Always Remember: That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. — The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
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 , thet the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Quotes of the Day:
I am the very model of a public intellectual,
My op-eds in the New York Times are never ineffectual, I’m expert on all matters from political to sexual, I am the very model of a public intellectual. — David Brooks, Public Intellectual
The enduring problem for liberals, as for everyone else, is not whether history will judge them wise or foolish regarding the war on terrorism; it is, rather, the way that the past decade has splintered them away from other Americans. This fracture comes with a steep price: in today’s toxic atmosphere, liberals are no less cynical, shortsighted, and parochial than anyone else, and they understand their fellow-Americans just as badly as they themselves are understood. When liberals look at red-state voters, they see either a mob of pious know-nothings or the insensible victims of militarism and class warfare. Yet…. [such people] defy fixed categories, which means that they have to be figured out the hard way–on their own terms. — George Packer
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.
The Law According to King Trump: Even Supremr Court Justices Can’t Dissent: ‘This Is Outrageous’: Legal Experts Condemn Trump for Demanding Sotomayor and Ginsburg Recusals “Justice Sotomayor’s dissent is a call to action, and now Trump is attacking her for speaking the truth.” “Justice Sotomayor issued a reasoned dissent noting a pattern among the justices of allowing the Trump administration to ignore the appellate courts and skip to the SCOTUS to secure their desired outcome.” —Kristen Clarke, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law President Donald Trump Monday night called on Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg recuse themselves from any cases involving the president, a demand critics denounced as an “outrageous” attack on the nation’s highest legal body. By Jake JohnsonThe Non-Intervention Principle Anyone old enough to think about “America’s” role in the world ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. For example, one ought to be able to argue firmly against U.S. intervention in other countries without feeling obliged to downplay or deny the real crimes that the tyrant du jour has committed. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. By Sheldon Richman
Three Major News Stories That Need To Be Exposed The news is filled with stories about President Trump and his predecessors imposing sanctions on other countries, their officials, and other prominent persons. But the media rarely spells out exactly what these sanctions are, the intermediaries who enforce them, the impacts they have on innocent civilians – women, men and children – how they are countered or evaded, and whether they fulfill or undermine their diplomatic, military, or economic purposes. For example, sanctions against Iran by Trump increase by the year. They force banks and other financial institutions to cut off all decreed transactions, such as exports from Iran or purchase by Iran of critical spare parts, raw materials, even medical devices. Years ago, sanctions against Iraq under Saddam Hussein prohibited Iraq from purchasing chlorine to purify drinking water and children’s catheters. These sanctions produced deadly results for innocents. Iran’s economy is now in ruins and the brunt of the pain is suffered by innocent families. Under international law, disproportionate harm on civilians from sanctions is a serious violation. By Ralph Nader
Environment:
And the Pro Big Oil Award goes to: Oil and Gas Industry Rewards US Lawmakers Who Oppose Environmental Protections – Study Companies spent $84m on congressional campaigns in 2018, analysis of votes and political contributions shows The oil and gas industry substantially rewards US legislators with campaign donations when they oppose environmental protections, according to a new analysis of congressional votes and political contributions. Oil and gas companies spent $84m on congressional campaigns in 2018. Researchers found a correlation between an increase in anti-environment votes and an increase in contributions. They documented how lawmakers’ scores from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) dipped and then were followed by campaign funding from the industry. By Emily Holden
A Heat Wave in Antarctica Melted 20% of an Island’s Snow in 9 Days A nine-day heat wave scorched Antarctica’s northern tip earlier this month. New NASA images reveal that nearly a quarter of an Antarctic island’s snow cover melted in that time — an increasingly common symptom of the climate crisis. The images show Eagle Island on the northeastern peninsula of the icy continent at the start and end of this month’s Antarctic heat wave. By the end of the nine-day heat event, much of the land beneath the island’s ice cap was exposed, and pools of meltwater opened up on its surfaceCivil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Black Oppression is Environmental Injustice The definition of environmental racism must be broadened to include such phenomena as the ghettoization of Black people, which “deteriorates the landscape that Black children grow up in,” said Willie Wright, professor of geography and African American Studies at Florida State University. Prof. Wright wote an article for the radical geography journal Antipode, titled “As Above, So Below: Anti-Black Violence as Environmental Racism.
Black Oppression is Environmental Injustice The definition of environmental racism must be broadened to include such phenomena as the ghettoization of Black people, which “deteriorates the landscape that Black children grow up in,” said Willie Wright, professor of geography and African American Studies at Florida State University. Prof. Wright wote an article for the radical geography journal Antipode, titled “As Above, So Below: Anti-Black Violence as Environmental Racism.”
One Dollar Bail, But Still in Jail Despite the abolition of bail for many offenses in New York State, thousands of people remain lockup up because of hurdles created by bureaucracy and hostile jail personnel, said Amanda Lawson, co-founder of the Dollar Bail Brigade. “Something that was meant to keep track of time-served has led to people regularly being kept incarcerated for just one dollar bail,” said Lawson, whose volunteers have assisted hundreds of New Yorkers to gain their release.
Blacks Continue to Die on the Alter of White Womanhood Although Emmet Till and Trayvon Martin were killed 57 years apart, both of the Black teenagers died for the same reasons, said Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a dean and professor at Boston University School of Law. Emmet Till was murdered by two white racists for alledgedly whistling at a white woman, in 1955. Onwuachi-Willig says George Zimmerman was portrayed as protecting a mostly white neighborhood from predation and molestation by young Blacks like Trayvon Martin, in 2012. She wrote a paper on the subject, titled “From Emmet Till to Trayvon Martin: The Persistence of White Womanhood and the Preservation of White Manhood.”
Mumia Speaks on the Cops and Today’s Deadly Economy The nation’s best known political prisoner sees parallels between the plight of today’s low wage workers and conditions during the Great Depression, when workers were brutalized for seeking unionization and a living wage. “I though of that dismal history when I heard of cops breaking the bones of U-Cal graduate students who are only striking to get the ability to pay their rent,” Mumia Abu Jamaltold Prison Radio.
Deacons for Defense and JusticeThe Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed self-defense African-American civil rights organization in the U.S. Southern states during the 1960s. Historically, the organization practiced self-defense methods in the face of racist oppression that was carried out under the Jim Crow Laws by local/state government officials and racist vigilantes. Many times the Deacons are not written about or cited when speaking of the Civil Rights Movement because their agenda of self-defense – in this case, using violence, if necessary – did not fit the image of strict non-violence that leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. espoused. Yet, there has been a recent debate over the crucial role the Deacons and other lesser known militant organizations played on local levels throughout much of the rural South. Many times in these areas the Federal government did not always have complete control over to enforce such laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Deacons were instrumental in many campaigns led by the Civil Rights Movement. A good example is the June 1966 March Against Fear, which went from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. The March Against Fear signified a shift in character and power in the southern civil rights movement and was an event in which the Deacons participated. . . Scholar Akinyele O. Umoja speaks about the group’s effort more specifically. According to Umoja it was the urging of Stokely Carmichael that the Deacons were to be used as security for the march. Many times, protection from the federal or state government was either inadequate or not given, even while knowing that groups like the Klan would commit violent acts against civil rights workers. An example of this was the Freedom Ride where many non-violent activists became the targets of assault for angry White mobs. After some debate and discussion many of the civil rights leaders compromised their strict non-violent beliefs and allowed the Deacons to be used. One such person was Dr. King. Umoja states, “Finally, though expressing reservations, King conceded to Carmichael’s proposals to maintain unity in the march and the movement. The involvement and association of the Deacons with the march signified a shift in the civil rights movement, which had been popularly projected as a ‘nonviolent movement.”‘[7]— Wilkipedia
Broad Outlook: Updated Alert: Briefly updated here, the ShadowStats ALERT predicts a pending U.S. economic downturn—a formal recession—accompanied by increasing flight from the U.S. Dollar and Stocks into Gold and Silver. The ALERT largely stands as it was before today’s (February 24th) acccelerated financial-market recognition of an unfolding Coronavirus Pandemic, which exacerbated the same economic and financial-market risk factors otherwise in play with the ShadowStats outlook. Although hard numbers on the pandemic are inconsistent and anything but hard, circumstances could be shaping up for the most serious respiratory-related contagion since the Spanish Flu of 1918.
ShadowStats Recession Forecast Remains in Place, With U.S. Economic Reporting In a Deepening Downturn Watch for Accelerating Flight from the U.S. Dollar and Stocks into Gold ShadowStats Broad Economic Outlook Continues to Evolve, Yet It Is Little Changed.
