2021-03-16: News Headlines

_____ (2021-03-16). Nicaragua Is Teaching Us How To Put People Over Profits. popularresistance.org Members of the Sanctions Kill coalition are currently in Nicaragua as guests of the Friends of the ATC (the Association of Rural Workers) to learn about the Sandinista Revolution and the impacts of the recent economic war being waged by the United States against it. The ATC is a member of the global Via Campesina movement. Nicaragua is putting concrete programs in place to uplift its people by focusing on eradicating poverty, providing basic necessities such as health care, education, retirement security and more and empowering sectors of society that are typically at a disadvantage. A major focus of the Nicaragu…

United Health Professionals (2021-03-16). International Alert Message about COVID-19. United Health Professionals. globalresearch.ca We are more than 1,500 members (including professors of medicine, intensive care physicians and infectious disease specialists) from more than 30 countries. The lockdown has not only killed people, it has destroyed physical and mental health, economy, education and other aspects of social life.

Labor Video Project (2021-03-16). "My Working Conditions Are My Student's Living Conditions" SF UESF Teachers Caravan/Rally. indybay.org SF UESF teachers and supporters caravanned and rallied against the imposition of schedules that they say will harm the education of their students. They also charge the district has ignored their issues and those of the students.

contributors (2021-03-16). What is Ramadan? Essential Information for Students and Teachers. juancole.com This FAQ was distributed by Samer Ali, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan, but it is useful for any campus and any community with a Muslim minority. RAMADAN 2021 AT U-M This Winter Semester, around finals, many Muslims at U-M will abstain from food and …

WSWS (2021-03-16). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Some 2,300 Manitoba Hydro workers have launched a strike against the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Brian Pallister, while teachers in Santa Argentina are prepared to strike for a 35 percent pay increase.

Online News Editor (2021-03-16). 2 killed in militant attack on Afghan university bus. laprensalatina.com Kabul, Mar 16 (efe-epa).- Suspected militants opened fire at an Afghan university bus Tuesday, killing the driver and a student in the northern Baghlan province, police said. Six university lecturers suffered injuries in the attack on a highway near the provincial capital. The bus came under the attack teachers and students were on their way …

Steve Gillis (2021-03-16). Boston School Bus Drivers Union blasts bosses' reopening schemes. workers.org In direct confrontation with the U.S. ruling class' monolithic drive to "reopen" schools and businesses, even as the pandemic continues to rage, Boston School Bus Drivers picketed their employer, Transdev, March 9. They gave voice to the outrage of frontline workers over this dangerous gamble with the lives of both . . . |

Ragip Soylu (2021-03-16). Saudi Arabia closes Turkish schools amid unofficial boycott. middleeasteye.net Saudi Arabia closes Turkish schools amid unofficial boycott | Eight Turkish schools in Mecca and Medina were shut down in 2020, as Riyadh reportedly continues unofficial sanctions against Ankara over Khashoggi probe | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 11: 52 | Students from the Mecca International Turkish School celebrate Turkey's Republic Day in 2019 (Screenshot) | Saudi Arabia reportedly closed eight Turkish schools i…

George Wuerthner (2021-03-16). The Institutional Bias of Forestry School Research. counterpunch.org Institutional bias doesn't just exist in race relationships. The Forest Service and Forestry Schools have been the handmaiden of the timber industry for so long they do not even recognize their own biases. A good example is a recent announcement by the Oregon State University Forestry School that: "A quarter-century-old harvesting restriction intended to last

_____ (2021-03-16). Capitalist Economies Overproduce Food. popularresistance.org The unprecedented pandemic, and the recession it has caused, has led to a sharp increase in food insecurity in the United States. The problem isn't that there isn't enough food to go around, but that more and more people are unable to afford to purchase it. Last year the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) recently released a report predicting that the number of people facing extreme hunger could soar to 270 million by the end of 2020 — effectively doubling. | What's leading to these extreme statistics isn't a lack of availability — it's that many people simply can't afford to purchase food. Like…

A Guest Author (2021-03-16). New York Boricua Resistance: No International Working Women's Day without trans women. workers.org This statement was co-written by Alicia Rodriguez and Gabriela Malespin of New York Boricua Resistance and presented by Malespin during the March 13 webinar sponsored by New York City-based International Working Women's Day Coalition. The webinar was entitled "Women and oppressed-gender workers rise up: The real pandemic is capitalism. The . . . |

Patrick Cockburn (2021-03-16). Test and Trace is the Dead Elephant in the Room. counterpunch.org As Britain enters a post-pandemic era, its struggle with Covid-19 reveals a country that is a complicated mix of strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, Britain has developed, manufactured and distributed effective vaccines quicker than any other nation. On the other, it has constructed the biggest gravy train in British history, one that pays

Kuehn BM. (2021-03-16). Most Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 Have Lasting Symptoms. jamanetwork.com Three-quarters of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) still had at least 1 symptom 6 months after they became ill, according to recently published follow-up research.

Stephen Lendman (2021-03-16). Confessions of Medical Truth-Tellers. globalresearch.ca Since seasonal flu was renamed covid early last year to kick …

Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche (2021-03-16). Virologist: 'We Are Going to Pay Huge Price' for COVID Mass Vaccination Campaign. globalresearch.ca In an open letter to WHO and in a follow-up video …

Mehr News Agency (2021-03-16). Iran unveils indigenous COVID-19 rapid test kit. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Mar. 16 (MNA) — A new indigenous COVID-19 rapid test kit was unveiled at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in the presence of the IRGC Chief Commander on Tuesday.

RT (2021-03-16). Vanity Fair accuses Trump of KILLING 400,000 people with Covid, Trump supporters want to see the mag sued. rt.com Vanity Fair is seemingly holding Donald Trump responsible for murdering 400,000 Americans with Covid-19. Needless to say, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo or Joe Biden. Some suggested a libel suit might teach the mag a lesson. | The story begins with Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to the former president, who on Monday

RT (2021-03-16). Biden calls on local preachers & doctors to promote vaccines… dismissing Fauci's appeal for Trump to help get skeptics on board. rt.com President Joe Biden apparently doesn't share his chief Covid-19 adviser's view that Donald Trump would be a "game changer" in promoting vaccines, instead saying local church leaders and doctors would have the biggest impact. | "The thing that has more impact than anything Trump would say to the MAGA folks is what the local doctor, what the local preacher, what the local people in the community say," Biden said on Monday of the advice he's getting from staffers. "So I urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why, why it's important to get that vaccine, and even after that until everyone is, i…

National Vaccine Information Centre (2021-03-16). COVID-19 Vaccine Tested on Babies and Pregnant Women. globalresearch.ca Pharmaceutical and medical device giant Johnson & Johnson, Inc. (J&J) announced …

Dr. Joseph Mercola (2021-03-16). COVID-19 mRNA "Vaccines" Are "Gene Therapy" globalresearch.ca As calls for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination grow around the world, it's …

Timothy Alexander Guzman (2021-03-16). Trump and Biden Playing Politics: The COVID-19 "Experimental Vaccines" which are "Killing and Injuring People" globalresearch.ca So which American president is going to take full credit for …

Staff (2021-03-16). NY State Senator Alessandra Biaggi Says Cuomo Has Abused His Power for Years & Must Resign. democracynow.org New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is refusing to step down despite growing calls for his resignation after multiple accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct, as well as his cover-up of thousands of COVID-19 nursing home deaths. Alessandra Biaggi, a New York state senator representing parts of the Bronx and Westchester, says it's long past time for Cuomo to go and that the many scandals surrounding the governor reveal a consistent pattern. "The governor has not only abused his position of power, but he has used it in a way that is political and as a way to have the executive branch essentially protect himself…

Steve Topple (2021-03-16). Horrifying research shows two cops a month commit violent or sexual offences against women and children. thecanary.co THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS REFERENCES TO RAPE AND MURDER SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND DISTRESSING | Eight police officers have been convicted of murdering their wives or girlfriends in the past 11 years. This figure comes from

RT (2021-03-16). Biden administration to house up to 3,000 migrant kids in Dallas convention center turned into 'decompression' facility — reports. rt.com The Biden administration reportedly plans to use a Dallas convention center to hold as many as 3,000 migrant teenagers, easing overcrowding in detention facilities as open-borders policies spur a surge in illegal immigration. | Federal agencies will use the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center for up to 90 days, starting as early as this week, to detain 15- to 17-year-old migrant boys, the Associated Press

Staff (2021-03-16). Immigrant Advocate: Unaccompanied Minors Are Not a "Border Crisis" But a Humanitarian Crisis. democracynow.org Thousands of migrant children seeking refuge are being held in crowded cells amid an increase in asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite claims by Republican lawmakers during a tour of the southern border aimed at warning against rollbacks of Trump's immigration policy, most adults at the border are still being turned away, while the Biden administration is allowing unaccompanied children to cross while their cases are processed. Thousands of the unaccompanied minors are being sent to cities across Texas to be housed and processed, including Dallas, where FEMA will hold as many as 3,000 unaccompanied te…

Margaret Flowers (2021-03-16). Peace Delegation Visits Nicaragua To Explore Impact Of US Sanctions. dissidentvoice.org For the next two weeks, I am in Nicaragua on the first delegation organized by the Sanctions Kill coalition and the Friends of the ATC (Asociacion de Trabajadores del Campo — Association of Rural Workers) to study the impact of sanctions imposed by the United States on Nicaragua and learn about the Sandinista Revolution. The …

Michael K. Emerson (2021-03-16). Sanitized Tyranny: The Weaponization of Truth. dissidentvoice.org On Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol Hill "insurrection", the Parler social media app was the number #1 most downloaded app in the Apple App Store. On "January 10, 2021, Parler CEO John Matze announced the company had been 'dropped by virtually all of its business alliances after Amazon, Apple and Google ended …

Minnie Bruce Pratt (2021-03-16). °Los trabajadores no son robots! Racismo, aceleración de la alta tecnología y la campaña sindical de la Amazon. workers.org Una campaña de organización histórica está en marcha en Bessemer, Alabama, en el almacén de Amazon BHM1. Casi 6.000 trabajadores, en su mayoría negros, casi la mitad mujeres, están decidiendo si unirse al Sindicato de Minoristas, Mayoristas y Grandes Tiendas (RWDSU siglas en ingles). La votación continúa hasta el 29 . . . |

M. K. Bhadrakumar (2021-03-16). India Should Hold the Line on Myanmar. asia-pacificresearch.com

Staff (2021-03-16). Vijay Prashad Warns Biden Is "Doubling Down" on Trump's Anti-China Cold War Policy. democracynow.org Beijing has accused the U.S. of perpetuating a Cold War mentality as President Joe Biden and senior administration officials shore up alliances in the Pacific region to counter China's growing influence and increasingly describe the country as a geopolitical threat. Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, says the "bellicose" tone out of Washington is not because the U.S. sees China as a military threat, but because China threatens U.S. dominance in the scientific, technological and diplomatic spheres. "It's very chilling what the U.S. government is doing in ramping up this cold…

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2021-03-16). Afghanistan: No Troop Withdrawal. US Remains Inert in the Face of Taliban Attacks. globalresearch.ca The American presence in Afghanistan appears to be far from over. …

Matthew Petti (2021-03-16). Blinken Grilled for Maintaining Trump's Sanctions on War Crimes Court. globalresearch.ca Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Trump administration's position on …

Ralph Nader (2021-03-16). Perfidy Meets Putty — Congressional Democrats Betray Voters. counterpunch.org Do you remember the promises made by the Democratic Party's presidential and Congressional candidates on universal health insurance? You can forget their pledges and somber convictions now that your votes put the Democrats in charge of the House and the Senate. The Democrats' leaders are abandoning their promises and retreating into a cowardly corporatist future.

Angely Mercado, Naveena Sadasivam (2021-03-16). A record 6 Native Americans elected to Congress, here's where they stand on climate. peoplesworld.org Indigenous peoples have a critical role to play in the fight against climate change. Though they make up just 5 percent of the world's population, their lands encompass more than 80 percent of global biodiversity. Indigenous lands are also at greatest risk from the multiple threats posed by climate change: rising sea levels, warmer temperatures, …

Jim Miles (2021-03-16). "Bible and Sword": England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour. globalresearch.ca Part of history is reading historical documents, and it is in …

MEE staff (2021-03-16). Israel sentences 14-year-old Palestinian boy to two months in prison. middleeasteye.net Israel sentences 14-year-old Palestinian boy to two months in prison | Abdullah Obaid handed himself to Israeli authorities after being accused of throwing stones at police | Tue, 03/16/2021 – 14: 19 | Abdullah Obaid, 14, hugs his mother farewell before handing himself to an Israeli detention centre in West Jerusalem, 16 March 2021 (Screengrab) | An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced a 14-year-old Palestinian…

