Daily Archives: February 9, 2022

2022-02-09: News Headlines

_____ (2022-02-09). Biden Makes a Fruitless Attempt to Play the Qatari Card against Russia. journal-neo.org By promoting a Russophobic campaign in Europe, in part by escalating the information war with a fake thesis about Russia's alleged intention to attack Ukraine, Washington is trying to convince Europeans that it can find a vital substitute for Europe's natural gas supply here. In particular, the Joe Biden administration is seeking additional sources of …

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies (2022-02-09). Memo to Congress: Diplomacy for Ukraine Is Spelled M-i-n-s-k. dissidentvoice.org Peace protest at the White House — Photo credit: iacenter.org While the Biden administration is sending more troops and weapons to inflame the Ukraine conflict and Congress is pouring more fuel on the fire, the American people are on a totally different track. A December 2021 poll found that a plurality of Americans in both …

Basav Sen (2022-02-09). Three Hopeful Stories of Environmental Activism. otherwords.org When you work on climate, the news can often feel like one step forward, two steps back. But lately, ordinary people have been winning big victories to protect their communities — and our planet. | Last November, for example, President Biden Then, just two weeks later, his administration announced…

WSWS (2022-02-09). Biden's task force on unionization: A corporatist agenda for austerity and war. wsws.org The task force proposals are all aimed at the strengthening of a labor police force, comprised of upper-middle class executives, to enforce the dictates of the ruling class.

_____ (2022-02-09). Workers Power Day — February 26, 2022. popularresistance.org Starbucks workers are leading an electrifying drive to organize the major coffee chain, with one or often several stores announcing they're joining this growing movement each day. Amazon workers from coast to coast are organizing to build power at one of the world's largest and most powerful corporations. Workers in Staten Island recently filed to hold union elections at 2 warehouses. The majority Black Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama are engaged in their second union campaign, after the results of the first were tossed out based on Amazon's egregious union busting campaign — which they continue in earn…

WSWS (2022-02-09). Two right-wing figures to contest South Korean presidential election. wsws.org The candidates from the two main parties are both determined to further open the economy despite the surge of COVID-19 cases and have backed the US war drive against China.

Peter Certo (2022-02-09). In OtherWords: February 9, 2022. otherwords.org Just as I was looking ahead to the weekend last week, I got a fresh spike of anxiety. | The Republican National Committee, I read, now officially calls the January 6 coup attempt "legitimate political discourse" and is censoring its members who are helping to investigate it. That felt disturbing — and newsworthy. | But come Monday, that story had all but fallen away in the wider media. This week in OtherWords, I put the RNC's disturbing January 6 statement in the context of other recent headlines — like Donald Trump's draft order to seize voting machines in 2020 — and call on the media to priori…

Peter Certo (2022-02-09). Media, Take Note: The GOP Is Now Openly Aligned Against Democracy. otherwords.org If you're the sort of person who follows the news, you've probably heard a good bit lately about podcaster Joe Rogan, Neil Young's fight with Spotify, and maybe a little about Russia and Ukraine. | All that's good grist for the mill. But did you also hear former President Trump admit that he'd intended to have Mike Pence Or, here's a bad one: Did you hear that the Tr…

teleSUR- jaa, JL (2022-02-09). Aceptan denuncia de expdte. de Honduras por golpe de Estado. telesurtv.net El canciller resaltó los esfuerzos del Gobierno de Castro por instaurar el Estado de Derecho y devolver el goce pleno de los derechos por la ciudadanía…

John Ostman, Noah Roberts (2022-02-09). Mayor's war on the poor punctuates San Francisco's right-wing shift. liberationnews.org Dominated by the Democratic Party, San Fransisco's politics are lauded as some of the most progressive in the nation, yet, over the years, the city's poor and oppressed experienced innumerable attacks, each seemingly more vicious than the last.

