(2020-01-04). US-led coalition DENIES conducting airstrikes north of Baghdad amid reports of medics killed in US raid. rt.com 
The US-led coalition spokesman said the forces did not hit targets near Camp Taji north of Baghdad, after Iran-backed Iraqi militia reportedly claimed that medics were hit in a recent air raid on a convoy late Friday. | The US-led forces "did NOT conduct airstrikes" in the area in recent days, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, Colonel Myles Caggins, tweeted. | @CJTFOIR did NOT conduct airstrikes near Camp Taji (north of Baghdad) in recent days.— OIR Spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III (@OIRSpox) Januar…
(2020-01-04). 'End #TrumpsWar now', US congresswoman & presidential candidate Gabbard tweets after drone strike killed Iranian general. rt.com 
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, one of the Democratic Party contenders in the 2020 presidential race, said American armed forces must leave Iraq and Syria, instead of pushing towards war. | "End #TrumpsWar now. Remove our troops from Iraq and Syria," the politician from Hawaii tweeted on Saturday. | End #TrumpsWar now. Remove our troops from Iraq and Syria.— Tulsi Gabbard üå∫ (@TulsiGabbard) January 4, 2020
(2020-01-04). 'Supermani': CNN contributor falls for obvious Iran satire as US journos struggle to understand who Soleimani really was. rt.com 
Neoconservative mainstream media favorite Michael Weiss appears to have fallen for a satirical piece on Qassem Soleimani that claimed the man did not cast a shadow and was nicknamed "Supermani." | Daily Beast senior editor and frequent CNN guest Michael Weiss is earning plenty of mockery on social media following him appearing to fall for a clearly satirical story on the legend of Qassem Soleimani, the late Iranian general recently assassinated by the US military. | "It was a well cultivated (and mythologized) aura, which the…
(2020-01-04). Thousands Take to Streets Across US to Protest Trump's March to War Against Iran. truthout.org Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the United States on Saturday took to the streets to condemn the Trump administration's " reckless acts of war" against Iran and demand that the U.S. withdraw its troops from the Middle East. | From New York City to Chicago to Arkansas and more than 70 other locations around the U.S., demonstrators rallied against the assassina…
(2020-01-04). Total inflow to Turkish gas system down 6.33% in 2019. yenisafak.com Natural gas inflow to Turkey's gas network saw a year-on-year decrease of around 6.33% to 46.83 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019, according to data from the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS) on Saturday.In 2018, around 50 bcm of natural gas entered the Turkish natural gas system, the majority of which, at around 49.33 bcm, was consumed.As Turkey's natural gas export volume is very low, the total consumption is expected to be close to the amount of inflow.In 2017, Turkey saw the highest inflow level in the country's history at 53.86 bcm.According to the Twitter account of Turkey's Energy and Natural…
(2020-01-04). Turkey neutralizes 2 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq. yenisafak.com Turkish fighter jets neutralized two PKK terrorists in an operation in northern Iraq, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said Saturday.The ministry said on Twitter that the terrorists were plotting an attack and were neutralized in the Avasin-Basyan region. | It added that operations would continue undeterred. | Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq to plan cross-border terrorist attacks in Turkey.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist…
(2020-01-03). Trump tweets after Quds chief killing: 'Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!'. rt.com 
Following the US assassination of Iran's Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani, President Donald Trump took to Twitter, issuing a quite cryptic message that Iran has "never won a war, but never lost a negotiation." | The commander of the elite Quds Force was killed overnight in Baghdad International Airport, alongside with several other high-ranking officials from local pro-Iranian militias. | The assassination was carried out on the personal "direction" of Trump, the US military has said, claiming it was acting to protect America and its citizens. Soleimani was blamed for "the deaths of hundreds of American and c…
(2020-01-03). Hollywood director gets smacked down for Trump slam, even by his own actress. rt.com 
Ron Howard, director of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story,' tried for some easy points on Twitter by slamming US President Donald Trump, but he got a rude awakening… including from one of his past actresses. | If you're an artist in modern Hollywood and you're looking to score some easy brownie points with fellow celebrities and the mainstream entertainment press, a pretty good bet is to call out Trump. It's easy, low-hanging fruit and it seems to work for C-list celebs like Alyssa Milano and Bette Midler, so why not? | Howard, a former c…
(2020-01-03). 'Please don't kill us': Rose McGowan apologizes to Iran for Soleimani death, backpedals, still gets roasted. rt.com 
