2021-12-31: News Headlines

_____ (2021-12-31). Biden's COVID Pivot Is Pure Politics. strategic-culture.org By Tom LUONGO | If you thought the worst screenplay you'd have to endure this winter was anything written by a Wachowski sister, boy howdy are you wrong. | A couple of weeks ago I told you that And it's coming this spring. | The problem for Bidenwood is Omicron spreads quickly…

Alex Henderson (2021-12-31). Why Trump's legal bills are costing the GOP a fortune: "There is no precedent for this" salon.com "He could afford this, but they are paying his bills anyway"

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-31). Biden, "Build Back Basic", and Our Ongoing Struggles. anchor.fm In this episode I discuss a few things that are happening contextually here in the contemporary US empire as well as some of the things happening worldwide and how we can begin to build a class struggle. I'm not married to any of these ideas, but this is what I think at this point in time in my life. Hope you enjoy it!

Jeremy Kuzmarov (2021-12-31). Biden's First Year Foreign Policy Record May Be Worse than Trump's. covertactionmagazine.com His administration has escalated dangerous conflicts with Russia and China while increasing the military budget, expanding deadly sanctions and sustaining …

WSWS (2021-12-31). Deere CEO John May brought onto Ford board of directors. wsws.org The election of May to the Ford board of directors has drawn favorable notice from business analysts due to his confrontational stance against Deere workers.

_____ (2021-12-31). Legislative Election Held in Hong Kong. journal-neo.org Election to the Legislative Council, the local parliament in Hong Kong, was held on December 19 of this year — an event that observers outside China should be interested in from an academic point of view. It is always curious to see how one of the two leading world powers solves its internal problems, which …

WSWS (2021-12-31). Modi ignores Court request to postpone elections as Omicron surges in India. wsws.org The Modi government's response to the pandemic over nearly two years has shown that the Indian ruling elites prioritize corporate profits over human life.

Dean Obeidallah (2021-12-31). Donald Trump and his family fleeced America: Why aren't they being held accountable?>. salon.com Pulitzer-winning reporter David Cay Johnston on the criminal Trump regime: "This was thievery, plain and simple"

teleSUR (2021-12-31). House Panel Asks Judges To Deny Trump's Bid To Shield Records. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot asked the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump's bid to block the release of his White House's records requested in the ongoing probe. | RELATED: | Lawyers for the select committee in a brief filed with the high court argued against Trump's claim of executive privilege over a trove of records that the panel considered to be…

TJ Coles (2021-12-31). Using and abusing Djibouti: How the US transformed a tiny African state into a hub of imperial aggression. thegrayzone.com From Djibouti, the US trains proxies and bombs strategically-important countries in the name of democracy and counterterrorism. To justify the country's militarization, Washington hypes fears over China's regional ambitions. In a blatant threat to China's presence, Djibouti recently hosted the US-led "Allied Appreciation Day," in which Britain, France, and Japan showcased "a variety of equipment that is part of their military operations in the Horn of Africa" (HOA). The Pentagon's Combined Joint Task Force-HOA reported that the events fused Armistice, …

Editor (2021-12-31). Chris Hedges: PEN America and the Betrayal of Julian Assange. mronline.org Careerists and Democratic Party apparatchiks successfully leverage corporate money and backing to seize and deform historic rights organizations into appendages of the ruling class.

Victorio Paulón (2021-12-31). Argentina — La gran apuesta de Juntos: Dividir el peronismo. globalizacion.ca Por primera vez en mucho tiempo el poder concentrado dominante de nuestro país parece apostar a la democracia y pretende construir una mayoría sólida que le permita gobernar por décadas. La cooptación de algunos dirigentes en el pasado reciente le…

WSWS (2021-12-31). The historic assault on university education and Australia's anti-democratic electoral laws. wsws.org The deep hostility among university staff and students is part of the rising political discontent that drove the Liberal-National and Labor parties to rush through new electoral laws in August.

WSWS (2021-12-31). United Auto Workers prepares another sellout contract at Columbia University. wsws.org The ongoing struggle at Columbia has thus far, under the criminal leadership of the UAW and with support from the Democratic Party and the pseudo-left, been implementing a strategy of defeat for workers.

_____ (2021-12-30). Occupy Biden Activists Will Rally On January 1. popularresistance.org This week, environmental advocates addressed intensifying fossil fuel pollution, climate injustices, and the Biden administration's failure to take the lead on climate crisis solutions during the Occupy Biden protests near Joe Biden's Wilmington, DE home. Their goal remains to increase the pressure on the President to declare a climate emergency and end new fossil fuel projects. The actions are being led by local community leaders and supported by dozens of environmental and social justice groups from around the country, and have resulted in hundreds of people taking action. The Occupy Biden actions began on Chri…

Amy Goodman (2021-12-30). Chomsky: Rising Anti-Science Rhetoric Feeds the Pandemic and Climate Crisis. truthout.org Today, a special broadcast: an hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, who just turned 93 years old. Chomsky spoke to Democracy Now! prior to the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant, but he predicted new variants would emerge. "If you let the virus run rampant in poor countries, everyone understands that mutation is likely, the kind of mutation that led to the Delta variant, now the Delta Plus variant in India, and who knows what will develop,"

Jeremy Kuzmarov (2021-12-30). FBI is Recklessly Misusing Trump-Era Espionage Policy to Create "Climate of Fear" Among Scientists—Terrorizing Families and Ruthlessly Destroying Careers. covertactionmagazine.com The Justice Department's China Initiative Was Established by the Trump Administration to Crackdown on Chinese Economic and Scientific Espionage However, …

Jon Queally (2021-12-30). Encampment Near Biden's Delaware Home Calls for Declaration of Climate Emergency. truthout.org A small group of climate activists has established an encampment near President Joe Biden's private home in Delaware where they are demanding he declare a national climate emergency and immediately order the end to fossil fuel development in the United States. | Establishing the camp on Christmas Day and sleeping overnight in tents or cars on a roadside area not far from the family's Wilmington residence, the campaigners operating under the "Occupy Biden" banner say if the president truly…

Staff (2021-12-30). Noam Chomsky on Rising Fascism in U.S., Class Warfare & the Climate Emergency. democracynow.org Noam Chomsky warns the Republican Party is "marching" the world to destruction by ignoring the climate emergency while embracing proto-fascism at home. Chomsky talks about the January 6 insurrection, how neoliberalism is a form of class warfare and how President Biden's climate plans fall short of what is needed.

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Biden, Putin Hold Phone Call Amid Rising Tension Over Ukraine. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin via phone on Thursday amid heightened tensions over Ukraine. | RELATED: | Biden urged Russia to "de-escalate tensions with Ukraine" and he made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will "respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine," according to a statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the phone call.

Joyce Chediac (2021-12-30). Biden's new COVID rules protect profits, endanger workers. liberationnews.org 'Nurses hare not going to stand by while the government and our employers weaken protections. We are not going backward now."

_____ (2021-12-30). 2021 Was Business As Usual In DC, But Palestine Activists Scored Huge Wins. popularresistance.org This year was marked by a number of a political setbacks, but it also produced inspiring victories. As it comes to an end, we thought we'd take a look back on 2021. In addition to looking at Washington's support for Israel's violence, we wanted to take stock of what Palestine activists accomplished through their tireless work and unwavering commitment to human rights. | 2021 kicked off with Joe Biden assuming the presidency. The former Senator has a long pro-Israel track record and his administration upheld that reputation right away. As usual there was the issue of image vs. reality. Israel supporters threw tant…

_____ (2021-12-30). Why Biden is Better for Russia than Trump. journal-neo.org During the previous US Administration we heard a lot of talk about connections with Russia, and Trump supposedly doing Putin's bidding. Trump was depicted as the most pro-Russian president in the land of the Alger Hiss spy scandal, Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare and Trygve Lie being forced out of the UN because he …

WSWS (2021-12-30). CDC Director Walensky dismisses the seriousness of child COVID-19 hospitalizations. wsws.org Despite the rising number of pediatric cases and admissions, the Biden administration and its top health officials minimize the danger to ensure schools reopen on schedule when the winter break ends.

WSWS (2021-12-30). Biden administration withdraws federal COVID-19 safety standards for health care workers. wsws.org The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the expiration of its Emergency Temporary Standards, even as frontline health care workers risk their lives in overwhelmed hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Staff (2021-12-30). Chomsky Blasts the "Torture" of Julian Assange & Biden's Provocative Acts Against China. democracynow.org Noam Chomsky decries what he calls the torture of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He also critiques the Biden administration's reckless foreign policy. "The trajectory is not optimistic," Chomsky says. "The worst case is the increasing provocative actions towards China. That's very dangerous."

_____ (2021-12-30). America's Malaise and Its 'Failure of National Purpose' — 'Things Are Not Getting Better'. strategic-culture.org Does Biden have a choice? Can he acquiesce to a negotiated settlement with all three of America's self-defined adversaries: Russia, China and Iran? | Former thrice-time U.S. Presidential candidate and now political commentator, Pat Buchanan,

Yanis Iqbal (2021-12-30). Left-Wing Victory in Chile. orinocotribune.com By Yanis Iqbal — Dec 25, 2021 | The 2021 presidential election in Chile has resulted in the

_____ (2021-12-30). Libyan Elections Got Disrupted by the US and UK Intervention. journal-neo.org On 24 December 2021, Libya was scheduled to hold a popular vote for the country's first president, but it never took place: The Election Commission failed to publish the final list of candidates on time, and on December 21, the head of the Commission, Imad al-Saih, ordered the closing of polling stations. The vote was …

William Rivers Pitt (2021-12-30). Trump Sues January 6 House Committee Because It Might Find Trump Wrongdoing. truthout.org In June 2007, former Vice President Dick Cheney — already no stranger to wantonly abusing his power — became the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion of Chutzpah when he

Brian Karem (2021-12-30). Donald Trump may finally face prosecution in the New Year: But the trauma won't end there. salon.com American greed and ignorance created Donald Trump. Will America finally muster the courage to rid ourselves of him?>

William Rivers Pitt (2021-12-30). Trump Sues Jan. 6 House Committee Because Committee Might Find Trump Wrongdoing. truthout.org In June 2007, former Vice President Dick Cheney — already no stranger to wantonly abusing his power — became the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion of Chutzpah when he

Spencer Sunshine (2021-12-30). Even With Trump Out of Office, the Far Right Continued to Mobilize in 2021. truthout.org Although Donald Trump has been out of power for nearly a year, the far right in the United States is still going strong. The January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol was easily the year's most important event, and its fallout has, in many ways, defined 2021. Arrests, lawsuits and congressional hearings are still ongoing. | Even without Trump's tweets to guide them, the far right failed to collapse, as many had hoped. Excepting a gruesome mass murder in Denver, Colorado, at the year's end, the bulk…

Vijay Prashad (2021-12-30). We Dance into the New Year Banging Our Hammers and Swinging Our Sickles. dissidentvoice.org P.S. Jalaja (India), We Surely Can Change the World, 2021. Bittersweet is the passage of this year. There have been some immense victories and some catastrophic defeats, the most terrible being the failure of the Global North countries to adopt a democratic attitude towards confronting the COVID-19 pandemic and creating equitable access to key resources, …

Paul Street (2021-12-30). Beyond Passive Resistance. zcomm.org Against Democratic Surrender in a Time of Fascitization…

Donald Shaw (2021-12-30). Oil Lobbyist Mary Landrieu's Foundation Connects Congress With Corporate Execs. truthout.org This article was produced by During her time in the Senate, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu was perhaps the oil and gas industry's strongest ally among the Democrats. Landrieu, who was chosen to…

WSWS (2021-12-30). British Columbia's New Democratic government intensifies policy of mass infection as Omicron spreads. wsws.org The Canadian province recorded five straight records for daily infections last week, culminating in over 2,500 cases on December 25. BC's 7-day rolling average of cases has more than doubled in a week.

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Rep. MTG Proposes "National Divorce" of Blue and Red States. telesurenglish.net Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Republican Representative in the U.S., called for the separation of the Red and Blues parties via Twitter, calling it a "National Divorce." The states that support the Republican Party are considered Red. The ones who vote for the Democratic Party are called Blue; Tylor-Greene proposes the separation by political affiliation. | RELATED: | Answering a tweet posted by a man moving from Miami from San Francisco Ba…

Igor Derysh (2021-12-30). Ted Cruz confuses Washington state with Western Australia in attack on "power drunk" Democrats. salon.com Bewildered Texas senator rapidly deleted tweet accusing "authoritarian" Democrats of being "kill-joys"

Igor Derysh (2021-12-30). Marjorie Taylor Greene suggests banning Democrats who move to red states from voting. salon.com Greene thinks Democrats who move to GOP states should have a "cooling off" period before getting the right to vote…

Chris Walker (2021-12-30). Greene Suggests Blue State Residents Moving to Red Ones Shouldn't Get to Vote. truthout.org In a social media post on Wednesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) expressed openness to the idea that people should be temporarily banned from voting if they recently relocated from a Democratic-leaning state to a Republican-run one. |

Staff (2021-12-30). Noam Chomsky: Corporate Patents & Rising Anti-Science Rhetoric Will Prolong Pandemic. democracynow.org Today, a special broadcast: an hour with Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author, who just turned 93 years old. Chomsky spoke to Democracy Now! prior to the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant, but he predicted new variants would emerge. "If you let the virus run rampant in poor countries, everyone understands that mutation is likely, the kind of mutation that led to the Delta variant, now the Delta Plus variant in India, and who knows what will develop," Chomsky said.

_____ (2021-12-30). Oklahoma Bill Would Empower Parents To Remove Books From School Libraries. popularresistance.org A bill proposed by a Republican state senator in Oklahoma would empower parents to have books that discuss gender identity removed from public school libraries—a measure that rights advocates warned could have life-threatening consequences for LGBTQ+ children across the state. | Under Senate Bill 1142, introduced earlier this month by state Sen. Rob Standridge, just one parent would have to object to a book that includes discussion of "sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual identity, or gender identity" and other related themes in order to begin the process of removal.

Sarah Burris (2021-12-30). Madison Cawthorn's bizarre Russia tale: Should we be concerned?>. salon.com The Republican congressman told a story of how he met his wife — but new questions arise with news of their divorce…

_____ (2021-12-30). Bill Would Empower Parents To Remove Books From School Libraries. popularresistance.org A bill proposed by a Republican state senator in Oklahoma would empower parents to have books that discuss gender identity removed from public school libraries—a measure that rights advocates warned could have life-threatening consequences for LGBTQ+ children across the state. | Under Senate Bill 1142, introduced earlier this month by state Sen. Rob Standridge, just one parent would have to object to a book that includes discussion of "sexual perversion, sex-based classifications, sexual identity, or gender identity" and other related themes in order to begin the process of removal. | Upon receiving a writt…

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Sudanese Citizens Take to The Streets To Reject Military Rule. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, new mass protests started in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and other cities to demand civilian rule. | RELATED: | According to eyewitnesses, various protests headed to assemble at Sharwani bus station, to march to the Republican Palace. Hundreds of army soldiers have been deployed at the entrances to the bridges linking the three major cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, most parts of which were closed by the au…

Sharon Zhang (2021-12-30). Warren Slams Grocers for Raising Prices While Raking In Profits. zcomm.org As the company hailed its grocery workers as "heroes," it cut hazard pay early in the pandemic while pursuing over $1 billion in stock buybacks in 2020…

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