(2019-03-29). War, Peace and Presidential Candidates. counterpunch.org 
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, More
(2019-03-29). Pelosi and McConnell: Cranking Up Bipartisan Madness for NATO. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Russia Defies US Threats Over Venezuela. therealnews.com 
Trump insists Russia 'get out' of Venezuela; Vijay Prashad says Russia is protecting its own economic interests, billions in outstanding loans…
(2019-03-29). Stand By for Space Wars. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). A Dangerous Precedent: US Recognition of Israel's Annexation of the Syrian Golan. therealnews.com 
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…
(2019-03-29). Guterres lauds UN peacekeeping, highlights need to bridge 'critical' gaps. un.org 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.
(2019-03-29). Headlines for March 29, 2019. democracynow.org NY Sues Sackler Family, Purdue & Other Drug Cos. for Profiting from Opioid Crisis, Dems Press AG William Barr on 300+-Page Mueller Report, HUD Sues Facebook over Discriminatory Housing Ads, Puerto Rico Gov. Rosselló to Trump: "I'll Punch the Bully in the Mouth", Philippines: Rappler Founder Maria Ressa Arrested for 2nd Time, Venezuela: Gov't Bans Opposition Head Guaidó from Running for Office, Saudi Authorities Temporarily Release 3 Women Activists, Somalia: At Least 15 People Killed in al-Shabab Attack, Egyptian Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Freed After 5 Years in Prison, U.K.: Lawmakers to Vote on Key Text Two We…
(2019-03-29). Kamala Harris Calls for Teacher Raises—An Anomaly in Presidential Politics. therealnews.com 
Democratic frontrunner calls for $315 billion investment—education activists, such as Lois Weiner, say it's still not enough…
(2019-03-29). Sudan: Anti-Government Protesters Teargassed By Riot Police. telesurenglish.net 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…
(2019-03-29). Gaza, Stonewall: Izzy Mustafa on Why People Rise Up. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Palestinians Commemorate Land Day 2019. Gazans Protest against Israeli Aggression and Suffocating Blockade. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Redacted Tonight Highlights New Laws That Target Pipeline Protesters with $Millon Fines, 10 Years in Jail. mintpressnews.com 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.
(2019-03-29). Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition: Shoulder to Shoulder with the Great Return March. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). EU's Parliament Signs Off on Disastrous Internet Law: What Happens Next? globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Brazilian president to commemorate 1964 fascist military coup. mronline.org 
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
(2019-03-29). Russiagate: A Trump-Boosting Triumph of Diversion and Inauthentic Opposition? counterpunch.org 
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? More
(2019-03-29). Russia Was Never the Real Scandal. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Democratic (Party) Socialism. counterpunch.org 
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. More
(2019-03-29). The Cuban Nationalization of US Property in 1960: the Historical and Global Context. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Re: The Green New Deal: First, Shoot the Economists. counterpunch.org 
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…
(2019-03-29). The Coldest Spot on Earth, Melting. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Of Estella Leopold and a "Fierce Green Fire" for the Earth. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). The Revolution Must be Fun. counterpunch.org 
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 "scrappy bunch of idealistic young people who … beat a professional army of [dictator More
(2019-03-29). On My Visit to New Zealand: Can Christchurch Heal Our Collective Wounds? counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Cold War in the Land of Oil. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Russiagate and the 1980s Crack Epidemic. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Russiagate: Tragedy, Not Farce. counterpunch.org 
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 More
(2019-03-29). Republicans are obstructing attempts to get the full Mueller report. peoplesworld.org 
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 …
(2019-03-29). A socialist orientation: The collapse of the Trump-Russia hoax and the need for an independent movement. liberationnews.org 
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.
(2019-03-29). SHAWN "JAY-Z" CARTER NAMED PRESIDENT'S AWARD RECIPIENT FOR 50TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS. naacp.org 
NAACP PRESIDENT DERRICK JOHNSON TO PRESENT THE AWARD DURING LIVE TV SPECIAL, MARCH 30, 2019 ON TV ONE ADDITIONAL PRESENTERS TO INCLUDE VIOLA DAVIS, JOHN LEGEND, ISSA RAE, LUPITA NYONG'O, DANAI GURIRA, AND VAN JONES LOS ANGELES (March 28, 2019) — The NAACP today announced that globally dominant pop culture icon Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter will …
(2019-03-29). Singing in a cage is possible and so is happiness. mronline.org 
Once more, punctually, Israel—with the vengeance of Zeus—has begun to bomb Gaza, from which the sounds and smells of war are never absent due to Israeli bombings. It helps Israel that the United States is fully behind its policy of annihilation. | Source
(2019-03-29). Reconstructing the history of the electricity sabotage in Venezuela. mronline.org 
Fictitious narratives spun by the opposition failed to go viral in social media—such as those showing images of people apparently collecting water from the Guaire River, which is not suitable for consumption. A report made by the Catia TV team, debunked this false story. | Source
(2019-03-29). The sunrise will be the same for those who wake and those who never will. mronline.org 
Disregard by the dominant powers of human lives in places such as Iraq has a long history. It goes back a hundred years. | Source
(2019-03-29). Syria's Rukban Now Little More than a US-Controlled Concentration Camp — and the Pentagon Won't Let Refugees Leave. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Guaido Set to Enact Uprising Rooted in US Regime-Change Operations Manual. mintpressnews.com 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.
(2019-03-29). Reentry to the Iran Nuclear Deal Emerging as Consensus Position. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-03-29). Pentagon Audit: Evidence Proving $21 Trillion Unaccounted For — Opening Statement. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Healthcare for Everyone and It Will Cost Less: The Economic Case for Medicare for All. commondreams.org "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/…
(2019-03-29). 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. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Brazil Judge Takes on Fresh Corruption Compliant Against Temer. telesurenglish.net 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…
(2019-03-29). Woodstock at 50. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). Can You Spare $11.6 Billion? Lebanon's Loans and Luxury Car Sales Paradox. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). Mueller, Russiagate and the 2020 Elections. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). Why Recycling is a 'Pseudo-Solution' to Reducing Plastic Waste. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). We're All Lab Rats in the Government's Secret Experiments. counterpunch.org "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 More
(2019-03-29). Julius Jones's Hail Mary to Avoid a 21st-Century-Style Lynching. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). Me and the Maoists. counterpunch.org 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 More
(2019-03-29). Russia Officially Rubbished Alt-Media's False Reports About a Venezuelan Base. Reality Check. globalresearch.ca 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 …
(2019-03-29). Adam Schiff Delivers Massive Smackdown on Trump. truthout.org 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…
(2019-03-29). Consortium News' Record on Russia-gate—How CN Covered the 'Scandal': No. 3—'The Tangled Threads of Russia-gate'. consortiumnews.com 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 →