Daily News Digest March 25, 2022
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines, Like the Salk Polio Vaccine, are Free For the Whole World
Images of the Day:
Actsof War by the Untied States Since WWII: 
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:
The United States has been engaged in what the great historian Charles A. Beard called “perpetual war for perpetual peace.” The Federation of American Scientists has cataloged nearly 200 military incursions since 1945 in which the United States has been the aggressor. — Gore Videl. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
As the consumer price inflation rate in the UK and the US hits a 30-year high, we have: Shrinkflation – another trick by corporations to sustain profits against rising costs. Paying the same for less. — Michael Roberts Blog re: Why ‘Shrinkflation’ Means You Are Paying the Same For Less
Contrary to popular belief, the government can take measures to protect Americans from exorbitant prices for drugs that were invented with U.S. taxpayers’ dollars. It can, for example, march-in on the drug’s patents and license them to a generic manufacturer, if the drug is not available to the public at a reasonable price. Not surprisingly, some businesses and trade associations would prefer to maintain unfettered control over their prices, and thus their profits, and simply do not want to accept this reality. — March-in Opponents Are Wrong: The US Government Can Protect the Public From Unreasonably High Drug Prices
The USFS and collaborators also plan to burn sagebrush. They have determined that sage grouse habitat in this landscape has too much sagebrush. Burning big holes in this sagebrush will create more grass, which sage grouse apparently like as much as cows do. In addition to sage grouse, hunters will also supposedly benefit from the new roads and logging proposed outside of the Sheep Mountain roadless lands. With less security, elk will be easier to kill, unless they choose to avoid hunters by moving to private lands, an ongoing trend in Montana. Finally, the USFS and collaborators concluded that long periods of spring helicopter use in the Greenhorn roadless lands will not really bother grizzly bears, including sow/cub groups, because 10 years of spring disturbances are considered to be “temporary.” Unfortunately, groups that have the money and time to attend meetings to collaborate with the USFS are promoting the degradation of lands owned by all Americans. — Deforestation for Cows in Montana’s Gravelly Range
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 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!
Malik Miah and Barry Sheppard: United States: Why we should oppose economic sanctions against Russia Socialists and anti-war forces in the United States must oppose the United States-NATO economic sanctions against Russia. It is not enough to say, “No to the Russian invasion of Ukraine!”; “No to NATO!” “No to the sanctions!” should not be omitted or played down. This is especially important, as we can affect what our own government is doing to prolong the war it provoked. The severe sanctions imposed by the US-led NATO countries have upended 30 years of economic integration of Russia with the West.
“The Fix’ is In”: NY Prosecutor Who Resigned Believes Trump Is ‘Guilty of Numerous Felony Violations’ In his resignation letter, Mark Pomerantz wrote that the new Manhattan DA’s decision not to prosecute the ex-president “is misguided and completely contrary to the public interest.” The New York Times on Wednesday published the full resignation letter of a prosecutor who abruptly quit last month over the new Manhattan district attorney’s refusal to bring charges against former President Donald Trump. “I fear that your decision means that Mr. Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes.
‘Extraordinary Allegation’: Mo Brooks Claims Trump Personally Asked Him to ‘Rescind’ 2020 Election Results “I can’t imagine getting a request to illegally overthrow the lawful United States government and hiding it, let alone continuing to publicly support the person who made it,” said Rep. Don Beyer in response to the statement by the Alabama Republican.
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!
Deforestation for Cows in Montana’s Gravelly Range On Jan. 9, 2017, the Forest Service (FS) met with the Gravelly Landscape Collaborative which included groups as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and The Nature Conservancy, to plan the Greenhorn Vegetation Project in the Gravelly Landscape. The jointly-planned vegetation treatments were recently released for public comment. The FS and collaborators have proposed slashing/burning over 16,000 acres of inventoried roadless lands because there are too many trees and shrubs. Fire is needed to get rid of this offending vegetation, much which may be replaced with cheatgrass. The proposal failed to define why the woodlands and wooded-shrublands that are to be removed are not being used by wildlife. These areas provide important elk and mule deer winter range, elk and deer fawning/calving habitat, and key habitats for at least a dozen bird species identified as Montana Species of Concern.
Emissions, Exceptionalism, and Inequality in World on Fire Cleaner, alternative energies are only going to be truly viable if we can also greatly reduce our energy needs, which means reconfiguring the global economy. Do we really have what it takes? Three years after the end of World War II, diplomat George Kennan outlined the challenges the country faced this way: “We have about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security.”
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Margaret Kimberley, Executive Editor and Senior Columnist The Ongoing Covid Disaster Pollsters have advised Joe Biden to declare covid over. But the pandemic revealed all the shortcomings of a political system which is dedicated to austerity and to protecting capitalist interests. Declarations of victory should be treated with skepticism.amu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist Ukraine: War and the Challenge of Human Rights in the United States and Beyond
The U.S. justifies wars of aggression in the name of human rights. The term has no meaning domestically either, as the people’s needs are subordinated to those of the ruling class.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review MANIFESTO: The Gary Declaration: Black Politics at the Crossroads, 1972 In 1972, thousands of Black people met in Gary, Indiana to establish a political and economic platform that would influence the US presidential elections. The document from this meeting, The National Black Political Agenda, remains one of the most radical and comprehensive programs for Black politics.
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor Biden has Money for War, but Not for the PoorJoe Biden and congress have plenty of money for the military industrial complex, but only austerity for the people. The imperialist machine is always fed.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR Poet in Residence The latest from BAR’s poet in residence. A war is not a war…
Jacqueline Luqman Lies and Times: How The New York Times Gives Cover to Fascists Much of the New York Times reporting on Ukraine doesn’t meet basic journalistic standards. The “newspaper of record” is in fact a record of ruling class and state apparatus narratives.
Saladin Muhammad Bessemer Alabama Amazon Workers Continue Struggle to Unionize The mostly Black labor force at an Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama will have a second opportunity to vote for unionization.
AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #38 Black Alliance for Peace, US Out of Africa Network
Black Alliance for Peace reports on its US Out of Africa: Shut Down AFRICOM campaign in the AFRICOM Watch Bulletin. Onyesonwu Chatoyer Imperialism and the Weaponization of Empathy The essential human need to give and receive empathy is often manipulated by corporate media, who act on behalf of the state and the ruling class.
Benjamin Norton Latin America is on the Frontlines of the US New Cold War on China and Russia The United States has turned Latin America and the Caribbean into a key battlefield in its new cold war on China and Russia, invoking the 200-year-old colonialist Monroe Doctrine to justify aggressive interventionist policies.
Fergie Chambers Ukrainian Refugees Spare No Words on Zelensky Government The war in Ukraine has created millions of refugees who pass through neighboring nations such as Moldova. Their stories complicate the pro-Ukraine government narrative preferred by U.S. corporate media.
Libby Watson The Coming Medicaid Purge Millions will lose federal health coverage when the pandemic officially ends — and contractors are poised to cash in.
Margaret Kimberley and Danny Haiphong What you need to know about the Ukraine Crisis from a Black Left Perspective w/Dr. Gerald Horne Dr. Gerald Horne joins Margaret Kimberley and Danny Haiphong to discuss his article for Black Agenda Report titled “From Crisis to Catastrophe: What is to be done in Eastern Europe?”
Labor:
Economy:
Why ‘Shrinkflation’ Means You Are Paying the Same For Less Inflation is everywhere. Labour shortages, supply chain bottlenecks and rising post-pandemic demand were already pushing up costs. Now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is squeezing the supply of food and energy. Some big companies have seemed happy to push the pain through to their customers: Procter & Gamble and Unilever bragged that price increases had boosted revenue last year as they announced plans for more. But sometimes manufacturers prefer to be sneaky — or fear that customers will flee. So today’s Dorito bags have five fewer chips and mega packages of Cottonelle toilet rolls have lost 28 sheets. Unilever is among those practising “shrinkflation”: bottles of Dove body wash recently dropped from 24 to 22 ounces in the US but can still be sold for the same price. Mentions of changing product sizes shot up on earnings calls at the end of last year, says analytics firm Sentieo. “Pricing is just one of the levers in our toolkit . . . Price pack architecture also becomes critical in these inflationary times,” said Noelle O’Mara of Tyson Foods, in one typical reference.
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 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!
“The Global South will not accept half-measures when our lives are on the line.”: ‘Millions of Lives Could Be Saved’: Ex-UN Chief Demands Better Patent Waiver Deal Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon argued that a newly announced compromise on Covid-19 patents would “do little to improve access to vaccines and treatments.” “In fact, it is barely a waiver at all, with elements of the intellectual property agreement actively reinforced,” argued Ban Ki-moon, a prominent climate and human rights advocate who served as U.N. secretary-general from 2007 to 2016. “The result is a compromise that will do little to improve access to vaccines and treatments.”
Disability Doesn’t Make Us Less Worthy of Life. COVID Policy Assumes It Does. As we hope for a world a little less dominated by COVID, we must recognize that risk will not be the same for everyone. . Until recently, I worked in institutional settings like hospitals and nursing homes, and a different question has kept me up at night: Who gets to live, and who is left to die in this country? Even before the pandemic, this question bothered me, but since March 2020 the inequities in health care have been written starkly in death statistics (with disabled people, elders, and/or people of color being hit the hardest). White House Chief Medical Officer Anthony Fauci said last month that the “full-blown pandemic” is nearly over, and we will be transitioning to a phase when individuals will make their “own decisions” about risk. As a high-risk immunocompromised person, that sounds to me like code for no longer trying to protect high-risk lives. Already, as mask mandates lift and quarantine times are shortened, the chronically sick, disabled and elderly bear increased risk. We’re stuck at home, often not even able to make it to necessary medical appointments, as public society becomes too dangerous for us.