Will The Establishment Strike Back Today?

Today is Super Tuesday. Today, 14 states have their primaries. So today we get a clearer picture of who is leading the field in delegates for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination.

The nomination for the Democratic Party's  choice of President  seemed fixed with the use of what was called superdelegates in 2016. Those were delegates who qualified to become delegates because of their position in the government, the Party, or by popularity. Those delegates get to choose anyone they want. Their votes for who gets to be nominated are not determined by the voters. And though the last presidential election year, Hillary was leading Bernie in the number of regular delegates, her superdelegate  advantage changed a slim lead in delegates to a commanding lead.

From what I understand, the Democratic Party will  slightly change how they use superdelegates. But that isn't the issue. The real issue is who will become the Democratic Party's nominee to be President. That is because of the contrast that exists between the positions of a progressive like Sanders and old guard's positions of the establishment candidates.

Bernie has drawn a lot support especially from younger voters with his progressive agenda. That agenda includes heathcare for all, the Green New Deal, college for all who want to go,  and his proposed protection for workers. But he seems not to get much support from the Democratic Party establishment because that agenda rubs personal interests of those who have wealth. He is not their number 1 choice. It appears that Joe Biden is one of the candidates that the establishment in the Democratic Party favors. And though Sanders won the primarily white states of Iowa and Vermont, Biden won the South Carolina primary, a state with more minority voters than the first two states.

So the question becomes this, what will happen today as 14 states have their primaries? The past suggests that the establishment's choice for candidate starts to take charge of the race on Super Tuesday. That means that at least one of this year's establishment candidates should  emerge victorious when counting all of the delegates from Super Tuesday's 14 states. And after today, we will witness the demise, however slow, of the candidacies of the other candidates. And if  that holds, then Sanders will no longer lead in delegates after today. And he will again lose out and be put into the position of having to support a Democratic nominee who does not support his progressive agenda. And in doing that, regardless of how popular Sanders is, makes him become a sheepdog candidate--a candidate whose role in the Party becomes that of herding the fringe members of the Party back into the fold, back to supporting the choice of the Democratic Party's establishment. And that means that the progressives begin to lose their voice in the Democratic Party nominating process for they will be strongly told to support the Party's nominee.

If the Democratic Party's tradition holds, Sanders gets fewer delegates than the Democratic Party's establishment preferred candidate, Joe Biden, on Super Tuesday. Then the establishment of the Democratic Party will regain control of the Party and the dreams of the progressive wing of the Party will become gone with the wind. And those progressives will be told to pay for the parties they had before the primaries and during the primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire by kowtowing the candidate predestined by the establishment of the Democratic Party.

Then this year's choice for President will be between thing-one and thing-two with both things being played by wealthy old bumbling white guys whose policies represent the interests of those with wealth and who believe in imposing their archaic view of the world and past solutions onto today's America.

Is Bernie A Socialist?

With Sanders' lead in both the polls and in delegates, the question becomes whether America is ready for Socialism. At least that is how Republicans want to frame Sanders' campaign. And of course, with the Republican view of Socialism and Marxism, the answer should be 'no.' The trouble is that the Republicans often have no clue as to what Socialism from the Marxist tradition are. And the reason for that is that they are content to read about Marxism from their own their own people. And that is like expecting to learn all about Christianity by listening to Bill Mahrer.

To learn about Socialism, especially the Marxist brand of Socialism, one should read Karl Marx. And one could include Frederich Engels as well. But one should first read Marx.

Perhaps the primary document one could use is the Communist Manifesto (click here for the document). Their primary concern, as expressed in that document, revolves around how the bourgeoisie, the owners of capital, rule over the state and society. Their solution is not described as big government that tries to control every aspect of life. Rather their solution is to change the ruling class from the bourgeoisie to the proletariat. Marx called that the proletariat dictatorship. The name is a bit of a misnomer because Marx and Engels believed in democracy. They just believed in a kind of democracy that would be the proletariat in charge.

It is from the rule of the proletariat that Marx expected his utopia to emerge. Why is that? It is because he expected the proletariat, with the help of his analysis of Capitalism, to arrange for the distribution of wealth in ways that, with their control, would eliminate the injustices that arose from the distribution of wealth from the Capitalism of his day. And here we should note that this is where Republicans misunderstand Socialism from the Marxist tradition is at this point. While Republicans strictly limit Socialism to how it redistributes wealth and big government; Socialism from Marx's view teaches that Socialism is first about the redistribution of power, both at work and in the government, from the bourgeoisie to the proletariat. And it isn't just Republicans who make that mistake, even those who have called themselves Socialists do so many times as innocent mistakes and at other times opportunistically.

So read through Bernie Sanders' website (click here for his website). Is he promoting the redistribution of power, even in part, to the proletariat both at the work place and in government? Does Sanders' proposals on strengthening unions really do justice to what Marx and Engels said about getting the proletariat to become the ruling class? Does Sanders's views help the proletariat gain control over the government?

