2020-11-29: News Headlines

Jonathan Cook (2020-11-29). The Planet Cannot Begin to Heal Until We Rip the Mask off the West's War Machine. dissidentvoice.org Making political sense of the world can be tricky unless one understands the role of the state in capitalist societies. The state is not primarily there to represent voters or uphold democratic rights and values; it is a vehicle for facilitating and legitimating the concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands. In …

Editor (2020-11-29). NPR's Shameful Comparison of Stacey Abrams to Donald Trump. scheerpost.com TED Conference / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] By Ari Paul / FAIR It's very likely that Stacey Abrams is not governor of Georgia today because in 2018, she and thousands of the state's voters were victims of voter suppression that propelled then—Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp into the governor's office. She wasn't quiet about this, not just because the shenanigans probably cost her the election… |

_____ (2020-11-29). On Contact: Fascism — America's DNA. popularresistance.org On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Gabriel Rockhill about the undercurrents of fascism in America's DNA, and the US role in internationalizing fascism after World War II through clandestine activities such Operation Paperclip and Operation Gladio. | Rockhill is a Franco-American philosopher and the founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University. His books include Counter-History of the Present: Untimely Interrogations into Globalization, Technology, Democracy, Interventions in Contemporary Thought: History, Politics, Aesthetics, Radical History &#03…

_____ (2020-11-29). Protesters Descend On Garcetti's House For 6th Consecutive Day. popularresistance.org Los Angeles, CA – A sixth day of demonstrations outside Mayor Eric Garcetti's official residence unfolded Sunday in an attempt to persuade President-elect Joe Biden not to appoint Garcetti to his cabinet. | Tabatha Jones Jolivet, a spokeswoman for BLM-LA, said Garcetti "has failed the people of Los Angeles in an unending number of ways — from criminalizing folks for being houseless, to refusing to stand up for people who are killed by his police force." | "We refuse to be quiet as President-elect Biden considers him for a cabinet post where his reach will extend to setting national policy," she said.

Paul Rosenberg (2020-11-29). Congress can wait: How Biden can reshape our future with executive action. salon.com Congressional deadlock doesn't have to mean total paralysis. Biden can change America without passing new laws…

Dario Castillejos, Liza Donnelly, Felipe Galindo, Peter Kuper (2020-11-28). Creating American Carnage. thenation.com Dario Castillejos, Liza Donnelly, Felipe Galindo, Peter Kuper Our Golfer-in-Chief's parting shots at democracy.

Common Dreams staff (2020-11-28). The Revolving Door: Biden's National Security Nominees Cashed In on Government Service—and Now They're Back. commondreams.org Top Biden advisers Tony Blinken, Michele Flournoy, and Lloyd Austin face new scrutiny. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/flournoy-blinken.jpg

Common Dreams staff (2020-11-28). The Revolving Door: Biden's National Security Nominees Want Back In After Cashing Out Of Government Service. commondreams.org Top Biden advisers Tony Blinken, Michele Flournoy, and Lloyd Austin face new scrutiny. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/flournoy-blinken.jpg

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-28). Martyr Fakhrizadeh expose false supporters of human rights. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) — IRGC Quds Force Commander said that Martyr Fakhrizadeh exposed the false supporters of human rights, democracy, and freedom.

Lynda Carson (2020-11-28). OxyContin drug kingpin Richard Sackler gave campaign contribution to Biden for President. indybay.org Opioid Drug-Overdose Victim…

WSWS (2020-11-28). FCA ramps up production at Warren Truck despite death of temporary worker from COVID-19. wsws.org The worker who succumbed to the virus had been hired less than three weeks before he became sick and had told his coworkers that he had waited a long time to get the chance for a job at FCA.

Robert Reich (2020-11-28). How Mitch McConnell's do nothing Republicans are killing you. salon.com Mitch McConnell has refused to lift a finger for months, and Senate Republicans have been happy to follow his lead…

David Rosmarin, Kathleen Butler, Fiona Kuo, John E Harris (2020-11-28). [Correspondence] Ruxolitinib cream for the treatment of vitiligo — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Shelley Uppal and colleagues for their comments on the randomised phase 2 trial of ruxolitinib cream for the treatment of vitiligo,1 in which concerns over the generalisability of the study population were raised. As a phase 2 study, the goal was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of different concentrations and dosing regimens of ruxolitinib cream in patients with non-segmental vitiligo before progressing to phase 3 studies, in which generalisability would be assessed. As such, our study1 does not state that ruxolitinib cream is a safe and effective treatment for vitiligo or conclude that the study's f…

Zach Conti (2020-11-28). Biden Should Call for Emergency G20 Leaders Meeting, Says Religious Development Group. indybay.org A religious development group urges President-elect Biden to convene an emergency G20 meeting upon inauguration into the high office.

David Schultz (2020-11-27). Trump and a Republic That We Could not Keep. counterpunch.org Donald Trump refuses to concede and claims the 2020 election was rift with fraud. American democracy is in peril. Then the GSA will fund the Biden presidential transition. His lawsuits are coming to an end. The electoral college will soon cast its ballots. And Donald Trump will no longer be president of the US. The

Staff (2020-11-27). Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara — A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony as Ceasefire Ends. democracynow.org In this special rebroadcast of a Democracy Now! exclusive documentary, we break the media blockade and go to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco's violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. Earlier this month, a three-decade ceasefire in Western…

John Pilger (2020-11-27). Britain's Class War on Children. counterpunch.org When I first reported on child poverty in Britain, I was struck by the faces of children I spoke to, especially the eyes. They were different: watchful, fearful. In Hackney, in 1975, I filmed Irene Brunsden's family. Irene told me she gave her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes. "She doesn't tell me she's hungry, she

Sonali Kolhatkar (2020-11-27). Will Biden Ensure My Family is Reunited? counterpunch.org Millions of Americans are celebrating Donald Trump's election loss. But for some of us, it's also deeply personal. To my family, Trump's loss means the possibility of reunification. My parents, who are Indian citizens living in the United Arab Emirates, have been waiting to spend their golden years with their daughter and grandchildren—a reward for

Editor (2020-11-27). What Simon & Schuster's Acquisition Would Mean for American Publishing. scheerpost.com Dan DeLuca / CC BY 2.0] By Steve Wasserman / Original to ScheerPost The recent news that Bertelsmann, the German owner of the publishing empire PenguinRandomHouse, has made an all-cash offer of $2 billion to acquire Simon & Schuster, continues the relentless conglomeration that has marked global publishing for the past forty-plus years. If approved, the deal will leave only four gigantic… |

Brian Berletic (2020-11-27). Video: Why US-Funded Mobs Are Attacking Thai-Chinese Relations. globalresearch.ca Thailand's ongoing US-funded anti-government protests aren't "pro-democracy," they are anti-Chinese. | Just like in Hong Kong, the US is attempting to create crisis for China and its allies and impede both China's and Asia's rise upon the global stage. | I go …

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Breaking barricades, braving repression, farmers reach Indian capital Delhi. peoplesdispatch.org Tens of thousands of farmers rallied to India capital city New Delhi from the neighboring States, primarily from Haryana and Punjab. Despite everything the govt. threw at them, they marched on…

Christopher Robertson (2020-11-27). Conservatives backed the ideas behind Obamacare, so how did they come to hate it?>. salon.com Republicans like Newt Gingrich were the ones who came up with the blueprint for the Affordable Care Act…

_____ (2020-11-27). U.S. Election 'Success'… And Hey Presto 'Russian Interference' Disappears. strategic-culture.org The United States' election victory of Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden has yet to be officially confirmed. That requires the 500-plus Electoral College comprising the 50 federal states to cast the final vote when the constitutional body meets on December 14. Biden holds a commanding lead of over 300 delegates in the Electoral College, more than 70 above Donald Trump's quota and decisively more than the 270 threshold required for election to the White House. | Nonetheless, already one thing is indisputably clear. Biden's nominal victory from the popular vote tallies is glaring proof that Russia did not i…

WSWS (2020-11-27). 'Popoy' Lagman: A Stalinist rival of the Communist Party of the Philippines. wsws.org While he rejected the armed struggle in the countryside, Lagman, like Sison, sought to subordinate Filipino workers to their class enemies, the bourgeoisie, in the name of national democracy.

Chauncey DeVega (2020-11-27). Take Trump's coup seriously. It's no joke — and Biden's win was just a sugar high. salon.com There's nothing "normal" about this moment. Even if Trump reluctantly leaves office, immense damage has been done…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Iran offers full commitment to JCPOA if Biden decides to re-join the nuclear deal and lift all sanctions. peoplesdispatch.org The Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the deal in May 2018 and imposed various sanctions against Iran without any international approval…

Margaret Kimberley (2020-11-26). Freedom Rider: Censorship in the Biden era. mronline.org The corporate media have joined the incoming administration in deciding what we can and cannot see and hear.

Stephen Lendman (2020-11-26). US Propaganda War on China. globalresearch.ca US trade, legislative and propaganda war rage against China. | Will it turn hot after hawkish interventionists infesting the Biden/Harris regime's national security team take over in January? | Is what's unthinkable possible? What's gone on since the Obama/Biden regime's 2013 Asia …

Otto Koenig and Richard Detje (2020-11-26). Bolivia – the left returns to power. indybay.org The Bolivian people have proven that reason, dignity and fighting spirit cannot be suppressed either by a military coup or by government repression. The election result has implications not only for Bolivia, where it is an important step towards the restoration of democracy, but for the entire Latin American region in terms of democracy, national independence and economic and social progress.

sputniknews (2020-11-26). Trump Says COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery to Begin Next Week. sputniknews.com The US president previously said that the vaccine would be available before the 3 November presidential election, prompting criticism from Democrats who believed he was rushing its development.

teleSUR (2020-11-26). Millions of Farmers and Workers Protest Across India. telesurenglish.net India witnessed on Thursday the march of thousands of farmers to New Delhi and a national strike to which 250 million workers were called. | RELATED: | The states of Kerala, Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh were the scene of massive demonstrations by farmers against laws that allow large traders to purchase products directly from farmers. | "Instead of guaranteeing prices and bringing security to the mark…

Thomas Knapp (2020-11-26). American in Transition: What's the Hurry? counterpunch.org A November 23 headline at ABC News reads: "Joe Biden's presidential transition allowed to proceed after 16-day standoff." The 16 days in question, ABC tells us, are the 16 days since Biden "clinched the presidency." "Clinched the presidency" is ABC News-speak for "the media decided he won." In point of fact, the 2020 presidential election

DLI (2020-11-26). Bourgeois Democracy: Tyranny of the Minority. indybay.org The Nov. 3 Presidential election came close to being a third time that a minority-elected candidate got selected as the White House Occupant. Had 200,000 more ballots–less than 1/5 of 1% of total U.S. votes cast–in Michigan and Pennsylvania been cast in T-Rump's favor, the U.S. would have witnessed an absurd Tyranny of a Minority for the third time in the last 20 years. Only in the "Corporate-bin-Laden" media cocoon would the U.S. electoral system be deemed as the " beacon of democracy."

teleSUR (2020-11-26). TeleSUR Signal Returns to Bolivian Television. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Vice President David Choquehuanca announced that as of Wednesday teleSUR multi-media platform's signal will return to the Bolivian television after a year of being off the air by order of the coup-born regime led by Jeanine Añez. | RELATED: | "The signal of Latin America's most important multi-media is back. Censorship is not the path to people's democracy. Today we celebrate freedom of expression," Choquehuanca…

Amanda Marcotte (2020-11-26). Thank you, Gritty, for rallying with us to save our democracy. salon.com The chaotic orange mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers became an icon of democracy in 2020…

sputniknews (2020-11-26). Trump Says Will Vacate White House if Electoral College Votes for Biden. sputniknews.com The incumbent US president has so far refused to concede to what he called "election fraud", vowing to continue his legal battle to ensure that all ballots cast in the 3 November election are legitimate.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-26). Biden's Cabinet likely to get US mired in more wars. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (MNA) — Projected President-elect Joe Biden's top cabinet selections, deeply tied to the defense industry, will likely ensure US troops get stuck in more intractable military conflicts, analysts say.

Prof. Marjorie Cohn (2020-11-25). Biden's Victory Does Not Guarantee a Progressive Agenda. We Must Fight for It. globalresearch.ca Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump is monumental. After four years of nonstop cruelty against workers, the poor, people of color, women, LBGTQ folks, immigrants, Muslims, the environment, the climate, and the foreign victims of Trump's bombs, we can …

Norman Solomon (2020-11-25). Hey Joe, Where You Going With That Pentagon in Your Hands? counterpunch.org By all accounts, the frontrunner to be Joe Biden's pick for Secretary of Defense is Michèle Flournoy. It's a prospect that should do more than set off alarm bells — it should be understood as a scenario for the president-elect to stick his middle fingers in the eyes of Americans who are fed up with endless war

Rosemarie Ho (2020-11-25). Bryan Washington on Fiction 'Outside the Bounds of Trauma'. thenation.com Bryan Washington on Fiction 'Outside the Bounds of Trauma'

Pip Hinman (2020-11-25). ADF revelations show war itself is the crime. greenleft.org.au Australia's role in Afghanistan wasn't a contribution to the cause of global peace or democracy: it helped destroy a country, argues Nick Riemer.