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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 world is not white — It never was white — It cannot be white — White is a metaphor for power — And that is a way of describing Chase Manhattan Bank! — James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro
Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King opposed the Vietnam War prior to their assassinations. At the time of their assassinations, both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were embarking on a course in opposition to the capitalist system. It is clear from reading and listening to their final speeches that they had both evolved to similar conclusions of capitalism’s role in the maintenance of racism. That is why they were assassinated. (For more information read The Assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.) — The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement
From Why the Government The Assassinated Malcolm X And Martin Luther King Jr.: “Pepper went a step beyond saying government agencies were responsible for the assassination. To whom in turn were those murderous agencies responsible? Not so much to government officials per se, Pepper asserted, as to the economic powerholders they represented who stood in the even deeper shadows behind the FBI, Army Intelligence, and their affiliates in covert action. By 1968, Pepper told the jury, ‘And today it is much worse in my view’ — ‘the decision-making processes in the United States were the representatives, the footsoldiers of the very economic interests that were going to suffer as a result of these times of changes [being actived by King].’ To say that U.S. government agencies killed Martin Luther King on the verge of the Poor People’s Campaign is a way into the deeper truth that the economic powers that be (which dictate the policies of those agencies) killed him. In the Memphis prelude to the Washington campaign, King posed a threat to those powers of a nonviolent revolutionary force. Just how determined they were to stop him before he reached Washington was revealed in the trial by the size and complexity of the plot to kill him.”— Jim Douglass, The Martin Luther King Conspiracy Exposed in Memphis After King’s murder at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, l968, a Memphis court extended the circle of responsibility for the assassination beyond the late scapegoat James Earl Ray to the United States government. According to the Memphis jury’s verdict on December 8,1999, a jury of twelve citizens of Memphis, Shelby County, TN, concluded in Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, III, Bernice King, Dexter Scott King and Yolanda King Vs. Loyd Jowers and Other Unknown Conspirators that Loyd Jowers and governmental agencies including the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee, and the federal government were party to the conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As Coretta Scott King stated: “There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr.. And the civil court’s unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America. It is a great victory for truth itself. It is important to know that this was a SWIFT verdict, delivered after about an hour of jury deliberation. The jury was clearly convinced by the extensive evidence that was presented during the trial that, in addition to Mr. Jowers, the conspiracy of the Mafia, local, state and federal government agencies, were deeply involved in the assassination of my husband.The jury also affirmed overwhelming evidence that identified someone else, not James Earl Ray, as the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.”
Videos of the Day:
TRNN Replay: Poor People’s Campaign Revival As the 50th anniversary of MLK Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign approaches, organizers want to take up King’s mantle to “unite the bottom of this country, to bring about real change, to shift the narrative that is demonizing people for the problems they’re facing and to build power from the bottom up,” says campaign co-chair Dr. Liz Theoharis
U.S.:
Notes From a “Shithole” Superpower Trump’s comments stand in dark refutation of the United States’ longstanding if largely false claim to be a haven for people fleeing poverty and oppression abroad. The “America First” president seems to have no appreciation of how the United States’ exceptionalist national narrative is linked to the ideal of (U.S.-of) “America” as a glorious magnet for desperate masses in other and supposedly inferior nations. White U.S. America is populated by people descended from immigrants seeking to escape terrible (“shithole” if you like) conditions in Europe, seeking new opportunities and liberties in the New World. By contrast, Black Americans – people Trump sees as a “law and order” problem – are all too unmentionably descended from people brought here in chains, to be mercilessly exploited in highly profitable forced labor and torture camps called plantations. by Paul Street
Trump’s Sinister Plan to Kill the Iranian “Nukes” DealThe Trump administration has settled on a plan for sabotaging the Iranian Nuclear deal that does not explicitly violate the terms of the agreement. Trump will continue to suspend sanctions, as is required under the terms of the deal, but at the same time, he will warn that if the agreement isn’t changed to meet his specific demands, he will terminate it unilaterally. by Mike Whitney
Environment:
EU declares war on plastic waste Brussels targets single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030 The EU is waging war against plastic waste as part of an urgent plan to clean up Europe’s act and ensure that every piece of packaging on the continent is reusable or recyclable by 2030. By Daniel Boffey
Plastics found in stomachs of deepest sea creatures ‘Very worrying finding’ from nearly 11km deep confirms fears that synthetic fibres have contaminated the most remote places on EarthAnimals from the deepest places on Earth have been found with plastic in their stomachs, confirming fears that manmade fibres have contaminated the most remote places on the planet. By Matthew Taylor
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Florida Prisoners Prepare to Strike, Demanding an End to Unpaid Labor and Brutal Conditions Florida prisoners are calling for a general strike to start this week — marking the third mass action over the course of a year in protest of inhumane conditions in the state’s detention facilities. Detainees in at least eight prisons have declared their intention to stop all work on Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — to demand an end to unpaid labor and price gouging in prison commissaries, as well as the restoration of parole, among other requests. Coordinated, nonviolent prison protests as well as spontaneous uprisings amid deteriorating conditions have escalated in recent years both nationwide and in Florida, which has the third largest prison system in the country. By Alice Speri
Labor:
Economy:
Nomi Prins’ New Book: Central Banks Have Become the MarketsNomi Prins’ latest book, Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World, ensures her place as one of this century’s most informed Wall Street historians. It’s the perfect segue from Prins’ earlier “It Takes a Pillage,” and her 2014 book All the Presidents’ Bankers. If you are serious about understanding the corrupting influences that have left the U.S. vulnerable to another epic financial crash, buy all three books and read them as one. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens 
World:
Britain: Carillion collapse – the true, ugly face of the profit system The collapse of Carillion has come as a shock to the company’s workers and the public who rely on its services. But it seems that Westminster politicians and City bankers were fully aware of the dodgy dealings going on at the construction and outsourcing giant. By Steve Jones
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
The myth of private efficiency The blame is being put, in particular, on cost overruns involving three major public sector projects. But this begs the question: what about the so-called private sector ‘efficiency’ that we were promised? For decades, we have been told by the experts that the private sector is far better at running services and building infrastructure than the public sector. This was the mantra of successive Tory and New Labour governments, justifying their drive to outsource and privatise the provision of public services. Private companies were meant to be more efficient and less wasteful. But now the truth prevails.Carillion has been involved in one mess up after another. They have built up a reputation as being terrible to deal with: cutting costs, paying bills late, and so on. The only thing they seem ‘efficient’ at has been ripping us off. Privatisation and outsourcing, all along, have just been a means for the bosses and bankers to line their pockets with taxpayers money. The system has failed No wonder this scandal – and it is a scandal – has rightly raised questions, once again, about the whole system. Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative chairman of the House of Commons Public Administration Committee, had stated that Carillion’s collapse, “really shakes public confidence in the ability of the private sector to deliver public services and infrastructure.” —Britain: Carillion collapse – the true, ugly face of the profit system
