Daily News Digest July 28, 2021
Images of the Day:
Another Example of Capitalism as a Failed System: World CaAnpilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 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 future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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!
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!
Quotes of the Day:
From record-shattering heatwaves and droughts on multiple continents, to still-raging wildfires in North America and Siberia, to several devastating floods and landslides in Europe and Asia, a summer of non-stop climate-related disasters—along with projections that conditions will continue to deteriorate in the absence of fundamental political-economic transformation—has fueled demands for decisive action. — As Climate Emergency Batters World, Scientists Meet to Finalize Key Report Ahead of COP26
Videos of the Day:
United States:
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, who profit from war and the war budget, voted 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay!
Instead of Drone Bombing, the United States is Bombarding Cuba With Sanctions!: Let the Cuban People Live! End the Blockade and Sanctions! President Biden has not only kept all of Trump’s sanctions desig:ned to severely harm the Cuban people, he has added two more. His response to the July 11 protests in Cuba was to call for the overthrow of the socialist Cuban Revolution. The July 11 protests of the Cuban government were wildly misrepresented in the major media in the U.S. The way they were portrayed on TV would lead one to think they were tens of thousands strong. More sober on the spot estimates put the figure at hundreds, except in Havana at 2,000-3,000. According to reports from different reliable sources, they were composed of three main elements: counter-revolutionaries calling for the overthrow of the Revolution, small groups of intellectuals protesting restrictions on artistic freedom, and working class people demanding that the government improve their living conditions. The big majority of protesters were in the third category, and were not linked to the counter-revolutionary organizations (financed by the United States), nor were they led by them. Without going further into what happened during the protests, they brought to light the severe economic hardships the Cuban people are suffering, including shortages of food and medicines, in the context of an economic crises exacerbated by the worldwide downturn due to the COVID pandemic. By Barry Sheppard
‘Vile’: Biden DHS to Turn Away Migrant Families Under ‘Expedited Removal’ Policy Immigrant rights advocates are decrying what some called an “appalling” Monday night announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security thatunder the Biden administration will return to the use of an “expedited removal” process to send families seeking asylum back over the U.S.-Mexico border if they can’t convince immigration agents that they need refuge in the United States.
Hedges: The Collective Suicide Machine: The return of the Taliban to power will be one more signpost of the end of the American empire — and nobody will be held accountable. The debacle in Afghanistan, which will unravel into chaos with lightning speed over the next few weeks and ensure the return of the Taliban to power, is one more signpost of the end of the American empire. The two decades of combat, the one trillion dollars we spent, the 100,000 troops deployed to subdue Afghanistan, the high-tech gadgets, artificial intelligence, cyberwarfare, Reaper drones armed with Hellfire missiles and GBU-30 bombs and the Global Hawk drones with high-resolution cameras, Special Operations Command composed of elite rangers, SEALs and air commandos, black sites, torture, electronic surveillance, satellites, attack aircraft, mercenary armies, infusions of millions of dollars to buy off and bribe the local elites and train an Afghan army of 350,000 that has never exhibited the will to fight, failed to defeat a guerrilla army of 60,000 that funded itself through opium production and extortion in one of the poorest countries on earth.
Colombian Mercenaries and The Assassination ff Haitian President Jovenel Moïse The U.S. government — and Joe Biden himself — has made repeat appearances in the history that gave rise to Colombia’s hired guns. Eighteen Colombians, most of them former soldiers, some hailing from elite units, have been arrested in connection with the July 7 assassination. Three others were killed in the aftermath of the assault, while five more are reportedly still at large. Two Haitian Americans, one a former U.S. government informant, turned themselves in hours after the attack, claiming that they were translators aiding an effort to serve an arrest warrant on the president and transfer him to the presidential palace, not to kill him
Environment:
6th Extinction
More ‘record-shattering’ heat events are on the way New study shows extreme heat waves will be more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting Reposted from Carbon Brief, July 26, 2021, under a Creative Commons license. Ayesha Tandon holds an Masters Degree in Climate Science.“Record-shattering” extremes – which break weather records by large margins – will become more likely as a result of climate change, a new study finds. The paper, published in Nature Climate Change, finds that the northern mid-latitudes are particularly vulnerable to record-shattering heat. This is exemplified by the recent heatwave over north-western US and Canada, in which many long-standing temperature records were broken by as much as 5C.
Increasing Probability of Record-Shattering Climate Extremes Recent climate extremes have broken long-standing records by large margins. Such extremes unprecedented in the observational period often have substantial impacts due to a tendency to adapt to the highest intensities, and no higher, experienced during a lifetime. Here, we show models project not only more intense extremes but also events that break previous records by much larger margins. These record-shattering extremes, nearly impossible in the absence of warming, are likely to occur in the coming decades. We demonstrate that their probability of occurrence depends on warming rate, rather than global warming level, and is thus pathway-dependent. In high-emission scenarios, week-long heat extremes that break records by three or more standard deviations are two to seven times more probable in 2021–2050 and three to 21 times more probable in 2051–2080, compared to the last three decades. In 2051–2080, such events are estimated to occur about every 6–37 years somewhere in the northern midlatitudes.
Sweltering From Heat Waves, Baltimore Needs Climate-Focused Infrastructure . . . . The recent triple-digit temperatures across the Pacific north-west, where air conditioning in homes isn’t common, highlight the real-world hardships caused by extreme heat exposure and how the elderly and homeless suffer disproportionately from physical discomfort and worse health outcomes. Mitigating such public health issues, along with damage to infrastructure and losses in tourism revenue and agriculture, are among the major costs of climate change in Baltimore. Now, the city is looking for retribution. In a recent lawsuit, the city argues that fossil fuel companies should be held responsible for such costs because they knowingly contributed to the climate crisis. Baltimore’s case is one of more than 20 suits brought by a range of other cities, states and counties that are suing the major oil conglomerates for driving the climate crisis and offloading the financial burden onto the American public. The legal strategy is a novel approach toward addressing the climate crisis, and some legal experts believe Baltimore’s suit may be the bellwether for similar efforts across the country. The case has caught the attention of the US supreme court, which in May ruled in favor of the oil companies over a legal technicality. While the ruling gives the fossil fuel industry the green light to pursue arguing their case in federal court, where they believe they will face better odds than in state court, the legal process is expected to reveal new information on what the industry knew of the environmental destruction brought by climate change.
Greenwashing the Tokyo Olympic Games “The gap between rhetoric and reality is a persistent one when looking at the sustainability of commitments of Olympic Games hosts”. The organizers of the Olympics have always been into appearances and grand theatre. And the International Olympic Committee has always been keen in keeping them up, from the barely credible notion of political neutrality to the now popular goal of carbon neutrality. In 2015, the IOC decided to fully hop on the sustainability bandwagon, though it claimed to have been “an important topic for the IOC for many years”. Indeed, in the 1990s, the body echoed the sentiments of the UN’s sustainable development plan Agenda 21 by publishing Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21, though that report displays, rather prominently, the company logo of the oil behemoth Shell. Sustainable development was, according to the then IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch, “totally in conformity with the goal of Olympism, which is to place everywhere sport at the service of the harmonious development of man.”
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
The Outrage Business Model Deflates (E1728)Max and Stacy look at President Biden’s promise that more money printing will reduce inflation. Say what? They also look at the ‘outrage business model’ of corporate media suffering a huge post-Trump hit to their ratings. In the second half, Max continues his chat with Tavi Costa of Crescat Capital about hyperinflation and the 50th anniversary of the US dollar.
World:
“Contrary to popular belief, Haiti is not a Black country. It is a modern-day Apartheid state where a small minority of White people lord over the mass of the population who are Black…” #WordInBlack: Haitians Can No Longer Hide Behind the Caste System Killing Our Country To try to explain this any other way is intellectual malfeasance. Haiti is presented either as an example of Black rule or, in White supremacist circles, of Black people’s inability to govern. I get asked the question in polite company: “Why is Haiti ungovernable?” The answer is that it is by design. It is set up that way. Haiti is ruled not by the Black faces who are elected. It is governed by a small cabal of oligarch families who migrated to Haiti. They are known as BAM BAM, phonetically in Creole “Gimme, Gimme.” The acronym stands for the Brandt, Acra, Madsen, Bigio, Apaid and Mevs families.
Tunisia’s Constitutional Coup: No Trust In Any Bourgeois Faction A decade after the 2010/11 revolution threw out the hated dictator Ben Ali, a wave of anti-government protest has rocked Tunisia. The government has been ousted in a palace coup, but there can be no faith in any bourgeois faction. The masses can trust only in their own strength. A new revolutionary upsurge by workers and youth is necessary to win a real future.
