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DemocracyNow! headlines
"A Fire That Has Spread Across the Country": Jelani Cobb on Voter Suppression in the 2020 Election
Tue, 20 Oct 2020 08:38:05 -0400 As tens of millions of people across the U.S. cast their ballots in early voting ahead of the November 3 election, we look at voter suppression efforts with journalist and academic Jelani Cobb. His new "Frontline" documentary "Whose Vote Counts" examines the long lines, record number of mail-in ballots and the legal fights that have marked voting during the pandemic, with a focus on Wisconsin. "This is a state where the presidency was essentially decided in the last election," says Cobb, a professor of journalism at Columbia University and a contributor to The New Yorker. He describes voter suppression as "a fire that has spread across the country." "A Blow Against Neoliberalism": Socialist Wins Bolivian Election a Year After Coup Ousted Evo Morales Tue, 20 Oct 2020 08:12:14 -0400 Former Bolivian President Evo Morales's political party MAS has claimed victory in the country's presidential election, with Morales's handpicked successor Luis Arce securing over 50% of the vote, according to exit polls. If confirmed, the result will put the socialist party back in power almost a year after a right-wing coup that ousted Morales and installed Jeanine Áñez as president. The election was postponed twice, and protests rocked Bolivia for months leading up to the vote, calling out the government's use of military and police repression and violence against Indigenous communities. "It's an extraordinary election," says Ollie Vargas, a reporter for Kawsachun News. "In 2019, Evo Morales won by a margin of just over 10%, and now we have a margin of over 20% with which the left is ahead." We also speak with Leonardo Flores, Latin America campaign coordinator of CodePink, who calls the election results "a huge, huge victory" for Bolivian people and for democracy itself. "It's a blow against neoliberalism and fascism in this country," says Flores. Headlines for October 20, 2020 Tue, 20 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Trump Continues Attack on Fauci as U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surge and Death Toll Mounts, SCOTUS Deadlock Hands Victory to Voters in Pennsylvania as Floridians Break Early Voting Record, Debate Commission Announces Changes Ahead of Final Presidential Face-Off, Evo Morales Celebrates Victory of MAS Party, Says He Will Return to Bolivia, Trump Admin to Remove Sudan from U.S. List of Terrorist States, At Least 15 People Killed as Nigerian Protests Against Police Violence Continue, WSJ: U.S. Held Talks with Syrian Intelligence About Missing U.S. Citizens, Palestinian Prisoner in Critical Condition After Nearly 3 Months of Hunger Strike Against His Detention, 10,000s Displaced, at Least 115 Dead in Vietnam and Cambodia After Intense Storms, Indigenous Communities in Colombia Demand an End to Murders, Join in National Strike, DOJ Announces Hacking Charges Against Russian Military Intelligence, Tax Fraud and Evasion Probe Launched Against Euro Pacific Bank, SCOTUS to Hear Cases on Funding of Trump's Border Wall and "Remain in Mexico" Policy Jeremy Scahill on Trump's "Homicidal" Pandemic Response & What's at Stake in November Election Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:53:50 -0400 As President Trump campaigns in swing states that are also coronavirus hot spots, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill argues he is directly responsible for the poor U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed almost 220,000 people in the country so far and sickened millions. "I don't know how else to describe what Trump has done except homicidal," says Scahill, host of a new seven-part audio series that examines the Trump era. Jeremy Scahill: "Trump Is Not the Root of the Problem, He Is a Product of American Imperial History" Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:43:29 -0400 Donald Trump ran for president in 2016 with a mixed message of attacking the legacy of the Iraq War and U.S. military adventurism, while simultaneously pledging to commit war crimes and promote imperialism. As we look back at Trump's record, Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept, says his flouting of international norms and bullying of other countries is in keeping with how U.S. presidents have long behaved. "Donald Trump is not the root of the problem. Donald Trump is a product of American imperial history," Scahill notes. Jeremy Scahill: Trump's Xenophobia Is Horrific, But U.S. Immigration Policy Has Always Been Racist Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:35:21 -0400 In Part 2 of our discussion of the Trump era with The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill about his new seven-part audio documentary "American Mythology," he examines how Trump's xenophobic immigration policies have been a "methodical, surgical operation" to make life miserable for both current and prospective immigrants, including asylum seekers fleeing violence. He also notes that while Trump's policies have been particularly vicious, "this country has had a racist immigration policy for a very long time, and it's bipartisan." Jeremy Scahill: Trump Has Incited White Supremacists & Emboldened Police to Act Outside the Law Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:18:22 -0400 As the 2020 presidential campaign enters its final two weeks, we look at the past four years of the Trump presidency with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept. His podcast "Intercepted" has just released the fourth chapter in a seven-part audio documentary titled "American Mythology," which critically examines the Trump presidency and places it within a larger historical context. Scahill says Trump has empowered white supremacist vigilantes and given permission to law enforcement to act extrajudicially to enforce a racist status quo, but he cautions that "Donald Trump is not an aberration of U.S. history or some anomaly, but he's a very overt representation of many of the absolute most violent, destructive, racist, xenophobic trends in U.S. history." Headlines for October 19, 2020 Mon, 19 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 U.S. COVID-19 Cases Surge as Trump Continues Unmasked Campaign Rallies, Cases Mounting Across Europe as New Restrictions Enacted, Top Palestinian Official Saeb Erekat in Critical Condition with COVID-19, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Accuses Trump of Inspiring, Incentivizing and Inciting Terrorism, White Supremacists Indicted for Arms Trafficking, Murder and Plotting to Bomb Synagogue, Death Toll in Nagorno-Karabakh Fighting Mounts as New Ceasefire Falls Apart, Kyrgyzstan Installs New President, Who Will Also Serve as Prime Minister, Alexei Navalny Calls on Trump to Denounce Use of Chemical Weapons, Car Bomb in Central Afghanistan Kills at Least 12, Injures Over 100 People, Thailand Protests Continue in Face of Government and Police Crackdown, Evo Morales's MAS Party Set for Outright Victory in Bolivia, One Year After His Ouster, Chileans Take to Streets One Year After Start of Mass Protests & Ahead of Constitutional Referendum, Mexican Ex-Defense Sec. Indicted on Laundering and Drugs Charges, Has History of Rights Abuses in Mexico, Tens of Thousands of Pakistanis Rally to Demand PM Imran Khan Resign, Iran Arms Embargo Expires Despite U.S. Objections, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Wins Landslide Reelection After Stamping Out Coronavirus, Rallies Around the Country Call on People to Vote in U.S. Election, Colorado Fires Shatter Records as Trump Reverses Course on California Wildfire Aid, SCOTUS to Decide Whether to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Count Dark Money & Barrett Nomination: The Link Between Big Polluters & the War on ACA, Roe & LGBT Rights Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:44:00 -0400 During confirmation hearings this week for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island opted not to ask the judge any questions. Instead, he gave a 30-minute presentation on how right-wing groups, including the Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network, use dark money to shape the nation's judiciary. We air excerpts from his presentation and get reaction from Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Preserving Roe: West Virginia Mom Tells Abortion Story in Heartfelt Speech Against Amy Coney Barrett Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:30:34 -0400 The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony this week from Crystal Good, who spoke about her experience of having an abortion and expressed concerns that Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court would limit access to safe, affordable care. During three days of hearings, Judge Barrett has repeatedly refused to answer questions about her views on abortion and the future of Roe v. Wade, despite her public record opposing reproductive rights. "If confirmed, Judge Barrett will be a fifth vote to eviscerate the important protections that have been afforded by Roe v. Wade," says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who also testified in the Senate this week. Deeply Troubling: Kristen Clarke on How Rush to Confirm Barrett Endangers Voting & Civil Rights Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:18:07 -0400 The Senate confirmation hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett ended Thursday with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee scheduling a vote on her nomination for October 22, with a full Senate vote to follow shortly thereafter — less than two weeks before the presidential election, in which the Supreme Court could play a decisive role. The right-wing judge's confirmation looks all but assured, after four rushed days of questioning in which Barrett refused to state her position on abortion rights, gay marriage, the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, climate change, and even if President Trump could delay the election. If confirmed, she gives conservatives a 6-3 majority on the high court. "We have never had a president put forth a nomination and commence confirmation hearings in the middle of an ongoing presidential election," says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Headlines for October 16, 2020 Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 COVID-19 Hospitalizations on the Rise Across U.S. as Confirmed Cases Hit 8 Million, French Police Raid Homes of Government Officials in Probe of Failed Coronavirus Response, WHO Finds Remdesivir Fails to Prevent COVID-19 Deaths, World Health Organization Warns Many Will Have to Wait Until 2022 for Vaccine, Senate on Track to Confirm Far-Right Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Oct. 26, Joe Biden Defends 1994 Crime Bill and Calls for More Police Funding, President Trump Refuses to Disavow Far-Right Anti-Semitic QAnon Conspiracy Theory, Trump Celebrates Apparent Extrajudicial Killing by U.S. Marshals Carrying Out His Orders, Chris Christie Says "I Was Wrong Not to Wear a Mask" at White House, After Release from ICU, Pandemic Forces 8 Million Americans into Poverty Amid Mass Unemployment, Kansas City Housing Activists Chain Themselves to Doors of Eviction Court, Chicago Police Department Rejects Use-of-Force Reforms as Ex-Chief Accused of Rape, L.A. Lakers Fan Loses Eye as Police Fire "Less Lethal" Rounds into Crowds of Revelers, University of Miami Reportedly Used Facial Recognition to Discipline Student Protesters, GOP Sen. Ben Sasse Says Trump Coddles Dictators and Racists While Profiting from Presidency, Cameron Peak Fire Becomes Largest in Colorado's History, Yemen's Saudi-Backed Government Swaps Prisoners with Houthi Rebels, Mexican Ex-Defense Secretary Arrested in L.A. on Drug and Money Laundering Charges, Jesuit Priest Sentenced to 33 Months for Peaceful Anti-Nuclear Protest in Georgia Amy Coney Barrett Won't Say Climate Change Is Real; Forgets 1st Amendment Protects Right to Protest Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:50:58 -0400 We air highlights from the second day of questioning of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who faced eight hours of questions on Wednesday about her views on issues ranging from climate change to voting rights to gay marriage and abortion, as Republicans race to confirm her ahead of the election and secure a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court for conservatives. Herd Immunity: Is It a More Compassionate Approach or Will It Lead to Death or Illness for Millions? Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:16:22 -0400 As coronavirus cases increase across much of the United States, the Trump administration has reportedly adopted a policy of deliberately letting the virus infect much of the U.S. population in order to attain "herd immunity" — despite warnings from the World Health Organization against such an approach. We host a debate on the contentious issue of herd immunity and how best to confront the virus with two Harvard medical experts: epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and one of the lead signatories of the controversial Great Barrington Declaration arguing for an easing of lockdowns, and Dr. Abraar Karan, an internal medicine doctor at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and at Harvard Medical School who has worked on the COVID-19 public health response in Massachusetts since February. Headlines for October 15, 2020 Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Hospital Beds Grow Scarce as U.S. Faces Another Surge of Coronavirus Cases , University of Alabama Football Coach Tests Positive as Coronavirus Cancels SEC Games, White House Gave Wealthy Donors Private Briefing on Pandemic's Threat to Markets, First Lady Says Barron Trump Tested Positive for Coronavirus, Trump Campaign Rally Flouts Public Health Measures in Iowa, Where COVID-19 Is at Record Levels, France to Impose Curfew on Paris as European Coronavirus Cases Hit Record Highs, SCOTUS Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Won't Say Whether She Believes in Climate Change, Amy Coney Barrett Failed to Disclose Past Anti-Choice Speaking Events, Reports CNN, California GOP Defiant over Order to Remove Falsely Labeled Ballot Collection Boxes, Videos Show Conservative Activists Opposing Mail-in Ballots in "Good Versus Evil" Campaign, Northern California Faces Blackouts and Red Flag Warnings as Hot, Gusty Winds Return, Pentagon to Host Indonesian General Tied to Mass Murder, Kidnappings and Torture, Thailand Imposes State of Emergency to Quell Student-Led Anti-Government Protests, Honduran Environmentalist Who Opposed Open-Pit Mine Assassinated, Vatican Holds First-Ever Sexual Abuse Trial for Clergy, Breonna Taylor's Boyfriend Says Police Never Identified Themselves During Fatal Raid Making the Supreme Court Safe for Democracy: Samuel Moyn on Reforming an Undemocratic Institution Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:46:19 -0400 As Republicans race to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett prior to Election Day and cement a conservative majority on the top court for a generation or more, calls are growing for Joe Biden to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court if elected president. But Yale legal scholar Samuel Moyn argues that beyond "packing the court" and other measures commonly proposed to rebalance the Supreme Court's ideological makeup, the institution as a whole must be weakened in order to safeguard democracy. "This country was founded on minority rule and the rejection of democracy, and the Supreme Court has long been a part of that picture," says Moyn. "Now that the right is on the brink of establishing control, it's a dangerous institution." Dahlia Lithwick: Amy Coney Barrett May Claim Neutrality, But Her Record Is "Extremely Conservative" Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:25:37 -0400 In the second day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the federal judge's refusal to answer basic questions on voter intimidation and whether a president can delay elections did her "no favors" and was part of an aim to "present herself as neutral; she's an open book; whatever she was before, whatever she ruled on the bench before, is immaterial," says Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent and Supreme Court reporter for Slate.com. "There are some issues that don't need to be approached with an open mind. ... She could have allayed a lot of fears." Can Trump Delay Election or Reject Peaceful Transition of Power? Amy Coney Barrett Refuses to Say Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:14:09 -0400 Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced 11 hours of questioning in the Senate Tuesday but refused to provide clarity about her views on the Affordable Care Act, Roe v. Wade, voting rights and even if President Trump could delay the election. Republicans are racing to confirm the 48-year-old federal judge before Election Day, which would give conservatives a commanding 6-3 majority on the high court. We air highlights from the marathon session. Headlines for October 14, 2020 Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 White House Pursuing "Herd Immunity" Strategy Condemned by WHO as "Unethical", Trump Holds Packed Campaign Rallies in Defiance of Social Distancing Orders, "Potential Safety Concern" Halts Clinical Trial of Eli Lilly Antibody Treatment, Amy Coney Barrett Won't Commit to Recusing Herself If 2020 Election Is Decided by SCOTUS, FBI Says Far-Right Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Virginia Governor, More Witnesses Corroborate Claims of Extrajudicial Killing by U.S. Marshals, Trailing in Polls, Trump Appeals to White Suburban Women and Farmers, Supreme Court Will Allow Trump Admin to Halt Census Count a Month Early, Virginia Voter Registration Website Crashes on Last Day to Register for November Election, Federal Judge Will Allow Texas to Restrict Ballot Drop Box Sites to One Per County, 100+ Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Deported Despite Fear of Being Killed, Mexican Government ID's 2 Women It Says Had Nonconsensual Surgeries in ICE Custody, U.S. Border Agents in Guatemala Deported Honduran Asylum Seekers in Unauthorized Operation, DOJ Ends Probe of Alleged "Unmasking" Conspiracy with No Charges and No Public Report, Belarus Officials Threaten to Kill Anti-Government Protesters A Rigged Judiciary Leads to Rigged Elections: Ari Berman on Barrett Hearings & GOP Voter Suppression Tue, 13 Oct 2020 08:44:19 -0400 Amy Coney Barrett's involvement in the court fight over the 2000 presidential election, when she was a member of George W. Bush's legal team, shows she is willing to bend the law to benefit Republican candidates, says Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman. "That's what's so disturbing about Amy Coney Barrett, because that's exactly what President Trump wants to do right now," says Berman. "He wants a justice who will