Daily News Digest February 21, 2024
Images of the Day:
Why did Israel provoke a war with Hamas? Behind the Current Gaza War the U.S. Oil Profiteers!: 2O21 Article: Energean Selects Halliburton for Offshore Israel Drilling Campaign Integrated Services Contract To Deliver Five Wells in Eastern Mediterranean Through Halliburton Consulting And Project Management
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”
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: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, andThe 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:
Podcasts/Videos of the Day:
Podcast: Assange’s Showdown With The Empire Of Lies
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 ford 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
Ralph Nader: Biden & Blinken – Rule of Illegal Power Over Rule of Law Among the puzzling questions that the media chooses to ignore is asking high government officials why they are exercising the illegal use of power that violates the rule of law which they are required to obey. This week, the Veterans for Peace (VFP) made it very easy for reporters to pose questions by sending an open letter (See veteransforpeace.org) to the Inspector General of the U.S. State Department and Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, invoking several U.S. statutes that require the “termination of provision of military weapons and munitions to Israel.”
With $280 Billion in Profits, Oil Giants Are ‘Main Winners of the War in Ukraine’ “They have amassed untold wealth off the back of death, destruction, and spiraling energy prices,” a Global Witness investigator said of a new analysis. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its second anniversary, one group has clearly benefited: the five biggest U.S. and European oil and gas companies. BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies have made more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in profits since the war began, according to an analysis published by Global Witness on Monday. “This analysis shows that regardless of what happens on the front lines, the fossil fuel majors are the main winners of the war in Ukraine,” Global Witness senior fossil fuels investigator Patrick Galey said in a statement. “They have amassed untold wealth off the back of death, destruction, and spiraling energy prices.”
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
Palestine Lawyer at ICJ Says US Continues to Shield Israel From Accountability The US has shown it is willing to go “very far indeed” in disregarding international law, said attorney Paul Reichler. An attorney representing Palestine at the United Nations’ highest court called out the U.S. on Monday for routinely defending Israel’s violations of international law, including its brutal 57-year occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Paul Reichler, an American lawyer who has a record of success at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said during a historic hearing on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory that the U.S. is nearly alone in attempting to provide legal cover for the Israeli government’s actions over the past six decades.
Probe Documents Israeli Use of AI-Equipped ‘Small Killer Drones’ Against Civilians in Gaza “Israel is intentionally using them to target Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip,” said the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. In addition to 2,000-pound bombs, attack helicopters, and other large military equipment, Israeli forces have “systematically” deployed small unmanned drones equipped with explosives, machine guns, and artificial intelligence to attack civilians in the Gaza Strip, according to an investigation published Monday by a Geneva-based human rights group.
Environment:
Fund Climate! — Not Genocide! One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%! After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
Capitalism’s Wars for Oil: When Bodies Start Stacking Up From Climate Change-Related Disasters, Will These Monsters be Held to Account?
The Brockovich Report: One Year Later, A Town Torn Apart: Update From East Palestine, Ohio Residents Still Feeling Impact of Train Derailment; Congress Still Hasn’t Passed New Safety Legislation; & President Biden Visits One Year After The Disaster It’s been a year since a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and endangering the community’s health and safety. East Palestine is a village with a population of less than 5,000 people that sits about a mile from the Pennsylvania border. About 52,000 people live within 10 miles of the crash site. Not one of those people was at fault, and yet they are the ones left with an uncertain future. The derailed cars carried hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate, isobutylene, and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. These chemicals are known to cause burning eyes and skin, coughing and shortness of breath, headaches, and nausea.
Nature’s Heartbeat, Visualized A stunning animation displays the pulse of the Earth System’s metabolism If someone tries to tell you that the Marxist concept of the universal metabolism of nature is “just a metaphor,” show them this map, prepared by World Mapper in collaboration with Yadvinder Malhi of the University of Oxford.
Climate Trial Against Oil Giant Eni Opens in Italy The case coincides with a new Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon report showing Eni’s technical consultants have wide links to climate denier groups.
Professor Eliot Jacobson Hello? Media? Politicians? Celebrities? Oprah? The latest global temperature that was just posted by Copernicus (data from Feb. 9) was 2.03°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline.
The Big Dam in Very Hot World Driven by dwindling water resources, the global hydropower crisis has become a flashpoint in the far reaches of Northern Africa, where the creation of a giant dam could very well lead to a regional war and worse. We live in a world of dangerous, deadly extremes. Record-breaking heat waves, intense drought, stronger hurricanes, unprecedented flash flooding. No corner of the planet will be spared the wrath of human-caused climate change and the earth’s fresh water is already feeling the heat of this new reality. More than half of the world’s lakes and two-thirds of its rivers are drying up, threatening ecosystems, farmland, and drinking water supplies. Such diminishing resources are also likely to lead to conflict and even, potentially, all-out war.
New Study Reveals Diet Link to PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Human Body US research shows foods such as butter and processed meat likely to increase levels of toxic PFAS in blood over time Diets rich in foods such as processed meat and butter likely increase levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in human blood over time, new peer-reviewed research has found. The paper identified a range of foods to be among the drivers of high PFAS levels, including teas, pork, candy, sports drinks, processed meat, butter, chips and bottled water. The research also pointed to higher PFAS blood levels among those who consumed more carryout or food prepared at restaurants.
Tiny Particles of Plastic Now Pollute Our Food, Water and Even the Clouds From the deep ocean to the sky, microplastics are now everywhere, and fossil fuel firms are still ramping up production.Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size. The bad news about the plastic crisis often seems as ubiquitous as plastic itself. But, like many pressing issues, it also seems to come and go with a breeziness that belies its urgency. That couldn’t be truer than it is in the case of three recent reports on the penetration of microplastics, nanoplastics and plasticizers into our food and water and, therefore, into our bodies. The first story came from the intrepid investigators at Consumer Reports (CR). They tested a variety of foods in a variety of packaging and the results were shocking. Plasticizers, the chemical components that make plastic so malleable and, therefore, so ubiquitous, are infused throughout our food supply, from Annie’s Organic Cheesy Ravioli to Wendy’s Crispy Chicken Nuggets, from General Mills Cheerios to Del Monte Sliced Peaches in 100% Fruit Juice, from Hormel Chili With Beans to Chicken of the Sea Pink Salmon in Water. Those products all topped their respective categories for “total phthalates per serving.”
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
59 years ago, I was in the audience when Malcolm X was Assassinated: The Day the Music Died: Malcolm X’s Assassination, Feb. 21, 1965 In the afternoon of Feb. 21, 1965, I went to the Audubon Ballroom to hear Malcolm X speak. I also went to sell the newspaper, The Militant, a radical newspaper that printed the truth about Malcolm X, published his speeches and publicly defended him. When I got to the ballroom, things were radically different – there were no cops. Normally, Malcolm’s meetings in Harlem were crawling with cops. As I was selling papers, Malcolm X approached the Audubon Ballroom. I offered to sell him the latest issue, but he told me, “Not today, Roland. I am alone and in a hurry.” (2/22/21 Update: I always wondered Why Malcolm X had no guards with him when he was approaching the Audubon Ballroom, Now I know! “Without any training, Wood’s job was to infiltrate civil rights organizations and encourage leaders and members to commit felonious acts. He was also tasked with ensuring that Malcolm X’s security detail was arrested days prior to the assassination, guaranteeing Malcolm X didn’t have door security while at the Audubon Ballroom, where he was killed on Feb. 21, 1965.” — US: Ex-Policeman Implicates NYPD, FBI in Malcolm X Murder) A while later as I entered the meeting room, again I did not see any cops. I went in to sit down where I normally sat along with the rest of the press in the front and the left side of the room. On the way to my seat, Gene Roberts, who later surfaced as a police agent member of the Black Panther Party, told me that I could not sit at my regular place but that on that day I had to sit in the front row on the right side of the hall, facing the stage. As I sat down, I glanced over to where I normally sat and saw a large Black man with a navy blue-gray trench coat. When the meeting started, all was quiet as the crowd listened to Benjamin X introducing Malcolm X.
Labor:
Economy:
Foreign vs Domestic Cars: Which Is Right For You? When it comes to deciding between a foreign and domestic vehicle, factors like price, reliability and where the car is produced will come into play. When you buy a Ford or Chevrolet, for example, you may automatically assume that these cars are made in the USA. What’s the difference between foreign and domestic cars? There isn’t much of a difference between domestic cars and foreign ones anymore — in our global economy, foreign-made parts support American-made vehicles. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), no vehicles on the market today can be considered 100% made in America. To add to the confusion, many American companies manufacture their vehicles overseas, while many foreign automakers assemble their cars in U.S. factories. As an example, since 1982, more than 28.3 million Honda and Acura vehicles have been made in America. Toyota has built more than 13 million cars in its Kentucky factory since 1988.
World:
The Fall of Avdiivka: The Beginning of the End The announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defense that its forces had full control of the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka represents a devastating blow to Ukraine and almost certainly a decisive turning point in the war. Avdiivka, which is called Avdeyevka by Russians, has endured a decade of conflict. It was taken in 2014 by forces of the Donetsk Republic. When the Ukrainians recaptured the town, they built extensive fortifications. It was therefore regarded as a virtually impregnable strong point that the Russians would find difficult, if not impossible, to capture. Moreover, the Ukrainian leadership continually insisted that it was a vital strategic position, the loss of which would deal a heavy blow to all Ukrainian hopes for victory.
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