DEEP RED  FASCISMUS

Election outcome highlights Germany’s Ukraine war problem

By AFP
September 2, 2024

The former East German states of Saxony and Thuringia saw big gains for the far-right AfD, a vocal critic of Germany's support for Ukraine - Copyright AFP John MACDOUGALL
Femke COLBORNE

Regional elections in Germany have laid bare a swell of opposition to the government’s stance on the conflict in Ukraine at a time when Berlin is already under pressure over its aid for Kyiv.

Sunday’s elections in the former East German states of Saxony and Thuringia saw big gains for the far-right AfD, which has long been accused of links with Russia and is a vocal critic of Germany’s support for Ukraine.

A new far-left party, BSW, also made a big impact in the polls, having run on a ticket of peace negotiations with Russia and opposition to the planned stationing of US missiles in Germany.

Although the elections were regional, they have been widely interpreted as a backlash against Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious coalition government in Berlin.

That includes the government’s support for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, already under scrutiny as it has been at the centre of a protracted row over the 2025 budget.

The signal from German voters also comes with Kyiv facing worrying signs from several other allies, including the United States and France.

Germany has been the second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine after the US, with Scholz repeatedly pledging to keep up the support for “as long as it takes”.



– Escalation fears –



But a growing sense of discontent has emerged over Berlin’s support for Kyiv, with many Germans fearing that the war could spill over and affect them directly.

In a survey by the Insa pollster in late August, 45 percent of respondents said they were said they were either “very” or “quite” afraid of such an escalation.

The proportion was higher at 55 percent in eastern Germany, where memories of the Cold war still loom large.

In June, when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Berlin to give a speech to the German parliament, the AfD and BSW both boycotted the event.

Sahra Wagenknecht on Monday said her BSW party’s success in the regional elections was down to the fact that “a big issue in the election campaign was, of course, the question of war and peace”.

“Half of the people in Germany are afraid of being dragged into a major war,” she said.

The AfD had also made the conflict in Ukraine a big part of its election campaign, calling for peace negotiations and an end to weapons deliveries.

“The weapons we are supplying there are not a solution,” said Joerg Urban, the AfD’s leader in Saxony, ahead of the vote, accusing Berlin of “fuelling” the conflict.



– ‘Hot air’ –



Since Germany’s regional parliaments have no say in foreign policy, the election result “will not have an immediate impact” on Ukraine, Hans Vorlaender, a political scientist at the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden), told AFP.

“Ukraine policy is a matter for the federal government… so in my opinion the result of the elections will have no direct effect in the first instance,” he said.

But the results were already causing a ripple effect beyond Germany on Monday.

Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper warned that “the seeds of Putinism are growing even in structured countries”, while the US Wall Street Journal said “anti-establishment populism is on the rise in Europe”.

Hungarian far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s political director said Thuringia and Saxony had “sent a message to Brussels and Berlin: no migration, no gender (politics), no war”.

“Today’s German state elections have triggered a political earthquake. The forces governing Germany in a pro-war, pro-migration and pro-gender (politics) coalition received a combined 15 percent of the vote,” Balazs Orban wrote in a Facebook post.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, also responded to the election result in a post on social media platform X.

“The BSW and AfD’s promises of peace are hot air… A just peace requires support for Ukraine to fight for it,” he said.

Volkswagen mulls plant closures and job cuts in Germany


ByAFP
September 2, 2024

Volkswagen warned its employees of possible job cuts and factory closures, including in Germany - Copyright AFP -
Léa PERNELLE

German automotive giant Volkswagen said Monday it could take the unprecedented move to close production sites in Germany and threatened further job cuts as its savings plans stalled.

Rising costs at the carmaker were cutting into profits, leaving Volkswagen facing “particularly significant challenges”, the group said in an internal memo seen by AFP.

“In the current situation, even plant closures at vehicle production and component sites can no longer be ruled out,” Volkswagen said in the note sent to employees.

Unions and government officials responded with alarm to the idea of plant closures in the group’s home market, a decision never before taken by Volkswagen.

The announcement by one of Germany’s blue-chip companies adds to concerns for Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the domestic economy has struggled in recent months.

“The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume was quoted as saying in the memo.

