(2021-12-14). Ukraine Is a Problem Only as Long as the West Makes It One. dissidentvoice.org 
Ukrainian servicemen take part in a drill of the airborne troops taking place in Zhytomyr region on November 21, 2018. (photo: AFP) Since the fall of the Soviet Union thirty years ago, US policy on Ukraine has been an ugly mix of inconsistency, quiet aggression, fear-mongering and stupidity. Now President Biden is recklessly intensifying the …
(2021-12-14). US Shouldn't Be Invited to Summit for Democracy, Let Alone Be its Host. orinocotribune.com 
By Alexander Rubinstein — Dec 8, 2021 | In every one of the countries the United States has intervened in over the past decades, anti-democratic means are almost always used towards anti-democratic ends, all in the name of promoting democracy. | This week, the United States is convening a virtual "Summit for Democracy," the first of its kind in what the State Department hopes to make an annual event. | "The summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend demo…
(2021-12-14). No action against personnel responsible for killing Afghan civilians in August drone strike, says US defense department. peoplesdispatch.org Several human rights groups have questioned the internal investigation by the Pentagon which called the drone strike inside a residential building in Kabul an "honest mistake". 10 Afghan civilians including seven children, were killed in the US drone strike in August…
(2021-12-14). Headlines for December 14, 2021. democracynow.org Eight Killed by Tornado at Kentucky Factory Whose Workers Were Ordered to Remain on Site, Ice Sheet Holding Back Vast Antarctic Glacier Poised to Collapse Within Five Years, U.K. Reports First Death Linked to Fast-Spreading Omicron Coronavirus Variant, New York City to Require Proof of Vaccination for Kids 5 and Up to Enter Public Spaces, Pentagon Won't Punish Anyone over Kabul Drone Strike That Killed 10 Civilians, Sudanese Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Report: Colombian Police Killed at Least 11 People Protesting Police Brutality, Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison for Illegally…
(2021-12-14). Barbados declares a republic: British imperialism's legacy of slavery and colonialism. wsws.org None of the island's governments have been able to redress British imperialism's legacy of underdevelopment, dependency and above all economic hardship and social inequality.
(2021-12-14). Who is Responsible for the Deteriorating Situation in Lebanon? journal-neo.org 
For many years, Lebanon was considered the safe haven of the Middle East plagued by wars, instability, and colored revolutions. Many have referred to the country as the Middle East's Switzerland, including investments in Lebanon's economy from countries of the region where the political crises were raging. The country's banks were especially valued, prosperous and …
(2021-12-14). Government crisis in Sweden strengthens far-right. wsws.org For the first time, the Swedish parliament voted for a budget drafted by the conservative Moderate Party in collaboration with the far-right Sweden Democrats.
(2021-12-14). Equal Pay For Equal Work! Kellogg Bakers Local 3G Striker Donovan Williams Speaks At UAW 5. indybay.org Kellogg Battle Creek BCTGM Local 3g striker Donovan Williams reported on their national strike to UAW 5 members and supporters on December 10, 2021…
(2021-12-14). Strike Wave in the U.S.? Labor Historian Nelson Lichtenstein on Union Drives & Worker Revolts. democracynow.org 
As unionizing efforts have taken the U.S. by storm, we look at the history of the U.S. labor movement and how unions have acted as a bulwark against corporate power. Worker organizing at Starbucks, Kellogg's and Amazon shows that unions help enforce health and safety measures and protect workers who speak out. "A working-class consciousness ebbs and flows," says Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "A union is a way of capturing that consciousness and making it the law of the land."
(2021-12-14). White House Hosts Democracy Summit and Highlights Global Anti-Corruption Commitments. indybay.org More than 100 leaders showcase initiatives to counter dictatorships, fight corruption and promote human rights at a virtual summit the White House hosts December 9-10.
(2021-12-14). Family Policies in the Build Back Better Act Would Reduce Burdens on Families and Provide a Better Buffer to Economic Instability. cepr.net Many US workers could not say exactly when or how much they will be working two weeks from today. As one might imagine, this situation makes it difficult to plan and control one's nonwork life. It also can lead to financial hardship for low- and moderate-income households when they experience a decline in earnings due …
(2021-12-14). Understanding the Historical Moment We're in Takes Practical Action! anchor.fm In this episode I go into a discussion about the political, social, and economic placement we as working class people seem to find ourselves in today, not simply in the US but in some sense around the world. We are all hurting in a very similar way, added onto by our own individual struggles or difficulties we might face because of the color of our skin, our gender, our ability or willingness to be taken advantage of, etc. We are all suffering very difficult situations which none of us can take on alone, but if we want to do something about these things, we can't just pick up a gun and go, we'll be killed, or mos…
(2021-12-14). José Antonio Kast: Chile's left paves the way for a fascist. wsws.org The political descendants of the forces that bore responsibility for straitjacketing the working class ahead of the September 11, 1973 coup are today playing the same role.
(2021-12-14). Support the Turkish health care workers' strike movement! wsws.org This strike movement, amid a raging pandemic, is internationally significant and deserves support from all sections of the working class.
(2021-12-14). UAW members vote strongly in favor of 'One worker, one vote' referendum. liberationnews.org 
In voting results announced on December 2, members of the United Auto Workers overwhelmingly voted to change the union's method of choosing its top leadership…
(2021-12-14). MIT graduate employees announce majority support for unionization — will MIT commit to contract negotiations? liberationnews.org 
The graduate student workers of MIT have spoken. Will President L. Rafael Reif listen?>
(2021-12-14). India's post-pandemic economic recovery. mronline.org 
The pandemic alas is not yet over, but there are no economic disruptions in the current fiscal year in the form of lockdowns or workers' absence. The economy's performance therefore can no longer be attributed to the prevalence of the pandemic; whatever it is, it is caused by economic factors.
(2021-12-14). Columbia student workers begin sixth week on strike, defying university's strikebreaking threats. wsws.org Columbia's threats not to rehire striking workers raises the urgency for student workers to expand their strike.
(2021-12-14). South Dakota teachers scramble at "Dash for Cash" in desperate attempt to fund their classrooms. wsws.org Workers across the US have reacted in horror to a stage-managed competition for teachers to win a few hundred dollars for their classrooms.
(2021-12-14). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Some 400 Teamsters members at Republic Services in Southern California are on the picket lines as Fred Meyer workers in the Pacific Northwest are threatening strike and daycare workers across Quebec, Canada ended their walkout with a contract ratification.
(2021-12-14). Over 100 feared dead as recovery efforts continue following massive tornado outbreak across the US Midwest and South. wsws.org Workers at the candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky which was destroyed by a tornado Friday night were told they would be fired if they left the facility in response to warnings made hours before the storm hit.
(2021-12-14). Why Cuba has no anti-vaccine movement. workers.org 
By Marc Vandepitte and Toon Danhieux In the imperialist countries, honest skepticism about government handling of the COVID-19 crisis and the profit-driven decisions of pharmaceutical companies have allowed rightist and ultrarightist groups to mobilize sections of the population behind unscientific theories that harm public health. This article, published in dewereldmorgen.be . . . |
(2021-12-14). Australia: Evan Blake speaks at Committee for Public Education online meeting. wsws.org Blake reported on the spread of the Omicron variant internationally, the new dangers it represents and the significance of the Global Workers Inquest initiated by the WSWS.
(2021-12-14). Striking Kellogg's Workers Vow to Hold Out for Better Contract, Urge Boycott of Company's Products. democracynow.org 
Kellogg's announced it would begin permanently replacing the 1,400 workers who have been on strike for over two months to demand fair wages and better working conditions. The move comes after an overwhelming majority of Kellogg's workers rejected a new five-year agreement they say falls short of their demands and sparked widespread public backlash, including from President Biden. "We are fighting for equal pay and equal benefits, regardless of what the company is putting out there. And trying to replace us is something that they're using as a scare tactic," says Kevin Bradshaw, a striking Kellogg's worker and pre…
(2021-12-14). Massive workers' mobilization in Turkey demands fair minimum wage. peoplesdispatch.org 
In a massive rally in Istanbul called by the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DiSK), workers demanded an increase in the minimum wage in the country to at least 5,200 Turkish Lira (USD 358.80) in order to meet their basic needs…
(2021-12-14). "Our Movement Is Growing": How Starbucks Workers in Buffalo Fought Company's Union Busting and Won. democracynow.org 
We look at the historic workers' victory at the Elmwood Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, where workers successfully voted to unionize last week, making them the first to do so among the coffee chain's 9,000 locations in the United States, and sparking new efforts at stores across the country. We speak to one of the 19 employees who voted in favor of forming a union about confronting the company and overcoming the challenges. Starbucks hired "the most notorious union-busting law firm in the country and literally ran not even a textbook anti-union campaign but an almost unprecedented anti-union campaign," says…
(2021-12-14). Worker Protection Bill Blocked Before Tornado Disaster. dailyposter.com 
(2021-12-14). China's Zero COVID policy proves that the elimination of COVID-19 is possible. wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site published yesterday a submission to the Global Workers' Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic by a scientist on China's Zero COVID strategy that is essential to understanding what has happened over the past two years and what must be done to end the pandemic.
(2021-12-14). Sunday 12/19: Haiti's Crisis and the Popular Resistance. indybay.org This event will be held on Zoom. Register: dsasf.org/haitiresist…
(2021-12-14). Cuba defeats COVID-19 with learning, science, and unity. peoplesworld.org 
Education is central to Cuba's brand of socialism. The revolutionary government's dedication to scientific knowledge and healthcare for all shows up now as Cubans cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States is not so lucky. Cubans have wholeheartedly carried out masking, social-distancing, testing and quarantining. Cuba' s bio-medical research and production facilities created five …
(2021-12-14). Soaring social inequality under New Zealand Labour government. wsws.org Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger warned recently that society is increasingly divided between the poor and the "obscenely rich," and that historically inequality was "the root cause of revolution."
(2021-12-14). Sunday 12/19: Revolution Books at the Telegraph Ave. Holiday Street Fair. indybay.org Telegraph and Durant in front of 2340 Telegraph, Berkeley…
(2021-12-14). Spectacles of Amnesia: YouTube Populism and the Rehabilitation of the Marcoses. fpif.org In the hills of Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines, a massive head hovers above the trees. Carved on the side of Mount Pugo, La Union, the 30-meter concrete bust overlooks the northern provinces, as if gazing over its vast domain. The head is of former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Yet today, his effigy is hardly recognizable. Shortly after the 1986 People Power Revolution that deposed and exiled the Marcos family, indigenous groups displaced by the bust's construction returned to smear pig's blood across the leader's face. Three years later, communist rebels bombed the same bust, leaving in…
(2021-12-14). Nationalism and Liberal Democracies: The Rise of Nationalism in Brazil. moderndiplomacy.eu Twenty-five years ago, liberal democracies rose; the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet Union collapsed, and new democracies emerged in Europe. In South Africa, the apartheid regime was removed. Even though the Chinese government brutally crushed a democracy, the belief existed that a more educated and wealthy middle class would demand democratic reforms. The 2008 …
(2021-12-14). After year long struggle and historic victory, Indian farmers head home. peoplesdispatch.org These protest sites had become a home for these farmers. Now, they are returning home joyous, yet vowing to continue the fight and keep their union strong…
(2021-12-14). Visegrad Four meeting: Chastised stepchild Poland defending NATO, EU border. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com EU must protect its borders, Polish PM says after V4 summit with France's Macron Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended a meeting between Visegrad Group leaders and French President Emmanuel Macron in Budapest on Monday, and said afterwards that the European Union must be able to protect its borders. The Budapest get-together, which was also …
(2021-12-14). Punishing the Poor, 211 pp. indybay.org "The Keynesian state, coupled with Fordist wage work…whose mission was to protect the most vulnerable populations…has been succeeded by a state that one might dub neo-Darwinist, in that it erects competition and celebrates unrestrained individual responsibility-whose counterpart is collective and thus political irresponsibility, the Leviathan…"
(2021-12-14). We Won't Go Back, We Will FIGHT Back! indybay.org Some of the protests held in the Bay Area on December 1 for reproductive justice went into the night. The one in San Jose was sponsored by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
(2021-12-14). San Francisco Says Protect Roe. indybay.org Strike for Choice initiated December 1 as a day of national action to protect Roe v. Wade and the city of San Francisco stepped up to the task. At 3: 30pm Mobilization for Reproductive Justice held a rally at the Federal Courthouse. Later, as it grew dark outside, a different organization held a rally at Powell and Market.
(2021-12-14). Culture wars: identity politics and the fight against surveillance capitalism. zcomm.org For some, it's a left-wing adoption of neoliberalism. For others, it's authoritarian. But it's really just about equality…
(2021-12-14). Sudanese people's struggle against the military dictatorship. fightbacknews.org Dallas, TX – On April 11, Omar al-Bashir, the military leader of Sudan for over 20 years, from 1989 to 2019, was deposed in a military coup. The coup occurred amidst largescale protests calling for the overthrow of al-Bashir, demanding democracy and an end to austerity measures enacted by the government in response to the country being over $60 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund and France. | The protests were largely led by the National Consensus Forces (NCF), an alliance consisting of political parties including the Sudanese Communist Party, the Sudanese Baath Party, the National Umma Party, and…
(2021-12-14). Canadian Tire Fire #23: Gidimt'en Calls for Week of Action, Defund the Ottawa Police, Encampment Solidarity Updates. itsgoingdown.org photo: @RisingTideTor As CGL attempts to move forward with their work on the Yintah, inching ever closer to drilling under Wedzin Kwa, Gidimt'en Checkpoint has called for a week of actions starting December 20th. They're calling for specific attention to be paid to investors such as RBC, which has already been the target of a…
(2021-12-14). The Franco-German solidarity is the pivot to a sovereign Europe. moderndiplomacy.eu On December 8, Olaf Scholz was sworn in as new chancellor of Germany after his predecessor and political mentor Angela Merkel had governed the country for the past 16 years. In the wake of power-transition in Germany, Scholz went onto Paris and Brussels where he announced that he will earnestly work with other member states …
(2021-12-14). Presidents of Bolivia and Nicaragua Arrive in Cuba for ALBA Summit. telesurenglish.net The Bolivian President Luis Arce and the Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega arrived in Havana to participate in the 20th Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP). | RELATED: | On Monday night, Arce pointed out that Cuba has taught the world that solidarity is sharing what one has even when one does not have much. | "Today, the Cuban people need us and w…
(2021-12-14). IBT Bay Area Official Rome Aloice permanently barred from the Teamsters. indybay.org Bay Area Teamster Official Rome Aloise has been barred for life from participation in the Teamsters.
(2021-12-13). Guernica, Lidice, My Lai … and Now Talon Anvil. libya360.wordpress.com Patrick Martin US MQ-9 Reaper Drone (Image credit: U.S. Air Force/Paul Ridgeway public domain) On Sunday, the New York Times published a detailed report chronicling the systematic, years-long mass murder of civilians by the United States in Iraq and Syria, carried out by a death squad called Talon Anvil. The unit directed air strikes and…
(2021-12-13). Headlines for December 13, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Declares Major Federal Disaster in KY; 100+ Feared Dead After Tornadoes Rip Through 8 States, U.S. Health Officials Say Boosters Could Curb Winter COVID Surge as NY Tightens Mask Rules, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Tests Positive for COVID-19, Over Half a Billion People Faced Extreme Poverty Due to Healthcare Costs During Pandemic, SCOTUS Says Providers Can Sue over Texas Abortion Law But Limits Scope and Keeps Ban in Place, Gov. Gavin Newsom Says He Will Use Texas Abortion Ban as Model for CA Gun Control Laws, NYT: Secret Unit Launched 10,000s of Strikes Against ISIS, Killing Syrian Civilians in…
(2021-12-13). "Every option is on the table": U.S. prepping for Libya-style intervention in Ethiopia. mronline.org 
A considerable military buildup is now underway. Last week, the U.S. military announced it was sending over 1,000 National Guard members to nearby Djibouti.
(2021-12-13). Ethiopia: 'UN WFP and USAID Have Been Using Humanitarian Crisis to Prepare Grounds for Western Intervention'. libya360.wordpress.com Pavan Kulkarni People participate in a rally to condemn the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Western intervention in the internal affairs of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Dec. 5, 2021. Photo: Xinhua/Wang Ping Horn of Africa TV's editor, Elias Amare, talks to Peoples Dispatch on the latest military developments in Ethiopia, the setbacks faced…
(2021-12-13). Australian government, Labor opposition greenlight US rendition of Julian Assange. wsws.org There is outraged opposition to Assange's persecution in Australia, but it will find no way forward within the parliamentary set-up.