Daily News Digest August 29, 2022
Images of the Day:
Alan Robock: The Terrifying Research Nuclear Powers Don’t Want You to See
The Media Monopolies’ Fake News
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!
Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Has Been Aware of the Comming Catastrophe of Global Warming for Over 5 Decades 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!
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:
Fake News: Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.[1][2] Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term “fake news” was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common.[3][4] Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information. It’s also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavourable to them. Further, disinfor-mation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text.[1] Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term. The prevalence of fake news has increased with the recent rise of social media, especially the Facebook News Feed, and this misinformation is gradually seeping into the mainstream media. Several factors have been implicated in the spread of fake news, such as political polarization, post-truth politics, motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, and social media algorithms.
Videos of the Day:
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Reproductive Justice, Human Rights and the Failure of Electoral Politics
The Struggle for Bodily Autonomy in Marginalized Communities
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!
The Lesson From Joe Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness? Go Big Or Go Home Politics is not like regular life; it’s worse. Things that are held as treasured virtues in the normal world are often political liabilities. We’ve all just been served with a shining example of how reflexive moderation – which is good when estimating measurements for recipes, or having drinks at a work party – becomes the tendency of a political fool. The wellbeing of countless Americans has long been sacrificed on the altar of moderation by the Democratic party, and all the Democrats win for it is maximal disgust.
Environment: Ecocide or Ecosocialism!:
As Up to 90% of Marine Species Could be at High or Critical Risk If Greenhouse Gas Emissions Continue As-Is: Capitlaists Want to Continue to Mine the Oceans Floor!: ‘Time Has Run Out’: UN Fails to Reach Agreement to Protect Marine Life This fifth round of discussions was meant to establish a UN Ocean Treaty that would protect biodiversity in international waters The latest round of talks at the United Nations aimed at securing protections for marine life in international waters that cover half the planet ended without agreement Saturday. The fifth round of discussions, which began two weeks ago, were designed to establish a UN Ocean Treaty that would set rules for protecting biodiversity in two-thirds of the world’s oceanic areas that lie outside territorial waters.
Alan Robock: The Terrifying Research Nuclear Powers Don’t Want You to See Climate scientist Alan Robock, one of the authors of a groundbreaking Nature Food paper on the little-discussed impacts of nuclear war, talks to Robert Scheer about his work. Climate scientist Alan Robock, one of the authors of a groundbreaking Nature Food paper on the little-discussed impacts of nuclear war, talks to Robert Scheer about his work. Humanity is, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, “just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.” The warning, made at the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, arrives at a time of alarmingly heightened tensions around the world. Just a few days after Guterres made that statement, Nature Food published a harrowing scientific paper that drove home the UN Secretary General’s message: “Global food insecurity and famine from the reduced crop, marine fishery and livestock production due to climate disruption from nuclear war soot injection.” The paper (which you can read in full here) was written by a handful of leading experts who have spent years studying the potential impact of nuclear war on food supplies. The results are stark.
When Extreme Weather Reigns, Disinformation Pours As heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and flooding hit countries worldwide, climate deniers and those obstructing climate action deny or downplay extreme weather’s climate connection. Recent extreme weather across the globe is showing us how rapidly the climate is changing in an increasingly warming world. Heatwaves are scorching Europe, the United States, North Africa, Siberia, and some parts of the Middle East and China. Last month, the worst heatwave ever recorded hit Japan. In Brazil, more than 20,000 people were displaced after heavy rainfall in May triggered floods and landslides. The month before, extreme rainfall and floods in South Africa killed more than 400 people. In Europe, Spain and Portugal are battling wildfires, while Italy is suffering from the worst drought in the past 70 years, with many municipalities rationing water. Last week, the UK Meteorological Office issued its first-ever red warning for extreme heat in England which, according to reports from the Guardian, led to firefighters’ busiest day since the Second World War. On July 19th, the day the temperature in London passed 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in history, the Daily Mail, a leading British tabloid, published an editorial titled “Why can’t the Met Office just tell us the weather, instead of spreading alarm and scolding us with doom-laden lectures?” The author of the article is, as director of the climate science website Carbon Brief, Leo Hickman, noted, a consultant for “companies operating in the energy sector.”
