(2021-04-17). The Dirty Campaign Underlying Ecuador's "Free and Fair" Election. dissidentvoice.org 
A spoiled ballot in Ecuador's elections. Photo by @AlinaDuarte Ecuador's April 11 election that led to a 5-point victory by conservative banker Guillermo Lasso over progressive candidate Andrés Arauz was not what it appeared to be. On the surface, it was a surprisingly clean and professional election, as our CODEPINK official observer delegation witnessed. But …
(2021-04-17). For an ecosocialist transition that breaks from capitalism: Arguments and proposals. mronline.org 
The 149 proposals issued by the French Citizens' Convention on Climate last June, with the goal of achieving at least a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990, manifestly belong to a thoroughly reformist approach. | April 17, 2021 | Newswire…
(2021-04-17). Military Situation In Iraq On April 17, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 15, Iraqi resistance groups attacked Ain Al Asad Airbase with 3 suicide drones | On April 15, a logistical convoy of the US military was targeted by an IED attack in the Anbar province | On April 17, a logistical convoy of the US military was targeted by an IED attack in the Naseriyah area | On April 15, a car bomb exploded in the Habibiya area of Sadr City in Baghdad. At least one person was killed. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack | On April 16, Tu…
(2021-04-17). A Worldwide Workers' Revolt Against Amazon Has Begun. popularresistance.org The union drive at Amazon's 885,000-square-foot warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, failed. But the historic campaign nabbed global headlines and added fuel to ongoing workers' revolts across the world. | Strikes by Amazon workers in Italy, Germany and India are coalescing into an international struggle against the world's fourth-most valuable company and its grueling working conditions and intensive surveillance. | Since the dawn of capitalism, bosses have found innovations to oversee and extract more work from the overstressed bodies of their labor force. But Amazon's minute surveillance of workers‚Ä&aci…
(2021-04-17). Amazon Workers Defeat: The Trusts Are Back. zcomm.org The deepening crisis of U.S. and global capitalism may usher in a new era of worker empowerment. One can hope — and organize…
(2021-04-17). America's Neoliberal Financialization Policy Vs. China's Industrial Socialism — OpEd. eurasiareview.com Nearly half a millennium ago Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince described three options for how a conquering power might treat states that it defeated in war but that "have been accustomed to live under their own laws and in freedom: … the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third is to permit them to live under their own laws, drawing a tribute, and establishing within it an oligarchy which will keep it friendly to you."[1] | Machiavelli preferred the first option, citing Rome's destruction of Carthage. That is what the United States did to Iraq and Libya after 2001. But in today…
(2021-04-17). [Perspectives] Dawn Edge: advancing inclusivity in mental health services. thelancet.com In the mid-1990s, Dawn Edge was intrigued by the lack of data on mental health among Black women in the UK, given the volume of research on Black men's increased risk of diagnosis with serious mental illness. It was an observation that influenced her PhD on depression during pregnancy and…
(2021-04-16). More US Troops Could Be Deployed to Afghanistan to Help With Withdrawal. news.antiwar.com More US troops Since President Biden broke the US-Taliban peace deal by pushing the withdrawal deadline back to September, the chances of attacks against US forces in Afghanistan starting again are high. The idea is that the US might need additional forces or weapons to protect the troops that are leaving. | "It is not out of the realm of the possible that for a short period of time, there will have to be some additional enabl…
(2021-04-16). PSL greetings to the Communist Party of Cuba's 8th Congress. liberationnews.org 
On behalf of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the United States, we send you revolutionary greetings and solidarity on the occasion of the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.
(2021-04-16). PSL greetings to PCC VIII Congress. liberationnews.org On behalf of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the United States, we send you revolutionary greetings and solidarity on the occasion of the VIII Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.
(2021-04-16). America's Neoliberal Financialization Policy vs. China's Industrial Socialism. counterpunch.org 
Nearly half a millennium ago Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince described three options for how a conquering power might treat states that it defeated in war but that "have been accustomed to live under their own laws and in freedom: … the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third is to permit them to live under their own laws, drawing a tribute, and establishing within it an oligarchy which will keep it friendly to you."
(2021-04-16). U.S. Air Force Tests In New Sikorsky HH60-W Rescue Helicopter. southfront.org 
Click to see full-size image | On April 13th, the US Air Force successfully passed its latest round of tests on its new combat rescue helicopter, the Sikorsky-built HH-60W Jolly Green II. | The last step of developmental testing checked whether the helicopter's weapons worked in flight and were properly configured, the Air Force HH-60W is equipped with a 7.62 mm Gatling…
(2021-04-16). One More Drone Attack Targeted US Troops In Iraqi Al-Anbar — Report. southfront.org 
Illustrative image | Early on April 16, Iraqi sources, including the The base, Ain Assad, was allegedly struck by three suicide drones. The drones targeted the barracks of US troops, their operations center and an air-defense system. Losses among American personnel were reported. | The Sabereen News shared two posters celebrating the attack on Ain Ass…
(2021-04-16). Scientists discover over 500 genes common to both anxiety disorders and depression in major breakthrough. rt.com 
A new study by researchers in Australia has found hundreds of commonly shared genes in people living with both anxiety disorders and depression, in a significant step towards tackling two of humanity's intractable mental enemies. | Scientists at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia identified 509 genes common to both anxiety and depression by parsing the records of 400,000 participants in the UK Biobank, grouping genomes as they went, compiling a list of 28 individual and shared traits. | They then deployed a number of modelling tools to search for overlap and tested the results against a…
(2021-04-16). Cuba's Castro steps down, says he's handing power to next generation of 'anti-imperialist' leaders. rt.com 
Cuban Communist Party leader Raul Castro has announced that he is stepping down and handing leadership to a younger generation "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit." The Castro family has led the party since 1961. | "As I live I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism," Castro told party delegates at a convention in Havana on Friday. | Also on rt.com | | Raul has served…
(2021-04-16). US senators introduce weapons oversight bill as Biden advances $23bn UAE arms sale. middleeasteye.net 
US senators introduce weapons oversight bill as Biden advances $23bn UAE arms sale | The bill would ensure congressional review of international weapons deals and protect against sensitive technology being sold to powers hostile to US | Fri, 04/16/2021 – 15: 40 | The UAE is set to become the second Middle Eastern country, after Israel, to acquire the US-made F-35 warplanes (Reuters/File photo) | Two senior Dem…
(2021-04-16). Saludo del PSL al VIII Congreso del PCC. liberationnews.org 
Nuestro Partido se ha mantenido durante mucho tiempo en solidaridad con la Revolución Cubana, su Partido y su pueblo.
(2021-04-16). Nobel Laureate Warns of 'Devastating Marriage' Between Artificial Intelligence and Killer Robots. commondreams.org "The biggest threats are the 'modernization' of nuclear weapons and the new 'revolution' of weapons," says Peace Prize winner Jody Williams. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/jody-williams-killer-robots-marriage.jpg …
(2021-04-16). 'The Status Quo Is Failing': 36 Progressive Groups Demand Pentagon Cuts. commondreams.org "We must change course and invest in the needs of people rather than the greed of the military-industrial complex." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/pentagon_kirby.jpg …
(2021-04-16). U.S. Capitol Police inspector general testifies police leadership withheld crowd control weapons during January 6 coup. wsws.org Inspector General Michael Bolton refused to name the person responsible for the order, claiming it was "an assistant deputy chief of police."
(2021-04-16). Democrats Reintroduce Bill to Block US From Using Nuclear Weapons First. news.antiwar.com A pair of Democratic lawmakers in the House and the Senate reintroduced a bill on Friday that would prohibit the US The bill reads: "It is the policy of the United States to not use nuclear weapons first." The legislation will be reviewed by the foreign affairs committees of each chamber of Congress. | A no first use bill was introduced by Smith and Warren…
(2021-04-16). Media Once Again Trolling US Withdrawal From Afghanistan. popularresistance.org I don't write much about the specific individuals who drive the oligarchic empire because individuals are not the problem, the system is. Right-wing conspiracy analysts prefer to focus on specific corrupt elites because they like to think if you just got rid of them, capitalism would work fine. And it just wouldn't. If you rounded up and executed all the sociopathic ruling elites today but left our current systems intact they'd just be replaced tomorrow. A competition-based model where war, corruption, oppression and exploitation remain profitable guarantees this. | A lot of right-wing conspiracy analysis today u…
(2021-04-16). Jonathan Taplin: Capitalism Killed the Rock-and-Roll Star. scheerpost.com Photo by Annenberg Innovation Lab] Click to subscribe on: Apple / Spotify / Google Play Jonathan Taplin may not be a household name, but he has been behind the scenes of some of the most influential moments in 20th century American music. As the description of Taplin's latest book notes, the University of Southern California professor emeritus has made waves in every one of the past several… |
(2021-04-16). Scheer Intelligence: Capitalism Killed The Rock-and-Roll Star. popularresistance.org Jonathan Taplin may not be a household name, but he has been behind the scenes of some of the most influential moments in 20th century American music. As the description of Taplin's latest book notes, the University of Southern California professor emeritus has made waves in every one of the past several decades: "he was tour manager for Bob Dylan and the Band in the '60s, producer of major films in the '70s, an executive at Merrill Lynch in the '80s, creator of the Internet's first video-on-demand service in the '90s, and a cultural critic and author writing about technology in the new millennium." Taplin joins…
(2021-04-16). Cuba: Party Congress To Give Way To New Communist Generations. telesurenglish.net From April 16 to 19, Cuba will hold the eighth congress of the Communist Party (PCC), which will be the first one to be conducted without Fidel Castro. | RELATED: | "In this new Congress, the leaders of the historic generation, led by Raul Castro today, will pass on to the new communists the torch of the Revolution and Socialism," Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel explained. | As of this Friday, the communists will set…
(2021-04-16). United Steelworkers union continues to isolate, muzzle ATI strikers as health care cutoff looms. wsws.org Following a well-worn script, the USW is threatening workers that unless they sit quietly, allow scabs into the factories, and raise no concrete demands, they will lose unemployment benefits.