Week of January 21, 2019

Intrepid Report Newsletter
We cannot keep publishing without your help. We have no paywalls or ads. Nor do we receive corporate or foundation funding. All we have is you to keep us publishing. We rely on you to help us pay our monthly expenses. So please Donate Monday Martin Luther King Day and the unspeakable By Edward Curtin As Martin Luther King’s birthday is celebrated with a national holiday, his death day disappears down the memory hole. Across the country—in response to the King Holiday and Service Act passed by Congress and signed by Bill Clinton in 1994—people will be encouraged to make the day one of service. Such service does not include King’s commitment to protest a decadent system of racial and economic injustice or non-violently resist the U.S. warfare state that he called “the greatest purveyor of violence on earth.” JFK, MLK, Bobby & Leonard: Bad things happen when you color outside the lines By Jane Stillwater Did anyone else besides me watch that TV special on John F. Kennedy Jr the other night? Hmmm. Not sure what to think about it. Why are they showing it to us now? Maybe I’m being a bit paranoid (again) but it appeared to be the ultimate masterpiece of public-relations propaganda—American style. Would Trump have come after my family for being illegal? By Jack Balkwill My grandfather was an illegal alien. During the 1800s he travelled from England, where he was born, to Canada, which was British territory in those days, so he wasn’t required to have a passport. He travelled to the Canadian West, then crossed the border into Idaho, to be known, thereafter, as an American. The National Security Agency is a criminal organization By Paul Craig Roberts Years before Edward Snowden provided documented proof that the National Security Agency was really a national insecurity agency as it was violating law and the US Constitution and spying indiscriminately on American citizens, William Binney, who designed and developed the NSA spy program revealed the illegal and unconstitutional spying. Binney turned whistleblower, because NSA was using the program to spy on Americans. Another day, another disaster. And another, and another . . . It’s as if the country’s being run by Beetlejuice. By Michael Winship I’ve been trying to write something about the events of the past few days for the last week and a half, and every time I set out to achieve editorial brilliance, or at least try to keep typos and the splitting of infinitives to a minimum, something else wacky happens and it’s back to square one. I’d say it’s Sisyphean if only I knew what that meant. Tuesday Indefinite detention uncharged and untried a crime against humanity By Stephen Lendman These are troubled times. Rule of law protections don’t help. The US does whatever it pleases, operating by its own rules, inflicting harm on nations, groups and individuals, including its own citizens. Traditional 2019 State of the Union address fraught with security dangers By Wayne Madsen Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s request to Donald Trump to delay this year’s State of the Union address, scheduled for January 29, was based on advice she received from national security and counter-terrorism experts worried about a “Designated Survivor” scenario. The deep-pocket push to deep-six public schools The backstory to the showdown in Los Angeles between teachers and billionaires By Sam Pizzigati Back during the 1960s and 1970s, in cities, suburbs, and small towns across the United States, teacher strikes made headlines on a fairly regular basis. Teachers in those years had a variety of reasons for walking out. They struck for the right to bargain. They struck for decent pay and benefits. They struck for professional dignity. The indignity of work without pay Forty percent of conservative Republicans view the government shutdown as inconsequential By Leo Gerard In the midst of the longest government shutdown in history, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown last week launched a “Dignity of Work” listening tour. AI wants to reprogram you Driverless cars cost jobs and threaten pedestrians. Investors' advice? Just get out of the way! By Jim Hightower With chaos in the White House, worsening climate disasters, more wars than we can count, and a wobbling economy here at home, the last thing we need is another big challenge. But—look out!—here comes a doozy! Wednesdaay From the barracks to the courtroom: US ‘lawfare’ in action By Wayne Madsen Somewhere along the line in recent history, some US think tank in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency must have come up with the idea that overthrowing governments in Latin America by military coups came with bad optics for the coup plotters. Often, democratically-elected Latin American leaders were demonized by a cabal of military officers who left their barracks and laid siege to the presidential palaces. After taking control of the national radio stations, these generals would announce they had seized control of the government to “protect” the people from “communism” or some other concocted bogeyman. Call for global ban as poll shows overwhelming public opposition to ‘horrifying’ killer robots Weapons that require no input from humans in selecting and killing targets undermine "the right to life and other human rights," critics say By Julia Conley World leaders have shown little leadership in moving to ban autonomous weapons that would require no human involvement when selecting and killing targets, but a new survey shows that the global population overwhelmingly opposes the development of such “killer robots.” High-profile human rights groups fail to condemn unlawful US mistreatment of Marzieh Hashimi By Stephen Lendman The silence of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, and other high-profile human rights groups over Mazieh’s unlawful arrest, detention and abusive treatment by the FBI is deafening. Tax dollars can buy happiness The deeper meaning of hygge—and why citizens of Denmark are so much happier than Americans By Leo Gerard Corporatists castigated two lawmakers in recent weeks for daring to offer economic Xanax prescriptions to cure rampant American economic anxiety. Trump’s assault on the rule of law By Robert Reich The “rule of law” distinguishes democracies from dictatorships. It’s based on three fundamental principles. Trump is violating every one of them. Thursday Mike Pence calls for coup d’état in Venezuela By Stephen Lendman Since Hugo Chavez established Bolivarian social democracy in Venezuela, a vibrant system, a model for other nations, the US plotted to replace it with fascist tyranny. Government shutdown to cause the suffering of the public is a violation of federal anti-terrorism law By Wayne Madsen 18 U.S. Code § 2331 specifically states that a national of the United States who commits an act dangerous to human life to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion is liable to be charged for violating federal domestic terrorism laws. Trump puts the white in the red, white and blue By Michael Winship WASHINGTON, DC—As the old saying goes, putting a shoe in an oven don’t make it a biscuit. Pompeo turns reality upside down By Philip M. Giraldi The speech made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the American University in Cairo on January 10 deserves more attention than it has received from the US media. In it, Pompeo reveals his own peculiar vision of what is taking place in the Middle East, to include the impact of his own personal religiosity, and his belief that Washington’s proper role in the region is to act as “a force for good.” The extent to which the secretary of state was speaking for himself was not completely clear, but the text of the presentation was posted on the State Department website without any qualification, so one has to assume that Pompeo was representing White House policy. The fall of Davos Man By Robert Reich The annual confab of the captains of global industry, finance, and wealth is underway in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum. Friday Washington has appointed a president for Venezuela By Paul Craig Roberts After listening since 2016 to the American presstitutes complain, without providing a mere scrap of evidence, of Russia meddling in US elections, a person would think that the last thing Washington would do would be to meddle in other countries’ elections. Uncle Sam wants your DNA: The FBI’s diabolical plan to create a nation of suspects By John W. Whitehead Uncle Sam wants you. US blunders have made Russia the global trade pivot By Mathew Maavak The year 2019 had barely begun before news emerged that six Russian sailors were kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Benin. It was perhaps a foretaste of risks to come. As nations reel from deteriorating economic conditions, instances of piracy and other forms of supply chain disruptions are bound to increase. False ‘victories’: Is the PA using the ‘State of Palestine’ to remain in power? By Ramzy Baroud The ‘State of Palestine’ has officially been handed the chairmanship of the G-77, the United Nations largest block. This is particularly significant considering the relentless Israeli-American plotting to torpedo Palestine’s push for greater international recognition and legitimacy. We don’t need a new deal; we need a whole new deck By Frank Scott The gap between the earth’s wardens of wealth and the nearly eight billion humans under their control has grown wider and more dangerous but is beginning to be understood by some as a systemic problem and not simply a matter of evil leaders and villainous followers. When people see and feel their futures ranging from problematic at best to non-existent at worst, we get the resultant turmoil and changes taking place in nations moving in many directions at once but all of them against established power over things as they are.
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Robert Reich | The Fall of Davos Man

25 January 19

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Robert Reich | The Fall of Davos Man 

Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog
Reich writes: "The annual confab of the captains of global industry, finance, and wealth is underway in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum."
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Trump adviser Roger Stone. (photo: Getty)

Longtime Trump Adviser Roger Stone Indicted in Special Counsel Probe
Rosalind S. Helderman, Devlin Barrett and John Wagner, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime informal adviser to President Trump, was arrested Friday by the FBI in Florida on charges that he lied and tried to tamper with a witness to hide the details of his efforts to learn about releases of Democrats' hacked emails during the 2016 election campaign."
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Border wall between U.S. and Mexico. (photo: Herika Martinez/Getty)

White House Preparing Draft National Emergency Order
Priscilla Alvarez and Tammy Kupperman, CNN
Excerpt: "The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his signature border wall should he go that route, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN."
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Jared Kushner at a meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, August 1, 2018. (photo: Oliver Contreras/Getty)

Officials Rejected Jared Kushner for Top Secret Security Clearance, but Were Overruled
Laura Strickler, Ken Dilanian and Peter Alexander, NBC News
Excerpt: "Jared Kushner's application for a top secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him."
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A migrant family walks across a bridge on January 18, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. (photo: Spencer Platt/Getty)

The US Will Begin Sending Some Legal Asylum Seekers Back to Mexico Today
Dara Lind, Vox
Lind writes: "The new policy, forcing Central Americans to wait in Mexico while their cases are pending in the US, is starting at the biggest crossing along the US-Mexico border."
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'What happens next is anyone's guess. But a U.S. invasion feels like a real possibility.' (photo: Joaquin Samiento/Getty)

The Risk of a Catastrophic US Intervention in Venezuela Is Real
Gabriel Hetland, Guardian UK
Hetland writes: "This course of action must be firmly rejected. [...] It is because of the untold suffering and damage US military intervention would bring to Venezuela and the region, and the vanishingly small likelihood such action could bring the change Venezuela needs."
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An offshore oil drilling rig. (photo: Arby Reed)

Is the Trump Administration 'Gaming the Shutdown' to Serve Energy and Hunting Special Interests?
Tara Lohan, The Revelator
Lohan writes: "The current partial government shutdown, now more than a month long, provides a unique lens through which to view the administration's priorities. The list of what isn't being done is long and troubling, but equally concerning is what is being done during the shutdown."
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Senator Al Franken Tells Supporters: 'I'm Not Giving Up My Voice'

Senator Al Franken Tells Supporters: 'I'm Not Giving Up My Voice'

RSN: Kansas Election Officials Threw Out Thousands of Ballots,

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Elizabeth Warren | The GOP's Strategy for Obamacare? Repeal and Run. 
 
Elizabeth Warren, The Boston Globe 
Warren writes: "For eight years, Republicans in Congress have complained about health care in America, heaping most of the blame on President Obama. Meanwhile, they've hung out on the sidelines making doomsday predictions and cheering every stumble, but refusing to lift a finger to actually improve our health care system." 
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8 Men Account for Half the World's Wealth: Oxfam 
teleSUR 
Excerpt: "Just eight individuals, all men, own as much wealth as half of the world's population, Oxfam said Sunday night, slamming the rich for fueling global inequality by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics." 
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Health Law's Repeal Could Raise Costs and Number of Uninsured, New Report Says 
Robert Pear, The New York Times 
Pear writes: "Repealing major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, while leaving other parts in place, would cost 18 million people their insurance in the first year, a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday." 
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Kansas Election Officials Threw Out Thousands of Ballots 
Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press 
Hegeman writes: "Kansas election officials threw out thousands of uncounted provisional ballots cast in November, mostly because the state had no record that those residents were registered voters." 
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The New York Times' Food Stamp Fables 
Joe Soss, Jacobin 
Soss writes: "The political mean season has returned, with all the usual slanders of social programs that protect Americans from the worst kinds of hardship and deprivation. The poors! They're behaving badly!" 
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I'm a Slacker Muslim. But Donald Trump Has Us Atheists Nervous 
Sohaila Abdulali, Guardian UK 
Abdulali writes: "On a recent return to New York after a short trip to India, I waltzed through immigration with my nice blue US passport. It says 'Abdulali', but nobody seemed to care. Will that be different next time I come back home?" 
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Rex Tillerson's Exxon Mobil Frequently Sought State Department Assistance to Push Its Interests Abroad 
Lee Fang and Steve Horn, The Intercept 
Excerpt: "Exxon Mobil under its CEO Rex Tillerson frequently pressed the U.S. State Department for help in negotiating complex business deals and overcoming foreign opposition to its drilling projects, according to documents reviewed by The Intercept." 
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RSN:L Where Bernie and Hillary Really Disagree, How El Niño Could Threaten Millions With Starvation, Peace Process Over, It's Year Zero for Israelis and Palestinians

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Where Bernie and Hillary Really Disagree 
 
Peter Beinart, The Atlantic 
Beinart writes: "Progressives don't just love Bernie Sanders because his policy proposals are more left wing than Hillary's. They love the fact that he calls America's political and economic system corrupt, and that he refuses to play by that corrupt system's rules: for instance, by raising money via a Super Pac." 
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Top 1 Percent Owns Half of All Global Wealth 
Owen Davis, International Business Times 
Davis writes: "In the past year, worldwide wealth inequality continued its upward march: The top 1 percent of households 'account for half of all assets in the world,' according to the 2015 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report."
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Martin O'Malley Accepted Campaign Cash From the NRA 
Lee Fang, The Intercept 
Fang writes: "Asked which political enemy he is most proud of making, the former Maryland governor declared proudly: the NRA. And yet O'Malley accepted $40,000 from the NRA in 2012 as the chair of a national political committee, disclosures show." 
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Michael Brenner | Kissinger Revisited 
Michael Brenner, Reader Supported News 
Brenner writes: "The more cutting debate about Kissinger and his works has to do with his conduct rather than his philosophy." 
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Judge Rules That New York City Seizing Thousands of Cars Without Warrants Is Unconstitutional 
Nick Sibilla, Forbes 
Sibilla writes: "Under an aggressive policy meant to combat unlicensed vehicles for-hire, the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission has seized over 21,000 cars since 2012." 
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Peace Process Over, It's Year Zero for Israelis and Palestinians 
Lisa Goldman, Al Jazeera America 
Goldman writes: "Two decades after Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, Israel's occupation was supposed to be ended by the Oslo process. Instead, it has been deepened and widened." 
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How El Niño Could Threaten Millions With Starvation 
Natasha Geiling, Think Progress 
Geiling writes: "Around the world, the looming El Niño pattern could drive extreme weather patterns and continued droughts, putting millions at risk of starvation due to low agricultural production and lack of water, according to a report released earlier this month by Oxfam." 
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