/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

Southwest Pilots Union Forced To Negotiate With Airline
The SWAPA submitted a request in July to federal mediators to pause negotiations with airline management. The request denial means that the union will be forced to negotiate. Captain Casey Murray, SWAPA President, told Bloomberg, “We are further away today than the day we filed for release, which is truly the definition of an impasse.”
https://jalopnik.com/southwest-pilots-union-forced-to-negotiate-with-airline-1850708580

CNBC Anchor Accuses UAW Leader of 'Class Warfare' for Fighting for Workers
Cramer has spoken multiple times on CNBC in recent days about the ongoing negotiations between the UAW and the Big Three automakers—Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis—and has called Fain "frightening" for advocating for a wage increase to reflect the record profits the companies have reported in recent years. Fain has been "talking about capitalism and the nature of capitalism and how it's really hurt workers," said Cramer, who compared him to influential former UAW leader and civil rights activist Walter Reuther—"as if it's a bad thing," noted one journalist.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/uaw-contract

Purdue asks Supreme Court not to block opioid settlement during US appeal
Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's request to delay its multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits against it over the opioid epidemic. The department's bankruptcy watchdog last week asked the Supreme Court to pause the settlement, which would shield the company's Sackler family owners from opioid lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to a broader settlement with states, local governments and victims of addiction.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/purdue-asks-supreme-court-not-block-opioid-settlement-during-us-appeal-2023-08-04/

Biden asylum restrictions at border can remain for now, appeals court rules
The San Francisco-based court's decision means the new rule that the Biden administration has partially credited for plummeting illegal border crossings can remain, pending the outcome of its appeal against a judge's ruling last month that found it violated U.S. law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision prevents the restrictions from ending next week.
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/04/biden-asylum-restrictions-border-immigration

Connecticut troopers under federal investigation for allegedly submitting false traffic stop data
The U.S. Department of Justice has taken over an investigation into allegations that hundreds of Connecticut state troopers may have submitted false information on thousands of traffic infractions to a racial profiling board, data that made it appear police were pulling over more white drivers than they were, the state’s top prosecutor said.
https://apnews.com/article/false-traffic-reports-connecticut-state-police-849d99216551efa4658f0026bf09345b

New York federal judge orders “compassionate release” of 3 of the Newburgh Four convicted in FBI entrapment scheme
Three victims of a notorious Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)-orchestrated entrapment scheme targeting Muslims have been given compassionate release from prison on the orders of Judge Colleen McMahon of the United States District Court in Manhattan after more than a decade in prison.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/04/nepw-a04.html

Police officer Ricky Anderson charged with murder for shooting Black man in his bed
Anderson shot and killed 20-year-old Donovan Lewis in August 2022 during a search warrant while he was unarmed and in bed. Body camera footage was released of the encounter last September and Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Police Department, appears to open fire almost immediately after police open the bedroom door to where Lewis was sleeping. He later died at a hospital.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-officer-ricky-anderson-charged-murder-shooting-unarmed/story?id=102016997

Six former Mississippi officers plead guilty to torturing two black men
Authorities said the two men, Michael Jenkins, 32, and Eddie Parker, 35, had been beaten and shocked with Tasers and one of them was also shot in the mouth. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the officers 'tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims'. All six officers had either resigned or been fired in June. The civil rights charges were unveiled against the six officers on Thursday by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). All appeared in federal court and entered a guilty plea.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66408386

Sudanese CP, An Interview with the Spokesman of the Sudanese Communist Party, Fathi Alfadl, with Almidan newspaper, Sunday, 16 July, 2023
The spokesman of the Sudanese Communist Party, Fathi Alfadl, said that the main issue to stop foreign intervention and reach a solution to the crisis in Sudan, to stop the war and establish complete national sovereignty, is through building a solid popular front. He said that the actions of the Rapid Support Forces in the capital (Khartoum) and its outskirts, and in Elgenena and other towns in Darfur, are crimes, and should be considered war crimes and crimes against humanity. He called for the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces to be brought to trial for the crimes they have committed against peaceful civilians in the capital and in Darfur. He stated that the Communist Party welcomed the initiative towards stopping the war in Jeddah, and any other such peace initiatives. He stressed that the Party welcomed any truces or ceasefires, and openings of safe passages for humanitarian aid, pointing out that “this is our main stance”. He called for the organized forces in the Coordination Committees of Resistance Committees, the committees devoted to the Revolutionary Charter of People Power, and the committees which do not agree with the Revolutionary Charter, civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties, and all political forces, to meet together and discuss minimum programs, and the roles they can play to help stop this absurd and disastrous war facing the country. He highly praised the trade union bloc that managed to form a trade union front against the war. The spokesman also said that while the Communist Party is open to meeting with all political forces to stop the war, that does not include the National Congress nor the remnants of it. He explained that the Communist Party is talking to all political forces against the war, in all political directions, in order to form the popular front and to agree to a minimum program not just to stop the war but to revive the mass movement momentum and build democratic civil authority without the participation of the army generals or the Rapid Support Forces.
http://www.solidnet.org/article/Sudanese-CP-An-Interview-with-the-Spokesman-of-the-Sudanese-Communist-Party-Fathi-Alfadl-with-Almidan-newspaper-Sunday-16-July-2023/

