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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 1%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 comes a time when silence is betrayal.” “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” “Only in the darkness can you see the stars. — Martin Luther King
Videos of the Day:
U.S.:
Venezuela has the highest world oil reserves and you think it’s about human rights or democracy?
A Member Of Congress Tried To Go To An Immigration Activist’s Ice Check-In. Ice Tried To Block Her.Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said that what she saw Monday morning while accompanying a New York immigration activist to his mandated check-in at the New York field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement left her with serious concerns about the agency’s secrecy and the way it treats the people it summons to its offices. By Nick Pinto
Nuclear Threat Grows as US Prepares to Withdraw From INF TreatyWith the US poised to begin its withdrawal from the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty on February 2, there’s been an uptick in media focus on arms control and the nuclear weapons, even as the US public remains largely disengaged. By Jon Letman 
The Silence of the Lambs: Bernie and the Dems Flunk Trump’s Test On Venezuela’s Coup When Trump announced his support for the unfolding coup in Venezuela, Bernie Sanders remained silent for 24 hours. This matters because coups are made or broken in the first moments or hours; a day during a coup can feel like a month or more. With each hour Bernie’s silence roared louder. So much was hanging in the balance with Trump at home and abroad, to the point where a finger could tip the scales— yet Bernie refused to lift his. By Shamus Cooke
Pompeo’s Foreign Policy Fantasy U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo started out the new year—the date was January 10—preaching “the truth” about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and for reasons we will get to below, he chose to do so at the American University in Cairo, Egypt (AUC). He implied that he was particularly capable of discerning the truth because he is “an evangelical Christian” who keeps a “Bible open on my desk to remind me of God and His Word, and The Truth.” This confession indicates that Mr. Pompeo is wearing ideological glasses through which he cannot possibly see the world, much less the Middle East, in an objective fashion. We can assume that the decidedly unthinking and amoral president he serves has no problem with this prophet in the State Department because Pompeo is one of the few cabinet ministers whom President Trump has not fired. By Lawrence Davidson
Joshua Tree national park ‘may take 300 years to recover’ from shutdownNational park saw ‘irreparable’ damage including vandalism, ruined trails and trees cut down, says former superintendent The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take hundreds of years to recover from damage caused by visitors during the longest-ever government shutdown. “What’s happened to our park in the last 34 days is irreparable for the next 200 to 300 years,” Curt Sauer said at a rally over the weekend, according to a report from the Desert Sun. Sauer retired in 2010 after running the park for seven years. 
Trump is going for regime change – we say: hands off Venezuela! The United States has decided it is time for “regime change” in Venezuela, and is acting in a relentless manner to achieve it. The imperialists have appointed an “interim president” and rallied the “international community” to recognise him. They have seized Venezuelan assets in the US and the UK and imposed economic sanctions. They are calling on president Maduro to step down and on the Venezuelan Army to oust him if he refuses. This is an imperialist coup attempt, which any socialist and even consistent democrat is duty-bound to oppose. By Jorge Martin
U.S.:
The World to Come The ruling elites are painfully aware that the foundations of American power are rotting. The outsourcing of manufacturing in the United States and the plunging of over half the population into poverty will, they know, not be reversed. The self-destructive government shutdown has been only one of numerous assaults on the efficiency of the administrative state. The failing roads, bridges and public transportation are making commerce and communications more difficult. The soaring government deficit, now almost a trillion dollars thanks to the Trump administration’s massive corporate tax cuts, cannot be eliminated. The seizure of the financial system by global speculators ensures, sooner rather than later, another financial meltdown. The dysfunction of democratic institutions, which vomit up con artists such as Donald Trump and hold as alternatives inept, corporate-indentured politicians such as Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, is cementing into place a new authoritarianism. The hollowing out of the pillars of the state, including the diplomatic corps and regulatory agencies, leaves the blunt force of the military as the only response to foreign disputes and fuels endless and futile foreign wars. By Chris Hedges 
7 Racist Exclusions that Reveal America’s Ugly Side The two-year anniversary of Trump’s Muslim visa ban and Holocaust Remembrance Day have arrived more or less together, and it is worthwhile reviewing how they reveal an ugly side to America. US history is replete with racism as public policy. It has been more often our history than not, and the era since 1965 has been unusual inasmuch as there has been widespread public pushback against the use of race for policy purposes. Trump’s movement is an attempt to see whether that widespread US consensus of the past few decades can be reversed. Just as the Ku Klux Klan took over the Democratic Party in the 1920s, including the whole state of Indiana, so white nationalism has taken over the Republican Party today, including the GOP majority on SCOTUS. By Juan Cole
Environment:
Climate Change, Not Border Security, Is The Real National Emergency The Shutdown Might be over for now, but President Donald Trump’s threat to declare a national emergency still looms. The continuing resolution passed Friday afternoon does not contain funding for a border wall, and the president has suggested that if Congress doesn’t compromise on a funding plan within three weeks, he may still proclaim a national emergency at the border. Bt Kate Aronoff
Big Energy:
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
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MLK Fought for Workers’ Rights
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Martin Luther King, who was killed supporting Memphis garbage workers, often noted that most Black people are working class, said labor historian Peter Cole. On the day after King’s assassination in 1968, the dockworkers union shut down port traffic on the west coast. King was an honorary member of the union, as was Paul Robeson, before him.
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The “Feminism” of Rich, Mass Murdering Women
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The war industry brags that five top weapons corporations are headed by women. “The logic,” said University of Seattle Law School professor Dean Spade, is “that any population should know it’s free when it has the opportunity to become executioners, police or soldiers and work inside those institutions that produce harm.” Spade is co-author of an article titled, “There’s Nothing Feminist About Imperialism.”
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New South African Party to “Overthrow Capitalism”
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Irvin Jim, leader of South Africa’s largest union, told a People’s Forum audience in New York City that the newly formed Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party is not “another reformist party. We want to overthrow capitalism in South Africa.” He was joined by Dr. Cosmas Musumali, leader of Zambia’s Socialist Party, who said Africa is “being highly militarized,” mainly by the U.S. “This is highly dangerous, especially if you are pursuing a working class course.”
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Mexico: explosive strike wave hits 48 factories In 25 January, 48 “maquila” companies installed in Matamoros, Tamaulipas were hit by strikes. This is not a minor movement, we are talking about 45,000 striking workers. In the past several days, the workers revolted against their inert labour leaders and their bosses. The workers partially paralyzed some factories. Under pressure, several people went to work, but most refused. Massive, daily assemblies have been held in the public square. The grassroots movement forced the Union of Laborers and Industrial Workers and the Maquiladora Industry (SJOIIM), affiliated to the Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM), to strike. The bureaucratic leaders, always more concerned with defending the interests of the bosses than those of their members, tried to intimidate and acted to confuse and disorganise the workers. But the rank and file remained firm and the strike went ahead. By Carlos Márquez
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
