Images of the Day:

Israel Bombs Beirut Airport Again Israeli forces have bombed Beirut’s international airport in the fourth raid in 24 hours (This Would Only Be Done With US Approval)

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”There is No Democracy! When Less Than 1% Control the Wealth, Production, and Price of Everything Produced and Consumed in the World! In the present period of unfettered Capitalism, the pretense of democratic rule does not exist, except in the minds of ‘socialists’ like Bernie Sanders and the Labor Bureaucracy! Capitalists view all struggles as struggles against capitalist rule! Transition demands immediately become revolutionary demands! Therefore, any resistence to the attack of capitalists has to be organized by those that understand this!

Today, the United States Capitalists are Consolidating Themselves as the Supreme Capitalists! Capitalism’s Gluttony is Demonstrated by It’s Quest for More and More Profits at the Expense of Humanity! The Rise of Capitalism was Under the Banner of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity! Now There is Less Liberty, More Inequality, and Less Fraternity of Humanity! Every Day, From Global Warming to Global War There is a New Example of Capitalism in Imperialist Decay!

Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capitalism Has Been Aware of the Comming Catastrophe of Global Warming Over 6 Decades 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 Five Horsemen of the the Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, Death, and Misinformation! The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 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! Globaly, With the Current Gaza War, The Right of Assembly is Under Attack! Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Still Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

The Iron Heel

The Majority of the World, Despite the Media Monopoly’s Lies, are Opposed to the Palestinian Genocide and Global Warming — The 1% Minority Funds Them! At, this Time in History, Capitalism is Exposing the Fact That it is Opposed to Majority Rule/Democracy!

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:

Lying about Crime to Justify More Cops/Law and Order:

Counties Enforcing “Three Strikes” Heaviest Do Not Show Biggest Crime Declines 1994 Fact: Due to institutionalized racism of American society, Blacks are seven times more likely to be incarcerated than whites. The rate for whites is 289 per 100,00; the rate for African Americans is 1860 per 100,00. In the aftermath of the rebellion in South Central L.A. two years ago, there has been a massive media blitz to make “violent crime” the major issue of the day. After all the hype, polls have been taken that show crime as the “major” issue—ahead of unemployment, health, taxes, etc. According to a recent survey by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, the three major TV networks aired more than twice as many crime stories last year than in 1992. Meanwhile the crime rate has remained virtually the same. — Crime and Punishment: ‘Three Strikes and You’re Out’ Targets Blacks and Poor

Vide0s of the Day:

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 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford ford To Pay! Both Parties Support U.S. Capitalism’s Wars! (The Only War the Democrats Opposed was the Civil War!)

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. — Louis D. Brandeis Quotes/

The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I cannot be Silent. ― Martin Luther King Jr.

To this day, we have a government and state apparatus that is designed to “protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.” Democracy for white and wealthy men only! — Roland Sheppard, My Forefathers and The 1%’s Forefathers.

Weekly Briefing: The difference between Biden and Harris on Israel? “Zippo, Zilch, Zero!” Netanyahu visited Washington this week to ask Congress for more U.S. weapons to “finish the job faster” in Gaza, an unimaginable task after nine months of unlimited carnage, and all eyes were on Kamala Harris. Would the newly minted Democratic presidential candidate say anything about the genocide of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians? 92,000 by the estimate of American health workers who have been in Gaza? Not to mention the destruction of 70 percent of the buildings there. The answer was that Harris intends to have it both ways. Harris met in the White House with Netanyahu, for 45 minutes, and did nothing to stray from the Biden line, of giving Israel more weapons“Zippo, Zilch, Zero!” Thomas Nides, the former ambassador to Israel, declared joyously, when asked on an Israel lobby call if there is any daylight between Harris and Biden’s support for Israel. He has had 100 phone calls with Harris and her Jewish husband Douglas Emhoff and — “Her view is the same view that I share, the president shares. We have to protect Israel at any cost. Israel is a vulnerable country, it’s a country that needs protection.” And so when a few of the thousands of Netanyahu demonstrators in Washington burned American flags and spraypainted a statue with words, “Hamas is comin’” – Harris was quick to issue a statement calling them despicable.

Palestine Is a Core Election Issue, and We Won’t Let Our Politicians Ignore It Election season poses new challenges for Palestine solidarity activists in the US. Sa’ed Atshan analyzes the road ahead In the days after October 7, 2023, the U.S. mainstream media and political establishment — both the Republicans and Democrats — launched once again into anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic rhetoric. Ignoring the conditions of siege, occupation and settler colonialism under which Palestinians in Gaza already lived, Joe Biden’s administration offered full diplomatic, military and financial backing to Israel. Meanwhile politicians smeared Palestine solidarity protests, as university administrators, congressmembers and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all attempted to ban Students for Justice in Palestine chapters on U.S. college campuses. Nonetheless, the Palestine solidarity movement pushed forward.

