During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1, Austerity,2 Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel
Always Remember: That Obama That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program, The Race to the Bottom/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 , thet the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
The United States, like Israel, has become a pariah that shreds, violates or absents itself from international law. We launch preemptive wars, which under international law is defined as a “crime of aggression,” based on fabricated evidence. We, as citizens, must hold our government accountable for these crimes. If we do not, we will be complicit in the codification of a new world order, one that would have terrifying consequences. It would be a world without treaties, statutes and laws. It would be a world where any nation, from a rogue nuclear state to a great imperial power, would be able to invoke its domestic laws to annul its obligations to others. Such a new order would undo five decades of international cooperation—largely put in place by the United States—and thrust us into a Hobbesian nightmare. Diplomacy, broad cooperation, treaties and law, all the mechanisms designed to civilize the global community, would be replaced by savagery. — War With Iran
Idiot American politicians, one of whom could end up as President, are furthering the cause of war by working up American patriotism with claims, false of course, that Iran is a “terrorist state” determined to harm America, that Iran is responsible for thousands of deaths, including hundreds of Americans, and so forth. We have heard all of this before. It is the US that is the terrorist state, having destroyed in whole or part seven Muslim countries in the 21st century, producing millions of deaths, injuries, and dispossessed and displaced peoples. I knew it was going to get worse when the Russian government permitted Israel to continue attacking Syrian targets after Russia had rescued Syria from Washington’s proxy army. — Paul Craig Roberts
Wall Street and its negligent regulators were solely responsible for collapsing the U.S. job market, the U.S. housing market and the U.S. economy in 2008 and subsequent years in what was the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. That Wall Street is now being allowed to conduct itself as a giant casino again is why Americans must demand the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act — which would ban these casino bank holding companies from owning federally-insured banks. — The Doomsday Machine Returns: Citibank Has Sold Protection on $858 Billion of Credit Default Swaps
The Year in Palestine and Israel: Part One The Real News Network’s Marc Steiner and Shir Hever discuss the upcoming election, corruption charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and more.
The Year in Palestine and Israel: Part TwoThe Real News Network’s Marc Steiner and Shir Hever discuss corruption charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the far right, and more.
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.
Thousands Take to Streets in More Than 70 Cities Across US to Protest Trump’s “Reckless Acts of War” Against Iran “The American people have had enough with U.S. wars and are rising up to demand peace with Iran.”Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the United States on Saturday took to the streets to condemn the Trump administration’s “reckless acts of war” against Iran and demand that the U.S. withdraw its troops from the Middle East.From New York City to Chicago to Arkansas and more than 70 other locationsaround the U.S., demonstrators rallied against the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, a move that sparked widespread fears of another catastrophic Middle East war. By Jake Johnson
The United States Has Openly Opposed Democracy In Iran Since 1953!: CIA Formally Admits Role In 1953 Iranian Coup The CIA, in recently declassified documents, has formally acknowledged that the spy agency helped to plan and execute the coup in Iran in 1953 that overthrew the democratically elected prime minister who was in the process of nationalizing the country’s British-controlled oil industry. The acknowledgment is contained in documents obtained by the National Security Archive through a Freedom of Information Act. The archive, which is based at George Washington University’s Gelman Library in Washington, posted the documents on its website along with related material. By Doug StanglinOil, Conflict, and U.S. National Interests — Oil as a Leading Cause of War Although the threat of “resource wars” over possession of oil reserves is often exaggerated, the sum total of the political effects generated by the oil industry makes oil a leading cause of war. Between one-quarter and one-half of interstate wars since 1973 have been connected to one or more oil-related causal mechanisms. No other commodity has had such an impact on international security. The influence of oil on conflict is often poorly understood. In U.S. public debates about the 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars, both sides focused excessively on the question of whether the United States was fighting for possession of oil reserves; neither sought a broader understanding of how oil shaped the preconditions for war, By Keff D. Colgan
