(2021-10-08). Pandora Papers: How London became a financial hub for Gulf rulers and the super-rich. middleeasteye.net 
Pandora Papers: How London became a financial hub for Gulf rulers and the super-rich | Many of the secretive structures used to hide wealth from scrutiny were created during the British Empire and involved the Middle East | Fri, 10/08/2021 – 12: 00 | A statue of a dragon marks the boundary of the City of London, the British capital's financial hub (Reuters) | Since leaving the European Union, the B…
(2021-10-08). 10,000 Alberta Superstore workers vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. wsws.org The poorly-paid grocery workers are outraged over poverty wages, the company's erratic scheduling practices and the virtual absence of COVID-19 protections in the workplace.
(2021-10-08). ISU graduate students vote on union-backed contract enforcing poverty wages. wsws.org The Illinois State University Graduate Workers Union is working to push through a sellout contract that enforces poverty-like conditions in a no-strike contract.
(2021-10-08). The Rich are Different: They're Richer Than Us and Far Greedier. counterpunch.org F. Scott Fitzgerald is famously said to have once remarked to his pal Ernest Hemingway, "The rich are different from you and me, Ernest," to which Hemingway is said to have replied, "Yes, they have more money." Fitzgerald had it right. Particularly these days, when the wealthiest people in the US are not millionaires, or
(2021-10-08). Headlines for October 8, 2021. democracynow.org Pfizer-BioNTech Requests Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccine for Children Aged 5-11, COVID Deaths in Russia Top 900/Day; Venezuela Accuses IMF of Withholding Pandemic Funds, Senate Cmte. Says Trump Repeatedly Asked DOJ for Help Overturning Election Loss, Senate Votes to Lift Debt Ceiling Until Early December, Minneapolis Police Joke About "Hunting Activists" During 2020 Racial Justice Uprising, Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, WSJ: U.S. Military Secretly Training Taiwanese Forces for Possible Conflict with China, Gunmen Kill 2 School Teachers in Kashmir Amid Mounting Attac…
(2021-10-08). Abolish the Debt Ceiling Before It Commits Austerity Again. zcomm.org The GOP used the debt ceiling to force spending cuts in 2011. It can't be allowed again…
(2021-10-08). Revolutionizing the Cities: 10 Years of Housing, Self-Management, and Communes in Venezuela. orinocotribune.com By Alba Movimientos — Oct 5, 2021 | Ten years ago we gathered in the Ezequiel Zamora Park (or El Calvario) of Caracas—as part of a public dialogue alongside Commander Hugo Chávez—and began an ongoing process of urban revolution that has allowed the people of Venezuelan to recover previously abandoned or underutilized lands. Today, millions of houses have been built on these lands, thousands of units have been constructed by people's power, many of which are now self-managed by the community. The right to housing for working families is fully protected, in stark contrast to a past in which people…
(2021-10-08). Interim Senate Judiciary Report confirms Trump's repeated attempts to enlist Department of Justice into January 6 coup attempt. wsws.org The preliminary report details Trump's numerous attempts, working in concert with Republican lawmakers and sympathetic figures within the Department of Justice, to carry out a fascist coup.
(2021-10-08). Want a Working Democracy? Try Democratizing Work. counterpunch.org Google's well-known motto, "Don't be Evil," might imply the company expects employees will use their moral compass. Then again, maybe not. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently reviewed a case regarding Google's termination of several employees for applying their conscience at work. What the NLRB decides will have major implications for workplace rights. But
(2021-10-08). No retreat from elimination! The New Zealand and international working class must fight to stamp out COVID-19! wsws.org The working class must oppose the Ardern government's plan to "transition" away from a strategy of elimination, which threatens to allow COVID-19 to spread throughout the country, killing thousands of people.
(2021-10-08). Baker, Boettner: Manchin May Want to Stop Digging. cepr.net Charleston Gazette-Mail | There's an old line, that when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging. This is advice that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., might want to take to heart. | In the debate over President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, Manchin is working hard to protect the interest of West Virginia's coal industry. On the one hand, this is understandable. | The coal industry has a long history in the st…
(2021-10-08). Nurses left behind by Croatian government. peoplesdispatch.org 
Several hundred health workers from the trade union Nurses United, held a protest on 23 September this year in Zagreb, Croatia, calling on the government to improve their working conditions. The rally was the first significant public action in the healthcare sector after a large protest in 2019, when over 2,000 nurses, ambulance drivers, and other health workers protested exhausting working hours and worsening rights in the workplace. | In addition to the unresolved issue of overtime work, the nurses' requests expanded to more employment in public health facilities and a reversal of mandatory COVID-19 passes for…
(2021-10-08). Anti-Iran and Anti-Venezuela Agents Conspire. orinocotribune.com Two prominent individuals working against Iran and Venezuela met this week to continue their conspiracies against the governments of their respective countries. | The Venezuelan coup plotter and fugitive Leopoldo López and the US journalist of Iranian descent Masih Alinejad held a meeting on Tuesday, October 7, within the framework of the so-called Oslo Freedom Forum, held in the US state of Florida. | Alinejad and López, who are known for their illegitimate actions against their governments, advocated strengthening their cooperation in their "struggle for freedom"—a euphemism for defending Washington's int…
(2021-10-08). Manchin May Want to Stop Digging. counterpunch.org There's an old line, that when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging. This is advice that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., might want to take to heart. In the debate over President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, Manchin is working hard to protect the interest of West Virginia's coal industry. On the
(2021-10-08). How to Avert Afghanistan's Food and Economic Crises. counterpunch.org Afghanistan's humanitarian situation is spiraling into catastrophe. Millions of Afghans are now facing severe economic stress and food insecurity in the wake of the Taliban's August takeover, set off by widespread lost income, cash shortages, and rising food costs. Officials with the UNand several foreign governments are warning of an economic collapse and risks of worsening acute malnutrition and outright
(2021-10-08). Six Palestinian hunger strikers "starving for freedom" — take action to defend their lives! samidoun.net 
Six Palestinian prisoners are facing an increasingly urgent health crisis as they continue their hunger strike to end administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Kayed Fasfous, Miqdad Qawasmeh and Alaa al-Araj have all been hospitalized after 85, 78 and 60 days of hunger strike, respectively, and both are pledging to continue their hunger strikes […] | The article
(2021-10-07). High Drug Prices and the Refusal to Talk Seriously About Debt and Deficits. counterpunch.org Reporters and politicians have been screaming about our debt and deficits in recent weeks, as the Democrats try to steer their public investment package through the senators from Arizona and West Virginia. The infuriating part of this story is that the whining about debt and deficits, and the reporting on it, literally makes no sense.
(2021-10-07). The Child Tax Credit Is a Proven Boost to American Families, So Why Are Conservative Democrats Trying to Stop It? counterpunch.org American families have struggled for decades to make ends meet with wages simply not rising as fast as the cost of living and a government social safety net that has been so deeply decimated that the U.S. now spends less on children than nearly any other wealthy nation. This year there was a small glimmer of hope that such
(2021-10-07). Headlines for October 7, 2021. democracynow.org Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Texas's Near-Total Ban on Abortions, Senate GOP Leader McConnell to Allow Debt Limit Extension into December, WHO Approves Use of First-Ever Vaccine Against Malaria, U.S. COVID Deaths in 2021 Surpass 2020's Total, U.N. to Pay Salaries of Aid Workers in Afghanistan, U.N. Appoints Envoy to Western Sahara After Two-Year Vacancy, Education Department to Expand Student Loan Forgiveness for Public Workers, Crude Oil Spills from Galveston Bay, TX Refinery, Biden Administration Restores Key Environmental Review Provisions to NEPA, Appeals Court Blocks California Law Banning Private Prisons…
(2021-10-07). Stark Inequalities Among Poor Ethnic Groups: UNDP. telesurenglish.net The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), produced by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, measures the composition of the poor in 109 countries covering 5.9 billion people, about 92 percent of the developing world's population. | RELATED: | For the first time, the 2021 Index examines the correlations between poverty and ethnicity and race, caste and gender, the UNDP said. Besides income, it studie…
(2021-10-07). Transcript: "Making the Most of Special Drawing Rights: Approaches to Maximize Impact and Create a Sustainable and Just Recovery" cepr.net CEPR Senior Research Fellow Andrés Arauz participated in an event on October 4th as part of the IMF Annual Meetings, sponsored by CEPR, ActionAid, Afrodad, the Bretton Woods Project, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Eurodad, Global Policy Forum, Global Call to Action Against Poverty, Jubilee Debt Campaign, Latindadd, Oxfam International, Social Justice in Global …
(2021-10-07). Biden: The Interesting Debt Master-Slave Dialectic. counterpunch.org As a US Senator from Delaware Biden smoothed the way for his state to become a tax haven and a place that openly welcomed credit card companies. After graduating from Yale Law School, Hunter was offered the executive vice president position at MBNA, a rising credit card company, despite his lack of banking experience: "Hunter rejected concerns about the political ties between the firm and his father."
(2021-10-07). To Understand the Debt Ceiling Crisis, Observe the Far Right Clown Show in Idaho. truthout.org 
The debt ceiling crisis has been At first blush, the idea of confusion w…
(2021-10-07). Minneapolis Is About To Vote On Whether To Dismantle The Police. popularresistance.org It was a cool Friday in Minneapolis, made cooler by the shadows of the skyscrapers towering over People's Plaza. In the brick-lined courtyard between the Hennepin County Government Center and Minneapolis City Hall on September 17, the Yes 4 Minneapolis campaign and its allies held a rally whose purpose had come undone the day before. | Yes 4 Minneapolis is working to amend the Minneapolis City Charter by removing a mandate for a mayor-controlled police department with a certain number of officers per resident (0.0017, to be exact). In its place, the amendment establishes a Department of Public Safety under the jo…
(2021-10-07). Guinea-Bissau health workers demand to be valued. peoplesdispatch.org Nurses, doctors, and other health workers at the Simà£o Mendes National Hospital (SMNH) in Bissau walked off their jobs on September 20 this year, protesting unsafe working conditions and neglect by the government. Soon, they were followed by health workers in other regions of Guinea-Bissau. United under the slogan No sinta na casa pa é danu balur! (Let's stay at home to be valued!), the workers have echoed the often-heard call by governments during the pandemic, who asked people to remain at home to minimize the spread of COVID-19. | In this case, health workers in Guinea-Bissau used a similar call to pres…
(2021-10-07). South Africa: COSATU holds one-day protest strike as steel strike continues. wsws.org COSATU and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa are reacting to the extreme social tensions building up and seeking to head off an anti-capitalist movement in the working class.
(2021-10-07). Close New York City schools to protect children and stop the spread of COVID-19! wsws.org Our committee demands the closing of schools to protect the lives of children and as a first step in a global program by the working class to eradicate COVID-19.
(2021-10-07). Temporary victory won against 'offensive' Texas abortion law. peoplesworld.org 
Delivering a temporary victory to fighters for women's reproductive health, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered an immediate injunction against Texas's latest abortion restrictions—measures which pave the way for the elimination of Roe v. Wade. Pitman branded the Texas law, officially designated SB 8, an "offensive deprivation" of the constitutional right of women to make …
(2021-10-07). Federal Judge Blocks Texas Abortion Ban, Blasts "Offensive Deprivation of Such an Important Right" democracynow.org 
A federal judge has temporarily blocked Texas's near-total ban on abortions, granting the Justice Department's emergency request to halt the law while courts consider its legality. In his ruling, Judge Robert Pitman slammed the Texas ban's unconstitutionality, writing, "This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right." "Judge Robert Pitman ruled and said what advocates in Texas and clinics operators in Texas have been saying all along … a near-total ban on abortion in the state of Texas is flagrantly unconstitutional," says Amy Littlefield, abortion access corr…
(2021-10-07). Federal judge temporarily blocks Texas abortion ban. salon.com "This Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right"
(2021-10-07). OPINION: COVID and Latinx Homelessness in Los Angeles. latinorebels.com Time will tell if Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's homeless programs will live up to expectations. But many Angelenos like myself believe these programs are not enough.
(2021-10-07). Opinion: Government food aid programs need a digital facelift. salon.com Burgeoning online markets for food and grocery delivery may hold the key to fighting food insecurity…