2020-08-22: News Headlines

Kathy Durkin (2020-08-22). Global campaign frees Mahmoud Nawajaa. workers.org Mahmoud Nawajaa is free! An international campaign pressured Israel to release the general coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement from detention. Armed Israeli forces charged into Nawajaa's home near Ramallah in occupied Palestine on July 30 and brutally seized him. He was illegally held without charges until . . . |

yenisafak (2020-08-22). Protesters hold seventh anti-Kremlin march over detained governor. yenisafak.com Around 1,500 people marched through the streets of the Russian far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday, marking the seventh consecutive weekend of protests after the region's governor was detained in early July.Residents of Khabarovsk, 6,110 km (3,800 miles) east of Moscow, have protested since the detention of Sergei Furgal, the region's popular governor, on July 9 in connection with murder charges which he denies.His supporters say the detention is politically motivated.People marched on Saturday with posters reading "Freedom to Furgal" and "Belarus – Khabarovsk is with you" – a sign of support for oppositio…

Staff (2020-08-21). Cornel West & Ben Jealous on the DNC and Whether Progressives Can Push Joe Biden Leftward. democracynow.org Harvard professor Cornel West and Ben Jealous, president of People for the American Way and former president of the NAACP, discuss the 2020 DNC, Joe Biden's vow to fight systemic racism and "overcome this season of darkness in America," the historic nomination of Kamala Harris as his partner on the ticket, and how the convention was a showcase for a broad anti-Trump coalition, including prominent Republican figures given plum speaking slots, but few voices from the party's insurgent left wing. "At this moment, with the decline and fall of the American empire, it looks as if the system is unable to generate enough…

Eric Mann (2020-08-21). The Black Led "Defund the Police" Movement Wins Great Breakthrough in Los Angeles: An Organizer's Interpretation. counterpunch.org At 11 PM on Tuesday June 30—after 13 hours of public testimony and board deliberations and yes, years of organizing—the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movement in Los Angeles and nationally took a great leap forward. The Los Angeles School Board, led by Board Member Monica Garcia, with the support of board members

WSWS (2020-08-21). Federal judge orders second investigation into Virginia immigrant detention center hit by mass outbreak of COVID-19. wsws.org The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found prison staff were refusing to use safety equipment or provide inmates with protection from COVID-19.

Shoshana Jette, Starbucks worker (2020-08-21). Why Starbucks wouldn't let us say 'Black Lives Matter'. liberationnews.org More than media backlash, what corporations fear the most is a united workforce.

Mirinda Crissman (2020-08-21). Build solidarity with prisoners: Fight for abolition! workers.org This slightly edited talk was given at an Aug. 13 Workers World Party webinar, "From Black August to Black Lives Matter," hosted by the WWP Prisoners Solidarity Committee. Texas: Credit: Kavin Rashid Johnson Revolutionary greetings from Houston, Texas, a city that contains the country's third largest jail. The Harris County Jails . . . |

Bryant Arroyo (2020-08-21). The psychological impact of solitary confinement. workers.org The following is a slightly edited commentary recorded for "Voices From the Inside" by PrisonRadio.org. The brain and nervous system, or "the mind," cannot function normally without stimulation. Neither can it function normally when given too much stimulus. The brain and the nervous system must be maintained in a "steady . . . |

RT (2020-08-21). Woke indulgences? Twitter CEO donates $10 million to 'anti-racism' scholar who preaches discrimination as a fix to all race issues. rt.com Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has donated a "no strings attached" $10 million to Ibram Kendi's Center for Antiracist Research. Kendi is a bestselling author who's become famous by telling white people that they're racists. | Announcing the donation on Thursday, Dorsey said that the center's research "will inform and fuel much needed and overdue policy change." According to

RT (2020-08-21). Six states & DC sue US Postal Service over changes as its chief insists election mail will be handled 'securely and on time'. rt.com Several states have sued the US Postal Service and its new boss, alleging that recent service changes have harmed their ability to conduct free and fair elections.

