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Category: Democracy

  • UAW Reformers Close Caucus, Launch New Organization

    Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), the reform caucus in the Auto Workers, voted to dissolve at its quarterly online membership meeting April 27.

    “It was a heartbreaking decision to come to,” said UAWD founder and chair Scott Houldieson, a 36-year electrician at Ford. “UAWD had become a caucus that is ‘resolutionary,’ and focused more on caucus discipline than on actually organizing workers. Meetings had become dreadful. We can have differences as long as we make a decision and move on.”

    A majority of the group’s steering committee had brought a resolution calling for the dissolution. It was hotly debated. About half of the caucus membership attended the meeting.

    The post UAW Reformers Close Caucus, Launch New Organization appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Palestinian American Author Describes Moment her Father Returned to Gaza


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

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  • Viet Thanh Nguyen: 50 years after the Vietnam War


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  • Collective shares list of left-wing candidates for tomorrow’s local elections

    Progressive figures in Collective are aiming to “drive the formation of a new, mass-membership political party of the left” in Britain. But while this takes shape, it is endorsing local independents and other left-wingers in elections. It shared two lists of candidates for the local elections on 1 May, amid Labour’s plummeting popularity and the Conservative voter haemorrhage to Reform.

    It used research from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which has been working with others in Collective to help unite the left as Keir Starmer buries the Labour Party once and for all.

    Clear opportunities to vote against war and austerity in local elections

    Most of the candidate endorsements are for TUSC candidates, from Hertfordshire to the East Midlands, Lancashire to Oxfordshire, Doncaster to Warwickshire, Gloucestershire to Devon, and beyond. But there is also a strong attempt at left-wing unity in an independent list including candidates from a range of different parties.

    The diverse, unifying list of candidates includes people TUSC describes as having a clear “anti-austerity and anti-war” stance. These are “often former Labour Party members or, sometimes, councillors”, it explains, and they are “standing as Independents or for registered local community parties”. These include the Broxtowe Alliance in Nottinghamshire, Majority in the North East, Oxford Community Socialists, and the Social Justice Party in North Yorkshire.

    Small national parties with candidates standing include Transform, some communist groups, and the Workers’ Party of Britain (WPB). The latter in particular will rightly raise some eyebrows on the left, of course. But Britain has a massive cultural divide. And if you’re in a socially-conservative constituency where it’s either the WPB or Reform, the choice for opponents of war and austerity is clear.

    For many on the left, the Green Party will be a clear preference too, where anti-war, anti-austerity candidates are standing.

    A united left platform can’t come soon enough

    It seems fair to assume that the Labour Party’s right-wing leadership has no desire to change direction suddenly and pursue an anti-austerity, anti-war agenda. After all, its unprecedented mission from 2015 to 2019 was to destroy the hope surrounding Jeremy Corbyn at all costs. And in that context, many left-wingers are itching for the formation of the kind of left-wing mass movement Collective is seeking to foster.

    The TUSC and Collective endorsements above are a helpful sticking plaster, in the absence of a united left platform. But it’s clear we need more.

    There is hope. Because there seems to be a clear will to unite on the left around key policies (wages, climate, housing, wealth tax, public services, and peace). There also seems to be an awareness of the need for trade union involvement and a focus on the economic battle between the super-rich and ordinary people (which the former are currently winning), in order to truly challenge Reform and become a meaningful anti-establishment force.

    People across the UK have different social and cultural views, but largely agree on economic issues like public-service funding, wealth inequalities, welfare, and even climate action. So if the left can unite around this type of message in the coming months, focusing on the areas we can all agree on, we may just be able to defeat the Tory-Labour-Reform axis of corporate plunder and hate.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Do as I say, not as I do: the viral trend every millennial will probably eye-roll at

    Revelations about an anti-piracy campaign video will bring the noughties all back for millennials growing up in the heady days of bootleg DVDs, PC roms, and shaky five mega-pixel cinema recordings. In intimidating and melodramatic fashion, it declared how you wouldn’t steal car, handbag, or a television. But, if you’re the anti-piracy campaign – you would steal a font. Because now, as it turns out, the typeface it used was in fact, pirated.

    The campaign was the hallmark of every millennials early adulthoods. You probably don’t need a reminder, but just in case:

    They might not steal a movie – but they would definitely steal a font.

    In their own words, piracy is a crime.

    Stolen font

    According to Sky News, the videos creators pirated the font from a typeface created by Just van Rossum, a designer:

    Bluesky user Rib extracted the fonts used in one of the campaign’s old PDFs and discovered the pirated font Xband-Rough was used instead of Mr van Rossum’s licensed font FF Confidential.

    Sky News was able to replicate this process and found the same results.

    In a comment to Sky News, van Rossum said:

    The irony of it having used a pirated font is just precious.

    Previously it was also revealed that the creators also pirated the music.

    Was any part of the video original?

    Do as I say, not as I do

    The campaign was created in part, by the The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). They lead the UK’s anti-piracy work, and seem to be recognised by organisations, law enforcement, and governments worldwide. Which is honestly, pretty hilarious.

    I guess its pretty in tune with what many millennials and early Gen Z’s have heard their whole lives – do as I say, not as I do.

    FACT’s own website allows you to anonymously report piracy. Do with that what you will.

    The other creaters of the campaign were America’s Motion Picture Association and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

    Well if FACT is ripping off intellectual property, anything goes:

    Ultimately, people pirating a few DVDs and diddling billion-dollar Disney out of some profits was hardly like stealing an individual’s car, or robbing their handbag, or television.

    One X user pointed the finger at the real thieves in all their inglorious profiteering kleptomania today. The tax-dodging tech bros and corporate crooks stealing content creators work through AI of course:

    Maybe FACT could turn its sights to them next – but this time, it might want to check the licensing on the font. We recommend Special Alphabets 4 when it turns to bollocking Musk.

    Feature image via screengrab

    By HG

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Do as I say, not as I do: the viral trend every millennial will probably eye-roll at

    Revelations about an anti-piracy campaign video will bring the noughties all back for millennials growing up in the heady days of bootleg DVDs, PC roms, and shaky five mega-pixel cinema recordings. In intimidating and melodramatic fashion, it declared how you wouldn’t steal car, handbag, or a television. But, if you’re the anti-piracy campaign – you would steal a font. Because now, as it turns out, the typeface it used was in fact, pirated.

    The campaign was the hallmark of every millennials early adulthoods. You probably don’t need a reminder, but just in case:

    They might not steal a movie – but they would definitely steal a font.

    In their own words, piracy is a crime.

    Stolen font

    According to Sky News, the videos creators pirated the font from a typeface created by Just van Rossum, a designer:

    Bluesky user Rib extracted the fonts used in one of the campaign’s old PDFs and discovered the pirated font Xband-Rough was used instead of Mr van Rossum’s licensed font FF Confidential.

    Sky News was able to replicate this process and found the same results.

    In a comment to Sky News, van Rossum said:

    The irony of it having used a pirated font is just precious.

    Previously it was also revealed that the creators also pirated the music.

    Was any part of the video original?

    Do as I say, not as I do

    The campaign was created in part, by the The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). They lead the UK’s anti-piracy work, and seem to be recognised by organisations, law enforcement, and governments worldwide. Which is honestly, pretty hilarious.

    I guess its pretty in tune with what many millennials and early Gen Z’s have heard their whole lives – do as I say, not as I do.

    FACT’s own website allows you to anonymously report piracy. Do with that what you will.

    The other creaters of the campaign were America’s Motion Picture Association and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

    Well if FACT is ripping off intellectual property, anything goes:

    Ultimately, people pirating a few DVDs and diddling billion-dollar Disney out of some profits was hardly like stealing an individual’s car, or robbing their handbag, or television.

    One X user pointed the finger at the real thieves in all their inglorious profiteering kleptomania today. The tax-dodging tech bros and corporate crooks stealing content creators work through AI of course:

    Maybe FACT could turn its sights to them next – but this time, it might want to check the licensing on the font. We recommend Special Alphabets 4 when it turns to bollocking Musk.

    Feature image via screengrab

    By HG

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Amid Dutton’s ‘hate media’ and Trump’s despotism, press freedom is more vital than ever

    COMMENTARY: By Alexandra Wake

    Despite all the political machinations and hate towards the media coming from the president of the United States, I always thought the majority of Australian politicians supported the role of the press in safeguarding democracy.

    And I certainly did not expect Peter Dutton — amid an election campaign, one with citizens heading to the polls on World Press Freedom Day — to come out swinging at the ABC and Guardian Australia, telling his followers to ignore “the hate media”.

    I’m not saying Labor is likely to be the great saviour of the free press either.

    The ALP has been slow to act on a range of important press freedom issues, including continuing to charge journalism students upwards of $50,000 for the privilege of learning at university how to be a decent watchdog for society.

    Labor has increased, slightly, funding for the ABC, and has tried to continue with the Coalition’s plans to force the big tech platforms to pay for news. But that is not enough.

    The World Press Freedom Index has been telling us for some time that Australia’s press is in a perilous state. Last year, Australia dropped to 39th out of 190 countries because of what Reporters Without Borders said was a “hyperconcentration of the media combined with growing pressure from the authorities”.

    We should know on election day if we’ve fallen even further.

    What is happening in America is having a profound impact on journalism (and by extension journalism education) in Australia.

    ‘Friendly’ influencers
    We’ve seen both parties subtly start to sideline the mainstream media by going to “friendly” influencers and podcasters, and avoid the harder questions that come from journalists whose job it is to read and understand the policies being presented.

    What Australia really needs — on top of stable and guaranteed funding for independent and reliable public interest journalism, including the ABC and SBS — is a Media Freedom Act.

    My colleague Professor Peter Greste has spent years working on the details of such an act, one that would give media in Australia the protection lacking from not having a Bill of Rights safeguarding media and free speech. So far, neither side of government has signed up to publicly support it.

    Australia also needs an accompanying Journalism Australia organisation, where ethical and trained journalists committed to the job of watchdog journalism can distinguish themselves from individuals on YouTube and TikTok who may be pushing their own agendas and who aren’t held to the same journalistic code of ethics and standards.

    I’m not going to argue that all parts of the Australian news media are working impartially in the best interests of ordinary people. But the good journalists who are need help.

    The continuing underfunding of our national broadcasters needs to be resolved. University fees for journalism degrees need to be cut, in recognition of the value of the profession to the fabric of Australian society. We need regulations to force news organisations to disclose when they are using AI to do the job of journalists and broadcasters without human oversight.

    And we need more funding for critical news literacy education, not just for school kids but also for adults.

    Critical need for public interest journalism
    There has never been a more critical need to support public interest journalism. We have all watched in horror as Donald Trump has denied wire services access for minor issues, such as failing to comply with an ungazetted decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

    And mere days ago, 60 Minutes chief Bill Owens resigned citing encroachments on his journalistic independence due to pressure from the president.

    The Committee to Protect Journalists is so concerned about what’s occurring in America that it has issued a travel advisory for journalists travelling to the US, citing risks under Trump administration policies.

    Those of us who cover politically sensitive issues that the US administration may view as critical or hostile may be stopped and questioned by border agents. That can extend to cardigan-wearing academics attending conferences.

    While we don’t have the latest Australian figures from the annual Reuters survey, a new Pew Research Centre study shows a growing gap between how much Americans say they value press freedom and how free they think the press actually is. Two-thirds of Americans believe press freedom is critical. But only a third believe the media is truly free to do its job.

    If the press isn’t free in the US (where it is guaranteed in their constitution), how are we in Australia expected to be able to keep the powerful honest?

    Every single day, journalists put their lives on the line for journalism. It’s not always as dramatic as those who are covering the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, but those in the media in Australia still front up and do the job across a range of news organisations in some fairly poor conditions.

    If you care about democracy at all this election, then please consider wisely who you vote for, and perhaps ask their views on supporting press freedom — which is your right to know.

    Alexandra Wake is an associate professor in journalism at RMIT University. She came to the academy after a long career as a journalist and broadcaster. She has worked in Australia, Ireland, the Middle East and across the Asia Pacific. Her research, teaching and practice sits at the nexus of journalism practice, journalism education, equality, diversity and mental health.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Inaccurate 1News reporting on football violence breached broadcasting standards, rules BSA

    Broadcasting Standards Authority

    New Zealand’s Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has upheld complaints about two 1News reports relating to violence around a football match in Amsterdam between local team Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.

