Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2019-04-26). Activists Remain In Venezuelan Embassy With Gratitude From Foreign Ministry. dissidentvoice.org Embassy protectors pack the Hugo Chavez library for an event with John Kiriakou (Photo by Margaret Flowers) Washington, DC — Thursday, April 25, the day activists anticipated the Secret Service might evict them from the Venezuelan embassy, turned into a day of growing support for and attention to the embassy protection efforts. Activists are making …

Vijay Prashad (2019-04-26). If war is an industry, how can there be peace in a capitalist World? mronline.org On 26 April 1937, twelve bombers of the German Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria flew low over the Basque country of Spain in the midst of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). They tore down over the small town of Guernica, where they let loose their fiery arsenal. Almost two thousand people died in […] | Source

Kevin Gosztola (2019-04-26). Appeals Court Decision Upholds First Amendment Rights Of Undocumented Immigrants. shadowproof.com In a victory for undocumented immigrants who engage in activism, a federal appeals court found activist Ravi Ragbir had a valid claim against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which attempted to deport him in retaliation for his political speech.

Morgan Artyukhina (2019-04-26). Collective protects Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. liberationnews.org Activists from across the country, including a group of tenants staying inside the embassy as the invited guests of the legitimate government, have working around the clock to prevent the illegal seizure of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. by opposition forces loyal to coup leader Juan Guaido.

Stanley Cohen (2019-04-26). Death Can be a Slow Traveler: Peltier, Mumia and Rap Brown. mintpressnews.com While movements such as the Black Panther Party, the BLA, AIM and MOVE still resonate among some in a new generation of activists, many of their former members, now riddled with poor health and buried in prison, have been all but lost to the passage of time.

Democracy Now! (2019-04-26). Headlines for April 26, 2019. democracynow.org Sri Lanka Lowers Death Toll from Easter Attacks; Top Officials Resign over Intelligence Failures, Anita Hill: I Am Not Satisfied by Biden's Apology over Handling of Clarence Thomas Allegations, As Comcast Lobbyist Hosts Biden's First Fundraiser, Campaign Boasts of Support from "Top 1%", Biden Hires Ex-Bernie Sanders Staffer as Senior Adviser, Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Sudan Demanding Civilian Rule, North Korea's Kim Jong-un Accuses U.S. of Acting in Bad Faith in Nuke Talks, In Response to Yellow Vest Protests, Macron Vows to Cut Taxes, Tells Nation It Must Work Harder, Report: U.S. Sanctions Have Killed 40…

CounterSpin (2019-04-26). Tina Vasquez on Covering Immigration, Sina Toossi on Iran Sanctions. fair.org Media…

John Feffer (2019-04-26). What's Driving Bolton's Attacks on the "Troika of Tyranny"? counterpunch.org If you're in the market for a troika of tyranny, Donald Trump, John Bolton, and Mike Pompeo certainly fit the bill. Or, if you'd rather focus on countries not individuals, you might single out Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt as the three most likely candidates. Perhaps, if you're in a confessional mood, More

Andy Thayer (2019-04-26). How Chicago Police Infiltrated, Spied on Anti-NATO Organizers. counterpunch.org Chicago Police here infiltrated the main anti-NATO summit organizing coalition shortly after its 2011 formation, and maintained that infiltration until shortly after the summit ended in May 2012, according to Chicago Police Department documents recently released under a Freedom of Information Act request. On January 11, 2012, Michael J. Mealer, Commander of the CPD's Intelligence More

Joshua Frank (2019-04-26). How Obama Defanged the EPA Before Trump Gutted the Agency. counterpunch.org It was a tumultuous tenure, productive by some accounts, lackluster by most, but one thing is for certain, Lisa Jackson's short time as administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency was anything but dull. On December 27, 2012 the often-fiery Jackson announced she was not going to return for a second term, and it is surely More

Stanley L. Cohen (2019-04-26). Death Can be a Slow Traveler: Peltier, Mumia and Rap Brown. counterpunch.org When the history of our times is recorded, any volume on domestic political prisoners must, per force, begin with the legendary ones of conscience. To these icons of principle, determination and courage we owe much. It is, after all, not by mere default that they risked, and often paid, all to demand the gale of change sweep away generations of ignorance, hatred and greed that have long fed on communities of color and poverty, from coast to coast, in the United States. For them, it was never about personal risk for they knew all too well the price that can be exacted for such integrity. For them, the alternative…

Paul Street (2019-04-26). Joe Biden: An Imperial Corporatist Wrapped in the Bloody Flag of Charlottesville. counterpunch.org Besides being a grabby old coot who needs to stop joking about complaints over his serially inappropriate touching of females, Joe Biden is a grinning neoliberal sell-out who stands well to the right of majority progressive public opinion. No elegantly crafted three-and-a-half minute campaign launch video on the horrors of Charlottesville and Donald Trump can More

