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Images Of the Day:
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:
No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were. Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. — For Whom the Bell Tolls
Stagflation?: Some optimists argue that there will be a boom in capital spending on new technology, automation etc that will drive the productivity of labour upwards. But the profitability of capital accumulation in all the major economies remains depressed and near all-time lows despite a recovery in 2021. As Brian Green put it in his recent post: “It is likely that demand driven inflation has subsided. It seems with Covid Funds now used up, US consumers are joining the rest of the world in retrenching while container vessels continue to queue outside ports to load and unload. What remains is supply bottlenecks as well as gaming the system. Pipeline inflation or factory gate inflation is evident. Both the US and the UK released record or near record producer prices. When pipeline inflation cannot be satisfied by demand, it is profit margins that suffer and that is what is happening now and it will intensify in the new year.” And the Omicron and Delta variants of COVID are affecting the production of goods and services. The latest surveys of economic activity for December (called the PMIs) showed a significant slowdown in the pace of recovery from the pandemic slump. The UK and Eurozone measures are now at nine-month lows.Is the stagflation (low growth and high inflation) of the 1970s coming back? Well, the stag part seems very likely; the inflation part will depend on factors beyond the central banks’ control because it is not the sort of inflation that Jay Powell was expecting. — The Central Bankers’ Dilemma
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 ownershipof 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!
If
FDA Lifts Rules on Abortion Pill, Permanently Allowing Medication to Be Mailed Reproductive rights advocates have praised the decision, but federal and state restrictions on the medication persist. The FDA didn’t produce a formal announcement regarding the change. Instead, the agency updated its website and sent letters to companies that produce the medication, known as mifepristone.A spokesperson for the agency explained the agency’s decision-making process. “The agency conducted a comprehensive review of the published literature, relevant safety and adverse event data, and information provided by advocacy groups, individuals and the applicants to reach this decision,” the spokesperson said.
“Lesser Evil’ Biden!: ‘Act of Cowardice’: Biden Pulls Out of Negotiations Over Compensation for Separated Families “We will never forget who takes action to help these families—and who turns their backs on them,” said a lawyer for the parents and children. Human rights advocates were incensed Thursday after lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice informed representatives for hundreds of families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border that they were walking away from talks over compensating the families, as President Joe Biden had promised.
Biden’s Infrastructure Czar Comes With Friendly Record On Fossil Fuels Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans, has been put in charge of infrastructure implementation. He and his family have spent years defending oil and gas interests. Eight years ago in New Orleans, an independent levee board created after Hurricane Katrina announced a lawsuit against 97 oil and gas companies, seeking damages for their part in destroying Louisiana’s coastline. By that point in 2013, the state had lost roughly a quarter of its wetlands, accounting for an area about the size of Delaware. Even scientists working for oil and gas conceded that at least 36 percent of the damage was due to their industries’ activities.The case — which the New York Times would later call “the most ambitious environmental lawsuit ever” — was hailed as a monumental step in holding fossil fuel companies to account. Two parishes neighboring New Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines, followed with their own suits. The oil industry blasted the litigation, insisting that the levee board had gone rogue. One local leader seemed to have the industry’s back: Mitch Landrieu, then the mayor of New Orleans.
The ‘New Normal’: 56 Migrant Deaths in Chiapas Were Due to Border Crackdown, Not An “Accident” Such “accidents” are a recurring human cost of the policies of containment and repression imposed on migrants globally. At least 56 migrants — mostly from Guatemala, many of them families with minor children — being transported from Mexico’s southern border region to the country’s heartland in Puebla by smugglers, were recently killed in an apparent road accident, with dozens more seriously injured. This unspeakably tragic event is being widely reported as “accidental” in a more fundamental sense — as an exceptional event that was beyond anyone’s control, at the margins of human will or the stratagems of political power. But for many who have dedicated their lives to defending the rights of migrants throughout the world, mourning these devastated lives is pervaded by recognition of all the ways that migrant death and suffering have been utterly normalized as the result of prevailing immigration
The ‘New Normal’: 56 Migrant Deaths in Chiapas Were Due to Border Crackdown, Not An “Accident” Such “accidents” are a recurring human cost of the policies of containment and repression imposed on migrants globally. At least 56 migrants — mostly from Guatemala, many of them families with minor children — being transported from Mexico’s southern border region to the country’s heartland in Puebla by smugglers, were recently killed in an apparent road accident, with dozens more seriously injured. This unspeakably tragic event is being widely reported as “accidental” in a more fundamental sense — as an exceptional event that was beyond anyone’s control, at the margins of human will or the stratagems of political power. But for many who have dedicated their lives to defending the rights of migrants throughout the world, mourning these devastated lives is pervaded by recognition of all the ways that migrant death and suffering have been utterly normalized as the result of prevailing immigration
Environment:
For Whom the Bells. Toll: What Heppens When People of the Southwest Have to Migrate Due to a Lack of Water?: The ‘New Normal’: The Climate Catastrophe, From Kentucky to Kampala Devastating tornadoes hit Kentucky and neighboring states as darkness descended on Friday. The supercell thunderstorm tore a 200-mile path, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The National Weather Service had been issuing warnings and severe weather alerts for over 36 hours. At the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, workers on the evening shift were scared. NBC News reported that managers told them they’d be fired if they left to seek shelter elsewhere (a charge the factory owner disputes). Eight workers there were killed and many injured when a massive EF4 tornado flattened the factory. An Amazon warehouse in Illinois was flattened, killing six workers. The death toll across six states is now at least 90. The wreckage and loss of life from this storm is yet another symptom of how our fossil fuel addiction heats the planet and drives disasters.
Table 1. Estimated potential maximum sea-level rise from the total melting of present-day glaciers. 
Antarctic Ice Melt Unstoppable Without Strong Climate Action The Antarctica Ice Sheet contains approximately 30 million cubic kilometres of ice, which is around 1,779,359 times the volume of Sydney Harbour. We’ll just let that sink in for a little bit. . . . It’s the largest single mass of ice on earth, and most of that ice is sitting on land – which means it has the potential to contribute to sea level rise if melted. A new study published in Nature has found that if climate change continues, driven by continued greenhouse gas emissions, an unstoppable melting process might start in Antarctica, committing us to a long-term sea level rise of over 1 metre. You can read the full study here, but we’ve pulled out some key highlights for you below:
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Unless substantial action is taken around the world to reduce human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, warming is likely to exceed 2°C above pre-industrial levels within this century.
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With this level of warming, and the associated warming of the oceans, it is very likely that many of the coastal ice shelves (the support-beams of Antarctica) will melt.
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Without this support, much of the Antarctic Ice Sheet will become unstable and will start a long-term sliding and melting process which will then continue regardless of whether we reduce our pollution or not.
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If this process starts, Antarctica will be committed to contributing substantially to long-term sea level rise.
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Under almost all the possible future pollution scenarios used in the study, the long-term sea level rise was greater than 1 metre.
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The only scenario which did not result in such a substantial sea level rise assumed that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions were significantly reduced: including a steady reduction in carbon dioxide from 2020 onwards, capturing more carbon dioxide than we’re emitting by 2100, and a 40% reduction in methane emissions.
To prevent substantial and unstoppable long-term ice loss and sea level rise, the world MUST take major action to reduce human greenhouse gas emissions.
Texas Oil Company Charged in Massive Spill Off Southern California Coast Prosecutors say company repeatedly failed to act on alarms that alerted workers to pipeline rupture A Houston-based oil company and two subsidiaries have been charged over a massive oil spill off the coast of southern California in October that fouled waters and beaches and endangered wildlife. Prosecutors say the spill was caused in part by failing to properly act when alarms repeatedly alerted workers to a pipeline rupture.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Labor:
Amid Deadly Tornado, Texts Show Amazon Threatened to Fire Driver If Packages Not Delivered “I’m literally stuck in this damn van without a safe place to go with a tornado on the ground!” More damning information about last week’s deadly workplace disaster at an Amazon building in Illinois emerged on Friday when a delivery driver shared records of a conversation she had with her boss, which revealed that the e-commerce giant threatened to fire her if she didn’t keep delivering packages even as tornado sirens blared.
Economy:
Shadow Government Statistics Daily Update (December 16th to 20th) Sampling of Recent Inflation, Monetary and Economic Headlines:
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Inflation, Economic and Monetary Circumstances Show Intensifying, Systemic Instabilities
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Federal Reserve – Flash (Dec 15): Largely Signaled in Advance, the FOMC’s Policy Conundrum Came Full Cycle, with Today’s December FOMC Announced Plans for Doubling Its Pace of Tapering Monetary Stimulus, Likely Followed by a Major Interest Hike (Second-Quarter to Mid-2022), in Order to Help Quell the Inflation Problem Created by the Current “Robust” Economy [
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Yet, the Current Inflation Surge Reflects Not Only Extreme Money Supply Creation, But Also Extreme Federal Deficit Spending and Federal Debt Expansion, Pandemic Disruptions and Supply Shortages [Acknowledged by Fed Chair Powell]; It Does Not, However, Reflect an Overheating Economy, as Confirmed in the November 2021 Real Retail Sales Reporting [See the Headlines and ECONOMY Section]
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Raising Interest Rates in These Conditions Likely Would Push Broadly Non-Recovered Economic Activity into a Deepening Depression, Along with Continuing and Mounting Inflation Issues [See Pending Commentary No. 1461]
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Last Time the FOMC Raised Interest Rates from Current Levels, Industrial Production Hit Its All Time-High in 2018, Which It Never Has Recovered [see the ECONOMY Headlines].
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Bouncing Off an October 2021 Dip, the November 2021 Monetary Base Not Only Hit a Record High Level of Activity, But Also a Record-High Cycle Growth Rate of 85.1% Against Its February 2020 Pre-Pandemic Trough; Growth Has Accelerated Anew in Early-December 2021, Through the 15th
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November 2021 Currency in Circulation Growth of 23.2%, Against Its Pre-Pandemic Trough, Was Without Historical Precedent, While Bank Reserves Held by Federal Reserve Banks Rebounded to 152.3%, Against Its Pre-Pandemic Trough, Nearly Recovering the 153.1% Cycle Peak of September 2021, having dipped to 149.1% in October
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October 2021 Money Supply Growth Surged to Historic Highs, with “Basic M1” – Currency Plus Demand Deposits – Up by a Record 101.3% from Its February 2020 Pre-Pandemic Trough.
Nasdaq Plunge Provides a Sobering Look at What’s to Come The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 385 points yesterday for a loss of 2.47 percent. At the lows of the day, it was down 446 points at 15,119.49. That compares with a loss of just 29.79 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average or 0.08 percent. The Nasdaq is packed with Big Tech stocks trading at nose-bleed multiples and meager dividends, or no dividends at all. Tesla is trading at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 302 and pays no dividend. Amazon is trading at a trailing P/E of 67 and pays no dividends. Tesla tanked 5 percent yesterday while Amazon lost 2.56 percent. Other Big Tech losers were Apple, down 3.93 percent; Microsoft, down 2.91 percent; and a whopping smackdown of Adobe, which shed 10.19 percent. Notably, Adobe also doesn’t pay a dividend.
World:
Education, Health, 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
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Ws 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!
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 the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”, is Still True for Today’s World!
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! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!