Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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 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, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
My own impression of this historic event is probably not unique. Even as I was finalizing this piece on Sunday, I discovered that half the front page of my local San Jose Mercury News was devoted to the story of Dr. Cody and her crucial decision, with the story appropriately entitled “The Doctor Who Shut It All Down.” Under a decaying and decadent political system, there is often a dangerous tendency to select public officials based upon ideological factionalism or the blandishments of self-interested lobbies. During normal times, this may lead to the sort of inefficiency and corruption that saps the strength of a society, but during a severe crisis, survival itself may be at risk. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never even heard of Dr. Sarah Cody, but I am greatly relieved that my local officials are still appointed based upon the highest standards of meritocratic competence. The contrast with America’s national government could not be greater. — The Government Employee Who May Have Saved a Million American Lives
1.7 Million Jobs In Arab Region At Risk From Coronavirus A UN brief warns about economic collapse, expecting a 40% decrease in GDP and trillions of dollars lost to the private sector in an area already ravaged by inequality, dependency on oil revenue, and authoritarian governments..
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.
‘Insulting’ Frontline Health Workers, Trump—Without Evidence—Accuses Hospital Staff in New York of Stealing Protective Gear “This man is a serious danger to the health and safety of every health care worker in the nation.” President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that nurses and doctors in New York, the area in the U.S. hardest-hit thus far by the coronavirus outbreak, are stealing and selling facemasks and other protective gear meant to keep them safe as they handle an unprecedented influx of patients sick with the disease spreading across the country. “Where are the masks going, are they going out the backdoor?” Trump said, implying that healthcare workers were smuggling personal proteective equipment (PPE) out of hospitals for resale on the black market. By Eoin Higgins
Dying Planet and a Virus Unleashed If the coronavirus is life-threatening, and the whole of the USA is in lockdown, the speed of its arrival and impact should at least remind us of the fragility of life — not just for our own species but on the planet itself. Of course, Donald Trump disbanded the White House’s National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense. Set up after the Ebola scare, its job was to deal exactly with the type of threat we are facing; that is, to prepare for, lead and coordinate resources to deal quickly and effectively with the emergency — its absence is yet another reason for the White House’s lackluster response. By Arshad Khan – Meena Miriam Yust
Environment:
Revealed: Monsanto Predicted Crop System Would Damage US Farms Internal documents describe how to profit from farmer losses and desire to oppose some independent testing The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show. Risks were downplayed even while they planned how to profit off farmers who would buy Monsanto’s new seeds just to avoid damage, according to documents unearthed during a recent successful $265m lawsuit brought against both firms by a Missouri farmer. By Carey GillamAlliance for the Wild Rockies Sues Trump’s Bureau of Reclamation for Bull Trout Fatalities in Saint Mary-Milk River Irrigation Project on the east Side of Glacier National Park Bull trout are one of the largest native salmonids in Montana, capable of reaching three feet long and 25 pounds or more. A spectacularly beautiful fish, they once occupied an enormous range from the Rockies to the Pacific coast to the Yukon. But due to habitat destruction, dams, and irrigation dewatering, they were listed as ‘Threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act in 1998 and remain far from recovered and more threatened than ever 22 years later. Bull trout require cold water temperatures, generally below 55 °F, clean gravel beds, deep pools, complex cover with snags and cut banks, and large systems of interconnected waterways to accommodate spawning migrations. By Mike Garrity
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Labor:
Economy:
Ruling class flounders faced with the worst crisis in the history of capitalism The pandemic has triggered a global recession. The ruling class is scrambling to find means of cushioning this savage blow, breaking all the rules that have governed their policy for the past 80 years. The system is facing its worst crisis ever. By Niklas Albin Svensson
Icahn Called BlackRock “An Extremely Dangerous Company”; the Fed Has Chosen It to Manage Its Corporate Bond Bailout Programs In 2015, the legendary Wall Street investor, Carl Icahn, called BlackRock “an extremely dangerous company.” (See video clip below.) Icahn was specifically talking about BlackRock’s packaging of junk bonds into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and calling them “High Yield,” which the average American doesn’t understand is a junk-rated bond. The ETFs trade during market hours on the New York Stock Exchange, giving them the aura of liquidity when one needs it. Icahn said: “I used to laugh with some of these guys…I used to say, you know, the mafia has a better code of ethics than you guys. You know you’re selling this crap.” Icahn warned that “if and when there’s a real problem in the economy, there’s going to be a rush for the exits like in a movie theatre, and people want to sell those bonds, and think they can sell them, there is no market for them.” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Carl Icahn Created a Cartoon About BlackRock and Its Junk Bond ETFs Going Over a Cliff
World:
Only Socialist Measures Can Solve the coronavirus Crisis In an effort to save their system, the Tory government has pledged to throw hundreds of billions at the economy. But what they give with one hand today, they will attempt to take back through austerity tomorrow. We must make the bosses pay. If anybody had told you at Christmas that this year would be one [with] an enormous symmetric shock hitting all the advanced countries,” says Ms Weder di Mauro, president of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a capitalist think-tank, “and that this would cost something like 50 per cent of GDP for a few months or maybe longer…the kind of thing that happens in a war, everybody would have said you are crazy.” (Financial Times, 21/3/20) These are unprecedented times. Some would say surreal. We are certainly in a period of deep crisis: economically, socially and politically. But this is only the beginning. Events from just a few days ago already seem like an eternity away. This is the nature of the epoch we have entered, where things have been turned upside down. By Rob Sewel
Going After Maduro The recent indictments of Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan government officials on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges is a sham. It is a politically motivated and hypocritical attack on the elected government of Venezuela. Obviously, it is another front in the ongoing US low-intensity war on the majority of Venezuelans. It is cynical in that Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia has been literally governed by drug traffickers for most of the past thirty years, if not longer. By Ron Jacobs
Health, Science, 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 ‘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 to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare!
Them and us: rich vs. poor during the COVID-19 pandemic As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, we are told: “the virus does not discriminate – rich and poor alike, we are all in this together”. However, the reality is that the privileged elite, who enjoy relative safety, expect the workers to risk infection to keep profits rolling in. This virus is exposing the rotten and heartless nature of the capitalist system, where profits rather than human lives are the priority. ByAs the coronavirus pandemic rages on, we are told: “the virus does not discriminate – rich and poor alike, we are all in this together”. However, the reality is that the privileged elite, who enjoy relative safety, expect the workers to risk infection to keep profits rolling in. This virus is exposing the rotten and heartless nature of the capitalist system, where profits rather than human lives are the priority. By Hamid Alizadeh
Alliance for the Wild Rockies Sues Trump’s Bureau of Reclamation for Bull Trout Fatalities in Saint Mary-Milk River Irrigation Project on the east Side of Glacier National Park Bull trout are one of the largest native salmonids in Montana, capable of reaching three feet long and 25 pounds or more. A spectacularly beautiful fish, they once occupied an enormous range from the Rockies to the Pacific coast to the Yukon. But due to habitat destruction, dams, and irrigation dewatering, they were listed as ‘Threatened’ under the Endangered Species Act in 1998 and remain far from recovered and more threatened than ever 22 years later. Bull trout require cold water temperatures, generally below 55 °F, clean gravel beds, deep pools, complex cover with snags and cut banks, and large systems of interconnected waterways to accommodate spawning migrations. By Mike Garrity
