Pope Francis calls for unity and 'dynamic' secularism in first visit to Corsica


Pope Francis made history on Sunday with the first-ever papal visit to Corsica. He urged local priests to resist spiritual groups that fuel political divisions and

championed a "dynamic" form of secularism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society.


Issued on: 15/12/2024 -
By: NEWS WIRES

01:38

Pope Francis and Emmanuel Macron arrive at Ajaccio airport in Corsica ahead of the Pope's departure on December 15, 2024. © Ludovic Marin, AFP


Pope Francis celebrated mass Sunday before a congregation of thousands in Corsica, a stronghold of the Catholic faith, the first-ever trip by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

The ceremony, attended by around 9,000 in person and watched by as many again on giant screens, according to local authorities, was the high point of a one-day trip that saw Francis intervene on issues from France's state secularism to calling for peace in the Middle East.

"Everything is mixed together, solemnity, sincerity, emotions," said Fabienne Mazza, one of 300 singers who took part in the mass. "His being here makes managing to control our emotions stressful."

Francis had arrived in the papal plane on Sunday morning before moving through the packed streets of Ajaccio in his popemobile, blessing children, a 108-year-old woman and even a pizza held out by an enterprising restaurant owner.


Cries of "evivva u papa" ("long live the pope" in Corsican) could be heard from the crowd.

With a bruise still visible on his face from a fall a few days ago, Francis nevertheless appeared in good spirits, with a ready smile throughout the day's events.

05:49

Local authorities said around 12,000 people had turned out to greet the pope on the streets.

"This is exceptional, I'm moved, it's a magical moment, a one-off chance," said Solene Pianacci, a 44-year-old school head, at one of Francis' earlier stops at the cathedral in Corsican capital Ajaccio.

The 87-year-old pontiff's first stop was making closing remarks at a congress on religion in the Mediterranean.

He called for "a concept of secularity that is not static and fixed, but evolving and dynamic".

Read more Pope Francis makes first papal visit to French island Corsica

The remarks touched on a sensitive topic for France. Strict state secularism was originally introduced to curb the influence of the Church on public life, but is now more commonly deployed against symbols of Islam such as the Muslim headscarf or hijab.

Francis later called for peace "throughout the Middle East" but also for "the Ukranian people and the Russian people", as well as offering prayers for cyclone-stricken French Indian Ocean territory Mayotte.
Macron meeting

Ajaccio was decked out in decorations in the papal colours, yellow and white, while cars had been banished from central streets with parking bans.

Around 2,000 police reinforcements were sent to Ajaccio to beef up security.

Francis's short trip comes just a week after he snubbed the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris five years after a devastating fire – attended by world leaders including Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

But he agreed to the Corsica trip hosted by the island's popular, media-savvy cardinal, 56-year-old Francois-Xavier Bustillo.

Wearing a pink robe traditional for the third Sunday of Advent, Francis thanked Bustillo during mass for "this whole day when (he had) felt as if I was at home".

The cardinal responded that the visit had been a "true blessing for Corsica", where the local Church says around 90 percent of the 350,000 residents are Catholic.

'Pope Francis loves crossing limits'  05:03

Francis' final appointment after mass was a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron at the airport ahead of his departure.

In what may have been a pointed gift, Macron presented the pope with a book detailing the restoration of Notre-Dame, news channel BFM reported.

Sunday marked Francis's third visit to France as pope, after eastern city Strasbourg in 2014 and Mediterranean port Marseille last year – although none has been an official state visit to the country.

Some have seen that as a sign of his disapproval of French policy changes away from Church doctrine during his papacy, including on gay marriage and an ongoing public debate about assisted dying.

Francis's defenders highlight that the pontiff, concerned with the world's marginalised people, largely shuns capital cities and sumptuous receptions.
No to 'divisions'

The Corsica visit was his 47th overseas trip since his 2013 election and the third in 2024.

Several of those visits have been around the Mediterranean, from the Greek island of Lesbos to Malta and Sicily.

But this is the first visit by a pope to Corsica, a French region with a distinctive identity, fierce independence movement and a special constitutional status currently under discussion between Paris and local elected officials.

In his Sunday morning remarks, Francis warned against religious feeling being "exploited by groups that seek self-aggrandisement by fuelling polemics, narrow-mindedness, divisions and exclusivist attitudes".

Read moreFrench and Corsican officials strike deal in ‘decisive step’ towards island’s autonomy

The message comes as a new far-right Corsican nationalist movement, Mossa Palatina, campaigns to "reaffirm the primacy of Catholicism" and ensure that "Corsica never becomes another Lampedusa" – the Italian island where many migrants hoping to reach Europe have landed.

The pope himself has long advocated for welcoming migrants.

(AFP)

Israel shutters Dublin embassy, accuses Ireland of ‘extreme anti-Israel policies’

ANY CRITICISM OF THE ROGUE NATION 

IS DEEMED ANTI-SEMITISM

Israel will close its Dublin embassy due to the "extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government", Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Sunday. The decision refers to Ireland's recognition of a Palestinian state and support for legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of genocide.


Issued on: 15/12/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES

File photo: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends an event in northern Israel on October 11, 2022. © Jalaa Marey, AFP


Israel's foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it was closing its embassy in Ireland, citing the Dublin government's "extreme anti-Israeli policies", further straining tense relations between the two nations.

