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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.
Quotes of the Day:
US politics Even More Conservative Under Trump, But Not for the Reasons Expected “At no other time has there been more of a need to organize a political program independent of the two party system.” The old formula for Democratic Party behavior under a Republican Administration is dead. For a generation, Republican-led wars, economic bailouts, and overtly racist policies generated mass discontent from a wide net of Democratic Party supporters. Democratic opposition to Republicans was mere bravado that created the conditions for future Democratic Party Administrations in Washington. By Danny Haiphong, BAR contributor 
Burundi Defies the Imperial Criminal Court, an Interview with John Philpot “All the international criminal courts became propaganda tools for perpetuating Western domination of Africa by demonizing any African leaders who dare to raise an independent head or take steps toward resource sovereignty.” The International Criminal Court (ICC) propagates injustice as stark as slavery or South African apartheid. It’s a Western court that prosecutes Africans exclusively. In June 2011, the ICC engaged in one of its most shocking imperial crusades by indicting Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi for crimes against their own people. NATO claimed that the indictments justified destroying Libya with an aerial bombing campaign, and the ICC failed to indict a single NATO commander. By Ann Garrison, BAR contributor
We Get It. It’s Harvey Weinstein’s News Cycle. But What About Our Black Girls? “Apparently, the victimization of young black girls is not newsworthy enough for the mass media or the court of public opinion to be engrossed or enraged at Weinstein levels.” I stopped watching broadcast news five years ago, after a sex crime was reported in close proximity to where I live. The local news was beginning to feel like trauma porn and was much too close to home. By Ida Harris 
Fake News on Russia and Other Official Enemies: The New York Times, 1917–2017 “Fake news on Russia is a Times tradition that can be traced back at least as far as the 1917 revolution.” Edward S. Herman, the economist, Wharton School professor emeritus, and prolific author, died this week at age 92. Among his many books are Manufacturing Consent, which he authored with Noam Chomsky, and The Myth of the Liberal Media. The following article appeared in the July-August issue of Monthly Review . By Edward S. Herman 
New York’s Black Panthers, a Legacy “The book is a reminder of the Black Panther Party’s continued relevance.” The indictment and trial of the New York “Panther 21” was an attempt by several elements of the US police state apparatus to destroy the Black Panther Party. Despite the fact that none of the charges stuck, one could argue that the attempt was successful. By the time the trials were over, there was no Black Panther chapter in New York City and the national organization was in a downward spiral. Of course, the New York 21 trial was only one aspect of the attack on the Party; others included police murders of party members, numerous other trials on fabricated charges, police infiltration of the party, and other forms of activity too numerous to recall. All of this law enforcement action was part of the national operation coordinated by the FBI known as COINTELPRO. The original indictments were handed down on April 2, 1969. Police raids took place across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Most of those on the indictments were arrested that day and the next. Some members were able to disappear underground. The trial ended on May 12, 1971. All of those charged were acquitted on all 156 charges. The jury only took a few hours to reject the prosecution’s charges. By Ron Jacobs 
Blacks and Tax Reform “Capitalists continually search for the highest return on their investments — not creating jobs.” The Republicans’ so-called tax reform bill represents at least $1.5 trillion increased gifts to the one to ten percenters that own a disproportionate part of the wealth and means of production that fuels the economy. The corporate rate is slated to be cut from 35 to 20 percent. By Ken Morgan
Why the Private Sector’s Hype About the African Middle Class Isn’t Helpful It defines as middle class someone who has a daily income of between $4 and $70. The African middle class is of huge interest to business. This was confirmed again recently by well attended seminars in South Africa’s big cities to discuss “African Lions: groundbreaking study on the middle class in sub-Saharan Africa .” By Henning Melber
Decolonize the Caribbean “The Caribbean is in need of food sovereignty, energy sovereignty, and land sovereignty.” Maria and Irma, 2017’s two most destructive hurricanes in the Caribbean basin, have exposed the trappings and inequalities of colonialism in the region. The hurricanes have blown away decades of legal and international maneuvers and ruses, local constitutions, and moves towards autonomy and integration and administrative reclassifications—leaving exposed a simple colonial truth. By Angel “Monxo” López Santiago
South Africa’s Biggest Union Celebrates Russian Revolution he National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is commemorating this revolutionary moment with a week long celebration of the Russian Revolution. One hundred years ago on the 7th November 1917 (or the 25th of October in the old style Russian calendar) the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin launched an armed insurrection against the Duma, which is the legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia. By Angel Jim, NUMSA General Secretary 
What Have We Learned Since the Bolshevik Revolution? “There is a great deal to learn from the USSR, a great deal to admire and a great deal to censure.” November 7, 2017 was the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February of that year, the working class and peasantry — along with the soldiers — overthrew the Tsar’s regime. That October (November in our calendar), led by the Bolshevik party, the workers and peasants completed their social revolution by overthrowing the conciliatory government of the bourgeoisie led by Alexander Kerensky. Lenin, who had returned to Russia from exile, saw that behind Kerensky’s government was “merely a screen for the counterrevolutionary Cadets and the military clique, which is in power at present” and of the foreign imperialists. They had to be overthrown. That is what the Petrograd Soviet did. Vijay Prashad
How the Russian Revolution Inspired and Assisted National Liberation Struggles “Lenin’s uncompromising support for the right of nations to self-determination, up to and including secession, had a tremendous impact on the oppressed countries.” When the Russian Revolution triumphed in October 1917, most of the rest of the world was colonized by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. But under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, the revolution became the inspiration for countless peoples, not only by showing that a workers’ state was possible, but also by providing practical, material and later military aid. The first example was the liberation of the colonies held by Tsarist Russia, which was known as a “prison house of nations.”By Rebeca Toledo
Labor: