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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:
Quote of the Day:
There is a real – but largely concealed – war which is taking place throughout the African continent. It involves the United States, an invigorated Russia and a rising China. The outcome of the war is likely to define the future of the continent and its global outlook. It is easy to pin the blame on US President Donald Trump, his erratic agenda and impulsive statements. But the truth is, the current US military expansion in Africa is just another step in the wrong direction. It is part of a strategy that had been implemented a decade ago, during the administration of President George W. Bush, and actively pursued by President Barack Obama. In 2007, under the pretext of the ‘war on terror’, the US consolidated its various military operations in Africa to establish the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). With a starting budget of half a billion dollars, AFRICOM was supposedly launched to engage with African countries in terms of diplomacy and aid. But, over the course of the last 10 years, AFRICOM has been transformed into a central command for military incursions and interventions. However, that violent role has rapidly worsened during the first year of Trump’s term in office. Indeed, there is a hidden US war in Africa, and it is fought in the name of ‘counter-terrorism’. — Shadow Armies: The Unseen, But Real US War in Africa
Videos of the Day:
Global Warming and Extreme Cold: How One Leads to the Other Research on the connection between extreme weather — such as the severe cold snap that hit the US Northeast – and global warming, shows that these are intimately connected, despite what climate deniers such as President Trump say
U.S.:
Shadow Armies: The Unseen, But Real US War in Africa There is a real – but largely concealed – war which is taking place throughout the African continent. It involves the United States, an invigorated Russia and a rising China. by Ramzy Baroud
How the US Became a Warmonger Police State Professor David Ray Griffin is a tenacious person. He has written a number of carefully researched books that demonstrate the extraordinary shortcomings in the official account of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the subsequent anthrax attack. He has provided the mountains of evidence completely ignored by the US government’s account and the presstitute media. In his recently published latest book, Bush and Cheney: How They Ruined America and the World , Professor Griffin demonstrates how 9/11 was used by the Zionist Neoconservatives, the Cheney/Bush regime, and the military/security complex with the complicity of Congress and the US media to create Islamophobia among the American public in order to launch wars of aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and provinces of Pakistan with Iran in the crosshairs. These wars are based on lies and fabricated “evidence,” on determination to control pipelines and oil flows, on maximizing profits for the military/security corporations in which Cheney has a personal interest, and on extending neoconservative hegemony over the world. One consequence has been the destruction of US constitutional protections that protect liberty and violations of US and international law such as the laws against torture. Another consequence has been millions of displaced refugees from Washington’s wars over-running the countries of Europe. By Paul Craig Roberts
Environment:
Divestment Can Not Save the Planet 350 Its a simple number. Its the atmosphere concentration of CO2the planet can not surpass in terms of parts per million (ppm), before the polar ice caps melt. This would kick off a positive feedback loop of ever more warming as the sun’s rays are no longer reflected back into space, and the arctic warms even more releasing countless tonnes of stored methane in the permafrost according to the number’s originator Dr. Hansen, then of NASA. 1The number we are at is 405 now. 2 by Anton Davis
“Dishonest” and “Disgraceful” – Monsanto Attempts to Gain Backdoor Entry for GE foods At the recent Codex meeting in Berlin, there was an attempt to define genetically engineered (GE) food ingredients as ‘biofortified’ and therefore mislead consumers. This contravened the original Codex mandate for defining biofortification. That definition is based on improving the nutritional quality of food crops through conventional plant breeding (not genetic engineering) with the aim of making the nutrients bioavailable after digestion. The attempt was thwarted thanks to various interventions, not least by the National Health Federation (NHF), a prominent health-freedom international non-governmental organization and the only health-freedom INGO represented at Codex. But the battle is far from over.by Colin Todhunter
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Freedom Rider: Trump Love Endures The recently published book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House is an inside account of the Donald Trump campaign and presidency. One of its more stunning revelations confirms what informed people said about Donald Trump in 2016. He did not think he would win, indeed he had not intended to win. His campaign was a self-promotion extravaganza gone wrong. He went to bed early on election night because he thought the night would belong to Hillary Clinton. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
Donkey In A Hole: Don’t Expect Democrats To Change Much in 2018 The 2018 midterm elections are fast approaching. Mainstream observers have predicted that Trump’s lack of popularity gives the Democratic Party an opportunity to regain a majority in the Senate and Congress. Doug Jones’ Senate victory in historically Republican Alabama has given rise to such sentiment. Yet the struggle over Congress and the Senate, while important, is not the primary concern for the Wall Street and corporate donors that control the Democratic Party. That honor goes to the Trump Presidency. The ruling class desperately want to replace Trump for fear that his rise to the Oval Office marks the beginning of the end of the two-party arrangement in Washington. By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor
Has Anyone Ever Been On the Side of the People of Congo? The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the heart of Black Africa. Millions of Congolese have been murdered, massacred, enslaved, robbed of their resources, and driven from their homes since the Berlin Conference gave the “Congo Free State” to Belgium’s King Leopold II as his personal property in 1885.Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s independence hero and first Prime Minister, famously wrote to his wife Pauline from captivity in 1960, shortly before his assassination: “We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and the free and liberated peoples in every corner of the globe will ever remain at the side of the millions of Congolese who will not abandon the struggle until the day when there will be no more colonizers and no more of their mercenaries in our country.” But is anyone on the side of the Congolese now? By Ann Garrison, BAR contributor
Up Against the Fabrication Divide The Third Digital Revolution[1], a revolution in cyber-physical integration and personal fabrication, is changing the world, and changing humanity, culturally and physically, in the process. The Third Digital Revolution is marked by technological and knowledge breakthroughs that build on the first two Digital Revolutions, and the three Industrial Revolutions that preceded them, which are now fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds – including the human body. The main technologies of this revolution include advanced robotics, CNC (computer numeric control) automation, 3D printing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, big data processing, artificial intelligence, and of course these autonomous vehicles we’ve been hearing so much about of late. As a result of these developments, soon millions of people will be able to make almost anything with their personal computer or smartphone and fabrication technology in their own homes. Truly, a new era of technological innovation is upon us. One that could enable many of the social freedoms envisioned by scientists and science fiction writers for over a century. By Kali Akuno, Gyasi Williams
Dey cum buck dancin’, ‘bout ebry 2 ta 4 years,
Afta dat, is dey ‘bout scarce as Lepercon ears?
Is dese spooks ‘bout korrup as de day is long—
An’ “don’ wanna be rite, if luvin’ monee wrong?”
Do Dem Negroz ack lak 1 purse-cent pleazurs,
Wit staks ob col’ cash stuff’d in dey freezurs?
Behind The News: Jane McAlevey on Organizing For Power, Liza Featherstone on Patriarchy Jane McAlevey explains why Democrats were able to stop the demolition of Obamacare but unable and unwilling to do the same for the ghastly Republican tax cut and Liza Featherstone on the difference between going after individuals and tackling the system of patriarch and power. By Doug Henwood
Israel Bans Entry to 25 Organizations Connected with the BDS Movement On Sunday January 8, Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs released a list of 20 international organizations whose members will be prohibited from entering the country because of their support of the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions Movement -BDS- against Israel. This announcement comes after an amendment to Israel’s Entry Law last m}March to bar entry to anyone who actively promotes a boycott of the country. The Ministry stated that the 20 organizations named had “undertaken ongoing, consistent and significant action to promote and advance a boycott of Israel.” By Rebecca Vilkomerson, The Dawn News
Venezuelan Chavistas Begin Nation-Wide Debate on Future Homeland Plan Bogota, January 8, 2018 (venezuelanalysis.com ) – Venezuelans began to hold nation-wide community meetings last Saturday to discuss the creation of a new Homeland Plan ahead of this year’s presidential elections. The plan will define the Maduro government’s policies for 2019-2025 should it win reelection, and will be drafted through a series of assemblies with Chavista activists before being approved by the leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). By Rachael Boothroyd Rojas
Labor:
Economy:
Wall Street Bank with Three Felonies Sends Employee to Head SEC Trading Division The arrogance of the captured Wall Street regulators in Washington grows exponentially with each passing day. The only Wall Street bank which has admitted to three criminal felony charges – all coming within the past three years – has been allowed to send one of its trading executives to head a key post at Wall Street’s top cop – the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Failing up continues to be the business model in the nation’s capital. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Tunisian youth rises up against austerity again The last few days have seen the beginning of a new movement of the Tunisian youth, almost seven years to the day after they overthrew the hated regime of Ben Alí in 2011. This time, a proposed budget, imposed by the IMF, has sparked protests around the country. Dozens of activists have been arrested and one protester killed. The “Fech Nastannou?” (what are we waiting for?) movement is a stark demonstration that having overthrown the dictator did not automatically solve the problems of poverty, unemployment and lack of a future that provoked the uprising in 2011. By Jorge Martin
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