RT (2020-08-21). Former US Army Green Beret indicted for 'conspiring with RUSSIAN SPIES'. rt.com A former member of the US Army Special Forces has been charged with providing classified information to Russian intelligence for over 15 years and faces life in prison, the Department of Justice has announced. | Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, was arrested in Gainesville, Virginia on Friday and charged with "conspiracy to provide US national defense information to agents of a foreign government," He allegedly made contact with agents of the R…

commondreams (2020-08-21). GLAD and Other LGBTQ Organizations Urge Supreme Court Not to Upend Settled and Vital Nondiscrimination Protections. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-21). Mapuche spiritual leader ends hunger strike. peoplesdispatch.org Mapuche political prisoner and spiritual leader, Machi Celestino Córdova, on August 18, announced to end Córdova has repeatedly denounced that Mapuche prisoners face discrimination and harassment in Chilean prisons and…

ACLU & partners (2020-08-21). Thursday 8/27: Supporting Voting Rights in California Jails: A Community Training. indybay.org Online via Zoom…

_____ (2020-08-21). Jailer Who Organized Assault On An Inmate Sentenced To Prison. popularresistance.org A former deputy jailer has been sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to violating the civil rights of an inmate at the Shelby County Detention Center. | William Anthony Carey, 31, admitted to asking an inmate to assault another inmate that Carey didn't like, according to his plea agreement. | Corey Lynn Hopper, 30, the inmate Carey asked to carry out the assault, pleaded guilty in January to aiding and abetting the violation of an inmate's civil rights. Hopper admitted to enlisting several other inmates to help him beat and kick the man, leaving him with serious injuries.

Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger (2020-08-21). Are Postal Service Cuts Motivated by Voter Suppression or Privatization—or Both? commondreams.org A USPS postal worker wears protective gloves while making deliveries in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the COVID-19 pandemic on April 8, 2020. (Photo: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/postal_service_coronavirus_0.jpg

Lisa Newcomb, staff writer (2020-08-21). Civil Rights Group Condemns Trump Threat to Put Law Enforcement at Polls as a Tactic 'Right From the Jim Crow Playbook'. commondreams.org "This voter suppression scheme is intended to intimidate voters and cause a chilling effect on the electorate." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-08-21_at_9.00.19_am.png

commondreams (2020-08-21). The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Denounces Trump's Plan to Station Law Enforcement at Polling Locations. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Olivia Riggio (2020-08-21). At Washington Post, Defunding Police Is a Step Too Radical. commondreams.org A protester carries a sign during a "Defund the Police" march from King County Youth Jail to City Hall in Seattle, Washington on August 5, 2020. (Photo: Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/defundthepolice.jpg

Lisa Newcomb, staff writer (2020-08-21). 'They Have Nowhere To Run': Inmate Families, Advocates Push for Prisoner Release as California Wildfires Engulf State. commondreams.org "I'm furious at the incompetence and severe inhumanity of this," one advocate said. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty-prisoner_wildfires.jpg

Staff (2020-08-20). Headlines for August 20, 2020. democracynow.org Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Party's Nomination for Vice President, Hundreds of Wildfires Choke California, as Coronavirus Sidelines Prisoner Firefighters, U.S. Records Nearly 1,300 New Coronavirus Deaths as PPE Shortages Persist, NYC Teachers' Union Threatens Strike If Schools Reopen Without Safety Measures, New Zealand Deploys Troops to Enforce Quarantine; Zambian Vice President Positive for Coronavirus, Emails Reveal Swedish Epidemiologist Urged Coronavirus Spread to Attain Herd Immunity, Iran's Official COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 20,000 as Trump Pushes for New Sanctions, European Union Readies Sanctions A…

_____ (2020-08-20). Global South Calls For Sanctions On Apartheid Israel. popularresistance.org Israel's decades-old regime of apartheid and theft of Palestinian land is continuing unabated. Reports that Israel is "suspending" formal annexation are a smokescreen for continued colonisation and piecemeal ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinians. | Around the world, advocates for justice are pushing back.The Global South response, initiated by South African civil society, brings together notable figures, intellectuals, policy makers, civil society leaders and experts from Africa, Latin America and Asia, in a joint effort to promote lawful sanctions on Israel to end its decades-old oppression of the Palestin…

Prabhat Patnaik (2020-08-20). Detainees during the Pandemic. mronline.org It is a common practice all over the world that when those incarcerated face a threat to life, the authorities send them home.

