The Artist as Prophet
Chris Hedges | truthdig.com | 2019-08-05
Where is America headed? As the question is endlessly argued, especially during the presidential campaign, potential answers tend to inhabit political realms. However, Chris Hedges, in this column from May 29, 2017, suggests that we also look elsewhere in seeking answers: to our artists. A new article from Hedges will appear next Monday after he returns from vacation. | The Israeli writer and dissident Uri Avnery asked an Egyptian general how the Egyptians managed to surprise the Israelis when they launched the October 1973 war. The general answered: "Instead of reading the intelligence reports, you should have r…
truthdig.com/articles/the-artist-as-prophet-2/
Trump Regime Aiming to Blockade Iran and Venezuela?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-05
International law is clear. Blockades are undeclared acts of war. | No nation may legally use this tactic against another state unilaterally or with coalition partners. | UN Charter provisions are binding international law. Article 39 authorizes the Security Council alone to …
globalresearch.ca/trump-regime-aiming-blockade-iran-venezuela/5685571
A Syrian Leader Tells His Country's Story: An Interview with SAA General Hassan Hassan
Eva Bartlett | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-05
For years, international headlines spotlighting Syria have claimed that the Syrian government, army, and its allies were guilty of a variety of atrocities. Yet as time has passed, many of the accusations levied at government and its allies have been shown to have been either falsified, staged (as in the case of allegations of chemical attacks in eastern Ghouta), or actually committed by the myriad terrorist groups operating in the country. | For their part, Syrian leadership has maintained from the start that the uprising…
mintpressnews.com/syria-interview-with-syrian-arab-army-general-hassan-hassan/261146/
Australia Will Not Host US Missiles
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-05
Australia will not accept any deployment of U.S. missiles on its territory, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, after the United States revealed ambitions to site missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. | RELATED: | Australia to Hold Aboriginal Recognition Referendum | This refusal from the Australian premier came just days after he met with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Sydney. Officials from both governments ended the meeting with a joint statement in which the two allies…
telesurenglish.net/news/Australia-Will-Not-Host-US-Missiles–20190805-0004.html
Myanmar companies bankroll 'brutal operations' of military, independent UN experts claim in new report
United Nations | un.org | 2019-08-05
Money earned by the Myanmar military from international and domestic business deals, "substantially enhances its ability to carry out gross violations of human rights with impunity" according to a report released on Monday by an independent United Nations group looking into military-business ties in the South East Asian country.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/08/1043701
Reiwa Shinsengumi: A New Unconventional Politician has Emerged in Japan. Power to the People!
Reiwa Shinsengumi for the World | asia-pacificresearch.com | 2019-08-05
asia-pacificresearch.com/power-people/5628814
Rivers of Dust: Water and the Middle East
Conn Hallinan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-05
Syria and Iraq are at odds with Turkey over the Tigris-Euphrates. Egypt's relations with Sudan and Ethiopia over the Nile are tense. Jordan and the Palestinians accuse Israel of plundering river water to irrigate the Negev Desert and hogging most of the three aquifers that underlie the occupied West Bank.
counterpunch.org/2019/08/05/rivers-of-dust-water-the-middle-east/
Mass Shootings, Militarism and Policing Are Chapters in the Same Manifesto
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-05
| This weekend, after two mass shooters killed and injured dozens of people in Texas and Ohio,?Rep. Steve Cohen?tweeted, "You want to shoot an assault weapon? Go to Afghanistan or Iraq. Enlist!" | Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, apparently did not take issue with the El Paso shooter's desire to slaughter people of color — he merely wanted to redirect his bullets toward people of color outside of the United States. His tweet was a chilling reminder of?how the United…
truthout.org/articles/mass-shootings-militarism-and-policing-are-chapters-in-the-same-manifesto/
India Moves to Strip Kashmir of Autonomy, Potentially Setting Up Conflict in Disputed Territory
Murtaza Hussain | theintercept.com | 2019-08-05
The change to Kashmir's status as an autonomous state, which both India and Pakistan lay claim to, comes after an unexpected lockdown in the province.
theintercept.com/2019/08/05/india-kashmir-autonomy-status/
India Ends Occupied Kashmir's Special Status Amid High Tension
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-05
India's Interior Minister Amit Shah announced at parliament Monday that the federal government is scrapping Article 370, which was a constitutional provision that granted a measure of autonomy to the Indian Occupied Kashmir. | RELATED: | India Puts Kashmiri Leaders Under House Arrest, Declares Curfew | "The entire constitution will be ap…
telesurenglish.net/news/india-special-status-kashmir-scrapped-article-370-occupied-kashmir-20190805-0003.html
Brazilian Inmate Tries Jailbreak Disguised as Teenage Daughter
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-05
A masked Rio de Janeiro inmate dressed as a woman tried to break out of a Brazilian jail this weekend in a surreal act of derring-do, only to be thwarted on the cusp of freedom by state prison authorities. | RELATED: | Brazil Prison Riot Kills 52, with 16 Decapitated | Clauvino da Silva, a drug dealer from the city of Angra dos Reis, was caught by prison guards at the Bangu jail complex in Rio state on Saturday, as he tried to exit via the front door after visiting hours. The Rio state prison au…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazilian-Gang-Leader-Tries-Jailbreak-Disguised-as-Teenage-Daughter-20190805-0009.html
World War II: US Military Destroyed 66 Japanese Cities Before Planning to Wipe Out the Same Number of Soviet Cities
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-05
The number of Japanese cities destroyed was the exact figure that the Pentagon compiled when finalizing plans, in mid-September 1945, to eviscerate the Soviet Union. Indeed, 66 Soviet cities were earmarked to be wiped out — with 204 atomic bombs — less than 2 weeks after Japan's surrender.
globalresearch.ca/us-military-destroyed-66-japanese-cities-before-planning-wipe-out-same-number-soviet-cities/5680934
Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif Drives Trump to Insanity
M. K. Bhadrakumar | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-05
At a time when the Trump administration has no problem negotiating with the secretary of the Russian national security council Nikolai Patrushev, who is technically under US sanctions since April 2018, the cut and thrust of Washington's move to …
globalresearch.ca/irans-zarif-drives-trump-insanity/5685632
Iran Says Will Not Tolerate 'Offenses' in Gulf
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-05
Iran runs security in the Strait of Hormuz and will no longer tolerate "maritime offenses" there, the country's foreign minister said Monday, a day after it seized a second oil tanker near the strategic waterway that it accused of smuggling fuel. | RELATED: | Iran Seizes Another Oil Tanker Smuggling Fuel: Gov't | Tanker traffic through the Strait has become a focus for an increasingly tense standoff between Washington and Tehran, into which Britain has also been dragged, and the United Sta…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Says-Will-Not-Tolerate-Offenses-in-Gulf-as-UK-Joins-US-led-Maritime-Security-Patrol-20190805-0007.html
Patterns of Occupied Palestine: Part 2 of Uncountable
Priti Gulati Cox | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-05
What do Shahed Amer al-Bayoumi, Abdel-Raouf Salha, Arafat Jaradat, Ayoub Asaleya, Mohammed Suleiman, Sawsan Ali Dawud Mansour, Mohammad H., Isma'il Muslem Hamad Abu Bteihan, Ala Ziad Abu 'Aasi, Fadi al-Darbi, Atef al-Maqousi, Jaber Ibrahim Abu Hweige,Fadiyah Jaber Abu Hweigeand MuhammadJaber Abu Hweigehave in common? They are Palestinians between the ages of 9 and 69 who…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/05/patterns-of-occupied-palestine-part-2-of-uncountable/
Israeli Ministers To Honor Rabbi Who Praised Palestine Massacre
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-05
Two Israeli ministers will speak at a conference organized in honor of a right-wing rabbi, who praised the 1994 massacre of Palestinian worshipers in Hebron and was previously charged with racism. | RELATED: | Intermarriages Among Jews Is 'Like Second Holocaust': Israeli Education Minister | Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz and Transportation…
telesurenglish.net/news/israel-ministers-support-rabbi-who-praised-1994-hebron-massacre-of-palestinians-20190805-0008.html
Afghanistan: In Search of Monsters to Not Destroy
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-05
America, John Quincy Adams said in 1821, "goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." That's as good a summary ever spoken of the non-interventionist position. US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) disagrees. He…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/05/afghanistan-in-search-of-monsters-to-not-destroy/
Election annulment please
Tom H. Hastings | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-05
Russia hacked and attacked our 2016 presidential election and installed Donald Trump. This requires annulment. Trump didn't even come close on the actual popular vote, losing to Clinton by some three million votes, and yet seized the White House by the arcane and anti-democratic electoral college, but only due to Russian illegal interference. This makes …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/05/election-annulment-please/
Arctic fires: "You have to go to a different planet to find a more persistent type"
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-05
Here's a sentence for you: The Arctic is burning. Yes, that Arctic–the traditionally cold and wet one, large swaths of which are being consumed by an astonishing number of wildfires, from Russia to Greenland to Alaska. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/05/arctic-fires-you-have-to-go-to-a-different-planet-to-find-a-more-persistent-type/
U.S. imposes 2nd round of sanctions against Russia for poisoning ex-spy
Andrew Emett | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-05
The United States is announcing a second round of sanctions on Russia for its use of a 'novichok' nerve agent in an attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal.
nationofchange.org/2019/08/05/u-s-imposes-2nd-round-of-sanctions-against-russia-for-poisoning-ex-spy/
The Global Currency War Has Begun. China's Yuan Breaks the 7 to $1 Band. Why is The Dollar Rising?
Dr. Jack Rasmus | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-05
Over this weekend, China's Yuan currency broke out of its band and devalued to more than 7 to $1. At the same time China announced it would not purchase more US agricultural goods. The Trump-US Neocon trade strategy has just …
globalresearch.ca/china-yuan-breaks-7-1-band-global-currency-war-has-begun/5685617
Steve Bannon's Foreign Policy Crusade Against China
James Carden | thenation.com | 2019-08-05
Steve Bannon's Foreign Policy Crusade Against China…
thenation.com/article/steve-bannon-foreign-policy-crusade-china/
China's response to Trump's new tariff threat panics stock market
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-08-05
San José, CA – On Monday, August 5, China replied to Trump's new tariff threat by calling off the purchases of U.S. agricultural products and weakening government support for the RMB, China's currency. In response the RMB fell to 14 U.S. cents, meaning it will take slightly more than 7 RMB to buy one U.S. dollar. Soybean prices also fell, as China is the largest foreign buyer of U.S. soybeans. | The lower value, or depreciation, of the RMB will partially offset the impact of Trump's new tariffs, or tax, of 10% on all remaining U.S. imports of goods from China. These tariffs, which include many consumer goods such…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/8/5/china-s-response-trump-s-new-tariff-threat-panics-stock-market
The Dangerous New US Consensus on China and the Future of US-China Relations
Prof. Mel Gurtov | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-05
The trade war and technological competition with China are symptomatic of a much larger issue: a dangerous gridlock in US-China relations that may become permanent, with dire consequences not just for the two countries' economies but also for the global …
globalresearch.ca/dangerous-new-us-consensus-china-future-us-china-relations/5685593
Stocks Plunge 3% in Worst Loss of Year as Trade War Escalates
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-05
Rattled U.S. investors react to China letting its currency, the yuan, drop to its lowest level against the dollar in more than a decade.
truthdig.com/articles/stocks-plunge-3-in-worst-loss-of-year-as-trade-war-escalates/
The Forgotten Rohingya Refugees
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-05
Existence is resistance: a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees live in Malaysia with no legal rights or protections…
therealnews.com/stories/the-forgotten-rohingya-refugees
India's Ruling Party Turning Kashmir 'Into a Black Hole,' Critics Claim, as Fears of Widespread Conflict Rise
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-05
"The government of India has cut its nose to spite its face." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/kashmir.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/05/indias-ruling-party-turning-kashmir-black-hole-critics-claim-fears-widespread?cd-origin=rss
In Wake of Nuclear Treaty Collapse, Putin Says if US Pursues Previously Banned Missiles, Russia Will Also
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-05
"The collapse of the INF Treaty last Friday opens up a Pandora's Box of dangerous possibilities." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/russia-if-us-nuclear-missiles-treaty.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/05/wake-nuclear-treaty-collapse-putin-says-if-us-pursues-previously-banned-missiles?cd-origin=rss
Stock Market Tumbles After China Devalues Yuan in Response to Trump Tariffs
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-08-05
"If this was an all out currency war—the U.S. would hands down lose." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/stock_market_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2019/08/05/stock-market-tumbles-after-china-devalues-yuan-response-trump-tariffs?cd-origin=rss
Readings from Civil Liberties United: Diverse Voices from the SF Bay Area
Oakland Asian Cultural Center | indybay.org | 2019-08-05
Oakland Asian Cultural Center | 388 9th St., Suite 290 | Oakland, CA 94607…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/05/18825224.php
Doro-Chiba Labor Comm On Growing Threat Of Dictatorship, Xenophobia & War
International Labor Solidarity Committee of D | indybay.org | 2019-08-05
The Labor Solidarity Committee of Japan Railway Workers Union Doro-Chiba statment on the growing threat of dictatorship, xenophobia and imperialist war.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/04/18825202.php
Code Pink Action On The Sausalito Ferry
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2019-08-05
…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/03/18825181.php
General strike by Hong Kong workers against extradition law
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
The strike signals the entry of the working class, on a class basis, into the mass protest movement, pointing to the underlying social and economic issues driving the opposition.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/hong-a05.html
Russian authorities continue crackdown on opposition protests
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
The violent crackdown on protests by the "liberal" opposition is aimed at intimidating all government opposition and preparing for the suppression of widespread resistance by the working class.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/russ-a05.html
Deadlock over Iranian cargo ships exposes deep crisis of Brazilian ruling class
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
As the Bolsonaro government aligns itself ever more closely with US imperialism, the ruling class is growing nervous of provoking a social explosion…
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/braz-a05.html
FAA concealed flaws in Boeing aircraft after Lion Air crash in Indonesia
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
The Federal Aviation Administration kept Boeing's dangerous 737 Max 8 flying to protect the profits of the aerospace giant.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/boei-a05.html
US to ring China with missiles in nuclear arms race
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
With the potential deployment of US nuclear missiles just minutes in flight-time from the Chinese mainland, the region's huge population will live under the specter of nuclear annihilation.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/miss-a05.html
Bangladesh primary school teachers demand government nationalise schools
wsws.org | 2019-08-05
Even if non-government primary schools are taken over by the Hasina government there is no guarantee that teachers and school staff will be regularly paid.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/05/bang-a05.html
Fourth immigrant dies in Georgia detention center
Arielle Robinson | workers.org | 2019-08-04
Pedro Arriago-Santoya died July 24 while detained in a South Georgia Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Arriago-Santoya was 44 years old and from Mexico. His cause of death was listed as heart infection and multiple organ failure. Arriago-Santoya is the fourth migrant since 2017 to die while detained at Stewart . . . | Continue reading Fourth immigrant dies in Georgia detention center at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/04/fourth-immigrant-dies-in-georgia-detention-center/
'Oust Duterte!' is a Filipino rallying cry in New York
Cosmia Bohannan-Blumke | workers.org | 2019-08-04
On July 22, in pouring rain, several dozen people occupied the sidewalk in front of the Philippines consulate in midtown Manhattan to protest the corrupt, brutal and genocidal rule of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. The People's State of the Nation Address was part of a globally coordinated day of protests, . . . | Continue reading 'Oust Duterte!' is a Filipino rallying cry in New York at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/08/04/oust-duterte-is-a-filipino-rallying-cry-in-new-york/
