Monthly Archives: February 2022

2022-02-16: News Headlines

Fight Back (2022-02-16). No U.S. war with Russia, end U.S. intervention in Ukraine. fightbacknews.org Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is opposed to the Biden administration's war preparations against Russia and U.S. intervention in the Ukraine. We urge all progressives and revolutionaries to help organize, promote and participate in anti-war protests. We are against imperialist wars. | In recent years the Pentagon has ranked Russia as a "strategic competitor," making it one of the main targets of U.S. war plans. Currently the U.S. is sending mountains of weapons to the reactionary Ukrainian government, deploying more troops in Eastern Europe, and is making threat upon threat. The constant barrage of a…

sputniknews (2022-02-16). Finland Says It Won't Send Weapons to Ukraine, Yet Raises Internal Security Level. sputniknews.com Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto rejected the notion that Helsinki was shying away from military help for Ukraine over fears of Russian reprisal and emphasised the country's rule of not exporting arms to conflict zones. Instead underscoring Finland's financial help to Ukraine, adding that another package is under consideration.

Fight Back (2022-02-16). FRSO members meeting set for Feb. 17. fightbacknews.org Grand Rapids, MI – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization is hosting another online meeting for the growing numbers of members on Thursday, February 17 at 8 p.m. Eastern time. We will use Zoom to welcome our new members who joined since the last meeting on capitalism destroying the environment. | Tom Burke, the organizational secretary of the FRSO, will speak about the growth of the FRSO, the importance of union solidarity with the George Floyd rebellion, the recent uptick in strikes, and how we can lead the American working class toward revolution. | Emily Butt, a union steward, will speak on the victories of t…

Staff (2022-02-16). US housing bubble about to burst, leading economist warns. rt.com Higher interest rates could trigger collapse | The US real estate market could crash this year, leading economist Desmond Lachman predicted in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Tuesday. Adjusted for inflation, house prices in America are now higher than they were 15 years ago, before the last housing bust, he added. | Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former deputy director at the International Monetary Fund, explained that last year the US government was buying large quantities of bonds, which created an equity price bubble, and led to "equity valuations at levels only seen once…

sputniknews (2022-02-16). As Poverty in Gaza Continues to Soar, Hamas Official Explains Origins of the Crisis. sputniknews.com Poverty has always been an issue in the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people. Yet, in recent years the coastal enclave has seen an additional spike in numbers. According to reports, poverty rates have skyrocketed, from the 43 percent registered in 2016 to 53 percent in 2021, with unemployment levels exceeding 50 percent in the area.

William J. Astore (2022-02-16). America's Disastrous 60-Year War: Three Generations of Conspicuous Destruction by the Military-Industrial Complex. juancole.com ( Tomdispatch.com ) — In my lifetime of nearly 60 years, America has waged five major wars, winning one decisively, then throwing that victory away, while losing the other four disastrously. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the Global War on Terror, were the losses, of course; the Cold War being the solitary win …

DLI (2022-02-16). Biden's promise, "America's Back!" is delivered–on Steroids! indybay.org On at least one big item, President Biden's campaign promise, "America's Back!" has been resoundingly delivered! 2 decades ago, the United States went to war based on an outrageous lie, that Saddam Hussein had WMDs(Weapons of Mass Destruction) that were ready to launch in 90 minutes on allies of the U.S. That gigantic lie had no credible evidence(and over 10 million citizens across the Globe protested in the streets agianst the impending but illegal invasion.) But the lie was delivered in such melodramatic tones that the "Corporate-bin-Laden" media bought it, line, rod and sinker). The MSM not only parroted the U…

Staff (2022-02-15). An Off-Ramp from War? Russia Says It Pulled Back Some Troops from Ukraine Border as Talks Continue. democracynow.org Russia has announced plans to pull back some troops from the Ukrainian border in a possible effort to deescalate the standoff over Ukraine but still intends to continue with military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea. This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated on Monday the country may drop its bid to join NATO and the U.S. continues to urge U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine, warning a Russian invasion could come as soon as Wednesday. We speak with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, who says the U.S. is continuing to escalate the crisis by directing U.S. funds to weapons and loans for U…

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-15). German arms sales to Egypt must meet human rights criteria, foreign minister says. peoplesdispatch.org The German decision is in line with the coalition government's position of reducing arms sales to non-European and NATO countries. Egypt is the leading recipient of German weapons…

David Swanson (2022-02-15). Talk World Radio: Jonathan Katz on What You Don't Know About Smedley Butler. warisacrime.org AUDIO: Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week's video and all the videos on Youtube. VIDEO: This week on Talk World Radio we're talking about Smedley Butler with the author of a terrific new biography called Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and …

The Socialist Program (2022-02-15). The Fraud of Capitalist Democracy. liberationnews.org The panel discusses Johnson & Johnson's decision to halt vaccine production, the attempted lynching of a Black FedEx driver, more racist disenfranchisement, and other stories showing the hollow nature of so-called democracy under U.S. capitalism…

Walden Bello (2022-02-15). Walden Bello: Why democratic socialism is the answer. greenleft.org.au National elections are due in the Philippines on May 9. The Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses, PLM) and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) are jointly fielding a slate of candidates. Vice presidential candidate and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) chairperson Walden Bello spoke at the PLM/LNM election platform launch on February 8.

Kevin Mwanza (2022-02-15). 7 Things To Know About The Dramatic Fall Of Meta's (Facebook) Stock. moguldom.com Facebook, recently renamed Meta, saw its market capitalization slump on Feb. 2 after the tech giant announced its first-ever decline of average daily and monthly active users in the fourth quarter, which was underscored with "very disappointing" metrics and a grim outlook. Meta shares crashed 26 percent after the company released fourth-quarter financial report showing …

Editor2 (2022-02-15). Eight Times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons in the Post-World War II Era. orinocotribune.com By The Chronicles of Haiphong — Feb 3, 2022 | U.S. imperialism has claimed innocence and moral superiority on the world stage while deploying the cruelest weapons of war in its quest for dominance | The United States frequently employs human rights as a weapon against so-called "adversaries." Chemical and biological weapons have played a prominent role in cultivating the U.S.'s identity as the foremost humanitarian interventionist power. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on accusations made by U.S. intelligence that Saddam Hussein was harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). In recent years, U.S. offi…

2022-02-16 17:33 | 11:33 EST | jz | 16 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 

2022-02-15: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2022-02-15). German arms sales to Egypt must meet human rights criteria, foreign minister says. peoplesdispatch.org The German decision is in line with the coalition government's position of reducing arms sales to non-European and NATO countries. Egypt is the leading recipient of German weapons…

David Swanson (2022-02-15). Talk World Radio: Jonathan Katz on What You Don't Know About Smedley Butler. warisacrime.org AUDIO: Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week's video and all the videos on Youtube. VIDEO: This week on Talk World Radio we're talking about Smedley Butler with the author of a terrific new biography called Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and …

Walden Bello (2022-02-15). Walden Bello: Why democratic socialism is the answer. greenleft.org.au National elections are due in the Philippines on May 9. The Partido Lakas ng Masa (Party of the Labouring Masses, PLM) and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) are jointly fielding a slate of candidates. Vice presidential candidate and Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) chairperson Walden Bello spoke at the PLM/LNM election platform launch on February 8.

Editor2 (2022-02-15). Eight Times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons in the Post-World War II Era. orinocotribune.com By The Chronicles of Haiphong — Feb 3, 2022 | U.S. imperialism has claimed innocence and moral superiority on the world stage while deploying the cruelest weapons of war in its quest for dominance | The United States frequently employs human rights as a weapon against so-called "adversaries." Chemical and biological weapons have played a prominent role in cultivating the U.S.'s identity as the foremost humanitarian interventionist power. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on accusations made by U.S. intelligence that Saddam Hussein was harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). In recent years, U.S. offi…

_____ (2022-02-14). On Contact: The Precarious State Of The US Economy. popularresistance.org A bipartisan group of senators are crafting legislation to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia if it engages in what they consider hostile action of any kind against the Ukraine. New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, calls the legislation "the mother of all sanctions bill." The bill led in the House by Gregory Meeks of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, like Menendez a Democrat, demands that the administration "not cede to the demands of the Russian Federation regarding NATO membership or expansion." This cuts off the ability to discuss Moscow's core demands, includin…

Editor (2022-02-14). "My pink socialism became red as a wound": Impossible interview from Ukraine. mronline.org In 2000s Ukraine, Anatoli Ulyanov co-made online media dedicated to art, culture, and politics, and became recognized for his provocative writing style.

Antonio C.S. Rosa (2022-02-14). AP Reporter Challenges US Lies about Russian War Preparations. transcend.org 5 Feb 2022 – In a remarkable exchange on Thursday [3 Feb], US State Department spokesman Ned Price was challenged by Matt Lee from the Associated Press. With just one simple question—"what evidence do you have?"—Lee threw Price completely off and exposed a simple fact: The current press campaign over an allegedly impending "Russian invasion" of Ukraine and "false flag attacks" has no more credibility than Colin Powell's lies of "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq.

Staff (2022-02-14). V-Day to Earth Day: How Women in 70+ Countries Are Rising to End Violence Against Women & Our Planet. democracynow.org Valentine's Day kicks off a campaign by feminist leaders in 70 countries across the world to celebrate One Billion Rising, an initiative by V-Day to end violence against women — cisgender, transgender and gender nonconforming — girls and the planet. "COVID has ushered in a very strange and perplexing time for women. We are on the frontlines everywhere," says V-Day founder V (formerly Eve Ensler). The campaign seeks to resist "the broken systems of capitalism and neoliberalism," as well as the fascist governments upholding these broken systems, says Monique Wilson, global…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2022-02-14). The Science of Socialism and Socialism as a Science. libya360.wordpress.com Olga Pérez Soto The debates on contemporary national and global social issues, in our realities, become very complex. At the same time, determinations of diverse paradigms coexist in the academic, political, governmental, institutional, militant, individual and collective spheres. It is vital in the debate to achieve a dialogue that allows us to advance in the…

Prabhat Patnaik (2022-02-14). Why capitalist governments worry more about inflation than unemployment? mronline.org Capitalist governments invariably seek to control inflation by enlarging unemployment.

Alan Macleod (2022-02-14). 1 in 3 Big Defense Contractors Profit from US Prisoner Suffering. mintpressnews.com There exists a situation whereby prisoners earning pennies per hour are making multimillion-dollar weapons fired by individuals being paid barely $20,000 per year at civilians who might not make that much in their lifetimes.

2022-02-16 00:51 | 20:51 EST | jz | 13 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 0