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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.Always Remember That Obamba Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature, Started the United States Capitalist Austerity Program — The Race to the Botom or the Pauperization of the 99%!
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. Socialism Means True Democracy — The 99% Will Rule! — Not the Few!Images of the Day:Quotes of the Day:
Images of the Day:
Panama Papers (Spanish: Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.[1][2] The documents, some dating back to the 1970s,[3] were created by, and taken from, Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca.[4] The documents contain personal financial information about wealthy individuals and public officials that had previously been kept private.[5] While offshore business entities are legal (see Offshore Magic Circle), reporters found that some of the Mossack Fonseca shell corporationswere used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions.[6]
In fact, every government that has the technology to do so “meddles” in other countries’ politics, with Washington being the Meddler-in-Chief. At times, when elections in other countries do not go the way the US wants, it “meddles” by overthrowing the government of the offending country. Trump is a US phenomenon, not a Russian or Ukrainian one. A basic feature of modern monopoly capitalism and imperialism has been the increasing centralisation of power in the hands of the executive at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches. This has been true in the US beginning in the early 20th century under both Democratic and Republican administrations. However, the growth of executive power is not without its own perils to the ruling class. If a dictator, or would-be dictator, starts to put their personal interests above those of the capitalist class as a whole, which is what Trump has done, by withholding military aid and by attacking Ukraine while going soft on Putin, then that executive is truly harming the “national interest” of US imperialism. Trump should be impeached on the charge of attempting to force Ukraine to further his electoral ambitions, not for harming the “national interest” of dominating Ukraine, which is not in the interests of US workers. All this is only one aspect of the deep divisions in the ruling class concerning Trump. How this plays out in conjunction with other issues in the upcoming election campaign remains to be seen. — Barry Sheppard, Trump’s impeachment and the US ‘national interest’
“If the DOD were being honest, they would go to Congress and say, ‘All these proposed budgets we’ve been presenting to you are a bunch of garbage,’ ” said Jack Armstrong, who spent more than five years in the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General as a supervisory director of audits before retiring in 2011. The fraud works like this. When the DoD submits its annual budget requests to Congress, it sends along the prior year’s financial reports, which contain fabricated numbers. The fabricated numbers disguise the fact that the DoD does not always spend all of the money Congress allocates in a given year. However, instead of returning such unspent funds to the US Treasury, as the law requires, the Pentagon sometimes launders and shifts such moneys to other parts of the DoD’s budget. — Exclusive: The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed
Videos Of the Day:
Smokescreen Animation – Green New Deal #GNDThe Fairewinds Crew created this special 2-minute animation to show you why building new nukes is a lost opportunity for humankind with precious time and money wasted on the wrong choice. At least $8.2 Trillion would be needed to build the 1,000 atomic reactors the nuclear industry wants – that’s 1 reactor every 12-days for 35-years. Watch the animation to see what it means and why!
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 United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.
Trump’s impeachment and the US ‘national interest’The Democratic impeachment inquiry began when a “whistleblower” revealed that US President Donald Trump had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation of former vice-president Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump suspended military aid to Ukraine and made a White House visit by Zelensky — which the new Ukrainian president dearly wanted — conditional on him stating publically that such an investigation was underway. Since the elder Biden is a possible Democratic opponent of Trump in the 2020 presidential campaign, the purpose of Trump’s demand was to get material that he could use against Biden should he become the Democratic nominee. To demand of a foreign government that it work to help Trump personally is against the law. A few days after the whistleblower’s complaint was made public, Trump beat a hasty retreat: he released the military aid and Zelensky never made the statement. Trump’s violation of the law is relatively unimportant compared to his other crimes that do not form part of the impeachment inquiry: his administration’s war on asylum seekers on the US–Mexico border; his Muslim travel ban; increasing the extraction of fossil fuels; racism; misogyny and more. By Barry Sheppard
Ukraine, the New Cold War and the Politics of Impeachment In October 2019, with the impeachment of Donald Trump already underway, wealthy ‘centrist’ Democratic Party donors began to fretover the Democrat’s prospects in the 2020 election. Since then Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick, both Wall Street Democrats with deep pockets, have entered the race. Meanwhile, the Senate impeachment schedule will keep Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in Washington— and away from the campaign trail, well into the early state primaries. The idea that any of this was accidental, the Senate schedule, the well placed call for centrist candidates in Pravda (the New York Times), the entry of billionaire candidates whose ‘centrism’ is code for service to the oligarchs, or the use of impeachment to bury the left’s agenda, think again. From Hillary Clinton’s declaration in 2016 that Russia stole the election through impeachment, the Democrat’s strategy has been to use reactionary nationalism to sideline dissent. By Rob Urie
