How US Sanctions are Hurting Iran: A Firsthand Report
Medea Benjamin | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
On a recent delegation to Iran, we experienced first-hand the legendary Iranian hospitality. Iranians are particularly thrilled to meet Americans, but as we discovered, our government's policies are hurting the very people who want to be our friends. As our 28-person delegation traveled through the country wearing messages on our jackets proclaiming "Peace with Iran"
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/how-us-sanctions-are-hurting-iran-a-firsthand-report/

How US Sanctions are Hurting Iran: A Firsthand Report
Medea Benjamin | zcomm.org | 2019-03-12
Trump's economic strangulation is having devastating people on the Iranian people…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/how-us-sanctions-are-hurting-iran-a-firsthand-report/

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Stands Up for Press Freedom, Gets Jailed by US Gov't
Jimmysllama | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-12
President Donald Trump's 2010 statement that the WikiLeaks' staff should be executed and Hillary Clinton's suggestion to drone Assange, are reflective of a deeply disturbing trend to terrorize the press.
mintpressnews.com/whistleblower-chelsea-manning-stands-press-freedom-gets-jailed-us-govt/256138/

Brazil: 2 Former Police Arrested in Marielle Franco Murder
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
Two former policemen were captured Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro as suspects in the murder of Marielle Franco, a councilwoman and human rights activist who was shot on Mar. 14, 2018. | RELATED: | Bolsonaro's Son Linked to Suspect of Marielle Franco's Murder | "Two police officers were arrested with a direct and effective participation in the crime," Marcus Vinicius Braga, Rio de Janeiro state police secretary, said and added that "with the these arrests, we get close to solving the cr…
telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-2-Former-Police-Arrested-in-Marielle-Franco-Murder-20190312-0006.html

Gun Control Activists Should Also Take on America's Drone Wars
Allegra Harpootlian | thenation.com | 2019-03-12
Gun Control Activists Should Also Take on America's Drone Wars…
thenation.com/article/gun-control-school-shootings-parkland-foreign-policy-wars/

Indigenous Peoples Want Yalitza Aparicio as Peace Ambassador
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
Mexico's National Indigenous Governorship (GIN) Tuesday invited actress Yalitza Aparicio to be an Indigenous Peoples' Peace Ambassador because she represents "the victory of 68 native languages." | RELATED: | Oscars Joy For Cuaron And 'Roma' in Record Night | The…
telesurenglish.net/news/Indigenous-Peoples-Want-Yalitza-Aparicio-as-Peace-Ambassador-20190312-0010.html

No to NATO — Yes to Peace Festival
World Beyond War | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is coming to Washington, D.C., on April 4. We're organizing a peace festival to unwelcome them. | Wednesday, April 3 at St. Stephen's Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Washington, D.C. 20010: | 12: 00 p.m. — …
globalresearch.ca/no-nato-yes-peace-festival/5671126

"Lights Out!" Did Trump and His Neocons Recycle Bush-Era Plan to Knock Out Venezuela's Power Grid?
Whitney Webb | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
Even as the Venezuelan government blamed the recent power outage on U.S.-led "sabotage," the U.S. has long had a plan on the books for targeting the civilian power grid of adversarial nations. | *** | For nearly four days, much of Venezuela …
globalresearch.ca/trump-neocons-recycle-bush-era-plan-knock-out-venezuelas-power-grid/5671137

Trump is Trying to Pay His Way to an Annihilation of Palestinian Statehood, and an Erasure of Israel's Crimes
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
"Palestine" has been compared to many things. The world's longest colonial war, a "hell-disaster" — Churchill's memorable epithet — and the site of Israel's "war on terror", a conflict in which we are supposed to believe that the Palestinians are playing the role of al-Qaeda or Isis or any other outfit which the west and its allies have helped into existence, and which Israel is going to fight on our behalf.
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/trump-is-trying-to-pay-his-way-to-an-annihilation-of-palestinian-statehood-and-an-erasure-of-israels-crimes/

