Images Of the Day:
Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
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, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Quotes of the Day:
‘Bipartisanship’ = 1%Partnership!
Militarized Police: From Glenn Beck’s : Aw, Cute: Obama’s Civilian Army (Femacorps) Just Graduated It’s First Class: . . . Remember when Barack Obama asked for a civilian defense force as strong and well funded as the U.S. military? Well, here’s Obama’s first graduating class of FEMACorps workers. The kid in the video sums up pretty well how disturbing this is when he says ‘we don’t really know what our job is’ while adding that he’ll go wherever the government sends him. Nothing like a little brownshirt army to have at your beckon call. . . . You remember, how long was it, how long ago was it that I said that AmeriCorps is going to be working with the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA and it’s not going to be a good thing? Remember they mocked me for that?” Glenn asked Stu on radio this morning.
Bipartisan War On Drugs: An article written in Counterpunch titled, Race and the Drug War, during the last election campaign, points out another factor of the “Drug War:”” Failure, ‘In life, Len Bias was a terrific basketball player. In death he became the Archduke Ferdinand of the Total War on Drugs.’ It was falsely reported that Bias had smoked crack cocaine the night before his death. In fact he had used powder cocaine and there was no link between this use and the failure of his heart, according to the coroner. Bias had signed with the Boston Celtics and amid Boston’s rage and grief Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, a Boston rep, rushed into action. In early July he convened a meeting of the Democratic Party leadership: ‘Write me some goddamn legislation,’ he ordered. ‘All anybody in Boston is talking about is Len Bias. They want blood. If we move fast enough we can get out in front of the White House.’ In fact the White House was moving pretty fast. Among other things the DEA had been instructed to allow ABC News to accompany it on raids against crackhouses. ‘Crack is the hottest combat-reporting story to come along since the end of the Vietnam war,” the head of the New York office of the DEA exulted. All this fed into congressional frenzy to write tougher laws. House Majority Leader Jim Wright called drug abuse ‘a menace draining away our economy of some $230 billion this year, slowly rotting away the fabric of our society and seducing and killing our young.’ Not to be outdone, South Carolina Republican Thomas Arnett proclaimed that ‘drugs are a threat worse than nuclear warfare or any chemical warfare waged on any battlefield.’ The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act was duly passed. It contained 29 new minimum mandatory sentences. Up until that time in the history of the Republic there had been only 56 mandatory minimum sentences. The new law had a death penalty provision for drug ‘king pins’ and prohibited parole for even minor possession offenses. But the chief focus of the bill was crack cocaine (mainly used in the inter-cities). Congress established a 100-to-1 sentencing ratio between possession of crack and powder cocaine (mainly used in the suburbs). Under this provision possession of five grams of crack carries a minimum five-year federal prison sentence. The same mandatory minimum is not reached for any amount of powder cocaine under 500 grams. This sentencing disproportion was based on faulty testimony that crack was 50 times as addictive as powdered coke. Congress then doubled this ratio as a so-called ‘violence penalty’.— Reparations and Capitalism
Videos 0f the Day:
“Our House Is on Fire”: Activists Urge G7 to Immediately Address Climate, Vaccine Apartheid & Poverty
“Julian Is Suffering”: Family of WikiLeaks Founder Assange in U.S. to Demand His Release from Prison
United States:
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 ownershipof the Reublicrats, who profit from war and the war budget, voted 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay!
Chris Hedges: Julian Assange and the Collapse of the Rule of Law Chris Hedges gave this talk at a rally Thursday night in New York City in support of Julian Assange. John and Gabriel Shipton, Julian’s father and brother, also spoke at the event, which was held at The People’s Forum. Asociety that prohibits the capacity to speak in truth extinguishes the capacity to live in justice. This why we are here tonight. Yes, all of us who know and admire Julian decry his prolonged suffering and the suffering of his family. Yes, we demand that the many wrongs and injustices that have been visited upon him be ended. Yes, we honor him up for his courage and his integrity. But the battle for Julian’s liberty has always been much more than the persecution of a publisher. It is the most important battle for press freedom of our era. And if we lose this battle, it will be devastating, not only for Julian and his family, but for us.