John W. Whitehead, Nisha Whitehead (2022-02-09). Dystopia Disguised as Democracy: All the Ways in Which Freedom Is an Illusion. dissidentvoice.org The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the …

WSWS (2022-02-09). Republican National Committee resolution declaring January 6 "legitimate political discourse" deepens crisis in both parties. wsws.org While the Democrats plead for bipartisan "unity," a number of statements by leading Republicans give a sense of the shifting balance of power to far-right forces within the party.

Fight Back (2022-02-09). Florida State University SDS statement on Nazis on campus. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 3 statement from Florida State University Student for a Democratic Society (SDS). | This week an FSU undergraduate student has been exposed through copious emails and message logs as being a member of the Neo-Nazi group Patriot Front. The student is Calvin Stow-Ortiz from Tampa, where his father unsurprisingly works for the Tampa Police Department. In leaked messages Stow-Ortiz references spreading the groups propaganda posters and stickers in the Tampa area and made plans with another Patriot Front member to vandalize FAMU's campus with white supremac…

WSWS (2022-02-09). US Supreme Court restores Alabama's anti-democratic electoral redistricting plan. wsws.org The decision of the Supreme Court's right-wing majority to reinstate the Alabama district map is a purely partisan move to support the electoral interests of the Republican Party.

_____ (2022-02-09). Anatomy Of A Cancellation. popularresistance.org I'll just assume everyone knows who the Democratic Socialists of America are. If not, you can look them up easily enough, but they probably represent the biggest organized political group to the left of the Democratic Party today (or on the left of the Democratic Party, depending). As any sensible democratic socialist organization would do, they are actively supporting the Portland city workers in their contract negotiations with the city, and their plan for an imminent strike. | Then we need to introduce another prominent character in the sordid tale, me. Those of you reading this on my blog probably don't need…

Fight Back (2022-02-09). United protest in New Orleans against US, NATO war on Russia. fightbacknews.org New Orleans, LA — Anti-war protesters gathered on February 5 in New Orleans at Lafayette Square Park to demand an end to NATO aggression against Russia. Activists carried signs and chanted slogans calling for peace and the disbandment of NATO. | The protest was organized by a coalition including the Communist Party USA, the Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. | Speakers decried the latest U.S. attempt to escalate the situation in Ukraine, which they said threatens us with a nuclear conflict with Russia. The protest also highlight…

WSWS (2022-02-09). Virginia public universities drop vaccine mandates. wsws.org Amidst threats from state Republicans, the school system dropped vaccine requirements despite the current caseload being at a pandemic high.

teleSUR, hvh, JCM (2022-02-09). China insta a EE.UU. detener sanciones contra Corea del Norte. telesurtv.net El funcionario reclamó a Washington a dar la debida importancia a las medidas de desnuclearización tomadas por Pyongyang.

WSWS (2022-02-08). Throughout his presidency and following the failed coup, Trump illegally burned, shredded and hid White House documents. wsws.org The Washington Post reveals that Trump stowed "multiple boxes" of White House documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound, which were only recovered last month.

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-08). Biden, Germany's Scholz Try to Show United Front Amid Ukraine Tensions. news.antiwar.com President Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on Monday as the two leaders tried to show a united front amid heightened tensions with Russia over Ukraine. | Germany has not been as eager to stoke conflict between Ukraine and Russia as some of its NATO allies and is not sending weapons to Kyiv, Berlin has cited historical reasons as to why they don't want to send weapons that could be used in a war in Eastern Europe. Another…

Ann Brown (2022-02-08). Cop NYC Mayor Eric Adams While Giggling: There Is A Reason They Call Me 'The Biden Of Brooklyn'. moguldom.com During a recent speech, newly elected New York City Mayor Eric Adams boasted that he is known as "The Biden of Brooklyn." The former Brooklyn borough president and former New York Police Department captain said this with a giggle. Many thought the statement was odd, but it was not the first time Adams compared himself …

Dana Sanchez (2022-02-08). US Government National Debt Now $30 Trillion: 3 Things About Impaired US Ability To Print Its Way Out Of Debt. moguldom.com Modern monetary theory or MMT is a popular theory that gives an apparent blank check to the government for printing money, which made it appealing to both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations, as evidenced by the gross national debt exceeding $30 trillion for the first time on Feb. 1, 2022. The debt skyrocketed …

Isheka N. Harrison (2022-02-08). Ice Cube Says He's 'All About Reparations' And Joe Biden White House Reached Out To Him For Meeting. moguldom.com It's no secret that Ice Cube is unapologetic in advocating for Black people. He's also pro-reparations, as evidenced in the "Contract With Black America" introduced in 2020 by the hip-hop and Hollywood icon. Despite his intentions, Cube's activism has landed him in hot water in the past. Some Black people were particularly upset after it …

John Wojcik (2022-02-08). Macron: No security for Europeans if there is no security for Russia. peoplesworld.org If the diplomatic events of Monday showed us anything, they indicated with striking clarity that old assumptions about how European security is to be achieved will not, if they ever did, work and that NATO is incapable of bringing the people of Europe the peace they so desperately want and need. While President Joe Biden …

Mark Gruenberg (2022-02-08). Construction union leaders hail Biden's pro-union executive order. peoplesworld.org

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-02-08). How US Meddling Split Sudan, Creating an Oil Republic Drowning in Poverty and Conflict. libya360.wordpress.com TJ COLES South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and then-US VPJoe Biden in Nairobi, Kenya June 9, 2010 Following decades of US soft power aid interventions to exploit South Sudan's energy reserves and counter China's influence, the republic is trapped in humanitarian crisis. Like most countries, the Republic of South Sudan is a complex nation of…

Staff (2022-02-08). US Republicans send threatening letter to Biden over JCPOA. en.mehrnews.com A group of 33 Republican senators has warned US President Joe Biden they will work to thwart the implementation of any new Iran nuclear agreement if his government does not allow Congress to review and vote on its terms.

Staff (2022-02-08). Headlines for February 8, 2022. democracynow.org Biden Vows to Halt Russia-to-Germany Gas Pipeline If Russia Invades Ukraine, Several Democratic-Led States Announce Plans to Roll Back Mask Mandates, Biden Administration Tests Four-Legged Robotic "Dogs" on U.S.-Mexico Border, Costa Rican Presidential Candidates Appear Headed for April Runoff Election, Ex-Honduran President Added to U.S. List of Corrupt Officials over Drug Trafficking, Brazilian Antiracist Protesters Demand Justice for Immigrant Killed over Unpaid Wages, Supreme Court Will Allow Alabama's GOP-Gerrymandered Congressional Maps to Stand, Jill Biden Confirms Free Community College W…

WSWS (2022-02-08). BNSF railroad unions beg Biden administration to intervene against punitive new attendance policy. wsws.org The letter is an attempt to divert attention from the unions' own treachery and promote illusions in the same capitalist state, which is robbing BNSF workers of their right to strike and to free speech.

WSWS (2022-02-08). BNSF railroad unions pen letter begging Biden administration to intervene against punitive new attendance policy. wsws.org The letter is an attempt to divert attention from the unions' own treachery and promote illusions in the same capitalist state, which is robbing BNSF workers of their right to strike and to free speech.

Binoy Kampmark (2022-02-08). Hemispheric gangsterism: The US embargo against Cuba turns 60. greenleft.org.au It all seems very outdated, but when it comes to Cuba, Binoy Kampmark argues United States President Joe Biden is keen to ensure that old, and lingering mistakes, retain their flavour…

Staff (2022-02-08). Germany promises 'very tough sanctions' on Russia. rt.com If Moscow launches an invasion of Ukraine, it will be hit with "far-reaching" measures, Chancellor Scholz says | Russia will face serious consequences if it decides to launch a military incursion into Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Sunday, ahead of a trip to the US to meet President Joe Biden at the White House. | Speaking to German channel ARD, Scholz said that current Western efforts are aimed at ensuring there is no need to impose economic measures against Russia, but that a range of ideas had been discussed. | "We have very concrete preparations with our allies in the EU and the US. We ar…