a guest author (2020-08-20). Prisoners' lives matter! 'Inmates cannot social distance'. workers.org Makinni Iyapo By Makini Iyapo This edited talk was given at an Aug. 13 Workers World Party webinar, "From Black August to Black Lives Matter," hosted by the WWP Prisoners Solidarity Committee. I am so honored to be here, in the company of people of like minds. I feel rejuvenated . . . |

RT (2020-08-20). Racism cured? Elizabeth Warren displays alphabet toys spelling BLM in background during DNC speech, gets ridiculed. rt.com US Senator Elizabeth Warren's attempt at a Black Lives Matter nod was mocked on Twitter after she had the letters BLM spelled out with toy alphabet letters in the background of her video address to the DNC. | The progressive senator spoke to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday from a childhood education center, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. | Warren's

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-20). Zambian Socialist Party Secretary General Cosmas Musumali released from detention. peoplesdispatch.org Musumali was arrested along with nearly 30 other party workers while conducting a meeting. With the parliamentary elections only a month away, the ruling Patriotic Front has been cracking down on mobilizations and meetings by the opposition…

Fight Back (2020-08-20). Green Bay police videos prompt march for Black lives. fightbacknews.org Green Bay, WI – On August 14, more than 30 community members gathered at Brown County Courthouse to protest the recent 'public service' videos put out by the Green Bay Police Department. The third video, titled "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," is particularly offensive. The videos are meant to portray change, while no actual change takes place, and a murderer, Officer Erik O'Brien, remains employed. | In fact, GBPD promoted O'Brien to sergeant after he murdered Jonathon Tubby, an Oneida man, on October 19, 2018. Police Chief Andrew Smith publicly defends O'Brien, while making comments that compare Jonathon Tubby's…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-20). Algerian journalist Abdulkrim Zeghileche faces prison term for "undermining national unity" peoplesdispatch.org Abdulkrim Zeghileche, an active supporter of the Hirak protests, has been in pre-trial detention since June 23 and his trial is expected to begin in a few days. He faces a three-year prison term if convicted…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-08-20). Algerian journalist Abdelkrim Zeghileche faces prison term for "undermining national unity" peoplesdispatch.org Abdelkrim Zeghileche, an active supporter of the Hirak protests, has been in pre-trial detention since June 23 and his trial is expected to begin in a few days. He faces a three-year prison term if convicted…

WSWS (2020-08-20). Toronto police culpable in class action lawsuit over their brutal suppression of 2010 G20 protests. wsws.org The June 2010 police state blitz in Toronto was the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

Andrew Emett (2020-08-20). Former deputy sentenced to prison for ordering attack on inmate. nationofchange.org "The duty of correctional officers is to uphold the law and protect the people within their care. These actions are not only illegal and morally wrong, they go against the oath this officer took when he entered the job."

commondreams (2020-08-20). Public Citizen, LDF File Lawsuit Against the USPS to Suspend Implementation of Postal Service Changes Ahead of the November Election. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Mike Garrity (2020-08-20). Battling "The Empire" of Gang Green Collaborators, Timber Industry, and Trump's Forest Service in the North Cascades. counterpunch.org Several pseudo environmental groups joined forces with the timber industry and the Forest Service against the Alliance for the Wild Rockies after it filed a lawsuit last year against the Mission Restoration Project on Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in the Methow Valley west of Twisp, Washington. This scenic, pristine, and remote rural area is sandwiched between the Pasayten

yenisafak (2020-08-20). California's notorious 'Golden State Killer' faces sentencing. yenisafak.com A former California police officer dubbed the "Golden State Killer" who confessed to 13 murders and dozens of rapes during the 1970s and '80s faces a life prison term when he is sentenced in Sacramento on Friday.Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following three days of emotional hearings in which victims or their family members confronted him in open court."What a gut punch it was that I had been brutally raped by a full-time police officer," victim Gay Hardwick said, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper. She was attacked in her San Stockton home…

Uma Nagarajan-Swenson (2020-08-20). Ending the School to Prison Pipeline. commondreams.org A protester holding a "kids need counselors not cops sign" in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/counselorsnotcops.jpg

