Global Left Midweek – December 11, 2024

As the world churns

Activists Call on Biden To Clear Death Row

The series of open letters from human rights activists and former corrections officials aligned with a larger push from Democrats for sweeping clemency action for those in prison.

How Health Insurance Became a Boon for Business

Health insurance companies are a center-piece in a deeply corrupt, inhumane, and deleterious health system that allows business people to reap lofty profits even if it brings premature death, disability, and pain onto millions of families every day.

What Is the Working-Class Policy on Immigration?

That we don't know the answer to this question is the first problem that must be addressed.

Liberation in Syria Is a Victory Worth Embracing

The country is now free, yet some remain trapped in the past

Media Bits and Bytes – December 10, 2024

Are media owners surrendering press freedom?

What Caused Assad's Sudden Fall

And what is its significance for the Middle East and U.S. policy

This Week in People’s History, Dec 11–17

Photo of an Iraqi prisoner undergoing torture
Is Torture Really in the Eye of the Beholder? (2014), Winning the Fight Against McCarthyism (1954), Hands Off Haiti! (1929), The First Firefight Against King George (1774), Second City’s Amazing Alumni (1959), Wartime Hysteria at its Worst (1944)

Trump's Plan To End Birthright Citizenship Slammed

"Emboldened by a Supreme Court that would use its power to uphold white supremacy rather than the constitution of our nation, Trump is on a mission to weaken the very soul of our nation," said Rep. Delia Ramirez.

Argentine Feminists: Building a Generation of Militancy

Between 2015 to 2023 laws were enacted guaranteeing support to victims of violence and to families of victims of femicide; training on gender and violence was made mandatory. President Javier Milei has mounted a full-scale attack against these gains.
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Culture

film

Toronto Film Festival Goes Around the World

Bill Meyer Hollywood Progressive
A favorite film at the Toronto International Film Festival this year was by far M - Son of the Century directed by the talented UK filmmaker Joe Wright. It’s actually an Italian TV mini-series about the founder of fascism himself, Benito Mussolini.

food

Will Congress Force This Controversial Alcohol Study To Stop?

Esther Mobley San Francisco Chronicle
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, co-wrote a letter to two federal agencies calling for the suspension of an alcohol review. The upcoming revision of U. S. Dietary Guidelines is unfolding amid a shifting global sentiment toward drinking. Members of Congress are calling for a suspension of a controversial committee that could recommend Americans reduce alcohol consumption.

tv

Say Nothing Turns the IRA’s Secret History Into TV Drama

An interview with Josh Zetumer Jacobin
The new FX TV show Say Nothing dramatizes one of the most controversial stories in modern Irish history, with characters that include former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Showrunner Josh Zetumer spoke to us about the challenges of producing the serie

poetry

Postscript

Marie Howe Marie Howe: New and Selected Poems
Poet Marie Howe shows us the frightening consequences of "what we did to the earth."

books

Man Overboard

Rebecca Onion Slate
"Josh Hawley’s long-threatened tome about American masculinity is here," writes this reviewer. "Savor it with me."

Labor

labor

Sabotage as a Tool of Solidarity

Shaun Richman In These Times
Photo of men in suits and coats standing in front of the union building. Workplace sabotage has historically been a powerful organizing tactic. Is the time ripe again?

Friday nite video

Trump Goes to War With Allies and Partners

Canada. Mexico. Great Britain. Before assuming office, Trump is launching attacks on the closest partners of the United States, and is meeting with embarrassing rebuffs.

video

Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee) | Lance Canales

The story of the 1948 plane crash that took the lives of 32 passengers told by Woody Guthrie's poem Deportee, performed with guttural vocals, hard-edged, stripped down, foot-stomping acoustic instrumentation