Daily News Digest Archives
Daily News Digest October 19, 2016
Images of the Day:
We Need Many Whistleblowers!
Yemen: Today’s Vietnam
Quotes of the Day:
Really, you can’t make this stuff up: a U.S. warship off the coast of Yemen has, for the third time, fired missiles somewhere into Yemen in response to what may have been (but the U.S. Navy can’t yet confirm actually was) a missile attack on that ship (which like the other two such “attacks” missed everything). For those old enough to remember, this should bring the Vietnam-era Gulf of Tonkin incident to mind. An unconfirmed attack brings a stiff U.S. response, as we seem to head ever deeper into a war that Americans at this point hardly even notice. All eyes on Donald Trump. After all, it’s only another possible war in the Greater Middle East where, from Somalia to Iraq, Syria to Afghanistan, wars are our endless cuppa tea. — TomDispatch
In capitalism, a private corporation is compelled to secure control of assets (natural or other) and exploit them for a cash profit, while removing obstacles that might hinder this goal. Concerns about what is in the public interest or what is best for the environment lies beyond the scope of hard-headed business interests and is the remit of governments and civil organisations. However, the best case scenario for private corporations is to have toothless, supine agencies or governments. In other words, managed ‘opposition’ to their policies and practices is exactly what these corporations require. Behind the public relations spin is the roll-out of an unsustainable model of agriculture based on highly profitable (GM) corporate seeds and health/environment damaging proprietary chemical inputs. Transnational agrichemicals/agribusiness companies have sought to displace genuine ecologically sustainable models of agriculture that have seen farmers acting as responsible custodians of seeds and natural resources for hundreds if not thousands of years. Traditional methods of food production have given way to policies and actions which have resulted in the destruction of habitat and livelihoods and the imposition of corporate-controlled, chemical-intensive (monocrop) agriculture that weds farmers and regions to a wholly exploitative system of neoliberal globalization. Whether it involves the undermining or destruction of what were once largely self-sufficient agrarian economies in Africa or the devastating impacts of soy cultivation in Argentina or palm oil production in Indonesia, capitalism cannot be greenwashed. — World Wide Fund for Nature: Stop Greenwashing Capitalism, Start Holding Corporations to Account
Videos of the Day:
Amy Goodman Speaks After ND Judge Dismisses “Riot” Charges for Covering Pipeline Protest
What the NYT Left Out About Obama’s ‘Secret War’ in Somalia
After Mosul, Whither ISIS?
US-Russia Tensions Escalating Over Fate of Assad
U.S.
When Mosul falls, Isis will flee to the safety of Syria. But what then? The entire Isis caliphate army could be directed against the Assad government and its allies — a scenario which might cause some satisfaction in Washington By Robert Fisk
Breaking: Judge Rejects “Riot” Charges Against Amy Goodman in North Dakota “This is a complete vindication of my right as a journalist to cover the attack on the protesters, and of the public’s right to know what is happening with the Dakota Access pipeline,” said Goodman. “We will continue to report on this epic struggle of Native Americans and their non-Native allies taking on the fossil fuel industry and an increasingly militarized police in this time when climate change threatens the planet.”