TASS (2022-02-08). Bullying won't help US succeed in talks with Iran, security chief says. tass.com "Continuing maximum pressure against Iran, current US administration has so far tried to meet the goals that Trump failed to achieve through bullying, by making unsupported promises," Ali Shamkhani pointed out…

Benjamin Norton (2022-02-08). Invoking Monroe Doctrine, US congressman calls Argentina a 'threat' over China alliance. multipolarista.com (
| An influential right-wing US lawmaker invoked the 200-year-old colonialist Monroe Doctrine on the floor of Congress and called Argentina a "threat" because of its alliance with China. | Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, a key ally of former president Donald Trump, said in a

Benjamin Norton (2022-02-08). Invocando la Doctrina Monroe, diputado de EEUU dice que Argentina es una 'amenaza', tras sus acuerdos con China. multipolarista.com El congresista derechista Matt Gaetz, un aliado de Donald Trump, calificó a Argentina como una "amenaza" para la "seguridad" de EEUU, y se quejó de que su alianza con China desafía la colonialista Doctrina Monroe.

John Knefel (2022-02-08). Homeland Security's Attempts to "Combat Misinformation" Are Suspect. truthout.org During Donald Trump's campaign for president, claims of Russian misinformation and disinformation were ubiquitous on cable news, Twitter and op-ed columns. Public discussion of misinformation has since skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, usually focusing on harmful anti-vaccination media coverage on, for example, Fox News and Joe Rogan's popular podcast. There are, of course, no shortage of Fox News segments praising anti-vaxxers until they die, generally by hosts who themselves have gotten the vac…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-08). Israel seeks to bring back law denying Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens right to live in the country. peoplesdispatch.org Despite opposition from some of its coalition partners, the Israeli government headed by Naftali Bennett re-introduced the Citizenship and Entry into Israel bill, which had expired last year due to lack of majority support in the parliament…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-08). Israel to re-introduce bill denying Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens right to live in the country. peoplesdispatch.org Despite opposition from some of its coalition partners, the Israeli government headed by Naftali Bennett re-introduced the Citizenship and Entry into Israel bill, which had expired last year due to lack of majority support in the parliament…

teleSUR (2022-02-08). Mexico To Strengthen Trade & Diplomatic Relations With Honduras. telesurenglish.net On Monday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) announced his willness to strengthen economic and diplomatic cooperation with Honduras' President Xiomara Castro. | RELATED: | "Castro is a woman of ideals and principles, a social fighter who knows how to face adversities and whose government has her people's support," AMLO stated and regretted not being able to attend her swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 27. | Cas…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-08). Ecuador court upholds Indigenous rights against oil, mining projects and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode of the Daily Round-up we look at a major ruling by Ecuador's Constitutional Court protecting Indigenous peoples' rights to block resource extraction projects on their lands; another round of mass mobilisations against the military coup in Sudan as protestors reject negotiations with the junta; the deployment of troops to health centers amid a worsening COVID-19 crisis in the aged care sector; and an agreement reached between President Xiomara Castro's Libre Party and dissenting lawmakers to resolve the political crisis in the Honduran Congress.

Staff (2022-02-08). Valora Díaz-Canel necesidad de revitalizar programas sociales impulsados por Fidel (+ Video). cubadebate.cu En consonancia con una labor humanista que entraña continuidad, tuvo lugar en la tarde de este lunes, desde el Palacio de la Revolución y encabezada por el Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista y Presidente de la República, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, una reunión que versó sobre los programas sociales que el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz impulsara con particular empeño a inicios del siglo XXI.

Project Censored (2022-02-08). Update on Julian Assange Case, Future of Gulf of Mexico Drilling, and is Graphika Really a Fake News Watchdog? projectcensored.org After several visits as a guest, Eleanor Goldfield joins the program as co-host with Mickey Huff. In the first segment of this week's show, Kevin Gosztola delivers a brief update… | By Tara Dorabji India, the world's largest democracy, continues to use draconian laws to silence and incarcerate journalists and human rights defenders in Kashmir. On February 4, Fahad Shah, founder…

Staff (2022-02-08). Wave of Coups Disrupts Africa as U.S.-Trained Soldiers Play Key Role in Overthrowing Governments. democracynow.org The African Union is condemning a wave of coups in Africa, where military forces have seized power over the past 18 months in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Sudan and, most recently, in January, Burkina Faso. Several were led by U.S.-trained officers as part of a growing U.S. military presence in the region under the guise of counterterrorism, which is a new imperial influence that supplements the history of French colonialism, says Brittany Meché, assistant professor at Williams College. Some coups have been met with celebration in the streets, signaling armed revolt has become the last resort for people dissatisfied with…

Sharon Zhang (2022-02-08). Manchin Says He's Skeptical of Congressional Workers' Union Drive. truthout.org As Democratic lawmakers rallied behind congressional staffers' unionization effort on Tuesday, conservative Democrat Joe Manchin (West Virginia) expressed skepticism about the workers' recently announced union drive. | Manchin

WSWS (2022-02-08). The far-right occupation of Ottawa: January 6 goes global. wsws.org Absent the political intervention of the working class, all possible outcomes to the current standoff in Ottawa will only produce a further lurch to the right, imperiling the most fundamental democratic and social rights of the working class.

Staff (2022-02-08). Hunger-Striking Teachers Say Oakland Plan to Close Schools Will Hurt Black & Brown Communities. democracynow.org We go to Oakland, where a group of teachers are on a hunger strike to protest a plan to close and merge over a dozen schools due to under-enrollment. This comes ahead of a critical school board vote Tuesday that will decide whether to proceed with the plan. Activists argue the move threatens to divert resources to charter schools and displace hundreds of Black and Brown children from their neighborhood schools. The hunger strike across multiple different schools has empowered many to speak up against longtime systemic racism, says Moses Omolade, one of the striking workers and a community schools manager at Westl…

Staff (2022-02-08). Policing on Trial: Attorney Ben Crump on Fed Case Against Three Cops Involved in George Floyd Murder. democracynow.org The Minneapolis judge who signed the no-knock warrant that led to the fatal police shooting of 22-year-old Black man Amir Locke also presided over the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer convicted for the murder of George Floyd. The trial of three officers facing lesser charges — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — is currently underway after being delayed when one of the defendants tested positive for COVID. The trial will show the importance of accountability even from police who are bystanders to murder, says Benjamin Crump, part of the legal team for George Floyd's famil…

C.J. Polychroniou (2022-02-08). Israeli Policies Satisfy the Definition of Apartheid Under International Law. truthout.org A furor has enveloped Washington, D.C. as Democrats and Republicans alike scramble to denounce Amnesty International for

WSWS (2022-02-08). Columbia student workers ratify contract with cuts in real wages: The political lessons. wsws.org Throughout their struggle, Columbia University student workers confronted two hostile forces: the university administration, run by millionaires with close ties to the Democratic Party, and the United Auto Workers.

Staff (2022-02-08). Cover-Up in Minneapolis? Police "Executed" Amir Locke in "No-Knock" Raid, Say His Parents, Activists. democracynow.org Protests are continuing in Minneapolis after police fatally shot 22-year-old Amir Locke during an early-morning "no-knock" raid on February 2. Bodycam video shows that Locke appeared to be asleep on the couch and wrapped in a blanket when a SWAT team entered the apartment. Locke held a gun he was legally licensed to carry, and was not named in the warrant. Minneapolis interim city Police Chief Amelia Huffman claimed Locke pointed his weapon in the direction of the officers, and suggested he could have been connected to crime, despite not being a suspect in their investigation. "It was very jarri…

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