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. Socialism Means True Democracy — The 99% Will Rule! — Not the Few!
An important biological species is in danger of disappearing due to the fast and progressive destruction of its natural living conditions: mankind. We have now become aware of this problem when it is almost too late to stop it. It is necessary to point out that consumer societies are fundamentally responsible for the brutal destruction of the environment. They arose from the old colonial powers and from imperialist policies which in turn engendered the backwardness and poverty, which today afflicts the vast majority of mankind. With only 20 percent of the world’s population, these societies consume two-thirds of the metals and three-fourths of the energy produced in the world. They have poisoned the seas and rivers, polluted the air, weakened and punctured the ozone layer, saturated the atmosphere with gases which are changing weather conditions with a catastrophic effect we are already beginning to experience. The forests are disappearing. The deserts are expanding. Every year thousands of millions of tons of fertile soil end up in the sea. Numerous species are becoming extinct. Population pressures and poverty trigger frenzied efforts to survive even when it is at the expense of the environment. It is not possible to blame the Third World countries for this. Yesterday, they were colonies; today, they are nations exploited and pillaged by an unjust international economic order. The solution cannot be to prevent the development of those who need it most. The reality is that anything that nowadays contributes to underdevelopment and poverty constitutes a flagrant violation of ecology. Tens of millions of men, women, and children die every year in the Third World as a result of this, more than in each of the two world wars. Unequal terms of trade, protectionism, and the foreign debt assault the ecology and promote the destruction of the environment. If we want to save mankind from this self-destruction, we have to better distribute the wealth and technologies available in the world. Less luxury and less waste by a few countries is needed so there is less poverty and less hunger on a large part of the Earth. We do not need any more transferring to the Third World of lifestyles and consumption habits that ruin the environment. Let human life become more rational. Let us implement a just international economic order. Let us use all the science necessary for pollution-free, sustained development. Let us pay the ecological debt, and not the foreign debt. Let hunger disappear, and not mankind. Now that the alleged threat of communism has disappeared and there are no longer any more excuses for cold wars, arms races, and military spending, what is blocking the immediate use of these resources to promote the development of the Third World and fight the threat of the ecological destruction of the planet? Let selfishness end. Let hegemonies end. Let insensitivity, irresponsibility, and deceit end. Tomorrow it will be too late to do what we should have done a long time ago. — Fidel Castro, Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro in 1992.
Chomsky Says US is World’s Biggest Terrorist In the global scene we are racing towards a precipice which we are determined to fall over which will sharply reduce the prospects for decent survival. …There are actually two, one is environmental catastrophe which is imminent and we don’t have a lot of time to deal with it and we are going the wrong way, and the other has been around for 70 years, the threat of nuclear war, which is in fact increasing. If you look at the record it is a miracle we have survived.
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 United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich
Leaked IPCC Report Warns of the Future Of Oceans in Climate Change Devastating Storms, Loss of Freshwater And Fish Stocks Threatened The world’s vast oceans, glacial ice sheets and northern permafrost are poised to unleash disaster, including drought, floods, hunger and destruction, unless dramatic action is taken against human-caused carbon pollution and climate change, warns a leaked draft of a major U.N. report. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) sounds alarm bells over declines in fish stocks, plus “a hundred-fold or more increase in the damages caused by superstorms, and hundreds of millions of people displaced by rising seas,” according to news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), which obtained a copy of the 900-page draft report. Freshwater supplies for billions of people, including the world’s mountain dwellers, will be hit by melting glaciers that will first release far too much water, and then not enough, according to the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body of the U.N. mandated to report the state of climate change. Melting permafrost in northern regions will also release billions of tons of carbon, adding to global warming, reports AFP, citing the IPCC report. By Sandra Cordon
Alaska’s Sea Ice Completely Melted for First Time in Recorded History“Even if we can’t escape its consequences, it is not too late to escape the mindset that brought us here.” —Alice O’Keeffe, reviewing This Is Not a DrillThe country of Iceland has held a funeral for its first glacier lost to the climate crisis. The once massive Okjökull glacier, now completely gone, has been commemorated with a plaque that reads: “A letter to the future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.” By Dahr JamailCivil Rights/Black Liberation:Bernie Wants to Seize the Means of Electricity Production Bernie Sanders wants to take private profit out of the energy grid as part of his comprehensive Green New Deal plan. “’We will end greed in our energy system,’ says Sanders.” A year after a neglected Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) power line sparked a wildfire that tore through northern California, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday visited Chico, Calif., where many who fled the fire made a new home. He held a town hall the same day he released a new climate plan, in which he declared that the days of investor-owned utilities—with their profit incentives to underinvest in the electric grid and double down on fossil fuels—have to end. He’s right: It is time for a massive public takeover of the nation’s electric grid. By Johanna BozuwaForeign Aid for Rwanda, Suffering for Rwandans and Congolese Rwanda is treated as a showcase of US-allied Africa, but even western capitalists don’t believe dictator Paul Kagame’s economic numbers, and the real money comes from looting the Congo. “Kagame is the Clintons’ darling — which is a no-no with Trump.” Rwanda received roughly “$1.22 billion” in development aid in 2016-2017 , the most recent year for which Official Development Aid (ODA) numbers are available on the website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The US was Rwanda’s top bilateral donor that year, giving $177.6 million, but Trump drastically reduced aid to the tiny East African nation. By Ann Garrison , BAR contributorHow Race Made the Opioid Crisis The fundamental division between “dope” and medicine has always been the race and class of users. “The success of OxyContin hinged on racially bifurcated understandings of addiction.” In March 2018, President Donald Trump delivered a forty-minute speech about the crisis of addiction and overdose in New Hampshire. Standing before a wall tiled with the words “Opioids: The Crisis Next Door,” Trump blankly recited the many contributors to the current drug epidemic, including doctors, dealers, and manufacturers. Trump droned on mechanically until he reached a venomous crescendo about Customs and Border Protection’s seizure of 1,500 pounds of fentanyl. He brightened as he shifted focus to three of his most hated enemies, first blaming China and Mexico for saturating the United States with deadly synthetic opioids, then moving seamlessly to what he considered one of the great internal threats: “My administration is also confronting things called ‘sanctuary cities,’” Trump declared. “Ending sanctuary cities is crucial to stopping the drug addiction crisis.” By Donna MurchDissent Is Being Criminalized Right Under Our Noses If you painted “Black Lives Matter” on a wall to advocate against police violence, that could be prosecuted as terrorism. “Federal prosecutors could charge terrorism if actions might ‘affect’ or ‘influence’ a government policy.” Many of us are deeply concerned about the recent wave of mass shootings and hate crimes that have taken place across the United States. As the Department of Justice reported , in 2018 alone there were 25 race-based terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, each committed by an alleged white supremacist. Immediate action is needed to address this crisis and tragedies like the Aug. 3 shooting in El Paso, Texas. By Mike SiegelReality Check: Bank of England Governor Criticizes the Petrodollar! When a capitalist governor of an imperialist nation’s central bank says alternatives to the US dollar are necessary, big change is afoot. “European-American capitalists are determined to retain their supremacy by any means necessary without regard for friend or foe.” It is remarkable that Bank of England Governor Mark Carney recently spoke publicly about “the U.S. dollar’s “destabilizing” role in the world economy,” going on to suggest that “central banks might need to join together to create their own replacement reserve currency.” This is very significant because in his capacity as Bank of England Governor, Carney serves as Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, giving him a major role in directing national economic and monetary policy. By Cheikh Amma DiopAnthem 4 Rappers Wrapped in The Flag By Louis JeffersonOh Jay Can U C
By the dawn of Imperialist greed
They will eat u 2
After they fatten u up to deceive
U took the bait
So they call u great
The white man’s oldest trick in the book (More)
The Black Misleadership Class Shuffles Along and Rides Again The president of predominantly Black Hampton University debased himself by speaking at Liberty University, founded by the Christian racist Jerry Falwell. “Black misleaders have convinced the masses that neo-colonialism is the reasonable and viable replacement for colonialism.” “…Jomo Kenyatta formed an excellent revolution without education and all he did as the end thing was tell the people…I’m your brother, I helped you lead the revolution now I’m going to oppress you… Papa Doc in Haiti…he moved all of the White people out and he took over being the oppressor because of no education…Jomo Kenyatta is not called a never revolutionary but an ex-revolutionary…so is Papa Doc… Without education you have neo-colonialism instead of colonialism…you might get people caught up in the emotionalist movement…and because they are poor they’ll want more and before we know it we will have capitalist and before you know it we’ll have Negro imperialist…”Fred Hampton – “The Importance of Education Prior To Action” By AnonymousJussie Smollett, the Chicago Police Department, and the Appearing/Disappearing Video Footage Trick The cops “investigating” the Smollett case have long records of racist brutality, evidence tampering and lying – facts the corporate media ignored. “The nation heard a daily, jarring cacophony: CPD bragging about how great its detective work is.” They say tell it like is, so… It’s 2019. Trump is president. Racist and general hate speech has become common. Jussie Smollett is attacked in such a hate crime. The corporate media, Chicago media, Trump, Mayor Rahm Coverup Emanuel, and the Chicago Police Department all say Smollett is a damn liar.
Standing at literal podiums, they shared opinions about Jussie and concluded by declaring him guilty — before the trial. CPD agrees, Trump agrees, corporate media agrees, Chicago city officials who-never-address-rampant-CPD-corruption agree, Mayor Emanuel agrees. Case closed. By Chelli Stanley Gambians Glued to YouTube as President’s Hit Squad Confesses Deposed Gambian President Jahya Jammeh, a strong ally of the US, was a mass killer whose henchmen are now confessing on streaming media. “Jammeh is in exile in Equatorial Guinea, where he has been granted refuge.” Truth is stranger than fiction and in the west African nation of Gambia, the truth has galvanized citizens with former members of the exiled president’s hit squad admit to murder and other atrocities. Gambians are watching the confessions, given in a highly public truth and reconciliation commission hearing, that are being streamed live on a YouTube channel. By Global Information Network
The People Who Think Bernie Is Moderate To socialist candidates, even the left-most Democrat isn’t left enough. “Third parties argue that the Democratic Party is irredeemably compromised and that voters deserve true alternatives.” Senator Elizabeth Warren wants new taxes on wealth. Senator Bernie Sanders wants Medicare for All. Senator Cory Booker wants guaranteed jobs. Jeff Mackler wants the elimination of the military budget, the nationalization of the energy and banking industries, open borders, the creation of a state-run health-care system, and the end of capitalism in the United States. A member of the Trotskyist party Socialist Action, Mackler is one of a handful of true, full-fat, no-joke socialist candidates running or considering running for president in 2020. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell looks at the Democratic primary and sees the proposed Cubafication of the country; Mackler looks at it and sees neoliberal accommodationism. “Bernie gets a little attention when he says things like, ‘Three people in the United States control half the wealth in the country,’” he told me with a chuckle. “He has no proposal to change that in any way!” By Annie Lowrey Israel’s Scramble for Africa: Selling Water, Weapons and Lies Many African governments are giving Israel exactly what it wants – a way to break out of its isolation and legitimize its Apartheid. “Israel has won the support of some of Africa’s ruling classes, but it has failed to win the African people.” For years, Kenya has served as Israel’s gateway to Africa. Israel has been using the strong political, economic and security relations between the two states as a way to expand its influence on the continent and turn other African nations against Palestine. Unfortunately, Israel’s strategy seems, at least on the surface, to be succeeding – Africa’s historically vocal support for the Palestinian struggle on the international arena is dwindling. By Ramzy BaroudMy Wise Country Cousin: de Low-leeta Xpress a Bi-Party-sin Flight By Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residenceHumph, an’ to think dey made “Birth ob de Nation“
spreadin’ dat filth— dat rotten disinformation—
I bet dis what shrinks mean wit dey word, “projekshun?”
