Educate!
Education is the foundation of political change. In this section we provide news and analyses of current events that you won’t likely read or hear in the corporate media. Our sources are from organizations and independent media outlets free of corporate and government propaganda. We strongly encourage you to share these articles by email and social media so that together we create an echo chamber that overcomes the influence of the oligarchy. You will find large social media sharing buttons on the left side of each article when you open the article to read.
As Donald Trump takes his oath of office to become the 47th president of the United States, his second term comes at an ever-more critical time for climate change.
Climate scientists have warned that 2024 was the hottest year on record, and without dramatic action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, global pledges to limit warming to 1.5C and curb the worst effects of climate change are doomed.
At the start of 2025, Trump’s “government efficiency” chief Elon Musk (who donated $250 million to Trump’s campaign), pushed grooming gangs to the top of the UK political agenda – with the help of Conservative and Reform UK politicians, and their allies in the media.
On The Eve Of Trump, Iran And Russia Launch Historical Deal
Timing is everything in geopolitics. This past Friday in Moscow, only three days before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in Washington, top BRICS member leaders Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, detailed in 47 articles, twice as many as in the recent Russian–North Korean deal.
This strategic partnership is now set in stone just as the – unpayable - humongous debt of the US government reaches an unprecedented $36.1 trillion, equivalent to $106.4k per American, and just as the US share of the global economy falls below 15 percent for the first time, based on World Bank/IMF figures.
Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier Sentence Commuted
January 21, 2025
John Zangas, DC Media Group.
Educate!
Clemency, Joe Biden, Leonard Peltier, political prisoners
Washington DC — Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier on January 20, just minutes before his term was set to expire. It was one of his last official acts as President.
Leonard Peltier was convicted 47 1/2 years ago for the killing two FBI agents in June 1975 during a raid on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. But many questions remain unanswered about the legality of the evidence submitted against him during his trial. Indigenous groups and supporters have maintained and championed his innocence since his trial conviction in 1977.
Trump Issues Order To End Censorship
January 21, 2025
Joe Lauria, Consortium News.
Educate!
Censorship, Donald Trump, First Amendment, Free Speech
President Donald Trump in his inaugural speech on Monday vowed to end online censorship by government using social media companies as proxies.
He said:
After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.
Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents, something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again.
Later on Monday Trump signed the executive order, “Restoring Free Speech and Ending Federal Censorship
Biden’s Legacy: The World Is More Unsafe For Journalists
January 20, 2025
Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter.
Educate!
Joe Biden, Journalism, Journalists, Press Freedom, State Violence
President Joe Biden’s administration proclaimed numerous times that “journalism is not a crime” and that the United States government supports “free and independent media around the world.” Biden said the “free press is crumbling” in his farewell address. But the reality is that Biden and his administration helped make the state of the free press more fragile.
Over 200 journalists in Gaza were killed by Israeli military forces armed by the Biden administration. Other client states, like India and Saudi Arabia, trampled on the human rights of reporters without fearing much criticism.
Biden’s Legacy: Genocide Abroad, Economic Despair At Home
January 20, 2025
Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch.
Educate!
Class Struggle, Cost of living, Donald Trump, Finance and the Economy, Genocide, Homelessness, Housing, Israel, Joe Biden, Medicaid, Palestine, Palestine solidarity movement, United States
46th US President Joe Biden officially leaves office Monday, January 20, to be succeeded by former President Donald Trump. Trump’s promises in the name of “saving American workers” have raised alarm for people across sectors of society, including migrant workers who are gearing up for mass deportations, and unionized workers who are preparing for Trump’s attacks on labor rights. Trump’s loyalty to multi-billionaires has also given the working class of the US great cause for concern. Meanwhile, in contrast, the Democrats have attempted to position themselves as the real defenders of working people.
Outraged By Gaza Ceasefire, Israeli Settlers Burn Palestinian Homes, Cars
January 20, 2025
News Desk, The Cradle.
Educate!
Ceasefire, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Settler Violence
Israeli Jewish settlers rampaged through several Palestinian towns in the West Bank on 19 January in a show of anger at a ceasefire deal that saw the end of fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives.
Settlers across the West Bank organized themselves in an effort to disrupt the release of Palestinians held captive in Israeli prisons and detention centers, where torture and rape are common.
Accompanied by soldiers, the settlers attacked Palestinian cars and closed several main roads in Turmus Ayy, Atara, Ein Siniya, Ein Ayoub, Qalqilya, and Jaba on Sunday evening.
Joe Biden Grants Clemency To Leonard Peltier
January 20, 2025
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost.
Educate!
Clemency, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Joe Biden, Leonard Peltier, political prisoners, Victory
With literally minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, the ailing Native American rights activist whom the U.S. government put in prison nearly 50 years ago after a trial riddled with misconduct and lies.
In a statement as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration was underway, Biden announced he is “commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.”
Shortly afterward, Peltier said he’s ready to get back to his family.
“It’s finally over – I’m going home.” he said in a statement. “I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.”
How Federal Disaster Funding Can Slow Rent Increases
January 20, 2025
Robert Davis, Next City.
Educate!
Affordable Housing, Disaster Recovery, Extreme weather, Flooding, Housing, Housing Crisis, Rent, Wildfires
Coloradans often welcome rain storms with the refrain, “We need the moisture.” After the deadly floods in September 2013, many Coloradans sang a different tune.
Over five days, a slow-moving storm covered some areas of the Front Range with up to 20 inches of rain. Overall, the floods killed 10 people, displaced 18,000, and caused more than $4 billion in damage to more than 17,000 structures, of which 1,882 were completely destroyed, according to the Colorado Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management’s after-action report.
Gaza Ceasefire Reveals Israel’s Fragility
January 19, 2025
Abdaljawad Omar, Mondoweiss.
Educate!
Ceasefire, Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, qatar
The Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a pivotal announcement on Wednesday evening, confirmed that Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have finalized a deal designed to halt Israel’s genocidal and destructive war in the Gaza Strip for at least 42 days. This accord is essentially a reworking of the previously proposed ceasefire arrangement in May by the Biden administration, when Hamas declared its acceptance of the ceasefire agreement, while Israel reneged on it and continued with the war. It turned out Israel wanted time to both bring out more destruction in Gaza, more death, and use its mix of cards to subdue Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s Likud Party Says Ceasefire Deal Allows A ‘Return To Fighting’
January 19, 2025
Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com.
Educate!
Ceasefire, Gaza, Genocide, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, US Aid To Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party said in a statement on Thursday that the Gaza ceasefire deal will allow “Israel to return to fighting under American guarantee.”
The statement was a response to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, who has threatened to quit the coalition government if the ceasefire deal is approved.
The three-phase ceasefire deal does not commit Israel to a permanent truce, and the statement from Likud signals the US has assured Israel it could resume its genocidal war after the first phase, which involves a 42-day ceasefire and initial hostage exchange.
Warhawk Senator Marco Rubio Confirmed As Secretary Of State
January 19, 2025
People's Dispatch.
Educate!
Anti-war Movement, Cuba, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, US Foreign Policy
Yesterday, amid the momentous news of a ceasefire agreement finally being reached in Gaza, right-wing Senator Marco Rubio was confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of State by the United States Senate. To some, Rubio’s confirmation, given his reputation as a warhawk known for promoting an aggressive approach against countries that do not tip-toe around the US line on foreign policy, contradicts Trump’s campaign promise of “preventing World War III.” Rubio’s role as Secretary of State signals that Trump may immediately relist Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. This week, in his final days as President, Biden removed Cuba from the SSoT list, a designation which has resulted in multiple humanitarian crises on the island.
Laken Riley Act: Democrats Cede More Power To Anti-Immigrant Right
January 19, 2025
Schuyler Mitchell, Truthout.
Educate!
Democratic Party, Immigrant Rights, Immigration, Laken Riley Act
What does the Democratic Party stand for? That question has plagued Capitol Hill, and the voting public, for at least a decade. Now, in the wake of Kamala Harris’s crushing presidential defeat, as Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, the Democrats’ identity crisis shows no sign of abating. Thanks to a wall of support from Senate Democrats, the Laken Riley Act — a GOP-sponsored, anti-immigrant bill — is on track to be one of the first pieces of legislation Trump will sign into law when he takes office. This is, of course, after the Democratic Party tacked hard to the right on immigration in its 2024 platform, caved to right-wing myths about the border, rubber-stamped President Joe Biden’s crackdown on asylum seekers — and still lost the presidential election.
Amid Layoffs, Cargill’s Owners Given $2B In Stock Buybacks/Dividends
January 19, 2025
Brooks Johnson, Portside.
Educate!
Cargill, Class Struggle, Minnesota, Worker Rights and Jobs
As Cargill started laying off thousands of employees last month, the company’s owners made $2 billion from stock buybacks and one-time dividends, according to Fitch Ratings.
The Minnetonka-based agribusiness announced in December it would lay off 5% of its global workforce, or about 8,000 people, as part of a broader restructuring to counter declining profits. About 475 headquarters jobs were eliminated in Minnesota.
At the same time, the private company’s owners — almost entirely members of the billionaire Cargill-MacMillan family — received $500 million from a “special” dividend and a rare $1.5 billion share repurchase completed in December, according to a Fitch Ratings report issued this week.
3M Knew ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Its Firefighting Foams Were Toxic
January 18, 2025
Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch.
Educate!
3M, Firefighters, Forever Chemicals, health, PFAS, pollution
For decades, 3M — a multibillion-dollar chemical company based in Minnesota — sold its firefighting foams as safe and biodegradable, while having knowledge that they contained toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to newly uncovered documents, reported The Guardian.
Starting in the 1960s and continuing until 2003, 3M’s firefighting foams contained perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), two types of PFAS “forever chemicals.”
The synthetic chemical compounds have been linked to a variety of health problems like thyroid disease, hormonal and fertility problems, high cholesterol and cancer.