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From the Murder of Berta Cáceres to Dam Disaster in Uttarakhand
March 2, 2021 was the five year anniversary of the murder of Berta Cáceres, who opposed the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras. That date was less than one month after the deaths of dozens of people from Tehri Dam disaster in Uttarakhand, India. The two stories together tell us far more about consequences of the insatiable greed of capitalism for more energy than either narrative does by itself.
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In defense of Ken Loach
Ken Loach, thankfully no smear campaign against him can succeed. Not only because Ken’s work and life are proof of the accusation’s absurdity, but also because of the courageous Israelis who take awful risks by defending the right of Jews and non-Jews alike to criticise Israel.
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Ecuador: from horror to electoral debate
Amidst denunciations and accusations the campaign for the April 11 runoff begins.
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U.S. State Department accusation of China ‘genocide’ relied on data abuse and baseless claims by far-right ideologue
The Trump and Biden administrations have relied on the work of a right-wing religious extremist, Adrian Zenz, for their “genocide” accusation against China. A close review of Zenz’s research reveals flagrant data abuse and outright falsehoods.
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Ecosocialism versus degrowth: a false dilemma
Ecosocialists and degrowthers need to map the many overlaps of their views to improve the effectiveness of their shared struggle for an ecologically-sound and socially-fair world free from patriarchal, racial and colonial legacy.
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BJP begins to pay political price as farmers struggle completes three months
IN the week before the historic nationwide farmers’ struggle completed three months on February 26, the BJP has begun to pay a heavy political price for its pro-corporate adamancy.
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U.S. Exceptionalism Surges Again. Will It Fly?
In a statement marking the “return” of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden Administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.
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U.S. bombs Syria and ridiculously claims self defense
On orders of President Biden, the United States has launched an airstrike on a facility in Syria. As of this writing the exact number of killed and injured is unknown, with early reports claiming “a handful” of people were killed.
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Is the world poor, or unjust?
Social media has been ablaze with this question recently. We know we face a crisis of mass poverty: the global economy is organized in such a way that nearly 60% of humanity is left unable to meet basic needs. But the question at stake this time is different.
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The Pandemic: Half a million lives lost in U.S., more than the two World Wars and Vietnam War combined
Over half a million people have died of coronavirus in the U.S. Grasping the enormity–half a million people gone–is difficult to visualize.
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Catastrophe and Utopia: Kim Stanley Robinson’s ‘Ministry for the Future’
We need no longer speculate about whether we live in a climate emergency. The scientific verdict has been out for some time now, each year’s report grimmer than the last.
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Hundreds of law students announce boycott of Chevron law firm Seward & Kissel for “unethical” private prosecution of human rights attorney Steven Donziger
Students from over 50 leading U.S. law schools–including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and New York University–have announced a recruiting boycott of a prominent Chevron law firm to protest its “unethical” private prosecution of U.S. human rights lawyer Steven Donziger after he helped win a $9.5 billion pollution judgment against Chevron.
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Human nature is no barrier to socialism
Of all the reasons to be angry during the pandemic—the profit-first response of governments, the neglected state of the health system, the environmental crisis underpinning the disaster, the millions dead—it has been people buying extra toilet paper that has elicited the most outrage.
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How did a fateful CIA coup—executed 55 years ago this February 24—doom much of sub-Saharan Africa?
Fifty-five years ago on this day, the fate of Africa was irrevocably altered when the CIA sponsored a 1966 coup d’état against Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, former Prime Minister of Ghana and Pan-Africanist visionary who was voted as “Africa’s Man of the Millennium.”
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Does the West repeating claims of China committing genocide in Xinjiang reify it?
The Jewish Virtual Library quotes Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as having said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
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Ice and blood in Texas
Avoidable deaths, not avoided.
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Demographic characteristics of people receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with states to provide more information on the demographic characteristics of vaccinated people.
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Crediting Xenophobia—rather than organizing—with raising workers’ wages
The Economist (2/15/20) ran a brief article last year with a startling headline: “Immigration to America Is Down. Wages Are Up. Are the Two Related?” Maybe, the article’s anonymous author answered, at least for the short term.
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New European Union sanctions on democratic elections: 30 Venezuelan politicians to be sanctioned
The European Union (EU) announced this Friday, February 19, that the body will sanction about thirty Venezuelan leaders for participating in the legislative elections last December, reported Europa Press, alluding to a “high ranked official” of the community bloc.
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Partners: China and Cuba
In the 1960s, the main forms of the Chinese assistance offered to Cuba were preferential trade and interest-free loans. From 1961 to 1965, China gave Cuba an interest-free loan of 60 million U.S. dollars.