rule his way on the vote count, no matter what the facts or the law actually says." Berman also looks at challenges voters are facing nationwide as early voting is underway from Georgia to Arizona, where the Pascua Yaqui Tribe filed a lawsuit Monday to reinstate the only early in-person voting site on the reservation, which was shut down in 2018. Packing the Courts: How Republicans Spent Decades Installing Judges to Cement Minority Rule Tue, 13 Oct 2020 08:23:28 -0400 Amid Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, we look at how conservatives have used dark money to push to seat her on the Supreme Court before the November 3 election, following a decades-long project by conservatives to install right-wing judges across the federal judiciary. "There's no doubt that what we're facing is, increasingly, rule by a minority," says former Senate Judiciary Committee staffer Lisa Graves, executive director of True North Research. "When people say that the court needs to be packed, it really needs to be unpacked." "Let the People Decide!" Protests at Amy Coney Barrett Hearing Decry GOP Power Grab, Attack on ACA Tue, 13 Oct 2020 08:13:59 -0400 Hundreds protested outside the Senate Monday against the confirmation hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. At least 21 were arrested after staging a sit-in to oppose the Senate pushing through Barrett's nomination in the middle of the presidential election. Senate Democrats warn the federal judge's record suggests she would overturn the Affordable Care Act and threaten reproductive rights if she takes the seat left vacant by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. "Trump and the Republicans are trying to execute a power grab," says Ana María Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, who joins us from the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of another day of protests. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, she says lawmakers should instead focus on doing "everything they can to provide urgent relief to millions of people." Headlines for October 13, 2020 Tue, 13 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Dems Warn of Threat to ACA, Roe v. Wade, as Hearing Begins for Trump SCOTUS Nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Trump Returns to Campaigning as COVID Status Remains Unclear, COVID-19 Cases Soaring in Europe, Russia, as India Becomes Second Country to Hit 7 Million Cases, Johnson & Johnson Halts Vaccine Trials; More Evidence of Reinfection Revealed, GA Early Voters Face Long Lines; CA Officials Warn GOP over Illegal Drop Sites, Pascua Yaqui Tribe Sues in Arizona over Voter Suppression Efforts, WH Moves Forward with Taiwan Weapons Sales as U.S. Officials Tell Taiwan to Ramp Up Defense, Bangladeshi Government Approves Death Penalty for Convicted Rapists, Trump Children Cost Taxpayers $238,000+ for Secret Service Room Rentals at Trump Properties, O'odham Land Defenders Arrested After Blocking Traffic to Protest Border Wall, New Mexico Protesters Topple Civil War-Era Monument on Indigenous Peoples' Day, Head of Energy Transfer, a Major Trump Donor, Steps Down as CEO, "The Ice Is Dying": Researchers Warn Climate Crisis Is Irrevocably Changing Arctic Landscape, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Awarded to U.S. Researchers for Auction Theory, Princeton to Back Pay $1 Million in Wages After Federal Gender Discrimination Probe, Mother of Black Teen Killed by Police in Wauwatosa, WI, Arrested During Protests, Jim Dwyer, Pulitzer-Winning Reporter Who Chronicled Injustice & the Lives of New Yorkers, Dies at 63 O'odham Land Defenders Lead Indigenous Resistance to Trump's Border Wall Amid Militarized Crackdown Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:42:19 -0400 As 14 states and more than 130 cities across the U.S. celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day in place of Columbus Day, we go to Arizona, where Indigenous communities are leading resistance against the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall near a sacred spring inside the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. People's "lives have been so severely impacted by not only this border wall, but the complete militarization of our homelands due to this irrational fear of folks on the other side, which are our relatives," says Nellie Jo David, an O'odham water and land defender. This campaign of nonviolent protests comes as a federal appeals court issued an order Friday to halt the border wall construction in some areas of Arizona, along with Texas, New Mexico and California. "I Feel for Them": Son of Former White House Butler Says Trump Endangered Health of Residence Staff Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:29:32 -0400 Charles Allen, whose father Eugene Allen worked as a butler at the White House for 34 years, says President Trump's reckless actions following his COVID-19 hospitalization are threatening the health of the domestic staff at the White House. "As my dad used to say, they were the little people that made it possible for the big people to do what they did," he says. Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents, from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan, died in 2010, but his life story became the basis of the 2013 film "The Butler," starring Forest Whitaker. Ai-jen Poo: Trump Flouts COVID-19 Safety Rules with "Utter Disregard" for White House Domestic Staff Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:14:00 -0400 President Trump's return to the White House and defiant mask removal despite still being treated for COVID-19 has threatened the health of the mostly older, Black and Brown household staff, says domestic worker advocate Ai-jen Poo, senior adviser to Care in Action. "These are essential workers who have been keeping him and his family safe and caring for them, and he showed a complete and utter disregard for their health and safety," she says. At least three White House housekeepers and one other member of the residence staff were recently infected, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, thousands of domestic workers face dire consequences from the failure to pass a new coronavirus stimulus bill, and have organized to support each other in the meantime. Headlines for October 12, 2020 Mon, 12 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Trump Resumes Rallies, Declares He Is "Immune" as WH Doctors Refuse to Say If He Tested Negative, Fauci Says His Words Taken Out of Context in New Trump Ad, WH Blocks CDC Order on Face Masks on Public Transportation as U.S. COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise, Stimulus Talks Still at Impasse After Dems and GOP Reject Latest WH Offer, SCOTUS Hearings Kick Off in Senate as Amy Coney Barrett's Anti-Abortion Beliefs in Spotlight, Trump-Biden Debate Canceled After Trump Refuses to Participate in Virtual Format, SC Senate Debate Turns into Candidate Forum After Lindsey Graham Refuses Coronavirus Test, Judge Rejects Trump Effort to Remove PA Ballot Boxes; TX Court Stays Reversal of Gov. Abbott Drop Box Order, Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh Breaks Down as Civilian Casualties Mount in Disputed Area, Mass Protests Lead to Dismantling of Nigerian Police Squad Accused of Violence, Robberies, Armed Groups in Iraq Agree to Conditional Ceasefire, NYT: Trump Tax Records Reveal Cash Windfall in Lead-up to 2016 Election, Federal Court Rules Trump's Diversion of Military Funds to Build Border Wall Is Illegal, 2 Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Who May Have Been Forcibly Sterilized Are Set to Be Deported, Hurricane Delta Batters Louisiana as Residents Still Reeling from Hurricane Laura, Killer Mike Launches Black-Owned Online Bank, Named After Greenwood, Site of Racist Massacre in 1921 Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Why Turkey's Intervention Could Turn It into a "Proxy War" Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:47:59 -0400 The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are in Moscow for talks following two weeks of fighting over the disputed territory Nagorno-Karabakh. At least 300 people have already died in what could turn into a wider regional conflagration, with Turkey openly supporting Azerbaijan and Russia backing Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians. "Turkey's intervention on the side of Azerbaijan is very destabilizing," says Anna Ohanyan, professor of political science and international relations at Stonehill College. "It creates the conditions of transforming this conflict into a proxy war." U.N. World Food Programme Wins Nobel Peace Prize for Tackling Hunger Amid War, Pandemic & Climate Crisis Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:35:24 -0400 As the World Food Programme wins the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger around the world, we speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, who says the United Nations body is doing vital work around the world. "I couldn't be happier that the World Food Programme won the Nobel Prize for peace, because this hunger pandemic is paralyzing perhaps 2.7 billion people," he says. FBI Foils Right-Wing Plot to Kidnap Michigan Gov. Months After Trump Urged "Liberation" of State Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:16:30 -0400 Just months after President Trump tweeted for his supporters to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" the FBI has foiled an alleged plot to kidnap and take hostage Democratic Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer. Authorities arrested six men Thursday involved in the kidnapping plot, and seven others who were said to be planning to storm the state Capitol in Lansing with the intent of starting a civil war. "It came as a surprise to many, but not necessarily here in Michigan, because the state has a long history of militia and white nationalist ties," says Russ McNamara, a reporter at WDET, Detroit's NPR affiliate. We also speak with Michigan state Representative Kyra Harris Bolden, who says local Democrats have been warning for months about the threat posed by far-right extremists. "It's very important to note that this could have been prevented," she says. Headlines for October 9, 2020 Fri, 09 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 13 Charged in Far-Right Terror Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor & Attack State Capitol, Sickened with COVID-19, Trump Rejects Remote Debate and Plans New Rallies, Trump's Erratic Behavior Sparks Fears over His Physical and Mental Health, House Speaker Pelosi Questions Trump's Fitness as Vice President Pence Returns to D.C., North Dakota Hospitals Fill to Capacity as Coronavirus Cases Surge Nationwide, White House Superspreader Event May Have Exposed Thousands to Coronavirus, Whistleblowing Vaccine Specialist Calls Out Trump's "Reckless and Deadly" Misinformation, Trump Received COVID-19 Drugs Developed Using Human Fetal Tissue, World Logs Record One-Day Coronavirus Toll Amid Exponential Rises in Europe, Ohio Federal Judge Blocks Order Limiting Number of Ballot Drop Boxes, Friends of Trump Accuser Amy Dorris Confirm 1997 Sexual Assault , Human Rights Report Condemns Violence Against LGBTQ Central Americans, Guatemalan Feminists Demand Justice for Two Women Recently Murdered, ICE to Allow Arrest & Expedited Deportation of Undocumented People Without Due Process, Hurricane Delta Bringing "Life-Threatening Storm Surge" to Louisiana Gulf Coast, Iran Blasts "Crime Against Humanity" as Latest U.S. Sanctions Threaten Food Supply, World Food Programme Wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, Former Trump Fundraiser Elliott Broidy Charged with Acting as Foreign Agent, Pioneering Transgender Activist & Journalist Monica Roberts Dies at 58 Rev. William Barber on Voter Suppression: Republicans Know They Can't Win If Everyone Casts a Ballot Thu, 08 Oct 2020 08:53:18 -0400 During Wednesday's debate, Vice President Mike Pence refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Biden wins the election. Instead, he referenced the Trump administration's legal efforts to restrict mail-in voting. Rev. William Barber says the Republican Party's voter suppression efforts ahead of the November election, aimed primarily at Black and Brown voters, amount to "surgical racism with surgical precision." The Poor People's Campaign, of which Barber is co-chair, is leading a major voter mobilization effort to combat voter disenfranchisement. "They know they cannot win if everybody votes. They are terribly afraid of poor and low-wealth Black and Brown people voting," he says. Rev. William Barber: Millions Are Struggling. So Why Do the Debates Ignore Poverty? Thu, 08 Oct 2020 08:43:00 -0400 Rev. William Barber says the 2020 election debates have steadfastly ignored the subject of poverty, even though it affected almost half the United States population before the COVID-19 pandemic and millions more people are struggling since then. "We have to stop saying that things were well before COVID," Barber says. "The reality is, Wall Street was well." Barber is co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach. The Greatest Failure in Presidential History: Kamala Harris Slams Trump/Pence's Handling of COVID-19 Thu, 08 Oct 2020 08:17:42 -0400 Separated by two plates of plexiglass, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris met Wednesday in the only vice-presidential debate of the campaign season. Pence, who heads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, repeatedly defended the Trump administration's handling of the crisis as the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 nears 212,000 and millions of people remain out of work. The debate also took place against the backdrop of a White House outbreak that has infected President Trump and dozens of other senior figures. "The White House has had more cases than the country of Yemen recently, than Vietnam, than New Zealand," says Dr. Craig Spencer, director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. "How can we expect the White House to keep the U.S. safe if it can't keep the White House safe?" Headlines for October 8, 2020 Thu, 08 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Kamala Harris and Mike Pence Face Off in VP Debate Separated by Plexiglass Barriers, Contagious with COVID-19, President Trump Returns to Oval Office, Trump Calls COVID-19 Diagnosis a "Blessing from God", Top Security Official "Gravely Ill" with COVID-19 as White House Coronavirus Cluster Grows to 34, White House Quietly Told Gold Star Families They May Have Been Exposed to Coronavirus, Wisconsin Restricts Indoor Gatherings Amid Record Spike in Coronavirus Cases, New England Journal of Medicine Calls on Voters to Vote Against Trump in First-Ever Endorsement, Ex-CDC Director Calls on Robert Redfield to Expose "Colossal Failure" of Pandemic Response, Arizona GOP Sen. Martha McSally Refuses to Restate Her Support for Donald Trump, Texas High Court Bars Harris County from Sending Mail-in Ballot Applications to Voters, California Records First "Gigafire" in State History, with Over 1 Million Acres Burned, Last Month Was the Hottest September on Record, Edging Out September 2019, Greek Court Declares Fascist Golden Dawn Party a Criminal Organization, Police Shooting Victim Jacob Blake at Spinal Rehabilitation Center After Leaving Hospital, Minneapolis Officer Who Killed George Floyd Released from Jail on $1 Million Bond, Louise Glück, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier Awarded Nobel Prizes Greensboro Massacre: City Apologizes 41 Years After Cops Allowed Klan, Nazis to Kill 5 Antiracists Wed, 07 Oct 2020 08:42:26 -0400 Nearly 41 years after Ku Klux Klansmen and American Nazis shot dead five antiracist activists in the town of Greensboro, North Carolina, the City Council there has passed a resolution apologizing for the attack and the police department's complicity in the killings. We speak with two survivors of the 1979 attack, Reverend Nelson Johnson and Joyce Hobson Johnson, who say the city's apology acknowledges "the police knew and chose to do nothing. In fact, they facilitated what we name now as a North American death squad." Mary Trump: My Uncle Is Responsible for 210,000 Deaths and Is Now "Willfully Getting People Sick" Wed, 07 Oct 2020 08:18:04 -0400 As President Trump compares the deadly COVID-19 outbreak to the flu despite being hospitalized for the virus, we speak to his only niece, Mary Trump, about his increasingly erratic behavior in the final weeks of the election season and how his family views illness as a weakness. "To be treated for something is to admit that you need the treatment, and I don't see him having any self-awareness," she says. "Clearly the people closest to him don't care about his well-being. If they did, he'd still be at Walter Reed." She also warns that the "worst-case scenario" would be for President Trump to overcome his illness relatively quickly, because it would convince him to continue ignoring the pandemic. Mary Trump is a clinical psychologist. In July, she overcame Trump's legal threats and published the now best-selling book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man." Headlines for October 7, 2020 Wed, 07 Oct 2020 08:00:00 -0400 Stephen Miller Tests Positive for COVID-19 as Top Pentagon Generals Quarantine, Rudy Giuliani Coughs Through TV Interview While Awaiting Coronavirus Test Result, White House Refuses Contact Tracing Help as Trump Puts Residence Staff at Risk of COVID-19, Two Presidential Valets Who Carry Nuclear Launch Codes Test Positive for Coronavirus, Six States Report Record Hospitalizations as U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Nears 211,000, Trump Calls Off Stimulus Talks, Then Reverses Course in Erratic Series of Tweets, Facebook, Twitter Crack Down on Trump's False Claim COVID-19 Is Less Lethal Than Flu, FDA to Require Two Month Safety Review for Vaccines Before Emergency Use, Vaccine Expert Who Blew Whistle on Trump's Coronavirus Response Resigns, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris Vice-Presidential Debate to Feature Plexiglass Barriers, Joe Biden Condemns Racial Injustice, Calls for Fully Funding Police, Amy Coney Barrett Served as "Handmaid" in Secretive Religious Group, Two Supreme Court Justices Mull Reversal of Marriage Equality Ruling, Hurricane Delta Strikes Mexico's Yucatan, Tracks Toward U.S. Gulf Coast, East Africa Flooding Forces 1.5 Million from Homes Amid Historic Rainfall, Kyrgyzstan's Election Commission Invalidates Disputed Vote Amid Mass Protests, Senators Want U.S. Military Aid to Azerbaijan Cut as Nagorno-Karabakh Fighting Escalates, 18 Killed in Truck Bombing in Turkish-Controlled Syrian Town, Grand Jury Indicts Wealthy St. Louis Couple Who Brandished Guns at BLM Protesters, Homeland Security Dept.: White Supremacists Are "Most Persistent and Lethal Threat", House Democrats Accuse Big Tech Companies of Monopolistic Practices, NYT: Jeff Sessions Defended Child Separations, Saying, "We Need to Take Away Children"
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