Daily Archives: January 15, 2022

2022-01-15: News Headlines

WSWS (2022-01-15). Nationwide protests break out in Lebanon amid mounting economic, social and political crisis. wsws.org Soaring inflation, including a massive rise in the cost of food, fuel and medicine, has completely devastated workers' living standards.

WSWS (2022-01-15). Growing support for Southern California trash collection workers as local government seeks to break month-long strike. wsws.org As a public health emergency is declared in light of infestations and contamination, Republic Services is enlisting city employees and volunteers as scab labor.

Fight Back (2022-01-15). Day 1 of Colorado King Soopers strike: Interview with a striker. fightbacknews.org Fight Back! interviews Carol McMillian, a bakery worker from Denver currently on strike against the unfair labor practices of King Soopers, a division of Kroger. | Fight Back!: Why are you out here today on the picket line? | Carol McMillian: The reason we are out on the picket line today is because of the company's unfair labor practices. That is our dispute with King Soopers. | Fight Back!: Can you go into a little more detail about what those unfair labor practices are? | McMillian: The unfair labor practices that the company is participating in right now is, first of all they have attempted to hire [people at…

Fight Back (2022-01-15). Inflation hits a 40-year high as record corporate profits roll on. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Wednesday, January 12 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that prices of consumer goods rose 7% in 2021. This is the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. With workers' wages only up by 4.7% last year, the purchasing power of workers' earnings fell by more than 2%. | One important cause of higher prices was the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While spending on services, which involve more human contact and a greater possibility of infection lagged, spending on goods surged. This was the case for used cars, where prices went up 37.3% last year, as travel on mass transit decli…

Yanis Iqbal (2022-01-15). A Short History of the US-Pakistan Relationship. dissidentvoice.org On January 10, 2022, National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said, "It [Pakistan] is still not [free from US influence] and I doubt that there is any country which is free from it." He added that the country does not have any financial independence, being dependent on loans from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other foreign …

WSWS (2022-01-15). Australian governments claim Omicron peaking as hospitalisations and deaths mount. wsws.org Claims COVID-19 case numbers will soon decrease are part of the profit-driven campaign to force potentially infectious workers back on the job.

WSWS (2022-01-15). Mass opposition to Monday's return to in-class learning in Ontario and Quebec. wsws.org Mass walkouts must be organized to close all schools to in-person learning as part of a Zero COVID strategy that includes the shutdown of all nonessential production with full wages paid to all workers, and a comprehensive program of public health measures to stamp out transmission of the virus once and for all.

WSWS (2022-01-15). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org Delhi University staff strike over unpaid wages; Sri Lankan health workers strike in North Central Province; Australia: Patrick Terminals to terminate enterprise agreement…

Editor2 (2022-01-15). Return the gold to Venezuela! orinocotribune.com On 8-9 January the Revolutionary Communist Group and supporters of its newspaper Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! took to the streets demanding that Britain return $1.8bn of gold to Venezuela. | The action was called in response to the criminal ruling on 20 December, where Britain's Supreme Court recognised as the owner of $1.8bn of gold held in the Bank of England's vaults, not the legitimate socialist party government of Venezuela, but rather the discredited opposition 'interim president', Juan Guaido — the failed puppet of US imperialism. Whilst Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela demands the gold…

Jacob Orchard (2022-01-14). Inflation inequality: Poorest Americans are hit hardest by soaring prices on necessities. nationofchange.org The fastest rate of inflation in 40 years is hurting families across the U.S. who are seeing ever-higher prices for everything from meat and potatoes to housing and gasoline. But behind the headline number that's been widely reported is something that often gets overlooked: Inflation affects different households in different ways — and sometimes hurts …

Anya Parampil (2022-01-14). "Smoking Gun" Analysis Finds US Sanctions Produce "War Time" Economy in Venezuela. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Francisco R. Rodríguez, the Executive of Oil for Venezuela, about a study he recently published which analyzed the impact of US sanctions on Venezuela's economy. Rodríguez shares data which prove sanctions have directly contributed to a major economic contraction in Venezuela, driven mainly by a significant drop in the country's oil production as a result of the measures. Rodríguez also addresses common arguments made by individuals who seek to obscure the impact …

Staff (2022-01-14). ALBA-TCP Rejects New Illegal Sanctions Imposed on Nicaragua by US & EU. orinocotribune.com The member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America-Peoples Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) strongly condemned the new aggression of the United States government and its European allies against the people and institutions of Nicaragua. | Through an official statement, the nations of the ALBA-TCP regional bloc responded to the recent announcement of fresh unilateral coercive measures by the US and the EU council. Like other acts of economic warfare waged against Nicaragua by the US, EU, and other allies, including Canada, these aggressive measures are not corroborated by United Nations decisions,…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-01-14). The Jakarta Method: The Project to Preserve Capitalism Through Terror. libya360.wordpress.com Rainer Shea Late-stage capitalism began when capitalism ceased to be a revolutionary force, and started being a reactionary one. By the middle of the 19th century, when the bourgeoisie had overthrown feudalism throughout most of the globe, their new system became a force for regression, something that still existed not because of progress but despite…

Kamal Iranidoost (2022-01-14). Iran, Syria discussed operationalizing strategic deal: Khalil. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (MNA) — Syrian economy minister has said that in his meeting with visiting Iran's road minister they had discussed ways to operationalize the strategic agreement signed between two nations in 2019.

National Organization of Women (2022-01-14). Tuesday 1/25: Dollar for Dollar NOW: From Pay Equity to Paid Leave – The Push for Economic Justice. indybay.org Online webinar…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-01-14). The Rule of Law Must Finally Evolve Into the Rule of Justice. libya360.wordpress.com Alfred de Zayas Democracy in the twenty-first century requires that the rule of law cease being the rule of power, of might makes right, geopolitics and economics. The rule of law must incorporate human dignity into the equation and enable people power, self-determination and referenda. The rule of law must evolve into the rule of…

Kamal Iranidoost (2022-01-14). Iran, China FMs discuss diverse issues in face-to-face talks. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jan. 14 (MNA) — Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Chinese counterpart discussed a variety of issues in various political, economic, trade, consular and cultural fields in a meeting in East Asian country.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2022-01-14). "Bastille 2022": Building a Worldwide Movement Against "Corona Tyranny" globalresearch.ca Bastille 2022 pertains to the restoration of fundamental rights. It seeks to reverse the criminal COVID-19 agenda which in the course of the last two years has triggered economic, social and political chaos Worldwide, coupled with bankruptcies, unemployment, mass poverty and despair.

Editor (2022-01-14). No letup in economic and social decline. mronline.org Economic and social conditions have been worsening for decades at home and abroad, especially in the context of the neoliberal antisocial offensive which was launched more than 40 years ago by the international financial oligarchy. But they have been getting even worse in recent years and over the past two years in particular.

Brittani Banks (2022-01-14). How 'Queer Eye' Upholds Liberal Economic Fantasies. independentmediainstitute.org When Netflix recently released season six of the popular reality show "Queer Eye," I eagerly binge-watched all 10 episodes, savoring Tan France's precise fashion sense, Bobby Berk's jaw-droppingly elegant interior designs, Karamo Brown's sage and insightful personal advice, Antoni Porowski's versatile kitchen skills, and, of course, Jonathan Van Ness' endearingly quirky makeovers. The show is …

Fra Hughes (2022-01-14). Kazakhstan Must Not be Allowed to Become Another Ukraine. orinocotribune.com By Fra Hughes — Jan 11, 2022 | What I am trying to convey here is the conclusion that America, the EU, and NATO care nothing for democracy and freedom. |

| In 2014, the world was informed by western media that a people's uprising against an unpopular government was taking place on Maidan Square in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, as supporters of Ukraine's integration with the European Union gathered to protest. | Sounds OK, doesn't it? Isn't it a laboring people under a former Soviet Union state system, suffering during an economic depression, and demanding to join the all dancing all singing beacon…

_____ (2022-01-14). A Program For A Future Society That We Will Build In The Present. popularresistance.org In October 2021, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a report that received barely any attention: the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021, notably subtitled Unmasking disparities by ethnicity, caste, and gender. 'Multidimensional poverty' is a much more precise measurement of poverty than the international poverty line of $1.90 per day. It looks at ten indicators divided along three axes: health (nutrition, child mortality), education (years of schooling, school attendance), and standard of living (cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets). The team studie…

_____ (2022-01-14). We Know The Silver Bullet To Ending Poverty And Destitution. popularresistance.org Here's how the world should operate in simple terms: A certain country or region or city or township or Hobbit hole tries something in order to help their society or group or hovel — if it works, other places then do it. If it doesn't work, other places don't do it. It's like when you were a kid and you saw your brother slide down the banister and rack himself on the newel post — You then thought, "Maybe that activity is not for me." But if he didn't nail himself in the jewels, you probably thought, "I think I'll try that." | That's how the United States government should work, but it doesn't. For-pro…

Vijay Prashad (2022-01-14). A Programme for a future society that we will build in the present: The Second Newsletter (2022). mronline.org In October 2021, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a report that received barely any attention: 'the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021', notably subtitled Unmasking disparities by ethnicity, caste, and gender.