Trump's Dystopian Budget Proposal. Slashing Social Programs. More Money for War
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
Trump's dead on arrival budget proposal to Congress is all about funding greater militarism and belligerence, along with serving corporate interests and high-net worth households — while gutting vital social programs. | It's a proposal only Wall Street, the military, industrial, …
globalresearch.ca/trumps-dystopian-budget-proposal-slashing-social-programs-more-money-for-war/5671178

Greater Trump Regime Intervention in Venezuela Coming? Sabotage as a Prelude to All Out War?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
On Monday, Pompeo hinted at the Trump regime upping the stakes in Venezuela, saying "(t)he United States is drawing a clear line between those who aid (the Bolivarian Republic) and those" supporting US aims in the country. | He falsely blamed | …
globalresearch.ca/greater-trump-regime-intervention-venezuela-coming/5671170

Can We Divest from Weapons Dealers?
Kathy Kelly | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
Impoverished people living in numerous countries today would stand a far better chance of survival, and risk far less trauma, if weapon manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Raytheon stopped manufacturing and selling death-dealing products. About three decades ago, I taught writing at one of Chicago's alternative high schools. It's easy to…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/can-we-divest-from-weapons-dealers/

Chomsky & Nader
Noam Chomsky | zcomm.org | 2019-03-12
Talking about the media, the Green New Deal, nuclear war, Gaza, and Venezuela…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/1018198/

The Political Class's Disregard for Irish Life
Patrick Cockburn | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
The families of the 13 innocent people shot dead by the Parachute Regiment when they took part in a civil rights march against internment without trial in Londonderry in 1972 will learn in the coming week if soldiers, who are alleged to have carried out the killings, will be prosecuted. There is no doubt about…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/the-political-classs-disregard-for-irish-life/

Chasing Mirages: What Are Palestinians Doing to Combat the 'Deal of the Century'?
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-12
The painful truth is that it is not just US bullying that has pushed the PA into this unenviable position, but, sadly, the self-serving nature and political bankruptcy of the Palestinian leadership itself argues Ramzy Baroud.
mintpressnews.com/chasing-mirages-palestinians-combat-deal-of-the-century/256162/

Budget cuts: Trump fiscal plan is a right-wing wish list
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-03-12
WASHINGTON–If proposed federal budgets are political documents–and they are then-President Donald Trump's budget for fiscal 2020, which starts Oct. 1 and ends just before next year's election, is a right-wing wish list, with a trillion dollars of red ink, tailored to appeal to his base. From $8.6 billion more for his racist Mexican Wall, to …
peoplesworld.org/article/budget-cuts-trump-fiscal-plan-is-a-right-wing-wish-list/

Brazil: Arrests are First Sign of Progress in Investigation Into Killing of Marielle Franco
commondreams | commondreams.org | 2019-03-12
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2019/03/12/brazil-arrests-are-first-sign-progress-investigation-killing-marielle-franco?cd-origin=rss

Military Moves into Environmental Management in South America
Eduardo Gudynas | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
Environmental and land management in South America is being slowly but persistently militarized, with the aim of controlling extractive industries, especially gold mining. In Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, as well as other countries, both conservative and progressive governments participate in this militarization. The basic dispute is not so much in avoiding negative environmental and social impacts, as in controlling economic surpluses.
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/military-moves-into-environmental-management-in-south-america/

Trump's New Budget Slashes Medicare and Bolsters Military in an "Attack on the Poor & Middle Class"
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2019-03-12
President Trump is seeking $8.6 billion to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and an almost 5 percent increase in military spending. Meanwhile, Trump is calling for drastic cuts to domestic spending, including cutting $845 billion from Medicare spending over the next decade. Trump also wants to slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and the Interior Department's budget by 14 percent. We speak with David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, and founder and editor of DCReport.org.
www.democracynow.org/2019/3/12/trumps_new_budget_slashes_medicare_and

Rubio's "Full Gangster" Comments Hinder U.S.-Saudi Relations
Tim Daiss | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
It didn't take long for Florida Senator Marco Rubio's comments that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had "gone full gangster" to make the news rounds all the way from the U.S. to the Middle East, across the globe …
globalresearch.ca/rubios-full-gangster-comments-hinder-u-s-saudi-relations/5671155

Washington Is Waging a New Dimension War Against China — And Will Lose Out Bitterly
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
Once the all-encompassing chittering and chattering about tariffs on Chinese imports by the western corporate media subsided, Trump, egocentric businessman rather than the President of the Empire, "out of the blue", one could almost say, under the pretext of 'unfair' …
globalresearch.ca/washington-war-china/5671116

Venezuela blackouts: 'straight from the cyberwar playbook'
teleSUR Desk | mronline.org | 2019-03-12
A columnist at Forbes discusses the possibility of the blackout in Venezuela having been caused by cyberwarfare. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/03/12/venezuela-blackouts-straight-from-the-cyberwar-playbook/

Vulnerable U.S. Citizens Are Still Trapped in the Ruins Left by Hurricane Maria—Would We Care More If They Lived Near Us?
Stan Cox, Paul Cox | commondreams.org | 2019-03-12
Across Puerto Rico, according to the New York Times, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was responsible for awarding home-repair grants, rejected 58 percent of applications. (Chris Grogan/Air Force Magazine/Flickr) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/help.jpeg…
commondreams.org/views/2019/03/12/vulnerable-us-citizens-are-still-trapped-ruins-left-hurricane-maria-would-we-care?cd-origin=rss

Robert Reich: Elizabeth Warren Is Right About Big Tech
Robert Reich | truthdig.com | 2019-03-12
The senator aims to break up Google, Amazon and Facebook. If we are to dismantle our new Gilded Age, it's as good a place as any to start.
truthdig.com/articles/robert-reich-elizabeth-warren-is-right-about-big-tech/

The School Shooters of the Planet
Allegra Harpootlian | commondreams.org | 2019-03-12
This one-sided view of America's never-ending air wars fails everyone, from the people being asked to carry out Washington's decisions in those lands to ordinary Americans who have little idea what's being done in their name to the many people living under those drones. (Photo: Shutterstock) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/drones_1_1.jpeg…
commondreams.org/views/2019/03/12/school-shooters-planet?cd-origin=rss

Syria Ready for War to Regain Oil-Rich Golan Heights?
Kurt Nimmo | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
In 1981 when Israel officially annexed Syria's Golan Heights after occupying it following the Six Day War, the United States under President Ronald Reagan voted unanimously with the UN Security Council to condemn the Israeli theft of around 1,800 square …
globalresearch.ca/syria-war-regain-oil-rich-golan-heights/5671104

Decades of US Support for International Terrorists in Their War Against Cuba
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
For 60 years the Cuban Revolution has been in opposition to the most powerful nation of all time. America is a landmass almost 100 times larger in size than Cuba, is infinitely wealthier, stronger and boasts the largest and most …
globalresearch.ca/us-support-international-terrorists-war-cuba/5671198

Members of Congress Take Bold Step Towards Ending Discriminatory Bans on Abortion Coverage
ACLU | aclu.org | 2019-03-12
A new bill would end the Hyde Amendment and other related bans on insurance coverage of abortion. | Members of Congress on Tuesday took a bold step toward making the right to abortion a reality for everyone. The EACH Woman Act was reintroduced in the House — and introduced in the Senate for the first time ever. | This trailblazing legislation would end the Hyde Amendment and related bans on insurance coverage of abortion, which for over four decades have pushed…
aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/abortion/members-congress-take-bold-step-towards-ending-discriminatory

How long can we keep dodging nuclear war?
Conn Hallinan | peoplesworld.org | 2019-03-12
peoplesworld.org/article/how-long-can-we-keep-dodging-nuclear-war/

Corbyn, Williamson And The Anti-Semitism Scandal
David Edwards | zcomm.org | 2019-03-12
One thing is certain, if Corbyn and his style of socialism can be made to disappear, we'll hear no more about anti-semitism in the Labour Party…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/corbyn-williamson-and-the-anti-semitism-scandal/

US Whites Produce More, Suffer Less Pollution Than Minorities
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
A new study showed that minority populations in the United States experience the effects of pollution more than the amount they cause, as opposed to white people, who experience less pollution than what they cause, based on consumption numbers. | RELATED | Colombia: Air Pollution Triggers Red Alert Warning in Aburra | The study, coming out of the University of Washington (UW) and conducted by University of Minnesota (UM) professor Jason Hill and UW professor Christopher Tessum, ma…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Whites-Produce-More-Suffer-Less-Pollution-Than-Minorities-20190312-0011.html

