War, Peace and Presidential Candidates
Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Forty-five years after Congress passed the War Powers Act in the wake of the Vietnam War, it has finally used it for the first time, to try to end the U.S.-Saudi war on the people of Yemen and to recover its constitutional authority over questions of war and peace. This hasn't stopped the war yet,…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/war-peace-and-presidential-candidates/
Pelosi and McConnell: Cranking Up Bipartisan Madness for NATO
Norman Solomon | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
When Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell teamed up to invite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to address a joint session of Congress, they had every reason to expect the April 3 speech to be a big hit with U.S. media and political elites. The establishment is eager to affirm the sanctity of support for the…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/pelosi-and-mcconnell-cranking-up-bipartisan-madness-for-nato-2/
Russia Defies US Threats Over Venezuela
STAFF | therealnews.com | 2019-03-29
Trump insists Russia 'get out' of Venezuela; Vijay Prashad says Russia is protecting its own economic interests, billions in outstanding loans…
therealnews.com/stories/russia-defies-us-threats-over-venezuela
Stand By for Space Wars
Brian Cloughley | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
There was much international news in mid-March, although little of it was encouraging for those who prefer peace to war, handshakes to saber-rattling, and cooperation to confrontation. On March 27 India's Prime Minister Modi tweeted with nauseating smugness that his forces had destroyed a satellite in earth orbit at a height of 300 kilometers (the International Space…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/stand-by-for-space-wars/
A Dangerous Precedent: US Recognition of Israel's Annexation of the Syrian Golan
STAFF | therealnews.com | 2019-03-29
Phyllis Bennis explains that Trump's decision is a setback for peace all over the world. The US has isolated itself diplomatically in support of Netanyahu's campaign to win the elections, but recovery will be long…
therealnews.com/stories/a-dangerous-precedent-us-recognition-of-israels-annexation-of-the-syrian-golan
Guterres lauds UN peacekeeping, highlights need to bridge 'critical' gaps
United Nations | un.org | 2019-03-29
United Nations Peacekeeping missions are working flat out and need to be made "stronger and safer", Secretary-General António Guterres told a major ministerial pledging conference on Friday, stressing that "critical" gaps must be bridged, so they can deliver better, on behalf of the people they serve.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/03/1035741
Kamala Harris Calls for Teacher Raises–An Anomaly in Presidential Politics
STAFF | therealnews.com | 2019-03-29
Democratic frontrunner calls for $315 billion investment–education activists, such as Lois Weiner, say it's still not enough…
therealnews.com/stories/kamala-harris-calls-for-teacher-raises-an-anomaly-in-presidential-politics
Sudan: Anti-Government Protesters Teargassed By Riot Police
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-29
Sudanese protesters demonstrating in the Burri and Bahri and Omdurman regions of the capital Khartoum were reportedly teargassed by riot police Thursday, according to AFP citing witnesses. | RELATED: | Human Rights Org Urges Tunisia to Turn Over al-Bashir to ICC | "Protesters chanted anti-government slogans as they gathered in Madani's main market, but…
telesurenglish.net/news/Sudan-Anti-Government-Protesters-Teargassed-By-Riot-Police-20190329-0002.html
Gaza, Stonewall: Izzy Mustafa on Why People Rise Up
Susie Day | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Every Friday since March 30, 2018, in what's known as the Great March of Return, Palestinians in Gaza come to the Israeli border fence to protest nearly twelve years of a blockade that has made Gaza into what's often called the world's largest open-air prison. They also come to invoke UN Resolution 194, their right…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/gaza-stonewall-izzy-mustafa-on-why-people-rise-up/
Palestinians Commemorate Land Day 2019. Gazans Protest against Israeli Aggression and Suffocating Blockade
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
Since last weekend, Israeli warplanes preemptively terror-bombed Gaza and Aleppo's Sheikh Najar region overnight, causing material damage, according to Syria's Defense Ministry. | For Netanyahu, it's all about wanting his resume as a warrior burnished ahead of upcoming April 9 elections …
globalresearch.ca/palestinians-commemorate-land-day-2019-gazans-protest-against-israeli-aggression-and-suffocating-blockade/5673069
Redacted Tonight Highlights New Laws That Target Pipeline Protesters with $Millon Fines, 10 Years in Jail
Nick Rehwaldt | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-29
Big Oil, working through ALEC in at least eight states, decided to up the ante in an attempt to ensure that no other massive petroleum or natural gas project ever gets canceled because of protesters risking life, limb, and lengthy prison time and fines.
mintpressnews.com/big-oil-targeting-pipeline-protesters/256733/
EU's Parliament Signs Off on Disastrous Internet Law: What Happens Next?
Danny O'Brien | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
In a stunning rejection of the will of five million online petitioners, and over 100,000 protestors this weekend, the European Parliament has abandoned common-sense and the advice of academics, technologists, and UN human rights experts, and approved the Copyright …
globalresearch.ca/eus-parliament-disastrous-internet-law/5672857
Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Great Return March
Canadian Boat to Gaza | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
On the first anniversary of the beginning of the #GreatReturnMarch protests by Palestinians in Gaza to mark #LandDay on March 30, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition stands in solidarity with our Palestinian friends who are demanding full freedom of movement, including …
globalresearch.ca/freedom-flotilla-coalition-shoulder-shoulder-great-return-march/5673079
Russiagate: A Trump-Boosting Triumph of Diversion and Inauthentic Opposition?
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Did the Russian government make some efforts to intervene on Donald Trump's behalf in the 2016 United States presidential election? Has Trump's behavior toward Russia been odd, to say the least, for a U.S. president? Has Trump had significant financial ties to Russian oligarchs linked to Vladimir Putin? Does Putin very possibly have something on Trump?
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russiagate-a-trump-boosting-triumph-of-diversion-and-inauthentic-opposition/
Syria's Rukban Now Little More than a US-Controlled Concentration Camp — and the Pentagon Won't Let Refugees Leave
Whitney Webb | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a concentration camp is defined as "a place where large numbers of people are kept as prisoners in extremely bad conditions, especially for political reasons." It is undeniable that the Rukban camp fits this definition …
globalresearch.ca/syrias-rukban-us-controlled-concentration-camp-pentagon-wont-let-refugees-leave/5673032
Guaido Set to Enact Uprising Rooted in US Regime-Change Operations Manual
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-29
With its hands tied when it comes to military intervention, only covert actions — such as those described in the RED Team document — are likely to be enacted by the U.S. government, at least at this stage of its ongoing "regime change" effort in Venezuela.
mintpressnews.com/guaido-us-regime-change-venezuela/256747/
On My Visit to New Zealand: Can Christchurch Heal Our Collective Wounds?
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
I visited the city of Christchurch on May 23, 2018, as part of a larger speaking tour in New Zealand that also took me to Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Dunedin. New Zealand is an exceptional country, different from other countries that are often lumped under the generalized designation of the 'western world.' Almost immediately after…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/on-my-visit-to-new-zealand-can-christchurch-heal-our-collective-wounds/
Reentry to the Iran Nuclear Deal Emerging as Consensus Position
commondreams | commondreams.org | 2019-03-29
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/29/reentry-iran-nuclear-deal-emerging-consensus-position?cd-origin=rss
Healthcare for Everyone and It Will Cost Less: The Economic Case for Medicare for All
Robert Pollin | commondreams.org | 2019-03-29
"Other countries currently provide good health care to residents at a fraction of the U.S. cost," writes Pollin. "As of 2017, the U.S. spent $3.3 trillion on health care—17% of gross domestic product. Germany, France, Japan, Canada, the U.K., Australia, Spain and Italy spent between 9% and 11% of GDP on health care. Yet some measures—like those based on the amenable mortality rate, which tracks medically preventable deaths—rank the U.S. well below those countries." (Photo: National Nurses United/Flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/…
commondreams.org/views/2019/03/29/healthcare-everyone-and-it-will-cost-less-economic-case-medicare-all?cd-origin=rss
Pentagon Audit: Evidence Proving $21 Trillion Unaccounted For — Opening Statement
David DeGraw | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
According to United States government documents, since 1998, the Office of the Inspector General has reported $21 Trillion in unaccounted for money. | As unbelievable and absurd as that sounds, the actual total of unaccounted for money at the Pentagon is …
globalresearch.ca/pentagon-audit-evidence-proving-21-trillion-unaccounted-for-opening-statement/5669206
Brazilian president to commemorate 1964 fascist military coup
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-03-29
Brazilians took to social media following the news calling out Bolsonaro for "celebrating" the military dictatorship and its coup using the hashtag #DitaduraNuncaMais (No More Dictatorship). | Source…
mronline.org/2019/03/28/brazilian-president-to-commemorate-1964-fascist-military-coup/
Brazil Judge Takes on Fresh Corruption Compliant Against Temer
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-29
A Brazilian judge has taken on a new case of corruption against the country's former President Michel Temer Thursday. | RELATED: | Brazilian Ex-President Temer Released by Appeals Court | The decision of Judge Rodrigo Bentemuller is bas…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-Judge-Takes-on-Fresh-Corruption-Compliant-Against-Temer-20190329-0010.html
Brazil: 55 Years after the Overthrow of Democratically Elected President Joao Goulart, the New Far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro Has Announced a Celebration of the 1964 Military Coup
Eric Toussaint | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
Brazil: 55 years after the army staged a coup on 31 March 1964 and overthrew President Joao Goulart, the new far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro has announced a celebration of this said event. There can be no doubt about the active …
globalresearch.ca/brazil-overthrow-president-joao-goulart-far-right-president-jair-bolsonaro-celebration-1964-military-coup/5673022
Me and the Maoists
Louis Proyect | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
As I was reading through You Say You Want a Revolution: SDS, PL, and Adventures in Building a Worker-Student Alliance for a review in last week's CounterPunch, I kept emailing co-author John Levin about my connections to a number of the 23 mini-memoir contributors to this essential volume. It got to the point when John asked…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/me-and-the-maoists/
Julius Jones's Hail Mary to Avoid a 21st-Century-Style Lynching
Stephen Cooper | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Recently, by filing a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States, Julius Jones, a black man condemned to death in Oklahoma, threw the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in football: one last desperate, prayerful attempt imploring our legal system to give him a chance — before he's executed — to…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/julius-joness-hail-mary-to-avoid-a-21st-century-style-lynching/
Can You Spare $11.6 Billion? Lebanon's Loans and Luxury Car Sales Paradox
Paul Cochrane | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Lebanon managed to borrow $11.6 billion at the Cedre donor conference last year, the majority from the World Bank and Europe. After a nine month wait to form a government, Beirut now has to implement the lenders' conditionalities: economic reforms. What do you do as, say, a European institutional lender if Lebanon renegades on its…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/can-you-spare-11-6-billion-lebanons-loans-and-luxury-car-sales-paradox/
Of Estella Leopold and a "Fierce Green Fire" for the Earth
Louisa Willcox | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
This week, I am thrilled to launch the first of a four-part podcast featuring Estella Leopold, daughter of conservationist, writer, and philosopher Aldo Leopold. Last summer I traveled to Seattle for a conversation about her amazing life and adventures. At 92 years of age, and still frequenting her lab at the University of Washington's Quaternary…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/of-estella-leopold-and-a-fierce-green-fire-for-the-earth/
The Coldest Spot on Earth, Melting
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Global warming is a fact of life that haunts society with consequences that hit hard, exponentially, but where nobody lives. It is happening hyper fast, and it's downright scary as major ecosystems of the planet turn upside down in nasty fashion. But none of the ecosystems has the punch of East Antarctica. Its clout is…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/the-coldest-spot-on-earth-melting/
Mueller, Russiagate and the 2020 Elections
John Feffer | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
In horror movies, the monster can usually be dispatched in only one way. A werewolf requires a silver bullet. A vampire will only stay dead with a stake through the heart. The Blob shrivels in contact with the icy cold. For many opponents of Donald Trump, the report by special counsel Robert Mueller was supposed…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/mueller-russiagate-and-the-2020-elections/
Russiagate and the 1980s Crack Epidemic
Jeremy Kuzmarov | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
The release of the Mueller report and its conclusion that President Donald J. Trump and his top aides did not collude with Russia has prompted some important critical reflection on the American media and its penchant for sensationalism. Sean Davis, a cofounder of The Federalist, published an article in the Wall Street Journal on March 26thtitled…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russiagate-and-the-1980s-crack-epidemic/
We're All Lab Rats in the Government's Secret Experiments
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
"But these weren't the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around–they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you don't recognize them for what they are until it's too late." — Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/were-all-lab-rats-in-the-governments-secret-experiments/
The Revolution Must be Fun
Susan Babbitt | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Tony Perrottet's Cuba Libre! Che Fidel and the Improbable Revolution that Changed the World is a "colourful page turner".[i] Perrottet wanted a book that is "entertaining and readable, unsaturated by ideology". He succeeds in the first, not the second. It'sabout a…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/the-revolution-must-be-fun/
Russia Was Never the Real Scandal
Peter Certo | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Robert Mueller won't be filing any more indictments related to the "Russiagate" investigation. Though the search unearthed ample evidence that Russia wanted Trump to become president — and hints that some members of Trump World were perhaps aware of this — the recent summary declared no concrete findings that the two camps knowingly "colluded." The…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russia-was-never-the-real-scandal/
Woodstock at 50
Howard Lisnoff | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
In a few, short months, on August 15, 50 years will have passed since Woodstock (known formally as the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, An Aquarian Exposition), a defining cultural event of the 1960s and a defining event of the baby boom generation, took place. It took 43 years for me to get to the…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/woodstock-at-50/
Democratic (Party) Socialism
Andrew Levine | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
No sooner had last November's midterm election concluded than the next round in the electoral circus, focused on choosing the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 2020, got underway. After having worked triple overtime for nearly two seemingly endless years (since even before Trump's Inauguration), by New Year's Day, the nation's junk mailboxes were full of it again, gathering in candidates' pleas for money full throttle, along with the usual never-ending spam.
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/democratic-party-socialism/
Re: The Green New Deal: First, Shoot the Economists
Rob Urie | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Soon to be released research from the United Nations is expected to place species loss, a/k/a mass extinction, as an environmental threat equal to or greater than climate change. Industrial agriculture— vast expanses of monoculture crops managed with chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, will feature prominently as a cause. This plant agriculture supplies people with increasingly toxic and processed food and antibiotic and hormone dependent factory farms with animal feed. Together, these link the model of capitalist efficiency economists have been selling for the last two centuries to environmental c…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/re-the-green-new-deal-first-shoot-the-economists/
Cold War in the Land of Oil
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Ever since oil became the defining energy source for wartime militaries during World War Two, the world's politically and economically dominant nations have done their best to control those nations where oil is located. This control was originally achieved through arrangements that were essentially colonial n nature. The host governments in the oil-rich nations agreed…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/cold-war-in-the-land-of-oil/
The Cuban Nationalization of US Property in 1960: the Historical and Global Context
Charles McKelvey | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
In moving toward at least partial implementation of Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, the Trump administration has resurrected the issue of Cuban nationalization of U.S. properties in Cuba in 1960. The conflict between the United States and Cuba over the nationalized U.S. properties is a particular case in a historic and still unfolding…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/the-cuban-nationalization-of-us-property-in-1960-the-historical-and-global-context/
Why Recycling is a 'Pseudo-Solution' to Reducing Plastic Waste
Anna Buss | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
Decades of consumerism, fueled by the concept of short-term convenience, has left our planet drowning in plastic waste. Much of it is used just once and then thrown away, polluting oceans and contaminating our bodies. At the center of this problem lies the effectiveness of eliminating plastic while its production remains high and there are…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/why-recycling-is-a-pseudo-solution-to-reducing-plastic-waste/
Russiagate: Tragedy, Not Farce
Nick Pemberton | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-29
The left is an uplifting space of solidarity because it is a place that keeps track of the least of us in a way the mainstream media will not. It is very hard to find anything beyond opportunism in a mainstream media who is obsessed over a non-story like Russiagate. One has to wonder though…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russiagate-tragedy-not-farce/
Adam Schiff Delivers Massive Smackdown on Trump
STAFF | truthout.org | 2019-03-29
President Trump held his first rally since mid-February on Thursday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sounding alternately buoyant and furious, he took a big victory lap and declared himself to have "won" against the witch hunt. In an extended rant right out of the gate he proclaimed: | After three years of lies and smears and slander, the Russia hoax is finally dead. The collusion delusion is over. The Special Counsel has completed his report and found no collusion, no obstruction … Total exoneration, complete vindication. … | The Russia witch hunt was a plan by those who lost the election to take power by frami…
truthout.org/articles/adam-schiff-delivers-massive-smackdown-on-trump/
Video: Lider-class Destroyer — A New Face of Russian Surface Fleet
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
The Russian military leadership continues employing its maritime doctrine, an important part of which is the strengthening of the surface fleet. | As was recently revealed, Moscow is planning to build two units of project 23560 (i.e. Lider-class nuclear-powered destroyers) by …
globalresearch.ca/lider-class-destroyer-russian-surface-fleet/5672937
A socialist orientation: The collapse of the Trump-Russia hoax and the need for an independent movement
Party for Socialism and Liberation | liberationnews.org | 2019-03-29
The Trump-Russia conspiracy hoax promoted by the "liberal" wing of the capitalist establishment has collapsed with the core conclusion of the Mueller investigation that no such conspiracy existed.
liberationnews.org/a-socialist-orientation-the-collapse-of-the-trump-russia-hoax-and-the-need-for-an-independent-movement/
Republicans are obstructing attempts to get the full Mueller report
Associated Press | peoplesworld.org | 2019-03-29
WASHINGTON — Democrats intensified their demands for Robert Mueller's full report Thursday after learning the special counsel's findings from his Trump-Russia investigation run to more than 300 pages, while President Donald Trump boasted of total exoneration based on a four-page summary by his attorney general. House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was told by Attorney General …
peoplesworld.org/article/republicans-are-obstructing-attempts-to-get-the-full-mueller-report/
Consortium News' Record on Russia-gate–How CN Covered the 'Scandal': No. 3–'The Tangled Threads of Russia-gate'
Consortiumnews | consortiumnews.com | 2019-03-29
Once a Washington groupthink takes hold, as it has in the fervent belief about Russia-gate, respect for facts and logic fly out the window since all these important people can't be wrong, wrote Robert Parry on Dec. 5, 2017. The… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2019/03/28/consortium-news-record-on-russia-gate-how-cn-covered-the-scandal-no-3-the-tangled-threads-of-russia-gate/
Russia Officially Rubbished Alt-Media's False Reports About a Venezuelan Base. Reality Check
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
Contrary to the high hopes that many in the Alt-Media Community had for a Russian base in Venezuela after false reports and "analytical" innuendo were spread about this possibility, Moscow officially denied that it's planning to permanently base its military …
globalresearch.ca/russia-false-reports-venezuelan-base/5673001
UN Official: Secret Khashoggi Trial Violates International Law
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-29
The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, has called out Saudi Arabia on holding secretive judicial hearings for the 11 suspects accused of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. | RELATED: | MBS Approved 'Intervention' Against Dissidents Before Khashoggi Murder: Report | Callamard, who is leading the international inquiry regarding Khashoggi's death, said that unless the hearings are open to the public, t…
telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Official-Secret-Khashoggi-Trial-Violates-International-Law-20190329-0007.html
Trump Admin Complementing Israeli Effort to Give Nuclear Weapons to Saudi Arabia
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-29
Already seven of the 10 countries in the world with the highest military budgets are in the Middle East. The development of nuclear weapons in Saudi Arabia has many speculating that it could mark the beginning of an even more dangerous era for the war-torn region.
mintpressnews.com/israel-saudi-arabia-nuclear-weapons-2/256761/
Lebanon Decides to Confront Israel and the US in Shebaa, Kfarshouba and Syria
Elijah J. Magnier | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
Lebanese Judge Ahmad Mezher has given orders that a survey be conducted of Lebanese occupied territories in the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshouba, Huneen, Ideise and Bleeda. These villages are bordering Hasbaiya, Rashaya al-Fukhar and Kiyam and have been under Israeli occupation …
globalresearch.ca/lebanon-decides-confront-israel-us-shebaa-kfarshouba-syria/5673047
Ambassador Jaafari Crushes Trump's Tweet on Syria's Golan, Flagrant Violation, Contempt for International Law
Miri Wood | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-29
His Excellency Bashar al Jaafari issued an urgent statement on Syria's Golan, via a UN stake out, 22 March 2019. While maintaining his immaculate standard of professional diplomat, the Syrian ambassador crushed US President Donald J. Trump's " irresponsible …
globalresearch.ca/jaafari-golan-trump-tweet-international-law/5673010