Trump, the Nationalist-Populist Movement, and Wolff’s Fire and Fury

by John Bellamy Foster

MR Online | January 09, 2018

The extraordinary media attention directed at journalist Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (Henry Holt, 2018)—heightened by Trump’s own attacks on Wolff’s book—has merely brought out into the open what was already obvious, namely that all of Trump’s closest aides consider him mentally unstable, narcissistic, incompetent, uninformed, and dangerously ill-equipped to be president. The general picture is of a West Wing rife with infighting and general chaos, particularly in the first 100 days when the Bannon/Breitbart and what Wolff calls the “Jarvanka” (standing for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump) factions were perfectly free to square off against each other. In the midst of all of this turmoil was Russiagate, which, however, Wolff to his credit recognizes, is mainly a distraction, when compared to the emerging new forces in U.S. politics.

Iranian communists appeal for support for political prisoners

by Steve Sweeny

Morning Star | January 09, 2018

IRANIAN communists appealed for international support today to secure the release of thousands detained in a government crackdown.

The Tudeh Party of Iran released a statement calling on “all the freedom-loving and progressive forces of Iran and the world” to do all they can to establish the whereabouts of those held by the Iranian regime.

“Bright”: New Netflix film has standard neoliberal politics

by Michelle Zacarias

People’s World | January 09, 2018

Joel Edgerton and Will Smith in “Bright.”

The Netflix original film Bright was released December 22, 2017, to a plethora of mixed reviews. Boasting a star-studded leading pair of Will Smith and Joel Edgerton, the “buddy cop” drama is an attempt at creating social discourse around the country’s current state of political affairs through a fantasy lens. Bright writer Max Landis takes advantage of the increasing popularity of fantasy genres, but the overall theme misses the mark on a number of different levels.

Cuba honors Celia Sánchez Manduley

Today, January 11, Cuba’s working class will pay tribute to the heroine of the Sierra and the plains, Celia Sánchez Manduley, on the 38th anniversary of her death

by  Orestes Eugellés Mena

Granma | January 11, 2018

Photo: Archive

Today, January 11, Cuba’s working class will pay tribute to the heroine of the Sierra and the plains, Celia Sánchez Manduley, on the 38th anniversary of her death.

Cuba: A realistic perspective on the economy

Interview with Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Minister of Economy and Planning, following December session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, where 2017 and 2018 state budgets and economic plans were addressed – Plus facts and figures

 by Yudy Castro Morales

Granma | January 11, 2018

Photo: cadenagramonte.cu

For many, knowing that Cuba’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 1.6% in 2017, and that the figure projected for 2018 is around 2%, means, at the least, that the rate is still far removed from that needed to move along the path to development. Specialists have repeatedly said that this requires sustained levels of growth above 5%.

Others, nonetheless, see these figures as simply “numbers,” perhaps “small,” not providing much basis for an evaluation, not aware that the GDP is “a macro-economic indicator that includes the country’s total production of goods and services, measured according to their value, after deducting the intermediate consumption required for the process of production,” as explained by Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, a Council of Ministers vice president and head of Economy and Planning.