Nigeria decides: "The election doesn't hold out much by way of alternatives to the neoliberal challenges"
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-02-25
To understand what this election means for labor rights, women rights and healthcare in the country, Peoples Dispatch interviewed Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian author, poet and environmental activist.
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/02/25/nigeria-decides-the-election-doesnt-hold-out-much-by-way-of-alternatives-to-the-neoliberal-challenges/
As the Coup Attempt in Venezuela Stumbles, It's Time that Guaidó Recognize that Regime Change has Failed
Peter Bolton | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
On January 28, COHA's Editorial Board released a statement condemning the US-backed coup attempt in Venezuela and in support of the dialogue promoted by the government of Mexico and the United Nations to settle the conflict peacefully. Since then, the regime change effort has severely lost momentum. The strained attempt to legitimize self-proclaimed "interim president"
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/as-the-coup-attempt-in-venezuela-stumbles-its-time-that-guaido-recognize-that-regime-change-has-failed/
US Will Retain Several Hundred Troops in Syria Despite Withdrawal
Nauman Sadiq | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Thursday, February 21, "A small peace keeping group of about 200 US troops will remain in Syria for a period of time," as reported by the CNN…
globalresearch.ca/us-will-retain-several-hundred-troops-in-syria-despite-withdrawal/5669585
US Forces Will Stay in Syria: Negotiations with the Kurds Will be Complicated, as Syria Prepares for an Idlib Offensive
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Washington declared it won't fully withdraw its troops from Syria but will leave "400 peace keeping forces", making these soldiers an official occupation force since the last ISIS stronghold is about to be freed. This new situation leaves the …
globalresearch.ca/us-forces-will-stay-in-syria-negotiations-with-the-kurds-will-be-complicated-as-syria-prepares-for-an-idlib-offensive/5669609
2018 Single-Deadliest Year For Afghan Civilians, UN Reports
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-02-25
In a report released Sunday by the U.N., more civilians were killed in the Afghan war in 2018 than during any other year on record after nearly two decades of fighting. | RELATED: | UN Report: 2,798 Afghan Civilians Killed in 2018, Up 39% | U.N. officials said that, despite peace talks progressing, the war in Afghanistan killed almost 4,000 civilians in 2018, including a record number of children, making it the single deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the United Nations began doc…
telesurenglish.net/news/2018-Single-Deadliest-Year-For-Afghan-Civilians-UN-Reports-20190225-0003.html
THE ANGRY ARAB: Camp David and the Ongoing Crisis of Palestine
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-02-25
Recently published book by Carter official says the president was initially hostile to Sadat's initiative toward Israel because Carter saw it as "the end of any hope of a comprehensive peace," says As'ad AbuKhalil in this review. Carter Worried Bilateral… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/02/25/the-angry-arab-camp-david-and-the-ongoing-crisis-of-palestine/
U.S. Exports More and More Bullets
David Swanson | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
When I was a kid there was a local basketball team called the Washington Bullets. The team changed its name when "bullets" became offensive due to the high rate of gun murders in Washington, D.C. This is the same city …
globalresearch.ca/u-s-exports-more-and-more-bullets/5669615
Petition Delivered to Philly DA Calling for Fair Appeal for Mumia
Dave Lindorff | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
The organization Roots Action has delivered a petition signed by 6700 people from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, across the country and around the world, to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, demanding that Mumia Abu-Jamal be allowed to re-argue his original appeal of his conviction to the state's highest court. The petition, which can still have names added, states: Dear…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/petition-delivered-to-philly-da-calling-for-fair-appeal-for-mumia/
Getting Rid of Rep. Ilhan Omar: Neoconservatives Dig Deep to Remove a Critic of Israel
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
It has been observed that the neoconservatives are a lot like the legendary bird the Phoenix, which burns to death and then, miraculously, rises from the ashes in new plumage. The neocons first rose to prominence under President Ronald Reagan, …
globalresearch.ca/getting-rid-of-rep-ilhan-omar-neoconservatives-dig-deep-to-remove-a-critic-of-israel/5669587
Jared Kushner's Multi-Billion-Dollar Plot to Give Saudis Nukes
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2019-02-25
The House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Reform has issued a Report on a plot to make billions of dollars by selling Saudi Arabia sensitive American nuclear technology that could allow the Kingdom to develop nuclear weapons. The scheme required breaking US law, which forbids technology transfers that might allow nuclear proliferation. | The plot was pushed by a "company" formed for this express purpose called IP3 International, which doesn't seem to have actua…
truthdig.com/articles/jared-kushners-multi-billion-dollar-plot-to-give-saudis-nukes/
The Banality of Empire
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
This month freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar questioned Trump's nominee for envoy to Venezuela, Elliot Abrams. While her interrogation was somewhat tepid in regard to American imperialism (she said "no one disputes" that the US goal has always been to support democracy and defend human rights), she did bring up the role of the US in the massacres in El Salvador in the 1980s. Massacres in which Abrams is implicated. It was also instructive in that it provided a visual to how deeply debased the American political landscape actually is. Abrams is a Presidential pardoned liar who provided cover for some of the most heinous wa…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/the-banality-of-empire-2/
Internationalist Youth Brigade witnesses Venezuelans' will to resist imperialism
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-02-25
Members of the Che Guevara Internationalist Youth Brigade worked on different community projects in Venezuela. They witnessed the current situation in the country, which they reported as being contradictory to what is being shown in mainstream media. They also saw how Venezuelans are coming up with ingenious solutions to the problems imposed by economic sanctions for indigenous production of goods.
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/02/25/internationalist-youth-brigade-witnesses-venezuelans-will-to-resist-imperialism/
[VIDEO] We commit to the defence of the Bolivarian Revolution: International Peoples' Assembly
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-02-25
Speaking at the closing event of the first day of the assembly, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said that the country will never surrender to the US diktat and with the support of the people it will overcome the attack.
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/02/25/video-we-commit-to-the-defence-of-the-bolivarian-revolution-international-peoples-assembly/
US Moving Special Forces and Equipment to the Venezuelan Border
Orinoco Tribune | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
In a series of tweets posted in her twitter account a few hours ago Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the US government is moving special forces to the borders of Venezuela along …
globalresearch.ca/us-moving-special-forces-and-equipment-to-the-venezuelan-border/5669570
Vice-president of Venezuela: "If they attack us, the people of the world will rise up"
Brasil de Fato | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-02-25
The vice-president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, participated on February 24 at the official opening of the International Peoples' Assembly in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and against imperialism, held in the capital Caracas. Her address was a historical analysis of the relationship between the United States and Venezuela since Hugo Chávez assumed power in the 90s. | : : What's happening in Venezuela : : | "After Hugo Chávez came to power in 1998, US imperialism outlined a strategy of…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/02/25/vice-president-of-venezuela-if-they-attack-us-the-people-of-the-world-will-rise-up/
Venezuela's 23F: A Collective Victory for a Collective Future
Chris Gilbert, Venezuelanalysis | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-02-25
As the opposition's latest attempt to oust Maduro seems to be failing, Chris Gilbert asks: What makes it so hard to replace Chávez and now Maduro?
venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14349
Pierre Omidyar: A Billionaire Prone to Reclusiveness and his Trove of State Surveillance Secrets
Alexander Rubinstein | mintpressnews.com | 2019-02-25
With strategically placed donations, Omidyar has placed himself in the rare position of being able to support both the national security state and at least part of its self-proclaimed opposition. In the eyes of the former element, that might be precisely what makes him so valuable.
mintpressnews.com/pierre-omidyar-a-billionaire-prone-to-reclusiveness-and-his-trove-of-state-surveillance-secrets/255439/
NATO Is an Appendage of the U.S. Empire
Mark Taliano | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
The Canadian Political analyst and Research Associate at Global Research Mark Taliano has argued that his country must leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which he sees as an appendage of the U.S. Empire. | He has told the Syria …
globalresearch.ca/canadian-analyst-st-nato-appendage-u-s-empire/5669567
Europe Pays the Price of a US Decision: Where Will European ISIS Go?
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
On Twitter, the US president's preferred forum to reveal foreign policy and state decisions, Donald Trump asked "Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS captured in Syria" from 44 countries. Otherwise, Trump will …
globalresearch.ca/europe-pays-the-price-of-a-us-decision-where-will-european-isis-go/5669574
At a Climate Crossroads: Nonviolence or Violence
Andrew Moss | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
Sixty-one years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King declared, "Today the choice is no longer between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence." Emboldened by the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott two years earlier, King saw nonviolence not only as a powerful strategy for achieving social change; he viewed it as a philosophy…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/at-a-climate-crossroads-nonviolence-or-violence/
On War and Dehumanization
Paul Tritschler | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
Phantoms slid imperceptibly from nightmare to reality and back again, the terrestrial and psychic landscapes were now indistinguishable as they had been at Hiroshima and Auschwitz, Golgotha and Gomorrah. — J.G. Ballard, The Drowned World Dressler at boulevard Kurfàºrstendamm, being close to my hotel, became a regular late stop after long city trails — my turn to…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/on-war-and-dehumanization/
Why Do the Media Provide Cover for Austerity Cranks, Like the Folks Running the EU?
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
It's not uncommon to read new stories that quite explicitly identify economic mismanagement. For example, news reports on the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe routinely (and correctly) attribute the cause to the poor economic management by its leaders. We will see similar attributions of mismanagement to a wide range of developing countries. One place we will never…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/why-do-the-media-provide-cover-for-austerity-cranks-like-the-folks-running-the-eu/
Supreme Court Screw-Up Sullies U.S. Constitution
Stephen Cooper | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
Giving a speech at Georgetown University, late Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., said: "[T]he Constitution is a sublime oration on the dignity of man." However, after the Supreme Court's February 7 refusal to stay devout Muslim Domineque Ray's execution — despite Ray's unrebutted claim only Christian prisoners in Alabama are afforded a spiritual advisor during their final moments — this high-minded aspiration for one of our country's founding documents appears to be, as it has before (see, for example, Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson, Korematsu), empty words. As Justice Kagan observed in dissent, it was…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/supreme-court-screw-up-sullies-u-s-constitution/
Wildlife Corridors Not High-Speed Rail Coming to California
John Davis | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
In a rare historical moment that counters half a millennium of Modernity, non-human species, their native environments and their freedom of movement, have been privileged over the transportation of humans within the State of California. In a month when Gavin Newsom, the newly appointed Governor of California, in his state of the State address, all…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/wildlife-corridors-not-high-speed-rail-coming-to-california/
The Showbiz of Conservation: PETA, Google and Steve Irwin
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
The world of conservation has thrown up various voices of tenacity. There was Aldo Leopold, a vital figure behind establishing the first wilderness area of the United States when he convinced the Forest Service to protect some five hundred thousand acres of New Mexico's Gila National Forest. There was Robert Marshall, the founder of The…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/the-showbiz-of-conservation-peta-google-and-steve-irwin/
Britain's Paintball Strategist
Brian Cloughley | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
Paintball is a sport in which players try to hit others by firing small round balls filled with dyed jelly. The balls are usually shot from a gun powered by compressed air or other expanding vapor, and some projectors cost many hundreds of dollars. The sport is popular and the manufacturers of equipment have become…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/britains-paintball-strategist/
From Acrostic to Zuckerberg
Elliot Sperber | counterpunch.org | 2019-02-25
Kangaroos in leather leotards, Kneeling in lemon leggings, Kicking in lavender loafers, Trashed Helú's estate — Ransacked it chanting: hallelujah! Beyond Yucatan's esplanades, Newts, drifting in New Guinea, In nearly every quarter, uttered, A little improbably, Thank you — The harpy eagles, yowling with owls, Upended liners, destroyed dams. It's Sincerely a proper property effacement…
counterpunch.org/2019/02/25/from-acrostic-to-zuckerberg/
How Has the "Crack Cocaine of Gambling" Affected Illinois?
Jason Grotto, Sandhya Kambhampati, and Dan Mihalopoulos | zcomm.org | 2019-02-25
Since video gambling went live in 2012, more than 30,000 video slot and poker machines have been installed in the state and gamblers have lost more than $5 billion…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-has-the-crack-cocaine-of-gambling-affected-illinois/
Trump Delays US Tariffs on China
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-02-25
The Guardian has reported that President Donald Trump has announced the US will delay imposing further trade tariffs on Chinese goods. | RELATED: | China Negotiates With US to Avoid US$200 Billion in Tariffs | The rise in import duties on Chinese goods from 10% to 25% was due to come into effect on 1 March. | According to President Trump's Twitter, this is because both sides had made "substantial progress" in trade talks, which sent Chinese stocks up nearly 5 percent. | Trump als…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Delays-US-Tariffs-on-China-20190225-0002.html
'Green Book' Captures Best Picture in Oscars Upset
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2019-02-25
LOS ANGELES — The segregation-era road-trip drama "Green Book" was crowned best picture at the 91st Academy Awards, delighting those who see the film as a feel-good throwback but disappointing others who ridicule it as an outdated inversion of "Driving Miss Daisy." | In a year when Hollywood could have made history by bestowing its top award on Netflix ("Roma") or Marvel ("Black Panther") for the first time, the motion picture academy instead threw its fullest support Sunday behind a traditional interracial buddy tale that proved as popular as it was divisive. But Peter Farrelly's "Green Book" weathered cri…
truthdig.com/articles/green-book-captures-best-picture-in-oscars-upset/
A Teenage War Resister in Israel
Rory Fanning | zcomm.org | 2019-02-25
An Antiwar Story from the Embattled Middle East…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-teenage-war-resister-in-israel/
Microsoft Workers Demand End to Army Contract in Powerful Letter
STAFF | truthdig.com | 2019-02-25
Addressing CEO Satya Nadella and the company's chief legal officer, over 100 employees declare that they refuse to become "war profiteers."
truthdig.com/articles/microsoft-workers-demand-end-to-army-contract-in-powerful-letter/
Oscars Joy For Cuaron And 'Roma' in Record Night
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-02-25
In what turned-out to be a groundbreaking evening for Alfonso Cuaron, at the 91st Academy Awards aka the 'Oscars,' the Mexican filmmaker took home the year's 'Best Director' Oscar for "Roma," while also winning 'Best Cinematography.' Meanwhile "Roma" itself became the first Mexican film to win an Oscar in the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category. | RELATED: | Golden Globes Joy For 'Roma,' as it Scoops Best Foreign Film | "Roma" first premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August…
telesurenglish.net/news/Oscars-Joy-For-Cuaron-And-Roma-in-Record-Night-20190225-0001.html
'Would-be' Hijacker Killed by Police, Was Carrying 'Toy' Gun
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-02-25
A would-be hijacker shot and killed by Bangladesh commandos was carrying a fake gun and told negotiators he wanted to commandeer a Dubai-bound flight because "he had troubles with his wife," officials said Monday. | RELATED: | Bangladesh: 110 Died in Fire at Historical Area of Dhaka | Airport manager Wing Commander Sarwar-e-Jaman said the hijacker was "psychologically imbalanced." | "The reason he gave for the hijack was that he had troubles with his wife and he wanted to talk to the…
telesurenglish.net/news/Would-be-Hijacker-Killed-by-Police-Was-Carrying-Toy-Gun-20190225-0004.html
The Cuban People Vote in Constitutional Referendum
Granma | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Today February 24, 124 years since the re-initiation of the nation's independence struggle, in accordance with the law, thousands of Cubans are participating in the construction of a better future and strengthening unity around the Revolution | *** | Voting ends in …
globalresearch.ca/the-cuban-people-vote-in-constitutional-referendum/5669611
Cuba's Constitutional Reform: Attempting to Reflect the Will of the Cuban People
Dr. Birsen Filip | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
On April 18, 2018, the Cuban National Assembly selected Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez[i] to be Raúl Castro's successor as President of Cuba for two terms totalling 10 years. The very next day, Díaz-Canel assumed office as the 17th …
globalresearch.ca/cubas-constitutional-reform-attempting-reflect-will-cuban-people/5669546
The Bull Market and Today's Financial Crisis. "The Great Crash of 1929". Will History Repeat Itself?
Bryant Brown | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Last December the Dow Jones dropped slightly, 1,788 points down to 23,327 points, that's about 7% and the business press reported as if the sky was falling. It has since recovered. | But that was enough to get me thinking. We've …
globalresearch.ca/the-bull-market-and-todays-financial-crisis-the-great-crash-of-1929-will-history-repeat-itself/5669589
Canadian Military in Haiti. Why?
Yves Engler | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Canadian troops may have recently been deployed to Haiti, even though the government has not asked Parliament or consulted the public for approval to send soldiers to that country. | Last week the Haiti Information Project photographed heavily- armed Canadian troops …
globalresearch.ca/canadian-military-in-haiti-why/5669577
Condemnation of IDF Killings Is Never Anti-Semitic but Is Always an Essential Duty of the Global Media to Report
Hans Stehling | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
As of November 19, last year, lethal force by Israeli forces resulted in the killing of 252 and injuring of 25,522 Palestinians in Gaza, OCHA has reported. Many of the injuries were life-changing, including hundreds of cases of severe soft …
globalresearch.ca/condemnation-of-idf-killings-is-never-anti-semitic-but-is-always-an-essential-duty-of-the-global-media-to-report/5669618
Women's Suffrage and African Emancipation During the 19th Century
Abayomi Azikiwe | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Since the mid-19th century there has been a periodic interrelationship between the movements for African emancipation and women's liberation. | Of course these convergences have not been without serious contradictions particularly in light of the historic racial and class divisions …
globalresearch.ca/womens-suffrage-and-african-emancipation-during-the-19th-century/5669554
Further Reflections on Women's Suffrage and African Emancipation
Abayomi Azikiwe | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
A cursory re-examination of the early years of what became known as the women's suffrage movement and abolitionism represented the embryonic phases of self-organization and mass struggle politics within United States society. | As we pointed out in an earlier essay, …
globalresearch.ca/further-reflections-on-womens-suffrage-and-african-emancipation/5669635
The Health Risks of Mobile Phones: Italian Court Orders Public Safety Campaign
Microwave News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
In a victory for advocates of precaution, an Italian court has ordered the government to launch a campaign to advise the public of the health risks from mobile and cordless phones. | The information campaign must begin by July 16. | The …
globalresearch.ca/the-health-risks-of-mobile-phones-italian-court-orders-public-safety-campaign/5669580
City of Xi'an and Why the New Chinese Silk Road Terrifies the West?
Andre Vltchek | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Snow is falling on the wide sidewalks of the historic city of Xi'an, but people don't seem to be troubled by the bitter cold. | One of the oldest cities in China, Xi'an, is now vibrant, optimistic and stunningly beautiful. Sidewalks …
globalresearch.ca/city-of-xian-and-why-the-new-chinese-silk-road-terrifies-the-west/5669592
Sherry Conable Celebration of Life
CodePink SC | indybay.org | 2019-02-25
Peace United Church of Christ, 900 High Street, Santa Cruz…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/02/23/18821406.php
Fighting Privatization & Union Busting Charters In Oakland OEA Strike On Day 2
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2019-02-25
On the second day of the Oakland Education Association strike, thousands of teachers, service workers, parents and students rallied against charters and privatization. They marched to the office of Go Public charter school operation which is a laundering operation of the billionairs pushing charters and funding pro-privatization candidates.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/02/22/18821384.php
Burning Aid: An Interventionist Deception on Colombia-Venezuela Bridge?
Max Blumenthal | globalresearch.ca | 2019-02-25
Sen. Marco Rubio and coup leaders claim the Venezuelan National Guard burned US aid trucks on the bridge in Colombia. But all available evidence points in the opposite direction. | *** | The Trump administration's coup against Venezuela culminated on February 23 …
globalresearch.ca/burning-aid-an-interventionist-deception-on-colombia-venezuela-bridge/5669622
"Hands Off Venezuela" Rallies Held in Cities Around the World
Shared by Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2019-02-25
TRNN Correspondent Dimitri Lascaris Reports on a protest at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Office in Ottawa, Canada…
therealnews.com/stories/hands-off-venezuela-rallies-held-in-cities-around-the-world
Oakland Protests Trump's Regime Change Attack on Venezuela
Leon Kunstenaar | indybay.org | 2019-02-25
Though a US and Venezuelan Right Wing attempted regime change in Venezuela failed in 2002, Trump is now trying again, with his signature measures of cruelty and hypocrisy.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/02/24/18821419.php
Attend March 10 Solidarity Vigil in London for Julian Assange
WSWS | wsws.org | 2019-02-25
The SEP (UK) calls on all defenders of civil liberties and democratic rights, all opponents of imperialist wars for regime change, to attend the March 10 vigil and make it known in your workplaces, campuses and schools.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/25/vigi-f25.html
How America Rescued Its Weapons Runners After Their Arrest in Haiti
Alexander Rubinstein | theantimedia.com | 2019-02-25
(MPN) — Earlier this week, MintPress News reported that a number of suspected American mercenaries were arrested transporting a cache of assault rifles and other weapons in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince amid an uprising against government corruption. As MintPress noted at the time, many Haitians believed that the men were part of a team of mercenaries …
How America Rescued Its Weapons Runners After Their Arrest in Haiti