Daily News Digest May 24, 2022
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines, Like the Salk Polio Vaccine, are Free For the Whole World!
Images of the Day:
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Ws Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”, is Still True for Today’s World!
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!
Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
Always Remember: That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. — The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99%, Only the 1% Voted For Austerity! The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The 1%, Who Profit From Austerity!! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.! Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Videos of the Day:
He Called Cops For Help; They Broke Down His Door nd Arrested Him Instead!
Quotes of the Day:
The ugly truth is that today’s third branch of government has needlessly, dangerously and rather ludicrously become a black-robed autocracy. Bear in mind that these nine individuals are enrobed for life, choose the cases they consider, make up their own rules of ethical conduct, operate almost entirely behind closed doors, can conspire to issue decrees — and the bare majority of only five of them can arbitrarily overrule presidents, congresses, states, other courts, voters… and your own personal life decisions. — Why Should We the People Respect a Court That Subverts the Will of the People?
United States:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from th poor and gives to the Rich. Taxthe Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
Loving county judge and top official, Skeet Lee Jones, 71, is alleged to have taken stray cattle I’ve seldom found big US media terribly useful in understanding how the world works. Coming of age during the Vietnam “conflict” encouraged a certain skepticism of the dominant media “narrative.” There was a history if one looked and, perhaps more impressive to we —-the impressionable— were the stories told by vets returning from “The Nam.” Guys we knew. . . . The Guardian has offered better coverage of the ongoing global heating issue than most. But lately, like US media, it’s gone full-tilt-State Department-berserker on the Ukraine matter. So I check less often. — The (American) Exception to the Rule?
Tax Billionaire Wealth and Pandemic Profits, Says Oxfam, to End ‘Inequality That Literally Kills’ “The super-rich have rigged the system with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits,” says Oxfam International’s executive director. In the shadow of the Davos summit of global elites taking place this week, a new report from Oxfam International details how skyrocketing inequality during two years of the global Covid-19 pandemic surged to a point where a new billionaire was created in the world nearly every day while over one million people are now being pushed into poverty at almost the same daily rate.
Rights Group Urges Civilian Safeguards as Biden Sends Troops Back to Somalia A culture of impunity for civilian loss breeds resentment and mistrust among the population and undermines efforts to build a more rights-respecting state,” Human Rights Watch’s regional director asserted. Human Rights Watch on Friday implored the U.S. military to prioritize protecting Somali civilians after President Joe Biden signed off on the re-deployment of hundreds of Special Forces troops to the war-torn African nation, where American drone and other airstrikes have killed at least scores of noncombatants in recent decades.
Tiny Texas Community Shaken by Arrest of Official Over Cattle Rustlingand sold them A senior county official in west Texas has been arrested over cattle rustling in a case that has stirred up anger in the tiny community of Loving. Skeet Lee Jones, 71, a judge and chief elected official in the county, faces three counts of theft of livestock worth less than $150,000 and one of engaging in organised criminal activity after his arrest on Friday, the sheriff of neighbouring Winkler county, Darin Mitchell, said on Sunda
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocied!:
‘The Most Amazing Link to Our History’: The Farmers Reclaiming Their Heritage One Seed at a Time US Heatwave Brings Historically High Temperatures To Dozens Of States Temperatures between 20 and 30F above average in the mid-Atlantic and north-east, with Washington set to hit 96F (35.5C). Dozens of states across the US began the weekend grappling with historically high spring temperatures, as a blistering heatwave that has scorched the country’s south and west moves east. The early arrival of sweltering weather, before what’s expected to be another hot, dry summer, is forecast to break or tie roughly 130 heat records for this time of year, with temperatures between 20F and 30F above average in the mid-Atlantic and north-east. Dozens of states across the US began the weekend grappling with historically high spring temperatures, as a blistering heatwave that has scorched the country’s south and west moves east. The early arrival of sweltering weather, before what’s expected to be another hot, dry summer, is forecast to break or tie roughly 130 heat records for this time of year, with temperatures between 20F and 30F above average in the mid-Atlantic and north-east.
Mounting Drought Risk Confronts London, Other World Cities With many of the world’s cities, and especially their poorest citizens, facing increasing risks of drought and water shortages, faster emissions cuts and the long overdue establishment of an international fund for loss and damage are needed, says a new repor
Warning that even “famously rainy” London could run out of water by mid-century, while cities like Harare, Kabul, and New Delhi are already parched, the report from the United Kingdom-based charity Christian Aid warns that less than 3% of the world’s water is suitable for drinking, with most of that locked up in glaciers and ice caps, writes The Independent.
As the Earth Burns Big Oil is Rapidly Plundering the Earth for Fossil Fuel!: Big Oil Is Dangerously Going After Fossil Fuel Extraction in Africa Arguments for gas exploration and gas-fired power infrastructure in Africa are robbing us of vital time to switch to clean energy.
Sandra Steingraber: Please Read & Share this difficult news from our friends in Vaca Muerta, in the fracking fields of Argentina: Millions for fracking, no heating for schools. In one of the largest shale oil and gas formations in the world, a school with heating deficiencies has just exploded, leaving two workers dead and a school teacher with burns affecting 70% of her body. The white dot is where the school is located. The orange dots are gas wells, and the black ones are oil wells. This is what a sacrifice zone looks like. Lefxaru Nawel, from a nearby Mapuche community wrote this morning: “We will keep fighting so we can stop being a sacrifice zone and to make good living a reality for everyone”. Thanks to local geographer Javier Grosso for the map.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
We must fight for socialism to uproot the foundations of racism and put an end to all the horrors of capitalist society. The interests of all workers, of all races, whether legally documented or not, are the same, and a mass socialist party could bring that reality to the forefront. A bold lead from the labor movement, including class-independent political action, would massively cut across the growth of Trumpism and racial chauvinism. The strength of the united working class would send far-right terrorists crawling back into their holes. That is the perspective we must fight for, and if you agree, we invite you to join us. — Racist Right-Wing Terror in Buffalo and the Decline of American Capitalism
‘The Most Amazing Link to Our History’: The Farmers Reclaiming Their Heritage One Seed at a Time The Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance tracks own old or rare seed varieties and supports communities of color to grow culturally relevant foods At the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Adeeb and her students at Steam Onward – a non-profit engaging underserved young people in gardening projects – were looking for ways to support their communities. At the same time, farther north in Philadelphia, the Experimental Farm Network invited growers, including Adeeb, to Zoom calls. “It was clear very early on that [Covid] was going to be a massive disruption to the way we live and that people were going to need support,” said Nate Kleinman, co-founder and co-director of the network. The organization that emerged, the Cooperative Gardens Commission, decided to focus on seeds – and making sure Americans had access to them. By April, volunteers based in Philadelphia were mailing seeds donated by seed companies to smaller distribution sites across the country – including the one in Adeeb’s house. Her basement was transformed into a seed hub. Her students began mailing out the seeds and even planting gardens in their elderly neighbors’ back yards.
UN Agency Condemns ‘Homophobic and Racist’ Monkeypox Reporting “Stigma hurts everyone,” says one ranking UNAIDS official. “Shared science and social solidarity help everyone.” As the World Health Organization said it expects more cases of monkeypox to be identified around the world, the United Nations HIV/AIDS agency on Sunday denounced what it and numerous public health experts called bigoted Western media coverage of a disease that “can affect anyone.” UNAIDS lamented in a statement that “some public reporting and commentary on Monkeypox has used language and imagery, particularly portrayals of LGBTI and African people, that reinforce homophobic and racist stereotypes and exacerbate stigma.”
Racist Right-Wing Terror in Buffalo and the Decline of American Capitalism Sunday morning in Buffalo, NY saw scenes of horror as a white supremacist terrorist opened fire at a supermarket, murdering ten people and injuring three more. Almost all of those killed were Black, as the shooter had intentionally targeted a grocery store with a majority-Black clientele. This is an utter tragedy and an attack on the entire working class. The shooting follows a string of racist and anti-Semitic massacres in the past few years, including the 2015 Charleston Church shooting, the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and the 2019 shooting in El Paso. Although there has been an uptick in such incidents in recent years, this is not a new phenomenon or isolated incident. Rather, it is part of a pattern of right-wing terrorism in the United States—one of the many consequences of the centuries-long history of racism that is completely intertwined with the history of American capitalism.
Labor:
Ukraine’s capitalists and pro-business parliament are taking advantage of the war to introduce sweeping labour ‘reforms’ that include individual contracts for people who work at small and medium-sized businesses, and give Ukrainian employers the right to fire employees without any reason. This is called “the introduction of the most flexible and free regime for regulating labour relations.” Ukraine’s trade union leaders point out that “De facto, this regime assumes that literally anything can be entered into an employee’s employment contract, without reference to Ukrainian labour laws. For example, additional grounds for dismissal, liability, or even a 100-hour week.” — Michael Roberts Blog, re Ukraine’s New Labour Law Could ‘Open Pandora’s Box’ for Workers
Economy:
Michael Roberts Blog: The annual World Economic Forum has started in Davos, Switzerland. The WEF is a forum for the world’s elite of bankers, corporates and politicians to meet in luxury to discuss the world’s problems and supposedly come up with some answers. Here is the FT’s view of this jamboree. “nothing about Davos ever changes. Everyone knows already that it’s a Global Elite cosplay convention for Quango bosses, Twitter-famous academics and corporate types with expensive dental work. Everyone knows that the only power in evidence is the performative suppression of imposter syndrome. There are only so many times we can count the private jets. Springtime WEF means more Patagonia gilets and fewer Arc’teryx jackets but that aside, the 2022 agenda offers a comfortingly familiarity. Want to hear from Salesforce’s CFO on Rebuilding Societal Trust? Or from Shell’s upstream boss on Unlocking Digital Innovation for Net Zero? Of course you don’t. No-one does. Yet Globalisation Groundhog Day still manages to trap 2,500 of the world’s most deserving people within its vortex of tedium, which is the best joke of all.”
How Crypto Is Using the Behavioral Dynamics of Bernie Madoff’s Fraud On June 18, 1991 I was having lunch with two of my new investment clients on the outdoor patio of their private country club on Long Island. As their friends stopped by the table, the married couple introduced me as their investment advisor and recommended me to their friends. One friend said to my astonishment: “Can you guarantee me the same 13 percent annual return as Bernie Madoff?” If one is a reputable, licensed broker, guaranteeing a 13 percent return – or any guaranteed return on a stock portfolio – is a flagrant violation of the rules of the investment industry. It can also strip you of your license, your career, and get you perp walked. Stock investing is a volatile endeavor. Stocks can go into a bear market and deliver a negative return for years. That is why it is illegal to guarantee to an investor any specific return on a stock portfolio.
World:
Education, Health, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Heslthcare!
Baby Formula Industry was Primed for Disaster Long Before Key Factory Closed Down The conditions that led to a shortage of baby formula were set in motion long before the February 2022 closure of the Similac factory tipped the U.S. into a crisis. Retailers nationwide reported supplies of baby formula were out of stock at a rate of 43% during the week ended May 8, 2022, compared with less than 5% in the first half of 2021. In some states, such as Texas and Tennessee, shortages were over 50%, which has prompted parents to travel long distances and pay exorbitant sums of money to grab dwindling supplies of formula for their babies. News that the Food and Drug Administration and Similac-maker Abbott have reached a deal to reopen the formula factory in Sturgis, Michigan, is welcome news for desperate parents, but it will do little to alleviate the shortage anytime soon. This is in no small part because of the very nature of America’s baby formula industry.