_____ (2022-01-14). South Korea Will See A Massive Labor Uprising On January 15. popularresistance.org On January 15, a coalition of workers across South Korea‚Äâ—‚Äârural farmers, the urban poor and laborers‚Äâ—‚Äâwill gather in downtown Seoul for a National All-People's Mobilization, in a protest expected to reach large numbers. Since October, workers have mobilized to demand better conditions, broader labor protections and policies, and structural reforms ahead of the forthcoming presidential and local elections of 2022 (in March and June respectively). | The South Korean government has used pandemic restrictions to regulate and lim…

_____ (2022-01-14). Nurses In US Protest COVID-19 Working Conditions. popularresistance.org The protests were held under the banner of National Nurses United (NNU), a labor union with more than 175,000 members nationwide, which called on the hospital industry to "invest in safe staffing." | Hospitals in the US, the worst-hit country in the world, have been struggling to cope up with the new tide of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, as well as worker shortages and burnout. | Nurses are furious over sheer callousness and indifference shown by the government as well as their employers, blaming them for caring about their businesses, not the public health. | The protests took place across 11 US states and Was…

G. Dunkel (2022-01-14). Starbucks union push comes to Ohio. workers.org Cleveland Early in the morning of Jan. 10, another group of Starbucks workers — called "partners" — filed for a union representation election with the National Labor Relations Board. A solid majority of the 20 employees at the West 6th store in downtown Cleveland signed cards to be represented by . . . |

WSWS (2022-01-14). Labor leader promises strategic maritime fleet as part of Australia's preparations for war. wsws.org Albanese's union-backed plan has nothing to do with the provision of decent jobs and working conditions for merchant marine seafarers.

Editor (2022-01-14). Jason E Smith: 'Smart Machines and Service Work: Automation in an Age of Stagnation'. mronline.org Smith begins with Friedrich Pollock's definition of automation as a 'technique of industrial production [in which] the machines are "controlled" by machines', and shows that this trend of automation, while increasing labor productivity in the industrial and manufacturing sector, is also the reason for a lack of automation in the service sector.

teleSUR, lvm, MER (2022-01-14). Pdte. de Venezuela destaca labor de AN durante el 2021. telesurtv.net El mandatario venezolano reiteró que "cada ley debe estar acompañada de un plan de acción".

Vijay Prashad (2022-01-14). Are Western wealthy countries determined to starve the people of Afghanistan? peoplesdispatch.org The UN has issued an urgent appeal to countries across the world to raise billions of dollars in aid for Afghanistan amid an impending humanitarian catastrophe…

Staff (2022-01-14). Head of Russia-led bloc reveals details of Kazakhstan mission. rt.com The arrival of the allied peacekeeping force had a "sobering effect" in Kazakhstan, the official believes | As the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) wraps up its peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan, the top official of the Russia-led military bloc talked about the course of the deployment and its results with RT. | Kazakhstan faced a rocky start to the new year, as a wave of violent unrest broke out on the back of protests triggered by a sharp hike in fuel prices. As the initially peaceful protest devolved into violence and rioting in a matter of days, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reached…

Sharon Zhang (2022-01-14). Warren Demands Private Equity-Backed Firms Answer for Role in Rising Rent Prices. truthout.org Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is demanding answers from housing corporations with backing from private equity, who she says are involved in inflating housing prices for both renters and buyers. |

Ann Brown (2022-01-14). Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby Indicted By Feds Over Mortgage Applications. moguldom.com Baltimore's top prosecutor, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, was indicted on Jan. 13 on federal charges of perjury and filing false mortgage applications related to her purchase of two Florida vacation homes. The 41-year-old Democrat was elected to her post in 2015. She is being accused of falsely claiming twice to have suffered a work-related financial …

Isheka N. Harrison (2022-01-14). Truck Driver, 27, To Get $30K Over Losses From Robinhood Restricting Trading Of Reddit Meme Stocks. moguldom.com A 27-year-old truck driver is getting a $30,000 payday from Robinhood after the trading app was found liable for losses he incurred when the online broker restricted trading on meme stocks in January 2021 during an unprecedented short squeeze. On Thursday, Jan. 6, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ruled that Robinhood had to pay Jose Batista …

Staff (2022-01-14). Senior Navalny allies added to Russia's 'terrorist & extremist' list. rt.com Their bank accounts will now immediately be frozen | Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, two close allies of the jailed Russian opposition activist Alexey Navalny, have been added to a state register of extremists. They were placed on an international wanted list last year. | The two men's names were registered on the website of Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial monitoring service, on Friday. | The agency compiles information on those suspected of terrorist or extremist activity. Under Russian law, the bank accounts of individuals on the list must be frozen immediately. Both men currently live abroad, having le…

Staff (2022-01-14). Senior prosecutor praised by Kamala Harris is indicted on federal charges. rt.com The vice president encouraged voters to support Marilyn Mosby to help 'reform' the criminal justice system | On Thursday, Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore, was indicted for perjury and falsifying documents at a time when she alleged she was struggling financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic. | Mosby, a Democrat who was elected to her position in 2015, claimed on two occasions that she was suffering work-related hardship so as to borrow a total of $90,000 from her retirement account. She used that money to purchase two Florida vacation homes, prosecutors say. | According to the indictment, Mos…

Julia Conley (2022-01-14). More than 8,000 Kroger grocery workers strike in Colorado. nationofchange.org On the heels of a new report showing significant financial insecurity, including homelessness, among workers at Kroger grocery stores, more than 8,000 of the chain's employees in Colorado went on strike Wednesday to demand fair wages and better healthcare benefits. Amid a recent wave of successful strikes at companies including John Deere and Kellogg's, the …

Staff (2022-01-14). Facebook faces $3bn+ legal action over dominance. rt.com The UK case is based on company's historic data-collection practices | Social media giant Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms, faces a class action lawsuit in Britain, seeking at least £2.3 billion (over $3.1 billion) in damages, over allegations the company had exploited users' data for profit. | The case is being brought by Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, a senior adviser to Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) watchdog and a competition law academic. She said the case was brought on behalf of Facebook's 44 million users who had used the network between 2015 and 2019. | It alleges that Facebook made bil…

Staff (2022-01-14). Johnson eyes Downing Street overhaul to avert 'political death' — media. rt.com Boris Johnson under fire over reports his office held multiple parties while England was in lockdown | UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly expected to conduct a shake-up of Downing Street staff amid growing pressure over a number of parties allegedly held by his office in breach of Covid lockdown rules. | The Financial Times has reported that Johnson will launch a major restructuring of his top staff in an effort to cling to power as public and political criticism mounts against his government. | Speaking anonymously to the FT, one individual identified as an ally of Johnson claimed that "Boris reali…

Dean Baker (2022-01-14). Is Europe's Inflation Joe Biden's Fault? cepr.net We would probably think it is, if we relied on CNN and other such sources, but in good old reality land, that's a hard story to tell. Anyhow, as some of us tried to explain, inflation is a worldwide phenomenon associated with reopening from after a worldwide pandemic, which is not yet over. We got …

WSWS (2022-01-14). Price surge slashes workers' living standards. wsws.org Seven percent inflation in 2021 resulted in a real wage reduction of an average 2.4 percent for US workers.

Peoples Dispatch (2022-01-14). Drivers and transport workers in Lebanon strike against government apathy. peoplesdispatch.org The striking workers blocked several major highways and roads demanding the government to reinstate past subsidies on fuel and other commodities in the face of spiraling inflation…

Kevin Mwanza (2022-01-14). Solrise Finance (SLRS): Is The Solana DeFi Crypto The Next Big Investing Opportunity? 5 Things To Know. moguldom.com Solrise Finance (SLRS), a Solana-based decentralized investment platform that allows portfolio managers to create funds governed by smart contracts, has attracted the attention of funders and investors alike as the breakaway token continues its rise into 2022. A new cryptocurrency launched in April 2020 as an open-source project, Solana (SOL) is maintained by the Geneva-based Solana …

sputniknews (2022-01-14). Construction Projects & Billions in Investments: Israel is Making Over Golan Heights. sputniknews.com The Jewish state's government has recently decided to double the amount of residents in the disputed plateau. It also announced that a great deal of money will be injected into infrastructure projects, the expansion of current towns, and the creation of new settlements.

sputniknews (2022-01-14). Britney Spears Attacks Her Sister, Accuses Jamie of Profiting Off Her Name. sputniknews.com Since the singer had her conservatorship terminated, she's written several posts harshly criticising members of her family for what she described as their "demoralising" and "degrading" treatment of her. The "Baby One More Time" singer also made several veiled attacks at her sister.

deweylaura (2022-01-14). Chinese Communist Party and fraternal political parties meet. cpusa.org Democracy is a shared value of humanity. It does not belong to the United States, or to the capitalist world, alone. This was the theme of the Meeting of the Chinese Communist Party and Marxist Political Parties from Europe, North American, and Oceania held on December 15, 2021. The CPC hosted the event live …

ecns.cn (2022-01-14). Xinjiang airports resume int'l cargo operations. ecns.cn Airports in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have resumed their international cargo operations as part of efforts to stabilize global industrial and supply chains.

Editor (2022-01-14). How Education International is pushing teachers' unions into the 4th Industrial Revolution. mronline.org Why have teachers' unions been pushing ed-tech that is driving schools into the 4IR? Look no further than Education International, a global federation tied to UNESCO & the WEF that dominates most teachers' unions in the U.S. and beyond.

Party for Socialism, Liberation (2022-01-14). PSL solidarity statement with the people of Sudan and Sudanese Communist Party. liberationnews.org The Party for Socialism and Liberation offers its heartfelt solidarity to the millions taking to the streets to oppose Sudan's coup regime in the face of beatings, arrests and bullets…

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