(2022-02-09). On Contact: The Gig Economy. popularresistance.org After the end of World War II, two generations of workers in the United States were blessed with a period of unprecedented prosperity. Wages for the working class were high. Jobs were stable and came with benefits and health insurance. Unions protected workers from abuse by the business elites. Taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations was as high as 91%. The public school system provided a quality education to the poor and the rich. The nation's infrastructure and technology were cutting edge and unrivaled. But by the 1970s, it all began to go south. Wages stagnated. Income inequality grew, until by 2…
(2022-02-09). Neoliberal capitalism and the commodification of social reproduction, from our home to our classroom. mronline.org 
It is official: we are getting ready for another round of industrial action in the UK higher education sector.
(2022-02-09). Oakland students fight for COVID safety in schools. liberationnews.org 
On Friday, Jan. 21, striking students in the Oakland Unified School District held a public town hall to address the urgent COVID safety needs of school communities. Less than a week later, the Oakland Education Association and the OUSD came to a tentative agreement in support of all of the students' demands.
(2022-02-09). ILWU Local 6 California Waste Solutions Workers Demand Justice At Oakland Education Rally. indybay.org ILWU Local 6 California Waste Solutions workers spoke out for justice on the job at the Oakland City hall rally against education cuts.
(2022-02-09). Engineers create spiky materials inspired by insects that could pop bacteria. imperial.ac.uk Researchers have created intricately patterned materials that mimic antimicrobial, adhesive and drag reducing properties found in natural surfaces.
(2022-02-09). Alzheimer's may be prevented with toothpaste, researchers suggest. rt.com 
A protein present in human gums may help combat a bacterium causing neurodegenerative diseases, particularly if added to a toothpaste, Canadian researchers say | A protein called SCPPPQ1 that normally makes gums adhere to teeth may prove effective in combating a bacterium called P. gingivalis, which could cause Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, a research team from the University of Montreal, Canada, has The study led by…
(2022-02-09). European banks panicking over Russia-Ukraine crisis — reports. rt.com 
Banks in Italy, France, and Austria are most exposed | European banks are concerned that the payment system which connects them to Russia could become a casualty of the Ukraine crisis, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing its sources. The banks describe the potential disconnection of Russia from SWIFT as an "atomic bomb" for the industry because it would prevent the repayment of debts, it said. | According to research by JPMorgan, European banks with subsidiaries in Russia are most at risk from economic restrictions. The study said a handful of lenders, including UniCredit, RBI, France's Societe Generale, and…
(2022-02-09). President Trump Axed an IRS Report on the Richest 400 Americans. Let's Bring It Back. inequality.org
(2022-02-09). Soaring Methane Levels Has Scientists Concerned Climate Feedback Loop Is Here. truthout.org 
Fresh U.S. government data spotlighting the rapid growth of atmospheric methane concentrations in recent years has scientists increasingly concerned that the human-caused climate crisis has triggered a vicious feedback loop, potentially resulting in unstoppable planetary warming. | Research
(2022-02-09). Drug Decriminalization Is Working In Oregon. popularresistance.org As COVID-19 continues to rage, another health crisis persists — one that is decades long. In the first year of the pandemic, the United States hit the devastating milestone of 100,000 overdose deaths, a nearly 28.5 percent surge from the record numbers we saw the previous year. Now, fentanyl is the leading cause of death in Americans ages 18-45. The reaction from many of our leaders has been to call for more arrests and criminalization, but this response is rooted in fear, not science. We have spent the last 50 years trying to treat a public health issue with a criminalization response, yet people are dying…
(2022-02-09). Challenging Colonialism s01e03: Weapons of Mass Destruction (p.II). indybay.org Part II: A History of Resistance | Part two of a four-part episode outlines dams as a colonial project, and centers Indigenous science in the historical and ongoing indigenous resistance to eco-genocide.
(2022-02-09). Unions, staff fight Sydney Uni Arts Faculty cuts. greenleft.org.au The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney is being replaced by a new, centralised discipline structure, reports Georgie Dixon.