These Damning Revelations from WikiLeaks’ October Surprise Explain Why Assange Was Just Silenced Wikileaks continues dropping bombshell revelations in its coordinated October Surprise of documents and emails hacked from Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta — so many, in fact, it has been difficult to keepup. Damning best describes information released so far — damning not only for Clinton, but countless top U.S. politicians, officials, the FBI, the State Department, Psident Obama, corporate media, Big Banks, and nearly innumerable others. By Claire Bernish 
Hacked Emails Prove Coordination Between Clinton Campaign and Super PACs The fact that political candidates are closely coordinating with friendly Super PACs — making a mockery of a central tenet of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision — is one of the biggest open secrets in Washington. By Lee Fang and Andrew Perez 
If Chris Wallace Asks About Street Crime He Should Also Ask About Corporate Crime by Russell Mokhiber
Environment:
The Wreckage of Matthew: Cuba and Haiti Nobody died in Cuba as a result of the violent storm. As yet, the death toll in Haiti, where it had wreaked havoc before arriving in Cuba, has not yet been established. by Sean Joseph Clancy
World Wide Fund for Nature: Stop Greenwashing Capitalism, Start Holding Corporations to Account by Colin Todhunter
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Where Has the Waste Gone? Fracking Results in Illegal Dumping of Radioactive Toxins Radioactive oil field waste in North Dakota is creating a toxic legacy for current and future generations. To cut disposal costs, companies have been illegally dumping radioactive waste in abandoned buildings, at road sides, in local landfills and on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. By Alexis Bonogofsky
Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:
Black Agenda Report for Week of Oct 17, 2016
If Trump is a Fascist, What is Clinton?: Speaking to a gathering of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, in Atlanta, Black Agenda Report executive editor Glen Ford challenged those who maintain that progressives are obligated to support Hillary Clinton for president to counter a “fascist” threat from Donald Trump. “I’d like to know how Donald Trump is supposed to build fascism when the ruling class is mostly with the Democrats this election season,” said Ford. “If you are worried about 21st century fascism, you need to check out the tent where the ruling class congregates — and that’s Hillary’s tent. Most of all, if you’re looking for fascists, go to the sound of the war drums” — which are also pounding in Hillary’s tent. For voters that are looking for a real anti-fascist and pro-peace presidential ticket, the only choice on the ballot in most states is Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka of the Green Party, said Ford.
In Some States, 20 to 25 Percent of Blacks Disenfranchised by Felonies: A new report by The Sentencing Project shows that six million Americans have been disenfranchised because of felony convictions, with huge consequences for Black America. In four states — Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia — one out of every four or five African Americans has lost the right to vote. “These are states with high rates of incarceration and, as is true in every state, the rate of incarceration of African Americans dwarfs that of whites, usually by about a five to one ratio,” said Project executive director Marc Mauer. “The combined effect of high rates of incarceration and the fact that many, if not most, of the people who have completed their sentences are still disenfranchised means that it is a lifetime ban.” Mauer said the U.S. stands alone among industrialized countries in its zeal to disenfranchise ex-felons. “Nothing we know of comes close to this.”
Labor:
Economy:
September Industrial Production
World:
Court Rules UK Mass Spying Was Unlawfully Conducted for Nearly Two Decades Decision called ‘long overdue indictment’ of government’s bulk collection of citizens’ private information By Jon Queally
The PCF (French Communist Party) and the 2017 Presidential Election in France The 2017 presidential election is at the heart of a new, profound crisis in the French Communist Party (PCF). The National Secretary of the party, Pierre Laurent, has for several months been calling for a “common candidate” of the “living forces of the left,” and says that he regrets the “division.” In the name of this approach, the leadership of the PCF has refused to involve the party and its activists in the campaign of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was the candidate for the Left Front in the presidential election of 2012. By Jerôme Metellus
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
The Old Debt and Entitlement Charade By Dean Baker
. . . “This is a fact that is little understood because the folks who constantly scold us about the deficit never point it out. Granting a patent or copyright monopoly is a way in which the government finances research and creative work. The cost of these monopolies is enormous. In the case of prescription drugs, the United States will spend more than $430 billion this year for drugs that would likely cost less than one-fifth this amount if they were sold in a free market without patent protection. The $350 billion” difference between the patent protected price and free market is a bit less than 9 percent of the federal budget. And this is just prescription drugs. If we add in the cost of patent and copyright monopolies in other areas, it would likely come to more than twice this amount. This is money that the government is committing our children to pay in the form of higher prices — effectively a tax on prescription drugs and other protected items — that never appears in the government books. The deficit hawks will yell and scream about the interest burden we are imposing on our children with the government debt (currently near a post-war low relative to the size of the economy), but don’t want us to pay attention to the huge patent rents the government gives to pharmaceutical, software and entertainment companies. Of course we have to pay for research and support creative work, but there are far more efficient mechanisms. The deficit hawks prefer patent and copyright monopolies because they can conceal the cost from the public.” . . .