2020-06-18: News Headlines

RT (2020-06-18). 'Independent' Facebook fact-checker exposed as partisan smear factory packed with CNN alumni. rt.com Facebook fact-checker Lead Stories is a biased outfit bristling with ex-CNN staffers that presents itself as neutral, despite most of its employees having donated to the Democratic Party, a conservative outlet has revealed. | The National Pulse (TNP), whose story about supposed financial links between Black Lives Matter, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, and fundraiser ActBlue was flagged as "partly false" by Lead Stories on Facebook, did some

RT (2020-06-18). 'I was ahead of our times': Trump says both he & CHAZ anarchists in Seattle opted for building BORDER WALL first. rt.com US President Donald Trump has pointed out that an anarchist community that took over a part of Seattle first built a barrier around it, choosing to take that as an endorsement of his wall on the US-Mexico border. | Taking to his social media of choice on Thursday, Trump styled himself as a true visionary as he half-jokingly suggested that the builders of the anarchist utopia (or dystopia, depending on one's point of view) in Seattle might have drawn inspiration from his own mega-project. | "First thing the anarchists did upon taking over Seattle was 'BUILD A WALL.' See, I was ahead of our times!" Trump tweeted…

Marko Marjanoviƒá (2020-06-18). Kim Jong Un's Well-Timed 'Surprise' Portends Another Nuke Crisis. anti-empire.com If there is one thing I have learned about making a career out of studying North Korea it is this: the Kim regime loves to tell those who pay attention to its unique propaganda many times what it is going to do before it does it—sometimes even telegraphing for us in clear language the next crisis it intends to start. | If that holds constant now, then Pyongyang seems once again hellbent on sparking

Eds. (2020-06-18). Abolition will not be randomized. mronline.org In the wake of the current uprising in support of Black Lives Matter, there has been increasing interest in the use of mainstream empirical methods in economics—like randomized control trials (RCTs) and administrative data evaluation—to address issues of racism and violence in the institution of policing.

Todd Smith (2020-06-18). The Face-Masking of America. dissidentvoice.org "What is the Secret of Soylent Green?" — leading question from the theatrical trailer to the 1973 major motion picture release Soylent Green. We live in an age of Fake News based on Alternative Facts spanning the full spectrum dominance of mis-to-disinformation. One rides the painted pony of the Major Media Circus and this "brave …

Newsclick (2020-06-18). Covid-19 and Dexamethasone: Some hope for serious patients. peoplesdispatch.org A randomised and controlled clinical study conducted in the UK has found that the readily available steroid drug, Dexamethasone, could be a game changer in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients.

_____ (2020-06-18). Let's Not All Rush Out And Buy John Bolton's Book. strategic-culture.org The world of arts and letters is atwitter this week. John Bolton has a new book coming out—provided it can clear the gauntlet of Donald Trump's censorious rage, that is. Bolton's tome is called The Room Where It Happened, and despite what the title might suggest, it contains no details about the author's conception.

Raul Diego (2020-06-17). Murderous US Military Agents and Left-wing Extremists Share Stage in the Fake News Sweepstakes. mintpressnews.com A USAF sergeant with ties to a Second Amendment group has been charged with murdering a federal security officer at a George Floyd protest to bring about police reform while Fox News deems Antifa and BLM'ers seeking the same "domestic terrorists."

RT (2020-06-17). Trump saw Venezuela as 'really part of the US,' thought invasion was 'cool' — but backtracked because of Putin, Bolton claims. rt.com US President Donald Trump thought it would be "cool" to invade Venezuela but was persuaded not to by "Soviet-style propaganda" from Moscow, claims former national security adviser John Bolton in book excerpts leaked to the press. | Trump said invading Venezuela would be "cool" and described the South American country as "really part of the United States," according to the Washington Post, one of three publications that were given access to some content from Bolton's memoir, 'The Room Where It Happened.' | | So Bolton says in his boo…

_____ (2020-06-17). How An Internet 'Persona' Helped Birth Russiagate. popularresistance.org Four years ago today, on June 15, 2016, a shadowy Internet persona calling itself "Guccifer 2.0" appeared out of nowhere to claim credit for hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee on behalf of WikiLeaks and implicate Russia by dropping "telltale" but synthetically produced Russian "breadcrumbs" in his metadata. | Thanks largely to the corporate media, the highly damaging story actually found in those DNC emails — namely, that the DNC had stacked the cards against Bernie Sanders in the party's 2016 primary— was successfully obscured. | The media was the message; and the message was that…

Binoy Kampmark (2020-06-17). Sticks, Stones and Death in Galwan Valley. dissidentvoice.org Things along the Indian-Chinese border in the Himalayas have rarely lacked interest, notably along the secretive, heavily patrolled 3,488 km Line of Actual Control. Neither China nor India have ever quite sorted out their differences on that front, plagued by territorial claims over unclearly demarcated boundaries. The administration of Narendra Modi might well have wood …

Graham Peebles (2020-06-17). Global Issues Require United Action and a Reinvigorated UN. dissidentvoice.org Whatever corner of the world one happens to live in, the most pressing issues of the day affect everyone. Pandemics/epidemics and the environmental emergency; war and terrorism; poverty and food insecurity; overpopulation and the displacement of persons. Such crises cannot be limited by borders or controlled by nation states; no government or corporate power can …

John Feffer (2020-06-17). Emperor Trump Now Stands Partially Naked. counterpunch.org A child exposing the nakedness of the emperor by speaking truth to power? Not these days. More than half of the United States — not just liberals and the left but also the mainstream media and some Republicans — has been shouting at Emperor Trump for months on end that he has no clothes. These

Rep. Ron Paul (2020-06-16). Is the 'Second Wave' Another Coronavirus Hoax? globalresearch.ca Just a week or so ago the mainstream media and thousands representing the "medical community" told us we must throw out the "stay-at-home" orders and go to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of …

RT (2020-06-16). NBC colludes with UK thought police to get ZeroHedge & Federalist deplatformed from Google Ads, smear them as 'far-right'. rt.com Google has threatened to drop ZeroHedge and the Federalist from its ad platform after NBC and a UK 'cyber-hate' watchdog denounced the outlets for allegedly publishing "fake news" about the ongoing George Floyd protests. | After initially reporting that Google had "removed both sites' ability to monetize" via Google Ads after they were found in violation of the platform's rules regarding race-related speech on Tuesday, NBC quietly stealth-updated its

Starr P. (2020-06-16). Using Controlled Trials to Resolve Key Unknowns About Policy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint proposes implementing comparison groups for policy decisions, for example assessing disease transmission with alternative housing vs in-home isolation of individuals who test positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or with different durations or cycles of school openings, to gather data that could make broader and future policy implementations more informed and effective.

RT (2020-06-15). 'Conniving human scum': North Korea is very angry at the South, but it's not Seoul's attention it wants. rt.com Things in the Koreas seem to have taken a turn for the worse again. North Korea is threatening military action against the South, seemingly over some propaganda leaflets. But Pyongyang's real target is not so petty — or so close. | With North Korean media referring to the South as "conniving" and "human scum," and communications now cut off between the two, inter-Korean relations risk hitting a dangerously low point. What exactly sparked Pyongyang's seemingly sudden fit of rage — and is it really one? A closer analysis reveals several factors at play. | It's raining balloons : | What initial…

Norman Solomon (2020-06-15). Corporate Media Are Focusing on Race — and Dodging Class. indybay.org Economic exploitation, hidden in plain sight…

Project Censored (2020-06-15). Dan Kovalik and Chris Finan. projectcensored.org Author Dan Kovalik joins the program to explain why the "humanitarian" wars of the U.S. and its allies | only make life even worse for the people they ostensibly protect. Then free-press advocate Chris Finan | produces evidence that police around the US are deliberately attacking journalists covering the recent | Black Lives Matter demonstrations. | Notes: | Dan Kovalik is a law professor and author; his latest book, "No More War," is from Skyhorse Publishing. | Chris Finan is executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship,

Project Censored (2020-06-15). Episode 93 — The Richmond Revolution, East Bay Collective, and the Post-Police Future w/Lavonia Bobo, Armond Corshawn, Samone Anderson, Lee Bidemi Animashaun, and Todd Davis. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon explore The Richomond Revolution and East Bay Collective following the murder of George Floyd with Lavonia Bobo,… | Author Dan Kovalik joins the program to explain why the "humanitarian" wars of the U.S. and its allies only make life even worse for the people they ostensibly protect. Then…