A New Pax Romana Roman poet Juvenal coined the phrase “bread and circuses” nearly 2,000 years ago for the extravagant entertainment the Roman Empire used to distract attention from imperial policies that caused widespread discontent. Imagine the lavish banquets, gladiatorial bouts, use and abuse of young men and women for the pleasure of the rich, and so much more that characterized the later years of that empire. And none of it seems that far off from the situation we, in these increasingly dis-United States, find ourselves in today. Although the Roman Empire described itself as being in favor of life and peace, the various Caesars and their enablers regularly dealt death and destruction in their wake. They spread the Pax Romana (the Roman Peace), including a taxation system that left the poor in debt servitude, a military that caused terror and violence across the then-known world, and a ruling authority that pitted whole communities against each other, while legislating who could associate with whom (passing marriage laws, for instance, that banned gay, inter-racial, or even cross-class marriages). The emperor in power in Jesus’s time, Caesar Augustus, was known for ushering in a Golden Age of Moral Values that went hand in hand with that Pax Romana, and it meant war and death, especially for the poor. Fast forward millennia and that world bears a strange resemblance to the media distractions, violence, and regressive policies that MAGA and other extremists are pushing forward in our times. Whether it’s Donald Trump’s assertion that “I alone can fix your problems”; Supreme Court and state legislative attacks on reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, and trans youth in the name of family values; cuts to welfare, healthcare, worker’s rights and other life-sustaining programs to protect corporate interests; the militarizing of endless communities by allowing guns (especially AR-15 rifles) to proliferate, while offering only thoughts and prayers to the victims of violence, the MAGA movement is promoting culture wars and extremist policies under the banner of Christian nationalism. In doing so, its leaders are perfecting a disdain for the excluded, exploited, and rejected that hurts the poor first and worst, but impacts all of society.

“Bad On Foreign Policy But Good On Domestic Policy” Is Just American Supremacist Psychopathy Saying a US politician is “bad on foreign policy but good on domestic policy” is like saying “Sure my husband spends his weekends murdering hitchhikers, but he’s a good provider and he knows how to fix a flat tire.”

US Funded Palestinian Genocide:

A’Chicken that Will Come Home to Roost’?: Palestinian Health Officials Declare Polio Epidemic in Gaza Israel’s assault is risking the resurgence of a type of polio that was declared eradicated a decade ago. The Gaza Ministry of Health said on Monday that they now consider Gaza to be a polio epidemic area due to Israel’s relentless assault and deadly humanitarian blockade, portending yet more horrific circumstances being forced on Palestinians in coming months unless Israeli officials agree to a ceasefire soon.

What It’s Like for Palestinian Women Living Through the Gaza Genocide While the world often focuses on the political and military aspects of Gaza, the daily realities encountered by women are frequently overlooked. Women in Gaza bear heavy burdens, demonstrating remarkable resilience while navigating the harsh realities of Israel’s genocidal war. In April, UN Women released its latest Gender Alert on Gaza, highlighting the profound impact of the ongoing war. Six months into the war, at least 10,000 Palestinian women in Gaza had lost their lives, including approximately 6,000 mothers, resulting in 19,000 children left without parents. Surviving women face displacement, widowhood, and severe food shortages due to Israeli airstrikes and ground operations. This catastrophic impact underscores the war’s disproportionate toll on Gaza’s women. As the war continues to reshape traditional gender roles, the strength and perseverance of these women will undoubtedly have long-lasting effects on Gaza’s social dynamics and gender equality.

Environmanet:

Fund Climate! — Not Genocide! One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%! After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!

We Must Hold These Monsters to Account!

‘Worrisome’: Global Methane Spike Imperils Climate Goals, Study Warns “It is imperative to rapidly reduce methane emissions to reduce the accelerating climate damages so many people around the world are suffering,” one study author said.

It’s Easy to Blame Petrostates – But Self-Proclaimed ‘Climate Leaders’ Like The US and UK are Driving the Crisis In thrall to the oil and gas industries, wealthy nations are backing calamitous projects. But the tide is turning. It is a delusion to believe that the world’s climate is being pushed to the brink solely by undemocratic petrostates such as Russia and Saudi Arabia. The truth is that about half of all planned oil and gas developments between now and 2050 will be sanctioned by wealthy governments that position themselves as climate leaders: the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and the UK.

The End is Nigh. For Insects, Bats, Protest, yhe Planet… Signs a looney’s ear has been shot off by another American looney. The proposed presidency of the earless looney had been endorsed by Atomic Kitten’s Kerry Katona. A computer went wrong and everything in the world stopped working everywhere. On Tuesday it was reported that Chris Packham regretted having once ridden an elephant. Last Sunday was the hottest day ever. A lioness hath whelped in the streets. Graves have yawn’d and yielded up their dead. Suella Braverman sat in for James O’Brien on LBC and the last surviving member of the Four Tops died. Surely we are living in The End Times. The optics, as they say, are not good.

Fight Imperialism and War! Workers of the World Unite! – RCI Statement Capitalism is a sick system which outlived its useful purpose a long time ago. In the epoch of its senile decline it breeds war, racism, poverty, and hunger. Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, is characterised by the struggle between different gangs of capitalist robbers for the sharing out of the loot. Today, as the loot shrinks under the impact of the crisis of capitalism, their struggle intensifies and we see a renewed drive towards militarism and war.

Firefighters Continue Battle Against More Than 100 Blazes Burning in the US Many fires were sparked by the weather, with climate crisis increasing lightning strikes amid blistering heat and dry conditions Fire crews made progress in the battle against major wildfires that have left a trail of damage in the western United States, but thousands of firefighters continue to tackle the flames.

Wildfire Smoke May Increase the Risk of Dementia, Study Finds As blazes spew smoke across western US, research shows it may be worse for brain health than other types of pollution A new US study has found that wildfire smoke may be worse for brain health than other types of air pollution and even increase the risk of dementia. The findings, reported on Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, come as millions spent the weekend under air quality warnings from wildfires spewing smoke across the western US, including a huge wildfire in California that has grown to more than 360,000 acres.

Environmental Racism: Costly Climate ‘Solutions’ Look Like More Pollution in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley Corporations and politicians are pushing carbon capture despite big questions over its value as residents in the southern ‘petrostate’ fear the worst. It was a muggy morning in late April when a handful of local residents and grassroots organizers huddled in a church parking lot to strategize, before knocking on doors with information about the latest environmental threat facing St Rose, a predominantly Black community in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley”.

Black Liberation/Civil Rights:

Lying about Crime to Justify More Cops/Law and Order:

Crime Is Way Down—But NYT Won’t Stop Telling Voters to Worry About Crime

Labor:

Economy:

World:

Urgent Note on Venezuela: How Did We Reach this Dead End? The situation in Venezuela is developing very quickly after Sunday’s election. Monday morning dawned to the sound of cacerolazos (the banging of pots and pans) in protest against the declared victory of Nicolás Maduro. The cacerolazos in Caracas began in working-class and poor neighbourhoods; in Petare, in Catia, in 23 de Enero. Then they started to come down from the neighbourhoods la Dolorita, el Guarataro, Antímano, and the barrios to the east of Caracas. Crisis and Chaos After Polling Day. How did we get here? Sunday’s election pitted Nicolás Maduro against María Corina Machado (the name of the actual candidate of the opposition doesn’t matter. Machado was the real candidate behind the scenes) It must be understood that Maduro’s government has nothing to do with that of Chávez. Rather, he represented precisely the opposite. Chávez led the Bolivarian Revolution, which involved land seizures, setting up communes, workers’ control, nationalisations, confrontation with imperialism, the discussion of socialism, etc. Maduro has presided over a bourgeois and oligarchic restoration, which meant return of land to the landowners, privatisations, the destruction of workers’ control, assaults on collective bargaining, and the imprisonment of worker activists for fighting back, etc..

Maduro Wins Reelection for Third Presidential Term in Venezuela The president of U.S.-based National Lawyers Guild described Sunday’s elections as “fair and transparent.” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro won reelection to a third term on Sunday with just over 51% of the vote in what one group of independent election observers described as a “fair and transparent” contest, despite loud claims of fraud by the right-wing opposition — a narrative readily boosted by Western corporate media outlets. The Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), Venezuela’s election authority, said Maduro won 51.2% of the vote with 80% of polling places counted. Edmundo González, an ex-diplomat and the primary opposition candidate, won 44.2% of the vote. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was barred from running in the election, claimed without evidence that González won 70% of the vote. Surveys conducted ahead of Sunday’s contest showed González with a substantial lead over Maduro, but Jake Johnston of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) noted that “since 2015, pollsters have overestimated opposition support” in Venezuela “by an average of 29.5 percentage points.”

Education, Health, and Welfare: