2021-03-16: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2021-03-16). Protests surge across UK against state of women's safety and police apathy. peoplesdispatch.org The police attack on a peaceful vigil in honor of slain Sarah Everard at Clapham Common in London on March 13, Saturday, has provoked widespread outrage across the UK. Various progressive groups including Reclaim These Streets had given the call for the vigil to honor 33-year-old Everard who was killed last week in London allegedly at the hands of a police officer. | The police tried to stop the vigil by denying permission citing COVID-19 restrictions. On Saturday, they attempted to forcefully disperse the crowd gathered for the vigil at Clapham Common. Photographs and videos of the police action have since gone…

Margaret Flowers (2021-03-16). Peace Delegation Visits Nicaragua To Explore Impact Of US Sanctions. dissidentvoice.org For the next two weeks, I am in Nicaragua on the first delegation organized by the Sanctions Kill coalition and the Friends of the ATC (Asociacion de Trabajadores del Campo — Association of Rural Workers) to study the impact of sanctions imposed by the United States on Nicaragua and learn about the Sandinista Revolution. The …

Ron Jacobs (2021-03-16). Washington in Afghanistan: How Long Must This Go On? counterpunch.org The United States military and mercenary forces need to leave Afghanistan now. Even Donald Trump understood this, at least in public. The US mission was a failure within a year of its 2001 invasion. It could not and cannot reshape the political landscape in that nation. It tried in the 1970s and the 1980s when it created and armed the mujaheddin to fight the Soviet-supported government. It couldn't mold the nation of Afghanistan into a willing client after the Taliban marched into Kabul. It has failed to do so since it invaded the country in 2001 under the pretense of going after Osama bin Laden. To repeat, the U…

Patrick Cockburn (2021-03-16). Test and Trace is the Dead Elephant in the Room. counterpunch.org As Britain enters a post-pandemic era, its struggle with Covid-19 reveals a country that is a complicated mix of strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, Britain has developed, manufactured and distributed effective vaccines quicker than any other nation. On the other, it has constructed the biggest gravy train in British history, one that pays

The Empire Files (2021-03-16). VIDEO: A Guide to US Empire in Africa: Neocolonial Order & AFRICOM. liberationnews.org Abby Martin speaks to Eugene Puryear to discuss the big picture of U.S. imperialism in Africa…

Steve Gillis (2021-03-16). Boston School Bus Drivers Union blasts bosses' reopening schemes. workers.org In direct confrontation with the U.S. ruling class' monolithic drive to "reopen" schools and businesses, even as the pandemic continues to rage, Boston School Bus Drivers picketed their employer, Transdev, March 9. They gave voice to the outrage of frontline workers over this dangerous gamble with the lives of both . . . |

A Guest Author (2021-03-16). New York Boricua Resistance: No International Working Women's Day without trans women. workers.org This statement was co-written by Alicia Rodriguez and Gabriela Malespin of New York Boricua Resistance and presented by Malespin during the March 13 webinar sponsored by New York City-based International Working Women's Day Coalition. The webinar was entitled "Women and oppressed-gender workers rise up: The real pandemic is capitalism. The . . . |

Sameena Rahman (2021-03-16). Blood-drenched Bolivian coup leader in prison. liberationnews.org Photo: Demonstration in Fresno, California in solidarity with the Bolivian people's struggle against the coup Bolivian coup leader and former self-proclaimed president Jeanine àÅñez, was arrested on Saturday in the department of Beni, where she was found hiding in a box to avoid detection from authorities. Earlier today, àÅñez made her first appearance in front …

Eds. (2021-03-16). Biden's retaliatory cyberattacks against Russia are folly. mronline.org MR Online

CounterPunch News Service (2021-03-16). Centennial Mountain Heli-Skiing. counterpunch.org On Friday, March 12th, Ashton/Island Park District Ranger Liz Davy withdrew the possibility of a permit to allow helicopter skiing in a portion of the Centennial Mountains on the Idaho side of the range for the following reasons: + Research indicates use of helicopters has significant negative impacts to denning grizzly bears, a threatened species.

Wayne Nealis (2021-03-16). Defense argues Floyd family settlement prejudices potential jury in Chauvin trial. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS—As had been expected, Erik Nelson, Derek Chauvin's attorney raised questions Monday regarding the timing and impact of the city's $27 million civil settlement with the Floyd family that was announced Friday. Typically, such settlements are announced after the conclusion of a criminal trial. Nelson argued that such pretrial publicity can have prejudicial effect on …

Eds. (2021-03-16). 8M: For a revolutionary feminism, which is not a cover photo but a struggle against all exploitation. mronline.org MR Online

Thomas Klikauer — Norman Simms (2021-03-16). University Spiralists and Aca-Zombies. counterpunch.org As in many places where the ideology of neoliberalism holds sway, universities have been contaminated with the self-invented business imperatives of neoliberalism. For the better part of the last forty years, the conversion of universities from places where academics and students wanted to go to learn because knowledge was good to have into places to

Mark Gruenberg (2021-03-16). Poor People's Campaign takes voting rights drive to state capitals. peoplesworld.org &nbsp…

Michael K. Emerson (2021-03-16). Sanitized Tyranny: The Weaponization of Truth. dissidentvoice.org On Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol Hill "insurrection", the Parler social media app was the number #1 most downloaded app in the Apple App Store. On "January 10, 2021, Parler CEO John Matze announced the company had been 'dropped by virtually all of its business alliances after Amazon, Apple and Google ended …

Cronkite News Arizona PBS (2021-03-16). Senate makes history with vote confirming Haaland as first Native American Interior secretary. juancole.com By Sarah Oven | — (Cronkite News) — (WASHINGTON — The Senate Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as the next Interior secretary, a historic vote that makes her the first Native American to head a Cabinet agency. The confirmation came over the objection of Senate Republicans, particularly those representing Western states dependent on …

Conn Hallinan (2021-03-16). Day of the Drone. counterpunch.org In the aftermath of the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, drone warfare is being touted as the latest breakthrough in military technology, a "magic bullet" that makes armored vehicles obsolete, defeats sophisticated anti-aircraft systems, and rout entrenched infantry. While there is some truth in the hype, one needs to be especially wary of military "game changers," since there is always a seller at the end of the pitch.

The Conversation (2021-03-16). After the insurrection, America's far-right groups get more extreme. juancole.com By Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid | — As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist at Louisiana State University, and Shannon E. …

Justin Podur (2021-03-16). India's Right-Wing Government is So Hungry for Profit It Will Risk a Famine for the Country. counterpunch.org India's right-wing government has been deploying all the modern tools of repression against a historic farmers' protest. Much is at stake. For the people of India, their agricultural system is about to get far more precarious. For its farmers, ruin, and bankruptcy for millions, is all but guaranteed. For the government of Narendra Modi and

M. Chan, J. Leng (2021-03-16). Bay Area elites attempt to divide and conquer in aftermath of violence against Asian residents. liberationnews.org The violence oppressing both Black and Asian communities is a symptom of capitalism, a system that puts profits over people.

Sheila Malone RN (2021-03-16). Maine Medical Center nurses want a union, need support. peoplesworld.org PORTLAND, Me. — Nurses at Maine Medical Center (MMC) in Portland, the region's pre-eminent referral center, have taken steps to organize a union. On their behalf, the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) in January petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to authorize a secret vote on forming a union for the hospital's 1600 nurses. Ballots …

Qiao Collective (2021-03-16). Race reductionism: Neocolonialism and the ruse of "Chinese privilege" mronline.org MR Online

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-16). Court rejects vote recount claimed by Yaku Perez. mronline.org MR Online

Anurag Deb (2021-03-16). Re B: soldiers and the criminal process in Northern Ireland. ukhumanrightsblog.com Re B's application [2020] NIQB 76 was a challenge to a decision to prosecute a soldier for offences going back to 1972. Part of the small but politically divisive cohort of prosecutions arising out of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Re B provides a classic example of how courts approach the issue of fairness in …

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2021-03-16). The Crushing Environmental Burden of Greek Tourism. counterpunch.org Tourism is the heavy industry of Greece. It annually earns a fourth of the country's income. The pestilence year 2020, however, was bad for Greek tourism. In 2020, some 70 percent fewer tourists visited the country. This drastic decline meant less money for debt trapped Greece. Compared to 2019, tourist receipts in 2020 dropped by 78.2 percent.

Ted Kelly (2021-03-16). $1.9 Trillion stimulus bill: relief or ripoff? workers.org These slightly edited remarks were made during Workers World Party's March 11 webinar, "Stimulus Bill — Relief or Ripoff?" moderated by Ted Kelly, WWP-Philadelphia. Ted Kelly. Credit: WW PHOTO Ted Kelly: The U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan stimulus bill on March 6. Tonight's roundtable with young revolutionary workers from Workers . . . |

Angely Mercado, Naveena Sadasivam (2021-03-16). A record 6 Native Americans elected to Congress, here's where they stand on climate. peoplesworld.org Indigenous peoples have a critical role to play in the fight against climate change. Though they make up just 5 percent of the world's population, their lands encompass more than 80 percent of global biodiversity. Indigenous lands are also at greatest risk from the multiple threats posed by climate change: rising sea levels, warmer temperatures, …

Alexander Rubinstein (2021-03-16). Intersectional Imperialism: A Wholesome Menace. mintpressnews.com WASHINGTON (Substack // In order to identify where woke imperialism exists, we have to define it first. So what is it? It's certainly not the first iteration of hegemonic domination buttressed by moralism. | The doctrine of Responsibility t…

contributors (2021-03-16). What is Ramadan? Essential Information for Students and Teachers. juancole.com This FAQ was distributed by Samer Ali, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, but it is useful for any campus and any community with a Muslim minority. RAMADAN 2021 AT U-M This Winter Semester, around finals, many Muslims at U-M will abstain from food and …

Ralph Nader (2021-03-16). Perfidy Meets Putty — Congressional Democrats Betray Voters. counterpunch.org Do you remember the promises made by the Democratic Party's presidential and Congressional candidates on universal health insurance? You can forget their pledges and somber convictions now that your votes put the Democrats in charge of the House and the Senate. The Democrats' leaders are abandoning their promises and retreating into a cowardly corporatist future.

Al Neal (2021-03-16). Border influx slows Biden administration's effort to reverse Trump immigration policies. peoplesworld.org The coming of a spring season signifies new beginnings, quite like the transition from one presidential administration to another. And as with all things newly budding and beginning to bloom, some of the changes in Washington are gradual ones. President Joe Biden inherited a politically fractured nation and a Trump-sized mess, yet his first 50-plus …

Paul Haeder (2021-03-16). Shifty Shifters: Movers and Shapers like a Trillion Locusts. dissidentvoice.org The final report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) concludes that the project has been 'the most successful anti-poverty movement in history'. Two key claims underpin this narrative: that global poverty has been cut in half, and global hunger nearly in half, since 1990. This good-news narrative has been touted by the United Nations and …

CP Editor (2021-03-16). Fugazi: The Path of Most Resistance. counterpunch.org

RT (2021-03-16). Trump chastises WaPo for 'hoax' report after paper corrects story alleging ex-president pressured Georgia election official. rt.com Donald Trump has hit back at the Washington Post after it corrected an article claiming that the former US president tried to strongarm a Georgia official, criticizing the report as an example of biased journalism. | The now-discredited story, published in January, alleged that Trump had instructed the state's top elections investigator to "find the fraud" that led to Democrat Joe Biden's election victory, and that she would be a "national hero" if she did. But on Monday, the paper issued a lengthy correction after an audio recording of the conversation showed that Trump said no such things.

RT (2021-03-16). Biden administration to house up to 3,000 migrant kids in Dallas convention center turned into 'decompression' facility — reports. rt.com The Biden administration reportedly plans to use a Dallas convention center to hold as many as 3,000 migrant teenagers, easing overcrowding in detention facilities as open-borders policies spur a surge in illegal immigration. | Federal agencies will use the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center for up to 90 days, starting as early as this week, to detain 15- to 17-year-old migrant boys, the Associated Press

RT (2021-03-16). Who needs solidarity? Columbia offering SIX niche graduation ceremonies to cater to students' race, sexuality & income. rt.com Ivy League Columbia University has joined the growing pool of colleges hosting identity-politics-based graduation ceremonies, offering students not one but six commencements in a baffling bid to scatter their sense of belonging. | The prestigious college plans to hold six separate graduation ceremonies for students based on race "and other aspects of how they identify," celebrating attributes including low-income/first-generation collegiate status as well as sexual orientation (with a "Lavender" event aimed at the "LGBTIAQ+ community"). | Columbia's website mentioned additional graduation ceremonies for Native…

RT (2021-03-16). Bill Burr's black wife is a 'minority sex servant'? Woke activist called out for 'worst tweet ever'. rt.com Comedian Bill Burr has angered the cancel crowd with offensive jokes. They're calling him racist, but the fact that he's married to a black woman isn't placating them. To one, it actually means he owns a "minority sex servant." | Burr hosted last weekend's Grammy Awards, and his jokes rubbed woke viewers up the wrong way. He jibed at feminists, mispronounced Latino names, and (imagine the horror) made fun of K-pop. | A torrent of outrage followed, with some commenters threatening Burr with violence and death. Amid the uproar, one Twitter user stepped in to defend Burr from the racism accusations, posting a pic…

RT (2021-03-16). Two killed after single-engine plane crashes into car with woman & child inside (GRAPHIC VIDEO). rt.com Two people were killed and two others injured after a small plane crashed in south Florida, erupting into flames as it smashed into a car carrying a mother and child, leaving them in a serious condition. | The single-engine plane crashed down outside North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida on Monday afternoon, killing the two people on board. The incident was captured in shocking footage, showing the craft as it careened into a vehicle and skidded across the ground, with its fuel igniting a sizable fire. | "We heard like a bomb, like a tremendous noise and everything was on fire and it dived into a car,…

RT (2021-03-16). US set to face more migrants on Mexico border than in 'last 20 years' — Homeland Security boss. rt.com The US is set to encounter more migrants on its southwestern border than it had over the past 20 years, warns Secretary of Homeland Security, defending Washington's handling of the ongoing influx of unaccompanied child migrants. | The prediction was "The situation we are currently facing at the southwest border is a difficult one. We are tackling it," Mayorka…

news.un (2021-03-16). Myanmar: UN rights office 'deeply disturbed' over intensifying violence against protesters. news.un.org The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday it is "deeply disturbed" that the crackdown on peaceful protesters in Myanmar "continues to intensify", with a soaring death toll on the streets, increasingly aggressive use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests, and reports of torture in custody.

RT (2021-03-16). Biden calls on local preachers & doctors to promote vaccines… dismissing Fauci's appeal for Trump to help get skeptics on board. rt.com President Joe Biden apparently doesn't share his chief Covid-19 adviser's view that Donald Trump would be a "game changer" in promoting vaccines, instead saying local church leaders and doctors would have the biggest impact. | "The thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctor, what the local preacher, what the local people in the community say," Biden said on Monday of the advice he's getting from staffers. "So I urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why, why it's important to get that vaccine, and even after that until everyone is, i…

RT (2021-03-16). Vanity Fair accuses Trump of KILLING 400,000 people with Covid, Trump supporters want to see the mag sued. rt.com Vanity Fair is seemingly holding Donald Trump responsible for murdering 400,000 Americans with Covid-19. Needless to say, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo or Joe Biden. Some suggested a libel suit might teach the mag a lesson. | The story begins with Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to the former president, who on Monday

Brian Willson (2021-03-16). Desnudando a los Padres Fundadores y la Constitución de Estados Unidos. globalizacion.ca Todos los artículos del Centro de Investigación Sobre Globalización (Global Research) se pueden leer en 27 idiomas activando el menú desplegable "Traducir sitio web" en el banner superior de nuestra página de inicio (versión de escritorio). | *** | Esencialmente la propiedad,…

A Guest Author (2021-03-16). Mumia Abu-Jamal's health emergency: Interview with Dr. Ricardo Alvarez. workers.org Mumia Abu-Jamal, the internationally renowned journalist, Pennsylvania prison inmate and former Black Panther widely considered to be a political prisoner, is now experiencing a health emergency. A Feb. 27 call from Mumia alerted supporters who immediately began a campaign to telephone Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzl, Philadelphia District Attorney . . . |

Global Research News (2021-03-16). Selected Articles: Ten Years Ago: The US-NATO-Israel Sponsored Al Qaeda Insurgency in Syria. globalresearch.ca By It was not a protest movement,…

George Wuerthner (2021-03-16). The Institutional Bias of Forestry School Research. counterpunch.org Institutional bias doesn't just exist in race relationships. The Forest Service and Forestry Schools have been the handmaiden of the timber industry for so long they do not even recognize their own biases. A good example is a recent announcement by the Oregon State University Forestry School that: "A quarter-century-old harvesting restriction intended to last

MEE, agencies (2021-03-16). Lebanon currency hits new low on black market amid political crisis. middleeasteye.net Lebanon currency hits new low on black market amid political crisis | The Lebanese pound has lost 90 percent of its value on the black market over the last 18 months | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 13: 45 | A protester blocks a bridge with burning tyres on the Saida-Ghazieh highway, southern Lebanon, after demonstrations erupted following the sharp drop of the Lebanese pound, 16 March 2021 (AFP) | Leb…

MEE, agencies (2021-03-16). Yemen: Protesters storm presidential palace demanding payment of wages. middleeasteye.net Yemen: Protesters storm presidential palace demanding payment of wages | Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other officials remain holed up in the building in the port city of Aden | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 11: 22 | Security forces loyal to the separatist Southern Transitional Council stand next to vehicles as they are deployed in the southern port city of Aden (Reuters) | Yemeni public…

MEE staff (2021-03-16). Israel sentences 14-year-old Palestinian boy to two months in prison. middleeasteye.net Israel sentences 14-year-old Palestinian boy to two months in prison | Abdullah Obaid handed himself to Israeli authorities after being accused of throwing stones at police | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 14: 19 | Abdullah Obaid, 14, hugs his mother farewell before handing himself to an Israeli detention centre in West Jerusalem, 16 March 2021 (Screengrab) | An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced a 14-year-old Palestinian…

Areeb Ullah (2021-03-16). Yemen: Evidence mounts that Houthis started Sanaa migrant centre fire. middleeasteye.net Yemen: Evidence mounts that Houthis started Sanaa migrant centre fire | A new Human Rights Watch investigation confirms MEE findings that Houthis started a fire that killed scores of people | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 11: 02 | African migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, receive food and water inside a football stadium in the Red Sea port city of Aden, Yemen, on 23 April 2019. (AFP) | New details revealed by Human Ri…