Report: Churches Cost Taxpayers $71 Billion Annually A new report from the Secular Policy Institute shows that tax exempt churches cost US taxpayers $71 billion every year.Among the report’s findings: Each year religious groups receive $35.3 billion in federal income tax subsidies and $26.2 billion property tax subsidies. In addition, religious organizations also enjoyed approximately $6.1 billion in state income tax subsidies, along with $1.2 billion of parsonage, and $2.2 billion in the faith-based initiatives subsidy. By Michael Stone
Petagon’s Robber Barons: Exclusive: The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed How US military spending keeps rising even as the Pentagon flunks its audit. other private firms that were hired to audit the Pentagon announced that they could not complete the job. Congress had ordered an independent audit of the Department of Defense, the government’s largest discretionary cost center—the Pentagon receives 54 cents out of every dollar in federal appropriations—after the Pentagon failed for decades to audit itself. The firms concluded, however, that the DoD’s financial records were riddled with so many bookkeeping deficiencies, irregularities, and errors that a reliable audit was simply impossible. By Dave Lindorff
Environment:
Condemning Inaction of Rich Nations, Oxfam Unveils Report Showing Climate-Related Disasters Displaced 200 Million People Since 2008 “People are taking to the streets across the globe to demand urgent climate action. If politicians ignore their pleas, more people will die, more people will go hungry, and more people will be forced from their homes.” By Jake Johnson
Decrying ‘Utterly Inadequate’ Efforts to Tackle Climate Crisis, UN Chief Declares ‘Our War Against Nature Must Stop’ “The point of no return is no longer over the horizon,” António Guterres warned ahead of COP 25. “It is in sight and hurtling toward us.” On eve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres decried the “utterly inadequate” efforts of governments to curb planet-heating emissions and called for “a clear demonstration of increased ambition and commitment” from world leaders to tackle the crisis. “For many decades the human species has been at war with the planet. And the planet is fighting back,” Guterres told reporters in Madrid Sunday. “We are confronted now with a global climate crisis. The point of no return is no longer over the horizon. It is in sight and hurtling towards us.” By Jessica Corbett
Thousands of Activists Stage Protests at Three German Coal Mines to Demand Bolder Climate Policies “We’re at a critical moment—the window of opportunity to stop the climate crisis is closing rapidly.”On the heels of Friday’s global youth-led climate strike, thousands of activists staged demonstrations at three coal mines in Germany Saturday to protest the government’s plan to phase out coal by 2038, which activists say isn’t soon enough. The German news agency dpa reported that “protesters ran into the Jänschwalde and Welzow-Süd open-cast mining sites in the eastern state of Brandenburg, as well as the United agency dpa Schleenhain lignite mining area in neighboring Saxony.” By Jessica Corbet
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Can Plantations be Redeemed? Thomas Jefferson may have written that all men were created equal in the Declaration of Independence. But he, along with so many of hisfellow plantation owners, was still complicit in the institution of slavery. Jefferson’s famous Monticello plantation, a picturesque venue most popular today for hosting weddings and other special occasions, was a place of terror for those African captives who would never gain freedom in Jefferson’s lifetime. During a recent visit to Monticello, I learned that Jefferson personally kept upwards of 600 people in bondage. It was ironic — the very man I was taught to revere in history class kept my ancestors as property. By Tracey L. Rogers
Labor:
Economy:
‘The One Financial Institution That Stuck with Trump’: Deutsche Bank Headquarters Raided in Germany Trump’s long and winding history with Deutsche Bank could now be at the center of Robert Mueller’s investigation.” As news broke Thursday morning that Deutsche Bank’s German headquarters had been raided in Frankfurt over, numerous observers were quick to note the bank’s deep ties to U.S. President Donald Trump. The bank’s offices were reportedly raided in connection with the Panama Papers money laundering investigation. Two employees and several “unidentified people in positions of authority” are suspected of failing to report the laundering of more than $350 million which were kept by the bank in accounts located in the British Virgin Islands. ” By Julia Conley
World:
Maltese Prime Minister Announces Plans to Resign After Protests Intensified Over Journalist’s MurderA probe into the 2017 car bombing that killed investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia ensnared government and business figures on the island and provoked calls for the prime minister to step down. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced Sunday that he intends to step down soon amid protests demanding his immediate resignation, which intensifiedover the weekend after a businessman who allegedly has ties to the government was charged with complicity in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Caruana Galizia, who reported extensively on government corruption and was widely known for her work related to the Panama Papers , was killed by a car bomb explosion near her home in Malta on Oct. 16, 2017. The investigation into her death has drawn global attention to the small Mediterranean island nation. Some of the reporter’s surviving relatives are among those who have called for Muscat to leave office. By Jessica Corbett 
Education, Health, Science, 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
Quotes of the Day:
Carbon Offset Programs Are Failing as Climate Solutions