Militarized Police: A Consequence of the War on Drugs Fifty years ago this month President Nixon declared drugs “public enemy number one” and began the war on drugs. His war altered American institutions, but not for the better. His policies transformed the U.S. criminal justice system, with devastating consequences. All wars have casualties. The war on drugs is no exception. From the impoverished farmers in Afghanistan who faced the choice of defying either the Taliban or the U.S. military, to those who will die in federal prison for non-violent drug offenses, many have been caught in the crossfire. By Abigail R Hall 
50 Years Later, a Majority of Americans Want the Drug War to End The drug war’s contradictions are impossible to ignore. The nation is ready for a nonviolent approach. “This is the only court, this federal court in the City of Baltimore where this could possibly be happening,” Williams said in an interview, adding that his own family was “torn apart” and left in poverty when his father was incarcerated for years on drug charges. “The question is, who will be the last American citizen to be incarcerated for cannabis?” By Mike Ludwig
The Super Rich are Different …They Don’t Pay Taxes Scott Fitzgerald once penned: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” They certainly are. They do not pay taxes. At least this is the conclusion of a recent study by ProPublica. What their study confirms are two points: The rich operate by a different set of rules in the US, and that when one gets down to the basics, it is still all about class. The ProPublica obtained secret IRS files examining tax filings by the superrich. These are the Michael Bloombergs, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffets, and Elon Musks of the world. Many of them are heroes to liberals, donors to progressive causes, or simply favorites of those who hate Republicans and Donald Trump. These uber-billionaires talk a great game when it comes to reproductive rights, guns, GLBT issues, or space exploration, but when it comes down to what matters most—money, taxes, and class, they are certainly very different from the rest of us. By David Schultz
The United States of Broken Treaties/Promises: Biden’s Broken Promises Spell Hard Times Ahead First it was the minimum wage. Then student loans. Then the $300 weekly unemployment benefit. Then ditching the God-awful Trump tax cuts for billionaires. There was also the public option. Biden sure was racking up a lot of things he wouldn’t fight for, and guess what they all share? They’re all things working people care about – vitally. By Eve Ottenberg
Progressives Rally to Defend Ilhan Omar After ‘Bad Faith’ Attack by House Democratic Leadership “Over 650,000 Iraqis were murdered in an unjust war. The U.S. government suffers from amnesia.” — Linda Sarsour, MPower Changr “Instead of taking on Ilhan, lawmakers should focus on injustice, human rights abuses, and acts of violence being committed at home and abroad,” asserted Rep. Pramila Jayapa By Brett Wilkins
Environment: 
Frackers Suckup Colorado River Basin Water: Oil, Water Are Volatile Mix in West Energy Firms Buying River Rights Add to Competition for Scarce Resource Oil companies have gained control over billions of gallons of water from Western rivers in preparation for future efforts to extract oil from shale deposits under the Rocky Mountains, according to a new report by an environmental group that opposes such projects. The group, Western Resource Advocates, used public records to conclude that energy companies are collectively entitled to divert more than 6.5 billion gallons of water a day during peak river flows. The companies also hold rights to store, in dozens of reservoirs, 1.7 million acre feet of water, enough to supply metro Denver for six years! By Stephanie Simon (2009) 
Hoover Dam Reservoir Reaches Record-Low Water Levels The Western U.S. continues to suffer from a severe drought. Water levels in Lake Mead, the vital reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam, reached a new record low this week as the Western U.S. continues to suffer from a severe drought, according to news reports. On Wednesday (June 9), the reservoir’s levels dropped to 1,071.56 feet (326 meters) above sea level — slightly lower than the previous record low of 1,074.6 feet (327 meters) set in 2016, according to Reuters. Overall, the reservoir has fallen 140 feet (43 m) in the past 21 years, Reuters reported. By Rachael Rettner 
Delaware Riverkeeper: Court Dismisses GOP Suit to Over Turn Moratorium on Fracking in The Delaware River Basin The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 11 dismissed a lawsuit brought by Pennsylvania State Senators Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Caucus, Damascus Township, Dyberry Township, Wayne County, and Carbon County challenging the de facto moratorium that existed on gas drilling, fracking, and related operations in the Delaware River Watershed as well as the Delaware River Basin Commission’s subsequent rule prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing within the Basin. 