Interest rates, recessions and anti-strike laws: understanding the ruling-class war on workers
WHAT links the Bank of England’s latest punitive interest rate rise and a Tory minister telling over-50s they should consider the exciting job opportunities at Deliveroo? Both point to a co-ordinated ruling-class strategy to resolve Britain’s economic and social crisis through lowering living standards. The Morning Star has called for the Bank of England to be stripped of its so-called independence and returned to public accountability, and this is essential: taking monetary policy out of democratic hands enshrines the rights of finance over those of the people, while entrenching the myth that economics is an objective science and not an ideological battleground. But we should recognise that the main immediate benefit of such a shift would be in depriving ministers of a banker to hide behind. The bank’s strategy of raising interest rates repeatedly in the hope that demand collapses, possibly to the extent of causing a recession, is one shared by the Conservative cabinet.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/interest-rates-recessions-and-anti-strike-laws-understanding-ruling-class-war

Politics matter: The case of Cornel West
The question at the end of the day is: What really qualifies a campaign or candidate as “progressive”? Is it just the positions they take on particular issues? What about their strategy and tactics? As CPUSA co-chair Joe Sims recently put it, West’s brief flirtation with the People’s Party was “troublesome,” to say the least. Created by Nick Brana out of the “Draft Bernie for a People’s Party” Facebook group, the party is not supported by Sanders and has little actual on-the-ground presence. A sparsely-attended “Rage Against the War Machine” rally held Feb. 19, 2023, in Washington D.C., is instructive. Brana was joined by Angela McArdle of the Libertarian Party, Helga Zepp-LaRouche of the LaRouche Foundation, Jackson Hinkle, the proponent of “MAGA Communism,” and Jordan Page, author of the Oath Keepers’ anthem. Among those attending were the People’s Party, Green Party, Max Blumenthal of Grayzone, comedian Jimmy Dore, and some others of a similar crowd. Libertarian Ron Paul provided the keynote speech. Enough said about the People’s Party. There are other challenges to Professor West’s campaign, however, even after he abandoned the group. For example, so far, he does not acknowledge the pro-worker all-people’s movement that organized labor and allied people’s organizations are forging around the 2024 elections. That movement is central at this moment to the demands of the labor upsurge sweeping the country, for supporting workers forced to strike, for instance. Furthermore, does West’s move to the Green Party reflect a lack of connection to important sections of the organized working class? And what about other constituencies, including African Americans, Latinos, etc.?
https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/politics-matter-the-case-of-cornell-west/

The US wants Kenya to lead a force in Haiti with 1,000 police. Watchdogs say they’ll export abuse
It’s a challenging turn for a police force long accused by rights watchdogs of killings and torture, including gunning down civilians during Kenya’s COVID-19 curfew. One local group confirmed that officers fatally shot more than 30 people in July, all of them in Kenya’s poorest neighborhoods, during opposition-called protests over the rising cost of living.
https://apnews.com/article/kenya-haiti-police-united-nations-united-states-2464c509c8d6742fdc6c1d7ea4683979

U.S., Colombia to open three migration offices to stem irregular crossings
Three offices meant to attend Haitian, Cuban and Venezuelan migrants hoping to reach the United States will open in Colombia, the Andean country's foreign ministry said on Thursday, the initial phase of a plan to reduce migrant flows through the dangerous Darien Gap. The Safe Mobility scheme was agreed between Colombia, Panama and the United States in April in a bid to address humanitarian issues in the Darien, where migrants often suffer death, injury and crime.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-colombia-open-three-migration-offices-stem-irregular-crossings-2023-08-03/

Heat stroke claims 13 lives in Port Sudan, hospital staff strike continues
Sweltering temperatures in Port Sudan have led to a surge in heat stroke cases, including deaths, according to the Red Sea state Health Ministry. Medical assistance is limited in the state capital, as the Port Sudan Teaching Hospital emergency staff are on strike to protest delayed salary payments. The Red Sea state Ministry of Health reported 13 fatalities and 42 cases of heat stroke in Port Sudan since June. Dr Hisham Osman, director of the General Department of Emergency and Epidemic Control at the ministry, explained that Port Sudan experiences an annual surge in heat stroke cases in the warm season, which started in June.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/heat-stroke-claims-13-lives-in-port-sudan-hospital-staff-strike-continues

Niger coup leader defiant as Nigeria cuts power, ECOWAS mulls action
Niger’s coup leader has declared that he will not bow down to pressure to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, criticising sanctions imposed by West African leaders as “illegal” and “inhumane” and urging his countrymen to get ready to defend their nation. General Abdourahamane Tchiani‘s comments, issued in a televised address on Wednesday, came as the defence chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in neighbouring Nigeria to discuss the crisis in Niger.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/3/niger-coup-leader-defiant-as-nigeria-cuts-power-ecowas-threatens-force
https://archive.is/DODtB

Pakistan reportedly buying Israeli phone-hacking spyware
Pakistani authorities have been using Israeli phone-hacking spyware since at least 2012, according to a report in Haaretz. Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and several Pakistani police units make use of products made by Israeli cyber technology firm Cellebrite, the Israeli newspaper revealed on Thursday. Cellebrite's flagship product, UFED, which is sold to law enforcement agencies around the world, hacks into password-protected mobile phones and copies all their stored information, including text messages, contacts, pictures and documents.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/pakistan-israel-spyware-phone-hacking-report

India strips passports from several Kashmiris as Modi tightens grip on dissent
The Indian government has suspended the passports of several Kashmiris, including journalists, in what observers describe as an unprecedented move to stifle dissent in the region. Several Kashmiris living either in Indian-controlled Kashmir or overseas told Middle East Eye that they have received emails from the Indian government, over the past 10 days, notifying them that their passports had been suspended.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/08/02/india-strips-passports-from-several-kashmiris-as-modi-tightens-grip-on-dissent/
https://archive.is/7U3BR

Court rules that Varanasi mosque can be surveyed to see if it stands on site of Hindu temple, in move inflaming community tensions
the committee of the Gyanvapi mosque said they would appeal to India’s Supreme Court. Spokesman Khalid Rasheed said: “We are hopeful that justice will be done as the mosque is 600 years old and Muslims have been praying there for so long.” The mosque is at the heart of a separate legal battle with five Hindu women seeking permission to perform Hindu rituals there.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/court-rules-varanasi-mosque-can-be-surveyed-see-if-stands-hindu-temple

Young Indonesians secure Singapore citizenship as many lament ‘skills mismatch’ back home
A growing number of young Indonesians, drawn by generous scholarships and attractive job prospects, are renouncing their citizenship to become Singaporean, alarming officials as Southeast Asia’s largest economy seeks to become a developed nation by 2045. Indonesia’s immigration agency said earlier this month that almost 4,000 Indonesians had gained Singapore passports between 2019 and 2022, most of them students in the city state, aged 25 to 35. Last year, 1,091 people made the switch, up from 811 in 2020.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3229314/young-indonesians-secure-singapore-citizenship-many-lament-skills-mismatch-back-home
https://archive.is/vRdMJ

Marseille riots: French police officer to stay in custody over riot gun violence
The officer's lawyer appealed to the court in Aix-en-Provence for his release. He was backed up by the head of national police as well as police unions. But the prosecutor told the court it was clear from CCTV images that the victim had come under attack. He said the officer should remain in pre-trial detention because of the risk of "fraudulent collusion" with colleagues. The judge ruled that there were serious indications of the officer's involvement in the incident and despite his partial confession, his initial denial had discredited his entire account.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66393503.amp

Young communist found not guilty over Cop26 protest
Glasgow Young Communist League (YCL) secretary Nathan Hennebry had been the only one of over 50 arrests made during the course of the world summit held in the city in 2021 who went on to face trial. The Crown argued that he held a flare in a manner which could have caused injury to Police Scotland officers at the protest, but their case foundered when two police witnesses to the trial produced different accounts of the incident.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/young-communist-found-not-guilty-over-cop26-protest

Discovery of Bodies in Rio Grande Barrier Spotlights Abbott's 'Barbaric' Border Policy
Mexican officials said the deceased—one of whom is reportedly a child—were found about three miles from each other on Wednesday near Eagle Pass. According toKUT in Austin, the recovery of the two bodies was led by the migrant protection group Grupos Beta, a service of Mexico's National Migration Institute.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/buoy-barrier

US healthcare workers focus on pay and understaffing in fight for new contracts
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions represents workers in seven states and Washington DC. The coalition said that in a recent bargaining session, Kaiser Permanente claimed workers at the non-profit “make too much money” while the CEO is paid a salary of $16m a year. Workers fighting for a new contract have criticized Kaiser Permanente over chronic understaffing, high workloads that worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic and lagging wages as the cost of living and inflation has risen substantially in recent years. …
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/03/hospital-workers-strike-kaiser-permanente

Union sues BNSF over MOW workforce cuts
In its filing, the union claims that by reducing its MOW workforce by 19% since 2016, while increasing its contracting-out of MOW work, the railroad has "failed to exert every reasonable effort to maintain its agreements with BMWED, and failed to deal with the union in good faith" in violation of the federal Railway Labor Act.
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/labor/news/Union-sues-BNSF-over-MOW-workforce-cuts--69853

Corporate Cash Derails Train Safety Bill
The manufacturer, Occidental Petroleum, has been lobbying on rail and tank car safety, and its lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council — which also donated $250,000 to the main House GOP super PAC — had pushed for changes weakening the bill in committee. The railroad legislation, introduced in the immediate aftermath of the East Palestine disaster, was once seen as the first real shot at imposing new regulations on the railroad industry in years. Now, on the six-month anniversary of the toxic accident, even what’s left of the watered-down bill doesn’t appear to have the Republican votes necessary to pass in the Senate.
https://www.levernews.com/the-corporate-cash-behind-the-train-safety-bills-derailment/

Texas Medicaid dropped more than 500,000 enrollees in one month
That changed in April, and now every state is winnowing its rolls — some much more quickly than others. Texas reported disenrolling 82% of its Medicaid recipients it had processed through May, while Wyoming shed just 8% of its rolls, according to an analysis by KFF, a health policy research organization.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/03/1191416312/texas-medicaid-drops-500k-enrollees-rate-of-82-percent

Colorado Republican Party sues Secretary of State to block nearly 2 million Coloradans from voting in primary elections
The Colorado Republican Party is suing the Colorado Secretary of State in an effort to keep unaffiliated voters from voting in the primaries. If it succeeds, and state law is overturned, 1.7 million Coloradans wouldn't have a say in either Democratic or Republican primary elections. The lawsuit would repeal Proposition 108, which Coloradans overwhelmingly supported in 2016. The ballot measure gave unaffiliated voters the right to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. …
https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-republican-party-sues-secretary-state-block-nearly-2-million-coloradans-voting-primary-elections/

Jury acquits a white Louisiana trooper caught on camera beating a Black motorist
A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight. The case of Jacob Brown was the first to emerge from a series of FBI investigations into troopers' beatings of Black men during traffic stops in Louisiana and underscored the challenges prosecutors face convicting law enforcement officials accused of using excessive force.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/03/1191900887/louisiana-trooper-aquitted-jacob-brown-aaron-bowman-civil-rights

Entire House Democratic Leadership Backs Anti-Choice Cuellar in 2024 Run
With well over a year before the 2024 election, and as a pro-choice immigration rights attorney is reportedly weighing a primary run, all four of the top Democratic leaders in the U.S. House on Thursday announced their support for anti-abortion rights Rep. Henry Cuellar in his reelection bid. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), and Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) all announced their endorsements of the right-wing Democrat, who has represented Texas' 28th district since 2005.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/democratic-leaders-back-cuellar

TYBNA

>"The blast investigation is hampered by the political elites and certain judges who are on their side," said lawyer Cecile Roukoz, who lost her brother in the explosion.

I never really checked up on this, but was the Beirut fertilizer depot explosion more than just an accident caused by negligence ?

https://invidious.0011.lt/watch?v=N63W-_xj14o

TYBNA

>>471769
idk

The US south doing what they usually do

>Campaigners demand end to persecution of Ukrainian peace activist

>Mr Sheliazhenko issued a statement detailing Thursday’s raid on his home by people describing themselves as members of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). He said that “unknown people started breaking in the door to my apartment” in the early hours. After failing to show proper identification, other than that they were from the SBU, the intruders searched Mr Sheliazhenko and his home, but “nothing even remotely similar to evidence of justification of Russian aggression or any other criminal actions of mine was found,” he said.

Persecuting peace activists
Absolutely egregious.

>>471747
>Purdue asks Supreme Court not to block opioid settlement during US appeal
Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's request to delay its multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy settlement resolving thousands of lawsuits against it over the opioid epidemic. The department's bankruptcy watchdog last week asked the Supreme Court to pause the settlement, which would shield the company's Sackler family owners from opioid lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to a broader settlement with states, local governments and victims of addiction.

The small drug mafia sells heroin to junkies and tries to bribe cops.

The big drug mafia causes a opioid epidemic and seeks to block an opioid settlement.

Same shit, different words.

>>471872
Technically they're trying to prevent the settlement from being blocked - the settlement lets them off easy.