The War for Power in Venezuela’s Countryside

by Marco Teruggi

teleSUR | June 19, 2017

Since opposition protests began in Venezuela in early April, much of the media coverage has focused on clashes in Caracas. However, the opposition’s campaign to bring down the government of Nicolas Maduro has not been limited to the country’s capital.

Marco Teruggi reports on a recent visit to the small, but strategic town of Socopo, in the largely rural state Barinas, which has been the site of a campaign of terror and an all-out struggle for power.

It was original published at 15 y Ultimo and has been translated by Green Left Weekly’s Federico Fuentes.

Interventionist Moves Against Venezuela Fail Again at OAS Meeting

teleSUR | June 19, 2017

A motorcyclist rides past a mural depicting Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez in Sabaneta, Venezuela, June 13, 2017. | Photo: Reuters

Two opposing resolutions submitted at the Organization of American States to discuss the situation in Venezuela prior to its annual meeting has again led to the failure of interventionist moves by U.S.-backed forces, as both proposals put forth did not receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

Hours before the meeting scheduled for 2 p.m., local time, Peru withdrew a draft resolution on the country Monday shortly before foreign ministers were set to meet to discuss the political situation in Venezuela in hopes of adopting a resolution on the issue. The proposal put forward by Peru, Canada, the United States, Mexico and Panama and supported by other countries, called for the government of President Nicolas Maduro to be condemned and attempted to put a stop the National Constituent Assembly to rewrite the Venezuelan Constitution.

Corbyn Is Right To Call For Empty Homes To Be Occupied Or Requisitioned. And The Consequences Could Be Huge

A Morning Star Editorial | June 18, 2017

JEREMY CORBYN’S determination to see victims of the corporate manslaughter at Grenfell Tower properly rehoused is a contrast to the total absence of leadership shown both by the government and Kensington & Chelsea Council.

Even in the face of the appalling human tragedy of last week, and despite Conservative MPs now lining up to condemn their Prime Minister’s cowardly response to the disaster, residents are still being let down.

Desperate women and men trying to find information on missing relatives have complained of a glaring absence of information, without local authorities taking responsibility to assist people or explain who to apply to for information. Rumours of lists of people who died compiled by doctors spread through the community without being verifiable.

Now five men own almost as much wealth as half the world’s population

by Paul Buccheit

AlterNet | June 12, 2017

While Americans fixate on Trump, the super-rich are absconding with our wealth, and the plague of inequality continues to grow. An analysis of 2016 data found that the poorest five deciles of the world population own about $410 billion in total wealth. As of June 8, 2017, the world’s richest five men owned over $400 billion in wealth. Thus, on average, each man owns nearly as much as 750 million people.

Why Do We Let a Few People Shift Great Portions of the World’s Wealth to Themselves?

Most of the super-super-rich are Americans. We the American people created the internet, developed and funded artificial intelligence, and built a massive transportation infrastructure, yet we let just a few individuals take almost all the credit, along with hundreds of billions of dollars.

Defenders of the out-of-control wealth gap insist that all is OK, because after all, America is a meritocracy in which the super-wealthy have earned all they have. They heed the words of Warren Buffett: “The genius of the American economy, our emphasis on a meritocracy and a market system and a rule of law has enabled generation after generation to live better than their parents did.”

York hosts international conference on “Marx’s Capital after 150 Years”

by Babak Amini

York University | June 07, 2017

The keynote speaker, Immanuel Wallerstein, with York’s Marcello Musto (image: Marina Tarantini)

An international conference to mark  the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Marx’s Capital was held May 24 to 26 at York University.

Organized by Marx Collegium (York University), under the directorship of Marcello Musto, associate professor of sociology, the conference brought together some of the leading scholars in the fields of sociology, political science, and philosophy from more than 20 universities and 10 countries to critically discuss the history, the content, and the relevance of this path-breaking book.

As one of the largest academic events in York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LAPS) in many years, the three-day event attracted a large audience, with more than 1,000 students, scholars, and activists coming from as far as Nepal, Japan, Mexico and Nicaragua. The closing session, with a keynote speech by Professor Immanuel Wallerstein (Yale University), was attended by more than 300 people.

‘Heat island’ effect could double climate crisis costs

A Journal of People report

Overheated cities face climate crisis costs at least twice as big as the rest of the world because of the ‘urban heat island’ effect, finds a new research.

The study (Journal Reference: Francisco Estrada, W. J. Wouter Botzen, Richard S. J. Tol. A global economic assessment of city policies to reduce climate change impacts. Nature Climate Change, 2017; DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE3301, University of Sussex. “‘Heat island’ effect could double climate change costs for world’s cities.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 May 2017. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170529133714.htm). by an international team of economists of all the world’s major cities is the first to quantify the potentially devastating combined impact of global and local climate crisis on urban economies.

The urban heat island occurs when natural surfaces, such as vegetation and water, are replaced by heat-trapping concrete and asphalt, and is exacerbated by heat from cars, air conditioners and so on. This effect is expected to add a further two degrees to global warming estimates for the most populated cities by 2050.

Dangerous Urbanization in Countries: World’s 10 biggest cities in 2030

A Journal of People report

Source: MORPHOCODE

Where shall the urban population growth reach? What shall be its impact? What is happening in urban life? Is this life-pattern sustainable? What is the root of the urban population-reality? These questions and similar questions are haunting all around the world.

The human population is growing at an alarming rate. By 2050, there will be almost 10 billion people on the planet.