A lot has happened and we have learned more since last week when we wrote, Venezuela: What Activists Need To Know About The US-Led Coup. This article updates activists so we remain well-informed and can educate others in the face of a bi-partisan and corporate media narrative supporting the coup. Continue reading

Editors’ Note: The following is an excerpt from "Last Western Empire. A History of the U.S. From Spring to Fall" by Anthony Gronowicz. This includes notes on the current situation.  Published by McGraw-Hill in 2006, it provides valuable background to the current manufactured crisis in Venezuela. CHAPTER 11: THE ROCKEFELLERS TARGET VENEZUELA AND BRAZIL The Rockefeller dynasty ranged freely in Latin America. As soon as oil was discovered beneath the waters of Lake Maracaibo in 1922, the Rockefellers set their sights on Venezuela.  Over 100 oil companies descended upon the lake, and by 1928, Venezuela was the world’s largest oil producer. The normal corporate cutthroat competition ensued, and by 1935, just three remained— British-owned Shell, Mellon-owned Gulf, and Creole Oil purchased by Standard Oil of New Jersey with the largest share at 49%.  Continue reading

After a 35 day shutdown, the government has reopened. I heard and watched Trump state that federal employees are understanding and supportive of the shutdown because the outcome will be a southern boarder wall. I would like to know who were the federal employees Trump, White House staff and Republican senators spoke with? My fellow National Park Service colleagues and I lamented while watching our treasured Western nature parks be neglected.  Continue reading

Corporate media absolutely won’t tell you this, but this year’s Los Angeles teachers strike is the latest chapter in the long running struggle against the privatization of public education in the US. With massive public support, 30,000 teachers have voted a settlement that increases their wages a little, brings back nurses, librarians and counselors to each and every one of the city’s 900 schools, caps class sizes and charter school expansion and more.  Continue reading

Two things stand out about the US coup in Venezuela. First, it is unusually open. Typically, the US tries to hide its coups. Second, the coup is built on a series of obvious falsehoods, yet the bi-partisans in Washington, with a few exceptions, keep repeating them. First, we will correct the falsehoods so readers are all working from the same facts. Second, we will describe how this coup is being defeated. It will be another major embarrassment for the Trump administration and US foreign policy. Continue reading

"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without first having spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government." - Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr. Continue reading

The current Government Shutdown, the longest in US history, with no end in sight, is having multiple impacts across the country. It is impacting directly, 800,000 Government workers and their families, it is impacting million of Americans dependent on the services provided by these Government workers. For instance, Native Americans, who are dependent on the services that the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides, such as food support, housing support and other vital services are going without help or assistance. Further, this shutdown is impacting SNAP food and cash benefits allocation of funds and support, impacting millions of poor Americans who will go without or have services delayed. Continue reading

As we face a hold on food stamps due to the government shutdown, pending cuts to housing, the mass incarceration of our youth, skyrocketing costs of healthcare, and an opioid crisis in our neighborhoods, it is time that we come together to announce our declaration of independence from the two political party system that has failed us and our families time and time again. Continue reading

It’s a new year, and Democrats running the House of Representatives under Nancy Pelosi, Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer need to rebrand themselves and prepare for the 2020 elections. So they’ve rolled out what they and their corporate media hacks are calling their flagship bill, HR 1, a 571 page monstrosity with dozens of empty promises they wouldn’t keep even if they could, along with a couple of serious threats against left dissenters in general and the Green Party in partucular that they just might. It’s not on the official House web site yet, but we read the version on the web site of its sponsor, congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland. Continue reading