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Facebook deactivates dozens of accounts of Palestinian journalists and activists
At least 52 Palestinians have been affected by Facebook’s deactivation sweep, according to data collected by Middle East Eye
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Death cult capitalism
Death cult capitalism–now the dominant variety–accepts some losses among the royal caste as an acceptable trade-off for creating a world in which millions of lives are extinguished to lube the system and keep the good stuff rolling in, feeding the insatiable parasites at the top whose lust for short term profits has no end.
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The 1930s and now: Looking back to move forward
While there are great differences between the crises and political movements and possibilities of the 1930s and now, there are also important lessons that can be learned from the efforts of activists to build mass movements for social transformation during the Great Depression. My aim in this paper is to illuminate the challenges faced and choices made by these activists and draw out some of the relevant lessons for contemporary activists seeking to advance a Green New Deal.
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Is postcolonial capitalism a thing to itself? Reviewing Sanyal’s – Rethinking Capitalist Development
In all, Sanyal’s work is engaging, remarkable in its cross-disciplinarity, and fresh. Though its influence has been concentrated in Indian academia, I urge my colleagues elsewhere to give it a read. It will definitely make you think.
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How Big Wireless lobbied governments to build 5G for citizen data collection and surveillance
While selling 5G technology to the public as a means for faster downloads, Big Wireless—comprising a web of telecom companies, lobbyists and law firms– is spending millions to lobby governments the world over to implement the next generation of cellular technology because of its potential for data collection and surveillance of citizens.
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Screen New Deal
Under Cover of Mass Death, Andrew Cuomo Calls in the Billionaires to Build a High-Tech Dystopia.
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New York State tries to suspend Democracy; NYT and WaPo shrug
Blaming health risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Board of Elections announced last week that the state would simply cancel its Democratic presidential primary, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden to be proclaimed the victor without a vote. The response from the country’s two most prominent newspapers? Meh.
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Refusing to die for a confusing slogan
THE government’s latest injunction–Stay alert, Control the virus, Save lives–has come under instant criticism as providing ineffective advice.
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It takes a revolution to make a solution
I admit upfront that this is a hard newsletter to read. It is about debt. There is a bloodless quality to the way that we talk about the debt of the poorer nations. There is nothing poetic here. The numbers are alienating, their outcome shocking.
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New York: Parent groups denounce Cuomo outreach to Gates
Only minutes after news broke that Governor Cuomo had asked Bill Gates and his foundation to help “reimagine” education in New York, parent groups responded with a loud NO!
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Pompeo and the capricious virus
Iran has delivered a devastating blow to the ego of the Trump administration, puncturing it beyond repair, by its announcement Sunday that mosques will start reopening in low-risk areas of the country from May 5.
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The economic crash is already ravaging Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is facing its greatest crisis in generations. The continent thus far has been less affected by the pandemic than other parts of the world. But the impact of the global economic crisis is already enormous.
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It’s crucial to distinguish between can’t and won’t—with a million lives at stake
CNN should note that accepting a 60–70% infection rate means accepting a million deaths or more, assuming a fatality rate of 0.5%—which may be a conservative estimate.
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Faced with coronavirus, the most effective health system is one focused on prevention
“You really are the men and women who do everything eh, you people!” That was the reaction of an 88-year-old patient when she received a phone call from one of our Medicine for the People (MPLP) volunteer workers or staff in mid-March.
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“Hair” @WANPOETRY
Tova Charles & Zai Sadler performing “Hair” at Write About Now Poetry.
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Major Lazer – ‘Get Free’ feat. Amber (of Dirty Projectors)
The speaker is too poor to move to a different region, so they can only move slightly farther away from an inevitable problem.
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Farewell to the god of plague
The Communists were determined to eradicate disease. In the 1930s, Mao joined the Chinese Communist Party’s Public Health Commission; in 1934, when he was in the Jiangxi Soviet, Mao placed public health at the top of the list for party work.
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Both sides-ing bleach injection
Media in the era of an incompetent president.
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How to explain climate change? With comic books
If you are reading this, you probably already know a lot about climate change. But what images come to mind if I asked you to visualize climate change?
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COVID-19 crisis: Bolivia’s movement towards socialism says #PutLivesFirst
Given the exponentially rising death toll from COVID-19 and the devastating social and economic effects of brutal lockdowns, what could a humane and progressive response to the global pandemic look like?