Film Review: Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s latest film has been a box office hit, an adaptation of the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, American Prometheus, written by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. Oppenheimer provides a perspective on the intertwined technical, political, and moral issues confronting the scientists who developed the first atomic bomb. The film follows the life of […]
The Cobalt Mine That Never Was
The so-called capitalist transition to green energy has a problem: it isn’t profitable to produce cobalt, a key element in the construction of lithium-ion batteries. Most of the world’s cobalt production is currently in China, which has large reserves of the metal. The U.S. government, wanting to compete with China and meet future demand for cobalt, is […]
Floods Around the World
This summer has brought terrifying news: heat waves across the world have led to hundreds of deaths in the US alone; July 2023 was the hottest month in the past 120,000 years. In addition, flooding has been reported in countries across the world. In Juneau, Alaska, a melting glacier led to the flooding of the Mendenhall River, which set a new […]
France: The True Face of Macron’s Republic
Hedi was beaten by Macron’s police, causing him to lose part of his skull.
Who’s BART? or Whose BART?
Who is BART? And who does BART belong to? The workers, and the public.
School Libraries Under Threat in Houston
Houston Independent School District is converting school libraries into student discipline centers.
Film Review: Barbie
Barbie is a film about a pink-studded plastic doll from a surreal land where everything seems perfect so long as you don’t question it. When she ventures into the human world, namely Los Angeles, she comes face to face with the equally surreal nature of this society. In Barbieland, everything is possible if you’re Barbie. […]
Nuclear War: A Hair Trigger Away?
In the past few weeks, the film Oppenheimer has been widely discussed in the media, and many people have seen it in theaters. The film focuses on the life and work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who led the U.S. military’s effort to develop the first nuclear weapon during World War II. After successfully […]
August 6: The Anniversary of Nuclear War — NEVER AGAIN!
August 6, 2023 is the 78th anniversary of the start of nuclear war. In 1945, the United States military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing at least 70,000 civilians. Three days later, they dropped another on Nagasaki, killing at least 40,000 more. These are the U.S. military’s estimates at the time, so the […]
NO to the Guilty Verdict in the Baltimore Squeegee Case!
The trial over the shooting of a motorist by a teenage squeegee worker in Baltimore has come to an end. A year after the shooting the jury reached the verdict that the teenager, tried as an adult, was guilty of voluntary manslaughter, the use of a firearm in a crime, and being a minor in […]
Russia: Boris Kagarlitsky in Custody, While Yevgeny Prigozhin Still at Large!
By Michelle Verdier, posted on July 31, 2023 on the website of the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA) in France; translated from French. “Let’s rally in support of Boris Kagarlitsky!” On July 25, various Russian leftist and far-leftist voices, including the Telegram channel of the Russian Socialist Movement (RSD, a group linked to the Fourth International), […]
The UPS Contract – Now It’s Up to the Workers
On July 25, the bargaining team of the Teamsters union and United Parcel Service (UPS) reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract for more than 340,000 workers. Teamster members will vote on the contract from August 3 to August 22. UPS management and the union’s top officials, along with the U.S. Department of Labor […]
In Macron’s World, even Vacations Suck!
July 24, 2023, Editorial of the Workplace Newsletters of the Etincelle Fraction of the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA) in France; Translated from French This summer, the number of people who have decided not to go on vacation is approaching 40% – a very sad record indeed. France may still be one of the world’s most […]
Ruchell Magee Goes Free
Longtime political prisoner Ruchell Magee was released after spending 67 years behind bars. Magee was born in Jim Crow Louisiana in 1939 and faced the full brunt of white supremacy in the United States. As a 16-year-old, he was arrested on false charges of rape for having a relationship with a white woman in a […]
Fossil Fuel’s Grip on Climate Change Lobbyists
Fossil fuel lobbyists also work for climate nonprofits!
Florida’s Revised History Curriculum: Same Old Racism in New Form
Florida’s new standards for African American History downplay the historical oppression of Black people, even saying that slavery benefited slaves.
