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!
Huge Explosion Rocks Richmond Oil Refinery/Thousands ordered indoors 3 hurt responding to blast. A huge plume of smoke rose above the Chevron refinery in Richmond, as firefighters battled the blaze.
Quotes of the Day:
The entire California environmental justice community stands in opposition to this package. Oil Change International stands with them, as we stand with communities impacted by the oil & gas industry around the world. These are bad bills, and they should be opposed by climate champions in California. It’s widely agreed that our climate crisis is ‘the greatest market failure ever’ so it’s just deeply disappointing that Governor Brown is banking on a market based industry friendly solution, rather than listening to the voices of the many people in California who actually have to live with the fossil fuel industry in their backyard. Governor Brown’s latest climate package perpetuates the myth that business as usual in the fossil fuel industry can go on with only a few small adjustments, and everything will be fine. That view may fly in the petrodollar soaked halls in Sacramento, but climate science and the health and wellbeing of communities living next to industry have a different perspective. —Stephen Kretzmann, Oil Change International stands with environmental justice groups in opposition to A.B. 398
The US government will this year spend officially $640 billion on its military. One might call it a monster. If in an alliterative mood, a military monster. Which it is. Those are only the baseline costs. There are many other hidden costs of the military gobbling up so many resources that infrastructure at home collapses. I say at home, because most of these exorbitantly wasteful military outlays have nothing to do with investing in, say, military bases at home. On the contrary, the United States builds military bases overseas. Even the Pentagon can’t tell you how many. But it’s somewhere around 800. In over 130 countries. During the reign of the Bush regime before Obama, US Special Forces were active in about 60 countries. By the time Obama left office they were active in 130. Is anybody paying attention? This is long past the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned of. A general let’s remember. It is so far past the military industrial complex that congressional would be another appropriate adjective. As would prison. The United States is an incarceral state. 2.3 million United Stateseans are already behind bars. About that many more are on probation or parole. Almost exclusively Black and Latino. — On the Ascencion to the Throne of Obama
Do You Know Where the Word “Redneck” Comes From? Mine Wars Museum Opens, Revives Lost Labor History Mingo County native, Wilma Lee Steele, is one of the board members for the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. Steele is a retired art teacher. For her the passion of sharing this history started from telling young activists about the history behind the word “redneck” and the red bandana. Striking miners tied Red Bandanas around their necks during the march on Blair Mountain. By Roxy ToddRedneck Revolt: the armed leftwing group that wants to stamp out fascism There are several commonalities between the far left and the far right – including a disdain for liberals – but the biggest divide is on the topic of intolerance by Cecilia Saixue WattOn the Ascencion to the Throne of Obama The US State Department publishes an annual list of state sponsors of terrorism. Perennially conspicuously absent that list is the US government itself. Perhaps that’s because the US government isn’t so much a state sponsor of terror as a state engaged in terror. In the event, it’s easily the biggest terrorist organization on the planet. It’s not even a contest. Events. The US government will this year spend officially $640 billion on its military. One might call it a monster. If in an alliterative mood, a military monster. Which it is. Those are only the baseline costs. There are many other hidden costs of the military gobbling up so many resources that infrastructure at home collapses. by Tracy McLellan
The Moral Corrosion of Drone Warfare Required by court order to appear before a judge in Syracuse, New York, on July 12, some out-of-towners had already arrived there when the court granted the prosecution’s last-minute request for more time to prepare its case against us, the Jerry Berrigan Brigade, for our nonviolent witness against drone warfare on Jan. 28, 2016. A trial date is likely to be set in a month or two, or perhaps three (so much for our Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial). by Ray McGovern
Earth’s sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn Researchers talk of ‘biological annihilation’ as study reveals billions of populations of animals have been lost in recent decades —A “biological annihilation” of wildlife in recent decades means a sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is under way and is more severe than previously feared, according to research. By Damian Carrington Government/Business Revolving Door Keeps on Revolving and Revolving and Revolving and . . .: A Week After Leaving FERC, Former Commissioner Honorable Joins Firm Lobbying for Company Behind Atlantic Coast Pipeline Only one week after leaving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), former commissioner Colette Honorable has joined a law firm lobbying for Dominion Energy, the company behind the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
From Clinton, to Bush, to Obama, and to Trump, the Wall Street/Government Revolving Door Continues: Trump’s Team Overseeing Wall Street Brings In More Goldman Sachs Alumni, Docs Reveal It goes far beyond what’s been reported. Not only is Jay Clayton Trump’s chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, after serving as the attorney who advised the bank during the bailouts of 2008, but new disclosures show that the team Clayton brought with him to oversee the financial market regulator are also former Goldman Sachs attorneys. By Lee Fang World:
Time for the “International Left” to Take a Stand on Venezuela Venezuela is heading towards an increasingly dangerous situation, in which open civil war could become a real possibility. So far over 100 people have been killed as a result of street protests, most of these deaths are the fault of the protesters themselves (to the extent that we know the cause). The possibility of civil war becomes more likely as long the international media obscure who is responsible for the violence and as long as the international left remains on the sidelines in this conflict and fails to show solidarity with the Bolivarian socialist movement in Venezuela. by Gregory Wilpert
URGENT ALERT: Venezuelan opposition prepares “zero hour” The Venezuelan opposition is stepping up its campaign with a “sovereign consultation” on Sunday July 16. The three questions asked in this consultation are about the legitimacy of the Constituent Assembly the government has called for, the need for the armed forces to intervene and remove the government and the formation of a so-called “government of national unity”. The opposition has announced that the consultation on July 16 will be the “zero hour” for a national, permanent and open ended “trancazo” (road blockades), until the “fall of the dictatorship”. By Jorge Martin Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
Eugene Debs and the Kingdom of Evil The socialist leader understood that working within the system is useless, that justice and economic equality will be achieved only by overthrowing the capitalist elites. By Chris Hedges
Big Oil’s ‘Killing Fields’
Environment:
Government/Business Revolving Door Keeps on Revolving and Revolving and Revolving and . . .: 
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
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Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: