Daily News Digest January 9, 2023
Images:
Profit and the Hippocratic Oath
1/6 Mike Luckovich: Perfectly Executed
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!
Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capitalism Has Been Aware of the Comming Catastrophe of Global Warming Over 5 Decades 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 very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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!
Quotes of the Day:
Understaffing means less job opportunity for youth entering the job market: They are not counted by the government labor statistics as unemployed!: Half of All Workers Say Their Companies are Understaffed As Labor Shortage Takes A Toll On Those Still Employed: CNBC|Momentive Workforce Survey
If the Pacific Legal Foundation gets its way then half of the wetlands in the US lose protection and that does serious damage. This court is going to try to write an opinion overruling all the expertise and with all the variance in water in different parts of the country – good luck to them on that. But whatever the opinion says, it’s going to be challenged until Congress adds more clarity because we can’t come to an agreement nationally on this. It’s endless, it just goes on and on. — Fears US Supreme Court Could Radically Reshape Clean Water Rules
Why is it important to keep the general population in line? Any form of concentrated power doesn’t want to be subjected to popular democratic control—or, for that matter, to market discipline. That’s why powerful sectors, including corporate wealth, are naturally opposed to functioning democracy, just as they’re opposed to functioning markets…for themselves, at least. It’s just natural. They don’t want external constraints on their capacity to make decisions and act freely. ― Noam Chomsky, How the World Works
Videos/Podcasts of the Day:
GOP Operative: “We’ll Light The Whole Sh*T On Fire!”
Scheer Intelligence: Humans Are Destroying Earth
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 Republicrats 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 the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay! Both Parties Support U.S. Capitalism’s Wars! (The Only War the Democrats Opposed was the Civil War!):
Jan 6: Greg Palast: The Secret History of a Riot The 800-page gorilla of a report from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the Capitol seems strangely silent on a few matters that, apparently, were a bit too uncomfortable for the Committee to take on. So, buckle up for a discomfiting ride with our investigative team that has been tracking the insurrectionists for years before the Insurrection. So, buckle up for a discomfiting ride with our investigative team that has been tracking the insurrect-ionists for years before the Insurrection. — Rioters On the Gop Payroll— Yes, the Committee did acknowledge our report that, days before the January 6 storming of the Capitol, Trump ‘bro Ali Alexander, riot instigator, declared, “Either they take Trump, prove that they won, or we’re not going to hand them back the country again — right? We’ll light the whole sh*t on fire!” Our investigative photojournalist Zach D. Roberts captured Alexander’s threat, made at a small rally outside the Georgia State House. (Roberts, a specialist at infiltrating right-wing groups, has been tracking Alexander for years—something you’d think the FBI would be doing.) What the Committee left out: We discovered that Alexander was brought to Georgia by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Georgia Republican Party for their get-out-the-vote drive for the Senate run-off races that were to be held on January 5, 2021. And here’s the stunner: Alexander was brought in by the GOP on January 3, 2021, that is, after he made his threat to burn down government buildings and after he promised a “riot.”
Pentagon Doc Reveals US Lied About Afghan Civilians Killed in 2021 Drone Strike One Amnesty International campaigner called the new report “more evidence that we need a huge change in how the U.S. uses lethal force and assesses and reveals its consequences.” .S. military officials knew that an August 2021 drone strike in Kabul likely killed Afghan civilians including children but lied about it, a report published Friday revealed. New York Times investigative reporter Azmat Khan analyzed a 66-page redacted U.S. Central Command report on the August 29, 2021 drone strike that killed 10 members of the Ahmadi family, including seven children, outside their home in the Afghan capital. The strike took place during the chaotic final days of the U.S. ground war in Afghanistan, just three days after a bombing that killed at least 182 people, including 13 American troops, at Kabul’s international airport. U.S. military officials knew that an August 2021 drone strike in Kabul likely killed Afghan civilians including children but lied about it, a report published Friday reveals.
“They Attempted a Coup” The official report of the Congressional investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol, featuring a foreword by Ari Melber, makes a compelling case for a sustained and wide-ranging conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. . . . Three days later, the committee released its final 845-page report, which included an appendix of supporting documents, emails, texts and transcripts of testimony. Among several recommendations, the final report recommended that Congress create a “formal mechanism” under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution for evaluating whether to bar “individuals identified in this report”” — including Trump — from holding future office. The committee noted that under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, an individual who took an oath to support the Constitution “but who has ‘engaged in an insurrection’ against the same, or given ‘aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution’ can be disqualified from holding future federal or state office.” The report noted that Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of an insurrection on Jan. 6, and there were 57 votes — a majority — in the Senate for his conviction.
Thuggery in the House: ‘You’re Finished’: Mike Rogers’ Stern Warning to Republican Rebel Matt Gaetz When He Furiously Lunged at Him as Congress Descended Into Chaos and Kevin a Mccarthy was Finally Elected Speaker
- The House floor was in pandemonium when U.S. Republican Mike Rogers had to be held back by one of his colleagues after confronting Rep. Matt Gaetz
- It has been reported that Rogers told Gaetz he was ‘finished’ for continuing to sabotage the Speaker’s vote
- The final tally was 216 for McCarthy, 211 for Democrat Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and six ‘present’ votes
- When the 14th ballot left McCarthy one vote short of the speakership, Rogers immediately walked over to ‘present’ voters Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz
- Rogers then lunged toward Gaetz after McCarthy finished chatting with the Florida congressman, who had withheld support for McCarthy’s bid
Environment — Ecosocialism or Ecocide:
Bomb Cyclone: These low-pressure storm systems help create Ars (Atmospheric Rivers, pushing them from the Pacific to the coast. A “bomb cyclone is a storm whose pressure is really falling rapidly and in that case it is rapidly strengthening”, Lamers said.But unlike hurricanes or other storms where the center is the strongest, bomb cyclones can generate the worst weather at their edges. Climate Connection: As the climate crisis unfolds, weather extremes are only expected to intensify. California’s climate has long vacillated dramatically from wet to dry, but in a warming world those shifts could become more severe. The destructive set of storms “is consistent with what climate models have been predicting should occur in a warming earth”, Ralph said. “Climate change super-charges the storms because there is more water vapor available, creating more rain and snow. This pattern is consistent — where we go from a very deep drought to a flood situation.” — Bomb Cyclones to Atmospheric Rivers: What’s Causing the California Deluge?
Michael Roberts: Saito: The Metabolic Rift and De-Growth Communism Kohei Saito is an associate professor at Tokyo University and an erudite Marxist scholar. Not a candidate for a best-seller in the non-fiction book world, you might think. But you would be wrong in this case. Saito’s new book (currently in Japanese), which analyses the relationship between capitalism and the planet, has been a smash hit in Japan, with over half a million sales already. In the English version out shortly, the book is entitled, Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism. The book’s message is stark and clear. Capitalism’s rapacious drive for profit is destroying the planet and only “degrowth” can repair the damage by slowing down social production and sharing wealth. Humans need to find a “new way of living”, and that means replacing capitalism. Saito is deeply sceptical of some widely accepted strategies for tackling the climate emergency. “In my book, I start a sentence by describing sustainable development goals [SDGs] as the new opium of the masses,” he said in reference to Marx’s view of religion. “Buying eco bags and bottles without changing anything about the economic system … SDGs mask the systemic problem and reduce everything to the responsibility of the individual, while obscuring the responsibility of corporations and politicians.”
Researchers Warn Great Salt Lake’s Retreat Threatens Crucial Ecosystem, Public Health“The lake’s ecosystem is not only on the edge of collapse. It is collapsing,” said one ecologist. Scientists are warning Utah officials that the Great Salt Lake is shrinking far faster than experts previously believed, and calling for a major reduction in water consumption across the American West in order to prevent the lake from disappearing in the next five years. Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) led more than 30 scientists from 11 universities and advocacy groups in a report released this week showing that the lake is currently at 37% of its former volume, with its rapid retreat driven by the historic drought that’s continuing across the West.
Civil Rights Black Liberation:
There are literally two Americas. One America is beautiful … overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. This America is the habitat of millions of people who have food and material necessities for their bodies and culture and education for their minds and freedom and human dignity for their spirits. In this America, millions of people experience every day the opportunity of having life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all of their dimensions. And in this America, millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity. But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebullience of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America, people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. — Martin Luther King, The Other America 4/14/1967
Labor:
Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Unemployment Charts The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.
Dec 2022 Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Unemployment held at 24.4% on top of U.6 declining to 6.5% from 6.7%
The Labor Force Participation Rate Proves the Accuracy of the Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Unemployment Rate!
Since June 2009 Americans have lived in the false reality of a recovering economy. Various fake news and manipulated statistics have been used to create this false impression. However, indicators that really count have not supported the false picture and were ignored. For example, it is normal in a recovering or expanding economy for the labor force participation rate to rise as people enter the workforce to take advantage of job opportunities. During the decade of the long recovery, from June 2009 through December 2013 the labor force participation rate consistently fell from 65.7 to 62.3 percent. —Paul Craig Roberts, The Diminishing American Economy (Updated)Fred: Labor Force Participation Rate is 62.3%
Economy:
Michael Roberts Blog: At ASSA 2023 in the big mainstream panel on US inflation, shocks, and crises, Keynesian guru Larry Summers told the audience that “there’s going to need to increase in unemployment to contain inflation”. He spoke from a lovely tropical island hotel, it seems. At ASSA 2023 in the big mainstream panel on Will the US economy continue to stagnate in the 2020s like it did in the 2010s? Summers said that was “unknowable”. — Wall Street Week – Full Show 01/06/2023
World:
150 Arrested in Brasília as Lula Condemns ‘Barbarism’ After Storming of Presidential Palace and Supreme Court — live Congress, supreme court and presidential palace reportedly secured following attack being compared to 6 January invasion of the US Capitol Lula announces ‘federal security intervention’ until 31 January In his press conference a short while ago, Lula announced a “federal security intervention” in Brasília lasting until 31 january after capital security forces initially were overwhelmed by the invaders. He blamed Bolsonaro and complained about a lack of security in the capital, saying authorities had allowed “fascists” and “fanatics” to wreak havoc. “These vandals, who we could call fanatical Nazis, fanatical Stalinists … fanatical fascists, did what has never been done in the history of this country,” said Lula, who was on an official trip to São Paulo state. “All these people who did this will be found and they will be punished.”
Thousands of Bolsonaro Supporters Storm Congress in Brazil The protestors believe the election was stolen from Bolsonaro, but no evidence has been found to say that it was Some were breaking glass in the Planalto Palace and many of the protestors could be seen “wearing the national soccer shirt –– now a symbol of the far right,” per The Washington Post. “This absurd attempt to impose the will by force will not prevail,” Lula’s justice minister Flavio Dino tweeted, per The Washington Post. “The Government of the Federal District claims that there will be reinforcements. And the forces at our disposal are at work. I’m at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice.” Protestors have been camping out near military bases and have even called on armed forces to enforce the perceived results from the election, per The New York Times. Bolsonaro left the country before the inauguration and is currently in Florida, CNN reported.
Capitalism is a Failed System — It is Now Anti-Human and Anti-Life!: Billions in Global South Face Looming Wave of Austerity in 2023 Unless austerity is reversed, people in developing countries will lose social protections and public services just when they are most needed. And it doesn’t have to be this way. The world is confronting multiple, compounding crises, from COVID-19, energy, inflation, debt, and climate shocks to unaffordable living costs and political instability. The need for ambitious action cannot be greater. However, the return of failed policies such as austerity, now called “fiscal restraint” or “fiscal consolidation,” and a lack of effective taxation and debt-reduction initiatives threaten to exacerbate the macroeconomic instability and daily hardships that billions of people are facing. Unless policymakers change course, an “austerity pandemic” will make global economic recovery even more difficult.
Thousands in Israel March Against ‘Fascism and Apartheid’ at Anti-Netanyahu Protests “We can see right now many laws being advocated for against LGBTQ, against Palestinians, against larger minorities in Israel,” said one organizer. Carrying signs reading, “Together against fascism and apartheid” and “Democracy in danger,” thousands of Israelis on Saturday marched in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government, which less than a week after being sworn in has already threatened to strip the country’s judiciary of power and announced punitive measures against Palestinian people and leaders. According toHaaretz, about 20,000 people attended two different marches—one organized by the grassroots group Standing Together and calling for equality and partnership between Palestinians and Israelis, and another focusing on Netanyahu’s threats to the Israeli justice system. The protests came days after Netanyahu’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, angered Palestinians and the Israeli opposition by entering the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which was seen as a provocation and an escalation of Israel’s attacks on Palestine.
Is this the End of Globalisation? . . .Where do Marxists Stand? Where do Marxists stand? The market, or the ‘invisible hand’, played a historically progressive role, but is clearly unable to do so anymore. For us, it’s not a question of supporting free trade against protectionism. It’s not our role to try to turn the clock back to 2006 or even to 1967. The whole crisis shows the inability of capitalism to take humanity forward, and in its senile decline, capitalism is destroying many of the gains it had made in the past. It is destroying its supply chains, it’s destroying its system of international relations, it’s returning us to wars, militarism, and all the associated waste in economic resources and human life.
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Our role is to explain why this is taking place, and how neither side will solve anything by their measures.
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We must understand that protectionism is a dead end. The whole development of the past 80 years shows the complete reactionary utopia that was ‘socialism in one country’.
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We are one interconnected globe and there are huge advantages for us in sharing experiences, technology, and resources. Socialism would be built on a foundation of trade and internationalism, not by forcing the productive forces into the straight jacket of the nation-state. Free trade and liberalization can no longer take us one step forward, whilst the turn to protectionism just makes things worse.
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We are socialists, Marxists, and revolutionaries. We see in this collapse of globalization as only another stage in the crisis of the system as a whole.
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We see the great benefits of world trade, but this path is now finished. Only on the basis of the working class taking power can we re-establish world trade and world relations on a healthy basis. We will prepare the way for a massive leap forward.
New Documentaries Explore Censorship and Suppression of History in Israel “A Reel War: Shalaal” and “The Soldier’s Opinion” expose the realities of Israel’s “nation-building.” Two movies screened at the most recent the Other Israel Film Festival examined the theft of collective and personal histories from Palestinians and Israelis by the Israeli government and its military machine. The documentaries by these two filmmakers have the explicit goal of questioning the legacy histories put into play by the Israeli government and hasbara proponents. Following in the footsteps of the Israeli New Historians, directors Karnit Mandel and Assaf Banitt have endeavored to show the Israeli public the realities of “nation-building.”
Health Education 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 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 Healthcare