Daily Archives: February 27, 2021

2021-02-27: News Headlines

_____ (2021-02-27). 'Pipe Dream': Enbridge Escalates Local Tensions. popularresistance.org Palisade, Minnesota — Even in the bitter cold, the pretty little park along the Mississippi River is inviting, a typical gathering spot for community events with its broad trees and public pavilion. | But Berglund Park stood empty recently as families and community members huddled around warming fires in an open field nearby, listening to music and eating Indian tacos as they learned about the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline cutting through their community. | A group of pipeline opponents known as water protectors from the nearby Honor the Earth camp organized the small winter carnival to provide information about…

Eds. (2021-02-27). We have to change our suicidal ways and reconcile with nature to tackle climate crises and pandemics. mronline.org Every day, entrepreneurs in Brazil cut down more of the Amazon to produce cheap soybeans for animals in Europe and America. Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia tear up their forests to produce cheap coffee and palm oil for the world.

RT (2021-02-27). Boston halts advanced school program over 'equity' concerns after study finds it has too many 'white and Asian' students. rt.com Public schools in Boston, Massachusetts are suspending new enrollment in an advanced study program citing concerns over "inequities" that supposedly emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to be more "anti-racist." | Fourth-graders hoping to get into the Advanced Work Classes (AWC) program are out of luck, after Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius called for a one-year hiatus for the program this week. The district's

MBNJSD (2021-02-27). Biden's Reckless Syria Bombing Is Not the Diplomacy He Promised. dissidentvoice.org Photo: CODEPINK The February 25 U.S. bombing of Syria immediately puts the policies of the newly-formed Biden administration into sharp relief. Why is this administration bombing the sovereign nation of Syria? Why is it bombing "Iranian-backed militias" who pose absolutely no threat to the United States and are actually involved in fighting ISIS? If this …

Walter Smolarek (2021-02-27). Deciphering Biden's excuse to abandon the Fight for $15. liberationnews.org President Biden received a major political gift from an obscure, unelected official called the Senate parliamentarian Feb. 25 when she ruled that the provision in the administration's stimulus plan that raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour must be removed from the bill. Unless this maneuver is defeated, millions of workers who could have …

Michael Kowalchuk (2021-02-27). Sojourner Truth's Massachusetts days. liberationnews.org Sojourner Truth, born into slavery in New York as "Isabella Baumfree" in 1797, was one of the most important abolitionists and feminists of the nineteenth century.

Joe Piette (2021-02-27). Mental health effects of COVID lockdown in prison: Interview from inside SCI Albion. workers.org This telephone interview with Demitrius Grant, imprisoned at SCI Albion near Erie, Pa., was conducted by Joe Piette for Workers World newspaper on Feb. 16. Demetrius Grant: We're going to be covering the issue of COVID-19 today, as to how it impacts prisoners' mental health. About a week ago, a . . . |

John Catalinotto (2021-02-27). 'Rubin never lost a case' — Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021. workers.org Some younger Workers World Party members met Rubin Kanowitz for the first time when he was a communist elder, still confronting cops on recent demonstrations chanting, "Black Lives Matter." Older ones knew him from when he first joined the party in 1965. All grieved as they learned he died this . . . |

Eds. (2021-02-27). FBI, NYPD exposed: Deathbed confession shines new light on assassination of Malcolm X. mronline.org Without any training, Wood's job was to infiltrate civil rights organizations and encourage leaders and members to commit felonious acts. He was also tasked with ensuring that Malcolm X's security detail was arrested days prior to the assassination, guaranteeing Malcolm X didn't have door security while at the Audubon Ballroom.

Jason Hickel (2021-02-27). Is the world poor, or unjust? mronline.org Social media has been ablaze with this question recently. We know we face a crisis of mass poverty: the global economy is organized in such a way that nearly 60% of humanity is left unable to meet basic needs. But the question at stake this time is different.

Shabbir Manjee (2021-02-27). Chicago City Council passes unanimous resolution to end the blockade on Cuba. liberationnews.org All 50 aldermen voted to oppose the blockade, adding that normalizing relations can benefit the economic conditions of both Cubans and Chicagoans.

John Catalinotto (2021-02-27). 'Rubin never lost a case' — Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021. workers.org Some younger Workers World Party members met Rubin Kanowitz for the first time when he was a communist elder, still confronting cops on recent demonstrations chanting, "Black Lives Matter." Older ones knew him from when he first joined the party in 1965. All grieved as they learned he died this . . . |

Clean Energy Wire (2021-02-27). By the End of the Year, Germany will have a Million Electric Cars on the Road out of 4.7 mn Total. juancole.com By Sà∂ren Amelang | — Germany will probably reach its target of having one million fully electric or plug-in hybrid cars on the road this year, government advisors have said. The head of the country's National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM), Henning Kagermann, told business daily Handelsblatt he was pleased "that it appears we will …

Caitlin A. Johnstone (2021-02-27). U.S. bombs Syria and ridiculously claims self defense. mronline.org On orders of President Biden, the United States has launched an airstrike on a facility in Syria. As of this writing the exact number of killed and injured is unknown, with early reports claiming "a handful" of people were killed.

The Conversation (2021-02-27). Gulf War: As Biden bombs Iraqis, 30 years on the consequences of Desert Storm are still with us. juancole.com By Lorena De Vita and Amir Taha | — It was a short message to end a short war. On February 26 1991, Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz put his signature to a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council: I have the honour to notify you that the Iraqi Government reaffirms its agreement …

MEE and agencies (2021-02-27). Tunisia's Ennahda holds large street protest, fuelling government crisis. middleeasteye.net Tunisia's Ennahda holds large street protest, fuelling government crisis | The protest is seen as an attempt to mobilise popular backing against President Kais Saied | Sat, 02/27/2021 – 12: 15 | Supporters of Tunisia's biggest political party, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, march during a rally in opposition to President Kais Saied in Tunis on 27 February (Reuters) | Tunisia's biggest poli…

_____ (2021-02-27). 'No one cares if we die': Ex-Syrian rebels recount Nagorno-Karabakh nightmare as 'disposable force for Turkey'. strategic-culture.org Repurposed into a mercenary force by Erdogan's Turkey, the remnants of Syria's armed opposition were sent off to fight for Azerbaijan with promises of sweet paychecks. They met abuse, humiliation, and death instead. | By Lindsey SNELL | In the first week of October 2020, Ahmad Hadad* and more than 20 other fighters from the Hamza Division faction of the so-called Syrian National Army stood in the middle of a mountain range in Azerbaijan near the Iranian border. They were lost. | After the Armenian army unleashed a bout of heavy bombardment on the mountains, the Azerbaijani soldiers who had been positioned behind…

RT (2021-02-27). Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package narrowly passes US House, $1,400 stimulus checks included. rt.com The US House of Representatives has narrowly passed the massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The package is now headed to the Senate, where the bill is expected to be stripped of its minimum wage hike provision. | President Joe Biden's relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan, was passed by the House early on Saturday in narrow 219-212 vote. No Republicans have voted for the legislation, while two Democrats broke ranks and voted against it. | The legislation includes $1,400 checks for most Americans, as well as billions for state and local governments, schools and businesses. The package wou…

Reem Zubaidi (2021-02-27). Exposing Israel's vaccine apartheid in West Bank & Gaza. liberationnews.org Five million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are excluded from vaccine rollouts while Israeli citizens, even those living in illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, are prioritized.

Sophia Purdy-Moore (2021-02-27). Former Ofsted chief calls on teachers to 'sacrifice their lives', but the teachers are having none of it. thecanary.co During an Wilshaw told Emily Maitlis: You have to compare this with the medical emergency over the last year and the commitment on the part of medical professionals, and nurses, and doctors. They've gone the extra mile at great cost to themselves, and their families, their…

MEE and agencies (2021-02-27). Khashoggi murder: Bahrain, UAE reaffirm support for Saudi Arabia after CIA report. middleeasteye.net Khashoggi murder: Bahrain, UAE reaffirm support for Saudi Arabia after CIA report | US intelligence report blames Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi | Sat, 02/27/2021 – 10: 19 | Protesters in London demonstrate against former president Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (MEE/Kaamil Ahmed) | Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stoo…

Areeb Ullah (2021-02-27). Khashoggi murder: Oxfam calls on Britain to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia. middleeasteye.net Khashoggi murder: Oxfam calls on Britain to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia | Demand follows release of report in which CIA determines that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind murder of Jamal Khashoggi | Sat, 02/27/2021 – 13: 49 | Britain is the second-largest seller of weapons to Saudi Arabia (AFP) | The release of a CIA report blaming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for ordering th…

Mike Walter (2021-02-27). The Heat: U.S. intelligence report on Khashoggi's death. america.cgtn.com A U.S. intelligence report concludes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the operation to murder a prominent journalist. And U.S. President Biden orders airstrikes in Syria targeting Iranian-backed militias.

RT (2021-02-27). As FBI touts 'unprecedented' speed of Capitol 'insurrection' probe, police still don't know what caused officer's death. rt.com Seven weeks on from the Capitol riot, police say a toxicology report on the officer who was allegedly killed isn't done, raising questions over whether investigators are sitting on facts that don't fit a murder-mayhem narrative. | The medical examiner's report on Officer Brian Sicknick's death following the January 6 riot hasn't been completed, as toxicology results are still pending, the Capitol Police Department said Friday in a statement. More than 50 days after the Capitol attack — and even as other aspects of the "insurrection" investigation race ahead — the department offered no explanation for…

RT (2021-02-27). NYT columnist faces conflict of interest accusations after singing praise of Facebook 'Groups' feature in tech giant's blog post. rt.com New York Times writer David Brooks has come under fire for a potential conflict of interest after penning a blog post for Facebook's corporate site while a project he helped to found accepted money from the social media giant. | A

RT (2021-02-27). Virginia school district says Dr.Seuss demoted as focus of reading event due to 'RACIAL UNDERTONES', denies complete ban. rt.com Facing public backlash over its alleged cancellation of Dr. Seuss on concern that his stories and illustrations are racist, a Virginia school district denied it banned the author but said it deprioritized his books. | The Loudon County Public Schools system near Washington, DC, clarified on Saturday that it merely downgraded

RT (2021-02-27). Biden admin to charge White House reporters $170 per Covid test amid concerns smaller outlets will be squeezed out — reports. rt.com The Joe Biden administration is reportedly set to charge White House correspondents $170 a pop for daily coronavirus tests, stoking anger among reporters, some noting the move could cost struggling newsrooms thousands per week. | The White House press office will begin charging for the tests next week, the Washington Post

RT (2021-02-27). 'Safely recovered': Lady Gaga's stolen bulldogs brought to LA police after pop star offers $500k reward with no strings attached. rt.com Two French bulldogs have been safely returned to pop star Lady Gaga after robbers stole the animals at gunpoint from her dog walker, who was shot in the struggle, according to LA police. | The pups were brought to an LAPD station north of downtown on Friday evening by a woman believed to be "uninvolved and unassociated" with the theft and shooting earlier this week, police captain Jonathan Tippett Both of Lady Gaga's dogs have been…

RT (2021-02-27). NYT columnist faces conflict of interest accusations after singing praise for Facebook 'Groups' feature in tech giant's blog post. rt.com New York Times writer David Brooks has come under fire for a potential conflict of interest after penning a blog post for Facebook's corporate site while a project he helped to found accepted money from the social media giant. | A

Ramona du Houx (2021-02-27). Elected Officials to Protect America see Biden's clean car plan can help health outcomes. indybay.org EOPA, as part of President Biden's overall climate agenda, supports Majority Leader Sen. Schumer's clean car plan and urges President Biden to initiate the process of making it law right after his American Rescue Plan is passed. Toxic pollution from cars and trucks are cutting lives short in communities of color and low-income communities across the U.S. Decades of vehicle emissions and other ambient pollution have created disproportionate negative impacts on the economic vitality, health, and quality of life in these frontline communities.

Zach Conti (2021-02-27). G20 Discusses Stimulus, Climate and Aid for Developing Countries. indybay.org G20 finance ministers met Friday to discuss global coronavirus response.

Naomi Klein (2021-02-27). India Targets Climate Activists With the Help of Big Tech. zcomm.org Tech giants like Google and Facebook appear to be aiding and abetting a vicious government campaign against Indian climate activists…

Jeffrey St. Clair (2021-02-26). How Real Nazis Came to the Americas: the Recruitment of Klaus Barbie. counterpunch.org By the time Klaus Barbie went on the payroll of an American intelligence organization in 1947, Klaus Barbie had lived several lifetimes of human vileness. Barbie sought out opponents of the Nazis in Holland, chasing them down with dogs. He had worked for the Nazi mobile death squads on the Eastern Front, massacring Slavs and Jews. He'd put in two years heading the Gestapo in Lyons, France, torturing to death Jews and French Resistance fighters (among them the head of the Resistance, Jean Moulin. ) After the liberation of France, Barbie participated in the final Nazi killing frenzy before Allies moved into Germany…

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2021-02-26). Biden's Reckless Syria Bombing Is Not the Diplomacy He Promised. counterpunch.org The February 25 U.S. bombing of Syria immediately puts the policies of the newly-formed Biden administration into sharp relief. Why is this administration bombing the sovereign nation of Syria? Why is it bombing "Iranian-backed militias" who pose absolutely no threat to the United States and are actually involved in fighting ISIS? If this is about

Roger Harris (2021-02-26). Joe Biden's US Foreign Policy: Return to the Old Normal? counterpunch.org US President Biden bellicosely proclaimed, "American is back," in his major foreign policy priorities speech at the Munich Security Conference on February 19. Repeated twice for effect, Biden signaled the end of the Trump interregnum. No more assuring words could have been uttered for George W. Bush's former Defense Secretary Colin Powell and the 70 odd Republican national security officials, who wrote an open letter endorsing Biden out of fear that Trump would upset the bipartisan foreign policy consensus of regime change, forever wars, and the NATO alliance. Republican neo-cons now shelter in the Democrat's big…

F. William Engdahl (2021-02-26). Texas 'Deep Freeze': Urgent Climate Warning but "Not What You Think" globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | In the unfolding extreme winter tragedy in Texas as well as …

Henry Tufnell (2021-02-26). High Court: Covid self-employed support scheme does not unlawfully discriminate against women. ukhumanrightsblog.com R (The Motherhood Plan and Anor) v HM Treasury [2021] EWHC 309 (Admin) — read judgment In a judgment handed down on 17 February 2021, the High Court has ruled that the Self Employment Income Support Scheme ("the Scheme") introduced during the coronavirus pandemic does not indirectly discriminate against self-employed women who have taken a …

Eds. (2021-02-26). The Pandemic: Half a million lives lost in U.S., more than the two World Wars and Vietnam War combined. mronline.org Over half a million people have died of coronavirus in the U.S. Grasping the enormity—half a million people gone—is difficult to visualize.

Staff (2021-02-26). Big Tech Shouldn't Be the Arbiter of Our Free Speech Rights. truthout.org Business corporations don't need free speech rights. Nor should they have the power to deny free speech to others. But leading up to and following the 2020 election, we saw both undemocratic realities on display. | The 2020 election was largely "democratic." Due to the pandemic, more voters had more ways to cast their ballots than ever, and the elections were overall free and fair. H…

Lawrence Wittner (2021-02-26). A Rapidly Globalizing World Needs Strengthened Global Governance. zcomm.org The world is currently engulfed in crises—most prominently, a disease pandemic, a climate catastrophe, and the prevalence of war—while individual nations are encountering enormous difficulties in coping with them. These difficulties result from the global nature of the problems. An individual nation is unable to institute adequate measures to safeguard public health because diseases spread

Mike Walter (2021-02-26). The Heat: One scientist's fight against disease & Racism against Asian-Americans. america.cgtn.com As the pandemic continues to take its toll, we'll talk to one of America's leading science pioneers. Plus — what's behind the alarming rise in violence against Asian Americans?>

Staff (2021-02-26). The Assassination of Malcolm X: Ex-Undercover Officer Admits Role in FBI & Police Conspiracy. democracynow.org The FBI and New York Police Department are facing renewed calls to open their records into the assassination of Malcolm X, after the release of a deathbed confession of a former undercover NYPD officer who admitted to being part of a conspiracy targeting Malcolm. In the confession, Raymond Wood, who died last year, admitted he entrapped two members of Malcolm's security team in another crime — a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty — just days before the assassination. This left the Black civil rights leader vulnerable at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, where he was fatally shot on February 21, 1965.

Staff (2021-02-26). "The Whole System Needs to be Indicted": Attorney Benjamin Crump on Overhauling U.S. Policing. democracynow.org The Democratic-led House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on a sweeping police reform bill that would ban chokeholds, prohibit federal no-knock warrants, establish a National Police Misconduct Registry and other measures. The legislation, known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, is in response to a series of high-profile killings of Black people in 2020 and the nationwide racial justice uprising they sparked. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of Floyd, Daniel Prude, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and many other victims of police and racial viol…

Staff (2021-02-26). "We Want the Truth Uncovered": Malcolm X's Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz Backs New Probe into Assassination. democracynow.org The family of Malcolm X is demanding a new investigation into his 1965 assassination in light of the deathbed confession of a former New York police officer who said police and the FBI conspired to kill the Black leader. Ilyasah Shabazz, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and one of Malcolm's six children, says the latest revelation is further evidence of how the authorities worked to infiltrate and undermine Black organizations during the Civil Rights Movement. "All he wanted was for America to live up to her promise of liberty and justice for all," she says of her father. "I'm happy…

Vijay Prashad (2021-02-26). Your privileges are not Universal. mronline.org Stencilled in red on the walls of Santiago, Chile is a statement of fact: 'your privileges are not universal' (tus privilegios no son universales).

Ramzy Baroud (2021-02-26). Imagining Palestine: On Barghouti, Darwish, Kanafani and the Language of Exile. counterpunch.org For Palestinians, exile is not simply the physical act of being removed from their homes and their inability to return. It is not a casual topic pertaining to politics and international law, either. Nor is it an ethereal notion, a sentiment, a poetic verse. It is all of this, combined. The death in Amman of

Patricia Gorky (2021-02-26). Exposed: McDonald's surveillance operation spies on employees organizing for a living wage. liberationnews.org New reports show that McDonald's has spied on workers "for years" in their effort to combat the Fight for $15 movement that has been struggling for a living wage for nearly a decade. According to documents leaked to Motherboard, McDonald's hired a team of global intelligence analysts to identify and surveil workers and labor leaders …

Kim Petersen (2021-02-26). North Korea Steadfastly Resisting US Hegemony. dissidentvoice.org I learned a while back to be especially skeptical of western mass media and their governments.1 My experience of life in China is nothing like how western demonization portrays it to be. Therefore, I looked forward to the chance to experience North Korea first hand. I traveled there with a Chinese group departing China. Starting …

Staff (2021-02-26). Battleground Baltimore: Maryland shows solidarity with unionizing Amazon workers. therealnews.com Amazon workers rally in Baltimore County, the LEOBR could survive attempts to weaken it, City Councilperson Ryan Dorsey feuds with the FOP, and more.

Marilyn Bechtel (2021-02-26). Calif. essential workers and supporters call for extended COVID-related sick leave. peoplesworld.org Essential workers, labor advocates, and legislators are joining together to urge the California legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom to act immediately to expand emergency paid sick days and paid family and medical leave protection for workers in the state's 2021-2022 early action budget. Both federal and California emergency paid sick leave mandates on employers expired …