Daily Archives: November 17, 2020

2020-11-17: News Headlines

Mark Gruenberg (2020-11-17). Newly revealed documents show Nixon, Kissinger plotted Allende overthrow from day one. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Almost from the very minute elected Socialist/Marxist President Salvador Allende took office in Chile in November 1970, Republican U.S. President Richard Nixon and his top officials were scared of his example and his impact—and determined to oust him. That's the conclusion that can be drawn from a new group of memos on the U.S. campaign …

Binoy Kampmark (2020-11-17). A Dedicated Obsession: Washington's Continuing Iran Sanctions Regime. counterpunch.org One dogma that is likely to persist in US foreign policy during a Biden presidency will be the sanctions regime adopted towards Iran. Every messianic state craves clearly scripted enemies, and the demonology about the Islamic Republic is not going to go begging. Elliot Abrams, the current US special representative for Iran, told Associated Press

Norman Solomon (2020-11-17). Corporate Democrats Are to Blame for Congressional Losses. indybay.org So Naturally They're Blaming Progressives…

Norman Solomon (2020-11-17). Corporate Democrats are to blame for congressional losses — so naturally they're blaming progressives. nationofchange.org Those who denounce the fight for a progressive agenda are telling us that, in essence, they don't want much to change.

_____ (2020-11-17). Biden's transition team is filled with war profiteers, Beltway chickenhawks, and corporate consultants. strategic-culture.org A glance at the Biden-Harris agency review teams should provide a rude awakening to anyone who believed a Biden administration could be "pushed to the left." | Kevin GOSZTOLA | An eye-popping array of corporate consultants, war profiteers, and national security hawks have been appointed by President-elect Joe Biden to agency review teams that will set the agenda for his administration. A substantial percentage of them worked in the United States government when Barack Obama was president. | The

Raul Diego (2020-11-17). Yes, Election Fraud is Real. And its a Longstanding Tradition on Both Sides of the Aisle. mintpressnews.com As allegations of election fraud continue to swirl almost two weeks since the 2020 election, the contours of a galvanized bipartisan ruling class in America are beginning to emerge in the wake of democracy's demise…

Staff (2020-11-17). Indigenous Communities on the Frontline as Two Climate Change-Fueled Hurricanes Slam Central America. democracynow.org Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua Monday as a Category 4 storm, just two weeks after Hurricane Eta devastated communities across Central America and caused widespread destruction. Iota is the strongest November hurricane to ever hit Nicaragua. "It's caused a lot of damages to the most vulnerable peoples, which tends to be Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and Black communities all across Central America," says Giovanni Batz, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis, who has been in touch with people reeling from Hurricane Eta.

Staff (2020-11-17). "No End in Sight": 9 Months into Pandemic, Nurses Are Tired, Demoralized & Still Lack Adequate PPE. democracynow.org As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its ninth month, a new report by National Nurses United, the largest nurses' union in the United States, finds hospitals are still failing to provide adequate PPE and are unprepared as the surge is expected to get worse during the flu season. Nurses also report mental health struggles related to the pandemic. The union estimates at least 2,000 frontline healthcare workers have died due to COVID-19, with nurses of color accounting for half of those deaths, even though they're less than a quarter of the workforce. Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, says the lack of prepa…

Staff (2020-11-17). With COVID Vaccines on the Horizon, U.S. Urged to Help Ensure Equitable Distribution Across Globe. democracynow.org As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll nears 250,000, drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna have both announced promising vaccine trial results showing over 90% effectiveness in preventing illness. But officials and health experts warn widespread distribution of a vaccine for the coronavirus — which has killed 1.2 million people across the globe — will be tremendously difficult to store and distribute. Vaccine researcher Dr. Saad Omer calls the recent news "reassuring" but says drugmakers need to be much more transparent about their data and issue more than just press releases. "There should be a little bit more det…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-11-17). Robert Reich: Capitalism makes it hard to keep democracy going. peoplesworld.org BERKELEY, Calif.—Rising income inequality, to levels unseen for almost a century, makes it "hard to keep an economy" and a democracy going, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says. Ditto for the U.S. version of the capitalist system, he adds. Reich, now a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said the growing chasm between …

Alex MacDonald (2020-11-17). Barack Obama's legacy in the Middle East: Six things we learned from 'A Promised Land'. middleeasteye.net Barack Obama's legacy in the Middle East: Six things we learned from 'A Promised Land' | In his latest memoir, the former president discusses being pressured by the Israel lobby, Bahrain's assault on the pro-democracy movement, and the vagaries of having 12 wives | Tue, 11/17/2020 – 16: 21 | Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) and his US counterpart Barack Obama take part in a welcoming ceremon…

Thomas Knapp (2020-11-17). How Joe Biden Can Score a Major Foreign Policy Win on Day One of his Presidency. counterpunch.org "President-elect Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal," writes Tom O'Connor at Newsweek. "But a return is set to face challenges on both sides as they attempt to rebuild trust in a radically different environment than five years ago."

teleSUR (2020-11-17). Biden Says US and Its Allies Need To Counter Chinese Influence. telesurenglish.net Only days away after China signed a major trade deal in the Asia Pacific area that encompasses roughly one-third of the world's gross domestic product and population, making it the largest free-trade agreement ever signed, the U.S. President-elect reacted during a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware. | RELATED: | On Monday, Biden said the United States needed to negotiate with allies to set global trading rules to…

Editor (2020-11-17). The New Politics of the Poor in Biden's (and McConnell's) USA. scheerpost.com McConnell Center / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] By Liz Theoharis / TomDispatch In the two weeks since Election 2020, the country has oscillated between joy and anger, hope and dread in an era of polarization sharpened by the forces of racism, nativism, and hate. Still, truth be told, though the divisive tone of this moment may only be sharpening, division in the United States of America is not a new… |

Zoya Teirstein (2020-11-17). These freshman House Republicans might actually care about climate change. salon.com Republicans made gains in Congress. But it's not all bad news for future climate legislation…

Phil Galewitz (2020-11-17). Red States' case against ACA hinges on whether they were actually harmed by the law. salon.com The Republican-led states are trying to prove they were harmed by the 2010 health law…

Richard Kreitner (2020-11-17). American Democracy Was Never Supposed to Work. thenation.com American Democracy Was Never Supposed to Work…

Amanda Marcotte (2020-11-17). Hey, Republicans — your guy lost. Can you please take the coronavirus seriously now?>. salon.com Coronavirus denialism was entirely about helping Trump win the election — so can his voters move on now it's over?>

Sam Pizzigati (2020-11-17). Why Can't Inner-Ring Democrats Just Say 'No' to Billionaires? counterpunch.org Have you heard the latest about the strategic political genius of billionaire Michael Bloomberg? The political brilliance, you might skeptically ask, of Michael Bloomberg? The same Michael Bloomberg who had to spend a record $99 per vote to get himself elected mayor of New York in 2001, another $112 per vote four years later to

Ruth Conniff (2020-11-17). Trump Team Seeks to 'Delay the Inevitable'. progressive.org In Wisconsin, as elsewhere, the Republicans' false claims of voter fraud are becoming undone.

Shane Quinn (2020-11-17). Will Biden Seek to De-escalate Tensions with China and Russia? globalresearch.ca A crucial advantage that China enjoys over its Western rivals, principally the United States, is the country's rebuffing of neoliberalism. Under its present leadership, Beijing's influence over corporations and private power has increased substantially. | By contrast to America, almost all …

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-11-16). 'Absolutely Sickening': US Military Buys Location Data Harvested From Apps, Including One for Muslim Prayers. commondreams.org "The military industrial complex and the surveillance state have always had a cozy relationship with tech. Buying bulk data in order to profile Muslims is par for the course for them," says Rep. Ilhan Omar. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-8973754621.jpg

Paul Street (2020-11-16). This Regime Must Go NOW: Three Reasons. counterpunch.org The Trump campaign and White House are scheming to get the Republican-controlled state legislatures of Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania to declare invalid the mail-in ballots required by the pandemic Trump fueled and fanned across the nation. This would be the pretext for some or all those legislatures trying to install (over the protests of Democratic governors in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan) un-elected slates of Trump electors to the Electoral College, claiming that Trump won the "legal" popular vote in their states. The murky legal and constitutional tangle that could result fro…

Staff (2020-11-16). Florida 'rights of nature' amendment protects ecosystems and the right to clean water. therealnews.com Chuck O'Neal of the Florida Rights of Nature Network and Thomas Linzey of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights joined TRNN on Election Day to discuss how regulation of environmental destruction isn't enough to protect ecosystems for future generations.

RT (2020-11-16). Biden says 'ONLY REASON' Americans question Covid-19 vaccines is Trump. rt.com Saying he would personally take a coronavirus vaccine if Dr. Anthony Fauci and its makers told him it was safe, Democrat Joe Biden claimed the only reason Americans would distrust the jab is — President Donald Trump. | "I wouldn't hesitate to get the vaccine, if in fact Dr. Fauci [and Moderna or Pfizer] conclude it's safe," Biden said on Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, addressing the media who have anointed him president-elect. | Pfizer announced a "90 percent effective" jab last week, followed by Moderna's

Staff (2020-11-16). Ceasefire Ends in Occupied Western Sahara After U.S.-Backed Moroccan Military Launches Operation. democracynow.org A nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara — what many consider to be Africa's last colony. Fighting has broken out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence, after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara. For the past three weeks, Sahrawi civilian protesters had blocked a Morocco-built road in the area that Sahrawis consider to be illegal. The peaceful blockade backed up traffic for miles and cut off trade between Morocco and Mauritania to the south. The P…

Staff (2020-11-16). "I Need That Pardon": Ronnie Long, Free After 44 Years, Demands Justice for His Wrongful Conviction. democracynow.org "It's a blessing within itself for me to even be sitting here right now," says Ronnie Long, free after 44 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Long, who is African American, was convicted in 1976 of raping a white woman by an all-white jury and sentenced to 80 years in prison. In 2015, his lawyers learned that investigators had withheld exculpatory evidence proving his innocence — including semen samples and fingerprints taken from the crime scene that did not match his own — and witnesses for the state committed perjury at his trial. It would take several more years and a ruling by the 4t…

Editor (2020-11-16). There's Still No Evidence Hunter Biden's Emails Are 'Russian Disinformation'. scheerpost.com Wikimedia Commons] By Glenn Greenwald / Substack Congressman Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and, not coincidentally, the single most shameless pathological liar in the U.S. Congress by a good margin, appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on October 16 to discuss The New York Post story about Hunter Biden's emails. The CNN host asked him a rhetorical question embedded… |

Igor Derysh (2020-11-16). Perdue backs out of debate after being called a "crook," Ossoff will face off against empty podium. salon.com Ahead of their runoff election in Georgia, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff calls Sen. David Perdue "a coward, too"

commondreams (2020-11-16). How the Biden Administration Should Prepare for the Next Pandemic. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Matthew Rozsa (2020-11-16). Can Joe Biden find a student loan forgiveness plan that will make everyone happy?>. salon.com Biden confidants are advising the president-elect to forgive student debt in some form. Is there one right answer?>

commondreams (2020-11-16). Greenpeace Urges Joe Biden To Reject Ernest Moniz and Choose Climate Champions for Cabinet. commondreams.org ______________________________…

teleSUR (2020-11-16). Bolsonaro-Backed Candidates Defeated in Brazil's Local Elections. telesurenglish.net The electoral results of the main Brazilian cities show the defeat of the candidates supported by President Jair Bolsonaro, favoring the candidates of the center and the moderate right. | RELATED: | In Sao Paulo, the city with the most voters in the country, the current mayor, Bruno Covas, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), took the lead with nearly a third of the votes, 32.8 percent. | However, Covas will…