Daily Archives: December 10, 2021

2021-12-10: News Headlines

Editor2 (2021-12-10). Australia has Sacrificed Julian Assange to the United States. orinocotribune.com By Saskia Peachey — Dic 4, 2021 | The US is fighting tooth and nail to get Julian Assange extradited to an American prison. Ever the dutiful ally, the Australian government is effectively giving over Assange, and flouting any commitment to human rights, freedom of the press, and democracy in the process. | The United States has resumed its extradition campaign against Australian journalist Julian Assange with renewed fervor. In January this year, UK district judge Vanessa Baraitser had

Staff (2021-12-10). "Terrible Step": Press Freedom in Danger as U.K. Court Clears the Way for Julian Assange Extradition to U.S. democracynow.org WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could soon face charges in the United States after a U.K. court ruled Friday in favor of the U.S. government's appeal to extradite him. U.K. Judge Timothy Holroyde said he was satisfied with a pledge from the United States that Assange would not be held in a so-called ADX maximum-security prison in Colorado, despite a U.K. district court ruling in January that said Assange should not be extradited because it would be "oppressive" due to his mental health and that he would likely die by suicide in a U.S. prison. "They can't guarantee his safety in the U.S. prison system. He will li…

Staff (2021-12-10). Headlines for December 10, 2021. democracynow.org U.K. Court Will Allow Extradition of Julian Assange to U.S. to Face Espionage Charges, Venezuela's Juan Guaidó, Who Led Failed Coup Efforts, Speaks at White House Democracy Summit, Federal Court Rejects Trump's Bid to Keep January 6 Records Secret, New York Attorney General Letitia James Ends Gubernatorial Bid, Will Subpoena Trump, National Guard Called Out as COVID-19 Cases Overwhelm U.S. Hospitals, WHO Warns Rich Countries Against Vaccine Hoarding as Omicron Variant Spreads , Truck Carrying Asylum Seekers Crashes in Mexico, Killing 54 and Injuring Over 100, Award-Winning Filipino Journalist Jesus Malabanan, Who…

Dr. Matthew Crosston (2021-12-10). NATO's Projectile Dysfunction: Deterring Russia and Ukrainian Bluffs. moderndiplomacy.eu The shrill lamentations over Ukraine are reaching fever pitch here in the United States: The New York Times discusses how Ukrainian commanders say a Russian invasion would overwhelm them. CNN reports that Biden promises withering sanctions if Russia invades. Military.com is devoting first page space on its site to how the US military could mobilize …

_____ (2021-12-10). The Chief Outcome From the Two-Hour Biden-Putin Summit. strategic-culture.org By Eric ZUESSE | The two-hour December 7th Biden-Putin conversation (via video-conference) focused mainly on the conflict between Ukraine and its breakaway former Donbass region, which is in Ukraine's far east and borders on Russia. | In order to understand the conversation, some basic history that produced the current situation there needs to be stated, because this is the point-of-reference behind the summit-conversation that occurred on December 7th: | The 5 September 2014 Minsk Protocol, and its followup 12 February 2015 Minsk II Agreement, established the agreements between Ukraine and the Donbass breakaway…

_____ (2021-12-10). The Fierce Determination of Ordinary People to Build an Extraordinary World. popularresistance.org United States President Joe Biden has suborned 111 countries to attend his Summit for Democracy on December 9—10, ending on Human Rights Day. 'We welcome all countries, organizations, and individuals to support the goals of the Summit', the US State Department wrote. However, there are 82 countries that have not been invited, including two large countries that are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the People's Republic of China and Russia) and two small countries from the Caribbean (Cuba and Haiti). In the name of democracy, the US government is pushing its own agenda to consolidate…

Vijay Prashad (2021-12-10). The fierce determination of ordinary people to build an extraordinary world: The Forty-Ninth Newsletter (2021). mronline.org United States President Joe Biden has suborned 111 countries to attend his Summit for Democracy on December 9—10, ending on Human Rights Day.

Editor (2021-12-10). Biden's Summit for Democracy: International NGOs express concern that Summit will ignore India's descent to fascism. mronline.org Groups extend offer to Biden to provide input to help make the summit a success.

Editor (2021-12-10). U.S. shouldn't be invited to Summit for Democracy, let alone be its host. mronline.org In every one of the countries the United States has intervened in over the past decades, anti-democratic means are almost always used towards anti-democratic ends, all in the name of promoting democracy.

WSWS (2021-12-10). The "Summit for Democracy": Biden gathers anti-democratic forces against Russia and China. wsws.org The function of Biden's summit is to escalate global pressure on Russia and China while dressing this up as a defense of "democracy" against "autocracy."

Alfred de Zayas (2021-12-10). Biden's Democracy Summit Is a PR Stunt. We Need Real International Democracy. truthout.org President Joe Biden's ill-conceived virtual "Summit for Democracy" on December 9-10 is really a public relations extravaganza that's likely to backfire on the United States, because democracy is not a commodity, nor is it a Kalashnikov to be aimed at geopolitical rivals. President Biden is using an obsolete playbook, and his advisers should have told him that the stunt will convince only those who already believe in the myth of U.S. democracy. It will not gain the U.S. any new friends. | Accord…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-10). US senate rejects resolution seeking ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. peoplesdispatch.org The resolution presented jointly by some Republican and Democrat senators sought to limit the sale of US weapons to Saudi Arabia due to its involvement in the war in Yemen and its alleged war crimes…

Ann Garrison, Ann Fitz-Gerald (2021-12-10). Biden Deploys National Guard: It's "Déjà Vu All Over Again" as Government Hawks and Corporate Media Play Up Ethiopian Atrocities in Tigray. covertactionmagazine.com Twelve days after a Bloomberg Nov. 11 Headline proclaimed that "Ethiopia's Civil War Is a Problem That U.S. Troops Can …

Fight Back (2021-12-10). Ethiopian community rallies in Dallas against U.S. intervention. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – Hundreds of members of Dallas's large Ethiopian community rallied outside Dallas City Hall on November 21 against U.S. intervention in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The protest was associated with the nationwide #NoMore movement and was called by community members, though the rally was also attended by members of the All African People's Revolutionary Party and the Dallas Anti-War Committee. | A community spokeswoman talked about the sanctions and diplomatic moves that the Biden administration has taken against Ethiopia in recent weeks, stating, "The Biden administration actions are a pretext to ge…

Caitlin A. Johnstone (2021-12-10). Super serious news reporting: notes from the Edge of The Narrative Matrix. mronline.org Hi I'm a very serious news reporter. The Russians are controlling our thoughts with Facebook memes and scrambling our brains with invisible ray gun attacks. In other news, capitalism is working fine and our wars defend freedom and democracy. The government never lies. Here's Bob with the weather.

WSWS (2021-12-10). Australian Labor Party helps government ram through another anti-democratic electoral law. wsws.org The latest bipartisan bill deepens the attack on basic democratic rights made when the two ruling parties joined hands in August to rush through party deregistration laws.

Sharon Zhang (2021-12-10). Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Celebrate Starbucks Workers' Historic Union Victory. truthout.org Progressive lawmakers are celebrating after Starbucks workers in Buffalo triumphed over nearly insurmountable odds to form the company's first-ever union on Thursday, a sign that the reawakening U.S. labor movement is growing stronger. | Workers at

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-12-10). Washington Rewards Corruption of Popular Will Party. orinocotribune.com In an ironic maneuver displaying the White House's complete lack of political awareness, the Joe Biden administration claimed the right to declare who can be considered corrupt and who cannot, delivering an "award" within the framework of International Anti-Corruption Day, this December 9. | As expected, the White House took the opportunity to give a boost to its allies on the Venezuelan extreme right, by including one of the spokespersons of the Popular Will organization on the list of beneficiaries of Biden's recognition. Many Venezuelans refer to the Popular Will party as "Juan Guaidó and the 40 thieves" due t…

teleSUR (2021-12-10). Honduras: Hernandez to Complicate Incoming President Castro. telesurenglish.net Honduran social and political organizations denounced that outgoing president Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) intends to pass last minute laws with the aim of complicating the government of president-elect Xiomara Castro, who will take office on January 27. | RELATED: | On Thursday night, the right-wing-controlled Congress received two bills: one seeking to establish "protections" for public officials and former high-l…

_____ (2021-12-10). Ten Problems With Biden's Foreign Policy — And One Solution. popularresistance.org By and large, Biden's foreign policy already seems stuck in the militarist quagmire of the past twenty years, a far cry from his campaign promise to reinvigorate diplomacy as the primary tool of U.S. foreign policy. | In this respect, Biden is following in the footsteps of Obama and Trump, who both promised fresh approaches to foreign policy but for the most part delivered more endless war. | By the end of his second term, Obama did have two significant diplomatic achievements with the signing of the Iran nuclear deal and normalization of relations with Cuba. So progressive Americans who voted for Biden had some…

David Cavendish (2021-12-10). La cumbre de democracia de Biden es un buen momento para debatir la 'Bill of Rights Socialism'. peoplesworld.org La democracia estadounidense está en peligro. Solo hay que seguir las noticias de los últimos años para darse cuenta de la peligrosa situación en la que se encuentra este país. El ejemplo más obvio y dramático fue la insurrección del 6 de enero, cuando una turba de partidarios de Donald Trump irrumpió en el Capitolio …

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2021-12-10). Ten contradictions that plague Biden's Democracy Summit. nationofchange.org Just as the people of Venezuela have not elected or appointed Juan Guaidó as their president, the people of the world have not elected or appointed the United States as the president or leader of all Earthlings.

Amy Goodman (2021-12-10). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset": Calls Grow to Keep Student Loan Moratorium. truthout.org Image Credit: The Intercept | As calls grow for Biden to extend the moratorium on student debt, we speak with the Debt Collective's Astra Taylor and feature her new film for The Intercept, "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset," animated by artist Molly Crabapple. The $15 trillion in U.S. household debt is "a form of wealth transfer" from the poor to the rich, Taylor says. "People are in debt by design." | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOOD…

Atilio A. Boron (2021-12-10). Estados Unidos: Una cumbre mentirosa. globalizacion.ca El presidente Joe Biden (foto) pasa revista a sus aliados para un probable —tal vez muy probable- enfrentamiento militar con China y Rusia. øEl pretexto?: una "Cumbre por la Democracia" acerca de cuya legitimidad muy pocos sinceramente creen. | Los gobiernos…

Staff (2021-12-10). "The Forever Prisoner": Alex Gibney on Abu Zubaydah, Held in Guantánamo Without Charge Since 2006. democracynow.org We speak with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney on his new film, "The Forever Prisoner," which follows the story of Guantánamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah, who was the first so-called high-value prisoner subjected to the CIA's torture program and has been indefinitely imprisoned since 2006 without charge. Nearly two decades after the start of the U.S. so-called war on terror, there are still 39 people detained in Guantánamo, where for years prisoners have detailed rampant torture and other horrific conditions. The Biden administration has so far refused to outline a clear plan and timeline for Guantánamo's cl…

Brittani Banks (2021-12-10). Joe Biden's Voting Rights Strategy Comes Into Focus. independentmediainstitute.org On December 6, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas for the second time in 2021 under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This lawsuit was for drawing congressional and state legislative districts following the 2020 census that "refused to recognize the state's growing minority electorate." In other words, districts intended to impede candidates of …

WSWS (2021-12-10). Mobilize the working class to stop the pandemic and the Omicron surge! wsws.org As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads globally, the Biden administration in the US and capitalist governments globally are approaching the pandemic with criminal recklessness.

Sasha Abramsky (2021-12-10). Trump's Revenge Against Georgia Republicans Could End Up Boosting Stacey Abrams. truthout.org Earlier this week, Donald Trump unleashed a civil war within the Republican Party in Georgia. | The war was a long time coming. Last year, Trump tried to pressure officials to change Georgia's presidential election result. Remember the infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the cornered and Raffensperge…

The Election Wizard (2021-12-10). Bombshell Document Dump on Pfizer Vaccine Data. globalresearch.ca What is contained in Pfizer's confidential report is detailed evidence on the impacts of the "vaccine" on mortality and morbidity. This data which emanates from the Horse's Mouth can be used to confront as well formulate legal procedures against Big Pharma, the governments, the WHO and the media.

_____ (2021-12-10). A Pause in the Talks between the US and North Korea Continues. journal-neo.org Since the failure of February 2019's summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, relations between the US and North Korea have been put on hold, with no active dialogue, but no nuclear crisis or military stand-off. On the one hand, Pyongyang has avoided any talks on the question of denuclearization. On the other hand, it is …

teleSUR (2021-12-10). US Court Rejects Trump's Bid To Conceal Records From House. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, the three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled to reject former President Donald Trump's bid to block the National Archives from turning over his administration's records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. | RELATED: | "The central question in this case is whether, despite the exceptional and imperative circumstances underlying the Committee's re…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-10). Right-Wing Authoritarianism and the Crisis of Education. libya360.wordpress.com Henry Giroux In the age of nascent fascism, it is irresponsible to insist on a politically neutral world where pedagogy is a banal transmission of noncontroversial facts. Image: Truthout The future of democracy in the United States will not be determined by the malignant decisions made by a reactionary group of Supreme Court Justices. Nor…

splcenter (2021-12-10). SPLC President: Marking International Human Rights Day as U.S. democracy is under attack. splcenter.org

Staff (2021-12-10). "Hold the Line": Watch Filipina Journalist Maria Ressa's Full Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech. democracynow.org Filipina journalist Maria Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov accepted the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression." "There are so many more journalists persecuted in the shadows with neither exposure nor support, and governments are doubling down with impunity," said Ressa in her acceptance speech at Friday's Nobel ceremony, which we play in full.

Eduardo Febbro (2021-12-10). El odio motoriza a la ultraderecha global. globalizacion.ca Las banderas del odio se mecen con la áspera virulencia de las palabras. El odio vende ideas y ha ido forjando la estructura de una suerte de movimiento político que llenó las democracias occidentales y sus satélites de agujeros negros…

WSWS (2021-12-10). The Kathleen Stock affair: Identity politics versus socialist politics and democratic rights. wsws.org After dominating life on campus for years, identity politics has produced two results: the machinery for anti-democratic crackdowns which can now be taken over by the government and the right, and a growing resentment against what calls itself "progressive" politics that greases the right's wheels.

WSWS (2021-12-10). A balance sheet of Angela Merkel's 16 years of rule in Berlin. wsws.org The axis of German politics has shifted far to the right under the Christian Democratic chancellor.

Nora Fernández (2021-12-10). Cumbre de Estados Unidos: Democracia y sanciones. globalizacion.ca Estados Unidos trata de imponer al mundo su definición ventajera de democracia y usarla en su Cumbre contra quienes se nieguen a su hegemonía y dominación. Como líder autoproclamado en estos asuntos, Estados Unidos parece ciego ante su propio fracaso…

WSWS (2021-12-10). Bob Dole, 1923-2021: Democrats mourn death of right-wing Republican. wsws.org An ardent reactionary, the Republican senator and presidential candidate is now treated as a political paragon.

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-10). CEO Takes Leave After Firing 900 Employees Over Zoom, Accused Them Of Stealing Time And Only Working 2 Hours A Day: How Many Hours Are Employees Really Working at Home? moguldom.com The CEO of Better.com has taken leave "effective immediately" after firing over 900 employees on a Zoom call with no warning and later accusing some of stealing time. The mortgage company's Founder and CEO Vishal Garg sent a memo stating he was "taking time off effective immediately," according to Insider. The story went viral last …

Finian Cunningham (2021-12-09). Biden's Empty Warning Over Putin's Straw Man "Invasion" dissidentvoice.org © Sputnik / Sergey Guneev As we enter the Christmas season that's just pantomime on Pennsylvania Avenue. The private video call which lasted two hours on Tuesday was eagerly anticipated around the world amid mounting tensions and fears of a military confrontation over Ukraine. The next day headlines in Western media outlets were laden with …

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-09). Ukraine: The Danger is NATO. libya360.wordpress.com Fabrizio Casari Putin-Biden summit focuses on Ukraine. Image: TASS The West had better abandon the war it has opened against Russia, China, India, Iran and others for absolute domination of the planet by a superpower that loses wars, markets and leadership every day. To think that the world will stand by while a decadent empire…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-09). Biden-Putin Teleconference: Putin Rejects Biden's Demand That U.S. Take Control Over Negotiations Between Ukraine and Its Former Donbass Region. covertactionmagazine.com The two-hour December 7th Biden-Putin conversation (via video-conference) focused mainly on the conflict between Ukraine and its breakaway former Donbass …

Peter Koenig (2021-12-09). China Winter Olympics: US Boycott. dissidentvoice.org President Biden, in full mood of marking "red lines" against Russia and Ukraine in a virtual meeting with Vladimir Putin, does not forget the importance of boycotting China's Winter Olympic Games. It's a diplomatic boycott only, so says Madame Jen Psaki, White House press secretary. Nevertheless, she and Biden are wishing the US sport-participants best …

_____ (2021-12-09). Biden's Hypocritical Democracy Summit. strategic-culture.org With his "Summit for Democracy," Joe Biden enthrones himself on the collapsed stage of American exceptionalism, writes Scott Ritter. | By Scott RITTER | Some campaign promises, it turns out, should not be kept. In

Brasil de Fato (2021-12-09). The US gathers allies against China in "Summit for Democracy" peoplesdispatch.org The United States, with an event dubbed "Summit for Democracy" to take place on December 9 and 10, claims to promote a celebration of democracy. According to the US government, the objective is to discuss with government authorities, civil society actors, and the private sector, three "key topics": countering authoritarianism, fighting against corruption, and advancing respect for human rights at home and abroad. In 2022, the goal is to hold the same meeting, but in person. | The summit has been widely criticized and is considered controversial because only the White House decides who gets in and who is kept outs…

teleSUR (2021-12-09). China, Russia: 'Summit For Democracy' Is US Propaganda As Usual. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, China and Russia denounced that President Joe Biden's "Summit for Democracy" is a propaganda event that only serves the U.S. own interests. | RELATED: | China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed the virtual meeting, saying that it has nothing to do with international justice or democracy, but rather about serving the U.S. own selfish gains and maintaining its hegemony. | "This is another example…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-12-09). AFT takes lead on push to increase state and local tax deduction. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON (PAI)—With Democratic President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act still hung up in the Senate, the Teachers (AFT) took the lead in pushing one element: A larger itemized personal income tax deduction for state and local tax (SALT) payments. "We're fighting for it," AFT President Randi Weingarten told an outdoor press conference December 8, …

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-09). Biden Deploys National Guard as Government Hawks and Corporate Media Play Up Ethiopian Atrocities in Tigray. libya360.wordpress.com Ann Garrison and Ann Fitz-Gerald A protester holds a banner denouncing USAID chief Samantha Power during a rally against TPLF rebels in Addis Ababa forces on August 08, 2021. [Source: africanews.com] Twelve days after a Bloomberg Nov. 11 Headline proclaimed that "Ethiopia's Civil War Is a Problem That U.S. Troops Can Help Solve," President Joe…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-12-09). AFGE gets legal win vs. ex-Pres. Trump's Education Department. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON —Union-hating former GOP Oval Office occupant Donald Trump and his Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, may both be gone, but workers keep racking up wins against them. The latest came December 3, when David Welch, the administrative law judge for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, found DeVos's agency guilty of 14 counts of unfair labor …

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