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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:
Following the article, environmentalist Dr Rosemary Mason put together a 20-page report on glyphosate and has sent it out to key public health officials and media outlets, including The Independent’s editor. In her report, she states that the European Chemicals Agency classifies glyphosate as a substance that causes serious eye damage and is toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects. But she claims that the media still remains silent on the matter. Even in UK towns and cities, glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide is still being sprayed on weeds and super-weeds which have become Roundup-resistant. — Don’t Look, Don’t See: Time for Honest Media Reporting on Impacts of Pesticides
So why do America’s disastrous wars persist? I can think of many reasons, some obvious and easy to understand, like the endless pursuit of profit through weapons sales for those very wars, and some more subtle but no less significant, like a deep-seated conviction in Washington that a willingness to wage war is a sign of national toughness and seriousness. Before I go on, though, here’s another distinctive aspect of our forever-war moment: Have you noticed that peace is no longer even a topic in America today? The very word, once at least part of the rhetoric of Washington politicians, has essentially dropped out of use entirely. Consider the current crop of Democratic candidates for president. One, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, wants to end regime-change wars, but is otherwise a self-professed hawk on the subject of the war on terror. Another, Senator Bernie Sanders, vows to end “endless wars” but is careful to express strong support for Israel and the ultra-expensive F-35 fighter jet. The other dozen or so tend to make vague sounds about cutting defense spending or gradually withdrawing U.S. troops from various wars, but none of them even consider openly speaking of peace. And the Republicans? While President Trump may talk of ending wars, since his inauguration he’s sent more troops to Afghanistan and into the Middle East, while greatly expanding drone and other air strikes, something about which he openly boasts. — How American Exceptionalism is Killing the Planet
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 United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.
Environment:
The Age Of Extinction:Biodiversity In 2020: The Biggest Threats And Opportunities Scientists and conservation professionals predict mosquito-killing fungi and a kelp crisis could be among the trends affecting living things next year hat are the biggest emerging opportunities and threats the coming year holds for efforts to conserve biodiversity? Nearly two dozen scientists, conservation professionals and future scanners recently came together to answer that question as part of an annual “horizon scan” led by Cambridge University conservation biologist William Sutherland. The group narrowed a list of 89 issues to 15 emerging or anticipated trends that have a strong potential to benefit or harm living things but are not yet on the radar for most conservationists. Here are their top picks, published in thejournal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. By Mary Hoff for Ensia
Don’t Look, Don’t See: Time for Honest Media Reporting on Impacts of Pesticides The UK-based Independent online newspaper recently published an article about a potential link between air pollution from vehicles and glaucoma. It stated that according to a new study air pollution is linked to the eye condition that causes blindness. The report explained that researchers had looked at vision tests carried out on more than 111,000 people across Britain between 2006 and 2010 and cross-referenced results against levels of air pollution in their neighbourhoods. Those living in areas with higher amounts of fine particulate matter were at least 6% more likely to have glaucoma than those in the least polluted areas. By Colin Todhunter 
Texas: City Residents Urged To Evacuate After Chemical Plant Explosions Port Neches issued voluntary order after elevated levels of chemical butadiene were detected following pair of blasts Authorities in the Texas city of Port Neches have issued an order encouraging its 50,000 residents to evacuate due to concerns over air quality after a pair of chemical plant explosions occurred last week. Port Neches issued the voluntary evacuation order late on Wednesday after elevated levels of the chemical butadiene were detected. Jefferson county emergency management officials said the elevated levels did not pose a serious health risk, but could cause dizziness, nausea, headaches or irritation to the eyes and throat.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Labor:
The Race to the Bottom fuels consolidation of wealth and power at the Top. Socialism is the only answer, a socialism rooted in the self-determination of all the peoples subjugated by capitalism since its emergence in colonialism and slavery – half a millennium of unrelenting, merciless, genocidal theft of land, labor and peoplehood. The “democratic” nature of this socialism lies not in ballots supervised by capitalist ruling class servants, but in the mass movement to dethrone the thieves that claim to “own” the world’s resources – a class so numerically tiny that we know the top guys’ names, starting with Bezos. Any thoroughgoing redistribution, no matter how chaotic, would be more “democratic” than the current oligarchy, and nothing could be more irrational. The rules and definition of democracy will be decided by people in motion in the process of building a new world. — Glen Ford, “Booming” Economy Means More Bad Jobs and Faster Race to the Bottom
Economy:
Massive Leak of Data Reveals Money-Hiding Secrets of Superrich—and This Is ‘Only the Beginning’ “It’s hard to overstate how notorious and suspicious the firm is.”A massive trove of documents, data, and recorded phone calls showing how British company Formations House works to hide money for the superrich is being reported on by journalists all over the world, with the first stories dropping at midnight on Wednesday. The reporting is being done under the name “29 Leaks,” a reference to Formations House’s original address at 29 Harley Street in London. The data was leaked to reporters over the summer. By Eoin Higgins
Federal Reserve V.P. Grilled at House Hearing on Hundreds of Billions in Fed Loans to Wall StreetWhile the Democrats focused on the continuing predatory practices of U.S. banks and the Federal Reserve’s coziness with those same banks, three Republicans at yesterday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing delved into why the Federal Reserve is showering Wall Street’s trading houses with super cheap loans on the pretext that it’s simply part of the Fed’s routine monetary operations.Since September 17, the Federal Reserve, through its New York Fed branch, has been funneling hundreds of billions of dollars each week to Wall Street’s trading houses, intervening in what had been a private overnight lending operation (called repurchase agreements or repo loans) between banks and other financial institutions. Since September 17, the Fed loans have grown in both size and duration with some loans extended out as far as 42 days – suggesting to many on Wall Street that there is one or more banks in trouble that peer banks simply don’t want to lend to. The Fed, however, has stuck to the mantra that this is just a routine response to a liquidity blip. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
A Brief History of the US Interference in the Caribbean Basin Since the United States granted itself the right to intervene in other countries’ internal affairs, its foreign policy has repeatedly run over its alleged commitment to democracy. In the history of geopolitics, it is often considered that the “Age of Imperialism” began at the end of the 19th century when Europeans disputed African territories among themselves.
Britain’s Choice Is Socialism or Barbarism Corbyn is offering, by far, the best option on Brexit. Whatever you might have heard about how Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has handled the Brexit crisis, here’s what’s important: as of right now, he has arrived at the best solution going forward. No political issue in my lifetime has been more mind-numbingly tedious than the Brexit morass. Suffice to say, an ocean’s distance is helpful in maintaining one’s sanity, let alone clarity. So, apologies for sounding like a scold—but, c’mon you Brits, wake up and recognize that Corbyn is providing a simple, sane pathway to survive this clusterf*ck. Here’s his plan, which, if you ask me, makes a lot of sense.If elected prime minister, Corbyn will negotiate a new Brexit deal, aiming for an arrangement similar to Norway’s current relationship with the EU (which means the U.K. will remain part of the EU common market). Then, he would put that deal up for a popular vote with the only other option being to remain in the union. The whole thing will be resolved in half a year. By Alan Minsky 
Britain: The Polls Are Narrowing – All Out For A Labour Victory! With now only one week to go until polling day, no one can predict what will happen. Given the large number of undecided voters, everything is up for grabs – including a Corbyn government. With now only one week to go until polling day, no one can predict what will happen. Given the large number of undecided voters, everything is up for grabs – including a Corbyn government. Similarly to the same point in the 2017 election, the polls are narrowing. Recent surveys show that Labour are gaining ground.One polling company, ICM, puts the Tory lead at 7 percentage points, with Labour on 35 per cent and Boris Johnson’s party on 42 per cent. Most notably, a separate survey by BMG Research gives the Tories an even slimmer lead of just six points, with the Tories down two points to 39 and Labour up five points to 33. This is hung parliament territory.Things have never been so volatile. “There is far more going on below the waterline of what is probably the most consequential British election since the second world war,” states the Financial Times.By Rob Sewell
Denouncing Macron’s Neoliberal Pension Reforms, Hundreds of Thousands of Striking Workers Bring France to a Halt“We have one of the best pension systems in the world, if not the best. Yet the president has decided, purely out of ideology, to wipe it out.” In the nation’s largest public-sector strike in decades, hundreds of thousands of workers—from teachers to air traffic controllers to rail workers—took to the streets across France and effectively brought large swaths of the country to a stand-still Thursday to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to overhaul the pension system.French unions leading the demonstrations have threatened to strike until the Macron government drops the proposed pension reforms, which workers and critics warn would slash benefits for millions of people. By Jake Johnson
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
‘Flat-Out Corruption’: DeVos Accused of Scheming to Stop Next President From Canceling Student Loan Debt “Normally the rich are moderately more subtle about rigging the system in their favor. They’re scared.” Billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this week proposed handing over the federal government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio to a “stand-alone government corporation,” a move observers condemned as a corrupt ploy to strip the next president of the ability to cancel student loan debt. By Jake Johnson
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