Rouge Forum Dispatch: Sellout in L.A! More Strikes to Come!
January 26th, 2019 / Author: rgibsonWe Say Fight Back!
NEA’s Boss, Lily Garcia, rigged NEA’s internal processes to endorse Clinton.
The sellout of the LA teachers strike
From the outset, it was clear that top National Education and American Federation of Teachers it’s a merged local) officers did not want an escalation of the wildcat strike wave that took place in right-to-work states where the unions are weak and couldn’t hold the members back, last spring.
It would have been possible to adopt a broader strategy, one that NEA used in its past, when it was something of a union.
True, the United Teachers of LA had planned this strike for more than a year. But they could have aligned their strike with the second largest local in the state, San Diego, and with Oakland, pulling out well over 40,000 school workers. That could have sparked a state wide walkout.
And, UTLA could have joined the other two large locals and created a Multiple Area Bargaining Organization (MABO). Mabo’s set bargaining “minimums,” meaning for example, that all agree that a 8% across the board raise, certain class size caps, and so on must be met by each local. It one district is particularly recalcitrant, all districts threaten to strike simultaneously. It’s been done, in Michigan for example. The memory is not lost.
But the last thing that NEA president Lily Garcia ($500,000 plus in 2016–living on her expense account) and AFT boss Randi Weingarten (a millionaire) want is a mass solidarity action of class conscious workers who might realize that the two of them, and all their minions, are irrelevant, indeed, Quislings working for the other side.
Garcia feted Arne Duncan at an earlier NEA rep assembly
Weingarten made her goals clear in a transparent statement: “This is not about a strike wave. It is about LA.”
NEA, AFT, and the California Teachers Association could have announced a reasonably generous strike fund. CTA is a $27 million operation. NEA is worth about $1.6 billion according to Mike Antonucci of the “Education Intelligence Agency.” But, there was no plan for a strike fund, clearly meaning that the union tops wanted a short strike.
A prescient rank and file of UTLA, and CTA, might have set up School Worker Organizing Committees (SWOC), in each school to hold firm and wildcat if necessary, and spread the news of the strike to other systems, encouraging demonstrations, walkouts, social media solidarity, and, best, sympathy strikes. But the school worker movement clearly has yet to grow to that level of maturity.
Clearly, the strike had massive public support, just as the earlier wildcats enjoyed. www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=7053§ion=Article
Denver teachers strike: Union votes to authorize first walkout in 25 years
Denver Public Schools and its teachers union are about $8 million apart in compensation proposals
Denver teachers have voted to strike in the name of fair wages, marking the first time educators in Colorado’s largest school district have agreed to walk out of their classrooms in 25 years.
The results of voting by the teachers union — the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which represents about two-thirds of Denver Public Schools’ 5,600 educators — were announced Tuesday night following the culmination of balloting that began on Saturday.
“Tonight, Denver teachers overwhelmingly agreed to strike,” Rob Gould, the union’s lead negotiator, said at a press conference. “Ninety three percent voted to strike. They’re striking for better pay. They’re striking for our profession. And they’re striking for Denver students.” www.denverpost.com/2019/01/22/denver-teachers-strike-union-authorizes-walkout/?fbclid=IwAR1BLTmYnmk5eKEIAkfx_m7hCIKX-t4B0aPVwr28ayo70KOx-3PYnXuqt3o
Indiana teachers could strike despite laws, labor experts say
As teacher strikes have spread across the country, several factors would determine if Indiana would follow, experts and union leaders say.
Although state labor laws are written to deter strikes, the state is facing pressing issues in education including teacher shortages, dropping pay and a shift toward using property tax referendums to shore up local budgets. Teacher unions are watching strikes in other states, but have no definite plans and will watch how lawmakers address funding during the 2019 legislative session, they said.
Although teachers cannot strike under Indiana labor laws, there would be little the state could do to stop a large-scale one, such as in Oklahoma, West Virginia and Kentucky, said Kenneth Dau-Schmidt, a labor law expert at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Practically speaking, lawmakers and schools understood it would be too hard to fire and replace so many educators on short notice, he said.
