2020-07-16: News Headlines

Nick Licata (2020-07-16). How Protester Occupations Can Succeed. counterpunch.org Nationwide demonstrations, mobilized around the Black Lives Matter movement's response to the killing of George Floyd, were held in all fifty states and in 5,000 cities. Rallies were held in public squares and larger cities saw their freeways and bridges blocked. Only a few cities ( Richmond, Va.; Philadelphia; Oakland, CA, and New York City

Claudia Drdul (2020-07-16). Thousands gather in Martinez to condemn white supremacy and police brutality. liberationnews.org A July 12 action in Martinez, California, by Together We Stand, Southern Alameda County Resistance Network, and Martizians for Black Lives protested against white-nationalist fliers distributed within the small Bay Area community. Nakenya Allen, a resident of Martinez who lives a few blocks from where the fliers were found, said: "There was absolutely no way …

Mary Miller — Ariel Gold (2020-07-16). The U.S. Struggle for Justice for Palestine Begins a New Chapter. counterpunch.org 2020 has indisputably been a chaotic year. From the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent disruption of daily life, to the killing of George Floyd and the passionate resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement that followed, to the looming general election: there has been plenty occupying the minds and newsfeeds of Americans. But in between all

Workers World New York Disabilities bureau (2020-07-16). Disabled people fight police violence with accessible protests. workers.org Because most of the mass protests held after the police murder of George Floyd were not accessible, on June 7 Black disabled activists in Milwaukee held their own. The Milwaukee action was the second George Floyd protest held by Black disabled activists. The first was held in Washington, D.C., where . . . |

Ajamu Baraka (2020-07-16). Building Power to Win Is the Revolutionary Approach to "Bourgeois Electoralism" globalresearch.ca We must make clear that it is imperialism that degrades and destroys the earth, makes water a commodity, food a luxury, education an impossibility, and health care a distant dream. | The following is excerpted from a presentation by Ajamu Baraka …

Alan MacLeod (2020-07-16). Exporting Toxic Chemical Waste to Poor Countries Must End, Says UN. globalresearch.ca Last year, at least 30 rich countries exported locally-banned toxic substances to poorer ones, allowing corporations to write off their costly waste and transferring the costs to some of the poorest people on earth. | *** | The practice of dumping …

Andrew Korybko (2020-07-16). India-Iran Relations in Crisis: Geopolitical Realignment in Favor of China. globalresearch.ca These easily discernible strategic chain reactions were regrettably missed by many experts owing either to unfamiliarity with the guiding motivations of each related party and/or pressure to comply with the so-called "political correctness" being pushed by some of the players …

Jesse Jackson (2020-07-16). A New Generation of Protest Holds Great Promise for America. counterpunch.org The inspiring rise of a new generation protesting against racial injustice is driving a new era of change in America, like the generation that emerged 60 years ago to build the civil rights movement of that time. July 16, 1960 is marked in my memory: that is the day I joined seven other friends to

Rocco Galati (2020-07-16). Video: Covid-19 Unlawful Acts: Law Suit against Trudeau Government: Constitutional Lawyer Rocco Galati. globalresearch.ca A large constitutional claim against Canadian government actors for their actions in COVID-19 has just been filed at the Superior Court in Toronto, Canada. | Watch Atty. Rocco Galati speak in the video below. | Thanks to Mark Taliano for bringing …

Louisa Willcox (2020-07-16). Charlie Russell, Grizzly Whisperer. counterpunch.org One day in 2003 I was surprised to get a call from Charlie at a time when he should have been in Kamchatka. In the faintest whisper, he told me that his cubs had been killed. He discovered bear gallbladders nailed to the door of his cabin — clearly a threat intended to send him and his partner Maureen Enns packing back to Canada. The cubs were nowhere to be found. "They are lost, all is lost," he moaned. Charlie's family had been murdered. I could find no words.

Jyoti Saraswati (2020-07-16). Seeing the World Through Touch During a Pandemic. counterpunch.org Vimal Thackeray is washing clothes in the tiny bathroom of her two-room house in Vangani town, struggling, with weakened hands, to apply soap to a pile of sarees, shirts and other garments, pouring water over them from a green plastic mug. She then takes each washed item to her nose and smells it several times to

Vijay Prashad (2020-07-16). Laos Has Tackled COVID-19, But It Is Drowning in Debt to International Finance. counterpunch.org On June 11, Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic)—a country of 7 million in Southeast Asia—said it had temporarily prevailed over COVID-19. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said that his country had "gained an important victory in the first campaign against this vicious enemy." The first cases of COVID-19 detected in Laos were registered on March 24; a total of 19 people had been infected with the virus by April 12, and—after 58 days of no new cases—the last patient was discharged on June 9. There were no new cases of COVID-19 in Laos since April 12 (93 days of no new cases as of July…

Eds. (2020-07-16). Turin grants honorary citizenship to head of Cuban medical brigade (+ Photos). mronline.org The Municipal Council of Turin granted the honorary citizenship of that city in the region of Piedmont to Dr. Julio Guerra, head of the Cuban medical brigade that helped fight COVID-19 there.