ShadowStats Recession Forecast has been in play—evolving in various forms—since October 2018 and forewarnings then of dangers from the rate-hiking FOMC.
Economic activity remains in a deepening downturn, as detailed in Special Commentary No. 983-B, Special Commentary No. 985 and updated recently in Flash Update No. 21, Flash Update No. 22, and Flash Update No. 23.
Expanded coverage will follow very shortly in Special Bullet Edition No. 19-B. The Developing Pandemic, Intensified by Unstable Domestic Politics, Has Exacerbated Downside Economic Risks.
Beyond intensified near-term financial-market risks from negative economic, liquidity and political issues, now exacerbated by a developing pandemic tied to the Corona Virus, as reflected in today’s (February 24th) financial markets, the ShadowStats broad outlook in the weeks and months ahead remains in place for: A rapidly intensifying U.S. economic downturn, recession, reflected in Mounting selling pressure on the U.S. dollar, against currencies such as the Swiss Franc, · Continued flight to safety in precious metals, upside pressures on gold and silver prices, and · Increasingly high risk of extraordinarily heavy stock-market selling.
The ShadowStats Outlook Has Not Changed. As the deepening U.S. economic contraction accelerates, the more negative will become the pressure on the U.S. Dollar against traditionally stronger currencies such as the Swiss Franc, the stronger will become the flight-to-safety in precious metals, and the more dangerous will become the situation for domestic equity prices and stock-market stability. A rapidly weakening U.S. Dollar and rallying Gold and Silver prices are solid signs of impaired systemic and market conditions that quickly can mutate investor concerns into actions in other markets.
Wall Street Banks, Insurers Sell Off — Dangerously Linked by Derivative Trades If the federal government wants to quarantine the most dangerous threat to the financial health of the United States, it will impose a lockdown and decontamination of the federally-insured banks that are holding tens of trillions of dollars in derivative trades. Yesterday, the stock market rout outed the worst of these actors. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a hefty 1,031.61 points, that was only a 3.56 percentage point loss. The S&P 500 was off by 3.35 percent. The decline in the broader averages looks tame compared to what happened to some of the biggest banks on Wall Street and their derivative counterparties. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Health, Science, 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 ‘governn’, 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!
U.S.:
The Non-Intervention Principle Anyone old enough to think about “America’s” role in the world ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. For example, one ought to be able to argue firmly against U.S. intervention in other countries without feeling obliged to downplay or deny the real crimes that the tyrant du jour has committed. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. By Sheldon Richman
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
The Deacons for Defense and Justice was an armed self-defense African-American civil rights organization in the U.S. Southern states during the 1960s. Historically, the organization practiced self-defense methods in the face of racist oppression that was carried out under the Jim Crow Laws by local/state government officials and racist vigilantes. Many times the Deacons are not written about or cited when speaking of the Civil Rights Movement because their agenda of self-defense – in this case, using violence, if necessary – did not fit the image of strict non-violence that leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. espoused. Yet, there has been a recent debate over the crucial role the Deacons and other lesser known militant organizations played on local levels throughout much of the rural South. Many times in these areas the Federal government did not always have complete control over to enforce such laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Deacons were instrumental in many campaigns led by the Civil Rights Movement. A good example is the June 1966 March Against Fear, which went from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. The March Against Fear signified a shift in character and power in the southern civil rights movement and was an event in which the Deacons participated. . . Scholar Akinyele O. Umoja speaks about the group’s effort more specifically. According to Umoja it was the urging of Stokely Carmichael that the Deacons were to be used as security for the march. Many times, protection from the federal or state government was either inadequate or not given, even while knowing that groups like the Klan would commit violent acts against civil rights workers. An example of this was the Freedom Ride where many non-violent activists became the targets of assault for angry White mobs. After some debate and discussion many of the civil rights leaders compromised their strict non-violent beliefs and allowed the Deacons to be used. One such person was Dr. King. Umoja states, “Finally, though expressing reservations, King conceded to Carmichael’s proposals to maintain unity in the march and the movement. The involvement and association of the Deacons with the march signified a shift in the civil rights movement, which had been popularly projected as a ‘nonviolent movement.”‘[7]— Wilkipedia
