Category: Articles

Big Business Attacks Child Labor Laws

Reported violations of state and federal child labor laws are on the rise nationwide. From meatpacking plants to construction sites to food packaging and coffee harvesting, teenagers, mostly immigrants, are being exploited in violation of longstanding child labor laws. Now let’s be clear — this isn’t all that new. Businesses trying to hire the cheapest […]

Michelangelo’s Statue of David is Too Hot for Florida

In Tallahassee Florida, parents forced a school to fire its principal because of a famous statue. The school’s art teacher showed David, the famous statue by Italian Renaissance artist, Michelangelo (You’ve probably seen it! A quick google search will remind you what it looks like). The statue is a classic of sculpture, and considered one […]

Biden Overrules Anti-Racist Legislation in D.C.

On March 20th, Biden signed into law a bill passed by Congress, including most Republicans and some Democrats, that overturned a new Washington, D.C. ordinance reforming D.C.’s criminal justice system. The law – which was passed by the majority of D.C. city council – would have removed minimum sentencing requirements and given the right to […]

France: What Perspectives can Revolutionaries Advance in the Movement?

The following is a translation of a perspective written by the Etincelle tendency of the New Anticapitalist Party for discussion with comrades in France organized around Philippe Poutou and Olivier Besancenot. Since its beginnings in January, the movement against the pension reform has had a political character that goes far beyond the postponement of the […]

International Solidarity

March 30, 2023, from the Étincelle fraction of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) in France. Translated from French. The banner in the photo reads: “The strike continues from France to Italy… Strike!” In several countries: Greece, Germany, Italy… rallies have been organized in front of French embassies and consulates to support the struggle of French […]

For Efficiency, Cigna Health Insurance Just Says NO!

Cigna health insurance has an efficient system to process claims quickly and easily: they just ask their medical reviewers to outright reject most claims. This streamlined system allows a doctor to review the claim and reject it without even opening the file.  In the 6 ½ minutes it took me to read the investigative report […]

Flooding in California Hits Farmworkers Hard

In the past 4 months, California has seen wave after wave of rain, drenching the state and leading to many reservoirs being filled at or above their historical average capacity. But this great downpour has also led to massive flooding across the state, leading to train derailments, destruction of homes, and 22 deaths.  Farmworkers working […]

Biden and the Wealthy Ignore Latest Climate Disaster Predictions

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their synthesis report, summarizing the research about the Earth’s entire climate system done over the past few years. The conclusions were grim. According to the report: “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all (very high confidence).” The […]

Mississippi Tornado Devastates Community; But It Didn’t Have to be this Bad

Many people in Rolling Fork, Mississippi and nearby towns are facing the loss of their loved ones, homes, and priceless personal items after the tornado last week. The whole town has been subjected to mass destruction and heartbreak. Could this extreme scale of devastation from the home-uprooting tornado have been prevented? Or is it the […]

Chocolate Factory Explosion 

In the early evening of Friday, March 24, an explosion killed 7 workers and hospitalized several others at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The explosion took place at a production facility for the R.M. Palmer Company, which produces seasonal chocolates such as chocolate Easter bunnies. The explosion also impacted buildings and injured residents in the neighboring […]

German Transport Workers Strike

On Monday, March 27, German workers from EVG, the nation’s largest railway and transport workers union, and Verdi, an umbrella union of many transport and other public sector workers, staged a 24-hour strike demanding pay increases to meet the burdens of massive price inflation in the German economy. The strike paralyzed transportation nationwide, turning airports, […]

A Mass Shooting in Nashville — A System that Cannot Keep us Safe

Yesterday, another horrible mass shooting took place, killing three nine-year-old children and three adults (a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the head of the school) at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. According to news reports, the shooter was a 28-year-old, who identifies as transgender. The right-wing news media and right-wing politicians have […]

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico – 40 Migrants Burned Alive

In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, at least 40 migrants (as of this writing) hoping to enter the United States were burned alive in a deadly fire. Another 29 people were injured in the blaze. The migrants included people from all over Central and South America, from countries like Venezuela, Honduras, and Guatemala, all ravaged by economic […]

Xi and Putin Meet to Reinforce China and Russia’s Alliance

On March 21, China’s president Xi Jinping and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin met at the Kremlin in Moscow. The meeting brought together the two heads of state to discuss the relations between the two countries, and their opposition to a world dominated by the U.S. In recent decades, China and Russia have shared a common […]

Protests in Israel — A System in Crisis

The state of Israel has seen thirteen weeks of intense protest over the government’s proposed changes to the judicial system. On Sunday and Monday of last week the protests reached a high point. Israel’s labor union, the Histadrut, representing 700,000 workers, has called a general strike. The countries universities are all on strike. The Israeli […]

France: The Working Class Can Decide Its Future

For months, starting in mid-January, there have been ongoing strikes and mobilizations in France. There have been multiple strike days and demonstrations, called by the unions in both the public and private sectors. Millions of people, across France — in big cities, small towns and villages — have participated in these actions. Workers have blocked […]

Mo TV Series – What it Means to be Undocumented in the U.S.

Mo is a Netflix series that captures the struggles endured by undocumented people in the U.S. Palestinian comedian, Mohammed Mustafa Amer, drew inspiration for the sitcom from his nearly 20-year journey seeking legal refugee status. He exposes the failures of the U.S. immigration system in between jokes and touching moments with family and friends.  The sitcom […]

South Africans Take to the Streets

Tired of rampant corruption, energy shortages, poor standards of living, and now a partial government bailout of an ineffective energy company, many South Africans are protesting all these problems and demanding that their President, Cyril Ramaphosa, resign.  The protests occurred Monday in the capital Johannesburg and dozens of other cities, and were organized by the […]

Student Loan Debt SCOTUS Case Update

The Supreme Court is hearing a case to determine whether or not Biden’s student loan forgiveness program can continue. The Supreme Court’s decision is expected in June, but it is very likely that the court will overturn Biden’s program, given the reactionary political perspectives of the Supreme Court Justices and their continuous assault on our […]

Los Angeles School Staff and Teachers on Strike

On Tuesday, school staff represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 99, in the Los Angeles school district launched a three-day strike. In solidarity, the teachers, organized by the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), have refused to cross the picket line. This puts the entire school district out of commission, with 30,000 school […]

Twenty Years Since the Brutal U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

The world just marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but there is also another anniversary — 20 years since the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq. While the opposition and condemnation of Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine is completely warranted, the denunciations coming from leaders in the U.S. couldn’t be any more hollow […]

The Silicon Valley Bank Collapse: Exposing the Fragility of Capitalism

Last week, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a small bank focused on investing in tech companies, suddenly collapsed, sending shockwaves through the financial markets. The collapse raises fears that another, bigger collapse is coming, something like what happened in 2008. While this doesn’t seem immediately likely, anything is possible. The capitalist system today is very unstable, […]

32 States Cut Back Food Assistance 

Food stamp programs are being slashed in 32 states. These cuts will affect 30 million people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), each losing about $92 per month. The states that will be most affected are California and Texas, which have 5.1 and 3.6 million people on SNAP. Some 18 states such […]

Eight Migrants Killed in a Boat Off the Coast of San Diego, California

The Biden administration, in spite of its promises, has maintained the same hostility to migrants as the Trump administration. Under the same emergency health law, invoked during the COVID crisis, border agents have the right to turn people away at the border who would otherwise have the right to seek asylum in the USA. One […]

The Tunisian Tinderbox – A Society Set to Explode

In 2011, the Tunisian people overthrew the regime of Ben Ali, the long-standing and corrupt ruler of Tunisia. Today, a decade and a half later, little has changed, though the country has passed through elections, strikes, demonstrations, and more upheaval. Underneath the surface, the main problem persists. Unemployment is over 16%, and inflation has hit […]

French Workers Continue the Fight Against Raising the Retirement Age

Many thousands of workers and students have taken to the streets of France once again in response to the government’s announcement on March 16 that it is raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne have done this without a vote of the National Assembly. Macron’s government […]

NYC Uber and Lyft Drivers Strike and Win Higher Pay

Last month, New York City Uber and Lyft drivers staged a 12-hour strike at LaGuardia Airport, calling once again for a pay raise, as they picketed at the airport and refused pickups from the busy transit hub. It is their third strike in recent months, as drivers demand higher pay due to skyrocketing inflation and […]

Cops Repress Protesters in Atlanta

An independent autopsy of Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, the activist killed in January while protesting the development of the so-called Cop City police training center outside of Atlanta, revealed that they were shot 14 times, all from the front, and possibly while seated cross-legged, most likely with their hands raised. While this autopsy doesn’t answer […]

Biden Gives Green Light to Putting World at Risk by Expanding Alaskan Drilling

The Biden Administration has given the green light for the oil and gas company Conoco Phillips to drill for at least 600 million barrels of crude oil out of the North Arctic region. The site of the drilling, called the Willow Project, will border communities of the indigenous Inupiat people and will be the largest […]

Republicans Set Their Sights on Banning Medication Abortions

With Roe v. Wade overturned, abortion is now banned or severely restricted in over 18 states, with more on the way. Now, right-wing efforts to ban abortion medication, are intensifying. Over half of all abortions in the U.S. use oral medication, rather than a medical procedure. The drugs used for medication abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol, […]

Determined Alabama Coal Miner’s Strike Ends After 23 Months 

In mid-February, striking coal miners at the Warrior Met Coal mine in Brookwood, Alabama decided to return to work, ending their 23-month strike. The miners, organized in the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), finally decided to go back to work after one of the he longest strikes in the U.S. in many years. The […]

Rail Companies Sacrifice Lives for Profit

These train crashes expose the backwards priorities that are rampant throughout this whole system, not just in the railroads. Workers know all too well the many ways companies risk our lives and the safety of our communities for profit

After 3 Years, The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard Shuts Down

On March 10, after 3 years the Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center (CRC) run by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) stopped collecting and reporting data on the pandemic. It comes now because only New York, Arkansas, and Puerto Rico report daily data and, with the rise of at-home rapid tests, the flimsy infrastructure that existed to collect the […]

For Sama, a Documentary that Gives a Candid Look at Civilians in War

The people of Syria and Turkey continue to endure the devastation from the earthquakes that have killed over 47,000 people and made millions homeless in the middle of a freezing winter. And this March 15 will be the 12th anniversary of the start of the horrific Syrian civil war. It’s important to learn from the […]

Students Protest DeSantis’s Attacks on Academic Freedom

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is creating a blueprint for reactionary control of public colleges and universities that will affect Florida first, but possibly the entire United States if he or another right-wing Republican is elected President in 2024 or after.  Over the past month, students have organized protests to oppose this attempt to take […]