_____ (2021-12-26). On Contact: Slow-Motion Execution Of Julian Assange. popularresistance.org On the show, Chris Hedges discusses the torture of Julian Assange with his father, John Shipton. | Julian Assange committed the empire's greatest sin — he exposed it as a criminal enterprise. He documented its lies, callous disregard for human life, rampant corruption, and innumerable war crimes. Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Labour, Trump or Biden — it does not matter. The goons who oversee the empire sing from the same satanic songbook. Empires always kill those who inflict deep and serious wounds.

Dr. Anjum Sarfraz (2021-12-26). AUKUS Leading to Nuclear Arms Race in Indo — Pacific Region. moderndiplomacy.eu To contain Chinese military and economic, influence especially in the Indo — Pacific region, USA and its allies are making all efforts including the supply of nuclear submarines (subs) to Australia a trusted associate. On 15 September 2021 Prime Minister of UK Boris Johnson, US President Joseph Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued …

Editor2 (2021-12-26). Ukraine in the Great Game. orinocotribune.com By Alexander Dugin — Dec 21, 2021 | Throughout history, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia were intertwined with a set of solid cultural, political, and economic links, to the point that the division did not appear more than mere administrative under Soviet jurisdiction. But it all changed after the collapse of the Union. | The escalation between the West and Russia | Today, under Joe Biden's neoconservative and ultra-globalist administration, relations between Russia and the United States are so strained that humanity is on the verge not of a Cold War (which has long been ongoing), but of a nuclear war, World War…

Timothy Alexander Guzman (2021-12-26). Poking the Russian Bear: US-NATO Aggression and Russia's Red Line. globalresearch.ca Following the Taliban's victory over US-NATO forces in Afghanistan, Washington is walking into another death trap, but this time on Russia's borders with the neighboring Ukraine. So now, Washington's non-partisan bureaucrats and the Military-Industrial Complex are calling for ways to …

Julia Conley (2021-12-26). Desmond Tutu, Fierce Opponent of South African and Israeli Apartheid, Dies at 90. truthout.org Leaving behind a legacy of fighting for oppressed people in South Africa and around the world, Archbishop Desmond Tutu died Sunday at age 90 in Cape Town, South Africa. The cause was reportedly cancer. | Advocates for human rights, health equity, economic justice, and nonviolence honored Tutu, who helped lead the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was formed afterwards. | The Elders, the independent group of global leaders working for j…

Editor2 (2021-12-26). The Socialist Program Red Star Over the Third World w/ Vijay Prashad: Lessons of Soviet History — Part 2. orinocotribune.com This interview is an episode of | Russia's October Revolution in 1917 and the rise of Soviet power rev…

Stephen Sefton (2021-12-26). Nicaragua — National Reality, Neocolonial Delusion. orinocotribune.com By Stephen Sefton and Jorge Capelan — Dec 22, 2021 | An academic called Jonah Walters has recently published a couple of attacks on the political and economic model being worked out in Nicaragua under the country's Sandinista government led by President Daniel Ortega. One attack published by the North American Congress on Latin America "Ortega's Developmentalism Is Based on the "Popular Economy"—But What Does that Mean?" alleges that the unquestionable economic democratization of Nicaragua's economy is in fact a mirage, in reality reinforcing neoliberal patterns of oligarchic and corporate economic pow…

Newsroom (2021-12-26). The Future of Work is About People, not Tech. moderndiplomacy.eu The future of work—with advanced technologies and new working arrangements—is here and is changing economic opportunities and employment relationships. However, according to the 2021 APEC Economic Policy Report, certain economic structures, laws and institutions across APEC remain products of the past. The report highlighted four megadrivers of the future of work. These are technological change, climate …

Olga Malik (2021-12-26). Pakistan—Russia Gas Stream: Opportunities and Risks of New Flagship Energy Project. moderndiplomacy.eu Russia's Yekaterinburg hosted the 7th meeting of the Russian-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation on November 24—26, 2021. Chaired by Omar Ayub Khan, Pakistan's Minister for Economic Affairs, and Nikolai Shulginov, Russia's Minister of Energy, the meeting was attended by around 70 policy makers, heads of key industrial companies and businessmen …

Sheikh Fakhar-e-Alam (2021-12-26). Religious Tourism in Pakistan: The Case of Sikhism & Buddhism. moderndiplomacy.eu Religious tourism plays an important role in reviving the country's economic activity through promoting religious-based tourism. Realizing the economic and political importance of this sector, the Government has taken ample measures to support this industry. Hence, with Government support and improved law and order situation, religious-based tourism in Pakistan is flourishing and attracting different communities. …

Stephen Macekura (2021-12-26). Mismeasuring progress: A critique of the growth paradigm. zcomm.org Historian Stephen J. Macekura traces the origins of the growth paradigm and explains why we are still in the grips of his powerful-but-flawed economic idea today…

_____ (2021-12-26). Mongolia is Among Russia's Key Partners in Asia. journal-neo.org Russia and Mongolia are close neighbors, and their immediate geographic proximity has determined the mutual geopolitical pull of Russia and Mongolia, an objective contributing to political, military, trade and economics, cultural, and other bilateral ties. Russian-Mongolian relations, characterized by traditional good-neighborliness, are comprehensive, oriented to further development in the spirit of strategic partnership, based on …

MD Staff (2021-12-26). How wind power is transforming communities in Viet Nam. moderndiplomacy.eu In two provinces of Viet Nam, a quiet transformation is taking place, driven by the power of renewable energy. Thien Nghiep Commune, a few hundred kilometres from Ho Chi Min City, is a community of just over 6,000 people — where for years, people relied largely on farming, fishing and seasonal labour to make ends …

_____ (2021-12-26). What's Really Causing Inflation & How We Should Deal With It. popularresistance.org While times have been getting harder for workers, it is clear that capitalists (or "big business") have been doing very well. It would seem as though everyone is against inflation. But the real problem is not that prices have been increasing but that wages have not kept up with this. It is important to look not only at why inflation has increased but at the very different question of why wages have not kept up with it.

Hadas Thier (2021-12-26). Businesses Have Manufactured Inflation Fear to Protect Profits Amid Rising Wages. truthout.org For weeks, a high-pitched panic about inflation has infused the mainstream media, most absurdly in Up until recently, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against this kind of narrative, arguing that rising prices were a s…

Ellen Brown (2021-12-26). The Real Antidote to Inflation: Stoking the Fire Without Burning Down the Barn. globalresearch.ca The Fed has options for countering the record inflation the U.S. is facing that are more productive and less risky than raising interest rates. | The Federal Reserve is caught between a rock and a hard place. Inflation grew by 6.8% …

David Waltham (2021-12-26). We should ban all new oil and gas fields. zcomm.org It would be much better for people and planet if there were no further investments in the first place…

_____ (2021-12-26). The Big Business Behind Travel Nursing. popularresistance.org As the first wave of Covid-19 hit the United States, Jen, a 53-year-old nurse struggling to pay her bills, received an intriguing message. "THE TIME HAS COME TO DEPLOY AT INCREDIBLY HIGH RATES," read the mass text from Krucial Staffing, sent to nurses nationwide in March 2020 and forwarded to Jen by a colleague. Jen (a pseudonym used to protect her from retaliation from employers) could barely believe the wages promised by the Kansas-based healthcare staffing firm. As part of its massive recruitment drive during the first wave of Covid-19, Krucial was paying $10,000 a week to nurses willing to travel‚Ä…

Liberation Staff (2021-12-26). Socialists distribute essentials, build working-class solidarity during holiday season. liberationnews.org These actions include coat and clothing distributions, toy and gift drives, serving breakfast in homeless shelters, and providing household essentials to working-class residents.

Fight Back (2021-12-26). FRSO greetings to Communist Party of the Philippines on 53rd anniversary. fightbacknews.org From: Freedom Road Socialist Organization | To: Communist Party of the Philippines | Dear Comrades, | The leadership and members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization send our warm and militant greetings to the Communist Party of the Philippines on the occasion of the of your 53rd anniversary and we wish the CPP every success in developing the people's democratic revolution. | Working and oppressed people around the world, including here in the U.S., take inspiration from heroic struggle of the people of the Philippines and the great advances made by the CPP. Your party has grown from a relatively small organiza…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-26). Attack on protesting oil refinery workers in Greece condemned. peoplesdispatch.org On December 21, police attacked the workers of Kavala Petroleum who were protesting at their plant against threats of layoffs and inadequate safety measures. The All Workers Militant Front of Greece and the Communist Party of Greece have condemned these attacks…

Fight Back (2021-12-26). A great read from Mao Zedong on his birthday. fightbacknews.org To mark the 128th anniversary of the birth of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong on December 26, 2021, Fight Back News Service is circulating his famous 1939 article "In memory of Norman Bethune." | Comrade Norman Bethune, a member of the Communist Party of Canada, was around fifty when he was sent by the Communist Parties of Canada and the United States to China; he made light of travelling thousands of miles to help us in our War of Resistance Against Japan. He arrived in Yenan in the spring of last year, went to work in the Wutai Mountains, and to our great sorrow died a martyr at his post. What kind of spirit i…

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-25). Venezuela's Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Evaluates Measures to Deal with Omicron. orinocotribune.com Venezuela's presidential task force for the prevention and control of COVID-19 met this Thursday, December 23, to evaluate mechanisms to deal with the Omicron variant that has recently been detected in the country. | The meeting, chaired by Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade. | Various officials of the government were also present at the meeting, including the Minister for Health, Carlos Alvarado; the Minister for Communication and Information, Freddy àëáñez; and the Minister for Science and Technology, Gabriela Jiménez…

Syed Zain Abbas Rizvi (2021-12-25). Russian Economic Policy: The Antithesis of Turkey's Inimical Approach. moderndiplomacy.eu In my last article, I discussed the illogical approach of the Turk premier to counter inflation. The dogmatic policies of President Erdogan are driving the Turkish economy into the ground. It is fascinating to witness the antipode to Turkey's immature dovish stance embodied by Russia. Last week, the Bank of Russia — the Russian central …

MD Staff (2021-12-25). Denmark: Focus on climate policy and labour market inclusion. moderndiplomacy.eu Denmark's economy is enjoying one of the quickest post-COVID recoveries of OECD countries. While it is important to stay vigilant to further virus outbreaks, policy can now focus on advancing the country's climate ambitions and expanding employment opportunities for low-skilled, foreign-born and female workers, according to a new OECD report. Danish economic activity rebounded rapidly …

MD Staff (2021-12-25). Pandemic Drives Need for Technology Adoption Among SMEs but Barriers Remain. moderndiplomacy.eu A survey by World Economic Forum indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for more adoption and integration of digital technology among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). However, they face numerous barriers to adopting technology at a critical time of need. While 97% of global companies have accelerated adoption of technology to get …

Robert J. Burrowes (2021-12-25). Are We Human? Are We Free? Defeating the World Economic Forum's 'Great Reset' before It Destroys Us. globalresearch.ca Governments are not driving 'The Great Reset'; it is an initiative of the global elite and governments are simply elite puppets. | Resistance requires solidarity as well as strategically-focused grassroots actions directed against the financial elite's 'Great Reset' agenda.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-25). Cuba and China Sign Cooperation Plan for Joint Promotion of Belt & Road Initiative. libya360.wordpress.com Cuba-China bilateral economic relations have hit an important milestone with the signing of a Cooperation Plan for the joint promotion of the Silk and Road Initiative. The document was signed on Friday, between the governments of Cuba and China, by Cuban Deputy Prime Minister, Ricardo Cabrisas, and President of National Development and Reform Commission, He…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-25). The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Destroying Civil Society, Engineered Economic Depression, Global Coup d'État and the "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca We are at the crossroads of one of the most serious crises in modern history. We are living history, yet our understanding of the flow of events since January 2020 has been blurred. Worldwide, people have been misled both by their governments and the media.

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-25). China's success against covid dwarfs The West's. Here's how & why. moderndiplomacy.eu Libertarians/neoliberals in The West can't believe the enormous extent of China's success at keeping down the rates of disease, and of death, and of unemployment, from covid-19, because China's policies on covid are, and have been, the exact opposite of libertarian/neoliberal. (What's called "libertarian" in America is called "neoliberal" throughout the rest of the world.) …

Yanis Varoufakis (2021-12-25). 4. Flat management, democratic planning and a basic income. zcomm.org Debate on a postcapitalism world…

Newsroom (2021-12-25). Iraq launches activities to combat child labour as part of nation-wide campaign. moderndiplomacy.eu The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the International Labour Organization kicked off a series of activities that support a nation-wide campaign to tackle the worst forms of child labour in the country. The campaign, which will target over 10,000 children, their families and guardians, teachers, employers, and the media, includes awareness raising sessions …

Editor2 (2021-12-25). How Public Workers Can Stop the Privatization of Everything. orinocotribune.com By Steve Early — Dec 21, 2021 | In new book,The Privatization of Everything, Cohen and Mikaelian, describe and debunk the vast array of privatization schemes that now litter the landscape, from private prisons and charter schools to for-profit water treatment and trash collection. | Several years ago, Don Cohen, a former central labor council staffer from San Diego, appeared on a panel discussing the privatization threats faced by union members across the country. He and other speakers were addressing a conference of state, county, and municipal workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (C…

fernando_santamaria (2021-12-25). Ordering my thoughts about the "Back Better Act" zcomm.org I've been trying to read the history of the processing of "The Back Better Act" in the Wikipedia. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build_Back_Better_Act?wprov=sfti1). The Bill derived (it was an extracted part) from the American Jobs Plan, together with the Law for Investment in Infrastructure and Labor, and was part of a package of 3.5 trillion dollars, (later reduced to

Frida Berrigan (2021-12-25). The Climate Won't Survive Our Current Appetite for Consumerism and Consumption. truthout.org Confession time: this year, I don't want to buy my kids anything for Christmas. Big one, right? Okay, let me soften that just a bit. I have bought a few modest, useful things. But that's it! No new games, no new toys, no new clothes (other than socks)… nothing. They already have too much. We have too much. Our nation is drowning in stuff and, in reality, need almost none of it. | There, I've said it! It feels good to get that off my chest, even if it makes me sound like a cold-hearted Grin…

_____ (2021-12-25). The Real Antidote To Inflation. popularresistance.org The Federal Reserve is caught between a rock and a hard place. Inflation grew by 6.8% in November, the fastest in 40 years, a trend the Fed has now acknowledged is not "transitory." The conventional theory is that inflation is due to too much money chasing too few goods, so the Fed is under heavy pressure to "tighten" or shrink the money supply. Its conventional tools for this purpose are to reduce asset purchases and raise interest rates. But corporate debt has risen by $1.3 trillion just since early 2020; so if the Fed raises rates, a massive wave of defaults is likely to result. According to financial advisor…

Luis Feliz Leon (2021-12-25). Warrior Met Coal Miners Are Spending Christmas 2021 on Strike. truthout.org This article was first published by This Christmas, as millions of families settle in to adorn fir trees, the children of striking coal miners in Alabama have asked mainly for practical gifts. Shoes and clothes top their lists, followed by Barbies and Rainbow High dolls, Legos, Nerf guns, and makeup kits. | Roughly 300 children will receive these gifts through donations collected by the Min…

Anonymous Contributor (2021-12-25). Help Save Spartacus Books in Vancouver, BC. itsgoingdown.org Call to support long-running radical infoshop and bookstore Spartacus Books in so-called Vancouver, BC. Spartacus Books is a non-profit, volunteer and collectively run infoshop on unceded Coast Salish territories. We have been running for almost 50 years and provide access to radical books and zines that are hard to find anywhere else in so-called Vancouver,…

Bejoy Sebastian (2021-12-25). Nothing left of democracy in Hong Kong. moderndiplomacy.eu Hong Kong is no longer what it was known for a few years back. The Chinese Communist Party continues to dismantle the city's democratic ethos, the latest being the drama of Legislative Council polls. Beijing has also managed to erase its bloody past from public memory. *** A week ago, on December 19, the people …

Frida Berrigan (2021-12-25). The Climate Won't Survive Our Current Appetite for Consumerism and Consumption. truthout.org Confession time: this year, I don't want to buy my kids anything for Christmas. Big one, right? Okay, let me soften that just a bit. I have bought a few modest, useful things. But that's it! No new games, no new toys, no new clothes (other than socks)… nothing. They already have too much. We have too much. Our nation is drowning in stuff and, in reality, need almost none of it. | There, I've said it! It feels good to get that off my chest, even if it makes me sound like a cold-hearted Grin…

Luis Feliz Leon (2021-12-25). Warrior Met Coal Miners Are Spending Christmas 2021 on Strike. truthout.org This article was first published by This Christmas, as millions of families settle in to adorn fir trees, the children of striking coal miners in Alabama have asked mainly for practical gifts. Shoes and clothes top their lists, followed by Barbies and Rainbow High dolls, Legos, Nerf guns, and makeup kits. | Roughly 300 children will receive these gifts through donations collected by the Min…

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-25). Venezuela's Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Evaluates Measures to Deal with Omicron. orinocotribune.com Venezuela's presidential task force for the prevention and control of COVID-19 met this Thursday, December 23, to evaluate mechanisms to deal with the Omicron variant that has recently been detected in the country. | The meeting, chaired by Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade. | Various officials of the government were also present at the meeting, including the Minister for Health, Carlos Alvarado; the Minister for Communication and Information, Freddy àëáñez; and the Minister for Science and Technology, Gabriela Jiménez…

MD Staff (2021-12-25). Pandemic Drives Need for Technology Adoption Among SMEs but Barriers Remain. moderndiplomacy.eu A survey by World Economic Forum indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for more adoption and integration of digital technology among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). However, they face numerous barriers to adopting technology at a critical time of need. While 97% of global companies have accelerated adoption of technology to get …

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-25). China's success against covid dwarfs The West's. Here's how & why. moderndiplomacy.eu Libertarians/neoliberals in The West can't believe the enormous extent of China's success at keeping down the rates of disease, and of death, and of unemployment, from covid-19, because China's policies on covid are, and have been, the exact opposite of libertarian/neoliberal. (What's called "libertarian" in America is called "neoliberal" throughout the rest of the world.) …

Editor2 (2021-12-25). How Public Workers Can Stop the Privatization of Everything. orinocotribune.com By Steve Early — Dec 21, 2021 | In new book,The Privatization of Everything, Cohen and Mikaelian, describe and debunk the vast array of privatization schemes that now litter the landscape, from private prisons and charter schools to for-profit water treatment and trash collection. | Several years ago, Don Cohen, a former central labor council staffer from San Diego, appeared on a panel discussing the privatization threats faced by union members across the country. He and other speakers were addressing a conference of state, county, and municipal workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (C…

fernando_santamaria (2021-12-25). Ordering my thoughts about the "Back Better Act" zcomm.org I've been trying to read the history of the processing of "The Back Better Act" in the Wikipedia. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build_Back_Better_Act?wprov=sfti1). The Bill derived (it was an extracted part) from the American Jobs Plan, together with the Law for Investment in Infrastructure and Labor, and was part of a package of 3.5 trillion dollars, (later reduced to

_____ (2021-12-25). The Real Antidote To Inflation. popularresistance.org The Federal Reserve is caught between a rock and a hard place. Inflation grew by 6.8% in November, the fastest in 40 years, a trend the Fed has now acknowledged is not "transitory." The conventional theory is that inflation is due to too much money chasing too few goods, so the Fed is under heavy pressure to "tighten" or shrink the money supply. Its conventional tools for this purpose are to reduce asset purchases and raise interest rates. But corporate debt has risen by $1.3 trillion just since early 2020; so if the Fed raises rates, a massive wave of defaults is likely to result. According to financial advisor…

Anonymous Contributor (2021-12-25). Help Save Spartacus Books in Vancouver, BC. itsgoingdown.org Call to support long-running radical infoshop and bookstore Spartacus Books in so-called Vancouver, BC. Spartacus Books is a non-profit, volunteer and collectively run infoshop on unceded Coast Salish territories. We have been running for almost 50 years and provide access to radical books and zines that are hard to find anywhere else in so-called Vancouver,…

Sara Flounders (2021-12-24). Wildfire surge of omicron confirms: Health care for profit more deadly than coronavirus. workers.org The ominous toll of 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, reached in the U.S. Dec. 14, confirms that health care for profit is more deadly than the virus itself. The U.S. has consistently had the most COVID-19 deaths of any country. (tinyurl.com/3nunmuv7) Since the omicron variant surfaced here Dec. 1, infection rates . . . |

_____ (2021-12-24). Amazon Warehouse Workers Walk Off The Job In Illinois. popularresistance.org On Wednesday morning, several dozen Amazon workers at two separate Chicago-area delivery stations staged a walkout to demand raises and safer working conditions, making it the first time the tech giant has seen a multi-site work stoppage in the United States. | Coming just three days before Christmas to ensure maximum impact, the action caps a year of intense organizing and protest by Amazon warehouse workers who have been on the frontlines of both the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather events. | Organized by the labor network Amazonians United, the walkouts occurred during the morning shifts at the company's…

Peter Koenig (2021-12-24). COVID-Omicron is Killing Christmas — And Beyond. Financial Crash, Inflation, Digitization. globalresearch.ca First Delta, then Omicron. Neither one of the two has ever been isolated. The vast majority of people of the 193 UN member countries — swallow the lie with fear and respect, as if it were the truth…

_____ (2021-12-24). The Sinister Convergence of Klaus Schwab's Great Reset with the Vatican and Liberation Theology. journal-neo.org Amid the 2020 global covid lockdowns and economic dislocations it has caused, Klaus Schwab, a previously low-profile founder of a Swiss-based business forum, emerged on the world stage calling for what he called a Great Reset of the entire world economy, using the pandemic as driver. He even published a book in July 2020 outlining …

MD Staff (2021-12-24). Austria: Boost labour supply and foster green and digital transitions. moderndiplomacy.eu Austria's economy is recovering well from the COVID-19 crisis thanks to decisive policy action, although challenges remain in the form of labour and skills shortages. Efforts should now focus on increasing the labour force participation of women and older workers, adjusting public finances once the recovery is fully self-sustained, and accelerating the shift to a …

Syed Zain Abbas Rizvi (2021-12-24). The Frenzied Economy of Turkey: Erdogan Unfazed by the Ineluctable Financial Collapse. moderndiplomacy.eu Inflation is a ubiquitous word nowadays in almost every discussion worldwide. While the concept is tricky to quantify objectively, the subjective interpretation (at least to a layman) is straightforward: prices rise, goods become expensive, and money loses value. Ever since the pandemic upended routine life, inflation has garnered attention from almost every walk of life. …

Editor (2021-12-24). A come to Jesus sermon from the Rev. Chris Hedges. scheerpost.com [Journalist and minister, Chris Hedges. [Photo courtesy of Chris Hedges] | Click to subscribe on: Another holiday season plagued with high Covid-19 rates and fears of infecting loved ones has come around, this time amid supply chain shortages and other economic woes. As runaway American capitalism tries to sell us consumerism as the answer to our current crises ev…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Markets continue to rise as Omicron spreads. wsws.org Wall Street's S&P 500 reached a new record high yesterday on the back of a speech by US President Biden indicating that nothing meaningful would be done to reduce the growing Omicron threat.

Newsroom (2021-12-24). Youth, Women Among Most Vulnerable to Job Loss in Southeast Asia During COVID-19. moderndiplomacy.eu Southeast Asia's youth and women bore the brunt of job losses during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released today. The report, A Crisis Like No Other—COVID-19 and Labor Markets in Southeast Asia, finds that people ages 15 to 24, who represent less than 15% of the workforce …

_____ (2021-12-24). Former Hunger Strikers Reflect On Their Experiences. popularresistance.org The huelga de hambre has been used for thousands of years. It has won many struggles," said Ana Ramirez, 42, who fasted for 24 days this spring to demand that undocumented people and other excluded workers in New York receive stimulus and unemployment money. "Esther the reina won a battle with the hunger strike." | Ramirez is referring to Queen Esther of the Old Testament's Book of Esther. The queen and her supporters fasted for three days in advance of going to ask her husband, Persian King Ahasuerus, for permission to have her enemies — who were trying to wipe out all Jews in the empire — killed. Sh…

Tony Murphy (2021-12-24). Workers, supporters demand'Amazon, recognize the Union now!'. workers.org Steps away from Broadway shows shut down by spiking COVID-19 numbers in New York City, a crowd of more than 80 people gathered in Times Square Dec. 22 to demand Amazon recognize the union being organized by the Amazon Labor Union at the company's Staten Island warehouse, as well as . . . |

Eric Toussaint (2021-12-24). The Coronavirus Pandemic has Widened Global Inequalities. zcomm.org The prices asked by Big Pharma for Covid vaccines are exorbitant…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Currency market turmoil impoverishes millions of Turkish workers. wsws.org The eruption of class battles is inevitable, as government measures in the interest of the financial aristocracy worsen the plight of millions of workers.

Ellen Brown (2021-12-24). The Real Antidote to Inflation: Stoking the Fire Without Burning Down the Barn. dissidentvoice.org The Fed has options for countering the record inflation the U.S. is facing that are more productive and less risky than raising interest rates. The Federal Reserve is caught between a rock and a hard place. Inflation grew by 6.8% in November, the fastest in 40 years, a trend the Fed has now acknowledged is not …

Jake Johnson (2021-12-24). Sanders Takes Aim at Manchin's Argument Against Build Back Better: "Not True" truthout.org Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday countered fellow Sen. Joe Manchin's recent Fox News appearance with an "Manchin, the Republicans, and corporate America say this bill will add to our national debt and make inflation worse. Not true," wrote Sanders (…

Kevin Mwanza (2021-12-24). 3 Simple Ways To Understand And Explain Bitcoin To Your Grandma Or Parents. moguldom.com Bitcoin has been the craze of the investment world this year and everyone, including school-age children, is talking about it. But how exactly do you explain Bitcoin to your grandmother this festive season over a mouthful of cookies? The largest cryptocurrency by market value was invented in 2008 and launched in 2009 on the heels …

Ann Brown (2021-12-24). What Role Did White 'No Jumper Podcast' Profiteering Have In YG And Drakeo Beef Before Murder? moguldom.com Questions are swirling around the death of Los Angeles hip-hop artist Drakeo the Ruler, who was stabbed backstage on Dec. 18 before he was due to perform at the Once Upon A Time In L.A. Festival at Exposition Park. Many people were mingling around and no one noticed the murderer, who was somehow given admission …

Paul Haeder (2021-12-24). Here's to our Health: Well, To the Health of the Profiteers! dissidentvoice.org "You know what I think?" she says. "That people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a …

Giancarlo Elia Valori (2021-12-24). Ethical aspects relating to cyberspace: Utilitarianism and deontology. moderndiplomacy.eu Obviously web ethics must primarily be behavioural in nature. Its task is to serve as a tool for making decisions in morally difficult situations. However, as long as web ethics is seen only as one of the mechanisms of the Internet normative self-regulation, based on the spontaneously formed ethos of cyberspace, it will lack the …

A. Kent MacDougall (2021-12-24). Boring From Within the Bourgeois Press: Part One. mronline.org Eugene V. Debs may be my all-time favorite American and Karl Marx my all-time favorite journalist. But my employer for a decade was The Wall Street Journal, and for another decade it was the Los Angeles Times.

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Riot police use stun guns against occupation of Kavali Oil plant by Greek workers; Romanian miners hold wildcat strike to demand early retirement and rail workers walk out spontaneously over pay; teachers demonstrate across Iran in 120 cities over wages, conditions and state repression; strike by South African Clover food workers against pay, conditions and job cuts enters second month…

_____ (2021-12-24). Capitalism Contributed To Factory Workers Deaths. popularresistance.org The weekend of December 10-11, 2021, saw a reported 30 tornadoes hitting several states from Arkansas to Illinois; as of this writing, 74 people are confirmed dead and several buildings severely damaged or totally demolished. | All the cases of death and destruction are devastating; however, the most telling and unconscionable are the deaths of eight people at a candle-making factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, and six in an Amazon facility in Edwardsville, Illinois. What makes these two cases significant is that they most likely could have been avoided, but once again capitalism's insatiable greed is significantly re…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org India: Delhi school teachers suspend online classes over unpaid salaries; Sri Lankan public sector doctors take national walkout; Australia: Rail workers and bus drivers continue industrial action in NSW.

WSWS (2021-12-24). To oppose government austerity, Sri Lankan workers need to build action committees and fight for socialist policies. wsws.org The critical lesson of this year's strikes and protests is that determination and militancy is not enough. The working class cannot defend its rights without independently mobilising on a socialist program.

Sara Flounders (2021-12-24). Wildfire surge of omicron confirms: Health care for profit more deadly than coronavirus. workers.org The ominous toll of 800,000 deaths from COVID-19, reached in the U.S. Dec. 14, confirms that health care for profit is more deadly than the virus itself. The U.S. has consistently had the most COVID-19 deaths of any country. (tinyurl.com/3nunmuv7) Since the omicron variant surfaced here Dec. 1, infection rates . . . |

WSWS (2021-12-24). Markets continue to rise as Omicron spreads. wsws.org Wall Street's S&P 500 reached a new record high yesterday on the back of a speech by US President Biden indicating that nothing meaningful would be done to reduce the growing Omicron threat.

Tony Murphy (2021-12-24). Workers, supporters demand'Amazon, recognize the Union now!'. workers.org Steps away from Broadway shows shut down by spiking COVID-19 numbers in New York City, a crowd of more than 80 people gathered in Times Square Dec. 22 to demand Amazon recognize the union being organized by the Amazon Labor Union at the company's Staten Island warehouse, as well as . . . |

Eric Toussaint (2021-12-24). The Coronavirus Pandemic has Widened Global Inequalities. zcomm.org The prices asked by Big Pharma for Covid vaccines are exorbitant…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Currency market turmoil impoverishes millions of Turkish workers. wsws.org The eruption of class battles is inevitable, as government measures in the interest of the financial aristocracy worsen the plight of millions of workers.

Peter Koenig (2021-12-24). COVID-Omicron is Killing Christmas — And Beyond. Financial Crash, Inflation, Digitization. globalresearch.ca First Delta, then Omicron. Neither one of the two has ever been isolated. The vast majority of people of the 193 UN member countries — swallow the lie with fear and respect, as if it were the truth…

Paul Haeder (2021-12-24). Here's to our Health: Well, To the Health of the Profiteers! dissidentvoice.org "You know what I think?" she says. "That people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a …

Giancarlo Elia Valori (2021-12-24). Ethical aspects relating to cyberspace: Utilitarianism and deontology. moderndiplomacy.eu Obviously web ethics must primarily be behavioural in nature. Its task is to serve as a tool for making decisions in morally difficult situations. However, as long as web ethics is seen only as one of the mechanisms of the Internet normative self-regulation, based on the spontaneously formed ethos of cyberspace, it will lack the …

A. Kent MacDougall (2021-12-24). Boring From Within the Bourgeois Press: Part One. mronline.org Eugene V. Debs may be my all-time favorite American and Karl Marx my all-time favorite journalist. But my employer for a decade was The Wall Street Journal, and for another decade it was the Los Angeles Times.

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Riot police use stun guns against occupation of Kavali Oil plant by Greek workers; Romanian miners hold wildcat strike to demand early retirement and rail workers walk out spontaneously over pay; teachers demonstrate across Iran in 120 cities over wages, conditions and state repression; strike by South African Clover food workers against pay, conditions and job cuts enters second month…

WSWS (2021-12-24). Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia. wsws.org India: Delhi school teachers suspend online classes over unpaid salaries; Sri Lankan public sector doctors take national walkout; Australia: Rail workers and bus drivers continue industrial action in NSW.

WSWS (2021-12-24). To oppose government austerity, Sri Lankan workers need to build action committees and fight for socialist policies. wsws.org The critical lesson of this year's strikes and protests is that determination and militancy is not enough. The working class cannot defend its rights without independently mobilising on a socialist program.

Newsroom (2021-12-23). With decent work and a sustainable model aquaculture could feed the world. moderndiplomacy.eu Harnessing aquaculture's potential to effectively contribute to feeding the world's growing population in the decades to come will require concerted efforts to promote sustainable enterprises and decent work for its workforce. These are among the main conclusions of the Technical meeting on the future of work in aquaculture in the context of the rural economy …

Luis Chirino (2021-12-23). 2021 Year in Review: Recapping Cuba. america.cgtn.com As the year ends on the island of Cuba, citizens will continue to face challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and a weak economy in the new year. More than eight thousand Cubans have died from COVID-19. In 2021, the pandemic continued to spread while negatively impacting the economy on the island. CGTN's …

Newsroom (2021-12-23). Structural Reforms Can Ease China's Transition to High-Quality Growth. moderndiplomacy.eu To achieve quality growth over the medium-term, China will need to rebalance its economy across several dimensions, according to Rebalancing Act, From Recovery to High-Quality Growth, the latest China Economic Update released today by the World Bank. Following a strong rebound in the first half of 2021, economic activity in China cooled rapidly in the …

Eshalaxmi Barlingay (2021-12-23). 2021 Year in Review: Haiti in spotlight. america.cgtn.com For the people of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, misery just never seems to end… decade after decade. The economy is in shambles. Natural disasters. Political corruption. Violence. In 2021, the crisis in Haiti only went from bad to worse. In July, …

_____ (2021-12-23). Who Actually Owns Corporations, Anyway? popularresistance.org According to elementary students of economics and Wall Street financiers alike, the answer to this question is as simple as it is intuitive: the shareholders. The standard narrative goes like this: a share is a "piece of a company." Accordingly, the holders of those shares are the company's collective owners. Shareholder ownership explains why an army of retail investors coordinating trades on Reddit could claim they "owned a piece" of the struggling video game retailer GameStop and why Warren Buffet is as certain he "owns" companies as varied as GEICO and Dairy Queen as less wealthy Americans are certain they ow…

Joris Leverink (2021-12-23). Mismeasuring progress: A critique of the growth paradigm. roarmag.org Cityscape of Johannesburg, South Africa in 2013. Photo: Nataly Reinch / Shutterstock.com | In recent years, more and more people have begun to question the received wisdom of "economic growth" — the idea that government policies can be measured a success or failure based on an increase in national income. Many, that is, except most economists. For them, growth is still the sacred benchmark on the road to development — for those countries deemed "undeveloped" — and something to be maintained and if possible expanded in all the OECD countries. | Governments follow suit and design their policies ar…

Staff (2021-12-23). Tea Party Redux: How the Koch Network Funds and Fuels the Anti-Lockdown Movement. democracynow.org A new report titled "How The Koch Network Hijacked The War On COVID" reveals how a right-wing network linked to billionaire Charles Koch has played a key role in fighting public health measures during the pandemic, including mask and vaccine mandates, contact tracing and lockdowns. The groups include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Donors Trust, the Hoover Institution and Hillsdale College. We speak about the contents of the report with co-author Walker Bragman, who says the right-wing network's attack on public health is designed to "maintain…

_____ (2021-12-23). What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum Demands To The US And NATO. popularresistance.org Andrei Martyanov also explains the timing. Russia is technologically and militarily in a strong position and currently can survive a break with the 'western' world without too much trouble. The U.S. is in disarray and NATO not ready to fight. It is simply the right moment. | To add to his short video I will also note that it is winter and that Europe depends on Russian gas. Gazprom is no longer offering gas at European spot markets but only delivering in previously agreed quantities to long term contract partners. This puts pressure on German regulators to finally sign off on Nord Stream II which the U.S. and Ukr…

Staff (2021-12-23). Pentagon Clamps Down on Extremism & White Supremacy After Dozens of Jan. 6 Rioters Had Military Ties. democracynow.org The Pentagon has announced new rules to slow the spread of extremism in the military, one of which will discipline soldiers for liking or resharing white nationalist and other extremist content on social media. The Pentagon announcement comes just two weeks before the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, where more than 80 of the 700 individuals charged with the attack had ties to the U.S. military. Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project Susan Corke says these rule changes are welcomed by her organization but don't go far enough to stop extremism in the armed forces. "It sh…

WSWS (2021-12-23). New Zealand government will not immediately lock down if Omicron appears in community. wsws.org While the Labour Party-led government claims it wants to keep Omicron out of the community, the cabinet has not put measures in place to prevent its rapid spread.

_____ (2021-12-23). How Public Workers Can Stop The Privatization Of Everything. popularresistance.org Several years ago, Don Cohen, a former central labor council staffer from San Diego, appeared on a panel discussing the privatization threats faced by union members across the country. He and other speakers were addressing a conference of state, county, and municipal workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a group which did not include any federal employees. When Cohen described propaganda campaigns that proponents of privatization conduct to pave the way for out-sourcing local government or state university jobs, audience members immediately recognized that kind of employer behavior a…

Staff (2021-12-23). "It's a Win for Us": Striking Kellogg's Workers Get Raises, Improved Benefits & Avoid Two-Tier System. democracynow.org In a major victory for labor rights, 1,400 unionized Kellogg's workers have ended their nearly three-month strike across four states after approving a new contract that provides a wage increase and enhanced benefits for all. The prior agreement that Kellogg's tried to bargain only offered wage increases and improved benefits to longtime workers, whereas the new agreement ensures newer workers have a guaranteed option to receive the same improvements. We speak with Kellogg's worker Kevin Bradshaw, who will return to work on Monday alongside his co-workers. "We didn't have any takeaways and no concessions, so I wou…

Liam Kennedy (2021-12-23). Stuart Delivery strike highlights UK's bogus self-employment problem. zcomm.org By misclassifying workers as 'self-employed' companies can trample over labor rights…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-23). Silicon Valley Execs Quit Good-Paying Jobs For Crypto Startups, Quick Riches. moguldom.com Some of the biggest tech companies are scrambling to retain employees as a wave of engineers and executives quit jobs that pay as much as seven-figure salaries for what's seen as a once-in-a-generation opportunity — to join crypto startups. Stories of massive crypto wealth amassed by early investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos including …

Editor2 (2021-12-23). àÅlvaro García Linera: The Central Command of the Latin American Right is the US, not Spain. orinocotribune.com The conservative command of the Latin American right is in the United States, not in Spain. Vox is small and clumsy. On the other hand, Washington promotes a series of basic values: market, individuality, institutionality against social convulsions and wealth as the goal of life, affirms àÅlvaro García Linera. | The vice president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia between 2006 and 2019 is one of the most prominent contemporary leftist intellectuals. His extensive and provocative intellectual production is the result of a political commitment that led him to imprisonment for seven years and of a solid th…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-23). NAACP President Sends Message To Biden: If You Can Afford To Pause Student Loan Payments Over And Over, You Can Cancel Them. moguldom.com Some rejoiced when President Joe Biden announced that he was extending the pause on making student loan payments for three additional months while others urged Biden to go further and cancel student loan debt altogether. Among the latter group are NAACP president Derrick Johnson and renowned wealth inequality expert and economist William "Sandy" Darity. Biden …

WSWS (2021-12-23). Australia's housing crisis and the new anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org The meteoric rise in housing and rental prices across Australia is fueling mounting social discontent, which the party deregistration laws seek to stifle.

WSWS (2021-12-23). Google executives dismiss employee demands for pay increases to meet inflation. wsws.org Employees at Google are demanding pay increases for all workers to maintain their living standards while inflation is running at an annual rate of 7 percent and the corporation is making record profits.

_____ (2021-12-23). A For-Profit Company Is Trying To Privatize Public Libraries. popularresistance.org "Even if we don't see a written-out master plan, the banning of books, the attacks on teaching real US history, the efforts to push out professors with views that transgress official US policy: In their myriad forms, these actions tell us that it's important to powerful people to restrict what ideas people can access. It's the land of the free and the home of the brave—except if you want to know what's happened, and happens, here, or to tell people about it. | It all shows us the power of ideas. As infuriating and sad and enervating as it all is, it reminds us that knowledge is power."

WSWS (2021-12-23). UK Tory government weaponises Christmas against COVID restrictions. wsws.org The government's brutal determination to keep the profits flowing at all costs is meeting widespread opposition. Workers are defying all instructions from the mass murderers in Westminster to just keep on shopping and socialising in pubs, clubs and restaurants. Millions have stopped using public transport, are working from home and are already limiting their contacts with other people.

WSWS (2021-12-23). German banks and big business profit from death in the pandemic. wsws.org Like vultures feasting on the victims of a disaster, the profiteers on the banking floors are enriching themselves from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brett Wilkins (2021-12-23). New Campaign for $15 Minimum Wage Kicks Off in Michigan. zcomm.org "Michigan persists as one of 43 states with a legacy of slavery—a subminimum wage—and a very low overall wage of just under $10 an hour. Neither is enough for people to live on."

_____ (2021-12-23). Pharmacy Workers Describe Conditions That Sparked US Walkouts. popularresistance.org Retail pharmacy workers conducted a nationwide walkout on Monday in the US, organized on social media, to protest worsening work conditions at large retail chains such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. As the hyper-infectious Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country, this much overlooked section of the health care industry is making its own demands for better working conditions, including patient safety, and an overdue increase in wages. | One pharmacist who requested to remain anonymous told the WSWS, "We work 12 hour shifts without technicians, we have no breaks and no lunch break as the drive-th…

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-23). Naked @ Work — the Neoliberal Workplace. zcomm.org Capitalism's relentless drive to growth based on global environmental exploitation has not just transformed the entire planet but is about to destroy planet earth…

Richard S. Dunn (2021-12-23). Capitalism Contributed to Factory Workers Deaths in Kentucky and Illinois. covertactionmagazine.com The weekend of December 10-11, 2021, saw a reported 30 tornadoes hitting several states from Arkansas to Illinois; as of …

Karina Huber (2021-12-23). Gen Z most stressed by COVID-19 pandemic. america.cgtn.com The global pandemic triggered a mental health crisis with rates of anxiety and depression skyrocketing around the world. But two years into the pandemic, data is emerging to show that it is one generation, in particular, that is feeling the most stressed. CGTN's Karina Huber …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-23). Fatal accidents reveal unsafe conditions in Pakistan's coal mines. peoplesdispatch.org As deadly accidents continue in various coal mines in Pakistan, senior representatives of IndustriALL Global have asked the Pakistani ambassador at Geneva to take immediate steps to ensure that Pakistan ratifies and implements ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines…

teleSUR (2021-12-23). Acteal Massacre Victims Demand Justice from The Mexican State. telesurenglish.net Twenty-four years after the killing of 45 Tzotziles Indigenous people carried out by paramilitaries, relatives and survivors of the attack marched to demand jail time for the intellectual and material authors of this tragedy. | RELATED: | With songs, prayers, crosses, incense, and candles, the Acteal Bees (Las Abejas de Acteal), a Christian and anti-neoliberal organization, remembered the dead in a collective tomb where the bodie…

Danny Haiphong (2021-12-23). What are the Fundamental Differences Between Capitalist and Socialist Democracy? orinocotribune.com By Danny Haiphong — Dec 20, 2021 | Staying true to the theme of democracy, this article is an amended speech that analyzes the differences between Capitalist vs. Socialist democracies and advocates a defense of the latter. | The United States hosted a "Summit for Democracy" on December 9th and 10th in an obvious attempt to legitimize its unipolar and hegemonic claim of leadership over the so-called "rules-based international order." While on the surface this appeared to be an unproductive move on the part of the world hegemon, it aligned well with the U.S. strategy of cloaking its aggressive and exploitative…

Special to People's World (2021-12-23). Art Perlo, 'Gentle Giant,' 1947-2021. peoplesworld.org Art Perlo, lifelong Communist beloved for his stalwart dedication, modesty, wit, and wisdom, passed away on Dec. 18 after a year-long battle with bladder cancer. He served as Ward 24 Co-Chair in New Haven, Conn., and executive board member of the Yale Unions Retirees Association. Ward 24 Alder Evette Hamilton called him a "gentle giant" …

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-23). Imperialism: Unpacking the Primary Contradiction. libya360.wordpress.com Erica Caines Global and domestic repression under imperialism are counterparts. However, this truth gets distorted in the Global North, even by so-called leftists. Living in imperialist nations, we are constantly propagandized and thus forced to internalize and repeat anti-communist rhetoric. Unless we are vigilant about studying theory and history, this will continue. The best way…

Newsroom (2021-12-23). Structural Reforms Can Ease China's Transition to High-Quality Growth. moderndiplomacy.eu To achieve quality growth over the medium-term, China will need to rebalance its economy across several dimensions, according to Rebalancing Act, From Recovery to High-Quality Growth, the latest China Economic Update released today by the World Bank. Following a strong rebound in the first half of 2021, economic activity in China cooled rapidly in the …

Newsroom (2021-12-23). With decent work and a sustainable model aquaculture could feed the world. moderndiplomacy.eu Harnessing aquaculture's potential to effectively contribute to feeding the world's growing population in the decades to come will require concerted efforts to promote sustainable enterprises and decent work for its workforce. These are among the main conclusions of the Technical meeting on the future of work in aquaculture in the context of the rural economy …

_____ (2021-12-23). Who Actually Owns Corporations, Anyway? popularresistance.org According to elementary students of economics and Wall Street financiers alike, the answer to this question is as simple as it is intuitive: the shareholders. The standard narrative goes like this: a share is a "piece of a company." Accordingly, the holders of those shares are the company's collective owners. Shareholder ownership explains why an army of retail investors coordinating trades on Reddit could claim they "owned a piece" of the struggling video game retailer GameStop and why Warren Buffet is as certain he "owns" companies as varied as GEICO and Dairy Queen as less wealthy Americans are certain they ow…

Joris Leverink (2021-12-23). Mismeasuring progress: A critique of the growth paradigm. roarmag.org Cityscape of Johannesburg, South Africa in 2013. Photo: Nataly Reinch / Shutterstock.com | In recent years, more and more people have begun to question the received wisdom of "economic growth" — the idea that government policies can be measured a success or failure based on an increase in national income. Many, that is, except most economists. For them, growth is still the sacred benchmark on the road to development — for those countries deemed "undeveloped" — and something to be maintained and if possible expanded in all the OECD countries. | Governments follow suit and design their policies ar…

Staff (2021-12-23). Tea Party Redux: How the Koch Network Funds and Fuels the Anti-Lockdown Movement. democracynow.org A new report titled "How The Koch Network Hijacked The War On COVID" reveals how a right-wing network linked to billionaire Charles Koch has played a key role in fighting public health measures during the pandemic, including mask and vaccine mandates, contact tracing and lockdowns. The groups include the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), Donors Trust, the Hoover Institution and Hillsdale College. We speak about the contents of the report with co-author Walker Bragman, who says the right-wing network's attack on public health is designed to "maintain…

_____ (2021-12-23). What Russia Says About Its Not-An-Ultimatum Demands To The US And NATO. popularresistance.org Andrei Martyanov also explains the timing. Russia is technologically and militarily in a strong position and currently can survive a break with the 'western' world without too much trouble. The U.S. is in disarray and NATO not ready to fight. It is simply the right moment. | To add to his short video I will also note that it is winter and that Europe depends on Russian gas. Gazprom is no longer offering gas at European spot markets but only delivering in previously agreed quantities to long term contract partners. This puts pressure on German regulators to finally sign off on Nord Stream II which the U.S. and Ukr…

Staff (2021-12-23). Pentagon Clamps Down on Extremism & White Supremacy After Dozens of Jan. 6 Rioters Had Military Ties. democracynow.org The Pentagon has announced new rules to slow the spread of extremism in the military, one of which will discipline soldiers for liking or resharing white nationalist and other extremist content on social media. The Pentagon announcement comes just two weeks before the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, where more than 80 of the 700 individuals charged with the attack had ties to the U.S. military. Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project Susan Corke says these rule changes are welcomed by her organization but don't go far enough to stop extremism in the armed forces. "It sh…

WSWS (2021-12-23). New Zealand government will not immediately lock down if Omicron appears in community. wsws.org While the Labour Party-led government claims it wants to keep Omicron out of the community, the cabinet has not put measures in place to prevent its rapid spread.

_____ (2021-12-23). How Public Workers Can Stop The Privatization Of Everything. popularresistance.org Several years ago, Don Cohen, a former central labor council staffer from San Diego, appeared on a panel discussing the privatization threats faced by union members across the country. He and other speakers were addressing a conference of state, county, and municipal workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a group which did not include any federal employees. When Cohen described propaganda campaigns that proponents of privatization conduct to pave the way for out-sourcing local government or state university jobs, audience members immediately recognized that kind of employer behavior a…

Liam Kennedy (2021-12-23). Stuart Delivery strike highlights UK's bogus self-employment problem. zcomm.org By misclassifying workers as 'self-employed' companies can trample over labor rights…

Staff (2021-12-23). "It's a Win for Us": Striking Kellogg's Workers Get Raises, Improved Benefits & Avoid Two-Tier System. democracynow.org In a major victory for labor rights, 1,400 unionized Kellogg's workers have ended their nearly three-month strike across four states after approving a new contract that provides a wage increase and enhanced benefits for all. The prior agreement that Kellogg's tried to bargain only offered wage increases and improved benefits to longtime workers, whereas the new agreement ensures newer workers have a guaranteed option to receive the same improvements. We speak with Kellogg's worker Kevin Bradshaw, who will return to work on Monday alongside his co-workers. "We didn't have any takeaways and no concessions, so I wou…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-23). Silicon Valley Execs Quit Good-Paying Jobs For Crypto Startups, Quick Riches. moguldom.com Some of the biggest tech companies are scrambling to retain employees as a wave of engineers and executives quit jobs that pay as much as seven-figure salaries for what's seen as a once-in-a-generation opportunity — to join crypto startups. Stories of massive crypto wealth amassed by early investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos including …

Editor2 (2021-12-23). àÅlvaro García Linera: The Central Command of the Latin American Right is the US, not Spain. orinocotribune.com The conservative command of the Latin American right is in the United States, not in Spain. Vox is small and clumsy. On the other hand, Washington promotes a series of basic values: market, individuality, institutionality against social convulsions and wealth as the goal of life, affirms àÅlvaro García Linera. | The vice president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia between 2006 and 2019 is one of the most prominent contemporary leftist intellectuals. His extensive and provocative intellectual production is the result of a political commitment that led him to imprisonment for seven years and of a solid th…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-23). NAACP President Sends Message To Biden: If You Can Afford To Pause Student Loan Payments Over And Over, You Can Cancel Them. moguldom.com Some rejoiced when President Joe Biden announced that he was extending the pause on making student loan payments for three additional months while others urged Biden to go further and cancel student loan debt altogether. Among the latter group are NAACP president Derrick Johnson and renowned wealth inequality expert and economist William "Sandy" Darity. Biden …

WSWS (2021-12-23). Australia's housing crisis and the new anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org The meteoric rise in housing and rental prices across Australia is fueling mounting social discontent, which the party deregistration laws seek to stifle.

WSWS (2021-12-23). Google executives dismiss employee demands for pay increases to meet inflation. wsws.org Employees at Google are demanding pay increases for all workers to maintain their living standards while inflation is running at an annual rate of 7 percent and the corporation is making record profits.

_____ (2021-12-23). A For-Profit Company Is Trying To Privatize Public Libraries. popularresistance.org "Even if we don't see a written-out master plan, the banning of books, the attacks on teaching real US history, the efforts to push out professors with views that transgress official US policy: In their myriad forms, these actions tell us that it's important to powerful people to restrict what ideas people can access. It's the land of the free and the home of the brave—except if you want to know what's happened, and happens, here, or to tell people about it. | It all shows us the power of ideas. As infuriating and sad and enervating as it all is, it reminds us that knowledge is power."

WSWS (2021-12-23). German banks and big business profit from death in the pandemic. wsws.org Like vultures feasting on the victims of a disaster, the profiteers on the banking floors are enriching themselves from the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

WSWS (2021-12-23). UK Tory government weaponises Christmas against COVID restrictions. wsws.org The government's brutal determination to keep the profits flowing at all costs is meeting widespread opposition. Workers are defying all instructions from the mass murderers in Westminster to just keep on shopping and socialising in pubs, clubs and restaurants. Millions have stopped using public transport, are working from home and are already limiting their contacts with other people.

Brett Wilkins (2021-12-23). New Campaign for $15 Minimum Wage Kicks Off in Michigan. zcomm.org "Michigan persists as one of 43 states with a legacy of slavery—a subminimum wage—and a very low overall wage of just under $10 an hour. Neither is enough for people to live on."

_____ (2021-12-23). Pharmacy Workers Describe Conditions That Sparked US Walkouts. popularresistance.org Retail pharmacy workers conducted a nationwide walkout on Monday in the US, organized on social media, to protest worsening work conditions at large retail chains such as CVS, Walgreens and Walmart. As the hyper-infectious Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country, this much overlooked section of the health care industry is making its own demands for better working conditions, including patient safety, and an overdue increase in wages. | One pharmacist who requested to remain anonymous told the WSWS, "We work 12 hour shifts without technicians, we have no breaks and no lunch break as the drive-th…

Richard S. Dunn (2021-12-23). Capitalism Contributed to Factory Workers Deaths in Kentucky and Illinois. covertactionmagazine.com The weekend of December 10-11, 2021, saw a reported 30 tornadoes hitting several states from Arkansas to Illinois; as of …

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-23). Naked @ Work — the Neoliberal Workplace. zcomm.org Capitalism's relentless drive to growth based on global environmental exploitation has not just transformed the entire planet but is about to destroy planet earth…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-23). Fatal accidents reveal unsafe conditions in Pakistan's coal mines. peoplesdispatch.org As deadly accidents continue in various coal mines in Pakistan, senior representatives of IndustriALL Global have asked the Pakistani ambassador at Geneva to take immediate steps to ensure that Pakistan ratifies and implements ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines…

teleSUR (2021-12-23). Acteal Massacre Victims Demand Justice from The Mexican State. telesurenglish.net Twenty-four years after the killing of 45 Tzotziles Indigenous people carried out by paramilitaries, relatives and survivors of the attack marched to demand jail time for the intellectual and material authors of this tragedy. | RELATED: | With songs, prayers, crosses, incense, and candles, the Acteal Bees (Las Abejas de Acteal), a Christian and anti-neoliberal organization, remembered the dead in a collective tomb where the bodie…

Danny Haiphong (2021-12-23). What are the Fundamental Differences Between Capitalist and Socialist Democracy? orinocotribune.com By Danny Haiphong — Dec 20, 2021 | Staying true to the theme of democracy, this article is an amended speech that analyzes the differences between Capitalist vs. Socialist democracies and advocates a defense of the latter. | The United States hosted a "Summit for Democracy" on December 9th and 10th in an obvious attempt to legitimize its unipolar and hegemonic claim of leadership over the so-called "rules-based international order." While on the surface this appeared to be an unproductive move on the part of the world hegemon, it aligned well with the U.S. strategy of cloaking its aggressive and exploitative…

Norman Solomon (2021-12-22). The Pentagon's 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable. indybay.org Militarism and neoliberalism in a dance of death…

WSWS (2021-12-22). Finance capital and the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Since the interventions by central banks, led by the Fed, into financial markets, starting in March 2020, they have been buying financial assets at the rate of $800 million per hour.

Jim Hightower (2021-12-22). Building Community, One Fruit Tree at a Time. otherwords.org Some years ago, a young, hippyish couple knocked on my front door. They had noticed that I had fig trees in the yard, laden with summer fruit. If I wasn't going to pick them all, they asked, could they harvest some figs? | Since I was about to take a trip, I said: Sure, have at 'em. | Upon my return, as I stood at the door fumbling for my keys, I looked down — and there were two jars of delicious fig jam awaiting me. | A little common neighborliness can be deeply enriching, in so many ways. | I remembered my happy fig exchange recently when I read that a fast-growing, underground fruit economy is spreading…

Karen Conner (2021-12-22). The Good News in 2022 Will Be the Economy. cepr.net I feel very confident in saying that 2022 will be a very good year for the economy. We are looking at a situation where we have low unemployment, falling inflation, and rising real wages.

Mary C. King (2021-12-22). Affordable Child Care Is the Boost Our Economy Needs. otherwords.org Child care is one of the biggest expenses many families face — in much of the country, it can run higher than college tuition. Could a national child care program ease that burden? | We've come close before. During World War II, the federal government provided child care around the clock to enable more women to work in the war industries. In 1971, we nearly got a national child care program until President Richard Nixon vetoed legislation that had strong bipartisan support. | Now, with Senator Joe Manchin stalling President Biden's Build Back Better Act, we could be on the brink of another disappointment. O…

Karen Dolan (2021-12-22). Three Reasons to Be Hopeful as a Hard Year Comes to a Close. otherwords.org There's no getting around it: 2021 has been a tough year. As with 2020, many of us are glad to see its back end. Do let the door hit you on the way out. | Yet, there is more than just Senator Joe Manchin's coal and Omicron fears in our stockings this holiday season. There are some reasons to be hopeful too. | The first reason to be hopeful is — us. We the people. | Social movements, struggling families, activists, and advocates are crushed that Republicans and Senator Manchin have set back the Build Back Better Act. But these movements have done worlds to make long-hoped-for improvements in our economy poss…

teleSUR (2021-12-22). IMF Admits That Program With Argentina Failed Its Objectives. telesurenglish.net The loan for 57 billion dollars that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted to Argentina in 2018, record in its history, was "absurd" and "was not used for anything good", considered this Wednesday the Argentine Minister of Economy, Matín Guzmán. | People wait to pick up food in a dining room in La Matanza, 30 km from the City of Buenos Aires on December 15, 2021…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2021-12-22). US blockade restricts Cuban economic growth. indybay.org Havana, Dec 16 (Prensa Latina) The intensified economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States constitutes one of the factors that imposes the most restrictions on the development of Cuban economy, experts on the subject agreed here today.

Asa Winstanley (2021-12-22). Protesters against Israeli ambassador exonerated by university. electronicintifada.net London School of Economics says "no evidence whatsoever of protestors having broken the law."

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-22). The 2020-21 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Destroying Civil Society, Engineered Economic Depression, Global Coup d'État and the "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca We are at the crossroads of one of the most serious crises in modern history. We are living history, yet our understanding of the flow of events since January 2020 has been blurred. Worldwide, people have been misled both by their governments and the media.

Maurizio Coppola (2021-12-22). Why Italy is not our country of the year. peoplesdispatch.org The London-based publication The Economist The Economist notes three reasons for this change: First, a new prime minister Mario Draghi who is described as responsible and confident; second, a rapid economic recovery from the COVID crisis compared t…

Pablo Abufom (2021-12-22). Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements. zcomm.org Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet…

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). Taiwan export orders from mainland, Hong Kong up 25.3 pct in November. ecns.cn Taiwan companies received export orders from the mainland and Hong Kong worth 16.08 billion U.S. dollars in November, an increase of 25.3 percent year on year, the island's economic affairs department said.

teleSUR- lvm -HIM (2021-12-22). Cuba prevé recuperación económica y crecimiento del PIB en 2022. telesurtv.net Transformar el sistema empresarial estatal, sujeto principal del modelo económico, es un desafío en la gestión gubernamental cubana.

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). China's growth likely to moderate next year, World Bank says. ecns.cn China's economic growth is projected to moderate to 5.1 percent in 2022, after achieving 8 percent this year as predicted.

John Feffer (2021-12-22). The "Selling" of Degrowth. zcomm.org Can those who advocate hitting the brakes on economic growth get their message across before it's too late?>

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). Major countries should shoulder responsibilities amid Omicron surges: Chinese ambassador. ecns.cn Major countries must shoulder their responsibilities, take the lead to provide COVID-19 vaccines for low-and middle-income countries, and help them foster production capacity as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading around the globe.

Berry Craig (2021-12-22). Kentucky 'Rock of Labor' memorial survives tornado, symbolizing workers' resolve. peoplesworld.org The powerful tornado that ravaged Mayfield, Ky., on the night of Dec. 10 left the 1880s-vintage Graves County Courthouse in shambles, tearing away the cupola and most of the second floor. Yet, the "Rock of Labor," a 14-year-old rough-hewn brown sandstone memorial to old United Steelworkers Local 665, weathered the violent storm that scourged western …

Steve Early (2021-12-22). How Labor Can Stop 'The Privatization of Everything'. zcomm.org Review of The Privatization of Everything: How The Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back…

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). No 'forced labor' in Xinjiang: A revealing trip to U.S.-sanctioned silicon factory. ecns.cn The vast expanses of Gobi deserts in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are normally devoid of life, yet this is where numerous tall futuristic iron structures glow in the dark throughout the night.

Labor Video Project (2021-12-22). STOP FCMAT Attack On Oakland Public Schools! OEA, Community & Pols Oppose $90 M In Cuts. indybay.org The Oakland Education Association, politicians and community organizations spoke out against the demands of the FCMAT for $90 million in cutbacks in the public schools or the district would be put under trusteeship.

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-22). Low Wages and Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. zcomm.org The will to collective action now reemergent on the campus represents a path toward reversing the trends of exorbitant tuition, an exploited contingent labor pool and the concentration of power in administrative hands…

Michael Sainato (2021-12-22). U.S. Labor Unions on the March in 2021 After Years of Decline. zcomm.org Workers went on strike and pushed union drives in record numbers after corporations made giant pandemic profits…

teleSUR, DRL, JCM (2021-12-22). Cifra de muertos tras naufragio en Madagascar ascienden a 64. telesurtv.net El presidente Andry Rajoelina decretó un día de duelo nacional por las víctimas del naufragio y las labores de rescate.

WSWS (2021-12-22). Finance capital and the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Since the interventions by central banks, led by the Fed, into financial markets, starting in March 2020, they have been buying financial assets at the rate of $800 million per hour.

Elsy Fors Garzon (2021-12-22). US blockade restricts Cuban economic growth. indybay.org Havana, Dec 16 (Prensa Latina) The intensified economic, financial and commercial blockade of the United States constitutes one of the factors that imposes the most restrictions on the development of Cuban economy, experts on the subject agreed here today.

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). China's growth likely to moderate next year, World Bank says. ecns.cn China's economic growth is projected to moderate to 5.1 percent in 2022, after achieving 8 percent this year as predicted.

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). Taiwan export orders from mainland, Hong Kong up 25.3 pct in November. ecns.cn Taiwan companies received export orders from the mainland and Hong Kong worth 16.08 billion U.S. dollars in November, an increase of 25.3 percent year on year, the island's economic affairs department said.

Pablo Abufom (2021-12-22). Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements. zcomm.org Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet…

John Feffer (2021-12-22). The "Selling" of Degrowth. zcomm.org Can those who advocate hitting the brakes on economic growth get their message across before it's too late?>

teleSUR- lvm -HIM (2021-12-22). Cuba prevé recuperación económica y crecimiento del PIB en 2022. telesurtv.net Transformar el sistema empresarial estatal, sujeto principal del modelo económico, es un desafío en la gestión gubernamental cubana.

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). Major countries should shoulder responsibilities amid Omicron surges: Chinese ambassador. ecns.cn Major countries must shoulder their responsibilities, take the lead to provide COVID-19 vaccines for low-and middle-income countries, and help them foster production capacity as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading around the globe.

Andrew Chuter (2021-12-22). Inner West Council result shows strong mood for change. greenleft.org.au There is a strong mood for progressive change in the inner west, as the demerger vote and swings to Greens and Labor show. Andrew Chuter reports.

Labor Video Project (2021-12-22). STOP FCMAT Attack On Oakland Public Schools! OEA, Community & Pols Oppose $90 M In Cuts. indybay.org The Oakland Education Association, politicians and community organizations spoke out against the demands of the FCMAT for $90 million in cutbacks in the public schools or the district would be put under trusteeship.

Michael Sainato (2021-12-22). U.S. Labor Unions on the March in 2021 After Years of Decline. zcomm.org Workers went on strike and pushed union drives in record numbers after corporations made giant pandemic profits…

Steve Early (2021-12-22). How Labor Can Stop 'The Privatization of Everything'. zcomm.org Review of The Privatization of Everything: How The Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back…

teleSUR, DRL, JCM (2021-12-22). Cifra de muertos tras naufragio en Madagascar ascienden a 64. telesurtv.net El presidente Andry Rajoelina decretó un día de duelo nacional por las víctimas del naufragio y las labores de rescate.

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-22). Low Wages and Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. zcomm.org The will to collective action now reemergent on the campus represents a path toward reversing the trends of exorbitant tuition, an exploited contingent labor pool and the concentration of power in administrative hands…

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). No 'forced labor' in Xinjiang: A revealing trip to U.S.-sanctioned silicon factory. ecns.cn The vast expanses of Gobi deserts in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are normally devoid of life, yet this is where numerous tall futuristic iron structures glow in the dark throughout the night.

Juan Cole (2021-12-22). Vaccinating 200 million Americans. zcomm.org The Commonwealth Fund finds that without Biden's vaccination drive, a million and a half Americans would have died this year…

Norbert Trenkle (2021-12-22). The true costs of capitalist wealth. indybay.org What drives the capitalist mode of production is the endless compulsion to increase abstract wealth, or, put more simply, the compulsion to turn money into more money… Society is richer than it knows, because it does not take all kinds of wealth factors into account in GDP.

WSWS (2021-12-22). Inflation soars to record level as UK wages stagnate. wsws.org The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, considered to be more accurate as it includes factors such as mortgage payments, rose to 7.1 percent last month, its highest level in more than 30 years.

Peter Koenig (2021-12-22). COVID-Omicron is Killing Christmas — And Beyond. Financial Crash, Inflation, Digitization. globalresearch.ca Omicron, a so-called covid-variant, has never been isolated. Whatever the current narrative — 193 UN member governments tell you in lockstep, what the mainstream media tell you in lockstep — and what the majority in the street of the 193 …

Action Report (2021-12-22). Surprise Protests at War Profiteers Boeing and Lockheed Martin in Silicon Valley. indybay.org Noisy visitors descended on two of the "Big 5" war companies in Menlo Park and Palo Alto on December 10. Members of CodePink, the Raging Grannies, Bay Area Sunrise Movement, Vigil for Democracy, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and others joined in protest. Activists delivered messages demanding the war profiteers transition to life-enhancing business instead of making a killing on killing.

ecns.cn (2021-12-22). China develops complete BDS industrial chain. ecns.cn China has developed a complete industrial chain of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), according to the China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO).

Anonymous765 (2021-12-22). SouthFront Race For Survival! southfront.org DEAR FRIENDS, | : | we appeal to all our readers and viewers, to our constant supporters!: | In the current difficult conditions, we are forced to act as being in a besieged fortress. Without your regular participation in SF life, our activities will be stopped. | We stay still to save the vestiges of freedom of speech and to show you the real face of the world most dangerous crises. | Though, we are still in the crosshairs, and without your regular support, SouthFront is done for. | Today, you can send your donations via BTC or Bitcoincash. | In order to support the activities of SouthFront throu…

Editor2 (2021-12-22). Destruction of the Soviet Union: a Crime Without Statute of Limitations. orinocotribune.com Statement of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the United Communist Party of Russia (OKP) in connection with the 30th anniversary of the unconstitutional liquidation of the USSR in December 1991. | In December 1991, the largest state on the planet, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the first ever socialist state of workers and peasants, disappeared from the political map of the world. | In the context of the general crisis of Gorbachev's "perestroika" policy, few people paid attention to the blatant violation of all conceivable and inconceivable constitutional procedures during the "dissolution" of…

Legal Abortion Once, For All (2021-12-22). Chants in the Night — We Won't Give Up without a Fight! indybay.org December 1 was a day of many demos in the SF Bay Area to demand that the Supreme Court protect Roe v. Wade. In San Francisco at Market and Powell, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) hosted a rally. In this video, organizer Mei Mei with PSL speaks following enthusiastic rounds of chanting.

Norman Solomon (2021-12-21). The Pentagon's 20-year killing spree has always treated civilians as expendable. nationofchange.org Overall, military spending accounts for about half of the federal government's total discretionary spending — while programs for helping instead of killing are on short rations for local, state and national government agencies.

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-21). The Transition from Matriarchy to Patriarchy 101: (My best attempt!). anchor.fm In this episode I do my best to explain just that, through historical and dialectical materialist analysis and an understanding of political-economic development in human history I try to show how the transition from traditional Matriarchal societies developed into Patriarchal ones. If I missed anything or spoke too little about something, please tell me! Also check out "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State" by Engels, plus a recent episode of Probably Cancelled Podcast with an interview by Michael Parenti titled, "Male Terrorism and the Political Economy of Sex Oppression". Hope you enjoy th…

Matthew Daly (2021-12-21). Despite Manchin's blow to Build Back Better, Biden boosts fuel economy standards to fight climate change. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major step to fight climate change, the Biden administration is raising vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases, reversing a Trump-era rollback that loosened fuel efficiency standards. A final rule issued Monday would raise mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of …

_____ (2021-12-21). Unions Are Not Only Good For Workers. popularresistance.org We know that unions promote economic equality and build worker power, helping workers to win increases in pay, better benefits, and safer working conditions. | But that's not all unions do. Unions also have powerful effects on workers' lives outside of work. | In this report, we document the correlation between higher levels of unionization in states and a range of economic, personal, and democratic well-being measures. In the same way unions give workers a voice at work, with a direct impact on wages and working conditions, the data suggest that unions also give workers a voice in shaping their communities. Wher…

ecns.cn (2021-12-21). Xi extends congratulations on 40th anniversary of Xiamen SEZ. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in east China's Fujian Province.

Staff (2021-12-21). EU court rules on business rights in light of exploding costs for ditching Iran deals. rt.com The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has ruled that companies based in the EU can cancel contracts with Iranian organizations if upholding the original deal would lead to "disproportionate economic loss." | On Tuesday, the ECJ set a precedent by

Staff (2021-12-21). Regional governor bans all foreigners from driving taxis. rt.com The leader of Russia's Tyumen region has issued a decree completely banning all foreigners from working in the public transport system, in a move that will force taxi and bus companies to only hire drivers with a Russian passport. | The move follows announcements made by the heads of other regions, such as Moscow, where the mayor recently announced that it was developing a plan to eliminate migrant labor in the construction industry. | Like construction, taxi-driving is popular with many economic migrants in Russia due to the lack of any professional qualification and ease of finding a job. In Tyumen, where th…

_____ (2021-12-21). Next Phase In US Economic And Political Crisis Begins. popularresistance.org Months ago this writer predicted that Senator Manchin would never support Biden's 'Build Back Better' Bill and was simply engaging in 'bad faith bargaining' to string the Democrats along. Manchin's goal was to get the Democrat leadership—Biden, Pelosi, Durbin, Shumer et. al.—to reduce their proposals, which they conveniently did, on repeated occasions. | But Manchin's real objective has always been to shit can the bill, in order to prevent the necessity of raising taxes on corporations and investors in order to pay for it. To borrow a phrase: "It's the Tax Cuts, Stupid!". | The taxes involved in the B…

WSWS (2021-12-21). UK Tesco workers—reject USDAW-Unite pay sellout! wsws.org USDAW and Unite are recommending workers call off their offensive and accept an effective pay cut in conditions in which they occupy a powerful economic position and confront the serious dangers of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Staff (2021-12-21). Gabriel Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements That Fought Off Far-Right Threat. democracynow.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in Chile and Latin America more broadly.

Morteza Ahmadi Al Hashem (2021-12-21). Iran's trade with EAEU records 73% growth in 8 months: IRICA. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 22 (MNA) — Spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said that Iran's trade with Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)'s member states in the first eight months of the current Iranian year saw a 73% increase.

Inequality (2021-12-21). The Year in Inequality in 10 Charts: Our Economic and Racial Divides grew Wider in 2021. juancole.com Blogging Our Great Divide by Sarah Anderson Brian Wakamo | — A year ago we had such high hopes. We expected the Covid vaccine rollout to bring a swift end to the pandemic, opening a window for pushing bold solutions to the long-standing economic, racial, and gender divides that had grown even wider under Covid. …

Amy Goodman (2021-12-21). Social Movements in Chile Fend Off Far Right Threat With Gabriel Boric's Victory. truthout.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-21). Senior Economist At Moody's, Mark Zandi: I'm Lowering My Economic Forecast For US Due To Omicron Variant. moguldom.com Moody's Analytics is expected to downgrade its U.S. economic forecast by as much as one percentage point in the coming days due to the double blow from the intensifying pandemic and Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to President Joe Biden's signature Build Back Better legislation. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNN on Monday that …

Staff (2021-12-21). Cuba proyecta continuar su gradual recuperación económica en 2022 y espera un crecimiento del 4 por ciento de su PIB. cubadebate.cu La economía cubana proyecta continuar su gradual recuperación en 2022 y alcanzar un crecimiento del PIB, a precios constantes, en el entorno del 4%, para lo cual resulta clave el control de la pandemia, dijo este martes Alejandro Gil Fernández, vice primer ministro y ministro de Economía y Planificación, a diputados reunidos en el Palacio de Convenciones de La Habana.

Editor2 (2021-12-21). Want to Know How to Beat COVID? Look at China. orinocotribune.com By Scott Scheffer — Dec 17, 2021 | The world is now nearing the end of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States has the highest death toll in the world — 823,390 as of Dec. 16. | With all the scientific resources available, and billions of dollars in the vaults of the richest capitalist class in history, the U.S. should have been able to succeed in a vaccination campaign and treat everyone before they were infected. Vaccines should have made their way throughout the world, including the global south where the challenges of poverty magnify the horrors of the pandemic. | Instead, the W…

WSWS (2021-12-21). Price increases for food and other basic necessities to squeeze Canadian workers' already hard-pressed incomes. wsws.org The rising cost of foodstuffs is especially devastating for workers and their families, many of whom struggle to put food on the table, never mind the foods necessary for a healthy and balanced diet.

Editor (2021-12-21). LABOUR live at Metabolic Rift. mronline.org Titled Metabolic Rift, the month-long event series combined both an exhibition spread across Berlin's Kraftwerk venue and a series of concerts that captured the spirit of Berlin through site-specific interventions and live performance.

sputniknews (2021-12-21). Beijing Takes 'Reciprocal Countermeasures' in Response to US Anti-China Sanctions Over Uyghur Issue. sputniknews.com Earlier this month, the US slapped a new package of sanctions on China, alleging that Beijing has been using the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang Province as forced labour, claims the Chinese government rejects.

WSWS (2021-12-21). New Zealand: More bodies photographed after sealing of Pike River mine. wsws.org The announcement underlines the criminality of the Labour Party government's decision to permanently seal the mine, preventing the 29 bodies being recovered and the 2010 disaster properly investigated.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-21). Hospitality workers on strike in Cambodia's biggest casino. peoplesdispatch.org Despite pressure from authorities, more than 1,300 workers in Phnom Penh's NagaWorld have been on strike against mass lay-offs and wage cuts. The entire leadership of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld is among those laid off…

Tony Murphy (2021-12-21). Rally for Amazon workers! Dec. 22, New York City. workers.org New York City Amazon union organizing is accelerating, as Staten Island Amazon workers refile for union election. On Dec. 22 the Amazon Labor Union will resubmit its petition for a union vote at the facility, known as JFK8, to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers will hold a lunchtime walkout . . . |

_____ (2021-12-21). Who Might Strike in 2022? Hundreds of Big Contracts Will Be Up. popularresistance.org Workers are already sensing their increased leverage in a tight labor market. They'll be feeling the squeeze of record inflation while their employers rake in profits. There's every reason to hold the line against concessions, or to win back what they gave away before. | A Bloomberg analysis in November found that nearly 200 large union contracts (covering at least 1,000 workers) would expire between then and the end of 2022. Together these contracts cover 1.3 million workers—and there are hundreds of thousands more covered under the hundreds of smaller contracts that are also expiring. Here are some of the…

Labor Video Project (2021-12-21). SF UESF Teachers & Supporters Demand No Cuts In the Class & Rally Against At SFUSD HQ. indybay.org Hundreds of teachers, students and supporters of public education rallied at the SFUSD offices to protest the proposed $125 million dollar budget cuts.

sputniknews (2021-12-21). Gas Futures Prices in Europe Top $2,000 per 1,000 Cubic Meters for 1st Time. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Gas futures prices in Europe on Tuesday topped record $2,000 for 1,000 cubic meters minutes after breaking another record of $1,937.

Ragip Soylu (2021-12-21). Turkish dollar? Erdogan's new financial investment tool explained. middleeasteye.net Turkish dollar? Erdogan's new financial investment tool explained | Scheme has put a sudden stop to the lira's meltdown, but concerns are high that it will also create huge public debt and more inflation | Tue, 12/21/2021 – 08: 25 | Is Erdogan's new investment tool a 'veiled interest rate hike'?, 7 December 2021 (AFP) | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unveiling of a new lira investment instrumen…

_____ (2021-12-21). Next Phase in US Economic and Political Crisis Begins. popularresistance.org The response of Democrat leaders to Manchin's announcement killing the bill has been typically timid. Senator Sanders replied they should put the bill to a vote in the Senate to show West Virginians where Manchin stands. As if it was not already clear to everyone! Dick Durbin's reply was 'let's all go home for Xmas' and we'll all feel better when we return and maybe can get something done'. Such timidity reveals traditional Democrat political pusillanimity and a desperate 'too clever' spin that the bill isn't quite dead. Somehow the Zombie legislation can be resurrected. But Build Back Better is not only DOA, but…

_____ (2021-12-21). New Program Is Secretly Privatizing Medicare. popularresistance.org A new program is placing Medicare recipients into private health insurance plans without their knowledge or consent in a final effort to fully privatize our national Medicare system. Known as "Direct Contract Entities (DCEs)," this program is putting more of our healthcare system into the hands of private equity to generate enormous profits at the expense of our health. Clearing the FOG speaks about this with Kay Tillow, a long time health care, civil rights and union activist. Tillow explains what these entities are, why they threaten the future of our entire healthcare system and how they block our ability to a…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-21). Senior Economist At Moody's, Mark Zandi: I'm Lowering My Economic Forecast For US Due To Omicron Variant. moguldom.com Moody's Analytics is expected to downgrade its U.S. economic forecast by as much as one percentage point in the coming days due to the double blow from the intensifying pandemic and Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to President Joe Biden's signature Build Back Better legislation. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNN on Monday that …

Editor2 (2021-12-21). Want to Know How to Beat COVID? Look at China. orinocotribune.com By Scott Scheffer — Dec 17, 2021 | The world is now nearing the end of the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States has the highest death toll in the world — 823,390 as of Dec. 16. | With all the scientific resources available, and billions of dollars in the vaults of the richest capitalist class in history, the U.S. should have been able to succeed in a vaccination campaign and treat everyone before they were infected. Vaccines should have made their way throughout the world, including the global south where the challenges of poverty magnify the horrors of the pandemic. | Instead, the W…

_____ (2021-12-21). Who Might Strike in 2022? Hundreds of Big Contracts Will Be Up. popularresistance.org Workers are already sensing their increased leverage in a tight labor market. They'll be feeling the squeeze of record inflation while their employers rake in profits. There's every reason to hold the line against concessions, or to win back what they gave away before. | A Bloomberg analysis in November found that nearly 200 large union contracts (covering at least 1,000 workers) would expire between then and the end of 2022. Together these contracts cover 1.3 million workers—and there are hundreds of thousands more covered under the hundreds of smaller contracts that are also expiring. Here are some of the…

Tony Murphy (2021-12-21). Rally for Amazon workers! Dec. 22, New York City. workers.org New York City Amazon union organizing is accelerating, as Staten Island Amazon workers refile for union election. On Dec. 22 the Amazon Labor Union will resubmit its petition for a union vote at the facility, known as JFK8, to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers will hold a lunchtime walkout . . . |

WSWS (2021-12-21). UK Tesco workers—reject USDAW-Unite pay sellout! wsws.org USDAW and Unite are recommending workers call off their offensive and accept an effective pay cut in conditions in which they occupy a powerful economic position and confront the serious dangers of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Staff (2021-12-21). Gabriel Boric Win in Chile Is "Huge Victory" for Social Movements That Fought Off Far-Right Threat. democracynow.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in Chile and Latin America more broadly.

Amy Goodman (2021-12-21). Social Movements in Chile Fend Off Far Right Threat With Gabriel Boric's Victory. truthout.org Former student activist and leftist Gabriel Boric will become Chile's youngest president after easily defeating the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast with over 55% of the vote. Boric has vowed to fight for progressive social reforms and overhaul the neoliberal economic policies left by the U.S.-backed dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. We speak with Chilean writer Pablo Abufom and feminist activist Javiera Manzi, who say Boric's victory signals an opening for progressive policy in…

John Feffer (2021-12-21). The "selling" of degrowth. nationofchange.org Can those who advocate hitting the brakes on economic growth get their message across before it's too late?>

WSWS (2021-12-21). Price increases for food and other basic necessities to squeeze Canadian workers' already hard-pressed incomes. wsws.org The rising cost of foodstuffs is especially devastating for workers and their families, many of whom struggle to put food on the table, never mind the foods necessary for a healthy and balanced diet.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-21). Hospitality workers on strike in Cambodia's biggest casino. peoplesdispatch.org Despite pressure from authorities, more than 1,300 workers in Phnom Penh's NagaWorld have been on strike against mass lay-offs and wage cuts. The entire leadership of the Labour Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld is among those laid off…

Editor (2021-12-21). LABOUR live at Metabolic Rift. mronline.org Titled Metabolic Rift, the month-long event series combined both an exhibition spread across Berlin's Kraftwerk venue and a series of concerts that captured the spirit of Berlin through site-specific interventions and live performance.

WSWS (2021-12-21). New Zealand: More bodies photographed after sealing of Pike River mine. wsws.org The announcement underlines the criminality of the Labour Party government's decision to permanently seal the mine, preventing the 29 bodies being recovered and the 2010 disaster properly investigated.

Andrew Emett (2021-12-21). Democratic legislators send scathing letter to Amazon inquiring about employee deaths. nationofchange.org "Amazon has proven time and time again that it views workers as disposable means to achieving greater profits."

WSWS (2021-12-21). Mack Trucks and UAW continue to push for profits at Macungie, Pennsylvania plant after worker dies of COVID-19. wsws.org Mack and the United Auto Workers have continued with operations even after William Domitrovitsch Jr., who had an elderly parent and young child, died on December 15 after catching COVID-19.

Martin Empson (2021-12-21). Gregory T. Cushman — 'Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World: A Global Ecological History'. mronline.org In the last two decades it has been common, in Marxist books on ecology, to find discussions of how capitalist agriculture developed an urgent need for fertilisers to solve the crisis of soil fertility in the 19th century.

Victoria Torres (2021-12-21). The End of Neoliberalism in Latin America?: Return of the Left. orinocotribune.com Without seeming like déjà vu, presidential candidates supported by progressive and left-wing parties and movements are regaining power on the Latin American continent. Everything indicates that it may be the end of neoliberalism once again. | The domino effect has reached Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and more recently Chile, where the people have placed their hopes of progress on the new leftist presidency of Gabriel Boric, despite the hesitation by many on the left towards his statements on foreign policy. | Commander Hugo Chávez, alongside Fidel Castro, managed, at the beginni…

WSWS (2021-12-21). COVID-19 explodes in Spain as PSOE-Podemos government refuses action. wsws.org The surge in infections in Spain is a warning of the dangers posed by the virus, which the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government has let spread unchecked.

WSWS (2021-12-21). German elderly care workers report dramatic pandemic experiences. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site spoke with caregivers in nursing and retirement homes as part of the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic.

WSWS (2021-12-21). Flight attendants say US airlines forced them to wear toxic uniforms even after symptoms emerged. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site received correspondence from Southwest Airlines flight attendants suffering chronic and incurable disorders caused by poisoned company uniforms.

WSWS (2021-12-21). Chile's pseudo-left president-elect Gabriel Boric promises to work with far right. wsws.org Boric's government will be modeled in large measure on Spain's Podemos-Spanish Socialist Workers Party PSOE coalition, composed of thoroughly corrupt, pro-capitalist stooges.

Fight Back (2021-12-21). Today is Stalin's birthday – here's what Mao had to say. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article written by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong on the 60th birthday of Joseph Stalin. | Stalin, Friend of the Chinese People | On the Twenty-first of December, Comrade Stalin will be sixty years old. We can be sure that his birthday will evoke warm and affectionate congratulations from the hearts of all revolutionary people throughout the world who know of the occasion. | Congratulating Stalin is not a formality. Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points ou…

_____ (2021-12-20). Yemen and Afghanistan Face Unprecedented Famine — Crimes of Mass Starvation. journal-neo.org Sounding the alarm this December Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF head of mission in Yemen made clear that well beyond the many casualties War claimed over the past seven years, famine weighs much heavier on the war-torn nation, a fate Afghanistan unfortunately shares. "A nearly seven-year long conflict has badly affected the country's economy and weakened an …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). Afghanistan economy in 'freefall', threatening to take entire population with it. moderndiplomacy.eu Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall", the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday, warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it". Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). West mulls Finnish war scenario for Russia in addition to Bandera, Mujahideen models. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com As Helsinki confirms it will purchase 64 U.S. F-35s, now equipped to deliver B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons, the 1939-1940 Finnish-Russian Winter War scenario is also being proposed by Western analysts to combat Russia in Ukraine in addition to those of the World War II Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Afghan Mujahideen model of the 1980s. …

WSWS (2021-12-20). Canada joins US-led Olympic boycott as Trudeau government pursues ever more belligerent anti-China policy. wsws.org Canada's Liberal government is binding itself ever more tightly to Washington's all-sided diplomatic, economic and military-strategic offensive against China.

_____ (2021-12-20). Belt and Road: How Laos Exemplifies Preconditions for Global Success. journal-neo.org More than eight years ago, in September 2013, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the launch of China's global transport initiative, One Belt One Road (OBOR). The project implies the unification of all major world transport routes into a single system and removing all economic and political barriers to the free circulation of goods through this …

_____ (2021-12-20). What Are The Fundamental Differences Between Capitalist And Socialist Democracy? popularresistance.org The United States hosted a "Summit for Democracy" on December 9th and 10th in an obvious attempt to legitimize its unipolar and hegemonic claim of leadership over the so-called "rules-based international order." While on the surface this appeared to be an unproductive move on the part of the world hegemon, it aligned well with the U.S. strategy of cloaking its aggressive and exploitative policies under the guise of "democracy." Joe Biden's administration has repeatedly hyped the differences between "autocracy" and U.S.-led "democracy." So-called allies were summoned to give the U.S.'s vision for democracy credibi…

_____ (2021-12-20). Low Wages And Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. popularresistance.org Many graduate students find themselves caught between these multiple fronts: burdened with past student debt, earning sub-living-wage pay in their present work and facing dwindling future opportunities. Universities have grown over-reliant on graduate students and other contingent faculty to maintain a pool of low-cost labor. But an upswell of organizing activity in the last year indicates that graduate students have been emboldened to take a collective stand against the precarity and untenable conditions that mar the academic experience in the U.S.

Christopher Orlet (2021-12-20). The Working Class is Not Voting Against Its Interests. zcomm.org America needs a labor party. A party of the working class. But right now it has nothing that even vaguely resembles either one…

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-20). How Hollywood Filmmakers Are Using Crypto And NFTs To Finance Movies. moguldom.com Hollywood is using blockchain technology to get in on the creator-led economy which has helped artists protect their intellectual property and reach their audiences and producers directly to fund the films they want without studio mediation. With crypto and blockchain, the movie and entertainment industry is about to reinvent its business functions for more secure, …

WSWS (2021-12-20). US Fed chief worried about "wages push" in coming year. wsws.org The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, said the major threat to the economy was not the Omicron variant but "briskly" rising wages, which could continue into 2022.

Alex Marshall (2021-12-20). Delivery Drivers Take On the Platform Goliaths. zcomm.org The lesson to take from organizing in the gig economy is that workers still have the power to change the world…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-12-20). Towards Another Devastating Worldwide Crisis? The WEF's "Cyber Attack With Covid-like Characteristics". Paralysis of the Power Supply, Communications, Transportation? globalresearch.ca First published on December 15, 2021 | The World Economic Forum (WEF) which represents the Western financial elites, played a key role in the launching of the March 11, 2020 lockdown, which was conducive to a Worldwide process of economic and …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2022 Deferred. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Economic Forum will defer its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in the light of continued uncertainty over the Omicron outbreak. The Annual Meeting was scheduled to take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland between 17-21 January, 2022. It is now planned for early summer. Participants will instead join a headline series of State of the …

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-12-20). U.S. inflation and India's economic recovery. mronline.org The very day, December 11, when the Indian finance ministry spuriously claimed a robust recovery in…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-12-20). How the Mighty Culinary Union Survived the Apocalypse. zcomm.org After facing 98% unemployment in the depths of the pandemic, the strongest union in Las Vegas has risen again…

Maurizio Coppola (2021-12-20). "The Cuban Soberana vaccine is not due to a miracle but the consequence of political decisions" peoplesdispatch.org From November 15 to 25, 35 Italian volunteers participated in a clinical trial on the Soberana vaccine in Havana, Cuba. Thanks to its public and high quality biotechnological research and health care system, the Caribbean island is the only low-income country worldwide to have made its own COVID-19 vaccines…

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-20). Special Privilege in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. dissidentvoice.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of …

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). Black Women Launch New Organization In Detroit For 'Reparations Transfers' To Go Towards Homeownership. moguldom.com Reparation Generation, a national organization providing direct reparative money transfers to Black Americans for wealth-building pursuits, launched a new program that takes a citizen-driven approach to restoration for disenfranchised descendants of American slavery. "Our vision is for this country that we love to become the 'more perfect union' our nation's founders promised. Equity for Black …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-20). Leftist candidate Gabriel Boric emerges victorious in Chilean elections. peoplesdispatch.org Boric has promised to deliver on key demands raised during the 2019 protests which includes an increase in state spending on social services, progressive taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals.

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). US Lawmakers Call For Sanctions After 9 State Department Employees' iPhones Hacked With Software From Israeli NSO Spyware Company. moguldom.com A group of 18 Democratic lawmakers has asked President Joe Biden to impose financial sanctions on controversial Israel spyware firm NSO Group and several other surveillance companies following the revelation that nine U.S. State Department employees had their iPhones hacked with the company's software. NSO Group has come under global scrutiny for its Pegasus software, …

_____ (2021-12-20). On Contact: America's War Machine. popularresistance.org Chris Hedges discusses with Andrew Cockburn his new book, 'The Spoils of War — Power, Profit and the American War Machine'. | Cockburn's book lays bare the naked lust for profit that is behind America's endless wars and bloated military budget. The American war machine, he writes, can only be understood in terms of the "private passions" and "interests" of those who control it — principally, a passionate interest in making money.

WSWS (2021-12-20). Support the #pizzaisnotworking walkouts by pharmacy workers! Trillions for public health, not pandemic profiteering! wsws.org The actions taken by pharmacists in the US are an early sign of a new phase in the growth of working-class resistance, driven by the deadly winter surge and the emergence of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant.

WSWS (2021-12-20). The Biden administration is lying: Scientists warned about Omicron threat. wsws.org The claim by Vice President Kamala Harris that "We didn't see Omicron coming" is a lie aimed at evading responsibility for the catastrophic outcome of a policy of sacrificing human life for private profit.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). COPINH: Revelations in the Netherlands Prove the Lenca People Right. libya360.wordpress.com Photo from Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Credit: Daniel Cima/CIDH AQUI ESPAàëOL The FMO bank of the Netherlands is sanctioned for not complying with anti-money laundering regulations and at the same time terminates all relations with the FICOHSA bank of Honduras. COPINH and the Global Justice Association (legal representative of COPINH in the Netherlands) make…

WSWS (2021-12-20). Deadly fire in Osaka, Japan leaves at least 24 people dead. wsws.org The blaze at a psychiatry clinic once again exposes the lack of fire safety under capitalism.

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-20). Legendary Hedge Fund Manager Ray Dalio: Bitcoin Has Merit, Is Like The Younger Generation's Alternative to Gold. moguldom.com Billionaire investor and hedge-fund founder Ray Dalio said he is impressed with Bitcoin, although less than two years ago, he said Bitcoin was not the best way to store value as it and other cryptocurrencies are fundamentally flawed. "It has been an amazing accomplishment for Bitcoin to have achieved what it has done, from writing that …

Ann Brown (2021-12-20). US Government Watchdog Launches Probe Into 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Companies, Stocks Crash. moguldom.com Buy now, pay later companies are hot right now, especially as people wrap up their Christmas shopping and try to stick to a budget. Companies such as Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip allow consumers to purchase items and pay for them over a scheduled period. Unlike layaway plans, consumers get the goods right away …

_____ (2021-12-20). Yemen and Afghanistan Face Unprecedented Famine — Crimes of Mass Starvation. journal-neo.org Sounding the alarm this December Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF head of mission in Yemen made clear that well beyond the many casualties War claimed over the past seven years, famine weighs much heavier on the war-torn nation, a fate Afghanistan unfortunately shares. "A nearly seven-year long conflict has badly affected the country's economy and weakened an …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). Afghanistan economy in 'freefall', threatening to take entire population with it. moderndiplomacy.eu Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall", the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday, warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it". Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in …

_____ (2021-12-20). Belt and Road: How Laos Exemplifies Preconditions for Global Success. journal-neo.org More than eight years ago, in September 2013, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced the launch of China's global transport initiative, One Belt One Road (OBOR). The project implies the unification of all major world transport routes into a single system and removing all economic and political barriers to the free circulation of goods through this …

WSWS (2021-12-20). Canada joins US-led Olympic boycott as Trudeau government pursues ever more belligerent anti-China policy. wsws.org Canada's Liberal government is binding itself ever more tightly to Washington's all-sided diplomatic, economic and military-strategic offensive against China.

_____ (2021-12-20). Low Wages And Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. popularresistance.org Many graduate students find themselves caught between these multiple fronts: burdened with past student debt, earning sub-living-wage pay in their present work and facing dwindling future opportunities. Universities have grown over-reliant on graduate students and other contingent faculty to maintain a pool of low-cost labor. But an upswell of organizing activity in the last year indicates that graduate students have been emboldened to take a collective stand against the precarity and untenable conditions that mar the academic experience in the U.S.

Christopher Orlet (2021-12-20). The Working Class is Not Voting Against Its Interests. zcomm.org America needs a labor party. A party of the working class. But right now it has nothing that even vaguely resembles either one…

Alex Marshall (2021-12-20). Delivery Drivers Take On the Platform Goliaths. zcomm.org The lesson to take from organizing in the gig economy is that workers still have the power to change the world…

WSWS (2021-12-20). US Fed chief worried about "wages push" in coming year. wsws.org The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, said the major threat to the economy was not the Omicron variant but "briskly" rising wages, which could continue into 2022.

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-12-20). U.S. inflation and India's economic recovery. mronline.org The very day, December 11, when the Indian finance ministry spuriously claimed a robust recovery in…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-12-20). How the Mighty Culinary Union Survived the Apocalypse. zcomm.org After facing 98% unemployment in the depths of the pandemic, the strongest union in Las Vegas has risen again…

_____ (2021-12-20). On Contact: America's War Machine. popularresistance.org Chris Hedges discusses with Andrew Cockburn his new book, 'The Spoils of War — Power, Profit and the American War Machine'. | Cockburn's book lays bare the naked lust for profit that is behind America's endless wars and bloated military budget. The American war machine, he writes, can only be understood in terms of the "private passions" and "interests" of those who control it — principally, a passionate interest in making money.

WSWS (2021-12-20). The Biden administration is lying: Scientists warned about Omicron threat. wsws.org The claim by Vice President Kamala Harris that "We didn't see Omicron coming" is a lie aimed at evading responsibility for the catastrophic outcome of a policy of sacrificing human life for private profit.

WSWS (2021-12-20). Support the #pizzaisnotworking walkouts by pharmacy workers! Trillions for public health, not pandemic profiteering! wsws.org The actions taken by pharmacists in the US are an early sign of a new phase in the growth of working-class resistance, driven by the deadly winter surge and the emergence of the hyper-infectious Omicron variant.

WSWS (2021-12-20). Deadly fire in Osaka, Japan leaves at least 24 people dead. wsws.org The blaze at a psychiatry clinic once again exposes the lack of fire safety under capitalism.

_____ (2021-12-20). Our Age Of Uprisings: We Are A World Remaking Itself. popularresistance.org The global pandemic unfolds amidst a world of uprisings. Some have seen huge numbers gather in the streets and become ungovernable, including the victorious farmer's strike in India, the efforts to expropriate the landlords in Berlin, the mass refusal of anti-Black police violence in the US, and the mobilizations against the neoliberal regime in Chile. | Elsewhere, in Chiapas, Kerala, Rojava and an archipelago of smaller "zones to defend," the uprisings take more sustained forms as people reinvent or reclaim life in common. Indigenous people around the world are refusing to allow their lands and lives to be sacri…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-20). Why the U.S. Will Reject Russia's Proposed Peace-Settlement. moderndiplomacy.eu On December 17th, Russia presented America with a proposed peace-settlement that would empower the U.N. to be not only nominally but in reality the one-and-only body that can create international laws. The proposed treaty would obliterate America's effort to replace the U.N. by America's never-defined 'rules-based international order', which was first proposed by the neoliberal-neoconservative …

WSWS (2021-12-20). Socialist Equality Party (Australia) holds health workers' forum on the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Speakers outlined the necessity for the Workers' Inquest to cut through the cover-ups and falsifications being used to justify the removal of even the most basic measures to halt the worsening of the pandemic fuelled by the Omicron variant.

Pepe Escobar (2021-12-19). Putin and Xi Plot Their SWIFT Escape. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — Dec 17, 2021 | Russia and China's announcement of an independent financial trading platform will free nations under US sanctions from western intrusion into their commercial activities | Vladimir Putin got straight to the point. At the opening of his one hour and fourteen minute video conversation with Xi Jinping on 15 December, he described Russia-China relations as "an example of genuine inter-state cooperation in the 21st century." | Their myriad levels of cooperation have been known for years now — from trade, oil and gas, finance, aerospace and the fight against Covid-19, to the…

Ian Angus (2021-12-19). Dispossessed: Origins of the Working Class. mronline.org Deprived of land and common rights, the English poor were forced into wage-labor. CAPITAL VERSUS COMMONS, 4…

Hamilton Nolan (2021-12-19). Ten Predictions For the Year Ahead in Labor. zcomm.org Our infallible crystal ball reveals that 2022 will make workers want to holler…

Bianca Tylek (2021-12-19). Corporate Exploitation of Prison Labor Reaches Deep into the Supply Chain. truthout.org This article is part of a five-part The exception clause allowed states, often in the South, to pass Black Codes, laws that specifically criminalized Black life and filled jails with Black people. States then used "convict leasing" to rent incarcerated people to private individuals and corporations looking for cheap labor, often plantations. By the late 1800s, states like Alab…

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-19). The Green Agenda and the Plan to Collapse the Industrial World Economy. globalresearch.ca

_____ (2021-12-19). The Need For A Feminist Lens. popularresistance.org The Black Experience in the Americas has always been, by circumstance, design and by purpose, inextricably tied to the land and to forms of Resistance expressed through different peoples in different territories throughout the Americas. Climate change affects communities and regions differently, even within the same country, depending on their cultural, economic, environmental, political and social context. But climate change also affects people differently within these same communities and regions depending on their race and genders, both at an individual and collective level. | For Black communities, an undersp…

Marco Teruggi (2021-12-19). Venezuela: What Country Will it Be? orinocotribune.com By Marco Teruggi — Dec 8, 2021 | The economic and financial catastrophe that relentlessly devastated the Venezuelan population during the last few years seems to be easing, while the government of Nicolás Maduro encourages the return of the old entrepreneurial forms of accumulation. Harassed by the imperial powers, the recent elections revealed a decrease in the hard core of the Chavista hardliners and at the same time revealed the fragmentation of the opposition. From Caracas, a chronicle brimming with questions, about the country that mocks forecasts and closed conclusions. | "This was the richest country,…

Joel Richards (2021-12-19). 20 years since Argentina's 2001 crisis. america.cgtn.com Argentina's lower house of Congress rejected the government's 2022 budget proposal on Friday, complicating the country's urgent talks with the IMF over debt repayment. These talks are taking place as the country remembers the anniversary and debates the conditions that fueled its devastating economic and social …

Newsroom (2021-12-19). WHO lists 9th COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Health Organization (WHO) approved on Friday the Covovax vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL), elevating to nine the number of immunizations approved to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from Novavax, and will now be part of the COVAX facility portfolio, boosting efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries. WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simà£o, said that "even …

_____ (2021-12-19). A Critique Of Obscene Wealth. popularresistance.org Wherever and whenever obscenely rich people existed, they always protected their wealth and the privileges that come with it from the majority of non-wealthy people working for them and around them. Emperors, kings, czars as well as masters of huge slave plantations, lords of big feudal manors, and major shareholders and top executives of capitalist megacorporations did so partly by the use of brute force, or through the exercise of power, and bribery. All of them also used ideological persuasion, but none more so than capitalists today. And while "the weapon of criticism can never replace the criticism of weapon…

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-19). Special Privilege in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. zcomm.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of

Lawrence Wittner (2021-12-19). Privileging the Privileged in Admission to Elite U.S. Colleges. warisacrime.org Although a major scandal erupted in 2019 over bribery and other fraudulent practices used by wealthy Americans to secure their children's admission to elite colleges, the affluent continue to benefit from other kinds of special admission policies that are perfectly legal. Consider the fact that, according to a recent study, only about 57 percent of …

Kite Line (2021-12-19). Kite Line: Carceral Nonprofits. itsgoingdown.org Long-running abolitionist radio show Kite Line looks at the impact of carceral non-profits who steer radical change towards liberal reform under the guise of decarceration. We are sad to report that Russell Maroon Shoatz, who was recently granted compassionate release after his decades in prison, has passed away. This week, we return to the final…

Thomas Klikauer (2021-12-19). Covid-19, Hospitals & The Curse of Capitalism. zcomm.org The idea that sickness must be profitable reaches deep into the ideological heart of neoliberalism…

_____ (2021-12-19). U.S. Police Unions Starting to Ask: Why Does the ACLU 'Defend the Indefensible'? strategic-culture.org With the introduction of ACLU Watch, more people can better understand that a robust police presence is not the true source of America's crime problem, Robert Bridge writes. | Law enforcement officials have begun a watch beat of sorts against the American Civil Liberties Union, whose support of justice reform has translated into more criminals roaming the streets as police officers lose their jobs. | A number of liberal activists, armed with the most altruistic intentions, of course, are busy remaking America into a liberal bastion of utopian thinking, where the Cultural Marxists have put down the stakes on their…

NYC Anarchist Black Cross (2021-12-19). NYC: Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs. itsgoingdown.org Call for noise demo in New York City on New Year's Eve from NYC Anarchist Black Cross. photo: Ash Agony On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-19). Why Russia vetoed at the U.N. the U.S.-proposed inclusion of climate-change as a 'National Security' issue. moderndiplomacy.eu The United States Government wants to persuade the gullible global public that that Government takes seriously the global-warming threat. The only way actually to stop global warming — if it still can be stopped — is to outlaw, even if in only one major country (such as the U.S.), purchases of stocks and bonds in …

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-19). Kshama Sawant Emerges Victorious From Disingenuous Recall Attempt. zcomm.org The corporate-backed campaign to recall Seattle's socialist City Councilor Kshama Sawant, which stretched on for a contentious 16 months, has concluded with a victory for Sawant, who will remain in her seat as the lone leftist of the council…

Fight Back (2021-12-19). Filipino Communists: Mobilize the people in the wake of typhoon Odette's destruction. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 18 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its sympathies to the millions of people who suffered the devastation wrought by supertyphoon Odette in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao regions and in Palawan island. Thousands upon thousands of homes, agricultural fields, fishing boats, and other sources of livelihood were destroyed or severely damaged. | The toiling masses are the most grievously affected, especially the fisherfolk, the small peasants and fa…

Ian Angus (2021-12-19). Dispossessed: Origins of the Working Class. mronline.org Deprived of land and common rights, the English poor were forced into wage-labor. CAPITAL VERSUS COMMONS, 4…

Bianca Tylek (2021-12-19). Corporate Exploitation of Prison Labor Reaches Deep into the Supply Chain. truthout.org This article is part of a five-part The exception clause allowed states, often in the South, to pass Black Codes, laws that specifically criminalized Black life and filled jails with Black people. States then used "convict leasing" to rent incarcerated people to private individuals and corporations looking for cheap labor, often plantations. By the late 1800s, states like Alab…

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-19). The Green Agenda and the Plan to Collapse the Industrial World Economy. globalresearch.ca

Marco Teruggi (2021-12-19). Venezuela: What Country Will it Be? orinocotribune.com By Marco Teruggi — Dec 8, 2021 | The economic and financial catastrophe that relentlessly devastated the Venezuelan population during the last few years seems to be easing, while the government of Nicolás Maduro encourages the return of the old entrepreneurial forms of accumulation. Harassed by the imperial powers, the recent elections revealed a decrease in the hard core of the Chavista hardliners and at the same time revealed the fragmentation of the opposition. From Caracas, a chronicle brimming with questions, about the country that mocks forecasts and closed conclusions. | "This was the richest country,…

Newsroom (2021-12-19). WHO lists 9th COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Health Organization (WHO) approved on Friday the Covovax vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL), elevating to nine the number of immunizations approved to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India, under licence from Novavax, and will now be part of the COVAX facility portfolio, boosting efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries. WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr. Mariângela Simà£o, said that "even …

Kite Line (2021-12-19). Kite Line: Carceral Nonprofits. itsgoingdown.org Long-running abolitionist radio show Kite Line looks at the impact of carceral non-profits who steer radical change towards liberal reform under the guise of decarceration. We are sad to report that Russell Maroon Shoatz, who was recently granted compassionate release after his decades in prison, has passed away. This week, we return to the final…

_____ (2021-12-19). U.S. Police Unions Starting to Ask: Why Does the ACLU 'Defend the Indefensible'? strategic-culture.org With the introduction of ACLU Watch, more people can better understand that a robust police presence is not the true source of America's crime problem, Robert Bridge writes. | Law enforcement officials have begun a watch beat of sorts against the American Civil Liberties Union, whose support of justice reform has translated into more criminals roaming the streets as police officers lose their jobs. | A number of liberal activists, armed with the most altruistic intentions, of course, are busy remaking America into a liberal bastion of utopian thinking, where the Cultural Marxists have put down the stakes on their…

NYC Anarchist Black Cross (2021-12-19). NYC: Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs. itsgoingdown.org Call for noise demo in New York City on New Year's Eve from NYC Anarchist Black Cross. photo: Ash Agony On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-19). Why Russia vetoed at the U.N. the U.S.-proposed inclusion of climate-change as a 'National Security' issue. moderndiplomacy.eu The United States Government wants to persuade the gullible global public that that Government takes seriously the global-warming threat. The only way actually to stop global warming — if it still can be stopped — is to outlaw, even if in only one major country (such as the U.S.), purchases of stocks and bonds in …

Fight Back (2021-12-19). Filipino Communists: Mobilize the people in the wake of typhoon Odette's destruction. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 18 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its sympathies to the millions of people who suffered the devastation wrought by supertyphoon Odette in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao regions and in Palawan island. Thousands upon thousands of homes, agricultural fields, fishing boats, and other sources of livelihood were destroyed or severely damaged. | The toiling masses are the most grievously affected, especially the fisherfolk, the small peasants and fa…

_____ (2021-12-18). True Colors: Red, White, Black And Blue. popularresistance.org With a bold and completely self-sabotaging diplomatic blunder, one which fails on every level including the least rigorous sanity test, this past Wednesday the U.S. was one of two nations to vote against a UN resolution designed to discourage the glorification and promotion of Nazi ideology. The other nation was Ukraine, which currently is overrun and effectively ruled by Jew-hating, Russia-hating, LGBT-hating neo-Nazis, who openly flaunt their allegiance to Stepan Bandera, a collaborator with the Third Reich during WWII. | The reason the U.S. supports such Jew-hating, Russia-hating thugs is obvious. It's an effe…

Julia Conley (2021-12-18). Child Tax Credit Set to End, Potentially Pushing Millions of Kids Into Poverty. truthout.org Child advocates kicked off a grim countdown Friday as Democrats appeared unable to find a way of passing an extension of the child tax credit, without which With talks regarding Build Back Better

_____ (2021-12-18). The US Fears Chinese Model's Impact In The Middle East. popularresistance.org Notwithstanding that China is a relatively "shy participant" in Middle Eastern policy, the US hegemony, which claims exclusivity among the most "obedient" Arab countries (those which fall into its strategic sphere of influence), is threatened by it. The worrying aspect for the US is that Beijing seeks to present a different model that integrates and takes advantage of the US's failed military experiences in many wars and direct political interference attempts over the past decades. | China hopes for a non-aggressive economic-political breakthrough in the Middle East through a less ferocious and less explicit mode…

_____ (2021-12-18). Rising Food Prices Could Spark Famine, War, And Revolution In 2022. popularresistance.org Washington — Already dealing with the economic fallout from a protracted pandemic, the rapidly rising prices of food and other key commodities have many fearing that unprecedented political and social instability could be just around the corner next year. | With the clock ticking on student loan and rent debts, the price of a standard cart of food has jumped 6.4% in the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the cost of eating out in a restaurant similarly spiking, by 5.8% since November 2020. | The most notable change has been in the price of meat, with beef costing 26.2% more th…

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian governments ramp up "reopening drive" amid record COVID-19 infections. wsws.org As Labor and Coalition governments alike scrap public health measures, to satisfy the demands of the corporate elite, there are signs of mounting public concern and hostility.

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian budget update flies in face of pandemic disaster. wsws.org The government's mid-year review directly reflects the demands of the corporate elite for a full reopening of the economy, in the interest of profit, regardless of the human cost.

scorinoco (2021-12-18). Only One Chávez and Only One Salvador. orinocotribune.com By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein — Dec 15, 2021 | From Venezuela to Chile, from Caldera to Boric | The current situation in Chile seems to me more and more strikingly similar to that of the early 90's in Venezuela. At that time, here—just as in Chile today—30 years of post-dictatorship were being experienced. Both countries—at the time—were presented as a "model of democracy to follow" and "example for the world" based on the "success" of the two-party representative democracy system in which the economy was put at the service of a minority of the population. | "It is not thirty pesos,…

WSWS (2021-12-18). "The raises are insulting in this economy": Postal workers oppose union-brokered tentative agreement. wsws.org The agreement continues decades of attacks on workers by offering meager raises and expanding the second tier of lower-paid postal employees.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-18). "Four Meals from Anarchy": Rising Food Prices Could Spark Famine, War, and Revolution in 2022. libya360.wordpress.com Alan Macleod WASHINGTON — Already dealing with the economic fallout from a protracted pandemic, the rapidly rising prices of food and other key commodities have many fearing that unprecedented political and social instability could be just around the corner next year. With the clock ticking on student loan and rent debts, the price of a…

Amjed Jaaved (2021-12-18). Simmering resentment in Indian-held Kashmir. moderndiplomacy.eu The writer if of the view that the politico-economic situation in the occupied Kashmir is in a state of flux. All the leading politicians are frustrated at apathetic, nay callous, attitude of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party autocrats in New Delhi. They are unanimous that the situation, after abrogation of the special status and hereditary domiciliary …

_____ (2021-12-18). The Sociopolitical and Economic Impact of the Pandemic. journal-neo.org Two years of the coronavirus pandemic have seriously changed the world around us economically and politically. The pandemic demonstrated that any mass epidemic is as much a generic challenge to society as war, a change in geological epochs, or economic stages. At this challenging time for everybody, all power structures and public institutions have faced …

Newsroom (2021-12-18). Current pandemic trends bring more uncertainty to economic prospects. moderndiplomacy.eu The most recent data on global manufacturing production, corresponding to the third quarter of 2021, indicate a stabilization after the COVID-19-related economic halt in the previous year. While the economic trajectories vary significantly among countries, most economies experienced solid increases in manufacturing production compared to 2020. Furthermore, higher technology industries had a better production performance …

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-18). Will the Federal Reserve Crash Global Financial Markets As a Means to Implementing Their "Great Reset"? globalresearch.ca First published on December 16, 2021 | It's looking increasingly likely that the US Federal Reserve and the globalist powers that be will use the dramatic rising of inflation as their excuse to bring down the US financial markets and with …

Amanda Winstead (2021-12-18). Millennials and generational wealth. nationofchange.org Various financial injustices are impacting our communities. Generational wealth is one of those particularly affecting Millennials.

Newsroom (2021-12-18). UNIDO, EIF and UNTBLDCs highlight potential benefits of 4IR for LDCs. moderndiplomacy.eu Least Developed Countries (LDCs) comprise 13% of humanity worldwide, yet they account for just 1.2% of global GDP, according to a new publication released by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in cooperation with the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (UNTBLDCs) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF). Propelling LDCs in the …

John Zarocostas (2021-12-18). [World Report] WHO and World Bank urge spending for UHC. thelancet.com Governments have been urged to strengthen public spending on health as COVID-19 stalls progress towards universal health coverage. John Zarocostas reports from Geneva.

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Climate Justice Campaign Director. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Healthcare For All — Lead Organizer. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Policy & Research Manager. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

WSWS (2021-12-18). Committee for Public Education (Australia) holds successful online meeting on the COVID crisis. wsws.org The event, titled "COVID-19 spreads through Australian schools: Lives before profit! Stop the pandemic!" featured a report from Evan Blake, a member of the US SEP and a leading WSWS writer.

Bruce Lerro (2021-12-18). The Joys and Sorrows of Being a Celebrity Fan: James Dean, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Mantle. dissidentvoice.org No one who frequents the dark auditorium is really an atheist — Edgar Morin, Marxist Movie Critic Orientation Cross-cultural uniqueness of celebrity culture If members of a tribal society during Paleolithic or Neolithic times, or even members of Bronze Age Egypt or Mesopotamia had heard about the United States population's devotion to celebrities, they wouldn't …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-18). Turkish left calls minimum wage hike insufficient. peoplesdispatch.org After months of negotiations and protests, the right-wing AKP government announced on Thursday that the minimum wage will increase next year to 4,250 Turkish Lira from the current 2,850 Turkish Lira. This is against the unions' demand of a minimum wage of at least 5,200 Turkish Lira…

Paul von Blum (2021-12-18). Paul Buhle and the Rise of Socialist Comics. zcomm.org The historian has been at the forefront of telling the lost stories of U.S. radicalism—in comic book form—for nearly two decades…

WSWS (2021-12-18). "Workers around the world suffer the same conditions": A former Kellogg's worker in Australia sends a message of solidarity to US strikers. wsws.org Warwick Dove, a member of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and former Kellogg's worker, has a message for striking Kellogg's workers in the United States on the eve of their vote on another concessions contract this weekend.

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-18). Kshama Sawant Emerges Victorious From Disingenuous Recall Attempt. truthout.org The corporate-backed campaign to recall Seattle's socialist City Councilor Kshama Sawant, which stretched on for a contentious 16 months, has concluded with a victory for Sawant, who will remain in her seat as the lone leftist of the council. It was a fight so sharply contested and mobilizing that District 3 turnout, in this unusual December special election,

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian governments ramp up "reopening drive" amid record COVID-19 infections. wsws.org As Labor and Coalition governments alike scrap public health measures, to satisfy the demands of the corporate elite, there are signs of mounting public concern and hostility.

WSWS (2021-12-18). "The raises are insulting in this economy": Postal workers oppose union-brokered tentative agreement. wsws.org The agreement continues decades of attacks on workers by offering meager raises and expanding the second tier of lower-paid postal employees.

WSWS (2021-12-18). Australian budget update flies in face of pandemic disaster. wsws.org The government's mid-year review directly reflects the demands of the corporate elite for a full reopening of the economy, in the interest of profit, regardless of the human cost.

_____ (2021-12-18). The Sociopolitical and Economic Impact of the Pandemic. journal-neo.org Two years of the coronavirus pandemic have seriously changed the world around us economically and politically. The pandemic demonstrated that any mass epidemic is as much a generic challenge to society as war, a change in geological epochs, or economic stages. At this challenging time for everybody, all power structures and public institutions have faced …

John Zarocostas (2021-12-18). [World Report] WHO and World Bank urge spending for UHC. thelancet.com Governments have been urged to strengthen public spending on health as COVID-19 stalls progress towards universal health coverage. John Zarocostas reports from Geneva.

WSWS (2021-12-18). Committee for Public Education (Australia) holds successful online meeting on the COVID crisis. wsws.org The event, titled "COVID-19 spreads through Australian schools: Lives before profit! Stop the pandemic!" featured a report from Evan Blake, a member of the US SEP and a leading WSWS writer.

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Climate Justice Campaign Director. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Policy & Research Manager. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Dominique McGee (2021-12-18). Healthcare For All — Lead Organizer. peoplesaction.org About People's Action/Institute People's Action Institute (501c3) and sister organization People's Action (501c4) are national progressive organizations supporting the mobilization and leadership of the grassroots in support of an agenda that puts people before profits. People's Action/Institute builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-18). Turkish left calls minimum wage hike insufficient. peoplesdispatch.org After months of negotiations and protests, the right-wing AKP government announced on Thursday that the minimum wage will increase next year to 4,250 Turkish Lira from the current 2,850 Turkish Lira. This is against the unions' demand of a minimum wage of at least 5,200 Turkish Lira…

WSWS (2021-12-18). "Workers around the world suffer the same conditions": A former Kellogg's worker in Australia sends a message of solidarity to US strikers. wsws.org Warwick Dove, a member of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and former Kellogg's worker, has a message for striking Kellogg's workers in the United States on the eve of their vote on another concessions contract this weekend.

Paul von Blum (2021-12-18). Paul Buhle and the Rise of Socialist Comics. zcomm.org The historian has been at the forefront of telling the lost stories of U.S. radicalism—in comic book form—for nearly two decades…

_____ (2021-12-17). Congress Passes Massive $778 Billion NDAA. popularresistance.org On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive $778 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 89 to 10. | The legislation is a compromise version of the NDAA that was already passed by the House and now just needs President Biden's signature to become law. Congress added $25 billion more to the spending bill than Biden requested. | The bill authorizes $740.3 billion for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion for "Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction." | In September, the House passed a different version of the NDAA that inc…

_____ (2021-12-17). Home Care Workers Protest 24-Hour Work Day In New York City. popularresistance.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…

Marie Kelly (2021-12-17). Yes Virginia, there is a labor movement. workers.org Workers in Virginia flexed their organizing muscle in two separate industries recently. First, hospitality workers at the tourist attraction, Colonial Williamsburg village, held a rally in front of various sites within the complex. The majority of the workers are Black. Their grievances include low wages and long hours. Colonial Williamsburg . . . |

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-17). Democratic Production and Self-Organized Labor: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis. libya360.wordpress.com Cira Pascual Marquina and Chris Gilbert Part I: Highland Resistance: How the Che Guevara Commune Confronts the Crisis First-hand accounts of the impact of the US sanctions on a coffee and cocoa growing commune in the Venezuelan Andes. The Che Guevara Commune lies on the fertile hillsides that rise up from the shores of Lake…

Erica L. Green (2021-12-17). New Leader Pushes Teachers' Union to Take On Social Justice Role. zcomm.org Becky Pringle, the country's top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools…

WSWS (2021-12-17). Both major parties in Australia plan accelerated pro-business university restructuring. wsws.org Regardless of whether the Coalition or Labor form the next government, the devastating attacks on jobs, conditions and the quality of education will accelerate.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-17). Qatar jails migrant worker for speaking out on labor violations. peoplesdispatch.org Jordanian Abdullah Ibhais was sentenced to five years in prison in April this year. Human rights groups assert that the sentence is based on false and baseless charges completely lacking evidence…

Igor Derysh (2021-12-17). GOP Candidate JD Vance Accuses Walmart of "Slave Labor" But Invests in Its Stock. truthout.org Ohio Republican Senate candidate Vance, who made a fortune as a venture capitalist before writing the best-selling book Hillbilly Elegy, submitted his persona…

Newsroom (2021-12-17). WEF Develops Framework to Transition Colombia to Data-Driven Economy. moderndiplomacy.eu The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a multistakeholder community have developed a technology and governance framework for trustworthy and commercially sustainable public-private data exchanges in Colombia. This new public-private resource will give individuals greater control over how their data is used and serve as a means for responsible value creation. The multistakeholder community …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). Indonesia's Economy Grew in 2021 Despite COVID-19, Will Accelerate in 2022. moderndiplomacy.eu The Indonesian economy continued to recover in 2021 despite moderating due to the COVID-19 Delta variant wave mid-year. The economy is estimated to have expanded 3.7 percent this year and is forecast to accelerate to 5.2 percent in 2022, the World Bank said on Thursday. The projection assumes that Indonesia will avoid another severe COVID-19 …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). Jordan: Reforms Critical to Resilient Recovery and Sustainable Growth. moderndiplomacy.eu Accelerated global recovery, improved vaccine rollout, and a full reopening of the domestic economy are the main drivers of a projected growth rate of 2.2% for this year in Jordan, according to the World Bank. However, rising COVID cases in some parts of the world, the slow pace of recovery of international tourism, and the …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). WB Supports Greater Access to Energy and Broadband Services in Rural Mozambique. moderndiplomacy.eu The World Bank approved today a $300 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA) that will support the Government of Mozambique's efforts to increase access to energy and broadband services, as well as strengthen the operational performance of the country's electricity utility. "Mozambique's economy can benefit from systematically harnessing the synergies of energy and …

_____ (2021-12-17). 20th ALBA-TCP Summit Declaration. popularresistance.org The Heads of State and Government and the Heads of Delegations of the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), meet in Havana, Cuba, on December 14, 2021 to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the Alliance. In signing this Declaration, we renew our commitment to strengthen this mechanism of political coordination based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, cooperation and economic complementarity, a result of the political will of its founders, the Commanders Fidel Castro Ruz and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.

Jim Lobe (2021-12-17). Faith Leaders Call on Biden to End Economic Sanctions. globalresearch.ca Leaders of 18 American faith and faith-based humanitarian organizations appealed to President Joe Biden this week to eliminate general U.S. economic sanctions against nations that are dealing with the ravages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as with the …

Julia Conley (2021-12-17). Dems face 2022 nightmare, critics warn, if student debt payments restart and child credit ends. nationofchange.org "These are policy choices," said one economic justice group. "We don't have to choose this. All of this is 100% unnecessary and avoidable."

Alexia Fernández Campbell (2021-12-17). DeJoy Nets Massive Bonus Amid Mail Delays and Rampant Wage Theft From Carriers. truthout.org This The U.S. Postal Service paid its top executives more in bonuses and perks last year than at any other point in the past decade, adding up to $370,622 in extra income for Postmaster…

WSWS (2021-12-17). Omicron case identified in New Zealand. wsws.org The Labour Party-led government claims that it is "very well-prepared" to keep Omicron out of New Zealand, when in reality it has ditched its elimination strategy and is allowing the Delta variant to spread nationwide.

WSWS (2021-12-17). Only a COVID-19 elimination strategy can protect educators, students, and their families from the Omicron tsunami! wsws.org The nearly two years of the pandemic have conclusively demonstrated that a science-based strategy that prioritizes saving workers' lives over corporate profits and investor wealth will only be imposed through the independent intervention of the working class.

Princess Harmony (2021-12-17). NYC opens first safe consumption sites. workers.org With fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses dramatically rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. needs a new strategy for countering this menace. In a number of cities, steps are underway to counteract this horrible loss of life. One is the foundation of safe consumption sites — places where addicted people . . . |

Archana Jyoti (2021-12-17). Impact of Terrorist Organizations in the Middle East. moderndiplomacy.eu Terrorism is a significant variable in security studies and it is hindering a wide range of safety. Likewise, because of the emotional expansion in psychological militant assaults in the course of the most recent twenty years, have economies have found a way broad ways to work on the political, social, and financial circumstances by diminishing …

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-17). Jay-Z, Shaq And Martha Stewart Get Smoked On SPAC IPO Pump And Dumps. moguldom.com If you invested in a special-purchase acquisition company (SPAC) that was boosted by a celebrity name, you may have lost less on your investment than the SPAC category as a whole, but it still isn't a happy scenario. Of 33 SPACs tied to famous public figures and tracked by Bloomberg, 21 posted negative returns for …

Tyler Walicek (2021-12-17). Low Wages and Exploitative Conditions Are Sparking Graduate Student Strikes. truthout.org The U.S. university,

WSWS (2021-12-17). Jon Donaire bakery workers in California continue strike against speed up, mandatory overtime and low wages. wsws.org The workers have been on strike since November 3 against mandatory overtime, long hours, relentless speedup, poor pay, lack of breaks and a punitive point system for attendance.

Chauncey K. Robinson (2021-12-17). bell hooks changed how we think about Black femininity, class, and capitalism. peoplesworld.org I choose to re-appropriate the term 'feminism', to focus on the fact that to be 'feminist' in any authentic sense of the term is to want for all people, female and male, liberation from sexist role patterns, domination, and oppression. — bell hooks in "Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism," 1981 The world …

Ana Maria Garcia Horta (2021-12-17). Black Lives Matter: The Power Of Activism & Citizen Journalism. telesurenglish.net The year 2021 is drawing to a close, leaving untouched American structural racism, a legacy of the slave age that capitalism preserves to ensure the reproduction of social inequalities, which have been exacerbated by a pandemic that continues to hit workers in various ways. | RELATED: | In Minnesota, for example, the rate of coronavirus infection in citizens of African descent has remained between 25 and 30 percent…

John Ellison (2021-12-17). Stefan Heym: A central witness to both fascism and socialism in Germany. peoplesworld.org Stefan Heym—journalist, novelist, essayist—and a lifelong socialist, died 20 years ago, aged 88, on Dec. 16, 2001. His unfading commitment to humanity through his writing and actions must be remembered and celebrated. Born in 1913 into a prosperous Jewish family in the industrial east German town of Chemnitz, he was Helmut Flieg until he changed …

Anish R (2021-12-17). Villagers in Southern Thailand secure key victory against controversial industrial estate. peoplesdispatch.org After nearly two weeks of protest outside the government offices in Bangkok, the Prayut Chan-o-cha government agreed to halt the controversial Chana Industrial Project until a comprehensive review…

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2021-12-17). Cuba derrota al COVID-19 con aprendizaje, ciencia y unidad. peoplesworld.org La educación es fundamental para el socialismo cubano. La dedicación del gobierno revolucionario al conocimiento científico y la atención médica para todos se manifiesta ahora mientras los cubanos enfrentan la pandemia de COVID-19. Estados Unidos no tiene tanta suerte. Los cubanos han realizado con entusiasmo el enmascaramiento, el distanciamiento social, las pruebas y la cuarentena. …

Jonathan Strauss (2021-12-17). Pat O'Shane to stand in Leichhardt for the Socialist Alliance. greenleft.org.au Pat O'Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, will run for the Socialist Alliance in the Far North Queensland lower house seat of Leichhardt in the federal election. Jonathan Strauss reports.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-17). Protests erupt against homophobic proposals by far-right Vox party. peoplesdispatch.org On Wednesday, December 15, LGBTIQ rights groups and other progressive, liberal sections protested in Madrid, Spain, to demand that the regional government of Madrid discard a proposal by the far-right Vox Party to repeal LGBTQI rights. The call for the protest was given by LGBTQI activist platform Trans Platform and was supported by various groups including Podemos, United Left (IU), Anti-capitalists Madrid, among others. Enrique Santiago, member of parliament and leader of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), also joined the demonstration on Wednesday. | On Thursday, the 136-seat Assembly of the Autonomous Commun…

_____ (2021-12-17). Congress Passes Massive $778 Billion NDAA. popularresistance.org On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive $778 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a vote of 89 to 10. | The legislation is a compromise version of the NDAA that was already passed by the House and now just needs President Biden's signature to become law. Congress added $25 billion more to the spending bill than Biden requested. | The bill authorizes $740.3 billion for the Pentagon, $27.8 billion for the Energy Department's nuclear weapons program, and $9.9 billion for "Defense-related Activities Outside NDAA Jurisdiction." | In September, the House passed a different version of the NDAA that inc…

WSWS (2021-12-17). Both major parties in Australia plan accelerated pro-business university restructuring. wsws.org Regardless of whether the Coalition or Labor form the next government, the devastating attacks on jobs, conditions and the quality of education will accelerate.

Marie Kelly (2021-12-17). Yes Virginia, there is a labor movement. workers.org Workers in Virginia flexed their organizing muscle in two separate industries recently. First, hospitality workers at the tourist attraction, Colonial Williamsburg village, held a rally in front of various sites within the complex. The majority of the workers are Black. Their grievances include low wages and long hours. Colonial Williamsburg . . . |

Erica L. Green (2021-12-17). New Leader Pushes Teachers' Union to Take On Social Justice Role. zcomm.org Becky Pringle, the country's top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools…

Newsroom (2021-12-17). Indonesia's Economy Grew in 2021 Despite COVID-19, Will Accelerate in 2022. moderndiplomacy.eu The Indonesian economy continued to recover in 2021 despite moderating due to the COVID-19 Delta variant wave mid-year. The economy is estimated to have expanded 3.7 percent this year and is forecast to accelerate to 5.2 percent in 2022, the World Bank said on Thursday. The projection assumes that Indonesia will avoid another severe COVID-19 …

Newsroom (2021-12-17). WEF Develops Framework to Transition Colombia to Data-Driven Economy. moderndiplomacy.eu The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a multistakeholder community have developed a technology and governance framework for trustworthy and commercially sustainable public-private data exchanges in Colombia. This new public-private resource will give individuals greater control over how their data is used and serve as a means for responsible value creation. The multistakeholder community …

WSWS (2021-12-17). Omicron case identified in New Zealand. wsws.org The Labour Party-led government claims that it is "very well-prepared" to keep Omicron out of New Zealand, when in reality it has ditched its elimination strategy and is allowing the Delta variant to spread nationwide.

WSWS (2021-12-17). Only a COVID-19 elimination strategy can protect educators, students, and their families from the Omicron tsunami! wsws.org The nearly two years of the pandemic have conclusively demonstrated that a science-based strategy that prioritizes saving workers' lives over corporate profits and investor wealth will only be imposed through the independent intervention of the working class.

Princess Harmony (2021-12-17). NYC opens first safe consumption sites. workers.org With fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses dramatically rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. needs a new strategy for countering this menace. In a number of cities, steps are underway to counteract this horrible loss of life. One is the foundation of safe consumption sites — places where addicted people . . . |

Archana Jyoti (2021-12-17). Impact of Terrorist Organizations in the Middle East. moderndiplomacy.eu Terrorism is a significant variable in security studies and it is hindering a wide range of safety. Likewise, because of the emotional expansion in psychological militant assaults in the course of the most recent twenty years, have economies have found a way broad ways to work on the political, social, and financial circumstances by diminishing …

WSWS (2021-12-17). Jon Donaire bakery workers in California continue strike against speed up, mandatory overtime and low wages. wsws.org The workers have been on strike since November 3 against mandatory overtime, long hours, relentless speedup, poor pay, lack of breaks and a punitive point system for attendance.

Ana Maria Garcia Horta (2021-12-17). Black Lives Matter: The Power Of Activism & Citizen Journalism. telesurenglish.net The year 2021 is drawing to a close, leaving untouched American structural racism, a legacy of the slave age that capitalism preserves to ensure the reproduction of social inequalities, which have been exacerbated by a pandemic that continues to hit workers in various ways. | RELATED: | In Minnesota, for example, the rate of coronavirus infection in citizens of African descent has remained between 25 and 30 percent…

Jonathan Strauss (2021-12-17). Pat O'Shane to stand in Leichhardt for the Socialist Alliance. greenleft.org.au Pat O'Shane, a Kuku Yalanji woman from Mossman, will run for the Socialist Alliance in the Far North Queensland lower house seat of Leichhardt in the federal election. Jonathan Strauss reports.

Matt Sedlar (2021-12-16). Inflation Fears Shouldn't Be a Pretext for Class War. cepr.net The specter of inflation is being invoked to obstruct vital social programs in the Build Back Better bill. That's a recipe for economic ruin.

John Knefel (2021-12-16). Most of the Democratic Party Is Responsible for the Build Back Better Debacle. truthout.org Democrats are bracing for potentially huge losses in next year's midterm elections, and many believe the next few months will be the last chance for President Joe Biden to turn the tide back by passing major legislation. His signature bill, the Build Back Better Act, is currently being held up by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is claiming that rising inflation and the level of federal debt is causing him to rethink his support for the bill. Progressives in the party have been sidelined,…

_____ (2021-12-16). How The Left Can Get Ethiopia Right. popularresistance.org In the last few months, the left media outlets from various camps, in their sincere attempts to demonstrate solidarity and spotlight conflict in the Horn of Africa and internal developments in Ethiopia, got it wrong. They have been uncritically centering active ideological players on two opposing camps. The significant focus on the TPLF attacks on Eritrea, its invasion of Afar and the Amhara region, and its existence as a willing proxy actor of Washington was correct. They got it wrong, however, in their uncritical framing of neoliberal Abiy. They have chosen to over-amplify the Abiy camp's reactionary narrative…

_____ (2021-12-16). Labor Activists Want To Know Why Workers Were Left To Die. popularresistance.org In the aftermath of a rare string of December tornadoes last Friday night that left 80 people dead across six states, labor activists are questioning why employees at two large worksites in the path of destruction were left exposed to danger. | A candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky was totally destroyed after sustaining a direct tornado hit with 110 workers inside. At least eight people died and dozens more were severely injured. At the same time, an Amazon delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois was also hit by a tornado during a shift change, causing the roof to fly off and part of an exterior wall to colla…

Michael Moore (2021-12-16). Report exposes dangerous conditions at Minnesota's Amazon warehouses. peoplesworld.org MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, Minn. (PAI)—Amazon workers this week echoed the findings of a new report that paints a troubling picture of labor conditions and inequities at the retailer's Minnesota warehouses, prompting one state lawmaker to pledge action in the coming legislative session. In analyzing data from six Amazon facilities, researchers from the National Employment Law Project …

teleSUR (2021-12-16). UN-Habitat To Collaborate in Building Green Homes in Kenya. telesurenglish.net Jeremiah Ougo, an officer in charge of national projects at the UN-Habitat, announced to journalists in Nairobi that the organization will guarantee that the principles of sustainable housing are incorporated into the real estate project. | RELATED: | "We will provide technical assistance to ensure water and energy efficiency, as well as public spaces, are mainstreamed into the project," Ougo stated on Thursday. | He noted that the land for the…

WSWS (2021-12-16). US postal workers' union proposes tentative agreement with cuts to real wages, keeps two-tier system. wsws.org The deal, which contains a measly 1.3 percent wage increase and provides for the expansion of second-tier labor, keeps every prior concession intact while adding a few more.

Monica Cruz (2021-12-16). Home care workers protest 24-hour work day in NYC. peoplesdispatch.org Workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers. A coalition of worker's rights organizations including the Ain't I A Woman Campaign and the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS) have been organizing alongside home care workers for years against these unjust labor practices. | "I am traumatized from working 24-hour shifts," said Epifani…

WSWS (2021-12-16). Omicron explodes in Australia as governments scrap nearly all safety measures. wsws.org As a result of truly criminal decisions taken by governments, Liberal-National and Labor Party alike, millions of people face infection within weeks.

_____ (2021-12-16). Wage Inequality Continued To Increase In 2020. popularresistance.org Newly available wage data from the Social Security Administration allow us to analyze wage trends for the top 1.0% and other very high earners as well as for the bottom 90% during 2020. The upward distribution of wages from the bottom 90% to the top 1.0% that was evident over the period from 1979 to 2019 was especially strong in the 2020 pandemic year, yielding historically high wage levels and shares of all wages for the top 1.0% and 0.1%. Correspondingly, the share of wages earned by the bottom 95% fell in 2020. | Two features of the pandemic economy distorted wage patterns in 2020 and led to faster wage growth…

Editor2 (2021-12-16). 20th ALBA-TCP Summit Declaration. orinocotribune.com "17 years defending Latin American and Caribbean integration and peace" | The Heads of State and Government and the Heads of Delegations of the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America — Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), meet in Havana, Cuba, on December 14, 2021 to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the Alliance. In signing this Declaration, we renew our commitment to strengthen this mechanism of political coordination based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, cooperation and economic complementarity, a result of the political will of its founders, the Commanders Fid…

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-16). Pastor Bernice King: How Can Any Leader Call For Unity And Reconciliation Without Economic Reparations To Black Americans? moguldom.com Minister Bernice King — the youngest daughter of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — says there cannot be reconciliation in America without making reparations to Black Americans. "Reparations is a real, pressing need. And it is right and just," King tweeted on Friday, Dec. 3. "How can any leader in this nation …

William Manson (2021-12-16). The Re-Humanizing Power of Great Musical Art. dissidentvoice.org As history repeatedly shows, it is under deteriorating social and economic conditions that the most unscrupulous, the most opportunistic—i.e., the very worst people—end up on top. And because they are the worst, they demand even more, take even more, and abuse and intimidate and/or bribe anyone who stands in their way. Such persons, clearly sociopathic …

teleSUR (2021-12-16). 114 US Congressmen Urge Biden to Restore Engagement with Cuba. telesurenglish.net Led by Representatives Jim McGovern (MA), Barbara Lee (CA), Bobby Rush (IL) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (NY), 114 members of the U.S. Congress sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to advance a Cuba policy that addresses humanitarian needs, the economic crisis and engagement in areas of mutual interest. | "The Obama Administration's Cuba policy was very popular, not only among Americans in general, but also within the Cuban American community," 114 U.S. Congressional representatives wrote.

Arbenita Sopaj (2021-12-16). China's Economic Diplomacy: Where do Taiwan and Kosovo fit in? moderndiplomacy.eu The attempt to unite Taiwan with the mainland since 1979 when Deng Xiaoping instituted the principle of "one country, two systems" has been ineffective to date. In fact, China is struggling with so-called "own provinces," such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet, to name just a few. Internal conflicts are usually a cause of imbalance power …

WSWS (2021-12-16). Wall Street rises on Fed monetary policy decision. wsws.org While the Fed's decision has been described as "hawkish," the markets took reassurance from the fact that Powell has indicated the central bank will take into account their reaction to its decisions.

F. William Engdahl (2021-12-16). Will the Federal Reserve Crash Global Financial Markets As a Means to Implementing Their "Great Reset"? globalresearch.ca It's looking increasingly likely that the US Federal Reserve and the globalist powers that be will use the dramatic rising of inflation as their excuse to bring down the US financial markets and with it, crash the greatest financial bubble …

Staff (2021-12-16). "No Food Available": Afghanistan Faces Catastrophe as Donors Cut Humanitarian Aid to Taliban Gov't. democracynow.org Afghanistan under the new Taliban government faces a humanitarian catastrophe this winter as the United States and other donors have cut off financial aid. The United Nations warns nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan — or more than half the population — face potentially life-threatening food shortages, with nearly 9 million already on the brink of famine. In addition, people face lack of proper healthcare, unemployment and housing shortages. "The international aid organizations, for them, it's just another country … where they take pictures and make their careers out of it," says Pashtana Durran…

_____ (2021-12-16). How The US Government Segregated America. popularresistance.org For many years, I worked in Boston public housing with teams of residents, community organizations, public housing staff and other professors on reducing and removing the many asthma triggers that caused the highest rates of asthma and asthma attacks in the city. Living and working in the heart of the city neighborhoods, I was keenly aware of the apartheid nature of public and residential housing (black Roxbury, white South Boston, white gentrification overtaking Boston's mixed-income interracial neighborhoods, and white suburbs) | I had been familiar with the mid-20th century pattern of "white flight" from urban…

Staff (2021-12-16). Profiting from Migration: Peru Requests $304 Million to 'Serve' Venezuelan Migrants. orinocotribune.com Through the "business" of migration, the government of Peru now intends to ensure its source of income for the year 2022, under the pretext of needing financing to "help" Venezuelan migrants. Peru intends to obtain the funds through a new program that they announced to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR. | According to official sources, the Peruvian administration requested $304 million, allegedly to assist some 900,000 Venezuelans in Peruvian territory. In Peru, Venezuelan migrants have faced serious acts of xenophobia, discrimination, mass deportations, and violence against Venezuelans…

Brittani Banks (2021-12-16). A Critique of Obscene Wealth. independentmediainstitute.org Wherever and whenever obscenely rich people existed, they always protected their wealth and the privileges that come with it from the majority of non-wealthy people working for them and around them. Emperors, kings, czars as well as masters of huge slave plantations, lords of big feudal manors, and major shareholders and top executives of capitalist …

_____ (2021-12-16). Most American Homeowners Are 'House Poor'. popularresistance.org In a recent survey, 40% of homeowners with mortgages said they work second, full-time jobs to afford housing expenses. A majority of the 1,002 people surveyed by Consumer Affairs feel like they can't afford their housing expenses, and did not anticipate the extra costs of upkeep when they bought their homes. | The report comes amid record surges in US home prices, also finding that more than a third of respondents are incurring extra credit card debt to pay their bills. Despite these challenges, homeowners ultimately prefer owning a home to renting one. | The survey found that although 40% of people rely on secon…

Peoples Health Dispatch (2021-12-16). Health workers hang up their lab coats in protest. peoplesdispatch.org More than 300 health workers in Konjic in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to hang up their lab coats at the entrance of Konjic General Hospital on 15 December, in protest against a financial crisis that the town's health institutions have been struggling with for months on end. Nurses, doctors, and other health workers warned the authorities that this was their last warning before they quit en masse, a move that would cause the collapse of health services in the area. | The protest is the latest in a series of workers' actions since late November this year. Until now, workers have engaged in striking…

Dean Baker (2021-12-16). Quick Note on the Inflation Debate and November Retail Sales. cepr.net People are still not spending the money banked in the pandemic. This means that we have less reason to fear excess demand driving inflation.

WSWS (2021-12-16). Minneapolis-St. Paul airport maintenance workers authorize strike action. wsws.org The workers are demanding increased compensation, under conditions of soaring inflation, and benefits that correspond to other MAC workers.

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-16). 89-10: Senate sends record-high $768 billion war budget authorization to White House. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The Senate vote was 89-10.The House vote was 363-70.It's the highest-ever Pentagon budget in current dollars and the largest since World War II in constant dollars. Russian military spending for 2020 was an estimated $61.7 billion, less than 1/12 of next year's U.S. defense spending. Senate Passes $768 Billion Defense Bill, Sending It to Biden …

Dana Sanchez (2021-12-16). Investor Pumps Dogecoin On Tik Tok But Describes A Technical Ponzi Scheme. moguldom.com A Dogecoin fan pumped the hugely popular meme coin on Tik Tok, and an observer reposted the video on Twitter with an accompanying comment saying that the man had just flawlessly described a Ponzi scheme. The unnamed Dogecoin enthusiast was keen to share what he said was "an incredible investment opportunity right now." The goal …

WSWS (2021-12-16). Time's person of the year Elon Musk: Worshipping the pandemic profiteer. wsws.org Time magazine is celebrating a billionaire who personifies the most noxious tendencies in contemporary capitalism.

Editor (2021-12-16). Ten Marxist classics for Xmas. mronline.org Lindsey German's Marxist holiday reading list…

teleSUR (2021-12-16). Haiti: Transporters Get Compensation for Fuel Subsidies Removal. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Prime Minister Henry Ariel's administration agreed with Haitian transport unions to set measures to compensate them for the increase in their operating costs caused by the elimination of fuel subsidies. | RELATED: | Those compensations include the creation of a new oil market control institution that will be in charge of stabilizing public transport fares, regularizing wages of transport operators, co…

Pete Dolack (2021-12-16). Envisioning a world with no bosses. zcomm.org Please Help ZNet Source: Systemic Disorder Many people, especially those with eyes open to the ravages of capitalism, know what they don't want. Fewer know what they do want. That is understandable, given that the task of building mass movements on so many fronts is daunting. But while

_____ (2021-12-16). UAE Charts a Path to Regional Leadership. journal-neo.org Apart from making a defense deal — which came as a potential snub to the US' dillydallying on the sale of the F-35s to Abu Dhabi — with France to purchase 80 state-of-the-art Rafael jets, the UAE is cosying up to Iran and Turkey as a means to place itself as a key player in …

Brittani Banks (2021-12-16). Chile Is at the Political Crossroads: Social Renewal or Decades of Painful Neoliberal Policy. independentmediainstitute.org "If [Augusto] Pinochet were alive, he would vote for me," said José Antonio Kast in 2017, during the Chilean presidential election when he ran as an independent candidate. This was an especially provocative statement made by him out of the many he has made over the years—he had also said that "Chileans need God," during …

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-16). How Can We Expect Things to Change?>. anchor.fm In this episode I discuss the practical ways in which we can expect the world to change based on the ways in which it has historically changed; through people taking control of their circumstances and building a new tomorrow. However it comes, we know that a new tomorrow must come, but if we want that new tomorrow to lead us towards an actually better society, then we need socialism. So how do we get there? Well, let's discuss!