(2021-10-14). Build Back Better Legislation: New Keynesianism or Neoliberal Public Relations Stunt? dissidentvoice.org For more than a week the country has been caught up in the ongoing melodrama of the "Build Back Better" (BBB) legislation, the Democrat Party's "social investment" bill now languishing in the House because of the inability of the Democrats to come to an agreement. The fight is characterized by the corporate media as an …
(2021-10-14). Snipers Fatally Attack Protesters in Beirut as Lebanon Reels from Devastating Economic Collapse. democracynow.org 
At least five people were shot today in Beirut after snipers opened fire on a protest as Lebanon faces a growing economic and political emergency amid widespread corruption. Over the weekend, Lebanon fell into darkness for 24 hours after the nation's electric grid collapsed. Within the past year, the Lebanese currency has fully collapsed as it continues to grapple with the aftermath of last year's deadly port explosion. This comes as the country's political class is expected to accelerate even harsher austerity and privatization efforts in exchange for international support, says Lara Bitar, editor-in-chief of Th…
(2021-10-14). 2020 election was 'bought by Mark Zuckerberg', researcher says, citing turnout-boosting work funded by Facebook CEO. rt.com 
Two nonprofits funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his allies spent $419.5 million to boost turnout in the 2020 presidential election — and "likely" secured a victory for Joe Biden, according to a study of the national vote. | The NGOs called the Center for Technology and Civic Life (
(2021-10-14). The New American Leadership: Biden Tells the World What He Wants It to Know. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-14). Biden announces 24/7 operation at Port of Los Angeles. wsws.org The US government is seeking to accelerate the movement of freight by intensifying the exploitation of labor, with the collaboration of the ILWU, Teamsters and other unions.
(2021-10-14). Headlines for October 14, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Says Port of Los Angeles Will Operate 24/7 to Ease Logjam That's Fueling Inflation, WHO Advisory Team to Investigate Origins of COVID-19 Pandemic, Pressure Grows to Waive Patent Rights for COVID Vaccines and for U.S. to Release Moderna Recipe, Florida Health Department Fines County That Defied Ban on Vaccine Mandates, Biden Admin to Massively Expand Wind Farms Along U.S. Coastlines, IAE Says Governments Must Do Far More to Avert Climate Catastrophe, Police Arrest Another 90 Activists as Climate Protests Continue in Front of White House, Texas Approves Heavily Gerrymandered Redistricting Map in Favor of GOP,…
(2021-10-14). The Nation's John Nichols: Trump's Coup Nearly Succeeded. He Will Try Again in 2024. democracynow.org 
As the House committee probing the January 6 attack on the Capitol ramps up its investigation, new details continue to emerge about former President Donald Trump's efforts to stay in the White House despite losing the 2020 election. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently revealed Trump directly asked the Justice Department nine times for help overturning the election. One of Trump's lawyers also wrote a memo detailing how Trump could stage a coup by getting electors from seven states thrown out, thus denying Biden's victory. The House select committee may also file charges against top Trump adviser Steve Bannon…
(2021-10-14). No Sanctions Coming Nord Stream 2's Way Despite Ted Cruz And Congress' Best Efforts. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | Washington will not implement any further sanctions against Nord Stream 2 in the near future, The outlet claims reported Republican Senator Ted Cruz has repeatedly insisted on restrictions. | Ted Cruz is blocking nominations for ambassador picks in order to attempt and force US President Joe Biden to impo…
(2021-10-14). Afghan Interpreter Who Rescued Biden in 2008 Is Evacuated from Afghanistan with His Family. democracynow.org 
After weeks of pleading for help, an Afghan interpreter, who helped rescue then-Senator Joe Biden when he was stranded 13 years ago in Afghanistan, has finally escaped Afghanistan. Aman Khalili describes his journey out of the country, and we speak with the reporter who broke the story. "I was in the safehouse for 15 days," Khalili tells Democracy Now! Khalili is "representative of a group of people that are still appealing for help from America and anyone else that can help them," says Dion Nissenbaum, with The Wall Street Journal.
(2021-10-14). German Parties After The Elections: CDU. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | You can read this article in German: The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is often mentioned together with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), as they act as an association. The power struggles that shook both parties in the past and that have now, after the elections, become unusually fierce do not stop at the borders between the two parties. The reason is an unusual arrangement from the beginnings of the Federal Republic of Germany, according to which the CSU rules in the…
(2021-10-14). Oposición hondureña se une de cara a elecciones presidenciales. telesurtv.net La coalición postulará a Xiomara Castro, del movimiento Libre, como su candidata presidencial.
(2021-10-14). UN Human Rights Council Abandons Yemen. counterpunch.org Now that the Saudi Lobby has successfully torpedoed the UN's investigation into war crimes in Yemen, their next target will be California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna's amendment to the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Khanna's amendment was accepted by the House of Representatives. If incorporated in the final version of the NDAA, Khanna's amendment will end all US support to the Saudi-led coalition.
(2021-10-14). Xi stresses steady progress in enhancing whole-process people's democracy. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping has underlined upholding and improving the people's congress system and continuously enhancing whole-process people's democracy.
(2021-10-14). Video: Defeat anti-democratic electoral laws! Join the SEP today! wsws.org This sixty-second video explains the program of the SEP and is designed for social media platforms…
(2021-10-14). Restaurant, Hospitality Workers Quit in Droves in August as COVID Surged. zcomm.org While conservatives circulate spurious talking points about people not wanting to work, they are fighting tooth and nail against Democratic proposals that could save or create jobs…
(2021-10-14). Mysterious Airstrike Hit Northeastern Syria Following Turkish Threats To SDF. southfront.org 
Illustrative image. source: sdf-press.com | On October 14, an unidentified warplane, possibly a combat drone, carried out an airstrike on an area controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria. | According to local sources, the airstrike hit a house located in the town of Hitash in the northern Raqqa countryside. No casualties were reported. | The airstrikes may have been carried…
(2021-10-14). Republicans' war on vaccines. zcomm.org GOP pushes strategy to prolong the pandemic…
(2021-10-13). Build Back Better Legislation. popularresistance.org For more than a week the country has been caught up in the ongoing melodrama of the "Build Back Better" (BBB) legislation, the Democrat Party's "social investment" bill now languishing in the House because of the inability of the Democrats to come to an agreement. The fight is characterized by the corporate media as an intra-party struggle between the emerging "progressive/left" pole of the Party and the "center," represented by the recalcitrant neoliberal corporate Democrats in the persons of Senators Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona. | But the media's tendency to reduce this strugg…
(2021-10-13). The sinister story of Kyrsten Sinema's turn to conservatism and political corruption. zcomm.org Sinema quickly joined other Democrats who'd followed the Citizens United path to the flashing neon lights of big money, joining the so-called "Problem Solvers" caucus that owes its existence in part to the Wall Street-funded front group "No Labels."
(2021-10-13). Austria gets a new chancellor but policies remain unchanged. wsws.org The abyss of ruthlessness, corruption and crime that has opened up with the recent government crisis in Vienna is symptomatic of the state of bourgeois democracy in all Western countries.
(2021-10-13). Is DNC Chair Jaime Harrison The Swamp's Man In DC? New Corporate Lobbyists Join DNC. moguldom.com Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison recently nominated a new list of corporate lobbyists to join the DNC including some who work to influence political decisions on behalf of Comcast, Facebook, and Google. The list has some wondering if Harrison is becoming the swamp's new man in Washington, D.C. DNC members were not allowed input …
(2021-10-13). Regulating Big Tech is not enough. We need platform socialism. zcomm.org Facebook won't let state oversight trump shareholder interest, so alternatives — based on common ownership and community control — are needed…
(2021-10-13). Venezuela Denounces US-Colombia 'False Flag' Plot at UN Security Council. venezuelanalysis.com UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada argued that US policy toward Venezuela had remained unchanged under the Biden administration.
(2021-10-13). Mexican President AMLO Pleads with Biden to End Failed Trillion Dollar "War on Drugs"—But Powerful U.S. Interests Prefer Deadly Status Quo. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-13). Biden's Massive IRS Government Surveillance Plan For Bank Transactions Of $600+ Facing Pushback. moguldom.com Banks and Republican lawmakers are crying "government overreach" and "invasion of privacy" over a Biden administration proposal that's widely seen as allowing Internal Revenue Service surveillance of customer accounts with total annual deposits or withdrawals of more than $600. Looking for ways to pay for the president's $3.5-trillion Build Back Better infrastructure bill, the Biden administration proposed …
(2021-10-13). Biden restores protections to three national monuments cut by Trump. peoplesworld.org
(2021-10-13). The Biden China Initiative, a Flawed and Dysfunctional Policy. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2021-10-13). Progressives in Congress: Biden must do More to End Saudi War on Yemen, as Starvation Stalks its Children. juancole.com 
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — President Biden says he wants to end the Yemen war, but eight months in, he has not made a dent in it. The Saudi-led war on Yemen has involved the dropping thousands of pounds of bombs on that country, with up to a third of the buildings hit having been …
(2021-10-13). Video: Joe Biden's Divisive 'Purge' of Unvaccinated Americans from Society. Tucker Carlson. globalresearch.ca
(2021-10-13). "No First Use": An Empty Gesture That Would Cost Nothing. counterpunch.org "Debate on 'no first use' of nukes mushrooms in Washington," Joe Gould reports at Defense News. "Five years after President Barack Obama turned back from declaring a 'no first use' as US policy for nuclear weapons," Gould writes, "opponents say the Biden administration is considering it too, and warn that it risks alienating allies." Is it
(2021-10-13). "Missing in Brooks County": Thousands of Migrants Denied Due Process at Border Have Died in Desert. democracynow.org 
We continue to look at the humanitarian crisis along the border, where more people are dying trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border than ever before, as President Biden has increased funding for border enforcement and militarization even as he vowed not to expand Trump's border wall. We go to Brooks County in South Texas, which has recorded at least 98 migrant deaths so far this year, nearly triple the number from 2020. "People are being expelled without any due process regarding their asylum claim," says Eddie Canales, director of the South Texas Human Rights Center. "There really hasn't been a change in policy,…
(2021-10-13). Washington Weaponizes Information Leaks Against Foes And Friends Alike. southfront.org 
Illustrative ImageSuch a policy makes the U.S. a distrustful partner for any country. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | The U.S. has a habit of leaking information about its presidents, high-ranking officials, and the contents of confidential talks with other partners. Prominent examples of such leakages begin with documents published by Wikileaks and continues to Hunter Biden's Ukrainian story, revelations about former President Donald Trump and more. | It was recently leaked that a meeting between Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, and Chai…
(2021-10-13). Biden, Erdogan to discuss F-16s, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Biden, Erdogan expected to discuss Karabakh conflict Turkish and American Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Joe Biden are expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin has said in an interview with the Milliyet newspaper. "Issues on Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, the Caucasus region and Karabakh, Libya, the Mediterranean and other regions, as …
(2021-10-13). US observes first official Indigenous Peoples' Day. peoplesdispatch.org 
As the United States commemorates the Indigenous Peoples' Day for the first time in history, Indigenous activists are demanding it to officially replace Columbus Day as a federal holiday. President Joe Biden had issued a proclamation on Friday, October 8, to observe Indigenous Peoples' Day alongside the annual Columbus Day celebrations on the second Monday of October. | "I think it really recognizes that Indigenous people are still here," said Alannah Hurley, executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay. "We just have been struggling for so long for the vast majority of mainstream America and culture to rec…
(2021-10-13). US Writes Belarus into Its Familiar Regime-Change Script. libya360.wordpress.com Alan MacleodQuietly, the U.S. national security state is turning up the heat on Belarus, hoping that the ex-Soviet country of 9 million will be the next casualty of its regime-change agenda. This sentiment was made clear in President Joe Biden's recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Biden announced that the U.S. would pursue…
(2021-10-13). Carta de Biden a México: Señales positivas. globalizacion.ca El lunes se hizo pública la carta que el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, envió la semana pasada a su homólogo Andrés Manuel López Obrador en respuesta a la que el mandatario mexicano le hizo llegar el 7 de…
(2021-10-13). In OtherWords: October 13, 2021. otherwords.org When Donald Trump asked Georgia state officials to "find" him nearly 12,000 extra votes last year, what if they'd say "sure"? Voting rights advocates worry the state's harsh new voter suppression law will make it easier for state officials to interfere in the counting of local election results, or even overturn them. | That's why Black pastors and voting rights supporters Lee Harris and Jane E. Thomas say Congress needs to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. This week in OtherWords, they explain how the law would fight state-level voter suppression efforts across the country and strengthen the right to vote for everyon…
(2021-10-13). María Corina Machado Targets EU High Representative Borrell for His 'Deception' (Electoral Observation Mission). orinocotribune.com Far-right politician, Vente Venezuela leader María Corina Machado criticized European Union High Representative Josep Borrell for his deception and lies about the role of the European Union (EU) in the upcoming regional elections in Venezuela. | Through a post on her social media accounts, Machado questioned Borrell's altercation with the National Electoral Council (CNE) and Venezuelan political leaders. On Friday, October 8, Borrell had commented that the EU electoral observation mission's report will "legitimize or delegitimize" the November 21 elections, and the CNE asked Borrell for an explanation regarding h…
(2021-10-13). Nicaragua Approves Voting Manual for November Elections. telesurenglish.net On Sunday, Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) Director Adriana Molina approved the Nov. 7 General Elections' Voting Manual to guide citizens in this process and support the work of the personnel of the 3,016 polling stations. | RELATED: | "The 64-page manual details the authorities' functions throughout the election process, which include the initial transfer of materials, the Voting Reception Boards (JRV…
(2021-10-13). The Freedom to Vote Act Is No 'Compromise.' Pass It Now. otherwords.org In a year that began with the promise of a new direction for our country, few things have been more disheartening than the eruption of voter suppression laws in Republican-led states. These laws gut the voting rights that Black and brown voters fought and died to secure. | We battled them state by state, in a grim version of Whac-a-Mole. Now we need Washington to step in and do its part. Finally, we have a new bill in Congress: the Freedom to Vote Act. | This bill must pass. And it must pass now, because states are already preparing for the 2022 elections. | The Freedom to Vote Act was introduced in the Senate as…
(2021-10-13). CNE: Electoral Data Audit for 21N Regional Elections Has Started. orinocotribune.com On Monday, October 11, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela started the first phase of the Electoral Data Audit, with the purpose of verifying the integrity of the voter fingerprint databases. The CNE seeks to guarantee the non-duplication of fingerprint records in the database that will be used during the regional and municipal elections. | An audit of the Voter Files Archive (ADE) allows the CNE to determine the data quality of the registered fingerprints and verify that they correspond with those of the Venezuelan citizens who are registered and authorized to vote in the regional and municipal ele…
(2021-10-13). El Comedor: Call for Support for Tijuana's Migrant/Refugee Mutual Aid Kitchen. itsgoingdown.org Call to support autonomous and self-organized mutual aid center, El Comedor, amidst a new wave of attacks on migrants along the so-called US and Mexico border. The crisis of borders continues in the "Americas." Xenophobic Trump era policies are still in operation stacked atop the older and fundamental necropolitical logic of the border. Those who make…
(2021-10-13). DPRK accuses U.S. of inciting tensions. ecns.cn Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, accused the United States of inciting tensions on the Korean Peninsula and called for the boosting of self-defensive capability to counter "hostile forces".
(2021-10-13). Manchin and Sinema Obstruct Reconciliation With No Proposal of Their Own. truthout.org 
After months of negotiations, Democratic leaders are signalling that the topline of the Build Back Better Act will have to come down — an outcome that conservative Democrats like Senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia have relentlessly campaigned for. But Democrats now face a challenge: They can't figure out what Sinema and Manchin want. | Sinema has been particularly opaque, stonewalling her colleagues about her wish list for the reconciliation bill and only sh…
(2021-10-13). Family Searching for Migrant Father Who Went Missing in Texas Desert as Border Deaths Hit Record. democracynow.org 
Armando Alejo Hernández went missing in the desert after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in May of 2021, but not before sending several last audio messages to his eldest son describing the difficult terrain and asking for help. "He wasn't feeling so good, and he was out of water and food," says Hernández's 17-year-old son Derek. "The group got ahead, and then he lost the group." Hernández was an undocumented worker in the United States for more than a decade before being deported in 2016. His wife and two sons, who are U.S citizens by birth, have pleaded with Border Patrol and the Mexican Consulate for help, with…
(2021-10-13). Opposition builds as Washington state school reopenings fuel surge of COVID-19. wsws.org Nearly two months into the semester, the reality of high case rates, pediatric infections, and hospital capacity has exposed the so-called "safe" return promoted by the Democratic Party and teachers unions as a lie.
(2021-10-13). Progressives Push Democrats to Reject Outdated Austerity Policies. truthout.org 
The leaders of dozens of grassroots progressive advocacy groups joined their congressional allies late Tuesday in calling on Democrats to reject "false choices" "It is beyond ab…
(2021-10-13). Headlines for October 13, 2021. democracynow.org U.S. Reopens Borders with Canada and Mexico for Vaccinated Travelers; FDA Considers Moderna Booster, Southwest, American Airlines Rebuff TX Vaccine Mandate Ban; WI Moms Sue Schools for Endangering Kids, House Votes to Temporarily Raise Debt Ceiling, Progressive Dems Say Reconciliation Package Must Not Sacrifice Urgently Needed Social Programs, 155 Activists Arrested as Climate Actions Continue in D.C.; Indigenous Leaders March in Latin America, Nonprofit Pursues Jair Bolsonaro at ICC for "Crimes Against Humanity" for Destroying the Amazon, EU Pledges $1.15 Billion in Aid for Afghanistan as European and U.S. Deleg…
(2021-10-13). Thousands protest against right-wing coup attempts in Bolivia and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org Today we look at mobilizations in defense of the Indigenous Wiphala flag in Bolivia, protests for democracy and quality education across schools in Swaziland, and more…
(2021-10-13). Student Sit-In Enters 2nd Day At Howard University's Blackburn Center: Here Is What The Students Want. moguldom.com A student sit-in and protest at Howard University has entered its second day and student leaders said they aren't leaving until their demands are met. Howard students are currently occupying the prominent Washington, D.C.-based HBCU's Armour J. Blackburn University Center, the social hub of the campus. Among their demands are improved housing, representation on the …