The Most #Lethal #Virus Is Not #COVID. It Is #War.

The Case for a Pardon of Edward Snowden by President Trump

By Glenn Greenwald, December 15 2020

In ruling the NSA’s mass surveillance program illegal, the court noted the indispensable role Snowden played in enabling the protection of Americans’ rights. It was Snowden, explained the court, who “made public the existence of NSA data collection programs.”

Biden and the JCPOA: Lessons from Arab and Iranian Public Opinion By James J. Zogby, December 15 2020 With Joe Biden as President-elect and Donald Trump soon leaving the White House, analysts are engaging in endless speculation about what this change in administrations will mean for the future of the JCPOA, the “nuclear deal” negotiated between the P5+1 and Iran.

‘Buy It or Else’: Inside Monsanto and BASF’s Moves to Force Dicamba on Farmers By Johnathan Hettinger, December 15 2020 Get poisoned or get on board. That’s the choice soybean farmers such as Will Glazik face. The past few summers, farmers near Glazik’s central Illinois farm have sprayed so much of the weed killer dicamba at the same time that it has polluted the air for hours and sometimes days.

Western Sahara Is the “Reward” to Morocco for Recognizing Israel By Steven Sahiounie, December 15 2020 The US, Israel, and Morocco triangle included a quid pro quo: a US agreement to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory since 1975, where there has been a decades-old conflict with Morocco pitted against the Polisario Front.

Aleppo’s Liberation Three Years Ago Today: Anybody Ashamed? By Jan Oberg, December 15 2020 December 12, 2017, marks the anniversary of the liberation – the West called it fall – of Aleppo in Syria. What happened is conveniently forgotten today by the West. Some of us can’t and won’t forget what was both world, regional and local history.

Regardless of Who Occupies the White House, The Decadent Trajectory of Neoliberalism Continues By US Peace Council, December 15 2020 The important issues of war and peace facing humanity, especially for those of us in the belly of the beast with a special responsibility to address the actions of our own government, were non-issues in most if not all U.S. election campaigns. Regardless of who occupies the Oval Office, the decadent trajectory of neoliberalism continues.

The Most Lethal Virus Is Not COVID. It Is War. By John Pilger, December 15 2020 John Pilger describes the invisible weapon of past and current wars, and the threat of nuclear war, under cover of the Covid pandemic. This is propaganda, aided by censorship by omission.

Amid Fears of Overwhelmed Medical Systems, Ample U.S. Hospital Capacity Nationwide By Daniel Payne, December 15 2020 As fears persist of overwhelmed medical systems and at-capacity hospitals nationwide, data indicate that ample hospital space remains available for both COVID-19 patients and other medical needs, with one official at a major hospital network stating that the country is “managing pretty well” the latest surge of COVID-19.

“Fish Wars” and Brexit. European Fishing Vessels in British Waters By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, December 14 2020 Warring over fish in the twenty-first century might seem an unlikely proposition. But the deployment of four Royal Navy ships to deter European fishing vessels from encroaching on British waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit has tongues wagging.

“Myopia”: A Universal Message by Morocco’s Film Director Sanaa Akroud’s Latest Screen Gem

By Barbara Nimri Aziz, December 14 2020

This film story by Sanaa Akroud is, like its title “Myopia”, just too simple to carry the power of a deeply moving universal message.