Staff (2020-08-19). Headlines for August 19, 2020. democracynow.org Joe Biden Formally Wins Democratic Presidential Nomination, Postmaster General Promises to Suspend Service Cuts Until After Election, Notre Dame Cancels In-Person Classes Amid COVID-19 Outbreak Linked to Party, Coronavirus Death Toll from U.S. Prisons and Jails Tops 1,000, World Health Organization Says Young People Are Driving Coronavirus Outbreaks, Malian President Deposed in Military Coup Following Weeks of Protests, Senate Intelligence Committee Alleges Trump Campaign Associate Was Russian Agent, Far-Right Activist, Banned from Twitter over Racism, Wins Florida House GOP Primary, RNC to Feature St. Louis Coup…

RT (2020-08-19). Goodyear backpedals on diversity virtue-signaling after Trump calls for boycott — but it's too late. rt.com Tire maker Goodyear is scrambling to do damage control after a leaked diversity-training slide suggested it'd fallen in with Black Lives Matter corporate virtue brigade, triggering calls for a boycott from President Donald Trump. | The company attempted to distance itself from the offending slide — which warned of "zero tolerance" for Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats or slogans such as "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter," while deeming "Black Lives Matter" and LGBT pride attire acceptable — in a frantic tweet on Wednesday. | Cautioning that the slide had "created some misconceptions about…

Fight Back (2020-08-19). Tampa demands justice for Jonas Joseph, 'Community control now!'. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – Over 50 people rallied and marched through downtown Tampa August 15 to demand justice for Jonas Joseph, a 26-year-old Haitian-American man murdered by five Tampa Police Department officers after they fired 125 shots. The march was attended by the family of Jonas Joseph and members of the community and was hosted by the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC) and Black Lives Matter Restoration Polk Inc. | Jonas Joseph was murdered by Tampa officers the night of April 28 when he was pulled over for a traffic stop. Police accounts of the events leading up to the shooting have changed numerous times…

Rocco Galati (2020-08-19). Video: Trudeau and Canadian Government Sued over COVID Measures. Constitutional Lawyer Rocco Galati. globalresearch.ca Super Lawyer Rocco Galati sues the Canadian government, Trudeau, Health Ministers, and others in first of its kind superior court lawsuit. | Galati lays out for listeners why his client and others have decided to sue over the extreme COVID measures …

_____ (2020-08-19). Postal Service Halts Some Changes Amid Outcry, Protests And Lawsuits. popularresistance.org Facing mounting public pressure and a crush of state lawsuits, President Donald Trump's new postmaster general announced Tuesday he is halting some operational changes to mail delivery that critics blamed for widespread delays and warned could disrupt the November election. | Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he would "suspend" several of his initiatives — including the removal of the distinctive blue mail boxes that prompted an outcry — until after the election "to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail." | "We will deliver the nation's election mail on time," DeJoy said in a statemen…

_____ (2020-08-19). $16.5M Settlement Reached In Class-Action Lawsuit Over Mass Arrests. popularresistance.org A $16.5-million settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit over mass arrests at the 2010 G20 summit. | The agreement comes after 10 years of court proceedings and negotiations between the Toronto Police Services Board and representatives for about 1,100 people who were arrested during the summit. | Under the settlement, those arrested will each be entitled to compensation between $5,000 and $24,700, depending on their experiences. | The deal also includes a public acknowledgment by police regarding the mass arrests and the conditions in which protestors where detained, as well as a commitment to changi…

sputniknews (2020-08-19). US Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. Accused of Raping NYC Woman Twice in 2013. sputniknews.com A civil lawsuit filed by a "Jane Doe" in the Southern District of New York claims Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. raped her twice in a hotel room back in 2013.

commondreams (2020-08-19). Civil Rights and Good Government Groups Sue Postmaster General and Others for Actions That Will Disrupt the 2020 Election Cycle. commondreams.org ______________________________…

RT (2020-08-18). Rebel soldiers detain Mali president & PM as political crisis boils into mutiny (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Soldiers who have taken up arms in Mali have arrested the nation's top officials, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, sparking concerns in the UN and the African Union. | Keita's detention came after a period of uncertainty amid reports suggesting that soldiers mutinied at the Kati military base outside of the Malian capital of Bamako and arrested a number of senior military and civil officials, including several ministers. | Both the president and the prime minister are "at the hands" of the rebelling military, according to various sources both within the government and…