The #MeToo advocate and 'Grindhouse' actress Rose McGowan joined Hollywood celebs like John Cusack to condemn the killing of Qassem Soleimani, but this only inspired Twitter to question her sobriety and her loyalty to the US. | Much of Hollywood's most politically active celebrities were not happy with the US assassination of Iran's Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani, but none were as broken up about it as actress Rose McGowan. | The author and 'Charmed' actress took to Twitter to apologize on behalf of the US and to beg Iran "not to kill us." | "Dear #Iran, The USA has disrespected your country, your flag, you…
(2020-01-03). Arch-hawk Bolton celebrates slaying of Quds commander as 'first step to regime change in Tehran'. rt.com 
While there was no shortage of triumphant voices coming from Washington DC on Friday after the targeted assassination of a senior Iranian general, that of John Bolton seemed especially cheerful. | The former national security adviser in the Donald Trump administration took to Twitter to congratulate "all involved in eliminating Qassem Soleimani," the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force. | Congratulations to all involved in eliminating Qassem Soleimani. Long in the making, this was a decisive blow against Iran's malign Quds Force activities worldwide. Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran.[mda…
(2020-01-03). Russian pranksters strike again: Fake Greta Thunberg convinces eager US politician that she has dirt on Trump. rt.com 
US Congresswoman Maxine Waters has allegedly fallen for a prank call in which she thought activist Greta Thunberg was offering her a tape of Donald Trump confessing to pressuring Ukraine into investigating his political rivals. | YouTube pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who go by the names Vovan and Lexus, are claiming they tricked Waters (Dem-Calif.) into thinking she was speaking to teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg. | Vovan and Lexus made names for themselves by previously pranking Congressman Adam Schiff (Dem-Calif.) into thinking there were nude photos of US President Donald T…
(2020-01-03). Social Media and social control: How Silicon Valley serves the U.S. State Department. mronline.org 
Facebook isn't the only Silicon Valley firm with partisan oversight of what we see: the bipartisan billionaire class and their security state have partnered with tech firms since the dawn of the internet to control the parameters of users' thinking. | Source
(2020-01-03). UN Concerned over British Government's Failure to Investigate Whether Assange Has Been Subjected to Psychological Torture. globalresearch.ca United Nations special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer has written to governments to press them to investigate properly evidence that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been subjected to psychological torture. | On December 31 Mr Melzer shared on Twitter a letter …
(2020-01-03). Brussels Court Suspends Extradition of Catalan Leader Puigdemont. telesurenglish.net A Brussels court has suspended the extradition of former Catalan pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont, his lawyer said on Thursday. | RELATED: | EU Parliament President Lifts Ban on Top Catalan Politicians | Puigdemont cheered the suspension on Twitter and called on Spain to free Junqueras from prison. | "Spain must act in the same way as Belgium has done and respect the law," he said in a tweet. | Paul Beckaert told Reuters that the Belgian judge in charge of the case…
(2020-01-03). The Real Reason Trump Assassinated Qassem Soleimani. truthdig.com Ann Arbor — The madman in the White House has been sulking and raging for weeks about his impeachment proceedings, tweeting manically on some days more than 100 times. With the release by JustSecurity.org of unredacted emails on the Ukraine scandal showing that Trump personally (and illegally) withheld congressionally mandated military aid to an ally, the Republican defense of the president is collapsing. Some GOP senators such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski seem to be weak…
(2020-01-03). Cuba Reject US Sanctions Against Minister. telesurenglish.net Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described as "slanderous" the sanction imposed by the United States against the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of the Antillean country, Leopoldo Cintra Frías. | RELATED: | 61 Years Strong: Cuba's Revolution Lives On Despite Blockade | With a message on his Twitter account, Rodriguez "strongly" rejected the measure announced by the U.S. Department of State which prohibits entry into their national territory of Cintra Frías and cl…
(2020-01-03). Australia Wildfire Coverage Is Long on Koalas, Short on Causes. fair.org 
by Neil deMause Fires making their own weather are interesting (The Hill, 12/30/19)—but not as important as humans making their own climate. | If you've only been following the bushfires ravaging Australia through the headlines popping up on your social media feeds — which, let's face it, is more popular than reading newspapers these days [md…
(2020-01-02). Pizzagate part 2? Bill de Blasio schooled on Twitter after calling out Domino's for selling $30 pizzas on New Year's Eve. rt.com 
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was harshly panned online after accusing the Domino's pizza chain of "exploiting" New Yorkers with $30 pies on New Year's Eve, with netizens giving the city manager a lesson in supply and demand. | De Blasio called out the company in a tweet on Wednesday, outraged about its New Year's Eve prices for those celebrating the holiday in Times Square, and encouraging New Yorkers to ditch the corporate franchise for local eateries. | "Jacking up your prices on people trying to celebrate the holidays? Classy, Domino's," he said. "To the thousands who came to Times Square last night to rin…
(2020-01-02). Social program meets goal, delivers 3 million homes. mronline.org 
The new goal of the social housing program is to deliver at least 500,000 new dwellings in 2020. | Source
(2020-01-02). 'It's a dang UFO': Mysterious object puzzles witnesses after blazing across Florida sky (VIDEO, PHOTOS). rt.com 
Beachwalkers out to watch the first sunrise of 2020 were left bewildered by the sudden appearance of a mysterious flying object in the sky above Florida's east coast on New Year's Day. | Several early risers walking on beaches in the city of Fort Pierce were stunned to see an unexplained object streak across the sky in the moments before sunrise on Wednesday. | As well as a fiery trail the peculiar object also left a raft of questions in its wake as eyewitnesses struggled to comprehend what they had seen. | www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2447028252205241&set=pcb.2447029922205074&type=3&theater | "I kn…
(2020-01-02). Pentagon Confirms It Killed Iran's Soleimani on Trump's Orders. telesurenglish.net The United States Department of Defense confirmed Thursday night that its forces killed Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani "at the direction of the president." | RELATED: | Iran's Soleimani and Iraq's Muhandis Killed in US Air Strike | The statement call the assassination a "defensive action…aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans." Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has not issued an official statement but only tweeted a U.S. flag with no caption. | There has bee…
(2019-12-30). Michael Moore on Trump, 2020 & Why "the Old, Angry White Guy" Doesn't Represent the Working Class. democracynow.org 
Last week on Democracy Now!, acclaimed filmmaker "Michael Moore predicted": www.democracynow.org/2019/12/26/michael_moore_donald_trump_impeachment Donald Trump would win re-election if Democrats don't choose a candidate to run against him who excites their base of voters. His comments prompted President Donald Trump to respond on Twitter, "He made [the] same prediction in 2016. Nobody ever said Michael was stupid!" But Moore's comments went further than Trump's tweet alluded to. He said the working class in the United States is mostly women, people of color and young people — all groups who tend to v…
(2019-12-27). Wikileaks Still Holding Powerful to Account as Founder Julian Assange "Slowly Dies" in Prison. mintpressnews.com Julian Assange is dying inside Belmarsh Prison in London. Those are his own words, relayed through English journalist Vaughan Smith, who revealed that the Wikileaks founder called him on Christmas Eve to share his greetings. Smith also divulged that Assange told him he is kept in solitary confinement 23 hours per day and is often sedated. | His treatment has elicited protests around the world, from journalists, news organizations, human rights groups and celebrities. Last week a group of Australian doctors asked Foreign Minister Marise Pay…
(2019-12-18). Tories spent over £950,000 on Facebook adverts in late election blitz. thecanary.co 
The Conservative Party spent more than any other party on Facebook and Instagram adverts in the run-up to last week's General Election, analysis by the PA news agency has found.It largely came in a spending blitz in the final two weeks of the campaign.Across their two main pages — named Conservatives and Boris Johnson — the party spent a total of £959,329 in the four weeks up to the vote.In comparison, Labour spent £552,035 on its Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn pages between 14 November and 12 December, the fourth most of the major UK parties.The Liberal Democrats were the second biggest spe…
(2019-12-16). Viral Chilean feminist anthem reveals powerful international sentiment against sexual violence. liberationnews.org 
The protest song was first performed for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 20 in Valparaíso, Chile.
(2019-12-02). The War on Truth: How Israel's Social Media Trolls Conquered Facebook. zcomm.org Israel may have found a way to circumvent the influence of Facebook on the discussions pertaining to Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation…
(2019-12-01). The Usual Incoherence on Student Benefits Is Back. peoplespolicyproject.org 
Of all the welfare state topics, student benefits manages to consistently attract the most incoherent and weird arguments, and the recent spate of arguments on this front are no exception. In the last week, a student benefit dustup has been instigated by Pete Buttigieg ostensibly being against free public college for millionaires and billionaires while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are ostensibly for it. | This has set off the usual round of commentary about how Buttigieg is arguing for means-testing while Warren and Sanders are arguing f…
(2019-11-17). CAP's Topher Spiro Is Trying to Deceive Journalists By Lying. peoplespolicyproject.org 
It's been fun to see how the Center for American Progress (CAP) navigates this year's presidential election. For insider political reasons, they can't support Biden or Sanders. But for a long time, it was unclear who the alternative candidate they could support would be. | When Kamala Harris was rising, CAP's staff was doing overtime boosting her on Twitter and in the press, including boosting Harris's absurd health care proposal. But Harris's collapse put an end to that strategy. Recently Warren has risen as the alternative and so CAP has been working to promote her campaign, which puts CAP in the comical positi…