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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 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:
The petroleum industry seems utterly unwilling to take responsibility for operating safely, even as climate change makes storms like Harvey more destructive.” Shaye Wolf, Center for Biological Diversity
Trump is but an example of capitalism in its epoch of moral decay, just like Caligula was an example of the Roman Empires in its epoch of moral decay — Roland Sheppard
Hurricane Harvey has been downgraded from a Category 4 hurricane to a tropical depression as it moves over Louisiana and into Mississippi. Texas officials say at least 44 people were killed by the storm and nearly 100,000 homes are damaged by flooding. This comes as a chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston, in Crosby, was rocked by two explosions early Thursday morning. The facility produces highly volatile chemicals known as organic peroxides, and at least 10 sheriff’s deputies were hospitalized after inhaling fumes. Officials had already evacuated residents within a one-and-a-half-mile radius of the plant in the town of Crosby, after it lost primary and backup power to its coolant system. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez insisted in an early-morning press conference that the plant had not exploded, describing the event as a “pop” followed by smoke. But Federal Emergency Management Agency head Brock Long said a plume of chemicals leaking from the plant was “incredibly dangerous.” We speak with Matt Dempsey, reporter with the Houston Chronicle who questioned Arkema about what is stored at the plant and who produced the investigative series “Chemical Breakdown,” which examined regulatory failures of the chemical industry. — Should Texas Residents Know the Chemicals They’re Breathing After the Arkema Plant Explosion?
Videos of the Day:
U.S.
What the Media isn’t Telling You About North Korea’s Missile Tests What the media failed to mention was that, for the last three weeks, Japan, South Korea and the US have been engaged in large-scale joint-military drills on Hokkaido Island and in South Korea. These needlessly provocative war games are designed to simulate an invasion of North Korea and a “decapitation” operation to remove (Re: Kill) the regime. North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un has asked the US repeatedly to end these military exercises, but the US has stubbornly refused. The US reserves the right to threaten anyone, anytime and anywhere even right on their doorstep. By Mike Whitney
Afghanistan: Why We Won’t Leave Trump’s recent decision to add troops in Afghanistan has nothing to do with combating terrorism (or mining mineral resources, or confusing militants as to when the U.S. military might finally leave), no matter what the endless stream of pundits and think-pieces have argued since it was announced. After 16 years of occupation the Taliban control 48 of nearly 400 administrative units, the Islamic State has established a foothold, the United States supplies almost the entirety of the military and civilian budget, the Afghan military is incapable of functioning without U.S. support, opium production has increased so that Afghanistan supplies 77% of the world’s heroin, and by the end of the next fiscal year the total cost of the 16-year Afghan war alone will be $1 trillion. By Peter LaVenia
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Environmental Racism:
Study links fish farms to spread of antibiotic resistance New research that finds a possible link between fish farms and the spread of antibiotic resistance doesn’t surprise marine biologist Inka Milewski. “Anytime you have animals grown in very concentrated conditions in these intensive livestock operations, whether it’s pigs or chickens, or in this case, fish, you’re going to have the potential for disease problems,” Milewski said in an interview Sunday from her home in the Miramichi in New Brunswick. By John McPhee
Wake-Up Call for Climate Action from Houston to Mumbai Cities across the globe from Houston to Mumbai have been ravaged by catastrophic floods. In the United States and South Asia, this summer has combined record-breaking temperatures and heatwaves with unprecedented rainfall levels, and the human and economic toll has been severe. More worrisome still, climate change is increasing both the frequency and severity of extreme weather events like extreme rains, which can result in flooding, and heatwaves. It’s likely that terrifying rains, flooding, and coastal storm damage like that seen in Hurricane Harvey and this year’s monsoon are set to become more common in the future. This summer, heatwaves and floods are a wake-up call for immediate action on climate and disaster preparedness to protect our communities and public health By Anjali Jaiswal and Kim Knowlton (Co-Authored by Henry Ruehl, NRDC Energy Fellow)
In an era of dire climate records the US and South Asia floods won’t be the last From the US to India and China, human impact on the climate is likely to have made droughts and storms more severe – and the trend is only set to continue By Jonathan Watts
Houston Short on Inspectors to Test Its Air and Water After Harvey Health department official still waiting for a response from EPA’s emergency operations center By Melanie Evans
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Texans Face Soaring Levels of Toxic Pollution After Harvey Houston residents are facing colossal levels of pollution as a result of the damage done by Hurricane Harvey. Oil refineries and petrochemical plants are reporting the release of more than 2,700 tons of extra pollution into the atmosphere, causing ozone levels in southwest Houston to soar to nearly triple the national standard. By Emma Niles
Labor:
Death and the Workplace: How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live When Blind Alfred Reed wrote “How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” at the beginning of The Great Depression, he was singing about the hopelessness of poverty when there were no jobs available. Great advancements among the work force were made over the following decades, only to see them trickle away again over the last 40 years. Sure — the labor reports state very low levels of unemployment these days. But wages in real terms are fading. by Bill Glahn
The War at the Point of Production: The ‘Killing Fields’ of the United States Like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, world imperialism spreads War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, throughout the world. Author Gore Vidal describes this era as ‘Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace’. One perpetual war, which is not openly publicized, is the war for profits. It takes place every single day at the point of production, and is killing increasing numbers of workers every year. Today, workers are used as ‘cannon fodder’ both in the war in Iraq and in the war for profits at home. Workplaces have become perpetual ‘killing fields’. By Roland Sheppard
Economy:
World:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
FBI Terrorism:
Part 6: The Unlikely Jihadi: The FBI Pressured a Lonely Young Man Into a Bomb Plot. He Tried to Back Out. Now He’s Serving Life in Prison. The U.S. Government has prosecuted more than 800 people for terrorism since the 9/11 attacks. Most of them never committed an act of violence.
America the Decrepit: The Trump Plan Won’t Fix the Infrastructure Deficit Despite all his talk of a $1 trillion infrastructure program, Donald Trump was never interested in enacting a public investment program, or in spending enough money to return our infrastructure to good repair, or in targeting our most crucial infrastructure needs for improvement. Rather, his campaign proposal would open critical areas of government investment to private profiteering, and taxpayers would not get off the hook. By John Miller
People & Planet Before Profits! 
Quotes of the Day:
Environment: 