'Fight On': Anti-socialist hysteria motivates conservative propaganda flick
Michael Berkowitz | peoplesworld.org | 2019-03-12
Donald Trump has a movie he'd like you to see. It's called Fight On and is about the specter haunting America…socialism. Although too late for the Academy Awards, the right-wing Republicans unveiled this film hoping it will be a big winner for them in the coming national elections. Fight On was the centerpiece of the …
peoplesworld.org/article/fight-on-anti-socialist-hysteria-motivates-conservative-propaganda-flick/

Elizabeth Warren's Big Tech Beatdown
Sam Biddle | zcomm.org | 2019-03-12
Elizabeth Warren's new plan — well, for now it's just a Medium post — to break up some of the world's biggest tech firms provides the rarest sign that someone seeking power wants to use that power to weaken Silicon Valley…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/elizabeth-warrens-big-tech-beatdown/

Lee Camp: We Are Being Lied Into War Again
Lee Camp | mintpressnews.com | 2019-03-12
This is not the first time our government and our media have conspired to drag the American people into war with another country–or helped create a coup that will inevitably have disastrous results.
mintpressnews.com/lee-camp-we-are-being-lied-into-war-again/256148/

Poetry from Fukushima on the 8th Anniversary of the Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Meltdown
Lit by IMAGINATION | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
March 11, 2019 is the 8th anniversary of the Earthquake-Tsunami-Nuclear Meltdown, the first of a type of techo-natural disaster predicted in the 1990s by seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko. He coined the Japanese term genpatsu shinsai (ÂéüÁô∫ÈúáÁÅΩ, literally a …
globalresearch.ca/poetry-from-fukushima-on-the-8th-anniversary-of-the-earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-meltdown/5671188

Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) "Concerned" about China's "Belt and Road" (BRI)
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
The Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) told the House Armed Services Committee just how "concerned" he is about China projecting its Silk Road influence from Gwadar to Africa through S-CPEC+ and consequently establishing a permanent naval presence in the …
globalresearch.ca/centcom-s-cpec/5671108

Whose Interests Are Served by the US Occupation of East Syria: America's or Israel's?
Mike Whitney | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
What is Israel's stake in east Syria? Has Israel influenced Washington's decision to maintain a long-term military presence in Syria? How does Israel benefit from the splintering of Syria into smaller statelets and from undermining the power of the central …
globalresearch.ca/us-occupation-east-syria/5671115

"Gimme Some Truth". John Lennon's Message Resonates
Philip A Farruggio | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
Gimme Some Truth | John Lennon, The Plastic Ono Band | I'm sick and tired of hearing things from
Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I've had enough of reading …
globalresearch.ca/gimme-some-truth-john-lennons-message-resonates/5671138

Western Press Still Guilty of Bias When Reporting on African Tragedy
Socrates Mbamalu | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
The racism inherent in Western media's reportage of African tragedy, such as the Ethiopian Airline disaster, once again shows how important it is for Africans to support their own media. | *** | Tragedy is a human experience that no one can …
globalresearch.ca/reporting-african-tragedy/5671184

The Media's 6 Biggest Lies About North Korea
Mike Whitney | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
Here are six of the media's biggest lies about North Korea: | 1–Did North Korea end the negotiations in Hanoi because Trump refused to lift sanctions? | No. That's not what happened at all. Kim Jong un made a serious offer to …
globalresearch.ca/biggest-lies-north-korea/5671193

The Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese Agribusiness Going Global
GRAIN | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
"Distance matters because time matters. And time matters because the faster commodities can be produced and exchanged, the greater the profits for individual firms. The answer? Mega infrastructure corridors." — Nicholas Hildyard[1] | One of the world's biggest e-commerce companies, Beijing-based …
globalresearch.ca/the-belt-and-road-initiative-chinese-agribusiness-going-global/5671134

Video: Venezuela Blackout: Cyber Attacks, Sabotage and Political Horror Movies
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
During the past few days, Venezuela was suffering a major blackout that left the country in darkness. The crisis started on March 7 with a failure at the Guri hydroelectric power plant, which produces 80% of the country's power. Additionally, …
globalresearch.ca/venezuela-blackout-cyber-attacks-sabotage-political-horror-movies/5671165

Trudeau's Cabinet Tempest
Jim Miles | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
On a global scale, the current events within Canada's Justin Trudeau cabinet are not much more than the proverbial tempest in a teapot. While receiving saturation coverage on Canada's CBC and some national newspapers, it is not totally noteworthy with …
globalresearch.ca/trudeaus-cabinet-tempest/5671122

Giants: The Global Power Elite
Peter Phillips | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
My new book, Giants: The Global Power Elite, follows in the tradition of C. Wright Mills' work the Power Elite, which was published in 1956. Like Mills, I am seeking to bring a consciousness of power networks affecting our lives | …
globalresearch.ca/giants-global-power-elite/5671129

French, German Farmers Destroy GMO-contaminated Crops
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-03-12
The transnational company Bayer said Wednesday that farmers in France and Germany were digging up thousands of hectares of rapeseed fields after traces of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are banned for cultivation, were found in seeds sold by the …
globalresearch.ca/french-german-farmers-destroy-gmo-contaminated-crops/5671182

Pompeo: US To Withdraw All Personnel From Venezuela This Week
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. "will withdraw all remaining personnel from the (Venezuelan) embassy this week," effectively breaking diplomatic ties with the country on part of the U.S. | RELATED: | Venezuela: Claims Of Hospital Deaths During Outage: 'False' | In a tweet late Monday night Pompeo wrote: "The U.S. will withdraw all remaining personnel from @usembassyve this week," adding that "the presence of U.S. diplomatic staff at the embassy has become a…
telesurenglish.net/news/Pompeo-US-To-Withdraw-All-Personnel-From-Venezuela-This-Week-20190312-0001.html

Diplomacy, not a military coup, is the way to help Venezuela
Jesse Jackson | peoplesworld.org | 2019-03-12
The United States is pushing for an overthrow of the government of Venezuela. The Trump administration has denounced Nicolas Maduro as a "dictator," dismissing the 2018 election, which the opposition boycotted. Instead of a good neighbor policy or a policy of non-intervention, the Trump administration has set out intentionally to overthrow the regime. Long before …
peoplesworld.org/article/diplomacy-not-a-military-coup-is-the-way-to-help-venezuela/

Lavrov: US Sanction Against Russian Company Violates Int'l Law
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is criminalizing Russian companies for doing business with the Venezuelan state, saying they are violated U.S. imposed sanctions by making transactions with Venezuela's sanctioned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). | RELATED: | US Presses India to Stop Buying Oil from Venezuela | In a Monday press conference Pompeo said that the assets of Evrofinance Mosnarbank, a Russia-Venezuel…
telesurenglish.net/news/Lavrov-US-Sanction-Against-Russian-Company-Violates-Intl-Law-20190312-0005.html

Live From Venezuela
Joseph Lombardo | counterpunch.org | 2019-03-12
Well, we made it to Venezuela, but it wasn't easy. The US has closed the Venezuelan embassy because they do not recognize the government. Therefore, it is not possible to get a visa. This might be one reason that the US closed the embassy. If you can't get a visa and go Venezuela, you can…
counterpunch.org/2019/03/12/live-from-venezuela/

Venezuela's Prosecutor Probes Guaido over Electric Grid Attack
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-03-12
Venezuela's Attorney General Tareck William Saab said that his Venezuelan Public Ministry has started an investigation against Juan Guaido, the lawmaker of the country's National Assembly, which has been in contempt since 2016, over his alleged participation in the recent sabotage to the electric grid system in Venezuela. | The measure, which was reported to the Supreme Court of Justice, is meant to investigate whether the opposition lawmaker has acted as the mastermind behind the electric outage in the country that began last Thursday. | "We started a new investigation that joins the one that began on Jan. 2…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuelas-Top-Prosecutor-Probes-Juan-Guaido-over-Electric-Grid-Attack-20190312-0012.html