(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). 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…!
(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).
(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…
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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…
(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). 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…
(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.
(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 . . . |
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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…
(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.
(2022-12-29). The Country With Tattered Economy (c). smoothiex12.blogspot.com 
(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…
(2022-12-29). Friday 12/23: Environmental Economics for Dummies, featuring The Lorax. indybay.org ZOOM: us05web.zoom.us/j/84595777949?pwd=cEpMVFUxNXRPRUJEVU5OSnhXOXZGdz09…
(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.
(2022-12-29). 'Every issue is a disability issue'. mronline.org 
CounterSpin interview with Rebecca Vallas on disability economics.
(2022-12-29). On the Application of Xi Jinping Thought in an Imperialist Country. orinocotribune.com By Friends of Socialist China  ; 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…
(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.
(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.
(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?
(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
(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… |
(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… |
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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…
(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… |
(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. |
(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…
(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…
(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 . . . |
(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 …
(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)…
(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.
(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.
(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 …
(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.
(2022-12-29). The monsters of American capitalism. nationofchange.org Three of its prime exemplars: Trump, Bankman-Fried's, and Musk!
(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…
(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…
(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.
(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.
(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.