    The authority found an item on “antisemitic violence” surrounding the match, and another on heightened security in Paris the following week, breached the accuracy standard.

    In a majority decision, the BSA upheld a complaint from John Minto on behalf of Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) about reporting on TVNZ’s 6pm 1News bulletin on 9 November 2024.

    This comprised a trailer reporting “antisemitic violence”, an introduction by the presenter with “disturbing” footage of violence against Israeli fans described by Amsterdam’s mayor as “an explosion of antisemitism”, and a pre-recorded BBC item.

    TVNZ upheld one aspect of this complaint over mischaracterised footage in the trailer and introduction. This was originally reported as showing Israeli fans being attacked, but later corrected by Reuters and other outlets as showing Israeli fans chasing and attacking a Dutch man.

    “The footage contributed to a materially misleading impression created by TVNZ’s framing of the events, with an emphasis on antisemitic violence against Israeli fans without acknowledging the role of the Maccabi fans in the violence – despite that being previously reported elsewhere,” the BSA found.

    A majority of the authority found TVNZ did not make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy.

    It considered the background to the events was highly sensitive and more care should have been taken to not overstate or adopt, without question, the antisemitic angle.

    The minority considered it was reasonable for TVNZ to rely on Reuters, the BBC and Dutch officials’ description of the violence as “antisemitic”, in a story developing overseas in which not all facts were clear at the time of broadcast.

    The authority considered TVNZ should have issued a correction when it became aware of the error with the footage. It therefore found the action taken was insufficient, but considered publication of the BSA’s decision to be an adequate remedy in the circumstances.


    Western media’s embarrassing failures on Amsterdam violence.    Video: AJ’s The Listening Post

    In a separate decision, the authority upheld two complaints about a brief 1News item on 15 November 2024 reporting on heightened security in Paris in the week following the violence.

    The item reported: “Thousands of police are on the streets of Paris over fears of antisemitic attacks . . . That’s after 60 people were arrested in Amsterdam last week when supporters of a Tel Aviv football team were pursued and beaten by pro-Palestinian protesters.”

    TVNZ upheld both complaints under the accuracy standard on the basis the item “lacked the nuance” of earlier reporting on Amsterdam, by omitting to mention the role of the Maccabi fans in the lead-up to the violence.

    The authority agreed with this finding but determined TVNZ took insufficient action to remedy the breach.

    “The broadcaster accepted more care should have been taken, but did not appear to have taken any action in response, or made any public acknowledgement of the inaccuracy,” the BSA said.

    The authority found the framing and focus careless, noting “the role of both sides in the violence had been extensively reported” by the time of the 15 November broadcast. TVNZ had also aired the mischaracterised footage again, not realising Reuters had issued a correction several days earlier.

    As TVNZ was not monitoring the Reuters fact-check site, the correction only came to light when the complaints were being investigated.

    Other standards raised in the three complaints were not breached or did not apply, the authority found.

    The BSA did not consider an order was warranted over the item on November 15 – deciding publication of the decision was sufficient to publicly acknowledge and correct the breach, censure the broadcaster and give guidance to TVNZ and other broadcasters.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Community Struggles For Self-Governance In The Global South

    Are we really free? With this seemingly straightforward yet provocative question, Vijay Dethe from Pachgaon village in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, India, opened several philosophical and political questions. Vijay belongs to Dalit community and works with the Gond adivasis (indigenous peoples in India) and other marginal communities of Pachgaon towards self rule and overall governance in the village. He further added “the ones who destroyed their forests, polluted their waters, are now telling us what ‘vikas’(development) is! Do they really know what ‘development’ is!?”

    The post Community Struggles For Self-Governance In The Global South appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Is this the end of social democracy? #shorts


    This content originally appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends and was authored by Laura Flanders & Friends.

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  • Palestinian American Author Describes Moment her Father Returned to Gaza


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

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  • Organizers nationwide prepare for massive May Day Protests


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  • “The Hollow Half”: Palestinian American Sarah Aziza on Gaza, Generational Trauma, Anorexia & Exile


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  • “Taking Our Power Back”: Immigrants & Workers Plan for May Day Protests as Trump Marks 100 Days


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  • Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 29, 2025

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  • “The Hollow Half”: Palestinian-American Sarah Aziza on Gaza, Generational Trauma, Anorexia & Exile

    Seg2 sarah book split

    The award-winning Palestinian American journalist and author Sarah Aziza has released a new book, The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders, in which she examines her recovery from an eating disorder from which she nearly died in 2019, linking it to the generational trauma experienced as part of her Palestinian family’s history of exile. Aziza was born in the U.S. as a daughter and granddaughter of Gazan refugees. “I began to recover memories of my Palestinian grandmother that led to a curiosity … about my family’s history in Gaza, in Palestine, the greater Nakba,” says Aziza. “And as a daughter of the diaspora, I hadn’t tied my own story so viscerally to the story of my people.”


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  • “Taking Our Power Back”: Immigrants & Workers Plan for May Day Protests as Trump Marks 100 Days

    Seg1 all guests split

    Organizers across the United States are planning a massive day of May Day protests against the Trump administration. Organizers say that they have broad support from groups targeted by the administration, including immigrants, federal workers and more. “Instead of attacking only one community … they are attacking everybody at the same time, and that enabled us to gather a really broad coalition,” says Jorge Mújica, strategic organizer for Arise Chicago.

    In New York, organizers are calling on people to march alongside them in Foley Square. “We need to fight this corporate takeover,” says Nisha Tabassum, lead organizer for worker issues at Make the Road New York. “We are the many; they are the few.”

    Los Angeles organizers are expecting hundreds of thousands of protesters to join them in opposition to Trump’s policies. “We are taking our power back,” says Georgia Flowers Lee, National Education Association vice president for United Teachers Los Angeles.


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  • Democracy Now! 2025-04-29 Tuesday

    Democracy Now! Tuesday, April 29, 2025


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  • Headlines for April 29, 2025

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  • French Minister Valls warns New Caledonia is ‘on a tightrope’, pleads for ‘innovative’ solutions

    By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, who is visiting New Caledonia this week for the third time in two months, has once again called on all parties to live up to their responsibilities in order to make a new political agreement possible.

    Failing that, he said a potential civil war was looming.

    “We’ll take our responsibilities, on our part, and we will put on the table a project that touches New Caledonia’s society, economic recovery, including nickel, and the future of the younger generation,” he told a panel of French journalists on Sunday.

    He said that he hoped a revised version on a draft document — resulting from his previous visits in the French Pacific territory and new proposals from the French government — there existed a “difficult path” to possibly reconcile radically opposing views expressed so far from the pro-independence parties in New Caledonia and those who want the territory to remain part of France.

    The target remains an agreement that would accommodate both “the right and aspiration to self-determination” and “the link with France”.

    “If there is no agreement, then economic and political uncertainty can lead to a new disaster, to confrontation and to civil war,” he told reporters.

    “That is why I have appealed several times to all political stakeholders, those for and against independence,” he warned.

    “Everyone must take a step towards each other. An agreement is indispensable.”

    Valls said this week he hoped everyone would “enter a real negotiations phase”.

    He said one of the ways to achieve this will be to find “innovative” solutions and “a new way of looking at the future”.

    This also included relevant amendments to the French Constitution.

    Local parties will not sign any agreement ‘at all costs’
    Local parties are not so enthusiastic.

    In fact, each camp remains on their guard, in an atmosphere of defiance.

    And on both sides, they agree at least on one thing — they will not sign any agreement “at all costs”.

    Just like has been the case since talks between Valls and local parties began earlier this year, the two main opposing camps remain adamant on their respective pre-conditions and sometimes demands.

    The pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), largely dominated by the Union Calédonienne, held a convention at the weekend to decide on whether they would attend this week’s new round of talks with Valls.

    They eventually resolved that they would attend, but have not yet decided to call this “negotiations”, only “discussions”.