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Darnella Frazier Receives Pulitzer Special Citation ‘for Courageously Recording the Murder of George Floyd’ “Without Darnella, Derek Chauvin never would have been tried and George Floyd would have been blamed by the state for his own death.” Darnella Frazier, the Minnesota teen whose cellphone video recording of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck last May was key piece of prosecution evidence in the trial the ended with the former Minneapolis police officer’s murder conviction, received an honorary Pulitzer Prize on Friday. Frazier, who was 17 years old when she shot the harrowing footage, was awarded this year’s Special Citation from the Pulitzer Board “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice.” By Brett Wilkins
White Arrogance: $4 Billion in Federal Relief for Black Farmers on Hold After White Farmers Cry Discrimination A Wisconsin federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the USDA. About $4 billion in federal stimulus money designated to forgive loans for Black and minority farmers remains in limbo because white farmers claim that this loan forgiveness program is unconstitutional and discriminatory against them. By Jaylyn Cook
Cori Bush, AOC Launch Inquiry Into Health Effects of Tear Gas Used by Police Representatives Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) sent letters on Thursday to members of Joe Biden’s cabinet and tear gas manufacturers seeking information and oversight on the health effects of tear gas .By Sharon Zhang
Labor:Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Purchasing Power of the Consumer Dollar in U.S. City Average 
Economy:
Britain: Unison Left Victory – Time to Transform the Union Into a Fighting Weapon Left-wing candidates have won a clear majority in the Unison NEC elections. This is an incredible result, which could set in motion the transformation of Britain’s largest union – and of the entire labour movement in Britain. “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” The equivalent of a nuclear bomb has just exploded in the labour and trade union movement. Unison, the biggest union in the country, and a bastion of the old right wing, has shifted dramatically to the left. By Rob Sewell
World:
G7 Promotes Tax Deal for the 1%—Not the 99% Despite the recent G7 agreement on corporate taxation, global leadership requires going beyond national interests to ensure that all countries have sufficient resources to develop healthier post-pandemic economies. This will require addressing the developing world’s demands in a way that is not only historic, but also fair. Historic, game-changing, revolutionary: such has been the widespread reaction to the recent agreement by G7 finance ministers on a global minimum effective tax rate of “at least” 15% for large multinational firms. The ministers also agreed on a new formula for apportioning a share of tax revenues from these companies among countries. But whatever global tax deal eventually emerges should reflect the interests of the world – including the developing countries – and not just those of seven large, developed economies. The developing world relies more heavily on corporate tax revenue and has thus been hit harder by multinationals’ tax avoidance, which results in global revenue losses of at least $240 billion each year. By José Antonio Ocampo and Tommaso Faccio
Imperialism Meets in Cornwall This weekend, the leaders of the ‘free world’ are flying (and helicoptering) into Cornwall, at the tiny end of England, for the first physical meeting of the G7 nations. As they increase the carbon footprint sharply through extensive fossil fuel activity, the G7 agenda will include dealing with climate change, global ‘action’ on the COVID pandemic and the state of the world economy. By Michael. Roberts
A National Strike Has Reignited in Colombia — and Is Winning Some Victories Since April 28, people in Colombia’s cities and towns have engaged in an ongoing national strike, el paro nacional. Originally called in November 2019 by the major labor federations in opposition to a package of neoliberal tax, health care, pension and education legislation emerging from the right-wing national government, the strike went dormant for a stretch after the pandemic hit Colombia, but now has resurfaced stronger than ever — and activists are starting to win some national and local victories. Thousands have taken to the streets across the country in marches and rallies. Truck drivers have halted the movement of merchandise. Where support for the strike is strongest — in lower-income neighborhoods of cities such as Cali and Bogotá — points of resistance have formed, where by day, community and cultural activities take place, and by night, too often, police and paramilitary attacks occur, met by the opposition of the primera linea, the frontline force of low-income young people who confront “less-lethal” munitions and live gunfire with shields made from chemical drums and rocks. By John Walsh
Education, Health, Science, 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 pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare!
Lack of Patent Waiver Would Add Over $70 Billion to Cost of Vaccinating World: Oxfam Most of that money, said a spokesperson for the group, “will go directly into the pockets” of Big Pharma shareholders. As leaders of the G7 were criticized for failing to rise to the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic during their summit in the United Kingdom this weekend, Oxfam International on Saturday warned that failure of the world’s richest nations to fully embrace a lifting of intellectual property protections for life-saving vaccines could ultimately raise the cost of administering shots to the entire world by as much as $74 billion with most of that money going directly into the wallets of pharmaceutical companies and their wealthy shareholders. By Jon Queally
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!