(2022-02-09). Samidoun Hungary rallies in Budapest to #FreePalestinianStudents. samidoun.net 
On Sunday, 30 January, activists with the new Samidoun Hungary chapter organized a vigil in central Budapest to call for the freedom of imprisoned Palestinian students. Participants carried signs and pictures of Palestinian students locked behind bars in Israeli jails, calling for their immediate liberation. Students in Hungary set up their display of information on …
(2022-02-09). "Don't Look Up": David Sirota on His Oscar Nod for Writing Blockbuster Climate Crisis & Media Satire. democracynow.org 
We speak to longtime progressive journalist and 2020 Bernie Sanders adviser David Sirota, who was just nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay of the hit Netflix movie "Don't Look Up" along with the film's director, Adam McKay. The satire of the fight to have climate change acknowledged, let alone acted upon by global leaders, follows the plight of astronomy professor Dr. Randall Mindy (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his graduate student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) as they fail to warn the planet of an impending comet that threatens to wipe out human existence.
(2022-02-09). Florida State University SDS statement on Nazis on campus. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 3 statement from Florida State University Student for a Democratic Society (SDS). | This week an FSU undergraduate student has been exposed through copious emails and message logs as being a member of the Neo-Nazi group Patriot Front. The student is Calvin Stow-Ortiz from Tampa, where his father unsurprisingly works for the Tampa Police Department. In leaked messages Stow-Ortiz references spreading the groups propaganda posters and stickers in the Tampa area and made plans with another Patriot Front member to vandalize FAMU's campus with white supremac…
(2022-02-09). Student petition calls for reinstatement of COVID safety policies at Baylor. wsws.org Baylor has repudiated remaining safety measures, even as students are demanding basic safety measures, including an option for virtual learning, in the midst of mass infections at the university.
(2022-02-09). More than 300 children infected on first day back at school in Australian state of Queensland. wsws.org Premier Palaszczuk's government sent teachers, staff and students back into classrooms under unsafe conditions, declaring that it would lead to further COVID-19 outbreaks and hospitalisations.
(2022-02-09). Friday 2/11: Dogs & Desserts at UC Berkeley. indybay.org Memorial Glade | South Hall Rd Berkeley, CA 94720…
(2022-02-09). McGill University students strike against in-person classes. wsws.org Hundreds of students at McGill University in Montreal are currently on strike in opposition to the administration's demand that all students return to in-person classes.
(2022-02-09). Kentucky Republicans again aim to ban teaching truth about racism. peoplesworld.org 
Here they go again—white Republicans trying to whitewash history. Kentucky State Sens. Max Wise and Robby Mills have introduced SB 138, the "Teaching American Principles Act." Like HB 14 and HB 18, it's a censorship bill aimed at restricting the teaching of systemic racism in public schools. SB 138 requires a teacher who "chooses to discuss current events …
(2022-02-08). Scientists invent '4-minute' Covid test. rt.com 
The new electromechanical sensors are as precise as PCR lab tests and show results in four minutes, researchers say | Scientists at Fudan University in Shanghai have come up with a new method for coronavirus testing, which they say is as sensitive but much quicker than PCR lab testing. | The new method involves electromechanical sensors capable of detecting, with high precision, SARS-CoV-2 RNA in human genetic material, according to the study published Monday in Nature Biomedical Engineering science journal. | "We implemented an electromechanical biosensor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 into an integrated and…
(2022-02-08). Not By Diet Alone: Overweight People May Become Thinner by Sleeping Extra Hour. sputniknews.com The researchers touted their study as game-changing because it was carried out in a real-world setting rather than a laboratory. The overweight participants, who habitually slept in their own beds fewer than 6.5 hours a night, managed to add an extra 1.2 hours of sleep after they underwent counselling to improve their sleeping habits.
(2022-02-08). China's Belt & Road Already Delivering for Southeast Asia. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2022-02-08). Hunger-Striking Teachers Say School Closures Will Hurt Black and Brown Kids. truthout.org 
Image Credit: Instagram: @westlakewarrioreagles | We go to Oakland, where a group of teachers are on a hunger strike to protest a plan to close and merge over a dozen schools due to under-enrollment. This comes ahead of a critical school board vote Tuesday that will decide whether to proceed with the plan. Activists argue the move threatens to divert resources to charter schools and displace hundreds of Black and Brown children from their neighborhood schools. The hunger strike across multiple di…
(2022-02-08). Hunger-Striking Teachers Say Oakland Plan to Close Schools Will Hurt Black & Brown Communities. democracynow.org 
We go to Oakland, where a group of teachers are on a hunger strike to protest a plan to close and merge over a dozen schools due to under-enrollment. This comes ahead of a critical school board vote Tuesday that will decide whether to proceed with the plan. Activists argue the move threatens to divert resources to charter schools and displace hundreds of Black and Brown children from their neighborhood schools. The hunger strike across multiple different schools has empowered many to speak up against longtime systemic racism, says Moses Omolade, one of the striking workers and a community schools manager at Westl…
(2022-02-08). The Privilege of Public School in Nicaragua. orinocotribune.com 
By Becca Mohally Renk — Jan 27, 2022 | This week the new school year started in Nicaragua and I waved my eldest daughter, Eibhlín, off to her final year of high school. I teared up remembering my three-year old in her first tiny blue and white uniform, proudly marching off to preschool in pigtails. | I've also been reflecting that this month marks 15 years since President Daniel Ortega declared public education to be free once again, just 24 hours after he was inaugurated. That was his second declaration; the first was to declare public health care free again. Those two declarations have led to the most sign…
(2022-02-08). US Plays QUAD Card During Beijing Olympics. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2022-02-08). The 2020-22 Worldwide Corona Crisis: Destroying Civil Society, Engineered Economic Depression, Global Coup d'État and the "Great Reset" globalresearch.ca We are at the crossroads of one of the most serious crises in modern history. We are living history, yet our understanding of the flow of events since January 2020 has been blurred. Worldwide, people have been misled both by their governments and the media.
(2022-02-08). Imperial joins European partners in call for finalising UK and Swiss association. imperial.ac.uk Imperial's President Professor Alice Gast is among 300 science leaders that have signed a call for an "open and inclusive European Research Area."
(2022-02-08). Research bolsters studies on Omicron's triple vaccine-evading capacity. peoplesdispatch.org Recent research bolsters earlier studies which showed that Omicron has an extraordinary capacity of evading vaccine protection. The Omicron variant is far more expert in evading vaccine immunity than Delta…
(2022-02-08). J'Accuse! The Gene-based "Vaccines" Are Killing People. Governments Worldwide Are Lying to You the People, to the Populations They Purportedly Serve. globalresearch.ca The Signal of Harm is now indisputably overwhelming, and, in line with universally accepted ethical standards for clinical trials, Doctors for Covid Ethics demands that the 'Covid' vaccine programme be halted immediately.
(2022-02-08). U.K. Vaccine Crime Investigation. Metropolitan Police and International Criminal Court (ICC). globalresearch.ca First published by Global Research on January 28, 2022 | This is an important article. | . | UK Law Enforcement procedures have been initiated against the architects of the Covid-19 crisis. | This initiative sets a precedent Worldwide. | Should a Criminal Investigation be …
(2022-02-08). Genes that may be helping bumblebees adapt to environmental change pinpointed. imperial.ac.uk Researchers studying bumblebee genomes have identified genes thought to be helping bees overcome environmental challenges, such as climate change.
(2022-02-08). Repression of students in Bangladesh widely condemned. peoplesdispatch.org Following the police action against students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh, a wave of student solidarity protests has swept across several universities. Protesters have condemned the use of tear gas, batons and stun grenades against students within the campus…
(2022-02-08). 77 Percent Tested At Baltimore High School Read At Elementary Level, Some Kindergarten. moguldom.com A teacher who works at Patterson High School in Baltimore, Maryland, revealed data showing that 77 percent of the public high school students are reading at an elementary school level. Some students who took the iReady assessments are even reading at a kindergarten level. iReady assessments are a screening tool used to measure student growth …
(2022-02-08). HBCU students and leaders 'lean into history' amid bomb threats. splcenter.org
(2022-02-08). Talk World Radio: Braxton Brewington: End Debt. davidswanson.org AUDIO: Talk World Radio is recorded as audio and video on Riverside.fm. Here is this week's video and all the videos on Youtube. VIDEO: This week on Talk World Radio we're talking about debt, including student debt. Our guest Braxton Brewington is a spokesperson and organizer for The Debt Collective. See debtcollective.org The Debt Collective …
(2022-02-08). Wednesday 4/13: Students as Agents of Transformative Change – Hosted by John R. Lewis College UCSC. indybay.org Online via Zoom (FREE and open to the community)…
(2022-02-08). Columbia student workers ratify contract with cuts in real wages: The political lessons. wsws.org Throughout their struggle, Columbia University student workers confronted two hostile forces: the university administration, run by millionaires with close ties to the Democratic Party, and the United Auto Workers.
(2022-02-08). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Thousands of Puerto Rican teachers held protests to support demand for increases in pay, while Tijuana, Mexico parents are demanding the state government redress nonpayment of teachers' wage…
(2022-02-08). Right-wing majority on Colorado school board fires superintendent to attack COVID mitigations. wsws.org The ousting of superintendent Corey Wise was an outcome of back-room plotting driven by a campaign against mask mandates and bogus claims about the teaching of Critical Race Theory.