My own views on Sanders is that though he is a breath of fresh air when it comes to major political party candidates, he is more of an FDR New Deal candidate who is promising to act as a vanguard for the vulnerable and workers. And though we should always appreciate candidates and elected officials who share Sanders' concerns, in the end Sanders provides an inadequate approach to what Marx and Engels promoted as well as to any meaningful hybrid approach that combines Capitalism with Socialism. Under Sanders, we won't see workers gaining enough power in the work place, and definitely not in government, to change the status quo.

Here we should note that the prevailing belief passed on to society from the free market is that the pursuit of self-interest is one's only moral obligation. Thus, what we need are for different groups, like the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, to share power and collaborate. A structure that forces those two groups to sufficiently share power in the work place can be found in Germany's codetermination laws. Those laws state that, based on the number of employees, a business's executive board must contain a  certain percentage of workers so that workers are also represented in those boards. Such does not occur with the promotion of union despite how unions can help workers. And there is nothing in Sanders' visions to increase the number of proletariat representation in government.

It is sad that there is much deliberate ignorance regarding Socialism from a Marxist tradition. The ignorance is deliberate because it allows people to use the label 'Socialism' either as a pejorative or as a moral appeal. In either case, the ignorance prevents people from learning what Marxist Socialism has to offer and what it has that can be detrimental.

Comments Which Conservatives Block From Their Blogs For February 15, 2017

Feb 8

To Joe Carter and his blogpost supporting the striking down of the law that prohibits political speech in churches. This appeared in the Gospel Coalition website.

A perspective that is missing here is that from Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church has supported Putin. So now Russia maintains laws that put strict limits on those from the LGBT community in terms of what they can say about their sexual orientation and Russia has passed a law that prohibits evangelism by other churches than the Orthodox Church outside of the walls of one's own Church. Can supporting politicians bring privilege to the Church? And if the Church has privileges, then is the separation of Church and State gone?

History tells us that one of the flaws of the Church is that it often supports wealth and power. It tells us this through the examples of the predominant Churches in France, Russia, and Spain prior to their revolutions. This led to the Church siding with tyranny. It tells us this with other examples, such as Chile and Guatemala, where the Church sided with wealth in Socialist nations whose governments were democratically elected with the result of the Church siding with tyranny of those governments were overthrown.

Striking down this law may explain why some evangelical leaders supported Trump in the first place. Now one only needs to see how these leaders and the evangelical movement benefits afterwards.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 9

To R. Scott Clark and his blogpost citing J. Gresham Machen’s opposition to the creation of a federal department of education. This appeared in the Heidelblog.

Why it is important that it was Machen who said what is recorded above is a mystery. For what we see is just a libertarian expressing his views regarding federal standardization and aid. We should note that Machen opposed a child-labor amendment and federal aid for roads. We should note that without the latter, we would have no interstate system and the ability for states and even regions to maintain infrastructure would depend solely on the resources of that region and state even though the stakeholders of such resources include many who do not live in the state or region.

Certainly, Machen is speaking as a libertarian. But I wouldn't want to blame everything he said on his libertarianism. I would also add that perhaps Machen's personal history in the Presbyterian Church influenced his opposition to all standardization in education especially regarding the teaching of morality. But a question I would have for Machen is this: Would today's educational standardization of morals which include racial equality be objectionable to him? Would he object to the teaching that we are all equal regardless of our race? The issue at hand is not racism per se, and such is not a minimizing of the importance of the subject, but on whether Machen's thinking at least sometimes unnecessarily followed all-or-nothing patterns. That to accept a part would be no different than to accept the whole. His rejection of liberalism seems to lean that way.

One final comment is due. Certainly, Libertarians would no doubt agree with Machen's position expressed above. But the problem becomes whether Libertarianism's rejection of Federal involvement in so many areas of life involves a denial of the differing degrees of interdependency that existed in society during the writing of The Constitution and Machen's time as well as with what exists during our time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 11

To Rev Ben Johnson and his blogpost review of the healthcare debate between Cruz and Sanders where Johnson states that Cruz highlighted the weakness of government run healthcare. This appeared in the Acton blog.

There are two problems with the article above. First, while wait times in Europe and Canada or determined by the provider, wait times in America are forced on people by their personal financial abilities. It is funny that that argument, which is a point Sanders brought up, was not mentioned above. The second problem is that the wait times are unfairly attributed to the government. It is unfair because the wait times are not due to inefficiency since single payer systems are more efficient than the health care system we have now because administration is simplified by single payer systems. Increasing competition by allowing people to cross state borders to purchase healthcare insurance, as suggested by Cruz, only increases the administrative part of providing healthcare because it adds to the mix of providers. And it is the number of providers that complicates the administration part of healthcare because each provider has its own system and rules.

In reality, the wait times in both capitalist and government systems are more due to the matchup between demand and available resources. When demand exceeds available resources, then wait times are longer. And so the European and Canadian healthcare systems have two options in alleviating wait times for medical procedures. First, they can invest more money into their healthcare systems. Second, they can reduce the number of people their systems serve. In America, the second option occurs naturally when  people who feel financially constrained put off obtaining healthcare services til a later time. And to show that point more vividly, we should note that before Obamacare, the number one reason for personal bankruptcies in America were due to healthcare costs.

