Daily News Digest May 17, 2024

Daily News Digest Archives 

Images of the Day:

Latuff:Nakba, Then and Now!

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, and 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! Globaly, With the Current Gaza War, The Right of Assembly is Under Attack! Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Still Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

The Iron Heel

The Majority of the World, Despite the Media Monopoly’s Lies, are Opposed to the Palestinian Genocide and Global Warming — The 1% Minority Funds Them! At, this Time in History, Capitalism is Exposing the Fact That it is Opposed to Majority Rule/Democracy!

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:

The Queen’s Death Star Depleted Uranium Measured in British Atmosphere  from Battlefields in the Middle East, shows how depleted uranium spread worldwide after the “Shock & Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq: The Sunday Times Online, February 19, 2006, reported on a shocking scientific study authored by British scientists Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan: “Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf War 2 result in contamination of Europe? Evidence from the measurements of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK”. The highest levels of depleted uranium ever measured in the atmosphere in Britain, were transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia; of special significance were those from the Tora Bora bombing in Afghanistan in 2001, and the “Shock & Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003. Out of concern for the public, the official British government air monitoring facility, known as the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), at Aldermaston was established years ago, to measure radioactive emissions from British nuclear power plants and atomic weapons facilities.

Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens: The delivery of at least one hundred GBU-28 “bunker buster” bombs containing depleted-uranium warheads by the United States to Israel for use against targets in Lebanon will result in additional radioactive and chemical toxic contamination, with consequent adverse health and environmental effects throughout the Middle East. Israeli tank gunners are also using depleted-uranium tank rounds, as photographs verify.     Today, US, British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions—America and the United Kingdom’s own “dirty bombs”—while US Army, US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense (DOD), and UK Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse health or environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, or use of uranium munitions, so that they may avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material—depleted uranium (DU).     The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable and a crime against humanity. Consequently, the citizens of the world and all governments must force the cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination.     American and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their own regulations, orders, and directives that require DOD officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to all exposed individuals (“Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties,” DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93; “Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU),” US Army Medical Command, 4/29/04; Section 2-5 of US Army Regulation 700-48).

Podcast/Videos of the Day:

Sea Change Radio

https://www.cchange.net/2024/05/07/juan/

  • Juan Cole: Israel, Gaza and Campus Protests, Part II Juan Cole (JC)| 00:19 – I don’t see how anybody can investigate what’s been going on in the Palestinian West Bank since 1967 and not come to the conclusion that this is an, is an apartheid arrangement.

 Black Agenda Radio May 10, 2024March on the DNC Will Center Palestine Solidarity

Incarcerated Workers in Alabama File Lawsuit to End Involuntary Servitude

The State Crackdown on Dissent, Abortion Rights, and Congress Enforces Discipline on its Members

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 

Terrorists Started the ‘War On Terrorism’ on the World!: Caitlin Johnstone: The US Empire Deliberately Stokes Hatred And Violence In The Middle East Have you not seen how the US empire uses the radicalism caused by its military violence in the middle east to justify more military expansionism in the region, leading to more military violence?     I sometimes see people expressing bafflement that the US would back a genocide in the middle east knowing that it will radicalize the region against them, mistakenly thinking this goes against US strategic goals.     And I always want to say to them, uh, have you been asleep the last quarter century? Have you not seen how the US empire uses the radicalism caused by its military violence in the middle east to justify more military expansionism in the region, leading to more military violence?     That’s what the so-called “war on terror” has been about since 9/11. The data unmistakably shows that US-led military interventionism in the middle east in the name of fighting “terrorism” actually leads more people to join US-designated terrorist organizations and commit more terrorist attacks, because nothing will radicalize you against the US and its allies like watching them murder and displace your loved ones right in front of you. But the interventionism continues anyway.   Why? Because the resource-rich middle east is a crucial geostrategic region for planetary domination, and the US empire wants to have an expanded military presence there.     It’s actually a brilliant self-reinforcing scam. It works like this: 

Seven Native American Tribes Have Banned Kristi Noem From Entering Their Lands Noem talked down to Native American parents in the state, and falsely accused tribes of harboring Mexican cartels.     The vote on Tuesday marks the seventh time a tribe in the state that has barred Noem from entry to enter their lands. Only two tribes haven’t issued similar bans, though at least one of those two is considering it.    The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe listed several grievances with Noem, including comments in March in which she said that Native American children in the state “don’t have any hope” because they “don’t have parents who show up and help them.” The tribe also took issue with Noem’s “failure to act” during the last two years of winter storms, which led to nine deaths on the Rosebud Reservation alone in the 2022-23 season. She has also accused the tribes of harboring undocumented immigrants, including Mexican drug cartels, on their lands, claiming without evidence that “some tribal leaders” were “personally benefiting” from them.

U.S. Funded Plestinian Genocide:

Why War in the Middle East? Follow the Money!: Oil is the Driving Force for War in the Middle East! What is that so hard to Understand? There are Offshore Oil and Gas Deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Haliburton, The United States Want to Own and Control it! The Destruction of Palestine Eliminates any of Gaza’s claims to the Offshore Fields! Halliburton Delivers for Energean Offshore Israel  Halliburton has a long-standing relationship delivering well construction for Energean Israel Limited, a subsidiary of Energean. Halliburton has a long-standing relationship delivering well construction for Energean Israel Limited, a subsidiary of Energean. We’ve worked collaboratively to plan and execute Energean’s 2022 deepwater exploration and development campaign on multiple licences, located 75 kilometres offshore Israel.     We are pleased to be part of the continued drilling campaign that was further extended this week with the two additional option wells that will be exercised. The wells will be drilled in 1400-1800 metres water depth to deliver the Energean objective of de-risking prospective resources of over 1 billion BOE. Drilling operations commenced Q1 2022 in the deepwater offshore Israel on the first well (Athena 01) and most recently KM-04 in a multi-well campaign that has now been delivered safely, on time, and under budget.

This Nakba Day, Palestinians Remind the World We Will Not Be Erased Palestine’s Nakba has gone on for 76 years, but even in my nightmares, I never imagined the carnage currently unfolding. May 15, 1948, is a date forever etched in the collective memory of every Palestinian. We can’t forget what happened in the leadup to that fateful day. During that time, the world witnessed one of the largest forced migrations in modern history. Palestinians call this day “al-Nakba” — the catastrophe that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of nearly 750,000 natives and the destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages and towns. Seventy-six years ago today, the Jewish state of Israel was established and the Palestinian state of despair, homelessness, terror and daily suffering began. During the Nakba of 1948, my family was terrorized; they were displaced from their home in West Jerusalem and became refugees in countries that did not want them. I carry their pain with me to this day as I raise my voice in support of Palestinian rights. 

The UN Has Run Out of Food and Tents in Southern and Central Gaza The warehouses serving 2 million Palestinians in Gaza — nearly the entire population — are now empty. The vote on Tuesday marks the seventh time a tribe in the state that has barred Noem from entry to enter their lands. Only two tribes haven’t issued similar bans, though at least one of those two is considering it.     The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe listed several grievances with Noem, including comments in March in which she said that Native American children in the state “don’t have any hope” because they “don’t have parents who show up and help them.” The tribe also took issue with Noem’s “failure to act” during the last two years of winter storms, which led to nine deaths on the Rosebud Reservation alone in the 2022-23 season. She has also accused the tribes of harboring undocumented immigrants, including Mexican drug cartels, on their lands, claiming without evidence that “some tribal leaders” were “personally benefiting” from them.

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: Sludge For Nothing, But PFAS Forever For Decades, Sewage Treatment Plants Sold (Are Still Selling) Biosludge To Farmers As Low-Cost Fertilizer. But It’s Full Of Toxic Chemicals, Including PFAS. Headline From April 2024: “This Is Chernobyl” Texas Ranchers Say ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Waste-Based Fertilizers Ruined Their Land In Johnson County, Texas, Ranchers Say Cattle, Fish, And Horses Are Dying And Getting Sick Because Of A Fertilizer Spread On Nearby Farmland. The Fertilizer Is Made From Treated Human Waste From The City Of Fort Worth. The Company That Makes The Fertilizer Says Its Products Meet Government Standards.

Black Liberation/Civil Rights:

Black Agenda Report

 Labor:

Capitalism Attacks Argentine Workers and You may be Next As always when a representative of the right wing tells you he or she is campaigning to bring “freedom,” be afraid. Very afraid. For “freedom” in these cases means freedom for the richest financiers and industrialists to do whatever they want.     For them, “Freedom” is for capital, not for human beings without capital to invest. Today’s exhibit is the offensive against working people that is taking place in Argentina, where the new extreme right president, Javier Milei, is determined to see how far capitalist ideology can be pushed. So far, Argentines have pushed back but Milei, cheered on by domestic and international big business leaders, is nothing if not determined to ram through his austerity packages. And he has shown no inclination to allow mere democracy to stand in his way.

Economy:

Saudi Arabia’s Wealth Fund Dumps Its JPMorgan Chase Stock; Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Did the Same in 2020 Foreign central banks and sovereign wealth funds are required under U.S. law to report their publicly-traded U.S. stock positions no later than 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter, if those stock holdings reach $100 million or more. This is done on Form 13F, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).     Sophisticated traders, algorithms at the big trading houses on Wall Street, and giant hedge funds mine that data to spot bullish or bearish signals they might be able to trade on.     Unfortunately, for reasons we haven’t been able to unleash from the tight grip of the SEC over many years, some of the central banks and sovereign wealth funds with massive holdings in U.S. stocks do not report their holdings, or, the SEC is granting them confidentiality.    One sovereign wealth fund that has been reliably reporting its U.S. stock positions since 2019 is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). It filed its 13F yesterday for the quarter ending March 31, 2024. It showed it held 38 U.S. stock positions with a total dollar value of $20.55 billion.

World:

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  

Attacks on Social Security, Medicare Shows Who Wants Americans to Work Longer, Die Sooner What America desperately needs is a beefed-up, fair Social Security and Medicare system that serves all Americans, not just the ones who can afford to retire without a worry Shameful fact: the plight of U.S. retirees is a global exception.      In their pursuit of lower taxes, America’s wealthiest individuals support policies that make it extremely difficult for seniors to manage the increasing costs of healthcare, housing, and basic necessities.     Not so in other rich countries like Germany, France, and Canada, where robust public pensions and healthcare systems offer retirees stability and dignity.    After a lifetime of hard work, older citizens in the U.S. find their reward is merely scraping by, as savings diminish under the weight of soaring medical costs in the most expensive healthcare system in the developed world.      The solution from America’s elites? Suck it up and work longer.     An example of this mindset appeared in a New York Times op-ed by C. Eugene Steuerle of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and Glenn Kramon, a Stanford Business School lecturer.    The two accused older folks of robbing economic resources from the young through Social Security and Medicare—never mind that workers fund these programs with their own lifelong payroll contributions.    They paint a picture of 65-year-old Americans jauntily playing “pickleball daily” and jet-setting “far and wide,” proposing to increase the age to collect Social Security and Medicare benefits, essentially forcing future retirees to work longer. (Curiously, they overlook how this move robs young people—too young to vote—of future retirement years. This echoes 1983, when the Reagan administration and Congress pushed the Social Security age from 65 to 67, impacting Gen X before they could even vote on it).