    They said another decision would be made this Thursday, May 1, after they had examined Valls’s new proposals and documents which the French minister is expected to circulate as soon as he hosts the first meeting tomorrow.

    FLNKS reaffirms ‘Kanaky Agreement’ demand
    During their weekend convention, the FLNKS reaffirmed their demands for a “Kanaky Agreement” to be signed not later than 24 September 2025, to be followed by a five-year transition period.

    The official line was to “maintain the trajectory” to full sovereignty, including in terms of schedule.

    On the pro-France side, the main pillar of their stance is the fact that three self-determination referendums have been held between 2018 and 2021, even though the third and last consultation was largely boycotted by the pro-independence camp.

    All three referendums resulted in votes rejecting full sovereignty.

    One of their most outspoken leaders, Les Loyalistes party and Southern Province President Sonia Backès, told a public rally last week that they had refused another date for yet another referendum.

    “A new referendum would mean civil war. And we don’t want to fix the date for civil war. So we don’t want to fix the date for a new referendum,” she said.

    However, Backès said they “still want to believe in an agreement”.

    “We’re part of all discussions on seeking solutions in a constructive and creative spirit.”

    Granting more provincial powers
    One of their other proposals was to grant more powers to each of the three provinces of New Caledonia, including on tax collection matters.

    “We don’t want differences along ethnic lines. We want the provinces to have more powers so that each of them is responsible for their respective society models.”

    Under a draft text leaked last week, any new referendum could only be called by at least three-fifths of the Congress and would no longer pose a “binary” question on yes or no to independence, but would consider endorsing a “project” for New Caledonia’s future society.

    Another prominent pro-France leader, MP Nicolas Metzdorf, repeated this weekend he and his supporters “remain mobilised to defend New Caledonia within France”.

    “We will not budge,” Metzdorf said.

    Despite Valls’s warnings, another scenario could be that New Caledonia’s political stakeholders find it more appealing or convenient to agree on no agreement at all, especially as New Caledonia’s crucial provincial elections are in the pipeline and scheduled for no later than November 30.

    Concerns about security
    But during the same interview, Valls repeated that he remained concerned that the situation on the ground remained “serious”.

    “We are walking on a tightrope above embers”.

    He said top of his concerns were New Caledonia’s economic and financial situation, the tense atmosphere, a resurgence in “racism, hatred” as well as a fast-deteriorating public health services situation or the rise in poverty caused by an increasing number of jobless.

    “So yes, all these risks are there, and that is why it is everyone’s responsibility to find an agreement. And I will stay as long as needed and I will put all my energy so that an agreement takes place.

    “Not for me, for them.”

    Valls also recalled that since the riots broke out in May 2024, almost one year ago, French security and law enforcement agencies are still maintaining about 20 squads of French gendarmes (1500 personnel) in the territory.

    This is on top of the normal deployment of 550 gendarmes and 680 police officers.

    Valls said this was necessary because “any time, it could flare up again”.

    Outgoing French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said in an interview recently that in case of a “new May 13” situation, the pre-positioned forces could ensure law enforcement “for three or four days . . . until reinforcements arrive”.

    If fresh violence erupts again, reinforcements could be sent again from mainland France and bring the total number to up to 6000 law enforcement personnel, a number similar to the level deployed in 2024 in the weeks following the riots that killed 14 and caused some 2.2 billion euros (NZ$4.2 billion) in damage.

    Carefully chosen words
    Valls said earlier in April the main pillars of future negotiations were articulated around the themes of:

    • “democracy and the rule of law”;
    • a “decolonisation process”;
    • the right to self-determination;
    • a “fundamental law” that would seal New Caledonia’s future status;
    • the powers of New Caledonia’s three provinces; and a future New Caledonia citizenship with the associated definition of who meets the requirements to vote at local elections.

    Valls has already travelled to Nouméa twice this year — in February and March.

    Since his last visit that ended on April 1, discussions have been maintained in conference mode between local political stakeholders and Valls, and his cabinet, as well as French Prime Minister François Bayrou’s special advisor on New Caledonia, constitutionalist Eric Thiers.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Venezuela’s Journey Toward Real Democracy

    The term “democracy” triggers different reactions when it comes to Venezuela. For local far-right forces, democracy has been nonexistent since 1998 and can only be restored by dismantling everything that evokes popular power, self-determination and social justice. 

    In the hawkish eyes of the United States, “democracy” is an excuse to punish sovereign nations with economic sanctions and blockades until regime change is achieved. Whether elections are fair and free is irrelevant for US “democratic” standards, as are human rights abuses, as long as a country complies with US interests.

    The post Venezuela’s Journey Toward Real Democracy appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

  • U.S. citizens under the age of 10 deported by ICE


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  • DOGE’s lies about Social Security


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  • Polls Show Most Voters View Trump’s First 100 Days as “Chaotic” and “Scary”

    President Donald Trump has described his first 100 days in the White House in glowing terms, claiming the past three months have been some of the “best” in the modern era of presidential administrations — but poll after poll shows that most Americans disapprove of his actions and leadership style since taking office. In a recent interview with Time magazine about his time in the White House…

    Source

  • “Abuse of Power”: Trump Admin’s “Bizarre” Arrest of Milwaukee Judge Shocks Legal Community


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  • Former Social Security Chief Martin O’Malley Warns of “Collapse of the Entire System” Under Trump


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  • Three U.S. Citizen Children, Including 4-Year-Old Battling 4th Stage Cancer, Deported to Honduras

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  • A new website has sprung up to stop Reform’s rise at the local elections

    Ahead of local elections, a new group has been organising to ‘stop Reform’ from sweeping electoral victories across the UK – and have introduced a new website to do just that.

    Stop Reform UK: a new site to keep the far-right out

    Multiple analysts and pollsters have been predicting the prodigious rise of Reform UK at the local elections on 1 May. The far right party is looking set to win hundreds of seats. In part, the surge corresponds to the continuing collapsing votes for the Conservatives. The mainstream party is now angling for a coalition with Reform – a party itself packed with former Tory councillors and candidates – and largely expected to scoop up its seats in the upcoming elections.

    However, Labour’s nosedive in the polls after successive controversial policy decisions is also playing a role. Its lurch to the right in a bid to entice the Conservative voter base and Reform supporters is likely about to be shown for the electoral blunder it is as well.

    Polling expert and political scientist professor John Curtice told the Independent on Sunday that less than half of voters it had polled are planning to vote for either of the two major parties.

    Separately, pollster and House of Lords peer Robert Hayward has indicated that Reform is set to absorb many of these votes – potentially nabbing up to 450 seats across the UK.

    A ‘real threat to the country’s political stability’

    So now, a new site brings together a pool of resources to counter Reform ahead of the local elections.

    The site aims to stop Reform UK in its tracks because it warns that:

    The growing resonance of its far-right rhetoric, means that Reform UK could become a more significant player in future elections. The normalization of its anti-immigration platform, especially as mainstream parties like Labour shift to the right on these issues, poses a real threat to the country’s political stability.

    It has spelled out a litany of reasons why it’s vital that the public put a stop to the rise of the far-right party. There are pages on everything from Nigel Farage’s role in the 2024 race riots, the party’s corporate shilling-agenda and interests, and its dangerous policy platform that will undermine human rights, and embolden bigots attacking marginalised communities.

    Crucially, the website serves as a record for the party’s persistent propaganda and misinformation-mongering. It has put together pages to debunk Reform’s lies. These cover topics like immigration, the climate crisis, and the NHS. Needless to say, these are issues that Reform has weaponised in a campaign of disinformation to win voters.

    Reform will ‘never provide real answers’ to the problems people face in the UK

    A spokesperson for the new site explained the reason the group has set up the new tool:

    Reform UK is gaining frightening levels of support due to the effectiveness of Farage’s campaigning abilities, coupled with the Labour Party’s unpopular policies and inability to quickly tackle cost of living concerns. Polling for the 2025 local elections shows Reform are likely to win hundreds of council seats, and are competitive in two mayoral elections, as well as parliamentary by-elections in Runcorn and Helsby. If successful, this will feed the narrative that Reform is an up- and-coming national party and provide momentum for future electoral wins.

