Daily News Digest January 26, 2022
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines are Free For the Whole World!
Quote/Image of the Day:
Donald Trump: “We Have To Be A Lot Sharper The Next Time When It Comes To Counting The Vote… Sometimes The Vote Counter Is More Important Than The Candidate. They Have To Get A Lot Tougher And Smarter.” Boss Tweed “In Counting the is Strength”
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!
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!
Videos of the Day:
PodCast: newsCOUP Ep. 16: We Found The Names Of Radioactive Waste Locations That Government Kept Secret We Found The Names of Radioactive Waste Locations That Government Kept Secret Radioactive Oil & Gas Test Sites Uncovered & Mapped by Public Herald For about six years, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has obscured the radioactive hazards of oil and gas operations. Now, for the first time, all 144 names and locations are being released by the team at Public Herald.
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 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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
Talkin’ World War III Blues…Again So, we could be looking at Cuban Missile Crisis Number 3. The Russians don’t want Ukraine to join NATO. The Russians don’t want the US to threaten to cut off the spigot off Nord 2 line to Germany (just completed), forcing the Russians to continue using Nord 1 that goes Ukraine and could a provide a future pretext for the US government to “defend” Ukraine against Russian denial of access to the gas to Ukrairnians. The US (CIA), having “supported” a coup in Ukraine back in 2013, are determined to see Ukraine established as a NATO country, a result that would see massive amounts of weapons and soldiers brought into Ukraine with the specific task of threatening Moscow. America did not like it much when the Russians deployed nukes in Cuba 60 years ago. We almost destroyed the world to protect the right to posture. Ellsberg, who knows more about what went down in Cuba than anyone I’ve read (he even blames his own political role back then as a catalyst), fears American warriors may be unable to hold back their fascist tendencies. (See my review of The Doomsday Machine.). So, we could be looking at Cuban Missile Crisis Number 3. The Russians don’t want Ukraine to join NATO. The Russians don’t want the US to threaten to cut off the spigot off Nord 2 line to Germany (just completed), forcing the Russians to continue using Nord 1 that goes Ukraine and could a provide a future pretext for the US government to “defend” Ukraine against Russian denial of access to the gas to Ukrairnians. The US (CIA), having “supported” a coup in Ukraine back in 2013, are determined to see Ukraine established as a NATO country, a result that would see massive amounts of weapons and soldiers brought into Ukraine with the specific task of threatening Moscow. America did not like it much when the Russians deployed nukes in Cuba 60 years ago. We almost destroyed the world to protect the right to posture. Ellsberg, who knows more about what went down in Cuba than anyone I’ve read (he even blames his own political role back then as a catalyst), fears American warriors may be unable to hold back their fascist tendencies. (See my review of The Doomsday Machine.)
Isn’t It Obvious? Observations on the Ukraine “Crisis” In 2020 the dominant faction of the faceless ruling class was leery about a second Trump term. This was principally due to his handling of trade relations with China and Europe, and the threat he posed to its own precarious position, if not to world peace. Trump was certainly a representative of the ruling class—along with all 44 presidents who’d preceded him, that being the sole crucial condition for the job. But was not the ideal representative. Above the interests of the whole ruling class (as crystallized in the one percent of the one percent) he placed his own selfish interests. He was totally corrupt (a quality Wall Street respects), but was not a team-player. He was corrupt in ways that had made him as many enemies as friends in the Fortune 500. Plus, in power Trump had become a hot potato for corporate PR; CEOs had resigned from Trump’s council of business leaders in embarrassment after consumers protested such vile associations. The ruling class was meanwhile seized with (greater!) dread about a “socialist” becoming the Democratic candidate. While the Sanders campaign was at its height, it signaled its feelings—through its respected spokesperson, Danny Deutsch, who told the Democrats’ (on their own channel, MSNBC) that the American people “would never accept a socialist as president.” The masses were informed by certified experts—experts on politics, like the Pentagon folks are experts in war and State Department veterans experts on how to be a proper imperialist country—that they would never so vote! Because they know or at least will nod their heads when told, that free enterprise is what made our country great! Thus in this free democratic country, the One Percent used its absolute veto power to curb the rise of the most mass-based democratic campaign in history, ensuring a Trump-Biden match-up. Is it not obvious?
Two Sides of the Same Coin: Suppress the Vote, Cut Rich People’s Taxes America’s national media typically pay little attention to the moves the nation’s state lawmakers make. Not this year. State legislative battles have emerged over recent months as a top-tier national story. And deservedly so. The battling at the state level — on a tidal wave of proposed new voter-suppression laws — could well determine the course of American democracy. But state lawmakers are threatening democracy with more than schemes for voter suppression. In one state after another, legislators have been advancing and enacting tax cuts that pump more dollars into rich people’s pockets — and fix in place more plutocratic power over the political process.
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!
One Year In, Biden Fails to Boost C- Grade on Environment The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund assessment indicates the administration’s action to deliver on environmental promises “desperately needs improvement.”
Astronaut Says View From Above Reveals ‘Absolutely Fragile’ Planet Earth“It makes you want to cherish the Earth and protect it, the more you see it from space,” says a French astronaut calling for global cooperation to fight the climate crisis. French astronaut Thomas Pesquet says the impacts of the climate emergency are clear from space—and worsening on his watch—and has expressed optimism that the kind of global cooperation that built the International Space Station can also be channeled to protect the planet he calls “an oasis in the cosmos.”
Shell’s ‘Milestone’ CCS Plant Emits More Carbon Than It Captures, Independent Analysis Finds The federal government is looking into independent analysis claiming that carbon capture at a highly-touted Shell Canada demonstration project in Alberta is producing more greenhouse gas emissions than it prevents, The Energy Mix has learned. The report issued late last week by London, UK-based human rights organization Global Witness acknowledges that Shell’s Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility near Edmonton captured five million tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2015 and 2019, in what the company celebrated as a major milestone in July 2020. “Congratulations to Shell and its joint venture partners for reaching this historic milestone,” Premier Jason Kenney enthused at the time. “We’re thrilled that Shell is taking the time to share this success story. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is working, and Quest is a model facility that others are learning from across the globe to scale up CCS.” But Global Witness came up with rather different numbers. “Our new research reveals that Quest is in fact emitting more than it is capturing,” the organization states. Despite the five megatonnes captured, the facility “has emitted a further 7.5 million tonnes of climate-polluting gases during the same time,” the equivalent of 1.2 million internal combustion cars per year
Civil rights/Black Liberation:
Voting Rights Will Be Dead Without Street Heat As a corrosive, undermining force, minority rule mocks democracy as it allows the few to pock Can America be a democracy if a minority writes the rules to entrench minority rule? Last week, Senate Republicans invoking the cause of “states’ rights” united in a filibuster to block democratic reforms, including the effort to revive the Voting Rights Act. They were empowered to do so by the decision of two wayward Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — to protect the filibuster, choosing obstruction over reforms they claim to support. The 50 Republicans voting against reform represent 41 million fewer voters than the 50 Democrats who support reform.
Abortion Funds Are Meeting an Urgent Need as “Roe” Faces Dire Threat Abortion funds support people’s overall right to or not to parent and be safe and secure in their own decision-making. When the Texas abortion ban was allowed to go into effect last September, many pregnant people in the surrounding region immediately felt the impact. And with people who need abortions now generally having to travel outside of the state for services, the role of abortion funds has become ever clearer. Forty-nine years after the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, grassroots abortion funds are helping to fill a gap in providing necessary financial support and resources to those considering abortions. While no two abortion funds are exactly alike, the general commitment to supporting pregnant people in overcoming barriers to abortion access remains consistent.
Labor:
I’m a High-Risk Disabled Professor. Am I Teaching In Person? Governor DeSantis says I’m teaching in person. Where is the uprising of professors? Where is the change.org petition? My first class for the Spring semester begins in a couple of hours. I still do not know if I’m teaching in person or moving the class online. Governor DeSantis says I’m teaching in person. The university, where I work, says I’m teaching in person. “I have tenure. Why the hell am I teaching in person?” I ask my partner. “I don’t know,” he says.
Economy:
When Money Supply Soars — Inflation Soars!: FRED: Money Supply
Shadow Government Styitics ASSESSMENT – Financial Markets/ Fomc/ Economy – Flash (Jan 24): Current U.S. Financial Markets Are Beginning to Recognize the Unfolding and Uncomfortable Underlying Reality that the FOMC-Increased Tapering of Its Monetary Stimulus and Indicated Pending Rate Hikes: (1) Likely Will Not Contain the Increasingly Dangerous Spike in Inflation, and (2) Likely Will Savage the Still Not Fully Recovered and Already Faltering Broad U.S. Economy Evolving Policy Conflicts Were Taken on by the FOMC in an Effort to Contain or to Prevent a Pandemic-Driven Economic/ Syatemic Collapse Given that Those Conflicts Largely Were and Are Unavoidable, Some FOMC Policy Waffling Would Not Be Too Surprising Out of Wednesday’s (January 26th) Meeting Announcements and Press Conference, in an Attempt to “Balance” Market Reactions and the FOMC Outlook
Federal Agency Censors Names of Banks in a Bombshell Study on Wall Street’s Dangerous Derivatives The Office of Financial Research (OFR) is the federal agency created under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010. Its role is to provide early warnings to U.S. bank regulators and the public of systemic risks that threaten U.S. financial stability, so that another 2008-style Wall Street crisis can never again devastate the U.S. economy. The OFR was doing an outstanding job of sounding alarm bells until the Trump administration gutted the agency. The Biden administration has clearly not done enough to restore the integrty of the office.
World:
Iran: National Teachers’ Protests – Islamic Republic is Playing With Fire In the past month, there have been over 230 strikes and protests across Iran. Since their national three-day strike from 10–13 December, teachers’ protests, led by a Teachers’ Coordinating Council, have continued across Iran. Sporadic strikes continue among oil workers in Khuzestan, and on a nearly daily basis, there are reports of workers at major factories spontaneously launching indefinite strike action. This is just a continuation of the massive wave of protests and strikes that has been underway since 2018. The Islamic Republic is faced with an unparalleled crisis. According to the regime’s statistics, so far in the current Iranian solar year [which ends on 20 March], there have been 2,410 strikes and protests across the country. There is not a section of the working class that hasn’t been on strike or protested. The regime is fully aware of the threat it is facing. Ahmad Tavakoli, former MP and current member of the expediency council, said: “We must not deceive ourselves. In the last 40 years, the people’s trust in our government has never been lowerthan it is now.”
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 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!
With Covax Out of Cash, Inadequacy of Vaccine Charity Model Further Exposed Share the technology NOW,” demanded Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves. Since the first coronavirus vaccines were administered in late 2020, public health campaigners have been warning that trickles of charitable donations from rich countries to the developing world will never be enough to ensure equitable, worldwide access to the lifesaving shots.