Undermining White House’s Public Line, US Officials Say Justification for Soleimani Assassination ‘Razor Thin’ “They’re lying to distract from impeachment. They’re lying to get us to war. They’re lying to shore up reelection. Don’t buy any of it.”The Trump administration has publicly insisted that the U.S. assassination of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani was justified because he was planning “imminent attacks” against American forces and diplomats in the region, but the White House has yet to offer a shred of evidence substantiating this narrative. That may be because, as New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi wrote in a detailed Twitter thread Saturday morning, the evidence is sparse to non-existent. By Jake Johnson
War With Iran The assassination by the United States of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, near Baghdad’s airport will ignite widespread retaliatory attacks against U.S. targets from Shiites, who form the majority in Iraq. It will activate Iranian-backed militias and insurgents in Lebanon and Syria and throughout the Middle East. The existing mayhem, violence, failed states and war, the result of nearly two decades of U.S. blunders and miscalculations in the region, will become an even wider and more dangerous conflagration. The consequences are ominous. Not only will the U.S. swiftly find itself under siege in Iraq and perhaps driven out of the country—there is only a paltry force of 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq, all U.S. citizens in Iraq have been told to leave the country “immediately” and the embassy and consular services have been closed—but the situation could also draw us into a war directly with Iran. The American Empire, it seems, will die not with a whimper but a bang. By Chris Hedges
The Killing of General Soleimani: Hail Mars! Hail Pluto! If it is true the United States killed Iranian Quds Forces Commander General Qassam Soleimani in Iraq yesterday, unverified by the Iranians as I write this, then there is no hyperbole or exaggeration too great to encapsulate what may befall tens of millions of families. The equivalent of the killing of General Soleimani would be as if the Iranians assassinated General Richard Clarke, the US four star general in charge of all US special operations, but only if General Clarke had the name recognition of Colin Powell and the competency of Dwight Eisenhower. Those Iranians in government and civil society who want restraint, de-escalation and dialogue will find it hard to argue against retaliation. After more than 20 years of Iran enduring insult after insult, provocation after provocation, and attack after attack, I find it hard to believe there are many Barbara Lees in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. By Matthew Hoh
Chelsea Manning Says She Is ‘Never Backing Down’ in Response to Special Rapporteur Calling for Her Release “My long-standing objection to the immoral practice of throwing people in jail without charge or trial, for the sole purpose of forcing them to testify before a secret, government-run investigative panel, remains strong.”by Eoin HigginsThe Democratic Party’s Campaign to Re-Elect President TrumpAnyone who hoped that the terrible experience of a neofascistic presidency might jolt the Democratic Party media and politics establishment into embracing the basic lesson of the 2016 election – that running a dismal, dollar-drenched centrist well to the right of the citizenry for president just guarantees right-wing control of the United States’ executive branch – is certain to be disappointed. By Paul Street
Environment:
Over the past fifty years, there have been incredible improvements to the quality of Lake Erie, but the scientists at the conference admitted they were concerned about some of the old issues that led to Lake Erie’s pollution returning once again without constant research, monitoring and regulations. One of the biggest threats the scientists are worried about, and what received the most attention: algal blooms. They are caused by an influx of phosphorous run-off from farms that use fertilizers and manure. The eastern portion of Lake Erie is often slimy with the bright green mess. But it isn’t just ugly, say these experts. It can kill plant life and fish and even lead to liver damage. — Great Lakes Scientist says, “If We Lose The EPA, We Lose Lake Erie”
Ryan Zinke, under investigation for trying to enrich himself in office, refused to step down from his post at the Interior Department until he could have a Christmas party with lobbyists and take pictures in front of a stuffed polar bear…
Zinke’s greed was largely personal. His likely replacement David Bernahrdt, a former lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry, will dutifully feed the greed of the shareholders of big oil and coal.
+ The Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump administrations all did a lot to advance the interests of Big Coal and almost nothing to fight black lung disease.
There are fewer North Atlantic Right Whalesleft in the world than sitting members of Congress. They may well go extinct in our lifetimes.
According to a new study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, climate change has made the Western megadrought(the worst in at least 500 years) 38 percent more severe, leading to record low flows in Colorado River and dwindling reservoirs behind Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. Is this what they mean when they say “it’s a dry heat?”
Clichés we may have to rewrite: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink…” “You can lead a horse to water, but he’ll be dead before you find any…”
The Arctic is now warming so quickly that 14,000 tons of melted iceis gushing into the oceans every second.
The Alaska statewide running temperate for the last year is the highest in the last 100 years (ie., since records have been kept.)Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Labor:
Biting The Dust: HSE Defends A Silica Standard Six Times More Deadly The Health and Safety Executive maintains its silica dust standard is just fine. Hazards editor Rory O’Neill spoke to former stonemason David Wood, who at 64 can’t work and struggles for breath. He, like hundreds of others who develop deadly silica-related diseases each year, are the undeniable proof HSE has got it dangerously wrong.Blown Away: Act Now Stop The Work Stress Tsunami It was a stunning turnaround. In July 2019, Hazards accused the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of having an ‘enforcement anomaly’ and a ‘prevention blindspot’ on workplace harassment (Hazards 146). Just three months later, in what the TUC described as a ‘significant advance’, the government health and safety regulator quietly caved, and revised its stress investigation policy. The new HSE guidance now says the safety regulator may act where an employer fails to address workplace harassment risks. The new official guidance on ‘reporting a concern’ about work-related stress repeats the watchdog’s long-held line that: “HSE does not seek to apply the Health and Safety at Work Act where there is other more specific legislation or a more appropriate regulator,” and adds: “Cases of bullying and harassment would more commonly be dealt with as issues of discipline eg. breaches of policies on expected behaviours, discrimination, victimisation or equality.”Economy:
The Doomsday Machine Returns: Citibank Has Sold Protection on $858 Billion of Credit Default Swaps Lily Tomlin is credited with the quote: “No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.” Wall Street regularly brings that message home. According to the latest derivatives report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Citibank, the federally-insured, taxpayer-backstopped bank owned by Citigroup, has sold protection to other banks, hedge funds, insurance companies or corporations on a staggering $858 billion of Credit Default Swaps. When a federally-insured bank sells protection to others on Credit Default Swaps, it is effectively taking on the risk of a default event. At a time of unprecedented levels of debt in the system and growing warnings about leveraged loans, that seems like a very unwise move by Citigroup. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Margot Robbie in the Movie, “The Big Short,” Which Focused on How Derivatives Blew Up Wall Street in 2008
World:
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 ‘governn’, 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!
Environmentalists Against War
The Only Minority Destroying America Is The RICH
Quotes of the Day:
Oil, Conflict, and U.S. National Interests — Oil as a Leading Cause of War Although the threat of “resource wars” over possession of oil reserves is often exaggerated, the sum total of the political effects generated by the oil industry makes oil a leading cause of war. Between one-quarter and one-half of interstate wars since 1973 have been connected to one or more oil-related causal mechanisms. No other commodity has had such an impact on international security. The influence of oil on conflict is often poorly understood. In U.S. public debates about the 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars, both sides focused excessively on the question of whether the United States was fighting for possession of oil reserves; neither sought a broader understanding of how oil shaped the preconditions for war, By Keff D. Colgan
The Democratic Party’s Campaign to Re-Elect President TrumpAnyone who hoped that the terrible experience of a neofascistic presidency might jolt the Democratic Party media and politics establishment into embracing the basic lesson of the 2016 election – that running a dismal, dollar-drenched centrist well to the right of the citizenry for president just guarantees right-wing control of the United States’ executive branch – is certain to be disappointed. By Paul Street
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Blown Away: Act Now Stop The Work Stress Tsunami It was a stunning turnaround. In July 2019, Hazards accused the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of having an ‘enforcement anomaly’ and a ‘prevention blindspot’ on workplace harassment (Hazards 146). Just three months later, in what the TUC described as a ‘significant advance’, the government health and safety regulator quietly caved, and revised its stress investigation policy. The new HSE guidance now says the safety regulator may act where an employer fails to address workplace harassment risks. The new official guidance on ‘reporting a concern’ about work-related stress repeats the watchdog’s long-held line that: “HSE does not seek to apply the Health and Safety at Work Act where there is other more specific legislation or a more appropriate regulator,” and adds: “Cases of bullying and harassment would more commonly be dealt with as issues of discipline eg. breaches of policies on expected behaviours, discrimination, victimisation or equality.”
Economy:
