News 2/4

WSJ Confirms: Trump-Appointed Venezuela Coup Leader Plans Neoliberal Capitalist Shock Therapy
The Wall Street Journal reported that Venezuela’s US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó has already drafted plans for “opening up Venezuela’s vast oil sector to private investment” and “privatizing assets held by state enterprises.”The report confirms what The Grayzone previously reported.
grayzoneproject.com/2019/02/03/wsj-venezuela-coup-leader-juan-guaido-neoliberal-capitalist-shock-therapy/

Spanish Socialist Party government backs US-led coup in Venezuela
Since the Venezuelan crisis erupted, Spain has been at the forefront of the regime change operation underway in the oil-rich South American country. Today, Madrid is set to formally recognise Juan Guaidó as president. Guaidó is the right-wing leader of the National Assembly who Trump declared to be Venezuela’s president on January 23.
wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/04/spai-f04.html

El Salvador election: Nayib Bukele claims presidency
With most votes counted, the former mayor of San Salvador had nearly 53% of the vote with his closest rival, the conservative Carlos Calleja on 32%.Mr Bukele, 37, needed more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off.The businessman has vowed to tackle corruption and combat the criminal gangs responsible for one of the world's highest murder rates.
bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47113249

Trump-inspired? Netanyahu stars in webcast to tackle Israeli ‘fake news’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing social media ridicule after concocting a seemingly Trump-inspired answer to unfavorable media coverage: a weekly webcast designed to combat “fake news.”
rt.com/news/450627-netanyahu-fake-news-trump/

Australia floods: Crocodiles and snakes seen on streets as river dam opened, putting 20,000 homes at risk
Snakes and crocodiles have been spotted on residential roads in Australia after devastating floods hit the northern state of Queensland, following eight days of monsoon-level rain.Environment minister Leeanne Enoch issued a statement warning residents that the reptiles could turn up in unexpected places due to extreme weather conditions.
independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-townsville-floods-queensland-ross-river-dam-crocodiles-snakes-weather-a8761826.html

Israel builds new barrier along Gaza Strip border
Israel on Sunday said it had started to build a new barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip, according to the Defense Ministry.The ministry said in a statement that the above-ground barrier — 65 kilometers long and six meters high — would work in conjunction with an underground wall also under construction, to neutralize the possibility of cross-border tunnels built by Hamas militants.
dw.com/en/israel-builds-new-barrier-along-gaza-strip-border/a-47345902

Trump aide begins diplomacy by Twitter with Palestinian officials after year of silence
Donald Trump's special representative for international negotiations has begun tweeting Palestinian officials more than a year after they last agreed to meet or even speak with representatives of the US administration.Over the past few weeks, Jason Greenblatt has been tweeting his thoughts, requests and criticisms to Palestinian leaders who are active on the popular social media platform.
independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jason-grenblatt-tweeting-palestine-officials-israel-jerusalem-us-embasy-a8761226.html

Macron 'to hold May referendum' in bid to quell 'yellow vest' anger
Emmanuel Macron is reportedly considering holding France’s first referendum in 14 years in an effort to quell “yellow vest” protests, although opposition leaders warned that it was unlikely to defuse popular anger.
telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/03/macron-hold-may-referendum-bid-quell-yellow-vest-anger/

Ukraine's Far Right Is Growing Increasingly Violent
2018 was a horrible year for attacks on minority groups. With elections looming, 2019 may be even worse – and many say the government is aiding and legitimizing extremists
haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium-ukraine-s-far-right-is-increasingly-violent-why-aren-t-local-jews-concerned-1.6852878

Brexit: Theresa May 'determined' to leave EU in March
Theresa May has said she is "determined" to deliver Brexit on time, ahead of talks on the Irish backstop.Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister said she would return to Brussels with a "fresh mandate, new ideas and a renewed determination".MPs have voted to seek an "alternative arrangement" to guarantee the Northern Ireland border stays open after Brexit.
bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47105990