“All of those states where they have had strikes, it’s also illegal,” he said. “If conditions get bad enough in a workplace, they will do it, even though they might lose their jobs.” www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-education-teacher-strikes-pay-st-20180413-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0HvLxa126MEgEq3QfsW1PPqELXotK08jJIxOvWnJ3UvHa62TdIpV1nV50
www.facebook.com/OaklandEA/videos/779064085794258/?t=20
‘The goal is to automate us’: welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism
Shoshana Zuboff’s new book is a chilling exposé of the business model that underpins the digital world. Observer tech columnist John Naughton explains the importance of Zuboff’s work and asks the author 10 key questions
We’re living through the most profound transformation in our information environment since Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of printing in circa 1439. And the problem with living through a revolution is that it’s impossible to take the long view of what’s happening. Hindsight is the only exact science in this business, and in that long run we’re all dead. Printing shaped and transformed societies over the next four centuries, but nobody in Mainz (Gutenberg’s home town) in, say, 1495 could have known that his technology would (among other things): fuel the Reformation and undermine the authority of the mighty Catholic church; enable the rise of what we now recognise as modern science; create unheard-of professions and industries; change the shape of our brains; and even recalibrate our conceptions of childhood. And yet printing did all this and more. www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook?fbclid=IwAR0CnDebls7hQ4n8yWNaW31OYUndel-fYB9zlYt3iE9DJrhnlRRFfjORDX8
Airport Shutdowns Forced Trump to Reopen the Government
The Little Red Schoolhouse
Professor Resigns Amid Accusations That He Exploited Grad Students With ‘Modern Slavery’
A professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City has resigned amid accusations that he exploited graduate students at the School of Pharmacy for free labor. Ashim K. Mitra, the professor, resigned just one day before a final university hearing would have determined his future at the university.
In November,The Kansas City Star reported that Mitra, a longtime professor of pharmaceutical sciences, had pressured students into performing tasks like lawn work, caring for his home while he and his wife were away, walking his dog, and other chores. The students, all from India, told the Star that they feared they would be kicked out of the university or lose their visas if they didn’t comply.
Russell B. Melchert, dean of the School of Pharmacy, told students in an email that officials had learned from the newspaper report of former students’ complaints against Mitra about performing chores for him.
In a statement, C. Mauli Agrawal, chancellor of the Kansas City campus, wrote that university had investigated the complaints. “As I have stated unequivocally, UMKC does not tolerate misconduct,” Agrawal wrote. “We investigate reports of misconduct and, when a report is substantiated, the violator is subject to discipline.” www.chronicle.com/article/Professor-Resigns-Amid/245492?fbclid=IwAR1RYQdey3FAzRZCTk3y63sUL4mTS4qvZJmqzWOyf_BxrYLQAM_NEopceU8
Michigan online charter school founder charged with embezzling more than $100,000
SAGINAW, MI —Embezzlement charges were issued against the founder of an online charter school with offices in Saginaw and Grand Rapids after Michigan State Police launched an investigation into fraudulent practices.
Nancy E. Paris, founder of the Paris Academy, was charged with two counts of embezzlement of $50,000 to $100,000, a count of embezzlement of $100,000 or more, and a count of running a criminal enterprise.
Jeffrey L. Machiela, Paris’ live-in boyfriend, was arraigned on the same charges as well as counts of felony firearms and felon in possession of a firearm.
Authorities issued warrants for the duo on Jan. 14. Both appeared for arraignment in Saginaw County District Court on Jan. 18.
An Indiana school superintendent who allegedly used her own insurance to help a sick student faces multiple charges including insurance fraud.
Casey Smitherman – superintendent of Elwood Community Schools in Elwood, Indiana – was booked on charges of insurance fraud, identity deception and official misconduct on Wednesday and later released on bail, according to court records.
Smitherman says the charges come after she recently went to the home of a student who had missed school and saw he had symptoms of strep throat. After the student was refused treatment at a clinic, she took him to another one, this time saying he was her son.
“I am committed to this community and our students, and I regret if this action has undermined your trust in me,” Smitherman said in a statement published by Fox 59. “From the beginning, my ultimate goal has been to provide the best environment for Elwood students’ growth physically, mentally and academically, and I remain focused on that purpose.” www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/01/23/superintendent-allegedly-used-own-insurance-help-sick-student/2664294002/?fbclid=IwAR3X43mpOHQOBkbFanBFm5gTMmSNrmP5ggoTFwt1lcuSfFduTxrmWTerY0k
www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/829695274039883/?t=57
The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor
Official convicted over Iran-Contra scandal appointed to help ‘restore democracy’ in Venezuela
Elliott Abrams withheld information from Congress over secret funding of paramilitaries
The Trump administration has announced that Elliott Abrams, who was convicted over the Iran-Contra scandal in which the Ronald Reagan administration secretly funded paramilitary groups in Nicaragua, will lead the US’s efforts to press for democracy in Venezuela.
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the 71-year-old would oversee Washington’s outreach, after Donald Trump declared he would recognise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and not elected president Nicolas Maduro, as the nation’s legitimate ruler. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/venezuela-latest-elliott-abrams-trump-pompeo-maduro-juan-guaido-a8747306.html
“Elliott will be a true asset to our mission to help the Venezuelan people fully restore democracy and prosperity to their country,” Mr Pompeo said, according to Reuters.
Venezuelan Opposition Leader Guaidó Declares Himself President, With U.S. Backing
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself the country’s interim president amid nationwide protests Wednesday, in a bid to seize power from sitting leader Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. swiftly proclaimed its support for Guaidó. Maduro responded by announcing a break in diplomatic relations with Washington.
Guaidó, the 35-year-old recently elected head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, took the oath of office on an outdoor podium in Caracas, flanked by yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flags. He raised his right hand as a crowd erupted in cheers. He promised to serve as interim leader and call for general elections. www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687643405/anti-maduro-protesters-march-in-cities-across-venezuela?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20190123&fbclid=IwAR2X7KTVfftfxFizp3TjCGDOneaC5g0LvKTCV5zJ8CPjAXZpwcxXZGLKOWA
NACLA: Venezuela at Another Crossroads
Thousands of protestors in the streets. A self-proclaimed president. An uncertain political future. Venezuela has been here before.
In 2002, dissident military officers with the support of private media, opposition politicians, and the Metropolitan Police removed Hugo Chávez from office for 48 hours while Pedro Carmona, the President of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce, declared himself interim president. Yet, aside from the George W. Bush administration, the hemisphere roundly condemned these efforts.
On January 23—on the anniversary of the overthrow of Venezuela’s last dictator, General Marcos Pérez Jiménez—Juan Guaidó, like Carmona almost 17 years ago, declared the government of Nicolás Maduro illegitimate and himself as interim president. Guaidó is the current president of the National Assembly, itself a contested political institution in the country.
Much has changed, though, since the days of the April 2002 coup, when, in response, the Venezuelan poor famously came “down from the barrios” to defend President Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution. Indeed, at that time, there was little doubt that Chávez commanded the support of the Venezuelan populace. And while the opposition thought they had outwitted their progressive president, they were forced to return Chávez to the Miraflores Palace lest the country potentially descend into civil war.
Nearly two decades later, Venezuelan President Maduro faces a far different scenario. nacla.org/news/2019/01/24/venezuela-another-crossroads
www.facebook.com/GoBackthen/videos/2295213144057200/?t=13
Audit: Naval Academy is falling apart
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An audit has found that the Naval Academy has decaying walls, plumbing issues and condemned offices and balconies.
The Capital Gazette reported Friday that it obtained the 2018 audit through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Naval Audit Service’s report says the Annapolis, Maryland, college’s infrastructure has degraded to the point of threatening its ability to train midshipmen.
The report outlined 13 unfunded maintenance or renovation projects across 15 facilities between March 2017 and April 26.
It says there are failing classrooms and athletic facilities, and the stormwater system has dumped unfiltered water into the Severn River.
The Navy didn’t release the costs of all unfunded projects. www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/01/20/audit-naval-academy-is-falling-apart/
Navy sends second message to Moscow this month
By passing through the Bosporus Strait on Saturday, the Navy’s guided missile destroyer Donald Cook became the second American warship to enter the Black Sea this month amid ongoing tensions with Moscow.
Two weeks before, the dock landing ship Fort McHenry arrived at the Romanian port of Constanta to begin exercises with Bucharest’s frigate Regele Ferdinand — while being shadowed by a Russian warship.
The Donald Cook pulled into Batumi, Georgia, on Monday with a mission to “strengthen interoperability with NATO allies and partners and demonstrate the collective resolve to Black Sea security under Operation Atlantic Resolve,” according to a prepared statement released by the Navy.
“I would like to thank our Georgian hosts for the warm welcome and hospitality,” said Cmdr. Matthew J. Powel, commanding officer of Donald Cook said in the release. “We are honored to play an active role in strengthening U.S.- Georgian relations and we look forward to visiting Batumi.”
Sailors planted trees Tuesday for a community service project in Georgia’s second largest city and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer’s leaders met with American and foreign dignitaries at a reception featuring an address by Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Georgia. www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/01/24/navy-sends-second-message-to-moscow-this-month/
After Deadly Assault on Afghan Base, Taliban Sit for Talks With U.S. Diplomats
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban infiltrated an Afghan intelligence base on Monday, killing dozens of people in what Afghan officials said was one of the deadliest attacks against the intelligence service in the 17-year war with the Taliban.
While the Afghan police and army have been dying in record numbers, the loss of intelligence forces, who are often better trained and equipped, was another indication of the violence stretching the Afghan government’s defenses, even as the United States may be preparing to withdraw some of its troops.
The attack, early Monday morning, came hours before the Taliban announced they had resumed peace talks with American officials. It was a sign, analysts said, of how violence is likely to grow deadlier even as the sides of the long war have indicated a willingness to seek a negotiated settlement.
Akhtar Mohammad Khan Tahiri, the head of the provincial council in Wardak Province, where the base is, said the target was a training center for pro-government militia members run by the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-attack-intelligence-wardak.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon got 5.4% raise in 2017, to $29.5 million (LA got 3%)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon will receive $29.5 million in total compensation for 2017, up 5.4% — or $1.5 million — from 2016, according to a Thursday securities filing.
The chairman and chief executive’s pay package includes $23 million in performance-related restricted stock and $5 million in cash. His base salary is unchanged at $1.5 million, according to the filing. The total compensation is up from his 2016 pay package of $28 million but shy of his record compensation of $30 million in 2007.
This is the third year Dimon is being paid in so-called performance share units, a type of restricted stock that has requirements on how long it must be held and has the possibility of being worth nothing based on the performance of Dimon and the bank.
J.P. Morgan’s JPM, +0.63% board based Dimon’s total pay award for last year on strong performance across businesses, risk management, customer focus and leadership, according to the filing. www.marketwatch.com/story/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-got-54-raise-in-2017-to-295-million-2018-01-18
World’s 26 richest people own as much as poorest 50%, says Oxfam
The growing concentration of the world’s wealth has been highlighted by a report showing that the 26 richest billionaires own as many assets as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the planet’s population.
In an annual wealth check released to mark the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the development charity Oxfam said 2018 had been a year in which the rich had grown richer and the poor poorer.
It said the widening gap was hindering the fight against poverty, adding that a wealth tax on the 1% would raise an estimated $418bn (£325bn) a year – enough to educate every child not in school and provide healthcare that would prevent 3 million deaths.
Oxfam said the wealth of more than 2,200 billionaires across the globe had increased by $900bn in 2018 – or $2.5bn a day. The 12% increase in the wealth of the very richest contrasted with a fall of 11% in the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population.
As a result, the report concluded, the number of billionaires owning as much wealth as half the world’s population fell from 43 in 2017 to 26 last year. In 2016 the number was 61. www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/21/world-26-richest-people-own-as-much-as-poorest-50-per-cent-oxfam-report?fbclid=IwAR3C6j5wzNmPaPvD3Ux3Y6LiMxHxFJl-dMmPEQ1U_KoVPfRuUHjGE2M8z9M
The Rich Didn’t Always Need $238 Million Penthouses
This past week, as the world was made aware, the Chicago hedge fund manager Ken Griffin bought the most expensive home ever sold in the United States, a $238 million, 24,000-sqare-foot penthouse on Central Park South. What do you do with 24,000 square feet? You could hoard, presumably, and never require the advice of Marie Kondo, because who would ever notice that you hold on to all your old adapters and Ping-Pong balls? Each one of them could have its own guest wing.
The current taste for huge residential real estate and the fortunes that underwrite it have brought obvious comparisons to the Gilded Age for some time now. You can find some contemporary version of early 20th-century Newport, R.I., in many places. Under construction for 15 years, a house modeled after Versailles in Windermere, Fla., for instance, will be the largest in the country when it is finished, with 11 kitchens, five swimming pools and a 30-car garage.
It is easy to imagine that outsize American wealth always sought to express itself in immense square footage, but there was a protracted period in which aesthetics took a different course. In the years following World War II and for much of the mid-20th century, the consumption habits of the rich were guided by more modest ambitions. This happened to be a time when top marginal tax rates were high, at various points much higher than what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and many on the left are proposing now. Between 1945 and 1980, those rates never fell below 70 percent and for many years they exceeded 80 percent.
As it happens, you can see the cultural transition from opulence to discretion unfold in the history of a single Fifth Avenue apartment: the 54-room penthouse triplex built for the cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1925 (when, for what it’s worth, the top marginal tax rate was 25 percent). Post — who was already building the 126-room Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach — sold the mansion she had been living in to make room for the apartment building that would take its place, but she saw no point in sacrificing any of the luxuries and the accommodations to which she had been accustomed. The apartment still holds the record for one of the biggest ever built in New York. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/nyregion/ken-griffin-238-million-penthouse.html
New Data on Global Debt
In the past, we had detailed information about some bigger economies, such as the United States and Japan, but existing databases either covered a narrow measure of debt—for example, bank credit—for a broad sample of countries, or a comprehensive one for a few countries and years. By including both the government and private sides of borrowing for the entire world, the Global Debt Database offers an unprecedented picture of global debt in the post-World War II era. From all these data we have gathered a few new insights on debt:
- Global debt has reached an all-time high of $184 trillion in nominal terms, the equivalent of 225 percent of GDP in 2017. On average, the world’s debt now exceeds $86,000 in per capita terms, which is more than 2½ times the average income per-capita.
- The most indebted economies in the world are also the richer ones. You can explore this more in the interactive chart below. The top three borrowers in the world—the United States, China, and Japan—account for more than half of global debt, exceeding their share of global output.
- The private sector’s debt has tripled since 1950. This makes it the driving force behind global debt. Another change since the global financial crisis has been the rise in private debt in emerging markets, led by China, overtaking advanced economies. At the other end of the spectrum, private debt has remained very low in low-income developing countries.
- Global public debt, on the other hand, has experienced a reversal of sorts. After a steady decline up to the mid-1970s, public debt has gone up since, with advanced economies at the helm and, of late, followed by emerging and low-income developing countries. blogs.imf.org/2019/01/02/new-data-on-global-debt/
Remember the subprime mortgage mess? $1.2 trillion in risky corporate debt is flashing similar warning signs
Indebted borrowers increasingly take out high-interest, adjustable-rate loans that are packaged into securities and sold to investors eager for a better rate of return.
Everything’s fine while the economy is growing. But when it slows, those borrowers could default, causing problems to cascade through the financial system.
If this all sounds like the subprime housing market in the boom years before the 2008 financial crisis, you’re right. And that’s what increasingly has regulators, lawmakers, ratings agencies and some market watchers worried.
This time, however, the borrowers in this credit bubble aren’t homeowners taking out mortgages. They’re hundreds of U.S. companies with weaker credit ratings, many of them well-known like Uber and Burger King, taking out so-called leveraged loans.
Those loosely regulated loans often are used to fund corporate deal-making. But those deals, known as leveraged buyouts, can go bad because of the large debt load, as happened with the demise last year of Toys R Us.
Combined, there is about $1.15 trillion in outstanding U.S. leveraged loans — a record that is double the level five years ago — and those loans increasingly are being made with less protection for lenders and investors.
“Any fair-minded look at the leveraged loan market should cause significant alarm by anybody concerned about financial stability and the inevitable upcoming economic downturn,” said Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, a group that advocates stricter financial regulation. “You put all these pieces together, it’s a witches brew.”
But with U.S. economic growth slowing, the dynamics could change. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/economy/la-fi-corporate-debt-risks-20190120-story.html
The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement and The War on Reason
Trump Meets With Hard-Right Group Led by Ginni Thomas
President Trump met last week with a delegation of hard-right activists led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, listening quietly as members of the group denounced transgender people and women serving in the military, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events.
For 60 minutes Mr. Trump sat, saying little but appearing taken aback, the three people said, as the group also accused White House aides of blocking Trump supporters from getting jobs in the administration.
It is unusual for the spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice to have such a meeting with a president, and some close to Mr. Trump said it was inappropriate for Ms. Thomas to have asked to meet with the head of a different branch of government.
A vocal conservative, Ms. Thomas has long been close to what had been the Republican Party’s fringes, and extremely outspoken against Democrats. Her activism has raised concerns of conflicts of interest for her husband, who is perhaps the most conservative member of the Supreme Court. (NYTIMES)
Thursday morning, Michael Ertel, appointed Secretary of State by Gov. Ron DeSantis weeks earlier, testified before a House committee about the several lawsuits filed over the 2018 election.
By mid-afternoon, Ertel turned in his resignation, after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago, two months after 1,800 people were killed by the massive storm.
The photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat were shown to the Governor’s Office shortly after noon Thursday. About two hours later it issued a terse statement. www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/01/24/new-secretary-state-ertel-dressed-blackface-halloween-2005/2649161002/?fbclid=IwAR0LOEZ7XaerpfMxt9fHAgRp2huUbzlgg3jblXo0O72WCHnwzhVnlQJUHK0
Seven SEALs granted immunity in Iraq war crimes prosecutions
New details in the case against a Navy SEAL charged with multiple war crimes emerged Friday during a marathon motion hearing at Naval Base San Diego.
The hearing revealed that seven Navy SEALs have been granted immunity to testify for the prosecution during the upcoming trial of Edward R. Gallagher, a chief special warfare operator alleged to have murdered a wounded teenage ISIS combatant by stabbing him in the neck.
The trial phase is scheduled for Feb. 19. Prosecutors expect to call the seven SEALs and up to 13 additional witnesses of the May 2017 incident in Mosul, Iraq.
Defense attorneys asked the judge, Navy Capt. Aaron Rugh, to suppress some aspects of those witnesses’ expected testimony, particularly the numbers of people Gallagher allegedly bragged about killing.
Witnesses told NCIS investigators that Gallagher bragged about killing up to 200 people during the 2017 deployment. Another witness said Gallagher told him he killed “three a day” and to “do the math” for the total number he killed. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-gallagher-war-crime-hearing20190125-story.html
The Walls in San Antonio (about 100 miles from the border) at the Alamo, didn’t work out so well.
www.facebook.com/USdems/videos/291263014920132/?t=6
Solidarity for Never
Mandela’s Vile Inheritance: South Africa Suffers Capitalist Crisis Déjà Vu
Quisling rat Mandela and his operator, Joe Slovo
A year ago, the majority of South Africans stared into the abyss. They faced either a continuation of corrupt misrule by a stereotypical kleptocrat—Jacob Zuma—whose anti-imperialist rhetoric failed to disguise worsening austerity, or a potentially dramatic change of political direction toward liberal capitalism.1 Next door in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe had just been pushed out in a wildly popular palace coup that at least superficially shared South Africa’s ideological overtones, given that his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, also courts big business while maintaining a liberal veneer.2
The choice was obvious at least for South Africa’s urban citizenry, a large subset of which had campaigned against Zuma and his increasingly notorious cronies in the 2017 “Zuma Must Go!” movement. Finally, in late December 2017, 52 percent of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) delegates voted for the party’s next president, narrowly electing business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa over former African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zuma’s loyal ex-wife.
Ramaphosa, who, according to Forbes, was worth more than $450 million in 2015, grew rich through ownership of McDonald’s and Coke franchises, as well as banking and extensive coal and platinum mining interests. But as the major local investor in Lonmin—the British producer of platinum metals operating in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex—in August 2012, he e-mailed the police and mining ministers to describe a wildcat strike at the Marikana platinum mine as “dastardly criminal” and requiring “concomitant action.” The next day, police massacred thirty-four workers in what became known as the Marikana massacre. Ramaphosa only apologized for his e-mail in 2016, and in early 2018 admitted the need for “atonement” for Marikana. monthlyreview.org/2019/01/01/south-africa-suffers-capitalist-crisis-deja-vu/
Rocked by scandal, a weakened IPS teachers union faces an uncertain future
The anger was palpable when more than 50 teachers gathered for their monthly union meeting on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The crowd was about twice as large as usual, with many newcomers packed into the conference room.
Frustrated teachers raised a litany of issues, including potential layoffs, hundreds of high school teachers displaced, and a recent Indianapolis Education Association election in which just 3.9 percent of members voted. Then, veteran educator Lora Elliott stood clutching a statement that stretched more than four single-spaced pages. Among her complaints: that the union was failing to follow its own financial rules.
“I am asking for the immediate removal of the president, the first vice president, the second vice president, the secretary/treasurer, and all regional directors for dereliction of duty and failure to maintain fiscal responsibility,” Elliott’s statement read.
The allegations made that May afternoon would eventually trigger an investigation from the state union — and the resignation of Rhondalyn Cornett, who had led the teachers union in Indianapolis Public Schools for five years, amid accusations that she mishandled $100,000 in union funds. Detectives assigned to the Marion County Grand Jury Division are investigating the matter, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
But in fact even before the resignation, the 900-member Indianapolis Education Association’s position was precarious. The union’s financial problems appear to have begun well before Cornett took over — IRS records show the union lost its federal tax-exempt status several years ago, and, according to the state teachers union, it has not filed returns in recent years. www.chalkbeat.org/posts/in/2019/01/22/rocked-by-scandal-a-weakened-ips-teachers-union-faces-an-uncertain-future/
Large Indiana Local Leaves NEA
Teachers in the Carmel Clay school district in Indiana voted overwhelmingly in favor of decertifying their NEA-affiliated union in favor of the independent Carmel Teachers Association.
In a remarkably high turnout for a union election, more than 75% of the district’s 955 eligible educators returned ballots. CTA received 83% of the vote.
The vote was the culmination of a long battle not only between the competing locals, but between the teachers of Carmel Clay and the Indiana State Teachers Association. The decisive factor is illustrated by this CTA graphic:
Because Indiana doesn’t allow agency fees, teachers who choose to remain NEA members can do so, and won’t have to support CTA financially. Considering CTA’s margin of victory, it’s likely most teachers will support their local union for $99 and keep the other $650.
Unlike other places where locals have seceded, the leaders of Carmel Clay’s NEA affiliate appear to be accepting their defeat with magnanimity. They posted a congratulatory message on their Facebook page.
“Moving forward, effort will be put into making the transition as smooth as possible, and our leadership has offered to assist if needed,” they wrote. www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/2017/05/30/large-indiana-local-leaves-nea/
Spy versus Spy
CIA launches media campaign to ignite protests against Venezuela’s Maduro
Millions of social media posts appeared to have been generated by the CIA on social media seek to manipulate the people to revolt Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, says Turkish Assoc. Prof. Dr Le
The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is backing Washington’s decision to recognize Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as president by manipulating the public opinion against democratically-elected President Nicolas Maduro and the legitimate government over social media platforms.
U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido shortly after his announcement and praised his plan to hold elections. That was followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s neighbors Brazil and Colombia.
Millions of posts designed to instigate Venezuelans against the country’s legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, were shared in a very short time to kindle a social unrest against Maduro.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Levent Eraslan unveiled the striking details of the U.S’s perception and deception strategies in an exclusively interview to Yeni Şafak daily. www.yenisafak.com/en/news/cia-launches-media-campaign-to-ignite-protests-against-venezuelas-maduro-3472780
With Spies and Other Operatives, a Nation Looms Over Venezuela’s Crisis: Cuba
When the opposition leader Juan Guaidó was briefly detained by Venezuelan intelligence agents last week, some saw the hand of another government at work.
“This agency is controlled & directed by experienced oppressors sent by #Cuba & these kinds of tactics are textbook methods used by the Cuban regime,” Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said on Twitter.
Cuba seems to loom over the political crisis roiling Venezuela as President Nicolás Maduro faces a robust challenge from Mr. Guiadó, who declared himself interim leader this past week.
Cuba is a longtime ally of Venezuela and its biggest supporter in the region. The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel has offered Mr. Maduro its “unwavering solidarity” and called Venezuela’s political turmoil “the attempt to impose a coup d’état, a puppet government at the service of the United States.”https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/world/americas/venezuela-cuba-oil.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Washington fears new threat from ‘deepfake’ videos
Lawmakers and experts are sounding the alarm about “deepfakes,” forged videos that look remarkably real, warning they will be the next phase in disinformation campaigns.
The manipulated videos make it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction, as artificial intelligence technology produces fake content that looks increasingly real.
The issue has the attention of lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill.
“It is almost too late to sound the alarm before this technology is released — it has been unleashed … and now we are playing a bit of defense,” Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) told The Hill.
Asked whether this is the next phase of disinformation campaigns, Warner replied “Absolutely.”
Experts say it is only a matter of time before advances in artificial intelligence technology and the proliferation of those tools allow any online user to create deepfakes.
“It is regarded by political and technology experts as the next weapon in the disinformation warfare,” Fabrice Pothier, senior advisor with the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, told The Hill. thehill.com/policy/national-security/426148-washington-fears-new-threat-from-deepfake-videos?fbclid=IwAR0psg-ff-R1hXHIqFztM6aNkoNJvrJv1MNwUf9MpaJr0B_xUedFaNltuj8
The Magical Mystery Tour
Covington Catholic Teen on ‘Fox & Friends’: Blackface Is ‘School Spirit’
Covington Catholic High School’s increasing notoriety has only pushed it further into the mud.
As students tag-teamed their way through the morning shows Wednesday, one student found himself defending blackface as “showing school spirit” on Fox & Friends.
Co-host Steve Doocy asked the Kentucky private-school senior Sam Schroder: “Five years ago, there was a pep rally where one of the members of the school body appeared to have blackface on. People have even asked you to explain that. How do you explain that?”
Schroder, wearing a white button-down shirt and a blue striped tie, said: “I just explain it as showing school spirit. We have many themes. Like nerd, business, whiteout, blueout, blackout—as you’ve seen in the video. Ever since I’ve gone to CovCath, we haven’t been able to wear black paint because of the video, but I know the kids meant nothing by it, it’s just showing school spirit.” www.thedailybeast.com/covington-catholic-teen-on-fox-and-friends-blackface-is-school-spirit?source=TDB&via=FB_Page&fbclid=IwAR01NimCsSm8v7eWHV_WKjOso-rlB24NTxmFj6ZEzfhKn6jMocAfiOn1xcY&fbclid=IwAR37QgD_gn90QDra4721rdLH_xRxB7oYiXWnzAjM-Kc6k50AcwUaR-Tu8tU
Gay valedictorian banned from speaking at Covington graduation ‘not surprised’ by D.C. controversy
A gay student who was barred by the Covington diocese from speaking at his 2018 graduation, is “not surprised” by the Covington Catholic High School video.
Video of white students from Covington Catholic High School confronting a Native American elder at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, D.C., last Friday went viral this past week. However, this is not the first time a school overseen by the Diocese of Covington in Kentucky has come under national media scrutiny.
In May of last year, the Catholic diocese ruled just hours before Holy Cross High School’s graduation that the openly gay valedictorian and the student council president could not give their planned speeches at the Covington school’s official graduation ceremony. www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gay-valedictorian-banned-speaking-covington-graduation-not-surprised-d-c-n961446?fbclid=IwAR0JHtQoswcU_xmUEOwpzT0ZhI0qVyNHpikJIqkdraOMjpclr_0qhGLwSfo
The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World
www.facebook.com/ivo.erthal/videos/1835817756466262/?t=80
San Diego moon over USD dome (Thanks Bow)
www.facebook.com/greg.schulz/videos/10153551027478683/?t=41
www.facebook.com/overourwall/videos/540720646377873/?t=84
So Long
Mary Boyd Higgins, Wilhelm Reich’s Devoted Trustee, Is Dead at 93
Mary Boyd Higgins, the product of a privileged youth in Indianapolis, was living comfortably in New York in the 1950s when she volunteered to manage the trust of Wilhelm Reich, a highly controversial psychoanalyst who coined the phrase “the sexual revolution.”
An Austrian-born Marxist who had linked fascism with sexual repression, Dr. Reich had the rare distinction of having his writings ordered destroyed by both the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s and the United States government in the 1950s, during the McCarthy era.
When she volunteered to become his trustee, Ms. Higgins was familiar with his work but had never met Dr. Reich, who died in federal prison in 1957. Little did she know that by the time she died, on Jan. 8 at 93, she would have devoted nearly 60 years of her life to carrying out his elaborate last wishes.
Dr. Reich had appointed one of his daughters, Eva Reich, trustee, but after a year she desperately sought someone else to take on that responsibility. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/obituaries/mary-boyd-higgins-dead.html