/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

US pipeline protester’s obstruction conviction overturned by appeals court
Vialard was charged after attaching herself to a 25ft bamboo tower erected to block a pumping station in Aitkin county in August 2021, as part of a crackdown on non-violent Indigenous-led protests opposing the expansion and re-routing on Line 3 – a 1,097-mile tar sands oil pipeline with a dismal safety record that crosses more than 200 bodies of water from Alberta in Canada to refineries in the US midwest.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/18/mylene-vialard-pipeline-protester-conviction-overturned

Draft of new 'MAHA' report suggests RFK Jr. won't target pesticides
The draft's language, if left unchanged, would constitute a win for the agriculture industry and a potential setback for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) allies, who have railed against the use of chemical additives in America's food supply, arguing that they harm children.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/draft-new-maha-report-suggests-rfk-jr-target/story?id=124714523

Private-equity backed prison health companies continue despite decade of alleged constitutional violations
Since 2014, in eight cases involving these two private equity-backed healthcare companies examined by the Guardian, investigators from the Department of Justice, New York City department of investigation and other local investigators, have found their negligence so severe that it violated inmates’ eighth amendment rights protecting them from substantial risk of harm, including preventable death. Staff shortages are often a contributing factor – a 2023-24 Santa Barbara county grand jury investigation into Wellpath-managed jails found that staffing shortages led to delays in care.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/18/us-private-prison-healthcare-industry

Vast Majority of 'Refugees' Accepted Under New Trump Plan Will Be White South Africans
According to two officials, who spoke with Reuters anonymously, "30,000 of the 40,000 spaces would be devoted to Afrikaners, a largely Dutch-descended minority in South Africa that Trump has prioritized for resettlement."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-afrikaner-refugees

Federal agent fires weapon during immigration stop in Southern California, officials say
A DHS statement said the driver struck two U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents as he drove away Saturday, prompting one agent to fire his weapon “in self-defense.” No one was hit by the bullets. The department provided no other details about how or where the vehicle struck the agents and whether they were injured.
https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-immigration-raid-officer-shooting-773d493f24050314dfff622b3b04bcd6

Philadelphia region transit system begins to enact “doomsday” budget cuts
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) began to initiate service cuts associated with its “doomsday budget” previously announced in late June. SEPTA had previously designated August 14 as “the point of no return,” after which the scheduled cuts could not be reversed. The initial cuts will take effect on August 24, with additional phases planned thereafter.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/08/18/thwc-a18.html

Serbia: the revolution has outgrown its naïve phase
Since the collapse of the canopy that killed 16 people last November, Serbia has seen massive mobilisations, including the largest in the country’s history on 15 March. They have continued down to the present yet still no justice has been had for the victims. Patience has run out. Instead of justice, the regime has met the masses with continuous violence that has added to the bubbling anger in society. Back in January, members of the ruling party, the SNS, emerged from their party offices and broke the jaw of a female student. Other students attempted to enforce restraint by cordoning the offices to prevent violence from escalating. Since then, the culprits in that attack have been pardoned by Vučić. And we’ve seen more attacks by thugs and car ramming attacks on students. Still, throughout it all, the official stance of the students was that the violence of the Vučić regime should be met with restraint and dignity. But now things have reached their limits. Fatigue had been setting in without justice being achieved, and many began to feel that the students did not have a way forward. The blockades of the university faculties were slowly falling apart. It had become clear that the students’ attempts to peacefully achieve justice were ineffective. It was in this context that, on the national Vidovdan holiday, 28 June, the students gave the green light for the masses to use any form of civil disobedience. Until this point, only the restraint of the students themselves, whose authority had provided the leadership of the movement, has held the masses back. In a speech, the students have now given the “green light” to the masses not to hold back any longer in the face of a regime that clearly will not refrain from using violence.
https://marxist.com/serbia-the-revolution-has-outgrown-its-naive-phase.htm

The Alternative: Zarah Sultana interview
Zarah Sultana is among Britain’s most prominent socialist leaders. Born in Birmingham in 1993, she became politically active in the student movement and later in the upsurge of Corbynism: serving on the national executive of Young Labour, working as a community organiser for the party and eventually running for parliament, where she now represents Coventry South. Her election coincided with the beginning of Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership, which she has long excoriated for its reactionary outlook and petty authoritarianism. Over the past year her profile has increased significantly thanks to her trenchant opposition to the Starmer government’s complicity in the Gaza genocide. Her dissent led to her suspension from the parliamentary party, and since then she has become a standard-bearer for the nascent left alternative: one of the youngest and most popular figures involved in its formation. Sultana has proposed co-leading the new party alongside Corbyn, and is part of a group working on the founding conference this autumn. For the third instalment in this Sidecar series, Oliver Eagleton spoke to Sultana about the new left party: why it is necessary, what kind of democratic structures it should have, its parliamentary and extra-parliamentary aims, its response to the far right, the case for co-leadership, and how the conference should be organised.
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-alternative

The attempt to vilify Lenin in capitalist Russia: On the occasion of the reactionary film "The Mummy"
A new “documentary”, "The Mummy," which premiered in Moscow on June 26, has ignited a firestorm of debate surrounding the legacy of Vladimir Lenin and his final resting place. Produced by the fervently religious Christian channel “Spas” (Saviour), the film argues for the destruction of Lenin's Mausoleum, portraying it as a satanic temple and a bleeding wound on the soul of the Russian nation. The “documentary” presents a fantastical narrative, linking the Bolsheviks and their leader to a range of dark forces, including Egyptian pharaohs, Babylonian ziggurats, and Masonic conspiracies aimed at global domination by Satan. Lenin is depicted as the central figure of a death cult, whose mummified remains serve as a conduit for infernal forces that continue to undermine Russia's greatness. The filmmakers contend that the Mausoleum is a temple to the "false religion" of Marxism, a blasphemy against Russia's true faith, Orthodox Christianity. They argue that its destruction is necessary to liberate the Russian people from this “barbaric and occult” influence and allow the nation to heal from the "communist plague." The film is obviously ridiculous and absurd, peddling conspiracy theories and historical falsehoods about Lenin, communism, and ancient civilizations. The documentary's narrative is an attempt to cast anything outside of a narrow, pious “Russian cultural tradition” as dangerous and satanic. Despite its fringe perspective, "The Mummy" has been widely discussed in Russian media, propelled into the national conversation by state-controlled outlets. The film aligns with current government propaganda, even quoting President Vladimir Putin's assertion that Lenin planted a "bomb under Russian statehood" and that Soviet-era borders are a direct cause of the current conflict in Ukraine. This documentary represents another attempt to reframe the history and significance of the socialist revolution in Russia. However, for millions of Russians, Lenin remains a symbol of struggle for a brighter, more equitable future, free from oppression and exploitation. His mausoleum, a potent symbol of a different possible future, continues to be a thorn in the side of Russia's current capitalist regime. It stands as a reminder of the potential for human progress and emancipation over misery and brutality of capitalism. And because of this, the bourgeoisie will continue to see it as a threat. Promoting through mass media a film made by religious fanatics is a way of dealing with it.
https://www.idcommunism.com/2025/08/the-attempt-of-vilify-lenin-in-capitalist-russia-on-the-occasion-of-reactionary-film-the-mummy.html

Tybna

>>2438323
>Morales emphasized that the number of null and blank votes reached second place in Sunday’s election.

>He also stressed that the percentage of null votes, blank ballots and voter abstention exceeded the percentage obtained by Paz Pereira.
Interesting.

Thanks News Anon