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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:
In the past few days, two reliable media enablers of Donald Trump have veered off script with stinging rebukes of the President’s epic pattern of lies. The question is — what took them so long. Editorials in the foreign press dating back as far as a year ago recognized that Trump’s insatiable need to lie rendered him unfit for the presidency of the United States. Since April of last year the Los Angeles Times has been running a series of forensic editorialsattempting to explain what it is in Trump’s personality that would explain “his moral vacuity and his disregard for the truth, as well as his stubborn resistance to sensible advice.” The editorials have been headlined: “Our Dishonest President,” “Why Trump Lies,” and “Enough is Enough,” to mention just three. The Washington Post determined that Trump’s lies are so vast that they must be chronicled in a database. That databasenow lists more than 3,001 lies or misleading claims since Trump took the oath of office on January 20, 2017. — Trump’s Lies Hit Critical Mass: Even His Media Supporters Are Bolting
Fertility rates among nearby populations appeared to increase after coal and oil power plant retirements. Our study design limited the possibility that our findings resulted from temporal trends or changes in population composition. These results require confirmation in other populations, given known methodological limitations of ecologic study designs. — Increase in fertility following coal and oil power plant retirements in California
Videos of the Day:
200th Anniversary of the Birth of Marx and a Revolution in Understanding History Historian Gerald Horne and host Paul Jay discuss the ongoing relevance of Marx’s Materialist Conception of History; to understand and fight ideas that defend injustice today, people must know the economic roots the give rise to, and perpetuate, such ideology
US Interventions in Latin America Continue and Intensify Most US citizens don’t realize it, but the US government has continued and even intensified its regime change agenda in Latin America and successfully helped reverse the so-called “pink tide” of left-of-center governments over the past ten years, says CEPR’s Mark Weisbrot
U.S.:
Trump Threatens to Shut Down the Government If He Doesn’t Get a Border WallLast night in Arizona, the president said a lot of insane (and insanely petty) things that didn’t really matter — and a few that just might. Among the latter was an apparent pledge to shut down the government next month if Congress fails to appropriate significant funds for his border wall. “If we have to close down that government,” Donald Trump said, “we are going to build that wall.” By Eric Levitz
As Rest of World Moves Towards Renewables, US Keeps Offering Exclusive Tax Breaks for Fossil Fuels About a half decade ago, as the shale drilling rush was sweeping across the U.S., drillers needed upfront cash — and quick — to let them snap up acreage, drill and frack exploratory wells, and hone their skills at the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that fueled an oil and gas boom. Bankers and financiers began attending shale industry conferences, marketing a clever idea. By dusting off an obscure part of the tax code, drillers and pipeline builders could attract a different class of investor than would usually look at a boom-and-bust prone industry, an investor hunting for stability and predictability. Form a Master Limited Partnership, or MLP, shale drillers and pipeline builders were advised, and you’ll be able to access that capital. By Sharon Kelly
Environment:
CO2 Levels Hit Record, April Temp Hits Record, and ‘We Keep Burning Fossil Fuels’April gave clear signs the climate crisis is deepeningWeather experts at the United Nations just said that the highest April temperature ever may have just been recorded—an ominous sign that comes on the heels of the monthly average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hitting the highest level on the books. Speaking to press at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Clare Nullis from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) referenced the extreme heat in the Pakistani city of Nawabshah, which reportedly reached50.2°C (122.36°F) on Monday. “This is April—it’s not June or July—it’s April,” Nullis saidFriday. “We don’t normally see temperatures above 50 degrees C. In fact, as far as we’re aware, we’ve never seen a temperature of above 50 degrees C in April.” By Andrea Germanos
Climate Change 10-Year Check-Up Mr. Surace’s brilliant summation Worst Case Climate Change, as of 2008, was done for purposes: (1) exposure, (2) making the issue controversial, and (3) to make people think about the prospects. He did not intend to suggest the worst case would happen, rather encouraging people to learn more and act accordingly. Ten years later, how does Surace’s TED talk hold up? by Robert Hunziker
Everglades under threat as Florida’s mangroves face death by rising sea level The ‘river of grass’ wilderness and coastal communities are in peril, with the buffer coastal ecosystems on a ‘death march’ inland Florida’s mangroves have been forced into a hasty retreat by sea level rise and now face being drowned, imperiling coastal communities and the prized Everglades wetlands, researchers have found. By Oliver Milman
The water war that will decide the fate of 1 in 8 AmericansL Lake Mead is the country’s biggest reservoir of water. Think of it as the savings account for the entire Southwest. Right now, that savings account is nearly overdrawn. For generations, we’ve been using too much of the Colorado River, the 300-foot-wide ribbon of water that carved the Grand Canyon, supplies Lake Mead, and serves as the main water source for much of the American West. The river sustains one in eight Americans — about 40 million people — and millions of acres of farmland. In the next 40 years, the region is expected to add at least 10 million more people, as the region’s rainfall becomes more erratic. By Eric Holthaus
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction In the last decade unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction has rapidly proliferated throughout the United States (US) and the world. This occurred largely because of the development of directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing which allows access to fossil fuels from geologic formations that were previously not cost effective to pursue. This process is known to use greater than 1,000 chemicals such as solvents, surfactants, detergents, and biocides. In addition, a complex mixture of chemicals, including heavy metals, naturally-occurring radioactive chemicals, and organic compounds are released from the formations and can enter air and water. Compounds associated with UOG activity have been linked to adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes in humans and laboratory animal models, which is possibly due to the presence of endocrine active chemicals. By Ashley L. Bolden Email authorView ORCID ID profile, Kim Schultz, Katherine E. Pelch and Carol F. Kwiatkowski
Economy:
World:
Reading guide: the ideas of Karl Marx No set of ideas has been pronounced dead more frequently than that of Marxism. Yet, 200 years after the birth of Karl Marx, his ideas stand as vibrant as ever, while bourgeois thought is at an impasse, unable to truly grasp the events that are shaking up the world of ourtime. By In Defence of Marxism
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
De-Briefing Academics: Unpaid Intelligence Informants Over the past half-century, I have been engaged in research, lectured and worked with social movements and leftist governments in Latin America. I interviewed US officials and think tanks in Washington and New York. I have written scores of books, hundreds of professional articles and presented numerous papers at professional meetings. In the course, of my activity I have discovered that many academics are frequently engage in what government officials dub ‘de-briefing’! Academics meet and discuss their field-work, data collection, research finding, observations and personal contacts over lunch at the Embassy with US government officials or in Washington with State Department officials. By Prof. James Petras
Deploying ‘Tough on Terrorists’ Euphemism, Trump Backs Haspel With Open Embrace of CIA Torture 
Quotes of the Day: