Colin Todhunter (2022-12-31). Of Economic Crises and Pandemics. dissidentvoice.org If events since March 2020 have shown us anything, it is that fear is a powerful weapon for securing hegemony. Any government can manipulate fear about certain things while conveniently ignoring real dangers that a population faces. Author and researcher Robert J Burrowes says: "… if we were seriously concerned about our world, the gravest and longest-standing …

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-31). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-31). How About Living Wages? Three Hundred UFCW5 Members Strike SF Macy's Union Square Store. indybay.org Three hundred members of UFCW 5 went on strike against Macy's at the Union Square store in San Francisco. They are fighting for living wages.

Minnesota Reformer (2022-12-31). The Year Unions Came Roaring Back, while Public Support for Workers is Higher than in 55 Years. juancole.com By Max Nesterak ( Minnesota Reformer ) &#1 ; I visited picket lines in subzero temperatures and the high 90s this year, as I documented the surge in energy that workers are bringing to the labor movement. It was an exciting year to cover labor, especially in Minnesota, with its high union participation rate and low …

Nora Barrows-Friedman (2022-12-31). Podcast Ep 71: Palestine in 2022, part 2. electronicintifada.net What were the most significant stories of the year?

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-31). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

Alison Weir (2022-12-31). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

ecns.cn (2022-12-31). China adjusts tariff plan to include more items. ecns.cn China has decided to adjust its tariff plan for 2023 and expand the number of tariff items in line with the need for industrial development and technical advancement, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Thursday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-31). Paxlovid covered by medical insurance sold at $271, limited to buy in Beijing. ecns.cn The oral COVID-19 drug Paxlovid is now purchasable in some community health service centers in Beijing, but only sold to eligible patients under purchase limit. Patients need to pay at least 1,890 yuan (about $271) for the drug, which is already covered by the medical insurance.

Fight Back (2022-12-31). Forward with the people's struggles in 2023! Join the FRSO! fightbacknews.org As the curtain comes down on 2022, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization wishes you a happy new year! We look forward to a new year of struggle, and victories, that raise us to new heights. Conditions show we are in an exciting period for revolutionaries who want to connect with workers and the oppressed with practical plans. 2023 promises many opportunities to organize, build the united front against imperialism, and advance the American revolution with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization playing our part and leading. You should consider The United S…

Suds, Snacks,, Socialism Forum Committee (2022-12-31). Saturday 1/7: Election 2022: What Does It Mean for the Socialist Left? indybay.org

John Perry (2022-12-31). Washington Blames Record Migration on 'Communism' When the Causes Are Closer to Home. orinocotribune.com By John Perry &#1 ; Dec 24, 2022 | John Perry examines the real reasons for growing numbers of migrants crossing the border into Texas | After two years of Joe Biden's presidency, four times as many undocumented migrants are trying to cross the border into the United States, and he's getting desperate to explain away the increase. | In September, the administration discovered a new narrative: that migrants are fleeing "communism." | The White House ignores that fact that in the fiscal year just ended, migrants coming from the three countries he labels "communist" formed less than a third of the total: of the 2.7…

T.P. Wilkinson (2022-12-31). Let Bygones be Bygones: Fresh Analysis Instead of Nostalgia. dissidentvoice.org In another years China will be stronger, and by that time the Chinese Communist Party will be a hundred years old. The United States will surely be envious and ill-intentioned, but it doesn't dare attack China, not even with a single bullet. It will research germ contamination. That is immoral. After it finishes with …

Afshin Molavi (2022-12-30). The unstoppable march of globalization. asiatimes.com Remember the demise of globalization? As the Covie-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy and US-China tensions soared, many a commentator trotted out a "globalization is dying" narrative, claiming that the dizzying flow of goods, services, people, capital, and ideas that define our world would soon be confined to history. Russia's invasion of Ukraine …

Andrew Salmon (2022-12-30). Amid tough US chip chat, S Koreans turn anti-China. asiatimes.com SEOUL — South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol urged additional tax breaks for the domestic semiconductor industry as the nation's flagship export sector reels from a perfect storm — one that continues to rise in intensity. The semiconductor super-cycle, which buoyed the Korean economy through the Covid-19 pandemic, turned south this summer as chip shortages turned …

Anonymous103 (2022-12-30). Russia's Economy Performed Much Better Than The West Expected Despite Sanctions. southfront.org Illustrative ImageRussia became the most sanctioned country in 2022 | Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher | Russia became the most sanctioned country in the world in 2022. Despite experiencing a deluge of sanctions from Western powers, the results against Russia were grossly unexpected as the country not only survived, but Western economies are now in disarray instead. | Following the lau…

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). Chinese state councilor stresses intelligent construction, safe development of mines. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong on Thursday urged efforts to accelerate the construction of intelligent mines and their safe development.

_____ (2022-12-30). Argentine Vice-President Cristina Kirchner hits out against judicial "parallel state" popularresistance.org Argentine Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in her first public appearance after her conviction earlier this month, spoke at the inauguration of the Diego Armando Maradona multi-sport gymnasium in the municipality of Avellaneda, a suburb of Buenos Aires, on Tuesday, December 27. Speaking alongside her main allies within the ruling coalition, the Frente de Todos (Front of All, FdT), Kirchner criticized the press, the economic elite, and the Argentine judiciary for promoting a "parallel state." | Kirchner was sentenced to six years in prison and barred from contesting for life on December 6. The so-cal…

_____ (2022-12-30). Argentine Vice-President Hits Out Against Judicial 'Parallel State'. popularresistance.org Argentine Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, in her first public appearance after her conviction earlier this month, spoke at the inauguration of the Diego Armando Maradona multi-sport gymnasium in the municipality of Avellaneda, a suburb of Buenos Aires, on Tuesday, December 27. Speaking alongside her main allies within the ruling coalition, the Frente de Todos (Front of All, FdT), Kirchner criticized the press, the economic elite, and the Argentine judiciary for promoting a "parallel state." | Kirchner was sentenced to six years in prison and barred from contesting for life on December 6. The so-cal…

_____ (2022-12-30). Venezuelan Children Continue to Die Under US Sanctions While Washington Funds 'Democracy Programs'. popularresistance.org Venezuelan human rights organization Fundalatin recently announced the death of Gabriel Cisneros, a Venezuelan child who could not receive a liver transplant because Washington's murderous sanctions continue to paralyze the state-funded program that covered these procedures. | Gabriel is sadly one more in a long list of victims of the US economic war. The Simón Bolívar Foundation is the social program of US-based Venezuelan oil subsidiary CITGO. It was created in 2006 by former President Hugo Chávez to help patients with rare cancers, especially children with leukemia, receive transplants and other life-saving tr…

_____ (2022-12-30). Venezuelan Children Continue To Die Under US Sanctions. popularresistance.org Venezuelan human rights organization Fundalatin recently announced the death of Gabriel Cisneros, a Venezuelan child who could not receive a liver transplant because Washington's murderous sanctions continue to paralyze the state-funded program that covered these procedures. | Gabriel is sadly one more in a long list of victims of the US economic war. The Simón Bolívar Foundation is the social program of US-based Venezuelan oil subsidiary CITGO. It was created in 2006 by former President Hugo Chávez to help patients with rare cancers, especially children with leukemia, receive transplants and other life-saving tr…

Abayomi Azikiwe (2022-12-30). Africa in Review 2022, II: Peacekeeping and the World Economic Crisis. globalresearch.ca

Anonymous103 (2022-12-30). "It's The Industry, Stupid" &#1 ; Economic Nationalism Is On The Rise, Bringing New Risks. southfront.org As the specter of deindustrialization haunts the world, economic warfare is to become much more dangerous than it already is,…

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). Trade between China, other RCEP members up 7.9 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn Trade between China and the other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has sustained rapid growth since the trade agreement took effect at the beginning of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

infobrics (2022-12-30). "It's the industry, stupid" – economic nationalism is on the rise, bringing new risks. infobrics.org As the specter of deindustrialization haunts the world, economic warfare is to become much more dangerous than it already is, by turning things into an existential challenge for the concerned parties.

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-30). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

Uriel Araujo (2022-12-30). "It's the industry, stupid" — Economic Nationalism Is on the Rise, Bringing New Risks. globalresearch.ca

William Pesek (2022-12-30). BOJ at mercy of US, China zigs and zags. asiatimes.com It's hard to think of a central banker who had a more precarious year than Japan's Haruhiko Kuroda. | Though US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell drew most of the angst with his aggressive interest-rate increases, the Bank of Japan was caught between two economic giants veering in opposite directions. The US addressed overheating risks. China's "zero Covid" fiasco resulted in its slowest growth in 30 years — before Beijing suddenly hit the economic gas in the waning weeks of the year. | For most of 2022, BOJ governor Kuroda held firm to the monetary equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath: doing as little h…

infobrics (2022-12-30). Emerging Markets Outlook 2023: Who Burns Brightest Among Rising Stars?>. infobrics.org Remember the BRIC countries? These were the eight countries (nine if you count South Africa, which was belatedly added to make BRICS) that were supposed to emerge as the nations of the future. They have enjoyed, or suffered, mixed fortunes…

Staff (2022-12-30). RIP Pelé: Afro-Brazilian Soccer Icon Overcame Racism & Poverty to Be Ambassador for Beautiful Game. democracynow.org Brazil has begun three days of national mourning to mark the death of the global soccer icon Pelé at the age of 82. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé was a poor Afro-Brazilian who led the Brazilian national soccer team to its first World Cup title in 1958 at just 17 years old, and ultimately two more times in later years — more than any other player in history. Pelé was seen as a symbol of Brazil and played for 20 years in the country before retiring and becoming a global ambassador for the sport of soccer. He was also criticized for embodying the commercialization of the sport and was seen as complyin…

WSWS (2022-12-30). Poverty, inequality and official indifference are to blame for the dozens killed by the Christmas weekend blizzard in Buffalo. wsws.org Freezing temperatures and massive snow fall have left over 60 dead nationally since last Friday, with the epicenter in Buffalo, New York.

Dean Baker (2022-12-30). The NYT Doesn't Have Access to Census Data: We Do Not Have a Record Number of Renters. cepr.net Can someone buy the NYT Internet access? For some reason the paper insists on ignoring data from the Census Bureau when telling readers about the housing market. Last month it repeatedly told readers that young people, minorities, and lower income households were unable to buy homes when the Census Bureau data showed rapid increases in …

Patrick Gallegos (2022-12-30). Los Alamos National Laboratory escalates plutonium core production, putting New Mexicans and the whole world at risk. liberationnews.org LANL has a long history of nuclear safety incidents. I…

Labor Video Project (2022-12-30). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

Left Voice Staff (2022-12-30). We Need a Labor Movement Willing to Challenge the Status Quo. truthout.org Joe Burns, director of collective bargaining with the CWA-AFA union, discusses his new book, Class Struggle Unionism, and the importance of a militant labor movement. Left Voice Staff: Your book Class Struggle Unionism is an increasingly popular text which puts forward important debates on strategy in the labor movement. Can you first tell us what you mean by "class struggle unionism" and why you… |

Mark Gruenberg, John Wojcik (2022-12-30). Working-class activism the key to progress on all fronts. peoplesworld.org Workers and their allies hit the streets in 2022 in ways that caused the country to pay attention to their issues, their causes, and their unions. There for all to see was the determination of an independent grass-roots union, the Amazon Labor Union, to confront one of the nation's three richest men, Jeff Bezos, and …

Staff (2022-12-30). "Unacceptable": NY Progressives Vow to Stop Dem. Gov's Nomination of Conservative Judge to Top Court. democracynow.org In a remarkable development, New York Democrats look likely to defeat Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul's nomination of Hector LaSalle to be the state's next chief judge, after progressives raised concern about his conservative judicial record and anti-abortion, anti-labor and anti-bail reform positions. "We have a situation here in New York where we have an opportunity to shift the highest court in a progressive direction, and the governor is completely fumbling that opportunity," says Jabari Brisport, a Democratic Socialist state senator in Brooklyn who was one of the first to oppose LaSa…

teleSUR, rzr, DRL (2022-12-30). Anuncian reunión entre talibanes y oficina humanitaria de ONU. telesurtv.net Griffiths acudirá con la intención de resolver la prohibición de que las mujeres trabajen en labores humanitarias…

_____ (2022-12-30). Architects Of Medicare Privatization: Congress, Biden And The CMS. popularresistance.org It is easy and appropriate to target the private health insurance companies who earn excessive profits from the Medicare Trust Fund through Medicare Advantage plans, especially given the well-documented evidence of overcharging and fraud. | But it is essential that we remember that it has been the U.S. Congress and the Executive Office that promoted the privatization of Medicare, to varying degrees, since it was first signed into law by President Johnson in 1965 and enacted the following year. | In 2017 The Commonwealth Fund published "The Evolution of Private Plans in Medicare," which detailed the increasing rol…

Jacqueline Luqman (2022-12-30). Film Review: Netflix's 'Descendant' Shows Capitalism Continues to Oppress African Descendants. towardfreedom.org The story of a bet a wealthy businessman made, as well as a slave ship he financed, and the descendants of the Africans brought to Mobile, Alabama, are the focus of a recently released Netflix documentary, "Descendant." TF board member Jacqueline Luqman explains why the film is worth viewing in her review.

WSWS (2022-12-30). Popular music and jazz in 2022, a selection. wsws.org Many working musicians must now tour and play live concerts most of the year in order to support themselves financially. They thus constantly face the potential long-term prospect of playing until they get terribly sick with a deadly virus, or face financial ruin, or both.

_____ (2022-12-30). Evidence Of US Backed Coup In Kiev. popularresistance.org NewsGuard, the media rating agency, alleges that Consortium News has published "false content" by reporting that there was a U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014 and that ne0-Nazis have significant influence in the country. | NewsGuard took issue with a: | "February 2022 article 'Ukraine: Guides to Reflection,' [which] asserted, 'Hence, the inflation of Russian behavior in Ukraine (where Washington organized a coup against a democratically elected government because we disliked its political complexion) … .' | It then wrote: | "The U.S. supported the Maidan revolution that ousted then-Ukraine President Viktor Ya…

Jake Johnson (2022-12-30). Big Pharma and GOP allies aim to sabotage Medicare drug price reforms. nationofchange.org "Patients fought hard for the reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act—and we won't let Big Pharma and its allies' fearmongering scare us."

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). China to retain pull for MNCs in 2023. ecns.cn China will remain a key go-to destination for multinational corporations in 2023 as the country's massive and lucrative domestic market and its opening-up measures boost business confidence amid subdued global investment sentiment, said business executives on Thursday.

Farrah Hassen (2022-12-30). A year of global displacement. nationofchange.org This year's record-breaking global displacement crisis calls for greater protections and investment by the international community instead of more indifference and cruelty.

Allen Forrest (2022-12-30). Zelensky's Road to Washington. dissidentvoice.org Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Larry Fink are preparing to turn a profit on the destruction of Ukraine.

Michael Roberts (2022-12-30). øPuede el capitalismo global aguantar? globalizacion.ca øPuede el capitalismo global aguantar? William Robinson intenta responder a esta pregunta en su libro titulado con la misma pregunta. Robinson es profesor de sociología en la Universidad de California, Santa Bárbara. Con una escritura ágil, Robinson cubre mucho terreno…

Ryan Lockwood (2022-12-30). Buffalo 'bomb cyclone' exposes failure of capitalism. workers.org Buffalo, New York Buffalo is reeling from its worst snowstorm in a generation. From Dec. 23-25, Western New York state was ravaged by a "bomb cyclone," which brought hurricane-force winds, subzero wind chills and over 50 inches of snowfall to the region. But Winter Storm Elliot is as much a . . . |

Isheka N. Harrison (2022-12-30). Dr. King Was Criticized By NAACP For Speech Against U.S. Military Industrial Complex And Budget Priorities. moguldom.com Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most iconic leaders in history. His legacy is widely remembered as a non-violent and forgiveness-based one rooted in Christian faith and ideology. However, the totality of Dr. King's activism is often glazed over by mainstream society. Many whitewash King by ascribing to selective amnesia when it …

Fernando A. T. Ximenes (2022-12-30). Twenty-Two years of austerity in Timor-Leste: The IMF and rebuilding the neoliberal state from scratch. mronline.org Timor-Leste was proclaimed by the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (FRETILIN) as a sovereign state on November 28, 1975.

teleSUR, ACH, JGN, SH (2022-12-30). øCómo se creó la URSS y qué impacto tuvo en el mundo?>. telesurtv.net La Unión Soviética o URSS estuvo conformada por cuatro repúblicas socialistas: Rusia, Transcaucasia, Ucrania y Bielorrusia.

WSWS (2022-12-30). Socialist candidate Will Lehman exposes massive voter suppression in the UAW elections. wsws.org Lehman's written protest is an encyclopedic historical record of the election, comprehensively detailing every facet of the antidemocratic conspiracy by the entrenched bureaucracy to cling to power by suppressing the vote.

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). Chinese state councilor stresses intelligent construction, safe development of mines. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong on Thursday urged efforts to accelerate the construction of intelligent mines and their safe development.

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-30). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). Trade between China, other RCEP members up 7.9 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn Trade between China and the other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has sustained rapid growth since the trade agreement took effect at the beginning of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

infobrics (2022-12-30). Emerging Markets Outlook 2023: Who Burns Brightest Among Rising Stars?>. infobrics.org Remember the BRIC countries? These were the eight countries (nine if you count South Africa, which was belatedly added to make BRICS) that were supposed to emerge as the nations of the future. They have enjoyed, or suffered, mixed fortunes…

WSWS (2022-12-30). Poverty, inequality and official indifference are to blame for the dozens killed by the Christmas weekend blizzard in Buffalo. wsws.org Freezing temperatures and massive snow fall have left over 60 dead nationally since last Friday, with the epicenter in Buffalo, New York.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-30). How About Living Wages? Three Hundred UFCW5 Members Strike SF Macy's Union Square Store. indybay.org Three hundred members of UFCW 5 went on strike against Macy's at the Union Square store in San Francisco. They are fighting for living wages.

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-30). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-30). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

Patrick Gallegos (2022-12-30). Los Alamos National Laboratory escalates plutonium core production, putting New Mexicans and the whole world at risk. liberationnews.org LANL has a long history of nuclear safety incidents. I…

WSWS (2022-12-30). Popular music and jazz in 2022, a selection. wsws.org Many working musicians must now tour and play live concerts most of the year in order to support themselves financially. They thus constantly face the potential long-term prospect of playing until they get terribly sick with a deadly virus, or face financial ruin, or both.

Alison Weir (2022-12-30). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). China to retain pull for MNCs in 2023. ecns.cn China will remain a key go-to destination for multinational corporations in 2023 as the country's massive and lucrative domestic market and its opening-up measures boost business confidence amid subdued global investment sentiment, said business executives on Thursday.

Ryan Lockwood (2022-12-30). Buffalo 'bomb cyclone' exposes failure of capitalism. workers.org Buffalo, New York Buffalo is reeling from its worst snowstorm in a generation. From Dec. 23-25, Western New York state was ravaged by a "bomb cyclone," which brought hurricane-force winds, subzero wind chills and over 50 inches of snowfall to the region. But Winter Storm Elliot is as much a . . . |

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). China adjusts tariff plan to include more items. ecns.cn China has decided to adjust its tariff plan for 2023 and expand the number of tariff items in line with the need for industrial development and technical advancement, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said Thursday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-30). Paxlovid covered by medical insurance sold at $271, limited to buy in Beijing. ecns.cn The oral COVID-19 drug Paxlovid is now purchasable in some community health service centers in Beijing, but only sold to eligible patients under purchase limit. Patients need to pay at least 1,890 yuan (about $271) for the drug, which is already covered by the medical insurance.

teleSUR, ACH, JGN, SH (2022-12-30). øCómo se creó la URSS y qué impacto tuvo en el mundo?>. telesurtv.net La Unión Soviética o URSS estuvo conformada por cuatro repúblicas socialistas: Rusia, Transcaucasia, Ucrania y Bielorrusia.

WSWS (2022-12-30). Socialist candidate Will Lehman exposes massive voter suppression in the UAW elections. wsws.org Lehman's written protest is an encyclopedic historical record of the election, comprehensively detailing every facet of the antidemocratic conspiracy by the entrenched bureaucracy to cling to power by suppressing the vote.

Anonymous103 (2022-12-29). Demographic Expert Warns Ukraine Will Experience "Catastrophic Drop" In Birth Rate. southfront.org Illustrative ImageKiev is a "ghost town", says former adviser to the President of Ukraine. | Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher | The birth rate of Ukraine is expected to drop to catastrophic levels in 2023 and lead to the country's population dropping to 35 million in the coming years. This is a demographic crisis that Ukraine will find extremely difficult to escape from, even if the war was to end tomorrow."Next year will see a catastrophi…

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). Hangzhou rolls out measures to stimulate economy. ecns.cn Hangzhou, Zhejiang province has rolled out a series of policies to encourage non-local workers to stay during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday from Jan 21 to 27. The goal is to maintain production levels, according to a notice released by local authorities at a news conference on Tuesday.

noreply (2022-12-29). The Country With Tattered Economy (c). smoothiex12.blogspot.com

Answer Coalition (2022-12-29). Workers in South Korea continue to struggle for equality January 15. answercoalition.org In 13 regions through the Republic of Korea (South Korea), workers at the 2021 People's Congress rededicated their commitment to struggling for economic and social justice in the country. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is preparing for significant demonstrations in Seoul January 15, which are being organized around the slogan, "Let's overthrow inequality through general unity with the people!" The KCTU is the largest umbrella organization of trade unions in the south. | The upcoming action follows the October 20 general strike, the November 17 peasant demonstrations, and the December 2 poor pe…

David Giesen (2022-12-29). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). Foreign firms optimistic on Chinese stock market next year. ecns.cn Foreign financial institutions have become more bullish about China's stock market performance in 2023 as the signs of the country's economic stabilization become increasingly noticeable amid stimulus measures and the accelerated optimization of epidemic control measures.

Janine Jackson (2022-12-29). 'Every issue is a disability issue'. mronline.org CounterSpin interview with Rebecca Vallas on disability economics.

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2022-12-29). On the Application of Xi Jinping Thought in an Imperialist Country. orinocotribune.com By Friends of Socialist China &#1 ; Dec 23, 2022 | On 10 December, the first of two online seminars on the theme 'The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and its World Significance', organised jointly by Friends of Socialist China and the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was held. We are pleased to publish below the contribution by Dr Hugh Goodacre, Managing Director of the Institute for Independence Studies and lecturer in the History of Economic Thought at University College London. Hugh's speech provides a profound and thought-provoking analy…

Staff (2022-12-29). Consejo de Ministros abordó temas estratégicos para la vida económica y social del país en su última sesión del año (+ Video). cubadebate.cu El jefe de Estado cubano hizo un llamado a actualizar la preparación de los cuadros y reservas del Estado y del Gobierno considerando los retos que tienen ante sí quienes son responsables de dirigir los territorios, los municipios y los sistemas empresariales.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Australian central bank rate rises target working-class households. wsws.org Internal documents from the Reserve Bank of Australia show that the economic and cost-of-living crisis will intensify in 2023, with a deliberate policy to inflict the suffering primarily on workers and their families.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Québec Solidaire rallies behind imperialist powers' campaign of aggression and provocation against Iran. wsws.org Where is Québec Solidaire's outrage at Washington's decades-long campaign of aggression against Iran, including threats of war and economic sanctions that have created severe shortages of food, medicine and medical equipment that have cost the lives of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Iranians?

WSWS (2022-12-29). Slave labour systemic in New Zealand's Pacific employment scheme. wsws.org The report by the NZ Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner emphasises that the Seasonal Employer Scheme operates on a system of rampant worker exploitation.

_____ (2022-12-29). Iran, Syria, Yemen: Twitter's Collaboration With the U.S. Military in Information Warfare. strategic-culture.org

Michael D. Yates (2022-12-29). Union Organizing Surged in 2022: Let's Push for a Radical Labor Movement in 2023. truthout.org The year 2022 saw a significant increase in working-class unrest in the United States. Millions of workers quit their jobs in 2021, and this trend has continued in 2022. Most moved on to different employment, while others continued their education or retired. Recently, many Twitter employees quit in response to the severe force reduction and intensification of work effort engineered by new owner… |

Sharon Zhang (2022-12-29). Starbucks's Refusal to Bargain With 21 Stores Is Illegal, NLRB Says. truthout.org In a new filing issued by federal labor prosecutors this week, the labor board is alleging that Starbucks's refusal to bargain with unionized stores in the Pacific Northwest constitutes illegal anti-union activity in the first of what could be many similar complaints to come. Labor officials wrote in their complaint, filed on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel… |

teleSUR, lvm, YSM (2022-12-29). Presidente de Venezuela destaca labor y compromiso de la FANB. telesurtv.net "Desde lo más profundo de mi alma, me siento orgulloso de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana que me toca comandar", subrayó Maduro.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Lula appoints former union bureaucrat as Brazil's new labor minister. wsws.org The metalworkers' union of the critical industrial region of ABC headed by Luiz Marinho was responsible for suppressing workers' struggles against mass layoffs, defending an alliance between capital and labor.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Australian Labor government greenlights extradition of former pilot to US. wsws.org The pilot's activities—providing flight training services to China—are only being criminalised because the US and its allies are preparing an aggressive war against Beijing.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Australia: Labor government delays pay rise for aged care workers. wsws.org Australian aged care workers will wait another 18 months for a 15 percent increase in minimum award rates, after Labor called for the pay rise to be "phased in."

_____ (2022-12-29). How Baltimore's Inclusionary Housing Bill Got Hollowed Out. popularresistance.org Today will be the first installment of our series called "Tax Broke". It's a five-year exploration of our hometown Baltimore's policy of doling out tax breaks to developers to stimulate growth. And the centerpiece of the work is a documentary by the same name, which we have screened and we will publish next year. The essence of our findings is that the city of Baltimore has used a variety of tax breaks intended to stimulate growth, but has done far less to track their effectiveness or make the process transparent to account for them. We also found that this idea has primarily benefited wealthy neighborhoods while…

Jake Johnson (2022-12-29). Big Pharma and GOP Open About Plans to Obstruct Medicare Drug Price Reforms. truthout.org The pharmaceutical industry and its Republican allies in Congress are openly signaling their plans obstruct at every turn as the Biden administration looks to begin implementing a recently passed law that will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time in its history. In November, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and several other Republican senators introduced legislation that would… |

Staff (2022-12-29). Climate Crisis Made Everyday Life More Expensive in 2022. truthout.org Inflation dominated news headlines and American psyches in 2022. Overall, consumer prices jumped an average 7.1 percent this year, with the cost of just about everything going up, from cars to coffee and gas to groceries. The trend triggered a bitter midterm election campaign, prompted a series of aggressive interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, and fears about an impending recession. |

infobrics (2022-12-29). Creating a BRICS Reserve Currency: A Long-term Project. infobrics.org Russia and other BRICS members — Brazil, India, China and South Africa — each have different approaches to making changes to establish an alternative non-dollar-denominated international financial system…

WSWS (2022-12-29). Abellio London bus drivers strike against below inflation pay award. wsws.org A unified counter-offensive against Abellio across the transport network has been prevented by Unite and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.

_____ (2022-12-29). Japan Rearms Under Washington's Pressure. popularresistance.org The Dec. 16 announcement by Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of a new defense strategy, while doubling military spending by 2027 to implement it, is the largest defense shake-up in decades and a wake-up call to the antiwar movement. | The decision includes openly acquiring offensive weapons and reshaping its military command structure for its expanded armed forces. On Dec. 23, the draft budget was approved by Kishida's cabinet. | Japan's dangerous military expansion should set off international alarm bells. This major escalation is taking place based on intense U.S. imperialist pressure. It is the next step i…

Sara Flounders (2022-12-29). Japan rearms under Washington's pressure ‚àí a wake-up call to the antiwar movement. workers.org Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyu islands. The Dec. 16 announcement by Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of a new defense strategy, while doubling military spending by 2027 to implement it, is the largest defense shake-up in decades and a wake-up call to the antiwar movement. The decision includes . . . |

Dave DeCamp (2022-12-29). Zelensky, Blackrock CEO Agree to Coordinate on Ukraine's Reconstruction. news.antiwar.com Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and CEO of the US investment management company Blackrock, Larry Fink, held a video meeting on Wednesday and agreed to coordinate the reconstruction of Ukraine. Zelensky's office said that he and Fink "agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the …

infobrics (2022-12-29). Beyond Geopolitics: Re-Examining Russia's BRICS Relationship. infobrics.org Despite frequent skepticism, the BRICS have come a long way. From a loose label given by investment bankers to four emerging economies in 2001 (Brazil, Russia, India and China), to a semi-formal group (adding South Africa in 2010)…

Jake Johnson (2022-12-29). Flush with record profits, Exxon sues to block EU windfall tax. nationofchange.org Exxon has also been rewarding its top executives, boosting the annual salary of CEO Darren Woods from $1.70 million to $1.88 million for the coming year.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Germany's Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain being liquidated in instalments with help of the unions. wsws.org Only after workers have ensured the company makes maximum profits in the stressful Christmas sales period will the 17,000 staff of the store chain be told which branches will remain and who will lose their job.

Editor (2022-12-29). On Football, Opium and Popular Resistance: Not All Sports Are Created Equal. scheerpost.com By Ramzy Baroud / CounterPunch My friend is not an elitist. To the contrary, he has spent decades of his life fighting social inequality, racism and championing the rights of disadvantaged groups. Therefore, I was taken aback when he surmised that "football is the opium of the people". The reference, which summons a famous Marxist …

Douglas Healey, Jesse Carpentier (2022-12-29). Deadly winter storm created by capitalism. liberationnews.org Mainstream media has provided thorough coverage of this storm's devastating impacts, but does not raise the question of how the deaths could have been prevented.

Robert Reich (2022-12-29). The monsters of American capitalism. nationofchange.org Three of its prime exemplars: Trump, Bankman-Fried's, and Musk!

Tanupriya Singh (2022-12-29). A call to the people: If capitalism is to be fought, it has to be fought in the DRC. therealnews.com This story originally appeared in This is the second of two stories on the ongoing crisis in the eastern provinces of the DRC. Part one can be read On Friday, December 23, the M23…

_____ (2022-12-29). In 2023 the Lazy Analyst Won't Keep Up With Geopolitics. strategic-culture.org By Tom LUONGO | Before I took on my current persona as either a "Putin Stooge," a "shill for the Fed," or a naàØve apologist for neoliberalism, I used to be a chemist specializing in process efficiency and root cause analysis. | While I learned many things during those twenty-plus years, the most startling conclusion I came to was that laziness has a real place in process improvement. | If you really want some industrial or bureaucratic process streamlined, give that job to the guy who most hates having his time wasted. He will invariably find a way to make that 'work' into something he only has to do spar…

Staff (2022-12-29). Bolivia's Far-Right Governor Camacho Arrested. orinocotribune.com Caracas, December 29, 2022 ( Estefanía Morales, legislator of Bolivia's governing party, the Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Soverei…

_____ (2022-12-29). Progressives In Belgium Protest Detention Of Migrants. popularresistance.org On Saturday, December 24, progressive groups in Belgium protested at the Vottem detention center in Liège, denouncing the state's unfair policy on migrants. The protest was organized by the Collective of Resistance to Centers for Foreigners (CRACPE). Hundreds of people including Wallonian MP Julien Liradelfo from the Workers Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA) and activists from the PTB and the Communist Party of Belgium (PCB/CPB) participated in the protest. The protesters asked the federal government to close down migrant detention centers across the county and release and regularize the incarcerated migrants. | Progre…

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). CPC continues self-reform as it embarks on new journey. ecns.cn Less than a week after the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, led the newly elected top leadership on a visit to Yan'an, an old revolutionary base in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Pavan Kulkarni (2022-12-29). Hundreds More Injured in Anti-Coup Protests in Sudan As December Revolution Enters Fifth Year. towardfreedom.org Attempts by an alliance of foreign powers, domestic right-wing parties and the military junta to consolidate an authoritarian state in Sudan will be defeated by mass movements, said the Sudanese Communist Party. Pavan Kulkarni reports for Peoples Dispatch.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Jose Ma. Sison, founder of the Stalinist Communist Party of the Philippines, dies aged 83. wsws.org To take stock of the life of Jose Ma. Sison is to document the bloody history of betrayed workers' struggles in the Philippines of the past 60 years.

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). Hangzhou rolls out measures to stimulate economy. ecns.cn Hangzhou, Zhejiang province has rolled out a series of policies to encourage non-local workers to stay during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday from Jan 21 to 27. The goal is to maintain production levels, according to a notice released by local authorities at a news conference on Tuesday.

Answer Coalition (2022-12-29). Workers in South Korea continue to struggle for equality January 15. answercoalition.org In 13 regions through the Republic of Korea (South Korea), workers at the 2021 People's Congress rededicated their commitment to struggling for economic and social justice in the country. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is preparing for significant demonstrations in Seoul January 15, which are being organized around the slogan, "Let's overthrow inequality through general unity with the people!" The KCTU is the largest umbrella organization of trade unions in the south. | The upcoming action follows the October 20 general strike, the November 17 peasant demonstrations, and the December 2 poor pe…

David Giesen (2022-12-29). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). Foreign firms optimistic on Chinese stock market next year. ecns.cn Foreign financial institutions have become more bullish about China's stock market performance in 2023 as the signs of the country's economic stabilization become increasingly noticeable amid stimulus measures and the accelerated optimization of epidemic control measures.

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-29). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

WSWS (2022-12-29). Australian central bank rate rises target working-class households. wsws.org Internal documents from the Reserve Bank of Australia show that the economic and cost-of-living crisis will intensify in 2023, with a deliberate policy to inflict the suffering primarily on workers and their families.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Québec Solidaire rallies behind imperialist powers' campaign of aggression and provocation against Iran. wsws.org Where is Québec Solidaire's outrage at Washington's decades-long campaign of aggression against Iran, including threats of war and economic sanctions that have created severe shortages of food, medicine and medical equipment that have cost the lives of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Iranians?

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-29). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-29). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-29). How About Living Wages? Three Hundred UFCW5 Members Strike SF Macy's Union Square Store. indybay.org Three hundred members of UFCW 5 went on strike against Macy's at the Union Square store in San Francisco. They are fighting for living wages.

teleSUR, lvm, YSM (2022-12-29). Presidente de Venezuela destaca labor y compromiso de la FANB. telesurtv.net "Desde lo más profundo de mi alma, me siento orgulloso de la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana que me toca comandar", subrayó Maduro.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Lula appoints former union bureaucrat as Brazil's new labor minister. wsws.org The metalworkers' union of the critical industrial region of ABC headed by Luiz Marinho was responsible for suppressing workers' struggles against mass layoffs, defending an alliance between capital and labor.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Australia: Labor government delays pay rise for aged care workers. wsws.org Australian aged care workers will wait another 18 months for a 15 percent increase in minimum award rates, after Labor called for the pay rise to be "phased in."

infobrics (2022-12-29). Creating a BRICS Reserve Currency: A Long-term Project. infobrics.org Russia and other BRICS members — Brazil, India, China and South Africa — each have different approaches to making changes to establish an alternative non-dollar-denominated international financial system…

Alison Weir (2022-12-29). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

Sara Flounders (2022-12-29). Japan rearms under Washington's pressure ‚àí a wake-up call to the antiwar movement. workers.org Okinawa is the largest of the Ryukyu islands. The Dec. 16 announcement by Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of a new defense strategy, while doubling military spending by 2027 to implement it, is the largest defense shake-up in decades and a wake-up call to the antiwar movement. The decision includes . . . |

infobrics (2022-12-29). Beyond Geopolitics: Re-Examining Russia's BRICS Relationship. infobrics.org Despite frequent skepticism, the BRICS have come a long way. From a loose label given by investment bankers to four emerging economies in 2001 (Brazil, Russia, India and China), to a semi-formal group (adding South Africa in 2010)…

ecns.cn (2022-12-29). CPC continues self-reform as it embarks on new journey. ecns.cn Less than a week after the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, led the newly elected top leadership on a visit to Yan'an, an old revolutionary base in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

WSWS (2022-12-29). Jose Ma. Sison, founder of the Stalinist Communist Party of the Philippines, dies aged 83. wsws.org To take stock of the life of Jose Ma. Sison is to document the bloody history of betrayed workers' struggles in the Philippines of the past 60 years.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China issues trial measures for supervisory rating of foreign banks' branches. ecns.cn The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on Tuesday released trial measures for the comprehensive regulatory rating of foreign bank branches.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Report: AI's role in driving growth bigger. ecns.cn Chinese enterprises are planning to increase investment in artificial intelligence as AI is increasingly perceived as one of the drivers in revenue growth and business transformation and integrated into the real economy.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). RCEP certificates help cut $9 million in tariffs on Chinese goods. ecns.cn China issued 4.89 million certificates of origin, commercial certificates and other certificates in connection with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership from January to November in 2022.

Stephen Janis, Taya Graham, Jayne Miller (2022-12-28). Tax Broke: The inside story of how Baltimore's inclusionary housing bill got hollowed out, and how activists hope to fix it. therealnews.com "Tax Broke" is a TRNN investigative project focused on the use of tax break and subsidies stimulate growth in a city that continues to lose population and struggle with poverty. The centerpiece of the project is an hour-long documentary. However, as information comes to light about the cost, fairness, and political economy which fuels this system, TRNN will publish updates in the form of print pieces and podcasts. | ACLU of Maryland housing attorney Barbara Samuels joins this podcast to explain why Baltimore is critical to the growth of affordable housing and what has to happen to make it work as City Counc…

teleSUR (2022-12-28). Consumer Gas Prices in Germany To Remain High in 2023: Minister. telesurenglish.net Gas prices for consumers in Europe's largest economy will remain high for another year in the wake of the energy crisis, Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck has said. | RELATED: | "I hope that things will already be better toward the end of 2023," Habeck told the German Press Agency (dpa) on Wednesday. However, he added: "We will still have to endure higher prices." | After that period, Germany's LNG infrastructure…

_____ (2022-12-28). The Rise Of The Multipolar World, With Economist Richard Wolff. popularresistance.org In the latest episode of Behind The Headlines' "Most Censored News" series, Lee Camp and Professor Richard Wolff discuss the waning of economic power in the United States and the potential reasons for this decline. | Richard Wolff is a well-known economist and host of the nationally syndicated show "Economic Update." He is a Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at the graduate program at the New School in New York City. He cofounded the non-profit group, Democracy at Work and is the author of several books, including, "The Sickness is the System: When…

David Giesen (2022-12-28). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Tibet sets economic goals for 2023. ecns.cn The Tibet autonomous region expects to see GDP growth of 8 percent, as well as 8 percent per capita growth in disposable income for urban residents and 10 percent for rural residents in 2023.

WSWS (2022-12-28). 2022: A year of deepening economic and financial crisis. wsws.org The most significant shift in the economic and financial landscape has been the development of global inflation to the highest level in four decades and the response of central banks led by the US Federal Reserve.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Exporters target global events for edge, growth. ecns.cn China's facilitation of its companies' participation in overseas exhibitions will quicken, encouraging them to enlarge their presence in developing and emerging markets.

Brian E. Roe (2022-12-28). About one-third of the food Americans buy is wasted, hurting the climate and consumers' wallets. nationofchange.org And when food goes bad, the land, labor, water, chemicals and energy that went into producing, processing, transporting, storing and preparing it are wasted too.

Editor (2022-12-28). John Kiriakou: CIA Should Get Out of the Laboratory. scheerpost.com

Scott Campbell (2022-12-28). Ni muertxs ni vencidxs: El anarquismo y la memoria de Ricardo Flores Magón. itsgoingdown.org El 21 de noviembre de 2022, cien años después de su muerte, anarquistas se encontraron en la tumba de Ricardo Flores Magón en la Ciudad de México, donde se registraron enfrentamientos con miembros de la Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana (CROM), con un saldo de varixs compañerxs heridxs. En diciembre, Scott Campbell, colaborador de IGD, entrevistó…

Staff (2022-12-28). Fallece Dr. Carlos Gutiérrez Calzado, reconocido científico del sector biofarmacéutico cubano. cubadebate.cu Este miércoles 28 de diciembre falleció en horas de la madrugada el Dr. Carlos Gutiérrez Calzado, reconocido científico del sector biofarmacéutico cubano.En los últimos años de su vida laboral (2012-2017), se desempeñó como presidente de BioCubaFarma y anteriormente como director general del Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas, (CNIC).

teleSUR (2022-12-28). Uruguay Detects New Omicron Variant-Derived Strains. telesurenglish.net The Ministry of Public Health of Uruguay reported today that the new Omicron sublineages of COVID-19 were detected by the Laboratory-Epidemiology Division of the Department of Public Health, noting that the predominant variant worldwide continues to be Omicron. | RELATED: | In this regard, the health authority said that "viruses change over time, including Sars-Cov-2," and warned that changes in the virus can influence its behavior, including ho…

WSWS (2022-12-28). Western Australian nurses' union prepares to ram through Labor government wage cut. wsws.org The Australian Nursing Federation has shut down all industrial action by nurses, effectively endorsing a deal that will slash real wages and do nothing to resolve staffing and patient safety issues.

teleSUR (2022-12-28). 2022 Leaves Europe in Grip of Energy Crisis. telesurenglish.net Europe has been severely impacted by the sanctions it imposed on Russia after the outbreak of its conflict with Ukraine, leading to the ongoing energy crisis, complete with gas shortages and high energy prices. It is widely expected to last for some time. | RELATED: | Thousands of families across Europe are struggling to save enough money to pay their energy bills or facing the "eat or heat" dilemma. Businesses are t…

teleSUR (2022-12-28). Skyrocketing Energy Prices Cost Danish Business Blns in 2022. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) published a report showing that the energy bills of businesses in Denmark have increased by a total of 45.8 billion Danish kroner (DKK) (US$6.56 billion) in 2022. | RELATED: | "In 2022, the prices of electricity and gas have reached levels that we have never seen before," Industry Director at DI's Energy Department Troels Ranis said. | Gas and electricity prices increased by…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-12-28). Ukraine: Counter Artillery War — Financial Disaster. libya360.wordpress.com Moon of Alabama Since the mid of the year it has become clear that the war in Ukraine is one that is mainly fought by artillery. Ukraine was clearly the underdog in that fight as the Russian forces fired eight times the amount of artillery munitions the Ukraine could make available. The U.S. and some European dependents…

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). China's blue-collar workers aged over 40 account for nearly half of the total: report. ecns.cn China's blue-collar workers aged over 40 account for nearly half of the total blue collar population, according to a report published by the country's Research Center of New Form Employment on Tuesday.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-28). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

Editor (2022-12-28). Germany could become 'bankrupt state' due to energy spending. mronline.org Germany is fearing its own demise at its own hands as the measures it takes to combat the ongoing energy crisis are causing its reserves to falter.

Open Democracy (2022-12-28). Secret Files reveal how UN Climate Advisers 'greenwashed' for BP. juancole.com By Lucas Amin and Ben Webster | &#1 ; ( OpenDemocracy.net) &#1 ; The PR firm advising the UN on climate change campaigns has been accused by US lawmakers of helping BP "greenwash" its fossil fuel investments, openDemocracy can reveal. Internal BP documents released to the US House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee and published last …

_____ (2022-12-28). Cooperatives Are Key To Climate Action. popularresistance.org What successful cooperatives and climate initiatives have in common comes down to how closely aligned they are with the needs and capacities of the people they most directly impact. Initiatives that take place at the community, town, city, and regional level, even if not coordinated or controlled by an overarching organization, scale up to make large impacts. Co-ops, as democratically run organizations, can design appropriate and achievable steps that are sustainable for their members, even if they would not be attractive for traditional profit-driven investors. | A good example is the People Power Solar Cooperat…

_____ (2022-12-28). If Capitalism Is To Be Fought, It Has To Be Fought In The DRC. popularresistance.org On Friday, December 23, the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officially handed over its positions in Kibumba, in North Kivu province, to the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), citing the recommendations of the summit held in Luanda, Angola, in November. However, days after M23 announced its withdrawal from its seized positions in Kibumba, displaced communities have still not been able to return amid reports that rebel fighters are still present in the area. | Meanwhile, fighting between M23, Congolese troops (FARDC), and an anti-M23 'self-defense' militia continued on Monday,…

Steve Watson (2022-12-28). Video: Bill Gates Calls for "Aggressive" Carbon Taxes to "Accelerate" Fourth Industrial Revolution. globalresearch.ca

_____ (2022-12-28). About One-Third Of The Food Americans Buy Is Wasted. popularresistance.org You saw it at Thanksgiving, and you'll likely see it at your next holiday feast: piles of unwanted food — unfinished second helpings, underwhelming kitchen experiments and the like — all dressed up with no place to go, except the back of the refrigerator. With luck, hungry relatives will discover some of it before the inevitable green mold renders it inedible. | U.S. consumers waste a lot of food year-round — about one-third of all purchased food. That's equivalent to 1,250 calories per person per day, or US$1,500 worth of groceries for a four-person household each year, an estimate that doesn't…

Asad Ismi (2022-12-28). Sri Lanka's Neoliberal Nightmare, Widespread Famine Triggered by Covid-19 Lockdown and an Unpayable External Debt. globalresearch.ca

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Amazon ups efforts to cash in on China's cross-border e-commerce. ecns.cn U.S. tech company Amazon is ramping up efforts to help Chinese merchants sell high-quality and innovative products to the world by improving its logistics and supply chain services.

Special to People's World (2022-12-28). Charlene Mitchell: Honoring a committed life. peoplesworld.org The following statement was issued by the Communist Party USA on Dec. 27, 2022, on the occasion of the passing of Charlene Mitchell. The Communist Party USA pauses for a moment to dip its banner to honor the life of Comrade Charlene Mitchell, who died recently at 92. Mitchell was a lifelong activist and joined …

Answer Coalition (2022-12-29). Workers in South Korea continue to struggle for equality January 15. answercoalition.org In 13 regions through the Republic of Korea (South Korea), workers at the 2021 People's Congress rededicated their commitment to struggling for economic and social justice in the country. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is preparing for significant demonstrations in Seoul January 15, which are being organized around the slogan, "Let's overthrow inequality through general unity with the people!" The KCTU is the largest umbrella organization of trade unions in the south. | The upcoming action follows the October 20 general strike, the November 17 peasant demonstrations, and the December 2 poor pe…

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China issues trial measures for supervisory rating of foreign banks' branches. ecns.cn The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on Tuesday released trial measures for the comprehensive regulatory rating of foreign bank branches.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Report: AI's role in driving growth bigger. ecns.cn Chinese enterprises are planning to increase investment in artificial intelligence as AI is increasingly perceived as one of the drivers in revenue growth and business transformation and integrated into the real economy.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). RCEP certificates help cut $9 million in tariffs on Chinese goods. ecns.cn China issued 4.89 million certificates of origin, commercial certificates and other certificates in connection with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership from January to November in 2022.

David Giesen (2022-12-28). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-28). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Tibet sets economic goals for 2023. ecns.cn The Tibet autonomous region expects to see GDP growth of 8 percent, as well as 8 percent per capita growth in disposable income for urban residents and 10 percent for rural residents in 2023.

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-28). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

WSWS (2022-12-28). 2022: A year of deepening economic and financial crisis. wsws.org The most significant shift in the economic and financial landscape has been the development of global inflation to the highest level in four decades and the response of central banks led by the US Federal Reserve.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Exporters target global events for edge, growth. ecns.cn China's facilitation of its companies' participation in overseas exhibitions will quicken, encouraging them to enlarge their presence in developing and emerging markets.

The Conversation (2022-12-28). How Putin's War and small Islands are accelerating the global Shift to Clean Energy, and What to Watch for in 2023. juancole.com By Rachel Kyte | &#1 ; (The Conversation) &#1 ; The year 2022 was a tough one for the growing number of people living in food insecurity and energy poverty around the world, and the beginning of 2023 is looking bleak. Russia's war on Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain and fertilizer feedstock suppliers, tightened global …

Labor Video Project (2022-12-28). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

WSWS (2022-12-28). Western Australian nurses' union prepares to ram through Labor government wage cut. wsws.org The Australian Nursing Federation has shut down all industrial action by nurses, effectively endorsing a deal that will slash real wages and do nothing to resolve staffing and patient safety issues.

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). China's blue-collar workers aged over 40 account for nearly half of the total: report. ecns.cn China's blue-collar workers aged over 40 account for nearly half of the total blue collar population, according to a report published by the country's Research Center of New Form Employment on Tuesday.

Alison Weir (2022-12-28). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-28). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

Open Democracy (2022-12-28). Secret Files reveal how UN Climate Advisers 'greenwashed' for BP. juancole.com By Lucas Amin and Ben Webster | &#1 ; ( OpenDemocracy.net) &#1 ; The PR firm advising the UN on climate change campaigns has been accused by US lawmakers of helping BP "greenwash" its fossil fuel investments, openDemocracy can reveal. Internal BP documents released to the US House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee and published last …

ecns.cn (2022-12-28). Amazon ups efforts to cash in on China's cross-border e-commerce. ecns.cn U.S. tech company Amazon is ramping up efforts to help Chinese merchants sell high-quality and innovative products to the world by improving its logistics and supply chain services.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). Majority of foreign firms upbeat on Chinese economy in 2023: survey. ecns.cn The majority of foreign firms in China are supportive of the country's optimized COVID-19 response and economic outlook in 2023, a survey by the country's top trade-facilitating body revealed.

Robert J. Burrowes (2022-12-27). Historical Analysis of the Global Elites: Ransacking the World Economy Until 'You'll Own Nothing'. globalresearch.ca

Sarah Anderson (2022-12-27). Pay Disparity Is Rising. Let's Commit to an Equitable Economy in the New Year. truthout.org If the typical CEO of a large U.S. corporation clocks in at 9 am on January 2, by 3: 37 pm that afternoon he'll have earned $58,260 — the average annual salary for all U.S. occupations. In other words, in less than seven hours on the first workday of the New Year, that CEO will have made as much as the average U.S. worker will make all year. I took a look at the even wider disparities for various… |

WSWS (2022-12-27). Sarath Kumara: Sri Lankan Trotskyist fighter dies at 57. wsws.org Sarath was a principled working-class fighter for Trotskyism until the very end—a life shortened by the economic circumstances and social misery created by capitalism.

Colin Todhunter (2022-12-27). Of Economic Crises and Pandemics — Facebook as Fact, Government as Truth, Big Pharma as God. globalresearch.ca

infobrics (2022-12-27). Myth or Reality: Will Rise of BRICS in Geopolitics Edge Out US Dominance. infobrics.org As the balance in Russia-India relations is shifting towards New Delhi, an economic block led by five emerging economies including the top two rivals of the United States appears ready to expand…

jamanetwork (2022-12-27). The Relationship Between Income and Child Health. jamanetwork.com Researchers have been using statistical methods to investigate the link between health and income in both adults and children since individual-level data allowing them to do so first became available. However, previous investigators were forced to rely on highly imperfect data. Sample sizes were often small, indicators for socioeconomic status were crude, and health status and the presence or absence of acute and chronic conditions was generally self (or parent) reported. Despite these limitations, evidence emerged of a robust relationship between income and health measures, including the presence of chronic cond…

Staff (2022-12-27). Irán y Rusia apuestan por sacar el dólar de su ciclo económico. cubadebate.cu Autoridades legislativas de Irán y Rusia apuestan hoy por sacar al dólar estadounidense de su ciclo bilateral, entendido como un objetivo principal de ambos países para el saneamiento económico a futuro."Nuestro mayor objetivo es sacar al dólar del ciclo económico del país", aseguró el vicepresidente del Parlamento de Irán.

Staff (2022-12-27). Pandemic Poverty: Ray Suarez on How COVID-19 Set Back Low-Income Workers in the U.S., Especially Women. democracynow.org A new series of video reports by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and The Intercept called "Insecurity" looks at women leaving the workforce, the impact of the expanded child tax credit, and the wave of union organizing during the pandemic. The series spotlights people navigating food, housing and healthcare insecurity — who are falling through the cracks of the social safety net in the process. We feature clips from the series and speak with the host, Ray Suarez, former PBS correspondent and longtime journalist and an author, and Alissa Quart, executive director of the Economic Hardship…

unitedEditor (2022-12-27). Arab Gulf: A political and economic force leading the Arab world. unitedworldint.com Over the past few weeks, the Arabian Gulf has been at the center of global attention with more than one event and more than one issue. Regardless of the nature of the event or the issue that brought it under the spotlight, this intense media interest in it only says that the Gulf countries have …

Editor (2022-12-27). Markets and Technology Won't Solve Climate Crisis. We Must End Capitalism. scheerpost.com

WSWS (2022-12-27). Australian poverty report reveals impact of COVID austerity drive. wsws.org One in eight people in Australia, and one in six children, are now living below the poverty line as cost-of-living pressures increase.

jamanetwork (2022-12-27). Association of Family Income With Morbidity and Mortality Among Lower-Income Children and Adolescents. jamanetwork.com This study examines the association between family income and the prevalence of claims-based diagnoses for 6 types of chronic and acute conditions, along with 10-year mortality, among children and adolescents in lower-income families.

Vijay Prashad (2022-12-27). The perils of Pious Neoliberalism in the Austerity State: The Fifty-First Newsletter (2022). mronline.org The International Labour Organisation's Global Wage Report 2022—23 tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-27). How About Living Wages? Three Hundred UFCW5 Members Strike SF Macy's Union Square Store. indybay.org Three hundred members of UFCW 5 went on strike against Macy's at the Union Square store in San Francisco. They are fighting for living wages.

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-27). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

LaborFest (2022-12-27). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

Julia Conley (2022-12-27). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

_____ (2022-12-27). CIA Should Get Out Of The Laboratory. popularresistance.org The Central Intelligence Agency announced in October 2020 — which was ignored until just the past few weeks, when it began circulating on social media — that it had launched something called C.I.A. Labs, "a federal laboratory and in-house research and development arm for C.I.A. to drive science and technology breakthroughs for tomorrow's intelligence challenges." | The Agency says that C.I.A. Labs will join with a network of more than 300 other federal laboratories and that it will serve as a "research partner for other labs, academia, and industry in disciplines spanning from artificial intelligence…

jamanetwork (2022-12-27). Labor Unionization Among US Health Care Workers. jamanetwork.com This cross-sectional study examines the effect of unionization on pay, noncash benefit, and working hours among health care workers.

Kim Kelly (2022-12-27). The First Big Strike of 2023 May Happen Behind Prison Walls. truthout.org All in all, 2022 was a banner year for organized labor. Thousands of workers in a wide variety of industries unionized; they pushed back against union-busting campaigns from oligarchs and corporate hit men; they went on strike and protested unfair treatment, from California to Alabama and everywhere in between. Public support for unions shot up to 71 percent, and the worryingly under-resourced… |

teleSUR, odr, YSM (2022-12-27). Costa Rica insta a cumplir medidas sanitarias contra la Covid-19. telesurtv.net La titular manifestó que con el cumplimiento de las medidas, colaborará con la prevención de la enfermedad.

Sarah Anderson (2022-12-27). The top 10 inequality victories of 2022Ôøº. nationofchange.org Champions of a more egalitarian society made important strides, building the power of workers while reducing the power of wealthy tax dodgers and greedy pharma execs.

| AFP | (2022-12-27). Indian police probe mysterious deaths of Russian lawmaker, companion. tribune.com.pk Indian police are investigating the sudden deaths of a wealthy Russian politician who reportedly criticised the Ukraine war and his travelling companion at a luxury hotel, authorities said Tuesday. | The body of Pavel Antov, 65, was found Saturday in a pool of blood outside his lodgings in eastern Odisha state, where he was on holiday with three other Russian nationals. | His death came two days after another member of the travel party, Vladimir Bidenov, was found unconscious after suffering an apparent heart attack at the same hotel and could not be revived. | Police said they were reviewing CCTV footage, que…

_____ (2022-12-27). Russia Dropping US Dollar For Chinese Yuan — And Fast. popularresistance.org Russia has spent years trying to decrease its dependency on the US dollar. But especially since the escalation of the proxy war in Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has accelerated its drive toward de-dollarization. | Western sanctions have locked Russia out of the US-dominated international financial architecture. Numerous Russian banks were disconnected from the SWIFT inter-bank messaging system. Washington and Brussels even froze a staggering $300 billion of the Russian central bank's foreign exchange reserves. | In response, Russia's central bank has largely abandoned the US dollar and euro, and instead it plans to buy…

WSWS (2022-12-27). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org About 1,800 Sutter nurses at hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley, California have walked on a 10-day strike while Audi workers in Mexico voted down a below inflation pay increase brought back by their union Sitaudi.

Nora Barrows-Friedman (2022-12-27). Podcast Ep 70: Palestine in 2022, part 1. electronicintifada.net We take a look at the top stories of the year.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China's GDP up 8.4% year-on-year in 2021. ecns.cn China's GDP increased 8.4 percent to 114.92 trillion yuan in 2021, according to the updated data of the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China revises 2021 GDP growth. ecns.cn China's statistics authority on Tuesday revised the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2021 to 8.4 percent in its final verification.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China's total current price of GDP hit $16.52 trillion in 2021: NBS. ecns.cn China's GDP increased by 8.4 percent to 114.92 trillion yuan ($16.52 trillion) in 2021, according to the data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

_____ (2022-12-27). The High Cost of Blowing Up the World: Ukraine and the 2023 NDAA. strategic-culture.org Will Americans wake up to the reality that they've been walking on the wrong side of history for too long or has the point of no-return been crossed? | Bipartisan insanity was on display again this week as the U.S. congress responded to Biden's requested $37 billion in additional aid to Ukraine by giving him The aid was part of an overall omnibus spending bill passed by both houses of…

Amy Goodman (2022-12-27). Taliban Bars Women From University and Working for NGOs in Afghanistan. truthout.org International aid groups are suspending their relief programs in Afghanistan after the Taliban government announced on Saturday that humanitarian organizations are barred from employing women. The edict is the latest blow to women's rights in the country as the Taliban reimpose draconian rules they employed in the 1990s, when they were previously in power. Last week, the government also barred… |

Staff (2022-12-27). "A Criminal Act": Taliban Government Bars Women from University, Working for NGOs in Afghanistan. democracynow.org International aid groups are suspending their relief programs in Afghanistan after the Taliban government announced on Saturday that humanitarian organizations are barred from employing women. The edict is the latest blow to women's rights in the country as the Taliban reimpose draconian rules they employed in the 1990s, when they were previously in power. Last week, the government also barred women from attending universities. We speak with Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is one of several NGOs to suspend operations in the country, as well as Afghan educator and women's righ…

Paul Haeder (2022-12-27). After a Fawning Netflix Doc, AOC Still Doesn't Get It! dissidentvoice.org Headline news, no: "AOC Casts House Democrats' Sole Vote Against Omnibus Spending Bill: Rep. Ocasio-Cortez cited 'the dramatic increase in DHS and ICE spending' as the reason behind her vote." Oh, wouldn't it be a fine thing in the neighborhood if this AOC went rogue, Independent Party, on her hands and knees, and apologizing: I …

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). High-end manufacturing on fast track. ecns.cn China's high-end manufacturing sector is on a fast development track with an increasing number of companies going public, gaining higher profits and expanding their footprints overseas"ÄÇ…

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). National crackdown on COVID drug profiteering. ecns.cn Authorities have recently intensified the crackdown and supervision of the illegal sale of epidemic drugs and materials and on acts of hoarding and profiteering as the number of COVID-19 infections is rapidly increasing.

WSWS (2022-12-27). Strong support for SGP election campaign in Berlin. wsws.org The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei election statement calls for €100 billion for nurseries, schools and hospitals, instead of armaments and war, together with a massive hike in wages and the expropriation of all the war profiteers.

WSWS (2022-12-27). Turkey's new minimum wage accelerates collapse in living standards. wsws.org As big corporations and banks reap huge profits, the Erdoğan government's new minimum wage is accelerating the unprecedented decline in living standards.

WSWS (2022-12-27). New VW CEO restructures company with support of the trade unions, costing thousands of jobs. wsws.org That a clique of billionaires can decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers jointly with highly paid union bureaucrats underscores the absurdity of a social system that subordinates all social needs to profit interests.

Dan Rosenbaum (2022-12-27). As e-bike Fires Rise, Calls Grow for Education and Regulation. globalresearch.ca

jamanetwork (2022-12-27). Restoring Physician Authority in an Era of Hospital Dominance. jamanetwork.com In this issue of JAMA, Ahmed et al report that approximately 1 in 10 health care workers are union members and that union membership is associated with higher wages, better benefits, and more equitable compensation across races and ethnicities. This analysis opens a new and timely avenue of research into the impact of unionization on the health care workforce.

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2022-12-27). Today's Russia Is Upholding the Best of the Soviet Legacy. orinocotribune.com By Victoria Nikiforova &#1 ; Dec 5, 2022 | The following essay is written and published by a columnist at Russia's main state media outlet, RIA Novosti. The essay provides an overview of the achievements and the lasting legacy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for today's Russia and for the world. It is not a comprehensive history of the USSR; that is for historians to continue to write and debate. The essay's most salient feature is the insight into the thinking of the people of the Russian Federation at this very turbulent turning point in their history. | The essay voices the wholesale loss of…

WSWS (2022-12-27). The Garrison Church in Potsdam: A symbol of German Militarism is being rebuilt. wsws.org The Garrison Church in Potsdam, a longstanding symbol of Prussian militarism and National Socialism, is currently being rebuilt, mainly with taxpayers' money.

Joe Sims (2022-12-27). Charlene Mitchell: Honoring a committed life. cpusa.org The Communist Party USA pauses for a moment to dip its banner to honor the life of comrade Charlene Mitchell who died recently at 92. Mitchell was a lifelong activist and joined the Communist Party at 16. She soon became a leading figure in her local Los Angeles Che Lumumba club in the …

Robert J. Burrowes (2022-12-27). Historical Analysis of the Global Elites: Ransacking the World Economy Until 'You'll Own Nothing'. globalresearch.ca

WSWS (2022-12-27). Sarath Kumara: Sri Lankan Trotskyist fighter dies at 57. wsws.org Sarath was a principled working-class fighter for Trotskyism until the very end—a life shortened by the economic circumstances and social misery created by capitalism.

Colin Todhunter (2022-12-27). Of Economic Crises and Pandemics — Facebook as Fact, Government as Truth, Big Pharma as God. globalresearch.ca

David Giesen (2022-12-27). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-27). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

infobrics (2022-12-27). Myth or Reality: Will Rise of BRICS in Geopolitics Edge Out US Dominance. infobrics.org As the balance in Russia-India relations is shifting towards New Delhi, an economic block led by five emerging economies including the top two rivals of the United States appears ready to expand…

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-27). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

Staff (2022-12-27). Irán y Rusia apuestan por sacar el dólar de su ciclo económico. cubadebate.cu Autoridades legislativas de Irán y Rusia apuestan hoy por sacar al dólar estadounidense de su ciclo bilateral, entendido como un objetivo principal de ambos países para el saneamiento económico a futuro."Nuestro mayor objetivo es sacar al dólar del ciclo económico del país", aseguró el vicepresidente del Parlamento de Irán.

Staff (2022-12-27). Pandemic Poverty: Ray Suarez on How COVID-19 Set Back Low-Income Workers in the U.S., Especially Women. democracynow.org A new series of video reports by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and The Intercept called "Insecurity" looks at women leaving the workforce, the impact of the expanded child tax credit, and the wave of union organizing during the pandemic. The series spotlights people navigating food, housing and healthcare insecurity — who are falling through the cracks of the social safety net in the process. We feature clips from the series and speak with the host, Ray Suarez, former PBS correspondent and longtime journalist and an author, and Alissa Quart, executive director of the Economic Hardship…

Editor (2022-12-27). Markets and Technology Won't Solve Climate Crisis. We Must End Capitalism. scheerpost.com

WSWS (2022-12-27). Australian poverty report reveals impact of COVID austerity drive. wsws.org One in eight people in Australia, and one in six children, are now living below the poverty line as cost-of-living pressures increase.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-27). How About Living Wages? Three Hundred UFCW5 Members Strike SF Macy's Union Square Store. indybay.org Three hundred members of UFCW 5 went on strike against Macy's at the Union Square store in San Francisco. They are fighting for living wages.

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-27). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

LaborFest (2022-12-27). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

Julia Conley (2022-12-27). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-27). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

teleSUR, odr, YSM (2022-12-27). Costa Rica insta a cumplir medidas sanitarias contra la Covid-19. telesurtv.net La titular manifestó que con el cumplimiento de las medidas, colaborará con la prevención de la enfermedad.

Sarah Anderson (2022-12-27). The top 10 inequality victories of 2022Ôøº. nationofchange.org Champions of a more egalitarian society made important strides, building the power of workers while reducing the power of wealthy tax dodgers and greedy pharma execs.

WSWS (2022-12-27). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org About 1,800 Sutter nurses at hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley, California have walked on a 10-day strike while Audi workers in Mexico voted down a below inflation pay increase brought back by their union Sitaudi.

Nora Barrows-Friedman (2022-12-27). Podcast Ep 70: Palestine in 2022, part 1. electronicintifada.net We take a look at the top stories of the year.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China's GDP up 8.4% year-on-year in 2021. ecns.cn China's GDP increased 8.4 percent to 114.92 trillion yuan in 2021, according to the updated data of the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). China revises 2021 GDP growth. ecns.cn China's statistics authority on Tuesday revised the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2021 to 8.4 percent in its final verification.

Alison Weir (2022-12-27). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

Staff (2022-12-27). "A Criminal Act": Taliban Government Bars Women from University, Working for NGOs in Afghanistan. democracynow.org International aid groups are suspending their relief programs in Afghanistan after the Taliban government announced on Saturday that humanitarian organizations are barred from employing women. The edict is the latest blow to women's rights in the country as the Taliban reimpose draconian rules they employed in the 1990s, when they were previously in power. Last week, the government also barred women from attending universities. We speak with Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is one of several NGOs to suspend operations in the country, as well as Afghan educator and women's righ…

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). High-end manufacturing on fast track. ecns.cn China's high-end manufacturing sector is on a fast development track with an increasing number of companies going public, gaining higher profits and expanding their footprints overseas"ÄÇ…

ecns.cn (2022-12-27). National crackdown on COVID drug profiteering. ecns.cn Authorities have recently intensified the crackdown and supervision of the illegal sale of epidemic drugs and materials and on acts of hoarding and profiteering as the number of COVID-19 infections is rapidly increasing.

WSWS (2022-12-27). Strong support for SGP election campaign in Berlin. wsws.org The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei election statement calls for €100 billion for nurseries, schools and hospitals, instead of armaments and war, together with a massive hike in wages and the expropriation of all the war profiteers.

WSWS (2022-12-27). Turkey's new minimum wage accelerates collapse in living standards. wsws.org As big corporations and banks reap huge profits, the Erdoğan government's new minimum wage is accelerating the unprecedented decline in living standards.

Dan Rosenbaum (2022-12-27). As e-bike Fires Rise, Calls Grow for Education and Regulation. globalresearch.ca

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2022-12-27). Today's Russia Is Upholding the Best of the Soviet Legacy. orinocotribune.com By Victoria Nikiforova &#1 ; Dec 5, 2022 | The following essay is written and published by a columnist at Russia's main state media outlet, RIA Novosti. The essay provides an overview of the achievements and the lasting legacy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for today's Russia and for the world. It is not a comprehensive history of the USSR; that is for historians to continue to write and debate. The essay's most salient feature is the insight into the thinking of the people of the Russian Federation at this very turbulent turning point in their history. | The essay voices the wholesale loss of…

Edmund Malesky (2022-12-26). Vietnam makes a model recovery from Covid-19. asiatimes.com Vietnam's policymakers can congratulate themselves on a stellar economic performance in 2022. The country will conclude the year as the best-performing economy in Asia, largely due to its ability to attract foreign investment relocating from China. As other emerging markets seek to recover from the damage wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, many leaders are looking …

_____ (2022-12-26). Community Is Central To Building A Post-Neoliberal Future. popularresistance.org "What is it that people really want?" Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, posed at an event hosted by the Center for Political Economy, Columbia Law School, and the Financial Times. Humans have survived for millennia based on our ability to work together to serve each other's needs. "Community," Stacy posits, "is a deeply held biological and spiritual need." | The event, "Rethinking Globalization, Intermediation, and Efficiency," gathered journalists, academics, and advocates to explore new paradigms for a post-neoliberal world. Stacy explained how neoliberalism has "actively dem…

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). China's pension expenditure of urban residents to hit 836,400 yuan. ecns.cn The total pension expenditure of China's urban residents is expected to average 836,400 yuan ($119,887), according to China's Urban Elderly Care Service Demand Report 2022 quoted by Securities Daily on Monday.

infobrics (2022-12-26). After West Departs, Chinese Selling One-Third of All Cars in Russia. infobrics.org Chinese car brands account for almost one-third of Russia's car market, highlighting China's growing importance to the Russian economy after the exodus of Western companies…

| REUTERS | (2022-12-26). Xi urges steps to 'protect' lives as China battles Covid wave. tribune.com.pk Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month. | Having mostly cut itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic, China is now experiencing the planet's biggest surge in infections after abruptly lifting restrictions that torpedoed the economy. | Studies have estimated that around one million people could die over the next few months. Many in the population are now grappling with shortages of medicine, while emergency medical facilities are str…

Inequality (2022-12-26). The Top 10 Inequality Victories of 2022. juancole.com By Sarah Anderson | Inegality.org | &#1 ; Congratulations to everyone who worked to move the country and the world towards greater equity in 2022. Herewith are 10 of the most inspiring economic inequality victories of the year. 1. The Union Boom No question. The union organizing surge has been this year's top story. Petitions for …

_____ (2022-12-26). Overthrow of President Castillo Exposes the Race and Class Divide in Peru. popularresistance.org Unfulfilled campaign promises, accusations of corruption, and even an attempted self-coup cannot turn the many supporters of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo against him. The president has probably ceased to represent hopes for change, but he still symbolizes —perhaps more now than ever— structural discrimination in Peru. | In Lima, the political, economic, and intellectual elites are intrigued. They wonder why the majority of Peruvians in the streets are demanding Castillo's release. They are even more disconcerted by the minority that insists he be reinstated.

_____ (2022-12-26). Peru: Overthrow Of President Castillo Exposes The Race And Class Divide. popularresistance.org Unfulfilled campaign promises, accusations of corruption, and even an attempted self-coup cannot turn the many supporters of Peruvian President Pedro Castillo against him. The president has probably ceased to represent hopes for change, but he still symbolizes —perhaps more now than ever— structural discrimination in Peru. | In Lima, the political, economic, and intellectual elites are intrigued. They wonder why the majority of Peruvians in the streets are demanding Castillo's release. They are even more disconcerted by the minority that insists he be reinstated. It is not surprising that the ruling c…

_____ (2022-12-26). Zelensky's Diaspora Delegation Led by Economic Hit-Woman Who Led Plunder of Ukraine. strategic-culture.org The Grayzone intercepted Volodymyr Zelensky's Ukrainian diaspora delegation outside the US Capitol and encountered Natalie Jaresko, the corporate operative who helped guide Wall Street's pillaging from Kiev to Puerto Rico. Jaresko indignantly justified Zelensky's banning of his political rivals as a necessary wartime measure. | By Max BLUMENTHAL | Steel fencing and police barricades ringed the perimeter of the US Capitol Building hours ahead of the arrival of Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president appeared in Washington DC in the early afternoon on December 21, 2022, emerging from a US military jet clad in a…

Staff (2022-12-26). Centro de Investigación Económica y Empresarial prevé recesión de la economía mundial en 2023. cubadebate.cu La economía mundial experimentará una recesión en 2023, debido al aumento de los precios de los préstamos destinados a combatir la inflación, según un informe publicado hoy por el Centro de Investigación Económica y Empresarial. El estudio indicó que la economía global superó la marca de los 100 billones de dólares por primera vez en 2022, pero se estancará en 2023.

| reuters | (2022-12-26). Nepal's new govt seeks to balance its ties with India, China in growth pursuit. tribune.com.pk Nepal's new government, led by the former Maoist rebel chief, will try to balance ties with its immediate neighbours China and India as it seeks economic growth in one of the world's poorest countries, officials of the ruling coalition told Reuters. | Also read: Putin says Russia ready to negotiate over Ukraine | The UML leader and former prime minister, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, is believed to be pro-China.Nepal is one of several South Asian countries where India and China both seek influence. India has long considered Hindu-majority Nepal, a Himalayan country of 30 million, as a natural ally based on their c…

| Reuters | (2022-12-26). Russia can send gas to Pakistan in long term, says deputy PM. tribune.com.pk Russia can send natural gas to the markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the long term, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. | He added that this can be possible either using the infrastructure of Central Asia, or in a swap from the territory of Iran. | The deputy premier also said Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe Pipeline. | "The European market remains relevant, as the gas shortage persists, and we have every opportunity to resume supplies," TASS cited Novak as saying in remarks published by the agency on Sunday. | "For example, the Yamal-Europe Pipeli…

Middle East Monitor (2022-12-26). Is the New Energy Crisis a Boon for the Green Energy Transition? juancole.com By Elif Selin Calik | &#1 ; ( Middle East Monitor ) &#1 ; The year 2022 saw the energy topic return intensely to the attention of media, political leaders and public opinion after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. Russia's war has had huge impacts on the global energy system, disrupting supply and demand patterns and …

_____ (2022-12-26). Boston University Historic union win for grad workers. popularresistance.org Over 3,000 new members of the Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU), Service Employees (SEIU) Local 509, celebrated a 98.1% NLRB election victory Dec. 7, which was months in the organizing. To punctuate that 2022 has been a wildly successful year of rank-and-file union organizing in the U.S., some labor researchers have characterized the 1,414 to 28 vote as "the most lopsided NLRB election win ever by a bargaining unit [of] more than 1,000 people.

_____ (2022-12-26). Boston University Historic Union Win For Graduate Workers. popularresistance.org Boston, Massachusetts – Over 3,000 new members of the Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU), Service Employees (SEIU) Local 509, celebrated a 98.1% NLRB election victory Dec. 7, which was months in the organizing. To punctuate that 2022 has been a wildly successful year of rank-and-file union organizing in the U.S., some labor researchers have characterized the 1,414 to 28 vote as "the most lopsided NLRB election win ever by a bargaining unit [of] more than 1,000 people." (@dskamper, @gradworkersofBU, Twitter) | Speaking at a Dec. 9 Boston rally marking the one-year anniversary of the first victory for…

Jenny Brown (2022-12-26). Amid Inflation and Short-Staffing, Labor Organizers Demanded More in 2022. truthout.org Was it the pandemic? Was it new disasters from climate change? Was it the fact that employers are still begging for more workers? Whatever it was, workers were ready to throw down this year. In the face of inflation and short-staffing we demanded more money in our paychecks, and more time for our lives outside of work. We organized; we even exercised our strike muscles. And crucially… |

rqorinoco (2022-12-26). Twitter Promoted Pentagon Propaganda to Whitewash Occupation, War Crimes in West Asia. orinocotribune.com The social media giant 'whitelisted' accounts run by the Pentagon that promoted the Saudi-led war in Yemen and the illegal occupation of Syria | Twitter has reportedly collaborated with the Pentagon for at least five years to wage a secret "PsyOps campaign" across West Asia, in a scheme to sway public opinion in favor of Washington's military interests in the region. | According to an investigation of Twitter's archives, emails, and internal tools by

Sanket Jain (2022-12-26). India Becomes Top Sugar Producer As Sugarcane Workers Fall Into Debt Due to Climate Change Destabilizing Farming. towardfreedom.org Oppressed people in India have helped build India into one of the largest sugar producers. But with that has come the bitter taste of labor-law violations and an endless loop of debt. Sanket Jain reports from the sugarcane fields of western Maharashtra.

Staff (2022-12-26). Perú, un campo de ensayo para los golpes de Estado. cubadebate.cu El caso peruano y su supuesto caos permanente (aunque estable en cuanto a las concesiones para la explotación minera, petrolera y pesquera) debe observarse detenidamente. Nuestra región es, una vez más, laboratorio de ensayo para la desestabilización democrática. Como Bolivia, Argentina o Brasil, Perú es en este momento uno de esos experimentos.

teleSUR, lvm, JDO (2022-12-26). Pilotos concluyen huelga en Brasil tras negociación. telesurtv.net Trabajadores del sector aprueban la tercera propuesta del Tribunal Superior del Trabajo. fueron al paro en busca de mejorar los salarios y las condiciones laborales.

Anonymous103 (2022-12-26). 5 Main Lessons From War In Ukraine &#1 ; Financial Times. southfront.org Illustrative Image | The Financial Times has recently named the five main lessons from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The article was based on the interviews with various Western military analysts and experts who attempted to draw the main conclusions for the world and the two countries involved in the hostilities. | One of the key conclusions drawn from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is that after many years of peace, the "big war has returned" to the international sphere, which means that the impor…

unitedEditor (2022-12-26). Is a Turkish-Russian gas hub to deliver energy to Europe feasible? uwidata.com United World International has organized a webinar with the title "Europe's energy crisis and the prospects of Russian-Turkish cooperation" on December 23rd. The webinar hosted following guests who provided presentations: Stanislav Mitrakhovich, expert of the National Energy Security Fund, researcher at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Dr. ≈ûerife àñzkan Nesimioƒülu, …

| Anadolu Agency | (2022-12-26). Natural disasters lead to deaths, financial losses in 2022. tribune.com.pk Natural disasters negatively affected many countries this year, causing thousands of deaths and financial losses. | While some countries struggled with extreme heat, others were inundated by severe floods. | A total of 232 people died as a result of floods caused by heavy rains in Brazil, while at least 1,000 lost their lives in the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktika. | In Pakistan, 1,739 people died and 13,000 people were injured in the floods caused by monsoon rains in about five months. | Jan. 15 | Six people are killed due to the eruption of an underwater volcano…

John Terrett (2022-12-26). Wall Street sees major ups and downs in 2022, while crypto goes more mainstream. america.cgtn.com Nowhere more so than on Wall Street which has been wrestling with inflation, rising interest rates and the collapse of the latest asset class — cryptocurrency.

John Terrett (2022-12-26). Wall Street sees major ups-and-downs in 2022, while crypto goes more mainstream. america.cgtn.com Nowhere more so than on Wall Street which has been wrestling with inflation, rising interest rates and the collapse of the latest asset class — cryptocurrency.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-26). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

| AFP | (2022-12-26). Save the Children among NGOs halting Afghan operations after ban on female staff. tribune.com.pk Three foreign aid groups, including Save the Children, announced on Sunday they were suspending their operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban ordered all NGOs to stop their women staff from working. | The announcement came as top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan met in Kabul to discuss a way ahead after the Taliban's latest restriction delivered a blow to humanitarian work across the country. | "We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff," Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE…

Dave DeCamp (2022-12-26). Biden Signs $858 Billion 2023 NDAA. news.antiwar.com President Biden on Friday signed the massive $858 billion 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is $45 billion more than he requested. Also on Friday, the House passed the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill that includes funding for the NDAA, sending the legislation to President Biden's desk. The mammoth spending bill passed through the House …

Editor (2022-12-26). Chris Hedges: The Democrats Are Now the War Party. scheerpost.com The Democratic Party has become the party of permanent war, fueling massive military spending which is hollowing out the country from the inside and flirting with nuclear war.

Maya Srikrishnan (2022-12-26). States Take Tax Revenue Vital for Funding Tribal Services. truthout.org This article was originally published by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization based in Washington, D.C. This story is published in partnership between the Center for Public Integrity and ICT (formerly Indian Country Today). Osage Nation — On a crisp November morning, Teresa Bates Rutherford gazed at the construction site of her future home — her mind on her… |

Rick Rozoff (2022-12-26). Over 500 U.S. military personnel have sought Washington's okay to work for foreign governments: case of Azerbaijan. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com PanARMENIAN.NetDecember 6, 2022 Two U.S. generals sought to profit from connections with Baku but Air Force objected During the height of the war in Afghanistan, U.S. military leaders flocked to Azerbaijan to embrace its president, Ilham Aliyev, despite a report from the U.S. Embassy comparing the mustachioed strongman to mafia bosses in "The Godfather." Setting …

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). Chinese academic database CNKI fined over $12 million. ecns.cn China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) fined China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), a Chinese academic database, 87.6 million yuan (about $12.6 million) for abusing a "dominant market position", the watchdog announced on Monday.

_____ (2022-12-26). China's Fake Anti-Lockdown Protests, A Failed Color Revolution. popularresistance.org Late last November, several fringe group of anti-lockdown protests happened across China, dubbed "the A4 paper protests" hyped by western media; led by western-backed Chinese right-wing violent QAnon anti-lockdown/anti-vaxers, supported by Chinese western-backed medical industrial complex and pro-western elites, together they forced the government to abandon the "dynamic zero-COVID" policy. This has been no more than an orchestrated western-backed color revolution, and a Chinese right-wing riot for their selfish agenda, that does not represent the majority of the Chinese and World's opinion. Since the Wuhan outbr…

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). Program to beef up plastics recycling. ecns.cn A joint working group consisting of industrial associations, plastics producers and recyclers has initiated a program to beef up the recycling of flexible plastics in China, a move experts believe will reduce waste and help with national climate targets.

Nicolás Centurión (2022-12-26). Uruguay: De libertad, chats y un presidente espía. globalizacion.ca "Si en cinco años los uruguayos son más libres, habremos hecho bien las cosas". Así decía uno de los pasajes del discurso de asunción del neoliberal presidente Luis Lacalle en marzo de 2020. Es difícil medir la libertad, aunque algunos…

WSWS (2022-12-26). Workers speak from the picket line during UK Royal Mail Christmas strikes. wsws.org World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to striking postal workers involved in national walkouts on December 23/24.

Fight Back (2022-12-26). A reading from Mao Zedong on his birthday: Combat Liberalism. fightbacknews.org To mark the 129th anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong on December 26, Fight Back News Service is circulating his famous 1937 article "Combat Liberalism." | Combat Liberalism | By Mao Zedong | We stand for active ideological struggle because it is the weapon for ensuring unity within the Party and the revolutionary organizations in the interest of our fight. Every Communist and revolutionary should take up this weapon. | But liberalism rejects ideological struggle and stands for unprincipled peace, thus giving rise to a decadent, Philistine attitude and bringing about political degenerati…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-12-26). Sudan: Hundreds More Injured in Anti-Coup Protests as December Revolution Enters Fifth Year. libya360.wordpress.com Pavan Kulkarni Protests in Sudan on the fourth anniversary of the Sudanese Revolution. Photo: Radio Dabanga Attempts by the alliance of foreign powers, domestic right-wing parties and the military junta to consolidate an authoritarian state in Sudan will be defeated by mass-movements, insists the Sudanese Communist Party Country-wide anti-coup demonstrations were underway once again in…

WSWS (2022-12-26). An estimated 2 million Chinese people were infected with COVID-19 through December 20. wsws.org The immense scale of the social crime unfolding across China as a result of the Chinese Communist Party abandoning its Zero-COVID policy is increasingly coming into focus.

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). China's pension expenditure of urban residents to hit 836,400 yuan. ecns.cn The total pension expenditure of China's urban residents is expected to average 836,400 yuan ($119,887), according to China's Urban Elderly Care Service Demand Report 2022 quoted by Securities Daily on Monday.

Edmund Malesky (2022-12-26). Vietnam makes a model recovery from Covid-19. asiatimes.com Vietnam's policymakers can congratulate themselves on a stellar economic performance in 2022. The country will conclude the year as the best-performing economy in Asia, largely due to its ability to attract foreign investment relocating from China. As other emerging markets seek to recover from the damage wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, many leaders are looking …

infobrics (2022-12-26). After West Departs, Chinese Selling One-Third of All Cars in Russia. infobrics.org Chinese car brands account for almost one-third of Russia's car market, highlighting China's growing importance to the Russian economy after the exodus of Western companies…

David Giesen (2022-12-26). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-26). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

Inequality (2022-12-26). The Top 10 Inequality Victories of 2022. juancole.com By Sarah Anderson | Inegality.org | &#1 ; Congratulations to everyone who worked to move the country and the world towards greater equity in 2022. Herewith are 10 of the most inspiring economic inequality victories of the year. 1. The Union Boom No question. The union organizing surge has been this year's top story. Petitions for …

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-26). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

Middle East Monitor (2022-12-26). Is the New Energy Crisis a Boon for the Green Energy Transition? juancole.com By Elif Selin Calik | &#1 ; ( Middle East Monitor ) &#1 ; The year 2022 saw the energy topic return intensely to the attention of media, political leaders and public opinion after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. Russia's war has had huge impacts on the global energy system, disrupting supply and demand patterns and …

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-26). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

Julia Conley (2022-12-26). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-26). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

LaborFest (2022-12-26). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

rqorinoco (2022-12-26). Twitter Promoted Pentagon Propaganda to Whitewash Occupation, War Crimes in West Asia. orinocotribune.com The social media giant 'whitelisted' accounts run by the Pentagon that promoted the Saudi-led war in Yemen and the illegal occupation of Syria | Twitter has reportedly collaborated with the Pentagon for at least five years to wage a secret "PsyOps campaign" across West Asia, in a scheme to sway public opinion in favor of Washington's military interests in the region. | According to an investigation of Twitter's archives, emails, and internal tools by

teleSUR, lvm, JDO (2022-12-26). Pilotos concluyen huelga en Brasil tras negociación. telesurtv.net Trabajadores del sector aprueban la tercera propuesta del Tribunal Superior del Trabajo. fueron al paro en busca de mejorar los salarios y las condiciones laborales.

unitedEditor (2022-12-26). Is a Turkish-Russian gas hub to deliver energy to Europe feasible? uwidata.com United World International has organized a webinar with the title "Europe's energy crisis and the prospects of Russian-Turkish cooperation" on December 23rd. The webinar hosted following guests who provided presentations: Stanislav Mitrakhovich, expert of the National Energy Security Fund, researcher at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Dr. ≈ûerife àñzkan Nesimioƒülu, …

Alison Weir (2022-12-26). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

Editor (2022-12-26). Chris Hedges: The Democrats Are Now the War Party. scheerpost.com The Democratic Party has become the party of permanent war, fueling massive military spending which is hollowing out the country from the inside and flirting with nuclear war.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-26). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). Chinese academic database CNKI fined over $12 million. ecns.cn China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) fined China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), a Chinese academic database, 87.6 million yuan (about $12.6 million) for abusing a "dominant market position", the watchdog announced on Monday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-26). Program to beef up plastics recycling. ecns.cn A joint working group consisting of industrial associations, plastics producers and recyclers has initiated a program to beef up the recycling of flexible plastics in China, a move experts believe will reduce waste and help with national climate targets.

| AFP | (2022-12-25). Women staff ban: Top UN, NGO officials to meet over Taliban policy. tribune.com.pk Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, aid officials said. | The hardline Islamists on Saturday threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs if they failed to implement the order. | The Ministry of Economy, which issues these licences, said it had received "serious complaints" that women working in NGOs were not observing a proper Islamic dress code. | "A meeting of Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is scheduled later today to consult…

_____ (2022-12-25). Why We Need The Solidarity Economy. popularresistance.org We are living in a time of multiple crises. The climate emergency seriously threatens the continued survival of humanity, exacerbating injustice, exploitation, poverty and vulnerability. And the global cost of living crisis is driving more and more people into precarity. Although these crises are often portrayed as novel and contemporary rather than cumulative consequences of centuries-old destructive systems, those that have been at the frontlines of marginalization caused by the current world order, rooted in colonization and capitalism, have always known, to quote the Zapatistas, that this house has been on fi…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Xi stresses building up China's strength in agriculture at key rural work conference. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for enhanced efforts to build up China's strength in agriculture and do a good job in work on agriculture and rural areas.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). One year on, RCEP, CCFTA give momentum to Cambodia's trade growth in post-pandemic era. ecns.cn One year on, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) have injected a vital impetus to Cambodia's trade growth in…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China's economy has survived the most difficult period: official. ecns.cn China's economy has survived the most difficult period and an overall improvement is expected in 2023, an official said at a forum on Saturday.

The Conversation (2022-12-25). Are China's increasing Economic ties with the Gulf states reducing the West's Sway in the Middle East? juancole.com By Emilie Rutledge, The Open University | &#1 ; At the end of November 2022, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the "golden era" between Great Britain and China was over. China may not have been too bothered by this news however, and has been busy making influential friends elsewhere. In early December, Chinese president …

_____ (2022-12-25). Prosecution In Saab Case Threatens To Undermine Diplomatic Immunity. popularresistance.org The trial of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab continued on December 20, when U.S. District Judge Robert Scola heard closing arguments in an evidentiary hearing concerned with whether or not the concept of diplomatic immunity applied to his case. The diplomat was arrested on June 12, 2020, while en route to Iran from Venezuela as part of a special mission to broker a deal for food, fuel, medicine and other essential goods that became scarce in Venezuela due to the U.S. economic blockade. When his plane was forced to refuel in Cape Verde, local authorities arrested and eventually extradited him to the United States, d…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). (W. E. Talk) How to refurbish agricultural cooperation between China and America? –Exclusive interview with Kenneth M. Quinn, honorary president of World Food Prize Foundation. ecns.cn Economic and trade cooperation, especially in agriculture, is the ballast of China-U.S. relations. Since the re-establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have initiated technical exchanges and cooperation in agriculture. Iowa, the state known as the "granary of the United States," plays a vital role in agricultural cooperation with China. In 1983, it signed an agreement with Hebei Province as a sister province/state, and the vitality of exchanges has always been maintained.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Resilient China injects certainty into global economic recovery. ecns.cn

Brett Wilkins (2022-12-25). Many Rank-and-File UC Grad Student Workers Are Unhappy With Tentative Agreement. truthout.org While many University of California graduate student workers welcomed Friday's strike-ending ratification of a new labor agreement that delivers increased pay and benefits, other rank-and-file union members expressed anger and disappointment that the deal does not deliver enough. The Los Angeles Times reports two bargaining units of United Auto Workers — which represent the 48,000… |

Staff (2022-12-25). Informan sobre tratamiento laboral de este domingo 25 de diciembre. cubadebate.cu El Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social (MTSS) informó el tratamiento laboral y salarial previsto para este domingo, día feriado, según lo previsto en la Ley 116 "Código de Trabajo", del 20 de diciembre de 2013.Este 25 de diciembre recesan las actividades laborales, con excepción de las relacionadas con la zafra azucarera y otros trabajos agrícolas urgentes.

Staff (2022-12-25). Desigualdad y vulnerabilidad social, prioridades de Cuba en 2023. cubadebate.cu Actualmente, más de mil comunidades y alrededor de 20 mil familias reciben algún tipo de protección, y se trabaja de manera particular con los jóvenes sin vínculo laboral o educativo, para lo cual existe una estrategia, según dijo el vice primer ministro y titular de Economía, Alejandro Gil.

| Reuters | (2022-12-25). UK's Sunak criticised for asking homeless man if he 'works in business'. tribune.com.pk British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism on Saturday for seeming out of touch with ordinary people when he asked a homeless man at a charity whether he "worked in business" and wanted to get into the finance industry. | Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker and one of Britain's wealthiest people, was serving breakfast at a homeless shelter in London on Friday, when he began chatting with a man who identified himself as Dean. | "Do you work in business?" the prime minister asks the man at one point during the conversation, as he hands him a plate of sausages, toast and eggs. | "No, I'm homeless. I'm ac…

Janine Jackson (2022-12-25). Tax Policy Is Helping Wall Street Gobble Up Single-Family Homes. truthout.org Janine Jackson interviewed CSG Advisors' Gene Slater about the affordable housing crisis for the November 11, 2022, episode of "CounterSpin." This is a lightly edited transcript. Janine Jackson: Home ownership is a key ingredient in what is still called the "American Dream." Beyond the meaningful symbolism of having one's own patch, home ownership is instrumental in wealth creation — the… |

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Chinese cities issue vouchers to prop up consumer spending. ecns.cn Local governments across China have issued a new round of consumption vouchers to boost the recovery of catering, tourism, retail and other industries weighed down by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Ann Brown (2022-12-25). 10 Important Facts About The Extraordinary Influence Of HBCUs In America. moguldom.com The news about Historically Black Colleges and Universities tends to cover their financial struggles. A recent tweet by Dr. KaNisha L. Hall reminds everyone of the excellence that has come from HBCUs. The board-certified anesthesiologist, who attended Howard University, posted a Twitter thread that began with "You know I got something to say!!! 4 HBCU …

Anonymous767 (2022-12-25). Kiev Is Desperate For Weapons And Equipment. southfront.org ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE | With a 10-month military conflict ongoing, Kiev is becoming more desperate for supplies of weapons and equipment, as well as money. During Zelensky's trip to Washington in late December 2022, the U.S. Congress approved another financial tranche for Ukraine. The European Union does not intend to stand aside either, providing Kiev with a large-scale financial aid of 18 billion euros, which Ukraine will start to receive from the beginning of 2023. | Back in the middle of this year, Western injec…

| Reuters | (2022-12-25). Three foreign NGOs suspend Afghan operations after Taliban ban on female staff. tribune.com.pk Three big international aid agencies including Save the Children said on Sunday they were suspending their humanitarian programmes in Afghanistan in response to the Taliban-run administration's order to stop female employees from working. | The administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to send female staff home until further notice. It said the move, which was condemned globally, was justified because some women had not adhered to the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic dress code for women. | Three NGOs – Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CAR…

_____ (2022-12-25). 'Free Speech' Is Whatever The Rich Say It Is. popularresistance.org It's been a banner month for people who love invoking the "free speech" buzzword. Whether Elon Musk was promoting it as a catch-all abstract value to justify inviting transphobes and neo-nazis back to Twitter, or mainstream journalists were invoking the idea in response to a petulant billionaire banning his critics from the large social media company he just purchased for $44 billion, everyone these past few weeks has had some opinion on "free speech," what it means, and who its supposed champion—or, more often than not, its most hypocritical defender—truly is. | What the conversation has been largely…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China to commit itself to cause of peace, development for humanity: FM. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said China will commit itself to the noble cause of peace and development for humanity on the new journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects.

americanthinker (2022-12-25). Schadenfreude: Department of Energy ramps up the war against their tax slaves (us). americanthinker.com Biden's criminal confederacy thrives under climate communism.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China to break new ground in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics: FM. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China will fully implement the policies set by the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and break new ground in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in 2023.

infobrics (2022-12-26). After West Departs, Chinese Selling One-Third of All Cars in Russia. infobrics.org Chinese car brands account for almost one-third of Russia's car market, highlighting China's growing importance to the Russian economy after the exodus of Western companies…

| AFP | (2022-12-25). Women staff ban: Top UN, NGO officials to meet over Taliban policy. tribune.com.pk Top officials from the United Nations and dozens of NGOs operating in Afghanistan are meeting Sunday to discuss the way ahead after the Taliban authorities ordered all NGOs to stop women employees from working, aid officials said. | The hardline Islamists on Saturday threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs if they failed to implement the order. | The Ministry of Economy, which issues these licences, said it had received "serious complaints" that women working in NGOs were not observing a proper Islamic dress code. | "A meeting of Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is scheduled later today to consult…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Xi stresses building up China's strength in agriculture at key rural work conference. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for enhanced efforts to build up China's strength in agriculture and do a good job in work on agriculture and rural areas.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). One year on, RCEP, CCFTA give momentum to Cambodia's trade growth in post-pandemic era. ecns.cn One year on, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal and the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) have injected a vital impetus to Cambodia's trade growth in…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China's economy has survived the most difficult period: official. ecns.cn China's economy has survived the most difficult period and an overall improvement is expected in 2023, an official said at a forum on Saturday.

The Conversation (2022-12-25). Are China's increasing Economic ties with the Gulf states reducing the West's Sway in the Middle East? juancole.com By Emilie Rutledge, The Open University | &#1 ; At the end of November 2022, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that the "golden era" between Great Britain and China was over. China may not have been too bothered by this news however, and has been busy making influential friends elsewhere. In early December, Chinese president …

Marc Batko, W Meyer, K Chavent (2022-12-25). The Humor of Jesus and The cry of the poor. indybay.org After much meditation and reflection, I firmly believe that Jesus made fun of individualism and profit-oriented economic systems. Winning people to trust the infinite, invisible and transcendent God was surely his central goal. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?" he asked his calculating counterpart. "No sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. You are worth more…!

David Giesen (2022-12-25). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-25). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). (W. E. Talk) How to refurbish agricultural cooperation between China and America? –Exclusive interview with Kenneth M. Quinn, honorary president of World Food Prize Foundation. ecns.cn Economic and trade cooperation, especially in agriculture, is the ballast of China-U.S. relations. Since the re-establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have initiated technical exchanges and cooperation in agriculture. Iowa, the state known as the "granary of the United States," plays a vital role in agricultural cooperation with China. In 1983, it signed an agreement with Hebei Province as a sister province/state, and the vitality of exchanges has always been maintained.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Resilient China injects certainty into global economic recovery. ecns.cn

Here's Your Ticket (2022-12-25). Off to Space with You, Elon Musk! indybay.org Union and labor activists facetiously called for Elon Musk to leave earth for the red planet with a protest at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on December 19th.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-25). NNU-CNA Sutter Alta Bates Hospital Nurses Fed Up & Strike Against Concession Contract. indybay.org 1800 Sutter nurses at Berkeley Alta Bates and Summit hospitals have gone on a strike for ten days. They are angry at a concession agreement that was being pushed by the NNU-CNA leadership that would allow a two tier contract and would continue the loss nurses to Kaiser where nurses are paid $10 to $12 an hour more.

Staff (2022-12-25). Informan sobre tratamiento laboral de este domingo 25 de diciembre. cubadebate.cu El Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social (MTSS) informó el tratamiento laboral y salarial previsto para este domingo, día feriado, según lo previsto en la Ley 116 "Código de Trabajo", del 20 de diciembre de 2013.Este 25 de diciembre recesan las actividades laborales, con excepción de las relacionadas con la zafra azucarera y otros trabajos agrícolas urgentes.

Staff (2022-12-25). Desigualdad y vulnerabilidad social, prioridades de Cuba en 2023. cubadebate.cu Actualmente, más de mil comunidades y alrededor de 20 mil familias reciben algún tipo de protección, y se trabaja de manera particular con los jóvenes sin vínculo laboral o educativo, para lo cual existe una estrategia, según dijo el vice primer ministro y titular de Economía, Alejandro Gil.

| Reuters | (2022-12-25). UK's Sunak criticised for asking homeless man if he 'works in business'. tribune.com.pk British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced criticism on Saturday for seeming out of touch with ordinary people when he asked a homeless man at a charity whether he "worked in business" and wanted to get into the finance industry. | Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs banker and one of Britain's wealthiest people, was serving breakfast at a homeless shelter in London on Friday, when he began chatting with a man who identified himself as Dean. | "Do you work in business?" the prime minister asks the man at one point during the conversation, as he hands him a plate of sausages, toast and eggs. | "No, I'm homeless. I'm ac…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). Chinese cities issue vouchers to prop up consumer spending. ecns.cn Local governments across China have issued a new round of consumption vouchers to boost the recovery of catering, tourism, retail and other industries weighed down by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Ann Brown (2022-12-25). 10 Important Facts About The Extraordinary Influence Of HBCUs In America. moguldom.com The news about Historically Black Colleges and Universities tends to cover their financial struggles. A recent tweet by Dr. KaNisha L. Hall reminds everyone of the excellence that has come from HBCUs. The board-certified anesthesiologist, who attended Howard University, posted a Twitter thread that began with "You know I got something to say!!! 4 HBCU …

Alison Weir (2022-12-25). As usual, defense bill gives millions of dollars to Israel, but no one tells Americans. indybay.org Israeli media report that the 2023 defense spending bill just signed into law contains over $ 0 million for Israel (just the tip of the iceberg of billions of dollars for Israel)… AIPAC commended Congress…

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China to commit itself to cause of peace, development for humanity: FM. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said China will commit itself to the noble cause of peace and development for humanity on the new journey to build China into a modern socialist country in all respects.

americanthinker (2022-12-25). Schadenfreude: Department of Energy ramps up the war against their tax slaves (us). americanthinker.com Biden's criminal confederacy thrives under climate communism.

ecns.cn (2022-12-25). China to break new ground in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics: FM. ecns.cn Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China will fully implement the policies set by the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and break new ground in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in 2023.

Terry Evans (2022-12-24). As political crisis of US rulers deepens, Socialist Workers Party speaks out. themilitant.com Following the 2022 elections, working people face both a deepening crisis in the capitalist economy — a slowdown in hiring at the same time prices continue to rise — and attacks on living conditions and constitutional freedoms by the capitalist rulers and their two political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. | The Socialist Workers Party is organizing to build solidarity with workers in battle against boss and government attacks, from the rail yards nationwide to strikes by Case New Holland workers in Wisconsin and Iowa and miners at Warrior Met Coal in Alabama. The party fields candidates posin…

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). Afghan Taliban order NGOs to ban female employees from work. tribune.com.pk Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop female employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter, in the latest crackdown on women's freedoms. | The letter, confirmed by economy ministry spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said the female employees were not allowed to work until further notice because some had not adhered to the administration's interpretation of Islamic dress code for women. | It was not immediately clear whether the order applied to United Nations agencies, which have a large presence in…

Roy Landersen (2022-12-24). Defend Ukraine independence! Demand Putin get out now! themilitant.com The Ukrainian people are withstanding some of the heaviest aerial bombardment since Moscow's war began as they fight tenaciously to drive back its invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to demoralize working people by crippling Ukraine's power supplies as winter begins, but this only encourages greater determination to resist. | The conflict is the largest ground war fought by two states in Europe since 1945. It has set in motion realignments among capitalist powers across the world, and exacerbated the global economic crisis. The Kremlin is banking on Russia's bigger military resources to wear Ukrainia…

en.mehrnews (2022-12-24). Iran, Guinea officials discuss expansion of bilateral ties. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (MNA) — In a meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for the Economic Diplomacy, the foreign minister of Guinea Morissanda Kouyaté stressed his country's willingness to develop ties with Tehran.

en.mehrnews (2022-12-24). Iran deputy FM reviews Tehran-Bamako ties with Malian FM, PM. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (MNA) — Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy discussed the latest status of Iran-Mali economic cooperation in separate meetings with the foreign minister and prime minister of the African country.

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). Iran Supreme Court accepts rapper Yasin's appeal against death sentence. tribune.com.pk Iran's Supreme Court has accepted the death sentence appeal of rapper Saman Seydi Yasin even as it confirmed a death sentence against another protestor, the country's judiciary said on Saturday. | Yasin, a Kurd who raps about inequality, oppression and unemployment, had been accused of attempting to kill security forces, setting a rubbish bin on fire and shooting three times into the air, charges which he denied. | Yasin's mother last week pleaded in a video for help to save her son. "Where in the world have you seen a loved one's life is taken for a trash bin?" she said in the video posted on social media.

Dean Baker (2022-12-24). Big Victory on Retirement Income in Omnibus Spending Bill. cepr.net Since coming to Washington more than three decades ago, I have spent much of my time working on retirement income. The biggest part of that story was defending Social Security, which leaders in both parties were anxious to cut. This defense was largely successful, as the efforts to privatize it in the 1990s and under …

Editor (2022-12-24). The Perils of Pious Neoliberalism in the Austerity State. scheerpost.com By Vijay Prashad / Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research The International Labour Organisation's Global Wage Report 2022—23 tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet. The gaping distance between the incomes and wealth of 99% of the world's population from the incomes and wealth of the billionaires and near-trillionaires who make …

Brian Williams (2022-12-24). Ohio workers at GM battery plant vote 710-16 to join UAW. themilitant.com Workers at an electric vehicle battery factory near Warren, Ohio, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers. The 710-16 vote, announced by the National Labor Relations Board Dec. 9, marks the first time workers have won union representation in this burgeoning industry. | The plant is owned by Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors and South Korean-owned LG Energy Solution. Ultium has announced plans to build two more battery factories, in Lansing, Michigan, and Spring Hill, Tennessee. As part of the auto bosses' competition to take the lead in electric car sales, Ford says it will build t…

Deborah Liatos (2022-12-24). University of California teaching assistants strike for over a month. themilitant.com LOS ANGELES — As the strike of University of California workers reached its 31st day, hundreds of striking academic workers rallied at the U.C. campus here Dec. 14. They were joined by supporters, including faculty, students and members of UNITE HERE and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. They marched around the campus, chanting and singing labor solidarity songs. | Nearly 48,000 University of California researchers, teaching assistants, graders and others went on strike Nov. 14 demanding higher wages, improved benefits and better working conditions. | "When I was a stu…

Naomi Craine (2022-12-24). Rail workers protest as gov't imposes contract, bars strike. themilitant.com CHICAGO — In rail yards and on locomotives across the country discussion and debate continue among rail workers over how to respond to the ongoing attacks from the rail bosses and the government. These include grueling schedules, draconian attendance policies, unsafe conditions, a renewed push to run engineer-only trains and the anti-union Railway Labor Act. | On Dec. 2 President Joseph Biden signed legislation passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan majority in Congress imposing a contract on 115,000 rail workers and proscribing union strike action. Members of four unions — representing a majority of t…

LaborFest (2022-12-24). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

Julia Conley (2022-12-24). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

_____ (2022-12-24). Gaining Power In The Struggle For A Better World. popularresistance.org Prolific academic Vijay Prashad is the Executive Director of Leftword books, a publishing house out of India. Recently he published a book with Noam Chomsky, "The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S." Vijay collaborates with social movements on an international level, including with the leadership of many left-wing Latin American governments. | On the subject of censorship, the conversation naturally turns to the cancellation of RT, including shows hosted by Chris Hedges and Lee Camp himself. Vijay points out that many liberals who claim to champion free speech are making an argument ba…

_____ (2022-12-24). Military Budget Hike For 2023 Is 3,200 Times The NLRB Increase. popularresistance.org Draft text of the congressional omnibus spending bill released this week reveals a proposed $25 million increase in funding to the National Labor Relations Board, which would bring the agency's 2023 federal fiscal year budget to $299 million. Its funding has otherwise been frozen at $274 million for the past nine years; when inflation is taken into account, this effectively amounts to a budget decrease of 25% since 2014, according to calculations cited in an NLRB news release. | The proposed hike is well below what leaders from unions like Communications Workers of America and Unite Here have been calling for, an…

Editor (2022-12-24). Top 10 Inequality Victories of 2022. scheerpost.com

Editor (2022-12-24). Our survival depends on a world without billionaires. mronline.org The study looks at the impact of 125 of the richest billionaires globally, whose carbon emissions equal those of France, or 67 million people, and shows that just the richest 10 of those individuals own more wealth than the poorest 40% of humanity. The average billionaire in the study is responsible for carbon emissions over one million times higher than the average person in the bottom 90% of humanity.

_____ (2022-12-24). NHS Price Problem Is Big Pharma, Not Striking Nurses. popularresistance.org Imagine a disability almost disappearing if you flew out of the Global South. I have severe haemophilia, a genetic condition that interferes with the body's ability to clot after bleeding. When left untreated, anything — even a bruise or merely sitting down — can trigger a bleed, internally or externally. Anti-clotting injections can stop this. | However, outside the advanced West, these injections are sold at exorbitantly high prices. When I was a child in India, my parents couldn't afford such treatment, so they'd bury my bleeding joints under piles of ice to freeze them. Almost all the bleeds I exp…

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's ODI rises on multiple fronts. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment, or ODI, rose 7.4 percent year-on-year to 687.86 billion yuan during the first eleven months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's non-financial ODI up 7.4 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) reached 687.86 billion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, up 7.4 percent year on year, official data showed Friday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). Hong Kong to launch online platform of talents service. ecns.cn The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will launch an online platform of talents service on Dec. 28 to facilitate entry application as the financial hub steps up efforts to trawl for talents.

Editor (2022-12-24). The egregious arrogance of Sam Bankman-Fried (& his ilk). mronline.org On December 13, the House Financial Services Committee held a long-awaited hearing into the collapse of the FTX crypto empire.

Florence CGTN (2022-12-24). Yearender: Travel and tourism in 2022. america.cgtn.com International travel seems to be on its way to postpandemic recovery. But new concerns are adding a few bumps. Inflation and a strong U.S. dollar have global consumers re-considering how far they can stretch their bank accounts.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-24). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). China angered, Taiwan cheered by new US defence act. tribune.com.pk China expressed anger on Saturday at a new US defence authorisation law that boosts military assistance for Taiwan, while Taipei cheered it for helping boost the island's security. | China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory, expressed "strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" regarding the US National Defence Authorisation Act, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. | It said the $858 billion military spending measure, which authorises up to $10 billion in security assistance and fast-tracked weapons procurement for Taiwan, contained provisions that "cause serio…

americanthinker (2022-12-24). The Gigantic Defense Bill Does More Harm than Good. americanthinker.com A strong and free America is secured by a strong national defense, and that requires spending money. But America is at risk with legislation like this.

Brett Wilkins (2022-12-24). AOC Casts House Democrats' Sole Vote Against Omnibus Spending Bill. truthout.org Citing the increased immigration enforcement and military funding it contains, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday cast the sole Democratic House vote against a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package. In the final vote of the 117th Congress, House lawmakers passed the sweeping spending bill 225-201-1, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) voting "present" and nine Republican lawmakers… |

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's FDI inflow up 9.9% in Jan-Nov. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in terms of actual use, rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of 2022.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's FDI inflow up 9.9 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 9.9 percent year on year to nearly 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

Editor (2022-12-24). Big Pharma's Obscene Profits, Not Striking Nurses, Are Killing the NHS. scheerpost.com

Fight Back (2022-12-24). Red Theory: The achievements of socialism in China. fightbacknews.org After waging revolution from 1927 to 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed from Tiananmen Gate that "the Chinese people have stood up!" This marked the end of imperialist domination in China and the beginning of socialism in the newly founded People's Republic of China, led by the Communist Party. The Chinese revolution has continued through socialist construction from then until today, and we would do well to sum up some of its many heroic achievements in order to better understand, from a Marxist-Leninist perspective, the process of socialist revolution and socialist construction. | The achievements of socialism in China…

Franz Hinkelammert, Sebastian Pittl (2022-12-24). Critique of Religion and Market Religion and Post-colonialism. indybay.org Critique of religion as critique of fetishism is a critique of earthly gods, which are false gods. "Man is the highest being for man." Marx develops it further in other words and formulates his idea of the liberation of man in the Communist Manifesto. There he says: "In place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class antagonisms comes…the free development of all. "

Author Blank (2022-12-24). Holiday greetings to workers behind bars. themilitant.com New Year greetings to our readers behind bars! | The Militant will continue to tell the truth about the conditions you face and keep getting news about the struggles of working people worldwide into your hands. 2022 was quite a year! Millions took to the streets to defend themselves. | From the Ukrainian people's courageous defense of their nation's sovereignty against Moscow's invasion, to working people inside Russia who are protesting the war. From working people and youth in Iran standing up to assaults by government thugs, to thousands of workers here who are using unions to strike for better wages and condi…

Seth Galinsky (2022-12-24). Iran protests for rights, against executions stoke gov't divisions. themilitant.com Organizing Council of Oil Contract Workers of IranWorkers in Ahvaz, in Iran's Khuzestan province, join Dec. 17 strike at seven oil complexes for higher wages, pensions, health care. Some unions have condemned gov't use of death penalty. | More than three months of daily protests are widening rifts between rival factions among Iran's capitalist rulers. The execution of two protesters, death sentences for 11 others and charges that carry the death penalty against six more have expanded demonstrations across the country and internationally. | In the face of these actions, at least two of the executions…

Editor (2022-12-24). The Holidays are the Most Painful Time of the Year to be Behind Bars. scheerpost.com Every holiday season, prisoners suffer spikes in suicides, violence, and depression. Eddie Conway, who spent 44 years locked up, explains what people on the outside can do to help.

_____ (2022-12-24). Sowing Doubt: How Big Ag Is Delaying Sustainable Farming In Europe. popularresistance.org In the spring of 2020, the European Union announced an ambitious plan to overhaul farming practices in fields and valleys across the continent. Named Farm to Fork, it calls for less fertiliser and pesticide use, and more organic production. | Veteran sustainable food and farming experts welcomed the strategy as one that just might have a genuine shot at transforming the agriculture sector and result in better public health, contribute to ending the vertiginous decline of biodiversity, and lower greenhouse gas pollution. | The response from Europe's powerful industrial agriculture sector was swift and unequivocal:…

Mike Ludwig (2022-12-24). Marijuana Law Reached Peak Absurdity in 2022. truthout.org Banning a plant with hundreds of industrial and medical uses was never going to work out well, but 2022 saw marijuana prohibition reach peak absurdity, not to mention peak confusion for consumers and new businesses trying to make sense of it all. At first glance, cannabis reform appears to be humming along smoothly. Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island approved legalization initiatives in 2022 as… |

Staff (2022-12-24). El conflicto en Ucrania agota las reservas de armas de la OTAN, asegura The Washington Post. cubadebate.cu Según refleja The Washington Post en un material pubicado este viernes en el que analiza la ayuda bélica que Occidente presta a Kiev, los combates en Ucrania han puesto al descubierto "fallos en la planificación estratégica" de Estados Unidos. Asimismo, han revelado "lagunas significativas" en la base industrial militar de Washington y de la OTAN.

Rick Rozoff (2022-12-24). NATO ally Lithuania first nation to receive U.S. kamikaze drones. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Defense NewsDecember 23, 2022 Lithuania buys Switchblade 600 drones Lithuania's Defence Ministry has signed a deal to buy Switchblade 600 drones from the United States, becoming the first European NATO member to order the kamikaze system. "We are the first country in the world after the United States to purchase the Switchblade 600. These combat …

Rick Rozoff (2022-12-24). NATO partner Colombia mulls purchase of French warplanes. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Defense NewsDecember 23, 2022 Colombia begins negotiations to buy 16 Rafale fighter jets Colombia is negotiating the purchase of 16 Rafale multirole fighter jets for its Air Force, a deal potentially worth $3.15 billion, according to a news release from the country's president. *** Earlier this month, the president had announced during a military ceremony …

Rick Rozoff (2022-12-24). Vietnam, Afghanistan precedents for Poland: U.S. sells recovery vehicles for (366) Abrams tanks disabled in combat. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Polish Press AgencyDecember 21, 2022 Poland signs recovery vehicle deal for Abrams tanks Poland has signed a deal for the purchase of 26 Hercules armoured recovery vehicles from BAE Systems to support the US-made Abrams tanks Warsaw bought earlier. The Hercules is designed to recover tanks while under fire, and has been used in conflicts …

americanthinker (2022-12-24). We've reached terminal velocity: Washington state bureaucrats bemoan 'rational thinking'. americanthinker.com New curriculum on "climate change" parades the left's descent into insanity and Newspeak.

Eloy Osvaldo Proaño (2022-12-24). Ecuador: Nuevamente piden la destitución de Lasso. globalizacion.ca La Comisión de Garantías Constitucionales del Congreso de Ecuador que investigaba al presidente neoliberal Guillermo Lasso, aprobó un informe no vinculante que establece que el mandatario incumplió la ley para ser candidato que señala que no puede tener sus recursos…

_____ (2022-12-24). NYC's Christmas Tree Cooperative. popularresistance.org New York City, New York – In this holiday-themed episode of All Things Co-op, Kevin speaks with Ellis Roberts of New York State of Pine, a worker cooperative selling Christmas trees in New York City. They discuss the exploitation of workers and huge markups for consumers from traditional Christmas tree companies, New York State of Pine's democratic centralist model for decision-making, the question of scale, and the importance of working with and getting to know working-class people as communists and socialists. | If you live in NYC and haven't gotten your Christmas tree yet, visit NY State of Pine at 323 St. Joh…

scorinoco (2022-12-24). Spiritual Foundation of The Korean People (Statement). orinocotribune.com Message from the Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Caracas, Venezuela: | In spite of many challenges and vicissitudes, the Korean people are fighting unswervingly for the overall development of socialism because they have a firm conviction in the idea of General Secretary Kim Jong Un. | Why do the Korean people consider the idea of their leader as their spiritual foundation? | It is because they have experienced that, following the guidance of their leader, everything turns out well. | In the course of leading the DPRK, Kim Jong Un accumulated great ideological and theoretical feats in all s…

John Steele (2022-12-24). Communist League: 'Down with Canadian rulers' Emergencies Act'. themilitant.com MONTREAL — Six weeks of mandatory public hearings on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government imposition of the never-before-used Emergencies Act concluded Nov. 25. The act aimed to crush the three-week-long truckers' "Freedom Convoy" protest in Ottawa and at border-crossing bridges with the U.S. last February. It was convened by the Public Order Emergency Commission to determine if the government's assault against the rights of the truckers was legal under the law. Their report to Parliament is due by Feb. 20. | Over 75 witnesses appeared before the commission, including police, government minist…

Terry Evans (2022-12-24). As political crisis of US rulers deepens, Socialist Workers Party speaks out. themilitant.com Following the 2022 elections, working people face both a deepening crisis in the capitalist economy — a slowdown in hiring at the same time prices continue to rise — and attacks on living conditions and constitutional freedoms by the capitalist rulers and their two political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. | The Socialist Workers Party is organizing to build solidarity with workers in battle against boss and government attacks, from the rail yards nationwide to strikes by Case New Holland workers in Wisconsin and Iowa and miners at Warrior Met Coal in Alabama. The party fields candidates posin…

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). Afghan Taliban order NGOs to ban female employees from work. tribune.com.pk Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop female employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter, in the latest crackdown on women's freedoms. | The letter, confirmed by economy ministry spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said the female employees were not allowed to work until further notice because some had not adhered to the administration's interpretation of Islamic dress code for women. | It was not immediately clear whether the order applied to United Nations agencies, which have a large presence in…

David Giesen (2022-12-24). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-24). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). Resilient China injects certainty into global economic recovery. ecns.cn

en.mehrnews (2022-12-24). Iran, Guinea officials discuss expansion of bilateral ties. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (MNA) — In a meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for the Economic Diplomacy, the foreign minister of Guinea Morissanda Kouyaté stressed his country's willingness to develop ties with Tehran.

en.mehrnews (2022-12-24). Iran deputy FM reviews Tehran-Bamako ties with Malian FM, PM. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (MNA) — Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy discussed the latest status of Iran-Mali economic cooperation in separate meetings with the foreign minister and prime minister of the African country.

Roy Landersen (2022-12-24). Defend Ukraine independence! Demand Putin get out now! themilitant.com The Ukrainian people are withstanding some of the heaviest aerial bombardment since Moscow's war began as they fight tenaciously to drive back its invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to demoralize working people by crippling Ukraine's power supplies as winter begins, but this only encourages greater determination to resist. | The conflict is the largest ground war fought by two states in Europe since 1945. It has set in motion realignments among capitalist powers across the world, and exacerbated the global economic crisis. The Kremlin is banking on Russia's bigger military resources to wear Ukrainia…

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). Iran Supreme Court accepts rapper Yasin's appeal against death sentence. tribune.com.pk Iran's Supreme Court has accepted the death sentence appeal of rapper Saman Seydi Yasin even as it confirmed a death sentence against another protestor, the country's judiciary said on Saturday. | Yasin, a Kurd who raps about inequality, oppression and unemployment, had been accused of attempting to kill security forces, setting a rubbish bin on fire and shooting three times into the air, charges which he denied. | Yasin's mother last week pleaded in a video for help to save her son. "Where in the world have you seen a loved one's life is taken for a trash bin?" she said in the video posted on social media.

LaborFest (2022-12-24). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

Julia Conley (2022-12-24). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

Naomi Craine (2022-12-24). Rail workers protest as gov't imposes contract, bars strike. themilitant.com CHICAGO — In rail yards and on locomotives across the country discussion and debate continue among rail workers over how to respond to the ongoing attacks from the rail bosses and the government. These include grueling schedules, draconian attendance policies, unsafe conditions, a renewed push to run engineer-only trains and the anti-union Railway Labor Act. | On Dec. 2 President Joseph Biden signed legislation passed overwhelmingly by a bipartisan majority in Congress imposing a contract on 115,000 rail workers and proscribing union strike action. Members of four unions — representing a majority of t…

Brian Williams (2022-12-24). Ohio workers at GM battery plant vote 710-16 to join UAW. themilitant.com Workers at an electric vehicle battery factory near Warren, Ohio, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers. The 710-16 vote, announced by the National Labor Relations Board Dec. 9, marks the first time workers have won union representation in this burgeoning industry. | The plant is owned by Ultium Cells, a joint venture between General Motors and South Korean-owned LG Energy Solution. Ultium has announced plans to build two more battery factories, in Lansing, Michigan, and Spring Hill, Tennessee. As part of the auto bosses' competition to take the lead in electric car sales, Ford says it will build t…

Deborah Liatos (2022-12-24). University of California teaching assistants strike for over a month. themilitant.com LOS ANGELES — As the strike of University of California workers reached its 31st day, hundreds of striking academic workers rallied at the U.C. campus here Dec. 14. They were joined by supporters, including faculty, students and members of UNITE HERE and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. They marched around the campus, chanting and singing labor solidarity songs. | Nearly 48,000 University of California researchers, teaching assistants, graders and others went on strike Nov. 14 demanding higher wages, improved benefits and better working conditions. | "When I was a stu…

Editor (2022-12-24). Top 10 Inequality Victories of 2022. scheerpost.com

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's ODI rises on multiple fronts. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment, or ODI, rose 7.4 percent year-on-year to 687.86 billion yuan during the first eleven months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's non-financial ODI up 7.4 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) reached 687.86 billion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, up 7.4 percent year on year, official data showed Friday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). Hong Kong to launch online platform of talents service. ecns.cn The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will launch an online platform of talents service on Dec. 28 to facilitate entry application as the financial hub steps up efforts to trawl for talents.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-24). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

americanthinker (2022-12-24). The Gigantic Defense Bill Does More Harm than Good. americanthinker.com A strong and free America is secured by a strong national defense, and that requires spending money. But America is at risk with legislation like this.

| Reuters | (2022-12-24). China angered, Taiwan cheered by new US defence act. tribune.com.pk China expressed anger on Saturday at a new US defence authorisation law that boosts military assistance for Taiwan, while Taipei cheered it for helping boost the island's security. | China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan its own territory, expressed "strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" regarding the US National Defence Authorisation Act, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. | It said the $858 billion military spending measure, which authorises up to $10 billion in security assistance and fast-tracked weapons procurement for Taiwan, contained provisions that "cause serio…

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's FDI inflow up 9.9% in Jan-Nov. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in terms of actual use, rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of 2022.

ecns.cn (2022-12-24). China's FDI inflow up 9.9 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 9.9 percent year on year to nearly 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

Editor (2022-12-24). Big Pharma's Obscene Profits, Not Striking Nurses, Are Killing the NHS. scheerpost.com

Franz Hinkelammert, Sebastian Pittl (2022-12-24). Critique of Religion and Market Religion and Post-colonialism. indybay.org Critique of religion as critique of fetishism is a critique of earthly gods, which are false gods. "Man is the highest being for man." Marx develops it further in other words and formulates his idea of the liberation of man in the Communist Manifesto. There he says: "In place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class antagonisms comes…the free development of all. "

Seth Galinsky (2022-12-24). Iran protests for rights, against executions stoke gov't divisions. themilitant.com Organizing Council of Oil Contract Workers of IranWorkers in Ahvaz, in Iran's Khuzestan province, join Dec. 17 strike at seven oil complexes for higher wages, pensions, health care. Some unions have condemned gov't use of death penalty. | More than three months of daily protests are widening rifts between rival factions among Iran's capitalist rulers. The execution of two protesters, death sentences for 11 others and charges that carry the death penalty against six more have expanded demonstrations across the country and internationally. | In the face of these actions, at least two of the executions…

Author Blank (2022-12-24). Holiday greetings to workers behind bars. themilitant.com New Year greetings to our readers behind bars! | The Militant will continue to tell the truth about the conditions you face and keep getting news about the struggles of working people worldwide into your hands. 2022 was quite a year! Millions took to the streets to defend themselves. | From the Ukrainian people's courageous defense of their nation's sovereignty against Moscow's invasion, to working people inside Russia who are protesting the war. From working people and youth in Iran standing up to assaults by government thugs, to thousands of workers here who are using unions to strike for better wages and condi…

Editor (2022-12-24). The Holidays are the Most Painful Time of the Year to be Behind Bars. scheerpost.com Every holiday season, prisoners suffer spikes in suicides, violence, and depression. Eddie Conway, who spent 44 years locked up, explains what people on the outside can do to help.

Staff (2022-12-24). El conflicto en Ucrania agota las reservas de armas de la OTAN, asegura The Washington Post. cubadebate.cu Según refleja The Washington Post en un material pubicado este viernes en el que analiza la ayuda bélica que Occidente presta a Kiev, los combates en Ucrania han puesto al descubierto "fallos en la planificación estratégica" de Estados Unidos. Asimismo, han revelado "lagunas significativas" en la base industrial militar de Washington y de la OTAN.

Rick Rozoff (2022-12-24). Vietnam, Afghanistan precedents for Poland: U.S. sells recovery vehicles for (366) Abrams tanks disabled in combat. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Polish Press AgencyDecember 21, 2022 Poland signs recovery vehicle deal for Abrams tanks Poland has signed a deal for the purchase of 26 Hercules armoured recovery vehicles from BAE Systems to support the US-made Abrams tanks Warsaw bought earlier. The Hercules is designed to recover tanks while under fire, and has been used in conflicts …

John Steele (2022-12-24). Communist League: 'Down with Canadian rulers' Emergencies Act'. themilitant.com MONTREAL — Six weeks of mandatory public hearings on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government imposition of the never-before-used Emergencies Act concluded Nov. 25. The act aimed to crush the three-week-long truckers' "Freedom Convoy" protest in Ottawa and at border-crossing bridges with the U.S. last February. It was convened by the Public Order Emergency Commission to determine if the government's assault against the rights of the truckers was legal under the law. Their report to Parliament is due by Feb. 20. | Over 75 witnesses appeared before the commission, including police, government minist…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2022-12-23). War, Terrorism and the Global Economic Crisis. Ninety-nine Interrelated Concepts. globalresearch.ca Everything is interrelated: war, terrorism, the police state, the global economy, financial fraud, corrupt governments, poverty and social inequality, media disinformation, war propaganda, WMD, international law,…

Prof. Joseph H. Chung (2022-12-23). Ultimate Battle Between Pro-Japan South Korea and Nationalist South Korea: Democracy at Stake, Economy in Crisis, Security at Risk. globalresearch.ca

americanthinker (2022-12-23). Bidenomics in action: November leading economic indicators down. americanthinker.com Democrats who will spend, spend, spend other peoples' money to distribute to themselves and their believers.

Richard Gale (2022-12-23). The 5G Roll Out: EMF Radiation, Devastating Health Impacts, Social and Economic Implications. Crimes Against Humanity? globalresearch.ca

_____ (2022-12-23). West Opposes Rest Of World In UN Votes For Fairer Economic System, Equality. popularresistance.org Most countries on Earth voted at the United Nations General Assembly to support a call for a new international economic order that is based on sovereign equality and cooperation, that rejects unilateral sanctions and advocates for debt relief for the Global South. | The only countries that opposed this widely popular proposal were the West and its allies. | The United States and its proxies were also the lone votes against common-sensical resolutions promoting sustainable development, biological diversity, and basic civil rights for Palestinians. Almost the entire world supported these proposals. Washington showe…

Francesca Emanuele (2022-12-23). Factors Behind the Support for Castillo That Lima Refuses to Understand. orinocotribune.com By Francesca Emanuele &#1 ; Dec 20, 2022 | Neither the unfulfilled promises, the indications of corruption, nor the coup attempt could make Castillo's supporters turn their backs on him. Despite the former president no longer representing hope for change, he still symbolizes—perhaps today more than ever—the structural discrimination in Peru. | In Lima, the political, economic, and intellectual elites are intrigued, still searching for an explanation for the large number of Peruvian men and women protesting in demand of freedom for Pedro Castillo. They are even more puzzled by the smaller group demandi…

infobrics (2022-12-23). Saudi Arabia's Overtures to China, BRICS not Against a Third Country. infobrics.org Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world value their relationship with China as the region's biggest economic partner with Riyadh even contemplating joining the BRICS group of emerging economies as the Gulf Kingdom recalibrates its global vision amid shifting geopolitics and world order…

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2022-12-23). 2022 California State Capitol Kwanzaa in the wake of the 2022 US-Africa Summit. indybay.org Dr. Karenga utilized struggle creating Kwanzaa. He and the US Organization continues to rectify the cultural and economic exploitation perpetrated against us during the months of October, November, and December (the Christmas season) as we prepare for a New Year.

Max Blumenthal (2022-12-23). Zelensky's diaspora delegation led by economic hit-woman who led plunder of Ukraine. thegrayzone.com The Grayzone intercepted Volodymyr Zelensky's Ukrainian diaspora delegation outside the US Capitol and encountered Natalie Jaresko, the corporate operative who helped guide Wall Street's pillaging from Kiev to Puerto Rico. Jaresko indignantly justified Zelensky's banning of his political rivals as a necessary wartime measure. Steel fencing and police barricades ringed the perimeter of the US Capitol Building hours ahead of the arrival of Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president appeared in Washington DC in the early afternoon on December 21, 2022, …

_____ (2022-12-23). The Perils Of Pious Neoliberalism In The Austerity State. popularresistance.org The International Labour Organisation's Global Wage Report 2022—23 tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet. The gaping distance between the incomes and wealth of 99% of the world's population from the incomes and wealth of the billionaires and near-trillionaires who make up the richest 1% is appalling. During the pandemic, when most of the world has experienced a dramatic loss in their livelihoods, the ten richest men in the world have doubled their fortunes. This extreme wealth inequality, now entirely normal in our world, has produced immense and dangerous soc…

WSWS (2022-12-23). Corruption scandal engulfs Philadelphia IBEW union. wsws.org The scandal is not a case of a few bad apples. Such corruption is endemic, part and parcel of the misnamed "American labor movement."

_____ (2022-12-23). Rally To Save Labor And Delivery Department At St. Francis Hospital. popularresistance.org Milwaukee, Wisconsin – More than 60 workers and union members from Ascension St. Francis Hospital (SFH), together with community supporters, gathered outside Milwaukee's city hall on the evening of December 20. The event was called for by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000, the union which represents nurses and technical and service employees at the hospital. The purpose for the rally was to raise awareness around the services being cut at the hospital, specifically management's decision to close down the labor and delivery department. | This closure isn't only signific…

_____ (2022-12-23). Citizenship, Not Surveillance, For Farmworkers. popularresistance.org This week, I joined farmworkers across the country in sounding the alarm on legislation that would make us even more vulnerable. We have defeated it for now. | However, the agricultural lobby has been pushing for this legislation since 2019, and we know they will continue to propose legislation that ties immigration reform to labor exploitation. | I know just how grueling year-round agricultural work is and how difficult it can be to make ends meet as an undocumented farmworker. After coming to the United States from Oaxaca, Mexico, I spent years picking grapes and after that, working on dairy farms. Farm work wa…

Staff (2022-12-23). Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas convoca al Global Game Jam. cubadebate.cu La Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas convoca al Global Game Jam, el mayor evento colaborativo de creación de juegos del mundo, que reúne cada año a decenas de miles de desarrolladores para crear en un lapso de 48 horas, un prototipo de videojuego funcional. La nueva edición se celebrará entre el 30 de enero y el 6 de febrero.

teleSUR, jaa, JGN (2022-12-23). Continúan labores para extinguir incendio en Barranquilla, Colombia. telesurtv.net El funcionario aseveró que se trabaja en extinguir las llamas para la madrugada de este viernes para que no se siga extendiendo en el tiempo y aumentando los daños.

WSWS (2022-12-23). The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency, and the financial crisis. wsws.org In the trial of the FTX founder, the prosecution will produce a vast array of documents and witnesses, but one of the purposes is to obscure a central issue: how was this operation able to be carried out in plain sight?

WSWS (2022-12-23). Plant closures and mass layoffs in Germany continue at Christmas. wsws.org Amid the ongoing war in the East, rampant inflation, bankruptcies and job cuts are piling up. Thousands of workers are facing the loss of their jobs and the livelihood of their families.

Editor (2022-12-23). Health Workers in UK Intensify Their Fight for Fair Wages and Dignity. scheerpost.com Underpaid and overworked, workers of the UK's National Health Service are demanding a wage hike on par with inflation. Both nurses and ambulance workers went on strike in recent days.

Editor (2022-12-23). Meet the Grinch Stealing the Future of Gen Y and Z. scheerpost.com Salaries in the U.S. aren't keeping up with inflation, despite pandemic-related increases in some sectors. That's a major threat to the future for all working Americans — especially the youngest.

Jeffrey Rudolph (2022-12-23). As NYT's Friedman Laments end of Israel-Palestine Two-State Solution, the Bantustan Alternative Looms. juancole.com Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) &#1 ; In a New York Times Dec. 18, 2022, opinion piece, Thomas L. Friedman, echoing many other mainstream commentators, bemoans that Israel's aggressive settlement policies and growing religious nationalism "could bury the two-state solution and the one-state solution in the same grave." However, what Mr. Friedman and other commentators fail to …

Sonali Kolhatkar (2022-12-23). Our health care system is broken—fixing it is not hard. nationofchange.org If only the health care system received the same treatment that military spending gets from politicians and the public.

Lindsay Koshgarian (2022-12-23). Democrats Are Making a Devil's Bargain on Pentagon Funding. It's Not Paying Off. truthout.org The year 2022 confirmed yet again that accepting massive military budget increases in exchange for a smattering of social benefits funding — a common devil's bargain struck by Democrats in Congress — will never deliver the kind of world we dream of. The military budget deal just reached by Congress will put Pentagon spending at $858 billion — more than $118 billion higher than when President Biden… |

Staff (2022-12-23). Headlines for December 23, 2022. democracynow.org Jan. 6 Committee Releases Report on Capitol Insurrection, Recommends Barring Trump from Office, Senate Approves $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill, Polar Vortex Brings Winter Weather Advisories to 200 Million Across U.S., Asylum Seekers Remain Stuck at U.S.-Mexico Border Amid Freezing Temperatures, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Agrees to Dismantle Illegal Border Wall, Afghan Taliban Assault and Arrest Women Protesting University Ban, Report Finds U.S. Did Not Compensate Foreign Workers Injured or Killed in Afghanistan, Car Bomb Kills Pro-Kremlin Official in Russian-Occupied Ukraine, Putin Calls Russian Invasion of Ukr…

WSWS (2022-12-23). Congress, Biden boost war spending at the expense of social programs. wsws.org The $1.7 trillion budget bill passed by Congress and headed for Biden's signature cuts social spending in real terms while increasing military spending and pumping another $ billion into the war with Russia in Ukraine.

Dan Bacher (2022-12-23). After spending $20 M, oil industry gathers enough signatures for initiative against setbacks law. indybay.org If the Secretary of State formally qualifies the oil industry's petition, the issue of neighborhood drilling in California will go before voters on the 2024 ballot.

infobrics (2022-12-23). Japanese politician calls on Biden to apologise for US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. infobrics.org Japan's defence spending will surpass India, the UK and France.

Uriel Araujo (2022-12-23). American Weapons Manufacturers Profit from Making Ukrainian Conflict Perpetual. globalresearch.ca

WSWS (2022-12-23). USW forces through wage concessions at US Steel after isolating workers for months. wsws.org On Tuesday afternoon, the United Steelworkers union announced a four-year concessions contract which cuts wages for 11,000 workers at facilities owned by steel producer US Steel across the US after isolating the workers for moths and actively blacking out information on negotiations.

Staff (2022-12-23). Chapeando: El mito de la superioridad cubana (+ Podcast). cubadebate.cu La alfabetización de Cuba es la primera piedra del crecimiento y el talento de los cubanos. Así se desnuda el mito del triunfo cubano en el capitalismo. El cubano no sobresale en los países a donde emigra porque sea un fenómeno de la naturaleza, sino porque hubo una alfabetización, una universalización de la enseñanza.

WSWS (2022-12-23). Australia: Nurses at two private hospitals in NSW take industrial action. wsws.org This is the first industrial action by nurses at the two private hospitals in more than 20 years, amid a broader struggle by healthcare workers across the country, who have carried out strikes throughout the year.

| REUTERS | (2022-12-23). Serial killer Charles 'Serpent' Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison. tribune.com.pk Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj was freed from prison in Nepal on Friday after serving most of his sentence for killing American and Canadian backpackers and was taken to the airport for a flight back to Paris, his attorney said. | His alleged killings were dramatized in a series co-produced by the BBC and Netflix called "The Serpent," which aired last year. | A ticket was purchased with money received from a friend and the French Embassy in Kathmandu prepared the necessary travel documents allowing him to take the flight Friday evening, attorney Gopal Siwakoti Chitan said. | Sobhraj was driven…

WSWS (2022-12-23). Australia: Victorian Socialists cover for union sell-out at Pampas. wsws.org The endorsement by the pseudo-left of the wage-slashing deal at Pampas demonstrates their role as an adjunct and defender of the union bureaucracy and its attacks against workers.

A Guest Author (2022-12-23). Int'l Women's Alliance honors Ka Joma. workers.org The following statement was released Dec. 23 by the International Women's Alliance, a global grassroots women's organization. Go to internationalwomensalliance.wordpress.com/. Credit: internationalwomensalliance.wordpress.com The International Women's Alliance is deeply grieved by the passing of one of the greatest militant leaders of our times, the founding leader of the Communist Party of . . . |

Carlos Lopes Pereira (2022-12-23). U.S. holds meeting with African states: promises and realities. workers.org The author, a veteran of the liberation movement in Guinea and Cape Verde, is a regular contributor of articles on Africa to Avante, the weekly newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party. This article was published Dec. 22, 2022. Translation: John Catalinotto. U.S. strategists aimed at winning African states' support for . . . |

ecns.cn (2022-12-23). Hong Kong to launch online platform of talents service. ecns.cn The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will launch an online platform of talents service on Dec. 28 to facilitate entry application as the financial hub steps up efforts to trawl for talents.

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2022-12-23). War, Terrorism and the Global Economic Crisis. Ninety-nine Interrelated Concepts. globalresearch.ca Everything is interrelated: war, terrorism, the police state, the global economy, financial fraud, corrupt governments, poverty and social inequality, media disinformation, war propaganda, WMD, international law,…

Prof. Joseph H. Chung (2022-12-23). Ultimate Battle Between Pro-Japan South Korea and Nationalist South Korea: Democracy at Stake, Economy in Crisis, Security at Risk. globalresearch.ca

americanthinker (2022-12-23). Bidenomics in action: November leading economic indicators down. americanthinker.com Democrats who will spend, spend, spend other peoples' money to distribute to themselves and their believers.

David Giesen (2022-12-23). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

David Giesen (2022-12-23). Wednesday 12/21: Environmental economics for dummies featuring THE LORAX. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…

Francesca Emanuele (2022-12-23). Factors Behind the Support for Castillo That Lima Refuses to Understand. orinocotribune.com By Francesca Emanuele &#1 ; Dec 20, 2022 | Neither the unfulfilled promises, the indications of corruption, nor the coup attempt could make Castillo's supporters turn their backs on him. Despite the former president no longer representing hope for change, he still symbolizes—perhaps today more than ever—the structural discrimination in Peru. | In Lima, the political, economic, and intellectual elites are intrigued, still searching for an explanation for the large number of Peruvian men and women protesting in demand of freedom for Pedro Castillo. They are even more puzzled by the smaller group demandi…

infobrics (2022-12-23). Saudi Arabia's Overtures to China, BRICS not Against a Third Country. infobrics.org Saudi Arabia and the wider Arab world value their relationship with China as the region's biggest economic partner with Riyadh even contemplating joining the BRICS group of emerging economies as the Gulf Kingdom recalibrates its global vision amid shifting geopolitics and world order…

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2022-12-23). 2022 California State Capitol Kwanzaa in the wake of the 2022 US-Africa Summit. indybay.org Dr. Karenga utilized struggle creating Kwanzaa. He and the US Organization continues to rectify the cultural and economic exploitation perpetrated against us during the months of October, November, and December (the Christmas season) as we prepare for a New Year.

Richard Gale (2022-12-23). The 5G Roll Out: EMF Radiation, Devastating Health Impacts, Social and Economic Implications. Crimes Against Humanity? globalresearch.ca

Staff (2022-12-23). Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas convoca al Global Game Jam. cubadebate.cu La Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas convoca al Global Game Jam, el mayor evento colaborativo de creación de juegos del mundo, que reúne cada año a decenas de miles de desarrolladores para crear en un lapso de 48 horas, un prototipo de videojuego funcional. La nueva edición se celebrará entre el 30 de enero y el 6 de febrero.

teleSUR, jaa, JGN (2022-12-23). Continúan labores para extinguir incendio en Barranquilla, Colombia. telesurtv.net El funcionario aseveró que se trabaja en extinguir las llamas para la madrugada de este viernes para que no se siga extendiendo en el tiempo y aumentando los daños.

WSWS (2022-12-23). Corruption scandal engulfs Philadelphia IBEW union. wsws.org The scandal is not a case of a few bad apples. Such corruption is endemic, part and parcel of the misnamed "American labor movement."

ecns.cn (2022-12-23). China's ODI rises on multiple fronts. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment, or ODI, rose 7.4 percent year-on-year to 687.86 billion yuan during the first eleven months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

ecns.cn (2022-12-23). China's non-financial ODI up 7.4 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn China's non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) reached 687.86 billion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, up 7.4 percent year on year, official data showed Friday.

WSWS (2022-12-23). The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, cryptocurrency, and the financial crisis. wsws.org In the trial of the FTX founder, the prosecution will produce a vast array of documents and witnesses, but one of the purposes is to obscure a central issue: how was this operation able to be carried out in plain sight?

Editor (2022-12-23). Health Workers in UK Intensify Their Fight for Fair Wages and Dignity. scheerpost.com Underpaid and overworked, workers of the UK's National Health Service are demanding a wage hike on par with inflation. Both nurses and ambulance workers went on strike in recent days.

Editor (2022-12-23). Meet the Grinch Stealing the Future of Gen Y and Z. scheerpost.com Salaries in the U.S. aren't keeping up with inflation, despite pandemic-related increases in some sectors. That's a major threat to the future for all working Americans — especially the youngest.

WSWS (2022-12-23). Plant closures and mass layoffs in Germany continue at Christmas. wsws.org Amid the ongoing war in the East, rampant inflation, bankruptcies and job cuts are piling up. Thousands of workers are facing the loss of their jobs and the livelihood of their families.

Jeffrey Rudolph (2022-12-23). As NYT's Friedman Laments end of Israel-Palestine Two-State Solution, the Bantustan Alternative Looms. juancole.com Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) &#1 ; In a New York Times Dec. 18, 2022, opinion piece, Thomas L. Friedman, echoing many other mainstream commentators, bemoans that Israel's aggressive settlement policies and growing religious nationalism "could bury the two-state solution and the one-state solution in the same grave." However, what Mr. Friedman and other commentators fail to …

Lindsay Koshgarian (2022-12-23). Democrats Are Making a Devil's Bargain on Pentagon Funding. It's Not Paying Off. truthout.org The year 2022 confirmed yet again that accepting massive military budget increases in exchange for a smattering of social benefits funding — a common devil's bargain struck by Democrats in Congress — will never deliver the kind of world we dream of. The military budget deal just reached by Congress will put Pentagon spending at $858 billion — more than $118 billion higher than when President Biden… |

Staff (2022-12-23). Headlines for December 23, 2022. democracynow.org Jan. 6 Committee Releases Report on Capitol Insurrection, Recommends Barring Trump from Office, Senate Approves $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill, Polar Vortex Brings Winter Weather Advisories to 200 Million Across U.S., Asylum Seekers Remain Stuck at U.S.-Mexico Border Amid Freezing Temperatures, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Agrees to Dismantle Illegal Border Wall, Afghan Taliban Assault and Arrest Women Protesting University Ban, Report Finds U.S. Did Not Compensate Foreign Workers Injured or Killed in Afghanistan, Car Bomb Kills Pro-Kremlin Official in Russian-Occupied Ukraine, Putin Calls Russian Invasion of Ukr…

WSWS (2022-12-23). Congress, Biden boost war spending at the expense of social programs. wsws.org The $1.7 trillion budget bill passed by Congress and headed for Biden's signature cuts social spending in real terms while increasing military spending and pumping another $ billion into the war with Russia in Ukraine.

Dan Bacher (2022-12-23). After spending $20 M, oil industry gathers enough signatures for initiative against setbacks law. indybay.org If the Secretary of State formally qualifies the oil industry's petition, the issue of neighborhood drilling in California will go before voters on the 2024 ballot.

ecns.cn (2022-12-23). China's FDI inflow up 9.9% in Jan-Nov. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in terms of actual use, rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of 2022.

ecns.cn (2022-12-23). China's FDI inflow up 9.9 pct in first 11 months. ecns.cn Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, expanded 9.9 percent year on year to nearly 1.16 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.

Anonymous103 (2022-12-23). American Weapons Manufacturers Profit From Making Ukrainian Conflict Perpetual. southfront.org

Franz Hinkelammert, Sebastian Pittl (2022-12-23). Critique of Religion and Market Religion and Post-colonialism. indybay.org Critique of religion as critique of fetishism is a critique of earthly gods, which are false gods. "Man is the highest being for man." Marx develops it further in other words and formulates his idea of the liberation of man in the Communist Manifesto. There he says: "In place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class antagonisms comes…the free development of all. "

WSWS (2022-12-23). USW forces through wage concessions at US Steel after isolating workers for months. wsws.org On Tuesday afternoon, the United Steelworkers union announced a four-year concessions contract which cuts wages for 11,000 workers at facilities owned by steel producer US Steel across the US after isolating the workers for moths and actively blacking out information on negotiations.

Staff (2022-12-23). Chapeando: El mito de la superioridad cubana (+ Podcast). cubadebate.cu La alfabetización de Cuba es la primera piedra del crecimiento y el talento de los cubanos. Así se desnuda el mito del triunfo cubano en el capitalismo. El cubano no sobresale en los países a donde emigra porque sea un fenómeno de la naturaleza, sino porque hubo una alfabetización, una universalización de la enseñanza.

WSWS (2022-12-23). Australia: Nurses at two private hospitals in NSW take industrial action. wsws.org This is the first industrial action by nurses at the two private hospitals in more than 20 years, amid a broader struggle by healthcare workers across the country, who have carried out strikes throughout the year.

| REUTERS | (2022-12-23). Serial killer Charles 'Serpent' Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison. tribune.com.pk Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj was freed from prison in Nepal on Friday after serving most of his sentence for killing American and Canadian backpackers and was taken to the airport for a flight back to Paris, his attorney said. | His alleged killings were dramatized in a series co-produced by the BBC and Netflix called "The Serpent," which aired last year. | A ticket was purchased with money received from a friend and the French Embassy in Kathmandu prepared the necessary travel documents allowing him to take the flight Friday evening, attorney Gopal Siwakoti Chitan said. | Sobhraj was driven…

WSWS (2022-12-23). Australia: Victorian Socialists cover for union sell-out at Pampas. wsws.org The endorsement by the pseudo-left of the wage-slashing deal at Pampas demonstrates their role as an adjunct and defender of the union bureaucracy and its attacks against workers.

unitedEditor (2022-12-22). Two sides of the East unite. uwidata.com The political axes of the world are changing as a result of the economic rise of the Eastern nations. The world is Easternizing. The western-centered order is declining. And while the shifts in axes are causing new controversies in the global sense, they also result in tectonic bursts. The fault lines are now active… "Seek …

David Giesen (2022-12-22). Friday 12/23: Economics for dummies for environmentalists, featuring a close reading of THE LORAX. indybay.org Notable House | 189 Ellsworth St. | San Francisco…

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). Suzhou charters flight to France, Germany for new biz opportunities. ecns.cn Flight MU7149, carrying a trade-economic delegation from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, departed the provincial capital Nanjing at around 1 am on Dec 9, heading for Paris.

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). Our policy protect people's lives and health to the maximum extent possible: Chinese FM. ecns.cn We have been refining our COVID response measures in light of the latest changes in the COVID situation, so as to better coordinate COVID response and socioeconomic development. Booster shots are being rolled out in China. Medicine and test reagent can generally meet demand.

infobrics (2022-12-22). NDB-Financed Infrastructure Project Has Played an Important Role in the Economic Advancement of Madhya Pradesh. infobrics.org

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-12-22). Canada is Still Preventing Charities from Bringing Aid to Afghanistan. libya360.wordpress.com Owen Schalk Afghan refugees near the Pakistan border. Photo courtesy One Free World International. A staggering 95% of Afghans are not getting enough to eat As Afghanistan struggles to manage the manifold social and economic crises resulting from decades of war and subsequent Western sanctions, the Canadian government is still preventing charities from delivering much-needed…

WSWS (2022-12-22). Bank of Japan decision sends "shock" through global markets. wsws.org There are numerous warnings that the BoJ decision to relax its ultra-low interest rate regime could lead to a "tsunami" of global Japanese investment moving home, adding to the turmoil in the international financial system.

Dean Baker (2022-12-22). Industrial Policy Is Not a Remedy for Income Inequality. cepr.net The idea of industrial policy has taken on almost a mystical quality for many progressives. The idea is that it is somehow new and different from what we had been doing, and if we had just been doing industrial policy for the last half century, everything would be better. This has led to widespread applause …

Chris Williamson (2022-12-22). Face the facts: Corbyn surrendered to Israel's smears. electronicintifada.net Leader of Britain's Labour Party enabled a fake anti-Semitism crisis.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-22). Science Saturday: Early research toward a cell-free solution for stress urinary incontinence. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic researchers found a noncellular substance suggested improvement in restoring muscle function and bladder control in preclinical models. The teams of Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D. and Emanuel Trabuco, M.D., led this research in a collaboration between Mayo Clinic Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology. The paper is published in NPJ Regenerative Medicine. "Surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence, a condition afflicting 25 million women, has significantly declined over concerns about negative side effects," says Dr. Trabuco. "This has led…

LaborFest (2022-12-22). "Ticket To Mars" Concert At Elon's Twitter San Francisco Headquarters: Oligarchs Gone Wild. indybay.org The first "Get Your Ticket To Mars" concert took place at Elon Musk's Twitter headquarters on December 18, 2022. Musicians, poets, tech and labor organizers spoke and artists painted a mural on the side of the building.

Staff (2022-12-22). Asesores cubanos del programa de alfabetización "Yo sí puedo" laborarán en Honduras. cubadebate.cu Una brigada de maestros cubanos arribó a Honduras el pasado 20 de diciembre como parte de un convenio de colaboración. Integrado por 123 educadores, el equipo ayudará a combatir el nivel de analfabetismo existente aquí a través del método cubano "Yo sí puedo", un programa que alfabetizó a millones de personas de unos 30 países.

Julia Conley (2022-12-22). Protesters: "No Democracy With Oligarchy" at Twitter HQ. indybay.org Dozens of artists, labor advocates, and climate campaigners answered a call from Climate Justice Arts on Sunday, arriving at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco to paint the company's famed bird logo on the street outside along with pro-democracy messages.

Labor Video Project (2022-12-22). Community & Labor Speak Out & Rally To Demand The Freedom Of Mumia In San Francisco. indybay.org

Fight Back (2022-12-22). Milwaukee rally to save labor and delivery department at St. Francis Hospital. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – More than 60 workers and union members from Ascension St. Francis Hospital (SFH), together with community supporters, gathered outside Milwaukee's city hall on the evening of December 20. The event was called for by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000, the union which represents nurses and technical and service employees at the hospital. The purpose for the rally was to raise awareness around the services being cut at the hospital, specifically management's decision to close down the labor and delivery department. | This closure isn't only significant bec…

Sharon Zhang (2022-12-22). Overwhelming Majority of Voters Back Fines for Employers That Violate Labor Laws. truthout.org As labor regulators fight for increased funding for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and activists wrap up a watershed year for the labor movement, new polling finds that a majority of voters support the movement's goals and are in favor of upping the agency budget and increasing penalties for employers that violate labor laws. A survey of over 1,300 likely voters, released this week by… |

Sharon Zhang (2022-12-22). Senate Passes Measure Expanding Rights for Pregnant People in the Workplace. truthout.org The Senate voted to include a measure to expand basic workplace protections for pregnant people in its omnibus funding bill on Thursday, marking a win for labor advocates during a time of precarity for reproductive rights in the U.S. Senators agreed to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in a 73 to 24 vote on Thursday as the chamber considered a series of amendments to the omnibus funding bill. |

WSWS (2022-12-22). Australian CEOs praise Labor government and union leaders. wsws.org Almost invariably, the "top CEOs" described their relations with the government and trade unions as "positive" and "collaborative."

unitedEditor (2022-12-22). Upcoming UWI Webinar: Europe's energy crisis and the prospects of Turkish-Russian cooperation. uwidata.com United World International is inviting to an international webinar discussing Europe's energy crisis and the prospects of creating a gas hub in Tàºrkiye that will deliver Russian gas to Europe. Guests are: Stanislav Mitrakhovich, expert of the National Energy Security Fund, researcher at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Dr. ≈ûerife …

Amy Goodman (2022-12-22). More Than 1,000 Faith Leaders in the US Call for a Christmas Truce in Ukraine. truthout.org Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has wrapped up a one-day visit to Washington, D.C., where he called on the Biden administration and lawmakers to provide more military and financial aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. This was Zelensky's first overseas trip in nearly a year, since the war began. Ahead of the trip, over 1,000 faith leaders in the United States called for a Christmas… |

infobrics (2022-12-22). US citizens dissatisfied with Zelensky's visit to Washington. infobrics.org Ukrainian president is seen by Americans as a mere "beggar" due to his constant demands of financial aid.

Staff (2022-12-22). U.S. Faith Leaders Call for Xmas Truce in Ukraine as Zelensky Visits D.C. Seeking More Arms & Money. democracynow.org Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has wrapped up a one-day visit to Washington, D.C., where he called on the Biden administration and lawmakers to provide more military and financial aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. This was Zelensky's first overseas trip in nearly a year, since the war began. Ahead of the trip, over 1,000 faith leaders in the United States called for a Christmas truce in Ukraine. For more on the war and hopes for peace, we speak with CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin, theologian Cornel West and Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler, senior adviser to the Fellowship of Reconciliati…

WSWS (2022-12-22). Danish Social Democrats finalise right-wing coalition committed to military build-up and attacks on public services. wsws.org Frederiksen's coalition has committed to increasing Denmark's defence spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2030 rather than the 2033 deadline contained in an agreement between the Social Democrats and right-wing parties in March.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2022-12-22). Healthy for the Holidays: Mayo Clinic Health System provides tips for combatting stress this season. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org MANKATO, Minn. ‚Äï During the holiday season, it is easy to get caught up in the stress and chaos that can accompany this time of the year. Already demanding lives become even more hectic as last-minute shopping, cooking and spending combine to add even more anxiety. For many people, the result can be overwhelming. "What if there was a way you could plan ahead to counter the stress? Start with identifying the issue," says Lisa Hardesty,…

Wie Yu (2022-12-22). What the Pentagon doesn't want you to know about China. nationofchange.org Deliberate lies about China to drum up justification for more U.S. war spending needs to be urgently addressed.

Dave DeCamp (2022-12-22). Senate Passes $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill That Includes $45 Billion for Ukraine. news.antiwar.com The Senate on Thursday advanced a mammoth $1.7 trillion dollar omnibus spending bill that includes $45 billion in new Ukraine aid and $858 billion for the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The spending bill passed in a vote of 68-29, with only Republicans voting against it. The legislation now heads to the House and …

Editor (2022-12-22). Congress still protecting dark money donors. mronline.org A series of measures in Congress' annual omnibus spending bill show that Democrats have given up their fight to end the dark money era.

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). 853 cooperation deals reached at Greater Bay investment conference. ecns.cn Hundreds of companies from more than 10 countries and regions, including Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and France, reached 853 cooperation projects with a total investment of 2.5 trillion yuan ($0.36 trillion) at the 2022 Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GBA) was held from Wednesday to Thursday.

WSWS (2022-12-22). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific. wsws.org India: Andhra Pradesh port workers protest privatisation; Bangladeshi garment workers protest retrenchment and unpaid wages; Australia: Thales military manufacturing workers for higher pay.

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). Online COVID medicine sharing platform unveiled on WeChat. ecns.cn An online platform where citizens can ask for necessary COVID-19 medicine from neighbors for free and share the surplus was unveiled through a WeChat mini program.

americanthinker (2022-12-22). Capitalism — and corporate-state capitalism. americanthinker.com One of these things is not like the other.

americanthinker (2022-12-22). Capitalism — and corporate-state capitalism. americanthinker.com One of these things is not like the other.

WSWS (2022-12-22). Sri Lanka's JVP makes bid for power to "save the country" wsws.org The JVP/NPP declares that it wants to "save the country," but its commitment to implementing the IMF's harsh austerity program means it wants to save Sri Lankan capitalism at the expense of working people.

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). Guangzhou launches industrial silicon futures. ecns.cn The Guangzhou Futures Exchange on Thursday launched the trade of industrial silicon futures.

ecns.cn (2022-12-22). China's newest commodity exchange launches industrial silicon futures. ecns.cn The Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX), the youngest of China's five major futures bourses, launched industrial silicon futures on Thursday, aiming to pursue green development and help promote the opening-up of the country's market.

Walker Bragman (2022-12-22). Koch-Funded Legal Group Fights to Protect COVID Misinformation. truthout.org A Koch-funded legal group is suing the state of California to protect the medical licenses of doctors who promote quack cures for Covid-19. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a right-wing litigation operation funded in large part by oil billionaire and industrialist Charles Koch, is behind the latest lawsuit. In 2021, the group received more than $1 million from Stand Together Fellowships… |