2021-01-31: News Headlines

WSWS (2021-02-01). Emmy Butlin and Maxine Walker of the UK Committee to Defend Julian Assange oppose Facebook censorship of the Socialist Equality Party/IYSSE. wsws.org The WSWS has been sent letters from Emmy Butlin and Maxine Walker, of the Committee to Defend Julian Assange (JADC) in opposition to the censorship of the World Socialist Web Site and Socialist Equality Parties by Facebook.

_____ (2021-01-31). On Contact: Radical As Reality Itself. popularresistance.org On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Michael Smith about civil rights attorney Michael Ratner's recently published memoir, "Moving the Bar — My Life as A Radical Lawyer". Smith was a close friend and collaborator of Ratner's for over three decades. | Michael Ratner was one of the most important civil rights attorneys in our era. He spent his life fighting on behalf of those who state and empire sought to crush, from the leaders of the prison uprising at Attica to Muslim prisoners held in Guantanamo, to Julian Assange.

_____ (2021-01-31). Julian Assange Deserves A Nobel Peace Prize. popularresistance.org Julian Assange has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. We think he deserves to win. There is an incredibly long list of actions that Julian has taken toward a more peaceful world. As Julian has said, "If wars can be started by lies, peace can be started by truth." | More than one individual can nominate Assange; he's already been nominated this year by people including former Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire and French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Maguire and four other Peace Prize winners wrote a letter to then-President Trump recounting Assange's contributions toward peace.

RT (2021-01-30). Pentagon halts plan to give Covid-19 vaccination to Gitmo detainees after wave of outrage from conservatives. rt.com Following a recent report that the Biden administration planned on vaccinating detainees at Guantanamo Bay before millions of Americans caused outrage, the Pentagon has announced the plan has been "paused." | "No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated," Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby tweeted on Saturday. "We're pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe." | No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated. We're pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committ…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-29). Roger Waters on Ecuador and Steven Donziger's fight for justice. peoplesdispatch.org Musician Roger Waters and Vijay Prashad of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research talk about the struggles of the indigenous people of Ecuador against Chevron's Lago Agrio oil field and the persecution of attorney Steven Donziger who fought their case. They also reflect on the struggles of people like Donziger, Julian Assange and others who strive for a better world against those for whom power and profit are more important than anything else.

_____ (2021-01-29). How to Do 'Regime Change' Correctly: a Blueprint for the Biden Administration. strategic-culture.org By Sasan FAYAZMANESH | In my college years, as a member of the Iranian Students Association, one of my political tasks was to dispatch progressive American attorneys to Iran to investigate human rights abuses by the Shah, including torture and murder of political prisoners. These trips and the subsequent reports submitted by the attorneys were often successful in reducing the pain and suffering of prisoners of conscience, since the Shah was cognizant of his image abroad. Afterall, he was a creature of the West and dependent on it. He owed his throne to the 1953 American-British backed coup and was nurtured by the…

news.un (2021-01-29). 'Imminent' Iran execution must be halted, urges UN human rights office. news.un.org The imminent execution in Iran of a man who was allegedly tortured into confessing that he belonged to a jihadist group must be stopped, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.

Rod Driver (2021-01-28). The Illusion of Democracy 2: Power and Secrecy. zcomm.org If Britain and the US had genuine democracies, where the views of ordinary people matter, the invasion, slaughter and torture in Iraq would not have happened…