We should note one more point about Cruz's position. He wants the private sector to solve the problem of people being able to access sufficient healthcare in a timely fashion. Thus, he wants to expand competition to force the healthcare insurance industry into offering better deals. But such a dynamic doesn't always work with publicly owned companies that are operated for the sake of shareholders who are more and more becoming the business owners' equivalent of absentee landlords. Do we really think that shareholders, who have become the only significant group of stakeholders recognized in today's publicly owned companies, will continue to invest adequately into health insurance companies as competition reduces the ROI?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 13
To Pat Buchanan and his blogpost criticizing the courts for stopping Trump’s immigration ban and urging President Trump to ignore the courts and their power. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative blog.

Buchanan exhibits the worst traits of authoritarianism and tribalism in this article. For the validity of Trump's executive order banning refugees from 7 Muslim nations, according to Buchanan, rests in the authoritative position of the people commenting on it. Thus, Buchanan seems to say that Trump's executive order is correct because he is making a wartime decision as President while the decisions of the justices who have ruled on it are wrong because they are merely justices. In addition, Buchanan gives personal attacks on those who disagree. He did the same by unnecessarily attacking Elizabeth Warren who challenged the nomination of Jeff Sessions.

There is nothing in Buchanan's article that discusses the concerns of either side let alone that of the justices. And there is nothing in Buchanan's article that even mentions that there already exists a vetting process for refugees let alone mentions how effective that process is. Rather, Buchanan believes that it is time to reduce the power of our courts who use The Constitution to review our laws. And he promotes this position so that the power of the President can be increased and he has fewer people to be accountable to.

Certainly, if Buchanan was consistent, then he would have written similar articles defending President Obama's executive order on immigration during wartime when it was reviewed by the Supreme Court. But he didn't. Instead, he attacked him. And when he criticized Obama, he resorted to something he didn't use when he defended Trump's executive order on immigration, he mentioned the details on immigration to bolster his argument (see http://buchanan.org/blog/rogue-president-7159 ).

If we learned anything from Star Wars it is this, that those who have an insatiable desire for power use war or conflict as a camouflage for obtaining more and more power. Now that one of Buchanan's own is in the White House, he is arguing for his President to assume and exercise more power. Again, Buchanan has, in this article exhibited the worst traits of authoritarianism and tribalism.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feb 14

To Joseph Pearce and his blogpost praising Trump’s protectionism as providing a hedge of protection for American economic sovereignty from foreign economic elites. This appeared in the Imaginative Conservative blog.

Just for clarification, only a small group uses violence on a consistent basis to demonstrate for the nonconservatives. That group is Black Bloc. Most of the other nonconservatives are peaceful protesters. As for why nonconservatives didn't protest Obama's inauguration?  If the left didn't protest his inauguration, they did oppose his globalization. It is the Democrats who refrained from criticizing their own.

There are things to agree with here. Protectionism is a viable option for America to take provided that it allows other nations to do the same. That has not always occurred. But we should note this, while protectionism provides an economic wall that could possibly partially block the immigration of the influence exercised by foreign economic elites, Trump will not provide sufficient protection for America from being controlled by economic elites in general. This was made clear by Trump's promise to corporate leaders that he will cut taxes and regulations by over 70%. The problem here is that in so doing, Trump is removing a layer of protection from economic, workplace, and environmental exploitation for many Americans. The more one cuts corporate taxes to the extent Trump is promising, the more the tax burden is shifted to workers and the federal deficit is increased. The more one cuts regulations, because regulations primarily deal with pay, working conditions, and protecting the environment, the more that workers and workplace communities are placed at risk for abuse. And though Trump's protectionism might act as a wall that restricts the flow of control foreign investors might have over our nation, his promise to cut taxes and regulations by such a significant amount allows foreigners who invest in American businesses to benefit at the expense of all other stakeholders besides shareholders.

When we look at Trump's team of the "best" people, we are quick to discover that those with wealth will hold on to their power since they are well represented. All others, especially workers, are left unrepresented. This is perhaps why Trump stated that he had heard no complaints about DAPL.

ONIM For December 19, 2016

Christian News

• How London Churches Are Battling The Housing Crisis -- Christian Today (UK)
• Pope, Bishops Called On To Break Stalemate In Democratic Republic Of Congo -- Christian Today (UK)
• Church Asked To Mediate Between Indigenous People And Chinese Mining Company In Ecuador -- Christian Today (UK)
• Here's What Happens When Christmas Falls On A Sunday -- Christianity Today
• Bombing Of Cairo Church's Sunday Service Kills Dozens On Muhammad's Birthday -- Christianity Today
• Kirsten Powers: Becoming A Christian Ruined My Love Of Christmas -- Christianity Today
• Church Discipline And Forgiveness -- Reformed African American Network
• Between Two Worlds -- Reformed African American Network
• Raise Up A Transcendent Voice In A Partisan World -- Gospel Coalition
• Some Things I've Learned Along The Way -- Prophets Of Culture
• Who Are Egypt's Coptic Christians? -- Yahoo News
• Rev. Graham: ACLU's War On Christmas Continues--Man Has 'Unwelcome Contact' With Cross, Causes 'Irreparable Harm' -- CNS News
• We Can't Be Pro-Life If We're Not Anti-Poverty -- For The Church
• The Head Of The Household Called To Do Women's Work? -- Mortification Of Spin
• Trump Rallies The Faithful Against The 'War On Christmas' -- Yahoo News

 
World News

• Joint DHS And ODNI Election Security Statement -- Office Of The Director Of National Intelligence
• Secret CIA Assessment Says Russia Was Trying To Help Trump Win White House -- Washington Post
• Julian Assange's New Platform: RT -- Columbia Journalism Review
• What Is Russia Today? -- Columbia Journalism Review
• When Spooks Were Reporters And Reporters Were Spooks -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Demagogue-In-Chief -- Truthdig
• Trump's Capricious Use Of Power To Denigrate And Even Endanger His Critics Must End -- Truthdig
• Mikhail Gorbachev On The Collapse Of The Soviet Union, Democracy In Russia And Putin's Popularity -- Newsweek
• India Arrests 12 For Not Standing During National Anthem -- Fox News
• Huge Mysterious UFO Disk-Shaped Object Captured Crossing Moon's Surface Was Alien Spaceship, Say ET Hunters -- Fox News
• Bernie Sanders: Donald Trump Won Because People Are Tired Of Political Correctness -- Reason.com
• Scientists Are Frantically Copying U.S. Climate Data, Fearing It Might Vanish Under Trump -- Washington Post
• Greg Palast: By Rejecting Recount, Is Michigan Covering Up 75,000 Ballots Never Counted? -- Democracy Now
• Israel Puts Celebrated Palestinian Activist On Trial -- Huffington Post
• EPA Finally Concludes Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water -- Common Dreams
• Putin Himself Involved In US Election Hack: Report -- Yahoo News
• Israel's West Bank Tourism Drive Makes Palestinians Invisible -- ZNet
• Brazil Senate Approves Austerity Package To Freeze Social Spending For 20 Years -- ZNet
• Dylann Roof Convicted Of All Counts In Church Slaughter -- Yahoo News
• A Collection Of Thoughts About American Foreign Policy -- Anti-Empire Report
• Canada's Liberal Government Stands By Plan To Use Military Against Pipeline Protests -- World Socialist Web Site
• Artists Around The World Respond To Donald Trump Becoming USA's President-Elect -- True Activist
• Days Of Revolt: The Corporate Coup D'etat With Ralph Nader -- Real News
• While Decrying "Massacre" In Aleppo, US Steps Up Bloodshed In Mosul -- World Socialist Web Site
• If Donald Trump Is So Upset About Iraq WMD Lies, Why Would He Want to Hire John Bolton? -- The Intercept
• Russia Destroys Most ISIS Heavy Weaponry, U.S. Promptly Airdrops 50-Tons Of Weapons Into Syria -- Mint Press News
• U.S. Election Agency Breached By Hackers After November Vote -- Yahoo News 
• Trump Picks Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina Congressman, As Budget Director -- New York Times
• Trump Corruption Grows As Senators Nail Education Pick For $5.3 Million In Unpaid Fines -- Politicus USA
• There's A Huge Education Drop-Off With The Trump Cabinet Picks --  Daily News
• Monica Crowley, Trump's Latest Addition To National Security Team, Believes In Fighting Islam 'The Way We Fought The Nazis' -- Yahoo News
• Car Bomb Kills 13 Turkish Soldiers On Bus; 7 Suspects Held -- Yahoo News
• Accessnow.org's Open Letter To Top Tech Executives -- Raging Chicken Press
• Extinguishing Free Expression In Algeria -- New York Times
• On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need 'Safe Spaces' -- New York Times
• Europeans Greatly Overestimate Muslim Population, Poll Shows -- Guardian
• Trump Chooses Hardliner As Ambassador To Israel -- New York Times
• Jammeh Must Step Down, Say West African Leaders -- Yahoo News
• Trump Is Still Not Very Popular, And His Problem With Women Could Return -- New York Times
• Trump Names Andrew Puzder, A Fast-Food CEO And Critic Of Substantially Raising The Minimum Wage, To Head The Labor Department -- Washington Post 

 
Standing Rock Sioux - DAPL News

• Miles From Standing Rock, Pipeline Rupture Spills Unknown Amount Of Oil In North Dakota Waterway -- Free Thought Project
• Pipeline Spills 176,000 Gallons Of Crude Into Creek About 150 Miles From Dakota Access Pipeline -- Yahoo News
• Cops Are Finally Being Sued For Illegally Spraying Standing Rock Protesters With Water In Freezing Temperatures -- Counter Current News
• Wikileaks Calls On Obama To Submit Proof Of Russian Hacking For Verification -- RT
• Did Senator Wagner Shutdown Unemployment Centers -- Raging Chicken Press
• At Standing Rock, No One Goes Hungry -- Yes! Magazine
• Seattle Takes Steps To Divest $3 Billion From Wells Fargo Over Standing Rock -- Yes! Magazine
• Iowa: Residents Fight Dakota Access Pipeline Use Of Eminent Domain In Court -- Democracy Now

 
Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Russian Hackers Acted To Aid Trump In Election, US Says -- New York Times
• As Legacy Media Cuts Back On FOIA, Digital-Only News Outlets Step In -- Columbia Journalism Review
• US Judge Rejects Green Party's Pennsylvania Recount Case -- Yahoo News
• Senate Finally Approves Flint Aid At Expense Of The Golden State -- Truthdig
• Vowing To "Stop Political Correctness," Gen. John Kelly To Head Department Of Homeland Security -- Democracy Now
• Britain Has A New Official Definition Of 'Anti-Semitism -- Business Insider   
• Syrian Government Reportedly Kills Dozens Of Civilians In Aleppo, Some 'On The Spot,' UN Says -- Yahoo News   
• Suspect Arrested After Two Officers Shot During Traffic Stop In Georgia -- ABC News
• There Is More Than One Story To Tell In The Heartbreaking Story Of Aleppo -- Independent
• ICC Accuses UN Council Of Failing To Act On Darfur Fugitives -- Fox News
• Reversing Course, E.P.A. Says Fracking Can Contaminate Drinking Water -- New York Times
• Muslim Restaurant To Feed Homeless And Elderly For Free On Christmas Day -- CNN
• Socialism For The Rich, Capitalism For The Poor -- ZNet
• 'Unlike Western Mainstream Media, I've Spent The Last Three Days In East Aleppo' -- RT
• Trump Pick For Ambassador To Israel Supports Israeli Annexation Of West Bank And Calls Liberal Jews 'Kapos' -- Mondoweiss
• Report: Chemical Leak Reported Week Before Public Was Warned -- Yahoo News
• The Master List Of US 'Regime Changes' -- Global Research  
• Muslim Civil Rights Group Honors Jewish Counterpart With Award -- Huffington Post
• I'm A Scientist Who Has Gotten Death Threats. I fear What May Happen Under Trump -- Washington Post 
• Israelis, Moved By Scenes From Aleppo, Click To Donate To Their Syrian Neighbors -- Christian Science Monitor

ONIM For June 13, 2016

Christian News

• Scotish Episcopal Church Votes In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage -- Christian Today (UK)
• Chile: Church Attacked As Student Protest TurnsViolent -- Christian Today (UK)
• Christian School Assemblies Contravene Human Rights, UN Tells Britain -- Christian Today (UK)
• Nicole Cliffe: How God Messed Up My Happy Atheist Life -- Christianity Today
• Amid 'Evangelism Crisis, ' Southern Baptists Bring In $400 Million More -- Christianity Today
• Why Being A Pro-Life Church Is Messier Than You Think -- Christianity Today
• Is Religion Going Extinct? -- The Christian Post
• Atheists Aren't Silencing Christians, 'Biblically Illiterate' Believers Have, Apologist Argues -- The Christian Post
• Trump's Challenge To Evangelical Values And Racism -- Reformed African American Network
• We Persevere (Round Up 2) -- Reformed African American Network
• Diabetic 15-Year-Old Weighing 37 Pounds Dies After Parents Choose Prayer Over Insulin -- Raw Story
• The Ugly In Christianity -- Huffington Post
• Refugees Seeking U.K. Asylum May Be Thwarted By Religious Bias -- Huffington Post
• Liberation & Politics: A Racial Realist Perspective -- Resist Daily
• Evangelicals Have Qualms With Trump, But See Nowhere Else To Turn -- Miami Herald
• People Are Seriously Wondering If God Is Punishing Us With The 2016 Election -- The Washington Post
• Evangelicals Feel Alienated: 'Nobody Hated More Than Christians'  -- Newsmax 

World News

• Hillary Clinton: Pulitzer Price-Winning Journalist Says Presidential Candidate Approved Sending Sarin Gas To Syrian Rebels -- Inquisitr
• Noam Chomsky On The Role Of Sports In Propaganda-Based Authority -- YouTube
• Trump: Foreign Countries Should Pay Us 'Protection Money' -- Freakout Nation
• Trump Tells Native American Protesters They 'Don't Look Like Indians' To Him -- Counter Current News
• Shut Down The Democratic National Convention -- Truthdig
• Israel-First McCarthyism: Andre Cuomo's Vow To Spy On BDS Activism (Video) -- Truthdig
• 10 Reasons Why The Brock Turner Rape Case Is Even More Awful Than It Looks -- Yahoo News
• Clinton On Trump's Foreign Policy: Right Message, Wrong Messenger -- Providence Mag
• Assessing Complimentarity In Palestine -- Lawfare Blog
• Hamas Is Ready For War With Israel -- Yahoo News
• Paul Ryan's 'Anti-Poverty Plan' A Rehash Of Old Proposals To Punish Poor People -- Daily Kos
• Norway Becomes World's First Country To Ban Deforestation -- EcoWatch
• Truthdig Sits Down With Green Party's Jill Stein (Video) -- Truthdig
• Palestinian Gunmen Kill 4 Israelis In Tel Aviv, 5 Wounded -- Yahoo News
• Israel Boycott Has Staying Power -- The Chronicle Of Higher Education
• Sanders Could Have Won California, But 2/3 Of His Votes Aren't Counted -- US Daily Politics
• How Donald Trump's Media Strategy Emerged Over Decades -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Nude Protests, Sex Strikes And The Power Of The Taboo -- Waging Nonviolence
• Inside The Growing Movement Against Campus Militarization -- Waging Nonviolence
• 4 Lessons For Climate Organizers From The Anti-Nuclear Movement -- Waging Nonviolence
• The Beauty Of An Arab American Ramadan -- Huffington Post
• Regulation Of Financial Industry Is History If Trade In Services Agreement Passes -- ZNet
• Hillary Clinton's 'Major Foreign Policy Address' Was Anything But -- ZNet
• AP's Clinton 'Victory' Story Breaches Journalism Ethics And Public Trust -- Truthdig
• 31,000 NATO Troops Take Part In Operation Anaconda, In Poland -- NBC News
• NATO Exercises Encircling Russia: U.S. Might Be Sleepwalking Into A Doomsday Scenario -- The Real News
• Democrats Will Learnd All The Wrong Lessons From Brush With Bernie -- Rolling Stone
• Nestle Abandons Poconos Spring Water Project Amid Opposition -- The Morning Call
• Jill Stein: What We Fear From Donald Trump, We Have Already Seen From Hillary Clinton -- Democracy Now
• Sanders Supporters Take Aim At Isreal-Palestinian Conflict -- New York Post
• Judge In Freddie Gray Case Scolds Prosecutors On First Day Of Officer Goodson's Trial -- UPI
• Integrity Disqualifies Sanders For White House -- The New Yorker
• ISIS Claims Deadly Suicide Bombings In Baghdad Area -- Yahoo News
• Desmond Tutu's Daughter Lost Her Job After Marrying A Woman -- Huffington Post
• Bernie Sanders Says He'll Continue Campaign After Meeting Obama -- Yahoo News
• How 'Students For Trump' Terrorized Portland State University -- Think Progress
• Green Party's Jill Stein To Bernie Sanders Fans: 'There's A Plan B Here' -- CNN
• Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump And Why The Wealthy Win Every Time -- Truthout
• Senate Proposal Would Expand Mandatory-Minimum Drug Sentencing--Again -- Truthout
• Muhammad Ali's Funeral Marks World's Final Goodbye To 'The Greatest' -- Huffington Post
• NYPD OFficers Arrest And Punch Rapper For Hanging Around Brooklyn Park -- Thing Progress
• Why The Environmental Movement Is Not Winning -- Huffington Post
• Volkswagon Not Alone In Flouting Pollution Limits -- The New York Times
• Noam Chomsky On The Breakdown Of American Society And A World In Transition -- Truthout
• Oklahoma Cops Can Now Seize Money From Prepaid Debit Cards, Without Filing Criminal Charges -- Forbes

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• How Grade Inflation Is Wrecking Higher Education -- Take Part
• 'Palestinians, Not Israel, Need Security Guarantees' -- Aljazeera
• Tel Aviv Mayor Links Terror Attack To Israeli Occupation Of Palestinian Lands -- The Washington Post
• These Four People Were Sued For $30 Million For Trying To Stop A Toxic Landfill -- Natural Blaze
• The Burning Statement That A Stanford Woman Reads To Her Rapist In Court -- Daily Kos
• The Swedish Stanford Students Who Rescued An Unconcious Sexual Assault Victim Speak Out -- The Washington Post
• Why Did Black Lives Matter Activist Face Four Years In Jail While Stanford Rapist Gets Six Months? -- Democracy Now
• State Department Blocks Release Of Hillary Clinton-Era TPP Emails Until After The Election -- International Business Times
• Israeli Minister Wants To Annex Half Of West Bank And Kick Out The Palestinians -- The Washington Post
• The Brave And The Few -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Voter Repression Is A Serious Problem: It Is Time For A New Freedom Summer -- ZNet
• Jail: Brock Turner In Stanford Sexual Assault Case Scheduled For Early Release In 3 Months -- Yahoo News
• NFL Start Richard Sherrman: Stop Making Taxpayers Pay For Billionaires' Stadiums -- Think Progress
• Democrats Are Now The Aggressive War Party -- Consortium News
• Bringing Home One Soldier's Ravages Of War -- Moyers & Company
• Robert Scheer And Anthonny Davis Discuss Football And Brain Trauma -- Truthdig
• 'We've Raced A Milestone' -- Facebook link
• US Is 'World Leader' In Child Poverty -- Raw Story
• Orlando Shooting: 50 Killed, Shooter Pledged ISIS Allegiance -- CNN

