Daily News Digest February 5, 2018

Daily News Digest Archives

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program:  1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel.

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  Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico

Daily News Digest February 5, 2018

Image of the Day:

The Violent American Century War and Terror Since World War II World War II marked the apogee of industrialized total war.” Great powers savaged one another. Hostilities engulfed the globe. Mobilization extended to virtually every sector of every nation. Air war, including the terror bombing of civilians, emerged as a central strategy of the victorious Anglo-American powers. The devastation was catastrophic almost everywhere, with the notable exception of the United States, which exited the strife unscathed and unmatched in power and influence. The death toll of fighting forces plus civilians worldwide was/is staggering.                                         

Quote of the Day:

Donald Trump’s State Of The Union address was straight out of the book of Revelations. The world was filled with death, disaster, sinners and saviors. Rather than addressing any of the reasons that this world has become hell on earth, Trump turned his attention to individual heroes. Every individual introduced seemed to be caught up in a near death experience. They were honored because they were not afraid to face this threat head on. Trump celebrated the man who was just plain tougher than his victim (I forget which section of the holy trinity he represented—the border patrol, the police force, or the military). The threats, which were always lurking, seemed to come from the sky. Who could control the weather? Fires and droughts were revered as a test of manly valor. There was no effort to stop these disasters. They would serve as a test for who deserved to be saved. They would determine who we should thank for our lives. War was treated in the same manner. For what it’s worth, Trump would never have the courage to look his victim in the face, let alone risk his own sorry existence. But how much courage does it take to kill or deport another human being? Like Christ, the poor  are judged by their willingness to give up their own lives. Why do we celebrate the poor who are willing to kill and die in the wars for the rich? The threat that could be exterminated was the immigrant. They are here to steal our jobs, murder our upstanding citizens, and rape our women. They are not people because they are not Americans. They are not all poison, but as Donald Trump Jr. said about Syrian refugees: “If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.” Among the things not addressed in this argument is that as long as we do nothing on the refugee crisis we are leaving these people to die. Even if terrorism was more than a media fabrication, how could we not take in these people? 65 million people without a home and the debate is between whether to take 100,000 or 50,000. Color blind liberalism gets us an extra 50,000 but who could deny that we would save millions of lives if we took in refugees—regardless of whether this terrorist garbage is true? The United States should take in at least 20 million refugees. Each story was a bigger yawn than the next. Trump, like Obama before him, has become a mere puppet for the powers that be. Whatever values, however sinister, Trump represented when he got elected have given way to the Republican bottom line. Respect the flag, the military, the police, the free market, the constitution, and of course, God. Paul Ryan’s smirked on from behind. Trump’s sloppy claps after his own words gave away that a higher power was behind his empty lines. This is not to the credit of Trump by the way. It shows that he is merely a bully who will step on those smaller than him and bow to those bigger. An insecure bully on top of this. For he does not seek an ideology that suits him. He rather wants pure exaltation. Whether or not his power or his money is real hardly matters. As long as he can fool himself that this is the case. Most of the buildings with the name “Trump” on them are not actually owned by Donald himself. He merely paid for his name to be on the front. Consider the White House to be his latest stunt. —  Revelations From The State Of The Union

Videos of the Day:

“Concussion Protocol” The Film the NFL Doesn’t Want You to See

 Witness Testifies That Police Officer Brought Him Bags of Stolen Drugs In the Gun Trace Task Force trial, a Baltimore bail bondsman testified that in 2015, Sgt Wayne Jenkins brought him pharmaceuticals stolen from drugstores looted during the uprising

Police Task Force Victim: ‘Everybody’s Life Is Destroyed’ The Gun Trace Task Force trial reveals lives ruined, money stolen, and emotional wreckage

Polar bears could become extinct faster than was feared, study says

 U.S.:

4 Ways Trump and GOP Have Launched a Full-Out Assault on America’s Poorest Republican policies seek to punish poor Americans. By Ebony Slaughter-Johnson

With the Shutdown Over, The Government Can Go Back to Suppressing Your Rights In a bipartisan manner, Congress recently passed the FISA Reauthorization Act of 2017. On January 19th, President Trump signed this bill into law.That bill extended the controversial Section 702 program that allows the NSA to conduct warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens or residents. This program clearly benefits our intelligence agencies in matters of national security. However, millions of Americans’ private information is also collected in this program by Brian Saady                                     

Countdown to Doomsday: Daniel Ellsberg and the Nuclear Papers Just as the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the Doomsday Clock closer than it has ever been to our species extinction point reports show that the U.S. warfare state is moving its latest high-tech rendition of tactical nuclear weapons, the B-61 “Gravity Bomb,” to airbases on the island of Guam. Is this an attempt to intimidate North Korea? Or is it a stage in a crackpot plan to destroy NK’s ability to carry out what that state has stated categorically is its defensive strategy against just such an attack? by Paul Atwood                             

The Paradox of Equal Justice Almost every day, entertainment, sports, media, political and even some business organizations are jettisoning their top officials and incumbents after reported accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assaults of their subordinates. They’re not waiting for prosecutors, courts or regulators to take action. “Get out now” is the first punishing order. Then the work product of these asserted offenders—whether music, comedy shows, etc.—are often scrubbed, and recipients of political contributions are under pressure to give these sums to charity. In addition a wider arc of resignations by the heads and Boards of Directors, accused of lax monitoring is emerging. The speed of punishment is unprecedented. One day millions of people watched Bill O’Reilly, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer and others. The next day they were vanished. Although this is only the tip of the iceberg—and there is more to come—the velocity of expulsions coming from these accusations—even when they are denied—is unprecedented. (A major exception, however, are the escapades of Donald Trump over the years.) by Ralph Nader

Environment:

Killing the Public Lands Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs From antiquity, things that are rare have been highly valued. Diamonds and gold would be a good classical example, but in the industrialized world, other assets now hold great value.In Montana, after a tumultuous century of extractive industries, we find our wild public lands, clean streams and rivers filled with wild trout, and the abundance of native wildlife, that fuels the tourism which now leads the state’s economic sectors. This is Montana’s goose that lays the golden eggs, and why Montana’s junior senator, Steve Daines, would want to kill that goose is a mystery. by George Ochenski

Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:

Why ‘Clean Coal’ is an Oxymoron Clean coal? Really? That’s like saying healthy cigarettes. Or hot ice. Or soothing poke-in-the-eye. What do you think of when you hear the term “clean coal?” Possibly, it’s cleaner than it was. But that doesn’t make it clean. These 11 facts should debunk the myth of clean coal.

  1. There are no federal safeguards to protect our communities from coal ash or other water pollution caused by burning coal–and yet there are more than 1,100 coal ash sites nationwid

  2. Every year, the nation’s coal pe.lants produce 140 million tons of coal ash pollution, the toxic by-product that is left over after the coal is burned.

  3. Currently, coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of unregulated mercury pollution in the United States, emitting over 33 tons of toxic mercury each year. Burning coal releases toxic mercury that rains down into rivers and streams. This poison then accumulates in the food chain, eventually making its way into our bodies when we eat contaminated fish. Download the Safe Sushi app!

  4. Coal ash pollution contains high levels of toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, selenium, and other cancer causing agents.

  5. Living near a wet coal ash storage pond is significantly more dangerous than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, according to a risk assessment done by the EPA.

