The New York Times recently asked each of the Democratic primary candidates for President a series of identical questions. The last question on their list was, “Does anyone deserve to have a billion dollars?”
ABOVE: The Democrat party mob for 2020. Many are there simply to dilute Sanders, who needs no help in diluting himself. “Important questions about wealth inequality and its impact on the environment are not being asked to the Presidential Candidates“
The trivial framing of that question bypassed the grave urgency for asking it in the first place. In a variant form of the question the Times was essentially asking, “Isn’t it OK to be a billionaire if you played by the rules and worked hard to earn it?”
The wording of the question pre-supposes that the laws and social rules in place, by which a person may accumulate a billion-dollars, are fair and open to anyone. It ignores whether inherited wealth is also deserved. Most importantly, it treats wealth as if it is only a money count and not a measure of privilege and social power. By doing so, the question as it was posed ignored the essential problem that extreme private wealth is toxic to human society regardless of a person’s character or how they obtained it.
A more salient question would have been, “How many more billionaires can this human society sustain before it collapses?
In the 50,000-year history of human civilization, the concepts of private ownership and private wealth are recent developments. The full ramifications of these constructs on our social cohesion and collective welfare are still being revealed. The written history of civilizations offers no comfort. There are no examples of a happy, stable society where extremes of wealth inequality existed […]
“The quota system pushes you to really not work at a pace that’s normal, but at a pace where you’re almost running for the entire 10 hours.”
A woman sorts packages at the Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York City, on February 5, 2019.Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, say they package about four online orders every minute. If they stop for a few seconds outside of their designated breaks, it hurts their performance evaluations.
So they’re bending, twisting, running, and lifting boxes for 10 to 12 hours a day — just to get a package to a customer’s door within a day or two.
That’s what Amazon warehouse employees in Staten Island who were surveyed earlier this year by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health had to say. The workers’ advocacy group is concerned that employees are developing musculoskeletal disorders from the intense work pace.
Sixty-six percent of the 145 workers surveyed (a total of about 2,500 employees prepare orders at Amazon’s warehouse in Staten Island) said they experience physical pain while performing their regular work duties and 42 percent said they continue experiencing pain when they aren’t working.
When asked to map where they feel pain, more than a quarter pointed to their feet, and nearly as many also felt pain in their lower backs and knees. This graphic shows the potential impact of Amazon’s speed-obsessed culture — injuries that will likely get worse since the company has started offering free one-day shipping to its Prime customers.
The percentage of surveyed Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island who reported pain in highlighted areas.Source: New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health
The safety committee — made up of health experts, union leaders, and workers — said the pain workers described is likely a sign that they’re developing musculoskeletal disorders, which are injuries to the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and tendons from repetitive strain and exertion.
“I feel pain in my back, in my waist, because I do a lot of bending,” one worker told the committee, according to the report. “Even if you squat, you still feel the pain in your waist. It’s a full-body workout all day every day.”
A large number of workers also said that their work conditions are psychologically distressing.
Source: New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health
A spokesperson for Amazon called the report “biased” and “unreliable” and pointed out that only about 3 percent of the workforce in Staten Island was surveyed.
“It is an example of selective data skewed to support false statements by an organization that’s sole business objective is to misinform the public on Amazon’s safety record,” wrote Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty in a statement to Vox. “The fact is that Amazon provides a safe, quality working environment for the over 250,000 hourly employees across the US, including over 4,500 full-time employees supporting customers at our Staten Island fulfillment center.”
Yet safety complaints about Amazon aren’t unusual. In 2016, the US Occupational Safety & Hazards Administration fined Amazon $7,000 for not recording about two dozen worker injuries at a warehouse in Robbinsville, New Jersey.
“The company exposed employees to ergonomic risk factors including stress from repeated bending at the waist and repeated exertions, and standing during entire shifts up to 10 hours, four days a week and sometimes including mandatory overtime shifts,” the agency wrote in a 2016 brief.
In 2018, the advocacy group National Council for Occupational Safety and Health listed Amazon as one of the most dangerous places to work in the US, based on its warehouse conditions. Amazon was included because of higher-than-average injury rates, unnecessary risks, and an unwillingness to address workers’ concerns, according to the report. The group also noted that seven Amazon warehouse workers have died since 2013 (mostly from accidents involving heavy machinery) and that the company’s “relentless demand” to fulfill orders leads to harsh working conditions […]
The Japanese government has decided to send its own self-defence troops to the Strait of Hormuz area as an alternative to joining the US-coalition to protect commercial vessels passing through key Middle Eastern waterways, according to the Asahi newspaper.
Earlier, media reported that Japan would not join such a coalition due to its close economic ties with Iran, as an important oil producer.
The US announced the creation of a naval coalition in the wake of the detention of a British tanker by Iranian authorities over alleged violations of maritime laws and a series of “sabotage attacks” on commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf. These it blamed on Iran, claiming that the US goal will be to ensure the safety of navigation through a crucial oil-exporting lane – the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement in the attacks.
Washington invited several countries from Europe and Asia to participate in this coalition, but so far few have responded. While the UK has shown interest in participating in the American mission, Germany opted for diplomatic efforts as a mean to reduce tensions in the Gulf and stated that its participation in America’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran has been “ruled out”.
Iran has slammed the planned American maritime mission as endangering the international waterway and expressed scepticism about Washington’s chances of rallying allies for it […]
WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement the polio outbreak in the Philippines is concerning because it is caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.
Philippines declares new polio outbreak after 19 years | ABC27
WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement the polio outbreak in the Philippines is concerning because it is caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.
The weakened virus used in vaccines replicates for a short time in children’s intestines and is excreted in their feces. In rare instances, they said, the weakened virus can strengthen in areas with poor sanitation and hygiene. Children who have not been properly immunized can be susceptible.
They said the last known case from a wild strain of the virus in the Philippines was in 1993. Wild poliovirus type 2 was declared globally eradicated in 2015.
It’s important to note here that this document was created in 2010, which was under the Obama administration, and it predates the NDAA of 2012 which authorized military detainment of U.S. citizens.
The following video details the contents of a Department of Defense document entitled “INTERNMENT AND RESETTLEMENT OPERATIONS” or FM 3-39.40. The document is 325 pages long and is signed by JOYCE E. MORROW Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. It was created in 2010 however it has just recently been leaked to the public via the internet and can now be downloaded from multiple sources. In the description below you will find a download link for the document. I encourage you to download it yourself and verify everything that is being said here.
The document outlines military procedures for internment and resettlement of civilians and it describes the layout and administration of interment camps. It clearly states on page 38 that it applies within U.S. territory and specifically addresses the detainment of U.S. citizens as is indicated by the identification procedures for new prisoners on page 146 which states that social security numbers are to be recorded along side their photograph and fingerprints. Included in the list of organizations which may be involved in these internment operations are the Department of Homeland Security, the FEMA, the Department of Defense and the United Nations.
On page 56 the document outlines the responsibilities of Psychological Operations officers within the camps among which it states that a Psyop officer “Develops and executes indoctrination programs to reduce or remove antagonistic attitudes. and Identifies political activists.” On page 281 the document goes into more detail regarding the role Psychological Operations within the camps specifically in regards to pacifying the population and insuring cooperation […]
Black Lives: Agents of Change, Failing Schools vs Community Education in America
RT (2019)
Film Review
The fifth episode of Black Lives contrasts failing public schools in New York and Philadelphia ghettos with community education efforts by Black Lives Matter organizers.
Due to systematic defunding, African American students attend schools with as many as 40 kids in a class. With no time to correct it, some teachers have quit assigning homework.. At the same time, many “underperforming” (ie underfunded) schools in African America communities have been closed to redirect public funding to privately run for-profit charter schools.
Most of the film centers around efforts by Black Lives Matter organizers to teach Black teenagers gun safety (via the Black Guns Matter program) and community organizing skills. They learn how to organize protest marches, send out media releases and lobby officials at all levels of government.
While Black Lives Matter has come under criticism for its failure to bring about any genuine policy changes, their community education efforts seem to offer Black teenagers good male role models, as well as an attractive alternative to drug dealing and gang banging.
Damascus has wanted the Al-‘Umar and Conoco oil fields to be returned to their government; however, with the U.S.’ large military presence in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, they have found themselves blocked from these critical petrol supplies.
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Source: New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health
