Ferment in the Streets: Killer Cops the Symptom of a Nation off the Rails

“…the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open up the door to negotiation.”

Murder by Cop

Over a half century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rallied his supporters in the civil rights movement by cautioning them that true freedom was impossible without first addressing the economic disparities between the haves and have-nots in unequal America. He proposed an “economic bill of rights for all Americans” — which included a good job with a living wage, a secure income and the opportunity for all people to “play a truly significant role” in the government. Sound familiar? Today young people of all races and classes are out in the streets mobilizing to right the same wrongs — “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) The death of one black man followed by another and preceded by the wanton murder of a young black woman has set the stage. What comes next? Check out “Killer Cops in a Nation Off the Rails.

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Flag Day, June 14: When the Empire Honors Its Flag, Ignores Its Veterans

The Flag and Vets

What a perfect way to honor the promoters of war sitting in the halls of Congress and the White House than by invoking a little-known holiday, Flag Day. Woodrow Wilson, the president who dragooned the U.S. into an unnecessary war after winning reelection on his promise to keep the nation out of it, officially proclaimed Flag Day in 1916, less than a year before he got his war from a Democrat-controlled Congress. Defying the traditional meme that Republicans are the war party, two-thirds of the votes against the war were Republican. 116,516 young Americans paid the ultimate price. Although Flag Day is touted as a celebration of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes, a more accurate description would be the way it was celebrated in New York City during World War II — “New York at War.” Like most other national symbols, the flag is inextricably linked to America’s war obsession. Before you thank another veteran for serving in U.S. wars, check out “Flag Day, June14: When the Empire Honors Its Flag, Ignores Its Veterans.

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Hypocrisy Is the Real Winner When the Billionaire Class ‘Honors’ High School Seniors

Enough is Enough

Under the guise of “honoring” graduating seniors whose own graduation ceremonies were cancelled due to the pandemic, a gaggle of millionaires and billionaires produced a lavish affair designed to show that rich people really care. Opening their wallets would have been a far better signal. As anyone with a working brain would have noticed, U.S. graduating seniors need much more than two hours of well-wishes and music. The world they’re destined to inhabit comes complete with a faltering economy (unless you’re a billionaire and run a large corporation), plutocratic leaders busy looting the treasury for their BFFs, banks and other financial behemoths taking their pound of flesh from the debt servitude of students and a thriving fossil fuel industry fat with government subsidies. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ever-growing problems young people will face as they try to beat the odds. The clock is already ticking on what lies ahead. The major problem — pricey post-high school education and training that will force close to three-quarters of them into debt servitude, many for life. How hard is it for the immensely wealthy like Lauren Powell Jobs (widow of Steve, worth $27 billion), ex-President Obama (worth $40 million) and LeBron James (worth $500 million) to figure out that high school seniors need a lot more than windy soliloquies, pious sermonizing and a torrent of well-wishes. Even the money raised is destined for causes that will not benefit students or help solve their financial problem. Want to know how low the 1% can go? Read “Hypocrisy is the Real Winner When the Billionaire Class ‘Honors’ High School Seniors.

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