(2021-02-23). Notes on Black History Month, 2021: No More Black Messiahs, Please. counterpunch.org 
The sign in the window of my neighborhood food store reads, "Black Lives Matter." I have shopped there at least once a week over the past year. I have never seen a Black person in the store or a Black person working there. That is not strange or unusual. There aren't many Black people in all of northern California. Indeed, there are fewer Blacks in the Bay Area than there were in the 1940s and 1950s. They've been pushed out.
(2021-02-23). Tuesday 2/23: The State of Black America: Jobs, Health Care, Climate, Education, Safety & More w/ M4BL. indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2021-02-23). adrienne maree brown: Octavia Butler's Visions of the Future Have Transformed Generation of Readers. democracynow.org 
The visionary Black science-fiction writer Octavia Butler died 15 years ago on February 24, 2006, but her influence and readership has only continued to grow since then. In September, Butler's novel "Parable of the Sower" became her first to reach the New York Times best-seller list. We speak with adrienne maree brown, a writer and Octavia Butler scholar, who says Butler had a remarkable talent for universalizing Black stories. "She wrote about Black women and about Black feminism, about Black futures, but she wrote in a way that appealed to all human beings," says brown.
(2021-02-23). U.S. COVID Death Toll Hits 500,000 as Rich Nations Hoard Vaccines, Leaving Poorer Nations Without Any. democracynow.org 
The United States has passed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, by far the highest toll in the world. The morbid milestone comes as new COVID-19 cases continue to fall across the country amid an accelerating vaccine rollout, but the head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries not to undermine efforts to get vaccines to poorer nations by buying up billions of doses — in some cases ordering enough to vaccinate their populations more than once. "The inequities that we've seen here are just absolutely stunning," says Dr. Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia Uni…
(2021-02-23). Remembering Octavia Butler: Black Sci-Fi Writer Shares Cautionary Tales in Unearthed 2005 Interview. democracynow.org 
As Democracy Now! marks 25 years on the air, we are revisiting some of the best and most impactful moments from the program's history, including one of the last television interviews given by the visionary Black science-fiction writer Octavia Butler. She spoke to Democracy Now! in November 2005, just three months before she died on February 24, 2006, at age 58. Butler was the first Black woman to win Hugo and Nebula awards for science-fiction writing and the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur "genius" fellowship. Her best-known books include the classics "Kindred," as well as "Parable of the Sowe…
(2021-02-23). Covid-19: Israel donates vaccines to countries that moved embassies to Jerusalem. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Israel donates vaccines to countries that moved embassies to Jerusalem | Czech Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, and Palestinian Authority will receive symbolic amount of vaccines, local media report | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 16: 57 | Israel is facing mounting criticism for not inoculating Palestinians in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip (AFP) | The Czech Republic, Guatemala and Honduras, which have all move…
(2021-02-23). Amazon faces a day of reckoning for its treatment of workers. therealnews.com 
Amazon workers and their allies rallied last weekend to support the union drive at the Bessemer, Alabama, facility. Workers say the company has failed to protect worker safety or improve working conditions even while Amazon and Jeff Bezos profited from the pandemic.
(2021-02-23). Amazon mysteriously pulls book critical of transgender movements, gets accused of 'digital book burning'. rt.com 
Author Ryan T. Anderson has blasted Amazon for removing his latest book on the rise of the transgender movement without explanation, a move that has many criticizing the company for playing politics and accusing it of censorship. | "I hope you've already bought your copy, cause Amazon just removed my book 'When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment' from their cyber shelves…. my other four books are still available (for now)," Anderson 'When Harry Became Sally' had p…
(2021-02-23). Haiti: Danny Shaw Reports On The Serious Political And Social Crisis. popularresistance.org COHA's Senior Research Fellow, professor Danny Shaw, opens a window to the mass movement in Haiti which is demanding President Jovenel MoàØse step down and cease rule by decree. | Demonstrators are also calling for the release of political prisoners, the restoration of the Supreme Court justices, Police Inspector General and other opposition figures who have been fired, and an end to U.S., United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) intervention on behalf of foreign interests in their country. | A broad convergence of opposition parties and social movements maintain that MoàØse's te…
(2021-02-23). 'Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me' at Pan African Film Festival. peoplesworld.org 
Undaunted, the pandemic can't stop the Pan African Film Festival. In that immortal show biz tradition, the show must go on! Albeit virtually, as this year, in order to stay cinematically safe, America's largest and best annual Black-themed filmfest since 1992 is moving online and starting later than usual, kicking off on the last day …
(2021-02-23). India's Farm Crisis: "They Sell Our Wheat to Us at Thrice the Price" counterpunch.org 
Laxmibai Kale has been losing a portion of her harvest every year. That's not been due to excessive rainfall or drought or poor farming techniques. "Our crops are destroyed," said 60-year-old Laxmibai, "because thepanchayat allows animals to graze on the land. I've lost count of the losses we've suffered." The five-acre plot in Mohadi village
(2021-02-23). Crediting Xenophobia—rather than organizing—with raising workers' wages. mronline.org 
The Economist (2/15/20) ran a brief article last year with a startling headline: "Immigration to America Is Down. Wages Are Up. Are the Two Related?" Maybe, the article's anonymous author answered, at least for the short term.
(2021-02-23). Rohingya: The Sufis of Arakan. counterpunch.org 
'It was absolutely shocking, how children aged five or six were hunted down and had their throats slit. I was thinking 'this is ISIS-type stuff'. I told Aung San Suu Kyi 'you have moral standing in this country. You have to stop this. Why are you hiding it?' She said [the United Nations] needed to
(2021-02-23). Killer cop still not on trial almost 3 years after killing Daniel Hambrick in Tennessee. liberationnews.org 
As made clear by the video footage, when Delke was unable to catch his victim on foot, he stopped running, assumed a firing position, and shot Hambrick three times, including once in the back of the head.
(2021-02-23). Capitol Riots were a Dark Day for American Journalism. counterpunch.org 
What is reported matters and particularly so when it risks exaggerating violence or deepening fear and a sense of threat. If the US government really was the target of an armed insurrection, then this will be used to justify repression, as it was after 9/11, and not just against right wing conspiracy theorists. By becoming partisan instruments for spreading fake news, the media undermines its own credibility.
(2021-02-23). Erdogan slammed, will open a fascist 'Grey Wolves' school in occupied Artsakh. peoplesworld.org 
Anti-fascist forces in Turkey blasted authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's links to right-wing paramilitary death squads today after reports that he will open a new Grey Wolves school in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. He will lay the foundation for the building alongside Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Shushi, which was taken by Azeri forces …
(2021-02-23). Conservative Democrat Joe Manchin playing a dangerous game. peoplesworld.org 
The press is talking about how a conservative Democratic senator from West Virginia is now allegedly one of the most powerful movers and shakers in the nation's capital. Sen. Joe Manchin has been an enormous headache for President Joe Biden by threatening to sink the $15 minimum wage and by promising to vote down Biden's …
(2021-02-23). Student activists in Weymouth, Mass. vs the cult of 'blue lives matter'. liberationnews.org 
The rhetoric surrounding "blue lives matter" isn't new. Similar dogwhistles have been used to defend hate symbols such as the confederate flag, the Gadsden flag, and even the swastika.
(2021-02-23). Plutonium in Space: What Are the Odds of a Catastrophe? counterpunch.org 
With all the media hoopla last week about the Perseverance rover, going almost totally unreported was that its energy source is plutonium—considered the most lethal of all radioactive substances—and nowhere in media that NASA projected 1-in-960 odds of the plutonium being released in an accident on the mission. "A '1-in-960 chance' of a deadly plutonium release
(2021-02-23). FBI, NYPD exposed: Deathbed confession shines new light on assassination of Malcolm X. liberationnews.org 
Fifty-six years after the assasination of Malcolm X, new details from a former New York Police Department officer's deathbed confession has further implicated the NYPD and FBI in the killing. Raymond Wood, the former NYPD officer, requested the letter be publicized only after his death due to fears of retaliation. Wood's cousin, Reggie Wood, read …
(2021-02-23). What coronavirus taught us about the ruling class. mronline.org 
If half a million people in the United States were murdered by an evil cult, the leaders of which said that they would keep killing thousands a day to satisfy their rapacious urge for power and money, what do you think the response would be?>
(2021-02-23). Corporations, lawmakers collude in new multi-state 'right to work' offensive. peoplesworld.org 
Dave Dell Isola, the son and grandson of union members, grew up grateful for the family-sustaining wages and benefits that organized labor won for working people. But he never fully grasped the might of solidarity until he and his wife, Barbara, and their two sons lost everything in an apartment fire. Dell Isola's brothers and …
(2021-02-23). Demographic characteristics of people receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States. mronline.org 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with states to provide more information on the demographic characteristics of vaccinated people.
(2021-02-23). Biden and the Iran nuclear deal: what to expect from the negotiations. juancole.com 
By Ali Bilgic | — As Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, speculation was rife that one of the first things his administration would do would be to seek re-entry to the Iran nuclear deal that had been quit by his predecessor in the White House. The Joint …
(2021-02-23). The Race to Save the Vaquita Porpoise From Extinction. counterpunch.org 
San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The long-running global struggle to prevent extinction of the world's most endangered marine mammal claimed its first human life here on Jan. 2, in the conflict between illegal fishing and conservation of the vaquita porpoise. Fisherman Mario Garcia Toledo, 56, died after suffering massive injuries when his skiff collided with
(2021-02-23). Republicans oppose the American Rescue Plan at their peril. peoplesworld.org 
With Republicans scrambling to block emergency economic assistance to millions, the Democratic-led House of Representatives is moving quickly to approve the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) this week. The measure, which links the pandemic, economic crisis, and racial justice, then goes to the Senate. The Democratic majority is expected to pass it via the …
(2021-02-23). Mourning Dr. Agha Saeed, Celebrating his Life. counterpunch.org 
Dr. Agha Saeed , a towering American-Muslim figure has passed away today in a nursing home at the age of 72, due to complications from Covid-19. He had also been silently suffering from Parkinson's for over eight years. The history of American Muslims will be incomplete and extremely inadequate without recognizing Dr. Saeed's life achievements
(2021-02-23). The Fake Debate Over a Minimum Wage. counterpunch.org 
Capitalism's "conservative" defenders yet again oppose raising the minimum wage. They fought raising it in the past much as they tried to prevent the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) that first mandated a U.S. minimum wage. The major argument opponents have used is this: setting or raising a minimum wage threatens small employers. They may collapse or else fire employees; either way, jobs are lost. What is conveniently assumed here is a necessary contradiction between minimum wages and small business jobs. That assumption enables opponents to claim that not setting a legal minimum wage, like not raising it, saves…
(2021-02-23). Welcoming a Return to Sanity. counterpunch.org 
In the old days, specifically during the presidency of another actor, Ronald Reagan, Republican falsehoods seemed so quaint that Americans dismissed them as such, relegating them to sloganeering. "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem," the conservative president charged during his first inaugural address in 1981. Nonsense. Reagan's phrase was
(2021-02-23). Bhima Koregaon: Varavara Rao gets bail on medical grounds for six months. mronline.org 
Just as the Bombay HC pronounced the verdict, the additional solicitor general sought a stay on the order for three weeks. However, the court rejected it.
(2021-02-23). The Vaccine (Dis)Information War. dissidentvoice.org 
So, good news, folks! It appears that GloboCap's Genetic Modification Division has come up with a miracle vaccine for Covid! It's an absolutely safe, non-experimental, messenger-RNA vaccine that teaches your cells to produce a protein that triggers an immune response, just like your body's immune-system response, only better, because it's made by corporations! OK, technically, …
(2021-02-23). Part II — Western Capital's Long Chinese Mission: From Opium to COVID Vaccine Credentials. mintpressnews.com 
We examine the virtually unbroken history between American power-brokers and the highest echelons of power in China — a history that harkens back to the earliest days of capitalism, slavery, and the opium trade.
