Daily News Digest July 19, 2016

Daily News Digest Archives

Daily News Digest July 19, 2016

Image of the Day:

Matt Wuerker: This is WarQuote of the Day:

What is the reality of policing in the United States? Do the police keep anyone safe and secure other than the very wealthy? How do recent police killings of young Black people in the US fit into the historical and global context of anti-Blackness? This collection of reports and essays (the first from Truthout in collaboration with Haymarket Books) explores police violence against Black, Brown, Indigenous and other marginalized communities, miscarriages of justice, and failures of token accountability and reform measures. It also makes a compelling and provocative argument against calling the police. — Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States

Videos of the Day:

Audio: Blank Agenda Radio

U.K. Labour Party Vote: Democracy should never have a price tag – but we can’t afford to lose this.

U.S.

The More Effective Evil: Obama Instituted the ‘Greatest Transfer of Wealth in History’ to the 1%: If the presidency of Barack Obama teaches us anything, it should be that presidents are nothing but tools of the elite to concentrate wealth and power. It should teach us that the words Democrat and Republican are absolutely meaningless. By Justin GardnerUS-NATO Border Confrontation with Russia Risks Nuclear War and Loss of European Partners: Michael Hudson says that the US-led confrontational approach of NATO with Russia is driving European countries to consider disbanding or leaving the military alliance due to increased security risksUS Congress Finally Releases ’28 Pages’ of 9/11 Report: The U.S. Congress on Friday released the previously classified 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report on potential Saudi government ties to the 2001 terrorist attack. By Andrea Germanos, staff writer Environment:

Welcome to the ‘Ecological Recession’: Global Biodiversity on Unsafe Decline “We’re crossing into a zone of uncertainty” by Deirdre Fulton Heavily armed drug cops raid retiree’s garden, seize okra plants: Georgia police declare war on okra By Christopher IngrahamOngoing/Big Energy Disasters:

 Massive Fracking Explosion in New Mexico, 36 Oil Tanks Catch Fire: This week—as thousands of Americans urge awareness to the destruction caused by oil bomb trains—an oil field in San Juan County, New Mexico erupted in flames Monday night, highlighting the continued and increasing dangers of the fossil fuel industry. By Lorraine ChowOil Spills Are Actually Good For Birds, Fish, And The Economy According To The Oil Industry by Natasha Geiling ‘Just 35 Minutes From Broaday’: The Indian Point Nukes: a Disaster Waiting to Happen: “Indian Point” is a film about the long problem-plagued Indian Point nuclear power plants that are “so, so risky—so close to New York City,” notes its director and producer Ivy Meeropol. “Times Square is 35 miles away.”  by Karl Grossman 

Schumer pushes EPA on cleanup plan for Niagara, Grand Island radioactive ‘hot spots’: He sites contain radioactive material mixed with gravel or other fill materials, and are believed to have originated at Niagara Falls-area industries that carried out work on radioactive materials for decades. By Thomas J. Prohaska 

The Exxon Connection: Exxon Increases Funding to Energy Think-Tank Run By Former Top Obama Energy Aide: According to ExxonMobil’s 2015 annual worldwide giving report, the company has upped the ante and increased its funding of Columbia University’s influential Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) to the tune of $50,000 for that year. By Steve HornBlack Liberation/Civil Rights:

Why We Dream About a World Without Police: The last few years have been rough. President Obama’s last term in the White House has given many of us some of the most polarizing times we have ever experienced. It goes without saying that many have felt hopeless after being promised a change. Political disillusionment has clouded the air in a country struggling to find its true identity. In the midst of all this, unrelenting police violence has been in the spotlight driven by organized resistance to police brutality and renewed media interest. Police violence hasn’t necessarily gotten worse, but it’s being talked about more. This national conversation is absolutely necessary and should not let up. It’s important to utilize the tools we have — like our words — to rebel. Using words as resistance, Truthout recently published their first anthology, Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? edited by Maya Schenwar, Joe Macare and Alana Yu-lan. By William C. AndersonWhy Black Lives Matter Won’t Go Away: a Primer on Systemic Racism in America by Anthony DiMaggio How to Fix the Broken Relationship Between the People and the Police: After years of no one – at least not the white people who control the media – giving a damn about what happens to black people at the hands of white cops, suddenly the terrible relationship between people and the police is a huge problem. by Ted RallMany States Out of Step with the Constitution on the Use of Force by Police: There are no states in the country that comply with international law enforcement standards.  The current United Nations standard is that police officers should only use deadly force when it is a last resort, and then, only to prevent grave harm or imminent death to themselves or another person. by José-Antonio Orosco

Labor:

Economy:

New York Media Struggles to Name the Most Dishonest Presidential Candidate: In what feels like scenes from an edgy political satire film, New York media are now alternately casting either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton as the most dishonest presidential candidate in the annals of political history. By Pam Martens and Russ MartensWorld:

Paris At War, Media Blackout: This photo could turn out to be one of the most important images of our time. Taken near the Eiffel Tower during the Euro 2016 final at the Stade de France in Paris, it shows a nationalist spectacle on a giant screen blinding people to what is happening on the streets. Police, gendarmes, and paramilitary – operating as servants of the ruling class, working against ordinary people – keep protestors at bay with teargas and water cannon. By Baxter Dmitry Failed Turkey Coup Revealed As False Flag Operation: The failed Turkey coup was the most obvious and transparent false flag since Hitler had the Reichstag burnt down, framed his enemies, then suspended civil liberties and seized absolute control over Germany. Erdogan, often called Little Hitler due to his political tactics, has copied his master one more time. by Baxter DmitryThose Who Repeat History Are Doomed to Repeat! — Read Revolution and Counter Revolution is Spain — 80 Years Ago the Working Class Was Betrayed by Stalin and His Reformist Popular Front Policy Which led to Franco’s Victory — Spain Now Has a New Popular Front Named Podermos. Which Reflects the Same Reformist Popular Front Polices of the recent Venezulela Bolivarian ‘Revolution’ and Greeces Syrzia ‘Revolution’:

In today’s world, there is no place for the illusion of New Deal reforms. In 1934, the United States was a creditor nation, it could afford reforms as opposed to revolution. Today the United States is a debtor nation, and such reforms are no longer affordable. I agree with Jorge Martín who wrote, in his July 2015 essay, Greece: government’s proposals to the Troika turning OXI into YES:

Beyond Greece there are important lessons to be learnt, particularly as parties like Podermos in Spain come closer to power. There is no way to break with austerity, it is not possible to implement even modest measures in defence of the living standards of working people within the limits of capitalism in crisis. In order to end austerity we must break with capitalism.

The time has come to oppose the austerity programs of the 1% who rule the world — not to edure them! Roland Sheppard, Editorial: Syriza A Popular Front

Exorcise the spirit of Franco: Eighty years after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War and 40 years after the end of the Franco dictatorship which followed it, this is an issue which in Spain raises white hot passions. Far from this being an historical question, it is a burning one today. As a new revolutionary upswing is starting, the new generation is attempting to come to terms with the lessons of the past. By Jorge Martín

 Health, Education, and Welfare:

Cuba Has Made At Least 3 Major Medical Innovations That We Need: The trade embargo is holding up research in some crucial areas. By Anna AlmendralaCharter School Expansion is Having Devastating Impact on Public School Finances A new study finds that charter school expansion in Michigan has meant financial chaos for a growing number of school districts. By Jennifer Berkshire