(2023-01-09). AUWU: 'Cut the crap, raise the rate'. greenleft.org.au While some benefits are automatically indexed, JobSeeker is not. Nova 'Jade' Sobieralski reports that the Australian Unemployed Workers Union is demanding more from a Labor government.
(2023-01-09). Brazil: 'Stop the coup offensive' says Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) as extreme right protesters storm Congress. greenleft.org.au Brazil's Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) has condemned the invasion by former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro supporters of the country's National Congress, Federal Supreme Court and presidencial residency, arguing it "represents an attempted coup d'état", reports Federico Fuentes.
(2023-01-08). Venezuela economy surges, U.S. sanction policy crumbling. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL- 2022 was a banner year for the Venezuelan economy. The Venezuelan Central Bank recorded a 19% growth rate, while the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America put it at 12%. While inflation of food and gas prices ate at workers' income in the U.S. and much of the world this past year, Venezuela inflation was low compared with previous years. This is due to booms in both food and oil sectors in Venezuela owing to the ability of the Bolivarian Revolution to overcome U.S. sanctions. | Oil industry recovery | PDVSA oil started flowing to the U.S. and EU again after March, when the Biden…
(2023-01-08). Introducing Geopolitical Economy Report: Multipolarista is evolving. geopoliticaleconomy.com We are excited to announce the creation of the independent media outlet Geopolitical Economy Report  ; an evolution and expansion of Multipolarista. | Our team will be growing, and we have exciting new projects planned, including a regular show with economists Editor-in-chief Ben Norton explains the changes (and the continuity) in the video and podcast below: | Video: | Podcast:…
(2023-01-08). Several cities may relax home buying environment. ecns.cn Home sales in China are likely to recover as some cities are being allowed to relax mortgage rate minimums for first-time homebuyers, adding fuel to the country's unfolding economic rebound, analysts said on Friday.
(2023-01-08). China National Nuclear Corporation reports steady growth in power generation. ecns.cn China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), one of the country's largest nuclear power operators, said the company had generated nearly 218.74 kilowatt-hours of electricity from commercial operation in 2022, up 11.17 percent year on year.
(2023-01-08). Sunday 1/8: The Pursuit of Happiness framed in political-economic terms. indybay.org Virtual through Google Meet: The Pursuit of Happiness framed in political-economic terms | Sunday, January 8 ∑ 7: 00 — 8: 00pm | Google Meet joining info | Video call link: meet.google.com/mqd-jtmf-gkk…
(2023-01-08). Big Pharma spent more on Stock Buybacks and Dividends than on Research and Development even during COVID. juancole.com Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment)  ; The 14 largest publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies spent $747 billion on stock buybacks and dividends from 2012 through 2021 — substantially more than the $660 billion they spent on research and development. So argue economists William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at University of Massachusetts, and àñner Tulum, a …
(2023-01-08). Socioeconomic status measure helps researchers develop artificial intelligence models, improving equity in health care. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Social determinants of health impact people's well-being and quality of life. These social determinants — conditions such as access to nutrition, safe and affordable housing, jobs, transportation, and access to health care — are some of the factors that lead to disparities in health and health care if they are not addressed. "Defining and assessing social determinants of health really invites clinicians, educators, and researchers to embrace a broader understanding of health in the social…
(2023-01-08). Milwaukee: WFNHP Local 00 leads a picket outside of Ascension CEO's home. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (WFNHP) Local 00 held a rally and picket outside of the Milwaukee home of Bernie Sherry, the CEO of Ascension Wisconsin, one of his many houses. The January 4 action was in response to the abrupt announcement of the December 23 closure of St. Francis Hospital's Labor and Delivery (L+D) Unit. | The staff losing their jobs as a result of this closure wants their union to back them in fighting to have their services reopen. WFNHP- a union of fighters- will do whatever it takes to reopen St. Francis's L+D unit. This is not just standing…
(2023-01-08). Trumpism: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. scheerpost.com 
By Michael Brenner | Trump is dead — long live Trumpism! Donald Trump's political demise is a personal implosion  ; his narcissistic self punctured by a thousand wounds from the slings and arrows of his vengeful victims, his erstwhile collaborators and scheming usurpers. Yet, the movement he inspired and instigated is very much alive. It is a grave error to equate the man's fate with the fate of the vast body of followers who -at this time  ; constitute the most potent force in the country's public life. That error is manifest in the celebration by Democrats at their 'triumph' in losing only on…
(2023-01-08). Qld Labor announces draconian penalties for youth crime. greenleft.org.au Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's announced three days before the end of last year that her government would enact laws to crack down ever harder on youth offenders. Paul Gregoire reports.
(2023-01-08). Battle for Social Democracy and Unfettered Capitalism. indybay.org Two opposing schools of thought face each other at the sickbed: neoliberalism and social democracy. But didn't the death-bells of neoliberalism ring in the course of the financial market crisis? Were not neoliberals unmasked as charlatans who first caused the whole mess with their deregulation medicine?
(2023-01-08). Blows Against the Empire—2022 In Memoriam. orinocotribune.com 
By Steve Lalla  ; Jan 6, 2023 | Throughout 2022, monopoly capitalism, with the US at its core, continued to erode from within and buckle under pressure exerted by sovereign states and peoples' movements alike. Relentless blows reigned down on the empire. These were some of the most memorable: | January 30: Prior to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the leaders of China and Russia meet, the first visit between Xi Jinping and any world leader in over two years. A Russia—China joint statement heralded the dawning of a "new era," warned against "the negative impact of the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy o…
(2023-01-08). Locals prepare special purchases‚ÄÇfor‚ÄÇSpring‚ÄÇFestival‚ÄÇin Changchun. ecns.cn People have been busy purchasing New Year goods, including candies, wine, and meat in Changchun city, northeast China's Jilin Province.
(2023-01-08). United States: Two Barrels Aim at African People's Socialist Party. orinocotribune.com Green Party leader and Cuba solidarity activist Don Fitz writes about the US DOJ repression against the African People's Socialist Party. | With new FBI and Department of "Justice" (DOJ) attacks expected in early January, a defense, mobilization and information session attracted hundreds of allies of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP). On December 23, 2022, they zoomed into the "Emergency Mass Meeting: Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!" The APSP told its supporters that it expects indictments in early January and possibly sooner. | Indictments could include many more than the four names listed as "unind…
(2023-01-07). Why the Middle East is moving and must move away from Oil and Gas. juancole.com By Elif Selin Calik |  ; ( Middle East Monitor )  ; In 2022, the biggest energy issue in the Middle East was Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil cut as the world economy entered into a period of 'heightened uncertainty and rising challenges'. In October, OPEC cut its 2022 forecast for growth …
(2023-01-07). Threat of more U.N. sanctions on Haiti. workers.org 
While the huge social, economic and political problems of Haiti have slipped out of the news, if anything they have intensified over the past few months. Credit: HaàØti-Liberté According to Helen La Lime, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of BINUH (U.N. Integrated Office in . . . |
(2023-01-07). [Perspectives] Advancing the commercial determinants of health agenda. thelancet.com The landmark 1842 Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain, by the social reformer Edwin Chadwick, was a damning indictment of how large-scale socioeconomic change during the 19th century contributed to the increased spread of epidemic and chronic diseases. Poor health among the working masses was not simply a consequence of behavioural choices or moral failings but was associated with pathogenic conditions created by the Industrial Revolution.
(2023-01-07). Cuba Says Biden Applies Blockade More Aggressively Than His Predecessors. popularresistance.org In his address at a conversation series on "Cuba in the Foreign Policy of the United States of America," held on December 14 at the Higher Institute of International Relations in Havana, Fernández de Cossío took aim at the Biden administration's enforcement of the blockade against Cuba, stating, "there can be no doubt that the economic blockade is the defining factor in the bilateral relations" between the United States and Cuba. | Biden pledged during his 2020 presidential campaign that he would "try to reverse the failed Trump policies that inflicted harm on Cubans and their families." In 2021, he claimed, "We…
(2023-01-07). Goodbye 2022 (and Beyond!). strategic-culture.org By Peter VAN BUREN | Nobody is going to miss 2022. With the won't-die pandemic, inflation at home and economic troubles abroad, plus the war in Ukraine, it has not been a happy 12 months. Nevertheless, with the year 2022 behind us, it is time for some housecleaning. Here are four memes we really should bury and not have to hear about again. | The internet changed everything/The internet promotes democracy globally. Nope, it turns out the internet was a big grift and we were allowed to play with its full potential only for a few years until the big guys wanted it back for their own. Though the grift of free speech…
(2023-01-07). Steve Bannon and China's Deep State. libya360.wordpress.com Matthew Ehret "I consider Xi Jinping the most dangerous enemy of open societies in the world. —George Soros, 2021 "China has emerged as the greatest economic and national security threat the United States has ever faced" —Steve Bannon, 2019 How to Overthrow the Communist Party of China On June 4, 2020, purged billionaire deep state operative…
(2023-01-07). Contrary to What the NYT Tells You, the Problem in An Aging Society is Distribution. cepr.net 
The New York Times had a major article reporting on how many people in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan are being forced to work well into their seventies because they lack sufficient income to retire. The piece presents this as a problem of aging societies, which will soon hit the United States and other …
(2023-01-07). "Stop US Interference": Interview with the Labour Party of Taiwan. libya360.wordpress.com No Cold War No Cold War is pleased to publish the following interview of Wu Rong-yuan, Chairperson of the Labour Party of Taiwan, conducted by Wim De Ceukelaire. The interview has been edited for clarity. In 1949, when the Communist Party of China established the People's Republic on the mainland of the country, Chiang Kai-shek,…
(2023-01-07). Friday 1/13: SF Rally-Smash US Supported Coup In Peru, US Gov & Biden Get Bloody Hands Off Peru. indybay.org Peru Consulate | 790 Market St. | San Francisco…
(2023-01-07). Australian public health system breaking down as funding cuts to Medicare deepen. wsws.org The federal Labor government "increased" Medicare payments by just 1.6 percent in July last year, when inflation had already reached 6.1 percent.
(2023-01-07). The Heat: U.S. Prison Slavery. america.cgtn.com 
Does slavery still exist in the United States of America? This past November, four U.S. states voted to remove the last vestiges of slavery from their state constitutions. Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited on the national level, and forced labor is still allowed in …
(2023-01-07). Inside The Supreme Court Case That Could Chill A Strike Wave. popularresistance.org The Supreme Court is about to consider whether employers can sue unions for perishable goods lost during a strike by claiming they're intentional property damage. | On Jan. 10, the Court will hear oral arguments in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174, in which a Seattle concrete company is seeking to overturn a Washington Supreme Court decision dismissing its suit against Local 174 for the costs of several truckloads it had to throw out after drivers walked out in 2017. The state court held that Glacier had to wait until the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] ruled on whether…
(2023-01-07). Ukraine Parliament Cheers Nazi Collaborator. strategic-culture.org 
Even neighboring Poland, a staunch ally of Kiev in the ongoing war with Russia, has criticized the Verkhovna Rada's Jan. 1 celebration of the birthday of Stepan Bandera. | By Peoples DISPATCH | Ukraine's support for neo-Nazi groups and its attempts to officially recognize pro-Nazi legions and Nazi collaborators from World War II have been steadfastly criticized by communists and other anti-fascist groups in the region. | Kiev's supporters in Europe and North America have, until now, maintained a complicit silence about these maneuvers. However, the latest gesture by the Ukrainian parliament — cheering on th…
(2023-01-07). Nuclear Fusion Hype: A Boost for U.S. Armaments, Not Clean Energy. libya360.wordpress.com Scott Scheffer Jennifer Granholm, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, led a press event on Dec. 13 to announce a major scientific breakthrough at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. There, researchers had aimed an array of the world's most powerful lasers (192 in all) at a tiny pellet for a fraction of a second. This pellet…
(2023-01-07). China optimizes medical insurance to ease financial burden of COVID-19 patients. ecns.cn Chinese authorities have released a circular to further optimize medical insurance policies to ease the financial burden of COVID-19 patients.
(2023-01-07). IRS Winks at $ Billion Tax Giveaway to the Rich. dissidentvoice.org 
President Biden's landmark Inflation Reduction Act earmarks $80 billion over the next ten years for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). According to the Treasury, most of the money will be going toward increased enforcement—specifically, stopping rich Americans from cheating on their taxes. Yet the same agency has strangely signed off on a huge tax loophole …
(2023-01-07). Black Man Accused Of 'Broke People Behavior' For Not Spending $2 K On Wedding Sparks Debate. moguldom.com A recent clip from "Love & Hip Hop: New York" in which a cast member accuses her fiancee of "broke people behavior" because he doesn't want to spend $2 ,000 on their wedding has people weighing in. During the 58-second snippet, Brooklyn-based rapper Phresher and his fiancée, Jenn Coreano, are arguing about how much she wants …
(2023-01-07). Zelensky Complicit in Corporate Takeover of Ukraine: 'It's an Investment'. libya360.wordpress.com John ParkerIn 2020, farmers blocked the parliament building in Kiev to protest legislation allowing the sale of agricultural land. "Your money is not charity, it's an investment." That's what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address to the U.S. Congress while visiting Washington on Dec. 21. He came asking for more billions to add…
(2023-01-07). [Editorial] The Lancet at 200: a start, but more to do. thelancet.com Thomas Wakley, a 27-year-old apothecary, surgeon, and sometime boxer, founded The Lancet in 1823. Wakley's intention was to publish reports of metropolitan hospital lectures, at the time a highly profitable activity for a small coterie of powerful physicians and surgeons in London. In addition to dismantling this private monopoly over medical knowledge, Wakley also hoped to provide "a correct description" of important clinical cases—"a complete Chronicle of the current Literature". His audience was national (city and country doctors) and global ("Colonial Practitioners"—a group for whom we must make o…
(2023-01-07). Australian students and youth: "We need an anti-war movement because otherwise we won't have a future" wsws.org "There's been no greater time for the building of an anti-war movement. Capitalism has no answer to the needs of the population. All it has is austerity policies."
(2023-01-07). Capitalism's Court Jester: Slavoj Žižek. orinocotribune.com By Gabriel Rockhill  ; Jan 2, 2023 | One of the most prominent intellectuals in the contemporary world was named to the list of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" in Foreign Policy magazine in 2012.
(2023-01-07). Blows Against the Empire: 2022 in Memoriam. dissidentvoice.org Throughout 2022, monopoly capitalism, with the US at its core, continued to erode from within and buckle under pressure exerted by sovereign states and peoples' movements alike. Relentless blows reigned down on the empire. These were some of the most memorable: January 30: Prior to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the leaders of China and …
(2023-01-07). Acabemos con la ideología neoliberal. globalizacion.ca Una ideología es un conjunto normativo de emociones, de ideas y de creencias colectivas que son compatibles entre sí y están especialmente referidas a la conducta social humana. Por consiguiente la ideología es una especie mental, una ortopedia que embrida…
(2023-01-07). Peace Activists Take on the Pentagon's Corporate "Merchants of Death" truthout.org Days after a U.S. warplane bombed a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing forty-two people, twenty-four of them patients, the international president of MSF, Dr. Joanne Liu walked through the wreckage and prepared to deliver condolences to family members of those who had been killed. A brief video, taped in October, 2015… |