Daily News Digest April 8, 2019

Daily News Digest April 8, 2019

Daily News Digest Archives

Defend Honest Journalism Defend Julian Assage!

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno who is facing a corruption probe brought forward by an opposition lawmaker, relating to an offshore company in a case of illicit enrichment. The documents are known as the “INA Papers” that links Moreno and the Chinese company Sinohydro that built the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric dam, which, according to the lawmaker, deposited US$18 million in the offshore company Recorsa. Recorsa is linked to Ecuadorean businessman Conto Patiño Martinez who transferred money to more than 10 ghost companies in Panama including INA Investments Corp, whose real owner is  Edwin Moreno Garces, brother of President Lenin Moreno, according to the leaked documents. The leaks also show that Moreno Garces established a company in 2012 in Belize. The company was named INA Investment, in honor of the president’s three daughters, Irina, Cristina, and Karina. — INA Papers: The Corruption Case Against Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno

 The Empire Strikes Back!: Ecuador rejects WikiLeaks claim it plans to expel Julian Assange Assange hasn’t left the country’s embassy in London since he sought refuge there in 2012 to avoid potential extradition to the United States. Ecuador has denied WikiLeaks’ claims that it is set to expel Julian Assange from its embassy in London, rejecting what it called “an attempt to stain the dignity of the country.” Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, hasn’t left the embassy since 2012. He sought refuge there to avoid arrest and potential extradition to the United States for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables on the website. The organization has also repeatedly claimed that the U.S. Justice Department is building a criminal case against Assange centered on the leaking of Democratic emails hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election. By Linda Givetash

Since World War I ‘the war to end all wars’ there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace,” Could Still Be Published Today!

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and  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 1% Who Profit From Austerity!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.

Images of the Day:

Pax Americana

Quote of the Day:

In January, Juan Guaidó declared himself “interim president,” in a strategy orchestrated by the United States to seize power from President Nicolás Maduro. This strategy is detailed in a 75-page regime change manual prepared by the U.S. Global Development Lab, a branch of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The manual advocates the creation of rapid expeditionary development teams to partner with the CIA and U.S. Special Forces to conduct “a mix of offensive, defensive, and stability operations [in] in extremis conditions.” . . . The manual was written by members of Frontier Design Group (FDG), a national security contractor whose “work has focused on the wicked and sometimes overlapping problem sets of fragility, violent extremism, terrorism, civil war, and insurgency,” according to its mission statement. FDG was the “sole contractor” that USAID hired to write a “new counterinsurgency doctrine for the Trump administration,” Tim Shorrock wrote at Washington Babylon. Guaidó is funded by USAID’s sister organization, the National Endowment for Democracy, which is notorious for meddling in other countries and putting a good face on the CIA’s dirty business, as the late journalist William Blum explained. — Majorie Cohen

Videos of the Day:

Trump “Tweets his Ignorance” about Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz calls out Trump’s false statements about how much aid has reached Puerto Rico, and says that he uses the peoples suffering to pitch them against each other

 U.S.:

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!

Over the past five decades, the top 1 percent of American earners have nearly doubled their share of national income. Meanwhile, the official poverty rate for all U.S. families has merely inched up and down. The official poverty rate understates the number of people in the world’s richest country who have trouble making ends meet. An estimated 43.5 percent of the total U.S. population (140 million people) are either poor or low-income.‑—  Income Inequality In the United States, the income gap between the rich and everyone else has been growing markedly, by every major statistical measure, for more than 30 years.

“To the republic for which it stands,  one nation under the 1%, with no liberty, no justiice, and no equality for all!”:

Problem of the ‘New World Order (Pax Americana): Being World Imperialism’ cop of the capitalist world is expensive!: Note from America: War Spending Is Bankrupting the USAOur nation is being preyed upon by a military industrial complex that is propped up by war profiteers, corrupt politicians and foreign governments.America has so much to offer—creativity, ingenuity, vast natural resources, a rich heritage, a beautifully diverse populace, a freedom foundation unrivaled anywhere in the world, and opportunities galore—and yet our birthright is being sold out from under us so that power-hungry politicians, greedy military contractors, and bloodthirsty war hawks can make a hefty profit at our expense. By John W Whitehead

Trump’s Disdain for Puerto Rico Should Be His UndoingPuerto Rico’s death toll of about 3,000 from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 ought to be the biggest strike against President Donald Trump. The majority of deaths on the island occurred in the days and weeks following the hurricanes, largely due to inadequate health care and the admitted failures of the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), suggesting that these were preventable deaths. And yet to Trump, Puerto Rico is the recipient of fantastical amounts of undeserved money. In many ways, Trump sees the U.S. colony as a personification of his usual enemies. Puerto Rico is brown skinned, non-English speaking, foreign, Democratic, and poor—whether or not any or all of these things are entirely true. And therefore, if it does not accept his patronizing gestures with undying gratitude, it deserves nothing but disdain. By Sonali Kolhatkar

