(2019-06-17). Climate crisis and the 2020 elections. nationofchange.org Trump and his party must be defeated | : | There are so many things wrong with Donald Trump that one hardly knows where to begin. He is a racist, habitual liar, tax evader, cruel cager of infants, misogynist, narcissist, bully, violator of numerous laws, both national and international, a friend of rich oligarchs and enemy of the poor, to mention only a few of his faults. He has made the United States resemble Germany, Italy or Spain in the 1930's, when fascism was on the rise. | However, most importantly for the future of human civilization and the biosphere, Trump has denied the reality of the climat…
(2019-06-17). The Dark Side of Brexit: Britain's Ethnic Minorities Are Facing More and More Violence. counterpunch.org Pictures of Daniel Ezzedine show him to be a fresh-faced 17-year-old with a warm cheerful smile. His parents are Lebanese but he was brought up in Germany where he had just left school. His teachers brought him to celebrate his graduation on a trip to Canterbury, where he was assaulted and beaten half to death by a gang of youths in what local people are convinced was a racist attack. More
(2019-06-17). A 'Poor People's Moral Budget' because 'everybody has the right to live'. nationofchange.org This week another new budget proposal was released. This time it didn't come from campaigning politicians or corrupt administrations but rather from two groups — the Poor People's Campaign and the Institute for Policy Studies — in an effort to show the people of the United States how to "invest in life." | The 'Poor People's Moral Budget' demands a "comprehensive response to the systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism, and war economy plaguing our country today." It includes seven sections that detail…
(2019-06-17). Instead of Death and Destruction, Poor People's Moral Budget Shows What It Looks Like to 'Invest in Life'. commondreams.org A new report released Monday by the Poor People's Campaign and the Institute for Policy Studies declares that "the United States has abundant resources for an economic revival that will move towards establishing a moral economy" and details policies the country can pursue to combat systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy, and "the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ppc.jpg…
(2019-06-17). Selected Articles: Trump and the Taiwan Gambit. globalresearch.ca Online independent analysis of US-led wars, rampant corruption, corporate greed, civil rights and fraudulent monetary transactions is invariably relegated to the bottom rung of search engine results. | As a result we presently do not cover our monthly running costs which …
(2019-06-17). Patrick Gaspard to Receive Prestigious NAACP Spingarn Medal. naacp.org 
BALTIMORE — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation's foremost civil rights organization, has announced that Ambassador Patrick Gaspard will be awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal on July 24, 2019, during the 110th NAACP Annual Convention, taking place in Detroit, Michigan. The award recognizes Gaspard's lifelong commitment to equality and …
(2019-06-17). Behind the Syrian Network for Human Rights: How an Opposition Front Group Became Western Media's Go-To Monitor. mintpressnews.com 
Top media outlets turn to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) for figures on deaths and detentions, never noting the group's seamless connection to Syria's opposition, the support it receives from states that waged war on the country, or its open lobbying for US military intervention.
(2019-06-17). "16 Shots": Chicago Police Killing of Laquan McDonald Exposed a System Built on Lies. democracynow.org 
The documentary "16 Shots" examines the 2014 murder of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the attempt by the city's police department to cover up the events. McDonald, who was 17, was shot 16 times by former police officer Jason Van Dyke. Van Dyke was found guilty in 2018 of second-degree murder and sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for McDonald's murder. He was also found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery—one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at McDonald. The film is screening on Showtime. We speak with Rick Rowley, director of "16 Shots."
(2019-06-17). The Coming Show Trial of Julian Assange. truthdig.com LONDON—On Friday morning I was in a small courtroom at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. Julian Assange, held in Belmarsh Prison and dressed in a pale-blue prison shirt, appeared on a video screen directly in front of me. Assange, his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed, slipped on heavy, dark-frame glasses at the start of the proceedings. He listened intently as Ben Brandon, the prosecutor, seated at a narrow wooden table, listed the crimes he allegedly had committed and called for his extradition to the United States to face charges that could result in a sentence of 175 years. The charges include…
(2019-06-17). Chicago Police Killing of Laquan McDonald Exposed a System Built on Lies. truthout.org The documentary 16 Shots examines the 2014 murder of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the attempt by the city's police department to cover up the events. McDonald, who was 17, was shot 16 times by former police officer Jason Van Dyke. Van Dyke was found guilty in 2018 of second-degree murder and sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for McDonald's murder. He was also found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery — one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at McDonald. The film is screening on Showtime. We speak with Rick Rowley, director of 16 Shots. | TRANSCR…
(2019-06-17). Headlines for June 17, 2019. democracynow.org More Mass Protests in Hong Kong as Activist Joshua Wong Freed from Prison, Iran Closes In on Uranium Stockpile Limit as U.S. Ratchets Up Tensions, 6-Year-Old Migrant Girl from India Dies in Arizona Desert on Way to Seek Asylum, Youngest Separated Migrant Was 4-Month-Old Baby, ICE Quarantines 5,000+ Migrants After Exposure to Mumps, Electrical Grid Failure Causes Massive Blackout in South America, Trump Lashes Out After NYT Report on U.S. Incursions into Russian Cyberspace, India Imposes Retaliatory Tariffs on U.S. Goods, Ex-First Lady Leads Presidential Vote Tally in Contested Guatemala Election, Sudanese Ex-Lead…
(2019-06-17). Trump Offered to Suspend Sanctions While Negotiating with Iran, Khamenei Rejected the Offer: More Attacks Expected. globalresearch.ca Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo conveyed a message from US President Donald Trump to the Iranian leadership, asking the release of 5 US prisoners and inviting Iran to sit around a negotiation table, adding "he [Donald Trump] would be ready …
(2019-06-17). Drugs deaths linked to people facing considerable adversity, study finds. thecanary.co The majority of drugs deaths occur among people who have experienced considerable adversity in their lives, often from a young age, research has found. | In a report focused on drug deaths in Tayside last year, published by the local health board, 62 out of 78 people (79.5%) who died as a result of using drugs were recorded as having experienced at least one adverse event during their lifetime. | The study also found that just under half (46.1%) of the total number of drug death casualties had been in prison or had been on remand at least once in adulthood. | A majority of those who died from drug consumption wer…
(2019-06-17). What's Trending: Black News Weekly. naacp.org 
The New York Times: This Empty Lot Is Worth Millions. It's Also an African-American Burial Ground. The owner of a plot of land in Queens wants to sell it or develop it. Others want to memorialize one of the city's first communities for former and freed slaves. Blackpress USA: Rep. Waters Works …
(2019-06-17). Lawsuit Seeks Info on Trump Administration Eliminating Environmental Grades. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-06-17). Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi dead aged 67. cgtn.com 
Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has died in a courtroom aged 67. | Morsi served as the fifth president of Egypt from 30 June 2012 to 3 July 2013, when he was deposed following mass protests and a military coup. | He reportedly collapsed after a court session on Monday, where he was facing espionage charges and subsequently died. | "He was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted. He was quickly rushed to the hospital where he later died", AFP quotes a source from the court session. | Morsi has been in prison since he was removed from office, and an organization tha…
(2019-06-16). Bringing Police Torture in Chicago to the Full Light of Day. truthout.org Flint Taylor's new book, The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago, is one of those remarkable works that won't fit under any one category. It's at once a history of civil and human rights battles in Chicago with national and global reach, a text of modern urban sociology, an example of critical legal theory, a long polemic against white and class privilege, a literature of political exposure, a manual of strategy and tactics, and last but not least, for Flint himself, an autobiography. In its pages, Chicago's top lawyer of the left also shares with us the intense and determined commitment, wi…
(2019-06-16). Sorry Means Sometimes Having to Admit You're Racist. commondreams.org WHEN THEY SEE US: The cast onstage with Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay at the Netflix "When They See Us" FYSEE Event at Raleigh Studios on June 09, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/when-they-see-us-955px.jpg…
(2019-06-16). Rasmea Odeh speaks on Palestine and political repression. fightbacknews.org New York, NY – A crowd gathered at The People's Forum on June 9 to hear Rasmea Odeh and Suzanne Adely speak on the repression of the Palestinian solidarity movement by the United States and Israel. Rasmea Odeh is a famous Palestinian woman leader who has dedicated her life to the Palestinian struggle and liberation of her people. She was a former political prisoner of Israel, and had her human rights violated. Odeh later became the target of political repression in the United States in 2013, after FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas targeting the Antiwar 23 were defeated. | Leading up to the event, pro-Israel righ…
(2019-06-15). Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe begins new hunger strike in Iran jail. thecanary.co 
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe — the British-Iranian mother jailed in Iran on spying charges — has begun a new hunger strike, her husband has said.Richard Ratcliffe said he had received a phone call from his wife to tell him she had informed the Iranian judiciary she had stopped taking food in protest at her "unfair imprisonment".Mr Ratcliffe said he would also not eat for the duration of her protest.He said his wife's decision followed the fifth birthday of their daughter, Gabriella, who has not been allowed to leave Iran following her mother's arrest in 2016 and is living with her grandparents.Richard Ratc…
(2019-06-15). WikiLeaks publisher Assange faces US extradition trial next February. wsws.org The UK government has made clear that it will do everything possible to expedite Washington's vindictive attempt to render the courageous journalist to face imprisonment, torture, and execution in the US.
(2019-06-15). Swiss Women Rally Against Labor Discrimination, Wage Gaps. telesurenglish.net Thousands of Swiss women Friday took to the streets at 3: 24 pm to symbolize the moment at which they "stop being paid" due to the wage discrimination they suffer. | RELATED: | 20,000 People Rally For Wage Equality in Switzerland | "There are still many inequalities that we must change. Women have been fighting for equality and things are moving but too slowly," Stephanie, a 25-year teacher, said and explained that the Swiss culture still preserves many features of "sexism and prejudice ag…
(2019-06-15). AG James Urges Dismissal Of Proposed Housing Rule That Would Leave Consumers Vulnerable To Discrimination. blackstarnews.com 
AG Letitia James says new proposed housing rule could lead to discrimination and unfair lending… | New York Attorney General Letitia James urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) not to adopt its recently-proposed rule that would undermine the ability to enforce fair lending laws and prevent discrimination in the mortgage lending market. | On May 13, 2019, the CFPB announced that it intended to raise the reporting threshold for mortgage lenders under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). This 1975 law requires mortgage lenders to make certain mortgage data publicly available as a check to ensur…
(2019-06-15). US Court Backs Trump Transgender Ban, Reverses Lower Court. telesurenglish.net President Trump triumphed in his efforts to ban transgender people from the military after the U.S. appeals court Friday ordered U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman to review her ruling. | RELATED: | WHO Stops Categorizing Transgender as 'Mental Disorder' | The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals alleged Seattle's Judge Pechman failed to give the policy sufficient…
(2019-06-15). Swiss Women Rallied Against Labor Discrimination, Wage Gaps. telesurenglish.net Thousands of Swiss women Friday took to the streets at 3: 24 pm to symbolize the moment at which they "stop being paid" due to the wage discrimination they suffer. | RELATED: | 20,000 People Rally For Wage Equality in Switzerland | "There are still many inequalities that we must change. Women have been fighting for equality and things are moving but too slowly," Stephanie, a 25-year teacher, said and explained that the Swiss culture still preserves many features of "sexism and prejudice ag…
(2019-06-15). Sanders, Cummings call on DOJ to investigation generic drug manufacturers' 'multi-year conspiracy' of drug price increase. nationofchange.org After generic drug manufacturers were accused of a "multi-year conspiracy" of raising prices on medicines by upwards of 1,000 percent, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep Elijah Cummings have called on the Department of Justice to launch an investigation. | "The Department of Justice must hold these bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Sanders said. | Forty-four state attorneys general have already filed a lawsuit against several of the generic drug manufacturers and now Sanders and Cummings have followed that up with a letter to the DOJ on Thursday. | While the state attorneys generals are claimi…
(2019-06-15). Why haven't presidential candidates proposed to end the criminalization of poverty? nationofchange.org 
Multiple Democratic presidential candidates have staked their campaigns on promises to fight for economic justice and protect low-income people from ruin. So it's mysterious and frustrating that none of these candidates have proposed to end our justice system's criminalization of poverty — at least beyond the occasional nod to ending money bail. | These candidates are missing an opportunity. The incomes of people in U.S. prisons and local jails are overwhelmingly low, and one…
(2019-06-14). Transgender Women Challenge State Laws Blocking Name Changes. truthout.org Eisha Love, a 30-year-old trans woman living in Chicago, was incarcerated for nearly four years after she and a friend were attacked at a gas station in 2012 by men hurling transphobic slurs. One assailant was injured as the two women attempted to flee in a car. Love's case has been compared to that of CeCe McDonald and others who have faced harsh crim…
(2019-06-14). "Freedom Gas" Will Be Used to Justify Oppression at Home and Abroad. truthout.org The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) made a recent foray into unintentional self-parody when it began describing natural gas as "molecules of U.S. freedom." While amusement and ridicule are perfectly reasonable reactions to this spectacle, all of us who care about freedom (for people, not molecules) and a livable future need to think about the terrifying potential uses of this language. | The…
(2019-06-14). Bini, Friend of Assange, Spent Two Months in Jail Without Charge in Ecuador. truthout.org WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared before a magistrates' court in London Friday, saying his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. Meanwhile, a friend of Assange, Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, is still in prison in Ecuador, after being arrested April 11, the same day Assange was forcibly taken by British authorities from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and has been jailed ever since without charges. We speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institu…
(2019-06-14). German boat captain faces 20 years in prison for saving refugees. greenleft.org.au 
A German boat captain faces a long and costly trial in Italy for charges targeting her humanitarian efforts on behalf of refugees. | Captain Pia Klemp told Basler Zeitung on June 7 that her upcoming trial in Italy for years of efforts with the civilian lifeboat Iuventa that saved at least 1000 lives, will take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars. | Klemp faces up to 20 years in prison, but whether or not she ends up in jail, she would challenge any conviction in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, if necessary. | "The worst has already come to pass," said Klemp. "Sea rescue missions have be…
(2019-06-14). When Will Presidential Candidates Propose Ending the Criminalization of Poverty? truthout.org Multiple Democratic presidential candidates have staked their campaigns on promises to fight for economic justice and protect low-income people from ruin. So it's mysterious and frustrating that none of these candidates have proposed to end our justice system's criminalization of poverty — at least beyond the occasional nod to ending money bail. | These candidates are missing an opportunity. The incomes of people in U.S. prisons and local jails are overwhelmingly low, and one…
(2019-06-14). Ola Bini Was Friends with Julian Assange. He Has Spent Two Months in Jail Without Charge in Ecuador. democracynow.org 
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared before a magistrates' court in London Friday, saying his life was "effectively at stake" if the U.K. honors an extradition request from the United States, where he faces 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act. Meanwhile, a friend of Assange's, Swedish programmer and data privacy activist Ola Bini, is still in prison in Ecuador, after being arrested April 11, the same day Assange was forcibly taken by British authorities from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and has been jailed ever since without charges. We speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institut…
(2019-06-14). US Supreme Court refuses to hear Guantanamo detainee's habeas corpus appeal. wsws.org The court's refusal to hear the case of a man who has been imprisoned and tortured for nearly two decades without ever being convicted of a crime corresponds to the inexorable lurch by the entire political establishment towards dictatorship and barbarism.
(2019-06-14). Oppose Inequality, Not Cops. counterpunch.org 
Even people doing their best to improve the world make mistakes. This was evident in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, last month during a public clash on the town's Peace and Justice Plaza between defenders of Confederate statuary and anti-racist activists. Before the police arrived to insulate the two groups, mutual yelling had begun to escalate More
(2019-06-14). Bigoted Cops Show True Colors in Online Hate Groups. truthdig.com 
This article was originally posted on Reveal News. | Hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States are members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia groups on Facebook, a Reveal investigation has found. | These cops have worked at every level of American law enforcement, from tiny, rural sheriff's departments to the largest agencies in the country, such as the Los Angeles and New York poli…
(2019-06-14). Fighting the far right in Germany. greenleft.org.au 
Sibylle Kaczorek, a member of Germany's main left party Die Linke and an activist with Aufstehengegen Rassismus! (Stand Up Against Racism!) was interviewed in May by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly's European correspondent. | *** | Polls are showing that the racist, xenophobic and anti-Islamic Alternative for Germany (Alternative fàºr Deutschland, AfD) could be the leading party in elections later this year in the East German states of Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. How did things get this bad? | The trigger for their ascendency was the 2015—…
(2019-06-14). The Armed Bureaucracy. commondreams.org The researchers "found officers bashing immigrants and Muslims, promoting racist stereotypes, identifying with right-wing militia groups and, especially, glorifying police brutality." (Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-160814231.jpg…
(2019-06-14). Bigots in Blue: Philadelphia Police Department is a Home For Hate. counterpunch.org The recent protest outside Philadelphia's Police headquarters — triggered by yet another instance of police racism — had an emphasis distinctively different from similar demonstrations during past decades against recurring police misconduct in the city that preens as the Birthplace of Democracy in America. While protestors demanded disciplinary action against the 328 individual officers responsible More
(2019-06-14). Behind the Syrian Network for Human Rights: How an opposition front group became Western media's go-to monitor. thegrayzone.com Top media outlets turn to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) for figures on deaths and detentions, never noting…
(2019-06-14). Premature baby found in Texas Border Patrol prison. peoplesworld.org 
The teenage girl with pigtail braids was hunched over in a wheelchair and holding a bunched sweatshirt when an immigrant advocate met her at a crowded Border Patrol facility in Texas. She opened the sweatshirt and the advocate gasped. It was a tiny baby, born premature and held in detention instead of where the advocate …
(2019-06-14). Complaints Intensify Over Migrant Detention Conditions. truthdig.com 
EL PASO, Texas—The Trump administration is facing growing complaints from migrants about severe overcrowding, meager food and other hardships at border holding centers, with some people at an encampment in El Paso being forced to sleep on the bare ground during dust storms. | The Border Network for Human Rights issued a report Friday based on dozens of testimonials of immigrants over the past month and a half, providing a snapshot of cramped conditions and prolonged stays in detention amid a r…
(2019-06-14). Millions of Brazilians Join General Strike and Protests Against President's Austerity Reforms. therealnews.com 
In what has become the largest mobilization against Brazil's right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, millions of Brazilians joined in the general strike, shutting down schools, banks, and public transportation. They are demanding a halt of the pension reform and the release of imprisoned ex-president Lula da Silva. Mike Fox reports from Brazil…
(2019-06-14). It Can't Happen Here: From Buzz Windrip and Doremus Jessup to Donald Trump and MSNBC. counterpunch.org 
It's my sort, the Responsible Citizens who've felt superior because we've been well-to-do and what we thought was 'educated,' who brought on the…Fascist Dictatorship… * Doremus Jessup, a liberal and social democrat, reflecting ruefully from an American fascist prison in Sinclair Lewis's novel It Can't Happen Here (1935) There's something happening here. What it is More
(2019-06-14). "Advocate": Israeli Attorney Lea Tsemel Reflects on Defending Palestinians Who Resist Occupation. democracynow.org 
Attorney Lea Tsemel has defended Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli courts for nearly half a century, insisting on their humanity and their right to a fair trial. Her work has earned her the scorn and reprobation of many Israelis, as well as death threats. A staunch critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, Tsemel has long argued that Palestinians who carry out politically motivated violence are freedom fighters, not "terrorists." In 1999, Tsemel won a landmark case in the Israeli Supreme Court, making it illegal for Israeli officials to torture detained Palestinians during interrogations. The docume…
(2019-06-14). Prisoners, Grassroots Activists Halt Construction Of Federal Prison On Former Coal Mine. shadowproof.com Federal prisoners and grassroots activists defeated plans by the United States government to embark on the most expensive prison construction project in the country's history. The plans for a federal prison and labor camp in Letcher County, Kentucky, would have cost at least $444 million and resulted in serious and…
(2019-06-14). NAACP to Mobilize Millennials & Youth at 110th Annual Convention. naacp.org BALTIMORE —The NAACP prepares to mobilize thousands of millennials and youth activists within the black community at the upcoming 110th National Convention, taking place in Detroit, Michigan from July 20 to 24. The convention will feature a wide variety of events and workshops that will empower the leaders of tomorrow to create a better world …
(2019-06-14). NAACP Memphis to Inquire into the Killing of Brandon Webber. naacp.org The President of the NAACP Memphis Branch, Deirdre Malone, released the following statement in regards to the death of Brandon Webber: "The NAACP Memphis Branch is making a formal inquiry with law enforcement officials into the murder of Brandon Webber. As we grieve for the loss of another African American young man's life, the injury …
(2019-06-14). A Life Well-lived: Reforming the Bank of Canada. William Krehm Passes Away at 106. globalresearch.ca In December 2011, William Krehm, Anne Emmett, and COMER (The Committee for Monetary and Economic Reform filed a lawsuit in Federal Court with a view forcing a restoration of the Bank of Canada to its mandated purposes. "In essence, they …
(2019-06-14). Get woke, go broke: Oberlin College hit with $44 MILLION penalty for accusing local bakery of racism. rt.com 
An Ohio jury awarded a local bakery $33 million in punitive damages, on top of $11 million in compensation, because college officials were involved in student protests that accused the store of racism in a shoplifting incident.