Daily News Digest August 4, 2023
Images of the Day:
Matt Davies: Fake! Overturn It!
Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and/or Nuclear War Catastrophes!
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:
Michael Roberts Facebook Blog: A fifth regional bank in the US has gone bust. It’s Heartland Tri-State Bank based in Kansas. It’s very small with just $511m in assets. It has been taken over by another bank with the government’s FDIC providing $51m in public funding. The claim is that the bank went bust because “of a scam that they fell victim to. I can’t speak to the particulars of that. Investigations are ongoing. But it had nothing to do with interest rate increases. Nothing to do with balance sheet asset quality. Nothing to do with the Fed.” That’s ok then. Re: Don’t Worry, It’s a Scam!
After “Voters were loud and clear that we want to move Monterey County away from dirty fossil fuels and toward a healthy future,” said Dr. Laura Solorio, a Measure Z backer and an intervenor in the case. “Enough with the oil industry lawsuits standing between us”: California Supreme Court rejects Monterey County ban on new oil, gas drilling. Monterey County’s ban on new oil and gas wells is invalid because state law authorizes oil and gas production, the state Supreme Court said Thursday. — Counties can’t Ban Oil Drilling, California Supreme Court Rules
Podcasts/Vidoes of the Day:
Flooding Opens Up Massive Sinkhole in China
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%!
We’re Not Living in an Era of Global Warming, But a Time of Global Boiling July will go down as the hottest month in history. But don’t assume that record will stand for long, either. Hey, who knows? It could be the Gulf Stream collapsing or the planet eternally breaking heat records. But whatever the specifics, we’re living it right now, not in the next century, the next decade, or even next year. You couldn’t miss it — at least so you might think — if you were living in the sweltering Southwest; especially in broiling, record-setting Phoenix with 30 straight days of temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit; or in flaming Greece or western China on the day the temperature hit 126 degrees Fahrenheit or sweltering, blazing Algeria when the temperature reached an almost unimaginable 135 (yes, 135!) degrees Fahrenheit; not to speak of broiling Canada with its more than 1,000 fires now burning (a figure that still seems to be rising by the week) and its 29 million acres already flamed out; and don’t forget Italy’s 1,400 fires; or Florida’s hot-tub-style seawater, which recently hit an unheard-of 101-plus degrees Fahrenheit. And though I’m still writing this as the month is ending, July is more or less guaranteed to set the record for the hottest month in history. And don’t assume that “record” will stand for long, either.
Company’s Deep-Sea Mining Plans Called ‘Big Kick in the Teeth’ for Ocean Protectors “This is a cowboy company running out of cash and trying to ride roughshod over international decisions,” said one Greenpeace campaigner. Greenpeace on Wednesday again took aim at a Canadian startup after the deep-sea mining company announced its expected application costs, development timeline, and production capacity following an international agency’s recent meeting that ended without finalized regulations. “The Metals Company’s (TMC) announcement flies in the face of international opposition to deep-sea mining, and it’s a big kick in the teeth for governments that spent three long weeks debating the future of the oceans and concluded this industry should not get a green light,” said Greenpeace campaigner Louisa Casson in a statement.
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. Tax 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!)
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. — Louis D. Brandeis Quotes
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. MLK, Beyond Vietnam
A Vote for Trump or Biden is a Vote for Ecocide!
Abu Ghraib Contractor Torture Case Likely Heading to Trial After US Judge’s Order “The ruling has cleared the way, almost 20 years hence, for our clients to tell their story in open court,” said the legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed suit on behalf of detainees. Survivors of torture at the hands of U.S. troops and private interrogators cheered a federal judge’s rejection this week of an infamous military contractor’s latest bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Iraqis formerly jailed in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison during the early years of the American-led occupation.
‘Rigged’ US Tax Code Blamed as Wealthy See Major Retirement Account Gains “It is unacceptable that taxpayers are forced to spend billions of dollars subsidizing the retirement accounts of the wealthiest people in America,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. A report published Thursday by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office shows that the median retirement account balance of high-income U.S. households nearly doubled between 2007 and 2019 while those in the middle class saw their retirement savings stagnate—if they had savings at all.
Civil Rights/Blackliberation:
Report Details ‘Shocking Pattern’ of Abuse by US Agents at Mexico Border The lack of accountability is so widespread that it helps cement in place a culture that enables human rights violations. The abuses keep coming because impunity is so likely.” A report published Wednesday by a pair of advocacy groups details rampant human rights abuses against migrants and some American citizens allegedly perpetrated by Department of Homeland Security personnel at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years under both the Trump and Biden administrations. The report—entitled Abuses at the U.S.- Mexico Border: How To Address Failures and Protect Rights—was published by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) and reveals “frequent and severe alleged abuses” of migrants by members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including Border Patrol agents.
ACLU Sues Colorado Springs, FBI Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Spying on Activists’ Devices “Unless called to account in this lawsuit, the police could seize and search the phones and devices of anyone in our community.” The ACLU of Colorado on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs, four members of the Colorado Springs Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, accusing them of illegally spying on the private communications of a local activist arrested on minor—and critics say dubious—charges during a 2021 housing rights protest. Filed in the U.S. District Court of Colorado in Denver on behalf of Jacqueline “Jax” Armendariz Unzueta and the Chinook Center, a progressive community advocacy group, the lawsuit accuses the defendants of perpetrating the “unconstitutional and invasive search and seizure of the phones, computers, devices, and private chats of people and groups whose message the CSPD dislikes.”
Whitewashing Slavery The tide of freedom in America is receding. Reproductive rights, affirmative action, lgbtq+ rights and the accuracy and integrity of Black history have been crippled for the comfort and convenience of a radically conservative minority. A minority disproportionately represented in our highest court.
The Dems and Repubs are Moneypots, Not Real Political Parties If the Democrats were a real, mass based party, they would never consider Joe Biden as their nominee because he has no support among the people that energize parties: the youth.
A Tribute to Glen Ford “What would Glen Ford say?” That question is one which we often ask ourselves two years after his passing.
The U.S. Plot to Finalize the Theft of Venezuela’s Oil The U.S. has used its influence to steal another country’s oil revenues. Venezuela is in the crosshairs because it dares to be socialist in the hemisphere the U.S. claims as it’s “backyard.”
Believe Absolutely Nothing the US Government and Media Say About …Anything It is true now just as when Glen Ford wrote these words in 2019. In any alliance with corporate oppression and militarism, Black America squanders reservoirs of respect among the Earth’s peoples.
War in Africa and War in the Americas: Accelerating the End of White World Supremacy “The structural crisis of capitalism in its neoliberal form has created a legitimacy crisis for the capitalist rulers, making the use of force a permanent strategy for maintaining their dominance.”
Kenya Offers to Put a Black Face on ‘Intervention’ in Haiti It would be a bad look for the U.S. or a European nation to be the public face of the impending occupation of Haiti. That’s why Kenya was asked to help the make case for a new invasion.
Thousands Rally in Support of Niger’s Coup Leaders as Western-Backed ECOWAS Threatens Military Intervention Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has threatened military intervention if deposed President Mohamed Bazoum is not restored in a week. Bazoum was overthrown in a coup by officers who…
African States Support Nigerien Sovereignty in the Face of Imperialist Attack and Collusion of Stooge African Governments Reaction to the coup in Niger is a litmus test which determines who is truly supportive of self-determination for African nations.
For the Crisis in Perú to End, Castillo Must be Reinstated The people of Peru continue to demand the end of the coup government and the return of their elected president to office.
On the Long Path to Reparations: A Conversation with Jesús ‘Chucho’ GarcíaOn the Long Path to Reparations: A Conversation with Jesús ‘Chucho’ García
Labor:
UPS-Teamsters Deal Freezes Pension Contribution Increases For Most Plans UPS’ contribution increases would indeed be frozen for the vast majority of its regional pension plans under the terms of the Teamsters’ tentative agreement with the company. The release of language from regional supplementals to the national tentative agreement confirmed the plan. Information about the pension contribution freezes began leaking out soon after the Teamsters announced a deal with UPS on July 25. The Teamsters bureaucracy was desperate to reach an agreement and block a national strike on August 1. The sellout contract proposal has already provoked widespread outrage and opposition among UPS workers, who are furious over substandard pay increases which would leave part-timers in poverty and drivers poorer due to inflation, among other givebacks. The company’s 340,000 workers are spread across more than a dozen pension plans with varying benefit levels, mostly governed by the supplemental agreements rather than the national contract. For all but two funds—the IBT-UPS and New England funds—and one local rider, the Southwest, the company will contribute at the same rate as in the prior contract, with zero increases. These payments to the funds are made according to the hours worked by Teamsters members, and the exact levels are set by local supplemental agreements, rather than the National Master Agreement. The Southwest will receive only a negligible 25 cents per hour increase in the first year of the five-year deal.
LA-Area Hotel Workers Strike Against Anti-Black Racism and Scab Staffing App Striking workers say their hotel is bringing in Black workers to break the strike, but not hiring them permanently. When Thomas Bradley showed up for his third shift at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California, on July 2 he encountered something new: a picket line. The picket was part of a wave of strikes at Los Angeles-area hotels by members of UNITE HERE Local 11. Their contracts at 62 hotels expired June 30. The hotel workers’ top demand is for pay that will allow them to secure housing in a market that is pricing them out.
Economy:
The Fitch Downgrade of U.S. Debt: What You Need to Know At 5:13 p.m. ET on Tuesday, after the stock market closed, Fitch downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+. Fitch is now the second of the three major credit rating agencies to have taken the historic step of removing the triple-A rating from the U.S. S&P made its first-ever downgrade to the U.S. credit rating on August 5, 2011, also from AAA to AA+, and has kept it there ever since. Moody’s is now the only member of the Big Three credit rating agencies that has maintained a triple-A rating on the U.S. 
As the chart above indicates, the stock market responded negatively to this development yesterday, particularly over the fact that it came at a time when the U.S. Treasury is boosting the amount of debt it is issuing.
World:
China: Consumption or Investment? In Q2 2023 the Chinese economy expanded by 6.3% year-on-year, up from 4.5% yoy recorded in Q1. Sounds strong, but quarterly growth was only 0.8%, slowing sharply from 2.2% qoq in the first quarter of 2023. And a reliable measure of economic activity, the purchasing managers survey index for July, was down to 51.1 in July 2023 from 52.3 in the previous month (50 is the threshold between expansion and contraction). This was the lowest figure since December 2022. Factory activity contracted for the fourth month in a row.
Health. Welfare, and Education:
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