#KashmirBleeds: India Deploys More Troops, Escalates Conflict
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-04
The conflict between India and its occupied territory of Kashmir has escalated over last few days as the local Indian officials asked all tourists to leave the place, shut down schools and colleges, and deployed more army citing terror threats. | ANALYSIS: | From Mass Rapes to Half-Widows: Kashmiri Women Under Occupation | Indian secur…
telesurenglish.net/news/india-occupied-kashmir-bleeds-tourists-fled-army-deployed-conflict-escalation-20190804-0004.html
India Puts Kashmiri Leaders Under House Arrest, Declares Curfew
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-04
Three prominent political leaders in Indian Occupied Kashmir have been put under house arrest Sunday night local time, local Indian media has confirmed. | RELATED: | #KashmirBleeds: Conflict Escalates as India Deploys More Troops | Two of them, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah were former Chief Ministers of the state. Anothe…
telesurenglish.net/news/India-Puts-Kashmiri-Leaders-Under-House-Arrest-Declares-Curfew-20190804-0007.html
Mueller time is over, Russia-hate is here to stay
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-04
Stephen F. Cohen says that while Robert Mueller has closed up shop, dangerous U.S. fear-mongering about Russia remains. Guest: Stephen…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/04/mueller-time-is-over-russia-hate-is-here-to-stay/
Yemen's Houthis Agree to Lift Aid Suspension: UN Food Program
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-04
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and Yemen's Houthis announced Saturday that they reached an agreement allowing the agency to resume one again the aid it had partially ceased, affecting some 850,000 Yemenis. | RELATED: | War in Yemen May Actually Come to an End: UN | "Cash distribution will soon begin, God willing, in accordance with the mechanism," said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis' Supreme Revolutionary Committee, referring to cash transfers to those in need, so they…
telesurenglish.net/news/WFP-Yemen-Houthis-Agree-to-Lift-Aid-Suspension-20190804-0012.html
Russian opposition figure detained ahead of Moscow protest
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2019-08-03
A leading opposition figure has been detained by Moscow police as she was heading to an unauthorised protest against the exclusion of independent and opposition candidates from the city council elections.Lyubov Sobol, who is one of the election hopefuls rejected from the ballot, was detained on Saturday in central Moscow and taken away in a police van.Activists intend to go ahead with the unauthorised protest (AP)The attempted rally comes a week after police detained nearly 1,400 protesters, beating some of them with truncheons.Despite repeated warnings that police would take active measures against a protest on…
thecanary.co/global/2019/08/03/russian-opposition-figure-detained-ahead-of-moscow-protest/
Iran's Interests in China's One Belt One Road Policy
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-08-03
The Chinese economy has recently boosted its foreign exchange earnings and substantially increased its currency reserves. The increase in China's foreign exchange reserves and resources has provided the government with the opportunity to become one of the major actors in the supply of international relations and the global economy. China is one of the emerging …
uwidata.com/4707-irans-interests-in-chinas-one-belt-one-road-policy/
United Church of Canada should Come Clean on Anti-Palestinian Accord
Yves Engler | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-03
Toronto church Trinity-St. Paul's shameful suppression of a Palestinian youth cultural event highlights anti-Palestinian rot festering in the United Church of Canada. It ought to also shine a light on a little discussed anti-Palestinian accord UCC leaders signed with Israel lobby groups five decades ago. Under pressure from B'nai B'rith and the Jewish Defence League …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/united-church-of-canada-should-come-clean-on-anti-palestinian-accord/
The Western Alliance is Falling Apart
Peter Koenig | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-03
Ever since Imran Khan became the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2018, the winds have changed. While his predecessors, though generally leaning eastwards, have often wavered between the US and the China orbit, Khan is in the process of clearly defining his alliances with the east, in particular China. This is for the …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/the-western-alliance-is-falling-apart/
A $32mn nothingburger: Justice Dept bill comes due for Russiagate costs
rt.com | 2019-08-03
Nearly two years of fruitlessly hunting for collusion between US President Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government cost the country $31.7 million, the Justice Department has revealed. | …
rt.com/usa/465706-mueller-investigation-cost-justice/
Weekend Read: The SPLC fights an internal threat to our democracy
splcenter.org | 2019-08-03
In his recent testimony before Congress, Special Counsel Robert Mueller pointedly warned the nation about Russia's ongoing attempts to meddle in our nation's elections.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/03/weekend-read-splc-fights-internal-threat-our-democracy