknews (2020-09-13). 'Highly Honored Bay of Pigs Award': Trump Brags About Receiving Non-Existent Prize. sputniknews.com The Bay of Pigs was the location of a failed invasion by Cuban exiles supported by the US who were opposed to Fidel Castro's revolution. While there is no award named after this 1961 event, Trump nonetheless received an endorsement from the Bay of Pigs Veterans association.

yenisafak (2020-09-13). Michael Bloomberg to spend $100 million in Florida to help elect Joe Biden. yenisafak.com Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spent $1 billion on his 2020 Democratic presidential bid before dropping out, plans to inject at least $100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden's effort against Republican President Donald Trump in the important swing state of Florida.The decision comes as Trump's initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden earlier this year has largely evaporated after high spending from the campaign and a surge in fundraising by Democrats.Florida is one of the biggest prizes on Election Day, and it is also the most expensive of the expected battlegrounds in which to campaign. B…

Ben Norton (2020-09-12). Grandson of overthrown Chilean President Salvador Allende defends Venezuela against US coup attempt. thegrayzone.com The grandson of Chile's former elected socialist President Salvador Allende, who was toppled in a 1973 CIA-orchestrated military coup, has lived in Venezuela for 10 years. The Grayzone's Ben Norton interviewed Pablo Sepúlveda Allende in Caracas. Sepúlveda Allende spoke about the many similarities between the democratic revolutions in Chile and Venezuela, and why he thinks …

_____ (2020-09-12). Part I: The Unannounced Death Of The Green New Deal. popularresistance.org You could say that the Green New Deal died when the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force recommendations came through, or perhaps that was the moment we knew that the Jemez Principles and the principles of a Just Transition had been abandoned more than a year before? Perhaps they were abandoned shortly after John Washington's straight forward, perfectly articulated warning to New Consensus? Or perhaps they were abandoned as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey prepared the Green New Deal resolution with it's "clean" and "net zero" language replacing the language of fossil fuel phase outs and 100% Renewables?

yenisafak (2020-09-12). 'You cannot lecture us on humanity,' Erdogan tells Macron. yenisafak.com Recalling France's massacres in Algeria and Rwanda, the Turkish president said the French president "cannot lecture us on humanity."Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks came at a symposium held on Democracy and Freedom Island against coup.In a direct reference to President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said "You [Macron] have no knowledge of history. You do not know the history of France.""You cannot lecture us on humanity," he added, recalling the massacres in Algeria where some 1 million people were killed and in Rwanda where 800,000 people were murdered."Do not mess with Turkey and Turkish people," Erdogan added.Earlier…

Monica Moorehead (2020-09-12). Voting, self-determination and social change. workers.org Below is a slightly edited talk by Monica Moorehead at the Workers World Party webinar on Sept. 3 on "Save the people's post office." Voter suppression is an issue I have both personal and political knowledge of. I was born and raised under segregation in Alabama. Black and white activists . . . |

Eds. (2020-09-12). The insidious workings of the political ratchet. mronline.org Democrats Are Joining Trump and DHS in Demonizing Anti-Fascists. Here's Why.

The Canary (2020-09-12). More than 50 killed at collapsed gold mine in eastern DR Congo. thecanary.co More than 50 people have died after landslides collapsed three artisanal gold mining wells in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The incident took place near the city of Kamituga in eastern Congo's South Kivu province on Friday 11 September, following days of heavy rains.Kamituga mayor Alexandre Bundya said: The diggers and the transporters of the stones were swallowed up by the waters. | A team of rescuers with motor pumps came to recover the bodies of the victims.There had been heavy rains for days before the tragedy ((Maisha RDC/AP)Diwa Honore, who survived the tragedy, said more than 50 people had been in th…

