Month: May 2023

Una sociedad basada en el miedo y la violencia

Este año ha sido uno de aumento de tiroteos masivos y otros actos violentos en muchas partes de los EE. UU. Este año, a principios de mayo, hubo 184 tiroteos masivos, donde cuatro o más personas resultaron heridas o muertas. Estos asesinatos en masa en las escuelas, en los centros comerciales, en los hogares y […]

Endless Money for War, Stingy for the Poor

A few days ago it was announced that the Pentagon made an error when calculating its total funding for aid to Ukraine, a country still locked in its struggle against the brutal Russian invasion and occupation. Pentagon accountants apparently overvalued some of the weapons sold to Ukraine, leading them to conclude that it has received […]

Biden’s Border Policy – More Trump than Trump

The Trump-era border restrictions known as Title 42 expired on Thursday, May 18. These are the policies that, in the name of limiting the COVID pandemic, turned away asylum-seekers and forced thousands of people to wait in Mexico in dangerous situations. Trump’s border policies generated scandals and horror stories, from child separation, to mass imprisonment […]

Oakland Teachers’ Strike — A Balance Sheet

On May 4 teachers in Oakland, California, went on a seven-day strike that ended with a tentative agreement. Many teachers felt that the contract was mediocre at best. The timing of the strike was very difficult for students, teachers, staff, and families, since the end of the school year is a special time for field […]

France: Against the Extreme-Right, and For the Solidarity of Working People

May 15, 2023, Editorial of the Workplace Newsletters of the Etincelle fraction of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA), Translated from French After months of extreme right-wing demonstrations in the city of Saint-Brévin-Les-Pins, from the National Rally (RN) Party to neo-fascist groups and Éric Zemmour’s far-right party, the Mayor of the town had no choice but […]

Ocean Heating Adds Urgency to Our Task

A new United Nations climate assessment report builds on previous reports to paint a picture of oceans continuing to heat up along with our global atmosphere. This is the latest in a series of reports that show a more rapid rate of increase in global ocean surface temperatures than previously expected. In the words of […]

BART’s Future?

The news media are raising concerns about the future of BART. The problems with BART are a product of wider societal problems.

Jordan Neely’s Killing Reflects the Backwards Priorities of this Society

The killing on May 1 of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old unhoused Black man with a history of mental illness, on a New York City subway has sparked outcry and protests in the past couple of weeks.  Neely was reportedly yelling on the subway when 24-year-old Daniel Penny, a former Marine, placed him in a chokehold […]

A Society Based on Fear and Violence

This year has been one of increased mass shootings and other violent acts in many parts of the U.S. This year, as of the the beginning of May, there were 184 mass shootings, where four or more people were injured or killed. These mass murders in schools, in shopping malls, in homes and in the […]

Hottest Days Ever in Southeast Asia

Temperatures hit all-time recorded highs in early May in Vietnam and Laos. Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, also reached a record high. Much of these three countries and the rest of Southeast Asia have also been blanketed with heavy smog. The combination of extreme heat and smog is deadly. Scientists say that this is the […]

France: Macron in Trouble Plays the Race Card, and the Billy Club!

May 8, 2023 editorial of the Workplace Newsletters of the Etincelle fraction of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA), translated from French. The government is still trying to end the fight against the pension reform… It can even thank the trade union leaders, who agreed to meet with Macron on May 17, and who set the […]

Where Is It Safe Anymore?

The city of Davis, California, has been rocked in recent weeks by a series of stabbings that left two people dead and one hospitalized. While the suspected killer is now off the streets, this small college town will suffer lasting trauma from the incidents. The first victim, David Henry Breaux, was found slain on a park bench […]

The UC Berkeley Anthropology Library Occupation

For over two weeks now, University of California (UC) Berkeley students, faculty, and community members have occupied the George and Mary Foster Anthropology Library. The UC Berkeley administration has been trying for months to close three campus libraries: the Mathematics-Statistics Library, the Physics-Astronomy Library, and the Anthropology Library. Students in the Physics, Math, and especially […]

Horses Die for Owners’ Profits

Last weekend was the Kentucky Derby, a nearly 150-year-old horse race, attended by spectators with elaborate hats sipping mint-julep cocktails. This year, while the fancy crowd dressed up and relaxed, the horses who actually ran the race were dying – literally – to entertain them. Seven horses died this year in the lead-up to the race […]

British Dockworkers in 1920 Show International Working-Class Solidarity

In 1920, British dockworkers in East London carried out a little-known strike. It was not simply a strike for higher wages or better conditions. British workers struck to stop the British government’s attempt to militarily crush the Russian Revolution – the first successful workers’ revolution in world history. In 1917, after more than three years […]

Capitalism is Killing Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean Sea

The number of migrants, many coming from Sub-Sahara Africa, making the dangerous journey through the Mediterranean Sea is at a record high. People fleeing civil conflict, other violence, and poverty are seeking refuge in Europe. Last month, dozens of bodies identified as people from Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Pakistan have appeared along Libya’s coast, and a boat […]

Chile Nationalizes Lithium – Sustainability or Sustained Exploitation?

On April 18th, Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, announced his government’s plans to nationalize the country’s lithium mineral reserves. This mineral has enormous importance in the production of electric car batteries, a massive and growing industry in the world. Chile has the largest lithium reserves in the world. Chile, like other countries in the world, is […]

Texas Governor and Politicians Don’t Care About Human Suffering

Last Friday, in yet another horrifying case of armed violence, a man shot and killed five people in a suburb of Houston, Texas. The incident began after Francisco Oropesa had been shooting his gun in his yard. The noise woke up a six-week-old baby next door and kept it from sleeping. When the baby’s father, Wilson Garcia, approached […]

Israel’s 75th Anniversary – Nothing to Celebrate!

The state of Israel celebrated its 75th anniversary on April 25th. This comes after weeks of protests in which hundreds of thousands of Israelis opposed the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The movement has angrily opposed the conduct of the Israeli government, as Netanyahu has attempted a power grab by trying to pass a law […]

Transport Worker Cuts Impact Kaiser Care

This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. A hospital is not made up of solely healthcare providers and patients. Hospitals function because of the vital responsibilities of all its workers: those who transport patients, the ones who move medications from one building to […]

Primero de Mayo: Celebremos el poder y las posibilidades de los trabajadores

El Primero de Mayo se estableció como fiesta internacional en 1889 para honrar las luchas y sacrificios de la clase obrera internacional. Es un reconocimiento de su misión histórica: liberar a la humanidad de la explotación y la opresión causadas por el sistema capitalista. Hoy, más que nunca, los trabajadores necesitamos recordar nuestra historia, como […]