(2021-02-23). Greece-Turkey tensions: Ankara claims Greek jets harassed research vessel. middleeasteye.net 
Greece-Turkey tensions: Ankara claims Greek jets harassed research vessel | The dispute comes despite recent talks to resolve long-standing maritime hostilities between the two countries | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 12: 45 | A Turkish military ship passes a coastguard patrol boat near the island of Lesbos on 6 March 2020 (AFP) | Turkey said on Tuesday that four Greek F-16s harassed a Turkish research vessel near…
(2021-02-23). Syria: Russia digs up graves in refugee camp in search of dead Israeli spy Eli Cohen. middleeasteye.net 
Syria: Russia digs up graves in refugee camp in search of dead Israeli spy Eli Cohen | The three-week excavation of Yarmouk cemetery is part of a search for the former Mossad agent, according to report | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 16: 01 | Damaged graves in the Yarmouk refugee camp cemetery following a bomb attack by Syrian government forces in Damascus, 11 April 2015 (Rami al-Sayed/AFP) | Russian forces in Syria have…
(2021-02-23). Outcry in Kuwait over suicide of stateless Bidoon child. middleeasteye.net 
Outcry in Kuwait over suicide of stateless Bidoon child | Thousands of people are highlighting the case online and demanding an end to the community's marginalisation | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 14: 07 | An illustration of the child has been shared online with the caption 'you have returned to God, the most merciful, Ali' (Screengrab/Twitter) | Reports of a 12-year-old child's suicide from Kuwait's stateless pop…
(2021-02-23). Qatar: More than 6,500 south Asian migrant workers have died since 2011, says report. middleeasteye.net 
Qatar: More than 6,500 south Asian migrant workers have died since 2011, says report | Data compiled from government sources reveals thousands dead since Qatar awarded Fifa World Cup in December 2010 | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 08: 14 | Migrant workers are seen walking next to a construction site in the Qatari capital Doha on 6 December 2016 (AFP) | At least 6,500 migrant workers from south Asian countries have died i…
(2021-02-23). Erbil attack a warning to Iraqi Kurds, not the US, say Shia commanders. middleeasteye.net 
Erbil attack a warning to Iraqi Kurds, not the US, say Shia commanders | With tensions over Sinjar sky high, Iran-backed groups say they are happy to see the Kurdish authorities under pressure but not sure who fired the rockets | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 09: 22 | A gun and bullets belonging to a Yazidi militia affiliated with the PKK in the border area near Sinjar in 2016 (Reuters) | The recent miss…
(2021-02-23). Arabic press review: Egyptian judge accused of running drug-trafficking network. middleeasteye.net 
Arabic press review: Egyptian judge accused of running drug-trafficking network | Meanwhile, Palestinians in contact with international community to pressure Israel to allow Jerusalemites to vote in elections, and Kuwait prohibits all trade in Bitcoin | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 14: 58 | An Egyptian judge, the son of a senior judge at the Court of Cassation, is accused of forming a narcotics ring (AFP)…
(2021-02-23). Saudi Arabia to allow women to join military for first time. middleeasteye.net 
Saudi Arabia to allow women to join military for first time | The move is the latest in a series of policy changes designed to change the image of the ultra-conservative kingdom | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 11: 15 | Saudi women watch golfers compete in the Saudi Ladies International golf tournament (AFP) | Saudi Arabia has announced it will allow women to apply for the military for the first time in its…
(2021-02-23). UAE-backed STC forces accused of torturing Yemeni journalist. middleeasteye.net 
UAE-backed STC forces accused of torturing Yemeni journalist | Adel al-Hasani produced a CNN report critical of the UAE's activities in Yemen, which a source says is the reason behind his detention | Tue, 02/23/2021 – 12: 04 | Hasani is an investigative journalist, producer and fixer for international journalists, based in the southern Yemeni city of Aden (Social media) | Yemen's UAE-backed Southern Transition…
(2021-02-23). Selected Articles: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade. globalresearch.ca 
By The Vaccine Reaction is reporting that a…
(2021-02-23). What Comes After Meritocracy? thenation.com 
The long-standing focus by liberals on meritocratic advancement has isolated the working class.
(2021-02-23). WATCH: Huge EXPLOSION in Texas after train collides with 18-wheeler truck. rt.com 
First responders in Cameron, Texas are battling a huge blaze caused by an explosion after a train and an 18-wheeler truck collided. Eyewitness footage captured the moment a huge fireball rose over the site. | Local reports indicate both the train conductor and truck driver escaped the crash, which occurred at a grade crossing. Footage from the scene shows train cars flipped and aflame. |
(2021-02-23). Pfizer and Moderna pledge to Congress to ramp up Covid-19 vaccine production as US death toll tops 500,000. rt.com 
Pfizer and Moderna have prepared written testimonies to the US Congress, promising to boost vaccine production in the coming months, as the country's death toll from Covid-19 recently exceeded 500,000. | The companies' executives are scheduled to speak before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on Tuesday. | According to Pfizer Chief Business Officer John Young's written testimony, the company will have 120 million doses of the vaccine available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May. Pfizer expects that all 300 million contracted dose…
(2021-02-23). Meghan McCain calls for firing of Fauci for 'inconsistent messaging' on Covid, gets roasted for calling vaccine rollout a disaster. rt.com 
Meghan McCain was taken to the woodshed online after demanding Anthony Fauci be fired for his "inconsistent messaging" on the Covid-19 pandemic, while complaining that she — a TV host — doesn't know when she'll be vaccinated. | The pundit took aim at Fauci during a Monday segment on 'The View' over a recent appearance on CNN, where the health expert suggested those who've received an immunization may still have to practice social distancing. | "I was very frustrated when I saw this clip," she said. "The fact that Dr. Fauci is going on CNN and he can't tell me that if I get the vaccine, if I'll be a…
(2021-02-23). 'Haven't thought about that': Biden's AG nominee Garland dodges question whether illegal immigration should remain a crime. rt.com 
Former judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Justice Department, seemed to say "I don't know" a lot at his Senate confirmation hearing, including when asked about illegal immigration. | Also on rt.com | | Senators questioned Garland on Monday ahead of the floor vote on his nomination, which appears to be a foregone conclusion. Time and again, however, he would not commit to things such as safeg…
(2021-02-23). #FireFauci trends as he tells vaccinated people to remain under lockdown, blames Trump's 'denial' for massive death count. rt.com 
Calls for White House adviser Anthony Fauci to be fired have intensified as he continues pushing lockdown restrictions and criticizing former President Donald Trump over Covid-19 deaths. | After cautioning vaccinated individuals from resuming normal activities like dining out or attending large group events, Fauci tried clarifying his stance in a Tuesday interview with CNN, saying more relaxed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be coming "soon." | The agency, Fauci said, needs to "sit down, talk about it, look at the data and then come out with a recommendation based on the…
(2021-02-23). Beauty queen wife of drug lord El Chapo ARRESTED in Virginia on drug trafficking charges, accused of planning TWO prison escapes. rt.com 
Emma Coronel Aispuro, a former US beauty pageant queen and wife of arguably the world's most notorious drug kingpin — Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman — has been arrested in the US on an array of drug trafficking charges. | Aispuro, 31, who is a dual US-Mexican citizen, was nabbed at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly "on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking," the US Justice Department The woman, who marrie…
(2021-02-23). 'Jeep Grand Christopher sounds good': Twitter split after Cherokee Nation chief asks carmaker to stop 'honoring' his tribe. rt.com 
Naming a vehicle after a Native American tribe is wrong even if the intentions were good, the Cherokee Nation principal chief has said, and Twitter has some ideas for what to call Jeep SUVs instead. | Jeep Cherokee SUVs have been produced since 1974, and in the early 1990s, Chrysler (now part of the Netherlands-based company Stellantis) added the luxury Jeep Grand Cherokee model line to its range. Chuck Hoskin, who heads the largest of the three federally-recognized Cherokee tribes in the US, believes his people's name should not be "plastered on the side of a car," regardless of the motives for putting it the…
(2021-02-23). United States: Anti-Klan Act of 1871 takes on the enemy from within. greenleft.org.au Civil rights activists are engaging an 1871 law against Ku Klux Klan terrorism to try to bring former president Donald Trump and other white supremacists to account for the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, writes Malik Miah.