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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.
In a lawsuit over the Maui wildfires of August 2023, Hawaiian Electric and other defendants have tentatively agreed to a settlement of more than $4 billion.
The proposed deal, which has not yet received final approval, would settle the lawsuits of thousands of businesses and homeowners against the island’s utility, Hawaiian Electric, said people familiar with the agreement who were not authorized to speak about it publicly, Bloomberg reported.
The devastating wildfires killed 102 people, damaged or demolished 2,207 structures — most of them residential — and caused approximately $5.5 billion in damages.
The Pacific Lands And Seas Are Neither Forbidden Nor Forgotten
July 19, 2024
Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
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French colonialism, French Imperialism, Indigenous Rights, Mass Action, New Caledonia, RIMPAC, Social Movements, US Imperialism
Since May, a powerful struggle has rocked Kanaky (New Caledonia), an archipelago located in the Pacific, roughly 1,500 kilometres east of Australia. The island, one of five overseas territories in the Asia-Pacific ruled by France, has been under French colonial rule since 1853. The indigenous Kanak people initiated this cycle of protests after the French government of Emmanuel Macron extended voting rights in provincial elections to thousands of French settlers in the islands. The unrest led Macron to suspend the new rules while subjecting islanders to severe repression. In recent months, the French government has imposed a state of emergency and curfew on the islands and deployed thousands of French troops, which Macron says will remain in New Caledonia for ‘as long as necessary’.
Cuba And Nicaragua: Two Sister Revolutions
July 19, 2024
Eduardo Martínez Borbonet, Resumen English.
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Cuba, Cuban Revolution, History, Nicaragua, Sandinista Revolution
There are no identical political processes, much less Revolutions, which are conditioned by history and the context in which they develop. However, in Our America there are no two processes with as many similarities as those of Cuba and Nicaragua. The hallmark of both revolutions is often referred to as the method used to seize power, through armed struggle, something that truly makes them unique and probably unrepeatable. We Cubans feel the joy of the Nicaraguan people as our own in celebrating this 45th Anniversary, and no occasion is more propitious to renew the commitment bequeathed by our heroes, to honor each day more these exemplary relations that forged years of struggle and sacrifice and that nothing and no one can stand between these two sister Revolutions.
ICJ Says Israel’s Presence In Palestinian Territory Is Unlawful
July 19, 2024
Al Jazeera.
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Genocide, International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Law, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, World Court
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and should come to an end “as rapidly as possible”.
Nawaf Salam, president of the ICJ in The Hague, read out the nonbinding advisory opinion issued by the 15-judge panel on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday.
The judges pointed to a wide list of policies – including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, use of the area’s natural resources, the annexation and imposition of permanent control over lands and discriminatory policies against Palestinians – all of which it said violated international law.
Europe At The ‘Hot Gates’!
July 19, 2024
Jack Rasmus, LA Progressive.
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European Union (EU), Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism
2,500 years ago, the myth goes, 300 Spartans faced a much larger military force from the East at Thermopylae, a small mountain pass in ancient central Greece. Thermopylae is the Latin word for ‘Hot Gates’, as the area featured hot springs. In European history the ‘hot gates’ battle ended with the 300 Spartans annihilated.
The Persians had opened a second front to the rear of the Spartan line which then collapsed, wiping them out to the man. The ‘hot gates’ was thus a defeat, although in later mythology it was spun as a strategic victory that bought time for the Greeks to mobilize to fight another day.
Having bought time at Thermopylae is debatable, however, given that the battle of the ‘hot gates lasted only three days!
Israel In Palestine, Rwanda In DRC
July 19, 2024
Ann Garrison, Black Agenda Report.
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DR Congo, Genocide, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, Rwanda
After October 7, 2023, as Israel began bombing Gaza and the world reacted in horror, a question murmured through the anti-war, anti-imperial left. Why not the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Why have the horrors in DRC gone on for so many years, with millions dead and millions displaced by the same decades-long conflict, but without a similar response?
Since then the UN Group of Experts’ have reported that Rwandan troops inside the borders of DRC outnumber those of Rwanda’s M23 militia, which masquerades as Congolese. The report also concluded that Uganda backs M23.
I spoke to Congolese journalist Akilimali Saleh Chomachoma , who likens the situations of Palestinians and Congolese.
(Mostly) Useful Government Numbers About Poverty, Jobs, Unemployment
July 19, 2024
Frank Stricker, Dollars and Sense.
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Inflation, Poverty, Unemployment, Worker Rights
The federal government generates millions of economic numbers in thousands of publications every year. Some of these publications can be useful for those of us who want to lift working-class living standards and build political support for shifting much more income to the working class and away from the ultra-rich households at the top of the income scale. But not all are as useful as they should be. I discuss and evaluate key publications in five areas. Much government information can be used to construct arguments for our side.
The Poverty Line: A Failed Number
Does the federal government regularly publish estimates of what a reasonably comfortable living standard would be for an average household?
Israel’s Legalization Of Settlements In Northern West Bank, Explained
July 18, 2024
Qassam Muaddi, Mondoweiss.
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Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Palestine, Settlements, Settler colonialism
Israel’s offensive against the West Bank, both political and military, has concentrated on its northern part in recent months, mainly in Jenin and Tulkarem. Israeli military raids have become a daily occurrence, unleashing levels of violence that have not been seen there in two decades. Since the beginning of the year, Israeli forces have killed 149 Palestinians in the Jenin governorate, 117 in the Tulkarem governorate, and 31 in the Tubas governorate, most of them in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams, and Far’a.
At the same time, the Israeli political establishment has launched a political offensive against the area, concentrated around the efforts to restart settlement expansion and colonization in a region that has been the least affected by Israel’s land grabs over the years.
Appeals Court Dismisses Biden Genocide Complicity Case
July 18, 2024
Brett Wilkins, Consortium News.
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California, Genocide, Genocide Convention, Israel, Joe Biden, Legal System, Palestine
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was led by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of several Palestinian groups and individuals.
During a Tuesday interview on Democracy Now!, CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher — who represented plaintiffs in the case — said its dismissal “essentially gives the blank check to carry out any kind of conduct that the executive wants in times of genocide, in times of war.”
‘Dive Bomber’ Drones Strike US Base In Western Iraq
US forces stationed at the Ain al-Assad airbase in western Iraq were attacked with dive bomber drones on 17 July, Al Mayadeen reported.
“The attack targeted a commercial center and a gas station inside the American base … the explosions heard were the result of attacks by the incoming drones,” sources told the news outlet.
The drone attack comes two days after a source in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) told Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that the armed coalition was considering renewing their operations against US bases in Iraq and Syria.
“The [Iraqi] government’s positions are contradictory regarding the termination of the international coalition and US forces’ missions in the country.
170 Years Of United States Aggression Against Nicaragua
July 18, 2024
Rick Sterling, LA Progressive.
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History, Nicaragua, Revolution, Sandinistas, US Imperialism
When the Monroe Doctrine was declared in 1823 it was aimed at European colonial powers. It told them to butt out: the US "sphere of influence" included all of Latin America and the Caribbean. Virtually every Latin American and Caribbean country has had to endure US intervention and interference in their internal affairs since then. The coups, political manipulation and aggression directed by Washington have been relentless.
One of the most victimized countries has been Nicaragua. In this article, I will review the different types of aggression used by Washington against Nicaragua. This is not ancient history; the interference continues to today.
Democratic Party Turmoil, African Americans And Attempted Trump Assassination
July 18, 2024
Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report.
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Black America, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Elections, Joe Biden
An attempted assassination of former United States President Donald Trump while he addressed a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania has been blamed on monumental intelligence and security failures by the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement agencies.
Hosting an open-air rally with thousands of participants in an area where there were unsecured rooftops and trees cannot be explained away absent a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
One person attending the rally was killed instantly by some of the bullets fired. Two other people were critically wounded.
Give Peace A Chance In Haiti: Restoring Security And Stability
July 18, 2024
Jake Johnston, Center for Economic and Policy Research.
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Foreign Intervention, Haiti, Kenya, Peace
At 9:16 a.m. on June 25, a Kenya Airways plane touched down in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. On board were some 200 Kenyan police, the vanguard of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission approved by the United Nations Security Council late last year. Eventually, the force is expected to consist of 2,500 officers from at least a half dozen countries who will be tasked with restoring security and clearing the way for free and fair elections.
It’s certainly not the first such mission in Haiti, where, since the mid-1990s, there have been nearly constant UN and foreign security deployments. Almost 10,000 troops were stationed in Haiti between 2004 and 2017, only to be replaced by a smaller successor mission.
Milwaukee Shipped In 4,500 Cops To Suppress Protest At RNC
July 18, 2024
Cody Bloomfield, Truthout.
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Milwaukee, Police, RNC, State Repression, Suppression, Wisconsin
Contestations over the Republican National Committee’s efforts to foreclose avenues for lawful protest outside this week’s Republican National Convention (RNC) were already heated months before GOP delegates started booking their flights to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the convention.
So it was something of a victory for free speech that, after months of mobilizing and negotiations — and in the unexpectedly heightened state of policing following the July 13 assassination attempt on Donald Trump — some protesters managed to demonstrate close enough to the RNC to be seen and heard by its attendees.
The path leading up to that point was filled with uncertainty over whether protest rights would be subordinated to GOP demands.
NATO/US Complicity In Relentless Israeli Genocide Of Gaza
July 17, 2024
Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright, World Beyond War.
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Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Joe Biden, NATO, Palestine, United States
As Israel continued its relentless genocide on steroids of Palestinians in Gaza with over 140 killed in the past weekend, imprisonment without charges of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and destruction of the hospitals, universities, schools (8 UNRWA schools bombed in the past 10 days), cultural centers and indiscriminate bombing of markets, soccer fields and “safe area” residents of Gaza have been forced into, an assassination attempt was made on former President Trump and NATO finished its gala 75th Anniversary celebrations in Washington, DC.
Biden Says “U.S. Politics Should Never Be A Killing Field,” While He is complicit in the Israeli “Killing Fields” in Gaza
As the genocide continued and a few days after the end of the NATO celebrations, an assassination attempt on former President Trump caused President Biden to address the nation and orate that “political violence has no place in America and U.S. politics should never be a killing field.”