Russia Asks Why It Should Leave Venezuela When U.S. Military Bases Cover ‘The Whole World’

U.N. report: With 40M in poverty, U.S. most unequal developed nationA study for the U.N. Human Rights Council has concluded 40 million people in the United States live in poverty — and more than half of those live in “extreme” or “absolute” poverty. The 20-page report by Philip Alston, U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, says U.S. policies benefit the rich and exacerbate poverty. “The United States has the highest income inequality in the Western world, and this can only be made worse by the massive new tax cuts overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthy,” Alston said in a statement about the report. The report cites vast numbers of middle-class Americans “perched on the edge,” with 40 percent of the adult population saying they would be unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense. By Susan McFarland

 U.S. Inequality Rate

Environment:

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

 Labor:

Our militancy is not dictated by who sits on the fifth floor of City Hall!  The Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 will continue to fight for an elected, representative school board and progressive revenue for the schools our students deserve.

Chicago, April 2, 2019—The Chicago Teachers Union and Service Employees International Union Local 73 issued the following joint statement tonight regarding the election of Lori Lightfoot as mayor of Chicago:  The most obvious win for our movement is that Chicago will be Rahm-less by May 20, for which we have a movement of educators, parents, workers, community organizers and activists to thank. Elections are about contrast, and at least on the surface, tonight’s results represent a contrast to the last eight years.  Tonight, the city of Chicago elected a new mayor out of a desire for bold and progressive ideas, and a commitment to building a more fair, just and equitable city. Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot has her work cut out for her on day one.

  • We did not win class size limits for students in kindergarten, first and second grades,

  • TIF distribution to our school communities, or a special education monitor appointed by the state because we asked nicely or behaved politely.

  • We will aggressively bargain, aggressively defend our platform and aggressively organize for social, economic, educational and racial justice in Chicago and Springfield.

The Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 have fought for fairness alongside our allies for nearly a decade because our city deserves it. Read More

Economy (What Recovery?:

Shadow Government StatisticsLatest Economic Releases. March 2019 Labor Numbers: Unemployment Held at 3.8%, Amidst Mounting Labor-Market Stress; Payrolls Rose by 196,000 With Continued Low Annual Growth Amidst Unusually Minimal Revisions (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Apr 5). March 2019 headline U.3 Unemployment held at 3.81%, effectively unchanged from the 3.82% in February, but that was in the context of a shrinking labor force, discussed shortly. Broader U.6 Unemployment widened to 7.34% in March from 7.27% in February (it includes those marginally attached to the labor force and those working part-time for economic reasons). On top of U.6, the ShadowStats Alternate Unemployment Estimate, including long-term displaced/ discouraged workers not counted by the BLS, held at 21.2% in March, versus 21.2% (revised from 21.1%) in February. An updated graph of the unemployment measures has been posted on the Alternate Data Tab (or mini-graph below), with hard numbers also available there for subscribers.

  • Labor-Market Stress Increased. Although the headline U.3 rate held at the consensus 3.8%, the labor force declined by 224,000 (-224,000), with proportionate declines in both the employed and unemployed. As a result, the Participation Rate dropped to 63.0%, from 63.2%, and the Employment-Population Ratio eased to 60.6% from 60.7%. The count of full-time employed fell by 190,000 (-190,000), with part-time employed gaining 60,000, and with multiple-job holders increasing by 212,000.
  • Monthly Payroll Jobs Count Jumped, While Annual Growth in Payroll Jobs Held at a Nine-Month Low. Monthly payroll jobs growth rebounded to 196,000 in March 2019, following a revised 33,000 increase [previously 20,000] in February 2019. Nonetheless, year-to-year jobs growth held at 1.7% for the second month, otherwise the slowest pace of growth since July 2018. Near-term labor market trends and conditions will be reviewed in pending Special Commentary No. 983-B, full details follow in Bullet Edition No. 6.

(What recovery?:  The real unemployment  rate has been  been below 20% since 2009) The  Shadow Government Statistics  Alternate Unemployment Rate for February 2019 is 21.1%. The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers.The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.

(What Recovery?: The Gross Domestic Product basically has not grown since the turn of the century!)  Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Gross Domestic Product ChartThe SGS-Alternate GDP reflects the inflation-adjusted, or real, year-to-year GDP change, adjusted for distortions in government inflation usage and methodological changes that have resulted in a built-in upside bias to official reporting.

 World:

Health, 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 ‘govern’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers the to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let The People Vote on Healthcare!