/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

Video shows ICE violently arresting Oregon farm workers and using facial recognition
The footage shows an agent using his phone to capture the face of one of the detained workers, and agents later admitted in court that they used a facial recognition app during the operation. The case provides a window into ICE’s expanding use of this surveillance technology across the US, which has raised significant privacy and civil liberties concerns, particularly since the app can yield inaccurate results.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/21/ice-immigration-oregon-facial-recognition

Trump's "anti-weaponization fund" torpedoes ICE funding deal
The fund was dropped like "a bomb in the middle of a pretty well planned out reconciliation bill," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters. The package for ICE and Border Patrol funding was on track to pass by the weekend. But senators left town without voting on Thursday after a heated two-hour meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The House will follow suit, and has canceled its Friday votes.
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/trump-weaponization-fund-senate-ice-funding
https://archive.ph/V4PtP

Trump’s EPA to roll back refrigerant rule for grocery stores in push it claims will lower prices
The Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, in what officials say is a push to lower grocery costs. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said the Biden-era rule imposes costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants US businesses and families can use.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/21/trump-epa-refrigerant-rule-grocery-costs

‘Almost Worthless’: Progressives Rip 2024 Autopsy the DNC Didn’t Want You To See
While the autopsy mentions inflation 18 times, it does so within the context of adjusting fundraising figures for inflation and not the affordability crisis—arguably the number one issue Trump campaigned on, before exacerbating the crisis via trade wars and actual wars once back in office. The DNC postmortem argues that Democrats have steadily lost the trust of working-class and non-college voters since the high-water mark of former President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 victory.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/autopsy-dnc-2676925645

With limited public involvement, Montana Land Board overhauls land-swap process
Key pieces of Brown’s plan adhere to the existing policy and the state laws from which they flow. But there are some notable shifts in the use of consultants and in the process for evaluating a property’s economic and recreational value. One section of the policy, for example, specifies that while trust land should generally “be valued for its highest and best use,” considerations will be made for “limiting factors.” It instructs the DNRC to apply a “commercially reasonable discount” for state lands lacking a documented legal access — e.g., land that is in the checkerboard. Another change pertains to a state law specifying that state lands with bodies of water that have significant public use — or access to navigable lakes and streams — can only be swapped for private land with similar water resources. Brown’s policy narrows the definition to specify that the state water resources must have a “documented history of being meaningfully used for crop irrigation, livestock watering, fishing, recreational floating activities or waterfowl hunting” to be subject to that law.
https://apnews.com/article/montana-landswap-policy-changes-public-notice-d8dd03a057140a30e84e8931729279c3

Trump’s Latest Escalations against Cuba Show the Urgency of Building an Anti-War Movement in the Streets
The indictment against Castro is a case of peak imperialist arrogance. It alleges that Castro ordered the downing of two civilian aircraft flown by Cuban exiles in 1996. What the indictment doesn’t mention is that these exiles were invading Cuban airspace as part of a CIA-backed regime change effort. The Trump administration has the nerve to issue this indictment while the U.S. military continues to bomb civilian fishing vessels it accuses (with no proof!) of drug trafficking. The indictment against Castro is part of a larger pattern of the United States violating other nations’ sovereignty by doing whatever Trump sees fit to neutralize adversarial political figures, whether that’s kidnapping (in Venezuela), assassination (in Iran), and lawfare (in the case of Castro as well as former president, Evo Morales in Bolivia). The revelations of Hondurasgate, which unearthed a plot by Trump and far-right allies to interfere in Latin American elections, show just how far U.S. imperialism will go to control the region long seen as its backyard. All of these developments make it increasingly likely that a U.S. military intervention in some form is a matter of when, not if. It’s possible that the only reason Trump hasn’t attacked Cuba yet is because he’s been bogged down by his failed attempt at regime change in Iran. But it is also because Trump humiliated himself and the entire United States in Iran that he may be even more inclined to attack Cuba, attempting what he sees as an easier foreign policy win ahead of the midterms.
https://www.leftvoice.org/trumps-latest-escalations-against-cuba-show-the-urgency-of-building-an-anti-war-movement-in-the-streets/

South African CP, Eskom’s threat to cut power in Johannesburg is unreasonable and irresponsible
The threat issued by Eskom to cut electricity supply in the City of Johannesburg on the basis of the city’s debt to Eskom is not only unreasonable but also reveals the shortsightedness of Eskom’s leadership and the punitive mentality of the government department responsible for Eskom. The South African Communist Party (SACP) unequivocally condemns the threat as an unconscionable act. This decision reflects a mentality that holds the citizens of Johannesburg collectively responsible for an energy crisis primarily attributable to poor management; poor planning and management of the energy infrastructure by local government; poor maintenance regimes for energy facilities; corruption and outsourcing; cable theft and other criminal activities; as well as the destructive effects of austerity and neoliberal policies in local and national government. Eskom’s response to the city’s debt reflects a perspective typical of neoliberal government structures in South Africa, which often attribute blame to the populace for capitalist failures while crediting the bourgeoisie for any positive outcomes. If implemented, it would effectively deepen austerity measures and worsen the socioeconomic situation for the people, the working class in particular.
https://www.solidnet.org/article/South-African-CP-Eskoms-threat-to-cut-power-in-Johannesburg-is-unreasonable-and-irresponsible/

Did Communism Make Us Human? On the anthropology of David Graeber – by Chris Knight
Long before Graeber arrived on the scene, evolutionary scientists had been debating whether humans differ from other primates in being instinctively disposed to cooperate where possible. As always there are arguments – not everyone agrees. But in addition to cooperation with friends and relatives, the Darwinian social strategy labelled 'cooperation with strangers' has become widely recognised as part of the psychological make-up of our species.[2] Graeber’s contribution was a relabelling exercise designed to shock, horrify, and delight. Of all things, Graeber chose to describe everyday sociability as 'communism.' After decades of Cold War and endless warnings about the Red Menace and the need for the USA to lead the Free World in opposition to Communism – after all this, Graeber had the audacity to simply state that we are communists when we are at our kindest and best. It was a brilliant move, and of course it worked. Part of the attraction was that it could please everyone. Unlike Marxist versions of communism, which might threaten the owners of capital, Graeber’s version leaves property relations intact. No trace here of Rousseau’s declaration that 'the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.' Communism, according to Graeber’s new definition, has nothing to do with how property is owned. In fact, the good news is that you can have private property, feudalism, corporate monopoly capitalism, slavery, or whatever and still enjoy the benefits of communism. No wonder Graeber’s book, Debt, was hailed as ‘2012 book of the year’ in the conservative Spectator, magazine and highly recommended in bankers’ favourites such as The Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and Bloomsburg Business Week.[3] Graeber argues explicitly that communism tends to emerge everywhere, irrespective of how property is owned. His reasoning is simple: 'Solitary pleasures will always exist, but for most human beings, the most pleasurable activities almost always involve sharing something: music, food, liquor, drugs, gossip, drama, beds. There is a certain communism of the senses at the root of most things we consider fun.'[4] Even capitalist firms such as the Apple Corporation foster communism internally to encourage their employees to socialise freely and spark one another’s creativity.[5] Graeber reminds us that you can’t even enjoy everyday conversation – the normal use of language – without mutual trust and therefore an element of communism. But it can only be an element. Skilfully deploying ethnographic illustrations, Graeber shows how, in cultures across the world and across historical time, what he terms 'communism' comes and goes, alternates with violent, selfish or competitive principles, wins out sometimes, becomes crushed at other times – but never quite disappears. For we who are libertarian communists at heart, it is a comforting thought. Now we have something to fall back on. In the final analysis, we cannot lose. Yet Graeber is also telling us that we cannot win.
https://libcom.org/article/did-communism-make-us-human-anthropology-david-graeber-chris-knight