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Category: National

Investigation Finds Former Ukraine President Not Responsible For Sniper Attack on Protestors

worker | October 19, 2014 | 2:33 pm | Analysis, International, National | Comments closed

Sen. Sanders Joins nurses protesting unpreparedness against infectious diseases

worker | October 18, 2014 | 10:39 pm | Action, National | Comments closed

by A. Shaw

Nurses demanding Ebola safety and training were joined by USÂ Sen. BernieÂ Sanders (I-VT)Â at a rally in Oakland, California, on Thursday, Oct. 16. He supported their call for every hospital in the country to be prepared in the case of an outbreak. “You deserve protection,” Sanders said, “not only for yourself, of course, but so that you can do your job.”

Sanders chairs theÂ US Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging and is considered by both bourgeois liberals and bourgeois reactionaries to be expert on health issues.

Sanders foughtÂ budget cuts demanded by Pres. Obama and Tea Party reactionaries that reduced the Center for Disease Control’s budget by $1.3 billion. Sanders strongly opposed cuts toÂ CDC’s funding related to the fight against infectious diseases like Ebola, MRSA, etc.

Sanders argued that the US people are entitled to health.

In defense of the budget cuts,Â Obama and the Tea Bags argued that health is not an “entitlement,” butÂ only a policy,Â even in the midst of the spread ofÂ infectious diseases.

Ebola vaccines and Bernie Sanders

worker | October 17, 2014 | 9:12 pm | International, National | Comments closed

by A. Shaw

TheÂ World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two vaccines — which many observers think areÂ improbably chosen as a system of immunization against the EbolaÂ virus –Â will be ready by the end of March 2015.

The first of the two vaccines, cAd3-ZEBOV, wasÂ developed by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The second, rVSV-ZEBOV, was developed by the Canadian Agency for Public Health.

WHO doesn’t sayÂ whetherÂ cAd3-ZEBOV and rVSV-ZEBOV have proven in experimental research to be theÂ least or most successful vaccines in treating Ebola.

In the USA, a number of US citizens who are health care workers have beenÂ given aÂ vaccine for Ebola and the condition of these infectedÂ US workersÂ improved. Thomas Eric Duncan, an Ebola-infectedÂ Liberian citizen who travelled to Dallas, TX, was given a different “vaccine” and he died.

Â Why was there such a dramatic difference in the results? Why did the US citizens improve and Duncan die?

US drug companies own patentsÂ on drugs that are most successful in fighting Ebola.

Neither cAd3-ZEBOV norÂ rVSV-ZEBOV is subject to patents own by US drug companies. So,Â cAd3-ZEBOVÂ andÂ rVSV-ZEBOV can be administered to EbolaÂ patients in West Africa without permission from US drug companies.

[By the way, aÂ patent is an exclusive right to produce or sell an invention or new product — like an EbolaÂ drug –Â for a certain time.]

But willÂ cAd3-ZEBOVÂ andÂ rVSV-ZEBOV do any good in West Africa? Are they theÂ least successful ofÂ a dozen possible vaccines?

WHO will not oppose US drug companies withholding the best drugs.

As one possibilityÂ for aÂ score, theÂ political implications and opportunities of what has been said above should be clear to Sanders.

What may not be clear is Sanders blew a bigÂ opportunity to score when Sanders was silent while Obama wasÂ dilatory in March-April 2014,Â about the US response to Ebola,Â ObamaÂ allowed Ebola to get out of control. Sanders announced his preparedness toÂ run for the White House in the March 6, 2014 editionÂ ofÂ The Nation magazine.Â So, Sanders could haveÂ scored if he wereÂ disposed.

This is now water under the bridge.

Now, the important thing is not to blow any additional opportunities to score on Ebola or onÂ numerousÂ other issues.

A Socialist Campaign for Chicagoâ€™s 99%

worker | October 16, 2014 | 8:39 pm | National | Comments closed

Posted by Chicago Socialist Campaign

Posted on March 01, 2014

We live in a working class city.Â Our labor, skills, ingenuity and pride built this city. We keep Chicago running, yet we have no voice in how it is run. The mayor and city council redistribute the wealth we create to the rich and corporations instead of making our city better for working people. Every year they take hundreds of millions that were collected to pay for our streets, schools, public transit and infrastructure and spend it on prestige projects that benefit the super-rich.

We face a real crisis, but it is a crisis of priorities, not resources.Â The rich get tax cuts while we face cuts in city services. In a time of record profits for the financial and corporate elite, working people face outsourced and privatized jobs, low pay or no pay, increased workloads, reduced benefits and stolen pensions. This crisis is worse for Black, Latino and young people.