Diplomatic ties between Ireland and Israel have deteriorated after a series of moves that included Ireland recognising a Palestinian state and backing an International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of "genocide" in the Gaza Strip.

Ireland has also been among the most outspoken critics of Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza.

"The decision to close Israel's embassy in Dublin was made in light of the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The actions and antisemitic rhetoric used by Ireland against Israel are rooted in the delegitimisation and demonisation of the Jewish state, along with double standards," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.

"Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel."

Read moreWhat is the impact of recognising Palestinian statehood?

In November, Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris said the country's authorities would detain his Israeli counterpart Binyamin Netanyahu if he travelled to Ireland after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him.

The ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes" committed between October 8, 2023, and May 20 this year in the Gaza Strip.

Read moreICC arrest warrants: Binyamin Netanyahu's world has 'shrunk considerably'

Saar said Israel would invest its resources in building ties with other countries, and on Sunday announced the opening of an embassy in Moldova.

"We will adjust Israel's diplomatic network of missions while giving due weight, among other factors, to the positions and actions of various countries toward Israel in the diplomatic arena," he said.

In May, Dublin said it recognised Palestine as "a sovereign and independent state" comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations.

Spain and Norway recognised a Palestinian state on the same day, with Slovenia following a week later, drawing retaliatory moves from Israel.

In November, Dublin accepted the appointment of a full Palestinian ambassador for the first time.

On Sunday, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the Israeli decision to close its Dublin embassy "deeply regrettable".

"I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-International law," he posted on X.

(AFP)

Authorities fear 'several hundred' killed by Cyclone Chido in France's Mayotte

Authorities in the French territory of Mayotte said on Sunday that the death toll from Cyclone Chido could rise to "several hundred" and perhaps "several thousand" after the storm swept across the Indian Ocean island on its way to east Africa.


Issued on: 15/12/2024 

By: NEWS WIRES

01:52

Buildings were destroyed in disaster-hit Mayotte after Cyclone Chido hit the French overseas territory on December 14, 2024. © Daniel Mouhamadi, AFP

A senior official said Sunday that the death toll from Cyclone Chido's passage across Mayotte would be in the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, as France rushed in rescue workers and supplies.

Their efforts will likely be hindered by the damage to airports and electricity distribution in the French Indian Ocean territory.

Even before the cyclone's passage, clean drinking water was already subject to chronic shortages.

"I think there will definitely be several hundred, perhaps we will come close to a thousand or even several thousand" deaths, prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville told broadcaster Mayotte la Premiere.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday pledged help from the bloc.


"Our hearts go out to France following the devastating passage of cyclone Chido through Mayotte," she posted on X. "We are ready to provide support in the days to come."

It would be "very difficult to reach a final count" given that most residents are Muslim, traditionally burying their dead within 24 hours, Bieuville added.

A previous toll shared with AFP by a security source had confirmed only 14 deaths.

And earlier Sunday, the mayor of Mayotte's capital Mamoudzou, Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, told AFP nine people were fighting for their lives in hospital, while another 246 more had been seriously injured.

"The hospital is hit, the schools are hit. Houses are totally devastated," he said. The storm had "spared nothing", he added.

Establishing an accurate will be doubly difficult given that France's interior ministry estimates around 100,000 people live clandestinely on Mayotte.

Some of them did not dare to venture out and seek assistance, "fearing it would be a trap" designed to remove them from Mayotte," said Ousseni Balahachi, a former nurse.

Many had stayed put "until the last minute" when it proved to late to escape the cyclone, she added.
Scramble for supplies

Medical personnel and equipment were being delivered from Sunday by air and sea, said the prefecture in La Reunion, another French Indian Ocean territory some 1,400 kilometres away on the other side of Madagascar.

A first aid plane landed in Mayotte at around 3:30 pm local time (1230 GMT) with three tonnes of medical supplies, blood for transfusions and 17 medical staff, authorities in La Reunion said, with two military aircraft expected to follow.

Members of the French Civil Security clean debris after Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte on December 15, 2024. © French Civil Security handout photo via AFP

A navy patrol ship was also to depart La Reunion with personnel and equipment including for electricity supplier EDF.

Mayotte's 320,000 residents were ordered into lockdown Saturday as cyclone Chido bore down on the islands around 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of Mozambique, with gusts of at least 226 kilometres per hour.

Electricity poles were hurled to the ground, trees uprooted and sheet-metal roofs and walls torn off the shantytown housing inhabited by at least one-third of the population.

One local resident, Ibrahim, told AFP of "apocalyptic scenes" as he made his way through the main island, having to clear blocked roads for himself.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau will travel to Mayotte on Monday, his office said, alongside 160 soldiers and firefighters to reinforce the 110 already deployed to the islands.

Pope Francis, visiting French Mediterranean island Corsica on Sunday, urged people to pray for Mayotte's residents.

Storm hits Mozambique

Just northwest of Mayotte, the Comoros islands, some of which had been on red alert since Friday, were also hit, but suffered only minor damage.

Cyclone Chido later brought gale-force winds and heavy rain to Mozambique, making landfall early Sunday around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the northern city of Pemba, weather services said.

It damaged buildings and knocked out power in some areas of Mozambique's northern coastal provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado early Saturday, authorities said.

But by the afternoon Chido was travelling over the inland province of Niassa and had weakened, said the president of the National Institute for Risk and Disaster Management, Luisa Meque.

UNICEF said it was on the ground to help the people hit by the storm.

"Many homes, schools and health facilities have been partially or completely destroyed and we are working closely with the government to ensure continuity of essential basic services," it said in a statement.

Cyclone Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide fuelled by climate change, according to experts.

The "exceptional" cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of the Meteo France weather service told AFP.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday it was similar in strength to cyclones Gombe in 2022 and Freddy in 2023. They killed more than 60 people and at least 86 in Mozambique respectively.

Read more'We lost everything that day': After Cyclone Freddy, Malawi struggles to rebuild

The OCHA warned that some 1.7 million people were in danger, and said the remnants of the cyclone could also dump "significant rainfall" on neighbouring Malawi through Monday, potentially triggering flash floods.

Zimbabwe and Zambia were also expected to see heavy rains, it added.

(AFP)

France fears heavy toll as Cyclone Chido batters Mayotte

Mayotte is France's poorest territory

By AFP
December 14, 2024

One of Mayotte's airports was severely damaged in the storm 

- Copyright DGAC/AFP Handout

Jeromine Doux

Cyclone Chido obliterated shantytowns on the French island territory of Mayotte on Saturday, with French ministers fearing a “heavy” death toll from the destruction, which has already claimed two lives.

Acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the storm had left a “dramatic” trail of destruction on the impoverished islands, warning that the territory’s numerous shantytowns had been “completely destroyed”.

“It will take several days” to establish the death toll, but “we fear that it is heavy”, he said as he left a government crisis meeting chaired by France’s newly appointed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.

Retailleau will travel to Mayotte on Monday, his office said.

The cyclone had put the region on high alert as it closed in on the African mainland, packing gusts of at least 226 kilometres (140 miles) per hour.

The storm also hit the nearby Comoros islands, causing flooding and damaging homes.

The two confirmed deaths came on Petite-Terre, the smaller of Mayotte’s two major islands, a security source told AFP.

Acting Transport Minister Francois Durovray said on X that Petite-Terre’s Pamandzi airport had “suffered major damage”.

Health Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said the entire territory’s health system had been “severely affected”, with “major material damage to the Mayotte hospital centre”.

Earlier Saturday, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said an A400M transport plane would be leaving France carrying aid and “civil security” equipment.

Retailleau’s office said he had spoken by phone to the prefect for the territory, ordering “full mobilisation” of police and security services to help residents and “prevent any possible looting”.



– Headed for Mozambique –



Just northwest of Mayotte, the Comoros islands, some of which had been on red alert since Friday, were also hit, though less hard than the neighbouring archipelago, said national civil security chief Abderemane Mahmoud.

The storm flooded mosques, swept away boats and damaged homes on the islands of Anjouan and Moheli.

Comoros President Azali Assoumani had appealed to citizens in an address to “heed the authorities’ instructions better than in 2019”, when Cyclone Kenneth devastated the islands.

“Our country is in a high-risk zone, but we must learn to manage these storms,” he said.

Chido is expected to make landfall early Sunday in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado or Nampula provinces.

Cyclone Chido is the latest in a string of storms worldwide to be fuelled by climate change, according to experts.

The “exceptional” cyclone was super-charged by particularly warm Indian Ocean waters, meteorologist Francois Gourand of France’s Meteo France weather service told AFP.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday it was similar in strength to cyclones Gombe in 2022 and Freddy in 2023, which killed more than 60 people and at least 86 in Mozambique respectively.

It warned that some 1.7 million people were in danger, and said the remnants of the cyclone could also dump “significant rainfall” on neighbouring Malawi through Monday, potentially triggering flash floods.

Zimbabwe and Zambia were also expected to see heavy rains, it added.


– ‘Lost everything’ –


Mayotte, which sits 500 kilometres east of Mozambique, is France’s poorest department.

“Many of us have lost everything,” said prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, calling Chido “the most violent and destructive cyclone we’ve seen since 1934”.

Mayotte’s alert level had been lowered from violet — the highest — to red to allow emergency responders to leave their bases.

But “the cyclone is not over”, Bieuville warned, urging Mayotte’s roughly 320,000 people to remain “locked down”.

Communications with Mayotte are largely cut off.

Earlier, a resident on the main island of Grande-Terre, Ibrahim Mcolo, described fallen electricity masts, roofs ripped off homes and trees uprooted as the first gusts struck.

“There is no more electricity,” he told AFP from his home, where he had barricaded himself in.

“Even in our house, which is well protected, the water is getting in. I can feel it trembling.”

“It is a time of emergency,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, telling Mayotte residents that “the whole country is by your side” and thanking emergency responders.

Retailleau announced that 140 fresh troops and firefighters would be sent to the scene on Sunday to help with recovery, more than doubling the deployment sent earlier in the week.

France orders more deportation flights to Africa from Indian Ocean island of Mayotte


French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has ordered local officials in the overseas territory of Mayotte to deport illegal migrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo and return them to their home country, taking a hard line as he aims to address the social unrest roiling the Indian Ocean island.


