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September 2019

The United States’ Declining Power Was On Display At United Nations Session

As the United Nations wraps up its General Assembly session, we speak with Bahman Azad, a professor who heads the United States Peace Council, about the unprecedented steps the Trump administration took to restrict visiting diplomats and heads of state from attending or from speaking outside the UN during their stay. We discuss the current state of the world, the harmful impacts of US imperialism, and powerful global institutions such as the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As the world shifts to one where there are many dominating countries, how will that impact US foreign policy and our chances of creating a more peaceful, just and livable future? We also discuss 'Ukrainegate' in-depth and other current events.

Tired of Inaction Climate Activists Descend on Coal Plant in Bow, NH

Over 60 individuals participating in nonviolent direct action walked into the plant through the train tracks. There was a large police presence at the plant and on the surrounding roads. As soon as they crossed the barricade into the plant property, half the group was arrested. Not long after, police wearing what appeared to be riot gear descended on the group and arrested the rest of them. They were taken out of the plant in four County Sheriff vans and a school bus and escorted to Merrimack County Jail. The latest count was 67 individuals arrested. While those individuals were being arrested, a rally of over 300 people sang, chanted, and cheered on the action.

How Employees And Employers Get Bled By Health Insurance

“The single biggest issue in health care for most Americans is that their health costs are growing much faster than their wages are,” KFF CEO Drew Altman said. “Costs are prohibitive when workers making $25,000 a year have to shell out $7,000 a year just for their share of family premiums.” Many lower-wage workers cannot afford the contributions and forego the health insurance even if their companies offer it. As a result, at companies with many lower-wage workers, only 33% of the workers are covered by the employer’s health insurance, compared to 63% at the other companies. For single coverage of the employee only, the annual cost of the average health insurance premium — employer and employee contributions combined — rose 4.2% in 2019, to $7,188, with the employee paying 17% or $1,242 (up from 14% in 1999) and the employer paying 83% or $5,946 (down from 86% in 1999).

Advocates Protest For Julian Assange Outside Belmarsh Prison

A large crowd rallied outside Belmarsh Prison in London on Saturday as jailed WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange received the Gavin MacFadyen Award 2019—the only journalism prize given by whistle-blowers. Assange’s father John Shipton accepted the award on his son’s behalf. Saturday’s rally was the first outside Belmarsh Prison since District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled September 13 that Assange would not be released despite the end of his sentence on a trumped-up bail infringement. He is now being held in remand over a US extradition request and faces Espionage Act charges carrying a 175-year prison term. Emmy Butlin from the Julian Assange Defence Committee opened Saturday’s award ceremony just metres from the prison’s maximum-security walls and razor-wire fences.

Solomon: These Once-Secret Memos Cast Doubt On Joe Biden’s Ukraine Story

Former Vice President Joe Biden, now a 2020 Democratic presidential contender, has locked into a specific story about the controversy in Ukraine. He insists that, in spring 2016, he strong-armed Ukraine to fire its chief prosecutor solely because Biden believed that official was corrupt and inept, not because the Ukrainian was investigating a natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, that hired Biden's son, Hunter, into a lucrative job. There’s just one problem. Hundreds of pages of never-released memos and documents — many from inside the American team helping Burisma to stave off its legal troubles — conflict with Biden’s narrative.

Millions Against Monsanto: ‘What Fools’

The nearly 18,000 cancer victims suing Monsanto in the U.S. aren’t alone. Farmers worldwide are taking to the courts to hold Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, accountable for concealing the truth about the potential dangers associated with its flagship weedkiller, Roundup. The Australian version of the popular news program, “60 Minutes,” earlier this month ran a segment about Michael Ogolirolo, an Australian landscaper who says exposure to Roundup caused his leukemia.

Why We Can’t Just #PlantATree

If you scroll through Instagram, you will see them: smiling 20-somethings with dirt under their fingernails and a freshly nestled seedling below them. #PlantATree. The idea has been trending recently, not least of all because of the fires in the Amazon. And in many ways, this is a good thing. We should be activating in response to deforestation. We should be spending more time outside, interacting with the ecosystems of which we are an inextricable part. And yes, we should be planting trees.

The Council Of Canadians Back In The News. Living In The U.S. Empire [Part 2]

Any move (since European settlement) in Canada for Independence has had to be anti-imperialist ….  In relation to U.S. imperial power in Canada the fight has been endless, covert as well as overt, packed with political sell-out, fraught with threat, bribery, and intimidation … and wrapped in such saccharine phrases as “the longest undefended border” etc.  The U.S. wanted Canada from the beginning, conducting two wars for (attempted) conquest … and it covertly watched the 19th Century Fenian Raids (Irish-led incursions into Canada to wound the British Lion) to see if they would develop into acasus belli … an excuse for U.S. troops to enter Canada.

