WaPo: Trump Needs to Destroy Venezuela to Save It

by Joe Emersberger

FAIR | December 17, 2018

Tamara Taraciuk Broner of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Johns Hopkins professor Kathleen Page took to the pages of the Washington Post (11/26/18) to whitewash Donald Trump’s successful efforts to make Venezuela’s economic crisis much worse.  Appropriately enough, at the end of the piece, the Post recommended four other articles (11/23/18, 9/11/18, 6/20/18, 8/21/18) that either attacked Venezuela’s government or stayed conspicuously silent about the impact of US economic sanctions.

Venezuela: ANC Deputy Julio Escalona: ‘The People are Angry Because They Consider that We Aren’t Doing Our Job’

by Paul Dobson

Veneuzuelanalysis.com | December 20, 2018

Members of the ANC approved the new budget for 2019. (@NicolasMaduro / Twitter)

Merida, December 19, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com) –Ex-guerrilla fighter and high-ranking member of the ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) Julio Escalona made waves Tuesday with a scathing speech calling for reflection and a “revitalisation” of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) to which he also belongs, drawing attention to a series of failings in the institution.

The speech sparked an intense debate on social media, with many crediting him for bringing up these issues affecting the Venezuelan people.

Grim silence on the streets as Britain’s homeless die

by Peter Lazenby

Morning Star | December 20, 2018

Gareth Cook Photo: Joan Heath

DEATHS of homeless people have been branded a “national tragedy” after shock figures revealed today that the number has leapt by almost a quarter in the last five years.

Climate Change Hurts Women More but They Don’t Get to Make Decisions About It

The Wire | December 20, 2018

People leave the venue on the final day of the COP24 U.N. Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland, December 14, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Kacper Pempel

New Delhi: Who gets to decide how governments across the world will tackle climate change? Surprise surprise: it’s not the section of people who will be most affected by it.

Numerous studies have shown that women are disproportionately affected by climate-related changes. But at COP24 – like previous United Nations’ conferences on climate change – women aren’t the ones calling the shots. According to a report in Earther, the average delegation was 63% male and 37% female. This is similar to last year’s COP, when delegations on average also had 37% women.

India: Armed Peasants Struggle: Srikakulam Movement -50th anniversary

by Harsh Thakor

Frontier| December 08, 2018

50 years ago on November 25th 1968, a new epoch was carved out in the history of India with the birth of the Srikakulam Armed peasant struggle. Similar to the armed struggles of Telengana and Naxalbari it classically followed the Chinese path of protracted peoples was formulated by Chairman Mao. It imbibed the spirit of the martyrdom of Comrade Che Guvera and the Great proletrain Cultural Revolution which strived to create the new Socialist man. The resistance offered was reminiscent to that of the People of Vietnam in a similar period.

The Pentagon Failed Its Audit Amid a $21 Trillion Scandal (Yes, Trillion)

by Lee Camp

New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was ruthlessly attacked recently, and I feel a bit responsible. I might have accidentally tainted her Twitter feed with truth serum.

But that sounds weird—so let me back up.

A few months ago, I covered the story of the $21 trillion that has gone unaccounted for at the Pentagon. That’s right—trillion with a T—an amount of money you can’t possibly come to terms with, so stop trying. Seriously, stop. It’s like trying to comprehend the age of the earth.

U.S.A: Educators at Pittsburgh Charter School Win Union

American Federation of Teachers | December 20, 2018

Pittsburgh – Educators at Environmental Charter School have voted for union representation in an official ballot conducted by the National Labor Relations Board this evening.

A clear majority of ECS teachers and other professionals elected to unionize after signing a petition last month stating their desire to join the American Federation of Teachers. Voter turnout was 100 percent.