Monthly Archives: October 2020

2020-10-27: News Headlines

Raul Diego (2020-10-27). From a Wealthy Socialite to an Israeli Govt Censor, Facebook's New "Free Speech Court" Is Anything but Independent. mintpressnews.com Freedom of speech on the Internet is all but extinct, and on the eve of the 2020 US elections, a de facto "free speech court" is going to make sure it never comes back. On Facebook at least.

Lucine Kasbarian (2020-10-27). 15 Artsakh War Myths Perpetuated By Mainstream Media. indybay.org From peddling false equivalence, to selectively reporting the facts, to committing sins of omission, to cherry-picking so-called experts to support a desired argument, to concluding news coverage with biased policy recommendations, these actions taken by mainstream media about the facts on the ground reveal the handiwork of master purveyors of fake news.

Staff (2020-10-27). Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Was Targeted in Armed White Supremacist Plot. truthout.org This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. She was recently approached by the FBI after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in Idaho who was arrested on weapons charges. "Racial terror has always been used as a form of control, particularly during periods of people fighting for social change," she says. | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a…

Staff (2020-10-27). Alicia Garza on Being Targeted in Armed White Supremacist Plot as Trump Stokes Fires of Racism. democracynow.org This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. She was recently approached by the FBI after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in Idaho who was arrested on weapons charges. "Racial terror has always been used as a form of control, particularly during periods of people fighting for social change," she says.

RT (2020-10-27). 'Election misinformation pre-bunking'? Twitter again censors Trump as it begins spamming Americans with new Orwellian warnings. rt.com Twitter has slapped a "misleading" label on yet another tweet from President Donald Trump, as it rolls out a new effort to "pre-bunk" criticism of mail-in voting and warns Americans not to expect final results on election night. | In a tweet on Monday night, Trump stressed the need to have a final vote tally on the day of the general election, stating there are "big problems and discrepancies with mail-in ballots all over the USA," reiterating previous complaints about potential flaws in universal distance voting.

David Swanson (2020-10-27). There Are Anti-War Candidates. zcomm.org Can we make opposing militarism mainstream, respectable, acceptable? Can we make warmongering marginal, shameful, despicable? We have to try…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-10-26). Who is Behind "Fake News"? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images. globalresearch.ca The mainstream corporate media is desperate. They want to suppress independent and alternative online media, which they categorize as "fake news". Readers on social media are warned not to go onto certain sites. Our analysis confirms that the mainstream media are routinely involved in distorting the facts and turning realities upside down.

The Global Research Team (2020-10-26). Global Research: Over Nineteen Years of Publishing Independent Voices. globalresearch.ca Dear Readers, | As freedom of speech online continues to be curtailed, running an independent counter-current news media in 2020 is no easy feat. With recent publications appearing in the mainstream media aimed at discrediting the vital work of Global Research …

_____ (2020-10-26). NPR, CNN, NYT, Wa-Po, MSNBC, Twitter, Facebook, Google Presstitutes Covering Up Biden Scandals by Refusing to Report on Them. strategic-culture.org Paul Craig ROBERTS | The New York Post's report that the FBI has laptops belonging to Hunter Biden that contain emails showing Hunter and Joe Biden's use of the Vice Presidency for business deals that amount to influence peddling and money laundering was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Google. The New York Times, Washington Post and other of the press prostitutes tried to discredit the story with the fake news that it was Russian disinformation to help Trump win the election. National Public Radio refused to mention the story other than to brand it a story that is not really a story, simply a waste of "listene…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-10-26). Humanity Has Trolled Itself Into An Awaken-Or-Die Situation. thealtworld.com Zen Buddhism is full of stories about practitioners staring death in the face in order to cut through their mental habits and force a direct confrontation with the fundamental matter. Monks doing zazen on a cliff's edge to keep themselves alert, rōshis telling frustrated students to kill themselves if they cannot achieve satori by next sunrise, students taking death vows if they fail to awaken within a given period of time, etc. | In Helen Tworkov's Zen in America for example

Swiss Propaganda Research (2020-10-26). Are Face Masks Effective? The Evidence. globalresearch.ca First published August 4, 2020 | 1. Studies on the effectiveness of face masks | So far, most studies found little to no evidence for the effectiveness of cloth face masks in the general population, neither as personal protective equipment nor as …

John Wojcik (2020-10-26). Trump surrenders to coronavirus, says it can't be controlled. peoplesworld.org Eight days before the election, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Sunday told CNN, "We're not going to control the virus because it is an infectious disease like the flu." He said the Trump administration would focus instead on therapeutics and a vaccine. Meadows admitted what the nation already knew: Trump has no …

_____ (2020-10-26). Chomsky: OPCW Cover-Up of Syria Probe Is 'Shocking'. strategic-culture.org Noam Chomsky says that the OPCW's cover-up, under US pressure, of a Syria chemical weapons probe raises "very severe suspicions." | Aaron MATÉ | In his first public comments on the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal, Noam Chomsky criticizes the chemical watchdog for suppressing, under US pressure, evidence that undermined the pretext for the US-led bombing of Syria in April 2018. The censorship recently extended to the UN Security Council, where the US, UK, and France blocked former OPCW Director General José Bustani from testifying in support of the inspectors whose findings were kept from the public. | "What happene…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-10-26). As Congress Drags Feet on Covid-19 Relief, 120+ Groups Urge CDC Director to Issue National Water Shutoff Moratorium. commondreams.org "Water is essential for disinfecting and controlling the spread of Covid-19. This is a basic matter of public health." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

RT (2020-10-26). 'He couldn't remember my name': Trump mocks Biden for confusing him with George Bush, accuses media of 'covering up' incident. rt.com Donald Trump has ridiculed Democratic challenger Joe Biden for apparently confusing him with former President George Bush during a virtual media event and accused journalists of helping "cover" for him. | "Joe Biden called me George yesterday. Couldn't remember my name," Trump tweeted on Monday morning. The president also accused "The Fake News Cartel" of being in cahoots with the Democrats and "working overtime" to cover the incident up. | Joe Biden called me George yesterday. Couldn't remember my name. Got some help from the anchor to get him through the interview. The Fake News Cartel is working overtime to…

Paul Haeder (2020-10-26). Adding More Dust onto a Threadbare Empire. dissidentvoice.org Barbara Lee: I'm very terrified with regard to what we see taking place. And the signs are there. When you talk about shutting down the media, putting out their alternative facts, banning dissent and opposition, criticizing people who are exercising their First Amendment rights; trying to get people to believe, really, the distortions that they're …

Simon Hooper (2020-10-26). Families demand repatriation of all foreign nationals from Syrian camps. middleeasteye.net Families demand repatriation of all foreign nationals from Syrian camps | Western governments facing mounting legal challenges with thousands of young children among those still stranded in Kurdish-controlled camps | Mon, 10/26/2020 – 13: 00 | Girls play with a bicycle in a section of al-Hol camp for foreign families in January 2020 (AFP) | Western governments are facing growing pressure to repatriate…

yenisafak (2020-10-25). New fighting flares over Karabakh as Aliyev warns against Russian involvement. yenisafak.com New fighting erupted between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces on Sunday over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh as both sides blamed each other for blocking a peaceful settlement to the conflict.Armenia accused Azeri forces of shelling civilian settlements. Baku denied killing civilians and said it was ready to implement a ceasefire, provided that Armenian forces withdrew from the battlefield.The weekend's clashes in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, a part of Azerbaijan populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, came after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hosted the foreign ministers of both count…

Grant Smith (2020-10-25). Thursday 10/29: Censorship, Entanglement & Corruption: The Israel Lobby 2021 Agenda. indybay.org Webinar with participation through Zoom and YouTube. 9AM California time, Noon EDT.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-10-25). Nothing Will Fundamentally Change: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com A propaganda machine that can make people worry about foreign governments while their own government is destroying lives in their own country and all over the world is a propaganda machine that can make people believe anything. | ~ | Americans are hurt by their own government infinitely more than they are hurt by Russia, China and Iran. People around the world are hurt by the US government far more than Americans are hurt by their own government. Stop worrying about foreigners, America. It serves only the powerful. | ~ | Joe Biden: Nothing will fundamentally change. | Liberals: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION…

RT (2020-10-25). Reddit censors alleged Hunter Biden 'sex tape' shared on video hosting subsidiary of Chinese firm co-founded by Steve Bannon. rt.com Social media websites, including Reddit, have taken to censoring the sharing of an alleged Hunter Biden sex tape published on the platform of a Chinese media company connected to Steve Bannon. | Joe Biden's son Hunter has become even more of a focus for critics after an alleged sex tape involving "crack" usage was published on Saturday night. | The video, along with several images, were put out through GTV, a subsidiary of GTV Media Group, which was founded in April of this year by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, a fugitive in China for fraud, and Steve Bannon, a former advisor to President Donald Trump. | Ban…

Edward Curtin (2020-10-25). Death, Money, and the Dueling Frauds: Trump and Biden. dissidentvoice.org When the New York Times and CNN recently referred to the staged town hall spectacles of Biden and Trump as dueling events, they inadvertently revealed the truth that U.S. presidential elections are America's favorite movie and that the corporate media is in the entertainment business. While it is ludicrous to imagine these tottering actors crossing …

thelancet (2020-10-24). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Horne AW, Vincent K, Hewitt CA, et al. Gabapentin for chronic pelvic pain in women (GaPP2): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2020; 396: 909—17—In this Article, the final three references were omitted from the reference list. This correction has been made to the online version as of Oct 22, 2020.

Flavia K Borges, Mohit Bhandari, Ernesto Guerra-Farfan, Valerie Harvey, P J Devereaux (2020-10-24). [Correspondence] Accelerated surgery for hip fractures—the HIP ATTACK results discussed — Authors' reply. thelancet.com Daniel Pincus and Bheeshma Ravi highlight their observational study suggesting surgery for a hip fracture within 24 h of hospital arrival might result in a lower risk of 30-day mortality compared to surgery 24 h or more after hospital arrival.1 HIP ATTACK2 highlights why we need surgical and health-care system randomised controlled trials and why data from observational studies are unreliable. Moreover, other trial data have shown misleading risk adjusted time thresholds in observational studies.

RT (2020-10-24). 'Who would ever vote for him?' Never-Trumpers & Dems cheer after Fox host Lou Dobbs rips Sen. Lindsey Graham for Trump 'betrayal'. rt.com Pro-Trump Fox pundit Lou Dobbs has earned unlikely admiration from critics on both sides of the aisle after torching GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, who he accused of betraying the American people by turning against the president. | Dobbs took to the airwaves with an anti-Graham tirade on Friday, blasting the South Carolina senator after he suggested he would not attempt to compel testimony from the heads of social media giants Twitter and Facebook on allegations of censorship until after the November election. | "Graham has betrayed President Trump at almost every turn, he has betrayed the American people and his…

_____ (2020-10-24). Biden And Liberal Censorship. popularresistance.org We can thank liberals for turning social media platforms into the biggest champions of censorship in the country. Frustrated in the wake of the 2016 election debacle, they rushed to cover up for their own failures and used Russia as their scapegoat. Russiagate began even while the campaign was still in progress, as Hillary Clinton tried unsuccessfully to label Donald Trump a "Putin puppet" and worked with surveillance state insiders to make their tall tale appear real. | The country has never recovered from this scheme. The Democrats repeated incessantly that foreign interference lost them the election.

WSWS (2020-10-24). As US election approaches, New York Times intensifies its anti-Russia disinformation campaign. wsws.org The propaganda campaign by the Times and US intelligence agencies is aimed at fighting out conflicts within the ruling class over foreign policy while distracting attention from Trump's ongoing conspiracies.

John O'Kane (2020-10-23). Community Investment Must Supplement Racial Integration. counterpunch.org While we await what impact the BLM-spawned protests will have on race relations, one immediate result is clear. Major corporations have gotten out front of the issue and tried to kickstart change from the top. Companies like Walmart have opened their coffers, giving millions to the cause. And mainstream media organizations have included more people

RT (2020-10-23). Biden called out for 'lying' that Republican Congress obstructed criminal justice reforms under Obama. rt.com Presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed at the final debate with Donald Trump that the Democrats couldn't pass criminal justice reform as the GOP controlled Congress, prompting online posters to point out it wasn't the case. | President Trump took a jab at his electoral challenger during the Thursday debate, asking, "Why didn't you get [criminal justice reform] done? … You know why, Joe? Because you're all talk and no action." | Biden was quick to defend the former Democratic administration's supposed inaction on the issue, saying he and former president Barack Obama's "had a Republican Congress," which hin…

Project Censored (2020-10-23). Ep113: California's Prop 22 and Conflict Management w/Dr. Gail Young. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon discuss California's Prop 22 which seeks to reclassify the employees of Uber, Lyft, and similar companies to…

2020-10-26: News Headlines

Simon Hooper (2020-10-26). Families demand repatriation of all foreign nationals from Syrian camps. middleeasteye.net Families demand repatriation of all foreign nationals from Syrian camps | Western governments facing mounting legal challenges with thousands of young children among those still stranded in Kurdish-controlled camps | Mon, 10/26/2020 – 13: 00 | Girls play with a bicycle in a section of al-Hol camp for foreign families in January 2020 (AFP) | Western governments are facing growing pressure to repatriate…

_____ (2020-10-26). Chomsky: OPCW Cover-Up of Syria Probe Is 'Shocking'. strategic-culture.org Noam Chomsky says that the OPCW's cover-up, under US pressure, of a Syria chemical weapons probe raises "very severe suspicions." | Aaron MATÉ | In his first public comments on the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal, Noam Chomsky criticizes the chemical watchdog for suppressing, under US pressure, evidence that undermined the pretext for the US-led bombing of Syria in April 2018. The censorship recently extended to the UN Security Council, where the US, UK, and France blocked former OPCW Director General José Bustani from testifying in support of the inspectors whose findings were kept from the public. | "What happene…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-10-26). Humanity Has Trolled Itself Into An Awaken-Or-Die Situation. thealtworld.com In Helen Tworkov's Zen in America for example In a very real sense, I think this is kind of what humanity is collectively doing to itself right now. | I don't recommend taking any melod…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2020-10-26). Who is Behind "Fake News"? Mainstream Media Use Fake Videos and Images. globalresearch.ca The mainstream corporate media is desperate. They want to suppress independent and alternative online media, which they categorize as "fake news". Readers on social media are warned not to go onto certain sites. Our analysis confirms that the mainstream media are routinely involved in distorting the facts and turning realities upside down.

Paul Haeder (2020-10-26). Adding More Dust onto a Threadbare Empire. dissidentvoice.org Barbara Lee: I'm very terrified with regard to what we see taking place. And the signs are there. When you talk about shutting down the media, putting out their alternative facts, banning dissent and opposition, criticizing people who are exercising their First Amendment rights; trying to get people to believe, really, the distortions that they're …

Lucine Kasbarian (2020-10-26). 15 Artsakh War Myths Perpetuated By Mainstream Media. indybay.org From peddling false equivalence, to selectively reporting the facts, to committing sins of omission, to cherry-picking so-called experts to support a desired argument, to concluding news coverage with biased policy recommendations, these actions taken by mainstream media about the facts on the ground reveal the handiwork of master purveyors of fake news.

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-10-25). Nothing Will Fundamentally Change: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com A propaganda machine that can make people worry about foreign governments while their own government is destroying lives in their own country and all over the world is a propaganda machine that can make people believe anything. | ~ | Americans are hurt by their own government infinitely more than they are hurt by Russia, China and Iran. People around the world are hurt by the US government far more than Americans are hurt by their own government. Stop worrying about foreigners, America. It serves only the powerful. | ~ | Joe Biden: Nothing will fundamentally change. | Liberals: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION…

Grant Smith (2020-10-25). Thursday 10/29: Censorship, Entanglement & Corruption: The Israel Lobby 2021 Agenda. indybay.org Webinar with participation through Zoom and YouTube. 9AM California time, Noon EDT.

_____ (2020-10-24). Biden And Liberal Censorship. popularresistance.org We can thank liberals for turning social media platforms into the biggest champions of censorship in the country. Frustrated in the wake of the 2016 election debacle, they rushed to cover up for their own failures and used Russia as their scapegoat. Russiagate began even while the campaign was still in progress, as Hillary Clinton tried unsuccessfully to label Donald Trump a "Putin puppet" and worked with surveillance state insiders to make their tall tale appear real. | The country has never recovered from this scheme. The Democrats repeated incessantly that foreign interference lost them the election.

Flavia K Borges, Mohit Bhandari, Ernesto Guerra-Farfan, Valerie Harvey, P J Devereaux (2020-10-24). [Correspondence] Accelerated surgery for hip fractures—the HIP ATTACK results discussed — Authors' reply. thelancet.com Daniel Pincus and Bheeshma Ravi highlight their observational study suggesting surgery for a hip fracture within 24 h of hospital arrival might result in a lower risk of 30-day mortality compared to surgery 24 h or more after hospital arrival.1 HIP ATTACK2 highlights why we need surgical and health-care system randomised controlled trials and why data from observational studies are unreliable. Moreover, other trial data have shown misleading risk adjusted time thresholds in observational studies.

RT (2020-10-23). Twitter locks socialist for urging people to 'kill' late anti-communist McCarthy IN THEIR HEADS. rt.com Metaphorically telling people to get rid of their censorship instinct got one prominent Twitter user censored herself, after the platform decided that went against their harassment rules for wishing someone "physical harm." | "Boomers need to kill the Joseph McCarthy that's still alive in their heads! He is dead but he still censors the thinking of many Boomers!" is what the user, who goes by the name Esha, tweeted on Thursday. She was addressing the generation of Americans born right after the Second World War, and referring to the Wisconsin senator who infamously claimed the US government was infiltrated by…

RT (2020-10-23). Biden called out for 'lying' that Republican Congress obstructed criminal justice reforms under Obama. rt.com Presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed at the final debate with Donald Trump that the Democrats couldn't pass criminal justice reform as the GOP controlled Congress, prompting online posters to point out it wasn't the case. | President Trump took a jab at his electoral challenger during the Thursday debate, asking, "Why didn't you get [criminal justice reform] done? … You know why, Joe? Because you're all talk and no action." | Biden was quick to defend the former Democratic administration's supposed inaction on the issue, saying he and former president Barack Obama's "had a Republican Congress," which hin…

Project Censored (2020-10-23). Ep113: California's Prop 22 and Conflict Management w/Dr. Gail Young. projectcensored.org On today's episode, Nicholas Baham II (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan Higdon discuss California's Prop 22 which seeks to reclassify the employees of Uber, Lyft, and similar companies to…

John O'Kane (2020-10-23). Community Investment Must Supplement Racial Integration. counterpunch.org While we await what impact the BLM-spawned protests will have on race relations, one immediate result is clear. Major corporations have gotten out front of the issue and tried to kickstart change from the top. Companies like Walmart have opened their coffers, giving millions to the cause. And mainstream media organizations have included more people

Rocco Galati (2020-10-23). Video: Rocco Galati Rocks Toronto's Freedom Rally. globalresearch.ca Watch the video below where Rocco Galati, Constitutional Lawyer, spoke at Toronto Freedom Rally on October 17, 2020. | "What I quickly learned in the past month and a half is that mainstream media and social media are really no different. …