(but Boss Tweet big shoe show mosly mis-direkshun…)
White boy-Terris, lak de real rapists, is homegrown—
ax me, it’s bred-in-de-bone—lak testosterone! (More)
Government-Shutdown Distorted And Delayed Data Have Begun To Surface;
Reporting Delays Artificially Boosted The Headline Benchmarked Gdp /The Shutdown-Delayed;
September 3rd Annual Benchmark Revisions to Construction Spending Showed Much Weaker Activity Second-Quarter 2018 to Date;
Benchmark Revised GDP Has Been Overstated;
Recent History Would Be Weaker Had the Construction Detail Been Available When Scheduled;
Consider that Revised Nominal Year-to-Year Construction Spending Turned Negative in 4q2018 and After, Previously Holding Positive Until 2q2019;
Last Time Annual Growth Turned Negative Was 1q2008, at Onset of the Great Recession / Prior to the Construction Benchmarking, a Negligible First Revision of Second-Quarter GDP to 2.04% (Initially 2.06%) Annualized Real Growth, Accompanied Initial Estimates of GDI at 2.11% and GNP at 3.18% ;
Benchmark-Revised Patterns of Rapidly Slowing Real Annual Growth Continued
New Recession Remains in Play;
Payroll Employment Growth Was Hit by Massive Preliminary Downside Benchmark Revision of 501,000 (-501,000) Jobs
Major Implications for FOMC Easing and Next Round of GDP Benchmarking
Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Gross Domestic Product Chart The 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.
Wall Street’s Trading Secrets: This U.S. Senator Wants to Keep You in the Dark On July 29, those savvy market watchers at Themis Trading posted a report on their blog about how a Republican Senator from Louisiana (about 1400 miles from Wall Street) had taken a peculiar interest in the long-delayed system that would shine a bright light on who might be rigging stock trading on any particular day. The system is called the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) and the Securities and Exchange Commission has been stalling its creation for the entire 85 years the SEC has existed and been charged with investor protection. The idea of the CAT is to spot illegal and manipulative trading and pinpoint exactly what firms and individuals are placing the trades by looking at real-time data. A stock market without a CAT is nothing more than a thinly disguised wealth transfer system for the one percent and, apparently, Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) wants to keep it that way. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Britain heads for a general election: mobilise for a Corbyn victory! His government is just two days old, but Boris Johnson has already managed to lose his majority and rack up two defeats in the House of Commons. No government in history has faced such an immediate losing streak. This demonstrates how weak the Tory leader and his regime are. Everything is balanced on a knife edge. The situation is changing by the hour. Events could rapidly swing in either direction. This reflects the instability and volatility that is inherent within this deep crisis of Britain’s entire political and constitutional system.British Lawmakers Win Vote to Debate Bill Authorising Brexit Delay MPs voted Tuesday evening to take control of parliament’s business and pursue the passage of a cross-party bill to prevent the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson from leaving the European Union (EU) without a trade and customs deal. MPs backed the motion to allow a debate on the bill today by 328 votes to 301, a majority of 27. Twenty-one Tory MPs rebelled despite threats to withdraw the party whip and prevent them from standing for re-election for the party. Responding to the defeat, Johnson said he would table a motion Wednesday for a vote on holding a general election before October 17—the final date that European Union (EU) leaders are able to agree a deal with the UK on its exit terms. By Robert Stevens
Hong Kong: extradition bill withdrawn – class struggle must continue! The mass movement in Hong Kong has just won its key demand – the withdrawal of the hated extradition bill that would allow anyone the Beijing government suspects of criminality to be extradited to the mainland. But none of the other four demands, such as for an independent investigation into police brutality, have been won. Daniel Morley and Parson YoungFollowing Months of Protests and Outrage, Hong Kong Leader Withdraws Extradition Bill “We all hope to find a way out of the current impasse and unsettling times,” said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam By Jake JohnsonApartheid Had Always Been the Plan What do wealthy capitalists do in response to the ever present threat of nuclear annihilation or a biosphere teetering on the edge of collapse? Why they build enormous, fortified bunkers deep underground, of course. Here they can live like the descendants of the mammals that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene around 65 to 100 million years ago. The long deceased necrolestes patagonensis, whose shockingly appropriate meaning for this comparison is “grave robber,” are the descendants of the cronopio who narrowly escaped the dinosaurs’ fate by burrowing deep under the earth’s soil. By Kenn Orphan
The North Entrance Tto The Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado – Public Domain
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!
Replacing Ideology With Class “The genius of any slave system is found in the dynamics which isolate slaves from each other, obscure the reality of a common condition, and make united rebellion against the oppressor inconceivable.” —Andrea Dworkin There is something very peculiar about how politics is talked about. The things that are true and proven to work are called “left” while the things that are false and are proven to fail are called “right”. This is why upon education most everyone becomes left, barring a greater force than truth itself in one’s interest in education. This is an unprecedented dynamic. Take any other field. In mathematics, in science, in language, truth is proven and then more or less accepted. In politics this isn’t the case. Despite things such as socialism, peace, education, regulation, housing and equality always working, there remains a debate about whether or not these things work. By Nick Pemberton
Quotes of the Day: 
Environment:
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Bernie Wants to Seize the Means of Electricity Production Bernie Sanders wants to take private profit out of the energy grid as part of his comprehensive Green New Deal plan. “’We will end greed in our energy system,’ says Sanders.” A year after a neglected Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) power line sparked a wildfire that tore through northern California, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday visited Chico, Calif., where many who fled the fire made a new home. He held a town hall the same day he released a new climate plan, in which he declared that the days of investor-owned utilities—with their profit incentives to underinvest in the electric grid and double down on fossil fuels—have to end. He’s right: It is time for a massive public takeover of the nation’s electric grid. By Johanna Bozuwa
Foreign Aid for Rwanda, Suffering for Rwandans and Congolese Rwanda is treated as a showcase of US-allied Africa, but even western capitalists don’t believe dictator Paul Kagame’s economic numbers, and the real money comes from looting the Congo. “Kagame is the Clintons’ darling — which is a no-no with Trump.” Rwanda received roughly “$1.22 billion” in development aid in 2016-2017 , the most recent year for which Official Development Aid (ODA) numbers are available on the website of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The US was Rwanda’s top bilateral donor that year, giving $177.6 million, but Trump drastically reduced aid to the tiny East African nation. By Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
How Race Made the Opioid Crisis The fundamental division between “dope” and medicine has always been the race and class of users. “The success of OxyContin hinged on racially bifurcated understandings of addiction.” In March 2018, President Donald Trump delivered a forty-minute speech about the crisis of addiction and overdose in New Hampshire. Standing before a wall tiled with the words “Opioids: The Crisis Next Door,” Trump blankly recited the many contributors to the current drug epidemic, including doctors, dealers, and manufacturers. Trump droned on mechanically until he reached a venomous crescendo about Customs and Border Protection’s seizure of 1,500 pounds of fentanyl. He brightened as he shifted focus to three of his most hated enemies, first blaming China and Mexico for saturating the United States with deadly synthetic opioids, then moving seamlessly to what he considered one of the great internal threats: “My administration is also confronting things called ‘sanctuary cities,’” Trump declared. “Ending sanctuary cities is crucial to stopping the drug addiction crisis.” By Donna Murch
Dissent Is Being Criminalized Right Under Our Noses If you painted “Black Lives Matter” on a wall to advocate against police violence, that could be prosecuted as terrorism. “Federal prosecutors could charge terrorism if actions might ‘affect’ or ‘influence’ a government policy.” Many of us are deeply concerned about the recent wave of mass shootings and hate crimes that have taken place across the United States. As the Department of Justice reported , in 2018 alone there were 25 race-based terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, each committed by an alleged white supremacist. Immediate action is needed to address this crisis and tragedies like the Aug. 3 shooting in El Paso, Texas. By Mike Siegel
Reality Check: Bank of England Governor Criticizes the Petrodollar! When a capitalist governor of an imperialist nation’s central bank says alternatives to the US dollar are necessary, big change is afoot. “European-American capitalists are determined to retain their supremacy by any means necessary without regard for friend or foe.” It is remarkable that Bank of England Governor Mark Carney recently spoke publicly about “the U.S. dollar’s “destabilizing” role in the world economy,” going on to suggest that “central banks might need to join together to create their own replacement reserve currency.” This is very significant because in his capacity as Bank of England Governor, Carney serves as Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, giving him a major role in directing national economic and monetary policy. By Cheikh Amma Diop
Anthem 4 Rappers Wrapped in The Flag By Louis Jefferson
Oh Jay Can U C
Jussie Smollett, the Chicago Police Department, and the Appearing/Disappearing Video Footage Trick The cops “investigating” the Smollett case have long records of racist brutality, evidence tampering and lying – facts the corporate media ignored. “The nation heard a daily, jarring cacophony: CPD bragging about how great its detective work is.” They say tell it like is, so… It’s 2019. Trump is president. Racist and general hate speech has become common. Jussie Smollett is attacked in such a hate crime. The corporate media, Chicago media, Trump, Mayor Rahm Coverup Emanuel, and the Chicago Police Department all say Smollett is a damn liar.
Gambians Glued to YouTube as President’s Hit Squad Confesses Deposed Gambian President Jahya Jammeh, a strong ally of the US, was a mass killer whose henchmen are now confessing on streaming media. “Jammeh is in exile in Equatorial Guinea, where he has been granted refuge.” Truth is stranger than fiction and in the west African nation of Gambia, the truth has galvanized citizens with former members of the exiled president’s hit squad admit to murder and other atrocities. Gambians are watching the confessions, given in a highly public truth and reconciliation commission hearing, that are being streamed live on a YouTube channel. By Global Information Network
Israel’s Scramble for Africa: Selling Water, Weapons and Lies Many African governments are giving Israel exactly what it wants – a way to break out of its isolation and legitimize its Apartheid. “Israel has won the support of some of Africa’s ruling classes, but it has failed to win the African people.” For years, Kenya has served as Israel’s gateway to Africa. Israel has been using the strong political, economic and security relations between the two states as a way to expand its influence on the continent and turn other African nations against Palestine. Unfortunately, Israel’s strategy seems, at least on the surface, to be succeeding – Africa’s historically vocal support for the Palestinian struggle on the international arena is dwindling. By Ramzy Baroud
My Wise Country Cousin: de Low-leeta Xpress a Bi-Party-sin Flight By Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Humph, an’ to think dey made “Birth ob de Nation“
Shadow Government Statistics Daily Update (September 3rd to 4th) – (Updated Details)
British Lawmakers Win Vote to Debate Bill Authorising Brexit Delay MPs voted Tuesday evening to take control of parliament’s business and pursue the passage of a cross-party bill to prevent the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson from leaving the European Union (EU) without a trade and customs deal. MPs backed the motion to allow a debate on the bill today by 328 votes to 301, a majority of 27. Twenty-one Tory MPs rebelled despite threats to withdraw the party whip and prevent them from standing for re-election for the party. Responding to the defeat, Johnson said he would table a motion Wednesday for a vote on holding a general election before October 17—the final date that European Union (EU) leaders are able to agree a deal with the UK on its exit terms. By Robert Stevens
Following Months of Protests and Outrage, Hong Kong Leader Withdraws Extradition Bill “We all hope to find a way out of the current impasse and unsettling times,” said Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam By Jake Johnson
Apartheid Had Always Been the Plan What do wealthy capitalists do in response to the ever present threat of nuclear annihilation or a biosphere teetering on the edge of collapse? Why they build enormous, fortified bunkers deep underground, of course. Here they can live like the descendants of the mammals that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene around 65 to 100 million years ago. The long deceased necrolestes patagonensis, whose shockingly appropriate meaning for this comparison is “grave robber,” are the descendants of the cronopio who narrowly escaped the dinosaurs’ fate by burrowing deep under the earth’s soil. By Kenn Orphan