Daily Archives: January 13, 2022

2022-01-13: News Headlines

Vijay Prashad (2022-01-13). A Programme for a Future Society That We Will Build in the Present. dissidentvoice.org Chittaprosad, Indian Workers Read, n.d. In October 2021, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released a report that received barely any attention: the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021, notably subtitled Unmasking disparities by ethnicity, caste, and gender. 'Multidimensional poverty' is a much more precise measurement of poverty than the international poverty line of $1.90 per …

WSWS (2022-01-13). December inflation surge leaves US workers' wages even further behind. wsws.org Rising prices for food, used cars, rent and medical care amounted to a 2.3 percent cut in real wages from December 2020 to December 2021, according to official figures.

teleSUR (2022-01-13). Colombia: Murder Toll Of Activists Increased By 35% In 2021. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) revealed that the number of reports of murders of human rights defenders in Colombia increased by 35 percent between 2020 and 2021. | RELATED: | In the latter year, 202 complaints were received by this multilateral office, which managed to verify only the murder of 78 activists. Seventeen of the murdered leaders were dedicat…

Luke Savage (2022-01-13). Thanks to US Sanctions, Afghans Are Starving. zcomm.org Now that US troops are gone, Joe Biden's sanctions are causing starvation and suffering — and the media has been astonishingly silent…

Robert Herbst (2022-01-13). Review of 'The State of Israel vs the Jews'. zcomm.org Sylvain Cypel's "The State of Israel vs. The Jews" shows how bereft of human decency Israelis have become in their treatment of Palestinians…

WSWS (2022-01-13). Omicron surge is pushing hospitals to the brink across the US. wsws.org The CDC says as many as 62,000 people will die over the next four weeks, with the exponential increase in cases and hospitalizations in states across the country.

David Swanson (2022-01-13). AUDIO: David Swanson on Russia, Ukraine, and War Madness. warisacrime.org By Sputnik, January 13, 2022 John and Michelle catch up with David Swanson, executive director of World BEYOND War, to talk about the latest developments with NATO and conflict zones around the world. John points out that the direct link between EU membership and increased well-being for the population is questionable. Hungary joined the EU, …

Staff (2022-01-13). Headlines for January 13, 2022. democracynow.org WHO: Confirmed Coronavirus Infections Surge to 15 Million in a Week, French Teachers Strike as COVID-19 Cases Overwhelm Schools, British PM Boris Johnson Faces Calls to Resign for Defying Lockdown to Attend Cocktail Party, Biden Deploys Military Teams to Hospitals Overwhelmed by COVID-19 Patients, GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy Won't Cooperate with "Illegitimate" January 6 Committee, Confronted over Lies About 2020 Election, Donald Trump Cuts Short NPR Interview , Biden Meets with Senate Democrats as Push to Pass Voting Rights Legislation Intensifies , Ohio's Top Court Rejects GOP's Gerrymandered Voting Maps, Is…

Kenzo Shibata (2022-01-13). Teachers in Chicago Are Up Against a Wall of Neoliberal Cruelty. zcomm.org The current struggle is a symptom of the larger problem of neoliberal school reform — a virus whose only vaccine is democracy…

Staff (2022-01-13). Confessions of a "Human Guinea Pig": Professor Quits Vaccine Trial over Moderna's Corporate Greed. democracynow.org Jeremy Menchik, a self-described "human guinea pig" who volunteered for Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trials, dropped out to protest the company's greed in reaping profits from the ongoing pandemic while doing little to resolve global vaccine inequity. Menchik is launching a new website — mrna4all.org — where other vaccine trial participants can join the effort to pressure vaccine makers to scale up production to vaccinate the world. "That they have to be accountable to their guinea pigs and they have to advance policies for public health not just private profit … I think that must be unnerving to them…

Staff (2022-01-13). "The Coming Coup": Ari Berman on Republican Efforts to Steal Future Elections. democracynow.org Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman warns the Republican Party is laying the groundwork to steal the 2022 midterms and future elections through a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression and election subversion, that together pose a mortal threat to voting rights in the United States. Republicans, many of whom are election deniers, are campaigning for positions that hold immense oversight over the election process. "What's really new here are these efforts to take over how votes are counted," says Berman. "That is the ultimate voter suppression method, because if you're not able to rig the election on the fr…