RT (2020-09-12). Dem rival of Georgia QAnon-supporting GOP candidate drops out of House race, campaign assures he's 'safe' amid threat rumors. rt.com A Democrat has suddenly bowed out of the US House race in Georgia citing "personal reasons," clearing the path for Republican contender Marjorie Taylor Greene, the alleged QAnon supporter who is now running unopposed. | Kevin Van Ausdal said he would pull out of the contest in a statement on Friday, leaving the race for Georgia's reliably red 14th Congressional District uncontested, with Greene the only candidate left in the running. | "I am heartbroken to announce that for family and personal reasons, I cannot continue this race for Congress," Van Ausdal said in a statement, adding that "stepping aside would…

yenisafak (2020-09-12). US 'doesn't seek to impose' democracy on Afghanistan. yenisafak.com After 19 years of American invasion in the name of fighting terrorist groups and democratizing Afghanistan, which led to the shattering of latter's political institutions, the US on Saturday announced that it is no longer interested in exporting democracy to the war-weary country.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's remarks came in the beginning of intra-Afghan peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents in the Qatari capital Doha.The historic talks aim to end nearly two decades of armed insurgency in Afghanistan amid pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration ahead of elections…

WSWS (2020-09-12). Biden pledges to keep troops in the Middle East and maintain record military spending. wsws.org Since Labor Day, Biden has focused on appeals for support from the military and national security establishment, along with economic nationalist demagogy and pledges to prosecute "violent" left-wing protesters.

_____ (2020-09-12). DHS Official: Department Wanted To Down Play Far-Right Violence. popularresistance.org On September 9, the news came out that a whistleblower within the Department of Homeland Security had filed a complaint about the department's Trump-appointed leadership instructing him to downplay the threat represented by white supremacists and play up the dangers posed by anarchists and anti-fascists. Yet it has largely escaped notice how Joe Biden and other Democrats have embraced Donald Trump's talking points about anarchists and anti-fascists.

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2020-09-12). 2020 Juneteenth National Holiday Convention. indybay.org Globally, Juneteenth is poised help expand a year round expression of Freedom marked by a new official United States of America, Federal Holiday that could begin on Saturday, June 19, 2021, as we stand on the shoulders of many ancestors preparing for an amazing new beginning.

Poor People's Campaign and partners (2020-09-12). Monday 9/14: It's Time to Defend Democracy: Voting Is Power Unleashed! indybay.org Online…

San Mateo Peace Action (2020-09-12). Sunday 9/13: Sharat G. Lin on the Rise and Fall of U.S.-China Relations. indybay.org Online…

Staff (2020-09-11). Headlines for September 11, 2020. democracynow.org 500,000 Evacuated Across Oregon as Record-Shattering Fires Rage in Western States, AstraZeneca CEO Warned Investors of Vaccine Recipient Who Became Ill, Trump Admin Fines Pork Processor $13,500 for Lapses at Plant Where 1,300 Contracted Coronavirus, India Records Another Record Daily Coronavirus Toll, Senate Coronavirus Relief Bill Fails as Another 857,000 File New Unemployment Claims, Amazon Accused of Price Gouging After Raising Prices Up to 1,000% During Lockdown, Philadelphia Activists Defy City Order to Vacate Encampment for Unhoused Residents, Joe Biden Says He May Further Increase Military Spending If Elec…

Anya Parampil (2020-09-11). US govt & Democrat-tied troll farm boosts Bolivian coup regime, meddles in Mexico, Venezuela. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with The Grayzone's Ben Norton about US troll farm CLS Strategies that boosted Bolivia's coup regime and sought to destabilize leftist Venezuelan and Mexican governments. Ben Norton joined Red Lines to discuss his recent piece, "U.S. govt-linked PR firm ran fake news networks for right-wing Latin American regimes." He …

Staff (2020-09-11). What Went Wrong with AstraZeneca's Vaccine Trial? CEO Only Shares Details with Investors. democracynow.org As the world races to find a COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most promising vaccine trials has hit a major roadblock. AstraZeneca paused its Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial after a woman in the trial developed severe neurological symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis, or inflammation of the spinal cord. Details were only revealed during a CEO call with investors, and "everyone was left to guess what went wrong," writes Ed Silverman, senior writer at the health news site STAT, which broke the story. Silverman says the halting of the U.K. trial raises several issues, including whether pharmaceutical companies ar…

