Opinion

The 2008 crisis of capitalism sparked and regenerated interest in alternatives to the capitalist system, which was on the verge of collapsing. This included revived interest in socialism, with one of the results being the propelling of an obscure leftwing academic into history’s headlights. With appearances on TV shows including Bill Moyers’ and Charlie Rose’s programs, “Economic Update” (heard in L.A. on KPFK) radio broadcasts and packed live speaking engagements, the financial disaster made Prof. Richard Wolff ready for his close up. “I’ve got to pinch myself; I’m having the time of my life,” a surprised Wolff said about suddenly being thrust into prime time.

A new live stage production inspired by the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times and its building in Downtown L.A. has been mounted at the Beyond Baroque literary arts center in Venice. But instead of a conventional dramatization of the historic events and figures, with actors reciting dialogue from a script penned by a playwright, California Poets for Resistance (CPR) used a “docu-play” format and technique to bring the explosion that killed 21 LAT employees and wounded 100 others alive.

Observers of developments in the Middle East have long taken it as a given that the United States and Israel are seeking for an excuse to attack Iran. The recently terminated conference in Warsaw had that objective, which was clearly expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it failed to rally European and Middle Eastern states to support the cause. On the contrary, there was strong sentiment coming from Europe in particular that normalizing relations with Iran within the context of the 2015 multi party nuclear agreement is the preferred way to go both to avoid a major war and to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation.

BREAKING OVERNIGHT
OIL TANKERS ATTACKED
SAUDI ARABIA CLAIMS SHIP HEADING TO US SABOTAGED

– ABC News on-screen headline, May 13, 2019

BREAKING OVERNIGHT
SAUDI OIL TANKERS ATTACKED
ENERGY MINISTER SAYS SHIPS WERE TARGETED IN “SABOTAGE ATTACK”

–CBS News on-screen headline, May 13, 2019

hese network stories are examples of fake news at its most dangerous, when it plays into the dishonest manipulations of an administration beating the drums for a war against Iran that has no reasonable basis. Not only do the networks and mainstream media generally fail to question the administration’s rush to war, they also fail to do basic journalism by independently confirming whether a particular story is true or not.   

Although the attack on reproductive rights has vamped up in previous months, the last week has been especially exhausting, with some of the most restrictive abortion bans being considered and passed since Roe V. Wade, the landmark United States Supreme Court decision which guaranteed access to abortion as a constitutional right.

Here is a list of recent legislation passed or being considered around various parts of the country:

A new book called Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons by Kris Newby adds significantly to our understanding of Lyme disease, while oddly seeming to avoid mention of what we already knew.

If Iran had spent the last few decades lying about and threatening the United States, and had attacked and built military bases in Canada and Mexico, and had imposed sanctions on the United States that were creating great suffering, and then a lying scheming war-crazed Iranian official announced that he believed the United States had put some missiles on some fishing boats in the Chesapeake Bay, would you believe that . . .

a) The United States was a dangerous rogue state threatening Iran with imminent destruction?
b) Whether or not to bomb U.S. cities really depended on exactly what kind of missiles were on those fishing boats?
c) The sanctions were clearly not severe enough?
or
d) All of the above?

Explaining, with easy-to-understand charts, why Autism Spectrum Disorders could soon reach an incidence of 50% among fully-vaccinated children in America (and some of the other half of the over-vaccinated children are at risk of developing the already escalating vaccine-induced disorders such as Autoimmune Disorders, Asthma, Allergies, the ASIA Syndrome, Macrophagic Myofasciitis and Type I Diabetes Mellitus.

The time-honored (by the vaccine industry, that is) metallic vaccine ingredients, aluminum and mercury (thimerosal), are both recognized as highly toxic substances when they are allowed to come in contact with human tissue. Among other toxicities, they are known to be poisonous to mitochondria and genetic material.

By Harvey Wasserman, Reader Supported News

15 May 19

hile the politicians dither over universal health care versus single payer versus the current Republican prescription for all non-millionaires (Get Sick & Die Quick), medical debt is still the number one cause of American family bankruptcies.

Throughout the US, people are forced every day to choose between medical care and food, shelter, and supporting their children.

At this point there’s no indication there’ll be an easy victory to bring the US in sync with the rest of the civilized world in providing decent health coverage.