PBC News & Comment: GOP Aide Says NSA Metadata Collection Has Ended

Adviser to GOP House leader says NSA phone metadata analysis program has been suspended and may not be resumed….--read the NY Times report here
--but the Post Office hasn’t stopped scanning your mail, reveals John Kiriakou at ConsortiumNews
--in ironic proof of “allegiance to AIPAC”, House Dems rush to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar for more honesty about Israeli influence on our government
--the estimable Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies sees the smears of Omar as hopeful sign of change
--and at The Intercept, Mehdi Hassan says the claims of anti-Semitism are gaslighting
--in new in-depth interview, journalist Tim Redmond and activist Eric Thrasher talk about public ownership of bankrupt utility, PG&E
--Guiado, Venezuela’s fake president, returns without being arrested
--PBS acts as state media on Venezuela, presenting “ambassador” with no credentials and allowing him to lie without any challenge
--listener and generous support Paul Ellcessor shares FAIR’s criticism of media and Smedley Butler quote
--which dropped in my Inbox right next to this colorful dispatch from John Perkins, the recovering “economic hit man”
--and the international election observers of the 2018 Maduro victory tell EU that its claims of irregularities are “fabrications of the most disgraceful kind”
--a US-Saudi dual citizen reports being tortured at the Ritz Carlton prison
--Jerry Nadler flexes his power as Judiciary Chair, demands oodles of documents from Trump cronies, but says “impeachment is a long way down the road”
--Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tips the balance, Trump’s emergency decree will be rejected, forcing likely veto and lengthy legal challenges
--Trump appears ready to declare victory in trade war with China, but the costs have been great and the gains will me minimal
--as expected, Sacramento DA won’t charge the cops who fired 20 shots at Stephon Clark, a black man armed only with a cell phone
--in Canada, a second cabinet minister has resigned, compounding problems for PM Justin (not Pierre) Trudeau
--in major accomplishment, a second HIV-infected patient has been “cured”