Brazil Opens ‘Spectacular’ Antarctic Research Base — but Will It Get the Cash Needed to Fulfill Its Potential?
Kentucky Coal Miner Protest Ends in Victory ; Who Is Robert Hyde? ; and More Picks
French Unions Continue Strikes Despite Government’s Compromise Overture (Chris)
The author writes, “French transport strikes continued for a 42nd day on Wednesday, as a government compromise over the national retirement age failed to persuade certain trade unions to call off the disruptions that have rocked the country. On Wednesday, three important French ports — Marseille, Le Havre and La Rochelle — were totally blocked. Air traffic controllers also joined the strike, which Air France said would cause moderate interruptions in medium- and short-haul flights through Thursday.”
Kentucky Coal Miner Protest Ends in Victory for the Few Who Remained (Reader Steve)
From the Lexington Herald-Leader: “The three-day protest of Kentucky coal miners who blocked a railroad track in fury over unpaid wages ended Wednesday night in a victory for the few miners who remained, with the company paying all wages demanded by a small band of miners in Pike County who blocked a train and drew national attention to their cause.”
Who Is Robert Hyde, the Latest Ukraine Scandal Figure? (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “[As revealed in a] new batch of documents released Tuesday, Hyde sent [Lev] Parnas text messages last year that appeared to discuss the whereabouts of [Marie] Yovanovitch in Ukraine … Using crude language, Hyde implied he or his allies were monitoring Yovanovitch in Kiev, and suggested to Parnas that she should be removed from her position. When asked Tuesday by CNN if he had offered to harm Yovanovitch, Hyde replied, ‘No effing way.’”
Study: American Cancer Survivors Face Substantial Financial Hardship (Mili)
The author writes, “In the United States, the number of cancer survivors increased by 1.4 million people in the past three years, reaching more than 16.9 million as of January 1, 2019. The economic burden of cancer is significant for American cancer survivors: Previous studies have reported that as high as two-thirds of cancer survivors face medical financial hardship. However, few studies have examined the intensity of financial hardship across multiple domains, or sacrifices made as a result of cancer treatment and its longer-term effects.”
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Capital Is Dead: Is This Something Worse?’ (Chris)
From Hyperallergic: “Something new and much worse, involving what [McKenzie] Wark calls ‘the vector,’ has usurped [capitalism]. … The vectoralists own not only the means of production, as with the capitalists — in fact, the vectoralists own the capitalists — but also the greater communicational and distributional means and infrastructure that control how our information permeates the world via our new technology. They alone know the secrets of how to analyze this data for their exclusive profit and greater overall societal control.”