Thou Shall Not Offend the Oil Industry Gods!:

If President Donald Trump’s own account is to be believed, he “really didn’t care” about opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling—but everything changed when one of his rich buddies from the oil and gas industry called him up and explained how great and profitable it would be. — Trump: I ‘Didn’t Care’ About Arctic Refuge Until Big Oil Friend Said I Should

 As Trump Unfurls Infrastructure Plan, Iowa Bill Seeks to Criminalize Pipeline Protests The Iowa Senate has advanced a bill which critics say could lead to the criminalization of pipeline protests, which are being cast as “terrorist activities.” Dakota Access pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners and other companies have lobbied for the bill, Senate Study Bill 3062, which opens up the possibility of prison time and a hefty fine for those who commit “sabotage” of critical infrastructure, such as oil and gas pipelines. This bill, carrying a criminal punishment of up to 25 years in prison and $100,000 in fines, resembles the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, a “model” bill recently passed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). That ALEC bill, intended as a template for state and federal legislation, was based on Oklahoma’s HB 1123, which calls for citizens to receive a felony sentencing, $100,000 fine, and/or 10 years in prison if their actions “willfully damage, destroy, vandalize, deface, or tamper with equipment in a critical infrastructure facility.”

Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:

Buzzed In By Lewis By Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence

5 in the morning, ‘The Lewis Sawyer Experience’
early morning Boys Club in Papa Sawyer’s Cave:
My lick for Lewis, “Lewis Sawyer, is my lawyer—”
his classic chuckle-comeback, “Well, you’re in bad shape then!”
Poets and last words, “Well, David McBurney is my attorney…”
But Lewis was a bullhorn, shouting names of our Political Prisoners,
Prisoners Of War, languishing forgotten in gulags across imprisoned
nation. He put 59,000 watts beneath their wings,without fanfare—
While reminding us: we’re just in Minimum Security…

Labor:

Economy:

Shadow Government Statistics Real Average Weekly Earnings, Production And Nonsupervisory Employees, 1965-To-Date Executive Summary: Employment and Unemployment—January 2018—Unemployment Notched Higher as Annual Payroll Growth Softened – a Hardening ― “Recession” Signal. 

Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Gross Domestic Product Has Hovered Bewtween -1.5% and -2% Since 2009

World:

Corbyn sacks Director of Blairite group ‘Progress’ who attended ‘women’s meat market’ President’s Club Dinner auction Lord Mendelsohn, the Labour donor who attended that sleazy charity event is on the board of directors for Progress and has been busted for sleaze before. Can you imagine them being as quiet about it if he was Momentum? This needs a little light shone on.It wasn’t just blue Tories that were at the President’s Club Dinner auction which was described as a ‘meat market’ where women were abused – it was red Tories, too. An announcement from the Labour leaders office said:Jeremy Corbyn Has Asked Lord Mendelsohn To Step Back From The Front Bench As He Attended The Presidents Club Dinner, And He Has Agreed To Do So.”

A “Salute” to Winston Churchill to “Properly” Dishonor him and His “Great War Time Leadership” and Expose His Hypocrisy and LiesHow can we anywhere on the face of this Earth today “properly” dishonor Winston “the faker” Churchill as no less than the late great Alexander Cockburn aptly referred to him?  Oh let us count the ways, and while we’re at it, list them and give some “lovely” details?  Hey why the Hell not?  Let’s do it.Bearing in mind, that Churchill was right about one thing. As he put it “History will be kind to me, as I shall write it.”  With the fact being that overwhelmingly it has been those on both sides of the Atlantic genuflecting over Winnie’s grave along with him who have written that very history.by A D Hemming

EU Imposes Anti-Union Law on Greece Under instructions from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Greek government pushed through the most anti-union legislation in Europe on Monday 15 January. The move was demanded, along with other draconian measures, as a condition of the latest tranche of what is called Greece’s bailout but which in reality is bailing out the European financial institutions which recklessly encouraged Greek borrowing. by Will Podmore 

Honduras: the weak dictatorship imposes itself but faces opposition from the masses The struggle of the masses, opened after the elections in Honduras, is only comparable to the strike of 1954 and the movement against the coup d’état in 2009. It is one of the greatest instances of class struggle in the history of the country. This can only be explained by the great contradictions concentrated in society, which have placed the country on the verge of revolution. In spite of all that revolutionary impulse, Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) has just been sworn in as president, although he was met with protesters demanding his resignation. This is a highly discredited and weak government that will be subjected to the pressure of the workers, who can prevent JOH from completing his four-year term. By Ricardo Ayala

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: