(2021-12-22). Chris Hedges on the Persecution of Julian Assange (Video). scheerpost.com 
In July 2010, Wikileaks published Cablegate, one of the biggest leaks in the history of the US military, including evidence for war crimes and torture. Julian Assange, the founder and spokesman of Wikileaks, immediately found himself a target, accused of hacking, and later sexual assault. He spent the next seven years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearful that he would be extradited to Sweden to face the accusations of assault and then sent to US. In 2019, Assange was handed over to the British police. On the same day, the US demanded his extradition. He faces up to 175 years in prison for…
(2021-12-22). Vietnam National Assembly Chairman visit to Korea and India. moderndiplomacy.eu The Vietnam National Assembly Chairman Mr Vuong Dinh Hue visited South Korea and India as part of its six-day official visit (Dec 12-19). The highly successful visits show convergence is with regard to the two important partners of Vietnam. During the visit to the two countries the Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue …
(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…
(2021-12-22). Nicaragua's evidence-based democracy threatens U.S. oppression domestically and abroad. mronline.org 
Despite Washington's best effort to derail Nicaragua's electoral process through hybrid warfare, strong voter turnout resulted in a decisive victory by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), and the reelection of President Daniel Ortega with 75.92% of the votes cast. Nicaragua's non-partisan, independent Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) reported on Monday, November 8th that 65.23% of …
(2021-12-22). Lack of Left-wing culture, weakness of progressivism in Latin America. mronline.org 
One of the great weaknesses of Latin American progressivism and something that explains its partial defeats is the lack of a leftist, alternative and accessible popular culture, promoting new ways of organizing daily life, affirms àÅlvaro García Linera.
(2021-12-22). As vaccinations lag behind, COVID-19 cases exceed 9.2 million in Africa. peoplesdispatch.org 
To understand the systemic issues hampering Africa's efforts against the pandemic, Peoples Dispatch interviewed Dr. Ahmed Kalebi, president of the East African Division of International Academy of Pathology (IAP), and members of the People's Health Movement, Prof. Leslie London and senior lecturer Lauren Paremoer from the University of Cape Town…
(2021-12-22). Germany sees massive job cuts in all sectors. wsws.org Workers' protests are nipped in the bud by pitting workers against one another, either factory against factory or along national lines.
(2021-12-22). Britain's National Health Service faces disaster as Omicron surges. wsws.org Modelling by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies found that between 3,000 and 10,000 people a day could be hospitalised if the government did not immediately implement further public health measures.
(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.
(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…
(2021-12-21). How do we stop the neocons from starting another disaster in Ukraine. mronline.org 
If anything, Washington's neoconservatives have an unerring instinct for survival.
(2021-12-21). New York Times Reporting on Airstrikes Should Give Daniel Hale More Credit. popularresistance.org Hale used his first hand experience identifying targets for the drone program to highlight how it relies on faulty criteria, and as a result, kills civilians. Later, Hale worked for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he had access to documents on how the drone program operates. Hale provided those documents to the Intercept which published them as The Drone Papers in 2015. While Hale's documents were not as comprehensive as the trove recently published by the New York Times, they did provide much of the same core revelations, particularly the faulty nature of how intelligence is gathered and the h…
(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…
(2021-12-21). Have you been lied to about Xinjiang, human rights ‚àí and China? workers.org 
This statement was issued by the International Action Center (iacenter.org), posted at wp.me/p4Yme1-4Rf and available in PDF at wp.me/P4Yme1-4SF. Claiming that it is acting in defense of human rights, the U.S. tries to cover its own criminal record on internal human rights violations and its record of endless wars, assassinations, . . . |
(2021-12-21). Why Poorer Nations Aren't Falling For Green-Washed Imperialism. popularresistance.org Fighting global warming is not just about providing a path to net-zero carbon emissions for all countries. It is also about figuring out how best to meet the energy needs of people across the world while working toward net-zero emissions. If fossil fuels have to be given up, which has now become an urgent need given the current environmental challenges, countries in Africa and a significant part of Asia, including India, need an alternate path for providing electricity to their people. What then is the best alternate course for poorer countries to follow for electricity production—if they do not use the fos…
(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). Murder and the rate of return — an editorial. workers.org 
In a footnote to Volume 1 of Capital, first published in 1867, Karl Marx quoted from the 19th century English labor leader T.J. Dunning: "With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10% will ensure its employment anywhere; 20% certain will produce eagerness; 50% positive audacity; 100% will make . . . |
(2021-12-21). Democratic Progress in Honduras, Setbacks in El Salvador. fpif.org With the election of Xiomara Castro as their next president, the Honduran people can hope that the state of terror they've lived in since the coup d'état in 2009 is a matter of the past. However, their neighbors in El Salvador are facing a different fate as president Nayib Bukele unleashes his dictatorial ambitions, plunging the country into a nightmare. | The two countries have taken a 180-degree turn and are now immersed in very different political trends. | During the past decade, El Salvador and Honduras went in opposite directions. | With the progressive Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) takin…
(2021-12-21). The right to self-determination for the Kashmir "colony" moderndiplomacy.eu The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution, titled "Universal Realisation of the Right of the Peoples to Self-Determination". It unequivocally supports the right to self-determination for all peoples under subjugation, alien domination and foreign occupation". With close to nine lack troops, police constabulary and security sleuths deployed, the Indian-held Kashmir …
(2021-12-21). In a Pennsylvania prison, a COVID-19 related death. workers.org 
A 52-year-old man, Melvin James Anderson IV, died while incarcerated in the Chester County Correctional Complex and Youth Center in Pocopson, Pennsylvania, Dec. 7. He was jailed while waiting to be tried for a charge of burglary, which he may or may not have committed. How did he die? He . . . |
(2021-12-21). U.S. speed skater gearing up for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. america.cgtn.com 
One of the most promising U.S. Winter Olympic hopefuls is Erin Jackson. Once a top-flight inline skater, Jackson now sits atop the World Cup standings in Women's 500 meters speed skating. She hopes to parlay this season's success into a spot on the podium in Beijing. CGTN's Hendrik …
(2021-12-21). Property: Is it theft? Is it freedom or is it both? Merry Christmas! mronline.org 
Not long after Thanksgiving this year, I went to San Francisco's Japantown ("Jtown" to locals). Surrounded by commodities for sale and in a high rent district I was reminded of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's famous remark, "La propriété, c'est le vol!, which is usually translated as "Property is theft."
(2021-12-21). How Awesome is 'Awesome'? America's Underperforming Military. scheerpost.com 
By Andrew Bacevich / TomDispatch Professional sports is a cutthroat business. Succeed and the people running the show reap rich rewards. Fail to meet expectations and you get handed your walking papers. American-style war in the twenty-first century is quite a different matter. Of course, war is not a game. The stakes on the battlefield …
(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.
(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.
(2021-12-21). An Ohio College Privatized Its Energy And Built A Gas Plant On Campus, Outraging Students. popularresistance.org Columbus is Ohio's capital and the fastest-growing city in the Midwest. And its climate action plan is aggressive. In 2020, the mayor announced a goal to go carbon neutral by 2050, and voters passed a Sierra Club-backed plan for 100% renewable energy by 2024. Some of Columbus' large companies, which are exempt from these requirements, have opted into the city's 100% renewables pilot. Now, However, The University Is Pursuing The Construction Of A New, Gas-Powered Energy Plant Despite Student Protests Holding Them Accountable.
(2021-12-21). An Ohio College Privatized Its Energy And Built A Gas Plant On Campus. popularresistance.org About 40 students and activists march to the office of Ohio State University President Kristina Johnson on Sept. 24, 2021, demanding a halt to the construction of a $278 million gas power plant. "We will not give up," Chandler Rupert, leader of the campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, blasts over a megaphone. | Columbus is Ohio's capital and the fastest-growing city in the Midwest. And its climate action plan is aggressive. In 2020, the mayor announced a goal to go carbon neutral by 2050, and voters passed a Sierra Club-backed plan for 100% renewable energy by 2024. Some of Columbus' large compani…
(2021-12-21). Coal power's sharp rebound is taking it to a new record in 2021, threatening net zero goals. moderndiplomacy.eu The amount of electricity generated worldwide from coal is surging towards a new annual record in 2021, undermining efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially putting global coal demand on course for an all-time high next year, the International Energy Agency said in its latest annual market report. After falling in 2019 and 2020, …
(2021-12-21). Key role for union workers, in $9.5B JFK Airport rebuild. peoplesworld.org 
NEW YORK — There will be a $9.5 billion reconstruction of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and union workers will build it. The board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, approved the New Terminal One construction project on December 16, after Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., …
(2021-12-21). 5 Years for a Retweet: Egyptian Rights Activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah Sentenced by Emergency Court. democracynow.org 
An emergency court in Egypt has sentenced leading human rights activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah to an additional five years in prison on the charge of "spreading false news undermining national security" for sharing a post on Twitter. El-Fattah has been imprisoned since his arrest in September 2019, just six months after he was released following a five-year prison term for his role in the peaceful demonstrations of 2011 that led to the fall of Egypt's longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. "Alaa wasn't even in the courtroom," says El-Fattah's aunt, the acclaimed Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, who was in the courtroom at t…
(2021-12-21). A New Chile, Integrated in Latin America. libya360.wordpress.com Marco Teruggi The expectation of Chileans is that not only things will change in their country, but also the integration with their neighbors and the continent. A progressive agenda abroad. Santiago dawned calm, with blue skies after a long night. Gabriel Boric's presidential victory, quickly acknowledged by his opponent José Antonio Kast, quelled any speculative…
(2021-12-21). External pressure intensifies uncertainty over elections in Libya days before scheduled vote. peoplesdispatch.org The much awaited presidential elections in Libya scheduled for December 24 will most likely be postponed. The uncertainty is exacerbated by external pressures by countries such as Imad al-Sayeh, head of the High National Election Comm…
(2021-12-21). Cyprus: Turkish Occupation and Unpunished Crimes Against Women and Children. moderndiplomacy.eu On December 16 and 17, Democracy Today, an NGO that focuses on human rights issues, organized its annual international conference in Armenia's capital of Yerevan. This was part of a cooperation with the Working Group (WG) on women and gender realities in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) region. This year's agenda …
(2021-12-21). Biden administration doubles down on "vaccine-only" strategy as Omicron emerges as dominant strain in US. wsws.org Biden is delivering a nationally televised address this evening that will be focused on reassuring Wall Street that no measures will be taken to stop the transmission of the Omicron variant.