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Images Of the Day:
Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
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!
Quotes of the Day:
Palestinians have long been told that if the Israelis, backed by the U.S. government, are able to make life unlivable, then in a few more decades the memory of Palestine and the desire for Palestine will die out. But this is not the case. Looking at the young men and women who have been turning out for the protests, it is clear that a fourth generation, after the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948, have taken to the streets. They know that their existence is threatened by their failure to resist. — Israel’s Horrid Occupation of Palestine
In a move hailed as “a major win” by migrant rights advocates, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced it is moving to end migrant detention at two county jails under federal investigation for alleged abuses including forced sterilizations and unleashing dogs on detainees. — Homeland Security Tells ICE to Cut Ties With Jail That Sicced Dogs on Migrants
Like the mythical Phoenix, Chernobyl rises from the ashes. A recent… “Surge in fission reactions in an inaccessible chamber within the complex” is alarming scientists that monitor the ruins of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. (Source: Nuclear Reactions at Chernobyl are Spiking in an Inaccessible Chamber, NewScientist, May 11, 2021). The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (“BAS) Moreover, according to the BAS, the enlarging rightwing movement threatens U.S. national security: “These extremists represent a unique danger because of their prevalence in federal institutions such as the military and the potential that they might infiltrate nuclear facilities, where they could access sensitive information and nuclear materials,” BAS representatives said. “Officials need to act decisively to better understand and mitigate this threat,” Ibid. Throughout history, political parties that rely upon lies bring society down to its knees with shameless destruction, for example, the fall of Rome, the 5th century AD: “By the time of Augustine (354-430 AD), the Roman Empire had become an Empire of lies. It still pretended to uphold the rule of law, to protect the people from the Barbarian invaders, to maintain the social order. But all that had become a bad joke for the citizens of an empire by then reduced to nothing more than a giant military machine dedicated to oppressing the poor in order to maintain the privileges of the rich. The Empire itself had become a lie: that it existed because of the favor of the Gods who rewarded the Romans because of their moral virtues. Nobody could believe in that anymore: it was the breakdown of the very fabric of society; the loss of what the ancient called the auctoritas, the trust that citizens had toward their leaders and the institutions of their state.” (Source: Cassandra’s Legacy, The Empire of Lies, February 8, 2016). — Chernobyl Alert and The Doomsday Clock
Videos 0f the Day:
An Absolute Nightmare’: Video Shows Tennessee Officers Taunted Hogtied Man Before He Died “There’s approximately a three-minute, 43-second period after officers have applied handcuffs where they keep the individual in the prone position, and that’s not acceptable.” — Seth Stoughton, use-of-force expert “You shouldn’t be able to breathe,” one officer replied to William Jennette’s plea moments before the man’s death at the Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg last May. By Brett Wilkins
United States:
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 ownershipof the Reublicrats, who profit from war and the war budget, voted 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay!
United States/Israel Genocide Continues!:
“One of the great ironies of history, really, [is that] in fact the Palestinians are in the position that, historically, the Jews were in,” says Scheer. “They’re in a hostile diaspora, they are oppressed in this diaspora. Then, ironically, the greatest crime of modern history–the extermination of Jewish people–which happens in the Christian nation of Germany and throughout Eastern Europe, somehow gets visited upon the Palestinians, as if they’re responsible for it all. Then it gets extended into this ‘War on Terror’ [as if] they’re somehow responsible for terrorism financed by Saudi Arabia…” — John Kiriakou: A Former CIA Mideast Expert’s View of the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis
Environment:
Cartoons Essay: America’s Dirty Divide —How mercury sneaks into the most vulnerable communities in US and Canada The harmful chemical has a unique quality: it can build up in our river systems over time by Julia Louise Pereira
‘A Real Hotspot’: Study Shows Arctic Warming 3 Times Faster Than Rest of Earth “No one on Earth is immune to Arctic warming.” Over the past five decades, the Arctic has warmed three times faster than the world as a whole, leading to rapid and widespread melting of ice and other far-reaching consequences that are important not only to local communities and ecosystems but to the fate of life on planet Earth.The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) issued that warning on Thursday in a new report (pdf) that summarizes the latest findings on Arctic change and projections of future transformations under different climate scenarios. The publication of AMAP’s report coincides with this week’s meeting of the Arctic Council in Reykjavík, Iceland, which brings together policymakers from countries bordering the region By Kenny Stancil
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
In Working-Class NJ Town, Activists Push to Invest in Community, Not Police Abolitionists are confronting racial capitalism and policing in the post-industrial city of Paterson, New Jersey. Just past midnight on December 14, 2020, Osamah Alsaidi walked near a police cruiser on a dark city street of Paterson, New Jersey’s third-largest city just outside New York City. Shortly thereafter, that very same police car cut off Alsaidi’s path and out jumped officers Kevin Patino and Kendry Tineo-Restituyo. They immediately accosted the 19-year-old, striking him numerous times and dropping him to the ground where they continued their assault. The police report they filed described Alsaidi as “acting belligerent” and “screaming profanities.” That report would remain the only evidence of the incident until surveillance footage surfaced from a store just across from where the beating took place. That footage, vindicating Alsaidi’s claims, would ultimately go viral at the beginning of 2021. On April 26, over four months since the incident, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the two officers with assault and filing a false police report. Many wondered if such an outcome would have been possible if it weren’t for the surveillance footage and community response that made the tapes go viral. By George Ygarza
Labor:
Economy:
China: Demographic Crisis? Much has been made recently of the slowdown in population growth in China. China’s population grew at its slowest rate in decades in the ten years to 2020, according to the latest census data, which also showed that births declined sharply last year. The nation’s once-in-a-decade census, which was completed in December, showed its population increased to 1.41bn in 2020 compared with 1.4bn a year earlier. The population grew just 5.4% from 1.34bn in 2010 — the lowest rate of increase between censuses since the People’s Republic of China began collecting data in 1953. Those over-65s now make up 13.5% of the population, compared with 8.9% in 2010 when the last census was completed. This has led many China observers and Western economists to argue that China’s phenomenal growth rate that has taken over 850m Chinese out of poverty (as officially defined) is now over. The argument is that living standards have only risen for the average Chinese because China brought its huge workforce from the land and into the factories in the cities to produce goods for exports at low prices. Now with an ageing population and falling working-age population, China’s economy will flag. Given falling working population, along with an intensifying campaign by the US and its Western allies to isolate China economically and technically, China’s growth story is over. By Michael Roberts
It’s Time to Bust the Myth That Endless Economic Growth Is Good for Us The constraints of capitalism are preventing us from achieving real human fulfillment and progress. By Robert R. Raymond
Montag Didn’t Create the “Toxic Environment” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; He Simply Perpetuated It This past Sunday’s New York print edition of the New York Times carried an in-depth article by Kate Kelly on the “toxic environment” at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, pointing the finger at Thomas Montag for creating it. Kelly is a good investigative reporter and deserves praise for outing this current conduct at the firm. But Montag, the President of Global Banking and Markets, has only been with Bank of America Merrill Lynch since August of 2008 – a period of less than 13 years. The toxic environment at Merrill Lynch dates back half a century. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
‘Apartheid Doesn’t Stop’: Hours After Cease-Fire, Israeli Police Assault Palestinians at Al-Aqsa “A cease-fire premised on Palestinians ceasing fire while Israel continues apartheid is a cease-fire with an inevitable expiration date,” said one Palestinian rights advocate. Just hours after a cease-fire agreement paused Israel’s latest bombardment of the occupied Gaza Strip, Israeli police forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday and fired stun grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas at Palestinian worshipers and demonstrators, an attack that observers worried could undermine the nascent truce. “By Jake Johnson
Aussie Youth Target PM Morrison at Climate Strikes Because ‘He Only Serves the Fossil Fuels Industry’ “We’re doubtful that there might not be a future in store for the generations after us, and even our own generation.” Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in protests across Australia on Friday, demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison stop funding fossil fuels and start treating the climate crisis as an emergency. By Andrea Germanos
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 pass universal healthcare for themselves, but 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
Gaza Health Officials Fear Covid-19 Surge as Tens of Thousands Emerge From Crowded Bomb Shelters “People stopped [social] distancing” during the bombing campaign, said a doctor at al-Shifa hospital. “They had no choice.” According to the Washington Post, about 70,000 people in Gaza sought refuge in schools, underground shelters, community centers, and other sites as residential areas were bombed and homes were destroyed. Thousands of people also crowded into relatives’ homes. By Julia Conley
Israel Attacks On Gaza Left Strained Health Care System In Tatters Dr. Khaled Harazeen described the scene at al-Shifa Hospital in the occupied Gaza Strip as “catastrophic.” “We are already working within extreme limitations and now we face dozens of victims at a time,” he told The Intercept. “We try our best to triage the cases, but there are so many wounded. The end result is a lot of deaths and an unbearable load on the medical staff.” Harazeen added, “We are shattered.” Leading up to the ceasefire announced on Thursday evening, the medical professionals of Gaza’s main hospital had worked around the clock for more than a week to treat the soaring number of war injuries inflicted by Israeli airstrikes — nearly 2,000 in only 10 days. Medical workers and their facilities have not been exempt from the attacks: Israeli airstrikes have killed doctors and damaged at least 19 health clinics, drawing increasing international outcry and condemnation. After a ceasefire on Thursday, Palestinians took stock of damage wrought by airstrikes that left doctors dead and at least 19 health care facilities destroyed. By Shrouq Aila and Anna Therese Day
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter 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 Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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 the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”
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! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!
Healthcare Genocide: Pestilence!