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During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: 1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel.
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 Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico!
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Today, a spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies. — Communist Manifest The rise of mass working class youth in Britain, as represented by the Corbyn campaign, has sent chills of fear up and down the 1%’s back! Dispite the 1%’s united lying efforts, the Labour Party won the elections! In Britain they can no longer tolerate the fig leaf of Democracy — for the working class youth know that tomorrow belongs to them! — Roland Sheppard
On the evening of February 13, 1945, a series of Allied firebombing raids begins against the German city of Dresden, reducing the “Florence of the Elbe” to rubble and flames, and killing as many as 135,000 people. It was the single most destructive bombing of the war — including Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and all the more horrendous because little, if anything, was accomplished strategically, since the Germans were already on the verge of surrender. Among the conclusions reached at the February 1945 Yalta Conference of the Allied powers was the resolution that the Allies would engage in concerted strategic bombing raids against German cities known for war-production and manufacturing, in an effort to bring the Nazi war machine to a crashing halt. The tragic irony of the raid on Dresden, a medieval city renowned for its rich artistic and architectural treasures, is that during the war it had never been a site of war-production or major industry. Both Allies and Germans alike have argued over the real purpose of the firebombing; the ostensible “official” rationale was that Dresden was a major communications center and bombing it would hamper the German ability to convey messages to its army, which was battling Soviet forces at the time. But the extent of the destruction was, for many, disproportionate to the stated strategic goal—many believe that the attack was simply an attempt to punish the Germans and weaken their morale. More than 3,400 tons of explosives were dropped on the city by 800 American and British aircraft. The firestorm created by the two days of bombing set the city burning for many more days, littering the streets with charred corpses, including many children. Eight square miles of the city was ruined, and the total body count was between 35,000 and 135,000 (an approximation is all that was possible given that the city was filled with many refugees from farther east). The hospitals that were left standing could not handle the numbers of injured and burned, and mass burials became necessary. Among the American POWs who were in Dresden during the raid was novelist Kurt Vonnegut, who conveyed his experience in his classic antiwar novel Slaughterhouse Five. — Firebombing of Dresden
Videos of the Day:
Roll-Back of Financial Regulations Has Nothing to do with Complexity or Boosting the Economy Former financial regulator Bill Black explains that the Republicans’ effort to eliminate Dodd-Frank Act financial regulations serves the interests of the big financial institutions and has nothing to do with rules’ complexity or impact on the economy
Earning Minimum Wage Puts Affordable Housing Out of Reach Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report discusses a National Low Income Housing Coalition report that finds affordable housing is next to impossible for U.S. workers earning minimum wage
U.S.:
Black Liberation/Civil Rights: 
Freedom Rider: Under the Democrats’ Bus The Democrats continue their decades-long lurch to the right. The party funds right-wing congressional candidates in hopes of appealing to Trump voters, but resists its own supporters’ calls for single payer health care and other reforms. The treachery provokes hardly a peep of complaint from Black politicians, who are busy searching for lurking Russians. Meanwhile, Barack Obama has been “hanging out with royalty in the United Kingdom.” by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
What is “the Resistance,” Anyway? Who is “resisting” what, and on whose behalf? Among folks that claim to be leftists, resistance has become a catch-all term that is “useless” – or worse – “without definition.” Much of the so-called resistance owes allegiance to Hillary Clinton, a true champion of the One Percent. The War Party’s troops also claim to be “resisters” — resisting the very idea of peaceful coexistence with Russia and an end to U.S. regime-change wars. by Danny Haiphong 
Victory for the Black Struggle in Buenaventura, ColombiaThe three-week strike in Buenaventura was a collective human rights struggle which challenged neoliberalism head on. “The strike involved 117 social organizations, from cargo boat operators, to taxi drivers, to business people, evangelical churches, women’s groups, young people’s and student groups and national and local organizations dedicated to the defense of the ethno-territorial rights of Afro-descendant and indigenous communities.” A Report from the Black Alliance for Peace
Jeremy Corbyn Wants to Lay the White Man’s Burden Down There was a time when the sun never set on Britain’s aggressions and thefts around the world. But Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbin rejects that role for his nation. Is that quaint or corny? “Not to the Yemeni families dying of cholera, U.S.-made cruise missiles, British-made cluster bombs, or other Western weapons of mass destruction. Or to Syrians, Iraqis, Libyans, Palestinians, Somalis, North Koreans, Rwandans, Burundians, or Congolese.” by Ann Garrison
What’s Hidden Behind the Walls of America’s Prisons? The U.S. penal system is like a cosmic Black Hole: far more massive than its counterparts anywhere else in the world — with 2.3 million behind bars, 4.5 million on probation or parole, and up to 100 million U.S. citizens with a criminal record — yet largely invisible to the general population. “For those without press credentials, finding out what is happening behind bars remains virtually impossible.” by Heather Ann Thompsom 
America’s Toxic Prisons: The Environmental Injustices of Mass Incarceration Most people realize that prisons are bad for the bodies and minds of the inmates. However, the vast U.S. prison gulag is also a huge source of pollution for surrounding communities. “Federal environmental regulations bar many of the types of pollution and contamination happening in prisons, but state and federal agencies seem to have little incentive to enforce these laws with regard to prisoners.” by Candice Bernd, Zoe Loftus-Farren and Maureen Nandini Mitra
100th Anniversary of Hubert Harrison’s Founding of the Militant “New Negro Movement”The modern Black liberation movement can be said to have begun with the founding of Hubert Harrison’s Liberty League, in Harlem, a century ago. The League demanded that lynching become a federal crime, and that Blacks defend themselves from racist attack. “Harrison advised ‘Negroes’ who faced mob violence in the South and elsewhere to ‘supply themselves with rifles and fight if necessary, to defend their lives and property.’” by Jeffrey B. Perry
Environment:
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Labor:
Economy:
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Wants to Put a Bigger Blindfold on Consumers The next leg of the insatiable Wall Street heist has begun under the new U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Under the guise of empowering Americans “to make independent financial decisions,” the Treasury released its set of recommendations for financial reform on Monday. Far from empowering Americans, the new recommendations would effectively place a bigger blindfold on consumers, blocking further their ability to differentiate between serially corrupt financial institutions on Wall Street and those that make an effort at playing by the rules. (The latter being an almost extinct species.) By Pam Martens and Russ Martens 
World:
Britain: Theresa May’s ”coalition of chaos” – Who are the DUP? The shock result of the June 8th election, called by Theresa May with the intention of strengthening her position, has left the Tories without a majority and May’s political career in tatters. Like a drowning woman, she is now clutching at straws in a desperate bid to cobble together a government. The result is likely to be a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), with the leaders of both parties meeting today to discuss the terms of a Westminster alliance By Ben Curry
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
In an Aging Nation, Single-Payer Is the Alternative to Dying Under Austerity A new push for a single-payer health system is rising in Washington, where Republicans are pushing a draconian plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Some may think that “Medicare for All” would do little for the nation’s rapidly growing population of seniors, but a single-payer system could expand benefits and ensure that the process of aging and dying is not exploited for profit. By Mike Ludwig
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