December 2021 Archives

Monthly Archives: December 2021

2021-12-21: News Headlines

_____ (2021-12-21). Next Phase in US Economic and Political Crisis Begins. popularresistance.org The response of Democrat leaders to Manchin's announcement killing the bill has been typically timid. Senator Sanders replied they should put the bill to a vote in the Senate to show West Virginians where Manchin stands. As if it was not already clear to everyone! Dick Durbin's reply was 'let's all go home for Xmas' and we'll all feel better when we return and maybe can get something done'. Such timidity reveals traditional Democrat political pusillanimity and a desperate 'too clever' spin that the bill isn't quite dead. Somehow the Zombie legislation can be resurrected. But Build Back Better is not only DOA, but…

_____ (2021-12-21). New Program Is Secretly Privatizing Medicare. popularresistance.org A new program is placing Medicare recipients into private health insurance plans without their knowledge or consent in a final effort to fully privatize our national Medicare system. Known as "Direct Contract Entities (DCEs)," this program is putting more of our healthcare system into the hands of private equity to generate enormous profits at the expense of our health. Clearing the FOG speaks about this with Kay Tillow, a long time health care, civil rights and union activist. Tillow explains what these entities are, why they threaten the future of our entire healthcare system and how they block our ability to a…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-21). Senior Economist At Moody's, Mark Zandi: I'm Lowering My Economic Forecast For US Due To Omicron Variant. moguldom.com Moody's Analytics is expected to downgrade its U.S. economic forecast by as much as one percentage point in the coming days due to the double blow from the intensifying pandemic and Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to President Joe Biden's signature Build Back Better legislation. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNN on Monday that …

Editor2 (2021-12-21). Want to Know How to Beat COVID? Look at China. orinocotribune.com By Scott Scheffer — Dec 17, 2021 | The world is now nearing the end of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States has the highest death toll in the world — 823,390 as of Dec. 16. | With all the scientific resources available, and billions of dollars in the vaults of the richest capitalist class in history, the U.S. should have been able to succeed in a vaccination campaign and treat everyone before they were infected. Vaccines should have made their way throughout the world, including the global south where the challenges of poverty magnify the horrors of the pandemic. | Instead, the W…

_____ (2021-12-21). Who Might Strike in 2022? Hundreds of Big Contracts Will Be Up. popularresistance.org Workers are already sensing their increased leverage in a tight labor market. They'll be feeling the squeeze of record inflation while their employers rake in profits. There's every reason to hold the line against concessions, or to win back what they gave away before. | A Bloomberg analysis in November found that nearly 200 large union contracts (covering at least 1,000 workers) would expire between then and the end of 2022. Together these contracts cover 1.3 million workers—and there are hundreds of thousands more covered under the hundreds of smaller contracts that are also expiring. Here are some of the…

Tony Murphy (2021-12-21). Rally for Amazon workers! Dec. 22, New York City. workers.org New York City Amazon union organizing is accelerating, as Staten Island Amazon workers refile for union election. On Dec. 22 the Amazon Labor Union will resubmit its petition for a union vote at the facility, known as JFK8, to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers will hold a lunchtime walkout . . . |

WSWS (2021-12-21). UK Tesco workers—reject USDAW-Unite pay sellout! wsws.org USDAW and Unite are recommending workers call off their offensive and accept an effective pay cut in conditions in which they occupy a powerful economic position and confront the serious dangers of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Staff (2021-12-21). Gabriel Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements That Fought Off Far-Right Threat. democracynow.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in Chile and Latin America more broadly.

Amy Goodman (2021-12-21). Social Movements in Chile Fend Off Far Right Threat With Gabriel Boric's Victory. truthout.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in…

John Feffer (2021-12-21). The "selling" of degrowth. nationofchange.org Can those who advocate hitting the brakes on economic growth get their message across before it's too late?>

WSWS (2021-12-21). Price increases for food and other basic necessities to squeeze Canadian workers' already hard-pressed incomes. wsws.org The rising cost of foodstuffs is especially devastating for workers and their families, many of whom struggle to put food on the table, never mind the foods necessary for a healthy and balanced diet.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-21). Hospitality workers on strike in Cambodia's biggest casino. peoplesdispatch.org Despite pressure from authorities, more than 1,300 workers in Phnom Penh's NagaWorld have been on strike against mass lay-offs and wage cuts. The entire leadership of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld is among those laid off…

Editor (2021-12-21). LABOUR live at Metabolic Rift. mronline.org Titled Metabolic Rift, the month-long event series combined both an exhibition spread across Berlin's Kraftwerk venue and a series of concerts that captured the spirit of Berlin through site-specific interventions and live performance.

WSWS (2021-12-21). New Zealand: More bodies photographed after sealing of Pike River mine. wsws.org The announcement underlines the criminality of the Labour Party government's decision to permanently seal the mine, preventing the 29 bodies being recovered and the 2010 disaster properly investigated.

Andrew Emett (2021-12-21). Democratic legislators send scathing letter to Amazon inquiring about employee deaths. nationofchange.org "Amazon has proven time and time again that it views workers as disposable means to achieving greater profits."

WSWS (2021-12-21). Mack Trucks and UAW continue to push for profits at Macungie, Pennsylvania plant after worker dies of COVID-19. wsws.org Mack and the United Auto Workers have continued with operations even after William Domitrovitsch Jr., who had an elderly parent and young child, died on December 15 after catching COVID-19.

Martin Empson (2021-12-21). Gregory T. Cushman — 'Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History'. mronline.org In the last two decades it has been common, in Marxist books on ecology, to find discussions of how capitalist agriculture developed an urgent need for fertilisers to solve the crisis of soil fertility in the 19th century.

Victoria Torres (2021-12-21). The End of Neoliberalism in Latin America?: Return of the Left. orinocotribune.com Without seeming like déjà vu, presidential candidates supported by progressive and left-wing parties and movements are regaining power on the Latin American continent. Everything indicates that it may be the end of neoliberalism once again. | The domino effect has reached Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and more recently Chile, where the people have placed their hopes of progress on the new leftist presidency of Gabriel Boric, despite the hesitation by many on the left towards his statements on foreign policy. | Commander Hugo Chávez, alongside Fidel Castro, managed, at the beginni…

WSWS (2021-12-21). COVID-19 explodes in Spain as PSOE-Podemos government refuses action. wsws.org The surge in infections in Spain is a warning of the dangers posed by the virus, which the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government has let spread unchecked.

WSWS (2021-12-21). German elderly care workers report dramatic pandemic experiences. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site spoke with caregivers in nursing and retirement homes as part of the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic.

WSWS (2021-12-21). Flight attendants say US airlines forced them to wear toxic uniforms even after symptoms emerged. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site received correspondence from Southwest Airlines flight attendants suffering chronic and incurable disorders caused by poisoned company uniforms.

WSWS (2021-12-21). Chile's pseudo-left president-elect Gabriel Boric promises to work with far right. wsws.org Boric's government will be modeled in large measure on Spain's Podemos-Spanish Socialist Workers Party PSOE coalition, composed of thoroughly corrupt, pro-capitalist stooges.

Fight Back (2021-12-21). Today is Stalin's birthday – here's what Mao had to say. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article written by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong on the 60th birthday of Joseph Stalin. | Stalin, Friend of the Chinese People | On the Twenty-first of December, Comrade Stalin will be sixty years old. We can be sure that his birthday will evoke warm and affectionate congratulations from the hearts of all revolutionary people throughout the world who know of the occasion. | Congratulating Stalin is not a formality. Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points ou…

_____ (2021-12-20). Yemen and Afghanistan Face Unprecedented Famine — Crimes of Mass Starvation. journal-neo.org Sounding the alarm this December Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF head of mission in Yemen made clear that well beyond the many casualties War claimed over the past seven years, famine weighs much heavier on the war-torn nation, a fate Afghanistan unfortunately shares. "A nearly seven-year long conflict has badly affected the country's economy and weakened an …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). Afghanistan economy in 'freefall', threatening to take entire population with it. moderndiplomacy.eu Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall", the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday, warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it". Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). West mulls Finnish war scenario for Russia in addition to Bandera, Mujahideen models. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com As Helsinki confirms it will purchase 64 U.S. F-35s, now equipped to deliver B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons, the 1939-1940 Finnish-Russian Winter War scenario is also being proposed by Western analysts to combat Russia in Ukraine in addition to those of the World War II Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Afghan Mujahideen model of the 1980s. …

WSWS (2021-12-20). Canada joins US-led Olympic boycott as Trudeau government pursues ever more belligerent anti-China policy. wsws.org Canada's Liberal government is binding itself ever more tightly to Washington's all-sided diplomatic, economic and military-strategic offensive against China.

_____ (2021-12-20). Belt and Road: How Laos Exemplifies Preconditions for Global Success. journal-neo.org More than eight years ago, in September 2013, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the launch of China's global transport initiative, One Belt One Road (OBOR). The project implies the unification of all major world transport routes into a single system and removing all economic and political barriers to the free circulation of goods through this …

_____ (2021-12-20). What Are The Fundamental Differences Between Capitalist And Socialist Democracy? popularresistance.org The United States hosted a "Summit for Democracy" on December 9th and 10th in an obvious attempt to legitimize its unipolar and hegemonic claim of leadership over the so-called "rules-based international order." While on the surface this appeared to be an unproductive move on the part of the world hegemon, it aligned well with the U.S. strategy of cloaking its aggressive and exploitative policies under the guise of "democracy." Joe Biden's administration has repeatedly hyped the differences between "autocracy" and U.S.-led "democracy." So-called allies were summoned to give the U.S.'s vision for democracy credibi…

_____ (2021-12-20). Low Wages And Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. popularresistance.org Many graduate students find themselves caught between these multiple fronts: burdened with past student debt, earning sub-living-wage pay in their present work and facing dwindling future opportunities. Universities have grown over-reliant on graduate students and other contingent faculty to maintain a pool of low-cost labor. But an upswell of organizing activity in the last year indicates that graduate students have been emboldened to take a collective stand against the precarity and untenable conditions that mar the academic experience in the U.S.

Christopher Orlet (2021-12-20). The Working Class is Not Voting Against Its Interests. zcomm.org America needs a labor party. A party of the working class. But right now it has nothing that even vaguely resembles either one…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-20). How Hollywood Filmmakers Are Using Crypto And NFTs To Finance Movies. moguldom.com Hollywood is using blockchain technology to get in on the creator-led economy which has helped artists protect their intellectual property and reach their audiences and producers directly to fund the films they want without studio mediation. With crypto and blockchain, the movie and entertainment industry is about to reinvent its business functions for more secure, …

WSWS (2021-12-20). US Fed chief worried about "wages push" in coming year. wsws.org The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, said the major threat to the economy was not the Omicron variant but "briskly" rising wages, which could continue into 2022.

Alex Marshall (2021-12-20). Delivery Drivers Take On the Platform Goliaths. zcomm.org The lesson to take from organizing in the gig economy is that workers still have the power to change the world…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-20). Towards Another Devastating Worldwide Crisis? The WEF's "Cyber Attack With Covid-like Characteristics". Paralysis of the Power Supply, Communications, Transportation? globalresearch.ca First published on December 15, 2021 | The World Economic Forum (WEF) which represents the Western financial elites, played a key role in the launching of the March 11, 2020 lockdown, which was conducive to a Worldwide process of economic and …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2022 Deferred. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Economic Forum will defer its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in the light of continued uncertainty over the Omicron outbreak. The Annual Meeting was scheduled to take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland between 17-21 January, 2022. It is now planned for early summer. Participants will instead join a headline series of State of the …

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-12-20). U.S. inflation and India's economic recovery. mronline.org The very day, December 11, when the Indian finance ministry spuriously claimed a robust recovery in…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-12-20). How the Mighty Culinary Union Survived the Apocalypse. zcomm.org After facing 98% unemployment in the depths of the pandemic, the strongest union in Las Vegas has risen again…

Maurizio Coppola (2021-12-20). "The Cuban Soberana vaccine is not due to a miracle but the consequence of political decisions" peoplesdispatch.org From November 15 to 25, 35 Italian volunteers participated in a clinical trial on the Soberana vaccine in Havana, Cuba. Thanks to its public and high quality biotechnological research and health care system, the Caribbean island is the only low-income country worldwide to have made its own COVID-19 vaccines…

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-20). Special Privilege in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. dissidentvoice.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of …

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). Black Women Launch New Organization In Detroit For 'Reparations Transfers' To Go Towards Homeownership. moguldom.com Reparation Generation, a national organization providing direct reparative money transfers to Black Americans for wealth-building pursuits, launched a new program that takes a citizen-driven approach to restoration for disenfranchised descendants of American slavery. "Our vision is for this country that we love to become the 'more perfect union' our nation's founders promised. Equity for Black …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-20). Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric emerges victorious in Chilean elections. peoplesdispatch.org Boric has promised to deliver on key demands raised during the 2019 protests which includes an increase in state spending on social services, progressive taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals.

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). US Lawmakers Call For Sanctions After 9 State Department Employees' iPhones Hacked With Software From Israeli NSO Spyware Company. moguldom.com A group of 18 Democratic lawmakers has asked President Joe Biden to impose financial sanctions on controversial Israel spyware firm NSO Group and several other surveillance companies following the revelation that nine U.S. State Department employees had their iPhones hacked with the company's software. NSO Group has come under global scrutiny for its Pegasus software, …

_____ (2021-12-20). On Contact: America's War Machine. popularresistance.org Chris Hedges discusses with Andrew Cockburn his new book, 'The Spoils of War — Power, Profit and the American War Machine'. | Cockburn's book lays bare the naked lust for profit that is behind America's endless wars and bloated military budget. The American war machine, he writes, can only be understood in terms of the "private passions" and "interests" of those who control it — principally, a passionate interest in making money.

WSWS (2021-12-20). Support the #pizzaisnotworking walkouts by pharmacy workers! Trillions for public health, not pandemic profiteering! wsws.org The actions taken by pharmacists in the US are an early sign of a new phase in the growth of working-class resistance, driven by the deadly winter surge and the emergence of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant.

WSWS (2021-12-20). The Biden administration is lying: Scientists warned about Omicron threat. wsws.org The claim by Vice President Kamala Harris that "We didn't see Omicron coming" is a lie aimed at evading responsibility for the catastrophic outcome of a policy of sacrificing human life for private profit.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). COPINH: Revelations in the Netherlands Prove the Lenca People Right. libya360.wordpress.com Photo from Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Credit: Daniel Cima/CIDH AQUI ESPAàëOL The FMO bank of the Netherlands is sanctioned for not complying with anti-money laundering regulations and at the same time terminates all relations with the FICOHSA bank of Honduras. COPINH and the Global Justice Association (legal representative of COPINH in the Netherlands) make…

WSWS (2021-12-20). Deadly fire in Osaka, Japan leaves at least 24 people dead. wsws.org The blaze at a psychiatry clinic once again exposes the lack of fire safety under capitalism.

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-20). Legendary Hedge Fund Manager Ray Dalio: Bitcoin Has Merit, Is Like The Younger Generation's Alternative to Gold. moguldom.com Billionaire investor and hedge-fund founder Ray Dalio said he is impressed with Bitcoin, although less than two years ago, he said Bitcoin was not the best way to store value as it and other cryptocurrencies are fundamentally flawed. "It has been an amazing accomplishment for Bitcoin to have achieved what it has done, from writing that …

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). US Government Watchdog Launches Probe Into 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Companies, Stocks Crash. moguldom.com Buy now, pay later companies are hot right now, especially as people wrap up their Christmas shopping and try to stick to a budget. Companies such as Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip allow consumers to purchase items and pay for them over a scheduled period. Unlike layaway plans, consumers get the goods right away …

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2021-12-20: News Headlines

Alex Marshall (2021-12-20). Delivery Drivers Take On the Platform Goliaths. zcomm.org The lesson to take from organizing in the gig economy is that workers still have the power to change the world…

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-12-20). U.S. inflation and India's economic recovery. mronline.org The very day, December 11, when the Indian finance ministry spuriously claimed a robust recovery in…

WSWS (2021-12-20). Deadly fire in Osaka, Japan leaves at least 24 people dead. wsws.org The blaze at a psychiatry clinic once again exposes the lack of fire safety under capitalism.

_____ (2021-12-20). Our Age Of Uprisings: We Are A World Remaking Itself. popularresistance.org The global pandemic unfolds amidst a world of uprisings. Some have seen huge numbers gather in the streets and become ungovernable, including the victorious farmer's strike in India, the efforts to expropriate the landlords in Berlin, the mass refusal of anti-Black police violence in the US, and the mobilizations against the neoliberal regime in Chile. | Elsewhere, in Chiapas, Kerala, Rojava and an archipelago of smaller "zones to defend," the uprisings take more sustained forms as people reinvent or reclaim life in common. Indigenous people around the world are refusing to allow their lands and lives to be sacri…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-20). Why the U.S. Will Reject Russia's Proposed Peace-Settlement. moderndiplomacy.eu On December 17th, Russia presented America with a proposed peace-settlement that would empower the U.N. to be not only nominally but in reality the one-and-only body that can create international laws. The proposed treaty would obliterate America's effort to replace the U.N. by America's never-defined 'rules-based international order', which was first proposed by the neoliberal-neoconservative …

WSWS (2021-12-20). Socialist Equality Party (Australia) holds health workers' forum on the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Speakers outlined the necessity for the Workers' Inquest to cut through the cover-ups and falsifications being used to justify the removal of even the most basic measures to halt the worsening of the pandemic fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Pepe Escobar (2021-12-19). Putin and Xi Plot Their SWIFT Escape. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — Dec 17, 2021 | Russia and China's announcement of an independent financial trading platform will free nations under US sanctions from western intrusion into their commercial activities | Vladimir Putin got straight to the point. At the opening of his one hour and fourteen minute video conversation with Xi Jinping on 15 December, he described Russia-China relations as "an example of genuine inter-state cooperation in the 21st century." | Their myriad levels of cooperation have been known for years now — from trade, oil and gas, finance, aerospace and the fight against Covid-19, to the…

Ian Angus (2021-12-19). Dispossessed: Origins of the Working Class. mronline.org Deprived of land and common rights, the English poor were forced into wage-labor. CAPITAL VERSUS COMMONS, 4…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-12-19). Ten Predictions For the Year Ahead in Labor. zcomm.org Our infallible crystal ball reveals that 2022 will make workers want to holler…

Bianca Tylek (2021-12-19). Corporate Exploitation of Prison Labor Reaches Deep into the Supply Chain. truthout.org This article is part of a five-part The exception clause allowed states, often in the South, to pass Black Codes, laws that specifically criminalized Black life and filled jails with Black people. States then used "convict leasing" to rent incarcerated people to private individuals and corporations looking for cheap labor, often plantations. By the late 1800s, states like Alab…

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-19). The Green Agenda and the Plan to Collapse the Industrial World Economy. globalresearch.ca

_____ (2021-12-19). The Need For A Feminist Lens. popularresistance.org The Black Experience in the Americas has always been, by circumstance, design and by purpose, inextricably tied to the land and to forms of Resistance expressed through different peoples in different territories throughout the Americas. Climate change affects communities and regions differently, even within the same country, depending on their cultural, economic, environmental, political and social context. But climate change also affects people differently within these same communities and regions depending on their race and genders, both at an individual and collective level. | For Black communities, an undersp…

Marco Teruggi (2021-12-19). Venezuela: What Country Will it Be? orinocotribune.com By Marco Teruggi — Dec 8, 2021 | The economic and financial catastrophe that relentlessly devastated the Venezuelan population during the last few years seems to be easing, while the government of Nicolás Maduro encourages the return of the old entrepreneurial forms of accumulation. Harassed by the imperial powers, the recent elections revealed a decrease in the hard core of the Chavista hardliners and at the same time revealed the fragmentation of the opposition. From Caracas, a chronicle brimming with questions, about the country that mocks forecasts and closed conclusions. | "This was the richest country,…

Joel Richards (2021-12-19). 20 years since Argentina's 2001 crisis. america.cgtn.com Argentina's lower house of Congress rejected the government's 2022 budget proposal on Friday, complicating the country's urgent talks with the IMF over debt repayment. These talks are taking place as the country remembers the anniversary and debates the conditions that fueled its devastating economic and social …

Newsroom (2021-12-19). WHO lists 9th COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Health Organization (WHO) approved on Friday the Covovax vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL), elevating to nine the number of immunizations approved to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from Novavax, and will now be part of the COVAX facility portfolio, boosting efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries. WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simà£o, said that "even …

_____ (2021-12-19). A Critique Of Obscene Wealth. popularresistance.org Wherever and whenever obscenely rich people existed, they always protected their wealth and the privileges that come with it from the majority of non-wealthy people working for them and around them. Emperors, kings, czars as well as masters of huge slave plantations, lords of big feudal manors, and major shareholders and top executives of capitalist megacorporations did so partly by the use of brute force, or through the exercise of power, and bribery. All of them also used ideological persuasion, but none more so than capitalists today. And while "the weapon of criticism can never replace the criticism of weapon…

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-19). Special Privilege in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. zcomm.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-19). Privileging the Privileged in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. warisacrime.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of …

Kite Line (2021-12-19). Kite Line: Carceral Nonprofits. itsgoingdown.org Long-running abolitionist radio show Kite Line looks at the impact of carceral non-profits who steer radical change towards liberal reform under the guise of decarceration. We are sad to report that Russell Maroon Shoatz, who was recently granted compassionate release after his decades in prison, has passed away. This week, we return to the final…

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-19). Covid-19, Hospitals & The Curse of Capitalism. zcomm.org The idea that sickness must be profitable reaches deep into the ideological heart of neoliberalism…

_____ (2021-12-19). U.S. Police Unions Starting to Ask: Why Does the ACLU 'Defend the Indefensible'? strategic-culture.org With the introduction of ACLU Watch, more people can better understand that a robust police presence is not the true source of America's crime problem, Robert Bridge writes. | Law enforcement officials have begun a watch beat of sorts against the American Civil Liberties Union, whose support of justice reform has translated into more criminals roaming the streets as police officers lose their jobs. | A number of liberal activists, armed with the most altruistic intentions, of course, are busy remaking America into a liberal bastion of utopian thinking, where the Cultural Marxists have put down the stakes on their…

NYC Anarchist Black Cross (2021-12-19). NYC: Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs. itsgoingdown.org Call for noise demo in New York City on New Year's Eve from NYC Anarchist Black Cross. photo: Ash Agony On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-19). Why Russia vetoed at the U.N. the U.S.-proposed inclusion of climate-change as a 'National Security' issue. moderndiplomacy.eu The United States Government wants to persuade the gullible global public that that Government takes seriously the global-warming threat. The only way actually to stop global warming — if it still can be stopped — is to outlaw, even if in only one major country (such as the U.S.), purchases of stocks and bonds in …

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-19). Kshama Sawant Emerges Victorious From Disingenuous Recall Attempt. zcomm.org The corporate-backed campaign to recall Seattle's socialist City Councilor Kshama Sawant, which stretched on for a contentious 16 months, has concluded with a victory for Sawant, who will remain in her seat as the lone leftist of the council…

Fight Back (2021-12-19). Filipino Communists: Mobilize the people in the wake of typhoon Odette's destruction. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 18 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its sympathies to the millions of people who suffered the devastation wrought by supertyphoon Odette in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao regions and in Palawan island. Thousands upon thousands of homes, agricultural fields, fishing boats, and other sources of livelihood were destroyed or severely damaged. | The toiling masses are the most grievously affected, especially the fisherfolk, the small peasants and fa…

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2021-12-19: News Headlines

Ian Angus (2021-12-19). Dispossessed: Origins of the Working Class. mronline.org Deprived of land and common rights, the English poor were forced into wage-labor. CAPITAL VERSUS COMMONS, 4…

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-19). The Green Agenda and the Plan to Collapse the Industrial World Economy. globalresearch.ca

_____ (2021-12-18). True Colors: Red, White, Black And Blue. popularresistance.org With a bold and completely self-sabotaging diplomatic blunder, one which fails on every level including the least rigorous sanity test, this past Wednesday the U.S. was one of two nations to vote against a UN resolution designed to discourage the glorification and promotion of Nazi ideology. The other nation was Ukraine, which currently is overrun and effectively ruled by Jew-hating, Russia-hating, LGBT-hating neo-Nazis, who openly flaunt their allegiance to Stepan Bandera, a collaborator with the Third Reich during WWII. | The reason the U.S. supports such Jew-hating, Russia-hating thugs is obvious. It's an effe…

Julia Conley (2021-12-18). Child Tax Credit Set to End, Potentially Pushing Millions of Kids Into Poverty. truthout.org Child advocates kicked off a grim countdown Friday as Democrats appeared unable to find a way of passing an extension of the child tax credit, without which With talks regarding Build Back Better

_____ (2021-12-18). The US Fears Chinese Model's Impact In The Middle East. popularresistance.org Notwithstanding that China is a relatively "shy participant" in Middle Eastern policy, the US hegemony, which claims exclusivity among the most "obedient" Arab countries (those which fall into its strategic sphere of influence), is threatened by it. The worrying aspect for the US is that Beijing seeks to present a different model that integrates and takes advantage of the US's failed military experiences in many wars and direct political interference attempts over the past decades. | China hopes for a non-aggressive economic-political breakthrough in the Middle East through a less ferocious and less explicit mode…

_____ (2021-12-18). Rising Food Prices Could Spark Famine, War, And Revolution In 2022. popularresistance.org Washington — Already dealing with the economic fallout from a protracted pandemic, the rapidly rising prices of food and other key commodities have many fearing that unprecedented political and social instability could be just around the corner next year. | With the clock ticking on student loan and rent debts, the price of a standard cart of food has jumped 6.4% in the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the cost of eating out in a restaurant similarly spiking, by 5.8% since November 2020. | The most notable change has been in the price of meat, with beef costing 26.2% more th…

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian governments ramp up "reopening drive" amid record COVID-19 infections. wsws.org As Labor and Coalition governments alike scrap public health measures, to satisfy the demands of the corporate elite, there are signs of mounting public concern and hostility.

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian budget update flies in face of pandemic disaster. wsws.org The government's mid-year review directly reflects the demands of the corporate elite for a full reopening of the economy, in the interest of profit, regardless of the human cost.

scorinoco (2021-12-18). Only One Chávez and Only One Salvador. orinocotribune.com By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein — Dec 15, 2021 | From Venezuela to Chile, from Caldera to Boric | The current situation in Chile seems to me more and more strikingly similar to that of the early 90's in Venezuela. At that time, here—just as in Chile today—30 years of post-dictatorship were being experienced. Both countries—at the time—were presented as a "model of democracy to follow" and "example for the world" based on the "success" of the two-party representative democracy system in which the economy was put at the service of a minority of the population. | "It is not thirty pesos,…

WSWS (2021-12-18). "The raises are insulting in this economy": Postal workers oppose union-brokered tentative agreement. wsws.org The agreement continues decades of attacks on workers by offering meager raises and expanding the second tier of lower-paid postal employees.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-18). "Four Meals from Anarchy": Rising Food Prices Could Spark Famine, War, and Revolution in 2022. libya360.wordpress.com Alan Macleod WASHINGTON — Already dealing with the economic fallout from a protracted pandemic, the rapidly rising prices of food and other key commodities have many fearing that unprecedented political and social instability could be just around the corner next year. With the clock ticking on student loan and rent debts, the price of a…

Amjed Jaaved (2021-12-18). Simmering resentment in Indian-held Kashmir. moderndiplomacy.eu The writer if of the view that the politico-economic situation in the occupied Kashmir is in a state of flux. All the leading politicians are frustrated at apathetic, nay callous, attitude of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party autocrats in New Delhi. They are unanimous that the situation, after abrogation of the special status and hereditary domiciliary …

_____ (2021-12-18). The Sociopolitical and Economic Impact of the Pandemic. journal-neo.org Two years of the coronavirus pandemic have seriously changed the world around us economically and politically. The pandemic demonstrated that any mass epidemic is as much a generic challenge to society as war, a change in geological epochs, or economic stages. At this challenging time for everybody, all power structures and public institutions have faced …

Newsroom (2021-12-18). Current pandemic trends bring more uncertainty to economic prospects. moderndiplomacy.eu The most recent data on global manufacturing production, corresponding to the third quarter of 2021, indicate a stabilization after the COVID-19-related economic halt in the previous year. While the economic trajectories vary significantly among countries, most economies experienced solid increases in manufacturing production compared to 2020. Furthermore, higher technology industries had a better production performance …

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-18). Will the Federal Reserve Crash Global Financial Markets As a Means to Implementing Their "Great Reset"? globalresearch.ca First published on December 16, 2021 | It's looking increasingly likely that the US Federal Reserve and the globalist powers that be will use the dramatic rising of inflation as their excuse to bring down the US financial markets and with …

Amanda Winstead (2021-12-18). Millennials and generational wealth. nationofchange.org Various financial injustices are impacting our communities. Generational wealth is one of those particularly affecting Millennials.

Newsroom (2021-12-18). UNIDO, EIF and UNTBLDCs highlight potential benefits of 4IR for LDCs. moderndiplomacy.eu Least Developed Countries (LDCs) comprise 13% of humanity worldwide, yet they account for just 1.2% of global GDP, according to a new publication released by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in cooperation with the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (UNTBLDCs) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). Propelling LDCs in the …

John Zarocostas (2021-12-18). [World Report] WHO and World Bank urge spending for UHC. thelancet.com Governments have been urged to strengthen public spending on health as COVID-19 stalls progress towards universal health coverage. John Zarocostas reports from Geneva.

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Climate Justice Campaign Director. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Healthcare For All — Lead Organizer. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Policy & Research Manager. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

WSWS (2021-12-18). Committee for Public Education (Australia) holds successful online meeting on the COVID crisis. wsws.org The event, titled "COVID-19 spreads through Australian schools: Lives before profit! Stop the pandemic!" featured a report from Evan Blake, a member of the US SEP and a leading WSWS writer.

Bruce Lerro (2021-12-18). The Joys and Sorrows of Being a Celebrity Fan: James Dean, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Mantle. dissidentvoice.org No one who frequents the dark auditorium is really an atheist — Edgar Morin, Marxist Movie Critic Orientation Cross-cultural uniqueness of celebrity culture If members of a tribal society during Paleolithic or Neolithic times, or even members of Bronze Age Egypt or Mesopotamia had heard about the United States population's devotion to celebrities, they wouldn't …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-18). Turkish left calls minimum wage hike insufficient. peoplesdispatch.org After months of negotiations and protests, the right-wing AKP government announced on Thursday that the minimum wage will increase next year to 4,250 Turkish Lira from the current 2,850 Turkish Lira. This is against the unions' demand of a minimum wage of at least 5,200 Turkish Lira…

Paul von Blum (2021-12-18). Paul Buhle and the Rise of Socialist Comics. zcomm.org The historian has been at the forefront of telling the lost stories of U.S. radicalism—in comic book form—for nearly two decades…

WSWS (2021-12-18). "Workers around the world suffer the same conditions": A former Kellogg's worker in Australia sends a message of solidarity to US strikers. wsws.org Warwick Dove, a member of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and former Kellogg's worker, has a message for striking Kellogg's workers in the United States on the eve of their vote on another concessions contract this weekend.

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-18). Kshama Sawant Emerges Victorious From Disingenuous Recall Attempt. truthout.org The corporate-backed campaign to recall Seattle's socialist City Councilor Kshama Sawant, which stretched on for a contentious 16 months, has concluded with a victory for Sawant, who will remain in her seat as the lone leftist of the council. It was a fight so sharply contested and mobilizing that District 3 turnout, in this unusual December special election,

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2021-12-18: News Headlines

_____ (2021-12-17). Congress Passes Massive $778 Billion NDAA. popularresistance.org On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive $778 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 89 to 10. | The legislation is a compromise version of the NDAA that was already passed by the House and now just needs President Biden's signature to become law. Congress added $25 billion more to the spending bill than Biden requested. | The bill authorizes $740.3 billion for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion for "Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction." | In September, the House passed a different version of the NDAA that inc…

_____ (2021-12-17). Home Care Workers Protest 24-Hour Work Day In New York City. popularresistance.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…

Marie Kelly (2021-12-17). Yes Virginia, there is a labor movement. workers.org Workers in Virginia flexed their organizing muscle in two separate industries recently. First, hospitality workers at the tourist attraction, Colonial Williamsburg village, held a rally in front of various sites within the complex. The majority of the workers are Black. Their grievances include low wages and long hours. Colonial Williamsburg . . . |

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-17). Democratic Production and Self-Organized Labor: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis. libya360.wordpress.com Cira Pascual Marquina and Chris Gilbert Part I: Highland Resistance: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis First-hand accounts of the impact of the US sanctions on a coffee and cocoa growing commune in the Venezuelan Andes. The Che Guevara Commune lies on the fertile hillsides that rise up from the shores of Lake…

Erica L. Green (2021-12-17). New Leader Pushes Teachers' Union to Take On Social Justice Role. zcomm.org Becky Pringle, the country's top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools…

WSWS (2021-12-17). Both major parties in Australia plan accelerated pro-business university restructuring. wsws.org Regardless of whether the Coalition or Labor form the next government, the devastating attacks on jobs, conditions and the quality of education will accelerate.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-17). Qatar jails migrant worker for speaking out on labor violations. peoplesdispatch.org Jordanian Abdullah Ibhais was sentenced to five years in prison in April this year. Human rights groups assert that the sentence is based on false and baseless charges completely lacking evidence…

Igor Derysh (2021-12-17). GOP Candidate JD Vance Accuses Walmart of "Slave Labor" But Invests in Its Stock. truthout.org Ohio Republican Senate candidate Vance, who made a fortune as a venture capitalist before writing the best-selling book Hillbilly Elegy, submitted his persona…

Newsroom (2021-12-17). WEF Develops Framework to Transition Colombia to Data-Driven Economy. moderndiplomacy.eu The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a multistakeholder community have developed a technology and governance framework for trustworthy and commercially sustainable public-private data exchanges in Colombia. This new public-private resource will give individuals greater control over how their data is used and serve as a means for responsible value creation. The multistakeholder community …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). Indonesia's Economy Grew in 2021 Despite COVID-19, Will Accelerate in 2022. moderndiplomacy.eu The Indonesian economy continued to recover in 2021 despite moderating due to the COVID-19 Delta variant wave mid-year. The economy is estimated to have expanded 3.7 percent this year and is forecast to accelerate to 5.2 percent in 2022, the World Bank said on Thursday. The projection assumes that Indonesia will avoid another severe COVID-19 …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). Jordan: Reforms Critical to Resilient Recovery and Sustainable Growth. moderndiplomacy.eu Accelerated global recovery, improved vaccine rollout, and a full reopening of the domestic economy are the main drivers of a projected growth rate of 2.2% for this year in Jordan, according to the World Bank. However, rising COVID cases in some parts of the world, the slow pace of recovery of international tourism, and the …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). WB Supports Greater Access to Energy and Broadband Services in Rural Mozambique. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Bank approved today a $300 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA) that will support the Government of Mozambique's efforts to increase access to energy and broadband services, as well as strengthen the operational performance of the country's electricity utility. "Mozambique's economy can benefit from systematically harnessing the synergies of energy and …

_____ (2021-12-17). 20th ALBA-TCP Summit Declaration. popularresistance.org The Heads of State and Government and the Heads of Delegations of the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), meet in Havana, Cuba, on December 14, 2021 to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the Alliance. In signing this Declaration, we renew our commitment to strengthen this mechanism of political coordination based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, cooperation and economic complementarity, a result of the political will of its founders, the Commanders Fidel Castro Ruz and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.

Jim Lobe (2021-12-17). Faith Leaders Call on Biden to End Economic Sanctions. globalresearch.ca Leaders of 18 American faith and faith-based humanitarian organizations appealed to President Joe Biden this week to eliminate general U.S. economic sanctions against nations that are dealing with the ravages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as with the …

Julia Conley (2021-12-17). Dems face 2022 nightmare, critics warn, if student debt payments restart and child credit ends. nationofchange.org "These are policy choices," said one economic justice group. "We don't have to choose this. All of this is 100% unnecessary and avoidable."

Alexia Fernández Campbell (2021-12-17). DeJoy Nets Massive Bonus Amid Mail Delays and Rampant Wage Theft From Carriers. truthout.org This The U.S. Postal Service paid its top executives more in bonuses and perks last year than at any other point in the past decade, adding up to $370,622 in extra income for Postmaster…

WSWS (2021-12-17). Omicron case identified in New Zealand. wsws.org The Labour Party-led government claims that it is "very well-prepared" to keep Omicron out of New Zealand, when in reality it has ditched its elimination strategy and is allowing the Delta variant to spread nationwide.

WSWS (2021-12-17). Only a COVID-19 elimination strategy can protect educators, students, and their families from the Omicron tsunami! wsws.org The nearly two years of the pandemic have conclusively demonstrated that a science-based strategy that prioritizes saving workers' lives over corporate profits and investor wealth will only be imposed through the independent intervention of the working class.

Princess Harmony (2021-12-17). NYC opens first safe consumption sites. workers.org With fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses dramatically rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. needs a new strategy for countering this menace. In a number of cities, steps are underway to counteract this horrible loss of life. One is the foundation of safe consumption sites — places where addicted people . . . |

Archana Jyoti (2021-12-17). Impact of Terrorist Organizations in the Middle East. moderndiplomacy.eu Terrorism is a significant variable in security studies and it is hindering a wide range of safety. Likewise, because of the emotional expansion in psychological militant assaults in the course of the most recent twenty years, have economies have found a way broad ways to work on the political, social, and financial circumstances by diminishing …

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-17). Jay-Z, Shaq And Martha Stewart Get Smoked On SPAC IPO Pump And Dumps. moguldom.com If you invested in a special-purchase acquisition company (SPAC) that was boosted by a celebrity name, you may have lost less on your investment than the SPAC category as a whole, but it still isn't a happy scenario. Of 33 SPACs tied to famous public figures and tracked by Bloomberg, 21 posted negative returns for …

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-17). Low Wages and Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. truthout.org The U.S. university,

WSWS (2021-12-17). Jon Donaire bakery workers in California continue strike against speed up, mandatory overtime and low wages. wsws.org The workers have been on strike since November 3 against mandatory overtime, long hours, relentless speedup, poor pay, lack of breaks and a punitive point system for attendance.

Chauncey K. Robinson (2021-12-17). bell hooks changed how we think about Black femininity, class, and capitalism. peoplesworld.org I choose to re-appropriate the term 'feminism', to focus on the fact that to be 'feminist' in any authentic sense of the term is to want for all people, female and male, liberation from sexist role patterns, domination, and oppression. — bell hooks in "Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism," 1981 The world …

Ana Maria Garcia Horta (2021-12-17). Black Lives Matter: The Power Of Activism & Citizen Journalism. telesurenglish.net The year 2021 is drawing to a close, leaving untouched American structural racism, a legacy of the slave age that capitalism preserves to ensure the reproduction of social inequalities, which have been exacerbated by a pandemic that continues to hit workers in various ways. | RELATED: | In Minnesota, for example, the rate of coronavirus infection in citizens of African descent has remained between 25 and 30 percent…

John Ellison (2021-12-17). Stefan Heym: A central witness to both fascism and socialism in Germany. peoplesworld.org Stefan Heym—journalist, novelist, essayist—and a lifelong socialist, died 20 years ago, aged 88, on Dec. 16, 2001. His unfading commitment to humanity through his writing and actions must be remembered and celebrated. Born in 1913 into a prosperous Jewish family in the industrial east German town of Chemnitz, he was Helmut Flieg until he changed …

Anish R (2021-12-17). Villagers in Southern Thailand secure key victory against controversial industrial estate. peoplesdispatch.org After nearly two weeks of protest outside the government offices in Bangkok, the Prayut Chan-o-cha government agreed to halt the controversial Chana Industrial Project until a comprehensive review…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2021-12-17). Cuba derrota al COVID-19 con aprendizaje, ciencia y unidad. peoplesworld.org La educación es fundamental para el socialismo cubano. La dedicación del gobierno revolucionario al conocimiento científico y la atención médica para todos se manifiesta ahora mientras los cubanos enfrentan la pandemia de COVID-19. Estados Unidos no tiene tanta suerte. Los cubanos han realizado con entusiasmo el enmascaramiento, el distanciamiento social, las pruebas y la cuarentena. …

Jonathan Strauss (2021-12-17). Pat O'Shane to stand in Leichhardt for the Socialist Alliance. greenleft.org.au Pat O'Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, will run for the Socialist Alliance in the Far North Queensland lower house seat of Leichhardt in the federal election. Jonathan Strauss reports.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-17). Protests erupt against homophobic proposals by far-right Vox party. peoplesdispatch.org On Wednesday, December 15, LGBTIQ rights groups and other progressive, liberal sections protested in Madrid, Spain, to demand that the regional government of Madrid discard a proposal by the far-right Vox Party to repeal LGBTQI rights. The call for the protest was given by LGBTQI activist platform Trans Platform and was supported by various groups including Podemos, United Left (IU), Anti-capitalists Madrid, among others. Enrique Santiago, member of parliament and leader of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), also joined the demonstration on Wednesday. | On Thursday, the 136-seat Assembly of the Autonomous Commun…

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2021-12-17: News Headlines

Matt Sedlar (2021-12-16). Inflation Fears Shouldn't Be a Pretext for Class War. cepr.net The specter of inflation is being invoked to obstruct vital social programs in the Build Back Better bill. That's a recipe for economic ruin.

John Knefel (2021-12-16). Most of the Democratic Party Is Responsible for the Build Back Better Debacle. truthout.org Democrats are bracing for potentially huge losses in next year's midterm elections, and many believe the next few months will be the last chance for President Joe Biden to turn the tide back by passing major legislation. His signature bill, the Build Back Better Act, is currently being held up by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is claiming that rising inflation and the level of federal debt is causing him to rethink his support for the bill. Progressives in the party have been sidelined,…

_____ (2021-12-16). How The Left Can Get Ethiopia Right. popularresistance.org In the last few months, the left media outlets from various camps, in their sincere attempts to demonstrate solidarity and spotlight conflict in the Horn of Africa and internal developments in Ethiopia, got it wrong. They have been uncritically centering active ideological players on two opposing camps. The significant focus on the TPLF attacks on Eritrea, its invasion of Afar and the Amhara region, and its existence as a willing proxy actor of Washington was correct. They got it wrong, however, in their uncritical framing of neoliberal Abiy. They have chosen to over-amplify the Abiy camp's reactionary narrative…

_____ (2021-12-16). Labor Activists Want To Know Why Workers Were Left To Die. popularresistance.org In the aftermath of a rare string of December tornadoes last Friday night that left 80 people dead across six states, labor activists are questioning why employees at two large worksites in the path of destruction were left exposed to danger. | A candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky was totally destroyed after sustaining a direct tornado hit with 110 workers inside. At least eight people died and dozens more were severely injured. At the same time, an Amazon delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois was also hit by a tornado during a shift change, causing the roof to fly off and part of an exterior wall to colla…

Michael Moore (2021-12-16). Report exposes dangerous conditions at Minnesota's Amazon warehouses. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, Minn. (PAI)—Amazon workers this week echoed the findings of a new report that paints a troubling picture of labor conditions and inequities at the retailer's Minnesota warehouses, prompting one state lawmaker to pledge action in the coming legislative session. In analyzing data from six Amazon facilities, researchers from the National Employment Law Project …

teleSUR (2021-12-16). UN-Habitat To Collaborate in Building Green Homes in Kenya. telesurenglish.net Jeremiah Ougo, an officer in charge of national projects at the UN-Habitat, announced to journalists in Nairobi that the organization will guarantee that the principles of sustainable housing are incorporated into the real estate project. | RELATED: | "We will provide technical assistance to ensure water and energy efficiency, as well as public spaces, are mainstreamed into the project," Ougo stated on Thursday. | He noted that the land for the…

WSWS (2021-12-16). US postal workers' union proposes tentative agreement with cuts to real wages, keeps two-tier system. wsws.org The deal, which contains a measly 1.3 percent wage increase and provides for the expansion of second-tier labor, keeps every prior concession intact while adding a few more.

Monica Cruz (2021-12-16). Home care workers protest 24-hour work day in NYC. peoplesdispatch.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…

WSWS (2021-12-16). Omicron explodes in Australia as governments scrap nearly all safety measures. wsws.org As a result of truly criminal decisions taken by governments, Liberal-National and Labor Party alike, millions of people face infection within weeks.

_____ (2021-12-16). Wage Inequality Continued To Increase In 2020. popularresistance.org Newly available wage data from the Social Security Administration allow us to analyze wage trends for the top 1.0% and other very high earners as well as for the bottom 90% during 2020. The upward distribution of wages from the bottom 90% to the top 1.0% that was evident over the period from 1979 to 2019 was especially strong in the 2020 pandemic year, yielding historically high wage levels and shares of all wages for the top 1.0% and 0.1%. Correspondingly, the share of wages earned by the bottom 95% fell in 2020. | Two features of the pandemic economy distorted wage patterns in 2020 and led to faster wage growth…

Editor2 (2021-12-16). 20th ALBA-TCP Summit Declaration. orinocotribune.com "17 years defending Latin American and Caribbean integration and peace" | The Heads of State and Government and the Heads of Delegations of the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), meet in Havana, Cuba, on December 14, 2021 to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the Alliance. In signing this Declaration, we renew our commitment to strengthen this mechanism of political coordination based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, cooperation and economic complementarity, a result of the political will of its founders, the Commanders Fid…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-16). Pastor Bernice King: How Can Any Leader Call For Unity And Reconciliation Without Economic Reparations To Black Americans? moguldom.com Minister Bernice King — the youngest daughter of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — says there cannot be reconciliation in America without making reparations to Black Americans. "Reparations is a real, pressing need. And it is right and just," King tweeted on Friday, Dec. 3. "How can any leader in this nation …

William Manson (2021-12-16). The Re-Humanizing Power of Great Musical Art. dissidentvoice.org As history repeatedly shows, it is under deteriorating social and economic conditions that the most unscrupulous, the most opportunistic—i.e., the very worst people—end up on top. And because they are the worst, they demand even more, take even more, and abuse and intimidate and/or bribe anyone who stands in their way. Such persons, clearly sociopathic …

teleSUR (2021-12-16). 114 US Congressmen Urge Biden to Restore Engagement with Cuba. telesurenglish.net Led by Representatives Jim McGovern (MA), Barbara Lee (CA), Bobby Rush (IL) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (NY), 114 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to advance a Cuba policy that addresses humanitarian needs, the economic crisis and engagement in areas of mutual interest. | "The Obama Administration's Cuba policy was very popular, not only among Americans in general, but also within the Cuban American community," 114 U.S. Congressional representatives wrote.

Arbenita Sopaj (2021-12-16). China's Economic Diplomacy: Where do Taiwan and Kosovo fit in? moderndiplomacy.eu The attempt to unite Taiwan with the mainland since 1979 when Deng Xiaoping instituted the principle of "one country, two systems" has been ineffective to date. In fact, China is struggling with so-called "own provinces," such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet, to name just a few. Internal conflicts are usually a cause of imbalance power …

WSWS (2021-12-16). Wall Street rises on Fed monetary policy decision. wsws.org While the Fed's decision has been described as "hawkish," the markets took reassurance from the fact that Powell has indicated the central bank will take into account their reaction to its decisions.

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-16). Will the Federal Reserve Crash Global Financial Markets As a Means to Implementing Their "Great Reset"? globalresearch.ca It's looking increasingly likely that the US Federal Reserve and the globalist powers that be will use the dramatic rising of inflation as their excuse to bring down the US financial markets and with it, crash the greatest financial bubble …

Staff (2021-12-16). "No Food Available": Afghanistan Faces Catastrophe as Donors Cut Humanitarian Aid to Taliban Gov't. democracynow.org Afghanistan under the new Taliban government faces a humanitarian catastrophe this winter as the United States and other donors have cut off financial aid. The United Nations warns nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan — or more than half the population — face potentially life-threatening food shortages, with nearly 9 million already on the brink of famine. In addition, people face lack of proper healthcare, unemployment and housing shortages. "The international aid organizations, for them, it's just another country … where they take pictures and make their careers out of it," says Pashtana Durran…

_____ (2021-12-16). How The US Government Segregated America. popularresistance.org For many years, I worked in Boston public housing with teams of residents, community organizations, public housing staff and other professors on reducing and removing the many asthma triggers that caused the highest rates of asthma and asthma attacks in the city. Living and working in the heart of the city neighborhoods, I was keenly aware of the apartheid nature of public and residential housing (black Roxbury, white South Boston, white gentrification overtaking Boston's mixed-income interracial neighborhoods, and white suburbs) | I had been familiar with the mid-20th century pattern of "white flight" from urban…

Staff (2021-12-16). Profiting from Migration: Peru Requests $304 Million to 'Serve' Venezuelan Migrants. orinocotribune.com Through the "business" of migration, the government of Peru now intends to ensure its source of income for the year 2022, under the pretext of needing financing to "help" Venezuelan migrants. Peru intends to obtain the funds through a new program that they announced to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR. | According to official sources, the Peruvian administration requested $304 million, allegedly to assist some 900,000 Venezuelans in Peruvian territory. In Peru, Venezuelan migrants have faced serious acts of xenophobia, discrimination, mass deportations, and violence against Venezuelans…

Brittani Banks (2021-12-16). A Critique of Obscene Wealth. independentmediainstitute.org Wherever and whenever obscenely rich people existed, they always protected their wealth and the privileges that come with it from the majority of non-wealthy people working for them and around them. Emperors, kings, czars as well as masters of huge slave plantations, lords of big feudal manors, and major shareholders and top executives of capitalist …

_____ (2021-12-16). Most American Homeowners Are 'House Poor'. popularresistance.org In a recent survey, 40% of homeowners with mortgages said they work second, full-time jobs to afford housing expenses. A majority of the 1,002 people surveyed by Consumer Affairs feel like they can't afford their housing expenses, and did not anticipate the extra costs of upkeep when they bought their homes. | The report comes amid record surges in US home prices, also finding that more than a third of respondents are incurring extra credit card debt to pay their bills. Despite these challenges, homeowners ultimately prefer owning a home to renting one. | The survey found that although 40% of people rely on secon…

Peoples Health Dispatch (2021-12-16). Health workers hang up their lab coats in protest. peoplesdispatch.org More than 300 health workers in Konjic in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to hang up their lab coats at the entrance of Konjic General Hospital on 15 December, in protest against a financial crisis that the town's health institutions have been struggling with for months on end. Nurses, doctors, and other health workers warned the authorities that this was their last warning before they quit en masse, a move that would cause the collapse of health services in the area. | The protest is the latest in a series of workers' actions since late November this year. Until now, workers have engaged in striking…

Dean Baker (2021-12-16). Quick Note on the Inflation Debate and November Retail Sales. cepr.net People are still not spending the money banked in the pandemic. This means that we have less reason to fear excess demand driving inflation.

WSWS (2021-12-16). Minneapolis-St. Paul airport maintenance workers authorize strike action. wsws.org The workers are demanding increased compensation, under conditions of soaring inflation, and benefits that correspond to other MAC workers.

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-16). 89-10: Senate sends record-high $768 billion war budget authorization to White House. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The Senate vote was 89-10.The House vote was 363-70.It's the highest-ever Pentagon budget in current dollars and the largest since World War II in constant dollars. Russian military spending for 2020 was an estimated $61.7 billion, less than 1/12 of next year's U.S. defense spending. Senate Passes $768 Billion Defense Bill, Sending It to Biden …

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-16). Investor Pumps Dogecoin On Tik Tok But Describes A Technical Ponzi Scheme. moguldom.com A Dogecoin fan pumped the hugely popular meme coin on Tik Tok, and an observer reposted the video on Twitter with an accompanying comment saying that the man had just flawlessly described a Ponzi scheme. The unnamed Dogecoin enthusiast was keen to share what he said was "an incredible investment opportunity right now." The goal …

WSWS (2021-12-16). Time's person of the year Elon Musk: Worshipping the pandemic profiteer. wsws.org Time magazine is celebrating a billionaire who personifies the most noxious tendencies in contemporary capitalism.

Editor (2021-12-16). Ten Marxist classics for Xmas. mronline.org Lindsey German's Marxist holiday reading list…

teleSUR (2021-12-16). Haiti: Transporters Get Compensation for Fuel Subsidies Removal. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Prime Minister Henry Ariel's administration agreed with Haitian transport unions to set measures to compensate them for the increase in their operating costs caused by the elimination of fuel subsidies. | RELATED: | Those compensations include the creation of a new oil market control institution that will be in charge of stabilizing public transport fares, regularizing wages of transport operators, co…

Pete Dolack (2021-12-16). Envisioning a world with no bosses. zcomm.org Please Help ZNet Source: Systemic Disorder Many people, especially those with eyes open to the ravages of capitalism, know what they don't want. Fewer know what they do want. That is understandable, given that the task of building mass movements on so many fronts is daunting. But while

_____ (2021-12-16). UAE Charts a Path to Regional Leadership. journal-neo.org Apart from making a defense deal — which came as a potential snub to the US' dillydallying on the sale of the F-35s to Abu Dhabi — with France to purchase 80 state-of-the-art Rafael jets, the UAE is cosying up to Iran and Turkey as a means to place itself as a key player in …

Brittani Banks (2021-12-16). Chile Is at the Political Crossroads: Social Renewal or Decades of Painful Neoliberal Policy. independentmediainstitute.org "If [Augusto] Pinochet were alive, he would vote for me," said José Antonio Kast in 2017, during the Chilean presidential election when he ran as an independent candidate. This was an especially provocative statement made by him out of the many he has made over the years—he had also said that "Chileans need God," during …

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-16). How Can We Expect Things to Change?>. anchor.fm In this episode I discuss the practical ways in which we can expect the world to change based on the ways in which it has historically changed; through people taking control of their circumstances and building a new tomorrow. However it comes, we know that a new tomorrow must come, but if we want that new tomorrow to lead us towards an actually better society, then we need socialism. So how do we get there? Well, let's discuss!

2021-12-17 17:22 | 13:22 EST | jz | 49 | 0 | 34 | 13 | 0 ∧

2021-12-16: News Headlines

Editor (2021-12-16). Ten Marxist classics for Xmas. mronline.org Lindsey German's Marxist holiday reading list…

Vijay Prashad (2021-12-16). Chile is at the political crossroads: social renewal or decades of painful neoliberal policy. peoplesdispatch.org Presidential candidate José Antonio Kast reflects the failure of Chile to prosecute those who violated the rights of Chileans during the 30 years of Pinochet's rule…

WSWS (2021-12-15). SEP (Australia) Emergency Public Meeting: British court decision puts Assange's life in danger. Demand his immediate release! wsws.org The Socialist Equality Party (Australia) has called an online public meeting to fight for the immediate freedom of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, after the British High Court last week ordered his extradition to the US.

Timothy V. Johnson (2021-12-15). Frank Chapman, veteran activist, tackles Black Liberation and national question in book. peoplesworld.org Frank Chapman has a long and storied reputation as an activist-leader-theoretician in the anti-repression, labor, and left movements. His history makes it imperative that activists engage with his theoretical work, which is drawn from years of struggle in the mass movement. His latest book, Marxist-Leninist Perspectives on Black Liberation and Socialism, traces the history of …

John Logan (2021-12-15). Union battles at Amazon and Starbucks are hot news. zcomm.org Which can only be good for the labor movement…

Mike Ludwig (2021-12-15). Not Just Billionaires — the Average Rich Person's Pay Has Risen During COVID. truthout.org Amid all the anxiety about inflation, the good news this year has been that many businesses increased wages in an effort to keep a reluctant workforce on the job and contend with a tight labor market. However, wages rose quickly for the ultra-rich even as the pandemic raged in 2020, and economists say gains made by workers in 2021 are not sustainable unless structural changes are made. | Wage growth in the United States has slowed since hitting an all-time high in April, when employers sought…

Francisco Dominguez (2021-12-15). Honduras' Left-Wing Breakthrough. orinocotribune.com By Francisco Dominguez — Dec 10, 2021 | Since a US-backed coup toppled Mel Zelaya in 2009, Honduras has faced a clampdown on democracy and serious human rights abuses. But the election of socialist Xiomara Castro is a chance to break the cycle. | What appeared impossible has been achieved: the people of Honduras have broken the perpetuation, through electoral fraud and thuggish violence, of a brutal, illegal, illegitimate, and criminal regime.By means of sheer resistance, resilience, mobilisation, and organisation, they have managed to defeat Juan Orlando Hernandez's narco-dictatorship at the ballot box. Xio…

Dean Baker (2021-12-15). Casey Mulligan Says Build Back Better Will Raise Child Care Costs by $27,000. cepr.net Many people may remember University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan for his argument that unemployment in the Great Recession was caused largely by generous food stamp benefits. Well he's back, and telling us that the child care provisions in President Biden's Build Back Better (BBB) plan could raise the cost of child care by $27,000 …

_____ (2021-12-15). Reverend William Barber Leads Moral Monday Action At US Capitol. popularresistance.org Washington DC — Community organizers and faith leaders from 33 States converged on the U.S. Capitol to demand passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4) and the Build Back Better Bill (H.R. 5376), now pending Senate approval. They chastised West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin for his role in delaying passage of the legislation which would provide protection for voting rights and financial relief for millions of impoverished Americans. | Reverend William Barber called out Senator Joe Manchin by name for playing a "trick" on his constituents by delaying a vote in the Senate on the voting r…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-12-15). Venezuela Challenges Illegal Blockade: New OPEC Data Published. orinocotribune.com While President Nicolás Maduro assures that 2022 will be the year for the definitive recovery of Venezuela, reports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) point in the same direction, showing an increase in oil production despite the illegal US and European economic blockade. | In this way, it is evident how the South American nation has challenged the illegal coercive measures imposed by the United States government and its European lackeys, an economic attack that initially led to a 99% drop in Venezuela's foreign revenue, completely disrupting Venezuela's economy. | This was highlighted…

Paul Dobson (2021-12-15). Venezuela Pushes for Stronger ALBA Economy at XX Summit. venezuelanalysis.com The regional organization also unveiled a Counter-Intervention Observatory to monitor US meddling.

Prof. Pankaj Jha (2021-12-15). Vietnam's Economic Policy and adaptation to COVID-19. moderndiplomacy.eu Vietnam which was seen as a success story in terms of countering COVID-19 is facing challenges with regard to re-invigorating its economy given the fact that the constraints related to international travel, trade and investment are still looming large on the horizon. As part of the initiative to provide the necessary support to the economy, …

Staff (2021-12-15). Maduro Urges ALBA-TCP to Focus Its Efforts on a Common Economic Agenda. orinocotribune.com The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, urged the heads of state and other representatives present at the Twentieth Ordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) to exert greater efforts to establish a common economic development agenda for all the member countries of the regional body. | During his speech this Tuesday, December 14, at the ALBA-TCP Summit in Havana, Cuba, President Maduro stated, "From Venezuela we would like all of us to exert greater efforts to articulate a comprehensive economic, commercial, financial and monetary developm…

_____ (2021-12-15). Columbia Student Workers Defy University's Strikebreaking Threats. popularresistance.org Last week saw a sharp escalation of the strike by 3,000 student workers at Columbia University in New York City, which continues in the face of strikebreaking threats by the administration. In an effort to shut down the walkout before finals, the university warned striking student workers that it might replace them in the Spring semester if they remained on strike beyond Friday, December 10. | Columbia workers rejected this attempt at economic blackmail and held out on the picket line. A poll conducted by the Student Workers of Columbia union (SWC) bargaining committee found that 87 percent of union members and n…

Sharon Zhang (2021-12-15). Congress Raises Debt Ceiling After Months of Republican Obstruction. truthout.org Congress voted to raise the debt limit on Tuesday after months of brinkmanship and Republican obstruction that threatened economic disaster. | The resolution raises the debt ceiling

Carlos Martinez (2021-12-15). China plays a crucial role supporting progress and sovereignty in Latin America. mronline.org In the last two decades, economic links between Latin America and the People's Republic of China have been expanding at a dizzying rate.

Newsroom (2021-12-15). Digital Technology Key to Supporting Thailand's Recovery from COVID-19. moderndiplomacy.eu After being severely hit by a surge of COVID-19 cases in the third quarter of 2021, Thailand's economic activity has subsequently rebounded and is expected to grow by 1.0 percent this year, according to the World Bank's latest Thailand Economic Monitor "Living with COVID in a Digital World" published today. Going forward, the adoption of …

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-15). Wealth, Capitalism and Ideology. zcomm.org As an almost classical consequence of capitalist markets, sovereignty in monetary terms exists only for big players…

_____ (2021-12-15). Will Fed Crash Global Financial Markets for Their Great Reset? journal-neo.org It's looking increasingly likely that the US Federal Reserve and the globalist powers that be will use the dramatic rising of inflation as their excuse to bring down the US financial markets and with it, crash the greatest financial bubble in history. The enormous inflation rise since the malicious political lockdowns and the trillions of …

WSWS (2021-12-15). Jittery markets await central bank decisions. wsws.org Since the start of the pandemic trillions of dollars have been poured into financial markets by central banks, sending stock prices to record highs, but the rise of inflation is leading to increased instability.

Peter Certo (2021-12-15). In OtherWords: December 15, 2021. otherwords.org On December 15, the families of 65 million U.S. children received their last monthly payment under the expanded Child Tax Credit, which expires this month. | Those payments have kept millions out of poverty, writes West Virginia mom Kristen Olsen. Unfortunately, the GOP is unanimously opposed to extending them — and so far, they've had an ally in West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. | Will the multimillionaire senator, Kristen wonders, really vote to send millions of kids back into poverty — including in his home state, whose kids are among the poorest in the country? The answer will have national impl…

teleSUR (2021-12-15). Castillo Sends Bill To Reduce Poor Families' Electricity Bills. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, Peru's President Pedro Castillo sent a bill to modify the Electric Social Compensation Fund (FOSE) so as to ensure that the most vulnerable families have a discount of up to 15 percent on their monthly electricity bills. | RELATED: | Currently, high-income users subsidize Peruvian families that consume less than 100 kWh per month. Castillo proposes that this cross subsidy also be extended to citizens…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-15). The only way to deal effectively with a pandemic is socialistic. moderndiplomacy.eu The two extremes of ideology are libertarianism (anarchy) versus government (socialism). (Pure embodiments of either are rare if not non-existent.) A democratic government represents the public; an aristocratic government represents the wealthiest 0.1% as its actual dictators and beneficiaries. The two types of libertarianism are: the pure form, in which everyone is free to destroy …

2021-12-16 23:38 | 19:38 EST | jz | 52 | 0 | 21 | 29 | 0 ∧

2021-12-15: News Headlines

John Logan (2021-12-15). Union battles at Amazon and Starbucks are hot news. zcomm.org Which can only be good for the labor movement…

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-15). Wealth, Capitalism and Ideology. zcomm.org As an almost classical consequence of capitalist markets, sovereignty in monetary terms exists only for big players…

Jim Hightower (2021-12-15). The Planet Is Not a Dumping Ground. otherwords.org In a world that's clogged and choking with a massive overdose of plastic trash, you'll be heartened to learn that governments and industries are teaming up to respond forcefully to this planetary crisis. | Unfortunately, their response has been to engage in a global race to make more plastic stuff — and to force poor countries to become dumping grounds for plastic garbage. | Leading this Kafkaesque greedfest are such infamous plunderers and polluters as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, and other petrochemical profiteers. With fossil fuel profits crashing, the giants are rushing to convert more of their over-sup…

ecns.cn (2021-12-15). China, Russia to expedite cooperation on cutting-edge technologies: Xi. ecns.cn Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China and Russia should take the opportunities brought by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and expedite industrial cooperation on cutting-edge technologies.

WSWS (2021-12-15). Australian university union holds back industrial action. wsws.org The votes for strike action reflect the anger and disgust that has built up over the past two years as managements continue to exploit the COVID pandemic to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs.

The Socialist Program (2021-12-14). Capitalism and Imperialism: A Global System of Death. liberationnews.org Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how workers are bearing the deadly brunt of the devastating tornadoes that ripped across the country and new revelations about US war crimes in Syria…

teleSUR (2021-12-14). Belarus To Purchase Cuban Medicines for Agricultural Supplies. telesurenglish.net Belarus will purchase medicines from pharmaceutical organizations in Cuba and, in exchange, supply agricultural machinery, automobiles and spare parts to the Caribbean nation, according to a decree of President Alexander Lukashenko published Monday on the national legal website. | The purchases were made within the framework of the annual plan of centralized state purchases of medicines authorized through Belarus' federal budget.

WSWS (2021-12-14). Barbados declares a republic: British imperialism's legacy of slavery and colonialism. wsws.org None of the island's governments have been able to redress British imperialism's legacy of underdevelopment, dependency and above all economic hardship and social inequality.

_____ (2021-12-14). Who is Responsible for the Deteriorating Situation in Lebanon? journal-neo.org For many years, Lebanon was considered the safe haven of the Middle East plagued by wars, instability, and colored revolutions. Many have referred to the country as the Middle East's Switzerland, including investments in Lebanon's economy from countries of the region where the political crises were raging. The country's banks were especially valued, prosperous and …

_____ (2021-12-14). Workers At Warren General Hospital Vote To Strike. popularresistance.org Workers at Allegheny Health Network affiliate Warren General Hospital voted Saturday to strike, straining already fragile medical resources in rural northwest Pennsylvania. | The 114 nurses and health care workers, who are members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, issued a 10-day strike notice at the 87-bed hospital — the only acute care facility in the county. | The labor agreement with workers expired in September, and negotiations were scheduled to continue Monday, hospital CEO Rick Allen said. | The hospital has offered pay increases of 4.2% to over 16%, plus enha…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-14). "Vaccines: Truths, Lies, and Controversies." On the Basic Essay-Study of Dr. Peter Gotzsche. libya360.wordpress.com Damian Mazzotti "Vaccines: Truth, Lies, and Controversies" is a resounding essay that is very useful to all physicians and those involved in evaluating health policies (Peter C. Gotzsche, twitter.com/pgtzsche1, 2020, http: //www.fioritieditore.com/prodotto/vaccini-verita-bugie-e-controversie; 196 pages, euro 18). Peter Gotzsche has a unique professional experience gained from a double degree in Chemistry and Medicine. Through his collaborations and…

Staff (2021-12-14). Strike Wave in the U.S.? Labor Historian Nelson Lichtenstein on Union Drives & Worker Revolts. democracynow.org As unionizing efforts have taken the U.S. by storm, we look at the history of the U.S. labor movement and how unions have acted as a bulwark against corporate power. Worker organizing at Starbucks, Kellogg's and Amazon shows that unions help enforce health and safety measures and protect workers who speak out. "A working-class consciousness ebbs and flows," says Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "A union is a way of capturing that consciousness and making it the law of the land."

WSWS (2021-12-14). Government crisis in Sweden strengthens far-right. wsws.org For the first time, the Swedish parliament voted for a budget drafted by the conservative Moderate Party in collaboration with the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Labor Video Project (2021-12-14). Equal Pay For Equal Work! Kellogg Bakers Local 3G Striker Donovan Williams Speaks At UAW 5. indybay.org Kellogg Battle Creek BCTGM Local 3g striker Donovan Williams reported on their national strike to UAW 5 members and supporters on December 10, 2021…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-14). Salvadorans protest government of Nayib Bukele. peoplesdispatch.org Thousands of Salvadorans marched peacefully in rejection of recognition of Bitcoin as legal tender, the high cost of living, rise in disappearances, acts of corruption involving government officials and ministers, and the Buleke government's negotiations with criminal gangs, among other issues…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-14). Ukraine appeals to new German government to unblock NATO arms deliveries. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Ukraine in talks with Germany to unblock arms purchases from NATO — Kuleba Ukraine is in talks with Germany to unblock the purchase by Kyiv of weapons systems…through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. *** He recalled that Ukraine had previously gained access to NATO's defense procurement system, which means the Ukrainian Defense Ministry can …

Matt Sedlar (2021-12-14). Family Policies in the Build Back Better Act Would Reduce Burdens on Families and Provide a Better Buffer to Economic Instability. cepr.net Many US workers could not say exactly when or how much they will be working two weeks from today. As one might imagine, this situation makes it difficult to plan and control one's nonwork life. It also can lead to financial hardship for low- and moderate-income households when they experience a decline in earnings due …

Mark Gruenberg (2021-12-14). Parade of hurting people prods lawmakers to pass Build Back Better. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—One by one, advocating ending income inequality, strengthening and restoring voting rights, cutting military spending, extending the child care tax credit, raising the minimum wage, and more, a parade of people hurting from exploitation by corporations, the economic elite, and their political allies, took a hand-held microphone in D.C. Monday to campaign for their combined …

Paul M. Sweezy (2021-12-14). The Triumph of Financial Capital. mronline.org Financial capital, once cut loose from its original role as a modest helper of a real economy of production to meet human needs, inevitably becomes speculative capital geared solely to its own self-expansion. In earlier times no one ever dreamed that speculative capital, a phenomenon as old as capitalism itself, could grow to dominate a national economy, let alone the whole world. But it has.

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-12-14). India's post-pandemic economic recovery. mronline.org The pandemic alas is not yet over, but there are no economic disruptions in the current fiscal year in the form of lockdowns or workers' absence. The economy's performance therefore can no longer be attributed to the prevalence of the pandemic; whatever it is, it is caused by economic factors.

Newsroom (2021-12-14). Kenya's Economy is Showing Resilience as Output Rises Above Pre-Pandemic Levels. moderndiplomacy.eu Kenya's economy has demonstrated resilience to the COVID-19 shock, with output in the first half of the year rising above pre-pandemic levels. In 2021 as a whole, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 5%, one of the faster recoveries among Sub-Saharan African countries. Overall economic performance is expected to be robust at …

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-14). Understanding the Historical Moment We're in Takes Practical Action! anchor.fm In this episode I go into a discussion about the political, social, and economic placement we as working class people seem to find ourselves in today, not simply in the US but in some sense around the world. We are all hurting in a very similar way, added onto by our own individual struggles or difficulties we might face because of the color of our skin, our gender, our ability or willingness to be taken advantage of, etc. We are all suffering very difficult situations which none of us can take on alone, but if we want to do something about these things, we can't just pick up a gun and go, we'll be killed, or mos…

_____ (2021-12-14). Inside A Rural School District Suing State For More Equitable Funding. popularresistance.org Panther Valley is a poor, rural district with more than 1,600 students from Carbon and Schuylkill Counties. Its elementary, intermediate, and junior/senior high schools serve four Pennsylvania towns: Summit Hill, Coaldale, Lansford, and Nesquehoning. | "It's in the heart of what we used to refer to as the coal region of Pennsylvania," said the district's superintendent, David McAndrew. | As the country moved away from coal mining, residents lost work. Now, jobs are hard to come by. | Fifty-six percent of children in the district are classified as economically disadvantaged, though McAndrew believes the figure is…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-12-14). El monopolio corporativo dificulta económicamente a las trabajadoras. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON: øPor qué los trabajadores no pueden salir adelante? Económicamente, eso es. Los salarios medios de la amplia clase media estadounidense han estado prácticamente estancados durante al menos 40 años, ajustados a la inflación, incluso cuando la productividad se ha adelantado al galope. La mediana del 20% inferior de hecho se ha reducido. Mientras tanto, …

teleSUR (2021-12-14). President Maduro Proposes a Common Development Path for ALBA. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro called for the creation of a comprehensive economic development plan for the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP). | RELATED: | During his speech at the 12th ALBA Summit, he recalled that this integration mechanism arose from a meeting between Venezuelan Commander Hugo Chavez and Cuban Commander Fidel Castro. In 200…

Sharon Zhang (2021-12-14). White House Says Restarting Student Loans Is "High Priority," Sparking Outrage. zcomm.org "Allowing payments and collections to resume without taking these actions to protect borrowers in default would undermine our economic recovery"

MD Staff (2021-12-14). How cities can save on commuting time, double job access. moderndiplomacy.eu A new report released today by the World Economic Forum pinpoints how cities can use mobility options to improve social equity and economic growth. The white paper, How Mobility Shapes Inclusion and Sustainable Growth, identifies over 40 potential solutions to improve inclusivity in mobility, with simulations of over 40 million daily trips, global benchmarking and …

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-14). Towards Another Devastating Worldwide Crisis? The WEF's "Cyber Attack With Covid-like Characteristics". Paralysis of the Power Supply, Communications, Transportation? globalresearch.ca The World Economic Forum (WEF) which represents the Western financial elites, played a key role in the launching of the March 11, 2020 lockdown, which was conducive to a Worldwide process of economic and social chaos. | And now what they …

teleSUR (2021-12-14). Cuba: Signing of New Agreement Strengthens Ties With France. telesurenglish.net Cuba and France signed six cooperation deals at the Bilateral Economic and Commercial Commission's ending held in the French Foreign Ministry's headquarters. | RELATED: | The meeting was headed by Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, and Franck Riester, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness. | Notifications for the approval of financing from the Counter va…

Lucas Alden (2021-12-14). Reflections on "No Bosses," Participatory Economics and movements. zcomm.org It's up to all of us desiring a better world on the ground to walk the walk as well…

Robert Kurz (2021-12-14). The Last Stage of the Middle Class. indybay.org Money capital is fleeing into the speculative financial markets because investments in new factories have become unprofitable. While growing parts of society are impoverished or even impoverished outside of production, only a simulative accumulation of capital through financial bubbles takes place…

Newsroom (2021-12-14). More than half a billion people pushed into extreme poverty due to health care costs. moderndiplomacy.eu New evidence compiled by the World Health Organization and the World Bank shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to halt two decades of global progress towards Universal Health Coverage. The organizations also reveal that more than half a billion people are being pushed or pushed further into extreme poverty because they have to pay …

D.T. Cochrane (2021-12-14). The 0.01% vs. the rest of us. canadiandimension.com Protestors in the Occupy movement in Manchester, United Kingdom, 2011. Photo by Plashing Vole/ While the one percent are obviously much richer than the average person, the disparity is even more stark when we look at the ultra-elite 0.01 percent. | The figure above shows just how much higher ultra-elite incomes are than even other members of the…

WSWS (2021-12-14). Soaring social inequality under New Zealand Labour government. wsws.org Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger warned recently that society is increasingly divided between the poor and the "obscenely rich," and that historically inequality was "the root cause of revolution."

Lois Wacquant (2021-12-14). Punishing the Poor, 211 pp. indybay.org "The Keynesian state, coupled with Fordist wage work…whose mission was to protect the most vulnerable populations…has been succeeded by a state that one might dub neo-Darwinist, in that it erects competition and celebrates unrestrained individual responsibility-whose counterpart is collective and thus political irresponsibility, the Leviathan…"

William Rivers Pitt (2021-12-14). Biden Campaigned on Climate. Where's the Bold Action? truthout.org Millions of years of evolution have graced birds with a wealth of healthy instincts. They have mastered the art of flight, and many species fly thousands of miles when the seasons change, unerringly returning time and again to a distant refuge where the weather is calm. More than anything, though, birds know better than to shit in their own nest. This is an instinct the president of the United States has yet to develop, and the whole wide world may come to pay a brutal price for it. | November's COP 26 international e…

Mark Hallim (2021-12-14). Nationalism and Liberal Democracies: The Rise of Nationalism in Brazil. moderndiplomacy.eu Twenty-five years ago, liberal democracies rose; the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet Union collapsed, and new democracies emerged in Europe. In South Africa, the apartheid regime was removed. Even though the Chinese government brutally crushed a democracy, the belief existed that a more educated and wealthy middle class would demand democratic reforms. The 2008 …

Marlee Kokotovic (2021-12-14). New poll shows how dissatisfied Americans are with US healthcare system. nationofchange.org "It's been decades in the making after failed promises by elected officials to do something to help Americans suffering at the hand of high prices for healthcare and prescription drugs."

_____ (2021-12-14). ALEC Is Pushing A Bill That Punishes Banks For Divesting From Fossil Fuels. popularresistance.org As climate change accelerates and environmental disasters proliferate around the world, a Big Oil-funded business lobbying group has decided to attack financial firms that are taking their money out of fossil fuel companies, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has learned. | This month at the annual States and Nation Policy Summit of the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a pay-to-play organization that brings together corporate lobbyists and mostly Republican state lawmakers to author model legislation, members of the group's energy task force voted unanimously to approve a new model p…

2021-12-15 21:18 | 17:18 EST | jz | 52 | 0 | 34 | 17 | 0 ∧

2021-12-14: News Headlines

Lucas Alden (2021-12-14). Reflections on "No Bosses," Participatory Economics and movements. zcomm.org It's up to all of us desiring a better world on the ground to walk the walk as well…

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2021-12-14). Ghana's President Addresses National Black Caucus of State Legislators. indybay.org Soon our amazing California Golden Legacy, past, present and future will utilize Ghana as an essential destination for joint mutual benefit. Ghana, represents well the African Continental Free Trade Area, Our California team on the ground helping restore Agriculture as the foundation of our culture. Stay tuned MLK Weekend 2022 in Atlanta our10th Annual Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference will keep the ball rolling in a good way. Matunda Ya Kwanza…

a guest author (2021-12-14). Why Cuba has no anti-vaccine movement. workers.org By Marc Vandepitte and Toon Danhieux In the imperialist countries, honest skepticism about government handling of the COVID-19 crisis and the profit-driven decisions of pharmaceutical companies have allowed rightist and ultrarightist groups to mobilize sections of the population behind unscientific theories that harm public health. This article, published in dewereldmorgen.be . . . |

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-14). Massive workers' mobilization in Turkey demands fair minimum wage. peoplesdispatch.org In a massive rally in Istanbul called by the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DiSK), workers demanded an increase in the minimum wage in the country to at least 5,200 Turkish Lira (USD 358.80) in order to meet their basic needs…

Staff (2021-12-14). Striking Kellogg's Workers Vow to Hold Out for Better Contract, Urge Boycott of Company's Products. democracynow.org Kellogg's announced it would begin permanently replacing the 1,400 workers who have been on strike for over two months to demand fair wages and better working conditions. The move comes after an overwhelming majority of Kellogg's workers rejected a new five-year agreement they say falls short of their demands and sparked widespread public backlash, including from President Biden. "We are fighting for equal pay and equal benefits, regardless of what the company is putting out there. And trying to replace us is something that they're using as a scare tactic," says Kevin Bradshaw, a striking Kellogg's worker and pre…

Adam Ramsay (2021-12-14). Culture wars: identity politics and the fight against surveillance capitalism. zcomm.org For some, it's a left-wing adoption of neoliberalism. For others, it's authoritarian. But it's really just about equality…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2021-12-14). Cuba defeats COVID-19 with learning, science, and unity. peoplesworld.org Education is central to Cuba's brand of socialism. The revolutionary government's dedication to scientific knowledge and healthcare for all shows up now as Cubans cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States is not so lucky. Cubans have wholeheartedly carried out masking, social-distancing, testing and quarantining. Cuba' s bio-medical research and production facilities created five …

WSWS (2021-12-14). China's Zero COVID policy proves that the elimination of COVID-19 is possible. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site published yesterday a submission to the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic by a scientist on China's Zero COVID strategy that is essential to understanding what has happened over the past two years and what must be done to end the pandemic.

