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Fidel Castro Left Cuba a Green Legacy

Stephen Zunes National Catholic Reporter
Castro's biggest test was in the 1990s, when the sudden end of subsidized trade with the Eastern Bloc, combined with sanctions from the United States, led to a severe economic crisis. His response - which history may judge as his greatest legacy - was to launch an ambitious program in organic agriculture, environmental planning, renewable energy and other sustainable development practices.

The Next Frontier: Trump and Space Weapons

Karl Grossan CounterPunch
For decades there’s been interest by some U.S. administrations—the Reagan administration with its “Star Wars” plan a leading example—in placing weapons in space. The Obama administration has mainly been opposed. With the Trump administration, a drive to weaponize space appears in the offing.

Friday Nite Videos -- December 9, 2016

Portside
Fake News, Real Consequences. Get Up Stand Up | Playing For Change. False Claims and Foreign Policy: A Closer Look. Dinosaur's Feathered Tail Found Remarkably Preserved in Amber. Water Protectors React to Standing Rock Victory.

Tidbits - December 8, 2016 - Reader Comments: Standing Rock-Tremendous Victory; Trump Changed Everything; What Next for the Left; Remembering Fidel; Why You Support Portside; Labor Scholarships; March for Immigrants....

Portside
Reader Comments: Standing Rock - Tremendous Victory to Start Trump Presidency; Trump Changed Everything; What Next for the Left; Remembering Fidel Castro and his Impact Worldwide and in the U.S.; Jobs, Shorter Work Week; Chelsea Manning; Tondalo Hall imprisonment; We Need Each Other - Why People Should Support Portside; Announcements: UMASS Labor Scholarships; Make $15 Real Under Trump; New York March for Immigrants

The Rojava Project

Alex de Jong Jacobin
According to the back of Meredith Tax's A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, a 'democratic society' with 'women on the front lines as fierce warriors and leaders' is growing in the midst of Syria's destruction. This new society - Rojava - was founded by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian-Kurdish offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). How does the PKK function internally, how will it deal with class divisions or regional differences?

Trump's Victory Is a Wake-Up Call to the Left; Lesson for Democrats: Back to Class

Lynn Koh; Jeff Faux In These Times
Did we do enough in 2016? And how can we build a broader electoral movement? I don't believe the Left bears the brunt of the blame for Hillary Clinton's defeat, and I reject arguments that try to score political points through guilt-tripping. Both long-term and short-term factors worked against a Clinton victory. Trump is not Reagan; 2016 is not 1980. But both elections were lost by tone-deaf Democratic elites who dismissed the economic anxieties of the working class.

South Korean Protests Growing

SooKyung Nam Socialist Project
For the sixth straight weekend, hundreds of thousands of Koreans came out in Seoul (and with other Korean cities estimates approaching 2 million people on the streets) to demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. The below essays were written just after the fourth demonstration weekend.

The Blind Spots of Liberalism

Adam Fisher Jacobin
What an impoverished small town tells us about the dangers of not taking class seriously.