IMPORTANT READS

BUDGET WATCH - Right now, the United States is locked in a contentious debate over the Build Back Better plan, which will make a significant difference in the lives of millions of individuals and families.

INTERNET TAKEOVER - As Facebook faces a firestorm for changing its corporate name to Meta amid heightened scrutiny over how the tech titan harms humanity, Greek economist and Progressive International co-founder Yanis Varoufakis on Friday called out the company for stealing the moniker of a global anti-capitalist think tank.

CRISIS POLITICS - Speaking to Salon’s Chauncy de Vega about how the United States is mired in a crisis of democracy that shows parallels with Germany’s descent into Nazism during the 1930s, Norman Ornstein recently noted that “Most people don’t pay close attention, day to day, to what’s going on” in the political sphere.

DAMAGING REVELATIONS - Facebook has been at the centre of a wave of damaging revelations after a whistleblower released tens of thousands of internal documents and testified about the company’s inner workings to US senators.

FILM PRODUCTION SAFETY - In what appears to be a tragic accident, actor Alec Baldwin shot dead a cinematographer on Oct 21, 2021, while discharging a prop gun on set in New Mexico.

CITIZENSHIP POLITICS - Congressional Democrats are now considering a Watered-Down Version of immigration reform, a version they might hope to send through the budget reconciliation process as part of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” spending bill. 

NORTH KOREA WATCH - North Korea is carrying out one missile test after another lately, at the same time indicating (or is it?) interest in talks with South Korea about reducing tensions. 

DC POLITICS - In the last week, Senator Manchin (D-WV) has become increasingly public with his opposition to the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), a policy designed to drive down power sector carbon emissions which is part of the reconciliation bill under consideration in Congress.

HUMAN RIGHTS - Everyone who followed the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was horrified by the drone attack, called a “tragic mistake” by the Pentagon, which killed 10 members of a single family, including 7 children.

FEES UNAPPEALING - It’s already hard enough to push back against the LA City Council’s gentrification juggernaut, but they’re planning to make it even harder. 

LEGAL INJUSTICE - Texas’s cruel new anti-abortion law is more than just an unconstitutional restriction on reproductive choice. It’s also an egregious new frontier in late capitalism.

OPINION - A former Facebook employee hailed by the media as a whistleblower testified this week on Capitol Hill about the social media giant's algorithm, and how it harms children and democracy.

CLIMATE WATCH - FacingFuture.TV recently hosted a preview of the upcoming IPCC 2021 UN climate report, which report guides the gathering of dignitaries from around the world meeting in Glasgow this November to discuss, analyze, and decide how to deal with global warming/climate change.

RIGHT TO VOTE - In a year that began with the promise of a new direction for our country, few things have been more disheartening than the eruption of voter suppression laws in Republican-led states.

President Joe Biden's Build Back Better legislation would bring the United States into the 21st century, finally enacting programs that other industrialized nations have had for a very long time.

CLIMATE POLITICS - It was supposed to be the greatest transition of modern times.

SILENCING FREE SPEECH - Three years ago, on 2 October 2018, a team of Saudi officials murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

THE ONE PERCENT - The Pandora Papers leak serves as another reminder of the old saying, “time and truth are on the same side.”

FINANCIAL CORRUPTION - In what's being called the "biggest-ever leak of offshore data," a cache of nearly 12 million documents published Sunday laid bare the hidden wealth, secret dealings, and corruption of hundreds of world leaders, billionaires, public officials, celebrities, and others.

USPS POLITICS - Now more than ever the agency requires leaders who can adjust to new challenges in innovative ways while maintaining the agency's essential commitment to operating a democratic public service

CLIMATE POLITICS-Global warming in Siberia is on a hot streak! It was +6°C last year. In like manner, if the entire planet hit +6°C above pre-industrial, it would be lights out, life snuffed out, sayonara.