Daily News Digest November 21, 2019

Daily News Digest Achives

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 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.

Always Remember That Obamba Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature, Started the United States Capitalist Austerity Program  — The Race to the Botom or the 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 — The 99% Will Rule! — Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Dirty Drug Money And U.S. Banks

Fighting Corruption WorldwideQuotes of the Day:

There is a consensus among U.S. Congressional Investigators, former bankers and international banking experts that U.S. and European banks launder between $500 billion and $1 trillion of dirty money each year, half of which is laundered by U.S. banks alone. As Senator Carl Levin summarizes the record: “Estimates are that $500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved nternationally and deposited into bank accounts annually. It is estimated that half of that money comes to the United States”.  . . The increasing polarization of the world is embedded in this organized system of criminal and corrupt financial transactions. While speculation and foreign debt payments play a role in undermining living standards in the crisis regions, the multi-trillion dollar money laundering and bank servicing of corrupt officials is a much more significant factor, sustaining Western prosperity, U.S. empire building and financial stability. The scale, scope and time frame of transfers and money laundering, the centrality of the biggest banking enterprises and the complicity of the governments, strongly suggests that the dynamics of growth and stagnation, empire and re-colonization are intimately related to a new form of capitalism built around pillage, criminality, corruption and complicity.  ‘This Goes Straight to the Top.’ — James Petras, War on Drugs Dirty Money Foundation of US Growth and Empire Size and Scope of Money Laundering by US Banks (2001)

Videos Of the Day:

Patriot Act Renewal Sneaks Through Congress With Dem Support

Bolivian U.N. Ambassador: “Racist Elite” Engineered Coup to Restore Neoliberalism in Bolivia

Noura Erakat: U.S. Recognition of Israeli Settlements Is “Entrenchment of an Apartheid Regime”

#PrimariesSoWhite: Why Do Two of the Whitest States Vote First for Presidential Candidates?

Eddie Conway’s Update on Forgotten Political Prisoners Former political prisoner Eddie Conway hosts this special episode of Rattling the Bars highlighting political prisoners that are still imprisoned after several decades.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! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

Defying a Court Order, Is a Clear Impeachable Offense!

Trump Administration Ignores Court Order Stopping 85,000 Acre Payette Forest Logging and Burning Project, Conservation Groups Sue The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August of 2018 ruled in favor of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Idaho Sporting Congress, and Native Ecosystems Council and halted a massive Forest Service timber sale that would have logged a mammoth 40,000 acres – over 62 square miles! It would have “thinned” the forest so much it would no longer provide hiding cover for elk and deer as required by the Forest Plan and prescribed burning another 45,000 acres – more than 70 square miles. The Court ordered the Forest Service to stop all activities on the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek Timber sale in the Payette National Forest because the agency was violating its own Forest Plan.  Although it seems almost unbelievable, the new Lost Creek-Boulder Creek decision by the Forest Service basically tells the Ninth Circuit the agency has no intention of complying with the Court’s order and intends to proceed with its plan to log and burn a combined 85,000 acres in the New Meadows Ranger District and forcing us to once again challenge the Forest Service in court. By Mike Garrity

Gary Webb is once again proven right.: U.S. Government and Top Mexican Drug Cartel Exposed as Partners For over a decade, under multiple administrations, the U.S. government had a secret agreement with the ruthless Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel that allowed it to operate with impunity, an in-depth investigation by a leading Mexican newspaper confirmed this week. In exchange for information and assistance in quashing competing criminal syndicates, the Bush and Obama administrations let the Sinaloa cartel import tons of drugs into the United States while wiping out Sinaloa competitors and ensuring that its leaders would not be prosecuted for their long list of major crimes. Other revelations also point strongly to massive but clandestine U.S. government involvement in drug trafficking.

Exclusive: The 911 Call This Swat Team Doesn’t Want You to Hear The Police Accountability Report obtained an exclusive recording of a 911 operator threatening to arrest a caller complaining about a SWAT team that stormed her property without a warrant. The call is part of our ongoing investigation into the arrest of Columbus, OH resident Nick Pettit, who was charged after filming officers slapping a suspect. There are no ‘checks and balances’! Trump Administration Ignores Court Order Stopping 85,000 Acre Payette Forest Logging and Burning Project, Conservation Groups Sue The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in August of 2018 ruled in favor of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Idaho Sporting Congress, and Native Ecosystems Council and halted a massive Forest Service timber sale that would have logged a mammoth 40,000 acres – over 62 square miles! It would have “thinned” the forest so much it would no longer provide hiding cover for elk and deer as required by the Forest Plan and prescribed burning another 45,000 acres – more than 70 square miles. The Court ordered the Forest Service to stop all activities on the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek Timber sale in the Payette National Forest because the agency was violating its own Forest Plan.  Although it seems almost unbelievable, the new Lost Creek-Boulder Creek decision by the Forest Service basically tells the Ninth Circuit the agency has no intention of complying with the Court’s order and intends to proceed with its plan to log and burn a combined 85,000 acres in the New Meadows Ranger District and forcing us to once again challenge the Forest Service in court. By Mike Garrity

Rachel Maddow’s New Book on Russia, Oil, and Politics Accidentally Had Perfect Timing With Trump Impeachment Inquiry   As public hearings in the Trump impeachment inquiry headed into their second week, one of the nation’s top political cable news hosts was connecting the dots between the rise of authoritarianism, challenges to democracy, and the corrupting power of the oil and gas industry.“I didn’t set out to write about the oil and gas industry,” Rachel Maddow told the audience at Mount Holyoke College on Sunday, November 17 in what was the final stop on a nationwide tour for her new book Blowout. By Dana Drugmand

Environment:

The Age Of Extinction: Nearly All America’s Endangered Species Will Struggle To Adapt To Climate Crisis All but one of 459 species have traits making them vulnerable to rising temperatures, study finds The climate crisis is poised to deliver a severe blow to America’s most threatened animals, with a new study finding that almost every species considered endangered is vulnerable in some way to global heating. Of the 459 animal species listed as endangered by the US government, researchers found that all but one, or 99.8%, have characteristics that will make it difficult for them to adapt to rising temperatures. By Oliver Milman

Citing Latest Climate Science, Nearly 30 Arrested Protesting New Natural Gas Plant in New York’s Hudson Valley On Saturday, November 16, 29 people were arrested in a rally at a massive natural gas-fired power plant, the Cricket Valley Energy Center, that is being constructed in a picturesque rural valley of farms and forests near the New York-Connecticut border, about 80 miles north of New York City.“This is my first arrestable action, I am definitely excited,” said 18-year-old Lucinda Carroll, who wore thick mittens and numerous layers to brace against the sub-freezing cold and was one of 10 people chained to a neon green and yellow tractor. By Justin NobelCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

Labor:

Economy:

Shadow Government Statisticss Flash Update No. 5

  • Major Downside Benchmark Revisions Announced for Payroll Employment
  • Payroll Employment Hit by 501,000 (-501,000) Downside Preliminary Benchmark Revision for Year-Ended March 2019
  • Final 2019 Benchmarking Estimate Should Be Even Worse; Publication Due With January 2020 Payrolls
  • Previously Estimated Jobs Gain for Full Year Ended March 2019 Was Reduced by 20% (-20%) from 2.496 Million to 1.995 Million
  • Year-to-Year Payroll Growth Revised from 1.69% to 1.35%, Weakest Since Great Recession
  • Negative Benchmarking Suggested Further FOMC Easing and Weakening GDP in Revision

These Are the Banks that Own the New York Fed and Its Money Button The New York Fed has now pumped out upwards of $3 trillion in a period of 63 days to unnamed trading houses on Wall Street to ease a liquidity crisis that has yet to be credibly explained. In addition, it has launched a new asset purchase program, buying up $60 billion each month in U.S. Treasury bills. Based on the continuing escalation of its plans, it appears to be testing the limits of what the public will tolerate. We thought it was time to answer the question: who exactly owns the New York Fed and its magical money spigot that can pump trillions of dollars into Wall Street at the press of a button.The largest shareowners of the New York Fed are the following five Wall Street banks: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of New York Mellon. Those five banks represent two-thirds of the eight Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs) in the United States. The other three G-SIBs are Bank of America, a shareowner in the Richmond Fed; Wells Fargo, a shareowner of the San Francisco Fed; and State Street, a shareowner in the Boston Fed. By Pam Martens and Russ MartensWorld:

Sweden Drops Decade-Long Case Against Julian Assange “After conducting a comprehensive assessment of what has emerged during the course of the preliminary investigation I then make the assessment that the evidence is not strong enough to form the basis for filing an indictment,” Persson told a news conference.

Trump Increases US Military Presence in Saudi Arabia With the new deployment, U.S. military personnel in Saudi Arabia would reach 3,000. United States President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the deployment to Saudi Arabia of additional military forces, including troops, radars and air defense systems with the aim of counteracting a potential “threat” from Iran.Iran: rising of the dispossessed A few years ago, a conversation was leaked between Qassem Soleimani, a top commander of the revolutionary guards, and a group of Basiji militiamen, discussing the Green Movement that shook Iran in 2009. In that conversation, Soleimani said something along the lines of “these guys [referring to the people in the Green Movement] are just uptown pretty boys, there is nothing to be afraid of, but once the barefoot people of the poor and destitute areas come out, that is when we have to be afraid.” Well, that day has come. By Hamid Alizadeh The Coup in Bolivia Has Everything to Do With the Screen You’re Using to Read This When you look at your computer screen, or the screen on your smartphone or the screen of your television set, it is a liquid crystal display (LCD). An important component of the LCD screen is indium, a rare metallic element that is processed out of zinc concentrate. The two largest sources of indium can be found in eastern Canada (Mount Pleasant) and in Bolivia (Malku Khota). Canada’s deposits have the potential to produce 38.5 tons of indium per year, while Bolivia’s considerable mines would be able to produce 80 tons per year. By Vijay PrashadOne month since the insurrection began in Chile One month has passed since an insurrectional movement began in Chile. The mass uprising has placed the government of Sebastián Piñera, one of the richest men on the continent, against the ropes. In the face of the movement he has proposed minimum concessions that are only a trap to demobilise the working class and youth.In addition to this, the repression has resulted in very serious human rights violations, such as torture and sexual abuse. To date, official figures note 23 deaths, more than 3,000 injured, among which more than 200 people have suffered eye damage, with permanent loss of visibility in one of their eyes. “The greater the spontaneous upsurge of the masses and the more widespread the movement, the more rapid, incomparably so, the demand for greater consciousness in the theoretical, political and organisational work”. (Lenin, What is to be done?, 1902

Prince Andrew interview shines a light on the rotten ruling class Prince Andrew’s interview has been criticised by the establishment for pulling back the curtain on the corrupt and abusive behaviour of the rich and powerful. Until we overthrow this degenerate ruling class, such abuse will continue. His Royal Hopelessness Prince Andrew must be the ruling class’ most unpopular member since David Cameron called (and lost) the Brexit referendum. Not because of his alleged sexual abuse — that’s par for the course in their circles. The ‘lack of judgement’ that bothers them is his stupidity in conducting a high profile interview – one that has served to shine the brightest of spotlights into the cesspit of the establishment

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