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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
Images of the Day:
After all, it hasn’t been that long ago since Israel helped catapult Lebanon into a terrible, bloody civil war, and it did so with its own bloody and unwarranted invasion of the country. Hezbollah, an organization which has never been a true terrorist group no matter what Israel goes on about, came into its own by opposing Israel’s long-term, illegal occupation of Southern Lebanon. They were only defending what is theirs, but they made Israel look very bad, and that is an unforgivable offence. So, here we have the new Saudi Crown Prince doing more dirty work on Israel’s behalf, much as with his war in Yemen where he bombs civilians regularly, saving Israel from having to act on its own to get what it wants in someone else’s country. You see, if Israel itself actually had to do all the ugly deeds it wants done in the region, the world would see it with blinding clarity for the pariah state that it truly is, starting wars incessantly. Proxies – whether mercenary gangs like ISIS and Al-Nusra in Syria or tyrants like the new Saudi Crown Prince in Yemen and Lebanon – are the latest fashion statement from Tel Aviv. — What’s Really Going On in Saudi Arabia
Videos of the Day:
Burn Pits and Betrayal: How the U.S. Poisoned its Veterans As the U.S. marks Veterans Day, the documentary ‘Delay, Deny, Hope You Die’ explores how the Pentagon and its contractors have neglected soldiers poisoned by toxins on military bases oversea
Empire Files: The Sacrifice Zones of Hurricane Harvey In this second installment of special coverage Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath, Abby Martin explores how the petrochemical industry dominates the city and why its low-income, Black and Latino areas are in the highest-risk areas for flooding and pollution, earning them the name “sacrifice zones.” Watch more on teleSUR
Empire Files: Decentralized Disaster Relief Fills Void After uncovering total failure by the U.S. government to meet the needs of communities suffering in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Abby Martin meets the people who filled the void. Speaking with volunteers who mobilized from out-of-state, to community leaders who organized relief efforts, this final installment of the Empire Files’ investigation shows how people came together to replace the failures of the system. Watch more on teleSUR
Alexandr Buzgalin On The Centenary of the Russian Revolution The spirit of the revolution is still alive and the centenary is being celebrated in Russia by the democratic left, it is convening people from the former soviet republics and the world
U.S.:
The Trump-US House $4.6 TrillionTax Cut–Who Pays? “Last month Trump and released his initial proposals for cutting taxes on the rich. The proposals were developed behind closed doors by his key economic policy makers, Steve Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary, and Gary Cohn, director of the Trump Economic Council—both former senior managers of the Goldman Sachs investment bank. (see my prior article this blog, ‘The Trump-Goldman Sachs Tax Cut for the Rich’). The initial Trump-Goldman Sachs proposal defined only the broad outlines of the Trump tax plan, but still clearly benefiting the wealthy and their businesses. But the proposal said little how the multi-trillion dollar handout would be paid for. This past week the tax plan was further revised and clarified by the Republican-run US House of Representatives. by Jack Rasmus
The Left Gets Rolled Again Twenty years ago the optimism surrounding the development of the internet— by the American military (ARPA / DARPA) through communications channels controlled by American telecom companies, was of a new public commons where ideas could be freely communicated and democracy would flourish. Subsequent years have seen a shifting of orientation from the demos to the corporate-state agglomeration from whence it came in what is increasingly a deeply instantiated system of social control. by Rob Urie
America’s cruel way to punish poor debtors: take away their driver’s license The story of license suspensions in the US reveals the extent of the injury states are willing to inflict on low-income people in order to balance their books By Peter Edelman
Disaster Capitalism: United States’ Debt Vultures in Puerto Rico:
Who Owns Puerto Rico’s Debt, Exactly? We’ve Tracked Down 10 of the Biggest Vulture Firms. Financial firms are still fighting to get billions out of the bankrupt island as it tries to rebuild. By Joel Cintrón Arbasetti and Carla Minet, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, and Alex V. Hernandez and Jessica Stites, In These Times
Debt Vultures Behind Puerto Rico Austerity Are Also Fueling Climate Change The island of Puerto Rico has been devastated by a set of human-made catastrophes – two hurricanes supercharged by fossil fuel emissions and a debt crisis and ruthless austerity regime imposed by Wall Street. Seeds for both of these disasters were sown by Seth Klarman, the president of Baupost Group, a Boston-based hedge fund heavily invested in both Puerto Rican debt and in the oil and gas industry. Klarman is also a trustee of the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank which has both fought against action on climate change and for austerity in Puerto Rico. By Rob Galbraith
Environment:
Democracy Now!: CA Gov. Jerry Brown Tells Indigenous Activists Protesting Fracking “He’ll Put Them “In the Ground” Democracy Now! broadcasts live from the U.N. climate summit in Bonn, Germany, where representatives from nearly 200 nations have gathered for negotiations aimed at bolstering the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord. This year’s climate change conference comes after President Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, but there are still a number of U.S. delegations in Bonn. One is a coalition of U.S. lawmakers, universities, companies and faith groups that is staging an anti-Trump revolt by rejecting Trump’s action and declaring, “We are still in.” On Saturday, a group of protesters, many of whom were Native American, disrupted California Governor Jerry Brown’s speech at Bonn, calling on California to ban fracking, yelling, “Keep it in the ground!”
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Arkansas Justice: Racism, Torture, and a Botched Execution Just over six months have passed since the disturbing execution of Kenneth Williams, but as far as the state of Arkansas is concerned, it might as well be ancient history. No sooner did media witnesses return to the press room on the night of April 27 to describe how Williams coughed and convulsed on the gurney than officials acted like nothing had happened. Never mind the veteran reporter who said it was unlike any execution he had ever seen. Gov. Asa Hutchinson dismissed calls for an investigation. “My goal was to make sure that we had justice in Arkansas in a way that reflected well on the state,” he said the next day, “and I think that was accomplished.” By Liliana Segura
Labor:
Economy:
In Second Gilded Age, Trump shows no sign of taking on rigged system More 70 years ago progressive policies reined in the robber barons, but today’s superrich face no foe in the White House America’s role as the world’s economic superpower was established in the period between 1870 and the start of the first world war. The country boomed, immigrants arrived in their millions and the rich coined it in. Even now the names are familiar: John D Rockefeller; Andrew Carnegie; the Vanderbilt family. They called it the Gilded Age.
Why have we built a paradise for offshore billionaires? We endure potholes and live in fear of collapsing highway bridges because our leaders wanted these very special people to have an even larger second yacht It’s not enough to say, in response to the Paradise Papers revelations, that we already knew that rich people parked their money in offshore tax havens, where their piles accumulate far from the scrutiny of our government. Nor is it enough to say that we were already aware that we live in a time of “inequality.” What we have learned this week is the clinical definition of the word. What we have learned is how much the rich and the virtuous have been hiding away and where they’re hiding it. Yes, there are sinister-looking Russian capitalists involved. But there’s also our favorite actors and singers. Our beloved alma mater, supposedly a charitable institution. Everyone with money seems to be in on it. We’re also learning that maybe we’ve had it backwards all along. Tax havens on some tropical island aren’t some sideshow to western capitalism; they are a central reality. Those hidden billions are like an unseen planet whose gravity is pulling our politics and our economy always in a certain direction. And this week we finally began to understand what that uncharted planet looks like; we started to grasp its mass and its power. By Thomas Frank
World:
Mysterious Deaths and Forced Disappearances. This Is Egypt’s U.S.-Backed War on Terror. Mohamed Abdelsatar, a 44-year-old schoolteacher, arrived to work in Egypt’s Beheira province on April 9, 2017. He signed in to the official roll at 8 a.m., having prepared a lesson on Christianity in Egypt — a timely topic given that sectarian attacks by the Islamic State have killed and injured hundreds throughout Egypt since last December. But by 10:30 that morning, Abdelsatar had been apprehended, escorted off school grounds by men in plainclothes, and ordered into an unmarked vehicle. Next to a blank space where his sign-out should have been, the official roll read simply: “Arrested from the institute while working.” By Jacob Greene and Allison McManus
‘Freedom for the Political Prisoners’: Hundreds of Thousands March in Barcelona Independence movement supporters marched to protest the prison detentions of ousted government officials and grassroots leaders. An estimated 750,000 people marched in Barcelona on Saturday to demand that the Spanish government release Catalan separatist leaders who are being held in prison for their roles in the region’s recent independence referendum. By Common Dreams
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
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.
Quotes of the Day: