Sunday, September 16, 2018
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Obama Urges Young Voters To Ignore How Many Lousy Candidates Democratic Party Runs
ANAHEIM, CA—In a fiery speech
delivered to students at the Anaheim Convention Center over the weekend, former
President Barack Obama reportedly urged young voters to get out there and
ignore how many lousy candidates the Democratic Party runs. “We’re experiencing
a crisis in our democracy that can only be stopped by showing up to vote for
people who will fight for transformative change, but until we start offering
that, please just go to your polling place and cast your vote for whichever
mediocre Democrat is on the ballot,” said Obama, pressing young people to avoid
thinking about the actual track records and ideological beliefs of Democratic
Party politicians who have been in government for years and just concentrating
on the (D) next to their name. “We have too many eligible voters who are
staying home on Election Day instead of standing up to the Republican Party by
voting for Democrats who are in many respects exactly like their Republican
opponents. Less than one in five young Americans voted in the 2014 midterms
because our party ran very few good candidates, and we implore you to go out
and vote this time even though we’re doing that again. What’s important for the
future of America is that you just close your eyes, don’t think about it too
hard, and select that name.” At press time, Obama urged the young generation of
voters to stand up and save the U.S. democracy, since his generation of
Democratic politicians was not capable of such a feat.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Yanis Varoufakis w/ Scotland Tonight - (1/5) Socialism / Democracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=54&v=baahKOB68Lk
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Chemically Induced Frankenstein-Humans
SEPTEMBER 4, 2018
One of the biggest open
questions of this century is whether 144,000 different chemicals swirling
throughout the world are properly tested and analyzed for toxicity. By almost
all accounts, the scale of toxic risk is unknown. This may be the biggest tragedy
of all time, a black eye of enormous proportions.
Correspondingly and very
likely, not yet 100% proven but probably 99%, as a result of ubiquitous
chemical presence, one hundred fifty million (150,000,000) Americans have
chronic disease, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis,
heart disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, cancer, stroke, asthma, cystic fibrosis,
obesity, and osteoporosis (Rand Corporation Review 2017). Why?
According to Dr. Paul
Winchester, who discovered the link between chemicals, like pesticides atrazine
and glyphosate aka Roundup and epigenetic human alteration, the findings are:
“The most important next discovery in all of medicine.” (Source: EcoWatch, Aug.
16, 2018)
Dr. Winchester was one of the
researchers/authors of “Atrazine Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational
Inheritance of Disease, Lean Phenotype and Sperm Epimutation Pathology
Biomarkers,” PLOS, published September 20, 2017.
The grisly underlying message
of that study is as clear as a bell: Chemicals found far and wide throughout
America alter human hormones as well as human DNA, which passes along
generation-to-generation known as transgenerational inheritance.
Frankly, nothing more should
need to be said to spur outrage and pissed-off people all across the land because,
if that seminal study is correct in its analysis that chemicals mess
up/distort/disrupt human hormones and alter human DNA in a destructive manner,
then the streets of America should be filled with people wielding pots and
pans, probably pitchforks, and ready for the fight of a lifetime because, by
any account, there has been massive failure of ethical standards and
regulations of chemicals for decades and decades. Who’s to blame?
The primary targets are (1)
the EPA and (2) FDA and (3) pesticide/chemical manufacturers, like Monsanto,
and ultimately the U.S. Congress.
The chemicals in the
aforementioned study include the herbicide atrazine, one of the most widely
used herbicides in the country and commonly detected in drinking water. The
study demonstrated that atrazine is an endocrine disruptor that negatively
alters human hormonal systems, as chronic diseases overwhelm American society.
The European Union (EU) banned
atrazine in 2003 because of persistent groundwater contamination. However, as
for the EPA in America, it’s okay, no problem. But, doubtlessly one of those
jurisdictions is dead wrong because it’s a black and white matter. Either toxic
chemicals horribly messes up DNA and cause chronic diseases or not, no middle
ground. As for America, chronic disease is at epidemic levels at 60% of the
population. Where, why, and how if not from environmental sources?
Yet, the most disturbing issue
is the epigenetic impact, meaning that environmental factors impact the health
of people and also their descendants. It stays with and passes along the human
genome generation-by-generation-by-generation.
According to Dr. Winchester,
“This is a really important concept that is difficult to teach the public, and
when I say the public, I include my clinical colleagues.” (EcoWatch)
Still, atrazine is not the
only human hormone-altering chemical in the environment. Dr. Winchester tested
nearly 20 different chemicals and all demonstrated epigenetic effects, for
example, all of the chemicals reduced fertility, even in the 3rd generation.
Still, why do 150,000,000
Americans have chronic diseases?
Researchers believe that every
adult disease extant is linked to epigenetic origins. If confirmed over time
with additional research, the study is a blockbuster that goes to the heart of
public health and attendant government regulations.
According to Dr. Winchester:
“This is a huge thing that is going to change how we understand the origin of
disease. But a big part of that is that it will change our interpretation of
what chemicals are safe. In medicine I can’t give a drug to somebody unless it
has gone through a huge amount of testing. But all these chemicals haven’t gone
through anything like that. We’ve been experimented on for the last 70 years,
and there’s not one study on multigenerational effects.” (EcoWatch)
The U.S. Congress passed a new
chemical safety law for the first time in 40 years with the Frank R. Lautenberg
Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act in 2016, but the provisions for
regulation are totally overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. For starters, more
than 60,000 chemicals came to the market without safety testing, and the burden
of proof for regulators previously was so burdensome that the EPA wasn’t able
to ban asbestos when necessary.
As for the effectiveness of
the new law, consider this statement in the following article, “It Could Take
Centuries for EPA to Test all the Unregulated Chemicals Under a New Landmark
Bill,” PBS SoCal, June 22, 2016: “The new law requires EPA to test tens of
thousands of unregulated chemicals currently on the market, and the roughly
2,000 new chemicals introduced each year, but quite slowly. The EPA will review
a minimum of 20 chemicals at a time, and each has a seven-year deadline.
Industry may then have five years to comply after the new rule is made. At that
pace it could take centuries for the agency to finish its review.”
If that’s the best Congress
can do to protect its citizens from toxic chemicals, they should be run out of
town tarred and feathered on a rail. One more reason to abandon America’s
socio-economic-politico scenario; maybe socialism would work better at
protecting citizens.
Meantime, children are caught
up smack dab in the middle of this 70-yr. experiment of untested and
poorly/ill-tested chemicals.
Roundup (glyphosate) for
breakfast? Yes, independent lab tests by Eurofins Analytical Laboratories found
hefty doses of the weed-killer Roundup in oat cereals, oatmeal, granola, and
snack bars. (Source: Alexis Temkin, Ph.D. Toxicologist, Breakfast With a Dose
of Roundup? Environmental Working Group (EWG), Aug. 15, 2018)
“EWG tested more than a dozen
brands of oat-based foods to give Americans information about dietary exposures
that government regulators are keeping secret. In April, internal emails
obtained by the nonprofit US Right to Know revealed that the Food and Drug
Administration has been testing food for glyphosate for two years and has found
‘a fair amount,’ but the FDA has not released the findings.” (Environmental
Working Group, August 15, 2018)
California state scientists
and the World Health Organization have linked glyphosate to cancer. Yet, the
chemical is pervasively found in products. Yes, on regular ole grocery store
shelves.
EWG found the chemical in
several cereals such as Back to Nature Classic Granola, Quaker Simply Granola
Oats, Honey, Raisins & Almonds, Great Value Original Instant Oatmeal,
Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Barbara’s Multigrain Spoonfuls Original, Quaker Old
Fashioned Oats, etc.
Ironically, they all sound so
very very healthy.
Postscript: “Earth, and
all life on it, are being saturated with man-made chemicals…For the first time
in the Earth’s history a single species – ourselves – is poisoning the entire
planet… It is arguably the most under-rated, under-investigated and poorly understood
of all the existential threats that humans face in the twenty-first century.
(Julian Cribb, Surviving the 21st Century, Springer Publishing/Switzerland, p.
106)
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Britain: Blairites run to the rescue of the establishment
Rob Sewell
03 September 2018
The idea of a new Centre Party is back in the news in
Britain. There is a growing realisation amongst the ruling class that the
crisis of the Tory government, together with the debacle over Brexit, could
soon lead to a general election that would propel Corbyn into 10 Downing
Street.
A recent headline in the Financial Times accurately
summarised the mood amongst the Establishment: “Business fears a Corbyn
government almost as much as Brexit”.
How then can the bosses avert this “calamity”? By relying
on the Blairites to come to their rescue, of course.
Smears and sabotage
In recent months, the preferred strategy of the Labour
right wing has been to manufacture a hysteria about anti-Semitism in order to
discredit Corbyn and the Labour Party. In this smear campaign, the Blairites
have been joined by conservative Jewish establishment figures and the
capitalist press, both for their own reasons.
Leading the charge recently has been Chuka Umunna, who
asserted in an
article in the Independent that the Labour Party is the home of
“institutional anti-Semitism”. In 2016, however, the right-wing Labour MP said
the opposite, stating that he had never seen a single example of anti-Semitism
in 20 years.
“The overwhelming majority of Labour MPs did not believe he
was fit to lead the party in the first instance,” the arch-Blairite writes. “In
spite of the silence of most of the Parliamentary Labour Party – driven by a
fear of deselection if they speak out – there is no doubt that most Labour MPs
are as horrified as I am by the anti-Semitism which has been exposed in the
party in recent months. Many feel that they are being pushed to breaking
point”.
If only right-wingers in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP)
were afraid of speaking out. In fact, you can’t shut them up! The likes of
Umunna and others have rushed to the media to sabotage and undermine Corbyn at
every opportunity.
Umunna goes on in his article to scandalously equate the
“far right” with the “far left”, before stating that: “The enemies identified
by the far left tend to be America (regardless of who is the sitting
president), markets, capitalism and the so-called business-owning class.”
Well, yes. The left have attacked American imperialism, markets,
capitalism and the ruling class – all of which Umunna has consistently defended
to the hilt. This shows clearly where his political loyalties lie. He is
pro-capitalist, pro-market and pro-big business.
Party of the establishment
This is the real reason behind Umunna’s nonsense
accusations that Labour is “institutionally anti-Semitic”. In reality, such
ludicrous statements are part of an ongoing campaign to split the Labour Party
and provide big business with a new, reliable Centre Party.
There have been dozens of reports about MPs and peers
plotting to split from Labour as soon as the Brexit negotiations are out of the
way. It is no accident that John Woodcock, the anti-Corbyn MP who recently
resigned from Labour, has called for MPs on all sides to come together to form
a new political party.
Mike Gapes, the useless MP for Ilford South, is hinting
that he could go any day now. When push comes to shove, many others will likely
split too. But some have pledged to stay, including Dame Margaret Hodge. They
will act like a Fifth Column, continuing to attack Corbyn from within.
In such a scenario, the Blairites hope that a new
right-wing leader in the Tory party might lead to a split in the Conservatives
also. Remainers like Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry are good candidates to break
away and join hands with Labour right-wingers. The Liberal Democrats would no
doubt climb aboard too.
They would like to emulate the rise of French President,
Emmanuel Macron. Indeed Macron himself seems to be encouraging such a project.
But what those seeking a new Centre Party in Britain fail to mention is that
Macron’s bubble has burst. Barely one-third of the French electorate now
approve of the former investment banker.
Rule or ruin
The aim of any Blairite split would be to inflict the
maximum damage to the Labour Party and keep Corbyn out of power. They intend to
do this with the full support of the capitalist media.
Labour MP Richard Burgon has correctly
highlighted the true goal of these threats.
“The formation of the SDP breakaway from the Labour Party
by Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, David Owen and Bill Rodgers in 1981 was an
anti-socialist betrayal that helped to gift the 1980s to Thatcherism and her
brutal anti-working class policies.
“Ramsay MacDonald’s formation of a ‘national government’
with the Conservatives, Liberals, Liberal Nationals and so-called ‘National
Labour’ in 1931 was done to push through austerity politics, guaranteeing that
his name went down in history as a byword for betrayal.
“There are some now proposing to repeat these historical
tragedies.” (Morning Star, 16/8/18)
Socialist Appeal has warned about this many times. The
Blairite Trojan horse in the PLP will never be reconciled to Corbyn or the
left. Faced with a mass membership that is seeking an end to austerity and war,
they have little prospect of winning the party back to New Labour principles.
Instead, their motto is “rule or ruin”.
Mandatory reselection
This is why we need the mandatory reselection of MPs: to
clear out the careerism and Toryism within the Labour Party.
This demand for the democratic accountability of Labour MPs
has begun to gather momentum in recent weeks. A rule change to introduce mandatory
reselection is due to be discussed at the upcoming Labour Party conference. It
has generated a head of steam, with Unite
the Union backing the proposal, together with the FBU.
With the likely backing of other unions – such as ASLEF,
TSSA, CWU, BFAWU – as well as possibly two-thirds of local party delegates,
this could easily be passed.
Elsewhere, Chris Williamson, the Labour MP for Derby North,
has also come under attack from the party establishment for organising a “democracy roadshow”, with
meetings around the country in support of mandatory reselection.
This has created a storm of protest from Labour’s right
wing. Lord Hattersley, the former deputy leader of the party under Kinnock,
amongst others, has called
on Corbyn to repudiate Williamson’s campaign.
Writing in the Guardian, Hattersley has warned that
the right wing will split from the party if this measure goes through:
“Reselection and the prospect of reselection will
undoubtedly split the party – led not just by sitting MPs who were deselected
or fear deselection but also by MPs who think that the attempted cull of their
colleagues demonstrated that Labour no longer represented their view of the good
society.” (The Guardian, 28/8/18)
This threat is precisely the reason why we need
reselection. What Hattersley means by the “good society” is the “good life”
that MPs have become accustomed to. Rather than seeking to represent the
interests of the working class, they see their privileged position as being a
“job for life”.
Kick out the careerists
It is no surprise that Hattersley goes on in his letter to
attack the party leadership, stating that Corbyn’s team, “because of a
combination of its own incompetence and its enthusiasm for ideological
claptrap, is squandering its chances of winning the next election.”This is rich
coming from someone who lost two general elections in a row.
In any case, it is clearly not Corbyn who is squandering
these chances, but those right-wing Labour MPs who are constantly publicly
attacking the party. Without any hint of irony, they admonish left-wingers like
Williamson, accusing them of risking a split in the party; yet in the same
breath, they smear Corbyn and threaten to walk away over made-up accusations of
anti-Semitism.
We must get rid of these pro-capitalist saboteurs within
our ranks. To root out careerism, we should have Labour MPs taking a workers’
wage, in order to ensure that our representatives will for the interests of the
working class.
This must go hand-in-hand with the fight for socialist
policies and the return of Clause IV, to rid ourselves of the ravages of the
market and the greed of the capitalist system.
Aristophanes on Trump
Characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice,
bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes
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