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“Delay has cost lives. Chaos costs lives. And it will cost more lives this winter and every winter,” campaigners say. “No one benefits except the oil and gas profiteers.”
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“Trump is trying to steal the 2022 election for Oz so that Trump can steal the 2024 election for himself,” said a spokesperson for the Democrat.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“The companies lobbying against Gigi Sohn are simply trying to do one thing: keep the FCC deadlocked for as long as possible,” said one advocate. “Sohn is an exceptionally qualified nominee and it’s well past time to confirm her.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“At a time when food prices are soaring as a result of corporate greed, it would be an absolute disaster to allow Kroger… to merge with Albertsons,” said the Vermont progressive.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“There is no reason to allow two of the biggest supermarket chains in the country to merge—especially with food prices already soaring,” said one policy analyst.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“The Fed’s overly aggressive actions are shoving our economy to the brink of a devastating recession,” said one economist.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Elsevier’s collaboration with oil and gas firms is “incompatible” with its purported “commitment to climate action,” said one scientist. “In fact, this is what inaction on climate change looks like. It’s what greenwashing looks like.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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The “repeated loss” of external power at the Zaporizhzhia facility “is a deeply worrying development, and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the site,” said IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Time is not on our side, and our climate is changing before our eyes,” said the head of the World Meteorological Organization. “We need a complete transformation of the global energy system.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Bringing in foreign troops “means more bullets, more injuries, and more patients,” said the leader of Doctors Without Borders’ mission in Haiti. “We are afraid there will be a lot of bloodshed.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“The move to privatize Medicare,” said one expert, has “been very profitable, in part because insurers are good at making their patients seem sicker.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange held a massive transatlantic protest on Saturday to demand freedom for the incarcerated journalist.
In London, thousands of people formed a giant human chain around Britain’s parliament and called for Assange’s immediate release from the nearby maximum-security Belmarsh prison, where he has suffered for years under conditions that experts have condemned as torture.
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., people gathered outside the Department of Justice (DOJ) and implored Attorney General Merrick Garland to end the United States government’s attempt to extradite Assange, who faces up to 175 years behind bars on espionage charges stemming from his publication of information that exposed war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
“We did it!” tweeted Stella Assange, wife of the jailed Australian publisher. “Julian will be so energized and thankful for the support that you have shown for him,” she said in a recording thanking those who surrounded the Palace of Westminster — home to the United Kingdom’s House of Commons and House of Lords — on both sides of the River Thames.
#SurroundParliament We did it!!! pic.twitter.com/sqmsJiT4VH
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@StellaMoris1) October 8, 2022
Among those who joined London’s human chain to oppose the extradition of Assange was Jeremy Corbyn, a member of the U.K.’s opposition Labour Party. Characterizing the protest as an attempt to “stand up for press freedom everywhere,” Corbyn warned: “If they can silence Assange, they can silence anyone.”
“Julian is a journalist,” Corbyn said in an interview. “Journalism is not a crime. If he is extradited to the U.S.A., any other investigative journalist is at risk.”
That message was echoed by WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson. Describing Assange as “an intellectual, a journalist who committed no crime but the crime of telling the truth,” Hrafnsson warned: “Today it’s Julian, tomorrow it’s you.”
WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson speaking outside today’s momentous #SurroundParliament event for Julian Assange | @khrafnsson #FreeAssangeNOW
“An intellectual, a journalist who has committted no crime but the crime of telling the truth; today Julian, tomorrow you” pic.twitter.com/mihPgTuTd7
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 8, 2022
In a message to Assange, Corbyn said: “Julian, you’ve made your life’s work that of exposing truths. You’ve taken enormous risks and made enormous sacrifices to do that. And you’ve faced horrible personal abuse and attacks upon your life and your character as a result… But there are millions of people that support you all around the world.”
“We’re just some of those, and we’ve completely surrounded parliament to show our support for you,” Corbyn added. “Our demand [for] the British government: Do not deport you; instead, free you so you can return to your passion, your skill, your genius of being a journalist.”
In a last-ditch effort to avoid extradition to the U.S., Assange’s legal team has filed an appeal at the U.K.’s High Court to block the transfer, which was formally approved by U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel in June. The High Court is expected to announce whether it will hear the appeal in the coming weeks.
Stella Assange told Reuters on Saturday that British government officials should try to convince their counterparts in the U.S. to withdraw the extradition bid launched in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump’s administration and pursued relentlessly by President Joe Biden’s administration.
“It’s already gone on for three-and-a-half years,” she said. “It is a stain on the United Kingdom and is a stain on the Biden administration.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, was among those who demonstrated outside the DOJ. “It’s time to end the war on journalism and free Assange,” the activist tweeted.
Yo @POTUS, the US is trying to put Assange in jail for life for publishing the truth about war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s time to end the war on journalism and #freeassange pic.twitter.com/kXl6wDRXwN
— Ben Cohen (@YoBenCohen) October 8, 2022
“There’s no democracy without freedom of the press,” Cohen said at the rally. “Because it’s only a press that can hold government accountable. And there’s no free press without a free Assange.”
Given that he is being persecuted for the common journalistic practice of publishing classified information to expose wrongdoing in service of the public good, press freedom and human rights advocates have denounced the indictment of Assange as a landmark attack on and threat to First Amendment protections.
“Julian Assange exposed the crimes of the most powerful governments and corporations in the world today,” Misty Winston, a leading organizer of the D.C. rally, said this week in a statement. “He should be praised, not prosecuted.”
When Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last July that the U.S. “will always support the indispensable work of independent journalists around the world,” critics were quick to point out that Washington’s purported commitment to press freedom has never applied to Assange.
Two years before Assange’s 2019 arrest, for example, the CIA under then-Director Mike Pompeo reportedly plotted to kidnap — and discussed plans to assassinate — the WikiLeaks founder.
In a message to Biden, Corbyn said Saturday: “You won a presidential election against an extremely intolerant right-wing president. You won that with the support of millions of Americans who want to live in a free, open, democratic society.”
“Are you really wanting your administration to be the one that imprisons a journalist for telling the truth about wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, and the environmental destruction by big business and arms companies in so many parts of the world?” he asked. “Think of your place in history. Are you to go down in history as the president who put a journalist in prison on a triple life sentence? Or, will you get your place in history as the man who stood up for free speech?”
Nathan Fuller, director of the Assange Defense Committee, said this week in a statement that “the Biden DOJ could end this travesty at once.”
“Administration officials have given speech after speech touting the principles of a free press abroad and the importance of journalism to a healthy democracy,” said Fuller. “It’s time they practice what they preach and drop these charges immediately.”
Solidarity events were held Saturday in cities across the U.S., including San Francisco, Denver, Tulsa, Seattle, and Minneapolis.
There was also a march in Melbourne, where Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, urged Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “call Joe Biden and say, ‘Hasn’t Julian suffered enough? Drop the charges and extradition.’”
“Julian would walk free,” he said.
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“I want you to acquit us as a matter of conscience,” defendant Wayne Hsiung told the jury. “There’s a big difference between stealing and rescue.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Julian is a journalist,” said Labour Party MP Jeremy Corbyn. “Journalism is not a crime. If he is extradited to the U.S.A., any other investigative journalist is at risk.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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If the generators run out of fuel, “they will stop, and after that there will be a disaster,” said a Ukrainian nuclear expert. “There will be a melting of the active core and a release of radioactivity from there.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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The Russian president started a “war to take Kyiv only to find that he can’t even protect Crimea. He’ll be looking for some way to respond,” warned one Moscow correspondent.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“We are deeply concerned that the Biden administration is minimizing Covid at a time when it needs to be redoubling its efforts to ensure funding and resources to prevent another surge.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Trump and his allies “incited a violent attack on the Capitol in order to overturn the 2020 election and stop the peaceful transfer of power,” organizers warn. “The same individuals are continuing work to sabotage our elections.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Until the U.S. island’s colonial status “is rectified,” wrote one observer, “it’s a safe bet that Puerto Rico will never fully recover.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“The writing is on the legal wall, and we cannot sit by awaiting another adverse ruling by the lower court, the Fifth Circuit, or ultimately the Supreme Court,” said one attorney.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“What is taking place is a systematic effort to distort the image of Palestinian journalists as being incapable of trustworthiness and integrity, simply because we cover the human rights violations that the Palestinian people undergo on a daily basis at hands of the Israeli army.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act would level the playing field for these workers, and show people which side the Senate Democrats are on,” said one advocate.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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An Amazon Labor Union lawyer called the punishment of Staten Island employees “a violation of workers’ rights to join in a collective action about the terms and conditions of their employment.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Rather than trudging in the fossil fuel footsteps of those who went before, we can leapfrog this dirty energy and embrace the benefits of clean power,” argues William Ruto.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“If the court sides with Alabama,” wrote a pair of plaintiffs in Merrill v. Milligan, “political opportunities for people of color will disappear.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Israel is committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians,” says Amnesty International. “This is a crime against humanity requiring the E.U. to hold Israel’s leaders to account.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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The reversal follows 10 days of financial turmoil and pushback from within the Tory Party as well as from the left, which held massive anti-austerity protests.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Spain’s leftist coalition government on Thursday announced a series of downwardly redistributive fiscal reforms — including a temporary “solidarity” tax on the nation’s 23,000 wealthiest residents — that lawmakers hope will ease the cost-of-living crisis hurting millions of working people.
In 2023 and 2024, the 0.1% of Spanish taxpayers who own more than €3 million ($2.9 million) in assets will be subject to a new wealth tax.
According to The Associated Press: “People with holdings of €3 million to €5 million ($2.9 million to $4.9 million) will be taxed 1.7% and those whose personal worth is €5 million to €10 million ($4.9 million to $9.8 million) will be taxed at 2.1%. Individuals with fortunes above €10 million will pay 3.5%.”
This levy on 1 out of every 1,000 citizens, which Finance Minister María Jesús Montero described as a “solidarity” tax, is one of many changes to Spain’s upcoming budget that are intended to mitigate economic hardship as the prices of energy, food, and other essential goods continue to soar due to corporate profiteering and the destabilizing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the climate crisis on global supply chains.
As AP reported: “The government also plans to increase the income tax rate from 26% to 27% for people earning more than €200,000 ($196,000). The capital gains tax for incomes above €300,000 ($294,000) will go up to 28%, an increase of two percentage points.”
These measures — agreed upon by the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and its junior coalition partner, Unidas Podemos — are expected to raise €3.14 billion ($3.08 billion) over the next two years. The government plans to use this revenue to fund programs that are designed to assist those with modest incomes.
Spain says it will levy a temporary asset tax against 23,000 people (the wealthiest 0.1%) for the next two years as low-income families are struggling to afford food.
The average salary in Spain is around $20k/year and food prices have hit their highest point in over 20 years. pic.twitter.com/NiObinBA2k
— AJ+ (@ajplus) September 30, 2022
In addition to hiking taxes on its richest citizens, Spain is also poised to offer working people and small businesses more relief by trimming the levies they owe by an estimated €1.9 billion.
“The government plans to reduce the income tax on annual wages of up to €21,000 ($20,584),” AP noted. “Montero said this will benefit some 50% of the workforce given that the average annual salary in Spain is €21,000.”
Moreover, the government agreed to slash the sales tax on feminine hygiene products and contraceptives from 10% to 4%.
“We have to make this adjustment at this time to combat the effects of inflation,” Montero told reporters. Although the country’s inflation rate fell from 10.5% in August to 9% in September as energy prices declined, it remains high.
“There is the need to ask for a greater effort from those who are benefiting from energy prices and interest rates,” she added, referring to taxes on utilities and banks that are being prepared.
These changes to Spain’s tax code, said Montero, are bound to make it “more progressive, efficient, fair, and also enough to guarantee social justice and economic efficiency.”
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The country’s finance minister said that looming changes are bound to make the tax code “more progressive, efficient, fair, and also enough to guarantee social justice and economic efficiency.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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A leading economist urged policymakers to “address corporate profiteering as a driver of inflation by reining in megacorporations and addressing the unsustainably high prices facing families around the country.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.