Staff (2020-09-11). Costs of War: After 9/11 Attacks, U.S. Wars Displaced at Least 37 Million People Around the World. democracynow.org As the United States marks 19 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, a new report finds at least 37 million people in eight countries have been displaced since the start of the so-called global war on terrorism since 2001. The Costs of War Project at Brown University also found more than 800,000 people have been killed since U.S. forces began fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen, at a cost of $6.4 trillion to U.S. taxpayers. "The U.S. has played a disproportionate role in waging war, in launching war and in perpetuating war over the last 19 years," says…

Louis Proyect (2020-09-11). Biden's Transition Team Isn't a "Team" and It's Not Promising Much of a Transition. counterpunch.org On September 5th, Joe Biden added four new members to his transition team, which was not really a team. It consisted only of Ted Kaufman, the 81-year old Democratic senator from Delaware. Considering Kaufman's reputation as a deficit hawk and his advanced age, Biden had to cover his left flank and give the appearance of

Bruce Lerro (2020-09-11). Political and Spiritual Cults: From Rapture to Complicity to Aftermath in the Shadow of 20th Century Yankeedom. dissidentvoice.org Saul B. Newton, founder of the cult The Sullivanians, posing with some of his "family". The party is always right, even when it's wrong — Democratic Workers Party slogan ORIENTATION Everybody knows what cults are People who join cults are mentally unstable before they join and less educated than the general population. True or false? …

RT (2020-09-11). Pelosi ridiculed from left and right after saying 'angry Mother Earth' caused California wildfires. rt.com Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi was bombarded with online mockery after saying that massive ongoing wildfires raging in California were the result of "Mother Earth" and her displeasure with humans. | The house speaker addressed the blazing wildfires that have engulfed her home state on Friday in an interview with MSNBC. "Mother Earth is angry," Pelosi said. "She's telling us … with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the west, whatever it is … the climate crisis is real and has an impact." | "Mother Earth is angry," Speaker Pelosi says, discussing wildfires burning in California. "She's telling us with hur…

news.un (2020-09-11). WHO warns against potential Ebola spread in DR Congo and beyond. news.un.org Ebola is spreading in a western province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), raising fears that the disease could reach neighbouring Republic of Congo and even the capital, Kinshasa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

_____ (2020-09-11). Biden Amplifies Anti-Sandanista Propaganda. popularresistance.org A clever trick of propaganda is to introduce false information as a precept to an argument with what seems like a valid conclusion. Those who agree with the conclusion will likely accept the false precept without even questioning it. This tactic was used for a recent series of articles in the Washington Post aiming to discredit the government of Nicaragua led by the Sandinista Party.

teleSUR (2020-09-11). US Democrats Lead Vote-By-Mail Registers in Florida. telesurenglish.net Over 2.2 million voters for the Democratic Party in Florida have so far registered to vote by mail in the upcoming presidential elections, 717,000 more than Republicans who have opted for that mode of voting. | RELATED: | "Democrats have seen significant increases in vote-by-mail in the August primaries and we are prepared to keep our foot on the gas until November," Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo said, recalling that t…

Shane Quinn (2020-09-11). Chile, September 11, 1973: The Horrors of 'the First 9/11' Are Routinely Overlooked. globalresearch.ca On September 11, 1973, Salvador Allende's democratic government in Chile was ousted by US-backed forces in one of the Cold War's defining moments. Allende himself was killed during the coup while his presidential palace, La Moneda, was extensively bombed.

sputniknews (2020-09-11). Network of Liberal 'Dark Money' Democrat Groups to 'Carpet-Bomb' 2020 Election, Report Claims. sputniknews.com The term "dark money" is used in US politics to refer to political spending by nonprofit organizations allied with both the Dems and the GOP that are allowed by federal law to receive unlimited donations from individuals and corporations without being required to disclose their donors.

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-09-11). As Fires Engulf West, Democrats Not Running on Trump Climate Failures Accused of 'Political Malpractice'. commondreams.org "People are dying and losing their homes and jobs. But politicians in D.C. are sitting on their hands, and the president of the United States is telling people that the solution is to clean up their yards." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12284454271.jpg