Onim For June 6, 2016

Christian News

• Nigeria Diocese Severs Link With Liverpool Over Same-Sex Blessings Bishop -- Christian Today (UK)
• Pope Francis Says To Sack Bishops If Found 'Negligent' In Abuse Cases -- Christian Today (UK)
• Humanists At War With Government Over Religious Education -- Christian Today (UK)
• African Pilgrims Pour Into Uganda For Martyr's Day -- Christianity Today
• "Lord, I Thank Thee That I Am Not Like Those Evangelical Trump Supporters" -- Christianity Today
• Shane Claiborne's Passionate Plea Against The Death Penalty -- Christianity Today
• Norway To Return Seized Children To Christian Parents After Int'l Pressure -- The Christian Post
• How To Grow A More Racially Diverse Church -- The Christian Post
• Galatians 3:28 Does Not Encourage A Color-Blind Christianity -- Reformed African American Network
• The Need For Compassion -- Reformed African American Network
• North Carolina Pastor Is Transforming Food Deserts Into Oases For The Poor -- RealFarmacy.com
• The Christian Myth Of America's Moral Decay -- Huffington Post
• Donald Trump And His Angry Voters Are Furthering An Extremist Christian Agenda -- Truthdig
• "I Refuse To Sever As An Empire Chaplain": U.S.Army Minister Resigns Over Drone Program -- Democracy Now

World News

• Israeli Leader: Iran Mocks WWII Holocaust, Prepares Another -- Yahoo News
• In Israel, It's Not Your Parents'  Evangelicals -- U.S. News And World Report
• Muhammad Ali Dies -- ABC News
• Desegregation Order: Mississippi District Must Merge Schools -- Yahoo News
• Howard Police Body Cameras Detail How Man Died After Traffic Stop -- The Mercury News
• Hero Dog Bitten Saving 7-Year-Old Girl From Rattlesnake -- WPVI
• Woman's Boat To Gaza Have Been Named -- Woman's Boat To Gaza
•  Junot Díaz On The Occupation Of Palestine -- Verso
• Belgium To Launch Airstrikes In Syria -- NSNBC
• Dan Patrick Is Blind To Child Abuse Crisis -- Star-Telegram
• Chomsky: Today's GOP Is A Candidate For Most Dangerous Organization In Human History--Part 2 -- Democracy Now
• Benghazi Committee Lawyer Confirms Panel Was Created To Stop Hillary In 2016 -- Bipartisan Report
• Woman Who Donated Hair To Cancer Patients Mistaken For Trans Woman And Harassed In Restroom -- Rawstory
• Welcome To 1984 -- Truthdig
• 'Being Homeless Is Better Than Working For Amazon' -- The Guardian
• Despite $10B 'Fix,' Veterans Are Waiting Even Longer To See Doctors -- NPR
• The EPA Hasn't Updated Fracking Rules In Nearly 3 Decades. Now, Environmental Groups Are Suing. -- Climate Progress
• Undeterred By Obama's Veto Threat, Senate Passes 9/11-Saudi Bill -- Common Dreams
• King: White Men Killed More American Police Than Any Other Group This Year, But Conseratives Won't Adddress The Facts -- New York Daily News
• From Bernie Sanders Supporters, Death Threats Over Delegates -- The New York Times
• France Rises Up Against Anti-Labor Reforms -- Common Dreams
• Obama Is BullishOn War, No Matter How You Spin It -- Common Dreams
• Russia Remains Determined To Stop Israel-Turkey Pipeline Deal -- Yahoo News
• Willfully Blind Belgian Lawmakers Nominate Palestinian Terrorist For Nobel Peace Prize -- PJ Media
• Pastors, Imams And Rabbis Urge Congress To Close Gun Loopholes For Domestic Abusers -- Huffington Post
• How Not To Talk About The Nazi Era and Israel/Palestine -- Truthdig
• Empire Of Lies: How The US Continues To Deceive The World About Puerto Rico -- Truthout
• This Is How Fascism Comes To America -- The Washington Post
• Thousands Protest 'Bomb Trains' And Environmental Racism In Albany -- Waging Nonviolence
• Taking Power By Storm In Brazil -- ZNet
• Turkey's Creeping Authoritarianism: Is The Resistance Enough? -- ZNet
• Interview On The Middle East, Obama, And Michael Ratner -- ZNet
• Russian And Israeli Planes Near Dogfight -- Observer
• Ben Shapiro Discovers Right-Wing Anti-Semitism -- The Washington Post
• Arabs Demand That UN Remove A Panel From Israeli Exhibition -- Fox News
• California Ends Mandatory Water Conservation Rules As Drought Eases -- Yahoo News
• Wisconsin Fraternity Suspended After Reports Of Racism -- Yahoo News
• Kerry Welcomes Efforts To Rvive Palestinian-Israeli Peace Talks -- Yahoo News
• Cop Comforts Baby After Mother Leaves Him At Crash Scene -- Yahoo News
• Vanezuela Protests Against Maduro To Test State Of Emergency -- Yahoo News
• My American Dream: Fighting For Immigrant Rights In The Deep South -- CNN
• Oklahoma Legislature Passes Bill Criminalizing Abortion Procedures -- Time
• The Big Issue Californians Are Not Hearing About This Election Year -- Truthdig
• Israeli Defense Chief Quits, Cites Lack Of Trust In Netanyahu -- Yahoo News
• Police Officer Charged After Allegedly Punching Woman During Traffic Stop -- Fox News
• The Scandal In Washington No One Is Talking About -- New York Post
• At Unruly N.M. Rally, Trump Goes After GOP Gov. Martinez -- Yahoo News
• Palestinias Reject Netanyahu's Call For Direct Peace Talks In Paris -- UPI
• Leading Israeli Rights Group To Stop Cooperating With The IDF -- +972
• Israel's New Defense Minister Could Clash With His Soldiers -- Fox News
• Mother Of Teen Fatally Shot By Police Sees Dashcam Videos After Months Of Fighting -- Yahoo News
• A Deadly Shooting, A General's Report, And The Rise Of Israel's New Right -- Foreign Policy
• Pro-LGBT Shirt Banned From High School For Being 'Disruptive' -- Yahoo News
• Hillary Clinton, Debbie Wasserman Schultz Pick Influence Peddlers To Guide DNC Platform -- The Intercept
• After The Arab Spring: 5 Writers To Watch -- The New York Times
• Israel's Army Gets Pulled Deeper Into The Political Mire -- Bloomberg
• Effort To Expose Russia's 'Troll Army' Draws Vicious Retaliation -- The New York Times
• Hillary Clinton Email Archive: France's Client And Qaddafi's Gold -- Wikileaks
• As 1,000 Refugees Drown Under European Policies, Meet The Volunteers Who Are Trying To Save Lives -- Democracy Now
• Trump Is Wrong On The Paris Climate Agreement. I Know Because I Negotiated It -- The Washington Post
• US Doctors Call For Universal Healthcare: "Abolish The Insurance Companies" -- Occupy.com
• American Jews Warn Israeli Leader Of Possible 'Rupture' -- ABC News
• Israel Wars: Another Gaza War Is Coming -- The Daily Beast
• Mr. Netanyahu's Sudden Shift Rightward -- The Washington Post
• Why The 'Ali Summit' Remains A Transformational Moment In U.S. History -- Yahoo News
• US Thinktank, Co-Authored By Israelis, Urges Collecting 'Biometric Data' On Palestinians -- Mondoweiss
• Vanishing Palestine: The Making Of Israel's Occupation -- Aljazeera
• US Cities See Unexplained Rise In Violent Crimes This Year -- Yahoo News

Pick(s) Of The Litter

• Unemployment For Young Black Grads Is Still Worse Than It Was For Young White Grads In The Aftermath Of The Recession -- Economic Policy Institute
• European Union Criticizes Anti-LGBT Laws -- Human Rights Campaign
• Many Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Reporting Chronic Illnesses -- Psych Central
• B.C. Sikhs Devlier $1 Million Worth Of Donations For Fort McMurray Evacuees -- CBC News
• Solar Project Pairs Muslims And Jews To Aid West Bank Farmers -- The New York Times
• Attacks Against Queer People Have A Long History -- The Guardian
• Tempe, Arizona Will Fine The Homeless For Being Homeless (Though It Says Otherwise) -- The Intellectualist
• Noam Chomsky: Brazil's President Dilma Rouseff "Impeached By A Gang Of Thieves" -- Democracy Now
• NATO-Russia War Tensions Laid Bare At Western Summit -- World Socialist Web Site
• Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton On Iran Nuclear Agreement -- CSpan
• Employees With Criminal Records May Be Better Workers, Studies Reveal -- Truthdig
• Meet The New Face Of Israel's Growing Military Refuser Movement -- Waging Nonviolence
• Amid Shouts Of 'Shame,' House GOP Defeats Gay Rights Measure -- Yahoo News
• Antarctic Ice Melt May Be Worse Than Scientists Thought -- Time
• Sea Level Swallows 5 Whole Pacific Islands -- Scientific American
• 'Urgent' Action Needed To Preserve CIA Torture Documents, Groups Warn -- Yahoo News
• In Chicago, Less Than 1% Saw A Lawyer After Arrest -- CNN
• Freddie Gray Verdict: US Police Officers Who Kill Rarely Get Punished, But They Might Get Rich -- Quartz
• When Will The Courts Realize That Leaks Are Vital To The American Public -- Columbia Journalism Review
• Booted: Lack Of Recourse For Wrongfully Discharged US Military Rape Survivors -- Human Rights Watch
• New "Superbug" Gene Found In Animals And People In China -- Scientific American
• Native Americans Move To Frontlines In Battle Over Voting Rights -- Yahoo News
• Almost All Of Israel's 32 Women In Parliament Have Been Sexually Harassed Or Assaulted -- The Washington Post
• Israel Escalates Forced Transfer Of Palestinians -- Aljazeera