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Memorial Day and World War I was ‘the war to end all wars’ — But there has been perpetual war for perpetual peace since then, this Laura Cray political cartoon, The Only Victor, is from the from page editorial, of the August 18, 1945 Issue of The Militant Newspaper, with the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace” Could Still Be Published Today! 
The Only Victor
1% Pigs
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 Those Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico!
Images of the Day:
Black people and our allies fought for black liberation against slave societies and a slavery-based economy and in some cases, we won. Abolition sought to end slavery and white supremacy to their very core and liberate black people as stolen people exploited on occupied lands. However, abolition has yet to fully achieve a society and a world where black folks and our lives are recognized with equal value and where institutions have repaired the harm caused on our people. The backlash to the abolition movement transformed slavery and its institutions. And, while we have seen some semblance of emancipation, we still live with the vestiges of slavery everyday in this country. The remnants of slavery are visible in the militarization of police, the expansion of the prison industrial complex, rampant Immigration and Custom Enforcement (Ice) raids and the Muslim travel ban in place in America today. They are reflected in the US invasions, occupation and war against communities of color domestically and around the world. If a state is the source of 36% of all military expenditures globally, then it is In this current moment, abolition is more important than ever. The United States has more than 20% of the world’s prison population with only 5% of the world’s population. More than half of those incarcerated in the US are black. — Abolitionists still have work to do in America
By Aug. 3 the elected members of the ANC will be sworn in as the new legislative body. It will be installed within 72 hours after the announcement of the elected constituents and will work from the Federal Legislative Palace in Caracas, according to the decree that convened it. This group of various origins and interests will discuss and drafts a new national constitution based on the proposals by different sectors of society. This will be the second Constituent Assembly to be elected in Venezuela since 1999 when the current constitutional text was drafted in another popular participation vote. In the current Bolivarian Constitution, there is no defined timeline on how long it would take the members of the newly elected body to complete the popular mandate, but it would be a temporary parliament. The constituents will have at least three months to draft the new text and are expected to focus their work on justice and economic issues. — Venezuelans must approve new constitution — Article 349 of the country’s constitution says no other state power can “in any way impede the decisions of the National Constituent Assembly” and that the President of the Republic can not object to the new Constitution. The final text of the new Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will go to an open and free referendum where all citizens will decide whether to approve it. — What’s Next After Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Vote?
Videos of the Day:
Pentagon: US Empire ‘Collapsing,’ So Give Us More Money A new Pentagon study says the U.S. may be losing its dominant position in world affairs and that the DoD needs a “wakeup call”–but Col. Lawrence Wilkerson says the report is really about using fear to drum up more money for the military
Subprime Auto Loan Defaults on the Rise Bill Black the white collar criminologist says It is a very severe problem for consumers who are going to lose not only their cars, but their credit ratings
U.S.:
Going Soft on Corporate Crime a Bipartisan Affair by Russell Mokhiber 
Pentagon Denies Knowledge of Cameroon Base Abuses — Despite Being Aware of Reports of Torture To date, Us Africa Command has not received any reports of human rights abuses by Cameroonian forces at either of these locations.” This was the boilerplate reply to media outlets from Robyn Mack, a spokesperson for U.S. Africa Command, the umbrella organization for U.S. military activities on the continent. Mack was responding to revelations, detailed in a recently released Amnesty International report, of torture and killing by Cameroon’s elite Rapid Intervention Battalion — known by its French acronym, BIR — at two military bases in that country.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Environment:
“Biological Annihilation,” Trillion-Ton Icebergs, Warming Levels Unseen for 115,000 Years Brazilian Amazon — Less than 30 years ago, the Earth’s tropical rainforests held the carbon equivalent of half of the entire atmosphere. But as atmospheric CO2 has escalated along with the deforestation of so much of the tropics, that is no longer the case. Nevertheless, carbon stored in tropical rainforests is still significant. According to NASA, “In the early 2000s, forests in the 75 tropical countries studied contained 247 billion tons of carbon. For perspective, about 10 billion tons of carbon is released annually to the atmosphere from combined fossil fuel burning and land use changes.” This is one of the countless reasons why losing them would be catastrophic to life on Earth. By Dahr Jamail
Pittsburgh officials may have ‘deflected’ attention from lead-contaminated water According to a report obtained by the Guardian, health officials in Pittsburgh have downplayed the dangers of lead contamination discovered in local water By Jessica Glenza
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Labor:
Economy:
Can the Stock Market Continue Its Rise While the U.S. Dollar Slumps? Back on January 12, 2017, Wall Street On Parade had a foreboding about the President-elect and his impact on the nation’s currency. We wrote at the time: “The President of the United States is typically viewed as the person whose top job is to inspire confidence in the dignity, integrity and sanity of his leadership of the country. But the presser held by President-elect Donald Trump yesterday, the first in six months and likely viewed by world leaders around the globe, was short on confidence building and long on slandering the American media and U.S. intelligence agencies. In short order, the U.S. dollar took a dive. Trump has yet to assimilate the concept that his words no longer belong just to him but attach themselves like flypaper to the credibility of the most powerful nation on earth.” This morning, reporters at Bloomberg News are also worrying about the sagging U.S. dollar, writing that “there’s no better place for investors to express their views about how a nation is managing its affairs than the $5.1 trillion-a-day global market for foreign exchange.” The article also notes that on July 20 of this year, when news reports surfaced that the Trump campaign/Russia investigation had expanded to include his personal finances, the U.S. dollar “immediately sank to an 11-month low. Just two days earlier, the currency slumped after a Republican effort to overhaul health care broke down.” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Venezuela Sees “Historic” Turnout in National Constituent Assembly Elections Venezuela’s national electoral body announced Sunday evening that 8,089,320 people had participated in the day’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) elections. By Lucas Koerner
Threatened US national monuments you have to see — in pictures
Quotes of the Day:
Black youth who led the Ferguson Rebellion and inspired the world are dying – is Cointelpro back? by Kerry ‘Shakaboona’ Marshall 
A Black Woman in the Same Job as a White Man Has to Work 19 Months to Earn the Same He Does in 12 July 31st is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. By Valerie Wilson, Janelle Jones, Kayla Blado and Elise Gould
Authoritarianism Already Smothers Freedom: It is Not the Issue in Venezuela Some say Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is authoritarian. Yet an unrecognized authoritarianism is more serious. The way the world divides up – that is, its economic and political structures – makes certain ideas unthinkable. It even makes it unthinkable that they are unthinkable. by Susan Babbitt
Hacked Emails Show UAE Building Close Relationship With D.C. Think Tanks That Push Its Agenda By Zaid Jilani and Alex Emmons
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: