Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Truest statement of the week

Americans prefer to think well of themselves and their nation and treat any information contradicting that belief as an inconvenience to be avoided at all costs. There were hate crimes before Donald Trump ran for president and most of them weren’t carried out by individuals. Most of them are still sanctioned by the state.
The crazed Trump lover may have tried to send bombs to Obama and Clinton but they sent bombs to Libya and destroyed a nation that still suffers from their terrorist acts. They are quite literally guilty of committing hate crimes, along with other NATO leaders and their predecessors in high places. The fact that they know how to express diplomatic niceties is no reason to see them as being on our side as we fight to defeat fascism at home and around the world.
Their enablers cannot be given a pass either. When we fight to make war and peace a political issue we are derided as purists and spoilers who ought to be quiet and allow imperialism to take place without hindrance. The people who join in the chorus of denunciation should not be allowed to wring their hands when dead bodies appear within our borders too.

-- Margaret Kimberley, "American Terror Is Not New" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).







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Truest statement of the week II

In August of this year, a Gallup poll found that for the first time since the organization began tracking the figure, fewer than half of Americans aged 18–29 had a positive view of capitalism, while more than half had a positive view of socialism. The percentage of young people viewing capitalism positively fell from 68 percent in 2010 to 45 percent this year, a 23-percentage point drop in just eight years.
This surge in interest in socialism is bound up with a resurgence of class struggle in the US and internationally. In the United States, the number of major strikes so far this year, 21, is triple the number in 2017. The ruling class was particularly terrified by the teachers’ walkouts earlier this year because the biggest strikes were organized by rank-and-file educators in a rebellion against the unions, reflecting the weakening grip of the pro-corporate organizations that have suppressed the class struggle for decades.

-- Barry Grey, "The specter of Marx haunts the American ruling class" (WSWS).




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A note to our readers

Hey --

Late Tuesday and we're finally done.

Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:





The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.



And what did we come up with?

Well, we thought we were going to have a theme edition but . . .




Margaret Kimberley gets another truest.
Barry Grey gets another truest.



Our Iraq feature.  All this is per usual.
Ava and C.I. covered TV as planned.  But while they wrote this on Sunday (everything but the editorial was done on Sunday) we were going to do list pieces.  And we did work on a number of them.
This was fine.
We picked a year at random and it was 1983.  Another list piece.
Keeping up with the book coverage in the community.
Mike, Betty and Isaiah came up with the idea of this one and we loved doing it.
Our other list pieces weren't working.  Finally someone (Kat?) suggested another music year list.  I (Jim) have no idea how we ended up with 1968.  We were listening to The Mamas and the Papas' THE PAPAS AND THE MAMAS which did come out in 1968, so maybe that was it?  I have no idea.  We had four other list pieces that we just didn't care for.  This one we liked and, yes, it is a duplication to have two best of music lists.
What we listened to while writing this edition.
Senator Patty Murray press release.
US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard press release.
Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.



Peace,





-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.



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Editorial: Now it's the fish

In Iraq, the tragedies never end.


 10 hours ago
▶️ A watery graveyard: Thousands of dead fish found in Eurphrates River, Iraq
2 likes






  1.  Nov 5
    Iraq’s national dish washed up by the thousands - these images of dead fish on the banks of the Euphrates River are desperately sad. Immediate cause unclear but points to worsening pollution and water problems.


    0:18
    729 views
    10 retweets3 likes


  2.  14 hours ago
    Thousands of tons of fish have washed up dead in Iraq. Watch our report to find out why:
    18 retweets7 likes


  3.  Nov 2
    Piles of the dead silvery fish could be seen on Friday lying under a massive concrete bridge in Iraq. But why?
    10 retweets16 likes


  4.  Nov 5
    Thousands of tons of dead fish wash ashore in Iraq
    1 reply1 retweet2 likes


  5.  22 hours ago
    Tens of thousands of fish have died in the Euphrates River to the south of Baghdad as a result of an unidentified disease.
    12 retweets5 likes


  6.  Nov 2
    Local health authorities are set to conduct laboratory tests for possible poisoning.
    5 retweets13 likes


  7.  15 hours ago
    The death of thousands of tons of fish "is a dramatic sign of worsening pollution and water problems in Iraq, which is increasingly struggling to provide a sufficient supply of clean water, especially in the south of the country."
    4 retweets3 likes


  8.  Nov 2
    Fish kill in Babil caused by infection, low water, and unlicensed cages
    3 likes








Now it's the fish.


This is what the world -- led by the United States government -- has brought to Iraq.  Never-ending war.  One problem after another.  Chaos and disorder.

As appalling as the above images are, a question.

The fish died for some reason.  If that reason should turn out to be due to the US government's use of White Phosphorus or depleted uranium, or any other weapon, do you think the average American would be more or less outraged?

The war has to end.

It cannot go on forever.

But it's going to require people calling for an end to it.

Now it's the fish.

What's next in line as the war drags on?

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