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During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: 1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. 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 Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico
Images of the Day:
“Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” ― Henry Kissinger
To some on the geopolitical stage, “stability” is something like a sacred word. Of course, the devil is in the details. For decades, the word was used by successive US governments in a sense which did not preclude a certain number of wars – as long as those wars, whether officially declared or merely approved by an American President under the terms of some special Congressional authorization such as the one which is behind most current US military activity, were begun and carried out on American terms. “Stability” was and remains the justification employed in defending United States support for some truly nasty governments, kings and dictators. Their professed opposition to communism or terrorism — as defined by the US government, of course – has been the primary qualification for that support. Although there was often talk of democracy, cosmetic moves purported to lead in that direction would usually suffice to sell the relationship to Congress, and in more than a few cases even the cosmetic mask is absent: it is simply asserted that the nation in question is a crucial strategic domino, the fall of which would put the entire world in jeopardy, and our noble principles must needs be temporarily suspended. Some of these temporary suspensions have lasted for decades now. The dreaded scourge of instability, however, has now reached the heart of the empire.— US Neocon Wars Open Pandora’s Box in Europe
Videos of the Day:
Dangerous Climate Change is Here and Worse to Come, Major Report Warns Contributing author to the report for the US Congress, Columbia University climate scientist, Dr. Radley Horton says more extreme weather events will be more common if U.S. doesn’t curb use of fossil fuel
No End to US Involvement in Afghanistan“We’ll Keep a Military Force for 50 Years Next to China and Pakistan,” say Wilkerson.
Trump’s Coup on Consumer Protection The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in limbo as two people claim to be its new acting director. The outgoing head tapped Leandra English as his successor, but Donald Trump then appointed Mick Mulvaney, who has called the CFPB a “sick, sad” joke
U.S.:
A poison in our island Rising seas caused by climate change are seeping inside a United States nuclear waste dump on a remote and low-lying Pacific atoll, flushing out radioactive substances left behind from some of the world’s largest atomic weapons tests. By Mark Willacy
A Topsy Turvy World: As the U.S. Armed ISIS (The Terroist Enemy of the United States) with $Billions of Dollars of Miliyary Aid, Dave Lindorff is Now an Agent of Russia Because he is Armed With a Pen!:
Amnesty International Confirms US Gave ISIS $1 Billion Of Weapons In 2016 Amnesty International has confirmed that the US Army gave ISIS $1 billion worth of arms and equipment in Iraq during President Obama’s final year in office, according to a report. The data was obtained by the human rights group following a freedom of information request for a 2016 government audit. “This audit provides a worrying insight into the US Army’s flawed — and potentially dangerous system for controlling millions of dollars’ worth of arms transfers to a hugely volatile region,” Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty’s researcher on international arms control, said in a statement.
Suddenly, I’m a ‘Russian Agent’! Effective Monday, November 13, something changed, though. RT suddenly became a “registered foreign agent.” The Russian government-funded news service, which has its headquarters in Washington, with bureaus in several other US cities, filed the required papers under protest — the only foreign news service operating here that is required to do so — and said it intends to sue. Russia is also retaliating and will be requiring some US news organizations operating in Russia, including Voice of America, to similarly register as foreign agents. by Dave Lindorff
Environment:
The Amazon effect: how deforestation is starving São Paulo of water A drought two years ago triggered fighting, looting and official ‘states of calamity’ across the metropolis, with the army preparing to send in troops. Now, new warnings suggest it could happen again – and point to a surprising culprit Bu Jonathan Watts 
Respect Existence or Expect Resistance Last week in Bonn, Germany, thousands gathered at the heavily secured United Nations climate conference, dubbed “COP 23,” a Potemkin village of bureaucrats, politicians, environmentalists, journalists and local support staff. Sixty kilometers away, in the 12,000-year-old Hambach Forest, scores of activists, living in treehouses, defended the old growth woodland in an ongoing struggle to save the rare ecosystem from destruction and stop the expansion of Europe’s largest open-pit mine, a sprawling hole in the earth where energy company RWE extracts lignite, or brown coal, the dirtiest coal on earth. Hanging over both was the political pall cast by President Donald Trump, who announced June 1 that he was pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, the global climate change accord negotiated by all the countries of the world. By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Trump’s Latest Deal? Selling Out West Virginia to China Even as the fossil fuel industry struggles to stay competitive, Trump has made a deal allowing China to invest $80 billion in West Virginia’s gas fields. Enthusiastically supported by the state’s senators and coal-magnate governor, the deal smacks of government cronyism and will undoubtedly benefit the financial elite while further devastating the lives of West Virginia’s working families. By Troy N. Miller
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
The United States/ The European Union and the New Slave Trade:The EU Created Libya’s Migrant Abuses, Now It Must Address Them Revelations into Libya’s awful migrant detention centres showed the humanitarian emergency that occurs within them. The international community – particularly the European Union, has not only failed to address this problem, but is responsible for causing it. After Libya descended into chaos following long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fall in 2011, the nation became a major hub of slavery and migrant-trafficking. by Jonathan Fenton-Harvey
Labor:
Like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, world imperialism spreads War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, throughout the world. Author Gore Vidal describes this era as ‘Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace’. One perpetual war, which is not openly publicized, is the war for profits. It takes place every single day at the point of production, and is killing increasing numbers of workers every year. Today, workers are used as ‘cannon fodder’ both in the war in Iraq and in the war for profits at home. Workplaces have become perpetual ‘killing fields’. According to Lisa Cullen, the author of A Job To Die For, “Every day, 165 Americans die from occupational diseases and 18 more die from a work related injury. On the same day, more than 36,400 non-fatal injuries and 3,200 illnesses will occur in America’s workplaces.” Every year 60,225 Americans die from occupational diseases while 6,570 more die from work-related injuries. In that same year, more than 13,286,000 non-fatal injuries and 1,168,000 illnesses occur in America’s workplaces. Again: “Each year, this unknown workplace epidemic extends into nearby communities to claim the lives of 218 innocent bystanders and injure another 68,000.”(1) — Roland Sheppard, The War at the Point of Production: The ‘Killing Fields’ of the United States (2005)
US nail salons: the challenge to protect workers from toxic chemicals Critics mock an EPA scheme to create ‘healthy salons’, but Julia Carrie Wong hears how it is tackling an ‘epidemic’ of health problems from staff, many of whom are Vietnamese immigrants
Economy:
If Vanguard Is Right, You’ll Need to Save More For Retirement Vanguard is one of the largest mutual fund companies in the world with 20 million investors and approximately $4.5 trillion in global assets under management as of September 30, 2017, according to its website. When it expounds on the outlook for the stock market, people tend to listen closely. Yesterday, Vanguard issued its economic and stock market outlook for the medium term, writing: “For 2018 and beyond, our investment outlook is modest, at best. Elevated valuations, low volatility, and secularly low interest rates are unlikely to be allies for robust financial market returns over the next five years.” BY Pam Martens and Russ Martins
World:
Arise Yea Prisoners of Austeritization!:
The left takes control of Scottish Labour Richard Leonard, the left candidate for Scottish Labour leader, has won a close fought race to succeed Kezia Dugdale. His victory represents the most significant gain for the Left in its struggle to win control of the overall party since Corbyn’s victory itself. Since Corbyn became leader, the Scottish Labour Party has been one of the strongest redoubts for the right wing, so victory for the Left here is yet another blow to the Blairites, strengthening Corbyn’s hand.Leonard’s victory is therefore a big step forward. Corbyn needs to win back Scotland to Labour if he is to win the next general election. That can’t be done on a Blairite ticket. The idea that this might be the way forward — in a country that had abandoned Labour precisely because of Blairism — was always absurd, but this year’s general election provided the proof. By Drew Murray
Labour’s review of candidates is not a purge: it’s what’s known as democracy Construing grassroots internal elections as an authoritarian cleanse is part of the smear campaign against Momentum by those terrified by its success Hide your kids: those dastardly undemocratic reds are coming again! The front page of one Murdoch outlet today carries wild reports of “Moderates forced out by hard left in Labour purge”. What has actually happened is this: Labour is choosing candidates to stand as councillors in next year’s local elections. In some cases, members have democratically decided that some sitting councillors should face an open contest. This happened automatically until a rule change last year. Calculating that they will lose to a leftwing alternative, some have stood down. Others have lost. This is not a “purge”. This is what is known as “democracy”. By Owen Jones
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
The 1% Profit as we Suffer from Chlorpyrifos
Quotes of The Day: