Daily News Digest April 15, 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:
Historic Redlining and the Siting of Sil and Gas Wells in the United States Our study adds to the evidence that structural racism in federal policy is associated with the disproportionate siting of oil and gas wells in marginalized neighborhoods.
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:
Swedish Peace Activist: Sweden and Finland Joining NATO Would Make the World Less Safe
Quotes of the Day:
One Pentagon official told the Financial Times that a central purpose of the meeting with arms contractors—which are profiting mightily from Russia’s war on Ukraine—is to weigh “industry proposals to accelerate production of existing systems and develop new, modernized capabilities critical to the department’s ongoing security assistance to Ukraine and long-term readiness of U.S. and ally/partner forces.” The meeting, hosted by the Pentagon’s weapons buyer, will come as the Biden administration is aiming to massively increase the flow of U.S. arms and other military equipment into Ukraine, a step that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded as his country fights Russia’s illegal and devastating invasion. According to the Washington Post, a new weapons package that Biden administration officials are discussing could be worth $750 million, adding to the $1.7 billion in military support the U.S. has provided Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in late February. — Pentagon Convenes Top US Weapons Makers to Increase Supply for Ukraine War
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. Taxthe Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
Countries Ranked By Life Expectancy United States is 26th!
Closer to Doomsday, As the Uited States Escalates the War in the Ukraine!: Biden Answers Zelenskyy’s Plea to ‘Arm Ukraine Now’ With $800 Million in Weapons Peace advocates have expressed concerns that weapons transfers from the West will draw out Russia’s war while enriching arms-makers. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an even-larger-than-expected $800 million military aid package for Ukraine, which has been under attack by Russian forces since late February.
The Billion Dollar Global Market for Nuclear Weapons Nuclear insanity: ongoing development and deployment, endless investment, eventual (either accidental or intentional) use. Nuclear sanity: ultimate (or, God help us, immediate) disarmament. Nuclear insanity: ongoing development and deployment, endless investment, eventual (either accidental or intentional) use.
More Than $900 of Your Tax Dollars Went to Corporate Military Contractors This tax season, I’d rather fund green jobs and disease control than jets that spontaneously combust. Wouldn’t you? Most of us want our tax dollars to be wisely used—especially around tax time. You’ve probably heard a lot about corporations not paying taxes. Last year, individuals like you contributed six times more in income tax than corporations did.
The Coming US Elections: An Interview with Greg Palast Greg Palast is an investigative journalist who has written for the BBC, the Guardian, Rolling Stone, the NYT, and other publications. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2002), Armed Madhouse (2006), Billionaires and Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps (2012), and How Trump Stole 2020 (2020). His strong, incisive voice came to the forefront of alternate, independent journalism back in 2000 when he began reporting on Choicepoint and Katherine Harris, which together purged thousands of “felons” from Florida’s voter registration ranks, a leading cause for George W. Bush’s surprise victory in the state his brother Jeb was governor of. Palast later showed that none of the “felons” were felons and their largely Democrat votes should have counted. More recently he’s been caught up, like a lot of journalists, in the Trump Era farce that has cost so much time on the Climate Change front, underscored the unhappiness of the nation in general and its willingness to elect a clown for president. In his book How Trump Stole 2000, Palast showed how Trump would use select secretaries of state to disenfranchise votes from the left and secure Trump’s election by subterfuge. It almost worked, despite his loud and early warnings. But a pandemic came along, forcing more scrutiny of the national vote count, and Old Joe, who nobody really wanted as president, won election. But then Palast became one of the first to point out how Trump and his associates would use the 12th Amendment to undermine the final House electoral college vote — leading to the eventual largely comical catastrophe of January 6, 2021.
‘Not Good for Democracy,’ Critics Warn as Mega-Billionaire Elon Musk Moves to Buy Twitter “Musk making a play for Twitter out of his petty cash drawer is one more example of why the pooling of so much wealth in the hands of a few is a societal disease.”
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!:
The Outrageous—and Largely Hidden—$5.9 Trillion Annual Subsidy to the Fossil Fuel Industry That Is Killing Us Western governments have been heavily subsidizing their own fossil-fuel industries even as they exhort much poorer countries to do more to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. But the full extent of these subsidies has been hidden by the methods used to measure them.
Biomass Industry Pushes Back Against Europe’s Plans To Protect Woodlands Leaked documents show UK power plant Drax is at the heart of lobbying efforts to dilute EU biodiversity rules that could limit its supply of wood. A powerful US biomass lobby group is pushing for a raft of changes that would weaken European renewable energy rules geared to better protect biodiversity and tackle climate change, DeSmog can reveal. Leaked documents shared with DeSmog show that Yorkshire wood-burning power plant Drax is at the heart of the effort to water down EU sustainability criteria.
Arguing for the Inclusion of Radiolysis of Organic Matter in Shales When Monitoring Emissions at Fracking Sites A team of researchers from Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, in France, the University of Bern and the University of Calgary, has found that shale gas produced by radioactive decomposition represents more of a greenhouse gas emissions threat than has been previously thought. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how they demonstrated that the overlooked source of natural gas should be considered when monitoring emissions at fracking sites.
Thawing Permafrost is Roiling the Arctic Landscape Across the Arctic, strange things are happening to the landscape. Massive lakes, several square miles in size, have disappeared in the span of a few days. Hillsides slump. Ice-rich ground collapses, leaving the landscape wavy where it once was flat, and in some locations creating vast fields of large, sunken polygons. It’s evidence that permafrost, the long-frozen soil below the surface, is thawing. That’s bad news for the communities built above it – and for the global climate.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Black Agenda Report
Margaret Kimberley Liberal Russophobia and War Propaganda U.S. liberals are the worst perpetrators of Russophobic behavior. They are most likely to follow the dictates of corporate media and the democratic party and proudly take part in discriminatory acts. But foolish bans of anything Russian are just the most visible indication that war propaganda is at the root of the hysteria.
