Images Of the Day:
Western Drought Brings Another Woe: Voracious Grasshoppers
Monsanto’s Revolving Door Graphic Showing the Conflicts of Interest Of Some of Those Tasked With Keeping Americans Safe.
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:
In China, before the COVID-19 outbreak led authorities to announce the closure of the wildlife trade, the industry was valued at over $74 billion. Critics, aware of the trade’s potential to unleash virulent infectious diseases, have for years complained that government policy has been hijacked by commercial interests. It took an epidemic and near-shutdown of the Chinese economy to precipitate a ban on the consumption and trade of wildlife. The conditions that triggered the emergence of COVID-19 exist in plain sight on factory farms. Shouldn’t governments take action before the emergence of another, possibly deadlier, epidemic, rather than after? The economic interests of intensive animal farming operations—not to mention our own appetites for flesh—continue to eclipse the imperatives of public health. If policymakers are serious about preventing pandemics rather than reacting to the carnage after the fact, then it’s time to do with factory farms what China did with the wildlife trade—shut them down altogether. — A Palate for Pestilence: Ominous Links Between COVID-19 and Industrial Animal Farming
2021 Update: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: Let’s put this in perspective. In the pandemic year 2020, 76 years after two American atomic bombs left the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in ashes, the world’s nuclear powers actually increased spending on nuclear weapons by $1.4 billion more than they had put out the previous year. And that increase was only a small percentage of the ongoing investment of those nine — yes, nine — countries in their growing nuclear arsenals. Worse yet, if you happen to be an American, more than half of the total 2020 “investment” in weaponry appropriate for world-ending scenarios, $37.4 billion to be exact, was plunked down by our own country. (A staggering $13.3 billion was given to weapons maker Northrop Grumman alone to begin the development of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, the one thing our thoroughly troubled world obviously needs.) In all, those nine nuclear powers spent an estimated $137,000 a minute in 2020 to “improve” their arsenals — the ones that, if ever used, could end history as we know it. — An All-American Horror Story
Videos of the Day:
On Contact: Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man & the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to journalist and author, Ariel Sabar, about his new book Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife. Sabar’s book exposes much about the bankruptcy of contemporary theology and the yearning by academics to be lionized by the mass media and popular culture, even at the expense of truth.
If its Up to Coronavirus Profiteers, Coronavirus is Here to Stay!: The Coronavirus Crisis: The Vaccine Divide “Why should the knowledge that is required to end the pandemic be kept secret?
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!
Meet Tlthe Consulting Firm That’s Staffing the Biden Administration WestExec represented major corporations throughout the Trump years. Now it’s in the White House. From its headquarters just blocks from the White House, a small, high-powered team of former ambassadors, lawyers, and Obama appointees has spent the past few years solving problems for the world’s biggest companies. Less than six months into the Biden administration, more than 15 consultants from the firm WestExec Advisors have fanned out across the White House, its foreign policy apparatus, and its law enforcement institutions. Five, some of whom already have jobs with the administration, have been nominated for high-ranking posts, and four others served on the Biden-Harris transition team. Even by Washington standards, it’s a remarkable march through the revolving door, especially for a firm that only launched in 2017. The pipeline has produced a dominance of WestExec alums throughout the administration, installed in senior roles as influential as director of national intelligence and secretary of state. WestExec clients, meanwhile, have controversial interests in tech and defense that intersect with the policies their former consultants are now in a position to set and execute. By Jonathan Guyer and Ryan Grim
Poor People’s Campaign Announces ‘Season of Nonviolent Direct Action’ Targeting US Senate “If our actions result in the system believing it has to arrest us, then so be it. Civil disobedience is a badge and banner we will proudly wear,” said Rev. William Barber. By Jake Johnson
Showdown in Connecticut: Fighting Inequality in One of the Nation’s Most Unequal States Since the start of the pandemic, Connecticut’s fourteen billionaires have seized $12.6 billion in additional wealth—while hundreds of thousands of working people across the state, especially working people of color, are suffering.As the converging crises over the last year and a half have underscored, Connecticut has become a microcosm of the extreme racial and economic disparities in the United States. It consistently ranks as the wealthiest state here in the world’s wealthiest country. But it also ranks among the most unequal. By Puya Gerami
At 245, America Is Old Enough to Be Honest About Its Founding The Declaration of Independence’s clause about “merciless Indian Savages” and its deleted passage on slavery say a lot about us. Happy Birthday, America! Today, July 4, 2021, we turn 245 years old. You might think we’d have trouble blowing out all the candles on the cake, but fortunately we can use the downdraft from the Sikorsky S-97 Raider, a new prototype attack helicopter with two rotors that spin in opposite directions. By Jon Schwarz
Federal Informants Are Often Promised Visas. They Rarely Materialize. Instead of bad faith, a new report finds a broken system NERVIN CORONADO CAME to the United States when he was 12 years old, but he never became a U.S. citizen. As an adult, in 2009, Coronado was charged with participating in a mortgage fraud scheme. He immediately cut a deal with the Justice Department: He’d provide information about others involved in the scheme, including two lawyers and a former New York State Senate candidate, in exchange for what’s known as an S visa — a special visa, commonly referred to as a “snitch visa,” for noncitizen informants and cooperating witnesses. In fact, Coronado’s agreement with the government specifically stated that if he fulfilled his obligations, the Justice Department would recommend that he receive an S visa to stay in the United States. Coronado held up his end of the bargain, providing information that led to the arrest and conviction of nine people involved in the mortgage fraud scheme. He then asked the government to give him the S visa he’d been promised. The Justice Department repeatedly declined, pointing to the fact that Coronado could not articulate “verifiable safety concerns” if he returned to the Dominican Republic, his native country. By Trevor Aaronson
