2021-03-01: News Headlines

RT (2021-03-01). Trump calls for breaking up Big Tech, says failure to restore freedom of speech would doom Republican Party. rt.com Former president Donald Trump has called for giant technology companies to be broken up and for their Section 230 liability protections to be removed. He argued that the Big Tech mutes conservative voices like his own. | "The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition," Trump said on Sunday at the CPAC in Orlando. "Republicans, conservatives must open our platforms and repeal section 230 liability protections," he added. | While in the past the public had a chance to hear both sides of the argument before making an informed decision, Big Tech censorship disproportionately target…

_____ (2021-03-01). There Were No Calls for Censorship Against Democrats For Their False Claims About the 2016 Election. strategic-culture.org Democrats have pressured social media to take down posts that question the 2020 election, but no such pressure was exerted on Democrats who questioned the 2016 election, writes Joe Lauria. | By Joe LAURIA | The Democratic Party has pressured social media companies to enter into a highly risky endeavor that is bound to reverberate against the party's interests. | With the leverage of regulating the social media giants, Democrats have browbeaten the chief executives of Facebook, Twitter and Google (which owns YouTube) to remove any post that questions the legitimacy of the 2020 election. As journalist Glenn Greenw…

RT (2021-03-01). Man United's Shaw facing BAN after backtracking on claim that ref rejected penalty in Chelsea draw because he feared public uproar. rt.com Luke Shaw could be banned by the Premier League after he accused the referee who shunned Man United's penalty claim against Chelsea of malpractice — but Harry Maguire has admitted his fellow defender misheard the conversation. | United were unlucky not to be awarded a spot kick in the first half of Sunday's stalemate against Thomas Tuchel's re-energized Chelsea team after the ball appeared to strike Callum Hudson-Odoi's hand as be battled for possession with Mason Greenwood. | Following a brief delay in which both the VAR and referee Stuart Attwell considered and ultimately denied the penalty claim, full…

RT (2021-03-01). US slaps Saudi officials with entry bans over 'dissidents abuse', still hails 'sustaining partnership' with Riyadh. rt.com Washington has announced a set of measures against dozens of Saudi officials following a report on murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but said that maintaining good relations with Riyadh is "important to US interests." | A total of 76 Saudi officials involved in what was described as "acts of repression" against various dissidents, including the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, have been banned from entering the US, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said on Monday as he announced the new strategy to "recalibrate" relations between Washington and Riyadh. | The measures also involved adding another former senior…

RT (2021-03-01). Russia slams Twitter for breaking regulations as US tech giant ignores demands to delete thousands of posts with illegal material. rt.com By not deleting banned material, Twitter has 'maliciously violated' Russian law. That's according to media regulator Roskomnadzor, which has revealed that the tech giant has refused to remove 2,862 posts with illegal content. | On Monday, the watchdog revealed that it had sent the California-based company a combined total of 28,000 deletion demands, with around 10 percent being refused. These include 2,336 posts on suicide, as well as 352 containing pornographic images of minors. | According to Russian law, violating the rules governing the restriction of access to illegal content could see the firm hit with a…

Gareth Porter (2021-03-01). U.S. State Department accusation of China 'genocide' relied on data abuse and baseless claims by far-right ideologue. mronline.org The Trump and Biden administrations have relied on the work of a right-wing religious extremist, Adrian Zenz, for their "genocide" accusation against China. A close review of Zenz's research reveals flagrant data abuse and outright falsehoods.

Staff (2021-03-01). 'Zionist' is not hate speech, activists say. therealnews.com A Saturday Night Live joke about Israel's vaccine apartheid sparked outrage from some ardent supporters of the Israeli government, but the controversy speaks to larger threats to free speech in the digital age, especially when it comes to criticisms of Zionism. At this very moment, tech giant Facebook is considering whether or not to respond to calls to ban the term "Zionist" as anti-Semitic hate speech. | TRNN's Jaisal Noor speaks with Jewish Voice For Peace's Rabbi Alissa Wise about the "Facebook, We Need to Talk" campaign and the long history of tech companies censoring the voices of Palestinians who are…

RT (2021-03-01). 'Don't come NOW': DHS chief laments US border isn't ready to handle influx of illegal migrants in 'orderly, safe & humane' fashion. rt.com The Biden administration is warning migrants to delay flooding the US border as the government works "around the clock" to repair an immigration system shattered by former President Donald Trump's "cruelty." | "We are flooding the space with that critical message," US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday in a White House press briefing. "I cannot overstate its criticality to the wellbeing of those individuals who are thinking of coming," explaining that Washington is working with NGOs and the governments of Mexico and Central America to get its message out to migran…

RT (2021-03-01). It's always Putin! Russian president engineered coup in Armenia because Pashinyan insulted Moscow's missiles, Western media claims. rt.com Not content with fixing US elections and making sure your favorite sports team loses, Vladimir Putin's shadowy hand is now behind a power struggle in Yerevan, after a row over rockets. At least, that's according to American media. | In an article by journalist Anna Nemtsova published on Friday, New York-based outlet The Daily Beast

Devin Cole (2021-03-02). Nadezhda Krupskaya: Bolshevik revolutionary and educator. workers.org Feb. 14 is the birth date of Nadezhda Krupskaya — Bolshevik revolutionary, educator and library advocate. Although born to a formerly aristocratic family, her family had descended into poverty, which led her to study Marxism. She joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903. Nadezhda Krupskaya In 1905, Krupskaya . . . |

Editor (2021-03-02). Digamosle a Biden: °Deja de bombardear Siria! workers.org La administración de Biden solo tardó 36 días en el cargo para mostrar al mundo, a través de un bombardeo en Siria, que es beligerante, agresivo y empeñado en la guerra. Solo hubo un breve respiro de las viles palabras y acciones de Trump. Ahora tenemos que enfrentar los viles . . . |

Robert Penner (2021-03-02). Struggle for justice forces reopening of two cases of police violence in Milwaukee. liberationnews.org The cases of Christopher Davis, killed by Milwaukee Deputy Juan Ortiz, and Jay Anderson, killed by Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah, have been re-opened in the Milwaukee area.

Margaret Flowers (2021-03-02). Small Acts Can Become A Power No Government Can Suppress. dissidentvoice.org The American Rescue Plan (ARP) was passed in the House this past week and now heads to the Senate, where it will no doubt be changed before it becomes law some time in mid-March. The current unemployment benefits expire on March 14. While we don't know what the final bill will look like, at least …

E.L. Melrose (2021-03-02). Erie, PA: Residents skeptical towards corporation's "green" promises. liberationnews.org The plight of this area has left the door open to the opportunism of "green" industry and it is currently being courted by International Recycling Group (IRG).

Editor (2021-03-02). Raise the minimum wage to $15 — at least! workers.org A $15-per-hour minimum wage cannot be included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill proposed by Congressional Democrats. So ruled the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth McDonough, on Feb. 25. This unelected official called it "irrelevant to budget legislation." This edict is a brutal blow to millions of struggling workers. Nevertheless, the . . . |

Michael Berkowitz (2021-03-01). 'Nomadland': Moving on with America's homeless van dwellers. peoplesworld.org Fern stands forlorn, surveying the desert before her. She is a small figure looking out over the beautiful, austere, infinite landscape. The desert is her own world writ large. She navigates that world in "Vanguard," her turtle shell van remodeled to carry her few possessions on her back. She drifts toward temporary jobs as low-skill …

Eds. (2021-03-01). Ecosocialism versus degrowth: a false dilemma. mronline.org Ecosocialists and degrowthers need to map the many overlaps of their views to improve the effectiveness of their shared struggle for an ecologically-sound and socially-fair world free from patriarchal, racial and colonial legacy.

Terry Bisson (2021-03-01). The "Murder" of John Hunt Morgan: "You Have Just Killed the Best Man in the Confederacy!" counterpunch.org John Hunt Morgan, the "Kentucky Cavalier," readily embraced the role he was born into. Raised in wealthy Lexington, a scion of Bluegrass planter aristocrats, famously expelled from Transylvania College for dueling, he had eagerly enlisted in the 1848 invasion of Mexico, where he had performed with honor and the requisite gallantry. After that that brief, one-sided conflict he had returned to Lexington, traded in slaves, hemp and wool, and unerringly faithful to the ideal of the Southern gentleman, gambled, drank, raced horses, hunted squirrels, charmed the ladies and defended his honor from rivals both real and i…

Zach Carlson (2021-03-01). SEIU Graduate Workers Union in stalled talks at Illinois State University. peoplesworld.org NORMAL, Ill.—In October 2018, Illinois State University's more than 400 graduate workers voted to officially unionize and be represented as SEIU Local 73. The long months of meetings, difficult one-on-one conversations, procedural documents, and learning the process of organizing a workplace paid off for the graduate workers involved. All unionizing efforts are difficult, and the …

Fred Gardner (2021-03-01). The Villain Leshner. counterpunch.org I don't know which chemicals are released in which parts of the brain, but there's a pleasurable rush when you find yourself in agreement with someone who has been observing the same scene from a completely different angle. Civilians who opposed US intervention in Vietnam in the 1960s will remember how affirming it was to see

Tim Wheeler (2021-03-01). Black Lives Matter vigil mourns Derek Hayden, shot by Seattle police. peoplesworld.org Scores of protesters joined a Black Lives Matter street-corner vigil in Sequim, Wash., Sunday, Feb. 28, several holding signs protesting the Feb. 16 slaying by Seattle police of Derek J. Hayden, who grew up in Sequim and had many friends and admirers here. Marion "Honeybee" Burns, held a sign, "Derek Hayden: His Life Matters" as …

Claudia Drdul (2021-03-01). Family of Navy veteran murdered by Antioch police in George Floyd-style killing seeks justice. liberationnews.org Two members of the Antioch, California, Police Department murdered Navy veteran Angelo Quinto (age 30) in his home on Dec. 23, 2020, while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. Quinto's mother and sister, who witnessed the execution of their loved one, initially called the police believing they would help Quinto through his crisis. However, …

Oorna Raut — Riya Behl (2021-03-01). Pushing the Tempo at Mumbai's Farmer Sit-In. counterpunch.org Navshya Kuvra had just finished playing his dhumsi (drum) for about 40 protestors dancing at south Mumbai's Azad Maidan. Just as he sat down to rest, around 11 at night, three man approached him. "Is it a wedding? What date?" asked Navshya. They conversed, phone numbers were exchanged, and the three moved away. Navshya turned

Staff (2021-03-01). 'We've made this kind of war invisible'. therealnews.com The reality of war has become so distant and abstract for U.S. civilians that most have no idea how many wars we're actually engaged in. And that, as writer and combat veteran Danny Sjursen argues, is by design.

Ramzy Baroud (2021-03-01). Coup Leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi Betrayed Democracy in Burma. counterpunch.org What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler.

Rosalind English (2021-03-01). Parent company owes duty of care in transnational cases — Hague Court of Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com The Hague Court of Appeal has recently handed down a ruling that is of profound importance to environmental lawyers. It is not only the first case at the appellate level in Europe that has resulted in a victory on the merits for the victims, but also the first case to hold that a parent company …

Eds. (2021-03-01). BJP begins to pay political price as farmers struggle completes three months. mronline.org IN the week before the historic nationwide farmers' struggle completed three months on February 26, the BJP has begun to pay a heavy political price for its pro-corporate adamancy.

Maxximilian Seijo (2021-03-01). Heterodox Properties with Lua Kamal Yuille. mronline.org Money on the Left is joined by Dr. Lua Kamal Yuille to discuss heterodox economics, property law & the politics of vulnerability. Dr. Yuille is professor of law and affiliated professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kansas. Her work, which spans property theory, heterodox economics, business law, critical pedagogy, and …

Arturo Pineda (2021-03-01). New Haven youth target gun violence, inequality at Black history month march. peoplesworld.org NEW HAVEN, Conn.—A caravan of 20 cars and a group of 65 people took to the streets of New Haven on Feb. 20 to call for an end to gun violence and police brutality, taxing the rich, and to demand state and federal relief for communities of color impacted by COVID-19. The Annual Black History …

Ed Rampell (2021-03-01). 'Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story' at PAFF. peoplesworld.org Co-directors Royal Kennedy Rodgers and Kathy McCampbell Vance's Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story is a nonfiction biopic about the African-American talent who rose to become the so-called "Architect of the Stars" when Jim Crow was still the scourge of the land. Born 1894 in L.A., Paul Revere Williams's real-life story of overcoming adversity …

