Biden has announced plans to pull the remaining troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, saying that “it’s time to end the forever war.” Biden is the fourth US president to oversee this two-decade war, and is not the first to voice plans of pulling out. There is also good reason to be doubtful when it comes to Biden’s word on these issues. However, considering that he apparently had his own change of mind on Afghanistan specifically during his tenure as VP, it seems relatively safe to take him at his word on his intentions this time. …

Last time, in “Capitalism Just Doesn’t Work,” we went over some of the misrepresentations used by author Ra Gulamhusein to make a case for capitalism. This time, we’ll be looking at similar misrepresentations of socialism in his article “An Overview of Democratic Socialism.” As with last time, I want to be clear that I’m not assuming malice on the part of Gulamhusein. Although his article contained some untrue characterizations of socialism, specifically the Democratic Socialists of America, I don’t assume that he’s attempting to portray a false picture on purpose, I assume he believes what he said, and I know…

Adam Kovacevich, formerly Google’s head of policy and external affairs, has launched a new lobbying group called the Chamber of Progress. The group’s advisory board includes a number of Washington and Big Tech insiders, and their list of “corporate partners” contains essentially all of the big names from social media and the gig economy.

According to Axios, Kovacevich “describes the group as a ‘new tech industry coalition devoted to a progressive society, economy, workforce, and consumer climate.’” This comes across as incredibly disingenuous considering the recent actions of many of their “corporate partners.” Perhaps the most spectacular example is Amazon’s…

Ra Gulamhusein recently published the articles “An Overview of Democratic Socialism” and “Capitalism Works” here on Politically Speaking, and both of these pieces contain a number of misrepresentations and untruths. As several of these misunderstandings are at the core of many problems in our society, it appears some debunking is in order.

To be clear, I don’t mean to imply any malice on the part of Mr. Gulamhusein, and this is not intended as a personal attack. As a matter of fact, I’m actually rather grateful for his presentation of these arguments, affording me the opportunity to address the ideas…

On Monday, March 15, the Union Of Musicians And Allied Workers held demonstrations at Spotify offices in more than 30 cities around the world, including nearly a dozen US locations. A press release from UMAW details their grievances and demands:

“The action is an escalation of UMAW’s Justice at Spotify campaign, first launched in October, 2020. Now signed by more than 27,000 music workers, the campaign calls for at least one cent per stream, the adoption of a user centric streaming model, the crediting of all labor on recordings, the end of payola, the end of Spotify’s anti-artist legal battles…

According to the summary on Congress.gov, “This bill addresses voter access, election integrity and security, campaign finance, and ethics for the three branches of government.” As with the recent pandemic relief bill, there are indeed some good things in H.R. 1, including provisions for automatic voter registration, protections for early and mail-in voting, reforms to prevent voter roll purges, and other welcome changes. However, it also contains some provisions that seem to be aimed at making it harder for already-disadvantaged alternative parties to operate, and there doesn’t seem to be much being said about it.

The US Green Party calls…

Nearly two years after being expelled from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and his subsequent arrest, Julian Assange continues to await his uncertain fate in Belmarsh prison in the UK. A judge there recently blocked his extradition to the US, citing the conditions he would be likely to face and potential suicide risk, but it should be noted that Belmarsh itself has come under criticism for the conditions prisoners there are held under. Amnesty International has compared the UK prison to Guantanamo Bay, and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer has more than once referred to Assange’s treatment there…

Content Warning: This article contains discussion of sensitive topics including suicide and may be disturbing to some readers.

With reports coming out of Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell planning to introduce a Medicare for All bill in the House, as well as news on some details of Biden’s plans to “build on Obamacare,” it seems like a good time to talk about health care in the US, or rather, the lack thereof.

A paper recently released by Public Citizen points out some horrifying details of how badly the for-profit health care system here in the US has failed us…