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.
I recently wrote about a somewhat mysterious group of financial traders known as the bond vigilantes. Their actions caused Donald Trump to abort many of his Liberation Day tariffs, but that does not make them the good-guy defenders of democracy. In fact, they are quite the opposite.
Many understood that point, thankfully, but others wondered about the government bond market, how it worked, and why the value of something fully backed by the faith of the U.S. government might be mutable in value.
Readers had questions and the answers will help us understand why Trump flinched when the bond vigilantes drove up the interest rates on government bonds.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Denies Mumia Abu Jamal’s Appeal
April 24, 2025
Betsey Piette, Workers World.
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Legal System, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Pennsylvania, Political Prisoner, Supreme Court
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - On March 26, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal permission to appeal a September 2024 Pennsylvania Superior Court denial of his latest petition to reverse his 1982 conviction. The Supreme Court ruling ends Mumia’s state court challenge at this time.
Mumia’s sixth petition was based on credible new evidence of prosecutorial misconduct — including Brady violations based on incentives given to the state’s key witnesses Cynthia White and Robert Chobert to give false testimony.
The new evidence, found buried in storage boxes in a remote area of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office and turned over to Mumia’s lawyers in December 2021 also included evidence of racial bias in jury selection, a Batson violation.
Former Indiana University Professor’s Wife Speaks Out Following FBI Raid
April 23, 2025
Talia Mullin, Scheer Post.
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China, FBI, Indiana University, Racism, Trump Administration
Nianli Ma, married to cyber expert and former Indiana University Professor, Xiaofang Wang, spoke out for the first time since the couple’s abrupt dismissals from Indiana University and a raid of their homes by the FBI. Ma said, “I feel trapped in a constant state of worry and sadness. What have we done to deserve this treatment? We are just desperately seeking answers.”
Ma, who had worked as a library systems analyst, spoke to an online town hall organized by the Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) that was held to discuss the political climate for Asian Americans, said she has had trouble sleeping and lost weight since the incidents.
War By Other Means: Trump’s Tariffs And The Empire’s Final Gamble
April 23, 2025
Thomas Fazi, Orinoco Tribune.
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China, Multipolarity, Tariffs, Trade, Trump Administration, US Empire, US Imperialism
Over the past two weeks, Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the global economy by announcing sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. This abrupt move sent stock markets in the US and abroad into a tailspin, forcing the administration to quickly backpedal. In a hasty retreat, Trump revised the policy to impose a lower, across-the-board 10% tariff (25% for aluminium and steel), while simultaneously singling out China with a staggering 145% tariff on all imports from the country, one of the most extreme trade measures in modern history—though some categories were subsequently exempted.
China Condemns US For Imposing Tariffs On Haiti Amid Worsening Crisis
April 23, 2025
Mauro Ramos, People's Dispatch.
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Caribbean, China, Donald Trump, Haiti, Haitian crisis, Tariffs, United States, UNSC, US Interference
“While claiming to support the Haitian people, [the United States] has significantly cut foreign aid and continued to deport Haitian immigrants under the pretext of national priorities, just when Haiti urgently needs support,” Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), said on Monday, April 21, at the Security Council.
“What is even more shocking is that … they also recently extended their so-called 10% basic tariff to Haiti, one of the least developed countries in the world,” the Chinese ambassador continued.
Geng said China is deeply concerned about the “worsening crisis in Haiti and the rampant gang violence, the near collapse of the state and the desperate situation of the people.”
Iran Calls For Cooperation Against ‘Bullying, Unilateralism’ In China Visit
April 23, 2025
News Desk, The Cradle.
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China, Iran, Iran Nuclear Deal, Trade War, Trump Administration, US Sanctions
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited China and held talks with Chinese officials on 23 April, discussing several matters including bilateral cooperation and developments in West Asia, while also briefing Beijing on ongoing nuclear talks with Washington.
Araghchi met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang to discuss “interaction within the framework of the comprehensive agreement on strategic cooperation and weighing plans to expedite the implementation of the 25-year road map,” according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran and China signed the 25-year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement in March 2021. The deal includes cooperation in energy, finance, transportation, and trade, as well as military and security.
Trump’s Drug War Will Only Make Overdose Worse
April 23, 2025
Mike Pappas, Left Voice.
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Class Struggle, Donald Trump, Drug War, Overdose Crisis
Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has been on a relentless spree, pushing policy after policy and executive order after executive order. From rollbacks on environmental regulations to attacks on immigrants, many of these will inevitably affect public health and well being. No matter how random a decision or policy may seem, an underlying theme of Trump’s rhetoric is an effort to divide the working class, identifying already marginalized groups as “the enemy” or “the problem.” This is an effort to misdirect the righteous anger of the public away from crises caused by capitalism and toward groups that are negatively affected by the same capitalist system.
Working Homeless People: Laboring Without A Roof
April 23, 2025
Jocelyn Figueroa, Black Agenda Report.
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Gig Workers, Homeless, Housing, Human Rights, Worker Rights and Jobs, Working Poor
While homeless and living in a shelter, one of my neighbors was a woman not much older than my Mom. One day, I learned that she was a certified full-time medical assistant. Her husband, disabled, was not able to work. Due to rising rents in New York City, they couldn’t afford to pay their rent anymore. That’s how they eventually landed a few doors down from me.
At the time, it just seemed so unbelievable that a medical professional wasn’t able to afford a place to live. Eventually, I realized that most of us in that shelter, aside from those who were disabled or elderly, were working.
AI Energy Demand Can Keep Fossil Fuels Alive
April 23, 2025
Sharon Kelly and Bailey Chambers, DeSmog.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Tech, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Google, Oil and Gas, Politics and Policy
Just before the November 2024 election, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its flagship annual report on global energy markets – and the agency’s forecast suggested a new era was dawning.
Over 150 years of growth in demand for fossil fuels has nearly reached its end, the IEA’s forecasts showed for a second year in a row. Fossil fuel demand will peak by the end of this decade, the organization affirmed, concluding that clean energy like wind, solar, and storage look increasingly capable of driving fossil fuels out of global energy markets – and soon.
Close The US Military Bases In Asia
April 22, 2025
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Scheer Post.
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Asia, Japan, Korea, Military bases, US Foreign Bases, US Imperialism
President Donald Trump is again loudly complaining that the US military bases in Asia are too costly for the US to bear. As part of the new round of tariff negotiations with Japan and Korea, Trump is calling on Japan and Korea to pay for stationing the US troops. Here’s a much better idea: close the bases and return the US servicemen to the US.
Trump implies that the US is providing a great service to Japan and Korea by stationing 50,000 troops in Japan and nearly 30,000 in Korea. Yet these countries do not need the US to defend themselves. They are wealthy and can certainly provide their own defense.
US War Chief Faces Calls To Resign Over New ‘Signalgate’ Scandal
April 22, 2025
News Desk, The Canary.
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Congress, National Security, Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, Resignation, Wars and Militarism
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing criticism and calls for his firing after it was reported by the New York Times (NYT) that he shared sensitive military plans of a March attack on Yemen in a Signal chat group that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
According to a source familiar with the matter, speaking with Reuters, the chat included about a dozen people and contained details of the airstrikes' schedule.
“The revelations of a second Signal chat raise more questions about Hegseth's use of an unclassified messaging system to share highly sensitive security details,” Reuters wrote.
As US Threatens To Privatize Amtrak, UK Begins To Renationalize Rail
April 22, 2025
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
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Amtrak, Nationalization, Privatization, Railroads, Transportation, United Kingdom (UK)
While the Trump Administration and billionaire advisor Elon Musk are talking about privatizing passenger rail here in the USA, in the UK, they’re going in the opposite direction. Next month, on May 25, the British will begin nationalizing passenger rail after decades of failed privatization, which began in 1994 (see write-up from the British House of Commons). Amtrak referenced the UK’s experiment with privatization in a March 2025 analysis explaining why privatization is a bad idea (see Amtrak FAQ here).
On this side of the Atlantic, Amtrak had its best year ever for ridership and revenue. Some of its ridership growth is due to an increasing number of long-haul commuters, especially commuters from Philadelphia to New York City.
Behind Trump’s Wishful Thinking On ‘Reindustrialization’
April 22, 2025
Sara Flounders, Workers World.
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Capitalism, China, Global Economy, Re-industrialization, Socialism, United States
In the 1950s, when Japan and much of Europe was in ruins, the U.S. accounted for 50% of the world’s global production. By the 1960s, this was 35%, declining to 25% by the 1980s. By 2025, the U.S. share of global production had fallen to 12% as production grew elsewhere. (itif.org, Feb. 18)
The capitalist class in the U.S. has grown frantic about this reversal. Its focus is on China, and it blames China for its spectacular level of modern industrial development. In advanced technology manufacturing the future is clear: China holds 45% of the global share to 11% for the U.S. Higher levels of production need a high-tech infrastructure to move what is produced to global markets.
Lab Leak: The Official Conspiracy Theory That Still Gets Credit
April 22, 2025
Ari Paul, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.
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Anthony Fauci, Conspiracies, COVID-19, Media
For a while it seemed like the dubious hypothesis that the virus that causes Covid did not jump from animals to humans, but was released from a Chinese lab, might be fading away. But the US government and the media are breathing new life into this zombie idea, contributing to the vilification of China and undermining actual scientific research.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed (4/15/25), former Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, who previously headed the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, asserted that “Wuhan lab’s risky gain-of-function research was a giant mistake that cost millions of lives.”
Germany In Crisis Part 2: A Short History Of Exploding Gas Pipelines
A single, brief phrase always comes to mind when I think of Germany. Whatever may be the specific matter to hand, sooner or later my thoughts go to three words that seem to me — and to many others, given they have survived so long in the discourse — to capture some essence of the nation and its place in the world.
“Germany is Hamlet.” For a long time I attributed this pithy observation to Gordon Craig, among Germany’s great 20th century historians. Craig (Germany, 1866–1945; The Germans) was noted for succinct observations of this kind. He saw Germany as a nation divided in history between its humanist achievements (Goethe et al., Kant et al., Thomas Mann et al.) and its regrettable givenness to varieties of absolute power.