Democratic Socialists of America San Francisc (2021-12-14). Sunday 12/19: Haiti's Crisis and the Popular Resistance. indybay.org This event will be held on Zoom. Register: dsasf.org/haitiresist…

San Jose for Abortion Rights (2021-12-14). We Won't Go Back, We Will FIGHT Back! indybay.org Some of the protests held in the Bay Area on December 1 for reproductive justice went into the night. The one in San Jose was sponsored by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Fight Back (2021-12-14). Sudanese people's struggle against the military dictatorship. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – On April 11, Omar al-Bashir, the military leader of Sudan for over 20 years, from 1989 to 2019, was deposed in a military coup. The coup occurred amidst largescale protests calling for the overthrow of al-Bashir, demanding democracy and an end to austerity measures enacted by the government in response to the country being over $60 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund and France. | The protests were largely led by the National Consensus Forces (NCF), an alliance consisting of political parties including the Sudanese Communist Party, the Sudanese Baath Party, the National Umma Party, and…

Patrick Peralta (2021-12-14). Spectacles of Amnesia: YouTube Populism and the Rehabilitation of the Marcoses. fpif.org In the hills of Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines, a massive head hovers above the trees. Carved on the side of Mount Pugo, La Union, the 30-meter concrete bust overlooks the northern provinces, as if gazing over its vast domain. The head is of former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Yet today, his effigy is hardly recognizable. Shortly after the 1986 People Power Revolution that deposed and exiled the Marcos family, indigenous groups displaced by the bust's construction returned to smear pig's blood across the leader's face. Three years later, communist rebels bombed the same bust, leaving in…

New Atlas (2021-12-13). The US is Getting the Public Accustomed to the "Idea" of War with China. newatlas.report December 13, 2021 (The New Atlas) — It is becoming increasingly obvious that US propaganda aimed at demonizing China and poisoning the world against serves to set up a long-discussed limited, conventional conflict waged along China's shores to cripple its economy and prevent it from surpassing the West irreversibly. Western propaganda is even openly discussing this …

Staff (2021-12-13). Headlines for December 13, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Declares Major Federal Disaster in KY; 100+ Feared Dead After Tornadoes Rip Through 8 States, U.S. Health Officials Say Boosters Could Curb Winter COVID Surge as NY Tightens Mask Rules, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Tests Positive for COVID-19, Over Half a Billion People Faced Extreme Poverty Due to Healthcare Costs During Pandemic, SCOTUS Says Providers Can Sue over Texas Abortion Law But Limits Scope and Keeps Ban in Place, Gov. Gavin Newsom Says He Will Use Texas Abortion Ban as Model for CA Gun Control Laws, NYT: Secret Unit Launched 10,000s of Strikes Against ISIS, Killing Syrian Civilians in…

WSWS (2021-12-13). Australian government, Labor opposition greenlight US rendition of Julian Assange. wsws.org There is outraged opposition to Assange's persecution in Australia, but it will find no way forward within the parliamentary set-up.

_____ (2021-12-13). China And Nicaragua To Collaborate On New Multipolar World. popularresistance.org China and Nicaragua have resumed diplomatic relations in what Nicaragua's Presidential Advisor Laureano Ortega Murillo called "a historic date." | The Government of the Republic of Nicaragua announced it had broken diplomatic relations with Taiwan, ceasing to have any contact or official relationship, in a statement by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada before Nicaraguan diplomats and press, on Thursday and effective immediately. Kawsachun News attended the meeting virtually. Foreign Minister Moncada stated: "The Government of the Republic of Nicaragua declares that it recognizes that in the world there is only one s…

_____ (2021-12-13). Columbia University Strikers Raise Hell. popularresistance.org New York City – Thousands of striking Columbia University graduate student workers are vowing to "shut down" the campus Wednesday with a major picket line aimed at highlighting the university's threat to fire those who are still on strike by December 10. In a year marked by labor strikes, one of the largest and most contentious is happening at one of the most elite bastions of American higher education. | The 3,000 members of the Student Workers of Columbia, members of UAW Local 2110, have been on strike since early November, seeking a livable wage, improved health and dental benefits, and stronger protections fr…

Sonali Kolhatkar (2021-12-13). Amazon preparing its next offensive, but it can't bust unions forever. peoplesworld.org The National Labor Relations Board, or NLRB, just ruled that a historic union vote among Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Ala., was not valid. The highly publicized vote resulted in a resounding defeat for the union in March 2021, with more than 70% of those voting choosing against union membership. The union accused Amazon of engaging in "efforts to gaslight its …

WSWS (2021-12-13). Germany's new chancellor and foreign minister visit Paris and Warsaw: Promoting European Great Power policy. wsws.org The new German government regards a strong European Union as a precondition for an aggressive military foreign policy. This calls for close collaboration with its largest neighbours, France and Poland.

Chabeli Carrazana (2021-12-13). Build Back Better Could Help End Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities. truthout.org Originally published by For almost a century, it has been completely legal for companies to pay workers with disabilities mere cents on the hour. Employees This practice of paying "subminimum wage," which the U.S. Departm…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-13). Inflation In America Hits 39-Year High In November: 3 Things To Know. moguldom.com U.S. inflation hit close to a 40-year high in November with consumer prices rising 0.8 percent for the month and 6.8 percent compared to a year ago, buoyed by a booming economy, strong consumer demand and weak supply related to the coronavirus pandemic. Prices started rising before the omicron variant emerged, presenting a new threat …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-13). COVID-19-related health care expenditure pushed over half billion people into poverty in 2020, say WHO, World Bank. peoplesdispatch.org The numbers are still rising as governments across the world have failed to create vibrant public health care systems and have left the poor and vulnerable to fend for themselves…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-13). Back on The Move: Morris Brown Students Get Permission to Apply for Federal Aid. moguldom.com Morris Brown College has accomplished another impressive feat in its comeback story. The Atlanta-based HBCU announced that its students now have the ability to receive federal financial aid again. "We have been waiting for the day for a very long time," Morris Brown President Dr. Kevin James told Fox 5 on Thursday, Dec. 9. "For …

Joris Leverink (2021-12-13). The Laura Flanders Show: A New Cooperative Business Model. roarmag.org This New Cooperative Business Model Could Change Everything: | Many of the world's most successful businesses began as someone's good idea. But the path from startup to conventional financial success typically involves going public, prioritizing shareholders' interests and ultimately selling to a giant conglomerate whose intentions are far from the original mission of the business's founders. | In this episode, Laura interviews guests who say this conventional path of success is desperately in need of an overhaul. Why must new and innovative ideas come to market through old and undemocratic platforms? Wha…

Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza (2021-12-13). Venezuelan Central Bank Latest Figures: Hyperinflation Might be Officially Gone Next Month. orinocotribune.com Caracas, December 12, 2021 ( According to the most accepted definition of hyperinflation, a country gets out of this phenomenon aft…

Tom Engelhardt (2021-12-13). Tomgram: William Astore, Going Nuclear on Pentagon Spending. warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Yes, four-star General Lloyd Austin commanded American forces in Iraq back in 2010 and 2011. In 2013, he took over from General James Mattis (remember him?) as the head of United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, overseeing America's …

WIlliam Astore (2021-12-13). The US military budget as a mushroom loud. nationofchange.org Going nuclear on Pentagon spending!

WSWS (2021-12-13). Germany's new health minister continues "profits before lives" policies. wsws.org Chancellor Olaf Scholz has chosen the SPD deputy and health expert Karl Lauterbach as the future government's new health minister.

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-13). Cut The Check: Viral 104-Year-Old Black Grandma Shares How Her Farm Wages Were Robbed. moguldom.com A 104-year-old Black Grandma has become a viral sensation after her granddaughter began sharing videos of the elder talking about her past — including the time she spent working from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. in cotton fields for little to no money. Madie Scott first entered the public eye when her granddaughter, Shanika Bradshaw, …

WSWS (2021-12-13). Kellogg's strikers denounce mass firing threat, two-tier wages from the picket lines in Battle Creek, Michigan. wsws.org Striking Kellogg's workers remain defiant and opposed to any concessions following their rejection of a concessions contract brokered by the BCTGM union.

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2021-12-13: News Headlines

WSWS (2021-12-13). Australia joins the few countries backing the US-led Olympic boycott. wsws.org The decision to join the US-led boycott, as well as purchase military helicopters from the US, highlights the preparations underway for a catastrophic US-led war against China.

Cam Scott (2021-12-13). Canadian Communist movement celebrated in new feature-length documentary. peoplesworld.org The life of a Communist Party, in its everyday intensity and historical specificity, too often eludes commemoration. There are meetings, demonstrations, pickets; glowing victories, and momentary defeats. So much remains unwritten in the momentum of revolutionary enthusiasm that it can be astonishing to notice just how far we've come. To celebrate the centenary of the …

_____ (2021-12-12). Incarcerated Journalists Fought Isolation And Illness To Expose Abusive Conditions. popularresistance.org In the summer of 2020 we launched a collaborative writing program to connect incarcerated writers with outside journalists and editors. Our goal was to help them publish their writing in mainstream media publications. | We began only a few weeks after COVID-19 came into San Quentin State Prison, where Rahsaan lives. We knew that COVID-19 would be an incredible threat to people incarcerated, but were unprepared for the devastation and loss ahead. At San Quentin — which became home to the largest outbreak in the country — Rahsaan became infected with the virus and experienced the mental health toll of b…

Labor Video Project (2021-12-12). Justice For Cab Drivers! Taxi Drivers Demand Their Money Back From San Francico Officials. indybay.org Taxi cab drivers who have or had medallions protested the MTA and city officials who allowed them be become devalued.

ecns.cn (2021-12-12). China confident economy will meet annual growth target. ecns.cn China is confident that it will meet its 2021 economic growth target of over 6 percent, the country's top economic regulator said on Saturday.

ecns.cn (2021-12-12). 17 mln U.S. workers hit by economic setback in pandemic: report. ecns.cn Nearly 17 million U.S. workers lost their jobs or saw their wages decline in the course of the pandemic, a U.S. report said on Thursday.

Ken Hammond (2021-12-12). "Ten crises: The political economy of China's development," by Wen Tiejun. mronline.org Wen's vision is of a China which would be increasingly self-reliant, delinking from the American dominated global capitalism and developing its own key technologies and productive capacities, while at the same time continuing to engage with other emerging economies which share a desire to be free of Western neo-imperial control.

Zahra Mirzafarjouyan (2021-12-12). Budget bill for next year aims at ensuring economic stability. en.mehrnews.com Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said on Sunday that the budget bill presented to the Parliament for the next Iranian year of 1401 (starting on March 21, 2022) is aimed at ensuring economic stability.

Naseem Javed (2021-12-12). Trends 2022: Our New World Now Demands New Thinking. moderndiplomacy.eu Like a firmly gripped tube of toothpaste, pandemic already squeezed out old economic development models in the drain. The new math now fogs the smoke and mirror economies already in bubble baths dancing on wet-floors. New configurations of efficiencies frighten the daylights out of the bureaucracies, and new logic awakens the populace where new courage …

National Welfare Rights Union (2021-12-12). Friday 12/10: Human Rights Day: Take Our Poverty, Not Our Children Houseless Truth Commission w/ NWRU. indybay.org Online teach-in…

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-12). Colossal Financial Pyramid: BlackRock and The WEF "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca First published by …

ecns.cn (2021-12-12). Chinese AI company objects to blacklisting in U.S. ecns.cn Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime Group said on Saturday that it strongly opposed the U.S. government's decision to add it to an investment blacklist over allegations, which the company said are unfounded and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of its business.

ecns.cn (2021-12-12). 112 WTO members sign statement on investment facilitation negotiations. ecns.cn China and 111 other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday signed a joint statement on investment facilitation, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2021-12-12). Ghana's President Addresses National Black Caucus of State Legislators. indybay.org Soon our amazing California Golden Legacy, past, present and future will utilize Ghana as an essential destination for joint mutual benefit. Ghana, represents well the African Continental Free Trade Area, Our California team on the ground helping restore Agriculture as the foundation of our culture. Stay tuned MLK Weekend 2022 in Atlanta our10th Annual Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference will keep the ball rolling in a good way. Matunda Ya Kwanza…

Breaking the Chains Staff (2021-12-12). How the fight for abortion rights began. zcomm.org Let's make this current fight for abortion and a woman's right to bodily autonomy be the opening shot in the war to root out every last vestige of capitalism…

Regina Chichizola (2021-12-12). Native People in California Are Fighting Water Policies That Imperil Salmon. truthout.org In early spring 2021, it became obvious that California's rivers and the people who depend on their salmon were facing disaster. Forecasts for the Klamath River predicted some of the lowest salmon returns on record and low allocations for tribal fishers. The once snow-peaked mountains stood bare and parched. Reservoirs were still low from previous year's water deliveries that favored industrial agriculture over salmon and tribal people. There was not going to be enough water for both fish and…

Staff (2021-12-12). Ciencia, tecnología y propiedad de las empresas: øCuál es el vínculo? cubadebate.cu Construir el socialismo implica construir una base económica que sea propiedad de la sociedad en su conjunto. Con diversas modalidades y actores, y diversas formas de propiedad (como establece nuestra Constitución), pero siempre en función de los intereses de toda la sociedad.

Brett Wilkins (2021-12-12). Socialist Seattle Council Member Sawant Declares 'Apparent Victory'. zcomm.org "Terrible news all around for the capitalist bums."

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2021-12-12: News Headlines

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-12). Colossal Financial Pyramid: BlackRock and The WEF "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca First published by …

Brett Wilkins (2021-12-12). Socialist Seattle Council Member Sawant Declares 'Apparent Victory'. zcomm.org "Terrible news all around for the capitalist bums."

Kamala Emanuel (2021-12-11). Assange extradition 'an attack on us all'. greenleft.org.au The British decision to extradite Julian Assange is an attack on us all, argues Socialist Alliance Senate candidate Kamala Emanuel.

Jessica Corbett (2021-12-11). Biden Opposes Kellogg's Plan to Hire Scabs as Workers Decide to Remain on Strike. truthout.org U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday joined the growing chorus of labor rights advocates and workers who have condemned an attempt by Kellogg Company to hire permanent replacements for unionized workers who remain on strike after "Collective bargaining is an essential tool to protect the rights of worke…

WSWS (2021-12-11). Fifty-five immigrants killed, over 100 injured in Mexico truck crash. wsws.org The catastrophic accident in southern Mexico came as Washington renews its "stay in Mexico" policy and the Mexican government collaborates in the repression of migrants.

Joris Leverink (2021-12-11). India's community health workers' struggle for recognition. roarmag.org Asha worker marking the finger of a baby girl after administering a polio vaccine in Delhi, India. June 28, 2021. Photo: PradeepGaurs / Shutterstock.com | This essay is published in collaboration with Public Services International | | Over the last year-and-a-half, one of the most visible groups of workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in India have been the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), a cadre of community health workers appointed by the National Health Mission (NHM). These hitherto invisible women were seen not only going hou…

Newsroom (2021-12-11). Public-Private Collaboration Will Define New Era for Cities. moderndiplomacy.eu At the World Economic Forum's inaugural Urban Transformation Summit, which closed on Wednesday, global leaders underscored the need for increased public-private collaboration to capitalize on new infrastructure funding and tackle growing urban challenges around the globe. "Our cities and our communities are changing right before our eyes. Digitization is transforming urban economies, public health and …

Staff (2021-12-11). Venezuela: VP Delcy Rodríguez Presents 2022 Budget to National Assembly. orinocotribune.com The Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, emphasized this Friday, December 10, that 2022 will be the year of the recovery of the bolívar as Venezuela's national currency. | During the presentation of the budget and annual plan 2022 before the National Assembly (NA), Rodríguez affirmed that strengthening the bolívar as the national currency will be the center of the economic actions of the national government next year. In this regard, she pointed out that the government is refusing to dollarize the economy. | "We come from the year 2020, a year of pandemic, but 2021 has also been a year of pande…

Newsroom (2021-12-11). Insect and Hydroponic Farming Could Boost Food Security and the Circular Economy. moderndiplomacy.eu Insect and hydroponic crop farming, for both human food and animal feed, have the potential to increase access to nutritious food, while creating millions of jobs, improving the climate and the environment, and strengthening national economies, according to a new World Bank report 'Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa: The New Circular Food Economy'. "The …

_____ (2021-12-11). China Plays Crucial Role Supporting Progress, Sovereignty In Latin America. popularresistance.org In the last two decades, economic links between Latin America and the People's Republic of China have been expanding at a dizzying rate. | Bilateral trade in 2000 was just $12 billion (1 per cent of Latin American's total trade); now it stands at $315bn. In the same time period, China's foreign direct investment in Latin America has increased by a factor of five. | Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, 19 of the 33 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region have signed up to the China-led global infrastructure development strategy. | Infrastructure projects have been a particular foc…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-11). The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Destroying Civil Society, Engineered Economic Depression, Global Coup d'État and the "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca We are at the crossroads of one of the most serious crises in modern history. We are living history, yet our understanding of the flow of events since January 2020 has been blurred. Worldwide, people have been misled both by their governments and the media.

The Lancet (2021-12-11). [Editorial] Preventing violence against women: beyond 16 days. thelancet.com 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual, global civil society campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, ended on Dec 10. This year, the 30th anniversary of the event, carries particular poignancy. Violence against women and girls, already at high levels before COVID-19, has risen markedly during the pandemic and increased in severity, according to Oxfam. Government responses to the pandemic included lockdowns, suspension of social services, and economic hardship, many of which had the consequences of placing women at increased risk of violence, w…

Anand Naidoo (2021-12-11). The Heat: 20th Anniversary of China at WTO. america.cgtn.com 20 years of China's presence at the World Trade Organization. We examine its legacy and impact. And later, an important economic meeting in China that sets benchmarks for 2022.

Jonathan Silberman (2021-12-11). Clarks strike strengthens union, pushes back wage cuts. themilitant.com LONDON — After eight weeks on strike, workers at Clarks Shoes distribution warehouse returned to work Nov. 30, having succeeded in pushing back the company's demand to cut their basic wage by 15%. "It shows what can be done if we stick together," striker Nathan Pritchard told the Militant by phone. "It sends a message to others in similar situations. What hit me the most was us working together and the solidarity." | Citing economic challenges incurred during the pandemic, Clarks had announced new contracts, cutting hourly wages to 9.50 pounds ($12.57) for over 100 workers on "legacy" contracts, a cut of 1.

Patrick Brown (2021-12-11). New Zealand farmers unite, demand end to gov't attack. themilitant.com AUCKLAND, New Zealand — "Without farmers you will be hungry, naked and sober," read a placard on a tractor heading a caravan through Christchurch Nov. 21. The convoy was one of 70 across New Zealand in which tens of thousands of farmers and their supporters said, "Enough is enough!" | They were protesting an accelerating onslaught of new regulations adopted by the Labour Party government in Wellington that impose costs and mountains of paperwork on rural producers, in the name of protecting the environment. | Organized by Groundswell, which was formed by farmers in Southland last year, the action built on a…

Astra Taylor (2021-12-11). "Your Debt Is Someone Else's Asset" zcomm.org Calls Mount to Cancel Debt & Halt Wealth Transfer to the Rich…

Janet Roth (2021-12-11). New Zealand warehouse strikers win raises to cover inflation. themilitant.com AUCKLAND, New Zealand — "All we are asking for is enough to pay our bills and feed our kids," Tetini Rangi told the Militant as he picketed outside Countdown's distribution center in Mangere Nov. 25. "The prices for rent, food, power, everything has gone up." | Over 700 First Union members rejected a company offer of a 3% pay raise. They struck for three days, stopping production at two warehouses here, asking for 4.9% in line with the rise in the government's consumer price index. | Jaskaran Singh explained his rent had gone up 50 New Zealand dollars ($34) per week from last year, but "the company pay offe…

WSWS (2021-12-11). US consumer prices rise 6.8 percent, near 40-year high. wsws.org The average family faces $4,000 more in annual expenses than one year ago.

Nguyen Huu Loi (2021-12-11). Should we start rethinking urban agriculture and food provisioning? moderndiplomacy.eu With rising global environmental effects and food production and consumption security challenges, establishing sustainable and resilient food systems will necessitate innovative methods, technologies, techniques, and procedures. Food production systems, particularly those in cities, have experienced significant innovation and improvement in recent years. Distributed food production systems and urban agriculture are becoming more prominent as a …

Coral Wynter (2021-12-11). Protesting BlackRock's support for Adani. greenleft.org.au A protest called on United States multinational investment management corporation BlackRock not to fund Adani. Coral Wynter reports.

Naomi Oreskes, Jeff Nesbit (2021-12-11). Big Oil's new strategy: Profit today, fight again tomorrow. nationofchange.org Despite countless investigations, lawsuits, social shaming, and regulations dating back decades, the oil and gas industry remains formidable.

Helena Sheehan (2021-12-11). Marxism and STS: From Marx and Engels to COVID-19 and COP26. mronline.org At the recent conference of the Society for the Social Study of Science, I came to the conclusion that the history of Marxism in relation to science and technology studies is an increasingly forgotten story.

_____ (2021-12-11). Denying Student Workers Healthcare And A Living Wage Is Violence. popularresistance.org New York City – On Wednesday, November 8, Columbia student workers (UAW Local 2110) held one of the largest pickets yet of their six-week strike to demand increased wages to meet costs of living, neutral third-party arbitration, and comprehensive healthcare benefits. Workers from unions throughout New York City such as the CUNY's Professional Staff Congress (PSC), the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) at NYU, the Teamsters, and NewsGuild of New York showed up to join the picket in solidarity with the striking workers. They picketed various entrances, encouraging those who attempted to enter the univers…

WSWS (2021-12-11). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand. wsws.org Indian ordnance factory workers hold national strike; Odisha state childcare workers demand higher wages; Australian plasterboard workers locked out; New Zealand rail union calls off strike.

Susan Lamont (2021-12-11). Kellogg strikers vote No! Say 'End two-tier wages'. themilitant.com MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kellogg's workers on strike at the company's four cereal plants across the country overwhelmingly rejected the bosses' latest contract offer in a vote Dec. 5. The key issue is the company's demand to expand the number of "transitional" workers on its divisive two-tier wage and benefits system. | "The members have spoken. The strike continues," Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union President Anthony Shelton told the press. "Solidarity is critical to this fight." The company responded with threats. "The prolonged work stoppage has left us no choice but t…

Pete Clifford (2021-12-11). Steel scaffolders strike continues in UK over wages, scabs, safety. themilitant.com SCUNTHORPE, England — "We're staying out for a result," striker Dave Birchall told the Militant on the picket line outside the massive British Steel plant here. Sixty scaffolders organized by the Unite union are now into their third month of strike action. | Sharon Graham, Unite union general secretary, joined the pickets Dec. 1. They're demanding contractor Actavo pay them the national rate for their job of 17 pounds an hour ($22.50), as opposed to their current wages of some 2 pounds less. | In a picket line interview with the BBC, Graham said, "British Steel is blaming Actavo. Actavo is blaming British S…

Sara Flounders (2021-12-11). New variant, same problem: Joint U.S.-China solidarity book tackles COVID. workers.org The continuing U.S. COVID crisis was predicted in a book published a year ago. "Capitalism on a Ventilator," a unique anthology by 50 progressive commentators — written even before the vaccines were rolled out — explained why the much anticipated vaccines alone could not solve the soaring COVID death rate . . . |

WSWS (2021-12-11). Socialist Equality Party to continue campaign against Australia's anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org Whether the SEP is registered or not, the party will stand candidates in the looming federal election to take out to the broadest possible audience the fight for socialism and the overturn of capitalism.

WSWS (2021-12-11). Youth mental health issues in the US have skyrocketed during pandemic. wsws.org The US Surgeon General reports that symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled.

_____ (2021-12-11). On Contact: The Black Agenda. popularresistance.org Glen Ford, who died in the summer of 2021, was one of the country's most insightful political commentators and radical journalists. He appeared several times on this show. He spoke for the marginalized and excoriated the elites. Glen was the co-publisher of the radical Black Commentator. He co-founded Black Agenda Report with Bruce Dixon and Margaret Kimberley in 2006. Glen repeatedly called out the Black political elites, exposing for example New Jersey Senator Cory Booker's close ties with right-wing organizations such as the Manhattan Institute and the Bradley Foundation and Booker's advocacy of neoliberalism,…

Seth Galinsky (2021-12-11). Join 'Militant' renewal drive, help get paper out to workers. themilitant.com Readers of the Militant, including members of the Socialist Workers Party and Communist Leagues in Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, are gearing up for an ambitious drive to win The Militant is unique in looking at all political questions from the standpoint of the working class, whether it's reporting from union picket lines, explaining what's at stake in the fight against antisemitism, fighting to win support for a woman's right to choose to have an abortion or in defending rights cr…

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