e-News bulletin 30 November 2018

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E-NEWS BULLETIN 30 November 2018 Links to present possibilities

SOUTH AFRICA

malemaWeak but Vicious – EFF Edition

The 2019 national elections were always going to get the political blood boiling, the stakes are that high. But the EFF’s leadership is already attempting to incinerate that political blood. The causes of their apparent fever are not difficult to understand. dailymaverick.co.za/

WC summitWorking Class Movement statement

The leadership of the 147 working class formations that convened and met at the Working-Class Summit in July 2018 to launch a working-class movement met again on 23 November 2018 to evaluate the programme adopted by the Summit. wwmp.org.za/

AbMlogoAll the Homes on the eKhanana Land Occupation were Destroyed Today

The eKhanana Land Occupation in Cato Crest has been subject to repeated illegal, armed and violent attacks by the eThekwini Municipality. A number of people have been injured in these attacks. There are 105 families on the occupation. They are gathering courage by building, cooking, eating and resisting together. facebook.com/abahlalibasemjondolo/

saftu-logoSaftu rejects Numsa’s srwpSocialist Revolutionary Workers Party

The union federation says it will ‘resist being stampeded into becoming a labour desk for, or forming an alliance with, any political party’.businesslive.co.za/

SAFTU condemns article falsely accusing it of “rejecting” NUMSA and the SRWP

r2k logoNew Cybercrimes Bill kicks government spies off the Internet (for now)

R2K welcomes the scrapping of sections of the Bill that would have given the State Security Minister far-reaching control over the internet. This was the direct result of public calls, including those from R2K. r2k.org.za/

The President ignores My Vote Counts and R2K’s request to sign the Party Funding Bill urgently

If the President is serious about fighting corruption and values transparency and accountability he would sign the Bill into law. You can sign our petition urging the President to sign the Bill here: awethu.amandla.mobi/

kimi-makwetuR296 billion – This is how much the South African government wasted in 5 years

This is according to Auditor General Kimi Makwetu’s reports for government departments detailing the gross mismanagement of public funds. mybroadband.co.za/

Coalition seeks comprehensive social security

Black Sash hosted a social security seminar with the theme Facing A World Without Full Employment. The seminar focused on the causes for and options to address structural unemployment within South Africa. It culminated with participants forming a Social Security Coalition. wwmp.org.za/

debt[listen] Workers’ Debt and Microlending

South Africans are among the most indebted in the world. They mainly borrow from family and friends, but for many, private informal money-lenders are the easiest and quickest way of obtaining extra cash. This leads many workers into a permanent debt trap, wherein there is nothing at the end of the week or month. This week, Workers on Wednesday asks what’s being done about chronic debt. Is there a solution? With guest Dr Dale McKinley representing Right2Know. wwmp.org.za/

 

INTERNATIONAL

teargassedHigh-minded Democrats react with horror at border scenes of tear-gassed children

Agents for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency fired teargas at immigrants trying to squeeze through gaps or scale fences at the border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. huffingtonpost.com/

gm‘Corporate Greed at Its Worst’: GM to Fire Nearly 15,000 Workers after $514-million tax scam

Tax reform and labor advocates were among those who expressed outrage Monday at the news that General Motors—one of the corporate giants that benefited immensely from the Republican tax plan last year—would cut 15 percent of its workforce, shuttering production facilities in three states as well as Canada to trim costs. commondreams.org/

maldivesAre China’s cheap loans to poor nations a development boost or a debt trap?

beyonceHow Beyonce’s ‘Ivy Park’ Label Should Solve Sweatshop Scandal: Switch Suppliers

Not every woman is being celebrated in Beyonce’s world and definitely not the women workers in South Asia, where her clothes are made. huffingtonpost.com/

homelessUKBritain’s Enemy Is Not Russia But It’s Own Ruling Class, UN Report Confirms

A devastating report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur into poverty in the UK provides incontrovertible evidence that the enemy of the British people is the very ruling class that has gone out of its way these past few years to convince them it is Russia. rt.com/op-ed

burrowITUC at a crossroads as Sharan Burrow is challenged

A fight for the position of Secretary-General divides the ITUC ahead of the World Congress in December. Where some see a choice between diplomacy and activism, others say it’s a question of internal democracy. arbetet.se/

 

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Withdrawal of academics from conference shines spotlight on boycott of Israel

The withdrawal of the invitation to Israeli academics from the upcoming Recognition, Reparation, Reconciliation Conference at Stellenbosch University has shone a bright spotlight on the academic boycott of Israel and the normalisation of Israeli occupation and apartheid. mg.co.za/

chomskyIsraeli intervention in US elections ‘vastly overwhelms’ anything Russia has done, claims Noam Chomsky

Castigating the media for ignoring issues such as the “existential threat” of climate change, the 89-year-old linguist said in much of the world, the US media’s focus with Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 was “a joke”. independent.co.uk/

tony greensteinTwitter closes down my account for ‘hateful conduct’

According to Twitter, wishing Jewish anti-Zionists had died in Auschwitz is not a breach of rules whereas comparing the siege of Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto is. Showing the truth of what Israel’s Occupation means was too much for these defenders of free speech. mondoweiss.net/

Local news from Khayelitsha, East London, Port Elizabeth, Alexandra and Orange Farm in English and isiXhosa

Install the Elitsha app for your phone

NEW TECHNOLOGIES / NEW FORMS OF LABOUR

capturedFrom Airbnb to city bikes, the ‘sharing economy’ has been seized by big money

To flourish, the informal digital networks providing new services needed to be protected from the market. theguardian.com/

Social Media Sites: Agencies to keep constant watch

Bangladeshi government agencies will soon start monitoring social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, round-the-clock to check any smear campaign ahead of the December parliamentary elections. thedailystar.net

Ruijin Technology CompanyHow Cheap Labor Drives China’s A.I. Ambitions

Conventional wisdom says that China and the United States are competing for A.I. supremacy and that China has certain advantages. The Chinese government broadly supports A.I. companies, financially and politically. nytimes.com/

New technology, labour and digital sovereignty

Back in the 1960s and the 1980s there were widespread concerns that robotisation and microelectronics would destroy jobs. With hindsight we see substantial changes to the economy, including job losses, but also that the pace, scale and impact of change was nowhere near as catastrophic as initially feared. global-labour-university.org/
 

 

THEORY

FMFPostcolonial theory and the strong arm of identity

Decolonization is another one of those radical chic terms. Everyone who cares about the future of higher education in South Africa is talking about it, yet most admit they do not know what it actually means – by Wahbie Long. africasacountry.com/

 

ENVIRONMENT

extinction rebellion‘This Is a Climate Emergency’: Extinction Rebellion Takes to Streets to Stand for the Planet Over Polluter Profits

“Only through daily economic disruption will the government recognize the gravity of the crisis we all face and agree to meet with us to address our demand for radical action” – Extinction Rebellion movement commondreams.org/

turkeyMeat and Consequences: More Bad News for Climate Change

When people ask, ‘but what can I do about climate change?’ we have an answer, ‘eat less beef.’ Vegetarians may be healthier and live longer but meat eating continues to be a mortifying norm. counterpunch.org/

science is universalClimate Change Action Would Kill Imperialism

That is why we can’t have it in America. American political power is based on fossil fuels, and the US military is the engine that consumes those fuels to produce that power. counterpunch.org/

brazilian cattleHumans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study

Humankind is revealed as simultaneously insignificant and utterly dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth by a groundbreaking new assessment of all life on the planet. theguardian.com/

perezMaya Ch’orti’ Environmental Leader Found Dead in Guatemala

The Indigenous Maya Ch’orti’ environmental activist Elizandro Perez, who led a local resistance against a mining company in his community, was found dead last week in his home. telesurenglish.net/

 

Disclaimer:

This newsletter is intended as a special and alternative news, information and knowledge source for all who are interested in issues relevant to promoting political, social and economic equality and the eradication of poverty. The articles contained herein are obtained from various electronic media platforms and do not necessarily reflect the views of WWMP.