Monsanto: Corporate Studies Asserting Herbicide Safety Show Many Flaws, New Analysis Finds Revelations come as Europe wrestles over renewal question for Bayer’s Roundup herbicides A new analysis of more than 50 previously secret, corporate-backed scientific studies is raising troubling questions about a history of regulatory reliance on such research in assessing the safety of the widely used weedkilling chemical known as glyphosate, the key ingredient in the popular Roundup herbicide. In a 187-page report released on Friday, researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria said a thorough review of 53 safety studies submitted to regulators by large chemical companies showed that most do not comply with modern international standards for scientific rigor, and lack the types of tests most able to detect cancer risks. By Carey Gillam
A Scourge of the Earth’: Grasshopper Swarms Overwhelm US West The drought has created ideal conditions for grasshopper eggs to hatch and for the insatiable eaters to survive into adulthood They’re arriving in swarms so dense it can appear the earth is moving. They’re covering roads and fields, pelting ATV riders, and steadily devouring grains and grass to the bedevilment of farmers and ranchers. A massive population of grasshoppers is proliferating in the sweltering American west, where a deep drought has made for ideal conditions for grasshopper eggs to hatch and survive into adulthood. By Lee van der Voo
As Big Oil Execs Roam Free, Climate Activist Gets 8 Years in Prison “How many years do you think ANY fossil fuel CEO will serve for knowingly destroying our planet’s climate?” asked one climate group in response to Jessica Reznicek’s sentence. By Brett Wilkins
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
Court Documents Reveal that JPMorgan Chase Was Entangled in Another Giant Ponzi Scheme at the Same Time It Was Propping Up Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme After reading the documents released by the Justice Department in January 2014 in connection with JPMorgan Chase’s settlement over its role in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, the Los Angeles Times asked this question: “Bernie Madoff: Was he part of the JPMorgan ring, or was JPMorgan part of his ring?” Given the facts of the case, the question was more than fair. In January of 2014 JPMorgan Chase paid $2.6 billion in fines and restitution, signed a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and walked away from further criminal charges over its 22-year involvement with Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The Madoff Ponzi scheme was the largest in U.S. history with fictitious investment account statements showing his clients held $64.8 billion in securities with his firm. (Madoff never actually bought any stocks or other securities for his investment clients.) By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Ethiopia: the fall of mekele marks a turning point in the War In Tigray The civil war in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray entered a new phase over the last few weeks when Tigrayan rebels recaptured Mekele, the regional capital, and forced the federal government forces to retreat. The swift defeat of the Ethiopian forces was a stunning reversal in a civil war that has led to the displacement of nearly two million people in the Tigray region, widespread hunger and atrocities on all sides. By Ben Morken
Conviction of Dam Company Executive for Murder of Berta Cáceres Hailed as ‘Step Towards Justice’ “However, justice for Berta will never be truly complete until everyone who took part in the crime, including those who planned it, is brought to justice.” Human rights advocates on Monday welcomed the conviction of Roberto David Castillo Mejía, a Honduran businessman and former military intelligence officer, for the March 2016 assassination of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres, while calling on authorities in the Central American nation to bring everyone involved in planning the murder to justice. By Brett Wilkins
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!
The Coronavirus Crisis: US coronavirus cases rise as Biden, media declare pandemic over Confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States rose 17 percent during the two weeks leading up to the July 4 holiday weekend, figures which belie the ongoing campaign by the Biden administration and US media to declare the country’s “independence” from the pandemic. As in numerous other countries, including Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the renewed spread of the disease in the US has been caused by the Delta variant. An analysis from the Financial Times notes that an estimated “three out of five cases nationally” are from infections of the new variant. In some states, the proportions are even worse: 90 percent of cases in Missouri are from the Delta variant, 89 percent in Arkansas, 87 percent in Utah, 79 percent in Kansas and 78 percent in Colorado, as well as 72 percent in California, 69 percent in Texas, and 65 percent in New York. In the words of World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “We’re in a very dangerous period of this pandemic. … Delta has been detected in at least 98 countries and is spreading quickly in countries with low and high vaccination coverage.” By Bryan Dyne
Firms That Backed Gov. Charlie Baker’s Pro-Charter Initiative Scored Millions In Contracts With Massachusetts Pension Fund Three private equity investment managers who supported the Yes on 2 campaign in 2016 have since seen their companies receive a windfall of new investments. In the 2016 election, executives at high-fee, high-risk investment firms poured cash into a Massachusetts pro-charter school initiative championed by Gov. Charlie Baker. In the years since, those investment firms have reaped a total of $320 million in new lucrative investment management contracts with the state pension fund. By Matthew Cunningham-Cook
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!