These issues require urgent action.Â Neither Republicans nor Democrats offer solutions because both parties represent the 1% – from the billionaires who are pushing charter schools to real estate charlatans to poverty-wage employers. Until we create our own political voice, working people will continue to be locked out of the corridors of power.

We are declaring our independence by creating a real alternative to the Democrats and Republicans: a Socialist one.Â Our movement strives to represent the interests of all working class people, whether employed or unemployed; women, people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, both documented and undocumented, and people who are differently abled. Real change is never handed down by politicians. Real change is won by people standing together and building movements.

As Socialists, we will fight to put our city’s enormous wealth at the service of human need instead of corporate greed.Â We will fight for a $15/hour minimum wage because too many of us cannot make ends meet. We will fight to reclaim our neighborhoods by stopping foreclosures and evictions, and by turning vacant homes and apartments in our city into quality, affordable housing. Many of us are union activists; we will fight to defend our unions, and call on our union sisters and brothers to help build this campaign.

We will fight against police brutality and the treatment of our young people as criminals.We will fight against mass incarceration and racism, segregation and discrimination in all of its forms. We will fight to enforce the ban against the Chicago Police Department cooperating with ICE and to stop the deportations that are destroying our families and communities. We will fight for access to the vote for all Chicago residents.

Our campaign draws its strength from existing struggles for better pay, better schools, and better housing.Â Our campaign promise is to join these struggles, help build them, and amplify their voices. We work within our communities to shape the answers to the crises we face. We draw on our experiences as grassroots leaders, community organizers, union members and activists. We invite our brothers and sisters in these struggles to help shape this campaign.

The Chicago Socialist Campaign is about changing the system.Â We are building a people-centered and people-led movement in order to make real, lasting change in all of our lives. We are fighting for a society that puts people before profit. The needs and aspirations of working people, the poor, the homeless, the incarcerated, the undocumented, victims of discrimination, and all exploited people must set our course. Our campaign is inspired by this vision and is one step towards that goal. That’s what makes it a Socialist campaign.

Bernie Sanders and the DP

worker | October 16, 2014 | 8:13 pm | National | Comments closed

by A. Shaw

US Sen. BernieÂ Sanders (I-VT)Â runs for office as an independent but caucuses with the Democratic PartyÂ (DP)Â Â and is counted as a DPÂ memberÂ for purposes of committee assignments. He was the only independent member of theÂ congress during most of his service and is the longest-serving independent in U.S. Congressional history.

In an interview with The Nation on March 6, 2014, Sanders stated that he is “prepared to run for President of the United States” in 2016. Bernie didn’t say whether he’ll run as aÂ DP or as anÂ independent.

Why does Bernie evenÂ caucus with the DP?

Bernie caucuses with the DP because, in the US Senate,Â a simple majority –Â at least –Â of votesÂ is required to do something. So, Bernie needs at least 50 votes to do something.

About 35% of the DP senators are hard-coreÂ bourgeois reactionaries and theÂ remaining 65% are more or less bourgeois liberals.

Bernie caucuses with so-calledÂ bourgeois liberals and shuns the reactionaries of the DP.

The DP depends a lotÂ on Bernie’s one vote.

Luis Gutierrez for President!

worker | October 15, 2014 | 9:46 pm | Action, Immigrants' Rights, National | Comments closed

STOP THE DEPORTATIONS OR WE WILL RUN LUIS GUTIERREZ FOR PRESIDENT!/

Â¡DETENER LAS DEPORTACIONES O CORREREMOS LUIS GUTIERREZ PARA PRESIDENTE!

We the undersigned, having been betrayed by the President and the Democratic Party, facing the reality of the continuing unjust deportations and separation of families in the millions, do hereby support and draft Congressman Luis Gutierrez to run AS AN INDEPENDENT for the Presidency of the United States in 2016 if President Obama does not use the authority we have given him to stop the deportations by November 27^th of this year. We pledge also to march during Thanksgiving Weekend to show the unity of our community.

Nosotros los abajo firmantes, por lo tanto haber sido traicionado por el Presidente y el partido demÃ³crata, y enfrentando la realidad de las continuas deportaciones injustas y separaciÃ³n de nuestras familias en los millones, apoyo el proyecto de obligar a Congresista Luis GutiÃ©rrez para funcionar como nuestro candidato independiente para la Presidencia de Estados Unidos en el aÃ±o 2016 si Presidente Obama no utiliza su autoridad que le hemos dado para que pare las deportaciones antes del 27 de noviembre de este aÃ±o. Nos comprometemos tambiÃ©n a marchar durante el fin de semana de Dar Gracia, para mostrar la unidad de nuestra comunidad.

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Return to November 27^th Coalition, 2009 W 22^nd Place, Chicago, Il. 60608

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