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ATLANTA (AP) — the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. years old. The died on Sunday, more than a year after entering , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, who , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, and well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- The first woman to command Canada's military called out a U.S. senator on Saturday for questioning the role of women in combat. Gen. Jennie Carignan responded to comments made by Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch , the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was asked on Friday whether President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth , should retract comments that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units . “I think it’s delusional for anybody to not agree that women in combat creates certain unique situations that have to be dealt with. I think the jury’s still out on how to do that," Risch said during a panel session at the Halifax International Security Forum on Friday. Carignan, Canada's chief of defense staff and the first woman to command the armed forces of any Group of 20 or Group of Seven country, took issue with those remarks during a panel session on Saturday. "If you’ll allow me, I would first like maybe to respond to Senator Risch’s statement yesterday about women in combat because I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that women are a distraction to defense and national security," Carignan said. “After 39 years of career as a combat arms officer and risking my life in many operations across the world, I can’t believe that in 2024, we still have to justify the contribution of women to their defense and to their service, in their country. I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that this is that it is some kind of social experiment.” Carignan said women have participating in combat for hundreds of years but have never been recognized for fighting for their country. She noted the women military personnel in the room. “All the women sitting here in uniform, stepping in, and deciding to get into harm’s way and fight for their country, need to be recognized for doing so," she said. “So again, this is the distraction, not the women themselves." Carignan received a standing ovation at the forum, which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies. Hegseth has reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines? The former Fox News commentator made it clear, in his own book and in interviews, that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units . If Hegseth is confirmed by the Senate, he could try to end the Pentagon’s nearly decade-old practice of making all combat jobs open to women. Hegseth’s remarks have generated a barrage of praise and condemnation. Carignan was promoted to the rank of general during the change-of-command ceremony this past summer, after being chosen by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to become Canada’s first female defense chief. Carignan is no stranger to firsts. She was also the first woman to command a combat unit in the Canadian military, and her career has included deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Syria. For the last three years, she has been the chief of professional conduct and culture, a job created as a result of the sexual misconduct scandal in 2021. Her appointment this year comes as Canada continues to face criticism from NATO allies for not spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defense. The Canadian government recently said that it would reach its NATO commitment by 2032. Risch said Friday Trump would laugh at Canada’s current military spending plans and said the country must do more.Boosie Badazz is certainly no stranger to saying wild things online, and this week was no exception. In a new clip making its rounds, the Louisiana rapper explains why he considers the inmates behind bars with R Kelly to be blessed. According to him, it all comes down to entertainment, as the inmates could simply offer the incarcerated artist food and other items in exchange for music. "People don't know how blessed they are to have R Kelly in the same part," he began. "He could have all my soups, everything, just sing to me." Boosie continued, arguing that hearing Kelly sing would brighten up his day if he were in prison. For obvious reasons, Boosie's remarks have earned mixed reactions in The Neighborhood Talk 's comments section. While some are able to separate art from the artist, others say Kelly's disturbing alleged crimes are far too much for them to stomach. Read More: Boosie Badazz Wants To Get Fiancée Pregnant Again Immediately After She Gives Birth "Ew," one commenter writes. "This man be saying anything," another claims. This is far from the first bizarre statement social media users have heard from Boosie Badazz in recent weeks, however. Earlier this month, he revealed that he's expecting his ninth child with his fiancée, Rajel Nelson. The two of them hosted a gender reveal party, announcing to the world that they were having a girl. Shortly after, Boosie made it clear that he's looking to have even more kids in the future. In fact, he said he's so eager to get the ball rolling that he's unlikely to wait the recommended time after his baby's birth to try for another. “Yeah, I wanted a boy,” he told his followers on Instagram Live last week. “I ain’t tripping I’ma to put another one in her right after that. Other people wait six weeks, I don’t wait six days. I ain’t waiting six days . I’m gone get that boy.” Read More: Boosie Badazz's Fiancée Admits She Would've Prefered To Be Married Before Having Kids7xm download ios 。

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NBA Spread and Total Picks for Today, December 30DALLAS (AP) — Boopie Miller scored 24 points and added seven assists and Yohan Traoire posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to help power SMU to its seventh straight win, closing out its nonconference schedule with a 98-82 victory over Longwood on Sunday. The Mustangs (11-2) shot 62% from the field for the game, knocking down 10 of 20 shots from behind the 3-point arc to earn their seventh win in eight home games. Longwood (11-4) stayed close by taking advantage of 20 SMU turnovers and 10 steals. Elijah Tucker's jumper with 11:37 left pulled the Lancers within seven, 69-62, but the Mustangs answered with a 14-1 run to take a 20-point lead. Miller knocked down 6 of 7 shots from the field, including both of his 3-point attempts, and was 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. Traore was 7 of 10 from the floor, including 2 of 4 from deep, and was 4 for 4 at the line. Matt Cross added 19 points and Chuck Harris chipped in 12 points off the bench. Tucker finished with 20 points and six rebounds to lead Longwood. Coby Garland posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists and Emanuel Richards finished with 12 points off the bench. SMU, off to a 2-0 start in its first season of Atlantic Coast Conference play, hosts No. 4 Duke on Saturday. Longwood opens Big South Conference play Thursday at home against Presbyterian. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

“Rise like lions after slumber/ In unvanquishable number —/ Shake your chains to earth like dew/ Which in sleep had fallen on you —/ Ye are many — they are few.” On Thursday, December 19, Amazon drivers and warehouse workers at several distribution centers across the country began walking off the job in the middle of the holiday rush to protest low wages, awful working conditions, and the corporate giant’s ongoing refusal to recognize or to negotiate with the more than 10,000 workers who have formed local Amazon unions since 2022. In New York City, two warehouses have joined the strike, led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) to force the company to come to the bargaining table. Early Thursday morning, hundreds of drivers at Amazon’s DBK4 warehouse in Maspeth, Queens hit the streets, joining their coworkers, UPS drivers, and other working class allies in a raucous picket line. These pickets were quickly confronted by the police , who — like the good servants of capital that they are — used force and arrests to make sure that the free flow of profits in the form of Amazon delivery vehicles was not interrupted. On Friday night, dozens more Amazon warehouse workers, members of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) — the first Amazon union in the United States — walked off the job at the JFK8 Fulfillment Center in Staten Island to join the strike. Warehouse workers left their shifts at midnight and joined community allies to begin picketing in the middle of the first major snowstorm of the season. This strike is by far the most important labor action by the ALU since the workers at JFK8 formed their independent union in 2021. That first victory against Amazon was a shot heard ‘round the world, and these strikes show that the fighting spirit of that struggle lives on. These workers — many of whom are some of the most exploited and oppressed in the country, including people of color and immigrants often living on the edge of poverty — are facing off against one of the most powerful and ruthless corporations on the planet. Despite this daunting task, or perhaps because of it, the sentiments most expressed on the picket lines are not fear, but solidarity, joy, and hope; the tenacity and courage these workers have displayed in this strike are an inspiration to the entire working class. Amazon employs more than 800,000 workers in the United States and collectively they move more than $600 billion worth of merchandise every year, delivering to more than 161 million customers across the country. In other words, these workers have the collective ability to disrupt a significant portion of the U.S. retail economy. More than anything, this strike shows that no matter how oppressed or exploited workers may be, there is power in unity and that when we fight we can win. For the Teamsters leadership this strike is largely about union recognition and the future of organizing at Amazon. Faced with competition from Amazon delivery, the IBT — which also represents hundreds of thousands of delivery workers at UPS — is looking to win new members at Amazon in order to grow its dues base and consolidate its influence among the two competing corporations. In other words, the Teamsters are making a bet that this strike can lay the ground for a much longer and bigger battle to organize the entire company in the United States as a way of saving themselves. But Amazon has proven itself to be incredibly adept at union busting, even in European countries like Germany and France with much more union-friendly labor laws, and any attempt to unionize the entire company might require an upswell of worker activism the likes of which have not been seen in the United States since the 1930s. But this is only part of the equation, and the current strike at Amazon is about a lot more than just the Teamsters, union recognition, or winning a first contract. Indeed, beyond the interests of the IBT leadership, this strike is fundamentally an expression of the frustration of the hundreds of thousands of Amazon warehouse workers and drivers, who, like millions of other precarious workers across the country, were forced to risk their lives working through the pandemic but received nothing in return except runaway inflation. Meanwhile these same workers continue to be paid rock-bottom wages for back-breaking work in order to drive the limitless profits of the second-largest corporation in the world, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, made $48 billion off of Amazon workers in the first three months of the pandemic, wastes billions on needless space flights to nowhere, and has donated a million dollars to the upcoming inauguration of Donald Trump, greasing the wheels to earn even more off the backs of Amazon workers for himself and other shareholders in the future. In this regard, the strike is the logical outcome of an ongoing fight for unionization against a corporation that treats its workers as little more than disposable commodities, and which has done everything it can to undermine their attempts to organize for better wages and working conditions. However, it is also a symbol of the profound changes developing within the working class in response to the legacy of a crumbling neoliberal order that has greatly expanded the ranks of a precarious, low-paid workforce, often divided by tiers and marked by a general lack of broad organization and unity. These strikes are also the latest iteration in a series of high-profile moments of class struggle that are slowly catalyzing the class consciousness and anger of millions of working people across the United States. From the experience of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement in 2020 and the massive strikes that followed, to the movement against the genocide in Gaza, working people are drawing conclusions and rising up in ever greater numbers to demand justice and respect. Amazon workers are some of the most exploited and precarious workers in the country and are rightfully fed up and fired up. At the same time, their strategic position within the economy — their ability to shut down the flow of goods to millions of U.S. households — means that they also have an enormous amount of untapped power at their disposal. This strike has the potential to unify and inspire broad swaths of the as yet unorganized working class and bring them into struggle. Organizing, mobilizing, defending, and standing with these workers is a task that the entire labor movement and the whole of the working class must take up. Today, only 6 percent of the private sector labor force is unionized in the United States and the rate of unionization continues to decline almost every year. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the non-unionized workforce is made up of precarious workers like those at Amazon, with few rights or benefits, working in awful and often unsafe conditions. This huge, super-exploited, and oppressed group of workers remained largely invisible for decades, but proved essential for the capitalist economy to keep functioning while millions were quarantined during the pandemic. Many of them paid for it with their lives. To this date we still don’t know how many Amazon workers died from Covid-19. The company refused to publicly reveal the number of infections until more than ten months after the start of the pandemic, when they finally reported that there had been an astounding 20,000 cases of infection in their warehouses. Despite this, Amazon often did not inform employees when their coworkers had been infected and did not provide proper protective equipment to contain the spread of the disease, resulting in countless numbers of avoidable infections and deaths. George Leigh, was a 59 year-old worker at an Amazon distribution center in New York. He died of Covid-19 on April 9 after working without a face mask for over a month, according to his brother. That May, in an interview on Face the Nation , Amazon’s former head of operations Dave Clark, refused to answer when asked how many workers had tested positive for Covid-19. What he said instead was outstanding: “The actual ... total number of cases isn’t particularly useful because it’s relative to the size of the building and then the overall community infection rate.” These people should have been charged with murder. But the pandemic also had a profound effect on how these workers viewed themselves and their place in society. Long ostracized by neoliberal policies that treated them and their labor as mere interchangeable commodities, the pandemic allowed them to see more clearly just how important they are. Their previously invisible, tedious, and back-breaking work came to the forefront and they were labeled as “essential” workers, reinforcing a growing awareness that it was them, not the executives and CEOs zooming in from home, who really made the world run. This newfound pride and sense of importance raised expectations among the entire working class, but those expectations largely went unmet, especially for the vast majority without union representation. Not only were essential workers heavily impacted by the pandemic, suffering the majority of Covid-19 deaths, but four years after carrying society on their backs, they still find themselves struggling to make ends meet. They face job insecurity, low wages, which have often not even kept pace with inflation, lack of health insurance, no childcare, and the continued physical and mental toll of being exploited for the profits of the very rich. But, as the people who make society run, these precarious workers also have enormous power, particularly at corporations like Amazon, which are themselves essential nodes in a much larger supply chain that spans the entire globe. Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce giant and controls a staggering 37 percent of the U.S. online retail market. Behind its booming profits lies a vast global workforce of over 1.5 million employees, many of whom are subject to grueling conditions in Amazon’s warehouses, where speed-ups and robot-like work procedures are deployed with ruthless efficiency in order to suck out every last drop of value from every employee, every minute of every day. These workers power the company’s operations, with little acknowledgment of their crucial role in creating the vast wealth that Jeff Bezos and other shareholders have accumulated. Amazon’s massive logistics network and its ever-growing dominance in cloud computing with Amazon Web Services (AWS) have revolutionized the way goods are bought and sold. Yet, despite neoliberal fairy tales to the contrary, such innovations are not the work of any single “genius” or small group of entrepreneurs. As Marx explained, all innovation and all technological advancements always already contain within themselves the labor of thousands or millions of workers. The innovations that make Amazon so efficient, competitive, and profitable, would be impossible without the labor of low-paid workers who bear the brunt of the company’s cost-cutting measures and all those who came before them. But these efficiencies come with a price. The just-in-time nature of Amazon’s business model means that it is extremely vulnerable to disruption. This is one of the reasons why organizing efforts at Amazon are such an important struggle for the working class as a whole. Thinking about “strategic positions” for labor to disrupt the capitalist economy, historian John Womack wrote in Labor Power and Strategy : Modern divisions of labor, however they change in modern economies, have some technically ‘strategic positions’ in them. Wherever these positions may be, shifting as they may, what makes them strategically important is that work there (skilled or not) matters much more than work in other positions (skilled or not), because it holds a division of labor technically together, in production. If work there stops, this forces extensive disruption of work elsewhere. And if the disruption happens in an industry ‘strategic’ in production at large, this forces disruption across the entire economy, even internationally. Amazon operates one of the most complex and high-speed supply chain networks globally. The company’s fulfillment centers, sortation hubs, and delivery stations are critical to its “just-in-time” operations. As Kim Moody explains in On New Terrain : One of the most important changes in the reorganization of supply chains is their geography, the concentration of workers in key “nodes” or “clusters,” along with their technological drivers and linkages. A disruption at any of these nodes — especially at large regional fulfillment centers like those in New York City or Chicago — can cause cascading delays across its entire network. Workers organizing at these facilities can exert significant pressure on the company, leveraging its reliance on uninterrupted flow to customers to their advantage. But disrupting Amazon’s operations wouldn’t just affect one company. Given vulnerabilities of just-in-time logistics and global supply chains across the country and the globe, any major disruption could disrupt much broader mechanisms of profit extraction. Successful organizing at Amazon then could serve as a blueprint for disrupting other multinational corporations, which could in turn dramatically increase the firepower of the working class as a whole. But building such power is not an end in itself. On the contrary, it’s just the beginning. But ensuring that such power is used in the interests of the entire working class — and not just for a minority of the unionized workforce — requires self-organization and class independence. Despite their strategic power, these precarious workers face enormous divisions and challenges to organization. On the shop floor, they are continually sureviled, measured, observed, and compared, creating an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. There is a sense that they could be fired at any minute for even the smallest infraction. At the same time, they are often divided and encouraged by the bosses to compete against each other. Meanwhile outside the warehouses they have not only been oppressed and betrayed by the neoliberal policies and anti-immigrant politics of both parties, but they have also been largely abandoned or betrayed by big labor. The Democrats, for instance, claim to be the party of the working class and people of color, but have done nothing to turn back the decades-long decline in unionization rates, offering instead only more austerity for the poor and welfare for the rich. Elon Musk’s Tesla gained billions from federal and state subsidies under the Biden administration, the profits of which were then used to fund Donald Trump’s right-wing agenda of “government efficiency.” The Republicans meanwhile have pursued a similar program of austerity with differing degrees of malice, while selling a cultural politics that appeals to white workers by scapegoating immigrants, people of color, women, and trans folk, blaming them for the problems and contradictions of capitalism under which they too suffer. And of course we can expect more of this kind of bigotry when Trump takes office in January. Such politics, as they are designed to do, have sowed a spirit of apathy and despair among many, and driven a wedge between different sectors of the working class. At the same time, the labor movement, which is supposed to unite the working class, ignored precarious workers like those at Amazon for years. Even in those cases where they are unionized, such as at UPS, they are often treated as second-class union members, divided from the rest of the unionized workforce through the creation and continuation of tiers, which leave them with lower wages and fewer benefits even as it weakens broader union solidarity. This was evident in the last UPS contract struggle , which promised, but utterly failed to address the divisions between full-time and part-time workers and between drivers and warehouse workers. Those organizing with the Teamsters leadership at Amazon cannot allow such failed bureaucratic models to be repeated in their unions. At the same time, they cannot allow themselves to be tied to the bureaucratic politics of the IBT and leaders like Sean O’Brien , who has flirted with the Republican Party, spoke at their national convention, and who is already playing advisor to the incoming Trump administration . The strike is a huge step forward but it was not a grassroots initiative. The ALU, whose leadership recently won union elections on an explicit platform of democratizing the union, has the enormous challenge of strengthening its relationship with the rank and file and pushing for greater self-organization. But all the local Amazon groups, who have been organizing for years, are going to be facing pressure from the national Teamsters apparatus to follow its agenda. These