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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:
Quotes of The Day:
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s effectively eliminated Jim Crow. Today, it does not legally exist, but we are witnessing the drive of the ruling rich to make de facto Jim Crow the rule of the land. In fact, the public schools in this country are more segregated today than they were in the 1960s. As the ruling class and their Black and white politicians are leading a war on those in poverty, they are turning prisons and the welfare system, workfare, into institutions of forced labor, de facto slavery. At the same time, they are systematically destroying affirmative action and re-institutionalizing unequal opportunity for the Black masses. Police violence is as necessary to this process of re-subjugation of the Black community as it was for the destruction of Reconstruction. Malcolm X explained that police brutality also induces periodic “police riots” to further intimidate the Black community. Outspoken critics of police brutality are very often victims of the police and police violence. This violence goes hand in hand with the increase in hate crimes across the land. Mumia Abu-Jamal and Kevin Cooper are a prime example of “legal lynching” by the police forces of this country. Police violence and hate crimes and hanging nooses in the Southeast Sewage Plant in San Francisco and many other jobsites are part of the overall attack upon the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement. Mumia has been on death row and in jail for almost two decades. He was and is an outspoken critic of the police and was framed for the murder of a policeman. To add insult to injury, while Mumia sits in jail, the confessed killer of the policeman is free to roam the streets! In order to stop this process of de facto resegregation and police violence, it is necessary to stop support to both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, the party of the Confederacy that overthrew Reconstruction through force and violence, and their control of the racist federal, state and city governments — and to once again return to the effective mass action strategy of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in opposition to the government. Historically, mass actions, like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington etc., are the only activities that have proven to be effective. — Roland Sheppard, The Historic Role of Police Brutality in the Black Community and African American Oppression (2004)
The court files in the Papadopoulos case say little about the conditions of his chat with the two FBI agents. We don’t know how long it lasted, where in Chicago it took place, what its tenor was, or whether Papadopoulos was aware the agents probably knew the answers to most questions they asked. One thing, though, is clear: Papadopoulos engaged in a form of self-harming behavior that defense lawyers always advise against — saying “yes” when a pair of friendly FBI agents knock on your door and ask to chat. His interrogation was recorded but the transcript has not been released, so it’s impossible to know precisely what the FBI agents might have said that gave Papadopoulos the impression it would be in his interests to talk and to lie. But in another high-profile case, involving former NSA contractor Reality Winner, the government released a transcript of the interrogation. It provides a verbatim example – and a rare example – of how FBI agents ingratiate themselves with unsuspecting suspects and intimidate them into saying things that bring doom upon them. The interrogations of Winner and Papadopoulos were what the FBI likes to call “non-custodial,” so they were not read their Miranda rights — because, the FBI claims, they were not arrested or detained at the time of the interrogation. (Winner’s lawyers have argued in court filings that she was effectively detained and should have been Mirandized.) By avoiding the obligation to inform suspects of their right to a lawyer and the right to stay silent, the FBI makes it easier to get Americans to say things – whether truths or lies — that will be used against them. The Fifth Amendment protects people from testifying against themselves, of course, and the Sixth Amendment provides the right to legal counsel, but law enforcement authorities get around these constitutional protections by contending that some interrogations are “non-custodial.” The result is that suspects are enticed into talking before they realize the jeopardy they face and the rights they possess. “Because warnings are only required prior to custodial interrogation, one way to minimize the impact of Miranda on investigations is to try to conduct interrogations whenever possible in non-custodial settings (such as the suspects home or on the street, without arrest-like restraints),” notes an article in Police Magazine, which caters to the law enforcement community. The article bore the headline, “How to talk to suspects without Mirandizing.” There’s a problem with that kind of advice — the presence of law-enforcement officers can turn homes and sidewalks into coercive environments, making the distinction between “custodial” and “non-custodial” a murky if not artificial one. The Winner transcript, which was released in September, offers an unusual look inside one of these home interrogations. In its early we’re-on-your-side phase, the interrogation pivoted on Winner’s love of dogs and her Crossfit workouts. — How the Interrogation of Reality Winner Reveals the Deceptive Tactics of “Exceedingly Friendly” FBI Agents
Videos of the Day:
No Trickle Down: Corporations Hoard Their Trump Tax Windfall After President Trump signed the GOP tax plan into law, some of the bill’s corporate beneficiaries have offered workers minor bonuses. But economist Bill Black says they’re keeping most of the money for themselves — and starting a new global race to the bottom for corporate taxes
TRNN Replay: Chris Hedges on Reality Asserts Itself On RAI with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges discusses the psychology of the super rich; their sense of entitlement, the dehumanization of workers, and mistaken belief that their wealth will insulate them from the coming storms
U.S.:
America First? Maybe the Free World Doesn’t Need a Leader Consensus-building might seem boring and weak, but it could yield better results. Who is the leader of the free world? Important as the question sounds, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s better left unanswered. The U.S. president is no longer the obvious choice. Even the new U.S. National Security Strategy, filled with bombastic statements such as “the whole world is lifted by America’s renewal and the reemergence of American leadership,” acknowledges growing competition among powers. And of course “America first” is the slogan of a national, not a global, leader. By Leonid Bershidsky
Prison Industrial Complex (Slavery) Profits from New Tax Bill: Private prison investors set for giant windfall from Trump tax bill Prison firms that restructured as real estate investment trusts see substantial tax cut – more good news for those who benefit from increased incarceration Individual investors in US private prisons are poised to collect their most lucrative earnings ever thanks to changes in the tax code signed by Donald Trump, continuing what has been a banner year for the industry since the 2016 election. “It’s going to be great for the investors, banks and hedge funds that own shares in private prisons, and are dependent on increased incarceration and criminalization,” said Jamie Trinkle, campaign and research coordinator with the racial and economic justice coalition Enlace. Under the new GOP law, investments in so-called “real estate investment trusts” (reits) will see a 25% reduction in tax, from 39.6% down to 29.6%. Corecivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), and the Geo Group, which together own more than 80% of private prison beds in the US, both restructured as reits in 2013. 
Sexual Predators Roam Free the Halls of Justice: Report Finds Sexual Harassment Is Prevalent at Department of Justice (DOJ), With Little Accountability for Those Accused Even in cases involving potential criminal assault, the DOJ has failed to hold those accused of sexual misconduct accountable. A systemic failure has been found in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) handling of sexual harassment and misconduct complaints, according to the department’s Office of Inspector General. The watchdog unit, led by Inspector General Michael Horowitz, reports that employees accused of harassment and assault have been rewarded with bonuses and promotions, facing minimal disciplinary action as complaints have become increasingly more common over the past five years. by Julia Conley
Environment:
Water Is Life: “This Is Not A Symbolic Action” — Indigenous Protesters Occupy Oil Platforms in Radicalized Fight Against Pollution in the Amazon The skiffs arrived a few hours after sundown on September 18, a dark and moonless night in the Peruvian Amazon. They landed at several points along the broad Corrientes River, which flows south over the country’s densely forested border with Ecuador. Hundreds of indigenous Achuar men, women, and children, many carrying ceremonial spears, organized into units by clan and village. They then followed their apus, or chiefs, toward seven targets: the area’s lone paved road, a power plant, and five facilities for the pumping and processing of petroleum.
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Short-term exposure to low levels of air pollution linked with premature death among U.S. seniors Short-term exposures to fine particulate air pollution and ozone—even at levels well below current national safety standards—were linked to higher risk of premature death among the elderly in the U.S. according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The risk was even higher among elderly who were low-income, female, or Black.The study was published December 26, 2017 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
First They Came for Jill Stein Anyone that claims to be “on the left” must defend 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, the latest victim of the anti-Russian dragnet. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist 
Cops Killing Kids Has Got to Stop! Kameron Prescott is dead — the latest in a horrific string of children killed by America’s fearful and quick-to-shoot law enforcement professionals. Six-year-old Kameron, who was shot in Bexar County outside San Antonio, Texas, wasn’t killed like Tamir Rice in Cleveland, who was mowed down by a police officer within seconds of his arrival on the scene as the boy sat peacefully on a bench in a park pavilion holding a toy gun. Kameron wasn’t deliberately shot. He was just “collateral damage” in America’s militarized police war on the public — killed inadvertently by a deputy’s bullet which had missed its intended target (an unarmed woman), instead penetrating the flimsy wall of the trailer and the soft abdomen of the little kid who was playing peacefully by himself inside. by Dave Lindorff
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