Staff (2022-01-13). John Nichols on How "Coronavirus Criminals & Pandemic Profiteers" Hurt World's Response to COVID-19. democracynow.org We speak with The Nation's national affairs correspondent John Nichols on the occasion of his new book, "Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis," which takes aim at the CEOs and political figures who put profits over people during the coronavirus pandemic. The chapters cover notorious figures such as former President Trump, Mike Pompeo, Jared Kushner and Jeff Bezos. "In the United States alone, hundreds of thousands of deaths occurred that did not have to occur," says Nichols. "Globally it's in the millions, and the U.S. could have played a huge role in addre…

Chris Walker (2022-01-13). Critics Lambaste Sinema's Opposition to Filibuster Changes. truthout.org During a Thursday speech on the Senate floor, conservative Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) announced that she would not support changing the filibuster rule, potentially dooming any chance of voting rights legislation being passed in the foreseeable future. | On Thursday,

Amy Goodman (2022-01-13). There Are Many Ways to Steal a Midterm — and the GOP Is Laying the Groundwork. truthout.org Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman warns the Republican Party is laying the groundwork to steal the 2022 midterms and future elections through a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression and election subversion, that together pose a mortal threat to voting rights in the United States. Republicans, many of whom are election deniers, are campaigning for positions that hold immense oversight over the election process. "What's really new here are these efforts to take over how votes are counted,…

M. K. Bhadrakumar (2022-01-13). Putin draws the line for colour revolutions. mronline.org This must be a rare page in American diplomatic history that a US Secretary of State has been literally off his rocker. Antony Blinken's outbursts on the events in Kazakhstan were not only boorish but also illogical.

Peoples Dispatch (2022-01-13). Saudi-led coalition targets civilian infrastructure in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. peoplesdispatch.org According to the Houthis, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces carried out airstrikes on Sa'dah city's Talmous water station on Tuesday, causing significant damage to the tanks that provide water to over 135,000 civilians…

_____ (2022-01-13). #Ethiopia #TigrayGenocide #ExcuseForRegimeChangeWar. popularresistance.org While France steps up neocolonial aggression in its former North and West African colonies, the U.S. has set its sights on the elected government of Ethiopia in the geostrategic Horn of Africa. Ethiopia's growing ties with China and Russia and the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Between Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea so threaten U.S. global hegemony that a U.S. "regime change" campaign is well underway. | One of the first stages of any such campaign is, of course, massive disinformation. Mass media, human rights organizations, aid organizations, and, more recently, social media armies—especial…

_____ (2022-01-13). Ethiopia Enjoys a Temporary Lull. journal-neo.org Ethiopian troops under the command of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won a military victory last December when they stopped a group of Tigray rebels from advancing on the country's capital, which could have led to the overthrow of his government. The Prime Minister wholly appreciated the bravery of his troops. "Ethiopia is proud of your …

_____ (2022-01-13). The New Afghanistan: Why We've Heard It all Before and Again! journal-neo.org During the Christmas and New Year holiday periods, it is generally non-Christian countries which make the news. Everyday life carries on without interruption, so stories which build over a long period can mature without interruption. It was only a few weeks ago that everybody was talking about Afghanistan. The Taliban (a radical movement banned in …

_____ (2022-01-13). China and Latin America: Washington is Losing Ground. journal-neo.org The global Sino-American confrontation that has unfolded in recent years affects all spheres of the world economy and all regions. China stubbornly squeezes the United States in every area, including its traditional sphere of influence in Latin America. At the moment, the United States is the leading trading partner of Latin American countries as a …

_____ (2022-01-13). MTC between India and Russia: A Stable Development Against the Backdrop of New Threats. journal-neo.org There has been global confrontation between the US and China for many years. Against this background, the regional confrontation between China and India continues. The two mighty neighboring Asian powers have long been competitors, having territorial issues and vying for influence in neighboring states. Fortunately, the struggle is mainly in the economic sphere, but to …

_____ (2022-01-13). China Tests 12.5 Million In Zhengzhou For Covid In Six Hours. popularresistance.org On Friday, Chinese health authorities began testing every single resident of Zhengzhou, the capital of China's central Henan Province, after a handful of COVID-19 cases were detected in the massive city of 12.5 million. Just six hours later, they were finished, achieving a rate of 2.1 million people tested per hour, or 583 residents per second, according to the Global Times. For comparison, that is equal to New York City and Chicago combined. On Sunday, health officials set about trying to do it again with the even larger city of Tianjin, home to 14 million people.

_____ (2022-01-13). Comparing The COVID-19 Responses In Cuba And The United States. popularresistance.org With fundamental differences in health systems structure and organization, as well as in political philosophy and culture, it is not surprising that there are major differences in outcomes. The more coordinated, comprehensive response to COVID-19 in Cuba has resulted in significantly better outcomes compared with the United States. Through July 15, 2021, the US cumulative case rate is more than 4 times higher than Cuba's, while the death rate and excess death rate are both approximately 12 times higher in the United States. In addition to the large differences in cumulative case and death rates between United Sta…

_____ (2022-01-13). More Than 8,000 Kroger Grocery Workers Strike In Colorado. popularresistance.org On the heels of a new report showing significant financial insecurity, including homelessness, among workers at Kroger grocery stores, more than 8,000 of the chain's employees in Colorado went on strike Wednesday to demand fair wages and better healthcare benefits. | Amid a recent wave of successful strikes at companies including John Deere and Kellogg's, the work stoppage is taking place at nearly 80 King Sooper grocery stores, which are owned by the Kroger Company, across the Denver metropolitan area. According to the Colorado Sun, 10 additional stores in Colorado Springs could also go on strike in the coming w…

_____ (2022-01-13). National Faith Groups Call On Congress And President To Close Guantanamo Bay Prison. popularresistance.org Washington, DC — On Tuesday, Jan. 11, twenty-nine national faith groups sent a letter to President Biden and all Members of Congress calling on them "to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and to ensure that all of the people held there are either released, agree to a plea deal, or receive a fair trial in a federal court." | Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, released the following statement: | "For twenty years our country has held people without charge or trial in Guantanamo. Some of the people we still hold there were tortured by the U.S. after the…

_____ (2022-01-13). The Indigenous Grandmothers Who Stopped A Pipeline. popularresistance.org Alton Gas, a subsidiary of Calgary-based AltaGas, had abandoned a project that would have pumped 10,000 cubic metres of brine into the mouth of this river each day for as long as a decade, leaving behind subterranean caverns where the company planned to store natural gas. It has been seven years since Maloney and a handful of other Mi'kmaq grandmothers had painted their first picket sign saying "Stop Alton Gas."

Ana Perdigón (2022-01-13). Venezuela Begins 2022 with Oil Production Increase (+Alex Saab). orinocotribune.com Despite the economic blockade imposed by the United States regime, Venezuela began 2022 by increasing its oil production in its domestic refineries to almost 160,000 barrels per day (bpd), a source revealed to Reuters. | With the help of Iran, which provided tankers of fuel, Venezuela was able to satisfy its internal demand for gasoline a few months ago. In addition, technicians from Iran helped to replace equipment and effectuate repairs at several refineries in Venezuela. | Processing was revamped to handle a more diverse list of crude grades, to produce more gasoline and diesel. | Venezuela has been heavily af…

Andy Kroll (2022-01-13). None Dare Call It "Encirclement" tomdispatch.com The word "encirclement" does not appear in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 27th, or in other recent administration statements about its foreign and military policies. Nor does that classic Cold War era term "containment" ever come up. Still, America's top leaders have reached a consensus on a strategy to encircle and contain the latest great power, China, with hostile military alliances, thereby thwarting its rise to full superpower status. The gigantic 2022 defense bill — passed with overwhelming support from both parties — provid…

Anonymous Contributor (2022-01-13). Texas Prisoners Organize Strike and Boycott for Juneteenth 2022. itsgoingdown.org Call from Texas prisoners for actions leading up to Juneteenth. An organization of revolutionary Texas prisoners called T.E.A.M.O.N.E., alongside another prisoners' org titled the TX Liberation Collective, is calling for a "campaign to boycott, rally, and strike on the days approaching [Juneteenth] and on that day." The organizations write in their communique, "The premise of…

Binoy Kampmark (2022-01-13). Julian Assange: A Thousand Days in Belmarsh. dissidentvoice.org Julian Assange has now been in the maximum-security facilities of Belmarsh prison for over 1,000 days. On the occasion of his 1,000th day of imprisonment, campaigners, supporters and kindred spirits gathered to show their support, indignation and solidarity at this political detention most foul. Alison Mason of the Julian Assange Defence Committee reiterated those observations …

Dean Baker (2022-01-13). Will Seasonal Adjustments Alleviate the Supply Chain Backlog? cepr.net Even if there is no reduction in demand as shown in our seasonally adjusted data, there should be some reduction in pressure on our supply chains. We'll see how much of the backlog this will clear up.

Derrick Crowe (2022-01-13). People's Action Proudly Endorses Jennifer Esteen, RN for California Assembly. peoplesaction.org WASHINGTON, D.C.—People's Action today announced its endorsement of Jennifer Esteen, RN for California Assembly AD20. Esteen is running a movement politics, people-powered campaign and will work to advance the People's Action People's Platform once elected. Esteen is also endorsed by People's Action member organization, San Francisco Rising. "Jennifer Esteen, RN is the only candidate running …

Editor2 (2022-01-13). CELAC: Latin American People Strive for Integration and Unity. orinocotribune.com By Alejandra García — Jan 9, 2022 | Last Friday, January 7, Argentina assumed the pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) for the year 2022. The first words of the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, after accepting this great challenge, was to call on the people to move forward in integration and to strengthen the dialogue to continue building a region at peace. This theme of deepening Latin America integration has been the thrust of the organization for over a decade, excluding the US and Canada, but that doesn't mean that there are no CELAC member nati…

Editor (2022-01-13). Labor power and wages after women's labor market incorporation in Argentina. mronline.org In the past years, there has been a very much welcomed flourishing of Marxist Feminist analyses.

Editor (2022-01-13). Why the Anglosphere is united in an anti-China front. mronline.org Part five in an eight part series investigating the crisis in Canada-China relations…

Editor (2022-01-13). Private SoCal Prison Remains Open Despite Ban. scheerpost.com Photo by By George Franco / A for-profit

In Defense of Liberation! (2022-01-13). Internationalism: True International Proletarian Revolution. anchor.fm In this episode I try to give an overview again as always of many things that are going on across the world right now in order to connect them and be able to get folks to see how universal a lot of the struggles we are facing are. I want people to understand that the best way that we can be able to build a struggle is together, we have to have solidarity with not only our communities our neighborhoods, and our own people groups, but also the international proletariat who is suffering and struggle is the basis to the Wests privileges and benefits from capitalism. We have to see that a true proletarian revolution c…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-01-13). Bolivia Brings to Trial Those Responsible for the Coup d'Etat: Will Honduras Follow the Same Path? libya360.wordpress.com Ollantay Itzamná Images of acts of social resistance to the coup d'état in Bolivia and Honduras. We suspected a coup in Bolivia, but in Honduras there was no doubt about it. The coup perpetrators must be tried and punished in an exemplary manner so that their impunity is not an example of reward for future…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-01-13). How Bolivia's Economy Was Saved. libya360.wordpress.com Kawsachun News We spoke to Zenón Mamani, Bolivia's Vice Minister for Budget and Public Accounts, about what the country's economic recovery looks like following the restoration of the socialist model at the end of 2020, with the landslide victory of Luis Arce and the Movement Towards Socialism. What are the core principles behind the economic…

It's Going Down (2022-01-13). Detroit, MI: Report on Bus Blockades Against Indoor Instruction. itsgoingdown.org Report from so-called Detroit about recent bus blockades that were attempting to stop the return of students to indoor instruction during the height of the pandemic. We got up in the early morning every day for weeks. Bus drivers start their days early, so we had to start even earlier. We arrived at the bus…

Jesús Rodríguez-Espinoza (2022-01-13). Moscow to Washington: You Could Solve your Problems if You Stop Financing Guaidó & His ilk. orinocotribune.com Caracas, January 12, 2022 ( "The US would be able to find enough money to solve its problems, if it reduces the military presence in Eur…

Joris Leverink (2022-01-13). No escaping the state: the story of Lovett Fort-Whiteman. roarmag.org To be free, to walk in dignity—for these precious privileges some men will go anywhere, sacrifice anything. | — Homer Smith | Black America is not guaranteed much, if anything, under the category of citizenship. It has never prevented us descendants of enslaved Africans from falling victim to repression, exclusion and constant infractions. Our supposed rights are rarely rights at all. They are bendable and disposable terms that are in constant need of defense. In the US court system, which is systematically structured against us, many have sought to strengthen — or at least maintain —…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2022-01-13). Venezuela Rejects US 'Incoherent and Disrespectful' Statement — Barinas Rerun Elections. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Félix Plasencia, responded firmly to the statements of the spokesperson for the United States government based in Colombia, James Story, who had referred to the electoral process held in Barinas state on January 9. | Through his official Twitter account, the Venezuelan minister for foreign affairs questioned that the representative of the Biden administration tried to "congratulate" the people of Barinas on the electoral process, after being the main promoter of actions against the legitimate government of Venezuela and the boycott of electoral processes. | Llamar al boicot el…

Pavan Kulkarni (2022-01-13). Unions allege petrol bombs, intimidation as strike intensifies at South African Dairy giant. peoplesdispatch.org Amid threats and intimidation, the workers' action at Clover has been strengthened by worker solidarity as well as the increasing support of civil society for its boycott campaign.

Peoples Dispatch (2022-01-13). Anti-imperialists call on UK govt. to return Venezuelan gold held at Bank of England. peoplesdispatch.org As part of the US-backed imperialist maneuvers to destabilize the socialist government in Venezuela, the UK authorities blocked the country from accessing 31 tons of gold, valued at around USD 2 billion, which is deposited at the Bank of England…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-01-13). Palestinians intensify protests against Israeli demolitions and encroachment in Negev. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinians in the Negev desert have organized vigils and protests to oppose the ongoing Israeli destruction of their lands in the Bedouin villages of Al-Atrash and Al-Sawa. Since the beginning of the week, the villagers have been facing repeated attempts of encroachment by extremist Israeli settlers and right-wing Israeli organizations on their lands. | The right-wing Israeli groups have been

Peoples Dispatch (2022-01-13). UN experts call out Duterte's silence on Bloody Sunday killings. peoplesdispatch.org Four UN special rapporteurs had inquired about the status of the investigation into the Bloody Sunday killings in the Calabarzon region near Manila, in which nine activists were killed in police raids on March 7 last year…

Ramzy Baroud (2022-01-13). The Real "Doomsday Scenario": How Palestinian Hunger Striker, Abu Hawash, Forced Israeli Concession. dissidentvoice.org As soon as media reports emerged regarding a deal between Palestinian prisoner, Hisham Abu Hawash and the Israeli prison authorities, Israeli extremists, led by Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir, angrily raided the Assaf Harofeh Hospital where Abu Hawash was being held. A Palestinian political activist, Abu Hawash, 41, is a father of five. He was arrested by …

rebekah (2022-01-13). Dr. King Remained Hopeful. So Can We. inequality.org

Subodh Varma (2022-01-13). UP Elections: Double engine has left urban youth stranded. peoplesdispatch.org In the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh which is set to see elections soon, urban youth in the15-29 age range are facing lethal unemployment, with rates above 20% for the past three years…

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