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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
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Broadcasting from the Sundance Film Festival, we are joined by three guests who personally battled with DuPont and are featured in the new documentary called “The Devil We Know,” that looks at how former DuPont employees, residents and lawyers took on the chemical giant to expose the danger of the chemical C8, found in Teflon and countless household products—from stain- and water-resistant apparel to microwave popcorn bags to dental floss. The chemical has now been linked to six diseases, including testicular and kidney cancers. We speak with Bucky Bailey, whose mother worked in the Teflon division of a DuPont plant in West Virginia while she was pregnant with him, and who was born with only one nostril and a deformed eye and has undergone more than 30 surgeries to fix the birth defects; Joe Kiger, lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against DuPont, and a school teacher in Parkersburg, West Virginia, who suffered from liver disease; and Rob Bilott, the attorney that brought DuPont to court. — DuPont vs. the World: Chemical Giant Covered Up Health Risks of Teflon Contamination Across Globe
Videos of the Day:
Despite School Closings, Chicago Mayor Pushes For New $95 Million Police Academy More than 50 Chicago community organizations have endorsed the #NoCopAcademy campaign as activists rally to stop the project and invest the funds back into the community
U.S.:
US Capitalism Lets Children and Mothers Die One of the authors of a recent study of U.S. children’s deaths told an interviewer that, “The U.S. is the most dangerous of wealthy, democratic countries in the world for children … Across all ages and in both sexes, children have been dying more often in the U.S. than in similar countries since the 1980s.” The report was published online January 8 in Health Affairs. Ninety percent of the deaths analyzed there were of infants and older adolescents. by W. T. Whitney
Environment:
Stanford Researcher: Interacting Antarctic Glaciers May Cause Faster Melt and Sea Level Contributions A new study shows that a large and potentially unstable Antarctic glacier may be melting farther inland than previously thought and that this melting could affect the stability of another large glacier nearby – an important finding for understanding and projecting ice sheet contributions to sea-level rise.
Betting the Earth on a Game of Wrap-Cut-Smash The Earth is having to deal with continuous, largely unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases, along with soil degradation, mass extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems, and disruption of nitrogen, phosphorous, and water cycles. Meanwhile, efforts to head off the planet-wide ecological crisis remain trapped in a game of rock-paper-scissors. [1]Let’s start with the “paper,” which represents the kinds of paper exercises purporting to show that prosperous “green growth” can carry humanity and the Earth together through a better and better future. These include, for example, the 2015 “Ecomodernist Manifesto” [2] and a series of “100% renewable wind, water, and sunlight energy roadmaps” [3] published in recent years. Such cornucopian analyses undergird the mainstream climate movement’s vision of a smooth transition to a greener, happier, more prosperous world. by Stan Cox
Ongoing Big Energy
Crisis:Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Freedom Rider: Robert Mercer Rules “An ultra-rich right winger put Trump in the White House and now controls the country’s political agenda.” If it can be said that any one person is responsible for Donald Trump’s election then Robert Mercer is the clear choice. The founder of Renaissance Technologies hedge fund is a billionaire, backer of Republican politicians to the tune of $25 million in 2016, and patron of the effort to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union. When Trump’s campaign was foundering under the onslaught of Hillary Clinton’s $1 billion, Mercer brought him a lifeline of cash and staff like Steve Bannon. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
Centrist Politics Are Ruling Class Politics, not Martin Luther King’s “Democrats have been a reliable source of fake progressivism and real imperial policy.” The era of Trump has been described by the US corporate media as an extreme deviation from the “centrist” politics of mainstream Democrats and even many Republicans. The Republican Party has for decades provided a reliable home for white racists. Republicans gained this reputation for their overt policy attacks on women, Blacks, and undocumented immigrants. Ample room was left for Democrats to court the support of unions, Black leaders, and immigration advocates under the tent of Wall Street and war. Democrats aligned themselves with the political ideology of centrism, which was born from the bowels of the neo-liberal stage of capitalism By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor
Haitian Detainees are Captive Capital for Private Prison Corporation Haitian Detainees are Captive Capital for Private Prison Corporation “When they cannot make more money out of us, then they deport us quickly.”My first trip to the GEO Group’s Adelanto Detention Center, the privately-run prison facility located deep inland in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, was to meet with a Haitian asylum seeker, Mr. Clement.[1] Mr. Clement had entered the U.S. from Mexico and had been in detention for nine months. Earlier that summer, he participated in a hunger strike that brought together Central American and Haitian asylum seekers demanding better treatment in Adelanto. It was through this strike that he and some of the other detained Haitian men had garnered some attention. And through a series of legal and activist connections—connections stretching from local immigration rights organizers through Florida, Haiti, and back to Los Angeles—I heard of Mr. Clement and faced, for the first time, the travesty of detention for Haitian immigrants and asylum seekers in Southern California. By Jemima Pierre
Will California’s Governor Block Parole for Soledad Brother John Clutchette? “The law has been used to perpetuate an injustice in Mr. Clutchette’s case.” On January 12, 2018, the California Board of Parole Hearings granted parole to an elderly inmate named John Clutchette. However, supporters of parole for Clutchette are concerned that California Governor Jerry Brown will reverse the Board’s decision, and Clutchette will not be released. Supporters have a reason to be concerned. After all, this is exactly what happened in 2016 when Clutchette was similarly granted parole by the Board but Governor Brown chose to reverse the Board’s ruling. By Angola 3 News
Labor:
Rail Workers Acquitted in Trial on Deadly Lac-Mégantic Oil Train Disaster The train engineer and two additional rail workers who faced charges for the deadly July 2013 oil train accident in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, were acquitted on Friday after the jury deliberated for nine days. If convicted of all charges, they potentially faced life in prison. The end of the trial of these three employees for their role in the Canadian oil train disaster that resulted in 47 deaths and the destruction of much of downtown Lac-Mégantic appears to have brought some closure to residents of the still-recovering town — although most are still waiting for justice.As the trial began, the BBC reported the sentiments of Lac-Mégantic resident Jean Paradis, who lost three friends in the accident and thought the wrong people were on trial.“It’s clear to me the main shareholder, MMA, are not here. Transport Canada is not here. Transport Canada have let cheap companies run railroads in Canada with less money for more profit…” Paridis told the BBC. Transport Canada is the Canadian regulatory agency with rail oversight. By Justin Mikulka
Economy:
That Goldman Sachs Guy Is Dragging Trump and His Cabinet to Davos To hear Gary Cohn, the immediate past President of Goldman Sachs tell it, U.S. President Donald Trump will be feted as a beloved world leader when he arrives in Davos, Switzerland tomorrow morning for the World Economic Forum. Despite Trump hurling many insults at Goldman Sachs during the Presidential campaign, Cohn, who had spent much of his adult life at Goldman, was quickly picked by Trump to be his Director of the National Economic Council just one month after the election in 2016. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Jeremy Corbyn: Theresa May is in denial about NHS Labour leader uses prime minister’s questions to attack Tory record on health service Jeremy Corbyn has accused Theresa May of being “frankly in denial about the state of the NHS” as he again used prime minister’s questions to pressure her over the performance of the health service this winter. By Peter Walker
At UN Hearing, South African Delegate Decries Israel as World’s Last Functioning “Apartheid State” “We remain deeply concerned at the denial of the right of self-determination to the Palestinian people,” said delegate at a hearing in Geneva, “in the absence of which no other human right can be exercised or enjoyed.” By Jon Queally
Taiwan: DPP anti-worker legislation incites large scale protests The Taiwanese working class has begun to move with mass demonstrations and the rise of new trade union organizations. Recent anti-worker legislation passed by the government has proven to be the whip that has pushed them to take action. By Boren Chen and Parson Young
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
