2019-12-20: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

India's Government is Going to War Against Its Own People
Vijay Prashad | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
On December 13, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights released a powerful statement that criticized India's new citizenship law. This "fundamentally discriminatory" Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 would expedite citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from India's neighboring countries. But in the list of those minorities, it names only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians. It does not name Muslims.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/indias-government-is-going-to-war-against-its-own-people/

India's Government Is Going to War Against Its Own People
Vijay Prashad | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
The BJP government was particularly ruthless against protests atJamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi. (Photo: Indian Express) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/india_0.jpeg
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/indias-government-going-war-against-its-own-people?cd-origin=rss

Medical observers blocked from attending Assange hearing
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Dr. David Morgan and Dr. Marco Chiesa are among the more than 100 doctors from around the world who have issued three open letters to the UK and Australian governments protesting Assange's brutal persecution.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/doct-d20.html

Judge says Assange extradition hearing will take "three to four weeks" as political opposition mounts
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Assange appeared physically unwell, but followed the proceedings carefully via videolink from Belmarsh maximum security prison.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/assa-d20.html

Women Politicals: Still Defiant
Linda Ford | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-20
As Australian activist John Pilger recounts his visit to the world's most abused US/UK political prisoner, Julian Assange, he gives us the brutal details of how the friends and families of political prisoners also face punishment, gauntlets, humiliation. And he tells of the terrible conditions and terrible treatment meted out to Assange, and the weakened, …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/women-politicals-still-defiant/

Activists Demand a Migrant Justice Platform as Democratic Candidates Discuss Immigration in Debate
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
Protesters for immigrant rights demonstrated outside the Democratic debate Thursday in Los Angeles, displaying a banner that read "Migrant Justice on Day One" and demanding a moratorium on deportations and immigrant worker protections. We look at how the candidates responded, with Erika Andiola, chief advocacy officer for RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. "I'm really happy that immigration came up this time around," she notes. "In the past few debates, the issue didn't even come up."
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/democratic_debate_immigration_erika_andiola_raices

The Real Lesson of Afghanistan? Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
The debacle in Afghanistan is only one case in a fundamentally flawed U.S. policy with worldwide consequences. New quasi-governments installed by U.S. "regime change" in country after country have proven more corrupt, less legitimate and less able to control their nation's territory than the ones the U.S. has destroyed.
mintpressnews.com/real-lesson-afghanistan-war-regime-change-does-not-work/263642/

The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The trove of U.S. "Lessons Learned" documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The "Lessons Learned" papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries,…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-real-lesson-of-afghanistan-is-that-regime-change-does-not-work/

The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is that Regime Change Does Not Work
Medea Benjamin | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
The trove of U.S. "Lessons Learned" documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The "Lessons Learned" papers, however, are based on …
globalresearch.ca/real-lesson-afghanistan-regime-change-does-not-work/5698301

Blood Memory Rising, Book Review of Standing with Standing Rock
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2019-12-20
'Standing with Standing Rock,' is an encyclopedia of resistance, which chronicles the Water Protector movement from the first run to Washington, and on to the camps, and the surveillance by TigerSwan, to the ultimate international divestment campaign. In its 29 chapters are poetry, essays and discussions of Indigenous rights and Treaties.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/18829041.php

Capitalism and the Limits of Greening
Carl Boggs | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The idea of a Green New Deal, including the one proposed by a group of Democrats led by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is hardly novel on the world scene, though potentially consequential for American politics. European Green parties, for example, introduced far-reaching policies in support of an ecological (sustainable) model of development as early as 1980. A few other European leftist parties later arrived at their own "greening" initiatives to mitigate climate disruption. The much-smaller U.S. Greens followed suit. Even the authoritarian Chinese government has introduced its own program to curb green…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/capitalism-and-the-limits-of-greening/

War is Good for Business and Organized Crime: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Opium Trade. Rising Heroin Addiction in the US
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Despite president Trump's announced US troop withdrawal, the Afghan opium trade continues to flourish. It is protected by US-NATO occupation forces on behalf of a nexus of powerful financial and criminal interests.
globalresearch.ca/war-is-good-for-business-and-organized-crime-afghanistans-multibillion-dollar-opium-trade-rising-heroin-addiction-in-the-us/5664319

11 Pro Impeachment Activists Arrested at McConnell's Office
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-20
By The People is a grassroots group that has been pushing for impeachment for a long time. Instead of taking a pause to celebrate victory, they showed up at Senator McConnell's office to demand that the Senate take the charges against Trump seriously. Watch Marc Steiner interview By The People volunteer Adiel Pollydore about the…
therealnews.com/stories/11-pro-impeachment-activists-arrested-at-mcconnells-office

Hawaii governor issues ultimatum to Mauna Kea protesters
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
Indigenous Hawaiian activists have been blockading the entrance to the Mauna Kea summit for the past five months in order to stop the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The proposed construction of the TMT observatory at the site considered sacred by Native Hawaiians, has been heavily opposed by the Indigenous population and environmentalists alike. | On December 19, Hawaiian governor David Ige issued an ultimatum to the protesters participating in the blockade, demanding that they leave the…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/hawaii-governor-issues-ultimatum-to-mauna-kea-protesters/

Chronicle of a Coup Foretold
Brian Mier | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Will the US left work to normalize the impending coup attempt in Mexico the way it did for Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Nicaragua? Last July I gave a speech in the Left Forum in Brooklyn. When it was over, A young activist stood up and announced, in perfect English, that they were an anarchist from…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/chronicle-of-a-coup-foretold-2/

Muhammad Ali an activist to help MIAs/POWs in Vietnam
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2019-12-20
Cathy A. Lundy was only around 4 years old when she was aboard the Yacht Sequoia as a guest of former disgraced President Richard Nixon (a.k.a. Tricky Dick). Unfortunately, her father was reported killed in action in Laos during the Vietnam War during 1970. The cruise certificate hangs on the wall of my apartment. Photo by Paulo Kesete…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/19/18829036.php

Activist Marty Gottesfeld Silenced for Writing About Prison Corruption While Serving Time
Barrett Brown | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
As I've recently learned from his wife, activist and prison journalist Marty Gottesfeld — recently sentenced to ten years for a denial of service attack on the website of the Boston hospital that was holding a young girl against her will and that of her family while denying her treatment for the painful condition they…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/why-was-activist-marty-gottesfeld-silenced-for-writing-about-prison-corruption-while-serving-10-years/

The Real Reasons Tulsi Gabbard Did Not Vote to Impeach Donald Trump
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Gabbard's decision had much more to do with a desire to censure Trump over his real crimes: carrying out wars without congressional approval, illegally "occupying and pillaging" Syria, " and continuing to support Saudi Arabia's "genocidal war" in Yemen.
mintpressnews.com/war-pillaging-and-peace-why-tulsi-gabbard-did-not-vote-to-impeach-trump/263657/

Leaked Information on Trump's No-Peace/Deal of the Century
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Information on what may be in Trump's no-peace/peace plan was leaked before — its accuracy unknown unless and until a plan is released. | It hardly matters. It was dead before arrival. Trump's one-sided support for Israel is more extreme than …
globalresearch.ca/leaked-information-trump-no-peace-deal-century/5698306

Stand for peace and harmony says Guterres, following meeting with Pope Francis
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
In the midst of "turbulent and trying times", all the world's people must stand together in peace and harmony, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday. António Guterres was speaking following an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican, who he thanked for his strong support for the global Organization.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1054091

UN Envoy: Israel Has Pushed Forward Plans to Build 22,000 New Housing Units in Settlements
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2019-12-20
The United Nations Middle East envoy reported, on Wednesday, that Israel had pushed forward plans to construct over 22,000 housing units in settlements, in the occupied West Bank, since a UN resolution reaffirmed their illegality three years ago. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, …
imemc.org/article/un-envoy-israel-has-pushed-forward-plans-to-build-22000-new-housing-units-in-settlements/

Two tactics in the fight against Trump and the right
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-12-20
On December 18 the U.S. House of Representatives voted by a 230-197 margin to impeach President Donald Trump. The day before, thousands of people turned out at hundreds of protests across the country to support the impeachment effort. | Trump was impeached by a party-line vote on two counts: first, for abuse of power after he withheld military aid from the Ukraine in an effort to get the government there to investigate Joe Biden's son for corruption; and second, for obstruction of justice because of his campaign to cover up his actions. | What was not voted on were Trump's many other crimes against the people, in…
www.fightbacknews.org/2019/12/20/two-tactics-fight-against-trump-and-right

Hawaiian protestors stay firm at Mauna Kea
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
Barely hours after announcing that the law enforcement personnel at the Mauna Kea protest site shall be withdrawn, on December 19, Hawaii's governor David Ige has given an ultimatum to protesters to disperse. Protesters have decried the ultimatum, stating that the announcement that the police will stand down was not done in the earnest but was an attempt to clear the protests. These protests are against the construction of a large astronomical observatory project that was proposed at the summit of Mauna Kea. The indigenous inhabitants of the island state have opposed the telescope over what they consider to be a…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/hawaiian-protestors-stay-firm-at-mauna-kea/

UN independent experts 'deeply disturbed' by alleged mistreatment of detained Iranian protesters
news.un.org | 2019-12-20
Sixteen independent UN human rights experts called on Friday for the release of arbitrarily detained protesters in Iran who have allegedly been abused while in custody.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/12/1054111

It's Not Enough to Topple a Dictator
Justin Lynch | thenation.com | 2019-12-20
It's Not Enough to Topple a Dictator…
thenation.com/article/sudan-dictator-protest-democracy/

Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
Doctors in Zimbabwe are continuing their walkout in the face of intensifying repression while 1,200 German Amazon workers protested low pay by staging a walkout.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/wkrs-d20.html

Massive protests against controversial judicial reforms rock Poland
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
On Wednesday, December 18, massive mobilizations took place in over 160 locations in Poland under the banner of "Today judges — tomorrow you", to protest the new judicial reforms proposed by the incumbent right-wing government led by the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS). Thousands of people, many carrying Polish flags, gathered in front of Poland's parliament in Warsaw. Marches were also organized in Wroclaw, Torun, Poznan, Szczecin, Katowice, Bialystok and other cities. The call for the protest was given by the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD), the judiciary association "Iustitia Polska"
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/massive-protests-against-controversial-judicial-reforms-rock-poland/

Iraq frees 2,700 protesters as deadlock over prime minister's post continues
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-20
In the absence of a consensus, the deadline for proposing a name for the next prime minister has been postponed to December 22. More than 496 people have been killed and more than 25,000 injured since the protests in Iraq began on October 1…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/20/iraq-frees-2700-protesters-as-deadlock-over-prime-ministers-post-continues/

Video: Syrian Army's Large Scale Ground Operation in Greater Idlib
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
The Syrian Army has finalized military preparations and is awaiting orders to launch a large-scale ground operation in Greater Idlib, according to reports by Syrian media. The operation will allegedly be aimed at liberating the militant-held part of the M5 …
globalresearch.ca/video-syrian-army-last-chance-idlib-advance-2019/5698300

Trump Not Officially Impeached So Far?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Will or won't House Speaker Pelosi select Dem impeachment managers (prosecutors) and transmit articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate for trial? | Knowing the GOP controlled body will reject House charges against Trump and acquit him, will Pelosi and …
globalresearch.ca/trump-not-officially-impeached-so-far/5698309

Marjorie Cohn, Dorothee Benz on Impeachment
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-12-20
Media…
fair.org/home/marjorie-cohn-dorothee-benz-on-impeachment/

The Afghanistan Fiasco and the Decline and Fall of the American Military
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
A devastating investigative report was published in the Washington Post on December 9th. Dubbed the "Afghanistan Papers" in a nod to the Vietnam War's famous "Pentagon Papers," the report relied on thousands of documents to similarly expose how …
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-fiasco-decline-fall-american-military/5698318

The Radical Underuse of Impeachment
David Swanson | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Al Capone wasn't prosecuted for tax evasion because it's cool or smart or strategic to prosecute murderers for lesser crimes, but because proving murder in court was going to be more difficult. That's not analogous to a Congressional impeachment, but the opposite of how Congress operates. Congress sits on indisputable evidence of the greatest crimes…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-radical-underuse-of-impeachment/

More Fascist Nonsense from a Disgraced President
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
In the demented mind of the disgraced fascist oligarch Donald "Perfect Call" Trump, "the Radical Left Democrats have been trying to impeach me from Day 1." This is nonsense on at least three levels. First, the reigning forces in the dismal, demobilizing, neoliberal and dollar-drenched Democratic Party are anything but radical or Left. They are…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/more-fascist-nonsense-from-a-disgraced-president/

Impeachment: The road to nowhere leads to . . . nowhere
Richard Becker | liberationnews.org | 2019-12-20
Capping months of mind-numbingly repetitive "debates," the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted on Dec. 17 to impeach President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
liberationnews.org/impeachment-the-road-to-nowhere-leads-to-nowhere/

Debate: Is Impeachment the Best Way to Get Rid of Trump
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-20
Jacobin Magazine hosted articles on either side, Real News now hosts their debate. Does Impeachment make any sense? Yes or No?
therealnews.com/stories/debate-is-impeachment-the-best-way-to-get-rid-of-trump

Trial and Error: Pelosi's Foolish Impeachment Ploy
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
To the extent that the third presidential impeachment in US history is a "victory" — the public jury is still out on that question and likely to remain so for some time — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) seems determined to snatch defeat from its jaws. In a press conference following the House's vote to…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/trial-and-error-pelosis-foolish-impeachment-ploy/

The Politics of Trump's Impeachment
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-20
Several features stand out in the impeachment quest against President Donald J. Trump. There is constitutional discourse as mythology and fetish. There is outrage that the executive office could have been used to actually investigate political opponents through foreign …
globalresearch.ca/politics-trump-impeachment/5698332

Trump Is Impeached, and Everything Is On the Line
Sasha Abramsky | thenation.com | 2019-12-20
Trump Is Impeached, and Everything Is On the Line…
thenation.com/article/trump-impeachment-aca-census/

As Democratic Field Gets Whiter, DNC Should "Press Pause" & Fix Process Shutting Out People of Color
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-20
Within a day of President Trump's impeachment, the Democratic presidential candidates held their final debate of the year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. On the stage were Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang. Amna Nawaz, the first Pakistani American and first Muslim American to moderate a presidential primary debate, questioned Yang about being the only nonwhite candidate on the stage. We get response from Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers'…
www.democracynow.org/2019/12/20/democratic_debate_lack_of_diversity

The Fix is In
Richard Ward | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
The impeachment and trial of Donald Trump is aimed as much at Bernie Sanders (and, to a lesser extent, Liz Warren, though she's rapidly falling in line with the establishment) as it is at the President, if indeed it is aimed at him at all. As is often said, the Democratic Party establishment would rather…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/the-fix-is-in/

One day after impeachment: Democrats back Trump trade, budget bills
wsws.org | 2019-12-20
One day after the US House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment against President Trump, the House passed Trump's top policy priority for 2019, the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, by a massive bipartisan margin.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/20/trad-d20.html

DNC Should Change Its Process to Stop Shutting Out Candidates of Color
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-20
Within a day of President Trump's impeachment, the Democratic presidential candidates held their final debate of the year at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. On the stage were Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, billionaire Tom Steyer and Andrew Yang. Amna Nawaz, the first Pakistani American and first Muslim American to moderate a presidential primary debate, questioned Yang about being the only no…
truthout.org/video/dnc-should-change-its-process-to-stop-shutting-out-candidates-of-color/

The Hill Can't Stop Spreading Misinformation About Trump's Impeachment
Parker Molloy | commondreams.org | 2019-12-20
As has been the case throughout his presidency, The Hill tends to take everything Trump and his allies say at face value, sharing their statements repeatedly without indicating whether they're actually true. (Photo: Ceci Freed / Media Matters | Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2019-12-20_at_11.41.42_am.png
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/20/hill-cant-stop-spreading-misinformation-about-trumps-impeachment?cd-origin=rss

Buffy Sainte Marie Truthtelling Indigenous Genocide
Brenda Norrell | indybay.org | 2019-12-20
Buffy Sainte Marie described the genocide, slavery, murder and rape of Indigenous Peoples, that the kings and queens, military, churches and banks are responsible for, speaking with AIM West's Tony Gonzales, during the 50th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/20/18829040.php

International Criminal Court to Launch Full Investigation Into Israeli War Crimes
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2019-12-20
"In brief, I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip."
theantimedia.com/international-criminal-court-to-launch-full-investigation-into-israeli-war-crimes/

Media, Human Rights Groups Silent Over Politically-Motivated Murder of Journalist in Bolivia
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Sebastian Moro's last known words before he was found were denouncing the kidnappings of government officials and mob attacks on journalists and media outlets.
mintpressnews.com/human-rights-groups-media-murder-journalist-sebastian-moro-bolivia/263676/

Inside Journalist Tareq Haddad's Spectacular Departure from Newsweek
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-20
Tareq Haddad's exposé of the corruption and collusion at the heart of modern journalism is something long-discussed by academics, but rarely does such a clear example present itself.
mintpressnews.com/newsweek-journalist-tareq-haddad-quits-corruption-journalism/263667/

Diversity Rules Environment, OK?
Stephen Corry | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-20
Could some of the most talked of solutions to climate chaos have the reverse effect and make things worse? Some critics think so, and they aren't "deniers" who think climate change isn't real. The concept of "net zero" carbon emissions, for example, might actually help industry pollute, because one of the commonest ways to reach for it is through "carbon offsets." This means that if a corporation is responsible for a ton of carbon dioxide emissions — which is bad — but at the same time it funds a project which "captures" (or "sequesters") a ton of carbon — which is good — then the "net emi…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/20/diversity-rules-environment-ok/

Bernie Sanders' Climate Change Message Cheered in L.A. Debate
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-20
The Vermont senator receives widespread applause when he challenges what he considers a flimsy question on the issue of the climate crisis.
truthdig.com/articles/bernie-sanders-climate-change-message-cheered-in-l-a-debate/