2021-12-31: News Headlines

Staff (2021-12-31). In Remembrance of Chuck Kaufman, Anti-Imperialist, International Solidarity Organizer. orinocotribune.com Tucson, AZ — It is with heavy heart that the news of the passing of longtime anti-imperialist organizer Chuck Kaufman reached communities on December 28. Born in a small Indiana town, Chuck's life saw travels to numerous countries, most notably in the Latin American countries most firmly in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism. | In 1987, as Reagan's illegal Contra War against Nicaragua ravaged the country in an attempt to kill the successful Sandinista Revolution, Chuck answered the call for solidarity. He gave up his advertising business and joined thousands of other U.S. solidarity activists to help in the…

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-31). COVID and Viruses 101 (Part two: My experience w/COVID testing). anchor.fm In this episode I am speaking about my recent experience when I went to get a Covid test, and how it showed me all of the contradictions and issues facing us in regards to the pandemic today. The US Empire must fall my friends, this government has no concern for our safety!

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-31). Biden, "Build Back Basic", and Our Ongoing Struggles. anchor.fm In this episode I discuss a few things that are happening contextually here in the contemporary US empire as well as some of the things happening worldwide and how we can begin to build a class struggle. I'm not married to any of these ideas, but this is what I think at this point in time in my life. Hope you enjoy it!

WSWS (2021-12-31). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org French midwives and nursing assistants' seven-day strike over pay and staff shortages; protests by Iranian workers and pensioners over low pay and pensions with inflation at 40 percent; 4,000 dairy workers at Clover Foods in sixth week of indefinite strike over pay, conditions and job losses across South Africa…

Fight Back (2021-12-31). 63rd Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution: Socialism is superior to capitalism! fightbacknews.org For over six decades the Cuban people created a system that provides free universal health care, free public education from kindergarten through university, and housing to people at around 10% of their income. That system is socialism. Despite six decades of U.S. invasion attempts, blockades, embargos, assassination attempts, sanctions and demonization, the achievement record of the socialist mode of production in Cuba speaks for itself. As Mao said, "The fundamental cause of the development of a thing is not external but internal." So, we must look at what has been happening inside Cuba to account of the success…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-12-31). Venezuelan Parliament Approves Supreme Court's Organic Law Reform. orinocotribune.com With the goal of consolidating the Venezuelan judicial system as an instrument at the service of the people, in its first discussion of the issue the National Assembly approved the partial reform project of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), a proposal presented on December 22 by the president of the TSJ, Maikel Moreno. | During the session that took place this Thursday, December 30, in the last legislative meeting of 2021, the President of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, led the debate from which the approval by a qualified majority emerged. | In recent weeks, members of the Venezuelan Parliamen…

_____ (2021-12-30). Occupy Biden Activists Will Rally On January 1. popularresistance.org This week, environmental advocates addressed intensifying fossil fuel pollution, climate injustices, and the Biden administration's failure to take the lead on climate crisis solutions during the Occupy Biden protests near Joe Biden's Wilmington, DE home. Their goal remains to increase the pressure on the President to declare a climate emergency and end new fossil fuel projects. The actions are being led by local community leaders and supported by dozens of environmental and social justice groups from around the country, and have resulted in hundreds of people taking action. The Occupy Biden actions began on Chri…

Jon Queally (2021-12-30). Encampment Near Biden's Delaware Home Calls for Declaration of Climate Emergency. truthout.org A small group of climate activists has established an encampment near President Joe Biden's private home in Delaware where they are demanding he declare a national climate emergency and immediately order the end to fossil fuel development in the United States. | Establishing the camp on Christmas Day and sleeping overnight in tents or cars on a roadside area not far from the family's Wilmington residence, the campaigners operating under the "Occupy Biden" banner say if the president truly…

_____ (2021-12-30). 2021 Was Business As Usual In DC, But Palestine Activists Scored Huge Wins. popularresistance.org This year was marked by a number of a political setbacks, but it also produced inspiring victories. As it comes to an end, we thought we'd take a look back on 2021. In addition to looking at Washington's support for Israel's violence, we wanted to take stock of what Palestine activists accomplished through their tireless work and unwavering commitment to human rights. | 2021 kicked off with Joe Biden assuming the presidency. The former Senator has a long pro-Israel track record and his administration upheld that reputation right away. As usual there was the issue of image vs. reality. Israel supporters threw tant…

_____ (2021-12-30). In Remembrance Of Chuck Kaufman. popularresistance.org Tucson, AZ – It is with heavy heart that the news of the passing of longtime anti-imperialist organizer Chuck Kaufman reached communities on December 28. Born in a small Indiana town, Chuck's life saw travels to numerous countries, most notably in the Latin American countries most firmly in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism. | In 1987, as Reagan's illegal Contra War against Nicaragua ravaged the country in an attempt to kill the successful Sandinista Revolution, Chuck answered the call for solidarity. He gave up his advertising business and joined thousands of other U.S. solidarity activists to help in the coffe…

Nora Barrows-Friedman (2021-12-30). What were the top BDS victories of 2021? electronicintifada.net Direct actions, legal victories and ice cream topped our headlines.

In Defense of Liberation! (2021-12-30). *BONUS* Comments and questions about waging a revolutionary struggle here in the US Empire. anchor.fm In this episode I read one of my recent blogs and discuss some of my further ideas about the struggle towards building a revolution here within the belly of the beast. Can it be done? I think yes, but we have to figure out how. The best way to figure out is by waging that struggle today. Go organize! (Blog found at forliberation.wixsite.com/website )…

_____ (2021-12-30). Iran Is Spearheading A Geopolitical Sea Change In West Asia. popularresistance.org Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote to his fellow colonials: "Either we hang together or we hang separately." | Those words are just as true today as they were 270 years ago, for empires have always controlled by dividing their victims into regional tribal interests in order to be better conquered. | While techniques have adapted to modern times, the essential ingredients for the science of discord remain relatively unchanged: keep resources scarce, fear and ignorance high, and let a targeted population clash over diminishing returns of scarcity. | Amid this division, myopic ethnic, religious, and linguistic pr…

Ann Brown (2021-12-30). Bryon Allen Is Still Buying Media Assets: Acquires New Alabama-Based TV Station For $28M. moguldom.com Media mogul Byron Allen didn't let the recent dismissal of his lawsuit against McDonald's over racial discrimination set him back. Allen is continuing to grow his media empire and just added another TV station to his broadcasting holdings with the purchase of Fox affiliate WCOV-TV in Montgomery, Ala. Allen Media Group bought the station for …

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Iran: Sending Rocket to Space While Nuclear Talks Are Held. telesurenglish.net Media reports say that while the talks are being held in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal, Iran launched the Simorgh rocket to space with three research devices. | RELATED: | According to the report, the exact time of the launch is unknown, neither what kind of devices were carried nor if any of the objects entered orbit around the Earth. | Ahmad Hosseini, the Iranian Defense ministry spokesman, stated that the "performance of the space center and th…

teleSUR (2021-12-30). "Good Progress" in Sanctions Removal Says Iran's Top Negotiator. telesurenglish.net Iran's top negotiator in the Vienna talks on the restoration of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal said on Thursday that negotiations have made "good progress" in the removal of U.S. sanctions over the past few days. | Photo taken on Dec. 9, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria.

_____ (2021-12-30). America's Malaise and Its 'Failure of National Purpose' — 'Things Are Not Getting Better'. strategic-culture.org Does Biden have a choice? Can he acquiesce to a negotiated settlement with all three of America's self-defined adversaries: Russia, China and Iran? | Former thrice-time U.S. Presidential candidate and now political commentator, Pat Buchanan,

_____ (2021-12-30). Can We Expect Saudi Arabia and Israel Normalizing their Relations in the Near Future? journal-neo.org After Israel signed the Abraham Accords in 2020 to normalize relations with the UAE and Bahrain, and then with Morocco, whether Saudi Arabia will be next in line in this process is being actively discussed in the United States, Israel, and the Middle East in general. The intensity of such discussions increased as the Saudi …

Staff (2021-12-30). Venezuela Mourns Death of US Activist Chuck Kaufman. orinocotribune.com This Wednesday, December 29, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia, mourned the death of US activist and organizer Chuck Kaufman, who consistently supported social movements in Latin American countries. Kaufman's involvement in solidarity actions spanned several decades, first focused on Central America and Nicaragua, and later expanded to include activism for Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and many other Latin American countries. | "We express our deepest sadness at the tragic passing of Chuck Kaufman," wrote Plasencia through his Twitter account, "a US activist, defender of…

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Cuban Friendship Organization Calls for Tweet Campaign for Cuba. telesurenglish.net An essential issue of the campaign will be to continue demanding the end of the U.S. blockade of the Caribbean nation and the return of the territory illegally occupied by the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo, in the eastern part of Cuba. | The Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) remains committed to the truth, human feelings of friendship and the struggles of the peoples of the world on the path towards the integration of humanity.

Editor (2021-12-30). Cuba eyes cooperation with China on clean energy. mronline.org Facing the challenges of an aging energy infrastructure, Cuba is looking to new energy sources with help from the Belt and Road Initiative to strengthen its power production capacity and move away from fossil fuels.

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Cuba Remembers Revolutionary Heroine Haydee Santamaria. telesurenglish.net On Dec. 30, Cubans celebrate the birthday of Haydee Santamaria, a woman whose life was marked by episodes of intense revolutionary struggle. Among them is her participation in the assault on the Moncada Barracks, a milestone in the revolutionary war. | RELATED: | Santamaria was born in 1922 in Las Villas province, where she got involved with social causes from her early youth. Besides being editor of the undergrou…

Staff (2021-12-30). Venezuela's National Assembly Passed Almost 40 New Laws in 2021. orinocotribune.com A total of 38 laws were passed by the National Assembly (AN) of Venezuela since its installation on January 5. At all times, the national parliament acted in compliance with the 7+7 scheme and all biosafety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. | Since its passing of the Interior and Debate Regulations at the beginning of the year, the Legislative Power has gone on to pass numerous laws leading up to the draft law on the Commission for the Guarantee of Justice and Reparation of Victims of Crimes Against Human Rights, passed on December 15. | The laws passed were: | 1) Interior and Debate Regulations of the…

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Venezuelan Congress To Debate Reform To Supreme Court. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, Venezuela's National Assembly will debate a bill to reform the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). | RELATED: | "In recent days, the TSJ President Maikel Moreno sent to the Commission for Dialogue and National Reconciliation a proposal for the reform of the Supreme Court law," National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said. | During the discussion of this proposal, the Venezuelan lawmakers will evalu…

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