Iran on the brink: For a national struggle against the Islamic Republic! Since 15 July, protests over a severe water shortage in Khuzestan province in Iran have developed into a powerful localised movement, which has now spread to all major cities of the province: Shush, Susangard, Izeh, Dezful, Kut Abdullah, Weiss, Mahshahr, Hamidiyeh, Chamran and several areas of Ahvaz. The regime has declared martial law but this has only had the effect of provoking protests in a further 16 provinces.
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 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!
Capitalism Kills!: 3 Million People Have Died of Covid Since Rich Nations Began Obstructing Vaccine Patent Waiver “Every one of those deaths is a mark of shame for the governments of countries like the U.K. and Germany who have protected patents over human lives.” 
The Crumbling Infrastructure — Capitalism, in its Epoch of Decay, is Unprepared for the Disaster of Global Warming: American Society of Civil EngineersAmerica’s Infrastructure Scores a C—
- Overview of Bridges: There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition.
- Overview of Dams: Over the last 20 years, the number of high-hazard-potential dams has more than doubled as development steadily encroaches on once-rural dams and reservoirs. Overview Drinking Water: Our nation’s drinking water infrastructure system is made up of 2.2 million miles of underground pipes that deliver safe, reliable water to millions of people. Unfortunately, the system is aging and underfunded. Overview Hazardous Watest:
- There are approximately 1,300 Superfund sites where cleanup activities are either incomplete or not yet begun, roughly the same number as four years ago. Meanwhile, the Superfund budget has remained essentially flat at around $1.1 billion over the last 10 years. The two other hazardous waste programs — one for brownfields and one for hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act — are also in a steady state. Overview of Roads: America’s roads are critical for moving an ever-increasing number of people and goods. However, these vital lifelines are frequently underfunded, and over 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. As the backlog of rehabilitation needs grows, motorists are forced to pay over $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel. Additionally, while traffic fatalities have been on the decline, over 36,000 people are still dying on the nation’s roads every year, and the number of pedestrian fatalities is on the rise. Federal, state, and local governments will need to prioritize strategic investments dedicated to improving and preserving roadway conditions that increase public safety on the system we have in place, as well as plan for the roadways of the future, which will need to account for connected and autonomous vehicles.
- Overview of School: School facilities represent the second largest sector of public infrastructure spending, after highways, and yet there is no comprehensive national data source on K-12 public school infrastructure. What data is available indicates that 53% of public school districts report the need to update or replace multiple building systems, including HVAC systems. More than one-third of public schools have portable buildings due to capacity constraints, with 45% of these portable buildings in poor or fair condition. Meanwhile, as a share of the economy, state capital funding for schools was down 31% in fiscal year 2017 compared to 2008. That is the equivalent of a $20 billion cut. The best estimates indicate a minimum of $38 billion annual funding gap for public school facilities across the country.
- Overview of Stormwater: Stormwater systems range from large concrete storm sewers, roadside ditches, and flood control reservoirs, to rain gardens and natural riverine systems. While stormwater utilities are on the rise, with more than 40 states having at least one, the impervious surfaces in cities and suburbs are also expanding, exacerbating urban flooding, which results in $9 billion in damages annually.
- Overview of Tansit: Public transit is essential to everyday living in communities across the country, providing access to jobs, schools, shopping, healthcare, and other services while enabling equitable access and sustainable mobility options. Unfortunately, 45% of Americans have no access to transit. Meanwhile, much of the existing system is aging, and transit agencies often lack sufficient funds to keep their existing systems in good working order.
While there’s much to celebrate this week as we recognize the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, the world made a baseline mistake in developing environmental policy decades ago. It chose to treat nature as an unlimited resource for humans. This baseline allowed policies to fall short. It’s one of the reasons our planet is now superheating. Now, we are making that same mistake — leading to COVID-19, SARS, and the swine flu — with factory farming and other forms of ecocide that degrade the buffer between people and the pre-Anthropocene environment. Degrading that natural buffer exacerbates every risk, as mentioned above. With global heating, the next pandemic could be hiding in the arctic permafrost. Solving this baseline problem allows us to trace these back to an ultimate source, and perhaps to a solution. We suggest one stop and two starts this Earth Day. The first step involves the cessation of factory farming and factory deforesting. They’re the source of too many pandemics to allow these activities to continue. The second requires laying down new laws, instituting rights for both animals and nature. It’s the only way to enhance legal protections so that egregious actions, like the ones that led to these health and climate crises, are indictable. The third requires the immediate restoration of what’s been damaged and the all-hands-on-deck conservation of what’s left. A failure to do this and pandemics become part and parcel of daily life. — Link Between Factory-Farmed Animals, COVID-19 and Preventing the Next Pandemic