Lexi McMenamin (2021-03-16). Protecting Pro-Palestine Activists Can Feel Almost Impossible—but These Students Succeeded. thenation.com Protecting Pro-Palestine Activists Can Feel Almost Impossible—but These Students Succeeded…

South Front (2021-03-16). Video: Assad Against Northern Syria's "Democratic" Oil Smuggling Business. globalresearch.ca A relaxing, profitable and, quite frankly, secure job has turned into …

Andrew Korybko (2021-03-16). The First-Ever Quad Leadership Summit (US, Australia, India, Japan) Confirmed the Bloc's Anti-China Purpose. globalresearch.ca The bloc thought that it could dispel suspicions of its motives …

The Palestinian Feminist Collective (2021-03-16). Press Release: Pledge that Palestine is a Feminist Issue. indybay.org Today the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC) launches a pledge and open letter asking US women and feminist organizations, social and racial justice organizations, and people of conscience to adopt Palestinian liberation as a critical feminist issue. The pledge lists six concrete steps and commitments the Collective proposes to advance a truly intersectional and decolonial feminist vision in Palestine. These include pledging support for Palestinian rights to free speech and political organizing, the rejection of the conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, the endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment, and…

Eds. (2021-03-16). Biden's retaliatory cyberattacks against Russia are folly. mronline.org MR Online

Ted Kelly (2021-03-16). $1.9 Trillion stimulus bill: relief or ripoff? workers.org These slightly edited remarks were made during Workers World Party's March 11 webinar, "Stimulus Bill — Relief or Ripoff?" moderated by Ted Kelly, WWP-Philadelphia. Ted Kelly. Credit: WW PHOTO Ted Kelly: The U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan stimulus bill on March 6. Tonight's roundtable with young revolutionary workers from Workers . . . |

CounterPunch News Service (2021-03-16). Centennial Mountain Heli-Skiing. counterpunch.org On Friday, March 12th, Ashton/Island Park District Ranger Liz Davy withdrew the possibility of a permit to allow helicopter skiing in a portion of the Centennial Mountains on the Idaho side of the range for the following reasons: + Research indicates use of helicopters has significant negative impacts to denning grizzly bears, a threatened species.

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2021-03-16). The Crushing Environmental Burden of Greek Tourism. counterpunch.org Tourism is the heavy industry of Greece. It annually earns a fourth of the country's income. The pestilence year 2020, however, was bad for Greek tourism. In 2020, some 70 percent fewer tourists visited the country. This drastic decline meant less money for debt trapped Greece. Compared to 2019, tourist receipts in 2020 dropped by 78.2 percent.

The Empire Files (2021-03-16). VIDEO: A Guide to US Empire in Africa: Neocolonial Order & AFRICOM. liberationnews.org Abby Martin speaks to Eugene Puryear to discuss the big picture of U.S. imperialism in Africa…

Justin Podur (2021-03-16). India's Right-Wing Government is So Hungry for Profit It Will Risk a Famine for the Country. counterpunch.org India's right-wing government has been deploying all the modern tools of repression against a historic farmers' protest. Much is at stake. For the people of India, their agricultural system is about to get far more precarious. For its farmers, ruin, and bankruptcy for millions, is all but guaranteed. For the government of Narendra Modi and

teleSUR Desk (2021-03-16). Court rejects vote recount claimed by Yaku Perez. mronline.org MR Online

Sheila Malone RN (2021-03-16). Maine Medical Center nurses want a union, need support. peoplesworld.org PORTLAND, Me. — Nurses at Maine Medical Center (MMC) in Portland, the region's pre-eminent referral center, have taken steps to organize a union. On their behalf, the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) in January petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to authorize a secret vote on forming a union for the hospital's 1600 nurses. Ballots …

Qiao Collective (2021-03-16). Race reductionism: Neocolonialism and the ruse of "Chinese privilege" mronline.org MR Online

Thomas Klikauer — Norman Simms (2021-03-16). University Spiralists and Aca-Zombies. counterpunch.org As in many places where the ideology of neoliberalism holds sway, universities have been contaminated with the self-invented business imperatives of neoliberalism. For the better part of the last forty years, the conversion of universities from places where academics and students wanted to go to learn because knowledge was good to have into places to