Eds. (2020-07-16). How Settler Colonial States use incarceration as a tool of dehumanization during the COVID crisis. mronline.org Incarceration is a manifestation and continuation of chronic and interwoven structures of oppression…

Arielle Robinson (2020-07-16). Struggle for community control of Rayshard Brooks Peace Center in Atlanta. workers.org Atlanta July 11 — Today the Atlanta community continued to protest, demanding community control for the site of the burned-out Wendy's restaurant where Atlanta police murdered Rayshard Brooks the night of June 12. The Rayshard Brooks Memorial Center in Atlanta. The Saturday demonstration, organized by Community Movement Builders, was in . . . |

Editor (2020-07-16). Capitalist system is 'not above the law'. workers.org Big Media headlines trumpeted "Supreme Court says Trump not above the law" when SCOTUS ruled on July 9 that the president's tax returns had to be revealed to — practically no one. The verdict gave narrow access only to New York state criminal prosecutors — and definitely not to Congress . . . |

Staff (2020-07-16). In Attempt to "Intimidate Protesters," 87 Face Felony Charges for Kentucky Sit-In for Breonna Taylor. democracynow.org In Louisville, Kentucky, civil rights groups are calling on prosecutors to drop felony charges against 87 people who held a peaceful sit-in protest Tuesday outside the home of Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The demonstrators were demanding the arrest and prosecution of the officers who killed Breonna Taylor, a Black Louisville resident who was shot inside her own home in March. Among those arrested: the president of the Minneapolis NAACP, Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills and Women's March co-founder Linda Sarsour. If convicted on felony charges, they could face up to five years in prison. "What they're…

Tyler Durden (2020-07-16). The Dollar "Has Us by the Throat": Chinese Party Official Urges Decoupling. anti-empire.com With all eyes on Trump's Tuesday evening Rose Garden speech which unveiled that he'll sign new and punitive measures indirectly targeting China — namely the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, a bipartisan measure to penalize banks that work with Chinese officials found to be interfering in Hong Kong affairs — it remains that arguably the most important recent statements out of China came not from current government officials, but from Zhou Li, the 65-year-old former deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department. He's considered an important voice who echoes the outside the box thi…

Robert Langreth (2020-07-16). Moderna's Vaccine Side Effect Is COVID-19. anti-empire.com The findings are likely to increase hopes that a vaccine can be brought to market quickly. However, a number of patients in the trial experienced side effects, some of them severe. The vaccine will move into a much larger late-stage trial later this month that's likely to determine whether it's approved by U.S. re…

Mike Walter (2020-07-16). The Heat: Global view of U.S. america.cgtn.com As coronavirus rages across the United States and after weeks of protests against police abuse, has America's reputation taken a global hit? The U.S. response to its huge number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has caused dismay to people watching around the world. Meanwhile, weeks …

Staff (2020-07-16). Headlines for July 16, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Army Deploys to Houston as Hospital Beds Fill to Capacity, Florida Coronavirus Cases Top 300,000 as Miami Hospitals Run Out of ICU Beds, Alabama's Republican Governor Mandates Masks After Record COVID-19 Death Toll, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Greets Maskless Donald Trump, Bans Local Mask Mandates, Oklahoma Governor Tests Positive for COVID-19, Won't Require Masks in Public, White House Backs Down After Adviser Peter Navarro Attacks Dr. Anthony Fauci, India Posts Record Coronavirus Toll; Cases Explode in Nairobi Maternity Hospital , Members of Remote Amazon Tribe Test Positive for Coronavirus, President Trump Gu…

Staff (2020-07-16). "The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse": Is Another Lockdown the Only Way to Avoid Catastrophe? democracynow.org As health experts warn the coronavirus is on the rise in 41 states, many governors are reimposing restrictions after attempts at opening up the economy, but President Trump wants schools open. We speak with public health historian John Barry, who warns "The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse" if we don't take bolder action now. Barry is a | professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and author of "The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History."

Staff (2020-07-16). Marc Lamont Hill: "Disturbing" New George Floyd Video Shows Familiar Ritual of Racist Police Terror. democracynow.org In Minneapolis, newly released police body camera footage reveals devastating new details of George Floyd's killing on Memorial Day, showing that officers pulled a gun, swore at George Floyd to "get out of the f—ing car," as he wept and pleaded, "Please don't shoot me." The video also showed that medics did not appear to rush to Floyd's aid after they arrived on the scene. We discuss the latest developments in the case that sparked an ongoing national uprising against racism and police violence, with Marc Lamont Hill, author of "Nobody: Casualties of America's War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint a…

pip.hinman (2020-07-16). Community-led response 'essential' to deal with pandemic. greenleft.org.au

Strike for Black Lives (2020-07-16). Monday 7/20: Nationwide Strike for Black Lives. indybay.org Nationwide car caravans, rallies, and protest actions…

RT (2020-07-16). 'Coordinated social engineering attack': Twitter confirms employees with access to internal systems targeted in bitcoin scam hack. rt.com Twitter has said that alleged bitcoin scammers targeted some of its employees to get access to "internal systems and tools," which they then apparently used to hack into high-profile accounts, such as Joe Biden's. | We detected what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools.— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) Noting that it is still investigating the circumstances behind the hack,…

RT (2020-07-16). Georgia governor bans mask mandates. 'Ignore the science and survive the best you can,' Savannah mayor complains. rt.com Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has prohibited cities from forcing residents to wear masks in public, voiding requirements put in place by some local governments. The move led to one mayor hurling incendiary accusations at Kemp. | The ban on mandatory face coverings was part of a new executive order which extended state measures purportedly put in place to fight the spread of coronavirus. Although Kemp has encouraged voluntary mask-wearing, his order made it clear that cities and counties could not coerce people into donning a face covering. The move voids orders adopted by at least 15 local governments across the…

RT (2020-07-16). 'Tough day for us at Twitter': Twitter unmutes most blue checks after bitcoin scammer hack, says 'functionality may come & go'. rt.com The majority of the verified accounts that were silenced by Twitter as it dealt with its most prominent hack to date — allegedly by bitcoin scammers — have been unlocked, the site said, noting that the issue is not yet resolved.

_____ (2020-07-16). Turmoil at Home, Turmoil Abroad: Israel and the U.S. Escalate Their War Against Iran. strategic-culture.org As the combined impact of the corona virus and the wholesale destruction of America's history and culture, or at least the part of it that is white, continues, it is nice to see that other nations are getting into the game that will lead to the de facto elimination of western civilization. No one is yet quite up the U.S. level of senseless destruction and looting by the heroes of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa, but in Britain mobs are beating policemen, statues including that of Winston Churchill are being attacked and the Cenotaph commemorating the country's war dead has been vandalized. In a bizarre inc…

The Canary (2020-07-16). Sculpture of Black Lives Matter protester removed from Colston plinth. thecanary.co A sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester erected on the plinth where a statue of slave trader Edward Colston used to stand has been removed.Artist Marc Quinn created the life-size black resin and steel piece of Jen Reid after seeing a photo of her standing on the empty plinth following the toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol.The sculpture, A Surge Of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, was installed shortly before 4.30am on 15 July by Quinn's team without the knowledge or consent of Bristol City Council. | This morning we removed the sculpture. It will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to ou…

RT (2020-07-16). Trump turns to Facebook to announce replacement of Brad Parscale as campaign manager after huge Twitter hack & account lockdown. rt.com US President Donald Trump has tapped a new campaign manager, but deprived of his Twitter handle following a major hack on the platform, decided — or was forced by a shutdown of verified accounts — to declare the move on Facebook.

Norman Solomon (2020-07-16). An Ultimate Meaning of the Bernie 2020 Campaign: "Not Him. Us." zcomm.org Those of us who regret some of Bernie's tactical decisions during the last three months would do well to recall Eugene Debs' words about why he was not seeking to "lead you into the promised land." The future is up to us.

Sam Bahour (2020-07-16). Time's Up Israel: Get Your Knee Off Palestine's neck. counterpunch.org The timer is now ticking on Israel. While Israel historically put Palestinians on the slow burner, gnawing at their lands and livelihoods, time was in Israel's favor was the world turned a blind eye. Those days are over. Israel must now choose, allow the state of Palestine to emerge, or have it imposed upon them.

Paul Antonopoulos (2020-07-16). US-NATO Seek to Exclude Russia from the Mediterranean. In Libya, Russia is on the Side of Haftar. globalresearch.ca Russia is conducting "military intimidation" in the Mediterranean according to RAND in a newly published

Philip Giraldi (2020-07-16). Israeli Proxies Profit from U.S. Coronavirus Funding. globalresearch.ca Washington D.C. is surely one of the most corrupt places on earth. Money talks and nearly everyone into the game sometimes referred to as politics has his or her hand out and expects to end up a millionaire. Given that, …

South Front (2020-07-16). Video: Turkish Proxies in Syria Went Out of Control, Attack Joint Turkish-Russian Patrol. globalresearch.ca On July 14th and 15th, Syrian Army artillery units and warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted extensive strikes on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic Party and other radical groups in northern Lattakia and southern Idlib. The …