Rosalind English (2021-03-01). Law Pod UK: AI and the Law. ukhumanrightsblog.com In the latest episode of Law Pod UK Rosalind English talks to Matt Hervey, co-editor with Matthew Lavy of a new practitioner's text book on Artificial Intelligence. Matt is Head of Artificial Intelligence at Gowling WLG., and advises on all aspects of AI and Intellectual Property, particularly in relation to the life sciences, automotive, aviation, …

The Conversation (2021-03-01). Where does the 10 Million Tons of Plastic we put into the Oceans Annually actually go? juancole.com By Bruce Sutherland, Michelle DiBenedetto and Ton van den Bremer | — Of the hundreds of millions of tonnes of plastic waste we produce each year, it's estimated that around ten million tonnes enters the ocean. Roughly half of the plastics produced are less dense than water, and so they float. But scientists estimate that …

M.K. Bhadrakumar (2021-03-01). U.S. exceptionalism surges again. Will it fly? mronline.org In a statement marking the "return" of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden Administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.

Nadya Williams (2021-03-01). Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a Veteran For Peace. peoplesworld.org Many have been the obituaries and tributes to radical poet and civil libertarian Lawrence Ferlinghetti, including this one from City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. Ferlinghetti died on February 22 at 101 in his home in North Beach, the literary heart of San Francisco. Many readers may be unfamiliar with another facet of the writer's life. …

Dave Clennon (2021-03-01). Hollywood's New Blackface. counterpunch.org Many more black faces on your movie screen. Same old shuck and jive from finance capital. AND . . . why are so many foreign Blacks impersonating African-Americans? I saw "Selma" six years ago. I could feel earnest sincerity radiating from the screen. It was pretty clear the filmmakers were trying to do justice to

Stephen F. Eisenman (2021-03-01). A Modest Proposal for Establishing a Strategic Toddler Reserve. counterpunch.org For the purpose of maintaining adult friendships, protecting household pets, saving monkeys, and benefiting biomedical research — prompted by a recent, reckless article in the NYTimes (With Apologies to Jonathan Swift) How many times have we had the unfortunate experience of visiting the home of a dear friend or colleague, only to discover everything changed.

William Craig Cohen (2021-03-01). The Weekly Round-Up: Unconventional Harm Reduction and Shamima Begum's Final Appeal. ukhumanrightsblog.com In the news: The UK has seen an increasingly falling rate in arrests and prosecutions for cannabis possession over recent years, as police forces no longer see the point in enforcement. The Liberal Democrats have campaigned for its legalisation since 2016, and the first medically-prescribed cannabis was permitted in the UK in 2018. However, crucial …

Staff (2021-03-01). Black mass incarceration in the so-called Free State. therealnews.com Maryland holds itself up as a progressive state when it comes to criminal justice, but a recent report highlights a stark reality: Maryland incarcerates Black people at more than twice the national rate.

Chuck Collins — Omar Ocampo (2021-03-01). Financial Reserves and the Racial Wealth Gap. counterpunch.org Why is it that the wealthiest country on earth has the highest death toll of any nation in the world? And why are Black and Latino people among those experiencing the greatest mortality and hardship during the pandemic? There is excellent research on how the Black-white wealth gap left Black households more vulnerable (see resources

Olivia Rosane (2021-03-01). Oregon wolf makes historic journey to California, raising conservation hopes. peoplesworld.org An Oregon-born wolf named OR-93 has sparked conservation hopes with a historic journey into California. A young male, OR-93 traveled hundreds of miles from an area southeast of Mount Hood, Oregon, to California's central Sierra Nevada mountain range, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced Friday. The agency said he traveled farther south …

Ramzy Baroud (2021-03-01). Military coup leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi both betrayed democracy in Burma. peoplesworld.org What is taking place in Burma right now is a military coup. There can be no other description for such an unwarranted action as the dismissal of the government by military decree and the imposition of Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, as an unelected ruler. However, despite the endless talk about democratization, …

PAI (2021-03-01). Biden declares support for Alabama Amazon workers' union drive. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Democratic President Joe Biden has officially backed the union organizing drive at the big Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. In a two-minute-20-second video he posted on Twitter Feb. 28, and an accompanying shorter tweet, Biden declared the choice by the 5,800 workers there is "vitally important" to both them and the country. "Today and over …

Andrea Mazzarino (2021-03-01). Perspectives on the Storming of the Capitol from a Military Spouse. counterpunch.org "Are you okay?" asked a friend and military spouse in the voicemail she left me on the afternoon the mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol so violently. At home with a new baby, her Navy reservist husband stationed in Germany, the thoughts running through her head that day would prove remarkably similar to mine. As she said when we spoke, "It's as if the U.S. has become a war zone."

RT (2021-03-02). Attempt at civil discourse on 'Wokeism' ends in Clubhouse room 'coup,' Jewish prof shut down as 'SPICY WHITE' & demands for CASH. rt.com Evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein had to relive his Evergreen College moment whe he was attacked from all sides in a Clubhouse room hijacked by hostile "anti-racist" mob aghast at the idea of white people discussing "wokeism." | The room, dubbed "Is Clubhouse Obsessed with 'Wokeism'?" was created by independent journalist Michael Tracey, who said he thought the Clubhouse chats "almost inevitably evolve into a discussion of 'woke-ism'… but there's seldom anyone in the room who identifies enough with the ideology to give a defense of it." | His attempt to create a safe space for a civil discourse and let b…

RT (2021-03-02). Former CIA director John Brennan 'embarrassed to be a WHITE MALE'… and critics agree they're embarrassed he's a white male. rt.com John Brennan, the former CIA director and perjurer who's now an MSNBC contributor, apparently found a point on which he and his conservative critics can agree: Both sides are ashamed that he's a white male. | Responding to an MSNBC discussion Monday about Republican claims regarding the January 6 Capitol riot, Brennan said, "I'm increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days, in light of what I see of my other white males saying." | John Brennan should be ashamed to be John Brennan

RT (2021-03-02). Twitch reverts back to 'women' after tweet celebrating 'Womxn's History Month' savaged online. rt.com Streaming platform Twitch has returned to the conventional spelling for "women" after its social media post hailing "Womxn's History Month" — avoiding any "gender-binary language" — backfired and angered critics on all sides. | Though the company took to Twitter on Monday to inform users that "March is Womxn's History Month," using an alternative styling of "women" in a bid to include non-binary gender identities, it made an abrupt about-face just a few hours later, announcing that it would revert back to the standard spelling. | "While we originally wanted to use a word that acknowledges the short…

RT (2021-03-02). 'We have to DO STUFF NOW': Biden adviser says White House to start redressing systemic racism, not just wait for reparations study. rt.com President Joe Biden will push ahead on making amends for America's "systemic racism," creating more opportunities for black people right away rather than waiting for a reparations study, a White House adviser said. | "We don't want to wait on a study," Cedric Richmond, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said in an 'Axios on HBO' | White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on February 17 that Biden s…

RT (2021-03-02). US won't share Covid-19 vaccines with Mexico as Americans must be inoculated first — White House. rt.com The Biden administration has rejected the idea of sharing Covid-19 vaccines with the hard-hit neighbor Mexico, White House press-secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that it can only be discussed after all Americans get their shots. | "The administration's focus is on ensuring that every American is vaccinated. And once we accomplish that objective we're happy to discuss further steps," Psaki said when asked about possible vaccine sharing during a briefing on Monday. | The comments came hours before the virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. | Also…

Betsey Piette (2021-03-02). Protest demands freedom for Mumia, suffering COVID symptoms. workers.org Political prisoner and Black journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including difficulty breathing, Feb 26. Hearing this news, his family and supporters called a protest. Less than 24 hours later, about 70 people turned up outside the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to call for Abu-Jamal's immediate . . . |

RT (2021-03-02). Johnson & Johnson's newly-approved Covid vaccine met with pushback as Catholic diocese condemns it for 'ties to abortion cells'. rt.com As Johnson & Johnson rolls out its freshly approved Covid-19 vaccine in the US, it faces a religious controversy as the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans has labeled it "morally compromised" over links to abortion cells. | Catholics are advised not to receive the vaccine because Johnson & Johnson used cell lines derived from decades-old abortions in both testing and production of the new product, the Archdiocese Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have utiliz…