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JULY 1 THROUGH 10

July 10, 2017

Bernie Sanders Turns His Back on Single-Payer. CounterPunch

‘Ridicule is not enough’: Noam Chomsky explains how to battle ‘Trump’s misdeeds and absurdities’. RawStory

We Are Not Safe: The Clenched Fist of Truth Is Back To Threaten "The Violent Left" and It Is Some Scary. Common Dreams

The Mass Killing of Civilians, Now in Syria and Iraq, Is Part of a Long, Depressing Pattern of American War-Making. ... There was a time during the Vietnam War when this cruel approach mattered to Americans. AlterNet

The Notion That White Workers Elected Trump Is a Myth That Suits the Ruling Class. TruthDig  

The U.S. Media’s Murky Coverage of Putin and Trump. New Yorker

Unesco makes Hebron old city Palestinian world heritage site. ... Israeli minister denounces decision on city, which is home to site known to Muslims as Ibrahimi mosque and Jews as Tomb of the Patriarch.
Guardian

‘Half The City Is Burning’: Hamburg Rocked By Violent, Anti-G-20 Protests. ... Demonstrators smashed shop windows, torched cars and set fires in the streets. Huffington

EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Targets Clean Drinking Water. ... Scott Pruitt has spent much of his short tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) working at a “dizzying” speed to dismantle Obama-era regulations that restrain major polluters. His most recent target: a rule designed to protect the drinking water of millions of Americans. TruthDig

Who supplies the news? - Patrick Cockburn on misreporting in Syria and Iraq.
London Review of Books

July 7-9, 2017

Weekend Read:
The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II. ... War has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. The United States has led this transformation, so that the military playbook now includes non-state terrorism, counterinsurgency, clandestine operations, a network of overseas bases, and computerized “precision” warfare. John W. Bower's book shows the human costs of this legacy of violence on a global scale. Buy it here

Behind the Scenes at the Saudi-Qatari Pissing Contest. ... Saudi Arabia, with the bellicose support of President Trump, has launched a diplomatic and partial economic offensive against the ridiculously small state of Qatar and is dragging its allies, the United Arab Emirates in particular, into a potential major headache. Counter Punch

This DOJ Letter May Be More Alarming Than Trump Commission’s Request For Voter Data. ... “I really worry that at the end of the day there’s gonna be a lot of noise about this Kobach-Pence commission and people will miss the enforcement efforts of DOJ.”
Huffpost

Women are no longer allowed to wear sleeveless attire in Paul Ryan’s House of Reps. RawStory

The Farm Belt führer: the making of a neo-Nazi. .. Gerhard Lauck was Germany’s biggest supplier of neo-Nazi materials. His trajectory is a valuable case study in recognizing the signs of a budding hatemonger. Guardian

El Salvador teen rape victim sentenced to 30 years in prison after stillbirth. ... A high school student was convicted on the grounds that failing to seek antenatal care amounted to murder, after giving birth in a bathroom in 2016. Guardian Also: 2016 - El Salvador: where women are thrown into jail for losing a baby. Guardian

‘They had no qualms violating my rights’: Ohio mom says gun militia demanded $10 to walk through mall. RawStory

This is how we know Jeff Sessions is a true white nationalist messiah. RawStory

Philippines police push for Muslim ID cards as counter-terrorism measure. ... Authorities in Central Luzon call for policy after Muslims blamed for failing to prevent Islamist conflict in the south.
Guardian

18 States Sue Betsy DeVos to Reinstate Rules Protecting Students from Predatory Private Collegesl. ... Two student borrowers have taken legal action against the Department of Education as well.
AlterNet

Congress Must Reclaim War-Making Authority. ... The House Appropriations Committee unexpectedly passed an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill last week that would repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. If this effort to revoke the AUMF proves successful, the repeal would effectively limit Donald Trump's ability to use military force against North Korea, Iran and elsewhere. TruthOut

"Trying to Build in the Rubble of Neoliberalism": Michelle Alexander and Naomi Klein on Bringing Movements Together. TruthOut

New House Bill Would Kill Gerrymandering and Could Move America Away From Two-Party Dominance. The Intercept

 

July 6, 2017

The Stomach-Turning Numbers Behind America’s Police Violence. ... The number of fatal shootings by police officers in the first half of 2017 is nearly identical to the number of shootings recorded during the same time period in 2016 and 2015, according to the Washington Post’s police shootings database.
TruthDig

NPR Tweeted Declaration Of Independence, And Trump Supporters Flipped Out. .. They didn’t recognize the words and thought NPR was calling for revolution. Huffington and RawStory

Ari Berman: Kris Kobach Is Helping Trump Lay Groundwork for Nationwide Voter Suppression Effort. Democracy Now - Related: 44 States Say No to Trump: Resistance Grows as Trump's Election Commission Seeks Private Voter Data
Democracy Now

Is America Past the Point of No Return?
Oligarchs representing monopolistic Big Pharma, Big Banks, and Big Retail/Fast Food are devastating us.
AlterNet

Empire Files: Buying a Slave -- the Hidden World of US-Philippines Trafficking. ... Human trafficking is a hidden industry that brings in $150 billion in illegal profits every year. In the United States, tens of thousands are trafficked annually -- the biggest clients being major hotel chains and foreign diplomats. TruthOut

You Want a Picture of the Future? Imagine a Boot Stamping on Your Face. ... We have arrived, way ahead of schedule, into the dystopian future dreamed up by such science fiction writers as George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood and Philip K. Dick. ... Much like Orwell’s Big Brother in 1984, the government and its corporate spies now watch our every move. Counter Punch

'Your worst nightmare: a successful Donald Trump presidency'. ... As the president seizes on policy wins and seeks to turn the Russia spotlight on Obama and the press, some experts say liberals are in for a rude awakening. Guardian

Exclusive: Astonishing poll about Trump and media. ... A stark poll by Survey Monkey finds that 89% of Republicans view President Trump as more trustworthy than CNN, and 91% of Democrats think the opposite. Among all adults, trust for CNN is 7 points ahead of Trump. Among independents, CNN wins by 15 points. Axios

JULY 5, 2017

Theresa May sitting on report on foreign funding of UK extremists. ... Exclusive: Green co-leader Caroline Lucas suggests ‘astonishing’ delay in publication is down to reluctance to criticise Saudi Arabia. Guardian

The Rise of the New Global Elite. ... F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he declared the rich different from you and me. But today’s super-rich are also different from yesterday’s: more hardworking and meritocratic, but less connected to the nations that granted them opportunity—and the countrymen they are leaving ever further behind. The Atlantic

The Battle Over What It Means to Be Female ... Patriarchy, across the globe, plagues humankind.
Counter Punch/Hedges

The Stink Without a Secret. ... After six solid months of co-ordinated allegation from the mainstream media allied to the leadership of state security institutions, not one single scrap of solid evidence for Trump/Russia election hacking has emerged.
Craig Murray

My daughter was killed by Donald Trump’s botched drone attack in Yemen. ... I also thought at first that Muhammad, my two-year-old grandson, was also killed – but when we took him from Fateem’s arms, he cried. He was sleeping all the time in his dead mother’s arms. Independent

Trump’s administration pursues radical expansion of offshore drilling
Despite spill risks, bipartisan opposition, Trump’s Department of Interior is moving forward with offshore drilling plans. ThinkProgress

Saudi Arabia Moves to Silence Deposed Prince, Dissidents. ... Royal court limits movements of Mohammed bin Nayef, infiltrates social-media accounts of activists and religious figures. WSJ

Paul Krugman: Trump Is About to Launch His First Major War, and It's as Ill-Conceived as You'd Imagine. ... He's convinced threatening our allies is the best way to achieve a win. AlterNet

More federal judge abdication
The branch designed to be insulated from political pressures has been the most craven of all in the post-9/11 era. Salon

JULY 4, 2017

On July 3, 1988 US war ship shot down an Iranian airliner killing 290 people. George H W Bush said, "I will never apologize for the United States. I don't care what the facts are" The ship commander received the Legion of Merit Commendation.

On American Revolution. ... It’s true that slaveowner Thomas Jefferson’s July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence (DOI) articulated the revolutionary notion that the people have the right to dissolve a government that no longer serves their interests. But the “American Revolution” was a national independence movement led by wealthy landowners, slaveowners, and merchants who feared uprisings from below. Counter Punch

Private Money Goes After Trump’s Public Infrastructure Projects Counter Punch

The president of the United States appears untethered from reality. ... he way he treated Morning Joe’s hosts is abnormal. And this abnormality has effects that extend far beyond the fate of the Trump presidency. Guardian

Beyond Inauthentic Opposition. ... I’ve long and consistently used a metaphor from the original version of Upton Sinclair’s famous Socialist novel The Jungle, describing the Democrats as one of “two wings of the same [capitalist and imperialist] bird of prey.” Counter Punch

Democratic Superdelegate, in Room Full of Health Insurance Executives, Laughs Off Prospect of Single Payer. Intercept

America’s Flagship ‘Clean Coal’ Experiment Abandoned After 11 Years And $7.5 Billion
This is a bad sign for the coal industry.
Huffington

13 Questions That Expose Charter School Falsehoods. Naked Capitalism

Qatar facing further sanctions as ultimatum deadline looms. ...US secretary of state seeks compromise on 13 demands tabled by emirate’s neighbours that include closing down al-Jazeera. Guardian

How the Koch-Backed Effort to Privatize the Veterans Health Administration Jeopardizes Everyone's Health Care Future. TruthOut

'Not One Day More': Massive London Rally Says No to Austerity, Privatization. ... Jeremy Corbyn: "This is the age of imagination, this is the age in which we will achieve that decency and social justice that we all crave." CommonDreams

When the top-end-of-town realise their strategy is failing. Bill Mitchel

The risk of kleptocracy: from Equatorial Guinea to the US. GlobalWitenss

After Hersh Investigation, Media Connive in Propaganda War on Syria. Counter Punch