Stephen Lendman (2020-07-16). Britain Caves to US, Bans Huawei from 5G Network Build-Out, More US Anti-China Sanctions Coming. globalresearch.ca Trump regime hardliners are pushing a diabolical full-court press to weaken and isolate China on the world stage — wanting its economic, industrial and technological development undermined. | I stressed these points in earlier articles, stressing as well the risk that …

Vanessa Beeley (2020-07-16). Syrian Christians Respond to Erdogan's Neo-Ottoman Agenda. globalresearch.ca The steadfast city of Al Sqeilbiyyeh responds strongly to the move of neo-Ottoman would-be-Emperor, Erdogan, to convert the historic church of Hagia Sophia from a secular, inclusive museum into a Mosque. | According to Turkish media (Hurriyet) changes will be applied …

Jenny Gonzales (2020-07-16). Top Amazon Deforestation Satellite Researcher Sacked by Bolsonaro. globalresearch.ca Just days after the

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-07-16). Every Billionaire Is A Predator: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com Step 2: Buy up all news media. | Step 3: Structure outlets to elevate voices who defend the status quo. | Step 4: Smear non-plutocratic media who don't protect the status quo as crazy conspiracy theorists and Russian propaganda. | Step 5: Dominate the narrative about what's going on in the world. | ~ | Mainstream news is just advertising. You watch advertisements for maintaining the plutocratic status quo, then you watch advertisements between those advertisements for useless crap to make plutocrats even richer. It's all just different layers of marketing. When I was getting my journalism degree they used to talk…

Peter Bolton (2020-07-16). Trump's latest comment about military spending shines a revealing light onto the right-wing mindset. thecanary.co US President Donald Trump's latest speech was one of his usual rambling and semi-coherent rants. It was filled with the standard litany of misrepresentations, half-truths, and outright lies we've come to expect of him. But one comment stood out as particularly revealing. | Though certainly a falsehood, it wasn't the kind of falsehood that is confined solely to the tangled mind of Trump or the ignorant worldview of his followers. Rather, it has formed one of the centerpieces of right-wing thought in the US since long before Trump entered the political arena. This shines a revealing light on the fundamental nature…

Do Thi Thu Huong (2020-07-16). Vietnam's Success Against COVID-19. globalresearch.ca While other countries are still lifting quarantine or planning to re-open public activities, Vietnam — a small, developing country that has about 1,400 km of land, river and stream and borders with China — has been opened up for more …

Thomas Nicholas, Galen Hall, & Colleen Schmidt (2020-07-16). The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of Deep Adaptation. zcomm.org The claim that runaway climate change has made societal collapse inevitable is not only wrong — it undermines the cause of the climate movement…

Gregg Gonsalves (2020-07-16). The New Lysenkoism in Washington. thenation.com The New Lysenkoism in Washington…

Dean Baker (2020-07-16). It's Going to be a Long, Hard Recession. counterpunch.org When the unemployment rate goes up, a standard theme in the media is that workers don't have the right skills. We saw that yesterday in the New York Times when an article told us "The Pandemic Has Accelerated Demands for a More Skilled Workforce." It tells us how the growth of telecommuting in response to

Rajan Menon (2020-07-16). How the Pandemic Hit Americans: Selective in Its Impact, the Virus Has Struck the Homeless Hard. counterpunch.org The novel SARS-CoV-2 has roared through the American landscape leaving physical, emotional, and economic devastation in its wake. By early July, known infections in this country exceeded three million, while deaths topped 135,000. Home to just over 4% of the global population, the United States accounts for more than a quarter of all fatalities from

F. Douglas Stephenson (2020-07-16). The End of Private Health Insurance? zcomm.org Covid Crash shows Why we Need Medicare for All…

Yanis Iqbal (2020-07-16). The Ravages of Lithium Extraction in Chile. globalresearch.ca In Chile, the Covid-19 pandemic is raging with an unprecedented speed. There are

Elizabeth Woodworth (2020-07-16). The Battle for Pandemic Sanity: Hydroxychloroquine Efficacy vs. Its Suppression. globalresearch.ca Covid-19 cases are on the rise again in the U.S. | Why are Dr. Anthony Fauci's NIAID, the FDA, and the CDC so blind to the real-world success of HCQ+azithromycin? | If this combination is the simple, cheap, safe way to prevent …

Julian Rose (2020-07-16). Towards a Totalitarian Regime? European Commission Adopts GMO Vaccine to Combat Non Existent Covid-19 Virus. globalresearch.ca In a decision which will shock many, the European Commission has taken a big step towards its ambition to subject its citizens to a totalitarian regime in which DNA altering technology forms the centre piece of mass control and unapologetic …