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Other urls found in this thread:

politico.com/story/2019/02/03/trump-syria-policy-ron-johnson-1144295
wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/04/poli-f04.html
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/04/trump-impeachment-talk-sign-democrats-cant-win-2020-election
apnews.com/e653d5a305114835bb399e480ac44ab8
thinkprogress.org/cory-booker-promises-to-sabotage-the-democratic-partys-legislative-agenda-69f7a43c42dd/
reuters.com/article/us-australia-banks-inquiry-idUSKCN1PT099
rt.com/news/450624-crypto-currency-quadrigacx-password/
uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-nissan-letter/uk-promised-nissan-80-million-pounds-of-support-for-2016-car-investment-ft-idUKKCN1PT1EN
theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/03/millennials-pay-still-stunted-by-financial-crash-resolution-foundation
counterpunch.org/2019/02/04/politics-getting-worse/
jacobinmag.com/2019/02/oil-fund-sitcom-norway-sovereign-wealth-fund
rt.com/op-ed/450511-usa-venezuela-invasion-khodarenok/
nakedcapitalism.com/2019/02/not-start-saving-biosphere-outlawing-private-jets.html
itsgoingdown.org/posters-mailed-to-neighbors-of-unhinged-fascist-daniel-mcmahon/
twitter.com/AnonBabble

Do they even have another move in their arsenal?

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Wow even Podemos sold out Venezuela. Does Spain have any better Leftist parties?

‘Unconscionable’: GOP Senate Homeland Security chair torches Trump’s Syria policy
The Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Sunday torched the Trump administration’s plans for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, saying the exodus of American soldiers from the region would be “tragic” and “unconscionable.”“ISIS was able to rise from the thoroughly defeated ashes of al-Qaida in Iraq, and I don’t want to be making the same statement six months from now that we bugged out of Syria unwisely and that ISIS has re-emerged from the defeated ashes of ISIS in Syria,” Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
politico.com/story/2019/02/03/trump-syria-policy-ron-johnson-1144295

Florida schools to allow real-time video monitoring by the police
Broward County, Florida school board officials have authorized police to conduct real-time monitoring of students in school via video surveillance cameras. The action is one of a number of new police measures being instituted nationally in what President Donald Trump called the “hardening” of schools in the aftermath of the mass shooting last year in Parkland.
wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/04/poli-f04.html

Trump: talk of impeachment is sign Democrats can’t win in 2020
Talk of impeachment, Donald Trump said in remarks broadcast on Monday, is a sign Democrats know they cannot beat him in 2020.In the interview with CBS Face the Nation, recorded last week and first broadcast on Super Bowl Sunday, Trump said: “The only way they can win, because they can’t win the election, is to bring out the artificial way of impeachment.”
theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/04/trump-impeachment-talk-sign-democrats-cant-win-2020-election

US prepares to start building portion of Texas border wall
The U.S. government is preparing to begin construction of more border walls and fencing in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, likely on federally owned land set aside as wildlife refuge property.Heavy construction equipment was expected to arrive starting Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. A photo posted by the nonprofit National Butterfly Center shows an excavator parked next to its property.
apnews.com/e653d5a305114835bb399e480ac44ab8

Democratic Senator Cory Booker promises to sabotage the Democratic Party’s legislative agenda
Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker offered up an odd promise on Friday, effectively pledging that he will have virtually no legislative accomplishments if he’s elected president.
thinkprogress.org/cory-booker-promises-to-sabotage-the-democratic-partys-legislative-agenda-69f7a43c42dd/

Australia vows to clean up financial sector after landmark misconduct inquiry
A special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia’s financial sector for misconduct on Monday, referring two dozen cases to regulators for possible legal action but leaving the structure of the country’s powerful banks in place.
reuters.com/article/us-australia-banks-inquiry-idUSKCN1PT099

Can’t take it with you? $190mn of crypto funds ‘inaccessible’ after password holder dies
Embattled Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX, already embroiled in a variety of previous legal cases, claims that it no longer has access to roughly $190 million of clients’ holdings, though experts are not convinced.
QuadrigaCX says founder Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly “due to complications with Crohn’s disease on December 9, 2018 while travelling in India” – and was the only person who knew the password.
rt.com/news/450624-crypto-currency-quadrigacx-password/

UK promised Nissan 80 million pounds of support for 2016 car investment: FT
Britain promised about 80 million pounds ($104 million) in support to Nissan in 2016 as part of a major investment by the Japanese carmaker in its British car plant just four months after the Brexit vote, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-nissan-letter/uk-promised-nissan-80-million-pounds-of-support-for-2016-car-investment-ft-idUKKCN1PT1EN

Millennials’ pay still stunted by the 2008 financial crash
Millennials who entered the job market during the financial crisis are still suffering “scarring” effects on their earnings as they enter their mid-30s, making it even harder for them to cope with the economic pressures of having a family, a leading thinktank has warned.
theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/03/millennials-pay-still-stunted-by-financial-crash-resolution-foundation

No, right now in the DSA the Momentum caucas (jacobincucks and chapofags) are looking to fuck horizintalists and non-electoral activities like free brake check clinics in favor of Bernie 2020. Always remember "around the rose, hold your nose".

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OP/ED

Is Politics Getting Worse, Or Are We Getting a Better Handle on How Bad It Has Always Been?
In assessing the present condition of things, the endemic corruption and open hostility on the part of our alleged representatives to the needs and concerns of the mass of the population, the question tends increasingly to revolve around whether politics is getting worse, or whether we are just getting a better handle on how bad it has always been. It does seem that western democracies, having failed to deliver on their promise of enabling the mass to take control over the conditions of our own lives, have delivered instead corrupt oligarchies serving vested corporate interests at the expense of everyone else. Less representatives of the popular will, our illustrious representatives better resemble wholly owned subsidiaries of financial institutions and transnational corporations whose idea of social responsibility is to instrumentalise global production for their own self-enrichment and reduce the global economy to a giant casino.
counterpunch.org/2019/02/04/politics-getting-worse/

Ridiculously Rich
Norway’s trillion-dollar oil fund is so important to the welfare state that they’ve even made a sitcom about it. But sound economic planning can’t be based on polluting the environment forever.
jacobinmag.com/2019/02/oil-fund-sitcom-norway-sovereign-wealth-fund

Make Latin America Great Again? On the REAL chances of a US invasion of Venezuela
Speaking on the crisis in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump said that “a possible military option” is on the table – but is the US really preparing to attack?Certainly, planning and implementing a military invasion operation of this scale is an easy task for the US Army. They might not even need to involve any of the military bases they have in the region, such as Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, and Fort Buchanan in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Only 2,000 kilometers separate Caracas from Florida. The distance is no serious obstacle to the present-day United States Armed Forces, even if they have to make a stop at any of the air bases in the Caribbean.The United States Armed Forces consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, so just take your pick – any of these or a combination would be fit for the job, with all their equipment, machinery, and well-trained highly experienced personnel.
rt.com/op-ed/450511-usa-venezuela-invasion-khodarenok/

Why Not Start Saving the Biosphere by Outlawing Private Jets?
This piece will be a little disjointed, I’m afraid, because saving the biosphere is a large topic, larger even than the aircraft industry, and I don’t feel I’ve quite mastered the material. Note that although the tone will be polemic, this is not a “Modest Proposal“; if indeed “the problem is as dire as much of the science suggests, the policies must match the rhetoric,” and that must include measures like that of the headline, and many more. So, consider this post a forcing device for further discussion. I’ll take a brief tour of the private jet aircraft industry — I’m mostly talking your basic Gulfstream rendition jet, not your Third World dictator Airbus or Boeing, and not your Piper Cub, or hospital helicopter — followed by discussion of the industry’s impact on the biosphere. From there, I’ll discuss how to get rid of them. Finally, I’ll deal with possible objections from the high net worth-owners of private jets. But first, I’ll answer the question in the title, aesthetically
nakedcapitalism.com/2019/02/not-start-saving-biosphere-outlawing-private-jets.html

Posters Mailed and Distributed to Neighbors of Unhinged Fascist Daniel McMahon
Daniel McMahon entered the national spotlight after developing a relationship online over Gab with the neo-Nazi who massacred 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue and after working with the “New Right” and pro-Trump publication, Big League Politics, to harass students and antifascists in North Carolina.The following communique and photos was anonymously sent to It’s Going Down and documents how antifascists mailed and distributed informational flyers to neighbors of McMahon in Florida.
itsgoingdown.org/posters-mailed-to-neighbors-of-unhinged-fascist-daniel-mcmahon/

What are Spanish citizens' reaction to this?

I read somewhere that 80% of Venezuelan economy is private sector.
Can I have a serious source on that?

What the fuck user, archive that cancer.

it's actually 70% and most of the sources reporting on it are in spanish.
Of course even if it wasn't true being in the public sector isn't the same thing as being socialist. France has a larger public sector than Venezuela, and the US employs almost as many people in the public sector as a percentage of the working population as Venezuela does

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Venezuela isn't socialist, it's a social democratic government with a nationalized petroleum industry. It only gets memed as socialist by liberals looking for money or tanks looking for a success story.

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(quadruple quads checked!)
This is the key point. By "privatizing assets", what Guaidó means is "sell the country to foreign capitalists". For a Dutch Disease-ridden resource extraction economy like Venezuela's, pretty much any form of government with nationalized extraction industries is preferable to anything that sells out to transnats.

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I'm well aware. At this point it should be clear to everyone that the issue with Venezuela isn't democracy or abuse of citizens, it's that the oil isn't being controlled by a friendly enough entity. We don't need to bend over backwards to declare social democracy irreproachable and worth dying for to oppose invasion and war, being against the slaughter of proletarians for Porky's issues has always been a good reason to be anti-war.

…uh yeah. that's what i said.

You commies are just epically memeing a socialist dictatorship as "democratic" to normalize the erosion of Freedom. The reason 70% of Venezuela's economy is private sector is because the heroic members of the intelligent community such as myself sabotaging the transition to full communism. When you use these commie talking points that it's not real socialism, you're obscuring the fact that it may not be socialism yet, but that's exactly where it's going.

Don't at me.

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But what if said resource extractions are actually incredibly complex operations that the Venezuelan government can't handle?

That's true enough for some countries, like a lot of Arab Gulf petrostates whose backward citizens are averse to industrial education, but even those are better off hiring foreigners contractually, rather than signing over the rights to their resources.

Given PDVSA's main problem aside from tremendous amounts of corruption has been a dip in global oil prices due to US/Canada tar sands, prompting PDVSA to reduce production, a lack of petrochemical capacity isn't something Venezuela have to worry about.

If a dip in global oil prices leads to near collapse, then that dip isn't the main problem.

I was agreeing with you, my main point was the second part. At this point it appears social democracy either degenerates into liberalism or allows reaction to destroy it, and it's imperative that we stop stanning for socdems, whether they be "based western politicians" or "revolutionary global south states", and attempt to organize in a way that lets us supercede capitalism instead of becoming its left wing.

Indeed. Their oil industry isn't Venezuela's problem, but other issues, most prominent among them having sunk too little of the "boom year" oil money into economic diversification.


There's also the shorter-term matter of preventing the Venezuelan people from being couped and butchered.

I don't see how spending money on diversification would have prevented the current situation. An economy is not something that happens when you throw money at it, Maduro and his party are incompetent idiots who have no idea what they're doing, there will always be another if only with them. Taken in that light, having spend the oil revenues on free stuff was probably their best of decisions, for at least people that aren't El Presidente and his posse got something out of it.

Is there any country other than Norway that's set up a sovereign wealth fund for state oil money? Would something like that have been enough to prop up Venezuela's socdem system instead of those half-assed price controls?

And spaming #handsoffvenesuela or demonstrations of solidarity aren't going to do that, so it's about time we tie anti-war action into something that discourages porky from sending in the troops in ways other than appealing to morality or logic.

The brake light clinics are useless lol

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