(2022-02-12). [Perspectives] Deirdre Cooper Owens: bringing context to systemic medical racism. thelancet.com In the 1790s, Franàßois Marie Prevost, a young French surgeon fresh from his medical training in Paris moved to Port-de-Paix, Haiti. "Of course at that time Haiti was France's most economically valuable colony", says historian Deirdre Cooper Owens. "So there he began some experimental work on enslaved Haitian women, trying to perfect the caesarean section." Prevost's sojourn coincided with the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, who had been born a slave, the fight for Haitian independence, and the abolition of slavery.
(2022-02-12). The Left has culture, but the World still belongs to the banks: The Sixth Newsletter (2022). mronline.org 
Dear friends, Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. '[T]here is great intellectual poverty on the part of the right wing', Héctor Béjar says in our latest dossier, A Map of Latin America's Present: An Interview with Héctor Béjar (February 2022). 'There is a lack of right-wing intellectuals everywhere'. Béjar speaks …
(2022-02-12). New Zealand joins diplomatic offensive against Russia amid escalating war build-up. wsws.org The Labour-led government, the foreign policy establishment and a layer of pseudo-lefts have lined up with the escalating imperialist operation against Russia.
(2022-02-12). Unite tries to corral opposition to Labour's strike breaking against Coventry bin workers. wsws.org Labour has put into effect an openly prepared strike breaking operation which no Tory run council has attempted to mount.
(2022-02-12). [Comment] Another piece in the COVID-19 treatment puzzle. thelancet.com A new study1 from the RECOVERY Collaborative Group adds another piece to the puzzle of severe COVID-19 therapy. The RECOVERY trials have been pivotal in providing evidence on the efficacy of compounds within current treatment guidelines for COVID-19, such as dexamethasone, tocilizumab, and the casirivimab and imdevimab combination.1—3 In previous randomised trials, these monoclonal antibodies4 were effective in preventing infection and clinical progression when given in the early phase of infection.
(2022-02-12). [Articles] Casirivimab and imdevimab in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. thelancet.com In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, the monoclonal antibody combination of casirivimab and imdevimab reduced 28-day mortality in patients who were seronegative (and therefore had not mounted their own humoral immune response) at baseline but not in those who were seropositive at baseline.
(2022-02-12). Australian defence minister accuses Labor Party of "appeasing" China. wsws.org The attempt to whip up a wartime atmosphere flows from the government's deep crisis and Australia's frontline role in the US-led preparations for conflict with China.
(2022-02-12). Solidarity is the road to liberation. peoplesdispatch.org This is a lightly edited version of a speech given to an international meeting held on 1 February under the banner: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and All Anti-Imperialist Freedom Fighters! Speakers included Abu-Jamal (via a recorded statement), Angela Davis and a number of trade unionists. | Around the world, imperialism — with its dehumanization and brute violence — has allowed for a small minority to permanently accumulate wealth at the expense of the masses of our people. In recent years, women and men have been killed — from Afghanistan and Iraq to South Africa and the prison archipelago of the US.
(2022-02-12). 'Freedom Convoy': A Dangerous Movement for the Working Class, but Useful for the Ruling Class. orinocotribune.com By Communist Party of Canada — Feb 4, 2022 | The Communist Party of Canada views the "Freedom Convoy" as a public expression of the increasingly organized and assertive far right. The clear links between the organizers of the convoy and far-right networks indicate that this is not a spontaneous working-class demonstration. On the contrary, it is part of a global phenomenon: the rise and mainstreaming of the far right, which is demonstrated by the strong support (ideologically and financially) from the US far right and circles close to Donald Trump and the Jan. 6thinsurrection. The convoy is filled with Nazi…
(2022-02-12). Unite secures sell-out pay deal to end strikes at First Bus Manchester. wsws.org Speaking to the WSWS as they voted, workers said the pay increase was around 6 percent according to their calculations. This is a real-terms pay cut—with Unite citing the Retail Price Index measure of inflation which stands at 7.5 percent and rising.
(2022-02-12). [Correspondence] The Global Drug Policy Index: its rationale and the role of civil society. thelancet.com One of our goals in creating the inaugural Global Drug Policy Index (GDPI) was to encourage debate about how to best measure and compare states' drug policies, and we therefore welcome well informed critical commentary. Although such commentary did feature in the World Report1 (for example, Harry Sumnall offered lucid and insightful criticism), we felt that this was not true across the piece.
(2022-02-12). Blasphemy: How Many Circles of Hell are there for the Elite? dissidentvoice.org 
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. ‚Äï Smedley Butler, War is a Racket: The …
(2022-02-12). °La solución a la desigualdad global es el socialismo! workers.org 
En todo el mundo, miles de millones de personas están sufriendo pérdidas increíbles como consecuencia de la incapacidad y la negativa del capitalismo a abordar seriamente la pandemia del COVID-19. Millones han perdido la vida o a sus seres queridos. Las familias se han quedado sin casa. Los trabajadores se . . . |
(2022-02-12). Sri Lankan nurses defy court ban and remain on indefinite strike with other health workers. wsws.org The court ban on industrial action by health workers indicates that the Rajapakse government is moving into direct confrontation with the entire working class.
(2022-02-12). Celebrate International Women's Day, Resist Attacks on Reproductive Freedom. fightbacknews.org Across the world, March 8th honors the contributions of women to the people's struggle. This year, Freedom Road Socialist Organization will hold events to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD). | | IWD was founded to honor the sacrifices of heroes named and unnamed. Some capitalists have tried to sanitize and co-opt International Women's Day. The origins of this day are clearly anti-capitalist. Our celebrations will carry forward that spirit. | | Long History, Global Reach | | International Women's Day originates in the struggle of working women in New York City. In 1908 there was a determined battle…
(2022-02-11). How Nicaragua Fights Poverty & Empowers Women Through the Ministry of Family Economy (Interview). orinocotribune.com In Managua, Nicaragua, Kawsachun News interviewed Minister Justa Pérez of the Ministry of Family, Community, Cooperative and Associative Economy, known as MEFCCA. | Could you start us off with a summary of what MEFCCA does to stimulate, develop and promote the popular economy? | With pleasure, greetings. I would like to tell you that the Ministry of Family Economy arose as part of the strategy of the Sandinista government in the fight against poverty. When Comandante Daniel took office in 2007, he decided to launch a National Plan for Human Development in which a number of public policies and a number of program…
(2022-02-11). Snoqualmie Tribe Acquires 12,000 Acres Of Ancestral Forestland. popularresistance.org The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, a federally recognized Tribe headquartered in King County, has acquired roughly 12,000 acres of its ancestral forestlands in the Tolt River Watershed. The forest has significant cultural, historic, environmental, and economic value to the Tribe and is near the lands originally promised to the Tribe as its reservation by the federal government in the 1930s — a promise the United States did not keep. The lands acquired by the Tribe were managed for industrial timber purposes for over a century. By acquiring these lands, the Tribe is concluding a decades-long effort to reclaim owne…
(2022-02-11). "Politics as Usual" Will Never Be a Solution to the Current Climate Threat. truthout.org 
There is an ever-growing consensus that the climate crisis represents humanity's greatest problem. Indeed, global warming is more than an environmental crisis — there are social, political, ethical and economic dimensions to it. Even the role of science should be exposed to critical inquiry when discussing the dimensions of the climate crisis, considering that technology bears such responsibility for bringing us to the brink of global disaster. This is the theme of my interview with renowne…
(2022-02-11). New Survey: One In Four Temp Workers Reports Wage Theft. popularresistance.org A stunning 24% of workers in the temp industry say they have had their wages stolen from them by their employers, according to a survey, released Feb. 3, that examines cycles of poverty and precarity for the industry's disproportionately Black and Brown workers. | The findings are based on surveys carried out by seven worker advocacy groups, including the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and Temp Worker Justice, across the country. In the study, 1,337 temp workers in 47 states answered questions about pay, safety, job mobility, workplace discrimination and employer retaliation. | Temporary staff, or temp wo…
(2022-02-11). The Left Has Culture, But The World Still Belongs To The Banks. popularresistance.org '[T]here is great intellectual poverty on the part of the right wing', Héctor Béjar says in our latest dossier, A Map of Latin America's Present: An Interview with Héctor Béjar (February 2022). 'There is a lack of right-wing intellectuals everywhere'. | Béjar speaks with a great deal of authority on these matters because, for the past sixty years, he has been intimately involved in the intellectual and political debates which have taken place in his native Peru and across Latin America. 'In the cultural world', Béjar notes, 'the left has everything, the right has nothing'. When it comes to the great cultural deba…
(2022-02-11). Labour blew $1.3 million pursuing "anti-Semitism" leakers. electronicintifada.net Top secret document shows how party tried to suppress leaked "anti-Semitism" report.
(2022-02-11). Jeremy Corbyn covers for Labour's filthy role in Ireland. wsws.org Corbyn expounded on a number of themes while never once mentioning the role of the Labour Party, in which he has spent almost his entire political career and which he led for nearly five years.
(2022-02-11). Minister for Interior: Colombia Continues Attempting to Destabilize Venezuela. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Minister for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace, General Remigio Ceballos, has reiterated his complaints regarding the involvement of the Colombian government in plans which seek to destabilize Venezuela. | His statement was made via Twitter in the wake of a number of operations which have been carried out in recent days by law enforcement agencies and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) to neutralize criminal gangs, eradicate laboratories and drug crops in Venezuelan border territories, and expel what are known as the Armed Drug Trafficking Colombian Terrorist Groups (TANCOL) from Venezuela…
(2022-02-11). Union election rematch: Bessemer workers continue to fight Amazon's anti-labor campaign. liberationnews.org 
Voting is now underway at Amazon's fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama after the NLRB ordered a second union election on the grounds that the company grossly violated workers' rights in the first vote…
(2022-02-11). Australia: COVID-19 swamps Northern Territory schools and Aboriginal communities. wsws.org Aboriginal medical organisations have condemned the Territory's Labor government for allowing the coronavirus to spread out of control.
(2022-02-11). Anti-doping officials explain mystery Valieva test delay. rt.com 
Officials at RUSADA have issued a statement after figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance | Information about the positive doping test result for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was delayed because of issues caused by Covid-19 at a Stockholm laboratory, according to an explanation provided to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). | It was announced on Friday that Valieva had tested positive for a banned heart medicine which was detected in a sample taken on December 25 at the Russian national championships in St. Petersburg. | The statement from the International Testing Age…
(2022-02-11). Working class in the UK gears up to protest the cost of living crisis. peoplesdispatch.org The rise in energy prices, cuts in wages and pensions, along with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has made the working class households across the UK reel under a devastating cost of living crisis.
(2022-02-11). Rather Than Sink Main Street, The Fed Could Save It. popularresistance.org Not only will raising interest rates not fix the supply crisis, but according to Alasdair Macleod, head of research at GoldMoney in London, U.K., that wrong medicine is likely to trigger the next financial crisis. He thinks it is imminent and will start in Europe, where negative interest rates brought the cost of doing repo trades to zero. As a result, the European repo market is now over ‚Ǩ10 trillion ($11.4 trillion), far more than the capital available to unwind it (to reverse or close the trades). Rising interest rates will trigger that unwinding, says MacLeod, and the ECB lacks the tools to…
(2022-02-11). Will Scathing Amnesty Apartheid Report Lead To Change In Israel's Criminal Practices? popularresistance.org The reality that this report has brought forward opens doors to a much more aggressive anti-apartheid campaign than we have seen so far. When Zionist organizations hold events, they do so in support of Israel; they encourage others to support Israel financially and politically. These organizations need to reserve conventions centers and hotels, the corporate offices of which should have copies of the Amnesty report on their desks alongside a demand that they refuse to cater to Zionist organizations. | According to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, "[i]nterna…
(2022-02-11). US Household Debt Increased By $1T In 2021, The Most Since Before Financial Crisis In 2007. moguldom.com U.S. household debt is on the rise and it hit a peak in 2021 when Americans collectively took on $1 trillion-plus in debt — the highest since 2007 before the financial crisis. The total amount of household debt held by consumers jumped from $14.6 trillion to $15.6 trillion, according to a report by the Federal …
(2022-02-11). Tehran, Moscow developing mechanism against sanctions. en.mehrnews.com The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Tehran and Moscow are creating a mechanism to protect the two countries trade and financial exchanges from the threat of sanctions.
(2022-02-11). Donald Trump: America Is 'Going To Hell' Fast With Inflation And Covid. moguldom.com Former President Donald Trump, who is already preparing for a potential presidential run in 2024, claims the U.S. is going to "hell" due to inflation and the covid-19 pandemic. Trump held his first major campaign rally of 2022 in Florence, Arizona, where he promised to "Make America Great Again, Again." The Jan. 15 Save America rally was …
(2022-02-11). How A Surprise Fed Rate Hike Announcement Could Send Stocks And Crypto Into A Downward Spiral. moguldom.com Despite the hedge-against-inflation hype promoted by some crypto holders, Bitcoin has been correlated with the price action of traditional stocks and some investors worry that a surprise Fed rate hike announcement could send both into a downward spiral. In response to the hottest inflation in 40 years, Federal Reserve Bank of St. President James Bullard …
(2022-02-11). Widespread opposition from workers to USW sellout at Newport News naval shipyard. wsws.org Shipyard workers are demanding strike action and denouncing the United Steelworkers union for accepting a contract with raises way below the rate of inflation and sharp increases in out-of-pocket medical expenses.
(2022-02-11). As inflation surges, unions impose cuts in real wages. wsws.org US inflation rose at a 7.5 percent annual rate in January as unions worked in tandem with employers and the Biden administration to reduce the real wages of workers.
(2022-02-11). Texas anti-BDS measure ruled unconstitutional — again. electronicintifada.net Lawmakers in Georgia and Virginia attempt to crush free speech rights in service to Israel.
(2022-02-11). News on China | No. 86. dissidentvoice.org China and Argentina move closer together as Argentina joins the BRI and they reach agreements on investments. Russia and China signed a joint declaration opposing Taiwan independence and NATO expansion. Green China runs a low-Carbon Olympics. Gu Ailing wins a gold medal for China.
(2022-02-11). Finland makes massive military investment with US. rt.com 
Helsinki signs a deal for 64 US-built F-35 stealth jets, at a reported cost of $9.4 billion | Finland has penned a multibillion-dollar deal with the US to purchase 64 American-built F-35 fighter jets, the Finnish Defense Forces announced on Friday. The radar-evading warplanes will reportedly cost the European country, which is traditionally militarily non-aligned, some $9.4 billion. | The aircraft will not enter service for some years, with Finnish officials previously saying deployment of the planes would begin in 2027. The new jets are being brought in to replace Finland's current Hornet fleet. | In addition…
(2022-02-11). "The working class has the most power it's ever had": US oil refinery workers speak out on contract battle. wsws.org In letters to the WSWS, oil refinery and petrochemical workers expressed their determination to fight the highly profitable energy companies and denounced the United Steelworkers for keeping them on the job and imposing an information blackout.
(2022-02-11). US oil refinery workers speak out on contract battle. wsws.org In letters to the WSWS, oil refinery and petrochemical workers expressed their determination to fight the highly profitable energy companies and denounced the United Steelworkers for keeping them on the job and imposing an information blackout.
(2022-02-11). States Will Consider More Than 210 Bills on Toxic "Forever Chemicals" in 2022. truthout.org 
Protecting people from exposure to toxic "forever chemicals" will be a top priority for new state regulations throughout the U.S. in 2022, according to a new analysis. | The analysis, published by the
(2022-02-11). Second Declaration of Havana, 60th Anniversary. orinocotribune.com 
By Charles McKelvey — Feb 8, 2022 | Fidel speaks of the crisis of imperialism and the interest of humanity in socialism | It has been said of Fidel that he gave pedagogical discourses. This was illustrated on February 4, 1962, when Fidel offered a history lesson in a speech that came to be known as the Second Declaration of Havana, delivered to more than one million people in the Plaza of the Revolution, an event that was commemorated this past week in Cuba. In the historic discourse, Fidel presented an overview of world history that is a synthesis of Marxism-Leninism, written from the perspective of the rev…
(2022-02-11). Wet'suwet'en Approach UN Over Militarization And Rights Violations. popularresistance.org As the movement against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline project in Canada continues, indigenous Wet'suwet'en activists have approached the United Nations to raise their concerns about indigenous rights violations. In a submission filed to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, February 7, activists of the Gidimt'en clan of Wet'suwet'en raised the issues of forced industrialization, police militarization and violation of the rights of indigenous peoples. | The eight-page document points out that Canada has overlooked its international obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UND…
(2022-02-11). Enhanced NATO partner Finland to sign deal for 64 U.S. F-35s. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Finland has a population of only 5.5 million. The purchase represents over $1,700 for every person in the country. That's the cost of NATO interoperability. ==== Finland set to sign deal with U.S. for 64 F-35 jets — sources Finland's formal purchase agreement for F-35 fighter jets could be signed as soon as Friday, U.S.-based …
(2022-02-11). Australia to treat COVID like the flu amid mass school infections, record deaths. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site has learned that this week, at least 6,888 students and 600 staff in Victorian schools have tested positive for COVID-19. Last week, 4,514 students and 800 staff tested positive.
(2022-02-11). Cuba Battles COVID, Defying 60-Year U.S. Blockade. libya360.wordpress.com Struggle — La Lucha Presentation by Sharon Black, writer for Struggle-La Lucha and national spokesperson of the Socialist Unity Party, at the Europe for Cuba online forum Feb. 9, 2022. End the U.S. blockade of Cuba It has been 60 years this month since U.S. President John Kennedy first proclaimed Executive Order 3447, prohibiting "the importation into…
(2022-02-11). Shen Yun: The Falun Gong cult's anti-communist propaganda roadshow. peoplesworld.org 
From February 15-20, 2022, Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will host a sensational retelling of China's history spanning thousands of years. Shen Yun—the stunning production that has graced stages in a perpetual roadshow across North America since 2006—is returning to the U.S. capital. The advertising for this affair across 96 cities …