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Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace” Could Still Be Published Today!
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 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:
Bendib: War
Quotes of the Day:
The war is won, but the peace is not. The great powers, united in fighting, are now divided over the peace settlements. The world was promised freedom from fear, but in fact fear has increased tremendously since the termination of the war. The world was promised freedom from want, but large parts of the world are faced with starvation while others are living in abundance. The nations were promised liberation and justice. But we have witnessed, and are witnessing even now, the sad spectacle of “liberating” armies firing into populations who want their independence and social equality, and supporting in those countries, by force of arms, such parties and personalities as appear to be most suited to serve vested interests. Territorial questions and arguments of power, obsolete though they are, still prevail over the essential demands of common welfare and justice. — Listen as Albert Einstein Calls for Peace and Social Justice in 1945
Videos of the Day:
U.S.:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Republicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace.— The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace!
The Surveillence State: Critics Lament as 126 House Democrats Join Forces With GOP to Hand Trump ‘Terrifying’ Mass Domestic Spying Powers“The Democrats who voted against this common sense amendment just threw immigrants, LGBTQ folks, activists, journalists, and political dissidents under the bus by voting to rubberstamp the Trump administration’s Orwellian domestic spying capabilities.” By Jon Queally
With Bolton, Pompeo and Trump in the Picture, All Bets Are Off on Iran If you’re worried about the U.S. initiating a shooting war with Iran, you should be, though not really, but definitely maybe, or not. As with everything else involving Donald Trump and the intentions of his administration, attempting to figure out exactly what they are up to is a lot like trying to stare into the bottom of a mud puddle By William Rivers Pitt
The Drumbeat for War With Iran Sounds All Too FamiliarMaybe they did; maybe they didn’t. That’s not the point. Even if Iran did attack a couple tankers in the Gulf of Oman – as the Trump team assures us it did – there’s no reason for a war. As I’ve written repeatedly, war with the Islamic Republic would be ill-advised, illegal, and immoral. It simply isn’t necessary. Wars of choice should be avoided at all costs. Besides, the U.S. has a nasty habit of pointing to alleged naval provocations as a justification for aggressive wars. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard not to assume the worst and mistrust the official story from Washington. Remember the Maine! On February 15, 1898, the US battleship exploded in Havana harbor while showing the flag in Spanish-held Cuba. The press and the government immediately blamed Spain and the result was war. The problem is that most experts now agree that the explosion was likely an accident and Spain had nothing to do with it. By Maj. Danny Sjursen
Democarcy Now!: Julian Assange Indictment “Criminalizes the News Gathering Process,” Says Pentagon Papers LawyerA London judge has ordered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appear before a court in February 2020 to face a full extradition hearing. Prosecutors in the U.S. have indicted Assange on 18 counts, including 17 violations of the Espionage Act. This is the first-ever case of a journalist or publisher being indicted under the World War I-era law. Assange said that his life was “effectively at stake” if the U.K. honors a U.S. request for his extradition. Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence in London’s Belmarsh Prison for skipping bail in 2012. We speak with James Goodale, former general counsel of The New York Times. In 1971, he urged the paper to publish the Pentagon Papers, which had been leaked by whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg
Environment:
‘Canary in the Coal Mine’: Experts Warn of Climate Tipping Point as Scientists Find Permafrost Thawing 70 Years Ahead of Schedule“It’s very likely that this phenomenon is affecting a much more extensive region.” Areas of the Canadian Arctic permafrost are thawing rapidly, 70 years ahead of when scientists previously believed, as the climate crisis continues to push the planet towards dangerous tipping points. By Eoin Higgins 
New Testing Finds High Levels of Arsenic in Bottled Water Owned by Whole Foods, Dr PepperIndependent testing commissioned by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has found high levels of the toxic metal arsenic in Starkey Water, owned by Whole Foods, and Penafiel, owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, bottled in Mexico and sold at Target. CEH has sent legal notices to these bottled water manufacturers and retailers because the amount of arsenic in the water is above the level requiring a health warning under California’s consumer protection law Proposition 65. Prop 65 identifies arsenic as a metal that causes reproductive harm and cancer. “Consumers are being needlessly exposed to arsenic without their knowledge or consent,” said Michael Green, Chief Executive Officer of CEH. “Customers typically purchase bottled water at exorbitantly high costs with the assumption that it is safer and healthier to drink than tap water, unaware that they are ingesting an extremely toxic metal linked to birth defects and cancer.”
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
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Prosecution Falters in Poisoning of Flint Water Much of today’s American capitalist enterprise is only profitable because poisoning the air and water and soil is, essentially, free — for the businessman.” Five years after it was confirmed that the water supply of Flint, Michigan, was a danger to human health, charges have been — at least temporarily — dropped against eight former and present officials who had been facing up to 20 years in prison for a host of felonies. These included charges of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of 12 people from a 2014 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease attributed to Flint’s water, which was tainted by pollutants from the Flint River and by lead water pipes. By Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Freedom Rider: Iran and Endless War Americans are, indeed, exceptional – the most gullible public in the world, always ready to believe their leaders’ lies. “The increasing closeness between China, Russia and their central Asian partners is a reaction to U.S. threats and aggressions.” The latest in the saga of the desperate empire is the execution of one of the most obvious false flag operations of all time. On June 13, 2019 explosions took place on two oil tankers, one of which was Japanese owned, in the Gulf of Oman. Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe had just concluded meetings with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Japan is caught up in the U.S. sanctions scheme against Iran, which forbids their continued purchase of Iranian oil. The Trump administration and their friends at the New York Timesand other outlets would have us believe that Iran would take such risky action during delicate negotiations that determine its ability to survive as a nation. By Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist 
Assata Shakur and the Long War on Black Liberation The US long war on the Black liberation movement is far from over. “Puerto Rican liberation activist William Morales is included in the latest resolution to lynch Assata Shakur.” During the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Assata Shakur’s name saw increased recognition. A section of her autobiography was used as a slogan in demonstrations against racist policing throughout the country, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom.It is our duty to win.We must love each other and support each other.We have nothing to lose but ourchains.” This statement, while powerful, was unable to ignite a broad conversation in the Black Lives Matter movement or U.S. society in general on the plight and condition of Assata Shakur. As Executive Editor of BAR Glen Ford noted, the “soft power” of U.S. imperialism in the form of corporate philanthropy has played a significant role in watering down the politics of what is now a much quieter movement than what existed in the twilight years of the Obama era. Yet Assata Shakur’s current situation is a reminder that the U.S.’ long war on the Black liberation movement is far from over. By Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
Austerity and Militarism are Killers The Democrats claim to “resist” and oppose Trump, but they are once again planning to give him all the money he wants for war. “Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can be depended on to secure our rights or protect the world from the U.S. atrocities.” Trump’s 2020 budget proposal reflects another significant increase in military spending along with corresponding cuts in spending by Federal agencies tasked with the responsibility for providing critical services and income support policies for working class and poor people. Trump’s call for budget cuts by federal agencies is mirrored by the statutorily imposed austerity policies in most states and many municipalities. Those cuts represent the continuing imposition of neoliberal policies in the U.S. even though the “A” word for austerity is almost never used to describe those policies. By Ajamu Baraka , BAR editor and columnist
Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement The Indian freedom struggle inspired liberation struggles in Africa and Afro-America. “Gandhi pioneered a philosophy of the movement which was based in the life-world of the peasantry and the poor.” The year of 2019 is the 150thanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. In Philadelphia, we will celebrate the anniversary with our second event of the year, Now is the Time, where we call on people to look back at the Indian Anti-Colonial Struggle and the Black Freedom Movement to anchor us today in a new resistance.By Jahan Choudhry
Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel? Congressman John Lewis has joined a new caucus that will likely rally other Black lawmakers in defense of the apartheid state.“Caucus member Zeldin has smeared Representative Ilhan Omaras anti-Semitic.” Five members of the US House of Representatives announced last week the formation of a bipartisan Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus at the annual global forum of the American Jewish Committee. The initial members of the caucus are Republicans Lee Zeldin of New York and Will Hurd of Texas, and Democrats Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida and Georgia’s John Lewis. By Josh Ruebner
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Surveillance capitalism is profoundly antidemocratic and follows the logic of the quest for profit. “The Googles and Facebooks of this world are shaping an antidemocratic world, in which every little detail of our lives becomes raw material for products that eliminate our freedom.” The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power By Ico Maly
Chicago Police Tortured Victims With Electric Shocks, Burns and Beatings “All you could feel was that machine he was running, that box with the wires on it.”This excerpt recounts some of the torture unleashed by police in Chicago during the 1980s, under Police Commander Jon Burge. By Flint TaylorLabor:
Economy:
World:
Health, Education, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘govern’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers the to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let The People Vote on Healthcare!
