The Most Lethal Virus Is Not COVID. It Is War
John Pilger | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-15
John Pilger describes the invisible weapon of past and current wars, and the threat of nuclear war, under cover of the Covid pandemic. This is propaganda, aided by censorship by omission. | Watch Pilger's 2010 film The War You Don't See…
globalresearch.ca/most-lethal-virus-not-covid-war/5732310

The Most Lethal Virus is Not COVID. It is War
John Pilger | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-15
In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Boris Johnson has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defence spending — a figure that would restore the under-resourced NHS many times over.
counterpunch.org/2020/12/15/the-most-lethal-virus-is-not-covid-it-is-war/

Brexit Bluster Exposes the Waning of English Power
Patrick Cockburn | counterpunch.org | 2020-12-15
I met pleased and gloomy people in the first half of last year when I travelled around the UK writing about the potential impact of Brexit. But by far the happiest of those I interviewed were veteran Irish republicans in Belfast, mostly present or past members of Sinn Fein, who had devoted their lives to…
counterpunch.org/2020/12/15/brexit-bluster-exposes-the-waning-of-english-power/

Trump Still Contesting Stolen Election 2020
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-15
"We wuz robbed" applies to US Election 2020 — decided by brazen fraud for losers Biden/Harris over winner Trump. | An illegitimate process prevailed over an open, free and fair one — the latter prohibited in all US federal elections for …
globalresearch.ca/trump-still-contesting-stolen-election-2020/5732292

As COVID Surges Behind Bars in California, Why Is San Quentin Transferring Hundreds of Prisoners?
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-15
Prisons across the U.S. are facing their greatest swell in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Nearly a quarter-million incarcerated people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19, according to the Marshall Project, and advocates are pushing for incarcerated people to be prioritized in the country's vaccine rollout. All of California's state prisons have active coronavirus cases, but the California Department of Corrections is continuing to transfer incarcerated people between institutions. San Quentin State Prison has begun the transfer of nearly 300 incarcerated people to other institutions…
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/15/san_quentin_prison_covid_outbreak

Rouhani Tells Biden How to Get the Iran Deal Back on Track
Editor | scheerpost.com | 2020-12-15
Asia Society / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] By Juan Cole / Informed Comment Iranian president Hassan Rouhani was asked Tuesday in an interview with a state-owned news outlet under what conditions Iran would return to the 2015 nuclear deal with the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5), including the U.S., plus Germany (+1) He replied, "A thing we are saying today is that if tomorrow morning the… | Source…
scheerpost.com/2020/12/15/rouhani-tells-biden-how-to-get-the-iran-deal-back-on-track/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rouhani-tells-biden-how-to-get-the-iran-deal-back-on-track

Biden Urges To 'Turn the Page' After Electoral College Victory
telesurenglish.net | 2020-12-15
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday night urged the nation to "turn the page" to unite and heal after the Electoral College vote made his victory official. | RELATED: | Biden Administration To Face China's Presence in Latin America | The electors cast 306 votes for Biden and 232 for Donald Trump based on the 2020 election results in their respective states. To clinch the White House, a candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes of the 538 in total. | "I will be a president…
telesurenglish.net/news/Biden-Urges-To-Turn-the-Page-After-Electoral-College-Victory-20201215-0003.html

India's Farmer Revolt
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-12-15
The farmers' struggle taking place now on the borders of Delhi and its neighbouring states is one of the most important mass agitations that India has seen in its three decades of neoliberal reforms. | Since 26 November, hundreds of thousands of farmers have congregated on the borders of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. At the beginning, most of them were from the state of Punjab, located about 200 km from Delhi, but many more have since joined from the state of Haryana, which abuts Delhi on three sides, and then from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as well. With their caravans, the farmers ha…
popularresistance.org/indias-farmer-revolt/

Biden and the JCPOA: Lessons from Arab and Iranian Public Opinion
James J. Zogby | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-15
With Joe Biden as President-elect and Donald Trump soon leaving the White House, analysts are engaging in endless speculation about what this change in administrations will mean for the future of the JCPOA, the "nuclear deal" negotiated between the P5+1 …
globalresearch.ca/biden-jcpoa-lessons-arab-iranian-public-opinion/5732341

Bezos, McConnell, and COVID Capitalism
Robert Reich | zcomm.org | 2020-12-15
As Mitch McConnell and his fellow Senate Republicans should know, the richest nation in the world can easily afford to provide every American adequate income support during this national emergency…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/bezos-mcconnell-and-covid-capitalism/

Relief Package Gives Retroactive Immunity to Corporations From COVID Lawsuits
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-15
One piece of a bipartisan Covid-19 relief package unveiled late Monday would give corporations sweeping and retroactive immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits, a top Republican priority that civil rights groups, labor unions, a…
truthout.org/articles/relief-package-gives-retroactive-immunity-to-corporations-from-covid-lawsuits/

Regardless of Who Occupies the White House, The Decadent Trajectory of Neoliberalism Continues
US Peace Council | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-15
November 3rd has passed and slightly more than a third of the eligible electorate chose the Democrat, slightly less than a third the Republican, and the remaining third chose none of the above by either not voting or casting …
globalresearch.ca/statement-us-peace-council-2020-us-elections/5732307

The Heat: U.S. politics and COVID-19
Sean Callebs | america.cgtn.com | 2020-12-15
The Electoral College votes to confirm the next president of the United States. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 deaths passes 300,000 in the U.S. as the first vaccinations begin. Nearly six weeks after Americans cast their ballots to elect Joe Biden as the next president, …
america.cgtn.com/2020/12/15/the-heat-u-s-politics-and-covid-19

DeSantis Sued for Withholding White House Report Slamming His COVID Response
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-15
Two Florida newspapers sued Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Republican withheld a White House Coronavirus Task Force report urging the state to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions amid a large spike in infections in the Sunshine State. | The Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel filed a lawsuit last week accusing the governor…
truthout.org/articles/desantis-sued-for-withholding-white-house-report-slamming-his-covid-response/

Serenade Behind a Floating Stage
Shangyang Fang | thenation.com | 2020-12-15
Serenade Behind a Floating Stage…
thenation.com/article/culture/serenade-behind-a-floating-stage/

Frederick Wiseman's 'City Hall': Let us now praise democracy
Michael Berkowitz | peoplesworld.org | 2020-12-15
Director Frederick Wiseman has gifted us with a movie for our times. City Hall is all about democracy–how it works, who does it, and why it is so vital. In a time of authoritarian challenges, it could not be more important. Wiseman's documentary is a brilliant mosaic. He pieces together the work of civil servants …
peoplesworld.org/article/frederick-wisemans-city-hall-let-us-now-praise-democracy/

Germany Unlikely to Pursue Independent Foreign Policy. Will Follow Biden
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-12-14
In an interview with The Guardian in June, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germans grew up knowing that the U.S. wanted to be a world power. Despite Washington abusing its power against some of its strongest allies, Germany, whose six-month …
globalresearch.ca/germany-unlikely-pursue-independent-foreign-policy-follow-biden/5732223

'The Actual Scandalous Headline Is Medics Need Two Jobs to Survive': AOC Defends Paramedic Outed by NY Post
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday night was among those who came to the defense of a New York City paramedic who the New York Post outed and attempted to shame in a recent article about her decision to earn extra money via nude modeling. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1213863341.png …
commondreams.org/news/2020/12/14/actual-scandalous-headline-medics-need-two-jobs-survive-aoc-defends-paramedic-outed?cd-origin=rss

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Asks City to Detail COVID-19 Safety Measures at Rikers Island
commondreams.org | 2020-12-14
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commondreams.org/newswire/2020/12/14/rep-ocasio-cortez-asks-city-detail-covid-19-safety-measures-rikers-island?cd-origin=rss

John Pilger: The Most Lethal Virus Is Not COVID. It Is War
John Pilger | mintpressnews.com | 2020-12-14
In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Britain has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defense spending.
mintpressnews.com/john-pilger-lethal-virus-not-covid-war/273597/

The 126 GOP House Reps Who Tried to Overthrow Democracy Must Not Be Seated
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-12-14
Merriam-Webster defines the word "treason" as "the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance." There are 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who did just that in broad daylight last week. | Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's absurd attempt to overthrow the 2020 elections was flatly rejected on Friday night by the Supreme Court. Coming hard after that court's equally unequivocal dismissal of a Pennsylvan…
truthout.org/articles/the-126-gop-house-reps-who-tried-to-overthrow-democracy-must-not-be-seated/

Greta Thunberg: 5 Years After Paris Agreement, World Is "Speeding in the Wrong Direction" on Climate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who launched the global Fridays for Future youth climate movement, issued a stark warning on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement that the world is not doing enough to keep global heating below 2 degrees Celsius — the target set in the landmark 2015 deal. "The gap between what we need to do and what is actually being done is widening by the minute. We are still speeding in the wrong direction," Thunberg said in a video message posted on social media.
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/greta_thunberg_paris_agreement_5th_anniversary

Shut It Down: Calls Grow to Close Fort Hood After Probe into Murders & Sexual Assaults at Army Base
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
The U.S. Army has fired or suspended 14 officers and soldiers stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, following an investigation into sexual assaults and murders at the base, including the bludgeoning to death of 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillén, whose remains were found in July. "These are institutional failures at scale. And by the Army's own admission, and in this report, it's clear that this is not unique to Fort Hood," says Pam Campos-Palma, an Air Force veteran who leads the Vets for the People project at the Working Families Party. "The military is dealing with large-scale corruption and crime, and it should be…
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/fort_hood_investigation_murders_assault

Vaccine Equity: Why Communities of Color & Incarcerated People Should Get Early Access to Shots
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-12-14
As the first shipments of a federally approved COVID-19 vaccine arrive across the United States, healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes will receive the first shipments, and epidemiologist Camara Phyllis Jones says communities of color with high rates of COVID-19 should also get consideration for early access.
www.democracynow.org/2020/12/14/camara_phyllis_jones_vaccine_equity

Actions in SF, Oakland & San Jose To Demand Dropping Of Charges Against Assange/Snowden
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-12-14
Speak-outs were held at the Congressional offices of Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Zoe Lofgren and the home of Nancy Pelosi on December 10 /11 to call for support for Congressional Resolutions 1175 and 1162 which called for dropping the charges against Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. A statement was already read by fomer OSHA WPP Investigator and lawyer Darrell Whitman representing Whistleblowers United.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/12/13/18838916.php