(2021-10-05). Manchin: Immigration Reform Likely 'Too Big' for Budget Reconciliation Bill. latinorebels.com Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) tells Latino Rebels that immigration reform is "too big" to fit into the massive social spending bill currently being negotiated by Congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill.
(2021-10-05). Progressives Respond to Facebook Outage With Simple Call: 'Break Them Up'. zcomm.org "It's almost as if Facebook's monopolistic mission to either own, copy, or destroy any competing platform has incredibly destructive effects on free society and democracy"
(2021-10-05). When they say, 'The Reds are coming!'. workers.org 
In the course of the battle over Biden's "build back better" bill, the ugly specter of anti-communism has raised its head, most prominently in the U.S. Senate and from the right-wing media. No doubt this poison is also being spread in less open forums. Senator Marco Rubio infamously tweeted, "The . . . |
(2021-10-05). Bickering Democrats Hurting Themselves. counterpunch.org "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." — Martin Luther King Jr. The Democrats are feuding over $3.5 trillion legislation that may derail President Joe Biden's huge social spending legacy aimed at winning voters in midterm elections to thwart radicalized Republican efforts to get control of the House and Senate. This tumultuous
(2021-10-05). White House pledges to defend US "interests" against China "to the hilt" wsws.org Against the backdrop of a deepening military standoff over Taiwan, the Biden administration doubled down on Trump's trade war policies against China Monday.
(2021-10-05). What Biden Told the Indians. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2021-10-05). Democrat Senator Sinema accosted by protesters after Biden calls stalking of defiant lawmakers 'part of the process'. rt.com 
After President Joe Biden seemed to approve of harassing Democrat senators opposed to his spending plan, activists continued to badger Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) on her flight back to Washington and at the airport. | A woman named Karina approached Sinema on board the flight from Arizona to DC on Monday, and demanded the senator's commitment to amnesty for illegal immigrants. She was filmed by someone from the Arizona Dream Act Coalition (ADAC), a group advocating for granting citizenship to people brought into the US illegally as children. | Message from Karina – I am a DACA recipient from Arizona who…
(2021-10-05). Iran: Biden aides to tell Israelis that US will pursue 'other avenues' if diplomacy fails. middleeasteye.net 
Iran: Biden aides to tell Israelis that US will pursue 'other avenues' if diplomacy fails | Remarks comes as Israel's national security adviser Eyal Hulata on visit to Washington to share latest intelligence | Tue, 10/05/2021 – 08: 26 | Under a 2015 deal, Iran curbed its uranium enrichment programme, a possible pathway to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of economic sanctions (AFP)…
(2021-10-05). Biden's Expulsion of Haitian Migrants Is Racist, Illegal — and Trumpian. zcomm.org Since the horrific photos of mounted Border Patrol agents menacing Black migrants with whips became public, voices against the Biden administration's cruel, racist and illegal policies have reached a crescendo…
(2021-10-05). Biden Says 'Reckless and Dangerous' Republicans Risking Disastrous Default Amid Debt Ceiling Debate. sputniknews.com On Monday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) suggested that Republicans would likely support a debt ceiling hike in exchange for Democrats nixing US President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. The offer is unlikely to be entertained by Democrats.
(2021-10-05). Trump, Twitter and the Digital Town Hall. dissidentvoice.org The merits are hard to stomach for partisans long jaundiced by presumption and dislike, but the cheer at the deplatforming of Donald Trump by a range of social media platforms said as much about the nature of any sentiment about democracy as it did about those claiming to defend it. For one, it shut off …
(2021-10-05). California Democrats pass toothless law against work quotas at Amazon warehouses. wsws.org The legislation is a toothless measure, which allows California's Democrats to posture as defenders of workers' rights while doing nothing to seriously challenge the regime of electronically-enforced speedup, which is pervasive in Amazon warehouses.
(2021-10-05). Hillary Clinton says she's AFRAID of 'minority rule,' claims Republicans are threat to US democracy. rt.com 
The real problem with the US is the conspiracy-mongering by Republicans, whose hopes of winning elections endanger democracy itself… at least that's according to former first lady and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. | Clinton has struggled to remain in the political limelight after her 2016 wipeout to Donald Trump in the presidential election the corporate media overwhelmingly favored her to win. Even as a special counsel
(2021-10-05). German elections: Winners, losers, soul-searching for the left. greenleft.org.au The German social democrats' platform to raise the minimum wage and for universal health insurance clearly resonated with voters, and contrasted with the left's failure to present a coherent alternative to neoliberalism, reports Sibylle Kaczorek.
(2021-10-05). A Declaration of Independence. indybay.org Utopia resolutely in sight | But all those pillars of a free democratic basic order must have stood on feet of clay anyway, must have been more dummies than real basic pillars, otherwise they could not have been washed away so quickly, easily and thoroughly. We are now called upon to tread truly new paths…
(2021-10-05). Forbes Reveals why the US Government is Trying to Extradite Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab. orinocotribune.com By Roger D. Harris — Oct 2, 2021 | Alex Saab is "the key that unlocks the Venezuelan monetary mystery—that is, how a country facing sanctions from the US, the UK and the European Union—is still able to export things like gold and oil…and really the only man who can actually explain how the country [Venezuela] survives today," according to The US would far prefer to just quietly extradite Saab to Miami, use whatever means nec…
(2021-10-05). 2021 California Maafa Awareness Month Kicks Off in a good way. indybay.org
(2021-10-05). Texas Parole Board Recommends Posthumous Pardon for George Floyd – District Attorney. sputniknews.com MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has recommended that George Floyd be posthumously pardoned for a 2004 drug conviction, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
(2021-10-04). Headlines for October 4, 2021. democracynow.org Rallies Across U.S. Call for Reproductive Justice Amid GOP Assault on Abortion, U.S. Tops 700K COVID Deaths; CA Announces Student Vaccine Mandate as NYC Educator Mandate Starts, Major Orange County Oil Spill Blankets Beaches, Kills Wildlife, Pandora Papers Expose Secret Financial Dealings of World Leaders, Billionaires and Other Elites, Facebook Whistleblower Says Co. Repeatedly Put Profit Over Safety, Calls for Regulations, Kabul Blast Kills Five People as Afghan Humanitarian Crisis Grows, 8 Killed at Indian Farmworker Protest, 4,000 Refugees, Including Children, Arrested in Raids by Libyan Authorities, 3 Millio…
(2021-10-04). Facebook Users Union Launches #FireZuck Campaign. counterpunch.org San Francisco Last night, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told 60 Minutes that Facebook is misleading the public about lies, hate and disinformation on its platform. We wish we were surprised. Time and time again, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has put Facebook's profits ahead of truth, safety, health and democracy. That's why today the Facebook Users
(2021-10-04). Right-wing Democrats dictate cuts in Biden social policy. wsws.org While the size of social spending legislation is being cut in half, Bernie Sanders and House "progressives" nonetheless portrayed this as a shift to the left.
(2021-10-04). Biden's Approval Rating Hits Dangerous New Low At 43%, Kamala 49%. moguldom.com President Joe Biden has been in office a little more than eight months and his approval rating has plummeted to just 43 percent while Vice President Kamala Harris is doing slightly better, with an approval rating of 49 percent. A new Gallup poll, conducted from Sept. 1-17, marked the first time a majority of respondents disapproved …
(2021-10-04). President Biden Should Open and Publish All Files and Records Under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-04). Corporate Media Want Us to Think Biden "Lost" to Progressives on Infrastructure. truthout.org 
In a scene eerily reminiscent of the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, a tight-knit group of progressive activist socialist Democrats splintered their party's chances of saving their House majority in next year's midterm elections, and all but doomed President Biden's social agenda to defeat. House moderates, whose patience with their far-left colleagues has worn thin, lamented the big setback for the president while reminding reporters that Medicare and drug prescription price reforms are not in…
(2021-10-04). NBC Reporter Goes Into Damage Control After NASCAR Fans Chant "F**K Joe Biden" southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | Originally published on We live in a world where the degree of disinformation and outright lying of the corporate media has reached a pinnacle point where average folks are becoming well aware of this malarkey. | The latest example of gaslighting by the corporate press occurred Saturday evening during an NBC News interview with the NASCAR Xfinity Series Race winner at Talladega, Brandon Brown. The reporter distorted offensive chants about President Bide…
(2021-10-04). Iran FM: US Needs to Unfreeze $10 Billion for Negotiations. news.antiwar.com Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian is calling on the US to unfreeze some $10 billion in Iranian assets as a sign of good faith, conditioning this on Iran's return to nuclear negotiations. | Amirabdollahian said this was an opportunity to say just once that the US " The odds don't look great, however. The Biden Administration has been criticizing Iran's new gover…
(2021-10-04). Why Did a US Envoy Meet With the Head of a Fascist Militia in India? counterpunch.org Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the U.S. recently, attending the UN General Assembly session and meeting with President Biden. In spite of his government's reign of terror against religious and ethnic minorities and dissidents in India, his U.S. hosts remained strangely silent. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Modi has committed egregious
(2021-10-04). Globalink | Fumio Kishida Elected as Japan PM, Forms New Cabinet. telesurenglish.net Fumio Kishida, leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was elected on Monday as the new prime minister, the 100th in Japan's political history, forming a new cabinet that aims to promote economic recovery while keeping COVID19 infections under control…
(2021-10-04). It's Time To Democratize City Budgets. popularresistance.org Porto Alegre's famous PB experiment put the city's budget in the hands of its citizens (and included a sophisticated process to ensure broad participation), but more usually, PB has been implemented to make decisions within just a single agency or a local district. And unless robust outreach is built into the process, PB can become the domain of neighborhood busybodies already adept at advocating for themselves through local politics. That could be why it's not better known! | But PB does have benefits regardless. It's one way to include people unable to vote in a decision-making process, such as undocumented imm…
(2021-10-04). Tibisay Lucena: 'I Hope European Union Respects 21N Elections, Venezuela is a Sovereign Country'. orinocotribune.com 
Tibisay Lucena, dean of Venezuela's National Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTES), observes with good spirit the democratic situation in Venezuela in regard to the regional and munjcipal elections scheduled for November 21. | This Sunday, October 3, Venezuelan Minister for Culture (MPPC), Ernesto Villegas, interviewed the dean of UNEARTES, Tibisay Lucena Ramírez, in his Sunday TV show Aquí con Ernesto Villegas. | Lucena congratulated the current president of the CNE, Pedro Calzadilla, for reaching an agreement with Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union (EU), due to which the European…
(2021-10-04). The Child Tax Credit Is a Proven Boost to American Families—Why Are Conservative Democrats Trying to Stop It? independentmediainstitute.org American families have struggled for decades to make ends meet with wages simply not rising as fast as the cost of living and a government social safety net that has been so deeply decimated that the U.S. now spends less on children than nearly any other wealthy nation. This year there was a small glimmer …
(2021-10-04). "We Demand Better": Reps. Cori Bush, Pramila Jayapal & Barbara Lee Share Their Own Abortion Stories. democracynow.org 
Thousands marched Saturday in more than 600 demonstrations across the United States to protest increasing state restrictions on abortion. The "Bans Off Our Bodies" rallies were sparked in part by a near-total ban on abortion that went into effect in Texas on September 1, which bans the procedure after about six weeks and lets anyone sue the doctor and others who help a person obtain an abortion. Ahead of Saturday's nationwide actions, several Democratic House members shared their own experiences getting abortions during a hearing Thursday, including California Congressmember Barbara Lee, who said she was just 16…
(2021-10-04). Bans Off Our Bodies: Planned Parenthood Pres. on Abortion Bans, Bills in Congress & the Supreme Court. democracynow.org 
After thousands of people marched in hundreds of rallies across the United States to protest against tightening abortion restrictions, we speak with Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, who says the weekend actions represent "a movement moment" for reproductive rights. "More than 80% of Americans believe that Roe should be the law of the land," she says. "And yet, in state after state, these horrific restrictions and bans are continuing to further erode our ability to access our constitutional right."
(2021-10-04). AUKUS Generates Discontent In New Zealand. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. Source: RFAThe agreement seems to bring more discord than alliances between liberal democracies. | Written by Lucas Leiroz, research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. | Many controversies have arisen in recent days because of the new anti-China alliance formed by Washington, London, and Canberra, the AUKUS. Tensions have been developed between Australia and France, for example — and the entire European Union seems quite unhappy with the measure. However, beyond these facts, one point that has been ignored by many analysts is the New Zealand situation…
(2021-10-04). Women's March Is Linking Abortion Rights to Fight for Democracy in Austin and DC. truthout.org 
Austin, Texas—Hundreds protested Texas's new six-week abortion ban, rallying on the south lawn of the State Capitol Saturday as part of nationwide demonstrations for abortion justice. Organized by the Women's March and more than 90 partnering organizations, including the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Planned Parenthood and SisterSong, the actions spread across 610 cities in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. | Texas leaders in the fight for reproductive rights a…
(2021-10-04). As Democratic Gears Grind, Their Flawed Legislation Tiptoes Toward Doom. zcomm.org Question: When is a Democratic majority not a Democratic majority? Answer: When it's a Democratic majority…
(2021-10-04). Reconciliation Battle Live Chat With Rep. Ro Khanna On 10/5. dailyposter.com 
On Tuesday 10/5 at 6pm ET (3 pm PT), Daily Poster subscribers will speak with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to get a real-time update on the battle between progressive and corporate Democrats over the reconciliation bill and its tax, climate, and social-safety-net provisions. Subscribers can register and watch the event in the embedded Crowdcast window below.Khanna is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has so far withheld votes for a separate infrastructure legislation unless it remains linked to the passage of the reconciliation bill. Right now, corporate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virgi…
(2021-10-04). "Blah, Blah, Blah": Youth Climate Activists Slam Political Inaction at U.N. Summit Ahead of COP26. democracynow.org 
Thousands of youth climate activists marched through the streets of Milan last week demanding world leaders meet their pledges to the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. The protest came at the end of a three-day youth climate conference, ahead of the United Nations' COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Activists at the Youth4Climate conference slammed political inaction on the climate crisis and world leaders' vague pledges to reduce carbon emissions. "Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions," said Ugandan activist Vanessa Nak…
(2021-10-04). Cuando el sujeto paga por su propia explotación: Plusvalía de información y democracia rehén. globalizacion.ca Un nuevo tipo de plusvalía hace años que determina al mundo contemporáneo. Esto sucede desde que la información constituye un valor clave, una nueva fuerza productiva en el engranaje capitalista. | El movimiento circular de la misma se puede describir de…
(2021-10-04). Movimientos sociales en Bolivia anuncian acciones en defensa de la democracia. telesurtv.net La declaración se produce para defender al Gobierno de Luis Arce ante el embate de los grupos de derecha.
(2021-10-04). After Saakashvili is jailed, U.S. denounces Georgian election. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com One must remember which nation is leveling the following denunciation. A nation that is is morally outraged by election irregularities. Indeed mortally wounded by such affronts to democracy. Where is Zeus with his thunderbolts? This is being posted in Chicago, the world capital of ballot box stuffing, chain voting, absentee ballots filled out by the …
(2021-10-04). COVID-19 Couldn't Stop Worker-Owned Co-ops. roarmag.org When homecare workers at Cooperative Homecare Associates in the Bronx ran short of masks in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the worker-owners of Opportunity Threads in Morganton, North Carolina stepped up, retooling to make PPE for New York caregivers. | Collaboration and democratic decision making is just part of how worker-owned businesses, or co-ops, fared better than other companies during the pandemic. By and large they survived, even thrived, and today they're less likely to experience the labor shortages many businesses face as the economy reopens. | "That's no coincidence," say Laura's guests for…
(2021-10-04). 7 Things To Know About The Wealthy Community Of Buckhead Trying to Separate From Atlanta. moguldom.com The wealthy, predominately white community of Buckhead is trying to secede from the City of Atlanta. Though calls to create a "Buckhead City" are not new, an uptick in crime in Atlanta has given the idea more traction in recent months. Here are seven things to know about the wealthy community of Buckhead trying to …
(2021-10-04). Warren Introduces Bill to Protect Bank Customers, Small Banks From Consolidation. truthout.org 
On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) introduced a bill that would reform the way the government authorizes bank mergers. The proposal is an effort to stop the endless "rubber stamping" of bank consolidation, which Warren argues comes at the expense of customers and small banks. | The Bank Merger Review Modernization Act, introduced with Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Illinois), would strengthen rules for the authorization process for bank mergers, in hopes of ensuring that fut…