Greta Thunberg Isn’t The Only Voice Of Her Generation

On Friday, my 12-year-old son carried his handmade cardboard protest sign to one of the thousands of climate strikes around the world, along with five of his classmates. His sign read, “Where you gonna hide from the hell you made?” This die-hard rock ’n’ roll fan had tapped an obscure song by his favorite band—Queen—called “White Man,” about the genocide of Native Americans, and picked out the perfect line to describe his rage at our human-made climate crisis. My angry preteen was one of an estimated 4 million people who marched all over the planet Friday in what is considered the largest climate change-related protest action in history.

Protests Break Out Across Egypt Demanding El-Sisi’s Resignation

Protests have broken out in parts of Egypt with demonstrators calling for the departure of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi amid a high security alert. Following Friday prayers in the Warraq area in Giza governorate, demonstrators chanted slogans calling for the resignation of el-Sisi and raised slogans condemning the deterioration of living conditions in the country as well as the spread of corruption. Witnesses and security sources said police fired tear gas to disperse up to 1,000 protesters that were shouting "Leave Sisi", reported Reuters news agency.

Wave Of Arrests Of Journalists, Website Blocking In Egypt

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the latest attempts by the Egyptian authorities to gag the media, in which at least six journalists have been detained in a week-old wave of anti-government protests. The reporters detained since the protests began on 20 September, in response to the actor Mohamed Ali’s accusations of governmental corruption, have brought the total number journalists imprisoned in Egypt to 31. One of the first reporters to be arrested was Engy Abdel Wahab, who began working as a trainee with the newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm just weeks ago.

Saudi Arabia – Another Defeat In Yemen – King’s Bodyguard Killed

For the second time in a month the Yemeni forces aligned with the Houthi surrounded and captured brigade size forces of Saudi soldiers and mercenaries. The Houthi media report that 2,400 fighters and several hundred vehicles were captured. The reports say that 500 Saudi soldiers were killed. This video shows the fighting. Another videoshows several hundred prisoners being led away from the front. Here are additional pictures. Most of the prisoners seem to be poor men that the Saudis had hired. Only a few have complete uniforms.

On Fifth Anniversary Of Mexico’s Missing 43 Students, Anguished Families Still Seek Answers

When Antonio Tizapa’s 20-year-old son Jorge disappeared with 42 other teacher’s college students in Iguala, Mexico, he did not think that they would still be missing five years later. “We still don’t know what happened. We are overwhelmed, stuck,” Tizapa told NBC News in New York, where he lives. “And after five years of demanding justice, five years fighting to keep the case open, it’s unreal that we still can’t find them.” The Mexican government initially concluded that 43 students from a teacher's college in Ayotzinapa were arrested by local authorities in southwest Mexico on Sept. 26, 2014, and turned over to drug traffickers who then murdered and incinerated them at a garbage dump.

‘Ukrainegate’ Teaches Us More About Ourselves Than Trump Or Biden

'Ukrainegate' has opened the floodgates of impeachment in Washington, DC. President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky provided such an opportunity that Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who resisted pressure for impeachment, is now on board along with a majority of the party. Democrats are moving quickly to make Trump the third president ever to be impeached. Impeachment by the House seems inevitable even though less than a majority of voters currently support it. The Democrats need to be careful because shining a light on Ukraine, where Obama-Biden conducted the most open coup in US history (until the recent Trump failed coup in Venezuela,) could undermine Joe Biden, their highest polling candidate. It will also expose the ugly realities of US foreign policy, the corporate control of both parties and the need for fundamental change in US politics.

October 11: March On The Pentagon To Rage Against The War Machine

March on the Pentagon invites all those outraged by the War Machine, U.S. imperialism, and endless wars to join us in Washington D.C. on October 11 and 12. From the mind boggling cost which strips money from basic human needs like healthcare, education, clean water and more, the stomach churning death toll, the irreversible environmental impact, the fueling of militarized police, the uptick in right-wing domestic terrorism, the too often ignored contribution to climate change as well as the resulting and potentially deadly PTSD, substance abuse, domestic abuse and rape suffered by those who have served in the armed forces to the toll war takes on women across the globe—from rape and loss of children to raising one’s family as a refugee in a foreign land—there is something for everyone to be outraged about. 

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Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

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Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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