(2021-03-03). Joe Biden Is Following A Blueprint for Forever War. popularresistance.org Last week, the U.S. military bombed a site near al-Hurri, along the Iraqi border inside Syria, where Iranian-backed Iraqi militias were allegedly stationed. Although the U.S. launched its missiles across an international border (and without the approval of Congress), White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki framed the strike as a "defensive" response to a series of rocket attacks that have killed one and wounded several Americans over the past two weeks. The American bombing left "up to a handful dead," according to one U.S. official who spoke with CNN, and Tehran condemned…
(2021-03-03). Delusions of Self-Defense: Biden Bombs Syria. dissidentvoice.org Every power worth its portion of salt in the Levant these days seems to be doing it. On February 25, President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against Syria. The premise for the attacks was implausible. "These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq," claimed Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, …
(2021-03-03). Tucson anti-war protestors: "new administration, same devastation!" fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – On March 1, a dozen people rallied outside the Federal building in downtown Tucson to protest the recent U.S. airstrikes in Syria by the Biden administration. The crowd received honks of solidarity, and held signs that reading, "U.S. Hands Off Syria! U.S. out of Iraq! U.S. out of the Middle East!" | Much of the rush hour traffic are US military personnel coming through downtown to access the I-10 highway to return to their homes outside the city limits. Protestors chanted, "No Blood for Oil! and No Justice! No Peace! US out of the Middle East!" | The mobilization took place days after the Biden admin…
(2021-03-03). How Facebook Suppressed Kurdish Site for sake of its Business in Turkey. juancole.com 
By Jack Gillum and Justin Elliott | — ( ProPublica ) — As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook's top executives faced a political dilemma. Turkey was demanding the social media giant block Facebook posts from the People's Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group the …
(2021-03-03). Syria: Majority in opposition areas impacted by attacks on medical facilities. middleeasteye.net 
Syria: Majority in opposition areas impacted by attacks on medical facilities | New report documents devastating impact of a decade of assaults on health care in the country's northwest | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 16: 10 | An aerial view of a hospital reportedly hit by an air strike in the Syrian village of Shinan, 30 kilometres south of Idlib (AFP/File photo) | A majority of Syrians living in the country's e…
(2021-03-03). Policing Universities by Neoliberal Governments in the UK And France. counterpunch.org 
The respective motivations, and their specific underlying conditions, are of course different in the UK and France, but both culminate in plans for universities to curb the expression of leftist points of view. In the UK this gives a potential pulpit to "maverick" speakers on the right, such as Steve Bannon, who (facetiously?) approved the delivery of pipe bombs to critics of Trump, and who lost his book deal for having a favourable view of underage sex.
(2021-03-03). Ecuador: Indigenous organizations announce national strike. mronline.org 
Supporters of Indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez demand the recount of electoral records due to alleged electoral fraud.
(2021-03-03). Latinx Farmworkers Risk Their Lives During Pandemic. Many Now Struggle to Access Vaccines. democracynow.org 
There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agriculture Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left many farmworkers unvaccinated. "There's been a lot of inequities that we've seen," she says. We also speak with Mary Jo Dud…
(2021-03-03). Latinx Farmworkers Risk Their Lives During Pandemic. Many Now Struggle to Access Vaccines. democracynow.org There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agricultural Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left many farmworkers unvaccinated. "There's been a lot of inequities that we've seen," she says. We also speak with Mary Jo Du…
(2021-03-03). Headlines for March 3, 2021. democracynow.org Biden Vows Vaccine Supply Will Be Enough to Vaccinate All U.S. Adults by End of May, Texas Lifts All COVID Restrictions; Sanders to Force Vote on $15 Minimum Wage, WH Pulls Tanden OMB Bid, Senate Confirms Raimondo for Commerce Dept., Rouse as Top Economic Adviser, Seth Harris, Who Wrote Blueprint for California's Prop 22, Tapped for Top Labor Role, FBI Director Says Domestic Terrorism Has Been "Metastasizing" as Capitol Increases Security, 3 Women Media Workers Shot Dead in Afghanistan, Protests in Lebanon After Currency Plummets to Record Low, Family of Hunger-Striking Western Sahara Political Prisoner Refused V…
(2021-03-03). Cuomo Must Go: Calls Grow to Remove NY Governor over COVID Nursing Home Cover-up & Sexual Harassment. democracynow.org 
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing mounting calls from fellow Democrats and progressive organizations to resign or be impeached over sexual harassment allegations and his cover-up of thousands of COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes. New York Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation after three women — two former aides and a woman who met Cuomo at a friend's wedding reception — accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. "Credible accusations of sexual harassment made by these courageous women coming forward show a clear pattern of Cuomo's abuse of power," says New York Assembly…
(2021-03-03). Latinx Farmworkers Risking Their Lives During COVID Struggle to Access Vaccines. truthout.org 
There are about 2.5 million farmworkers around the U.S., many of them undocumented immigrants working under dangerous and exploitive circumstances without sick leave or healthcare. Despite their status as essential workers, however, many farmworkers are facing an uphill battle to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Estella Cisneros, legal director of the Agriculture Worker Program for California Rural Legal Assistance, says an uneven rollout in California as well as technical barriers have left…
(2021-03-03). Can we kick out immigrants like Denmark does? Critics snicker after AOC lauds McDonald's workers' wages in European nation. rt.com 
A time-tested talking point about wages of McDonald's workers in Denmark was invoked by AOC in a call for a minimum wage boost in the US. Her opponents asked if Washington should also adopt Copenhagen's harsh immigration policies. | The fact that paying workers a living wage is even up for debate is "embarrassing," progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) tweeted on Tuesday as she called to override the Senate parliamentarian and push forward with the $15/hour minimum wage. The official ruled last Thursday that the proposal cannot be included in President Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill…
(2021-03-03). The Bits and Bytes of The Great Reset: COVID-19 and the Scaling Up of Data-Capitalism. mintpressnews.com 
The so-called Great Reset amounts to little more than a campaign to turn humanity into datasets, which the world's most powerful hedge funds and transnational corporations can use to create more profits for themselves and their clients.
(2021-03-03). ICC prosecutor opens investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas. middleeasteye.net 
ICC prosecutor opens investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel and Hamas | Fatou Bensouda formally begins her investigation after the International Criminal Court ruled it had jurisdiction in the Palestinian territories | Wed, 03/03/2021 – 14: 26 | Bensouda said the decision to begin an ICC investigation comes after a five-year preliminary inquiry (Reuters) | The International Criminal Court's pros…
(2021-03-03). The devastating, irreparable death of Aruká Juma. peoplesworld.org 
Manaus, Amazonas — The death of the last survivor of the Juma people, the warrior Amoim Aruká, from complications linked to COVID-19, is an incalculable tragedy. The Juma people suffered innumerable massacres throughout their history. There were 15,000 of them at the turn of the 20th century and by 2002 there were only five Jumas …
(2021-03-03). "Engaging the World": The "Fascinating Story" of Hamas's Political Evolution. dissidentvoice.org 
On February 4, representatives from the Palestinian Movement, Hamas, visited Moscow to inform the Russian government of the latest development on the unity talks between the Islamic Movement and its Palestinian counterparts, especially Fatah. This was not the first time that Hamas's officials traveled to Moscow on similar missions. In fact, Moscow continues to represent an …
(2021-03-03). What We Got in Biden. counterpunch.org 
The wrenching appeals by some on the political left to vote for Biden must sting for some of those who actually did cast their vote for him, or at least against Trump in November 2020. This is the game that plays itself out again and again and again, ad nauseam, in US politics, the politics
(2021-03-03). CDC school reopening guidance suppresses aerosols based on thin evidence and driven by budgetary concerns. mronline.org 
For a period of time after this article was originally published (February 18, 2021) it was scrubbed from Google's search index. When the author, Lambert Strether, realized the piece had been "censored," it was published a second time on March 1, 2021 with an analysis of the purging. Subsequently, the article magically reappeared in the search …
(2021-03-03). Buffalo demands mental health help, not death-by-cop. workers.org 
Buffalo, N.Y., City Hall, Feb. 28 Buffalo, N.Y. — Activists demonstrated here Feb. 28 in solidarity with the family of Daniel Prude and the people of Rochester, N.Y, where police killed Prude while answering a mental health crisis call in March 2020. The police response was to put a "spit . . . |
(2021-03-03). 7 lies Amazon tells about the union. liberationnews.org 
In a historic development, 5,800 workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, are right now voting on whether to be represented by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union.
(2021-03-03). Biden's Quandary: Proxy Wars and Endless Wars. counterpunch.org 
From the end of the Second World War until the administration of Ronald Reagan, there were very few American battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia. Since the administration of George H.W. Bush, however, most American battlefield deaths have taken place in those regions. The turning point took place in 1979 with the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
(2021-03-03). Workers Should be Wary Now that Private Equity Is Going Retail. cepr.net 
Eight years after passage of the 2013 JOBS Act that let private equity firms market directly to individuals to solicit their investments, retail investors — largely high net worth individuals — finally account for a significant share of assets under management (AUM) at some of the largest PE firms. Apollo claims to be "among the …
(2021-03-03). Republicans make the FBI look like the good guys. peoplesworld.org 
Not too many years ago, it would have been unthinkable that at a congressional hearing on right-wing terror the FBI would be defending left and progressive demonstrators, saying that it was not them but rather white supremacists that were the real threat to security in the U.S. At the obvious displeasure of Republican senators Tuesday, …
(2021-03-03). The Real Threats to America are the Pandemic and Poverty; why Give Ever More Money to the Pentagon? juancole.com 
By Mandy Smithberger | — ( Tomdispatch.com) — This country is in a crisis of the first order. More than half a million of us have died thanks to Covid-19. Food insecurity is on the rise, with nearly 24 million Americans going hungry, including 12 million children. Unemployment claims filed since the pandemic began have …
(2021-03-03). 'Back of the Moon': A Noirish apartheid-era South African film. peoplesworld.org 
Director/co-writer and Oscar nominee Angus Gibson's Back of the Moon is another example of why I love PAFF—the Pan African Virtual Film + Arts Festival. If not for this festival film buffs like moi probably would never have heard of, let alone had the opportunity to see, this highly entertaining South African movie. Moon is …
(2021-03-03). Richland, Washington protesters demand 'No kids in cages'. liberationnews.org 
Facilities used to cage children that were closed under Trump's administration are being reopened under Biden's administration.
(2021-03-03). Rosa Luxemburg at 150: Toward 'a social order worthy of the human race'. peoplesworld.org 
On March 5, 2021, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg's birth. No one who wishes to get a sense of Rosa Luxemburg as a person, both political and private, will regret watching Margarethe von Trotta's meticulously researched 1986 film of the same name. It is available with English subtitles. The film begins on …
(2021-03-03). Biden pick for Secretary of Agriculture no friend of farmworkers or small farmers. workers.org 
President Joe Biden nominated former Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job he held for the entire Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. Vilsack testified before the Senate on Feb. 2 — Groundhog Day — and was confirmed a few weeks later. . . . |
(2021-03-03). Solitary confinement abuse sparks hunger strike in Louisiana's Angola Prison. workers.org 
Incarcerated workers in Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison began a hunger strike early Feb. 17. The reason: Prison officials refused to release them back into the prison population after they served their sentence in solitary for a rule infraction. Angola State Prison was the 18,000-acre Angola Plantation before the Civil War, . . . |
(2021-03-03). Biden pick for Secretary of Agriculture no friend of farmworkers or small farmers. workers.org President Joe Biden nominated former Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a job he held for the entire Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. Vilsack testified before the Senate on Feb. 2 — Groundhog Day — and was confirmed a few weeks later. Vilsack's . . . |
(2021-03-03). What the trees of Notre Dame have to tell us. peoplesworld.org 
On April 15, 2019, watching television footage of Notre Dame Cathedral burning, I wept like millions of other French people and others around the world. The flames which invaded the screen brought back memories of my first visit to the cathedral as a child, reading the novel by Victor Hugo (Notre Dame de Paris, 1831), …
(2021-03-03). The class character of the expansion of COVID-19: The case of Peru's Capital City Lima. mronline.org 
At the end of December 2019, the world was notified about the existence of a new coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China. This virus, SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19), rapidly spread and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.
(2021-03-03). Support keeps building for #BAmazon union drive, Biden feels pressure. workers.org 
A people's movement against an anti-people corporation has intensified, backing the union drive at Amazon's Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The courageous Southern union warriors are finally starting to get the support they need and deserve. People's Organization for Progress rally to support Amazon workers outside Whole Foods, Newark, N.J., Feb. 27. . . . |
(2021-03-03). The Bessemer front in the international class struggle. workers.org 
Bessemer, Ala., is now the site of a historic labor struggle between the majority-Black Amazon warehouse workers there and the $1.7 trillion international capitalist monopoly corporation. About 80% of the warehouse workers are African American, and almost half are women. Rally for Amazon workers, Bessemer, Ala., Feb. 6. In March . . . |
(2021-03-03). Congelación de Texas: los ricos, más ricos mientras obreros sufren. workers.org 
Houston Una tormenta invernal sin precedentes azotó a Texas el 15 de febrero y trajo temperaturas bajo cero. Una semana después, grandes sectores de la población siguen sin electricidad, calefacción y/o agua. El horizonte de Houston brilla, mientras millones sufren sin calefacción ni agua en medio de cortes de energía . . . |
(2021-03-03). Debt relief with Chinese characteristics. mronline.org 
As China is poised to become the world's largest creditor, concerns about debt sustainability have grown. Yet considerable confusion exists over what is likely to happen when a government runs into trouble repaying its Chinese loans.
(2021-03-03). A common soil pesticide cut wild bee reproduction by 89% — here's why scientists are worried. juancole.com 
By Philip Donkersley | — When you think of bees, a hive humming with activity probably comes to mind. But most of the world's 20,000 bee species don't call a hive home. These wild species lead solitary lives instead, and around 70% of them build nests underground where they raise their offspring on the nectar …
(2021-03-03). Community demands Sanctuary Schools in Philadelphia, a 'sanctuary city'. workers.org 
Erika Guadalupe Nuñez speaking, March 1. "Philadelphia has declared itself a 'sanctuary city,' but how can it be a sanctuary city without its schools being sanctuaries for all students?" asked Erika Guadalupe Nuñez of Juntos at a well-attended March 1 press conference outside the School District of Philadelphia headquarters. . . . |
(2021-03-03). Biden's Quandry: Proxy Wars and Endless Wars. counterpunch.org From the end of the Second World War until the administration of Ronald Reagan, there were very few American battlefield deaths in the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southwest Asia. Since the administration of George H.W. Bush, however, most American battlefield deaths have taken place in those regions. The turning point took place in 1979 with the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
(2021-03-03). Ecuador: from horror to electoral debate. mronline.org 
Amidst denunciations and accusations the campaign for the April 11 runoff begins.
(2021-03-03). Richland, Wash., protesters demand 'no kids in cages'. liberationnews.org Facilities used to cage children that were closed under Trump's administration are being reopened under Biden's administration.
(2021-03-03). Solidarity rallies call for end to U.S.-backed dictatorship in Haiti. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON——On the morning of March 1 at the Embassy of Haiti, local D.C. organizers with Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) held a solidarity rally with the people of Haiti who are rising up against a U.S.-backed dictator. Jovenel MoàØse's term of office ended Feb. 7, but he has so far refused to relinquish power. MoàØse, …
(2021-03-03). Ruling Class Joe and the Essence of American Politics. counterpunch.org 
It's a damn good thing that the demented pandemo-fascist oligarch Donald Trump no longer sits in the White House and that his Republifascist Party no longer holds the majority in the U.S. Senate. But make no mistake: Americans continue to live under an unelected dictatorship of money and empire. Just because that class dictatorship isn't quite ready for Door #1, open fascist rule, don't look for Door #2, neo-New Deal reformist social democracy, anytime soon. No, we are still getting slammed in the face with Door #3, a neoliberal corporate-imperial authoritarianism that cancels #2 while setting us up for a harsher…
(2021-03-03). Andrew Cuomo: Legend of a Fall. counterpunch.org 
Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…
(2021-03-03). Andrew Cuomo: Legend of a Fall. counterpunch.org 
Future historians will have a field day examining the daily commentary of the COVID pandemic. Early on there was Madonna sitting nude in a marble bathtub filled with rose petals proclaiming COVID 'the great equalizer.' Trump of course supplied his daily dose of schizophrenic fare so incoherent that even conservative TV hacks were unable to morph it into a convincing picture of brave leadership. Yet nothing tops the spectacle of Ellen Degeneres and Trevor Noah actually declaring themselves to be 'Cuomosexuals', in honor of New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a term that was immediately plastered on various merchandise…
(2021-03-03). Defend the Guard Act Stirs Debate in West Virginia Over Military Industrial Complex. counterpunch.org 
A debate over the military industrial complex is raging in West Virginia. The debate was kicked off in the West Virginia legislature again this year by Patrick McGeehan, a Republican member of the House of Delegates from the northern panhandle. McGeehan has introduced House Bill 2138 — the Defend the Guard Act. It's a short
(2021-03-03). Biden's Appointments on Energy and the Environment Are at Best a Mixed Bag. truthout.org 
Four major appointments offer a telling roadmap of the Biden administration's positions on energy and the environment. They range from the very green to the nuclear awful. In Biden's appointments to top environmental positions, he has done well overall. But in his appointments to top energy posts, he has selected nuclear power devotees. | Deb Haaland Will Make History : | Excellent, indeed extraordinary, is the choice of Rep. Deb Haaland to be secretary of the interior. Now facing stiff…
(2021-03-03). GOP Lawyer Admits to SCOTUS That Voting Rights Disadvantage Republican Party. truthout.org 
An attorney representing the Arizona Republican Party on Tuesday helpfully admitted outright what has long been obvious to observers of the GOP's decades-long assault on the franchise: Easier voting makes it harder for Republicans to win elections. | Asked by right-wing Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to explain the Arizona GOP's interest in upholding a state law that disqualifies ballots cast in the wrong precinct — a restriction that voting rights advocates say discriminates a…
(2021-03-03). Asian American Communities Organize Against Rise in Hate Crimes, Say More Policing Is Not the Answer. democracynow.org 
Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked across the U.S. over the past year, fueled in part by Donald Trump's racist rhetoric about the coronavirus. One recent study found a 150% increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 2020, even though overall hate crimes fell last year. Ron Kim, member of the New York State Assembly representing the 40th District in Queens, New York, says anti-Asian sentiment tends to flare up during times of crisis. "There's a long history of Asian Americans in this country feeling targeted and scapegoated whenever we experience economic downturns," says Kim. We also speak with Kim Tran…