Editors, The Black Agenda ReviewGLEN FORD: Black Lives Matter Founder Launches Huge Project to Shrink Black Lives, 2019
Glen Ford reminded us that Black liberation cannot be found over a cheese plate and mimosas in a $6 million southern California mansion.
Ann Garrison Notes from Wartorn Ethiopia
BAR Contributing Editor Ann Garrison reports from Ethiopia.
Jacqueline Luqman Who Will Hold the US/EU/NATO Accountable For Its Many War Crimes?
U.S. presidents and their NATO counterparts have committed war crimes all over the world. But they exempt themselves from prosecution, and use orporate media to act as their personal advocates. Only the little people end up at the Hague.
Charo Mina Rojas Francia Márquez Mina: the Triumph of a Pedagogy of the Oppressed in Progress
Francia Marquez is Colombia’s vice presidencial candidate, the first Black national candidate in that country. Her triumph is not just personal, but the result of a strong mass movement.
“Voting and the Black Left”: An Interview with Kamau Franklin
Kamau Franklin and Roberto Sirvent
Kamau Franklin, founder of Community Movement Builders , speaks with BAR Book Forum Editor Roberto Sirvent about the limitations of electoral politics for the left.
Roberto Sirvent BAR Book Forum: Andrea A. Davis’ “Horizon, Sea, Sound” In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Andrea A. Davis. Davis is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities at York University, Toronto and coeditor of The Journal of Canadian Studies. Her book is Horizon, Sea, Sound: Caribbean and African Women’s Cultural Critiques of Nation .
Raymond Nat Turner The latest from BAR’s poet in residence.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……
Manolo De Los Santos
‘We Will Prevail’: Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel
Cuba’s president Miguel Díaz-Canel continues his country’s struggle against U.S. attempts at domination. The Cuban people continue to make strides, in spite of the 60-year long blockade intended to destroy their revolution.
Fred M’membe Socialism is the Key to Peace
The President of the Socialist Party of Zambia explains that imperialism is the root of the Ukraine and other crises and that socialism is the solution.
Roger D. Harris US’s Flaunting of Diplomatic Immunity Challenged in Court – Imprisoned Venezuelan Diplomat Contests Extraterritorial Judicial Abuse
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations protects the rights of Alex Saab. But the Trump administration violated international law in charging him with a crime and the Biden administration followed suit.
Caitlin Johnstone US Officials Admit They’re Literally Just Lying To The Public About Russia
Intelligent observers know that the state uses corporate media to spread its narrative. Recently the Biden administration admitted what was already obvious.
Christopher Gevers International Law and “European Civilisation”
Despite its promises of universalism, international law has clearly not yet shaken its foundation as a racial order. The author observes the contradictions in South Africa.
Review of African Political Economy Imperialism and GMOs in Kenya: A Perspective from Social Movements Noosim Naimasiah interviews Irene Asuwa and Cidi Otieno about food sovereignty, ecologically appropriate production, distribution and consumption, social-economic justice, and local food systems in Kenya. They also discuss the role of social movements in raising popular consciousness and defending the rights of Kenya’s popular classes.
Labor:
Economy:
JPMorgan Chase Has Sunk $84 Billion Into Buying Back Its Stock Over Past 5 Years; Now Its Stock Is Sinking JPMorgan Chase’s publicly-traded shares closed out 2021 with a share price of $158.35. At the closing bell yesterday, shares of JPMorgan Chase were at $127.30, a year-to-date price decline of 19.6 percent. That’s dramatically worse than its peer bank, Wells Fargo, and modestly worse than another peer bank, Bank of America. That performance is shocking because the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, is paid like a rock star by his Board, treated like a financial wizard by the business press, and perpetually brags about his bank’s “fortress balance sheet” in his musings to Congress and shareholders.
World:
The Role of Capitalism in the War in Ukraine Ukraine, per se, is not the issue. It is tragically a war-ravaged pawn in a much larger conflict. Nor is the issue about either Russian President Vladimir Putin or U.S. President Joe Biden as leaders. The same history and confrontation would prevail upon their successors. Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to force change on the PRC by imposing the biggest sanctions action in history (i.e., a trade war and a tariff war) utterly failed. Trump was caught up in the same history as Biden, even if each focused on attacking the Russian-Chinese alliance differently. To the motives for war in human history, capitalism added another: profit. That motive drove technological advancement and created a genuine world economy. It also built new capitalist empires such as the Spanish, Dutch, British, French, Belgian, Russian, German, Japanese, and American empires. Each of these countries built its empire by various means including wars against prior systems operating on their own territories, in their colonies, and in foreign “spheres of influence.” Wars likewise characterized interactions among empires. Global warfare (“world wars”) accompanied the globalization of capitalism and its profit motive. The war in Ukraine is the latest chapter in the history of capitalism, empire, and war.
Chemical Weapons, Here, There, Everywhere As I write this, BBC reports that UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is “urgently” investigating reports of a chemical weapons attack in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The US Department of Defense finds the reports “deeply concerning.” Usually when the western governments start quacking about “chemical attacks,” it means they’re planning to take action of some kind — airstrikes in Syria, sanctions on Russia, what have you — and are looking for an excuse. This doesn’t look like an exception to that rule: Further down in the story, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar identifies the likely weapon as “phosphorous ammunition.” That would most likely be white phosphorous, an element not classed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention. It’s used as a component in smoke, illumination, incendiary, and tracer rounds for everything from small arms to large artillery, as well as in grenades, by most major militaries on Earth.
Health, Education. and Wealfare:
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!