Eesha Yaqoob, Saad Javed, Shehzad Ali Khan (2023-05-27). Correspondence] Trauma care in the face of climate change in Pakistan. thelancet.com The effect of climate change on society is broad and profound. Studies have shown that low-income countries face the greatest number of deaths due to disasters, with 33% of those deaths occurring in countries with the lowest human development indices.1 Extreme weather events have killed 10‚Äà000 people and caused US$4 billion of damage in Pakistan, which is continuously placed among the top ten most susceptible countries on the Climate Risk Index. The country is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its high rates of multidimensional poverty.

Joelle Fishman (2023-05-26). 1,700 Connecticut caregivers facing poverty go on strike at six group homes. peoplesworld.org HARTFORD, Conn.—Over 1,700 union group home and day program workers providing care for individuals with disabilities in six Medicaid-funded agencies across the state walked off their jobs on Wednesday, May 24, in an indefinite strike to end poverty. They are members of SEIU District 1199NE. After picketing in the morning, the caregivers moved to the …

Cara Brumfield (2023-05-26). Work Requirements Won't Solve Labor Shortages. progressive.org For decades, Republican lawmakers have sought to deny benefits to people experiencing poverty unless they can prove they are either working or actively looking for work. Now those efforts have been ramped into overdrive.

Stephan Schulmeister (2023-05-27). Inflation in the Age of Finance Capitalism. indybay.org The shift of profit-striving from the real- to the financial-economy lowered economic growth Unemployment and atypical jobs soared. The welfare state was weakened. At the same time, financial wealth grew exorbitantly (the DAX increased 14-fold since 1988). The development of financial derivatives made possible profiting from short-term changes in stocks, currencies and bonds.

The Lancet (2023-05-27). Editorial] Childhood as a commodity: ending child labour. thelancet.com Children continue to be exposed to physical harm and denied education while toiling for long hours in the world's wealthiest nations. Children as young as 12 and 13 years have been engaged in labour involving midnight shifts, dangerous machinery, and punishing physical demands across industries supplying some of the USA's largest corporations according to a harrowing New York Times investigation. Most had migrated, unaccompanied, from central America. Uncertain of their immigration status and some indebted to traffickers, many considered dangerous labour safer than deportation.

teleSUR (2023-05-26). Australia: 1st Portable Hydrogen Generator Developing. telesurenglish.net Researchers from Australia's national research agency have launched a project to develop the first portable green hydrogen generator in the nation. | Related: | On Friday, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) started a project with a funding of 10 million Australian dollars (around 6. 5 million U.S. dollars) that aims to design and construct an easily deployable device able to generate environmen…

Colin Todhunter (2023-05-26). What Was Covid Really About? Triggering A Multi-Trillion Dollar Global Debt Crisis. "Ramping up an Imperialist Strategy"? globalresearch.ca If it was indeed about public health, why close down the bulk of health services and the global economy knowing full well what the implications would be? And why mount a military-style propaganda campaign to censor world-renowned scientists and terrorise entire populations…

infobrics (2023-05-26). US might use credit default to attack competitors. infobrics.org Increasing the debt ceiling won't save US from economic woes.

John Bachtell (2023-05-26). Are lawmakers close to a deal to raise the debt limit? peoplesworld.org White House spokespeople and Republicans neared a deal yesterday that would hike the debt limit for two years while putting a ceiling on federal spending on everything except the military and veterans benefits for the next two-year period. That would prevent Republicans from holding the nation hostage again for the remainder of the Biden administration. …

Kenny Stancil (2023-05-26). Among the GOP's debt ceiling hostages? Social Security payments for oldest Americans. nationofchange.org "The choice facing the executive branch is clear: Act or default; act or increase the suffering of millions; act or go into economic tailspin."

Staff (2023-05-26). Headlines for May 26, 2023. democracynow.org GOP Pushes for Steep Cuts to Domestic Programs, Environmental Protections as Debt Default Looms, U.S. and South Korea Hold Largest-Ever Live-Fire War Games, French Police Attack Climate Activists Protesting TotalEnergies' Annual Investor Meeting, Supreme Court Guts Clean Water Act, Indiana Medical Board Disciplines Doctor Who Provided Abortion to 10-Year-Old Rape Survivor, Oath Keepers Founder Gets 18 Years in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Insurrection, Minneapolis Remembers George Floyd 3 Years After His Murder Set Off Historic Protests, NYC Activists Demand End to NYPD's Strategic Response Group 3 Years…

Owen Fairclough (2023-05-26). U.S. debt ceiling fight causing financial damage. america.cgtn.com The U.S. has a new deadline to solve the debt ceiling crisis: June 5. The Treasury Department says that's the day the country risks defaulting on its $31.4 trillion public debt if the ceiling isn't raised. But the crisis is already causing damage.

Vince Montes (2023-05-26). Towards a Multipolar World? Does "Global Realignment" Provide an Opportunity for Nations to Exercise Self-Determination? The Case of Puerto Rico. globalresearch.ca Do the emergence of a seemingly multipolar world and the declining power of the US (mainly its constant economic crises, falling rates of profit, recession, excessive debt, etc.) provide an opportunity for Puerto Rico and other nations to achieve self-determination?…

Jake Johnson (2023-05-26). White House and GOP Reportedly Nearing Agreement to Raise Debt Ceiling. truthout.org Sen. Bernie Sanders said late Thursday that cuts to aid programs for vulnerable people should be "off the table" entirely as Republican negotiators and the Biden White House reportedly closed in on a deal that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a two-year cap on non-military discretionary spending. Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee… |

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-27). Science Saturday: Orthobiologics can be nature's healing agents. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic physician-scientists are working on regenerative biotherapeutics such as orthobiologics and other regenerative bioinjectables to bring advanced procedures to more patients. Orthobiologics are biological agents that stimulate healing when standard therapies don't work. Examples are platelet-rich plasma — platelets spun from a patient's blood that promote cell repair — and bone marrow aspirate concentrate that contains stem cells and many other cells that have shown potential for tissue regeneration. "Orthobiologics are like nature's drug…

WSWS (2023-05-27). Transatlantic: The plight of artists and intellectuals fleeing the Nazis in 1940. wsws.org One of the most remarkable collections of political and cultural figures ever assembled, reduced by the defeats of the working class to a wretched condition, is gathered in Marseille.

WSWS (2023-05-27). Erdoƒüan runs phony "anti-imperialist" populist campaign in Turkish elections. wsws.org Erdoƒüan can posture as an anti-imperialist and a friend of working people and refugees thanks to the political bankruptcy of his rival, Kemal Kƒ±lƒ±àßdaroƒülu.

WSWS (2023-05-27). Jacobin backs Kiliàßdaroƒülu's reactionary campaign in Turkish elections. wsws.org Pseudo-left groups support Kiliàßdaroƒülu for his bitter hostility to the developing movement in the working class and his support for the NATO war on Russia.

Luis Linares Petrov (2023-05-27). Participants of G20 meeting in India debate on combating corruption. plenglish.com New Delhi, May 27 (Prensa Latina) The second meeting of the G20 Working Group, held in Rishikesh, ended with agreements on enhancing the effectiveness of the authorities responsible for preventing and combating corruption.

Paul Haeder (2023-05-26). Second-Hand, Third-Hand, Vicarious Trauma. dissidentvoice.org I've been helping my friend from another country navigate the legal system, green card in hand, and a husband who attempted to suffocate her to death. The people in both camps — defense and prosecution — are interestingly together bedfellows, working the "system" hard, juggling which judge is this or that (pro- or con-), and …

Brittani Banks (2023-05-26). The Move Toward a Four-Day Workweek Obscures Low Pay. independentmediainstitute.org Dolly Parton's signature song "9 to 5," and the 1980s sitcom of the same name reflect a quintessentially American hustle culture of working 40 hours a week in thankless jobs. Even though many people work even more than that—earning the U.S. the title of "the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World"—our expectations of the …

Joseph Winters (2023-05-26). Experts Warn of Toxic Chemical Harm in Lead-Up to Plastic Treaty Negotiations. truthout.org Negotiators from around the world will convene in Paris next week to continue working on a legally binding global treaty to address the plastics crisis. In this second of five rounds of talks, there will be much to discuss, including basic agenda items like the rules governing the negotiations. But for many who will be attending, one issue seems to have risen to the top of the priority list: toxic… |

Brittani Banks (2023-05-26). A New Generation of Organizers Are Building Union Power in the South. independentmediainstitute.org Editor's Note: The following is the transcript of a special live episode of the Working People podcast. It was produced in collaboration with the Action Builder / Action Network team on March 21 in Atlanta, Georgia. In this panel discussion, Max speaks with local organizers about the specific challenges workers in the South face in …

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-26). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

Chris Hedges (2023-05-26). Bidding farewell to the American century. therealnews.com Like Cicero in the Roman Republic, there are always a handful of chroniclers who can see and articulate clearly the social, cultural, and political realities of empires in terminal decline. They call out the bankruptcy of an inept and corrupt ruling class, blinded by hubris, as well as a populace that has checked out of civic life and is entranced by bread and circus spectacles. In his trilogy Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, Chambers Johnson does a masterful job of showing how and why we are disintegrating. So does Andrew Bacevich, who, in his newest boo…

F. William Engdahl (2023-05-26). Global Planned Financial Tsunami Has Just Begun. globalresearch.ca Green Energy mandates are driving this inflation crisis: global shortages of fertilizers, soaring prices of natural gas, grain supply losses, coupled with the global snowballing of defaults, bankruptcies, amid a soaring inflation.

SAM (2023-05-26). The First Trillionaire: No Cause for Celebration. inequality.org

SAM (2023-05-26). The First Trillionaire Is A Lot Closer Than We Think. progressivehub.net BOB LORD | INEQUALITY.ORG…

Eesha Yaqoob, Saad Javed, Shehzad Ali Khan (2023-05-27). Correspondence] Trauma care in the face of climate change in Pakistan. thelancet.com The effect of climate change on society is broad and profound. Studies have shown that low-income countries face the greatest number of deaths due to disasters, with 33% of those deaths occurring in countries with the lowest human development indices.1 Extreme weather events have killed 10‚Äà000 people and caused US$4 billion of damage in Pakistan, which is continuously placed among the top ten most susceptible countries on the Climate Risk Index. The country is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to its high rates of multidimensional poverty.

WSWS (2023-05-25). Union abruptly ends strike of New York City resident physicians. wsws.org The Committee of Interns and Residents has sent its members back to work at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens without allowing them to vote on the tentative agreement, which will do nothing to improve their poverty wages.

The Lancet (2023-05-27). Editorial] Childhood as a commodity: ending child labour. thelancet.com Children continue to be exposed to physical harm and denied education while toiling for long hours in the world's wealthiest nations. Children as young as 12 and 13 years have been engaged in labour involving midnight shifts, dangerous machinery, and punishing physical demands across industries supplying some of the USA's largest corporations according to a harrowing New York Times investigation. Most had migrated, unaccompanied, from central America. Uncertain of their immigration status and some indebted to traffickers, many considered dangerous labour safer than deportation.

Stephan Schulmeister (2023-05-26). Inflation in the Age of Finance Capitalism. indybay.org The shift of profit-striving from the real- to the financial-economy lowered economic growth Unemployment and atypical jobs soared. The welfare state was weakened. At the same time, financial wealth grew exorbitantly (the DAX increased 14-fold since 1988). The development of financial derivatives made possible profiting from short-term changes in stocks, currencies and bonds.

Colin Todhunter (2023-05-26). What Was Covid Really About? Triggering A Multi-Trillion Dollar Global Debt Crisis. "Ramping up an Imperialist Strategy"? globalresearch.ca If it was indeed about public health, why close down the bulk of health services and the global economy knowing full well what the implications would be? And why mount a military-style propaganda campaign to censor world-renowned scientists and terrorise entire populations…

Anonymous834 (2023-05-25). US Military Aid To Ukraine Could Be Suspended Due To Debt Ceiling — Media. southfront.org Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. The Hill reported that US military funding to Ukraine could be suspended…

Jake Johnson (2023-05-25). 2 Democrats Join House GOP in Voting to Repeal Student Debt Relief. truthout.org Two House Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — faced backlash on Wednesday after voting for a GOP resolution that would repeal President Joe Biden's student debt relief program, which is currently on hold as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a pair of deeply flawed legal challenges. The resolution, led by Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia), aims to make use of a… |

Ahmed Adel (2023-05-25). US Military Aid to Ukraine Could be Suspended Due to Debt Ceiling? globalresearch.ca

Ben Norton, Michael Hudson (2023-05-25). Origins of debt: Michael Hudson reveals how financial oligarchies in Greece & Rome shaped our world. geopoliticaleconomy.com Economist Michael Hudson discusses the origin of Western debt-based societies and the research in his book "The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point".

Jake Johnson (2023-05-25). 2 Democrats Join House GOP in Voting to Repeal Student Debt Relief. truthout.org Two House Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — faced backlash on Wednesday after voting for a GOP resolution that would repeal President Joe Biden's student debt relief program, which is currently on hold as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a pair of deeply flawed legal challenges. The resolution, led by Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia), aims to make use of a… |

Ahmed Adel (2023-05-25). US Military Aid to Ukraine Could be Suspended Due to Debt Ceiling? globalresearch.ca

Ben Norton, Michael Hudson (2023-05-25). Origins of debt: Michael Hudson reveals how financial oligarchies in Greece & Rome shaped our world. geopoliticaleconomy.com Economist Michael Hudson discusses the origin of Western debt-based societies and the research in his book "The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point".

Staff (2023-05-25). Headlines for May 25, 2023. democracynow.org Anti-Kremlin Militia That Staged Attacks in Russia Used U.S.-Made Armored Vehicles, Fighting Punctures Ceasefire in Khartoum as U.N. Warns 1.3M Have Fled Sudan, U.N. Appeal for Aid to Drought-Stricken Horn of Africa Falls Far Short of Goal, After Battering Guam, Typhoon Mawar Heads Toward Philippines as Category 5 Storm, German Police Stage Nationwide Raids Against "Last Generation" Climate Action Group, Watchdog Says 90% of Chevron's Carbon Offsets Are "Junk", Rep. Matt Gaetz Admits Republicans Are Holding U.S. Economy "Hostage" over Debt Limit, Ron DeSantis Launches 202…

Staff (2023-05-25). Oxfam: G7 Countries Owe the Global South More Than $13 Trillion in Development & Climate Assistance. democracynow.org A new Oxfam analysis released as the leaders of the Group of 7 nations met in Hiroshima, Japan, shows G7 countries collectively owe poor nations in the Global South more than $13 trillion in development and climate assistance. But instead, these countries are saddled with daily debt repayments of $232 million, deepening the global chasm of inequality. That debt burden "is essentially the money that could have been invested in education, in health, in gender justice programs, in ensuring safe drinking water, in climate resilience," says Amitabh Behar, the interim executive director of Oxfam Internation…

calebcrowder (2023-05-25). There's No Debate Over Debt—Only About Priorities. ips-dc.org

Steve Gillis (2023-05-25). WWP solution to debt crisis: Defund the Pentagon! workers.org Credit: Tony Murphy It's television news teaser material that on June 1, the U.S. government will run out of money to pay its debts — everything from wages for its vast global armies and civilian government workers, to Social Security checks and interest payments on Treasury bonds. According to President . . . |

teleSUR (2023-05-25). Fitch Places US AAA Rating on Negative Watch. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings announced it has placed the U.S. AAA-rated long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) on a "negative watch" as the debt ceiling deadlock continues. | RELATED: | "The Rating Watch Negative reflects increased political partisanship that is hindering reaching a resolution to raise or suspend the debt limit," the agency said in a statement. | The White House and congressional Republicans are still a…

WSWS (2023-05-25). Workers Party imposes austerity in Brazil. wsws.org Lula has seen a 13 percent drop in his approval rating as his government deepens austerity policies designed to guarantee profits and foreign debt payments.

WSWS (2023-05-25). Manufactured crisis over US debt ceiling sets stage for bipartisan assault on Social Security and Medicare. wsws.org Behind the mutual recriminations between the two capitalist parties, there is a basic agreement: All of the social gains made by the working class in the course of more than a century of struggle must be wiped out to pay for the escalating war drive of the American ruling class.

Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies. (2023-05-25). New Report: $1.1 Trillion Was Spent On Militarism And War Last Year. popularresistance.org Washington, D.C. — On May 24, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies released a critical new analysis of the militarized budget in the United States, "The Warfare State: How Funding for Militarism Compromises our Welfare." | The new report found that this past year, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, the U.S. spent a staggering $1.1 trillion — or 62% — of that budget on militarism and war. | Threats to cut spending for vital domestic programs have featured prominently in the debt ceiling debate in recent weeks, but spending on militarism has been al…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-26). Science Saturday: Orthobiologics can be nature's healing agents. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic physician-scientists are working on regenerative biotherapeutics such as orthobiologics and other regenerative bioinjectables to bring advanced procedures to more patients. Orthobiologics are biological agents that stimulate healing when standard therapies don't work. Examples are platelet-rich plasma — platelets spun from a patient's blood that promote cell repair — and bone marrow aspirate concentrate that contains stem cells and many other cells that have shown potential for tissue regeneration. "Orthobiologics are like nature's drug…

teleSUR (2023-05-25). UN: 8.5 Mln USD for Cyclone Victims in Madagascar. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the United Nations allocated a sum of 8. 5 million U.S. dollars in order to provide assistance to the 335,000 people residing in the worst-hit areas by storms in Madagascar. | Related: | According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), they are working with the government to continue aiding the southeastern region of the island nation, which was severely hit by cyclonic activities in the precedi…

Oraily Madruga Rios (2023-05-25). Paraguayan authority impeaches MP Galeano. plenglish.com Asuncion, May 25 (Prensa Latina) Paraguayan judge Gustavo Amarilla confirmed the beginning of a trial for alleged money laundering and criminal association against legislator Erico Galeano as of this Thursday, the day the Electoral Justice proclaimed him senator-elect. The authority stated to the ABC Color newspaper that the trial ratification of the accused, until now a member of the Chamber of Deputies, is possible according to the Law because that instance on Thursday notified against him a deprivation of special rights, which was long debated by the public opinion.

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-26). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

F. William Engdahl (2023-05-26). Global Planned Financial Tsunami Has Just Begun. globalresearch.ca Green Energy mandates are driving this inflation crisis: global shortages of fertilizers, soaring prices of natural gas, grain supply losses, coupled with the global snowballing of defaults, bankruptcies, amid a soaring inflation.

teleSUR (2023-05-25). UN: 2.4 Bln USD by Donors at Event for People in Horn of Africa. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, at a UN-sponsored event, donors declared a sum of 2.4 billion U.S. dollars aimed at supplying crucial sustenance and life-saving aid to approximately 32 million people in the Horn of Africa. | Related: | The successful prevention of famine can be attributed in part to the substantial contributions of local communities, humanitarian agencies and governmental bodies, alongside the generous contributions of don…

SAM (2023-05-25). Garbage In, Garbage CEO Windfalls Out. inequality.org

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-25). 15 Palestinian prisoners to launch hunger strike protesting Israeli prison conditions and abuse. peoplesdispatch.org Among the main demands of the prisoners is the right to receive specialized medical treatment from their personal doctors instead of those sent by the prison administration…

WSWS (2023-05-25). Union abruptly ends strike of New York City resident physicians. wsws.org The Committee of Interns and Residents has sent its members back to work at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens without allowing them to vote on the tentative agreement, which will do nothing to improve their poverty wages.

Peoples Health Dispatch (2023-05-24). People's Health Tribunal finds Shell and Total Energy guilty of harming African communities. peoplesdispatch.org Environmental, health, and human rights activists deplored the actions of extractive corporations in Africa, who exploit natural resources and sow poverty and disease, during a People's Health Tribunal…

Stephan Schulmeister (2023-05-25). Inflation in the Age of Finance Capitalism. indybay.org The shift of profit-striving from the real- to the financial-economy lowered economic growth Unemployment and atypical jobs soared. The welfare state was weakened. At the same time, financial wealth grew exorbitantly (the DAX increased 14-fold since 1988). The development of financial derivatives made possible profiting from short-term changes in stocks, currencies and bonds.

ecns.cn (2023-05-25). Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang meets with Minister of State of UK's FCDO Anne-Marie Trevelyan. ecns.cn Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang on Monday met with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, minister of state of UK's Foreign, Commonwealth &Development Office. The two sides exchanged views on China-UK relations and relevant regional and international issues.

rebekah (2023-05-25). The SNAP Expansion Helped Me Lead a Dignified Life on Disability — Now It's Gone. inequality.org One thing I was grateful for during the pandemic was masks — and not just for safety reasons. I'm on Medicare for disability, which unfortunately doesn't cover dental care. At 60 years old, I've lost many of my teeth. It was nice hiding behind a mask for a while. But I was grateful for another …

Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies. (2023-05-25). New Report: $1.1 Trillion Was Spent On Militarism And War Last Year. popularresistance.org Washington, D.C. — On May 24, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies released a critical new analysis of the militarized budget in the United States, "The Warfare State: How Funding for Militarism Compromises our Welfare." | The new report found that this past year, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, the U.S. spent a staggering $1.1 trillion — or 62% — of that budget on militarism and war. | Threats to cut spending for vital domestic programs have featured prominently in the debt ceiling debate in recent weeks, but spending on militarism has been al…

WSWS (2023-05-25). Workers Party imposes austerity in Brazil. wsws.org Lula has seen a 13 percent drop in his approval rating as his government deepens austerity policies designed to guarantee profits and foreign debt payments.

WSWS (2023-05-25). Manufactured crisis over US debt ceiling sets stage for bipartisan assault on Social Security and Medicare. wsws.org Behind the mutual recriminations between the two capitalist parties, there is a basic agreement: All of the social gains made by the working class in the course of more than a century of struggle must be wiped out to pay for the escalating war drive of the American ruling class.

Anonymous834 (2023-05-25). US Military Aid To Ukraine Could Be Suspended Due To Debt Ceiling — Media. southfront.org Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. The Hill reported that US military funding to Ukraine could be suspended…

Steve Gillis (2023-05-25). WWP solution to debt crisis: Defund the Pentagon! workers.org Credit: Tony Murphy It's television news teaser material that on June 1, the U.S. government will run out of money to pay its debts — everything from wages for its vast global armies and civilian government workers, to Social Security checks and interest payments on Treasury bonds. According to President . . . |

teleSUR (2023-05-25). Fitch Places US AAA Rating on Negative Watch. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings announced it has placed the U.S. AAA-rated long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) on a "negative watch" as the debt ceiling deadlock continues. | RELATED: | "The Rating Watch Negative reflects increased political partisanship that is hindering reaching a resolution to raise or suspend the debt limit," the agency said in a statement. | The White House and congressional Republicans are still a…

Lynda Carson (2023-05-25). To: President Joe Biden: Use the 14th Amendment for debt ceiling crisis. indybay.org Photo of Lynda Carson in front of the Oakland City Council years ago advocating for tenant's rights.

Dana Sanchez (2023-05-24). Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: America On Track To Run Out Of Cash By June 1 Without Debt Ceiling Deal. moguldom.com In as little as eight days, on June 1, the U.S. government could run out of cash and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen restated the warning this week, noting that if Congress and the White House don't reach a deal before that happens, payments people rely on to live could be delayed. Without a debt limit …

Peter Certo (2023-05-24). In OtherWords: May 24, 2023. otherwords.org This week, President Biden and House Republicans remain deadlocked in their negotiations about debt. Except, not really. | As I write, They're also calling for more spending on the next biggest driver of…

Peter Certo (2023-05-24). There's No Debate Over Debt — Only About Priorities. otherwords.org

teleSUR (2023-05-25). Fitch Places US AAA Rating on Negative Watch. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings announced it has placed the U.S. AAA-rated long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) on a "negative watch" as the debt ceiling deadlock continues. | RELATED: | "The Rating Watch Negative reflects increased political partisanship that is hindering reaching a resolution to raise or suspend the debt limit," the agency said in a statement. | The White House and congressional Republicans are still a…

Lynda Carson (2023-05-25). To: President Joe Biden: Use the 14th Amendment for debt ceiling crisis. indybay.org Photo of Lynda Carson in front of the Oakland City Council years ago advocating for tenant's rights.

Dana Sanchez (2023-05-24). Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: America On Track To Run Out Of Cash By June 1 Without Debt Ceiling Deal. moguldom.com In as little as eight days, on June 1, the U.S. government could run out of cash and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen restated the warning this week, noting that if Congress and the White House don't reach a deal before that happens, payments people rely on to live could be delayed. Without a debt limit …

Peter Certo (2023-05-24). In OtherWords: May 24, 2023. otherwords.org This week, President Biden and House Republicans remain deadlocked in their negotiations about debt. Except, not really. | As I write, They're also calling for more spending on the next biggest driver of…

Peter Certo (2023-05-24). There's No Debate Over Debt — Only About Priorities. otherwords.org

Julia Rock (2023-05-24). Dark Money's Behind The Debt Ceiling Plan To Punish The Poor. levernews.com

Kenny Stancil (2023-05-24). GOP resolution to block student debt relief would have 'ruinous impact,' report warns. nationofchange.org "Taking back student debt relief already delivered to public service workers is reckless, cruel, unjust, and un-American."

Mark Gruenberg (2023-05-24). With all the debt limit talk, few eye Pentagon cuts. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—In all the talk about cutting spending in return for raising the U.S. debt limit, there seems to be a sacred cow: The Pentagon. A survey of websites of groups normally expected to advocate for cutting military spending—including US Labor Against War and Racism, the United Electrical Workers, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—discloses …

Sharon Zhang (2023-05-24). AOC Slams GOP After Gaetz Admits Debt Limit Negotiation Is "Hostage" Situation. truthout.org Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) has condemned Republicans' brinkmanship with the quickly approaching debt limit after GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (Florida) openly admitted on Tuesday that his party is approaching the issue as a "hostage" negotiation. Political commentators and lawmakers have long observed that the Republican Party's strategy toward the debt ceiling — of demanding that Democrats… |

Staff (2023-05-24). Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis. democracynow.org The United States faces a default on its debt in early June if a deal on the debt ceiling is not reached between the Biden administration and Republicans in Congress before then. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pushing for sweeping budget cuts and new work requirements for recipients of government programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP. Notably, however, neither Republicans nor Democrats are proposing cuts to one of the biggest drivers of the nation's debt: the massive U.S. military budget. "We've got to get this military-industrial lobby under control, but it's h…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-25). Science Saturday: Orthobiologics can be nature's healing agents. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic physician-scientists are working on regenerative biotherapeutics such as orthobiologics and other regenerative bioinjectables to bring advanced procedures to more patients. Orthobiologics are biological agents that stimulate healing when standard therapies don't work. Examples are platelet-rich plasma — platelets spun from a patient's blood that promote cell repair — and bone marrow aspirate concentrate that contains stem cells and many other cells that have shown potential for tissue regeneration. "Orthobiologics are like nature's drug…

teleSUR (2023-05-25). UN: 8.5 Mln USD for Cyclone Victims in Madagascar. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the United Nations allocated a sum of 8. 5 million U.S. dollars in order to provide assistance to the 335,000 people residing in the worst-hit areas by storms in Madagascar. | Related: | According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), they are working with the government to continue aiding the southeastern region of the island nation, which was severely hit by cyclonic activities in the precedi…

People's Dispatch. (2023-05-24). Left Parties, Unions Oppose Bill To Ban 'Rioters' From Protests. popularresistance.org A controversial bill proposed by Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne calling to ban 'rioters' from participating in protests has drawn widespread criticism. Working class sections and rights groups claim that provisions of the bill can be misused to brand trade unionists and activists as rioters and curtail their freedom to participate in protest and strikes. Earlier this week, due to fierce opposition from legislators of the Workers Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) in the Justice Committee of the Chamber of the Belgian Parliament, Quickenborne backed down from asking for an immediate vote on the bill.

scorinoco (2023-05-24). FBI Indicts US Black Activists on Speech Crimes, International Day of Action Set for May 27 (+Uhuru). orinocotribune.com On May 27, 2023, people around the world will gather publicly to demand "Drop the charges against the Uhuru 3!" | In early May, African People's Socialist Party (APSP) Chairman Omali Yeshitela, 81, was shackled in handcuffs and leg irons after reporting to the Middle District Federal Court in Tampa for his arraignment in a courtroom packed with supporters. | Chairman Yeshitela faces federal charges after a lifetime of organizing dedicated to "the liberation for Africa and African people everywhere." | Penny Hess, 77, and Jesse Nevel, 33, two white persons working under the leadership of the APSP also face charges…

David Favre (2023-05-24). Supreme Court's ruling on humane treatment of pigs could catalyze a wave of new animal welfare laws. nationofchange.org While the ruling was fractured and reflected complex legal questions, it is a major victory for those working to improve farm animal welfare.

WSWS (2023-05-24). With Nova Scotia government support, Halifax education authority uses strikebreakers against support workers. wsws.org While the strikers confront a hostile government and employer, their struggle for wage increases and improved working conditions has resonated powerfully throughout the working class.

WSWS (2023-05-24). Syriza's rout in the Greek general election. wsws.org The role of Syriza in Greece is a strategic experience for the international working class, demonstrating the bankruptcy of claims made by pseudo-left tendencies around the world that meaningful change can be made by voting their pro-capitalist parties into government.

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-25). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

It's Going Down. (2023-05-24). Graffiti Writers Paint Over A Pro-Police 'Street Art' Campaign. popularresistance.org A "street art" campaign backed by Welsh tech billionaire and venture capitalist Michael Moritz is being targeted by graffiti artists in San Francisco, California. The campaign features posters and even wheat-pastes which call for a "law and order" approach to homelessness and fentanyl related deaths in San Francisco. | Moritz, in an effort to further social cleanse the poor from urban core areas, along with many on the Right, have rushed to blame "the Left" for rising homelessness, crime rates and drug use in San Francisco. In February, the New York Times published an editorial by Moritz entitled, Even Democrats…

teleSUR (2023-05-25). UN: 2.4 Bln USD by Donors at Event for People in Horn of Africa. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, at a UN-sponsored event, donors declared a sum of 2.4 billion U.S. dollars aimed at supplying crucial sustenance and life-saving aid to approximately 32 million people in the Horn of Africa. | Related: | The successful prevention of famine can be attributed in part to the substantial contributions of local communities, humanitarian agencies and governmental bodies, alongside the generous contributions of don…

Mohammad Ayesh (2023-05-24). Arabic press review: Egyptian prisoners launch collective hunger strike. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Egyptian prisoners launch collective hunger strike | Meanwhile, Qatar is set to boost investments in Egypt while Saudi Arabia tops regional box office revenues | Wed, 05/24/2023 – 13: 53 | A media tour of the Correctional and Rehabilitation Center in Badr City, 70 kilometres northeast of Cairo, on 16 January 2022 (AFP)
| Egypt: Hunger strike begins over jail condi…

Peoples Health Dispatch (2023-05-24). People's Health Tribunal finds Shell and Total Energy guilty of harming African communities. peoplesdispatch.org Environmental, health, and human rights activists deplored the actions of extractive corporations in Africa, who exploit natural resources and sow poverty and disease, during a People's Health Tribunal…

Steve Gillis (2023-05-25). WWP solution to debt crisis: Defund the Pentagon! workers.org Credit: Tony Murphy It's television news teaser material that on June 1, the U.S. government will run out of money to pay its debts — everything from wages for its vast global armies and civilian government workers, to Social Security checks and interest payments on Treasury bonds. According to President . . . |

WSWS (2023-05-25). Workers Party imposes austerity in Brazil. wsws.org Lula has seen a 13 percent drop in his approval rating as his government deepens austerity policies designed to guarantee profits and foreign debt payments.

Mark Gruenberg (2023-05-24). With all the debt limit talk, few eye Pentagon cuts. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—In all the talk about cutting spending in return for raising the U.S. debt limit, there seems to be a sacred cow: The Pentagon. A survey of websites of groups normally expected to advocate for cutting military spending—including US Labor Against War and Racism, the United Electrical Workers, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union—discloses …

Ryan Black (2023-05-24). Dark Money's Behind The Debt Ceiling Plan To Punish The Poor. progressivehub.net JULIA ROCK AND ANDREW PEREZ | THE LEVER…

Lynda Carson (2023-05-24). To: President Joe Biden: Use the 14th Amendment for debt ceiling crisis. indybay.org Photo of Lynda Carson in front of the Oakland City Council years ago advocating for tenant's rights.

Staff (2023-05-24). Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis. democracynow.org The United States faces a default on its debt in early June if a deal on the debt ceiling is not reached between the Biden administration and Republicans in Congress before then. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is pushing for sweeping budget cuts and new work requirements for recipients of government programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP. Notably, however, neither Republicans nor Democrats are proposing cuts to one of the biggest drivers of the nation's debt: the massive U.S. military budget. "We've got to get this military-industrial lobby under control, but it's h…

krish-rad_ind (2023-05-24). Why the U.S. Debt-Limit 'Debate' Is a Charade of 'Democracy'. theduran.com

Lynda Carson (2023-05-24). Debt ceiling negotiations reveal how evil the system is. indybay.org The Evil Face To The Debt Ceiling Negotiations…

Anonymous834 (2023-05-24). Eric Zuesse: Why The U.S. Debt-Limit 'Debate' Is A Charade Of 'Democracy'. southfront.org Click to see the full-size image | Written by According to the U.S. federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), U.S. military spending this year is

People's Daily (2023-05-23). The view from China: U.S. debt ceiling 'crisis' reveals wasteful military spending. peoplesworld.org Due to clashes between the two major political parties, weak governance, and huge military expenditures driven by a Cold War mentality, the U.S. is now unable to pay back its debts without borrowing new money. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. might face a default for the first time in history …

Tanupriya Singh (2023-05-23). Economy must be 'at service of life': resisting debt and neocolonialism in Africa. peoplesdispatch.org A dossier and accompanying discussion hosted by the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research interrogates the vicious cycle of debt rooted in neocolonial extraction that continues to trap countries across the African continent…

SAM (2023-05-23). Should Biden Use A $1 Trillion Coin To End The Debt Ceiling Crisis? progressivehub.net MAURICE BP WEEKS | IN THESE TIMES…

Ryan Black (2023-05-23). The Military-Industrial Complex Is Triggering US Debt Crisis. progressivehub.net JEFFREY D. SACHS | COMMON DREAMS…

jamanetwork (2023-05-23). "Humanity's Debt to Medical Science" jamanetwork.com In the Current History Magazine for April, Mr. Fred C. Kelly, who on previous occasions has indulged in antimedical propaganda, published an attack on modern medicine entitled, "Is Better Health Due to the Doctors?" It was apparently the view of Mr. Kelly that the great advances in sanitation and hygiene, as well as in the care of disease, were due to other agencies. In the same publication for May, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, President-elect of the American Medical Association, replies to Mr. Kelly and indicates promptly his belief that the attack is a good illustration of what modern medicine is likely to mean to tho…

Staff (2023-05-23). Headlines for May 23, 2023. democracynow.org McCarthy Rules Out Repealing Tax Cuts for the Rich After White House Talks Fail to Secure Deal on Debt Ceiling, Anti-Putin Militias Launch Cross-Border Raid on Russia's Belgorod from Ukraine, U.N. Finds Wagner Mercenaries Led Massacre on Village in Mali in 2022, India Issues Heat Alerts as Temperatures Top 113 Degrees Fahrenheit, Alberta Wildfires Scorch Millions of Acres and Trigger Air Quality Alerts, Western States Reach Deal to Conserve Water from Colorado River, Nevada Lawmakers Approve Bill Protecting Out-of-State Abortion Patients, Sen. Tim Scott Enters Race for 2024 Republican Presidential Nominatio…

WSWS (2023-05-24). With Nova Scotia government support, Halifax education authority uses strikebreakers against support workers. wsws.org While the strikers confront a hostile government and employer, their struggle for wage increases and improved working conditions has resonated powerfully throughout the working class.

WSWS (2023-05-24). Syriza's rout in the Greek general election. wsws.org The role of Syriza in Greece is a strategic experience for the international working class, demonstrating the bankruptcy of claims made by pseudo-left tendencies around the world that meaningful change can be made by voting their pro-capitalist parties into government.

Fight Back (2023-05-23). Downtown NOLA Starbucks workers win union election. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA – On May 22, workers at Starbucks on Poydras Street won their union election in an 11 to 5 vote. This is the second Starbucks to unionize in the state of Louisiana and the first with a majority-Black workplace. Baristas complain of unpredictable schedules, insufficient hours, lack of seniority-based promotions, and unsafe working conditions. On Mardi Gras day, a customer reached across the bar to punch a barista. Corporate only approved that customer's ban after the union drive began, months later. | "We're already winning safety protections just by unionizing. We got bumped to the priority store…

Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. (2023-05-23). May 27: International Day Of Action For Black Power Activists. popularresistance.org In early May, African People's Socialist Party (APSP) Chairman Omali Yeshitela, 81, was shackled in handcuffs and leg irons after reporting to the Middle District Federal Court in Tampa for his arraignment in a courtroom packed with supporters. | Chairman Yeshitela faces federal charges after a lifetime of organizing dedicated to "the liberation for Africa and African people everywhere." | Penny Hess, 77, and Jesse Nevel, 33, two white people working under the leadership of the APSP also face charges after organizing for decades in the white community for solidarity and reparations to the black community. | The "

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-24). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

Mohammad Ayesh (2023-05-24). Arabic press review: Egyptian prisoners launch collective hunger strike. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Egyptian prisoners launch collective hunger strike | Meanwhile, Qatar is set to boost investments in Egypt while Saudi Arabia tops regional box office revenues | Wed, 05/24/2023 – 13: 53 | A media tour of the Correctional and Rehabilitation Center in Badr City, 70 kilometres northeast of Cairo, on 16 January 2022 (AFP)
| Egypt: Hunger strike begins over jail condi…

Katherine Coe (2023-05-23). Reflections from a wedding conversation on poverty eradication. actionaidusa.org At a wedding I attended recently, I fell into an interesting conversation with another guest. She asked me what I 'do' (somehow the words 'for work' are always implicit in this phrase, yet rarely spoken out loud), and I shared that I fundraise for an international human rights organization. I quickly assured her that I…

isabella (2023-05-22). 'We Are Not Taxing the Very Wealthy Enough': Runaway Inequality About to Get Worse. inequality.org

Tanupriya Singh (2023-05-23). Economy must be 'at service of life': resisting debt and neocolonialism in Africa. peoplesdispatch.org A dossier and accompanying discussion hosted by the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research interrogates the vicious cycle of debt rooted in neocolonial extraction that continues to trap countries across the African continent…

Lynda Carson (2023-05-23). To: President Joe Biden: Use the 14th Amendment for debt ceiling crisis. indybay.org Photo of Lynda Carson in front of the Oakland City Council years ago advocating for tenant's rights.

Lynda Carson (2023-05-23). Debt ceiling negotiations reveal how evil the system is. indybay.org The Evil Face To The Debt Ceiling Negotiations…

Staff (2023-05-23). Headlines for May 23, 2023. democracynow.org McCarthy Rules Out Repealing Tax Cuts for the Rich After White House Talks Fail to Secure Deal on Debt Ceiling, Anti-Putin Militias Launch Cross-Border Raid on Russia's Belgorod from Ukraine, U.N. Finds Wagner Mercenaries Led Massacre on Village in Mali in 2022, India Issues Heat Alerts as Temperatures Top 113 Degrees Fahrenheit, Alberta Wildfires Scorch Millions of Acres and Trigger Air Quality Alerts, Western States Reach Deal to Conserve Water from Colorado River, Nevada Lawmakers Approve Bill Protecting Out-of-State Abortion Patients, Sen. Tim Scott Enters Race for 2024 Republican Presidential Nominatio…

People's Daily (2023-05-23). The view from China: U.S. debt ceiling 'crisis' reveals wasteful military spending. peoplesworld.org Due to clashes between the two major political parties, weak governance, and huge military expenditures driven by a Cold War mentality, the U.S. is now unable to pay back its debts without borrowing new money. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. might face a default for the first time in history …

jamanetwork (2023-05-23). "Humanity's Debt to Medical Science" jamanetwork.com In the Current History Magazine for April, Mr. Fred C. Kelly, who on previous occasions has indulged in antimedical propaganda, published an attack on modern medicine entitled, "Is Better Health Due to the Doctors?" It was apparently the view of Mr. Kelly that the great advances in sanitation and hygiene, as well as in the care of disease, were due to other agencies. In the same publication for May, Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, President-elect of the American Medical Association, replies to Mr. Kelly and indicates promptly his belief that the attack is a good illustration of what modern medicine is likely to mean to tho…

SAM (2023-05-23). Should Biden Use A $1 Trillion Coin To End The Debt Ceiling Crisis? progressivehub.net MAURICE BP WEEKS | IN THESE TIMES…

Ryan Black (2023-05-23). The Military-Industrial Complex Is Triggering US Debt Crisis. progressivehub.net JEFFREY D. SACHS | COMMON DREAMS…

Editor (2023-05-23). WSJ Worries Debt Limit Fight Could Jeopardize Military Contractors' Profit. scheerpost.com

Marc Doussard (2023-05-22). Cash Assistance, Not Child Labor, Can Fix the Labor Shortage. progressive.org Addressing the labor shortage with a basic income has the kinds of side effects politicians always claim they want: More work, more education, less debt, less stress, and better health.

Dana Sanchez (2023-05-22). What Would Happen If America Defaulted On Debt Obligations? 3 Things To Know About The Debt Ceiling. moguldom.com The U.S. has reached its debt limit, and while it has come close but never before defaulted on its obligations, government analysts agree that a default of its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling as soon as June 1 would lead to immediate and deep recessionary conditions. If the U.S. government defaults on its debt, the far-reaching …

_____ (2023-05-22). US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse. transcend.org 15 May 2023 – To paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed. It's no wonder "socialism with Chinese characteristics" spooks the Hegemon creditor oligarchy to the point they are even risking a Hot War.

Fight Back (2023-05-23). Downtown NOLA Starbucks workers win union election. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA – On May 22, workers at Starbucks on Poydras Street won their union election in an 11 to 5 vote. This is the second Starbucks to unionize in the state of Louisiana and the first with a majority-Black workplace. Baristas complain of unpredictable schedules, insufficient hours, lack of seniority-based promotions, and unsafe working conditions. On Mardi Gras day, a customer reached across the bar to punch a barista. Corporate only approved that customer's ban after the union drive began, months later. | "We're already winning safety protections just by unionizing. We got bumped to the priority store…

cameron orr (2023-05-23). Our plan of action uses every tool in the toolbox. cpusa.org The study of fascism done by Communists throughout history is being proven correct in the United States. As the GOP is being taken over by extreme right elements in their party, this is confirming Bulgarian Communist Georgi Dimitrov's points about how fascism develops in countries experiencing a crisis of capitalism and a revolutionized working …

Kenny Stancil (2023-05-23). Working longer 'not a viable solution' to US retirement crisis, economists say. nationofchange.org Instead of forcing aging employees to delay retirement, lawmakers should ensure that workers have "access to jobs that pay fair wages and provide solid benefits during their prime working years," argues a new report.

Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. (2023-05-23). May 27: International Day Of Action For Black Power Activists. popularresistance.org In early May, African People's Socialist Party (APSP) Chairman Omali Yeshitela, 81, was shackled in handcuffs and leg irons after reporting to the Middle District Federal Court in Tampa for his arraignment in a courtroom packed with supporters. | Chairman Yeshitela faces federal charges after a lifetime of organizing dedicated to "the liberation for Africa and African people everywhere." | Penny Hess, 77, and Jesse Nevel, 33, two white people working under the leadership of the APSP also face charges after organizing for decades in the white community for solidarity and reparations to the black community. | The "

WSWS (2023-05-23). Sri Lanka: Pseudo-left academic preaches phony "alternative" to IMF austerity. wsws.org Students should turn to the working class and wage a fight for its political independence from all parties and agencies of the bourgeoisie, including the trade unions and pseudo-left organisations such as the FSP.

WSWS (2023-05-23). Australia: Workers and students express anger over Labor government's budget. wsws.org "It is a slash and burn austerity budget. It is anti-poor and anti-working class."—Melbourne food production worker.

WSWS (2023-05-23). The rebellion at Clarios and the way forward. wsws.org Striking autoworkers at the Clarios battery plant in Ohio have rejected a second UAW-backed contract by more than 75 percent. They require the support of the entire working class to carry forward the struggle.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-22). Kerala's Kudumbashree: A model to emancipate women. peoplesdispatch.org Today, 25 years on, the program has been a massive success with a notable rise in women's presence in legislative bodies, as well as a large number of women working in various micro enterprises and agricultural projects.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-22). Right-wing New Democracy party falls just short of majority in Greek polls, surge in seats for communists. peoplesdispatch.org While pro-government sections and media are celebrating the performance of the ND, analysts have noted its loss of majority in the house and the surge in popularity for working class forces that are in the opposition…

Sarah Anderson (2023-05-22). A Walmart Worker's View on the Retirement Divide. inequality.org I'll be turning 67 at the end of this month. I'd love to be able to retire on my birthday. I'd celebrate by spending the afternoon at the mall with my daughter and then start planning little trips to visit relatives. But even after working for our nation's largest employer — Walmart — for 22 …

Cynthia Murray (2023-05-22). CEOs Get to Retire Comfortably. Workers Like Me Deserve the Same. otherwords.org I'll be turning 67 soon. I'd love to be able to retire on my birthday. I'd celebrate by spending the afternoon at the mall with my daughter and then start planning little trips to visit relatives. | But even after 22 years of working for Walmart, our nation's largest employer, I can't afford to retire any time soon. | Walmart does offer a 401(k) with matching funds. But with a high-deductible health plan and at my wage of just $16.83 an hour, I haven't been able to save much at all for what should be my "golden years." | Lots of my fellow Walmart associates are in the same boat. I know this from talking to my co-…

Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. (2023-05-23). Kshama Sawant Takes Successful Worker-Led Struggle Nationwide. popularresistance.org Roughly ten years ago, Kshama Sawant won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. Sawant eschewed politics as usual and led by example, taking only the average worker's salary from her paycheck and putting the remainder into worker-led movements. She used her office as a platform for people's struggles and won many victories from a higher minimum wage, to the Amazon tax to housing rights and more. She also survived a recall election. Clearing the FOG speaks with Sawant about her plans to leave city council when her term ends next year, what she has learned as a councilwoman and the new Workers Str…

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-23). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

Fight Back (2023-05-22). Cop running against socialist Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai instigates attack at nominating convention. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – At the Minneapolis Ward 10 Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party convention on Saturday, May 13, current socialist City Councilmember Aisha Chughtai, along with her campaign volunteers and delegates, were subject to an attack by her electoral opponent, who is a cop, and his campaign operatives. Video of the incident went viral and has become a national news story. | Chughtai is the incumbent councilwoman who was elected in 2021. She comes out of the labor movement and is an immigrant rights activist. Chughtai has led the fight against Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's inhumane approach to homelessnes…

Derrick Crowe (2023-05-23). Report: Defeating Authoritarianism Requires Shift, Investments from Philanthropy. peoplesaction.org WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new report urges changes in the fields of organizing and philanthropy to stop the rise of authoritarianism and tackle intertwined crises from catastrophic climate change to runaway economic inequality. The Antidote to Authoritarianism: How An Organizing Revival Can Build a Multiracial Pluralistic Democracy and an Inclusive Economy, published by People's Action Institute with …

Sarah Anderson (2023-05-23). The Post Office Can Bring People-Centered Public Banking to Every ZIP Code. inequality.org The need for a public banking option is urgent. Nearly 10 million households, a disproportionate number of whom are people of color, are unbanked or underbanked in the United States. Unbanked or underbanked households must pay expensive fees for non-bank financial services to access their own money for paying bills, cashing checks, remittances, rent, and …

Dean Baker (2023-05-22). Should Jamie Dimon Get a Government Salary? cepr.net While government tax and transfer policy to reduce inequality is desirable, it is best not to structure the market to create so much inequality in the first place.

isabella (2023-05-22). Lights, Camera, Action: Why the Hollywood Writers Strike Matters. inequality.org

isabella (2023-05-22). Minnesota Lawmakers Approve Nine Major Worker-Friendly Changes. inequality.org

WSWS (2023-05-22). International students in Australia confronting cost-of-living crisis and housing shortage. wsws.org Between the cost of university education, inflation, and lack of support, many international students are at acute risk of poverty, ill-health, and homelessness.

thecommunists (2023-05-21). British delegate in Korea: We share the same struggle against poverty and war. thecommunists.org The following greeting was delivered by Comrade Joti Brar to the congress of the People's Democracy Party (PDP) of south Korea on Sunday 14 May 2023. ***** Comrades, I bring fraternal greetings from the Communists of Britain. We are most enthused to see the vital role being played by your party all over south Korea, …

Sasha Abramsky (2023-05-22). The GOP Would Rather Hold Hungry Families Hostage Than Tax the Wealthy. truthout.org On Friday afternoon, with negotiations on legislation to raise the debt ceiling reportedly stalled, 66 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) sent a letter to the president urging him to invoke the 14th Amendment, one clause of which mandates the federal government to pay its bills, as an end-run around GOP obstructionism. Meanwhile, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Elizabeth… |

WSWS (2023-05-22). Jobless rate rising in Australia, while tax cuts grow for wealthy. wsws.org Amid growing unemployment, deliberately driven by interest rate hikes, a report shows that the Labor government's income tax cuts will hand the lion's share of $313 billion to the rich over the next decade.

Dana Sanchez (2023-05-22). What Would Happen If America Defaulted On Debt Obligations? 3 Things To Know About The Debt Ceiling. moguldom.com The U.S. has reached its debt limit, and while it has come close but never before defaulted on its obligations, government analysts agree that a default of its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling as soon as June 1 would lead to immediate and deep recessionary conditions. If the U.S. government defaults on its debt, the far-reaching …

Marc Doussard (2023-05-22). Cash Assistance, Not Child Labor, Can Fix the Labor Shortage. progressive.org Addressing the labor shortage with a basic income has the kinds of side effects politicians always claim they want: More work, more education, less debt, less stress, and better health.

Lynda Carson (2023-05-22). Debt ceiling negotiations reveal how evil the system is. indybay.org The Evil Face To The Debt Ceiling Negotiations…

Lynda Carson (2023-05-22). To: President Joe Biden: Use the 14th Amendment for debt ceiling crisis. indybay.org Photo of Lynda Carson in front of the Oakland City Council years ago advocating for tenant's rights.

Pavel López Lazo (2023-05-22). Damage from US debt default could cascade across global economy. plenglish.com Washington, May 22 (Prensa Latina) A US debt default, a threat that hovers over the country nowadays given disagreements among congressmen, could bring about a gigantic economic damage, according to experts.

_____ (2023-05-22). US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse. transcend.org 15 May 2023 – To paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed. It's no wonder "socialism with Chinese characteristics" spooks the Hegemon creditor oligarchy to the point they are even risking a Hot War.

WSWS (2023-05-22). Biden proposes $1 trillion in social spending cuts after announcing $375 million more for war in Ukraine. wsws.org In the barrage of propaganda over the supposed necessity to slash social programs to avert the nation's first-ever default on its debt obligations, nothing is said about the role of military spending in driving up the debt.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-22). Kerala's Kudumbashree: A model to emancipate women. peoplesdispatch.org Today, 25 years on, the program has been a massive success with a notable rise in women's presence in legislative bodies, as well as a large number of women working in various micro enterprises and agricultural projects.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-22). Right-wing New Democracy party falls just short of majority in Greek polls, surge in seats for communists. peoplesdispatch.org While pro-government sections and media are celebrating the performance of the ND, analysts have noted its loss of majority in the house and the surge in popularity for working class forces that are in the opposition…

WSWS (2023-05-22). Spanish Morenoite CRT covers for Podemos government's austerity, war with Russia. wsws.org Pseudo-left parties like the CRT are shielding Podemos and Sumar from criticism on their left, to block a movement in the working class against Spain's capitalist government.

Ejeris Dixon (2023-05-21). Fascism Is Rising, But It Does Not Have to Be Our Future. truthout.org Most organizers are exhausted, striving to balance the impossible load of community crises, family crises and urgent campaigns. Addressing long-term visionary campaign work can feel particularly challenging in these times of increased attacks from the right. Organizers are reeling within a political terrain where the left is working to preserve reproductive justice and bodily autonomy… |

Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. (2023-05-23). Kshama Sawant Takes Successful Worker-Led Struggle Nationwide. popularresistance.org Roughly ten years ago, Kshama Sawant won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. Sawant eschewed politics as usual and led by example, taking only the average worker's salary from her paycheck and putting the remainder into worker-led movements. She used her office as a platform for people's struggles and won many victories from a higher minimum wage, to the Amazon tax to housing rights and more. She also survived a recall election. Clearing the FOG speaks with Sawant about her plans to leave city council when her term ends next year, what she has learned as a councilwoman and the new Workers Str…

WSWS (2023-05-22). German rail workers union negotiates wage cuts after cancelling strike action. wsws.org The EVG union is preparing to enforce a wage cut based on the rail management's offer, greased merely by a fractional concession on a minimum wage.

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-22). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-22). Right-wing New Democracy party falls just short of majority in Greek polls, surge in seats for communists. peoplesdispatch.org While pro-government sections and media are celebrating the performance of the ND, analysts have noted its loss of majority in the house and the surge in popularity for working class forces that are in the opposition…

WSWS (2023-05-22). Spanish Morenoite CRT covers for Podemos government's austerity, war with Russia. wsws.org Pseudo-left parties like the CRT are shielding Podemos and Sumar from criticism on their left, to block a movement in the working class against Spain's capitalist government.

Ejeris Dixon (2023-05-21). Fascism Is Rising, But It Does Not Have to Be Our Future. truthout.org Most organizers are exhausted, striving to balance the impossible load of community crises, family crises and urgent campaigns. Addressing long-term visionary campaign work can feel particularly challenging in these times of increased attacks from the right. Organizers are reeling within a political terrain where the left is working to preserve reproductive justice and bodily autonomy… |

Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. (2023-05-23). Kshama Sawant Takes Successful Worker-Led Struggle Nationwide. popularresistance.org Roughly ten years ago, Kshama Sawant won a seat on the Seattle City Council as an open socialist. Sawant eschewed politics as usual and led by example, taking only the average worker's salary from her paycheck and putting the remainder into worker-led movements. She used her office as a platform for people's struggles and won many victories from a higher minimum wage, to the Amazon tax to housing rights and more. She also survived a recall election. Clearing the FOG speaks with Sawant about her plans to leave city council when her term ends next year, what she has learned as a councilwoman and the new Workers Str…

WSWS (2023-05-22). German rail workers union negotiates wage cuts after cancelling strike action. wsws.org The EVG union is preparing to enforce a wage cut based on the rail management's offer, greased merely by a fractional concession on a minimum wage.

IndybayIndybay (2023-05-22). Three Meetings This Month For Concord's Homeless Strategic Plan. indybay.org The city of Concord (California), will be holding three meetings this week-and-a-half, regarding the development of a homeless strategic plan. Service providers and concerned residents are urged to participate.

WSWS (2023-05-22). Turkish elections: Kƒ±lƒ±àßdaroƒülu's xenophobic campaign exposes the pseudo-left. wsws.org The continued support of the HDP and the pseudo-left parties for Kƒ±lƒ±àßdaroƒülu as an "alternative" to Erdoƒüan, despite his campaign's pro-imperialist and xenophobic character, exposes their own political bankruptcy.

Jake Bittle (2023-05-22). As Climate-Induced Crises Increase, Humanitarian Aid Isn't Enough. truthout.org Over the past three years, an extreme drought has pushed the Horn of Africa to the brink of famine, causing one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history. The dry spell forced more than 2.6 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya to leave their homes last year, and it killed more than 43,000 people in Somalia alone. A recent study from the meteorological organization World Weather… |

thecommunists (2023-05-21). British delegate in Korea: We share the same struggle against poverty and war. thecommunists.org The following greeting was delivered by Comrade Joti Brar to the congress of the People's Democracy Party (PDP) of south Korea on Sunday 14 May 2023. ***** Comrades, I bring fraternal greetings from the Communists of Britain. We are most enthused to see the vital role being played by your party all over south Korea, …

WSWS (2023-05-20). Union calls off New York resident physicians' strike at last minute. wsws.org The Committee of Interns and Residents announced a tentative agreement that will maintain poverty wages for its members at Jamaica and Flushing hospitals, who work as many as 80 hours per week.

Staff (2023-05-21). Londres niega impacto en la salud y el medio ambiente de sus municiones de uranio empobrecido. cubadebate.cu Londres ha utilizado durante mucho tiempo municiones de uranio empobrecido y no ve nada sobrenatural en ello, dijo Barbara Woodward, representante permanente de Gran Bretaña ante la ONU. "Se trata de un componente estándar y no tiene nada que ver con armas o capacidades nucleares", afirmó. También señaló que no ha habido efectos sobre la población.

Richard Horton (2023-05-20). Comment] Offline: The case for global health. thelancet.com Global health has become fashionably unfashionable. The case against global health is strong. Global health is the invention of a largely white and wealthy elite residing in high-income, English-language speaking countries. The discipline claims to be concerned about the health of people living in low-income and middle-income settings. But the resources—human, infrastructural, and financial—underpinning global health are mostly concentrated in those countries already replete with power and money.

Staff (2023-05-20). Patrick Lawrence: The Origin of the Specious. scheerpost.com Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost "Why is our collective mood so sour? We are awash with material wealth, and technology provides us with unprecedented powers. But this veneer of well-being masks a deeper crisis. … Our institutions are crumbling, leaving us vulnerable and aimless. … How have …

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2023-05-20). G7: Indian Diplomacy in Overstretch. libya360.wordpress.com M. K. Bhadrakumar G7 Summit leaders at "working lunch" session, Japan, 19 May, 2023 The Foreign Secretary's special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Asia-Pacific tour (May 19-24) dovetailed skilfully into three summit meetings, and brings to mind an institution of the Middle Ages known as the "wandering minstrels". Wealthy people used to employ minstrels to entertain…

Fight Back (2023-05-21). Commentary: Republicans walk out of debt-ceiling negotiations. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Friday, May 19, Republicans walked out of debt ceiling negotiations with the Democrats. Presidential candidate Donald Trump followed with a no-compromise stance, saying the Republicans should hold out for "everything that they want." More than a quarter of Democrat Senators who are opposed to the Republican cuts called on President Biden to overrule the debt ceiling using the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees that the national debt shall be paid. | The crisis over the debt ceiling is a result of growing polarization in the United States. Up until the 1995, Congress regularly r…

Owen Fairclough (2023-05-21). President Biden rejects GOP demands for spending cuts. america.cgtn.com President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to hold an in-person meeting on May 22 to further deliberate on the debt limit. See the latest.

Lynda Carson (2023-05-21). Debt ceiling negotiations reveal how evil the system is. indybay.org The Evil Face To The Debt Ceiling Negotiations…

krish-rad_ind (2023-05-20). Escaping Debt Slavery: Ethiopia, Africa, And The IMF. popularresistance.org

Pepe Escobar (2023-05-20). Pepe Escobar: US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — May 15, 2023 | Prof. Michael Hudson's new book, The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point" is a seminal event in this Year of Living Dangerously when, to paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed. | Prof. Hudson's main thesis is absolutely devastating: he sets out to prove that economic/financial practices in Ancient Greece and Rome — the pillars of Western Civilization — set the stage for what is happening today right in front of our eyes: an empire redu…

WSWS (2023-05-20). Biden signals readiness to impose social cuts, work requirements in debt limit deal with Republicans. wsws.org The "crisis talks" are part of a heavily stage-managed, bipartisan operation, including a manufactured default deadline, to enable "progressive" Democrats to cover for Biden and vote for massive cuts while concealing the corporate interests and imperialist war aims that are being served.

Binoy Kampmark (2023-05-20). Australia, Biden, and Cancelling the Quad Visit. dissidentvoice.org Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. Students of …

Anonymous834 (2023-05-20). Fears Of Abandonment: Australia, Biden And Cancelling The Quad Visit. southfront.org Click to see the full-size image | Written by Dr. Binoy Kampmark. | Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. | Students of US history would, or should have appreciated, the two phenomena that speckle the fiscal landsc…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-20). Debt lawsuits would eliminate health insurance for Americans. plenglish.com Washington, May 20 (Prensa Latina) Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States will lose health insurance coverage if the Republican Party's demands on the federal debt negotiations are put into practice, an authorized source estimated.

mforinoco (2023-05-21). US Proxies Win Thai Elections — US-Chinese Tensions Set to Grow. orinocotribune.com By Brian Berletic — May 17, 2023 | In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand's May 14, 2023, general elections. | A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China's Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region against Beijing, but that…

ecns.cn (2023-05-21). (W.E. Talk) Writer Alai: Why is language the most important element in literature?>. ecns.cn This year marks the 40th anniversary of Alai's literary creation. In the past forty years, this Tibetan writer from the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan has been working tirelessly on his works, reviewing the rise and fall of the native chieftain system in When The Dust Settles, reflecting on the relationship between humans and the ecology of the plateau in The Mushroom Circle, and depicting the trauma and redemption in the Wenchuan earthquake in the Story in the Clouds. His works have been translated and introduced to the West in large numbers, winning heavyweight literary awards such as th…

Ejeris Dixon (2023-05-21). Fascism Is Rising, But It Does Not Have to Be Our Future. truthout.org Most organizers are exhausted, striving to balance the impossible load of community crises, family crises and urgent campaigns. Addressing long-term visionary campaign work can feel particularly challenging in these times of increased attacks from the right. Organizers are reeling within a political terrain where the left is working to preserve reproductive justice and bodily autonomy… |

Binoy Kampmark (2023-05-20). Australia, Biden, and Cancelling the Quad Visit. dissidentvoice.org Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. Students of …

Anonymous834 (2023-05-20). Fears Of Abandonment: Australia, Biden And Cancelling The Quad Visit. southfront.org Click to see the full-size image | Written by Dr. Binoy Kampmark. | Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. | Students of US history would, or should have appreciated, the two phenomena that speckle the fiscal landsc…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-20). Debt lawsuits would eliminate health insurance for Americans. plenglish.com Washington, May 20 (Prensa Latina) Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States will lose health insurance coverage if the Republican Party's demands on the federal debt negotiations are put into practice, an authorized source estimated.

mforinoco (2023-05-21). US Proxies Win Thai Elections — US-Chinese Tensions Set to Grow. orinocotribune.com By Brian Berletic — May 17, 2023 | In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand's May 14, 2023, general elections. | A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China's Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region against Beijing, but that…

ecns.cn (2023-05-21). (W.E. Talk) Writer Alai: Why is language the most important element in literature?>. ecns.cn This year marks the 40th anniversary of Alai's literary creation. In the past forty years, this Tibetan writer from the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan has been working tirelessly on his works, reviewing the rise and fall of the native chieftain system in When The Dust Settles, reflecting on the relationship between humans and the ecology of the plateau in The Mushroom Circle, and depicting the trauma and redemption in the Wenchuan earthquake in the Story in the Clouds. His works have been translated and introduced to the West in large numbers, winning heavyweight literary awards such as th…

Ejeris Dixon (2023-05-21). Fascism Is Rising, But It Does Not Have to Be Our Future. truthout.org Most organizers are exhausted, striving to balance the impossible load of community crises, family crises and urgent campaigns. Addressing long-term visionary campaign work can feel particularly challenging in these times of increased attacks from the right. Organizers are reeling within a political terrain where the left is working to preserve reproductive justice and bodily autonomy… |

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-21). The silent liver disease experts warn is on the rise among Hispanics and children. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Two months after his liver transplant, Juan Silva with his wife, Gisela Juan and Gisela Silva have a lot to smile about these days. One reason why, they are back to enjoying home-cooked together. "Oh man, I can eat more now," says Juan. "Before I didn't want to eat anything because it would mess up my stomach and stuff because something wasn't working right." That led Juan to his doctor's office where a series of…

Seymour Hersh, Scheer Post. (2023-05-21). The Ukraine Refugee Question. popularresistance.org Last Saturday the Washington Post published an exposé of classified American intelligence documents showing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, working behind the back of the Biden White House, pushed hard earlier this year for an expanded series of missile attacks inside Russia. The documents were part of a large cache of classified materials posted online by an Air Force enlisted man now in custody. A senior official of the Biden administration, asked by…

Naomi Chinyere Chikezie, Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa, Ebere Angela Okoli, Ifebuche Maureen Onah, Oluwaseun Omolade Adekoya, Greatman Adiela Owhor, Adeniyi Ayinde Abdulwahab (2023-05-20). Correspondence] Addressing the issue of a depleting health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. thelancet.com Health-care workers have a crucial role in improving health outcomes, and their migration has harmed the quality of health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The region has 25% of global diseases,1 and only 3% of health workers globally, highlighting a severe shortage of skilled professionals to tackle high rates of mortality. The main reasons for migration are poor working conditions, low remuneration, and a scarcity of career development opportunities. Insecurity and high crime rates also contribute to migration in countries such as South Africa.

WSWS (2023-05-20). San Diego educators and staff rally after a year of working without a contract. wsws.org Educators expressed a strong desire to fight against deteriorating conditions, including spiraling class sizes, high turnover, poorly maintained infrastructure and inadequate COVID-19 safety measures.

Amir Khafagy, Documented NY. (2023-05-20). Doctors Win Benefits At Two Queens Hospitals After Near Strike. popularresistance.org During the first wave of Covid-19, Queens hospitals were on the frontlines of the pandemic. Although they were celebrated as essential workers, some first-year physician residents were only making between $15 and $17 an hour while they routinely worked 80-hour weeks. | Nearly three years later, about 300 resident physicians and fellows at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals have won a new contract after threatening to walk off the job if their demands for better wages and improved working conditions were not met.

WSWS (2023-05-20). Union calls off New York resident physicians' strike at last minute. wsws.org The Committee of Interns and Residents announced a tentative agreement that will maintain poverty wages for its members at Jamaica and Flushing hospitals, who work as many as 80 hours per week.

WSWS (2023-05-19). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific. wsws.org India: Tamil Nadu contract nurses protest; West Bengal public school teachers oppose poverty-level wages; Sri Lankan Inland Revenue Department workers strike over pay cut; Australia: Cleanaway waste collection workers New South Wales strike; NSW paramedics and patient transfer officers impose work bans.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2023-05-20). G7: Indian Diplomacy in Overstretch. libya360.wordpress.com M. K. Bhadrakumar G7 Summit leaders at "working lunch" session, Japan, 19 May, 2023 The Foreign Secretary's special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Asia-Pacific tour (May 19-24) dovetailed skilfully into three summit meetings, and brings to mind an institution of the Middle Ages known as the "wandering minstrels". Wealthy people used to employ minstrels to entertain…

Editor (2023-05-20). Patrick Lawrence: The Origin of the Specious. scheerpost.com By Patrick Lawrence / Original to ScheerPost "Why is our collective mood so sour? We are awash with material wealth, and technology provides us with unprecedented powers. But this veneer of well-being masks a deeper crisis. … Our institutions are crumbling, leaving us vulnerable and aimless. … How have we come to this condition?" These …

Richard Horton (2023-05-20). Comment] Offline: The case for global health. thelancet.com Global health has become fashionably unfashionable. The case against global health is strong. Global health is the invention of a largely white and wealthy elite residing in high-income, English-language speaking countries. The discipline claims to be concerned about the health of people living in low-income and middle-income settings. But the resources—human, infrastructural, and financial—underpinning global health are mostly concentrated in those countries already replete with power and money.

Pepe Escobar (2023-05-20). Pepe Escobar: US Empire of Debt Headed for Collapse. orinocotribune.com By Pepe Escobar — May 15, 2023 | Prof. Michael Hudson's new book, The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization's Oligarchic Turning Point" is a seminal event in this Year of Living Dangerously when, to paraphrase Gramsci, the old geopolitical and geoeconomic order is dying and the new one is being born at breakneck speed. | Prof. Hudson's main thesis is absolutely devastating: he sets out to prove that economic/financial practices in Ancient Greece and Rome — the pillars of Western Civilization — set the stage for what is happening today right in front of our eyes: an empire redu…

Anonymous834 (2023-05-20). Fears Of Abandonment: Australia, Biden And Cancelling The Quad Visit. southfront.org Click to see the full-size image | Written by Dr. Binoy Kampmark. | Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden's cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States. | Students of US history would, or should have appreciated, the two phenomena that speckle the fiscal landsc…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-20). Debt lawsuits would eliminate health insurance for Americans. plenglish.com Washington, May 20 (Prensa Latina) Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States will lose health insurance coverage if the Republican Party's demands on the federal debt negotiations are put into practice, an authorized source estimated.

WSWS (2023-05-20). Biden signals readiness to impose social cuts, work requirements in debt limit deal with Republicans. wsws.org The "crisis talks" are part of a heavily stage-managed, bipartisan operation, including a manufactured default deadline, to enable "progressive" Democrats to cover for Biden and vote for massive cuts while concealing the corporate interests and imperialist war aims that are being served.

Mark Gruenberg, John Wojcik (2023-05-19). Progressives angry over Biden consideration of Republican debt proposals. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Congressional progressive Democrats are increasingly angry about Democratic President Joe Biden's apparent willingness to give in to Republican budget cuts in safety net programs as part of a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling. But they're also proposing alternatives to avoid that catastrophe for millions of low-income and working people who would be clobbered …

mforinoco (2023-05-21). US Proxies Win Thai Elections — US-Chinese Tensions Set to Grow. orinocotribune.com By Brian Berletic — May 17, 2023 | In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand's May 14, 2023, general elections. | A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China's Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region against Beijing, but that…

Seymour Hersh, Scheer Post. (2023-05-21). The Ukraine Refugee Question. popularresistance.org Last Saturday the Washington Post published an exposé of classified American intelligence documents showing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, working behind the back of the Biden White House, pushed hard earlier this year for an expanded series of missile attacks inside Russia. The documents were part of a large cache of classified materials posted online by an Air Force enlisted man now in custody. A senior official of the Biden administration, asked by…

Amir Khafagy, Documented NY. (2023-05-20). Doctors Win Benefits At Two Queens Hospitals After Near Strike. popularresistance.org During the first wave of Covid-19, Queens hospitals were on the frontlines of the pandemic. Although they were celebrated as essential workers, some first-year physician residents were only making between $15 and $17 an hour while they routinely worked 80-hour weeks. | Nearly three years later, about 300 resident physicians and fellows at Jamaica and Flushing Hospitals have won a new contract after threatening to walk off the job if their demands for better wages and improved working conditions were not met.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-20). The silent liver disease experts warn is on the rise among Hispanics and children. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Two months after his liver transplant, Juan Silva with his wife, Gisela Juan and Gisela Silva have a lot to smile about these days. One reason why, they are back to enjoying home-cooked together. "Oh man, I can eat more now," says Juan. "Before I didn't want to eat anything because it would mess up my stomach and stuff because something wasn't working right." That led Juan to his doctor's office where a series of…

Naomi Chinyere Chikezie, Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa, Ebere Angela Okoli, Ifebuche Maureen Onah, Oluwaseun Omolade Adekoya, Greatman Adiela Owhor, Adeniyi Ayinde Abdulwahab (2023-05-20). Correspondence] Addressing the issue of a depleting health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. thelancet.com Health-care workers have a crucial role in improving health outcomes, and their migration has harmed the quality of health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The region has 25% of global diseases,1 and only 3% of health workers globally, highlighting a severe shortage of skilled professionals to tackle high rates of mortality. The main reasons for migration are poor working conditions, low remuneration, and a scarcity of career development opportunities. Insecurity and high crime rates also contribute to migration in countries such as South Africa.

WSWS (2023-05-20). San Diego educators and staff rally after a year of working without a contract. wsws.org Educators expressed a strong desire to fight against deteriorating conditions, including spiraling class sizes, high turnover, poorly maintained infrastructure and inadequate COVID-19 safety measures.

WSWS (2023-05-19). Clarios workers in Germany support Toledo strike and report dangerous working conditions. wsws.org The WSWS spoke with Clarios workers at the company's European headquarters in Hanover, Germany about the strike in Ohio and its significance.

WSWS (2023-05-19). Escalating homelessness crisis in Los Angeles as deaths reach new records. wsws.org Los Angeles County Public Health Department issued a report documenting 2,201 homeless deaths in 2021.

A Guest Author (2023-05-19). Financial crisis drives toward war. workers.org By Manuel Raposo Published May 14, 2023, in jornalmudardevida.net. Translation: John Catalinotto. Since the beginning of March, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, government officials have repeatedly declared that the North American and European financial system is safe. The facts, however, show at a minimum that the threats of bankruptcy persist, . . . |

_____ (2023-05-19). Ukraine: An Eastern-European Cesspit of Criminality & Governmental Corruption. strategic-culture.org Ukraine is a source, transit and destination point for human trafficking, which is extremely pervasive in the country. It is reportedly one of the largest countries of origin for people subject to forced labour in Europe. This issue has grown due to economic hardship and political turmoil. Male victims, particularly from the Roma community, are targeted by traffickers who exploit them for forced begging or as drug 'mules'. Meanwhile, women are subject to sexual exploitation, primarily in foreign countries.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-19). One-third of school students in Sri Lanka go without an adequate breakfast. peoplesdispatch.org Sri Lanka has been grappling with an acute economic crisis since last year. This has aggravated the problem of food insecurity in the country…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-19). Breaking barriers: Helping Native Americans in need get the gift of life. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Robert Monroe and Jackie Johnson stand near their home on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona For many American Indians and Alaska Natives, living on an Indian reservation provides a sense of pride, independence, and the ability to maintain cultural and social traditions important to their heritage. Life on the Indian reservation can also mean high rates of poverty, lack of access to food, transportation, communication and health care. Complex medical procedures like an organ…

Pablo Jofré Leal (2023-05-19). Londres: Municiones con uranio empobrecido para Ucrania. globalizacion.ca Estados Unidos y sus aliados, principalmente aquellos agrupados en la organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte -OTAN- y que tiene al gobierno de Washington y el británico como sus referentes, no dejan de nutrir a Ucrania con más y más…

Richard Horton (2023-05-20). Comment] Offline: The case for global health. thelancet.com Global health has become fashionably unfashionable. The case against global health is strong. Global health is the invention of a largely white and wealthy elite residing in high-income, English-language speaking countries. The discipline claims to be concerned about the health of people living in low-income and middle-income settings. But the resources—human, infrastructural, and financial—underpinning global health are mostly concentrated in those countries already replete with power and money.

Sarah Anderson (2023-05-18). Report Reveals Top CEOs Dodge Taxes on Nearly $9 Billion in Retirement Funds. truthout.org Adouble standard in our tax code for government retirement subsidies gives preferential treatment to those who need it least — wealthy corporate executives. Ordinary employees with access to 401(k) plans face strict limits on the amounts they can set aside, tax-free, for their golden years. Most senior executives of large corporations, on the other hand, have unlimited tax-deferred compensation… |

Sharon Zhang (2023-05-18). GOP Tax Cut Plan Would Add $3.5T to Deficit, Congressional Budget Office Finds. truthout.org As Republicans threaten to tank the entire U.S. economy in order to force through massive cuts to federal programs and climate initiatives, supposedly to reduce the national debt, a new report finds that one of the GOP's parallel efforts to make permanent a deluge of massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy would undo all of the "savings" from their debt limit package and pile trillions… |

Staff (2023-05-19). Headlines for May 19, 2023. democracynow.org Biden Won't Apologize for 1945 Nuclear Attacks on Japan as G7 Leaders Gather in Hiroshima, Russia and Ukraine Agree to Extend Black Sea Grain Deal, Pentagon Says Accounting Error Will Allow U.S. to Send $3 Billion in Additional Arms to Ukraine, Family of Syrian Killed in U.S. Drone Strike Says He Had No Ties to al-Qaeda, Bashar al-Assad Joins Arab League Summit for First Time Since Start of Syrian Civil War, Israeli Flag Day Marchers Chant "Death to Arabs" and Attack Palestinians and Journalists, Democrats Mull 14th Amendment Workaround as Republicans Stonewall on Debt Limit, New Details Reveal…

Tomasz Konicz (2023-05-19). Can state-capitalist China inherit the USA as hegemon? indybay.org China's growth is thus also running on credit, and the People's Republic is similarly highly indebted as the descending Western centers of the world system.10 The Chinese deficit economy is generating even far greater speculative excesses than was the case in the U.S. or Western Europe, as the distortions on the absurdly inflated Chinese real estate market in 2021 made evident.

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-18). French rail workers mobilize to save rail freight operator Fret SNCF. peoplesdispatch.org Earlier this year, the European Commission opened an investigation into support measures including capital injection and debt cancellation taken to help Fret SNCF. These steps allegedly do not comply with European state aid rules. Workers feat that is if the rail company is penalized, its operations will be affected and jobs will be lost…

WSWS (2023-05-18). Railroaders face cuts in unemployment and sickness benefits due to debt ceiling, end of federal COVID emergency. wsws.org The federally administered benefits had been exempted budget sequestration until President Biden ended the pandemic national emergency declaration last month.

Naomi Chinyere Chikezie, Deborah Oluwaseun Shomuyiwa, Ebere Angela Okoli, Ifebuche Maureen Onah, Oluwaseun Omolade Adekoya, Greatman Adiela Owhor, Adeniyi Ayinde Abdulwahab (2023-05-20). Correspondence] Addressing the issue of a depleting health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. thelancet.com Health-care workers have a crucial role in improving health outcomes, and their migration has harmed the quality of health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The region has 25% of global diseases,1 and only 3% of health workers globally, highlighting a severe shortage of skilled professionals to tackle high rates of mortality. The main reasons for migration are poor working conditions, low remuneration, and a scarcity of career development opportunities. Insecurity and high crime rates also contribute to migration in countries such as South Africa.

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-19). Sleep, food, exercise, stress: Why working on one of these can improve the others. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org LONDON — Sleeping enough, eating well, exercising and coping with stress are all components of good health, but focusing on all four at once while managing a hectic schedule may seem impossible. Safia Debar, M.B.B.S., an expert in tailored medical exams at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, explains how giving a little extra attention to any one of these areas can improve the others. "By pulling any of these levers, you can have a big…

WSWS (2023-05-19). Howard commencement speech: Biden appeals to identity politics and covers up the White House's promotion of war and reaction. wsws.org The speech, full of vague phrases, again demonstrated the Democratic Party's reliance on the promotion of racial politics to block a socialist movement of the working class and youth in opposition to capitalism and war.

WSWS (2023-05-19). Hollywood's race and gender quotas, identity politics and the writers' strike. wsws.org Identity politics operates consciously to divide the working class, pitting blacks against whites, women against men and so on, and generally to inject as much confusion and ideological poison into the atmosphere as possible.

Andy Kroll (2023-05-18). Goodbye to the American Century. tomdispatch.com Not so long ago, political analysts were speaking of the "G-2" — that is, of a potential working alliance between the United States and China aimed at managing global problems for their mutual benefit. Such a collaborative twosome was seen as potentially even more powerful than the G-7 group of leading Western economies. As former Undersecretary of the Treasury C. Fred Bergsten, who originally imagined such a partnership, wrote in 2008, "The basic idea would be to develop a G-2 between the United States and China to steer the global governance process." That notion would become the basis for the Obama admin…

Fight Back (2023-05-18). LGBTQ delegation witnesses how "Love is the law" in Cuba. fightbacknews.org Havana, Cuba – It's hard to imagine when you live under state governments banning gender-affirming healthcare, but 100 miles off of Florida's shore is an island striking unrelenting blows against bigotry. | From May 7 to 14, I joined a US delegation of LGBTQ activists who traveled to Cuba. The group took part in the country's annual "working days against homophobia and transphobia." This year's working days were special because they followed the passage of Cuba's groundbreaking Families Code. | On May 3, a few days ahead of the full delegation's arrival, a part of the group attended the International Trans Iden…

Binoy Kampmark (2023-05-18). Fighting white elephants: The Tasmanian AFL stadium protest. greenleft.org.au Forget the working stadia already in place and that Tasmania already plays AFL. No stadium, no team, the AFL said. Tasmanians disagree, as Binoy Kampmark reports.

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-18). Russia and Cuba complete work on 10 investment projects. plenglish.com Havana, May 18 (Prensa Latina) Russia and Cuba are working on 10 investment projects and seek to deepen mutually advantageous cooperation in the scientific-technical sphere, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas said today.

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2023-05-18). China Is Governed in the Interests of Working People, the US in the Interests of Capital (Interview). orinocotribune.com In this interview with The very concept of shared future and cooperation has a profound impact. It's not threatening to other countries, and it has the win-win idea, meaning if your e…

WSWS (2023-05-19). Hollywood's race and gender quotas, identity politics and the writers' strike. wsws.org Identity politics operates consciously to divide the working class, pitting blacks against whites, women against men and so on, and generally to inject as much confusion and ideological poison into the atmosphere as possible.

Andy Kroll (2023-05-18). Goodbye to the American Century. tomdispatch.com Not so long ago, political analysts were speaking of the "G-2" — that is, of a potential working alliance between the United States and China aimed at managing global problems for their mutual benefit. Such a collaborative twosome was seen as potentially even more powerful than the G-7 group of leading Western economies. As former Undersecretary of the Treasury C. Fred Bergsten, who originally imagined such a partnership, wrote in 2008, "The basic idea would be to develop a G-2 between the United States and China to steer the global governance process." That notion would become the basis for the Obama admin…

Fight Back (2023-05-18). LGBTQ delegation witnesses how "Love is the law" in Cuba. fightbacknews.org Havana, Cuba – It's hard to imagine when you live under state governments banning gender-affirming healthcare, but 100 miles off of Florida's shore is an island striking unrelenting blows against bigotry. | From May 7 to 14, I joined a US delegation of LGBTQ activists who traveled to Cuba. The group took part in the country's annual "working days against homophobia and transphobia." This year's working days were special because they followed the passage of Cuba's groundbreaking Families Code. | On May 3, a few days ahead of the full delegation's arrival, a part of the group attended the International Trans Iden…

Binoy Kampmark (2023-05-18). Fighting white elephants: The Tasmanian AFL stadium protest. greenleft.org.au Forget the working stadia already in place and that Tasmania already plays AFL. No stadium, no team, the AFL said. Tasmanians disagree, as Binoy Kampmark reports.

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-18). Russia and Cuba complete work on 10 investment projects. plenglish.com Havana, May 18 (Prensa Latina) Russia and Cuba are working on 10 investment projects and seek to deepen mutually advantageous cooperation in the scientific-technical sphere, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas said today.

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2023-05-18). China Is Governed in the Interests of Working People, the US in the Interests of Capital (Interview). orinocotribune.com In this interview with The very concept of shared future and cooperation has a profound impact. It's not threatening to other countries, and it has the win-win idea, meaning if your e…

Staff (2023-05-18). From Waterboarding to Rape, Abu Zubaydah Depicts Torture at Black Sites & Gitmo in Graphic Sketches. democracynow.org The Center for Policy and Research has just published a new report titled "American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantánamo," which compiles a series of 40 drawings by Guantánamo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah that chronicle the horrific torture he endured since 2002 in CIA dark sites and at Guantánamo Bay, where he has been detained without charge since 2006. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a new call for the United States to release him immediately. We speak with one of his attorneys, Mark Denbeaux, and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who exposed the…

WSWS (2023-05-18). Sri Lankan ruling party demonises last year's mass uprising. wsws.org The Wickremesinghe government's denigration of last year's mass movement that forced out President Gotabhaya Rajapakse is in preparation for state repression against the working class and rural masses.

WSWS (2023-05-19). Washington D.C. homelessness up by nearly one-fifth in one year. wsws.org The ending of protections relating to the COVID-19 public health emergency, such as eviction moratoriums and emergency housing assistance, has greatly increased homelessness in the region of the American capital…

CounterSpin (2023-05-19). Cody Bloomfield on Anti-Activist Terrorism Charges. fair.org CounterSpin230519.mp3 Time ( This week on CounterSpin: Do you care about environmental degradation? Then you care about But be aware: Your concern about Cop City, and its myriad i…

A Guest Author (2023-05-19). Financial crisis drives toward war. workers.org By Manuel Raposo Published May 14, 2023, in jornalmudardevida.net. Translation: John Catalinotto. Since the beginning of March, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, government officials have repeatedly declared that the North American and European financial system is safe. The facts, however, show at a minimum that the threats of bankruptcy persist, . . . |

A Guest Author (2023-05-19). Financial crisis drives toward wa. workers.org By Manuel Raposo Published May 14, 2023, in jornalmudardevida.net. Translation: John Catalinotto. Since the beginning of March, when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, government officials have repeatedly declared that the North American and European financial system is safe. The facts, however, show at a minimum that the threats of bankruptcy persist, . . . |

isabella (2023-05-18). A Tale of Two Retirements: CEOs Versus the Rest of Us. inequality.org

SAM (2023-05-18). The Two Decades That Created Our World's First Mass Middle Class. inequality.org

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-19). One-third of school students in Sri Lanka go without an adequate breakfast. peoplesdispatch.org Sri Lanka has been grappling with an acute economic crisis since last year. This has aggravated the problem of food insecurity in the country…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2023-05-18). Ukraine: How Western Nations Pushed for Privatization of Agriculture and the Devastating Consequences. libya360.wordpress.com Peter Korotaev A farmer on his farmland in Western Ukraine. Image credit: CGTN. Part I: Ukraine's Privatized Agriculture: A Hungry Guarantor of Global Food Security Former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk said Ukraine is a country where the IMF does 'economic experiments'. Ukraine is a laboratory for testing radical neo-liberal policies, irrespective of the…

newsnetwork.mayoclinic (2023-05-18). Breaking barriers: Helping Native Americans in need get the gift of life. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Robert Monroe and Jackie Johnson stand near their home on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona For many American Indians and Alaska Natives, living on an Indian reservation provides a sense of pride, independence, and the ability to maintain cultural and social traditions important to their heritage. Life on the Indian reservation can also mean high rates of poverty, lack of access to food, transportation, communication and health care. Complex medical procedures like an organ…

Ryan Black (2023-05-17). 'We Are Not Taxing The Very Wealthy Enough': Runaway Inequality About To Get Worse. progressivehub.net JAKE JOHNSON | COMMON DREAMS…

Peoples Dispatch (2023-05-18). French rail workers mobilize to save rail freight operator Fret SNCF. peoplesdispatch.org Earlier this year, the European Commission opened an investigation into support measures including capital injection and debt cancellation taken to help Fret SNCF. These steps allegedly do not comply with European state aid rules. Workers feat that is if the rail company is penalized, its operations will be affected and jobs will be lost…

WSWS (2023-05-18). Railroaders face cuts in unemployment and sickness benefits due to debt ceiling, end of federal COVID emergency. wsws.org The federally administered benefits had been exempted budget sequestration until President Biden ended the pandemic national emergency declaration last month.

Rachel Hu, Chris Garaffa (2023-05-17). CovertAction Bulletin: The Debt Ceiling is Political Theater. covertactionmagazine.com The "debt ceiling" crisis playing out between President Biden and Congressional Republicans is manufactured by capitalism to justify spending cuts to critical social programs while continuing to bail out big businesses and fund the Pentagon's endless war drive…

Staff (2023-05-17). "The Budget Farce": Robert Kuttner on Why Biden Admin Can't Give In to GOP Demands to Gut Safety Net. democracynow.org With the United States just two weeks away from a possible default on its debt for the first time ever, President Joe Biden has cut short a trip to Asia to continue negotiations with congressional leaders in Washington over lifting the federal government's debt ceiling. Republicans are seeking major budget cuts, as well as new work requirements for recipients of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, but prominent Democrats are pushing the White House to stand firm. For more, we speak with The American Prospect's Robert Kuttner, who says the debt ceiling…

Staff (2023-05-17). Headlines for May 17, 2023. democracynow.org North Carolina Bans Abortion After 12 Weeks as GOP Lawmakers Override Governor's Veto, Nebraska Lawmakers Advance Bill to Ban Abortion & Ban Gender-Affirming Medical Care, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Florida Hold Elections, Talks over Debt Ceiling Remain Stalled as GOP Pushes Sweeping Cuts, Biden to Head to Hiroshima for G7 Summit But Cuts Rest of Asia Trip Short, Chinese Special Envoy Arrives in Ukraine to Push for War to End, Costs of War Project: Post-9/11 Wars Have Resulted in 4.5 Million Deaths, Ecuador: Guillermo Lasso Dissolves National Assembly to Block Impeachment Push, Biden Administration Grants K…

John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead (2023-05-17). Business As Usual: Shutdown or Not, the Police State Will Continue to Flourish. dissidentvoice.org There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men. —Ludwig von Mises Once again, the police state is up to its old tricks, stoking tensions over whether or not the government is forced to shut down, even partially, due to a default on the national debt. Yet …

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2023-05-17). Escaping Debt Slavery: Ethiopia, Africa, and the IMF. libya360.wordpress.com Ann Garrison In 1987, at the Organization for African Unity, Thomas Sankara said, "Debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa." Ethiopia might actually be better off if the US keeps the IMF from signing off on its latest loan request. The US is holding up Ethiopia's request for a $2 billion loan from the International…

Dana Sanchez (2023-05-17). America Is On Pace To Default On Debt Obligations As Soon As June 1. moguldom.com The U.S. could run out of money to fulfill its debt obligations as soon as June 1 if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit, and waiting until the last minute could hurt Americans, the Treasury Department warned Congress. President Joe Biden spent months refusing to negotiate with Republican lawmakers, citing a bipartisan …

Tanupriya Singh (2023-05-17). Kenya's 'anti-people' Finance Bill met with widespread opposition as cost of living soars. peoplesdispatch.org Amid rising debt payments the Kenyan government has proposed new tax and levy regimes in the Finance Bill 2023. Unions and left forces, especially the Communist Party of Kenya, have argued that the measures will further burden workers while they are already struggling under an economic crisis…

Mike Ervin (2023-05-17). Smart Ass Cripple: The Medicaid Work Requirement Horrors in the Debt Ceiling Deal. progressive.org Republicans want to resurrect a Trump-era Medicaid measure that cut coverage for thousands of people.

John Bachtell (2023-05-17). Republicans use sham 'debt crisis' to force cuts, set Biden up for blame. peoplesworld.org The Republican House Majority has manufactured a "debt crisis" to force President Joe Biden and the Democratic Senate Majority to agree to draconian cuts to the federal budget. Negotiations to raise the federal debt ceiling remained at an impasse following May 16 talks between Biden and Congressional leaders. The federal government could default on June …

WSWS (2023-05-17). White House debt limit talks: A manufactured, bipartisan conspiracy to make workers pay for war. wsws.org The Biden administration and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are united in their determination to use the manufactured debt ceiling crisis to implement brutal attacks on social programs.

Staff (2023-05-18). From Waterboarding to Rape, Abu Zubaydah Depicts Torture at Black Sites & Gitmo in Graphic Sketches. democracynow.org The Center for Policy and Research has just published a new report titled "American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantánamo," which compiles a series of 40 drawings by Guantánamo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah that chronicle the horrific torture he endured since 2002 in CIA dark sites and at Guantánamo Bay, where he has been detained without charge since 2006. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a new call for the United States to release him immediately. We speak with one of his attorneys, Mark Denbeaux, and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who exposed the…

Andy Kroll (2023-05-18). Goodbye to the American Century. tomdispatch.com Not so long ago, political analysts were speaking of the "G-2" — that is, of a potential working alliance between the United States and China aimed at managing global problems for their mutual benefit. Such a collaborative twosome was seen as potentially even more powerful than the G-7 group of leading Western economies. As former Undersecretary of the Treasury C. Fred Bergsten, who originally imagined such a partnership, wrote in 2008, "The basic idea would be to develop a G-2 between the United States and China to steer the global governance process." That notion would become the basis for the Obama admin…

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2023-05-18). China Is Governed in the Interests of Working People, the US in the Interests of Capital (Interview). orinocotribune.com In this interview with The very concept of shared future and cooperation has a profound impact. It's not threatening to other countries, and it has the win-win idea, meaning if your e…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-18). Russia and Cuba complete work on 10 investment projects. plenglish.com Havana, May 18 (Prensa Latina) Russia and Cuba are working on 10 investment projects and seek to deepen mutually advantageous cooperation in the scientific-technical sphere, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas said today.

John Bachtell (2023-05-17). Republicans use sham 'debt crisis' to force cuts, set Biden up for blame. peoplesworld.org The Republican House Majority has manufactured a "debt crisis" to force President Joe Biden and the Democratic Senate Majority to agree to draconian cuts to the federal budget. Negotiations to raise the federal debt ceiling remained at an impasse following May 16 talks between Biden and Congressional leaders. The federal government could default on June …

WSWS (2023-05-17). White House debt limit talks: A manufactured, bipartisan conspiracy to make workers pay for war. wsws.org The Biden administration and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are united in their determination to use the manufactured debt ceiling crisis to implement brutal attacks on social programs.

Staff (2023-05-18). From Waterboarding to Rape, Abu Zubaydah Depicts Torture at Black Sites & Gitmo in Graphic Sketches. democracynow.org The Center for Policy and Research has just published a new report titled "American Torturers: FBI and CIA Abuses at Dark Sites and Guantánamo," which compiles a series of 40 drawings by Guantánamo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah that chronicle the horrific torture he endured since 2002 in CIA dark sites and at Guantánamo Bay, where he has been detained without charge since 2006. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a new call for the United States to release him immediately. We speak with one of his attorneys, Mark Denbeaux, and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou, who exposed the…

Andy Kroll (2023-05-18). Goodbye to the American Century. tomdispatch.com Not so long ago, political analysts were speaking of the "G-2" — that is, of a potential working alliance between the United States and China aimed at managing global problems for their mutual benefit. Such a collaborative twosome was seen as potentially even more powerful than the G-7 group of leading Western economies. As former Undersecretary of the Treasury C. Fred Bergsten, who originally imagined such a partnership, wrote in 2008, "The basic idea would be to develop a G-2 between the United States and China to steer the global governance process." That notion would become the basis for the Obama admin…

Orinoco Tribune 2 (2023-05-18). China Is Governed in the Interests of Working People, the US in the Interests of Capital (Interview). orinocotribune.com In this interview with The very concept of shared future and cooperation has a profound impact. It's not threatening to other countries, and it has the win-win idea, meaning if your e…

Elsy Fors Garzon (2023-05-18). Russia and Cuba complete work on 10 investment projects. plenglish.com Havana, May 18 (Prensa Latina) Russia and Cuba are working on 10 investment projects and seek to deepen mutually advantageous cooperation in the scientific-technical sphere, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas said today.

WSWS (2023-05-18). Sri Lankan ruling party demonises last year's mass uprising. wsws.org The Wickremesinghe government's denigration of last year's mass movement that forced out President Gotabhaya Rajapakse is in preparation for state repression against the working class and rural masses.

WSWS (2023-05-18). TWU keeps New York City transit workers on the job as contract expires. wsws.org While the union and transit agency attempt to drag out negotiations, anger over intolerable working conditions continues to build.

SAM (2023-05-18). The Two Decades That Created Our World's First Mass Middle Class. inequality.org

isabella (2023-05-18). A Tale of Two Retirements: CEOs Versus the Rest of Us. inequality.org

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2023-05-18). Ukraine: How Western Nations Pushed for Privatization of Agriculture and the Devastating Consequences. libya360.wordpress.com Peter Korotaev A farmer on his farmland in Western Ukraine. Image credit: CGTN. Part I: Ukraine's Privatized Agriculture: A Hungry Guarantor of Global Food Security Former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk said Ukraine is a country where the IMF does 'economic experiments'. Ukraine is a laboratory for testing radical neo-liberal policies, irrespective of the…