Pakistan Declares National Emergency as Climate-Intensified Floods Devastate 33 Million This is a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions,” said the country’s climate change minister. This is a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions,” said the country’s climate change minister. Pakistan declared a national emergency on Friday as catastrophic monsoon rains, exacerbated by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis, continued to pummel the country for the third consecutive month.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist: Trump Derangement Syndrome Returns . . . Aside from the item descriptions, no one knows what Trump had or what the FBI found. Leaks from the Justice Department indicate something about nuclear weapons, but no one knows what that means. The lack of information hasn’t stopped the speculation which Trump always causes. There is conjecture that he was selling information to Russia or to Saudi Arabia or was plotting some other treason. There are even claims that documents were buried with his recently deceased ex-wife. It is fascinating that there can be so much guesswork about issues no one can know. The years long Russiagate investigation is responsible for ordinarily sensible people losing their minds. Hardly anyone recalls that the charge of collusion was actually disproven, that Robert Mueller only indicted for process crimes, such as those which occur when people let down their guard and talk to the FBI. Most Americans who know the name Paul Manafort think he was a Russian spy but don’t know that he went to jail for tax and bank fraud. Propaganda works very well when it is repeated over and over again. Worse than the silly Trump inspired derangement is the way that those who call themselves left or progressive have chosen to defend federal law enforcement and bad legislation like the Espionage Act. The Espionage Act is a relic from the earliest days of the cold war, and Woodrow Wilson’s infamous Palmer Raids which targeted the left for persecution and prosecution. Barack Obama used it more than all previous presidents combined in order to prosecute journalists who published what the state didn’t want us to know. As for the FBI, its Counter Intelligence Program, COINTELPRO, created dissension in the liberation movement, targeted individuals for prosecution, spied on Martin Luther King and told him to commit suicide, and killed Fred Hampton and Mark Clark among others. The FBI continues to use informants to entrap Black people in phony terror cases. It is truly shameful to see Black people exalt the FBI and act as if punishing Trump is the organizing principle of all political activity. The Trump organization is also under investigation by the New York Attorney General and the former president refused to answer questions put to him in a deposition. The right to remain silent is one of the most important in American law and should be used a lot more often. But copaganda television shows and Trump hatred have caused their own form of insanity, and his exercise of a fundamental right was widely lampooned. No one should ever be condemned for utilizing their fifth amendment right, not even Donald Trump.
Labor:
Economy:
Down the Jackson Hole Jay Powell, the Chair of the US Federal Reserve, Made a Keynote Speech at the annual summer symposium of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. This was closely watched by financial investors and economists to see if Powell was going to support the strategy of a ‘Fed pivot’ on interest-rate policy. The pivot is supposed to be a softening on the current aggressive hiking of the Fed’s policy rate. The pivot would keep interest rates from rising too much and thus sustain the stock market and the economy. After all, the US year on year inflation rate had subsided a little in August from a high of 9.1% to 8.5%; and real GDP was again confirmed in decline in the first half of 2022, while consumer spending has been falling back. So the signs of recession have increased, if the US is not already there. But that made no difference to Powell. His speech made it clear that there would be no ‘Fed pivot’. Powell reckoned that inflation was still too high and so the Fed’s tightening cycle was far from done. “With inflation running far above 2% and the labor market extremely tight, estimates of longer-run neutral are not a place to stop or pause. ” He went on to tell us that we are going to suffer a hit to jobs and living standards as a result of the Fed’s tightening policy, but that could not be avoided: “Restoring price stability will take some time and requires using our tools forcefully to bring demand and supply into better balance. Reducing inflation is likely to require a sustained period of below-trend growth. Moreover, there will very likely be some softening of labor market conditions. While higher interest rates, slower growth, and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses. These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation. But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”
World:
Israeli Ex-Diplomat Says Growing Acknowledgement of Apartheid ‘Must Be Wakeup Call’ Former negotiator of Oslo Accords warns that increasing use of the word “apartheid” to describe Israel’s mistreatment and control of the Palestinian people has deep implications. Israeli Ex-Diplomat Says Growing Acknowledgement of Apartheid ‘Must Be Wakeup Call’Former negotiator of Oslo Accords warns that increasing use of the word “apartheid” to describe Israel’s mistreatment and control of the Palestinian people has deep implications.
Health, Education 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!
Missouri School District Brings Back the Paddle to Discipline Students Studies have demonstrated that corporal punishment produces lasting psychological harm to students. Aschool district in southwestern Missouri is bringing back corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure, in the form of spanking with a paddle. Cassville Public Schools announced the option for parents to “opt into” having their children be punished by being “swatted on the buttocks with a paddle,”according to reporting from The Kansas City Star. Under the new policy, students can be hit by a school administrator with a paddle to avoid suspension, with the permission of a parent or guardian.
Moderna Slammed for ‘Grotesque’ Lawsuit Against Pfizer Over Covid-19 Vaccine Patents “If anyone should be suing big pharma,” said one campaigner, “it’s the millions who have needlessly lost loved ones to Covid-19 while Moderna and Pfizer sold doses to the highest bidder.” Public health experts and advocates alike on Friday condemned pharmaceutical company Moderna for its lawsuit against Pfizer over over Covid-19 vaccine technology patents, saying that if anyone should be suing it’s the poor people of the world who have been refused access to the shots by the greed of both companies.