tensions can only be positively overcome by empowering and organizing the working class from below — uniting drivers and warehouse workers and taking the fight into their own hands to decide each step in this fight together, democratically. All workplaces and unions need organizations and bodies of rank-and-file workers in order to overcome the divisions imposed on them by the bosses. Workers organized in assemblies, for example, can help get more workers, including seasonal employees, involved in the struggle and help them build stronger ties with each other. Organizing assemblies is not easy, especially in warehouses where the dictatorship of the bosses and the machines prevents workers from socializing and organizing. That is why it is essential to look for creative forms of self-organization with the objective that increasing numbers of workers become agents of the struggle and become involved not only in picketing and rallying, but in the decision-making process. Without self-organization, Marx’s premise that the emancipation of the workers will only be achieved by the workers themselves would make no sense. Amazon workers are teaching us to fight like lions, but they are not alone. The working class is huge and diverse, and it has a strategic ally in the student and the social movements. The socialist Left and the thousands of union organizers across the country must take this struggle into our own hands and put our energy into organizing our class independently — in assemblies, councils, and committees; the form of this organization must be dynamic and creative. We must create spaces for the rank and file to become the subject of struggle, decision-making, and their own emancipation. We cannot trust the government or its institutions, including the National Labor Relations Board , to represent our interests or act as a fair arbiter with our class enemies. We cannot trust the Democrats. And we most certainly cannot trust Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Our power lies in our collective organization as a class for itself, and we must use that strength to defend the workers at Amazon, whose struggle makes us all the more stronger. May the modern-day slaves, the exploited and oppressed, rise up again and shake off like dew the likes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and all the politicians who rule for them, red or blue. May the ultra-rich feel the wrath of the working class: Black, white, and Brown fighting together with one single fist. Amazon Jeff Bezos Labor Movement Strike Unions

A FORMER Jersey doctor who is behind bars for a long history of financial crimes has been given extra prison time after trying to block authorities from recovering stolen money and spending thousands on expensive dinners and holidays while owing the taxpayer millions. Gerald Martin Smith, who was jailed earlier this year for obtaining a Covid loan with a fake name and using part of it to help pay off a £72m court order, has had 13 months added to his sentence. Smith, who was previously jailed for stealing millions from a software company, deliberately “obstructed” investigators from taking control of his properties in central London to help repay the millions he owes to taxpayers. Undated handout picture of Gerald Smith of Wentworth, Surrey, who was jailed for eight years after he stole £35m from a computer software company in Berkshire. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Wednesday November 14, 2007. The multi-millionaire businessman serving an eight-year prison sentence for fraud has been ordered to pay nearly £41 million. The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) said it believed the confiscation order was the largest amount secured under criminal proceedings to date. See PA story CRIME Businessman. Photo credit should read: PA Wire...REF:CRIME Businessman 1.jpg.NOP. (39476488) The Serious Fraud Office, which oversees financial crime cases in the UK, uncovered Smith’s orchestration of a plan to conceal the ownership of a Bloomsbury property containing three apartments to avoid paying an £80m court order. The former doctor persuaded an old friend from medical school to transfer ownership of the property to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands that Smith secretly controlled. Smith also changed the locks and arranged for two tenants to occupy the flat to further obstruct the selling of the property that was required to recover stolen funds. Investigators also discovered that Smith continued to breach court-imposed spending restrictions by receiving regular financial support from his brother. Over a 19-month period, he spent over £53,000 dining at luxury London restaurants and enjoying holidays in Mallorca. Smith was jailed for eight years in 2006 for stealing £35m from a software company called Izodia. The theft caused the collapse of the stock market-listed company and shareholders lost all their investments. In 2007, the former doctor was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £41m – the largest order made in criminal proceedings at the time. Smith did not pay any of the stolen money back following his release, and he told the court in 2019 that he was too poor to pay back what he owed – despite visiting numerous luxury destinations and using a private jet for more than 100 trips in a single year. In 2022, Mr Smith avoided jail after what was described as “lavish” spending of frozen assets at bars, restaurants and wine merchants. He was instead handed an eight-month suspended sentence. Mr Smith’s criminal record dates back to 1993, when he was jailed for two years for taking £2m from the pension fund of Farr Group, a construction company. Serious Fraud Office director Nick Ephgrave said: “We are determined to prevent criminals benefiting from their crime, and wherever assets are hidden or obstructed, we will go after them. “This sentence should serve as a warning to Mr Smith and those assisting him that we won’t stop in our recovery and enforcement of court orders against him.”

After losing 2 straight for the first time under Lloyd, Wildcats ponder issuesThe Election Commission of India has announced the final results for all 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has emerged victorious, claiming 34 seats and marking a significant win in the region. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure 21 seats, coming in second, while Congress obtained 16 seats, further influencing the state's political landscape. The results demonstrate a diverse electorate with various parties making contributions. Smaller parties such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) with four seats, and others like CPI(ML)(L), AJSU Party, LJPRV, JD(U), and JLKM capturing a seat each, add to the political mosaic of Jharkhand, indicating a dynamic and competitive political environment. (With inputs from agencies.)

The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) — Trey Robinson had 20 points in Northern Kentucky’s 58-47 win over South Carolina State on Saturday. Robinson added five rebounds for the Norse (7-6). Sam Vinson scored 12 points and added five rebounds. Randall Pettus II shot 3 for 9, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc to finish with eight points. Colin McKenzie led the Bulldogs (6-8) in scoring, finishing with 13 points. Omar Croskey added eight points for South Carolina State. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Millions of substandard homes making older people sick, report reveals alarming statistics1 / 6 Reliance Infrastructure | The company's unit, PS Toll Road Private Ltd, received notices from Axis Bank and IDFC First Bank on Friday. The two banks have invoked the right of substitution under the Concession Agreement for six-laning the Pune Satara section of NH-44 in Maharashtra, for and on behalf of lenders of the PSTR citing alleged DSRA defaults by it. 2 / 6 Axis Max Life Insurance | The insurer's unit, Max Life Pension Fund Management Ltd (Max Life PFM), announced plans to discontinue its operations as a pension fund manager and a point of presence under regulations set by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The decision follows a brand-related ambiguity between Max Life PFM and Axis Pension Fund Management Limited (Axis PFM), a pension fund management entity within Axis Bank’s group. 3 / 6 JSW Energy | The energy behemoth announced the acquisition of O2 Power, a renewable energy platform, in a transaction valued at ₹12,468 crore, marking its largest acquisition since inception. The deal will significantly expand JSW Energy’s generation capacity by 23%, increasing it from 20,012 megawatt (MW) to 24,708 MW. 4 / 6 Utkarsh Small Finance Bank | The lender said it will sell a portfolio of non-performing assets (NPAs) and written-off loans to an asset reconstruction company (ARC). The portfolio under consideration consists of unsecured stressed microfinance institution (MFI) loans with an aggregate outstanding principal of approximately ₹355 crore as of September 30, 2024. 5 / 6 IOL Chemicals | The company's board approved to split the company's shares in the proportion of 1 share into 5 shares. This means that for every stock investors hold in the company, it will be subdivided into 5 shares. 6 / 6 Hero MotoCorp | India’s largest two-wheeler maker extended its partnership with US-based premium motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Motor to co-develop and manufacture a new motorcycle as well as expand the existing co-developed model - X440 - into new variants.

Recap of how South Bay cross country runners and teams fared at CIF-SS championships