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During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and The Iron Heel.
Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99%: Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.
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Quotes of the Day:
The initial headlines on the contents of the summary highlighted that Mueller’s probe found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 elections, but that the Special Counsel’s report “stops short” of exonerating President Donald Trump from allegations of obstruction of justice or other possible misdeeds. According to Barr’s letter, the Mueller report put it this way: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” —Full Text: Read Attorney General Barr’s Summary of the Mueller Report
. . . Prosecutors asked for his bond to be set at a whopping $10,000. Shenery, they claimed, was a “known” gang member. Shenery, who had only three nonviolent misdemeanor arrests on his record from when he was a teenager, could have been released that night on his own recognizance with a misdemeanor charge. He had no idea why prosecutors would call him a gang member and strongly denied the accusation. But as his case has dragged in court for nearly two years, prosecutors labeled him a gang member over and over — telling a judge, but providing no evidence, that he belonged to Harlem’s Cash Money Boys, “a violent narcotic sale crew based out of 1990 Lenox,” according to court files.More than a year after his April 21, 2017, arrest, Shenery learned that prosecutors appeared to be basing their accusation on his inclusion in a database of more than 42,000 New Yorkers that the New York Police Department considers as “gang members.” — NYPD Gang Database Can Turn Unsuspecting New Yorkers Into Instant Felons
For the last 70-years using nuclear power to produce electricity has unveiled all of its flaws and proven that it is not an energy source for the future of humankind because it simply is not up to the task. The argument that nuclear energy “has always been inherently safe” is absolutely wrong. There have been five meltdowns during the last 40-yearsresulting in a ratio of one meltdown every eight years. Look at TMI, Chernobyl, or Fukushima; people have died, each disaster has been worse than the one before it, and at Chernobyl and Fukushima, once pristine farmland and entire cities will never be habitable again. For the last 70-years using nuclear power to produce electricity has unveiled all of its flaws and proven that it is not an energy source for the future of humankind because it simply is not up to the task. The argument that nuclear energy “has always been inherently safe” is absolutely wrong. There have been five meltdowns during the last 40-yearsresulting in a ratio of one meltdown every eight years. Look at TMI, Chernobyl, or Fukushima; people have died, each disaster has been worse than the one before it, and at Chernobyl and Fukushima, once pristine farmland and entire cities will never be habitable again. — Grayson Webb, Fukushima, Chernobyl, And Three Mile Island Prove Why Nuclear Power Will Never Be Inherently Safe
U.S.:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Republicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace.— The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace!
The TSA’s Role as Journalist Harasser and Media ‘Watchdog’Sometimes you have to leave the United States to understand how far this country has evolved towards becoming a police state. I got a good example of this just last week on a trip with my harpsichordist wife to Vienna where she had been contracted to perform on Austrian State Radio in Vienna a concert of music by a leftist Jewish composer who settled in the US after fleeing from Austria just ahead of the Nazi Anschluss that took over and incorporated that country into Germany. By Dave Lindorff
Shunning Corporate PACs Won’t End Corporate Influence in Elections Americans have long been frustrated with the pervasive role of money in politics. When elections come, however, it seems to be accepted as the cost of doing business. Barack Obama broke records in Wall Street fundraising and among his largest donors was Goldman Sachs, but this did not stop Democratic voters from electing him twice (and for a time treating him almost like a deity). By Michael Corcoran
The Revolving Door Between Monsanto and the FDA has Been Going on for Over 20 years!