“The economic environment became even tougher, and new competitors are entering the European market,” Blume said.

The difficulties were particularly acute in Germany, which “is falling further behind in terms of competitiveness” as a manufacturing location, he added.

“We as a company must now act decisively,” the CEO said.

– ‘Insufficient’ –

Volkswagen last year announced plans for a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) savings programme and has flagged cuts to its workforce over the coming years to improve profitability.

But the group said further measures were now required after disappointing results published in August that showed a dip in profits.

Rising costs and cooling demand in China also meant the group had to lower its profit margin forecasts for the rest of the year.

Despite the cost-saving measures already announced, “the current developments in the automotive market and the German economy demand further action”, according to the memo.

The company’s board had determined that “the brands within Volkswagen AG must undergo comprehensive restructuring”.

“The goal must be to optimise product costs, material costs, and sales performance, as well as factory and labour costs,” according to the memo.

“Simple cost-cutting measures” were no longer enough, it continued, while the group said it was considering cuts to jobs previously not at risk.

The need for greater reductions in staff meant that the company was “compelled” to terminate a job protection agreement that had been in place for the last three decades.

Workers’ representatives reacted angrily to the announcement, saying they would resist the changes at the carmaker.

Volkswagen’s board had “failed”, works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo said in a statement published by the union IG Metall.

– ‘At risk’ –

“This puts VW itself and the heart of the group at risk. We will fight bitterly against this,” Cavallo said.

“With us there will be no site closures,” she said.

According to IG Metall, Volkswagen management believes that “further savings in the billions of euros are necessary to prevent the core (VW) brand from slipping into the red”.

The leader of the German region of Lower Saxony, which holds 20 percent of the voting shares in the carmaker, called on Volkswagen to avoid plant closures.

The German auto industry was in a difficult position and the need for a response from Volkswagen was “incontestable”, Stephan Weil said in a statement.

“In this environment, Volkswagen’s costs need to be examined to ensure continued success,” said Weil, a member of Scholz’s Social Democrats.

The option of plant closures should however “simply not come into question”, said Weil, whose region includes Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg.

Markets, by contrast, reacted positively to the news, with Volkswagen’s stock gaining some two percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in afternoon trading.

Some 680,000 people are employed by Volkswagen worldwide, with over 300,000 working for the group in Germany.

The group’s Audi subsidiary last month announced it was considering closing its Brussels plant for making electric vehicles, which employs around 3,000 people.

In Germany, a slew of auto suppliers, including ZF, Bosch and Webasto, have announced job cuts as they struggle to adapt to the new generation of electric vehicles and face rising Chinese competition.

Audio emerges of Republican's racially charged tirade about 'drunk' Native Americans

Sarah K. Burris
September 2, 2024

Tim Sheehy (Credit: Tim Sheehy for Senate press materials)

Montana Republican Tim Sheehy, who is running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), was recorded making racially charged and disparaging comments about Native Americans.

Char-Koosta News, the official news publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation, revealed shocking audio of the Republican candidate during a November fundraiser.

Sheehy trashed his relationship with Crow Reservation tribal members, saying, "a great way to bond with all the Indians while they’re drunk at 8:00 A.M.”
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One of Sheehy's ranching partners is a Crow member.

"We ranch together on the Crow res," he told the group. "So, I'm pretty involved down there. Road through their annual Crow Fair this year. Um, and I've broken bread with them every year... so... Great way to bond with all the Indians while they're drunk at 8:00 A.M. and you're ropin' together."

A number of male voices laugh.

The comments are remarkably similar to those he made during a Nov. 10 event in Hamilton, claiming he rode in the Cow Fair parade.

He claimed that one of the first things he did was strap a Sheehy sign to his horse and ride through the "Crow Res parade."

"And if you know a tough crowd, go through the Crow parade," he said. "Now, they’ll let you know when they like you or not, if Coors Light cans flying by your head… They respect that. You know, you go where the action is. They say, that guy's not that bad, ya know? Rode a horse through the parade. That's pretty cool. And I threw a beer can at his head, and he didn't even flinch!"

Char-Koosta News said it was working to verify the authenticity of the audio and asked for comment from the Sheehy campaign.

Last month, it was revealed Sheehy was on the verge of watching the business he started — and has touted as his main qualification for the job — collapse because the company can't pay its bills.

Meanwhile, Sheehy's service as a Navy Seal in Iraq was questioned after the Washington Post found inconsistencies in his account.

"Most notably, Sheehy, who now owns an aerial firefighting business, has told voters that he has a bullet in his arm from combat in Afghanistan," the Post reported.

The reality, however, is that Sheehy told a National Park Service ranger in 2015 that he accidentally shot himself when his Colt .45 revolver fell. The gun then discharged in Montana’s Glacier National Park, ultimately shooting himself, court records showed.

Sheehy also hired a staffer known for liking and sharing racist posts.

Listen to the clips here.

'Sketchy foreign business deals': Report exposes 'new links between Saudi and Trump'

David McAfee
September 1, 2024

Trump met then Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

 at the White House in 2016

 [File: Nicholas Kamm/AFP]

Donald Trump has long been criticized for what some have called corrupt foreign practices involving money coming from foreign nations, but those issues are only growing deeper, according to a new report.

Before, during, and after his presidency, Trump benefited from foreign deals that largely flew under most citizens' radar.

But those deals are ramping up, "likely in preparation for a second term," according to a report from the Intelligencer.

"Given the financial overlap between Trump, his family, his company, and a constellation of kleptocratic regimes, especially Russia, Trump presented an unprecedented opportunity for foreign regimes to directly access the White House and tilt American policy in the process," according to the report. "Now, with Trump running for the presidency once more, those concerns have hardly disappeared. If anything, foreign governments — including brand-new regimes that weren’t involved in Trump’s first whirlwind in the White House — have only spied new opportunities to burrow into his pockets and into a second administration."

The report outlines various deals from various foreign nations, including Egypt, China, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia, but especially focuses on Trump's multi-prong relationship to the Saudi Arabian government.

"Look at Saudi Arabia. Years after Saudi tyrant Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered the grisly killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi government has used an entire fleet of PR professionals and consultancy firms to launder its image, transforming the regime from a bastion of backwardness into one of progress and reform," the article states. "And part of that influence campaign has directly targeted — and directly used — Trump."

Earlier this month, Raw Story reported that former President Donald Trump had a recent discussion with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Just a month earlier, the Trump Organization was reported to have signed a new deal with a Saudi real estate company to build a residential high-rise tower in the city of Jeddah, the New York Times reported at the time.

According to the Intelligencer, that's just the beginning.

"Yet the deepening links between Trump and Riyadh don’t revolve only around a single, luxe new high-rise. Time and again in recent years, Saudi and its proxies have bankrolled Trump and his inner circle — and even expanded the network of authoritarian allies succoring Trump," it states. "But the new links between Saudi and Trump go even deeper, stretching into Saudi Arabia’s latest foray into foreign investments: golf. Throwing billions of dollars into professional golf — all as a way of transforming Riyadh into a destination of global sports — Saudi backed the recent creation of LIV Golf, the rising competitor to PGA Golf."

Read the full article here.

'Women are literally dying': Ex-lawyer flags Trump quote that's 'coming back to haunt' him

David McAfee
September 1, 2024 

A Donald Trump brag is now coming back to haunt Republicans, and they can't escape it no matter how hard they try, a former lawyer and current radio host said on Sunday.

Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney and host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program, “The Dean Obeidallah Show," appeared on MSNBC over the weekend to discuss Trump and his recent waffling on women's reproductive rights. Obeidallah in the past highlighted negative aspects of Trump's performance at the now-infamous debate with President Joe Biden.

The host noted Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) recent comments rejecting Trump's idea for an insurance company mandate on IVF, and Obeidallah responded by suggesting the Republicans know they are in trouble when it comes to women's healthcare.

"They understand they are going to lose badly in 2024. One of the main issues is Trump saying things like, 'I terminated Roe v. Wade and was honored to do so.' So this is coming back to haunt them," he said. "It's not a political issue. I don't think Republicans get it; nothing more personal than passing laws in states that force women against their will to carry a fetus to term."

