Big Tech under attack from everybody as it concentrates power

BIG TECH POLITICS 

A Journal of People report

Big Tech companies are facing pressure from all sides: governments, consumers, and their own employees.

A Business Insider report said:

Governments from Australia to the U.S. are cracking down on big tech companies.

Employees are working to form unions at firms like Google and Amazon.

Consumers appear to be more distrustful of the biggest platforms than ever before.

The increased level of scrutiny on Big Tech marks a reckoning of sorts for the industry, one borne out of an increasing understanding of the power these companies wield and a shifting cultural mood toward activism and holding the powers that be accountable.

COVID-COST: Over $13 TRILLION spent to combat the pandemic

ECONOMIC COST OF THE COVID PANDEMIC 

A Journal of People report

Global leaders have committed trillions of dollars to battle the Covid-19/coronavirus pandemic and support the global economy, Japanese business newspaper Nikkei reported in December, citing its experts.

According to estimates, the total amount up to December has exceeded $13 trillion across the world. It includes the $900 billion stimulus package, which was passed by the U.S. Congress this week.

Scarce Sand’s Soaring Demand

ECONOMY 

A Journal of People report

Sand, the world’s most consumed raw material after water and an essential ingredient to people’s everyday lives, is slipping through human fingers, warn scientists warn.

Sand may become a scarce resource due to high demand, they say.

“We just think that sand is everywhere. We never thought we would run out of sand, but it is starting in some places,” a climate scientist with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Pascal Peduzzi said during a webinar hosted by the Chatham House think tank.

Simply Cuba

INDOMITABLE CUBA

Madeleine Sautié Rodríguez

Granma | March 11, 2021

Photo: Granma Archives

Just a little more than two months after the coronavirus pandemic became part of the planet’s history, Cuba had not yet registered a single case. Now, exactly one year following the appearance of the first patients within our national territory, we have not had a day’s rest in the battle against COVID-19.

From the first world we received terrifying images: hospitals and morgues overwhelmed; desolate testimonies, pain, covered faces, no kisses, no embraces, physical distancing.

With Lula’s conviction overturned, it is time to recover democracy in Brazil

LULA FREE!

Peoples Dispatch | March 11, 2021

Daniel Giovanaz, reporter with Brasil de Fato, talks to Peoples Dispatch about the overturning of all convictions in former Brazilian president Lula da Silva’s case. He talks about the case, the impact the convictions had on the Brazilian elections in 2018 and on Brazilian society, how the mainstream media’s coverage impacted the image of Lula and his party, and what this step could mean for the country’s future.

The Fate of the Venezuelan Opposition is on the Table at the White House

IMPERIALISM 

Franco Vielma

RESUMEN | March 06, 2021

Photo: Doug Mills, UPI

The upcoming political scenario planned for this year around the elections for governors and mayors in Venezuela encompasses a range of possibilities far beyond the elections for these positions.

For those in the political ranks in Venezuela, the possibility of a detente that could carry with it important repercussions are under discussion.  This consists of a partial or total return to the normal round of electoral politics by the parties and leaders of the Venezuelan opposition who have vacated themselves from the parliamentary election just passed.

Venezuela does not recognize Mission that presents false reports to the UN

RESISTING IMPERIALISM

Olys Guárate

Ultimas Noticias | March 10, 2021

Venezuela categorically stated that it does not recognize the Facts Determination Mission, which is classified as “independent” to present a report that lacks veracity and logical foundation, since it is not properly supported by reliable sources, in an attempt to overshadowing the achievements made by the national government in matters of human rights, when speaking of the perpetration of alleged extrajudicial executions.

Venezuela Identifies Brazil Covid-19 Variant as China Donates 500,000 Vaccines

COVID-19 IN VENEZUELA 

Rachael Boothroyd

venezuelanalysis.com | March 06, 2021

Venezuela has received a 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine shipment donated by China. (MPPRE)

Merseyside, UK, March 6, 2021 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela has confirmed at least ten cases of Brazil’s highly contagious coronavirus strain in the country.

Speaking on television on Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said the outbreaks were located in the capital, the neighbouring state of Miranda and in the southern state of Bolivar.

“It is more contagious, transmits more viral load and is more dangerous, more serious,” he stated.

President Maduro: Certain Groups Intend to Steal Military Weapons from Venezuelan Army

IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION AGAINST VENEZUELA 

orinocotribune | March 10, 2021

On Tuesday, March 9, President Nicolás Maduro warned that groups responsible for acts of destabilization in Venezuela also have plans of sabotage and conspiracy to steal weapons from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB). The President made this remark during the closing ceremony of the military drills “Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías 2021,” in Caracas.

‘We know of your plans to steal weapons,” warned the president, referring to the groups involved in activities of sabotage. “We have heard it in the entire structure of the Venezuelan weapons system, they want to sabotage and steal a good part of the weapons system, create chaos in the system of defense…that we have today and know how to use,” said the Head of State in his speech broadcast by state TV station VTV.

Cuba, Venezuela strengthen agri-food ties in face of sanctions

REVOLUTIONARY ALLIANCE 

 REVOLUCIONALIMENTARIA | MARCH 10, 2021

Prensa Latina

Havana, Mar 9 (efe-epa).- Cuba and Venezuela agreed on Tuesday to promote food sovereignty by expanding bilateral cooperation to the field of agri-food, which the governments of the countries say is one of the areas most affected by sanctions imposed by the United States.

The agreements were signed within the framework of the XXI Cuba-Venezuela Intergovernmental Commission held in Havana, headed by the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and Cuban Vice Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas.

Among the planned actions are the exchange of knowledge, the planting of cereals, vegetables and tubers, and initiatives in the livestock and fish farming sectors.