Issued on: 03/10/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES

French border police inspect a boat off the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte during a patrol to intercept vessels sailing from the neighbouring Comoros archipelago, on February 17, 2024. © Julien De Rosa, AFP

France's interior minister said Wednesday that he had ordered authorities in the French overseas department of Mayotte to arrange deportation flights for African migrants, as Paris seeks to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Mayotte, an Indian Ocean island that is the poorest French department, has long struggled with social unrest and a crippling migration crisis linked to the arrival of thousands fleeing poverty and corruption on the African mainland.

"From October, the prefect of Mayotte... will arrange group flights to escort illegal immigrants back to the Democratic Republic of Congo," Bruno Retailleau, who says his priority is "restoring order", told parliament.

A member of Retailleau's team told AFP that four such flights had already been arranged since February and that "at least three" were planned for October to help empty detention centres in Mayotte.

Cooperation with the authorities in DR Congo over the issue was "excellent", the member of the team added.

Every year thousands of people from the neighbouring Comoros archipelago or mainland Africa try to reach Mayotte, often aboard small "kwassa kwassa" boats, and migrants are now estimated to make up nearly half of Mayotte's population of around 320,000.

The influx has caused major tensions including protests, with many locals complaining about crime and poverty.

Read moreAccessing drinking water ‘a battle’ in French overseas territory Mayotte

Retailleau also announced bilateral security agreements with countries in Africa's Great Lakes region, including Burundi and Rwanda, to "stop the influx" of migrants.

Retailleau, a hardline conservative whose recent appointment reflects the rightward shift in French politics, has said he does not think immigration presents "an opportunity" for France and vowed to use "all levers at our disposal" to bring it under control.

"My only obsession is to be useful to France," he told French daily Le Figaro in an interview published Wednesday. "That is, for me, the only thing that matters."

(AFP)

Economics for the Many: The Fall and Rise of American Democracy

By Daron Acemoglu / theedgemalaysia.com

14 Dec 2024,

It should not have come as such a surprise that US voters were largely unmoved by the Democrats’ warnings that Donald Trump poses a grave threat to American institutions. In a January 2024 Gallup poll, only 28% of Americans (a record low) said that they were satisfied with “the way US democracy is working.”

American democracy has long promised four things: shared prosperity, a voice for the citizenry, expertise-driven governance, and effective public services. But US democracy – like democracy in other wealthy (and even middle-income) countries – has failed to fulfill these aspirations.

It wasn’t always so. For three decades following World War II, democracy delivered the goods, especially shared prosperity. Real (inflation-adjusted) wages increased rapidly for all demographic groups, and inequality declined. But this trend came to an end sometime in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, inequality has skyrocketed, and wages for workers without a college degree have barely increased. About half of the American workforce has watched incomes among the other half soar.

While the past ten years were somewhat better (the almost 40-year increase in inequality appears to have stopped sometime around 2015), the pandemic-induced surge in inflation took a big toll on working families, especially in cities. That is why so many Americans listed economic conditions as their main concern, ahead of democracy.

Equally important was the belief that democracy would give voice to all citizens. If something wasn’t right, you could let your elected representatives know. While this principle was never fully upheld – many minorities remained disenfranchised for much of American history – voter disempowerment has become an even more generalized problem over the past four decades. As the sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild puts it, many Americans, especially those without a college degree, living in the Midwest and the South, came to feel like “strangers in their own land.”

Worse, as this was happening, the Democrats moved from being the party of working people to becoming a coalition of tech entrepreneurs, bankers, professionals, and postgraduates who share very few priorities with the working class. Yes, right-wing media also stoked working-class discontent. But it could do so because mainstream media sources and intellectual elites ignored the economic and cultural grievances of a significant share of the public. This trend has also accelerated over the last four years, with highly educated segments of the population and the media ecosystem constantly emphasizing identity issues that further alienated many voters.

If this was simply a case of technocrats and intellectual elites setting the agenda, one could tell oneself that at least the experts were at work. But the promise of expertise-driven governance has rung hollow at least since the 2008 financial crisis. It was experts who had designed the financial system, supposedly for the common good, and made huge fortunes on Wall Street because they knew how to manage risk. Yet not only did this turn out to be untrue; politicians and regulators rushed to rescue the culprits, while doing almost nothing for the millions of Americans who lost their homes and livelihoods.

The public’s distrust of expertise has only grown, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, when issues such as lockdowns and vaccines became litmus tests for belief in science. Those who disagreed were duly silenced in the mainstream media and driven to alternative outlets with rapidly growing audiences.

That brings us to the promise of public services. The British poet John Betjeman once wrote that “Our nation stands for democracy and proper drains,” but democracy’s provision of reliable drains is increasingly in doubt. In some ways, the system is a victim of its own success. Starting in the nineteenth century, the United States and many European countries enacted legislation to ensure meritocratic selection and limit corruption in public services, followed by regulations to protect the public from new products, ranging from cars to pharmaceuticals.

But as regulations and safety procedures have multiplied, public services have become less efficient. For example, government spending per mile of highway in the US increased more than threefold from the 1960s to the 1980s, owing to the addition of new safety regulations and procedures. Similar declines in the productivity of the construction sector have been attributed to onerous land-use regulations. Not only have costs risen, but procedures designed to ensure safe, transparent, citizen-responsive practices have led to lengthy delays in all sorts of infrastructure projects, as well as deterioration in the quality of other services, including education.

In sum, all four pillars of democracy’s promise seem broken to many Americans. But this doesn’t mean that Americans now prefer an alternative political arrangement. Americans still take pride in their country and recognize its democratic character as an important part of their identity.

The good news is that democracy can be rebuilt and made more robust. The process must start by focusing on shared prosperity and citizen voice, which means reducing the role of big money in politics. Similarly, while democracy cannot be separated from technocratic expertise, expertise can certainly be less politicized. Government experts should be drawn from a broader range of social backgrounds, and it would also help if more were deployed at the local-government level.

None of this is likely to happen under the incoming Trump administration, of course. As an obvious threat to US democracy, he will erode many critical institutional norms over the next four years. The task of remaking democracy thus falls to center-left forces. It is they who must weaken their ties to Big Business and Big Tech and reclaim their working-class roots. If Trump’s victory serves as a wake-up call for the Democrats, then he may have inadvertently set in motion a rejuvenation of American democracy. - Project Syndicate

---

Daron Acemoglu, a 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, is co-author (with Simon Johnson) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023).

Bernie Sanders Says Defeating Oligarchy Now Most Urgent Issue

"My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy."

WITHOUT ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY


Bernie Sanders attends during "Bernie Sanders: It's OK To Be Angry About Capitalism" 

at Royal Geographical Society on February 22, 2024 in London, England.
(Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

Jon Queally
Dec 14, 2024
RAW STORY


Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is escalating his fight against the U.S. oligarchy with a new campaign directed at the nation's wealthiest individuals—including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—who he says are key culprits in a global race to the bottom that is stripping people worldwide of political agency while impoverishing billions so that the rich can amass increasingly obscene levels of wealth.

Announcing a new series that will detail how "billionaire oligarchs" in the U.S. "manipulate the global economy, purchase our elections, avoid paying taxes, and increasingly control our government," Sanders said in a Friday night video address that it makes him laugh when mainstream pundits talk openly about the nefarious oligarchic structures in other places, but refuse to acknowledge the issue in domestic terms.

"Strangely enough, the term 'oligarchy' is very rarely used to describe what's happening in the United States or in fact, what's happening around the world," said Sanders. "But guess what? Oligarchy is a global phenomenon, and it is headquartered right here in the United States."

Bernie Sanders talks about the oligarchy

While rarely discussed in the corporate press or by most elected officials, argues Sanders, the reality is that a "small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy. Period. End of discussion. And increasingly they own and control our government through a corrupt campaign finance system."

Since the the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in November, Sanders has been increasingly outspoken about his frustrations over the failure of the Democratic Party to adequately confront the contradictions presented by a party that purports to represent the interests of the working class yet remains so beholden to corporate interests and the wealthy that lavish it with campaign contributions.

In a missive to supporters last month, Sanders bemoaned how "just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to get their candidates elected" in this year's elections, which included giving to both major political parties. Such a reality, he said, must be challenged.

As part of his new effort announced Friday, Sanders' office said the two-time Democratic presidential candidate would be hosting a series of discussions with the leading experts on various topics related to the form and function of U.S. oligarchy and expose the incoming Trump administration's "ties to the billionaire class," including their efforts to further erode democracy, gut regulations, enrich themselves, and undermine the common good.

"In my view," said Sanders, "this issue of oligarchy is the most important issue facing our country and world because it touches on everything else." He said the climate crisis, healthcare, worker protections, and the fight against poverty are all adversely effected by the power of the wealthy elites who control the economy and the political sphere.

"My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy," he said. "This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy."

Economic Update: Labor Unions and Political Power

Holiday Season Ultimatum From Amazon Workers: Bargain or We Strike!

"If Amazon chooses to ignore us, they’re the ones ruining Christmas for millions of families. We’re not just fighting for a contract; we’re fighting for the future of worker power at Amazon and beyond."


An Amazon logo is displayed inside the Amazon's Robotic Fulfillment Centre on December 19, 2023 in Sutton Coldfield, England.
(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Jon Queally
Dec 14, 2024
RAW STORY


Workers at a Amazon warehouse and delivery center in New York announced approval of strike authorizations on Friday, giving the retail giant—who have refused to negotiate for months—until Sunday to come to the bargaining table or risk a major work stoppage at the height of the holiday shopping season.

The unions representing Amazon workers at two New York City facilities—the JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island and the DBK4 delivery center in Queens—cited the company's "illegal refusal to recognize their union and negotiate a contract" to address low wages and dangerous working conditions as the reason for the strike authorization.

"We just want what everyone else in America wants—to do our jobs and get paid enough to take care of ourselves and our families. And Amazon isn't letting us do that."

"Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a statement. "We've been clear: Amazon has until December 15 to come to the table and bargain for a contract. If these white-collar criminals want to keep breaking the law, they better get ready for a fight."

The workers are demanding:A living wage with fair pay increases.
Safer working conditions to prevent injuries and fatalities.
Job security and protection from arbitrary firings.
Dignity and respect for all employees.

In June, over 5,500 workers at JFK8—who first voted in favor of creating a union in 2022—joined the Teamsters and chartered the Amazon Labor Union (ALU)-IBT Local 1. Despite consolidating their organizing strength with the backing of the Teamsters, Amazon management has dragged their feet on bargaining a first contract, hardly surprising given the company's long-standing hostility to organized labor.

"Amazon's refusal to negotiate is a direct attack on our rights," said Connor Spence, president of ALU-IBT Local 1, on Friday. "If Amazon chooses to ignore us, they’re the ones ruining Christmas for millions of families. We’re not just fighting for a contract; we’re fighting for the future of worker power at Amazon and beyond."



Rank-and-file members said their demands are reasonable, especially as the company—owned by the world's second-richest man, Jeff Bezos—continues to rake in massive profits year after year as one of the world's largest companies.

"We aren't asking for much," said James Saccardo, a worker at JFK8. "We just want what everyone else in America wants—to do our jobs and get paid enough to take care of ourselves and our families. And Amazon isn't letting us do that."

In Queens, where Amazon workers at DBK4—the corporation's largest delivery station in the city—voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike of their own.

"Driving for Amazon is tough," said Luc Rene, a driver who works out of DBK4. "What's even tougher is fighting a mega-corporation that constantly breaks the law and games the system. But we won't give up."

"Every horror story you read about Amazon is true, but worse," said Justine, a warehouse worker in New York in a video produced by More Perfect Union.



A strike at this time of year, the busiest for the retail giant, reports labor correspondent Jessica Burbank for Drop Site News, "would hit them where it hurts. The scale of the strike would be unprecedented, including the major hubs of New York and San Bernadino, California."

According to Burbank:
Amazon now has a workforce of over 700,000, making it the largest employer of warehouse workers in the nation. If a contract is won at these initial 20 bargaining units, it has the potential to impact working conditions for thousands of workers, and inspire union organizing efforts at Amazon facilities across the country.

For Amazon workers who voted to unionize their warehouses in March of 2022, this has been a long time coming. “Thousands of Amazon workers courageously cast their ballots to form a union at JFK8 in Staten Island,” Smalls said in a text. “We shocked the world, we had won against a corporate giant and hoped that step would propel us forward to help create a better workplace.” For years, Amazon stalled on recognizing the union, and has not yet met union representatives at the negotiating table.

Smalls said, “I’m excited to see workers take control, take the next step and move even further down the path to victory when they exercise their right to strike.” He continued, “We celebrated as we inspired thousands of others to hope for the same.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday issued his support for the union workers.

"Amazon delivery drivers and warehouse workers deserve decent wages, benefits and working conditions—and the right to form a union," said Sanders. "I strongly support the thousands of Amazon workers who will go on strike tomorrow if Amazon doesn't end its illegal union busting."

The workers at JFK8 said people could support the union's effort in various ways "at this critical time," including:Donate to the Solidarity Fund: Help workers sustain their fight by contributing to the strike fund.
Show Up on the Picket Line: Join workers at JFK8 to demonstrate solidarity and hold Amazon accountable for their illegal refusal to negotiate a union contract.
Spread the Word: Use social media and local networks to raise awareness about the workers’ struggle and the importance of their fight for justice at Amazon.
Contact Elected Officials: Urge representatives to publicly support JFK8 workers and pressure Amazon to negotiate in good faith.
Sign the Petition: Stand with Amazon workers and demand that Amazon guarantee a safe return to work, free of harassment and retaliatory disciplinary action, to all workers participating in protected collective action.

For his part, former labor secretary and economist Robert Reich said he had no sympathy for the retail giant's refusal to bargain in good faith with the workers who make its business model possible.

"Amazon had $15 billion in profits last quarter," said Reich. "Don't tell me they can't afford to bargain a fair contract."

 

Apparel Industry Says with Trump’s Support ILA Should Resume Contract Talks

ILA continues its hard stance against all automation at its ports as trades call for talks to resume (ILA)

Published Dec 13, 2024 5:59 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

With just one month left on the master contract for the International Lonshoremen’s Association, the American Apparel & Footware Association is calling on the union to resume the negotiations now that it has received the support of Donald Trump. Yesterday, December 12, President-elect Donald Trump issued a strongly worded support of the ILA in its rejection of port automation and warned “foreign companies” to respect the dockworkers. 

"We welcome President-elect Trump's commitment to strengthening United States ports and appreciate his efforts to meet with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) President Harold Daggett and Executive Vice President Dennis Daggett. This is a crucial time for the Longshoremen and the employers to negotiate a fair and equitable labor contract with the United States Maritime Alliance,” said Steve Lamar, president and CEO of the association.

The apparel industry group highlights that a disruption to the East and Gulf Coast ports from a labor strike could reduce U.S. economic activity by $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion per week. It points out that the three-day strike in October 2024 caused backlogs that lasted over a month. 

The East and Gulf Coast ports are used to import the majority of apparel, footwear, and travel goods. In addition, it points out that many other crucial goods are exported and imported through the ports, from life-saving pharmaceuticals to hearty American-grown produce. “No one wants to see fresh food produced by hardworking American farmers rot on the docks, as they wait to be exported during a strike,” said Lamar.

"We look forward to President-elect Trump's continued leadership on the East and Gulf Coast port labor negotiations to get a deal done before January 15, so we avoid a major disruption to the American economy ahead of his inauguration on January 20,” said Lamar. The statement urges the ILA to formally return to the negotiating table to finalize a contract with USMX.

The ILA’s Executive Vice President Dennis Dagget issued a statement today saying that Trump “truly understand the importance of the work our members do every single day….  He was not just attentive to our concerns; he was receptive and genuinely engaged in a discussion about the existential threat automation poses…”

Last week, a collation of over 250 trade associations from across the United States issued a letter to the ILA and USMX saying it was imperative for the parties to resume negotiations and remain at the table until a new contract is reached. They stated that they understood the biggest issue of disagreement is automation and technology while saying it is critical that ports and terminals have the ability to modernize to remain globally competitive. They took a position that modernization will benefit everyone but would require partnership and that the issues would only be resolved by returning to the negotiations.

The apparel association writes in its statement that it “feels that semi-automation is vital to ensure efficient and safe U.S. ports, attract new investments, create new U.S. longshoremen jobs, and grow the U.S. economy.”

ECOCIDE

Ecological Disaster Feared After Pair of Russian Oil Tankers Sink

“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat who was filming the incident in the Black Sea's Kirch strait.

Online footage showed a Russian oil tanker sinking in the Black Sea on Sunday, December 15, 2024.
(Photo: YouTube/Screengrab)


Common Dreams Staff
Dec 15, 2024

A pair of Russian oil vessels on Sunday sunk in the Black Sea, according to reports, causing what Russian officials termed an "oil spill emergency" and touching off fears of an ecological disaster.

"Today two tankers, Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, were damaged due to a storm in the waters of the Black Sea," said the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport in a statement. "There are 15 people on board of one ship and 14 people on the other. The damage caused an oil spill emergency."

It was subsequently reported that one of the vessels, and later the second, had sunk in the violent seas of the Kirch strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. One person was reportedly killed, according to Russian officials, and an estimated 4,300 tonnes of oil product was on each vessel, though the amount spilled was not immediately known.

Footage taken by nearby ships captured portions of the disaster as it unfolded:

Sinking tankers

“Another ship is going down. Holy shit!” said a sailor from a nearby boat as the filming took place.

Paul Johnston, head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter in the U.K., warned of possible grave consequences from the maritime disaster.

"Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious," Johnston said. "It is likely to be driven by prevailing wind and currents (moving now to the North-East) and in the current weather conditions is likely to be extremely difficult to contain. If it is driven ashore, then it will cause fouling of the shoreline which will be extremely difficult to clean up."

Russian outlets reported the oil product on board at least one of the vessels was mazut, a viscous and heavy fuel oil primarily used as a fuel oil in power plants, for shipping, or other industries.

"Any environmental impact will depend on the type of oil spilled," added Johnston. "Heavy residual fuel oils will tend to cause more visible damage than refined fractions and marine gas oil which will tend to disperse and break up quite rapidly."

Oil spill near Black Sea after two Russian tankers seriously damaged in storm

Russia mounted a rescue effort Sunday after two oil tankers were wrecked in rough seas off Moscow-annexed Crimea and one broke apart, killing at least one sailor and causing an oil spill. Two criminal cases have been opened by Russian investigators.


Issued on: 15/12/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES

A Russian-flagged tanker is wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024. © The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP


A Russian oil tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of oil products split apart during a heavy storm on Sunday, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait, while another tanker was also in distress after sustaining damage, Russian officials said.

The vessels were in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when they issued distress signals.

Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible safety violations after at least one person was killed when the 136-metre Volgoneft 212 tanker, with 15 people on board, split in half with its bow sinking.Footage on state media showed waves washing over its deck.

The Russian-flagged vessel, built in 1969, was damaged and had run aground, officials said.

Unverified video posted on Telegram showed some blackened water on stormy seas and a half-submerged tanker.


The second Russian-flagged ship, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, was drifting after sustaining damage, the Emergencies Ministry said. It has a crew of 14 people and was built in 1973.
Key route for Russian grain, oil exports

The Kerch Strait is a key route for exports of Russian grain and is also used for exports of crude oil, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas.

In September, Ukraine accused Russia at an international court of flouting sea law by trying to keep the Kerch Strait under its sole control, something Moscow dismisses at groundless.

Emergency services said one person had died in the wreck of the first tanker, and 12 other people had been evacuated. Eleven of those were taken to hospital, with two in a serious condition, the TASS news agency quoted Alexei Kuznetsov, an aide to the health minister, as saying.

The Emergencies Ministry said it was still in contact with the other tanker and its crew after the ship ran aground 80 m from shore near the port of Taman at the south end of the Kerch Strait.

The ministry later wrote on Telegram that efforts to evacuate the crew of the second ship, Volganeft 239, were suspended because of bad weather.

The ministry said rescue teams were in contact with the ship, which had all facilities on board necessary to ensure the lives of the crew were not in danger.

Both tankers have a loading capacity of about 4,200 tonnes oil products.

Official statements did not provide details on the extent of the spill or why one of the tankers sustained such serious damage.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to set up a working group to deal with the rescue operation and mitigate the impact of the fuel spill, news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, after Putin met with the ministers for emergencies and environment.

Russia said more than 50 people and equipment, including Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats, had been deployed to the area.

Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia’s natural resources watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said specialists were assessing the damage at the site of the incident.

(Reuters)

Here's what happens when the world's richest man buys the presidency

Sabrina Haake
December 14, 2024 

Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 8, 2024 Elon Musk is seen during the final match between Italy's Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz of the U.S. 

REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt created Social Security, an insurance contract between Americans and the federal government that pays out on certain life events. As a financial safety net, social security protects Americans from what Roosevelt called the “hazards and vicissitudes of life.”

Roosevelt’s plan has been vital to the American people, and has delivered payments on time, for generations. Today, 180 million employees are paying in, and 87 million people are receiving retirement and disability benefits under the program.

Due to fluctuating demographics and other factors, payouts under Social Security now exceed pay-ins, and most analysts agree adjustments are needed to keep the program afloat. With the help of Elon Musk, Republican lawmakers, who will soon hold majorities in the House and Senate, will try to cut guaranteed benefits instead of increasing the program’s revenue.

When billionaires slash programs to fund their own tax cuts

GOP legislators are toying with reducing payouts under the system, including raising the retirement age and other benefit cuts. As one GOP representative recently toldFox Business Network, “we're going to have to have some hard decisions” on Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.

Trump’s GOP will be making “hard” choices, meaning they will be cutting benefits, in order to fund tax cuts for wealthy donors.


Trump has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, another billionaire, to slash government programs and regulations through a not-yet-existent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk and Ramaswamy went to Capitol Hill last week to talk up their plans under DOGE, after which Republican lawmakers publicly confirmed that “everything,” including Social Security and Medicare, is now “on the table.” What’s not on the GOP’s table is fairly taxing billionaires like Musk and Ramaswamy, including requiring them to pay their fair share of social security taxes.

During America’s “golden” years, the wealthy paid their fair share in taxes

Many voters do not understand that oligarchs, CEOs, heirs, and the uber-rich pay far lower taxes today than they used to. From the 1930s until the mid- 1980s, America’s top earners paid over 60% of their income in taxes, and the percent fluctuated according to federal need. In order to finance U.S. participation in WWI, for example, Congress increased the highest tax rate to 77 percent in 1918, and yet, somehow, the Carnegies, Rockefellers and Fords still lived extraordinarily luxe lives. The highest tax fell to 25 percent from 1925 through 1931, triggering the Great Depression, then Congress raised it again in 1932, to 63 percent for top earners. In 1944, to fund WWII, the top rate peaked at 94 percent on taxable income over $200,000, the equivalent of $2.5 million in income in today’s dollars.


It wasn’t until Ronald Reagan and the 1980s that taxes on the wealthy started nosediving to today’s top effective tax rate of 27% for the nation’s top 10% of earners, thanks largely to the GOP’s need to reward its C-suite donor class. When Trump bemoans the passage of a “great” America from yesteryear, he never acknowledges that the “greatness” was built on the backs of labor and from the wallets of wealthy taxpayers.

On social security alone, if the uber-wealthy paid into social security at the same rate as the lower and middle classes, the fund would remain solvent and be able to expand benefits instead of slashing them. At present, social security taxes are capped for the wealthy, meaning, they stop paying social security taxes at a certain level which is far below their actual earnings. In 2024, the Social Security tax cap is set at $168,600, meaning income over that amount is not subject to any social security tax whatsoever.



bradfordtaxinstitute.com

For billionaires like Musk and Ramaswamy, only $168,000 out of their millions/ billions in annual income is subject to social security taxes, and the rest is social security tax free. Although tax-adverse conservatives would beg to differ, subjecting full, high wealth income to SS taxes would stabilize the fund.

Musk bought the presidency to write his own rules

Elon Musk, with a reported annual income of $141,475,524,215, spent over $250 million to get Trump elected through dubious means including a fraudulent “lottery” of $1 million a day. Musk pays an effective tax rate of 3.27%.


Musk also paid $44 billion to purchase Twitter, which he then used to amplify far right messaging and weaponize election disinformation. Musk now manipulates algorithms on X to boost his own opinion, and had special code written to force his posts into more people’s feeds whether they want them or not. Musk’s own AI program identified him as the chief disinformation superspreader of the 2024 campaign. According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Musk’s false pro-Trump election claims resulted in over 1.2 billion views on X.

To Musk, spending billions to spread election disinformation and funding Trump PACs was just the cost of doing business. Over the past ten years, Musk has received at least $15.4 billion in federal government contracts. The snag is that lucrative federal contracts come with not-so-lucrative regulatory oversight, as Musk’s SpaceX, Neuralink and Tesla have discovered. When Space X discharged polluted/toxic water into nearby bodies of water in Texas, for example, Musk found out that even in MAGA-crazed Greg Abbott’s state, where they’re itching to build concentration camps for immigrants, some people still prefer clean water.

For Musk, spending $250m to choose his own low-information boss, re-write pesky regulations, and set his own tax rate was an obvious bargain.


For the rest of us, now that the oligarchy is firmly in charge, Americans should brace for program cuts and policies enriching the super-wealthy at everyone else’s expense. I’d say the silver lining is that economic disaster will make the 2026 election a cakewalk for Democrats, but that assumes an exhausted population will still be paying attention.

Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. She writes the free Substack, The Haake Take.