    Reform UK is looking likely to get over 100 seats at the next general election and form a far-right coalition government with the Tories, which will be very damaging to the country. This would be a similar government to Trump’s in the US and we can all see how dangerous and harmful that is.

    In response, a group of us set up stopreformuk.net because we want to contribute to preventing Farage and other Reform UK candidates from gaining traction on their destructive far-right rhetoric, to ultimately stop them from getting into government and implementing policies that will never help ordinary people. The website brings together all the information out there about why we need to stop Reform UK, historical and current information about the Reform UK party, why they have been so electorally successful, information debunking Reform’s lies and slogans, and how to take action to stop Reform UK.

    They explained how the website gives voters multiple ways to fight back against the far-right:

    The website’s Take Action page lists a variety of ways that people can get active. For anyone who has a local, mayoral or by-election coming up on 1st May, an important first action is to make a tactical vote for the best placed candidate to beat the Reform candidate. Go to www.stopreformuk.vote and insert your postcode to find out who to make a tactical vote for. The Take Action page also gives information about organizations that are working at the local level to stop Reform UK, such as HOPE not hate, Stand Up to Racism, and Greens Organise. If people prefer taking action on social media, the Take Action page gives various suggestions.

    However, they also noted that all this should only be the start:

    Finally, we suggest taking action to lobby the Labour Party over tightening up the rules on foreign donations, introducing critical thinking to be taught in schools, and replacing our first-past-the-post voting system with proportional representation, which would increase the scope for more left-wing representation and break the Labour strangle hold on centre-left politics.

    It is completely understandable that so many people are disgusted with Labour and the Tories, and are looking for something better. Reform UK will never provide real answers to the UK’s problems, but stopping them without addressing wider issues is far from enough. At the least, we also need to apply pressure on Labour to do better through mounting campaigns, protest movements and tactical voting initiatives.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • PodTalk.live ushers in new ‘indie’ information and debate era

    PodTalk.live

    After a successful beta-launch this month, PodTalk.live has now called for people to register as foundation members — it’s free to join the post and podcast social platform.

    The foundation membership soft-launch is a great opportunity for founders to help shape a brand new, vibrant, algorithm-free, info discussion and debate social platform.

    “PodTalk.live has been put to test by selected individuals and we’re pleased to report that it has performed fabulously,” said the the platform developer Selwyn Manning.

    Manning is founder and managing director of the company that custom-developed PodTalk.live — Multimedia Investments Ltd.

    PodTalk.live
    PodTalk.live . . . a new era. Image: PodTalk screenshot APR

    MIL is based in Aotearoa New Zealand, where PodTalk.live was developed and is served from.

    And now, PodTalk.live has emerged from its beta stage and is ready for foundation members to shape the next phase of its development.

    An alternative platform
    PodTalk.live was designed to be an alternative platform to other social media platforms.

    PodTalk has all the functions that most social media platforms have but has placed the user-experience at the centre of its backend design and engineering.

    PodTalk.live has been custom-designed, created and is served from New Zealand.

    “We ourselves became annoyed at how social media giants use algorithms to drive what content their users see and experience,” Manning said.

    “And, we also were appalled at how some social media companies trade user data, and were unresponsive to user-concerns.

    “So we decided to create a platform that focuses on ‘discussion and debate’ communities, and we have engineered PodTalk to ensure the content that users see is what they choose — rather than some obscure algorithm making that decision for them.

    “PodTalk.live is independent from other social media platforms, and at best will become an alternative choice for people who seek a community where they are the centre of a platform’s core purpose.

    Sign-up invitation
    ““And today, we invite people to sign up now and become foundation members of this new and ethically-based social community platform,” Manning said.

    What PodTalk.live provides includes:

    • user profiles with full interactivities with other users and friends;
    • user created groups, posts, video, images, polls, and file sharing;
    • private and secure one-on-one (and group) messages;
    • availability of all the above for entry users with a free membership;
    • premium membership for podcasters and event publishers requiring easy to use podcast publication and syndication services; and next-level community engagement tools that users have all on the one platform.

    Manning said PodTalk.live was founded on the belief that for social, political and economical progress to occur people needed to discuss issues in a safe environment and embark on robust debate.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Lessons on authoritarianism from the Philippines


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.