Short Staffing = Short Breaks
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. At a time of severe understaffing at Highland, we truly need our rest when we finally go on break. But there is never enough time to break when the hospital is always in dire need of […]
The Long Wait
This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA. One word of advice for incoming Kaiser patients: patience! Because of understaffing, it is almost inevitable that it will take a much longer time to get an appointment than it should. For patients who have been […]
Women Fight Back Against Texas Abortion Ban
Last week, court hearings were held on Zurawski v. Texas, marking the first time patients denied abortions sued a state since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Fifteen women, along with the Center for Reproductive Rights, filed a lawsuit against Texas after being forced to endure tragic and high-risk pregnancies to term. They are rightfully arguing that the […]
War over Ukraine Starves People around the World
Earlier this month, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal. This agreement was negotiated between Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine in 2022 to ensure that Ukraine, one of the world’s largest suppliers of grain, would still be able to export this essential food source to the rest of the world even after Russia’s invasion. […]
Teamsters Union and UPS Reach Tentative Agreement
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Parcel Service (UPS) announced on Tuesday, July 25 that they have reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract for approximately 340,000 workers. Teamster members will vote to approve or disapprove the contract, with voting spread out between August 3 and August 22. They had voted to […]
BART– the Land Baron: Displaced Coliseum Connections Tenants
The following is reprinted from Speak Out Now’s workplace newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay area. Tenants from the Coliseum Connections apartment building next to Coliseum station are still displaced after their building flooded last New Years Eve. They have been living in hotels for 7 months while the […]
Victory in the Anthropology Library
The occupation of the U.C. Berkeley Anthropology Library ended last week on Monday, July 17, after 85 days. The struggle was long and hard fought, but it was victorious. While the occupation did not achieve all of its goals, it succeeded in preserving the Anthropology Library and most of the book collection, as well as […]
BART – How Do They Think? Do They?
The following is reprinted from Speak Out Now’s workplace newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay area. Clean stations are important to BART riders. Coming into a station that has stuff spilled on the platform or trash scattered in the station doesn’t create a very inviting environment. The level of […]
Peru – The Third March on Lima and the Ongoing Struggle Against the Government
Last Wednesday, 21,000 people or more marched through the streets of Lima, Peru. The crowds held signs, chanted, and made their attitude known – they oppose the current government of President Dina Boluarte, which has attacked indigenous rights, and stands ready to privatize the state system of pensions. Meanwhile, the Boluarte government has done nothing […]
Book Review: The Uninhabitable Earth
A review of David Wallace-Wells’s The Uninhabitable Earth, a book about the terrible effects of climate change.
Summer Heat: The Climate Crisis is Unfolding Before Our Eyes
This summer has seen record heatwaves across the U.S. and the rest of the world. For three consecutive days between July 4th and July 6th, the average global temperature was the hottest ever recorded in human history. Here in the U.S., many regions of the country are suffering the consequences of this record heat. In […]
Actors on Strike
On July 14, 165,000 actors represented by SAG-AFTRA went on strike against Hollywood studios. They join the 11,500 writers of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since the beginning of May. This is the first time that both unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960. While Hollywood […]
A Pitiful Reduction of Student Debt
If you were only reading the bombastic headlines from the past few weeks, you might believe that, despite the recent Supreme Court setback to student debt relief, Biden has still been able to cancel a titanic amount of student debt – $39 billion. The White House announced last week that it was going to erase […]
Biden Administration Sends Cluster Bombs to Ukraine
On July 7, the Biden administration announced that it would send cluster bombs to the Ukrainian military. These bombs are a type of weapon that scatters many small explosives widely over a battlefield. Not only are these horrific weapons designed to wound, mutilate, and kill enemy soldiers, the small bombs can persist long after a […]
No More Water Breaks: Workers’ Barbeque, Texas Style
September 1, 2023, is a day that will live in workers’ rights infamy. Texas House Bill 2127 will ban mandatory water breaks for all workers. Governor Greg Abbot has signed the bill, which critics have begun referring to as the “Death Star” bill, because the state legislature can act as a dominant Death Star over local governments […]
France: As the old Revolutionary Song Says, “Hang the Aristocrats from on High!”
As France celebrates Bastille Day, there is reason to revolt: the rich are still getting richer at the expense of everyone else!
July 17, 1936 Spain: Workers’ Power Defeats Coup Attempt
On the morning of July 17, 1936, right-wing generals in Spain ordered their troops to begin occupying dozens of towns and cities throughout the country. Over the next three days, troops loyal to right-wing army generals marched out of their barracks and attempted to occupy Spanish population centers. This was an attempted coup, designed to […]
Derailment Investigation Spotlights Profit-Driven Dangers
Recently, there has been a series of railroad and other industrial disasters wreaking havoc on working-class communities. On June 24, a day after a public hearing on the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, a Montana Rail Link train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals into Montana’s Yellowstone River. Threats of exposure to hazardous chemicals shadow everyone in […]
Support UPS workers – Their fight is our fight, too!
The contract between UPS and workers in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters expires on July 31. It covers more than 340,000 workers, making UPS the largest U.S. company that bargains contracts with a union. UPS is a rich company, far more profitable than any of its competitors, like FedEx, and has become more profitable as […]
Climate Change is Bringing Malaria to the U.S.
As the climate heats up, mosquitoes have more time to live and breed and expand their habitat, especially northward. So, we are beginning to see mosquito-carried diseases, such as malaria, in different parts of the world. Until recently, malaria has been most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent in other equatorial and […]
France: We Don’t Want their Social Order
July 10, 2023, Editorial of the Workplace Newsletters of the Etincelle fraction of the New Anticapitalist Party, Translated from French Their Police Who Kill and Maim… All the politicians, from the RN (far-right party) to the SP (center-left Socialist Party) and FCP (French Communist Party), via the LR (liberal-conservative party) and the majority are closing […]
Short Staffing Petition at Highland
Highland Hospital needs to get more staff and stop overworking its workers.
Schedule Fit for Robots
The Highland and Kaiser hospitals treat their workers like robots!
Hugo Blanco: Peruvian Revolutionary, 1934-2023
Peruvian revolutionary Hugo Blanco has died. Let us remember his life.
The Fight of Dock and Delivery Workers is Our Fight, Too
In the past month, we have seen glimpses of workers showing their power in the shipping and delivery sectors, and there could be more to come. Frustrated after working without a contract for almost a year, dockworkers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) temporarily shut down major ports along the West Coast in […]
The Supreme Court Slashes the Basic Rights of the Population
The Supreme Court last year blocked the right to have an abortion and now continues to slash away the basic rights of the population, targeting everyone, especially the rights of women, LGBTQ people, people of color, workers, students and more. Defending the Right to Discriminate Recently the court ruled in a 6-3 decision to allow […]
Public Transit: The Money is There
The following is reprinted from Speak Out Now’s workplace newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Governor Newsom and the California politicians are wringing their hands over how to fund public transit. In our current situation – especially facing a global climate crisis – reliable, affordable (and free?) public transit is a necessity. There could […]
Earth’s Hottest Day Ever – 3 Days in a Row!
Just a few days ago we published a short article describing the intense heatwaves gripping parts of the world. The information we shared was already terrifying, and a sign that capitalism has already pushed our planet far beyond some so-called tipping point. But between July 4 and July 6, it got even worse. For three […]
France: Exploitation, racism, police violence: the revolt is legitimate and necessary!
July 3, 2023 editorial of the Workplace Newsletters of the Etincelle fraction of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA), translated from French. The murder of Nahel, a teenager, by a police officer in Nanterre has awakened an anger that could not be more legitimate. In the suburbs of Paris as well as in other cities the […]
Heatwaves Spread Worldwide
This summer, many parts of our planet are suffering brutal heatwaves, bringing us face to face with the by-product of capitalist production for profit – climate disruption. In late May, Shanghai, China’s largest city, hit a high of 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), the warmest recorded temperature in 100 years. This broke the previous […]
Israeli Attack on the Palestinian City of Jenin—a Sign of More Violence to Come?
Israel has attacked the Jenin refugee camp in Palestine, as it continues its genocide against the Palestinians.
Raising Minimum Wage Lowers Unemployment
A new study from UC Berkeley economists dismantles the lie often told by the bosses that raising the minimum wage would lead to job losses. The study was done through the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) and examined 47 different counties, mostly in New York and California, to analyze the effects of […]
Flash Floods Will Be Worse Than Previously Predicted
Billions of dollars of federal infrastructure money could be wasted on projects that won’t be resilient enough in the face of the climate crisis. A report released by a climate nonprofit, First Street, details that the models engineers are using to predict future rainfall are outdated. First Street analyzed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration […]
Peru – How Many More Have to Die?
Peruvian President Boluarte has indicated the intent to use more violence against protestors.