He added, "Donald trump can't lessen it. Maternal mortality has gone up in the states where those bans are, women are literally dying because of these policies, so Donald Trump is empty, it's the worst form of politics."


Watch below or click the link right here.

Black sororities could be key advantage for Harris campaign

THEY SHOULD ALSO REACH OUT TO 

WHITE SORORITY SISTERS

Agence France-Presse
September 2, 2024 

US Vice President Kamala Harris could reap campaign benefits from a wide network at her fingertips: the historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (AFP)

As Kamala Harris heads into the November presidential race against Donald Trump, a social club she joined in college four decades ago might just pay its biggest dividends yet.

"Whatever it is that she needs our coalitions to do, we're going to be there to help push it out and get it done," said Tanya Baham, a member of Harris's college sorority, in attendance at the recent Democratic National Convention.

Sororities and fraternities abound across US college campuses -- with their Greek-letter names, exclusive memberships, and promise of community, usually along same-sex lines.

But Harris's membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically Black sorority, provides her campaign a direct line to a network of 360,000 women across the country, many of whom are excited to see one of their own in the White House.

And the Democratic Party, which counts women and Black voters as key constituencies in their electoral base, is paying attention.

While the sorority itself is non-partisan, many, like Baham, are ready to individually tap their networks for fundraising and voter registration in an election that could come down to the wire.

"We're... going to make certain that our kiddos, the young folks, the old folks, get a chance to register and then get to the polls," said Baham, a social worker in Louisiana.

- Built-in network -

Harris joined AKA at Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington where the sorority was founded in 1908 -- the first such organization for Black undergraduate women in the United States.

Over the next few decades, more Black sororities and fraternities emerged, providing African American students refuge amid the scourge of American racism and also serving as bases for civil rights organizing.

AKA has chapters for both undergraduate students and college graduates, making it far more than just a college-level organization.

As vice president, Harris has hosted Black sorority and fraternity leaders at the White House, and ahead of rising to the top of the Democratic ticket she headlined AKA's convention in Texas, in July.

Later that month, within days of President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid, she was at a convention for another Black sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, in Indiana.

AKA members were among those on a "Win With Black Women" Zoom call which raised $1.5 million, and Glenda Glover, the sorority's former president, is leading outreach for Harris at the country's historically Black colleges.

In a historic first, AKA has alo formed a political action committee, used for fundraising for political candidates.

"We're just all ready to work and do this," Donna Miller, a county official in Illinois who was on the Zoom call, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "It invigorated so many people from young and old, across generations, across ethnicity."

- Tight-lipped -

But while AKA and other Black sororities provide a network for Harris to tap into, it is hard to gauge how much that will translate into actual votes come November.

The sorority and its members have generally been tight-lipped -- multiple members declined to speak with AFP about the election.

Some referred AFP to the sorority's headquarters, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A half dozen individual chapters also did not respond to requests for comment.

"Mobilization through sororities can't hurt," said Daniel Hopkins, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

But Hopkins cautioned that "there are only so many voters in the US in general who attend four-year colleges, who are members of these organizations."

And while African Americans are overwhelmingly Democratic voters, they have been peeling off from the party in recent years -- a decline that has mostly come from younger and infrequent voters, according to his research.

At the same time, Amanda Wilkerson, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Central Florida who has studied Black voters, said organizations like Black sororities and fraternities are "hidden apparatuses," often ignored by polling or the media even as they've organized for previous elections, both nationally and locally.

Their members and alumni are well-versed in campaigning, she said, and the 2024 election isn't their first go-around.

Harris "is the first candidate of her kind to be able to leverage those networks of support," Wilkerson said. "But it's not altogether new."

NFL team: 'Counterfeit 'downtown ads endorsing presidential candidate weren't from us
Daniel Hampton
September 2, 2024 4:32PM ET



The Philadelphia Eagles on Monday disavowed advertisements popping up around the "City of Brotherly Love" on Monday that appeared to show the team endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

A photo showed the ad on a bus stop in Center City with an illustration of Harris wearing the team's iconic helmet. The ad was captioned: Official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles."

The ad also has a link to the website PhiladelphiaEagles.com/Vote.

The team disavowed the ads in a post on X.

"We are aware counterfeit political ads are being circulated and are working with our advertising partner to have them removed," the Eagles said.

Watch live: Harris and Biden deliver Labor Day speech as they oppose sale of U.S. Steel

Daniel Hampton
September 2, 2024 

Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a campaign rally on Aug. 20, 2024, in Milwaukee. Harris' campaign effort has been making a strong play for young voters. (Sir. David / Shutterstock)

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden were in Pennsylvania on Labor Day as they planned to voice opposition to the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel in Tokyo.

In December, Nippon Steel agreed to acquire U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion, according to The New York Times. However, backlash has prevented the merger from completing, with both Republicans and Democrats decrying the sale of a 123-year-old industrial firm to a foreign company.

On Monday, Harris and Biden were expected to express opposition to the deal.

Watch their speeches below or at this link.

 

Watch live: Tim Walz speaks at Milwaukee Labor Day rally

Daniel Hampton
September 2, 2024 

Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (R) and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (L) speak on the tarmac before Harris boards her plane at Philadelphia International Airport on Aug. 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pa. 

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz was to speak at a Labor Day campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Walz was to stump for presidential nominee Kamala Harris at Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Laborfest.

Watch the speech live below or at this link.

Union leader Weingarten buries 'strange' JD Vance for 'sad and gross' teacher smears

Tom Boggioni
September 1, 2024 

JD Vance (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

On Sunday afternoon, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten fired back at Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance for his personal attacks on her and all teachers with bizarre accusations they are trying to "brainwash" children.

As part of the Ohio Republican's jihad against childless women, whether they own cats or not, Vance singled out childless teachers during his run for his Senate seat representing Ohio, accusing them of "trying to brainwash the minds of our children." and then he said of Weingarten, "If she wants to brainwash and destroy the mind of children, she should have some of her own and leave ours the hell alone."

Appearing on MSNBC with host Jen Psaki, Weingarten had a few things to say about her GOP accuser.

"I've been thinking about it all week because it is strange when he said it then and the fact that he doubled down on it this week is even stranger," she told the host. "He is running for vice president of the United States of America and we have 50 million kids in the United States and they are our future."

"Whether you go to public school or parochial school or private school, this is the moment that parents and teachers and kids are bonding together. It is the moment of engagement, it is the moment of the teachers trying to create welcoming environments — you know this with your own kids," she told host Psaki before suggesting, "He has to really be disconnected from life."

She later added, "Let me just say this: there is a lot of people who don't have kids that wanted kids and when they say that, it is pretty painful. That is a whole other conversation that you and I could have for hours. But the kids — this is what I think is not just weird but kind of really sad and gross about what he is doing."

Watch below or at the link.

Harris campaign whacks Trump on Labor Day by posting his past worker-bashing comments

Brad Reed
September 2, 2024 

Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign kicked off Labor Day by posting past remarks from former President Donald Trump in which he disparages American workers.
One video posted by the Harris campaign featured Trump laughing it up with X CEO Elon Musk about the time that Musk fired employees who were trying to form a union at one of his firms.

"They go on strike and you say, 'That's okay, you're all gone you're all gone, every one of your is gone!'" Trump said as Musk laughed in the background. "You are the greatest!"

A second video posted by the Harris campaign featured Trump appearing on Fox News in which he complained about unions scoring hefty pay increases for their members.

"With unions, they get their five percent, they get their two percent, they get another three percent, four percent, all of a sudden they're making more money than the people that own the company!" Trump complained.

In reality, such hefty pay increases never happen and statistics have shown that the ratio of CEO compensation to worker compensation has exploded since the 1970s.

Trump has been trying to woo union workers in his 2024 presidential campaign, although so far the vast majority of unions have put their weight behind Harris and Democrats, who have traditionally been more friendly to organized labor than Republicans

Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien breaks down the latest election news ahead of the 2024 presidential race on ‘Cavuto: Live.’ #foxnews 

ON NOT BEING INVITED TO THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION WHINE

  

HARRIS; BIDEN UAW PICKET LINE

 

UAW FILES LABOR LAW CHANLLEGE TO TRUMP, MUSK OVER COMMENT

ON FIRING WORKERS.