Line of descent: How poor management left Mexican wolves dangerously inbred. ... Missteps and conflict between the state and the feds have hounded the recovery of Arizona and New Mexico’s remaining wolf packs. High Country News

REPORT ON TIGER-SWAN

Leaked Documents Reveal Counterterrorism Tactics Used at Standing Rock to “Defeat Pipeline Insurgencies”. Intercept part 1 of 5

Standing Rock Documents Expose Inner Workings of “Surveillance-Industrial Complex”.
Intercept part 2 of 5

As Standing Rock Camps Cleared Out, TigerSwan Expanded Surveillance to Array of Progressive Causes. Intercept part 3 of 5

Dakota Access-Style Policing Moves to Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 Pipeline.
Intercept part 4 of 5

TigerSwan Faces Lawsuit Over Unlicensed Security Operations in North Dakota.
Intercept part 5 of 5

JULY 3, 2017

(Part 1 of 2) "No Is Not Enough": Best-Selling Author Naomi Klein on Challenging Trump's Shock Doctrine Politics. Democracy Now
(Part 2 of 2) The Worst Is Yet to Come with Trump, So We Must Be Ready for Shock Politics. Democracy Now/Klein

Moyers & Winship: NRA Issues Call for White Supremacy and Armed Insurrection. ... The gun lobby's new "recruitment ad" is really a call for white supremacy and armed insurrection, deliberately crafted to stir anger and fear. AlterNet/Moyers

Why join the National Rifle Association? To defeat liberal enemies, apparently. ... A virulent recruitment video by the NRA suggests joining the group is the best defense against political opponents Guardian

Far-Right Militia Groups May Serve as Security at GOP Events Near Portland, Oregon. .... The local Republican Party will use volunteers from two far-right militia groups to provide security from "leftist violence." AlterNet

Portland Republicans to use militia for security as far-right rallies continue. ... Controversial move to enlist armed militia groups for public events comes amid tension between far-right and anti-fascist protesters. Guardian

Trump's next attack on democracy: mass voter suppression. ... The Trump administration’s ‘election integrity’ commission is declaring war on voters – our democratic legitimacy be damned.
Guardian

'It’s a tense environment': Media braced for further hostility fueled by Trump. ... Recent concessions by CNN and the New York Times have emboldened opponents of the press – and they’re taking their lead from the president. Guardian

Fundamentalism, racism, fear and propaganda: An insider explains why rural, Christian white America will never change. RawStory

Weekend of June 30 through July 2, 2017

WEEKEND READ:
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America by. Nancy MacLean. ... Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance. Amazon

Historian: Republican Push to Replace Obamacare Reflects Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America. ... As Republicans attempt to revive a bill to overturn Obamacare, we look at the radical right’s attempt to reshape the role of the federal government—from healthcare to education to housing.
Democracy Now
Related: Related: Republicans Have Trifecta Control of 25 States & Need 6 More to Call for a Constitutional Convention.
Democracy Now

Trump Picks DAPL Lobbyist to Oversee EPA Water Safety in Same Week He Rolls Back Water Safeguards. Democracy Now

What Happened to America’s Wealth? The Rich Hid It. ... But what if billions of dollars in tax revenue have gone missing? ... New research suggests that the super-rich are hiding their money at alarming rates. A study by economists Annette Alstadsaeter, Niels Johannesen, and Gabriel Zucman reports that households with wealth over $40 million evade 25 to 30 percent of personal income and wealth taxes. . Counter Punch

Medicare for All: It’s a Matter of Life and Death,
Truth Dig/Goodman and Moynihan

Sy Hersh, Exposer of My Lai and Abu Ghraib, Strikes Again, Exposing US Lies About Alleged Assad Sarin ‘Attack’ Counter Punch and AlterNet and Welt  

With Nation's Attention Elsewhere, Trump Quietly Intensifies War on Workers. ... Trump has nominated two corporate lawyers to the NLRB as Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch gears up to rule on a key labor case Common Dreams

Over Half of Hate Crimes in US Go Unreported, Report Says. ... Most victims of hate crimes don't report them to police, according to a new study that advocates say reinforces their fears that the Trump administration's tough rhetoric and policies will make more people afraid to come forward.
NY Times

Meeting the Needs of Homeless Youth: Public Schools Are Doing What Government Won't Do Directly. TruthOut

.

JULY 11 THROUGH 21

July 21-23, 2017

Weekend Read: America at War with Itself - by Henry Giroux. From poisoned water and police violence in our cities, to gun massacres and hate-mongering on the presidential campaign trail, evidence that America is at war with itself is everywhere around us. The question is not whether or not it's happening, but how to understand the forces at work in order to prevent conditions from getting worse. Amazon

After Six Months, A Detailed Look at 'Giant Bait and Switch' Trump Presidency. ... New report reveals how billionaire president has 'abandoned populism in favor of giveaways to industry' Common Dreams

Barbara Lee Slams Paul Ryan for Killing Endless War Repeal 'In Dead of Night' ... "This is underhanded and undemocratic," says congresswoman from California. "The people deserve a debate!" Common Dreams

GOP's Deja Vu Budget Slashes Social Programs to Fund Tax Cuts for Rich. ... House GOP budget blueprint would boost military spending and give tax cuts to the wealthy while slashing nation's safety net. Common Dreams

The Ultimate Hypocrisy? . ... The Trump administration has released their plans for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Observers say they are surprisingly similar to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump withdrew from in one of his first acts as president. Democrach Now! 

The Massacre of Mosul: More Than 40,000 Civilians Feared Dead. Counter Punch

From Pence to Price: How Big Tobacco Gained Massive Influence Under Trump, Plans to Expand in Africa. Democracy Now!

How Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Undermines Civil Rights & Favors Predatory Lenders Over Students. Democracy Now!

                   Three articles on Israel

1 - Netanyahu attack on EU policy towards Israel caught on microphone. ... Israeli PM overheard saying bloc would wither and die unless it changed attitude towards his country at meeting of eastern European leaders. Guardian

2 - US Lawmakers Seek to Criminally Outlaw Support for Boycott Campaign Against Israel. ... The criminalization of political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West. In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing T-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel. The U.K. has enacted a series of measures designed to outlaw such activism. In the U.S., governors compete with one another over who can implement the most extreme regulations to bar businesses from participating in any boycotts aimed even at Israeli settlements, which the world regards as illegal. On U.S. campuses, punishment of pro-Palestinian students for expressing criticisms of Israel is so commonplace that the Center for Constitutional Rights refers to it as “the Palestine Exception” to free speech. Intercept

3 - Gaza on Verge of Collapse as Israel Sends 2.2M People "Back to Middle Ages" in Electricity Crisis. ... Israeli-imposed restrictions have limited electricity in Gaza to barely four hours a day, creating a humanitarian catastrophe for its 2 million residents. Democracy Now!

July 20 , 2017

GOP's Deja Vu Budget Slashes Social Programs to Fund Tax Cuts for Rich. ... House GOP budget blueprint would boost military spending and give tax cuts to the wealthy while slashing nation's safety net
Guardian

NY Times Rewrites History of Iraq War, Painting U.S. as Noble Democracy-Lover, Iran as Sinister Imperialist. .. The paper of record advances an amazing feat of reality inversion. AlterNet

Why ISIS Fighters are Being Thrown Off Buildings in Mosul. ... Iraqi security forces kill Isis prisoners because they believe that if the militants are sent to prison camps they will bribe the authorities in Baghdad to release them. “That is why Iraqi soldiers prefer to shoot them or throw them off high buildings,” says one Iraqi source.
Counter Punch/Cockburn

Amnesty Accuses U.S. Coalition of War Crimes in Mosul: Scale of Death Much Higher Than Acknowledged. ... new report entitled "At Any Cost: The Civilian Catastrophe in West Mosul, Iraq" states the U.S. coalition may have committed war crimes in Mosul. Democracy Now!

           Four articles on finance

1 - Trump’s Team Overseeing Wall Street Brings In More Goldman Sachs Alumni, Docs Reveal. ... After using Goldman Sachs as a punching bag for his campaign, sharply criticizing his political opponents for ties to the investment bank, Donald Trump has taken unprecedented steps to appoint former Goldman Sachs attorneys and executives to the upper echelons of government. Intercept

2 - US Inequality Crisis Worst in Industrialized World. Trump Will Make It Worse. ... If the policies favored by the Trump administration - including massive tax cuts for the rich and reductions in spending on Medicaid and education—go into effect, the U.S. will only fall further in the rankings. ComonDreams  and Guardian

3 - The deep history of the radical right’s stealth plan for America. ... James McGill Buchanan, a Southern political scientist and father of “public choice economics.” (Writer) MacLean details how this little-known figure has had a massive impact on the ideology of the far right. None other than Charles Koch looked to MacLean’s theories for inspiration . RawStory

4 - How corporate dark money is taking power on both sides of the Atlantic. ... A secretive network of business lobbyists has long held sway in US politics. Now their allies in the UK government are planning a Brexit that plays into their hands Guardian Related: Dark Money review: Nazi oil, the Koch brothers and a rightwing revolution. Guardian

July 19, 2017

Abby Martin & Chris Hedges: War, Propaganda and the Enemy Within YouTube

ACLU Letter to the Senate Opposing Israel Anti-Boycott Act. ... A bipartisan Senate bill "would impose punishment on individuals solely because of their beliefs about Israel" ACLU

NY Times Rewrites History of Iraq War, Painting U.S. as Noble Democracy-Lover, Iran as Sinister Imperialist . ... The paper of record advances an amazing feat of reality inversion. ... The New York Times’ Tim Arango took what could have been an interesting topic for war journalism—Iran’s increased role in Iraq—and morphed it into a revisionist history of American and Saudi involvement in the Middle East. In doing so, Arango paints the U.S. as a noble, freedom-loving nation on a mission to improve the lives of average Iraqis, and Iran as a sinister imperial force working to expand its sphere of influence across the region. Alternet

Rupert Murdoch is about to gain the power to deliver targeted propaganda to millions of customers. ... Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch is close to finalizing the buyout of a British telecommunications company that could give him control of a detailed database which could prove irresistibly tempting for political use, warned members of parliament. RawStory

Outrage Mounts as Saudi Arabia Plans Imminent Executions for 14 Accused Pro-Democracy Protesters. Democracy Now!

As opioid overdoses exact a higher price, communities ponder who should be saved.
WaPo

In Precedent-Setting Trial, Lawyers Say Arizona's Ethnic Studies Ban is Discriminatory & Illegal.
Democracy Now!

NOAA erases ‘human activity’ from news release on soaring greenhouse gases. ... “It’s a complicated topic that can be difficult to communicate,” the Trump administration claims. ThinkProgress

Trump’s Violent Campaign Rallies Come Back to Haunt Him. ... Two lawsuits accuse the president of inciting violence—and a third may be on the way.
Vanity Fair

The Advice Trap - Financial advisers want to rip off small investors. Trump wants to help them do it. Intercept

Russian-American Lobbyist Paid to Fight Sanctions Was at 2016 Trump Tower Meeting. Intercept

'The De Facto Coup D’état': When Moshe Dayan Tried to Steal Israel's First Nuclear Device.
Haaretz

July 18, 2017

Eugene Debs and the Kingdom of Evil. ... Eugene Victor Debs, whose home is an infrequently visited museum on the campus of Indiana State University, was the most important political figure of the 20th century. TruthDig/Hedges

            Four Related articles on Mosul

1- Mosul – Worse than Srebrenica. ... For the Saudi elite, the money they pumped into ISIS in Iraq was a trifle; Mosul ISIL were pawns to be sacrificed and the Sunni civilian population of Mosul is no more important to them. By the combination of funding the spread of Wahhabi ideology and providing unlimited arms and organisational financing, the Saudis can pop up another Al Qaida, Al Nusra or ISIL more or less anywhere, any time it seems useful. Meantime they are focused on cementing their burgeoning axis of Saudi Arabia/Israel/USA to continue the violent promotion of Saudi regional ambition.
Craig Murray

2 - The Devastation of Mosul. ... Iraq’s Prime Minister formally declared victory over Isis in the northern city of Mosul, saying their defeat marks the “collapse” of the self-proclaimed caliphate.
CounterPunch/Cockburn

3 - Victory in Mosul for now but Islamic State is not defeated yet. ... The Iraqi city is in ruins and its people are torn apart by suspicion and hatred in the wake of IS rule. Evening Standard

4 - Patrick Cockburn with several commentary on Mosul. Independent

Trump’s Embrace of the Saudi Crown Prince, and a Qatar Nightmare Scenario. CounterPunch

Yale historian warns Trump’s rise perfectly mirrors frightening ascent of Fascism and Nazis in the 1930s. RawStory

The New McCarthyism Is Destroying the Democratic Party. ... For more than a year now, the collective U.S. ruling class, with Democratic Party and corporate media operatives in the vanguard, has frozen the national political discourse in a McCarthyite time warp. TruthDig

With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons. Intercept

July 17, 2017

How Elite Billionaires Like Sheldon Adelson and Peter Thiel Are Restricting Press Freedom in America. ... With one vengeful tycoon in the White House, another the brains behind Hulk Hogan's $140-million lawsuit and Adelson controlling a Las Vegas newspaper, a new documentary depicts the ways U.S. journalists are increasingly being silenced. Haaretz

Russia Trumps Ecocide at the Petroleum Broadcasting System. CounterPunch

Video: Naomi Klein and Jeremy Corbyn Discuss How to Get the World We Want. Intercept

Whistleblower John Kiriakou Tells Robert Scheer How the CIA Returned to Its Violent Roots After 9/11. ... Kiriakou, who spent two years in prison for publicly disclosing the CIA’s use of waterboarding in interrogations, tells Scheer about the inner workings of the agency and why he felt compelled to speak out. TruthDig

Trump’s Flirtation with Violence. ... Some people might have dismissed Donald Trump’s recent tweet of a video clip showing him punching the face of a man with a CNN logo on his head as yet another example of the US president’s vulgar buffoonery – unseemly, perhaps, but par for the course. But others have pointed to something more sinister – and for good reason. Project-Syndicate

Trump claims he can’t be sued for inciting rally violence. ... The president’s lawyers claim immunity from a lawsuit brought by protesters hurt at 2016 rally. Politico

The NRA Is Playing a Deadly Game in Labeling the Left as Violent. TruthDig

NRA-TV smears Women’s March participants by blaming them for violence from an entirely different day. Rawstory

Google spends millions on academic research to influence opinion, says watchdog. ... The tech company has funded 329 papers on public policy since 2005, according to the US-based Campaign for Accountability. Guardian

Trump Tax Agenda: 'Astonishing' Cuts for Rich Like Him and Hikes for Middle Class. ... Trump's tax proposals "would result in an increase in taxes for nearly 1 in 5 American households" while cutting taxes drastically for the wealthiest Americans.
CommonDreams

Noam Chomsky on the prospects for nuclear war under Trump. Conversations

Weekend of July 14-16, 2017

WEEDEND READ:
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics - by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith. ... For eighteen years, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been part of a team revolutionizing the study of politics by turning conventional wisdom on its head. They start from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they have to.
Barnes and Noble

Now They Hate Universities: Trumpie Anti-Intellectualism Infects GOP. ... A new Pew poll finds that 58% of Republicans now say that colleges and universities have a negative impact on the United States. But this finding is a very recent development. In 2015, 54% of Republicans held that colleges and universities have a positive influence on the US. TruthDig

Former FCC Commissioner on How Greater Media Consolidation is a Threat to Democracy and Free Speech. Democracy Now

122 Countries Overcome U.S. Opposition and Pass Landmark U.N. Global Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons. Democracy Now

Emboldened by Trump, U.S. Border Officials Are Lying to Asylum Seekers and Turning Them Away. Intercept

Yemen cholera epidemic: 300,000 cases confirmed but vaccine plans 'on hold'. ... UN fears shipping of up to one million vaccine doses will be delayed or even shelved completely by precarious security situation. Independent

Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals, ,,, Exclusive Activists, wildlife rangers and indigenous leaders are dying violently at the rate of about four a week, with a growing sense around the world that ‘anyone can kill environmental defenders without repercussions’. Guardian

Israel’s Ever-More Sadistic Reprisals Help Shore up a Sense of Victimhood. CounterPunch

Glenn Greenwald: Donald Trump Jr.'s Emails Aren't a "Smoking Gun" or Evidence of Criminal Collusion. Democracy Now

U.S., UK and France Denounce Nuclear Ban Treaty. ... The U.S., UK and France have never shown enthusiasm for banning and eliminating nuclear weapons. It is not surprising, therefore, that they did not participate in the United Nations negotiations leading to the recent adoption of the nuclear ban treaty, or that they joined together in expressing their outright defiance of the newly-adopted treaty. CounterPunch

How big tobacco has survived death and taxes. ...The world’s five major tobacco companies are thriving, profitable and increasing sales, despite many predictions of the industry’s decline.
Guardian

July 13, 2017

Comply or Die: the Police State’s Answer to Free Speech Is Brute Force. ... “Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our agents. We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet.” - Justice William O. Douglas. CounterPunch

Facing the New Assault on Civil Rights. ... The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented rollback of civil rights and voting rights. Those who care about building a more perfect union face harsh headwinds. We’ve gone from an administration seeking to fulfill these rights to one seeking to repeal these rights. CounterPunch

WATCH: Cops under fire for racially profiling black Florida state attorney after pulling her over for dark window tint. RawStory

Mexico Spied on Human Rights Investigators & Families of Missing Students Instead of the Kidnappers. Democracy Now

Charter Schools Are Constantly Burning Out Teachers - And They Often Like It That Way. ... Former NJ Charter teacher Rann Miller explains why high turnover helps strengthen the charter agenda. AlterNet

Richard Wolff Breaks Down the Meaning of Terms Such as ‘Conservatives’ and ‘Socialists’
YouTube (9min)

Saudi Arabia has played Donald Trump like a fiddle when it comes to the dispute with Qatar. ... With the prospect of Qatar being thrown out of the Gulf Cooperation Council and driven into the arms of Iran, the horrible reality is that the Middle East crisis may be one of Trump’s own making. Independent

July 12, 2017

Warning of Sixth Mass Extinction, Scientists Implore Global Action. ... "All signs point to ever more powerful assaults on biodiversity in the next two decades, painting a dismal picture of the future of life, including human life." CommonDreams

Misinforming the Majority: A Deliberate Strategy of Right-Wing Libertarians. ... Many individuals who follow politics and journalists think that the right-wing playbook began with the Koch brothers. However, in her groundbreaking book, Nancy MacLean traces their political strategy to a Southern economist who created the foundation for today's libertarian oligarchy in the 1950s.
TruthOut

The Airline Industry’s Collusion With the Feds.
CounterPunch

Former FCC Commissioner on How Greater Media Consolidation is a Threat to Democracy and Free Speech. DemocracyNow

The Intercept’s parent company, First Look Media, has taken steps to provide independent support for the legal defense of Reality Winner, the NSA contract employee who was recently arrested in the first instance of the Trump administration using the 100-year-old Espionage Act to prosecute an alleged journalistic source. Intercept

White House looks to replace U.S. troops in Afghanistan with mercenaries. This will not end well. ThinkProgress

Why Does the U.S. Hate Iran? Think Oil and Strategic Power. Paul Street

July 11, 2017

Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky: How the U.S. Became an Oligarchy That Makes War on the Middle Class. Part 1 of 2 YouTube

Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky: How the U.S. Became an Oligarchy That Makes War on the Middle Class Part 2 of 2 YourTube

Noam Chomsky July 2017 - The Emerging World Order YouTube

Jared Kushner Tried and Failed to Get a Half-Billion-Dollar Bailout From Qatar. ... Not long before a major crisis ripped through the Middle East, pitting the United States and a bloc of Gulf countries against Qatar, Jared Kushner’s real estate company had unsuccessfully sought a critical half-billion-dollar investment from one of the richest and most influential men in the tiny nation, according to three well-placed sources with knowledge of the near transaction. Intercept

The Qatar crisis has nothing to do with Al Jazeera and everything to do with the war in Syria. ... It is about taming the one Gulf nation which has the potential to outshine the Saudi kingdom and dictate the outcome of the Syria war. Independent

"Trying to Build in the Rubble of Neoliberalism": Michelle Alexander and Naomi Klein on Bringing Movements Together. Truth-Out

Paul Krugman: The GOP Is Never Returning to Reality. ... It's not just Trump. The entire party has embraced post-truth politics. AlterNet

In a Lawsuit Affidavit, NSA Whistleblower William Binney Confirms U.S. Government Spies on Citizens. TruthDig

"Too Broke" for Universal Healthcare? US to Spend $406 Billion More on F-35. ... There always another $27 billion or lying around, it seems, when Lockheed Martin needs more money for expensive weapons system. CoummonDreans


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JULY 24 THROUGH 31

July 31, 2017

Richard W. Painter?--This guy- Sebastian Gorka-- is nuts. Kelly should fire him.
DemocraticUnderground

Time to Reassess the Roles Played by Guccifer 2.0 and Russia in the DNC ‘Hack’. TruthDig

Henry Giroux on a Politics of Cruelty Without Euphemisms. TruthOut/Giroux

Elizabeth Warren's Pet Project Has Already Returned $12 Billion to Swindled Families - So Naturally Republicans Want It Dismantled. ... The GOP's assault on the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is an opportunity for Warren to taunt her opponents.
AlterNet

PROPAGANDA AND THE MEDIA

'Classic Propaganda': Sinclair Broadcasting Pushes Aside Fox News to Become 'Trump TV' ... “It’s unheard of to have one company pushing one specific agenda reaching so many people and doing it in a way designed to evade local input”. CommonDreams

The Washington Post has a lobbyist as a writer. Here are 12 times they didn’t disclose conflicts of interest. ... Editor says the Post wasn’t “initially clear enough with” Ed Rogers “on our expectations” but defends paper. Salon

The conflicts of interest hiding behind pro-pipeline op-eds around the country. ... Pennsylvania publication bans retired general after he failed to disclose ties to pipeline company.
Media Matters

Forget Breitbart: The White House Has a New Favorite Right Wing Media Outlet Circa, a video-heavy site aimed at viewers in their teens and 20s, has attracted attention from other outlets for a series of scoops on the Russian investigation. AlterNet

July 28-30, 2017

Weekend Read:
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America.
... Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists first spoke of the United States becoming a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedom and our way of life. by Chris Hedges Amazon Related
Trump and the Christian Fascists. TruthDig/Hedges

The Democrats Are A Lost Cause. ... Hillary was a two time loser. Weirdly, her people are still in charge of the Democratic Party. Clintonista militant moderates haven’t learned a thing from Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump — so they’re trying to sell Democratic voters on more of the same.
Counter Punch (Note: HC's latest book, "What Happened" by Hillary Clinton, gives the question and answer right on the cover. Why read the book?)

The future of fake news: don't believe everything you read, see or hear. ... A new breed of video and audio manipulation tools allow for the creation of realistic looking news footage, like the now infamous fake Obama speech. The Guardian

Philippines’ Duterte Threatens To Bomb Indigenous Schools. ... Rights groups are calling for the president to retract his statement. Huffington

Policing for Profit: Jeff Sessions & Co.’s Thinly Veiled Plot to Rob Us Blind. ... “Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle — a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could be applied to him, he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism. It is the aim of the Bill of Rights, if it has any remaining aim at all, to curb such prehensile gentry. Its function is to set a limitation upon their power to harry and oppress us to their own private profit.” - H.L. Mencken. Counter Punch

Joshua Green on the "Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump & the Storming of the Presidency" Democracy Now

Ratepayers Foot the Bill for Utilities' Push Against Rooftop Solar. TruthOut

A Suggestion for Bernie: On Crimes Detectable and Not. Counter Punch

July 27, 2017

No Hero Here: John McCain and the Doom of Empathy. TruthOut

EPA Chief Met With Canada’s Scientist-Muzzling Ex-Premier Before Scientist Purge
The agency denied seeking policy advice from former Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a meeting arranged by a top Comcast lobbyist over text messages. Huffington

Colonialism and Greed: Trump Considers Afghan War Expansion to Exploit Minerals. ... Trump is reportedly being encouraged by corporate executives to take advantage of Afghanistan's mineral wealth. CommonDreams

A Look at How a Racial Theorist Tied to Mussolini & Hitler Influenced Steve Bannon. Democracy Now

Venezuela on the Edge of Civil War.
Counter Punch

CIA chief hints agency is working to change Venezuelan government. ... The US has a long and bloody history of meddling in Latin America's affairs. Independent

International Labor Organization's Convention 169 Helps Legalize Land Grabs on Indigenous Territories. TruthOut

