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!
The “all Russiagate, all the time” information regime — which also prepares the public for a wider war scenario — provides the illusion of motion that passes for “resistance” to the rule of the rich, as personified by Donald Trump. But there has been no Democratic program to reorder society for at least a generation. And now, under the New McCarthyism, the only politics that is allowed is war politics, consisting of denunciations of those who threaten “our fundamental democratic principles” – which need not be defined or even proven to exist. That’s why it has been an empty year, albeit a very loud one. As Gil Scott-Heron sang in “Winter in America,” “Nobody’s fighting, ‘cause nobody knows what to save.” — Democrats Gone Mad: The Year of Living Stupidly
Most all bureaucrats and government officials lie like a rug — They are all over anybody below them — And they let everybody above them, lay all over them! — Roland Sheppard
The ‘art’ of power politics — claim everything, concede nothing, and when caught, holler foul! — Roland Sheppard
Massive Iceberg Breaks Free in Antarctica: How Worried Should We Be? The iceberg, which is about the size of Delaware, is an important reminder that ice on Earth is changing–and not just in Antarctica, says Dr. Twila Moon, a glacial expert with the National Snow and Ice Data Center
Navy Introduces Toxins to Drinking Water, Then Expands Operations In Washington State, a Naval Air Base on Whidbey Island has turned the area into a Superfund site and local residents fear that the island’s soil and water may be compromised beyond recovery. The Navy’s response has been to avoid mentioning some of the highly toxic substances in its environmental impact report as it seeks to expand operations at the base. By Dahr Jamail Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Policeman pulls over black woman and quickly discovers she is the state attorney Aramis Ayala is Florida’s first and only black state attorney By Emily ShugermanPolice Beat Black Teenager After ‘Mistaking’ Her for a Larger Bald Black Male Suspect The officer who arrested the 19-year-old did not realize she was a woman until she told him her name. By Celisa CalacalNAACP Is Challenged to Become Relevant Again to a New Generation, Can They Do It? By David LoveHow Did Berniecrats Claim the Jackson Mississippi Movement? Do They Want To Be Claimed? Should They? When Jackson’s mayor-elect Chokwe Antar Lumumba stepped to the podium at the cynically misnamed “Peoples Summit”, the annual June pilgrimage of Berniecrats, he carried with him the credibility of a half century’s organizing and struggle in Mississippi and around the country. He put this clout behind Our Revolution and the Berniecrats, who are fundamentally allergic to even the mention of global empire, Israeli apartheid, regime change, drone wars and the disastrous impact of the warfare state. Is that what the Jackson movement wanted? By BAR managing editor Bruce A. DixonDemocrats Gone Mad: The Year of Living Stupidly Nobody voted for the War Party in November of 2016, but that’s who’s in power. Which is why both Democrats and Republicans talk of virtually nothing but Russians and war. Polls show most voters think there’s no evidence that Trump “colluded” with Russia, and they believe that much of what they see in the mainstream media is “fake news.” The Russian obsession is delegitimizing, not just Donald Trump, but the government and the media. by BAR executive editor Glen FordMengele Medicine… Free This week our poet examines the links between the blankets settlers distributed among Native Americans and capitalism’s reckless disregard of human, environmental and medica ethics. by BAR poet in residence Raynmond Nat Turner Environment:
A man holding a Colombian flag walks in Meta, Colombia. ‘The Farc would limit logging to two hectares a year in the municipality,’ says the mayor of a town in the province. Photograph: Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EPA
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Labor:
Poverty Wages, Deportations, Wage Theft, Cockroaches: Farmworkers Demand Dignity From Ben & Jerry’s As monolithic ice cream producers like Ben & Jerry’s impose ever-shrinking prices on their supply chains, the largely migrant dairy farmworkers at the receiving end of the poverty wages and unsanitary living conditions have organized for justice. Intimidation by immigration police has only created greater solidarity among workers. By Jonathan Leavitt Economy:
World:
The Arctic is full of mercury, and scientists think they know how it’s getting there The remote Arctic tundra may seem like the last place on Earth human pollution should be causing a problem — yet it’s filled with mercury contamination. That mercury leaks from the soil into rivers and ultimately the Arctic Ocean, contaminating the fish and other sea life that native communities rely on for survival. Now, in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists have begun to outline how the mercury is getting into and moving through the landscape in the first place. And the short answer is: It’s our fault it’s there in the first place, and climate change could now make that even worse. By Chelsea Harvey Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
Pentagon secretly tested chemical weapons on US troops. Vets demand to know the cost The Pentagon conducted a series of secret chemical and biological weapons tests involving military personnel in the 1960s and 1970s. Veterans groups and members of Congress are demanding to know exactly what happened – and who has suffered. The tests, known as Project 112 and SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) involved some 6,000 military personnel between 1962 and 1974, the Vietnam War era. Most served in the Navy and Army. The purpose was to identify any weaknesses to U.S. ships and troops and develop a response plan for a chemical attack. The tests involved nerve agents like Sarin and Vx, and bacteria such as E. Coli. Sarin and Vx are both lethal. According to DOD documents, death can occur within 10 to 15 minutes of exposure to a fatal dose of Vx. By Anshu Siripurapu
Health Care in America: Where is the Socialist Solution? The introduction of the Republican legislation to “repeal and replace” Obamacare is no more than latest scrimmage in the ongoing one-sided war against the poor and working class. The “Affordable Care Act” (ACA, better known as Obamacare) proved to be both unaffordable and unable to provide comprehensive care for millions. Nevertheless, with the ACA being one of the only tangible “victories” Democrats could claim for an administration with a dismal record of noteworthy accomplishments, neoliberal Democrats and the party’s liberal base led by Bernie Sanders are now coalesced around the ACA and have vowed to defend it to the bitter end. By Ajamu Baraka
Politics have no relation to morals. — Niccolo Machiavelli
Quotes of the Day:
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Police Beat Black Teenager After ‘Mistaking’ Her for a Larger Bald Black Male Suspect The officer who arrested the 19-year-old did not realize she was a woman until she told him her name. By Celisa Calacal 
NAACP Is Challenged to Become Relevant Again to a New Generation, Can They Do It? By David Love 
How Did Berniecrats Claim the Jackson Mississippi Movement? Do They Want To Be Claimed? Should They? When Jackson’s mayor-elect Chokwe Antar Lumumba stepped to the podium at the cynically misnamed “Peoples Summit”, the annual June pilgrimage of Berniecrats, he carried with him the credibility of a half century’s organizing and struggle in Mississippi and around the country. He put this clout behind Our Revolution and the Berniecrats, who are fundamentally allergic to even the mention of global empire, Israeli apartheid, regime change, drone wars and the disastrous impact of the warfare state. Is that what the Jackson movement wanted? By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
Democrats Gone Mad: The Year of Living Stupidly Nobody voted for the War Party in November of 2016, but that’s who’s in power. Which is why both Democrats and Republicans talk of virtually nothing but Russians and war. Polls show most voters think there’s no evidence that Trump “colluded” with Russia, and they believe that much of what they see in the mainstream media is “fake news.” The Russian obsession is delegitimizing, not just Donald Trump, but the government and the media. by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Mengele Medicine… Free This week our poet examines the links between the blankets settlers distributed among Native Americans and capitalism’s reckless disregard of human, environmental and medica ethics. by BAR poet in residence Raynmond Nat Turner 
Environment:
Deforestation soars in Colombia after Farc rebels’ demobilization Area of deforestation climbed 44% in 2016 compared with year before, as criminal groups have swooped in promote illegal logging and mining By Sibylla Brodzinsky
Economy:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
