Daily News Digest February 10, 2022
Editorial:
By law. OSHA sets worker safety regulationa! — not the suprem court! Recently, the supreme court set aside osha set aside OSHA’s covid workers safety regualtions. I agree with Justice Steven Breyer, Who in a dissent joined by the other justices on the liberal wing of the court, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, said the majority misapplied legal standards, “acted outside of its competence,” usurped a decision that belongs to federal officials, and stymied the government’s ability to counter the threat COVID-19 poses to workers. Whe the supreme court violated OSHA reglations, the only course of action woeld ne to impeach the supreme court! Not a single Democrat has stood up for workers safety!
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines are Free For the Whole World
Image of the Day:
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!
Quotes of the Day:
Unfortunately the Olympic ideal has been increasingly politicized. Again and again some countries pretend that they can instrumentalize sports for their own geopolitical ambitions. These countries betray the humanistic credo of the Olympic games when they weaponize sports to denounce and exclude others, instead of endeavouring to build bridges of friendship, understanding and inclusion. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have been denounced by some countries as the “genocide games”, based on malicious and mendacious evidence-free allegations of human rights violations in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. A few countries have engaged in a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing Olympics, among them the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and India (because of a Chinese torchbearer had served during the 2020 border clashes in the Himalayas). There is an old saying that people in glass houses should not throw stones. Similarly, we also remember the admonition by Christ to those who were about to lapidate a woman “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (Gospel according to St. John Chapter 8, verse 7). — Citius Altius Fortius: the Political Games Around the Olympics
Videos of the Day:
Wave of Coups Disrupts Africa as U.S.-Trained Soldiers Play Key Role in Overthrowing Governments
Cover-Up in Minneapolis? Police “Executed” Amir Locke in “No-Knock” Raid, Say His Parents, Activists
Is the NFL Run Like a Plantation? Ex-Player Donté Stallworth Responds to Bombshell Racism Lawsuit
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 th poor and gives to the Rich. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
60 years of the Criminal US Imperialist Blockade Against The Cuban Revolution On 3 February 1962, US president Kennedy signed proclamation 3447, decreeing an embargo on all trade with Cuba, which was to enter into effect on 7 February. This marked the official beginning of a 60-year blockade (though the imperialist assault had started earlier), which has progressively been strengthened and tightened The aims of this campaign of imperialist bullying were openly declared in an April 1960 secret memorandum by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Lestor Mallory. The memorandum, optimistically entitled “The Decline and Fall of Castro”, starts by establishing the following fact: “the majority of Cubans support Castro”. What’s the problem, one would think? There is a government in Cuba that has the overwhelming support of the population. Why should this worry the US? Ah, but, as Mallory points out: “Fidel Castro and other members of the Cuban Government espouse or condone communist influence.”
The Clowns of War Risking It All What have we got going on here? It’s getting crazy. War drums beating everywhere. War mascara worn by worried women crying, Wah. The Washington Football Team — now the Washington Commanders — setting up a situation where it’s all chiefs and no indians on the field. And what’ll happen when the Chiefs are playing the Commanders? Will anybody be taking orders? Who’ll be receiving the long bomb? Who’ll pray Hail Mary? Halftime jets screaming overhead burning more fuel? Ain’t you aren’t? Probably it’ll all end in a drunkard’s dream on the Hangover Monday holiday. Right now, the media, all of them, are busting open at the seams with the need for war’s gassy release. If someone lights a match in the current climate: BOOM. Will the Russians invade Taiwan? Will the Red Army descend like Huns on the war chickens in Kiev, forcing the Ukrainians to build a willing wall? Or a mall? Or a hall? Or some dodge to hide their loot in? Will Bucky Bucky Beaver finally pull the lever on the Fall? Say, That’s All, folks! Will the Smiling Buddha finally have the nirvana to laugh his ass off? Cry, suffer motherfuckers! Will the Pakis deliver their Sunni warheads to the Saudis? Have the Russkies already delivered their nuclear cookies to the Shia Iranians? Which anti-Semite nation will Israel nuke first? There’s so many to choose from. Will America’s PNAC pearl harborists continue to spread their dark hegemonic needs, like Johnny Bad Appleseed, around the world?
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!
On Sunday, Stevem Donziger reached his 600th day of an unprecedented house arrest that has resulted from a sprawling, Kafkaesque legal battle with the oil giant Chevron. Donziger spearheaded a lengthy crusade against the company on behalf of tens of thousands of Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest whose homes and health were devastated by oil pollution, only to himself become, as he describes it, the victim of a “planned targeting by a corporation to destroy my life”. Since August 2019, Donziger has been restricted to his elegant Manhattan apartment, a clunky court-mandated monitoring bracelet he calls “the black claw” continuously strapped to his left ankle. He cannot even venture into the hallway, or to pick up his mail. Exempted excursions for medical appointments or major school events for his 14-year-old son require permission days in advance. An indoor bike sits by the front door in lieu of alternative exercise options. — The Lawyer Who Took On Chevron – And Now Marks His 600th Day Under House Arrest
What if I told you that a multinational oil company allegedly polluted the Amazon for almost three decades? And that the oil company has spent even more years refusing to accept liability? Or that a US attorney who agreed to represent thousands of Ecuadorian villagers in a lawsuit against that oil company has lost his law license, income, spent hundreds of days under house arrest in New York, and in 2021 was sentenced to six months in prison? From 1964 to 1990, Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, allegedly spilled more than 16m gallons of crude oil – “80 times more oil than was spilled in BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster”, according to Gizmodo – and 18bn gallons of polluted wastewater in the Amazon rainforest. The pollution allegedly contaminated the ground and waterways with toxic chemicals that the plaintiffs – mostly Indigenous people and poor farmers – say has caused cancer, miscarriages, skin conditions and birth defects. (Chevron has said that Texaco’s operations were “completely in line with the standards of the day” and told the New Yorker, in 2012, that “there is no corroborating evidence” for the health allegations.) — Chevron Is Accused Of Polluting the Amazon For 26 Years. The Only People Who’ve Paid the Price Are A Human Rights Lawyer And Those Whose Land Was Poisoned
Soaring Methane Levels Show Climate Feedback Loop Has Arrived Rapidly rising levels of atmospheric methane are “very bad news for humanity and the planet,” warned one observer. Fresh U.S. government data spotlighting the rapid growth of atmospheric methane concentrations in recent years has scientists increasingly concerned that the human-caused climate crisis has triggered a vicious feedback loop, potentially resulting in unstoppable planetary warming.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
February Is Black History Monthe’
Creating systemic equity is the counterbalance to systemic racism, but it requires a retooling of the whole system, investment in people and communities, and new diverse leadership. Equity requires humbleness and prioritized spending beyond many well-meaning organizations working within the realm of anti-racism. Merely turning the pie so that people of color can now enjoy the portions white Americans have been accustomed to fails to recognize that the entire pie is poisonous. — As American As Apple Pie: An Essay About Structural Racism
The New Jim Crow: North Carolina’s New Education Bill Promotes Historical Erasure and White Supremacy This is the power and difficulty of HB 324. It uses the moment of anti-Critical Race Theory rhetoric to go after its real target: anti-racist, anti-oppressive, critical civic, and authentic teaching.
The Shaming and Punishment of Whoopi Goldberg: What Does It Say About US Society? Finally, I found one, Rabbi Sharon Brous of the Ikar community in Los Angeles. She tweeted, “If what you want is to change someone’s mind, I have to think education is more effective than public shaming and punishment. Particularly when that person shows a sincere willingness to learn and apologize.” Goldberg did in fact apologize on the same day of her initial statement, saying: “On today’s show, I said the Holocaust ‘is not about race, but about man’s inhumanity to man.’ I should have said it is about both. As Jonathan Greenblatt from the Anti-Defamation League shared, ‘The Holocaust was about the Nazi’s systematic annihilation of the Jewish people—who they deemed to be an inferior race.’ I stand corrected.”
Black Agenda Report
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist Eric Adams’ Black on Black Crime The mass incarceration state was built to lock up as many Black people as possible and discussion of even modest reforms is shut down.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence Gridiron gods and theirVoodoo? and Move African-Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor American History Month to Black August? As part of the Black Agenda Report Book Forum, we interview scholars about a recent article they’ve written for either an academic journal or popular publication.
Netfa Freeman The US Political Elite Gives Cover to the Brutal US Police State The US political elite and their elite press are using the fraudulent claims about a “crime wave” as an ideological offensive, a backlash, against the large-scale protest movements over the pas
Black Alliance For Peace The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the “America COMPETES Act” The America COMPETES Act passed by the House of Representatives is a futile effort to “contain” China, and a de facto attack on that country
Tessa Fox How Lebanon Exploits Migrant Workers The kafala system allows residents to bring workers into Lebanon, where they are often abused and overworked with no recourse to protection under labor laws.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review SPEECH: (Re)Centring African Epistemologies: An Intellectual Journey, Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí, 2021. Nigerian scholar Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí’s speech upon acceptance of
Nigerian scholar Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí’s speech upon acceptance of the African Studies Association’s Distinguished Africanist Award offers an important reminder of the role of racist and sexist hie
the African Studies Association’s Distinguished Africanist Award offers an important reminder of the role of racist and sexist hie
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist Left-Right White Solidarity Basis of Support for U.S./EU/NATO Wars on Global Humanity The current crisis in Ukraine had its beginnings in 2014, when the U.S. allied itself with right wing, white supremacist forces to overthrow an elected government.
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor Eight times the United States Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons Since WWII U.S. accusations of human rights abuses elsewhere ring hollow.
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor Activist Journalist Frank Sterling on Trial
Donald Shaw The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Has a New Corporate Megadonor eb
Amazon donated $1.7 million to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation last year as it faced allegations of illegal anti-union work.
Chantal Flores Mexico Has Become a “Roofless Prison” for Haitian Refugees—With Biden’s Help Thousands of migrants are trapped at the border as the United States and Mexico crack down on deportations—under Biden’s policies, many will be expelled.
Labor:
Economy:
Jerome Powell’s Term as Fed Chair Ended Last Saturday. The Senate Has Not Reconfirmed Him. What’s Up? “The Federal Reserve Board on Friday named Jerome H. Powell as Chair Pro Tempore, pending Senate confirmation to a second term as Chair of the Board of Governors. The action, effective February 5, enables him to continue to carry out his duties as Chair after the expiration of his term on the same day, and while the confirmation process is underway. In its annual organizational meeting in January, the Federal Open Market Committee separately named him as its Chair.” This is the first time in a quarter century that a Fed Chairman’s term has lapsed before he was reconfirmed by the Senate. According to Reuters, the last time it happened was 1996 when Alan Greenspan served from March 3 to June 20 as Fed Chair Pro Tempore. Powell has not even made it to a vote in the Senate Banking Committee, which has to happen before the full Senate can vote on his confirmation. So what’s going on? It appears that Democrats are playing hard ball since Republicans are waging a war against two of Biden’s other three nominees to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors.
World:
Israeli Policies Satisfy the Definition of Apartheid Under International Law A furor has enveloped Washington, D.C. as Democrats and Republicans alike scramble to denounce Amnesty International for the report it released this month, which describes Israel as an “apartheid state” and alleges that the human rights abuses committed against Palestinians by the State of Israel constitute crimes against humanity under international law. In many respects, there is nothing new in the report, as many other human rights organizations, including the UN, have long ago drawn the same conclusions. In fact, many Israelis themselves agree with the assessment of Israel as an apartheid state. Even the late Israeli politician Yossi Sarid, who served as minister of education and the environment back in the late 1990s and through the early 2000s, said the following in 2008 for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: “What acts like apartheid, is run like apartheid and harasses like apartheid, is not a duck — it is apartheid.”
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!