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.
The recent events in Palestine of the genocidal murdering by Israeli sharpshooters as an Israeli spectatorsport — Israeli spectators now celebrate the genocide of Palestinians overlooking the mass murders!: Watch Israelis Watch Bombs Drop on Gaza From Front-Row SeatsLast Wednesday night, as he stood on a hilltop outside the Israeli town of Sderot and watched the bombardment of Gaza on the plain below, a Danish newspaper reporter snapped an iPhone photo of about a dozen locals who cheered on their military from plastic chairs while eating popcorn. Allan Sorensen, a veteran Middle East correspondent for Denmark’s Kristeligt Dagblad, then uploaded the image to Twitter with a sardonic caption that described the macabre scene as “Sderot cinema.” The Israeli genocide war against the Palestinian people clearly exposes Israel a military apartheid state! And watch Gaza war tourism – Keren Levy: I’m a little bit fascist.A little bit fascist? That is like being a ‘little bit pregnant’. — Roland Sheppard
Videos of the Day:
Major Banks Ramp Up Fossil Fuel Financing Despite Climate Crisis A recent report, “Banking on Climate Change 2018,” finds major banks increased fossil fuel financing to $115 Billion in 2017–up 11% from the year before–even though it was the costliest year on record for climate-related disasters. We speak to lead author Alison Kirsch of the Rainforest Action Network
On Universities and NATO’s War Drums: How Deep Does the Corruption Go? It is coming clear these days that university professors are increasingly fat-cat and lazy, not doing any research once they get tenure. It is a system-wide corruption of the academy, so entrenched that central administrations have only led the corruption in multiplying salaries and offices with no committed function to advancement of learning and dissemination of knowledge – the constitutional and statutory objective of the academy the best are devoted to everywhere. by John McMurtry
The Decree of the Capitalist God While we were once given a savior who was known as supply side Jesus, sadly it seems the people have again forgotten the holy word. More youth than ever are becoming heretics to the sacred economic texts, but despite these frightening developments not all is lost, for imbued within me is light of understanding from our holy lord, the one true capitalist god; Praise be! by Jason Holland Environment:
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation: Freedom Rider: Yaser Murtaja and Marie Colvin “The corporate media share in the culpability. Yaser Murtaja was a Palestinian journalist acting in his professional capacity when he was murdered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). He was covering the second Great Return March in Gaza and was clearly identified as press when an Israeli sniper fired a fatal shot. Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnistThe Democratic “Deep State” Takeover and the Moribund State of American Politics The Democratic “Deep State” Takeover and the Moribund State of American Politics “Democrats make gun violence in America the primary midterm election issue because the passage of single payer healthcare, a scale back of the military budget, or a reduction in poverty are not issues that the Wall Street-owned, CIA Democrats want to touch.” By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor
DETROIT, MI – FEBRUARY 24: The General Motors (GM) world headquarters is seen February 24, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. The city of Detroit has faced serious economic challenges in the past decade, with a shrinking population and tax base while trying to maintain essential services. A financial review team issued a finding on February 19 identifying the city as being under a ‘financial emergency.’ Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has 30 days from the report’s issuance to officially declare a financial emergency, which could result in the governor appointing an emergency financial manager to oversee Detroit’s municipal government. (Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
The Crime That Turned Central Africa Into a Vast Killing Ground “Kagame in fact triggered the massacres and has ever since blackmailed the rest of the world over its failure to stop them—even though he himself threatened to fire on UN troops if they intervened.”April 6 was the 24th anniversary of the day that General Paul Kagame shattered a ceasefire agreement and resumed the 1990-1994 war in Rwanda by assassinating Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira. His troops, acting on his orders, fired a rocket at Habyarimana’s plane when it appeared overhead in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, returning from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The plane crashed into the presidential palace and the BBC reported heavy fighting at the crash site as the news spread. No one has ever been brought to trial for the crime, even though Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo became vast killing grounds in its aftermath.By Ann Garrison, BAR contributorDemand the United States Withdraw Its Forces From Syria and Respect International Law “The Black Alliance for Peace says the only institution with the right and power to protect the peace and resolve international conflict is the United Nations.” The pending military intervention into Syria by the United States represents yet another case of unilateral illegality that continues the systematic assault on international law and morality that has characterized U.S. foreign policies since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, when the United States found itself without any countervailing global power. The result for the people of the world has been unending military conflicts, destabilization and the destruction of whole nations. By Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist Gangster “Democracies” “It is African involuntary aid that continues to keep the economies of many former European colonies afloat.”Gangsters are adept at convincing you of your binding need for their protection, to guard against impending perils, largely of their own creation. It is a service that comes at a price, of course. And usually paid for in recurrent fashion. It is an offer you dare not refuse, since they are sure to “whack” you should you decline their protection services. Besides being an impeccable self-fulfilling prophesy, that strategy must rank as an original, albeit bizarre, model of supply side economics. By Dr. Kweli NzitoGhana Opposition Against AFRICOM Deal “There is little discrepancy in the 2018 agreement ratified in Parliament and those signed under regimes headed by ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and Hannah Tetteh.” A leader of the second largest political party in the West African state of Ghana, the Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho, was arrested on 27 March 2018 after making comments about the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of current President Nana Akufo-Addo. By Abayomi Azikiwe
Every Murdered Black Person Deserves Protest: “We should hear about these killings every day, because they happen every day,” said Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist (“Freedom Rider”) for Black Agenda Report. Kimberley is encouraged by the response to Stephon Clark’s death-by-cops in Sacramento, California, but the scale of protest is dwarfed by the crimes. “Every day, an average of three people are killed by police, and one of these people will be a Black person,” said Kimberley. “These protests should be constant.
