Daily News Digest August 27, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Deaths in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years 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! By Roland SheppardLaura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”

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

Images of the Day:

Trump’s ‘Coronavirus War’!: As the FDA Chief Apologizes: One False Step Backwards No Steps Forward

Quotes of the Day:

Trump Administration Saga of Coronavirus False Hopes: The Food and Drug Administration’s chief has undercut the agency’s assertion that it is basing its decisions on science, not politics.  At a White House event Sunday with President Trump, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn used a deeply misleading statistic to claim that a treatment the agency had just authorized for treating the coronavirus would save 35 lives out of every 100 people who get the treatment.  That false claim brought withering criticism from scientists, in news articles and on Twitter, who argued that it was a gross exaggeration of the benefits.   “I can’t remember a mistake by FDA or the commissioner as serious as this one,” Dr. Eric Topol of the Scripps Translational Research Institute told NPR Tuesday. FDA’s Hahn Apologizes For Overselling Plasma’s Benefits As A COVID-19 Treatment

Police/Vigilante Terrorism:

The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”.                                                                                                  Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 1877. The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed.                                     It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”.                                                                                                          Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 1877                                                        How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple—terrorism. They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. — The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement

The so-called rifle-toting “vigilante” in Kenosha seemed pretty chummy with law enforcement before his alleged shooting spree — receiving water and even praise from cops … which could explain a lot. The guy, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was seen firing rounds at protesters in the street Monday night appears to be part of an extremist militia group that set up shop at a few places in town, including some sort of car dealership … where a cameraman caught him on film before the madness erupted.                                                                                                                  You clearly see it’s the same guy with the backward hat — he’s standing guard at the facility with another rifle-bearing man … and they both say they’re locals doing their duty.                                                                            Shortly afterward, the camera catches a few armored police vehicles rolling by and seemingly telling the militia group to scram, specifically telling them to move south. However, the cops don’t let these boys leave without some replenishment first … as in a few water bottles.           Check it out … you see the “vigilante” in question run over and interact with some officers to retrieve some water for the crew — and you even hear a cop say they appreciate what these guys are doing. Hard to say if they were actually teamed up in a concerted effort to ward off would-be looters, but the cops certainly sanctioned this set-up, unofficially at best. —‘Vigilante’ Rifle Ownercordial Run-In W/ Cops Pre-Shooting… Same Team???

 Videos of the Day:

Developers displace Baltimore public housing residents, get tax breaks A multi-year investigation by TRNN reporters reveals how neoliberal policies and public-private partnerships have led to tax-free zones for private interests, while taxpayers foot the bill.Trump warns of a rigged election as he undercuts the post office

Capitalism Cannot Even Afford a Milk Toast ‘Not So Green’ Deal!:

United States:

Paul Krugman: QAnon is Trump’s Last, Best Chance

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 Reublicrats 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. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

Half of the US Population Lacks Adequate Protections Against Evictions Most states no longer have eviction moratoriums. In Mississippi, the majority of renting households now risk eviction. By Sasha AbramskyEx-CIA Expert Warns Trump Could Use a Foreign Crisis to Hold On to Power Many critics of President Donald Trump — from liberals and progressives to right-wing Never Trump conservatives — have emphasized that if former Vice President Joe Biden wins in November, he will need a landslide victory in both the popular vote and the Electoral College in order to ensure that Trump willingly makes a concession speech and agrees to vacate the White House in January. Trump, his critics have argued, will try anything to hold onto power. Intel expert Paul R. Pillar examines some possible scenarios in an article for The National Interest, warning that democracy itself is in danger in the U.S. this election year. by Alex Henderson

Chris Hedges: How Corporate Tyranny Works  Those, like environmental lawyer Steven Donziger, who fight the corporate control of our society on behalf of the vulnerable find the stitutions of power unite to crucify them. he persecution of the attorney Steven Donziger is a grim illustration of what happens when we confront the real centers of power, masked and unacknowledged by the divisive cant from the Trump White House or the sentimental drivel of the Democratic Party. Those, like Donziger, who name and fight the corporate control of our society on behalf of the vulnerable see the judiciary, the press and the institutions of government unite to crucify them.“It’s been a long battle, 27 years,” Donziger said when I reached him by phone in his apartment in Manhattan. Donziger, who has been fighting polluting American oil companies for nearly three decades on behalf of indigenous communities and peasant farmers in Ecuador, has been under house arrest in Manhattan for a year. He will go to trial in federal court in New York on September 9 on contempt of court charges, which could see him jailed for six months. Ever since he won a multibillion-dollar judgment in 2011 against the oil giant Chevron, the multinational has come after him personally through litigation that threatens to destroy him economically, professionally and personally.

‘Coming to a Town Near You.’ Eviction Fears Mount as Grace Period for Federal Moratorium Expires “It is morally obscene that the American people have to rely on GoFundMe to pay for rent and food,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).  By Kenny StancilThe USA: Global Leader in Election Interference Abroad and Now at Home Charles Schultz’s Pogo remarked that “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” In terms of election interference, historically the United States has been the enemy abroad and now we are the enemy at home.  There is more than 70 years of evidence of U.S. election interference abroad; the current interference at home is far more threatening.  Donald Trump is prepared to do great harm to the November election, creating the kind of cynicism and disarray that will enable Russian President Vladimir Putin’s propagandists to kick on an open door. By Melvin Goodman

Sanders’ Inadequate Pandemic Wealth Tax Proposal Humanity is obviously in the middle of a grave crisis that “socialist” Bernie Sanders understands. In a column recently published in the Guardian with the title “The Pandemic is helping the rich get even richer. It’s time to tax their obscene wealth,” he characterizes the current conditions as, “an extraordinary moment in American history: a public health crisis, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the existential threat of climate change and a president who is moving our country in an authoritarian direction.” By Rick BaumEnvironment:

Does fighting climate change require postponing the fight for system change? Should ecosocialists put aside calls for radical social change until after we win reforms that solve the climate crisis within capitalism? Time is always an important factor in politics and history but never has it mattered as much as on the issue of climate change.The IPCC Report’s warning in October 2018 that the world has twelve years to avoid climate disaster was undoubtedly a major factor in galvanizing a global wave of climate change activism, especially in the form of Greta Thunberg and mass school strikes and the Extinction Rebellion movement. At the same it is clear that this warning could be, and was, “heard” or interpreted in different ways by different people. In this article I want consider some of those interpretations and their implications, particularly in relation to the question of whether there is time to bring about system change or whether, because time is so short, it is necessary to focus on and settle for changes that can be implemented within the framework of capitalism. by John Molyneux

Capitalism Cannot Even Afford a Milk Toast ‘Not So Green’ Deal!: ‘Underwhelming and Inadequate’: Green Groups Slam New Senate Democrats’ Climate Report The Green New Deal is mentioned only once in the 263-page report—in the footnotes.A climate action report released Tuesday by Senate Democrats drew disappointed reactions from green groups and progressive campaigners who say it does not do nearly enough to combat the potentially existential threat of catastrophic global heating caused by human activity.  By Brett Wilkins

Unless We Change Course, the US agricultural system Could Collapse Our food supply comes from an environmentally unsustainable system that is going to unravel  Picture an ideal dinner plate. If you’re like most Americans, it features a hearty portion of meat, from animals fattened on midwestern corn and soybeans, and a helping of vegetables, largely trucked in from California. The unique landscapes we rely on to deliver this bounty – the twin jewels of the US food system – are locked in a state of slow-motion ecological unravelling. By Tom Philpott

Civil Rights/ Black Liberarion:Black Agenda Radio for Week of August 24, 2020 With Margaret Kimberley And Glen Ford

  • Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, IWOC, “is committed to the militant organizing of prisoners that takes its leadership and focus from those on the inside,” said Joergen Ostens

  • To Ignore Political Prisoners is Hypocrisy “Any movement that seeks to bring radical changes to society that does not incorporate at the top of the list freedom for our freedom fighter that have gone before, is hypocritical,” said

  • Creating Ownership, Equity and Income for College Athletes“College sports is a highly exploitive system where predominantly Black players in football and basketball generate all the income, but the only group that isn’t positively impacted is the families

Labor:

Economy:

When It Comes to JPMorgan, Warren Buffett Isn’t Buying the Spin from the Fed and the Street At his press conference on June 10 of this year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said this about the U.S. banking system, which includes a little more than 5,000 federally insured banks but is dangerously concentrated in the hands of just five mega banks on Wall Street. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Labour Survey Shows Party Polarisation – We Need a Socialist Opposition A recent survey of Labour members shows a growing disillusionment with Starmer’s leadership, alongside strong support for left-wing policies. The ground is being prepared for a renewed outbreak of the Labour civil war.Education, Health, Science, 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 they 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

Will Public Schools Survive COVID-19? We want to believe that if we simply put our children back in their classrooms, life as we used to know it will resume. That’s simply impossible Seventeen years ago, against the advice of my parents, I decided to become a public school teacher. Once I did, both my mother and father, educators themselves, warned me that choosing to teach was to invite attacks from those who viewed the profession with derision and contempt. They advised me to stay strong and push through when budgets were cut, my intellect questioned, or my dedication to my students exploited. Nobody, however, warned me that someday I might have to defend myself against those who asked me to step back into my classroom and risk my own life, the lives of my students and their families, of my friends, my husband, and my child in the middle of a global pandemic. And nobody told me that I’d be worrying about whether or not our nation’s public schools, already under siege, would survive the chaos of Covid-19. By Belle Chesler