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.
The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement, and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalized the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production. … If money … comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek, capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt. — Karl Marx. Capital, Volume One, Part VIII, Chapter 31, (the) Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist
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!
Step Right Up to the Quadrennial Extravaganza! Step right! Step Right Up! It’s Uncle Sam’s Authoritarian Carnival, Featuring the Amazing American Quadrennial Electoral Extravaganza, the Greatest Show in the World! Narrow Spectrum Big Money Corporate Parties and Candidates! — Malevolent Narcissists and Wall Street Sell-Outs Masquerading as Champions of the Middle and Working Classes! — Elitism Masquerading as Populism! — Plutocratic Puppet Shows! — Dazzling Issue-Avoidance! —Absurdly Exaggerated Focus on Candidate Character and Qualities! — Potential Future U.S. Presidents Marketed Like Competing Brands of Beer and Toothpaste! By Paul Street
Capitalism Has Failed Immigrants. Can Worker Cooperatives Do Better?Long presumed to be dead, the once foundational ethos known as the “American Dream” is exhibiting new signs of life — except this time around it looks a little bit different. Less about the individual bootstrapping entrepreneur and more about cooperation and community, the reemerging American Dream looks remarkably anti-capitalist — and it’s springing to life in unexpected places. By Robert Raymond
Creeping Toward Tyranny The destruction of the rule of law, an action essential to establishing an authoritarian or totalitarian state, began long before the arrival of the Trump administration. The George W. Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq and implementation of a doctrine of pre-emptive war were war crimes under international law. The federal government’s ongoing wholesale surveillance of the citizenry, another legacy of the Bush administration, mocks our constitutional right to privacy. Assassinating a U.S. citizen under order of the executive branch, as the Obama administration did when it murdered the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, revokes due process. By Chris HedgesEnvironment:
Lawsuit Challenges Massive Timber Sale In Alaska National ForestPrince of Wales Island sale would harm habitat and the local economy Juneau, AK — Eight conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service today to stop its authorization of the largest logging project in the national forest system in a generation, including thousands of acres of old-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest. Today’s lawsuit says the Forest Service is violating the National Environmental Policy Act and failing to comply with the agency’s own management plan for the Tongass. The massive old-growth and second-growth logging project in America’s largest and wildest national forest will harm habitat and wildlife, hurt the region’s growing tourism industry and reduce people’s outdoor recreational opportunities. By Andrea Izzotti
Ocean is Earth’s largest carbon sink and central element of planet’s climate cycle
Large animals such as whales can store large quantities of carbon for long time
Others such as otters promote kelp growth, and kelp forests store carbon
But, expert warns no policy has been created to protect carbon storage in ocean
A Small Town’s Battle Against Radioactive Fracking Waste After an illegal dumping of close to 2,000 tons of dangerous sludge and contaminated materials across the street from two schools, a Kentucky community struggles with what to do next. problem. Half of this quiet, unassuming nook of eastern Kentucky is covered like a quilt with farmhouses and churches, while the other half rests in the shade of Daniel Boone National Forest. In Estill’s center, nestled between the Appalachian foothills and the Kentucky River, sits Irvine (population 2,400). Route 89 slices through town as Main Street, crossing the river via a light-green truss bridge on its way to the middle and high schools. Right across the street from the schools, which serve students from all over the county, sits the local landfill. So when news broke in early 2016 that the local landfill had for months been illegally burying 1,900 tons of radioactive—and potentially carcinogenic—material, this tight-knit community was shocked. By Austyn Gaffney
Drone photos show Advanced Disposal’s Blue Ridge Landfill across from Estill County High School in Irvine, Kentucky, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees . . . Strange Fruit Lyrics
The Furor Over the Cambridge Slave Trade Inquiry Proves Why It is NeededThe outrage expressed by various establishment figures and institutions at the decision by Cambridge University to hold a two-year inquiry into its historic links to the slave trade demonstrates the continuing sensitivity and relevance of the topic. Critics of the inquiry claim that such focus on slavery is simply bowing to a trend, the suggestion being that there is little to be regretted and to apologise for. The Times has a leader with the flippant title “Slave to Fashion”, quoting with approval the conservative historian Elie Kedourie as saying that a common fault of the great powers is “imaginary guilt”. By Patrick Cockburn
Britain: local elections were a Tory bloodbath Local elections took place in Britain on 2 May, in which nearly 9,000 seats across over 250 councils were being contested. They told a story of anger, apathy, and disillusionment. The Tories are clearly in crisis. The unholy alliance of the media and the Blairites have used the opportunity to further their campaign to sabotage the chances of Labour coming to power. Corbyn has tried to bring the focus away from Brexit and towards class issues. This is the best way forward. By Ben Gliniecki
Historic event on Trotsky in Cuba On 6-8 May, Cuba will host for the first time an international event on the life and ideas of Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky. The academic event reflects the growing interest in the ideas of Trotsky on the island since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Economy:
The Economy Has Not Been Growing: Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Gross Domestic Product ChartThe SGS-Alternate GDP reflects the inflation-adjusted, or real, year-to-year GDP change, adjusted for distortions in government inflation usage and methodological changes that have resulted in a built-in upside bias to official reporting. 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!
Researchers Now Have Even More Proof That Air Pollution Can Cause Dementia A Mother Jones investigation prompted the study that turned up the most convincing evidence to date. A few years ago I stood in a cramped trailer beside the busy 110 freeway in Los Angeles as researchers at the University of Southern California gathered soot thrown off by vehicles pounding by just a few yards from their instruments, which rattled whenever a heavy truck passed. I was there to learn about how scientists were beginning to link air pollution—from power plants, motor vehicles, forest fires, you name it—to one of the least understood and most frightening of illnesses: dementia. By Arron Ruben
Environment:
Health, Education, and Welfare: