By Vijay Prashad and Carlos Ron
On December 6, the Venezuelan people will vote for a new National Assembly. Ordinarily, there is nothing unusual about this, nor would this be newsworthy outside Venezuela. But, these days, even the holding of an election is a contest between the Venezuelan people and the United States government.
☞Venezuela wins simply by holding an election☜
a really depressing thing to me is how just blatantly stupid the “blame covid on china” strategy of the west was, and how much it still worked even among ‘progressives’. I had an argument the other day where I said china handled the pandemic well (cause they did) and my friend was like “but they unleashed it on the world!”. no the fuck they didn’t, they just found the first well known cases, and research now is suggesting it had already spread across eurasia before anyone had caught it. its just so fucking dumb and racist.
(via zvaigzdelasas)
☞Trump's Requested Strike on Iran Could Kill More People Than Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki☜
By Juan Cole
Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper and Lara Jakes at the New York Times get the scoop. Their sources in the White House tell them that last Thursday, in a meeting with his senior advisers, Trump abruptly asked them if there were options for a US strike on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment facilities.
They say that vice president Mike Pence, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Mark Milley all sought to dissuade Trump from this course of action, on the grounds it could kick off a major war in the last weeks of his presidency. They are alleged to have come away from the meeting convinced that they had succeeded.
Some commentary on this story:
First, it should be noted that Iran is not engaged in illegal activity. Its right to enrich uranium for civilian electricity production was acknowledged by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or nuclear deal signed with all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. Iran has only departed from that agreement in very minor ways, and mainly as a way of putting pressure on Europe to defy the US severe economic sanctions, which contravene the treaty. It is Trump’s Washington that has behaved illegally, not Iran.
So there is no casus belli and any US military action against Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities would be a massive war crime.
Further, the authors do not say anything about the likely consequences for Iranian civilians of such a strike.
It is possible that such a US strike on active nuclear enrichment facilities could kill as many Iranians as did the use of an atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, which killed between 90,000 and 145,000 people over four months.
☞China commits to international solidarity in vaccines☜
By Scott Scheffer
On Oct. 9, China announced that it has joined about 160 other countries in a pact to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments will be distributed equitably around the world. The aim of the agreement is to provide two billion doses of vaccine to vulnerable populations and health care workers, especially in poor countries.
The U.S. is among the few countries that have rejected taking part. The richest country in the world has snubbed the idea of joining forces with other countries to help stop a deadly virus from ravaging poor populations throughout the world.
americans are so weird. literally all of you, even the ones who are good, are always poised right on the bring of doing or saying something that’s absolutely deranged and none of you realise it.
☞Workers’ Party of Korea celebrates 75 years of struggle☜
By Greg Butterfield
People in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Oct. 10, 1945. The WPK is the communist party that leads the building of socialism in the northern part of Korea.
In Pyongyang, the capital city, a mighty military parade was held to show the Trumps of the world that the DPRK is always prepared to defend its people and their socialist system from the aggression of capitalist powers.
Kim Jong Un, chairperson of the Workers’ Party, expressed his gratitude to the people for their perseverance. “The secret of how our Party, which has followed the revolutionary road, most arduous and beset with trials, has adorned this bloody road with victory and glory is that our people have sincerely trusted and supported it and defended its cause.”