Let Herman Bell’s Parole Stand!: “I’m running against 20 rich white folks,” veteran activist Coffee Wrighttold the crowd at the Black Is Back Coalition’s national Electoral School, in St. Louis, Missouri. “I’m definitely supporting” the 19 points of the National Black Political Agenda for Self-Determination, formulated by the Coalition. “It’s on my flyers, it’s on my posters, it’s on my web site, and I ain’t scared to say it,” said Ms. Wright, who is running as a Democrat.
Cops Can Be Convicted of Murder, If Prosecutors Follow the Law:Stephanie Morales, Portsmouth, Virginia’s 34 year-old top prosecutor, succeeded in sending a cop to prison for two and a half years for shooting an unarmed suspected Black shoplifter. She does not accept the conventional wisdom: that it’s near-impossible to prosecute killer cops. Prosecutors should stop excusing their own inaction pr blaming defects in the law. “We cannot say, we want to do this, but the law doesn’t allow it; otherwise, I would not have been able to” get a voluntary manslaughter conviction against the officer.
Let Herman Bell’s Parole Stand!:New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have been pressuring the state parole board to reverse its pending release of Herman Bell, the former Black Panther imprisoned since 1973 in the death of a cop. The two Democrats’ campaign against Bell “should end their political careers; they ought to be marked ‘done’ in the Black community,” saidRalph Poynter, of the New Abolitionist Movement, husband of the late people’s lawyer and political prisoner, Lynne Stewart.
Mumia Bids Goodbye to Winnie: In a commentary on Prison Radio, Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, bid farewell to Winnie Mandela, South African heroine and widow of the man who was once the world’s most famous political prisoner. Winnie Mandela, who died at age 81, was a “lifelong revolutionary” who “labored under the white state’s total surveillance while she raised their children,” said Abu Jamal. When the “marriage ended, she remained a powerful presence in South Africa, loved by the nation’s poor and dispossessed.”
Black Caucus Punks on Israel Every Time: Israeli Army sniper fire killed 17 Palestinians and wounded as many as a 1,000, but such massacres do not seem to bother the Congressional Black Caucus, said BAR managing editor Bruce Dixon. “You will search in vain for statements condemning this or previous Israeli massacres in Gaza from the Congressional Black Caucus,” said Dixon. “As in Ferguson and Sacramento, the settler state’s enforcers enjoy immunity and impunity.”
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.
Labor:
Economy:
The Robbery of Social Security Differed Wages and the “Government Debt Film Flam:Why the $1 Trillion Deficit Isn’t a Problem for You, But Rich People Complaining About It Might BeThe Washington Post is trying to scare people about budget deficits. Okay, that is not exactly news, it has been trying to scare people about deficits to justify cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits and other programs for decades, but they are redoubling their efforts now. (In fairness, the Republican tax cut gave them more material.) by Dean Baker
Senate Hearing: Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Is Questioned on Ties to CIA-Funded CompanyAs Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg fingered his cheat sheet of canned answers to a barrage of questions from Senators yesterday on how Facebook had allowed a Trump-backed political operation to harvest personal data from 87 million of its users, Zuckerberg attempted to channel motherhood, apple pie, dorm room entrepreneurism and an altruistic desire to connect people around the world in one harmonious melding of human spirit. Unfortunately, the facts just kept getting in the way. There was the questioning from Senator Richard Blumenthal pointing out that Facebook had been caught red-handed in 2011 by the Federal Trade Commission in egregious abuses of its users’ personal data. Blumenthal said current activities at Facebook showed that Facebook was in “violation of the FTC consent decree.” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
[Video] Syrian chemical attacks and imperialist cynicismAlan Woods, editor of In Defence of Marxism, discusses the Western response to gas attacks in Syria. Trump, Macron, and May have all been banging the war drums over the alleged use of chemical weapons by Assad. But the atrocities in Syria mask the Western imperialists’ own role in propping up reactionary regimes in the region and perpetuating a never-ending humanitarian disaster in the Middle East. At the same time, their bellicose rhetoric acts as a useful distraction for these imperialist leaders, who are all facing criticism and opposition back home. Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
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.
Quote of the Day:
Environment:
Freedom Rider: Yaser Murtaja and Marie Colvin “The corporate media share in the culpability. Yaser Murtaja was a Palestinian journalist acting in his professional capacity when he was murdered by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). He was covering the second Great Return March in Gaza and was clearly identified as press when an Israeli sniper fired a fatal shot. Margaret Kimberley, BAR editor and senior columnist
The Democratic “Deep State” Takeover and the Moribund State of American Politics The Democratic “Deep State” Takeover and the Moribund State of American Politics “Democrats make gun violence in America the primary midterm election issue because the passage of single payer healthcare, a scale back of the military budget, or a reduction in poverty are not issues that the Wall Street-owned, CIA Democrats want to touch.” By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor 
Demand the United States Withdraw Its Forces From Syria and Respect International Law “The Black Alliance for Peace says the only institution with the right and power to protect the peace and resolve international conflict is the United Nations.” The pending military intervention into Syria by the United States represents yet another case of unilateral illegality that continues the systematic assault on international law and morality that has characterized U.S. foreign policies since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, when the United States found itself without any countervailing global power. The result for the people of the world has been unending military conflicts, destabilization and the destruction of whole nations. By Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
Ghana Opposition Against AFRICOM Deal “There is little discrepancy in the 2018 agreement ratified in Parliament and those signed under regimes headed by ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and Hannah Tetteh.” A leader of the second largest political party in the West African state of Ghana, the Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho, was arrested on 27 March 2018 after making comments about the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of current President Nana Akufo-Addo. By Abayomi Azikiwe
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: