The Truth Behind Sanctions

“Sanctions are one of America’s most powerful tools for pressuring rogue nations. Mr. Mnuchin has taken great pride in bolstering Treasury’s sanctions capacity and often says that he spends half of his time working on sanctions matters.” Really? “Rogue nations” turn out to be any nation that doesn’t kowtow to US demands. The rest of the world actually thinks we are the rogue nation undercutting treaties and agreements we have entered into, as well disregarding UN Security Council Resolutions we don’t agree with, regarding climate change, Iran, the Palestinian issues, the Golan Heights, the Cuban blockade. invading Iraq, etc. All with the excuse of nonexistent threats to “national security” — as if there is any real threat to the security of the world’s greatest military power from small countries just trying to get by and protect themselves from our lust for power and control.

“It would be a mistake to interpret the policy as being one of a step by step approach, where we release some sanctions in return for piecemeal steps toward denuclearization” said the administration official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity. “That is not a winning formula and it is not the president’s strategy.” Actually, step by step is the only winning policy as North Korea is not dumb enough to accede to all our demands before we agree to give them anything in return. Our policies are designed to fail so we can have enemies to justify our bloated military budget.

NYTIMES.COM

Trump Overrules Own Experts on Sanctions, in Favor to North Korea

“President Trump likes Chairman Kim, and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary.

Anti-Semitism and Philosophy

It is always dangerous to project our values and current opinions back upon thinkers of the past and hold them accountable to standards they could not have been aware of. This article does, I think, too much of that and also relies too much on secondary sources rather than the primary writings of these past thinkers. When we teach them today we tend to pass over their errors and emphasize the positive philosophical accomplishments achieved by them. With the possible exception of Heidegger, I really don't see that any of the mistaken views of these other past thinkers, especially Hume, Voltaire, and Kant have influenced current expressions of anti-Semitism or that they are particularly quoted by anti-Semites to justify their beliefs or that contemporary practitioners of the teaching of the history of philosophy are contributing to expressions of anti-Semitism as they are occurring today, which have their sources in contemporary political and ethnic conflicts we are all well aware of and have origins remote from the academy and the history of the Enlightenment.

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NYTIMES.COM

Opinion | Confronting Philosophy’s Anti-Semitism

Should we continue to teach thinkers like Kant, Voltaire and Hume without mention of the harmful prejudices they helped legitimize?

Racist Resolution Against Ilhan Omar Passed by Congress

Well, the following should be removed from the resolution as this was a dog and pony show which is an embarrassment for the Democrats, especially those with dual loyalties (to their voters and to lobbyists):“… imputations of dual loyalty threaten American democracy and have no place in American political discourse.” The US allows dual citizenship (and thus loyalty) and so this resolution is ridiculous. It’s really a manifestation of bigotry and racism against Ilhan Omar orchestrated by people with dual loyalties they don’t want to admit. It’s okay, and legal, to have dual loyalties either by dual citizenship or by sentiments — so why the fuss? 

"Dual citizenship. Based on the U.S. Department of State regulation on dual citizenship (7 FAM 082), the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual citizenship is a "status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both." Wikipedia article on dual citizenship: recommended reading for members of the House.

NYTIMES.COM

House Votes to Condemn All Hate as Anti-Semitism Debate Overshadows Congress

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a broad resolution condemning bigotry, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to defuse tension over Representative Ilhan Omar.

US Upsets Korean Summit

“But Mr. Trump’s offer was essentially the same deal that the United States has pushed — and the North has rejected — for a quarter century. Intelligence agencies had warned him, publicly, Mr. Kim would not be willing to give up the arsenal completely. North Korea itself had said repeatedly that it would only move gradually.” Reading between the propaganda lines in this article we find out that North Korea offered to dismantle its main nuclear research center for relief from some of the sanctions imposed on it — those since 2016 which were designed to mostly affect the civilian population (the US has long sought to punish the people of a government it doesn’t like to turn them against it). This offer was completely rational and was put forth as a first step to build trust and confidence which the North correctly stated did not yet exist between the two countries. To demand complete 100% capitulation to American demands before any sanctions would be lifted was never a serious position. This whole farce was conducted to make the North seem sneaky and untrustworthy even though, as the above quote shows the position of the North was essentially what they have been saying for a quarter of a century. What they want is a lifting of sanctions, a peace treaty to end the war, and a promise of no nuclear first strike against them. The US is openly stalling on all three of these goals. Until the US stops its bullying and aggressive warmongering which is the subtext of its dealings with the North despite Trump’s palsy-walsy approach, there can be no serious improvement in relations. The South is taking a much more rational approach and we should follow their lead as the whole reason we are in Korea is claimed to be to protect the South from the North and if the South is happy with the North’s gradual approach to improving relations step by step we should be too.

NYTIMES.COM

How the Trump-Kim Summit Failed: Big Threats, Big Egos, Bad Bets

President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea had dramatically different visions of what “denuclearization” meant, dooming their deal.

Socialism or Barbarism

"Socialism or barbarism" -- what does that mean? Authoritarian regimes will ultimately control all aspects of the political life of a country either with the velvet or the iron fist depending on the consciousness of the population of the country. Orban in Hungary is trying to be as controlling as the previous Communist government so the question for Hungary isn't will there be "democracy" but which class will control the levers of power. Previously the working class was in power and the bourgeoisie felt oppressed and the petty bourgeoisie was split. The leaders of the working class were unable to maintain their class hegemony and lost power and the bourgeoisie felt oppressed and the petty bourgeoisie was split. The leaders of the working class were unable to maintain their class hegemony and lost power to the bourgeois forces. Now the bourgeoisie is in power and the working class feels oppressed and the petty bourgeoisie is again split. Each class will try to control the courts, media, education and civil society so it is never a case of "democracy" versus "authoritarianism" but, if you are a hard-nosed realist it's "capitalist authoritarianism" versus "working-class authoritarianism" or, if you prefer, "bourgeois democracy*" versus "socialist democracy." Both class types share a limited amount of their power with the other class depending on the historical circumstances of the country involved but ultimately the working-class can exist without the capitalist class but the capitalist class cannot exist without the working-class. We all know which class is now controlling most of the world and that there is only one major world power where the working class is in power -- as Marxists we are, as it were, the super-ego of the working-class and are working for its ultimate victory over the capitalists. Marx and Engels thought the working class would ultimately win this class struggle but they also warned it could end with "the common ruin of the contending classes". That would be the triumph of barbarism; either socialism will eventually triumph or capitalism will destroy civilization as we know it (it is well on the way of doing so).

* In extremis the capitalists will dispense with the pretense of "democracy."

NYTIMES.COM

In Eastern Europe, U.S. Officials Talk Deals, Not Erosion of Democracy

Promoting weapons sales and isolation of Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence did not speak out on the illiberal direction of some allies.

Conflict and Climate Change

"The conflict in Syria is one example." Bernie Sanders was ridiculed for pointing this out. Syria: Climate Change = Drought = food shortage = mass migrations to cities = economic dislocation = government has difficulty coping = US-backed opposition takes opportunity to revolt = government begins to put down revolt = US & allies fund revolt prolonging it = Russia sides with government = revolt fails (Putin the reincarnation of Hitler blamed) = US keeps conflict alive = millions killed and dispossessed = $$$$ made by US & allies arms manufactures who control corrupted governments. This story to be continued as climate change worsens and those who profit from it refuse to take action. The science of all this is explained in the attached article.

SCIENCEDAILY.COM

Climate change increases potential for conflict and violence

Images of extensive flooding or fire-ravaged communities help us see how climate change is accelerating the severity of natural disasters.…

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The Special Council and the Witch Hunt?"

“Yet Mr. Weissmann’s cryptic comments suggest that the special counsel’s investigation — which Mr. Trump has sought to dismiss as a witch hunt and which the acting attorney general, Matthew G. Whitaker, has said will wrap up soon — is still pursuing the central question of whether there was some kind of deal between Russia and the Trump campaign.” — in other words, after all this time, the investigation is still at sea regarding the “central question” which is exactly what one expects to find in a witch hunt — all hunt and no witch. The rest of the article is just innuendo, speculation, and cold war posturing over the annexation of the Crimea where Russia behaved with more concern for democratic forms that did Israel annexing a chunk of Syria or the NATO de facto annexing part of Serbia to set up a rump state, and fussing about Russian interference in our election which is nothing in comparison to our interference in Russia’s elections and internal affairs and those of other countries (i.e., Venezuela). Whatever monkeyshines Manafort and Kilimnik may have been up to is their responsibility but the attempt to turn this into a federal case smells like a political operation to thwart any attempts to improve relations with Russia and thus justify a reduction in the already inflated and wasted military spending the Pentagon, military contractors, and the CIA, etc., thrive on and seek to justify.

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NYTIMES.COM

In Closed Hearing, a Clue About ‘the Heart’ of Mueller’s Russia Inquiry

Prosecutors for the special counsel suggested plans discussed by Trump associates to address Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and the resulting sanctions remained at the center of the investigation.

Impeachment and the Supreme Court

The problem is not having a Supreme Court, but having one that could go against the will of the majority of the American people on vital democratic rights. For example, Trump, as well as Bush Jr., got to the presidency by flukes and they did not represent the choice of the American people. Trump especially represents a very conservative to ultra-right minority and has already appointed two Supreme Court justices who represent views out of sync with the general population and approach constitutional questions from an extremely undemocratic interpretive stance based on their personal political ideologies, this also applies to others on the court but more so to the so-called conservatives who reflect the minority sentiments of the population. Congress has the power to impeach a Supreme Court justice and should not be afraid to use this power to protect the democratic rights of the American people if it is determined a justice is violating his/her oath to defend the Constitution or that he/she lied or dissembled to Congress during confirmation hearings in order to be confirmed. There is prima facie evidence that Justice Thomas, for example, may have been guilty of lying to Congress about the Anita Hill affair and there is no reason a newly elected Congress cannot reopen hearings to determine if a previous Congress was lied to. Justices are not sacrosanct and the democratic rights of the American people are too valuable to be held hostage by a cabal of Justices operating to further the interests of a political party or partisan minority against the general will of the people.

NYTIMES.COM

In Surprise Abortion Vote, John Roberts Avoids ‘Jolt to the Legal System’

The chief justice, a student of legal rules governing precedent, balances guarding his court’s legitimacy against his generally conservative impulses.

Green New Deal

The resolution "focuses on the tenets of a progressive policy platform as much as it does on climate change. It is both a framework for a cleaner-energy future and a plan for a large-scale mobilization that would rival in scale and scope the progressive New Deal policies ushered in under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression. One of its goals is “to promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth”." This is the first step now in a major effort to heal both the planet and our wretched social conditions; it involves a massive reform within the confines of the existing capitalist mode of production and the Republican retaliatory counterattack will be a media Blitzkrieg of red-baiting anti-socialist hysteria against the progressive agenda which, after all, is trying to save their system from a self-destructive Götterdämmerung! The struggle for a "Green New Deal" will reveal the structural inability of capitalism to subordinate the profit motive in the interests of humanity and finally force the masses of working people to embrace socialism.

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THEGUARDIAN.COM

Green New Deal: Ocasio-Cortez unveils bold plan to fight climate change

Blueprint for a carbon-neutral economy has been embraced by prominent Democrats and evokes FDR’s famous legacy