Daily Archives: October 9, 2021

2021-10-09: News Headlines

WSWS (2021-10-09). Pandora Papers reveal finance minister profited from offshore account as misery ravages Brazil. wsws.org The revelations stand as a testimony to the rampant social inequality that is the defining trait of Brazilian capitalism, provoking deep nervousness within ruling circles.

Nikolaus Gietinger, Justus Cider (2021-10-09). Capitalist dilemmas and The Greed for More. indybay.org The overexploitation of nature did not remain without resistance. However, these were ignored by both the left and the right due to the hopelessness of the capitalist form of wealth. The "requirements of shipping and agriculture" destroy original functions of the floodplain landscapes. "And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself," said Greta Thurnberg…

Prabhat Patnaik (2021-10-09). Finance capital and the World Economy. mronline.org THE period of neo-liberalism witnesses an increase in the share of economic surplus in total output both in individual countries and also for the world as a whole.

WSWS (2021-10-09). Wall Street cracks the whip and Senate passes short-term extension of debt ceiling. wsws.org When it comes to the basic financial interests of the corporate-financial oligarchy, and Wall Street gives the marching orders, partisan gridlock in Congress suddenly dissipates.

Fight Back (2021-10-09). Memphis Kellogg's workers on the picket line. fightbacknews.org Memphis, TN – At midnight on Tuesday, October 5, workers at Kellogg's factories across the United States went on strike. Union workers in Memphis say the company made an unacceptable offer at contract time. | Rob Eafan, a member of the local union's leadership, said of the contract, "The company wants to have a permanent two-tier wage system, with reduced wages and benefits for our new employees. The bottom line: it's all about corporate greed. The company made record profits throughout this pandemic while working us record hours," he said. "And they had record bonuses of 158%." | The Bakery, Confectionery, Toba…

WSWS (2021-10-09). Ticket-sellers' dispute with concert venue forces Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to relocate performances. wsws.org The dispute between the IATSE ticket-sellers union and the Music Center at Strathmore in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. is part of a rising wave of working class struggle which has been building against the corporate efforts to force workers to bear the burden of the pandemic.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-10-09). In historic vote, 60,000 Hollywood workers authorize first ever countrywide strike. mronline.org Workers employed in major film and television production houses have complained of abysmal working conditions such as long hours, often exceeding 12 hours a day, low wages and low healthcare contributions from producers.

Julia Conley (2021-10-09). Media Coverage of Reconciliation Fight Is Corporate Con Job. zcomm.org "There's a big disconnect between the corporate media and working people," said Bernie Sanders…

SAM (2021-10-08). Forget the Huddled Masses. Bring Us Billionaires. inequality.org

Paul Cochrane (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…

El Faro English (2021-10-08). From EL FARO ENGLISH: Exposed by the Pandora Papers. latinorebels.com Central America, in Brief: The Pandora Papers, a global investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) involving more than 600 journalists in 117 countries, shed new light on how offshore banking shields the cash of Central America's wealthy and well-connected, including presidential candidates and former heads of state. While the practice doesn't prove illegal activity, it raises serious questions about transparency and economic inequality.

WSWS (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.

Robert Reich (2021-10-08). The Democrats' one chance to cut child poverty in half. nationofchange.org Poverty is a policy choice. Congress must make the Child Tax Credit permanent.

WSWS (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). Hope For Labor At The End Of History. popularresistance.org It was "the end of history": America in the 1990s. Francis Fukuyama published a book with that title in 1992. Things would continue to happen, according to the philosopher, but the underlying story line had come to a finish with the triumph of liberal democracy and capitalism. As the decade wore on, Fukuyama's prophecy seemed practically clairvoyant. At the turn of the millennium, Bob Dylan captured the zeitgeist: "I used to care, but things have changed." | Yet how could that be? Talk of a second Gilded Age of gross disparities in income and wealth was already commonplace. Homelessness, declining wages, a reemer…

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (2021-10-08). Lisa Graves on the Fight for the Post Office, Stevana Sims on Saving Anti-Racist Education. fair.org (image via BillMoyers.com) | This week on CounterSpin: The thing about the US Postal Service: Low-income people get the same service as the rich; rural people get their prescriptions and paychecks and ballots in the same timeframe as those in big cities. The idea has always been that postal service is a public good, not to be mined for profit, and not tiered to give the wealthy yet another leg up. USPS is the second-largest employer in the country, traditionally offering opportunities for people of color—and unlike the number one employer, Walmart, it doesn't subsidize itself by paying wages so low that em…

Dave Lindorff (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

Staff (2021-10-08). Omar, Ocasio-Cortez Give Biden Deadline on Student Debt Cancelation Memo. truthout.org After months of silence on student loan forgiveness from the White House, progressive lawmakers, led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), have written a letter giving President Joe Biden a two-week deadline to release a memo on student debt cancelation. | "Decades ago, Congress voted

Staff (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…

Josh Bivens (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…

Editor2 (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…

Joe Bernick (2021-10-08). Tucson nurses find Sinema's office empty, just like her promises. peoplesworld.org TUCSON—When local members of National Nurses United showed up at Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's local office on Oct. 7, they were not surprised to find the office empty, just like her promises. Working people have gotten used to being ignored by her. They knew there was no chance they could speak to the senator or even …

Matt Sedlar (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…

Staff (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). The Time To Prohibit Nuclear Weapons Is Now. popularresistance.org Dr. Helen Caldicott, who has spent decades working for a nuclear weapons-free world, recently wrote a blunt op-ed with an unforgettable headline: "With All Its Wisdom, the Human Race Is Killing Itself." | Decrying the arms industry and the nine countries that now own nuclear weapons, Caldicott points to the one trillion dollars per year that the U.S. spends on "national defense," and states that if we can't learn to live in peace, we are doomed. | At least 56 nations ("state parties") have come to the same conclusion and have now signed the new UN Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which came i…

Dean Baker — Ted Boettner (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

Ana Vraƒçar (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…

Bama Athreya (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

Peoples Dispatch (2021-10-08). Venezuela condemns U.S. veto blocking access to IMF's COVID-19 funds and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode of the Daily Round-up, we take a look the IMF's restrictions on Venezuela's access to 5 billion dollars in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) funds; the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq scheduled for October 10th following years of protests for political and economic reforms; the occupation of a pipeline facility of Peru's state-owned PetroPeru company by Indigenous activists protesting contamination by oil spills; and the ongoing strike against unsafe working conditions and low pay by health workers in Guinea-Bissau.

Vijay Prashad (2021-10-08). A World without hunger: The Fortieth Newsletter (2021). mronline.org There is nothing more obscene than the existence of hunger, the terrible indignity of working hard but being without the means for sustenance.

WSWS (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.

WSWS (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). What Is Ecocide, And Why Does It Matter? popularresistance.org Jamie Hunter has just returned from defying a court injunction to protect old-growth forest in Fairy Creek and is going to Glasgow next month to push for a major change to international law that would provide another tool against environmental degradation. | The 21-year-old from Nelson, B.C., sees the actions as two fronts of the same battle to confront forces otherwise damaging the planet and imperiling its inhabitants. | "To me, Stop Ecocide is a really tangible solution," said the co-founder of its Canadian chapter. "Obviously, it's not the only solution, but it's a big piece of the puzzle because it really sa…

rebekah (2021-10-08). The Care Movement Fights Back Against Cuts to Biden's Historic Home Care Plan. inequality.org

Staff (2021-10-08). Hurricanes Aren't Just Natural Disasters — They Also Fuel Inequality. truthout.org When President Joe Biden toured storm-ravaged neighborhoods in Louisiana in September, he portrayed the damage of Hurricane Ida as a Natural disasters cou…

John Sifton (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

Staff (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

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