“Inclusive Capitalism,” Nancy Pelosi, and the Dying Planet. Counter Punch

Meet the GOP Insider Who Created White Nationalist Richard Spencer. TruthDig

Researchers: Trump Tweets Reveal 'Neurotic' and 'Unstable' Leader. ... Newly published study looks at how language of Trump's tweets compares with that of over 100 CEOs and entrepreneurs.
CommonDreams

July 26, 2017

Trump On The Couch... (w/Guest: Dr. Justin Frank) -
6 December '16. Tom Hartman

Trump officially nominates climate-denying conservative talk radio host as USDA’s top scientist. ... The Trump administration’s war on science continues apace. ThinkProgress

I Don't Want To Hear Another Fucking Word About John McCain Unless He Dies Or Actually Does Something Useful For Once. The Concourse

A Shameful Silence: Where is the Outrage Over the Slaughter of Civilians in Mosul?
Counter Punch/Cockburn

The World's Largest Humanitarian Crisis Is Basically Being Blacked Out by Western Media. .. The US is fueling a conflict that has resulted in war crimes and famine. AlterNet

The Rebellions That Changed U.S. History: Looking Back at the 1967 Newark & Detroit Uprisings. Democracy Now

Jeff Sessions Wants to Make “Legalized Theft” Great Again. Intercept

‘Nobody Speak’: How Billionaires Are Silencing the First Amendment (Audio) TruthDig

Criminalizing Critics of Israel: Congress Considers Sweeping Bills to Fine & Jail Backers of BDS. Democracy Now

The media's war on Trump is destined to fail. Why can't it see that? The Guardian

July 25, 2017

End of Empire

Donald Trump and the Coming Fall of American Empire. ... Even as President Donald Trump faces ever-intensifying investigations into the alleged connections between his top aides and family members and powerful Russian figures, he serves as commander in chief over a U.S. military that is killing an astonishing and growing number of civilians. The Intercept
Related: Common Dreams

Pentagon Study Declares American Empire Is 'Collapsing' ... Report demands massive expansion of military-industrial complex to maintain global "access to resources." AlterNet

Newly Declassified Documents Confirm U.S. Backed 1953 Coup in Iran Over Oil Contracts.
Democracy Now

A Shameful Silence: Where is the Outrage Over the Slaughter of Civilians in Mosul? Counter Punch

Netanyahu Tells European Leaders Concern for Palestinian Rights Is “Crazy”. The Intercept

"A Forgotten Crisis": Yemen's Aid Workers Speak Out About the World's Worst Humanitarian Disaster. Democracy Now

Poland's president to veto controversial laws amid protests. ... Andrzej Duda says he will block proposed legislation that would have put supreme court under control of ruling party. The Guradian

ALEC's Scary Plan For Electing Your Senators
The radical right is intent on destroying democracy as we know it. AlterNet

Forensic studies of “Russian hacking” into Democratic National Committee computers last year reveal that on July 5, 2016, data was leaked (not hacked) by a person with physical access to DNC computers, and then doctored to incriminate Russia. TruthDig

How Deranged Are Trump Supporters? New Poll Shows That It's Worse Than You Ever Imagined ... Seventy-two percent of Trump voters consider the Russia story overall to be "fake news"; only 14% disagree. AlterNet

Trump’s disordered personality has spawned a level of mayhem and incompetence that defies imagination. RawStory

July 24, 2017

TRUMP AND THE RUSSIAN MOB

Married to the Mob: Investigative Journalist Craig Unger on What Trump Owes the Russian Mafia. Democracy Now!

Trump’s Russian Laundromat
How to use Trump Tower and other luxury high-rises to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and propel a failed real estate developer into the White House. The Intercept

"Trump and the Russian Money Trail": Trump's Ties to Oligarchs Go Back Decades.
Democracy Now!

Meet the GOP Insider Who Created White Nationalist Richard Spencer. ... Long before Donald Trump’s election ushered in an era of resurgent white nationalism, a disaffected Republican named William H. Regnery II was brooding about the demographic plight of white people and plotting their rescue. TruthDig

5 Reasons Why Extraordinary Presidential Powers Make It Very Difficult to Nail Trump, His Family or His Team. ... Pardon power and absolute lack of morals make for a toxic, lawless cocktail. AlterNet

Nixon’s Justice Department warned that the president can’t pardon himself. ... “Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” ThinkProgress

Six months into America's nightmare, how likely is Trump's impeachment? ... There are only so many possible fates for the president: an early departure, defeat in his re-election bid or a second term. Which will it be? Guardian

A New Class Politics. ... Class is back on the agenda of the European left. That is good news. The reasons, however, are unfortunate. Counter Punch

Amnesty Accuses U.S. Coalition of War Crimes in Mosul: Scale of Death Much Higher Than Acknowledged. Democracy Now!

Cameroonian Troops Tortured and Killed Prisoners at Base Used for U.S. Drone Surveillance. Intercept

How the UAE is Recruiting Hackers to Create the Perfect Surveillance State. Intercept Donald Trump urged to intervene in case of Saudi student facing execution for protesting the Kingdom's rulers. ... Theresa May accused of 'deafening silence' on the imminent beheading of 14 young men and urged to use influence. Independent

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