Daily Archives: August 2, 2019

2019-08-02: News Headlines

Norman Solomon (2019-08-02). There's nothing moderate about "moderates." A primary example is Joe Biden. nationofchange.org The comedian George Carlin liked to marvel at oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence." Now, as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination intensifies, reporters and pundits at corporate media outlets are escalating their use of a one-word political oxymoron — "moderate." As a practical matter, in the routine lexicon of U.S. mass media, …

Peter Bolton (2019-08-02). What Bernie Sanders Gets Wrong About Healthcare. counterpunch.org Ever since Bernie Sanders became a nationally known figure during the 2016 Democratic primary race, his proposal to bring European-style publicly-provided universal healthcare to the US has become firmly entrenched in the country's political mainstream. Sometimes called "single-payer healthcare," the idea is to take private healthcare companies out of the equation and have the government More

Greg Maybury (2019-08-02). Inside the Submissive Void: Propaganda, Censorship, Power, and Control. dissidentvoice.org Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. — David Hume, "Of the First Principles of Government", 1768. Brief: The …

Jake Johnson (2019-08-02). 'We cannot keep handing over billions to military-industrial complex,' says Sanders as senate passes massive pentagon budget. nationofchange.org Sen. Bernie Sanders said the United States cannot continue pouring massive sums into the Pentagon at the expense of domestic priorities after the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping budget deal that includes $1.48 trillion in military spending over the next two years. "The Pentagon is set to grow by $90 billion and reach $738 billion next year. …

Swiss Propaganda Research (2019-08-02). The American Empire and Its Media. globalresearch.ca This article was first crossposted on GR in July 2017. | Largely unbeknownst to the public, many media executives and top journalists of almost all major U.S. news outlets, political and business magazines, public broadcasters and press agencies have long been …

RT (2019-08-02). Tulsi finally shows she's had it with MSM 'Assad apologist' smear. rt.com Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard slammed MSNBC — and mainstream media in general — for dredging up her meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad every time she goes on TV, calling the endless repetition "propaganda."

WSWS Repost (2019-08-02). Media silent on dismissal of DNC suit against Julian Assange. indybay.org Efforts by the mainstream news outlets to bury a court ruling dismissing a Democratic National Committee (DNC) civil suit against Julian Assange presents a clear example of the type of media manipulation that has led millions of people to seek alternative sources of news on the internet.

Norman Solomon (2019-08-01). Joe Biden Proves That There's Nothing Moderate About 'Moderates'. truthdig.com The comedian George Carlin liked to marvel at oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence." Now, as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination intensifies, reporters and pundits at corporate media outlets are escalating their use of a one-word political oxymoron—"moderate." | As a practical matter, in the routine lexicon of U.S. mass media, "moderate" actually means pro-corporate and reliably unwilling to disrupt the dominant power structures. | "Moderate" is a term of endearment in elite circles, a label conferred on politicians who won't rock establishment boats. | "Moderate" sounds…

Staff (2019-08-01). Cornel West: Corporate Media's Superficial Coverage Helped Create "Fascist Frankenstein Trump" democracynow.org On Tuesday night, Senator Bernie Sanders openly criticized CNN's handling of the debates. He told CNN's Jake Tapper, "Your question is a Republican talking point. And by the way, the healthcare industry will be advertising tonight on this program." We speak with Cornel West and Dolores Huerta about the media coverage and the structure of the debate.

Eds. (2019-08-01). Russiagate as organized distraction. mronline.org Oliver Boyd-Barrett looks at who benefits from having the corporate media suffocate their public with a puerile narrative for over two years. | Source

Sarah Jaffe (2019-08-01). The Politics of Petulance, from Donald Trump to Boris Johnson. progressive.org Four decades of relentless there-is-no-alternative propaganda has so many people believing that change is impossible, so you might as well stick your middle finger up at the world instead.

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-01). Trump's Afghan Drawdown Plans. Reducing US Military Presence in Afghanistan Before 2020 Elections? globalresearch.ca Secretary of State Pompeo's surprise announcement that President Trump ordered him to reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan before the 2020 elections immediately raised the ire of the Mainstream Media and will probably see his domestic foes' hostile narratives …

pip.hinman (2019-08-01). Thanks Miranda Devine, but we will win abortion reform. greenleft.org.au Thank you Miranda Devine for your wild overreaction to the bill before NSW parliament to treat abortion as a health issue ("Vote Libs, get Greens", Daily Telegraph, July 31), as it will no doubt lose you and News.com support. | It must also surely rank as top fake news of the week. Far from being "one of the most dangerous radical abortion bills on the planet", the bill is modelled on existing Queensland and Victorian law. | Moreover, your view that Coalition MPs' support for basic health care for women is somehow a Labor-Green plot is equally bizarre. This bill is not about late-term abortions, as you suggest. I…

Rick Sterling (2019-07-31). Tulsi Gabbard vs Google Goliath. dissidentvoice.org Introduction The Tulsi Gabbard presidential campaign has filed a major law suit against Google. This article outlines the main points of the law suit and evidence the the social media giant Google has quietly acquired enormous influence on public perceptions and has been actively censoring alternative viewpoints. Tulsi Now vs Google Tulsi Now, Inc vs …

Eds. (2019-07-31). Apocalypse economics and economic apocalypse. mronline.org Unfortunately for humanity, the naturalizing of capitalism by dominant mainstream neoclassical economics establishes a bulwark against the posing of vital economic questions which challenge capitalist rationality. | Source

United Nations (2019-07-31). UN working 'intensively' to stop Ebola in eastern DR Congo, following second case in major border town. un.org Senior UN officials tasked with controlling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have responded to Tuesday's confirmation of a second case of Ebola in Goma, a major trading town in the vast country's restive east, near the border with neighbouring Rwanda, which resulted in the death of the patient.

Whitney Webb (2019-07-30). How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted MintPress on Wikipedia. mintpressnews.com For over ten years, Wikipedia has been a key focus of right-leaning, pro-Israel groups that have effectively weaponized the online encyclopedia as a means of controlling the narrative when it comes to the state of Israel's more than 50-year-long military occupation of Palestine.

Staff (2019-07-30). House Anti-BDS Resolution Reveals the Power and Limits of the Israeli Lobby. therealnews.com The defense of Palestinian rights has become more acceptable and accusations of anti-Semitism have become more sparing in the mainstream media, despite the House's recent resolution against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, says IPS's Phyllis Bennis…

Staff (2019-07-29). Baltimore Residents: Trump's Attacks on the City Are Rooted in "Racism and White Supremacy" democracynow.org President Trump is facing widespread outrage after describing Baltimore as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" in tweets attacking Congressmember Elijah Cummings, one of the most prominent African-American lawmakers in Washington. Trump tweeted that Cummings's district is "considered the Worst in the USA," and said "no human being would want to live there." Trump's initial tweets came after Fox News ran a story about Baltimore and after Cummings criticized the conditions of immigration jails along the Mexican border. Officials across Baltimore and Maryland denounced the president's remarks, and The Balti…

ACLU (2019-07-22). Arkansas Wants to Make Sure You Know 'Almonds Don't Lactate'. aclu.org An Arkansas law censoring plant-based products isn't just absurd and unnecessary, it's unconstitutional. | The state of Arkansas thinks you're confused about whether a veggie burger comes from a cow. In fact, it thinks you're so confused that it passed a law making it illegal for companies to use words like "meat," "roast," and "sausage" to describe products that are not made from animals. Under the law, it doesn't matter if those words are modified by "vegan…

Ricardo Vaz (2019-07-18). Venezuela: Trump Diverts Central America Aid to Guaido as EU Threatens More Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com Guaido's team is receiving over $40 million to fund salaries, travel, training, propaganda and technical assistance.

2019-08-02: Social Media Postees

What Bernie Sanders Gets Wrong About Healthcare
Peter Bolton | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-02
Ever since Bernie Sanders became a nationally known figure during the 2016 Democratic primary race, his proposal to bring European-style publicly-provided universal healthcare to the US has become firmly entrenched in the country's political mainstream. Sometimes called "single-payer healthcare," the idea is to take private healthcare companies out of the equation and have the government…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/02/what-bernie-…

There's nothing moderate about "moderates." A primary example is Joe Biden
Norman Solomon | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-02
The comedian George Carlin liked to marvel at oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence." Now, as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination intensifies, reporters and pundits at corporate media outlets are escalating their use of a one-word political oxymoron — "moderate." As a practical matter, in the routine lexicon of U.S. mass media, …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/02/theres-not…

Inside the Submissive Void: Propaganda, Censorship, Power, and Control
Greg Maybury | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-02
Nothing appears more surprising to those who consider human affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their rulers. — David Hume, "Of the First Principles of Government", 1768. Brief: The …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/inside-the-su…

'We cannot keep handing over billions to military-industrial complex,' says Sanders as senate passes massive pentagon budget
Jake Johnson | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-02
Sen. Bernie Sanders said the United States cannot continue pouring massive sums into the Pentagon at the expense of domestic priorities after the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping budget deal that includes $1.48 trillion in military spending over the next two years. "The Pentagon is set to grow by $90 billion and reach $738 billion next year. …
nationofchange.org/2019/08/02/we-cannot-…

The American Empire and Its Media
Swiss Propaganda Research | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-02
This article was first crossposted on GR in July 2017. | Largely unbeknownst to the public, many media executives and top journalists of almost all major U.S. news outlets, political and business magazines, public broadcasters and press agencies have long been …
globalresearch.ca/the-american-empire-an…

Media silent on dismissal of DNC suit against Julian Assange
WSWS Repost | indybay.org | 2019-08-02
Efforts by the mainstream news outlets to bury a court ruling dismissing a Democratic National Committee (DNC) civil suit against Julian Assange presents a clear example of the type of media manipulation that has led millions of people to seek alternative sources of news on the internet.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/02/1882514…

Tulsi finally shows she's had it with MSM 'Assad apologist' smear
rt.com | 2019-08-02
Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard slammed MSNBC — and mainstream media in general — for dredging up her meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad every time she goes on TV, calling the endless repetition "propaganda." | …
rt.com/usa/465618-tulsi-loses-patience-a…

Joe Biden Proves That There's Nothing Moderate About 'Moderates'
Norman Solomon | truthdig.com | 2019-08-01
The comedian George Carlin liked to marvel at oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence." Now, as the race for the Democratic presidential nomination intensifies, reporters and pundits at corporate media outlets are escalating their use of a one-word political oxymoron–"moderate." | As a practical matter, in the routine lexicon of U.S. mass media, "moderate" actually means pro-corporate and reliably unwilling to disrupt the dominant power structures. | "Moderate" is a term of endearment in elite circles, a label conferred on politicians who won't rock establishment boats. | "Moderate" sounds…
truthdig.com/articles/joe-biden-proves-t…

Cornel West: Corporate Media's Superficial Coverage Helped Create "Fascist Frankenstein Trump"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-01
On Tuesday night, Senator Bernie Sanders openly criticized CNN's handling of the debates. He told CNN's Jake Tapper, "Your question is a Republican talking point. And by the way, the healthcare industry will be advertising tonight on this program." We speak with Cornel West and Dolores Huerta about the media coverage and the structure of the debate.
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/1/cornel_wes…

Russiagate as organized distraction
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-01
Oliver Boyd-Barrett looks at who benefits from having the corporate media suffocate their public with a puerile narrative for over two years. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/01/russiagate-as-or…

The Politics of Petulance, from Donald Trump to Boris Johnson
Sarah Jaffe | progressive.org | 2019-08-01
Four decades of relentless there-is-no-alternative propaganda has so many people believing that change is impossible, so you might as well stick your middle finger up at the world instead.
progressive.org/dispatches/politics-of-p…

Trump's Afghan Drawdown Plans. Reducing US Military Presence in Afghanistan Before 2020 Elections?
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-01
Secretary of State Pompeo's surprise announcement that President Trump ordered him to reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan before the 2020 elections immediately raised the ire of the Mainstream Media and will probably see his domestic foes' hostile narratives …
globalresearch.ca/will-mainstream-media-…

Thanks Miranda Devine, but we will win abortion reform
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2019-08-01
Thank you Miranda Devine for your wild overreaction to the bill before NSW parliament to treat abortion as a health issue ("Vote Libs, get Greens", Daily Telegraph, July 31), as it will no doubt lose you and News.com support. | It must also surely rank as top fake news of the week. Far from being "one of the most dangerous radical abortion bills on the planet", the bill is modelled on existing Queensland and Victorian law. | Moreover, your view that Coalition MPs' support for basic health care for women is somehow a Labor-Green plot is equally bizarre. This bill is not about late-term abortions, as you suggest. I…
greenleft.org.au/content/thanks-miranda-devine-we-will-win-abortion-reform

UN working 'intensively' to stop Ebola in eastern DR Congo, following second case in major border town
United Nations | un.org | 2019-07-31
Senior UN officials tasked with controlling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have responded to Tuesday's confirmation of a second case of Ebola in Goma, a major trading town in the vast country's restive east, near the border with neighbouring Rwanda, which resulted in the death of the patient.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/07/1…

Tulsi Gabbard vs Google Goliath
Rick Sterling | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-07-31
Introduction The Tulsi Gabbard presidential campaign has filed a major law suit against Google. This article outlines the main points of the law suit and evidence the the social media giant Google has quietly acquired enormous influence on public perceptions and has been actively censoring alternative viewpoints. Tulsi Now vs Google Tulsi Now, Inc vs …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/07/tulsi-gabbard…

Apocalypse economics and economic apocalypse
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-07-31
Unfortunately for humanity, the naturalizing of capitalism by dominant mainstream neoclassical economics establishes a bulwark against the posing of vital economic questions which challenge capitalist rationality. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/07/31/apocalypse-econo…

How a Small Group of Pro-Israel Activists Blacklisted MintPress on Wikipedia
Whitney Webb | mintpressnews.com | 2019-07-30
For over ten years, Wikipedia has been a key focus of right-leaning, pro-Israel groups that have effectively weaponized the online encyclopedia as a means of controlling the narrative when it comes to the state of Israel's more than 50-year-long military occupation of Palestine.
mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-activists-b…

House Anti-BDS Resolution Reveals the Power and Limits of the Israeli Lobby
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-07-30
The defense of Palestinian rights has become more acceptable and accusations of anti-Semitism have become more sparing in the mainstream media, despite the House's recent resolution against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, says IPS's Phyllis Bennis…
therealnews.com/stories/house-anti-bds-r…

Baltimore Residents: Trump's Attacks on the City Are Rooted in "Racism and White Supremacy"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-07-29
President Trump is facing widespread outrage after describing Baltimore as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess" in tweets attacking Congressmember Elijah Cummings, one of the most prominent African-American lawmakers in Washington. Trump tweeted that Cummings's district is "considered the Worst in the USA," and said "no human being would want to live there." Trump's initial tweets came after Fox News ran a story about Baltimore and after Cummings criticized the conditions of immigration jails along the Mexican border. Officials across Baltimore and Maryland denounced the president's remarks, and The Balti…
www.democracynow.org/2019/7/29/donald_tr…

Arkansas Wants to Make Sure You Know 'Almonds Don't Lactate'
aclu.org | 2019-07-22
An Arkansas law censoring plant-based products isn't just absurd and unnecessary, it's unconstitutional. | The state of Arkansas thinks you're confused about whether a veggie burger comes from a cow. In fact, it thinks you're so confused that it passed a law making it illegal for companies to use words like "meat," "roast," and "sausage" to describe products that are not made from animals. Under the law, it doesn't matter if those words are modified by "vegan…
aclu.org/blog/free-speech/arkansas-wants…

Venezuela: Trump Diverts Central America Aid to Guaido as EU Threatens More Sanctions
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-07-18
Guaido's team is receiving over $40 million to fund salaries, travel, training, propaganda and technical assistance.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14592