Daily Archives: December 4, 2021

2021-12-04: News Headlines

sputniknews (2021-12-04). Millions Remain Long-Term Unemployed Despite Big Decline in November US Jobless Rate. sputniknews.com The new US jobs report showed an unexpectedly large decrease in unemployment alongside a smaller-than-expected increase in non-farm payroll jobs. Economists say it could mean the US is approaching full employment, meaning interest rate hikes could be on the way. However, longer-term unemployed numbers remained almost unchanged.

_____ (2021-12-03). Why We Should Oppose The Democracy Summit. popularresistance.org The exclusion of certain countries from the U.S. "democracy summit" is not a side issue. It is the very purpose of the summit. And excluded countries have not been excluded for failing to meet the standards of behavior of those that were invited or the one doing the inviting. Invitees didn't even have to be countries, as even a U.S. backed failed coup leader from Venezuela has been invited. So have representatives of Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, DRC, Zambia, Angola, Malaysia, Kenya, and — critically — pawns in the game: Taiwan and Ukraine. | What game? The weapons sales game. Which is the whole point. Look…

Ana Malinow (2021-12-03). An Obscure Agency Is Threatening to Hand Medicare Over to Wall Street. truthout.org In the face of massive support for Medicare for All and the failure of the U.S.'s for-profit health care system, the inevitable fall of the medical-industrial complex can be predicted, if not with precision, with certainty. Everyone is aware of the impending demise, none more so than those in charge of the for-profit health care system and their supporters in Congress, as evidenced by the frenetic activity at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to transfer the traditional Medicare p…

Dean Baker (2021-12-03). Marginalized Workers Facing Labor Market Discrimination See Largest Jobs Gains. truthout.org The unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points in November, even though the economy added just 210,000 jobs. The drop in the unemployment rate went along with an increase in the employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) of 0.4 percentage points, corresponding to a rise in employment of more than 1.1 million in the household survey. The unemployment rate had not fallen this low following the Great Recession until September 2017. | The 210,000 job growth in the establishment survey is slower th…

Derek Royden (2021-12-03). "Only the people can save the people!" Xiomora Castro's presidential win in Honduras. nationofchange.org "I believe firmly that the democratic socialism I propose is the solution to pull Honduras out of the abyss we have been buried in by neo-liberalism, a narco-dictator and corruption."

Paulo Cabral (2021-12-03). Brazil grapples with inflation amid COVID-19 recovery. america.cgtn.com The Brazilian economy is in a recession as the country grapples with high interest rates and inflation. The downturn comes as Brazil is losing momentum as it tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Economists say the government has limited tools to fight it. CGTN's …

Karen Conner (2021-12-03). Unemployment Falls to 4.2 Percent in November as Economy Adds 210,000 Jobs. cepr.net The rise in the index of aggregate hours would be equivalent to more than 630,000 jobs with no changes in workweeks.

Staff (2021-12-03). Biden administration refuses to ban killer robots. rt.com US President Joe Biden has refused to sign a binding international agreement tightly regulating the use of "killer robots." Campaigners fear such devices will launch an unstoppable arms race toward "digital dehumanization." | The US prefers a "non-binding code of conduct" regarding Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS, aka killer robots), State Department official Joshua Dorosin said at a meeting in Geneva on Thursday. | His insistence on leaving the Pentagon's hands free to produce autonomous killer robots stands in line with years of US policy, which has long opposed a global moratorium on LAWS, denouncin…

2021-12-04 17:57 | 13:57 EST | jz | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0