Vincent Navarro (2019-04-26). Why Left Wing Populism Is Not Enough. counterpunch.org The considerable advances that the labor movements made in the period 1945—1978 (known as "The Golden Age of Capitalism"), and the considerable expansion of social, labor, and political rights that these movements achieved on both sides of the North Atlantic (North America and Western Europe), generated a response from the economic and financial establishments—as well as from the political and media establishments which they influence enormously—that had an extensive impact. These establishments developed the anti-labor movement policies, known internationally as neoliberal policies, that signif…

Editor (2019-04-26). Stop U.S. sanctions! workers.org The gang that announces Washington's policies has laid out a program of punishment, aimed at populations of countries on three continents. Any honest international court would charge them with crimes against humanity. Marchers in New York join millions who reject U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.WW photo: Brenda Ryan Secretary of State . . . | Continue reading Stop U.S. sanctions! at Workers.org

Democracy Now! (2019-04-26). "A Shameful Week for the U.S.": Trump Admin Guts U.N. Resolution to End Rape as Weapon of War. democracynow.org The Trump administration is under fire after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to end rape as a weapon of war on Tuesday that excluded any mention of sexual and reproductive health. The resolution was gutted after the U.S. threatened to veto the measure altogether unless language referencing reproductive health was taken out due to the Trump administration's belief that the language was code for abortion. The watered-down measure also weakened references to the International Criminal Court, making it harder for women and girls to seek justice. We speak with Jessica Neuwirth, director of the…

Democracy Now! (2019-04-26). Filipina Journalist Maria Ressa Helped Expose Duterte's Deadly Drug War; He's Now Trying to Jail Her. democracynow.org The award-winning Filipina journalist Maria Ressa has been arrested twice in recent months by the Philippines government as President Rodrigo Duterte cracks down on critics and the media. In February, she was detained in a cyber libel case that's widely seen as politically motivated. She was arrested again in late March for allegedly violating a ban on foreign media ownership. Duterte has long attempted to shut down Rappler, which has published groundbreaking work on Duterte's deadly war on drugs that has killed thousands. Duterte has repeatedly described the site as fake news outlet. We speak with Maria Ressa, t…

Vanessa Mbonu@naacpnet (2019-04-26). BAXTER, NAACP AND THE ALLIANCE FOR HOME DIALYSIS EXPAND PROGRAM TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF KIDNEY CARE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS. naacp.org Partnership focuses on educating at-risk individuals about kidney disease and treatment options so they are inspired to make informed choices DEERFIELD, Ill., April 26, 2019 — Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX), a global leader in renal care, along with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Alliance for Home Dialysis, today announced that the Dialysis Health Imperative for Access, Choice, and Equity (ACE) program will be expanded for …

Mark Gruenberg (2019-04-26). AFL-CIO: Trump job safety rollbacks endanger workers' lives. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Late in 2017, the most recent year for which federal data are available, Zachary Hess died on the job in Warren County, Ohio. And the AFL-CIO is warning there could be more Zachary Hesses, thanks to Donald Trump. Federation President Richard Trumka and the federation's longtime Safety and Health Director, Peg Seminario, issued that warning …

Lau Kin Chi (2019-04-26). Eight years after: no end in sight for clearing the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. mronline.org The most critical problem is that three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had been damaged and the 250 tons of more than 1600 spent fuel rods were "reckoned" to have fallen to the bottom of the reactor vessel after having melted at high temperatures. The radiation level there was too high for […] | Source

Ed Rampell (2019-04-26). 'Red Joan': The British Rosenbergs? peoplesworld.org Many historically literate citizens of what Gore Vidal pithily dubbed "the United States of Amnesia" have heard of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and their purported 1950s atomic spy ring that clandestinely transmitted nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs were the only civilians electrocuted during the Red Scare. Other more astute "non-amnesiacs" of U.S. …

ANSWER Coalition (2019-04-26). All out this weekend: People's mobilization must continue to protect Venezuelan Embassy from illegal seizure. liberationnews.org We are calling for a full mobilization of all people of conscience to join us on Saturday, April 27 at 2: 00 p.m. at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C.

Miko Peled (2019-04-26). Will New Netanyahu Coalition and Kushner's "Deal" Bring Destruction to Jerusalem's Golden Dome? mintpressnews.com Unless action is taken swiftly — and Israel with its anti-Arab, anti-Islamic policies is forced to stop — the world risks losing the most iconic symbol of Jerusalem, and one of the oldest and most beautiful religious structures ever created.

Alexander Rubinstein (2019-04-26). Joe Biden Launches Campaign with Charlottesville Condemnation after Supporting Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. mintpressnews.com While working behind the scenes to shape…

Ramin Mazaheri (2019-04-26). Muslims and the Working Class: France's Marginalized and Natural Yellow Vest Allies. mintpressnews.com Yellow Vests and Muslims are the two largest groups in France which suffer from socioeconomic marginalization — and there is no doubt that they will be open political allies, eventually.

Lesley Docksey (2019-04-26). Climate Destruction — Bearing Witness with Dahr Jamail. globalresearch.ca "The question is not are we going to fail. The question is how?" Stephen Jenkinson, author and storyteller. | Water, glaciers, oceans, food, forests and fires — all of these things are part of global warming under the magnifying glass of …

Anya Parampil (2019-04-26). Watch Americans defend Venezuela's embassy in DC from takeover by coup forces. thegrayzone.com An inside look at the grassroots Embassy Protection Collective comprised of Americans who have gathered from across the country to…

Pepe Escobar (2019-04-26). War on Iran and Calling America's Bluff. globalresearch.ca The Trump administration once again has graphically demonstrated that in the young, turbulent 21st century, "international law" and "national sovereignty" already belong to the Realm of the Walking Dead. | As if a deluge of sanctions against a great deal …

Consortiumnews (2019-04-26). Consortium News' Record on Russiagate—How CN Covered the 'Scandal': No. 7: 'Russiagate Is No Watergate or Iran-Contra'. consortiumnews.com Many comparisons have been made between Russiagate and the earlier scandals of Watergate and Iran-Contra, but the similarities are at best superficial, explained Robert Parry on June 28, 2017. On CNN last week Carl Bernstein astonishingly said that the Mueller… Read more →

David Rosen (2019-04-26). Trump and False Consciousness. counterpunch.org Pres. Donald Trump is a media magician, able to artfully distort and/or deny the factual "truth" of an event or news report that exposes his failings or falsehoods. He is currently playing his grand political fan dance over information revealed in the redacted Mueller report. In late-March, his loyal-henchman, AG Bill Barr, first spun the hokum More

Aaron Maté (2019-04-26). The Mueller Report Indicts the Trump-Russia Conspiracy Theory. thenation.com The Mueller Report Indicts the Trump-Russia Conspiracy Theory…

Rafiq Lutf (2019-04-26). Video: The Veto. The Western Media's Propaganda Campaign against Syria. globalresearch.ca The Veto tracks the evolution of the propaganda campaign waged by Western media against Syria. From Baba Amr in Homs 2011/2012 until the modern day "propaganda construct" — the NATO-member-state funded White Helmets. | It honours Russia and China's vetoes that …

Elijah J. Magnier (2019-04-26). Clouds Gather Above the Middle East: War or No War? globalresearch.ca In recent years, Israel has proved capable of reading between the lines to assess accurately the politico-military situation in the Middle East, exploiting timely opportunities to hit targets of its enemies in Syria and Iraq. Domestic, regional and unlimited US …

Scott McCoy, Senior Policy Counsel, SPLC Action Fund (2019-04-26). SPLC Action Fund: Fla. communities endangered by unconstitutional immigration enforcement bill. splcenter.org The Florida Senate approved Senate Bill 168 today. It requires local law enforcement to assist in federal immigration enforcement.

Mike Konczal (2019-04-26). Want to Expand Medicare? Then Answer the $5 Trillion Questions. thenation.com Want to Expand Medicare? Then Answer the $5 Trillion Questions.

Michael Snyder (2019-04-26). $220,000 for Every Man, Woman and Child — America Is Now 72 Trillion Dollars in Debt. globalresearch.ca Are you ready to cough up $220,000 to pay your share? One of the reasons why a day of reckoning for the U.S. economy is inevitable is because we are in way too much debt. The 22 trillion dollar debt …

John Whitlow (2019-04-26). Coming of Age at the End of History. counterpunch.org In 1989, in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union and just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Francis Fukuyama argued, famously, that we had reached "the End of History.' Echoing Margaret Thatcher's dictum that 'there is no alternative' to neoliberal capitalism, Fukuyama averred that the triad of free markets, liberal democracy, More

Brian Cloughley (2019-04-26). Continual Confrontation in the South China Sea. counterpunch.org In a display of groveling sycophancy the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has decided to name an illegal Jewish settlement in the occupied Golan Heights after Donald Trump. (Trumpen-lebensraum, perhaps?) This follows an equally bizarre proposal by Poland's President Duda to call a US military base Fort Trump, which The Economist observed "struck many Poles as toe-curlingly crass". It is intriguing to speculate More

Jennifer Matsui (2019-04-26). The Style Section Meets State Craft: Amal Clooney and the Foreign Policy Influencers. counterpunch.org Even on a slow news day, the appointment of Amal Clooney as UK Special Envoy for Press Freedom wouldn't have elicited much more than a glance at a headline to a gossip column item of little relevance to anyone outside her immediate circle of Royals, war criminals, and fashion editors. After all, the once globetrotting More

John Whitlow (2019-04-26). Coming of Age at the End of History. counterpunch.org In 1989, in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union and just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Francis Fukuyama argued, famously, that we had reached "the End of History.' Echoing Margaret Thatcher's dictum that 'there is no alternative' to neoliberal capitalism, Fukuyama averred that the triad of free markets, liberal democracy, and More

Jonathan Power (2019-04-26). Measuring National Power. counterpunch.org Let's make America great again! Or as the prime minister of France said: Let's make France great again. Or, as President Donald Trump conceded, let every nation in the world announce that they are going to be great again. But what makes for greatness? Over that there is a big dispute. Strategists say that power More

Chandra Muzaffar (2019-04-26). Sri Landa and New Zealand: The Real Link. counterpunch.org The carnage in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday has been condemned by people everywhere. Individuals and groups from different faith traditions have not ceased to emphasize that the mass slaughter of at least 321 persons in churches attending Easter services and in hotels on 21st April is a heinous crime in the eyes of any More

Conn Hallinan (2019-04-26). Turkey: Revenge of the Kurds. counterpunch.org After 18 years of unchallenged power and success, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suddenly finds himself in the middle of several domestic and foreign crises with no obvious way out. It is unfamiliar ground for a master politician who has moved nimbly from the margins of power to the undisputed leader of the largest economy More

David Macaray (2019-04-26). A Look at the Talent in the Room. counterpunch.org The case can be made that there are five—and only five—reasons why anyone runs for U.S. president. In ascending order, going from most frivolous to least frivolous, here are those reasons: 1. Nothing more than a glorified, masturbatory "stunt" to get your name in the news and, later, when you're dead, have it mentioned in More

Ruth Fowler (2019-04-26). The College Admissions Scam Isn't About Education. counterpunch.org What's most surprising to me about the College Admissions Scam where fifty affluent and influential people were charged with bribery and fraud to get their unqualified children into top US colleges, is that these people actually thought that a college degree would help their children even more than their evident power and influence. Reading through More

Ron Jacobs (2019-04-26). Hating the Homeless. counterpunch.org Being rousted by the cops is hardly if ever a good thing. Back in 1982 I was sleeping under some trees in a park in Kansas City when I heard approaching footsteps. Dawn had barely broken. It was midsummer and I was hazily watching the dew turn to steam while I slowly woke from a More

teleSUR (2019-04-26). Venezuela: Arreaza Slams US for 'Criminal' Blockade. telesurenglish.net The United States Treasury sanctioned Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza Friday, who condemned the move and denounced what he described as "criminal" acts by the U.S. against the oil-rich Latin American country. | RELATED: | US Sanctions Killed Over 40,000 Venezuelans Since 2017 | The Office of Foreign Assets Control, a financia…

Max Parry (2019-04-26). Debunking Myths of 'Red-Brown' Alliances. dissidentvoice.org Recently, a certain political concept has been resurrected that warrants interrogation. The notion of a 'red-brown' alliance has been thrown around so ubiquitously as a form of political slander that any substantive meaning to the term has been evacuated. Rather than accurately designating any associations that may exist between the left and far right, the …

Bill Blum (2019-04-26). Will the Supreme Court Side With Trump in His War on Immigrants? truthdig.com A new case to determine whether a citizenship question can be added to the 2020 census carries grave implications for the entire country.

Comitato No Nato (2019-04-26). NATO Demolishes Yugoslavia. globalresearch.ca The Following text is Section 3 of | The 70 Years of NATO: From War to War, : | by the Italian Committee No War No NATO | * | Documentation presented at the International Conference on the 70th Anniversary of NATO, Florence, April 7, …

Staff (2019-04-26). U.S. Withdrawing From Global Arms Trade Treaty, Trump Says. truthdig.com WASHINGTON—The Latest on President Trump and the National Rifle Association (all times local): | 1 p.m. | President Donald Trump says the U.S. has decided to withdraw its support for a treaty regulating the multibillion-dollar global arms trade. It's the latest example of the Trump administration's dislike of international pacts. | Trump said Friday that he has decided to revoke the United States' status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty regulating international trade in conventional weapons, including small arms, battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. | He says America is "rejecting this treaty"