Daily Archives: December 20, 2021

2021-12-20: News Headlines

_____ (2021-12-20). Beijing and Moscow Strengthen Cooperation in Response to the West's Incitement of Hatred Against Russia and China. journal-neo.org The United States' and the European Union's desire to increase pressure with sanctions and hostile rhetoric on Russia and China has resulted in the tightest possible partnership between Moscow and Beijing, which are already united by years of extensive ties in various areas. Bilateral trade exceeded $132 billion from January to November, increased by 24 …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-20). Leftist Gabriel Boric wins Chile's key presidential election and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode of the Daily Round-up we look at progressive former student leader Gabriel Boric's victory in Chile's presidential runoff elections; massive protests against the October military coup in Sudan on the 3rd anniversary of the 2019 Revolution; a New York Times report on the "deeply flawed" intelligence informing U.S. airstrikes in the Middle East which killed over 1,000 civilians; and an indefinite strike launched by workers at the NagaWorld casino and resort in Cambodia to protest the targeting of unionised workers, and demand better pay.

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). Ukraine's NATO neighbors pledge support for NATO accession, against Russia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Ukraine's accession to EU, NATO: Lublin Triangle leaders sign declaration Presidents of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausƒóda, and President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine's membership in the European Union and NATO. "The joint declaration stipulates clear support for Ukraine's …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). Zelensky says if Russia deploys nuclear arms to Belarus, Ukraine will "know where they are located" antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Zelensky will have to explain in which " different parts of the world" Russia has deployed or exported nuclear weapons. With the assertion that his regime will "definitely know where part of Russia's nuclear weapon is located," he appears to indicate that a preemptive strike against them could be conducted. ==== Can't play with these …

WSWS (2021-12-20). VIDEO: Assange's life is in danger. Attend emergency online meeting to demand his immediate release. wsws.org "The campaign for Assange's freedom must turn to the emerging struggles of the working class against social inequality and the murderous policies of mass infection."

_____ (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…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-20). Italian working class mobilizes for worker-friendly budget, pension reforms and job security. peoplesdispatch.org National trade unions in Italy organized a general strike protesting the 2022 budget plan of the Mario Draghi government for not meeting the expectations of the working class, particularly on tax cuts, pension reforms and preventing the relocation of industries…

_____ (2021-12-20). Teamsters Union Shuts Down Southern California Sanitation Workers Strike. popularresistance.org In coastal Orange County, south of Los Angeles, 400 sanitation workers went on strike on December 9 against Republic Services, the second-largest waste management firm in the US. The workers, members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 396, had voted by a large majority in favor of a strike on November 23.

_____ (2021-12-20). Unions, Worker Advocates Call Out Backroom Deal To Sneak Amazon Into NJ Airport. popularresistance.org The Teamsters, along with RDWSU and other worker advocacy groups belonging to the coalition calling on New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to back new anti-trust legislation pending in the Legislature, rallied outside the Amazon Go outlet at the corner of Church and Cortland streets in Manhattan this week, before marching over to the Port Authority offices where the agency was busy behind closed doors planning a new regional hub for Amazon at Newark Airport.

_____ (2021-12-20). Amazon Workers Are Organizing For Cellphone Access. popularresistance.org Hundreds of Amazon employees at warehouses across the mid-Atlantic are organizing to push the company to allow workers to keep their phones with them throughout their shifts and adopt an inclement weather policy in the aftermath of the collapse of the Amazon warehouse in Illinois that killed six workers. | The Amazon workers are demanding that Amazon pay workers for shifts cancelled due to inclement weather. And during school closures, they want Amazon to excuse all absences caused by severe weather and to be paid 80 percent of their salary.

Saul Kanowitz (2021-12-20). "No Cuts to the Classroom": San Francisco rally challenges School Board's budget. liberationnews.org It will take the school workers and the community organizing together, the same people that make the school system and the city function, to ensure the needs of the students, teachers, and community are prioritized.

WSWS (2021-12-20). Striking Kellogg's workers oppose tentative agreement, call for broadening the strike. wsws.org Opposition remains high among striking Kellogg's workers to a tentative agreement which is virtually identical to the one which workers rejected two weeks ago.

WSWS (2021-12-20). UK trade unions betray National Health Service workers pay struggle. wsws.org That the government has been able to enforce a pay cut is entirely down to the trade unions' suppression of mass opposition in the million-strong National Health Service workforce.

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.

_____ (2021-12-20). Pharmacists Stage Walkout In Early Unionization Effort. popularresistance.org Today, a fledgling independent union of pharmacists is launching the first-ever nationwide walkout of these critical health care workers. | After being forced to work on the pandemic front lines distributing medicines to millions of sick COVID patients, including hundreds of millions of vaccines, pharmacists have had enough, and are fighting back in unprecedented ways.

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). 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.

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 …

WSWS (2021-12-20). UK reaches "hundreds of thousands" of daily COVID cases as education unions demand schools reopen in January. wsws.org With the backing of the education unions, the government refused to close schools before the Christmas break, even though many had to partially close as COVID took its toll among staff and pupils.

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…

Staff (2021-12-20). Lack of Left-Wing Culture, Weakness of Progressivism in Latin America (Interview). orinocotribune.com 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. | Despite the electoral triumphs of progressive ideas in the region, neoliberalism has established a common sense which goes beyond who is the ruler, García Linera expressed in a talk with La Jornada on progressivism, left, right, and popular culture. Here is the final part of that interview: | -It seems that in countries like Chile, El Salvador, and Ecuador…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). àÅlvaro García Linera: Lack of Left-Wing Culture, Weakness of Progressivism in Latin America. libya360.wordpress.com 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. Despite the electoral triumphs of progressive ideas in the region, neoliberalism has established a common sense which…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-20). Israeli court rejects appeal to release administrative detainee on hunger strike. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinian detainee Hisham Abu Hawwash has been on hunger strike for 125 days now to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel. His release has been rejected despite serious life-threatening health issues…

WSWS (2021-12-20). Philadelphia high school switches to virtual learning after teachers threaten sickout strike. wsws.org Late Sunday night, the administration of Olney Charter High School in North Philadelphia gave in to teachers' demands that the school switch to virtual learning in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

_____ (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…

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 …

Jamal Rich (2021-12-20). Youth election observers share Nicaragua experience at D.C. event. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Challenging the narrative parroted by U.S. corporate media about Nicaragua's November elections was the focus of an event here on Sunday, Dec. 12 Solidarity activists and friends from the D.C. metropolitan area gathered for a session co-hosted by the Friends of Latin America and the Claudia Jones School for Political Education. Youth observers who participated …

_____ (2021-12-20). 'Fortress Conservation' Is Driving Us From Our Homes. popularresistance.org Kaziranga is also a World Heritage site recognized by UNESCO and listed as a global hotspot of biodiversity by the IUCN. However, all that is under threat thanks to an increasingly militarized form of conservation. This is being promoted by the Indian Forest Department, in a feudal, colonial setup, assisted by large international and national NGOs. A flawed and exploitative idea has emerged: the plan to turn 30 per cent of the world's surface into Protected Areas by 2030 (30×30). This idea, being pushed by the IUCN, has been greenwashed, whitewashed and sold to the world, alongside 'nature-based solutions' (NBS),…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). Relief for Boric's Victory. Uncertainty Regarding the Social Democratization of His Discourse. libya360.wordpress.com àÅlvaro Verzi Rangel The reactionary right wing expected to add a step forward in Chile. The tandem of José Antonio Kast with the ultra-right-wing Brazilian President Bolsonaro would have meant a threatening pincer for the region. It failed. Almost 12 points of advantage put an end to one of the most polarized and uncertain processes…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). Chile: Never Again Will a President Declare War on His Own People. libya360.wordpress.com Ollantay Itzamná Gabriel Boric. President-elect of Chile The imperial agents of neoliberalism are losing ground in Abya Yala Sur. Their neoliberal Andean triad of Peru, Chile and Colombia is crumbling, at least politically. Brazil, with Lula da Silva, and Colombia, with Gustavo Petro, in 2022, will further qualify the turn of the contest against neoliberalism…

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…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-20). US Health Infrastructure Once Again Unprepared for COVID-19 Surge. libya360.wordpress.com Natalia Marques New Yorkers are now having to face hours-long lines in the cold for COVID-19 testing, potentially exposing themselves to others carrying the virus. In the nation with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, people in the US are confronting a third wave of coronavirus cases as the Omicron variant surges through the country….

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.

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 …

Isheka N. Harrison (2021-12-20). Podcast Host William Holley Talks To Nuri Muhammad About American Sports and Slavery. moguldom.com Student Minister Nuri Muhammad, who leads the Nation Of Islam's Mosque No. 74 in Indianapolis, recently spoke with WBH Radio host William Holley about slavery and sports. Holley asked Muhammad to expound on Nation Of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan's 2016 Saviours' Day message comparing basketball courts to plantations. "He goes on to say the evaluation …

Common Dreams Staff (2021-12-19). US Air Wars Killed Thousands of Civilians, Including Children, NY Times Reports. truthout.org Thousands of previously hidden Pentagon documents show that the U.S. air wars in the Middle East have been marked by "deeply flawed intelligence" and have killed thousands of civilians, many of them children, The 5-year Times investigation received more than 1,300 reports examining airstrikes in Iraq an…

Common Dreams Staff (2021-12-19). Manchin Rejects Build Back Better Bill, Likely Killing Social and Climate Agenda. truthout.org "I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation," Mr. Manchin said on "Fox News Sunday, "I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there. This is a no." | The comments from Mr. Manchin dealt a fatal blow to the legislation that is central to President Joe Biden's agenda. | "I think he's gonna have a lot of explaining to do to the people of West Virginia," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." | Sanders said Manchin "doesn't have the…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-19). "Summit for Democracy" and the Empire's New Weapons. libya360.wordpress.com William Serafino On December 9 and 10, the so-called "Summit for Democracy" took place, an online event sponsored by the Biden administration as part of a new attempt to revive the global hegemony of the empire, weakened for several years now by a polycentric architecture of international actors of different sizes, influence and geopolitical scope,…

_____ (2021-12-19). Native Mascots Are A Direct Result Of America's Fabricated Colonial History. popularresistance.org The negligence of our nation's history has allowed for the continued racist representation of Native Americans, specifically when discussing their representation as mascots in amateur and professional sports. Several scholars have chosen to raise awareness to the ongoing misrepresentation and racist imagery that is present in amateur and professional sports by arguing against the allowance of such images, claiming such representation to be a by-product of a postcolonial society that allows for cultural imperialism, where the idea of Native American lives and presence are simply a thing of the past and not of 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…

Don Gross (2021-12-19). Senate approves Rahm Emanuel for ambassadorship despite opposition from Chicago progressives. liberationnews.org In addition to his role in the murder of Laquan McDonald, Rahm's policies while mayor of Chicago were devestating for the working class in the city, especially Black and Latino communites.

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…

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-19). Historical Development of Revolution. anchor.fm In this episode I give my best attempt to add a description of how it is that we must try to understand the development of a revolution. I try to explain how consciousness, active participation, struggle and organization are some of the most crucial parts of building a revolutionary movement. I also discussed the need to understand concrete conditions in a concrete fashion, and why it is that we must take into account all of the particularities and universalities of our system our situation and others. I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think! Email me at indefenseofliberation@gmail.com !

_____ (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…

_____ (2021-12-19). Tales Of Resistance: Guaidó's Pie. popularresistance.org A few days ago I was out grocery shopping when I heard a man tell his friend that Venezuela was the only country in the world with two presidents but where everything was still screwed up. | This has become a running joke among Venezuelans. However, some three years ago, when Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself "interim president" and was instantly backed by the United States and the European Union, things didn't seem so funny. | The government and its support base feared this was the opening act ahead of a US military invasion. Opposition activists weren't totally clear as to what was going on, but their leaders were…

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