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As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99% — Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not The 1% Who Profit From Austerity!
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The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”. Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 1877. How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple—terrorism. They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. Roland Sheppard, The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement
Anyone who does not realize how much of a disaster this Wall Street pawn in Black face has been in the White House is so ignorantly married to the most bankrupt and vapid need for racial symbolism that they shouldn’t be taken seriously. “Investing.com — A new study by economists from Harvard and Princeton indicates that 94% of the 10 million new jobs created during the Obama era were temporary positions. — Pascal Robert, Re: Nearly 95% of all new jobs during Obama era were part-time, or contract
According to the extensively researched IPS report, A Tale of Two Retirements, 100 corporate CEOs possess company retirement funds totaling $4.7 billion―an amount equivalent to the entire retirement savings of 41 percent of U.S. families (50 million families, including 116 million Americans). The retirement funds of these 100 CEOs are also equivalent to those of 75 percent of Latino families, of 59 percent of African-American families, of 55 percent of female-headed households, and of 44 percent of white working class households. Indeed, the top 100 CEO nest eggs, if averaged, would generate a $253,088 monthly retirement check to these 100 individuals for the rest of their lives. By contrast, workers who had 401(k) pension plans at the end of 2013 had only enough in these plans to pay them an average monthly benefit of $101. Of course, these were the lucky ones. Among workers 56 to 61 years old, 39 percent had no employer-sponsored retirement plan at all, and would likely depend on Social Security, which pays an average of $1,239 per month, for retirement security.
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Nearly 95% of all new jobs during Obama era were part-time, or contract Investing.com — A new study by economists from Harvard and Princeton indicates that 94% of the 10 million new jobs created during the Obama era were temporary positions. The study shows that the jobs were temporary, contract positions, or part-time “gig” jobs in a variety of fields. Female workers suffered most heavily in this economy, as work in traditionally feminine fields, like education and medicine, declined during the era.The research by economists Lawrence Katz of Harvard University and Alan Krueger at Princeton University shows that the proportion of workers throughout the U.S., during the Obama era, who were working in these kinds of temporary jobs, increased from 10.7% of the population to 15.8%.
Grand Theft Electoral: Aborted Recount Effort Shows US Elections Are Broken, Recount-Proof and Audit-Proof Before judges and state officials aborted it, the attempted recount initiated by Green Party candidate Jill Stein revealed and confirmed specific patterns of widespread interstate electoral tampering in the presidential election just past that zero in on black and brown communities. The craven need of Hillary and the Dems to blame the Russians for their loss proves that they own the current broken and rigged US electoral system just as much Republicans. by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
The Democratic and Republican Paths to Fascism The masks have come off, revealing the face of fascism among the Democrats. With War Fascism supreme in one party, and White Supremacist Fascism at the helm in the other (also warlike) party, it appears that “the winner of the 2016 election was the bipartisan, multi-ethnic War Party.” The Left can’t “game” this situation, or fool with the CIA. “For Black and brown folks and white progressives, there can be no alliance with either faction.” by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Financing Infrastructure: Trump’s Plan Seems Like a Joke While Trump is right to emphasize the need for more and better infrastructure, his program is not the way to address the problem. There is much research showing the benefits of spending on traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges. There are also likely to be large gains from less traditional areas like broadband, where the U.S. ranks poorly among wealthy countries, and improving the quality of public drinking water to avoid more Flint disasters. Ideally, a public investment agenda would carry over into areas like early childhood education, which we know provides huge benefits to the children directly affected and the economy over the longer term. by Dean Baker
Hell just froze over: the New York Times runs an article saying Zionism is racist Trump’s election is having fascinating consequences. Today the New York Times ran a long piece titled, “Liberal Zionism in the Age of Trump,” by Omri Boehm of the New School saying that liberal Zionism is a contradiction: liberal American Jews have “identified themselves with Zionism, a political agenda rooted in the denial of liberal politics.” Boehm’s most startling point is that Zionism has anti-Semitic strains, witness its collaboration with Nazis. Hannah Arendt is happy today.The piece will greatly increase the pressure on liberal Zionists to choose one idea or the other, and to stop denying the existence of apartheid. By Phil Weiss and Donald Johnson
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Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:
The Result of Police Terrorism: 40 percent of black Americans distrust the criminal justice system: Why I’m one of them I’ve been detained and jailed for “meeting the description” of someone who robbed a liquor store. (The thief was a 6-foot-1, 200-pound, light-skinned black man — I’m 5-foot-6 and about 165 on a good day, with a dark chocolate hue.) I’ve been pulled over in a vehicle dozens of times in my life. I’ve been pulled over in front of my own house on five separate occasions at four different houses in four states. I’ve had my car searched on the side of interstates all over America for drugs, weapons, and even smuggled humans in the trunk of my car. By Doug Dennis
School-to-Prison Pipeline Complete — New Law Makes Schoolyard Fights a Felony On January 1, 2017, the state of Missouri will implement a public school policy sure to accelerate the descent into police state dystopia. The Hazelwood School District put out a memo to parents and guardians stating that, according to Missouri statute, fights at school or on buses will be treated as felonies — which can result in up to four years of prison, fines or probation. Gone are the days when teachers broke up fights and sent the kids home, calling the parents and perhaps suspending the kid if it was a serious incident. “School Resource Officers” or local cops now arrest the kids and, if there is any perceived injury (an arbitrary judgment), will charge them with third-degree assault – treating children cooped up in school as if they are violent adults on the streets.
Labor:
Older Americans Pushed Into Poverty as Feds Garnish Social Security for Student Debt The federal government is garnishing Social Security checks to recoup unpaid student debt, leaving thousands of retired or disabled Americans below the poverty line and setting the stage for an even bigger problem, according to a new report. The data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), compiled at the behest of Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), showed that people over the age of 50 are the fastest-growing group with student debt, outpacing younger generations — and compared to younger borrowers, older Americans have “considerably higher rates of default on federal student loans.” This leaves them open to having up to 15 percent of their benefit payment withheld, in what’s called an “offset.” By Deirdre Fulton
World:
Assassination in Ankara: the Middle East Crisis is Engulfing Turkey The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara by a 22-year-old riot policeman underlines the degree to which Turkey is being destabilised by the hatred and violence spreading from the wars in Syria. Spectacular killings and bombings are happening every few days in which the identity, affiliations or motives of the perpetrators are often in doubt because the attacks are a reflection of the multiple crises threatening to tear Turkey apart. by Patrick Cockburn
By Making Palestinian Villages Invisible, Google and Apple Maps Facilitate Their Demolition By David Palumbo-Liu
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