2021-02-04: News Headlines

_____ (2021-02-04). American Healthcare System Failed Black Americans. popularresistance.org There are certain policy positions that are such a slam dunk that if someone does not support them, I can't take anything they say seriously, nor can I trust their judgement. Medicare for All is one of those polices. It is the most pro-black legislation in mainstream political discourse right now. Our black leaders, such as Jim Clyburn, teaming up with health insurance companies and Big Pharma, are why the state of healthcare in the African American community is so bleak, as I laid out in my previous article | Liberals, for good reason, hold social wedge issues as their primary litmus test. Can you imagine a stan…

Global Research News (2021-02-04). Selected Articles: Towards 2030, NATO Is Shaping Our Future. globalresearch.ca By According to what we hear from officials and the mainstream media, the new variants are the most dangerous and unpredictable beings since …

RT (2021-02-04). AOC compared to Jussie Smollett after her 'near-death' riot experience revealed as hiding from POLICE in office OUTSIDE Capitol. rt.com Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being compared to the actor who staged an attack on himself, after her account of fearing for her life during the January 6 riot was fact-checked, exposing that she wasn't in the Capitol building. | The hashtags #AlexandriaOcasioSmollett, along with #AOCLied, trended on Wednesday, following a fact-check of AOC's (D-New York) Instagram livestream two days prior by OAN journalist Jack Posobiec. During her emotional one-and-a-half-hour-long talk, Ocasio-Cortez admitted that she was not in the Capitol building during the riot to begin with, but continued to claim that she experienced a…

RT (2021-02-04). Progressive journalist Jordan Chariton regrets calling for social media bans after 'seeing Silicon Valley's censorship onslaught'. rt.com After some of his own videos were pulled by YouTube, progressive reporter Jordan Chariton has had a change of heart about Big Tech's crackdown on extremist content, arguing that it's a pretext to purge all alternative views. | In a series of tweets, the popular pundit and co-founder of Status Coup News revealed that footage of the January 6 Capitol riots had been yanked from his YouTube channel, apparently for violating the platform's policies against "spam and deceptive practices." The video's deletion followed a similar incident in which a livestream of a right-wing rally held several days before Joe Biden's…

RT (2021-02-04). CNN chief Zucker announces plan to leave at year's end after 'change of heart' decision to see out contract. rt.com CNN President Jeff Zucker has confirmed he will stay on at the network's helm until the end of 2021, when his contract runs out, having u-turned on his decision late last year to leave the mainstream media outlet. | "I cannot imagine not being here right now," Jeff Zucker told colleagues on Thursday morning, according to those present on the call. "I'm going to stay and finish my current contract, which, as I said, will keep me here until the end of this year. At that point, I do expect to move on." | The truth is, back in November and December I had basically decided that it was time to move on now… But si…

Susan Price (2021-02-04). Inventing reality: Venezuela's parliamentary election. greenleft.org.au The bare minimum the Western mainstream media could do is report accurately on Venezuela's recent parliamentary election, writes Rodrigo Acuna. Once again they have failed.

Ullekh N.P. (2021-02-04). In India, Farmers Are Resisting Narendra Modi's Propaganda Machine. thenation.com In India, Farmers Are Resisting Narendra Modi's Propaganda Machine…

RT (2021-02-03). Warning labels: TikTok introduces Twitter-like censorship measures to curb 'misinformation'. rt.com Video sharing app TikTok will slap warning labels on videos it suspects contain "misinformation" and discourage users from sharing them. The move brings TikTok's policies closer in line with those of Twitter. | TikTok already removes videos that its fact-checkers deem to contain "false" information. However, the Chinese-owned company is expanding on this policy, and Starting…

Steve Poikonen (2021-02-03). YouTube's Orgy of Censorship & Narrative Management w/Convo Couch & Franc Analysis. slownewsdayshow.com Franc Analysis | Convo Couch |

Eds. (2021-02-03). The global struggle for bodily autonomy. mronline.org The example of Sparta is an interesting precedent for the way in which people's bodies have been controlled and utilized beyond their consent throughout history. The control of our bodies presupposes capitalism, but capitalism in turn has entrenched it.

Global Research News (2021-02-03). Selected Articles: Calling for an "American Ministry of Truth". The US Media's Dystopian "2021" globalresearch.ca By Along with Big Brother mass surveillance and newspeak, Orwell's Ministry of Truth was all about controlling the message, eliminating whatever conflicts …

Ralph Nader (2021-02-03). The Struggle Inside Senator Mitch McConnell's Brain. commondreams.org Allowing the Trumpian half of his brain to overpower his judgment and vote to acquit Dangerous Donald would spell disaster for the Republican Party (assuming the Democratic Party doesn't go to sleep as it did after Obama's win in 2008). | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Andrew Korybko (2021-02-03). Examining The Ethics & Implications Of Twitter's Censorship Policy In India. thealtworld.com Twitter caused a stir by complying with the Indian government's request to temporarily "withhold" access to dozens of accounts for users within the country in response to claims that they were "inciting violence" during the ongoing farmers' protests, which prompts some very important ethical questions that have a few disturbing implications for the freedoms of speech and assembly in Western-style democracies across the world. | Everyone across the world is talking about social media censorship after former US President Trump was deplatformed last month by the world's largest companies in this sphere following the…

RT (2021-02-03). Poor taste? Burger King SAVAGELY trolls injury-hit Hazard by joking he missed training to take advantage of 2-for-1 offer. rt.com Eden Hazard's time at Real Madrid has been plagued by injury and barbs about his weight, and fast food giant Burger King put the boot in amid a new setback by claiming the star missed training to indulge in their special offer.

RT (2021-02-03). Washington joins crusade against free speech, backs Ukrainian crackdown on opposition media as EU & Zelensky's dad voice concerns. rt.com The US has waded into a row over media censorship in Ukraine, backing a ban on opposition TV channels as both the EU and President Volodymyr Zelensky's own father expressed grave concerns over the impact on free speech. | In a statement issued on Twitter Wednesday, the American embassy in Kiev wrote that it "supports efforts yesterday to counter Russia's malign influence." It described the shuttering of broadcasters as "in line with [Ukrainian law], in defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity." | The US supports üá∫üᶠefforts yesterday to counter Ru…

oneworld.press (2021-02-03). Examining The Ethics & Implications Of Twitter's Censorship Policy In India. oneworld.press Twitter caused a stir by complying with the Indian government's request to temporarily "withhold" access to dozens of accounts for users within the country in response to claims that they were "inciting violence" during the ongoing farmers' protests, which prompts some very important ethical questions that have a few disturbing implications for the freedoms of speech and assembly in Western-style democracies across the world.

Jack Rasmus (2021-02-02). Gamestop and the Game That Never Stops! counterpunch.org This past week a video game company in trouble, Gamestop, became the center of media attention. Day traders had driven up the company's stock price by thousands of percent in just one day. The mainstream media narrative was the 'small guy' investor challenged the big boys of finance who had bet Gamestop stock price would

Armin Rosen (2021-02-02). Regime Journalists Mobilize to Ban Competition. And Your Free Speech. anti-empire.com "Like many of the other proponents of controlled speech mentioned here, Bazelon's writing has a detectable winking quality to it: Don't worry, dear reader, YOU'RE not the one who's going to be censored. THEY are. In fact, the censorship, so-called, won't even be that bad. You'll hardly notice it." | "One thing that people might not immediately recognize when they hear scary-sounding words like "censorship" is that the act of controlling other people's speech can be gratifying, a psychic net-positive for those who dream of a purified information space."The new enemy is no longer "disinformation" but "misinformatio…

RT (2021-02-02). GameStop's last stand? Reddit-fueled stock boom winds down as much-memed stock dips below $100. rt.com After a fierce tug-of-war between hedge funds and amateur traders drove the share price of video game retailer GameStop through the roof, squeezing billions of dollars out of big-time investors, the price is beginning to sink. | GameStop (GME) dropped as much as 60 percent on Tuesday, dipping below $100 as the Wall Street and mainstream media measures aimed at 'stabilizing' the frenzied trading of the past week began kicking in. Retail traders have been unable to use the popular app Robinhood to trade GME and a handful of other hot stocks, giving the hedge funds who played the villain in the story a chance to…

RT (2021-02-02). New York Times calls for MINISTRY OF TRUTH, urging Biden to appoint a 'REALITY CZAR' to head up fight against 'misinformation'. rt.com Striving to silence voices with which the mainstream media disagrees, the New York Times has urged President Joe Biden to appoint a "reality czar" to lead the fight against "disinformation and domestic extremism." | And yes, George Orwell fans, America's supposed newspaper of record used the phrase

Julie Hollar (2021-02-02). On Sunday Shows, the Only Biden 'Promise' That Matters Is Compromise. commondreams.org Democrats rode to victory in Georgia on a clear promise to give people $2,000 checks if they were given control of the Senate. But to hear corporate media tell it, the more important promise—and the only one they will hold him accountable for—is one Biden never even made. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-02-02). In Victory for Public Health, Federal Judge Scraps Trump's Polluter-Friendly 'Censored Science' Rule. commondreams.org "Science matters again, and it will again guide how to best protect people from dangerous pollution and toxic chemicals." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

_____ (2021-02-02). Gamestop—And the Game That Never Stops! popularresistance.org This past week a video game company in trouble, Gamestop, became the center of media attention. Day traders had driven up the company's stock price by thousands of percent in just one day. The mainstream media narrative was the 'small guy' investor challenged the big boys of finance who had bet Gamestop stock price would contract, not rise sharply. The little investor, so the story goes, initially won big but Gamestop's stock price escalation was stopped in its tracks by coordinated forces of Wall St., as trading was abruptly halted later in the day in the midst of the run-up. But that narrative, that media spin,…

_____ (2021-02-02). Biden Appoints Warmongers. popularresistance.org The corporate media has focused on Biden's promise to overturn many of former-President Trump's policies. But Biden pledged throughout his campaign to make "no substantial change" — and his foreign policy appointments show he meant that. Despite the media talk of justice, new policy and diversity, behind the scenes the same old U.S. militarist policies are being reinforced through Biden's cabinet choices and their direct ties to industry-funded think tanks and military contractors. | Biden's cabinet nominations follow the failed imperialist policies of the Trump, Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr. admini…

Grant Molen (2021-02-02). White or Wealth Supremacy? realprogressives.org The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 authorized the dissemination of US state department propaganda to foreign nations deemed a threat to American democracy. This act has been a useful tool for intelligence operatives who have repeatedly sought to stamp out populist revolutions in countries with access to valuable natural resources. Through the spread of propaganda and the arming of US aligned insurgency groups, the US has been able to foment confusion and discord in foreign populations resulting in unwinnable political battles, power struggles and weak leadership representing the working people's interests. In the pow…

Project Censored (2021-02-02). Giants: The Global Power Elite — Rebroadcast. projectcensored.org Although a new administration has taken office in Washington, the administrators of the world's wealth have not changed. Project Censored presents a rebroadcast of "Giants: The Global Power Elite." Project…

RT (2021-02-01). White House press secretary Psaki finally CIRCLES BACK after trolling from 'conservative Twitter' over repetitive promise. rt.com White House Press Secretary Jen Paski has claimed she doesn't spend "a lot of time" thinking about Donald Trump's absence on social media, but she did turn heads by acknowledging criticism of her from "conservative Twitter." | Psaki addressed a number of issues with the press during a Monday gathering at the White House, but the comment that appeared to stick out most was one directed at what she deemed "conservative Twitter." | "I often note I'm going to circle back, I hate to disappoint conservative Twitter, but I am going to circle back on a number of things," she said before answering a few questions that…

_____ (2021-02-01). Post Workers Suspended After Refusing To Deliver Epoch Times. popularresistance.org Ramiro Sepulveda, one of the suspended postal workers, told CBC News he objects to the insinuations in some of the paper's past coverage of the origins of the coronavirus, which the paper calls "the CCP virus." | "I'm not for censorship. I'm not against freedom of speech," he said. "What my thing is, is there is no disclaimer stating that this was theory." | He says he went straight to his supervisor when he saw the free editions that were set to be delivered earlier this month. | "I said, 'That Epoch Times, I'm not delivering it. It goes against everything I believe in.'" | The second worker, Linying Su, who was…