Newsletter 12.17.19

Hi all, hope you are well. 

Here's the final newsletter of the year. We, once again, appreciate all your support and hope you all have a happy holidays. 

-- Nima, Florence, Marco, Julianne, Adam

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Uber Is Offering Scab Rides to Help Break France’s General Strike Julianne Tveten, In These Times (December 13, 2019)

Most French rail workers are participating in a general strike over President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed pension cuts and plan to raise the retirement age for several workers. Paris’ bus and metro operator is partnering with private companies, including Uber, to provide scab rides at a discount during the protest. 

As Cities Dole Out Billions to Developers, Teachers Ask: What About Us? Sophie Kasakove, The Nation (December 13, 2019)

The recent Chicago Teacher’s Union strike was spurred in part by a program known as Tax Incremental Financing that siphoned money away from school districts into developers. The opposition to TIF funding during the strike is a sign that unions can tackle structural issues as well as bread and butter issues such as pay or benefits.

How the Prosecution of Animal Rights Activists as Terrorists Foretold Today’s Criminalization of Dissent Natasha Lennard, The Intercept (December 12, 2019)

Legal instruments that have been used against Black Lives Matter protestors and Standing Rock water protectors were perfected by the U.S. government to target a group of animal rights activists who protested an animal testing lab company. The documentary “The Animal People,” retells how they were categorized as the number 1 terrorist group in 2005 and the arrest of six members on spurious conspiracy to commit terrorism charges,  

For WaPo’s Centrist Sources, Progressive Politics Are ‘Purity Tests’ Julie Hollar, FAIR (December 13, 2019)

As the Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren presidential campaigns fight over transparency and Buttigieg’s wealthy donors, The Washington Post published an article almost entirely sourced by centrist Democrats bemoaning Warren and Bernie Sanders’ attacks on the wealthy. The Post is using concerns about “purity tests” to attack the progressive Left. 

ICE's Fake University Seemed To Be More About Creating Fear Than Addressing Fraud Vaidya Gullapalli, The Appeal (Dec 16, 2019)

ICE agents created a fake accredited university in Michigan in order to lure in undocumented students and then make arrests. ICE claims the university was a way to crack down on visa mills, but its real purpose is creating fear in the immigration system.  

Boston Law Enforcement Has Been Fighting A Court Order To Release Data on who Police Target on Snapchat Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Appeal (December 13, 2019)

Boston police have used Snapchat to find evidence to arrest people, disproportionately targeting black and hispanic people. The Boston police and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, who ran as a reformer, appealed a court decision to turn over reports that involved surveillance of Snapchat accounts 

Privatization at the NHS? American business interests seek growing share of U.K.’s health system. Lee Fang, The Intercept (December 10, 2019)

Privatization of the British National Health Service was an issue that Labour raised during its election campaign. While Labour presented a series of private documents to show that there have been discussions about offering up the NHS to private companies, publicly available documents also show that American businesses have sought to privatize and outsource the NHS for their profits.