“Monsanto has filed two lawsuits against milk processors who labeled their product as free of rBGH and has mailed warnings to others who might be tempted to label their milk as rBGH-free. [4] The FDA’s position on labeling was developed under the direction of Michael R. Taylor, a lawyer who joined FDA in 1991 after almost a decade as a partner in the law firm that Monsanto hired to gain FDA approval of rBGH and that last month brought Monsanto’s lawsuits against milk producers who labeled their products rBGH-free.” — Roland Sheppard, Monsanto: “Playing God in the Garden”(1999)
In 1989, Monsanto was aware that cows in test herds treated with the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone developed sores and lesions on their udders that were collectively called mastitis. Milk from rbST-treated cows contained increased levels of pus, blood, and virulent bacteria. In order to deal with the problem, Monsanto’s top dairy scientist, Margaret Miller, left the firm and became FDA’s Monsanto “plant.” Once at FDA, Dr. Miller arbitrarily changed the existing antibiotic standard. She increased by 100 times the allowable level of antibiotics that farmers could put into milk. —Roland Sheppard, Monsanto: “Playing God in the Garden”(1999)
The Monsanto FDA Revolving Door
Jim Crow in Our Climate Crisis Critics of House Resolution 109 (H. RES. 109)—the “Green New Deal” (GND) introduced in Congress by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)—have condemned this nonbinding resolution for its inclusion of aspirations which, in their view, have nothing to do with climate change. In particular, what they find irrelevant are the aspirations that address social and economic inequalities, such as providing “high quality health care” and “affordable, safe and adequate housing” for all. By Alycee Lane
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Commemorating 40 Years of “Injustice for All” My part in this story involves surviving a near-fatal assault by four Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies on March 23, 1979. That is the year in which my skull was fractured before I was jailed and hospitalized, threatened and charged with attempting to kill those same deputies for photographing a vicious beating in East Los Angeles by another set of 10-12 deputies. Most people of color know that law enforcement and the judicial system are part of a system of control. What made my case unique is simply that I won my trials; even to this day, victories in criminal cases of police brutality are extremely rare. The only victories are won in civil cases — not by victims, but by their families — and even those victories are extremely rare. By Roberto Rodriguez
The Threat Within: The Strange Tale of the FBI’s Fictional “Black Identity Extremisn” Movement Who the Justice Department decides to prosecute as a domestic terrorist has little to do with the harm they’ve inflicted The only connection between the men referenced in the FBI’s “black identity extremism” report, besides their race, is a thread of anger at police violence. By Alice Speri
Labor:
End workplace cancer No one should get sick from doing their job. For 12 years the EU has done nothing about it. It is about time to take action. Support the #StopCancerAtWork campaign! of death.
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Between 8 and 16% of all cancers in Europe are the result of exposure at work;
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Almost 1 in 5 workers in the EU are routinely exposed to carcinogens;
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Around 50 known cancer-causing substances account for more than 80% of all workplace exposure to carcinogens.
The 2004 EU Directive on Carcinogens or mutagens at work sets binding workplace exposure limits for only 3 substances. This Directive has been under review for the last 12 years without any change whatsoever, leaving workers in Europe without the protection they need from known causes of cancer.
Epifanio Camacho: a Militant Farmworker Brushed Out of HistoryCesar Chavez is perhaps best known for his role in the 1965-1970 Delano grape strike and boycott and his nonviolent tactics in those protests. Although Chavez insisted on nonviolence, there was dissent within the National Farmworkers Association as some workers believed more militant tactics were necessary. One of these workers was Epifanio Camacho. With Cesar Chavez day approaching, it is important to remember the work and life of Epifanio Camacho, who recently published his memoir.By Tanya Golash-Boza – Michael Golash
Economy:
World:
‘Akin to a Tripwire’: Russian Troops in Venezuela Complicate U.S. Regime Change Plans Russia’s involvement in the Venezuelan crisis has American officials crying foul. U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino, in a statement related to a conversation the secretary had with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said that the U.S. “will not stand idly by as Russia exacerbates tensions in Venezuela” after between 99 and 100 Russian troops and one defense official arrived in the Latin American country Saturday, complicating efforts by the U.S. to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro’s government. By Eoin Higgins
Health, Education, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘govern’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers the to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let The People Vote on Healthcare!
Environment:
Prison and Education for Black Youths