Jurors who heard the case of the four activists who were invited by Caracas to protect the Venezuelan Embassy in the US capital – only to be nabbed in a police raid on the compound – failed to reach a verdict due to a hung jury.
Four members of the ‘Embassy Protection Collective’ – Adrienne Pine, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers and David Paul – are each facing a year in prison and a $100,000 fine if found guilty of interfering with the US State Department’s attempt to seize the compound and hand it over to the “ambassador” of Venezuela, “appointed” by opposition leader Juan Guaido.
However, the jurors selected to hear the case apparently were not convinced by the regime-change narrative on Venezuela championed by the Trump administration and adopted by the prosecution team, and as the time came to deliver a verdict on Friday, they failed to do so.
Journalist Max Blumenthal, who reported from the courtroom, said that the prosecution put forward a series of dubious arguments – such as that the Guaido-appointed “ambassador” was seeking a “return” of the embassy, despite the fact it had never been controlled by the US-backed opposition in the first place.
According to Blumenthal, Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over the case, argued that since Trump was president, it was his right to recognize or un-recognize foreign heads of state at will. Ironically telling the courtroom that “elections matter,” she appeared to ignore the fact that incumbent Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro was reelected for a second six-year term in May 2018, while Guaido – who declared himself ‘interim president’ one year ago – was ousted as the head of the opposition-led National Assembly last month in a vote by fellow MPs.
With the jury unable to come to a consensus, a new trial date will be decided on February 28. It’s so far unclear whether the case will proceed at all, however […]
US Senator and Democratic Party Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren held a campaign rally at Rochester Opera House in New Hampshire just ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
During the rally, Warren called for abolishing the Electoral College.
“It’s time to get rid of the Electoral College. I want to be the last president elected by the Electoral College and be first elected by direct vote, can we do that,” she said […]
Climate campaigners have been calling for years on companies and shareholders to divest from fossil fuels for the good of the planet, and a new “sell” rating from Goldman Sachs for oil and gas giant Exxon confirms divestment makes good financial sense for investers as well. (Photo: Friends of the Earth Scotland/Flickr/cc)
Three days after CNBC host Jim Cramer pronounced fossil fuel investments as being “in the death knell phase,” Goldman Sachs on Monday downgraded its stock assessment for ExxonMobil, advising investors to sell their shares of the oil and gas giant.
The Wall Street firm changed its “neutral” rating to “sell” following its fourth quarter earnings reports which showed Exxon’s earnings falling from $6 billion in 2018 to $5.6 billion last year.
The firm found no “compelling case” for holding on to Exxon’s stocks, according to CNBC, and advised investors that “more compelling returns opportunities exist both among the global majors and global large cap stocks outside of energy.”
As author and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben tweeted, Goldman Sachs’ decision confirms that aside from helping to “preserve a livable planet,” another reason to divest fossil fuel stocks is “so that you won’t lose your money.”
The best reason to divest fossil fuel stock is that you’d like to help preserve a livable planet.
Another reason is so that you won’t lose your money.https://t.co/cigoyKWqfc
Goldman Sachs predicted that Exxon will meet just half of its targeted returns by 2025.
The firm’s prediction is just the latest indication that the financial sector and other profit-driven entities are beginning to see fossil fuels as an impractical investment.
“A reminder that capital often doesn’t walk, it runs.”
—Nathan Lemphers, Smart Prosperity InstituteAs Common Dreams reported last November, analysts at Toronto-based firm Corporate Knights found that investing in fossil fuels cost pension funds in California and Colorado cost retirees $19 billion collectively over a decade.
A number of cities have divested from Wells Fargo for its funding of fossil fuel projects, and as Common Dreamsreported Friday, Cramer announced on CNBC‘s “Squawk Box” that he is “done” with fossil fuel investments, suggesting oil, gas, and coal have become relics of the past […]
Increasingly glaring irregularities in the Iowa caucus have forced DNC chair Tom Perez to call for a recanvass, as new revelations about those who funded the fiasco suggest a campaign to steal not just the election, but the party.
Just when it looked like the Iowa caucus nightmare was over, with 97 percent of precincts reporting and so many “inconsistencies” glossed over to reach that point that the most corrupt banana republic would raise an eyebrow, Perez has called for a do-over. “In light of the problems that have emerged” and “to assure public confidence in the results,” the party leader ordered its Iowa chapter to “immediately begin a recanvass” on Thursday, adding that a recanvass is not a recount per se but “a review of the worksheets from each caucus site.”
South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg’s brazen caucus-night declaration of victory had been hanging by a thread – Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, clearly the favorite by the popular vote, was gaining on his younger rival in delegate count as well before Perez suggested they restart the process.
Shell-shocked voters had sat patiently through three days of revelations that the corruption and malfeasance infecting the party made 2016’s efforts to rig the primary for Hillary Clinton look like milk and cookies. And now they had to do it again?
The straw that broke the camel’s back might have been the Iowa Democrats’ sheepish walk-back of a set of phony results for Black Hawk County on Wednesday night, which had mysteriously handed a large chunk of Sanders votes to billionaire Tom Steyer and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. When the county supervisor published the actual results, the party dutifully updated their totals to reflect reality after promising a “minor correction.”
But this nonchalant correction of yet another supposedly innocent mistake – all of which, some noticed, had penalized Sanders – wasn’t enough for voters who had lost patience with the process. “How many other counties are having their results falsely reported by the IDP?” one group tweeted, giving voice to the suspicions shared by many.
Nor did Perez’s call for a recanvass pacify the angry mob. Instead, it merely sparked calls for him to resign. The establishment stalwart has been in the crosshairs of the party’s progressive wing since last week’s announcement that the 2020 convention would be packed to the brim with corporate lobbyists, Clinton and Obama administration alumni, and former Clinton campaign director John Podesta himself – whose hacked emails, along with those of the DNC itself, revealed the extent of the primary-rigging scheme against Sanders in 2016.
Monday’s caucus was marred almost immediately by a glitch in the app precincts were supposed to use to report vote totals. When the nature of the glitch became public – vote totals input one way came out differently – angry voters began looking into how and why the Iowa Democrats had used an untested app built by supposedly well-meaning but technologically-inept former Clinton staffers (at a company absurdly called Shadow). Warnings the app didn’t work had been ignored for over a week. The Buttigieg campaign had donated $40,000 to Shadow, whose app seemed to be handing him first place in spite of polls, and Shadow’s parent company Acronym’s founder Tara McGowan was married to a Buttigieg staffer herself. Despite MSM attempts to blame Trump supporters for flooding the hotline set up to report caucus vote totals in the event of a software malfunction, CNN caught line operators deliberately hanging up on precinct supervisors, indicating the problem went far beyond a simple software glitch […]
As 2020 is the year the Olympics and Paralympics come to Japan, this is an exciting time for sports and for the people of Japan. Amidst all the excitement however, there is the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima prefecture. Labeled as the ‘Reconstruction Olympics’, Prime Minister Abe in 2013 declared that the situation at Fukushima Daiichi was under control. Seven years later there still remains a nuclear emergency at the nuclear plant and surrounding areas. In addition to the enormous challenges of how to safely manage over 1 million tonnes of contaminated water at the site and as much as 880 tonnes of molten nuclear fuel for which there is no credible solution, there remain wider issues regarding radioactive contamination of the environment, its effect on workers and Fukushima citizens, including evacuees and their human rights.
These issues were the subject of a 28 January 2020 documentary broadcast by the U.S. network HBO as an investigative report by the program ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’, the U.S.’s most-honored sports journalism series (with 33 Sports Emmy Awards, including 19 for Outstanding Sports Journalism) during the opening episode of its 26th season.
What does it mean to host the Olympics and Paralympics in the context of an ongoing nuclear disaster, the effects of which are still being felt by tens of thousands of Japanese citizens? What does it tell about the Japanese government and its commitment to respecting the values of transparency and the human rights of its citizens? These are some of the important questions raised by HBO and they warrant careful consideration in the months leading up to this year’s summer games.
Greenpeace radiation survey team in Fukushima, Japan
Greenpeace Japan applauds Olympic values and spirit, while recognizing that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the responsibility to ensure the Olympic Games have a minimum impact on the environment and leave a positive legacy for those hosting the Games. The IOC has an opportunity to do this in a way that fulfills the ideals of the environment as the third pillar of Olympism – sustainability – by making the Games a showcase for environmental solutions. Simultaneously, we recognize that hosting the Olympics and Paralympics requires the Japanese Government to ensure absolute safety for athletes, international visitors, and the Japanese public alike.
The decision to host two sporting events in Fukushima city raises genuine and important questions over radiation risks. The route of the Olympic Torch relay in all the municipalities of Fukushima prefecture includes the districts of Iitate, Namie, and Okuma where Greenpeace Japan’s Nuclear Monitoring & Radiation Protection Team has discovered radioactive hotspots, both in the open areas as well as in the remaining radiation exclusion zones, that remain too high even by revised governmental standards […]
Given the dire state of Russia-US political relations, and Washington’s steadfast defense of its alliance with Saudi Arabia, it seems almost unbelievable that Moscow sends more energy exports America’s way than Riyadh.
Nevertheless, figures recently published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) say it’s true: Russia is America’s second-biggest source of crude oil and petroleum products.
Despite years of sanctions, the autumn of 2019 saw the amount of Russian ‘black gold’ sold to the US reach levels not seen since before the 2013/14 Ukraine crisis. Last October, imports sharply increased, with the Americans purchasing 20.9 million barrels.
Although volumes sourced from Russia paled in comparison to those from Canada (136.5 million barrels), they managed to overtake both the US’s southern neighbor Mexico and Saudi Arabia – the world’s leading exporter of oil.
Last month, Russian media reported that the US had inadvertently helped Russia boost oil sales through restrictive measures against other countries, such as Iran and Venezuela. This led the Americans to turn to Moscow to make up shortfalls. […]
The Facts: Multiple studies outlined in this article indicate a serious issue with the efficacy of antidepressant drugs, and the lengths that pharmaceutical companies go to hide potential dangers. Reflect On: How much science is there really behind the efficacy of antidepressant drugs?
A study published in the British Medical Journal by researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen showed that pharmaceutical companies were not disclosing all information regarding the results of their drug trials. Researchers looked at documents from 70 different double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) and found that the full extent of serious harm in clinical study reports went unreported. These are the reports sent to major health authorities like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
A study published in the British Medical Journal by researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Center in Copenhagen showed that pharmaceutical companies were not disclosing all information regarding the results of their drug trials. Researchers looked at documents from 70 different double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) and found that the full extent of serious harm in clinical study reports went unreported. These are the reports sent to major health authorities like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Tarang Sharma, a PhD student at Cochrane and lead author of the study, said:
We found that a lot of the appendices were often only available upon request to the authorities, and the authorities had never requested them. I’m actually kind of scared about how bad the actual situation would be if we had the complete data. (source)
Due to problems with selective reporting, even within CSRs, raw data from clinical drug trials should be preferred when conducting systematic reviews, with CSRs being the next-best option. As SSRIs and SNRIs can have very serious detrimental effects on children and adolescents, far more than previously noted, their use in young people should be reconsidered. In fact, even when considering all ages, placebo seems to be a better pill than an antidepressant drug because the patients weigh the benefits against the harms when they decide whether to stay in a trial or to drop out. (source)
Joanna Moncrieff, a psychiatrist and researcher at University College London, elaborates:
This study confirms that the full degree of harm of antidepressants is not reported. They are not reported in the published literature, we know that – and it appears that they are not properly reported in clinical study reports that go to the regulators and from the basis of decisions about licensing. (source)
Peter Gotzsche, a clinician researcher at Cochrane and the co-author of the study, actually tried to gain access to clinical trial reports almost a decade ago for anti-obesity pills. Unfortunately, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) denied them the reports:
They talked about commercial confidentiality although there was absolutely nothing in these reports that was commercially confidential. We explained that all this secrecy actually cost human lives, but they weren’t interested in that at all. (source)
It took years of requests and complaints for this to happen and, while Gotzsche is pleased they were able to achieve this breakthrough, he reminds us that similar progress has yet to made in the United States. He went on to state that researchers need better access to data from clinical trials to conduct assessments unimpeded by industry influence:
[…]
We really don’t have good enough evidence that antidepressants are effective and we have increasing evidence that they can be harmful. So we need to go into reverse and stop this increasing trend of prescribing [them]. (source)
One of the latest studies published on the subjects titled “Should antidepressants be used for major depressive disorder” published in the British Medical Journal states,
The benefits of antidepressants seem to be minimal and possibly without any importance to the average patient with major depressive disorder. Antidepressants should not be used for adults with major depressive disorder before valid evidence has shown that the potential beneficial effects outweigh the harmful effects.
“Goldman Sachs has amassed a RAP sheet showing that the financial crash of 2008 did little if anything to slow the pace of illegal activity that was well underway in the years leading up to the crash. Goldman Sachs was heavily engaged in illegal activity before the crash; they reached new heights of lawlessness in connection with the crash; and they continued to violate the law in the post-crash era….”
Senator Bernie Sanders has repeatedly stated that the business model of Wall Street is fraud. We’ve refined that to the business model of Wall Street is monetizing fraud. And based on this latest report, Goldman Sachs takes the top prize for its panoply of innovations in monetizing fraud.
The Better Markets report raises serious concerns on multiple fronts. First, it traces the Goldman Sachs’ crime wave from 1998 through 2019. Three separate CEO’s served during that period, all of whom became obscenely rich and none of whom curbed the crime wave. Despite all of the federal and state investigations that arose as a result of the Wall Street corruption that brought on the crash of 2008, the report found that the pattern of illegal conduct actually increased at Goldman Sachs after the 2008 crash […]
This is now the fourth time this has happened that we know of. US troops in northeastern Syria keep blockading the M4 highway to prevent Russian troops from moving on it.
In fall of 2019, to prevent a Turkish invasion of the Kurdish-held northeastern Syria, the Pentagon hammered out a deal with the Turks for joint US-Turkish patrols on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Turkish border.
As soon as that happened however Trump, after a talk with Erdogan, declared and ordered a US military withdrawal from Syria. At this moment Russia jumped in and took over the US role in the formerly US-Turkish agreement. To minimally appease Erdogan and limit his invasion it would now be Russians who patrolled together with the Turks, which was welcomed by the Kurdish leadership.
In separate negotiations with the Kurds the Russians also gained a number of bases in the northeast to make the patrols possible, and thousands of Syrian army troops also poured in to reinforce the Kurds against the Turkish invasion in the limited sector it was taking place in.
At this point Trump reversed himself, saying US forces would stay in Syria, but only in the oil-rich parts. But the withdrawal from the Syrian-Turkish border, where US presence had hampered US-Turkish relations, would be permanent.
Blue is the obvious path, but the Americans insist the Russians must hug the border along the red path
What is happening now is that when the Russians coming from the west want to take the direct and obvious route to their facilities in the city of Qamishli they periodically encounter US troops near the town of Tell Tamr standing in their way.
The Americans block the road with their vehicles and demand the Russians take the longer, indirect way to Qamishli along inferior roads hugging the Syrian-Turkish border.
It is being reportedthis is Americans keeping the Russians away from oil fields, but that is not the case.The object of the dispute are not oil fields but Russia’s use of the M4 highway.The Russians do not object to Americans (who are there illegally) using the highway, but the Americans do object to Russians (who are there legally) from using it.
It appears that so far the Russians have in every case backed down, and did not try to force their way through.It is not known however if they really used the border paths or if they just went around the Americans and then returned to the highway.
During the 1990s, Portugal was devastated by a drug crisis where one in every 100 people became addicted to heroin and the rate of HIV infection soared to become the highest in the European Union.
But, as Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes, Portugal’s radical move to put an end to the carnage should prove an example to other countries dealing with similar problems, especially the United States where opioids have killed more people than the totality of American military casualties in Vietnam, both Iraq wars and Afghanistan combined.
That move was decriminalizing the consumption of all drugs and Portugal became the first country to do it.
The policy saw the status of using or possessing drugs for personal use remain illegal. However, offenses were changed from being criminal in nature which involved prison as a possible punishment to being administrative if the amount possessed was no more than a ten-day supply. Needle exchange programs have also been in place since 1993 and today, all drug users can exchange syringes at pharmacy counters across Portugal. Drug treatment was also expanded and improved with successful results.
Finding historical data highlighting the severity of the addiction problem during the late 1990s is difficult but some important numbers do exist which help to show just how remarkable Portugal’s recovery has been. The following infographic pulls data together from several sources to illustrate some key developments.
Greenpeace radiation survey team in Fukushima, Japan
The Most Revolutionary Act 