Daily News Digest November 16, 2022
Images of the Day:
Rising Health Care Costs Stress Test 
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 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 very 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:
“December 3,1955, was the day that the African American community in Montgomery issued the cry to stay off the buses as a one day protest on behalf of Mrs. Parks. The vast majority of African American riders did just that. Mrs. Parks was convicted and fined ten dollars. As a result of this blatant injustice, the African American community scheduled a mass meeting at one of the local churches. However, because of deep-seated fear, many of the ministers were reluctant to participate. Mr. Nixon expressed his outrage, I almost lost patience with them, he continued, I told them what I thought about and told them, unless you accept this program to continue this boycott this evening, there’ll be more than a thousand people at the church tonight. I’ll take the microphone and tell the people that we don’t have a program because you all are too cowardly to stand on your feet and fight. — “December 3,1955, was the day that the African American community in Montgomery issued the cry to stay off the buses as a one day protest on behalf of Mrs. Parks. The vast majority of African American riders did just that. Mrs. Parks was convicted and fined ten dollars. As a result of this blatant injustice, the African American community scheduled a mass meeting at one of the local churches. However, because of deep-seated fear, many of the ministers were reluctant to participate. Mr. Nixon expressed his outrage, I almost lost patience with them, he continued, I told them what I thought about and told them, unless you accept this program to continue this boycott this evening, there’ll be more than a thousand people at the church tonight. I’ll take the microphone and tell the people that we don’t have a program because you all are too cowardly to stand on your feet and fight. — The Lessons of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Videos of the Day:
E.D, Nion, The Forgotten Hero The Father of the Civil Rights Movement
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 Republicrats 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. Rax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay!
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” ― Louis Brandeis
Fighting a War on the Wrong PlanetWashington’s vaunted “rules-based international order” has undergone a stress test following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and here’s the news so far: it hasn’t held up well. In fact, the disparate reactions to Vladimir Putin’s war have only highlighted stark global divisions, which reflect the unequal distribution of wealth and power. Such divisions have made it even harder for a multitude of sovereign states to find the minimal common ground needed to tackle the biggest global problems, especially climate change.
Marjorie Cohn: Inter-American Commission Hears Landmark Case of Killing by US Border Patrol For the first time, the commission agreed to hear an extrajudicial killing case involving United States law enforcement. or the first time, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has agreed to hear an extrajudicial killing case involving violence committed by U.S. law enforcement. The Commission is a body of the Organization of American States, which includes the United States. It considers cases involving torture, massacres, extrajudicial killings and disappearances in the Americas.
Fresh Call to Impeach Clarence Thomas After Latest Ruling on Jan. 6 Insurrection “His wife, Ginni Thomas, pressured Arizona officials to illegally overturn Trump’s loss,” noted one watchdog. “It’s absurd that Thomas did not recuse.” A long-standing call for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to face impeachment proceedings was renewed Monday after the right-wing judge indicated in an unsigned dissent that he would have blocked enforcement of the House January 6 panel’s subpoena for the communications records of Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.
Georgia GOP Bars Saturday Early Voting Before Crucial Senate Runoff Georgia voters are slated to not be allowed to vote early on a Saturday before the upcoming U.S. Senate runoff due to voter suppression efforts by the GOP and the occurrence of Thanksgiving and a Confederate holiday in late November. The runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Republican Herschel Walker will take place on December 6. Though the early voting window for the election could potentially encompass two weekends, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said that state law will not allow early voting on Saturday, November 26, despite saying last week that voters will likely have the opportunity to vote that day
Environment: Ecosocialism or Ecocide!:
A Review of World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022 in Bioscience, October 26, 2022 
The report opens, “We are now at “code red” on planet Earth. Humanity is unequivocally facing a climate emergency. The scale of untold human suffering, already immense, is rapidly growing with the escalating number of climate-related disasters. Therefore, we urge scientists, citizens, and world leaders to read this Special Report and quickly take the necessary actions to avoid the worst effects of climate change. 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity,” signed by more than 1700 scientists in 1992. Since this original warning, there has been a roughly 40% increase in global greenhouse gas emissions. This is despite numerous written warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a recent scientists’ warning of a climate emergency with nearly 15,000 signatories from 158 countries (Ripple et al. 2020). Current policies are taking the planet to around 3 degrees Celsius warming by 2100, a temperature level that Earth has not experienced over the past 3 million years (Liu and Raftery 2021). The consequences of global heating are becoming increasingly extreme, and outcomes such as global societal collapse are plausible and dangerously underexplored (Kemp et al. 2022). Motivated by the moral urgency of this global crisis, here, we track recent climate-related disasters, assess planetary vital signs, and provide sweeping policy recommendations.” Excerpts: “Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of severe weather events across the world… We are now regularly seeing events and disasters that previously occurred only rarely… In the summer of 2022, one third of Pakistan was flooded, displacing 33 million people and affecting 16 million children… terrifying wildfires in Europe, back-to-back cyclones and subsequent flooding in eastern Australia, numerous rivers drying up in China and Europe, an extraordinarily intense hurricane striking the Southeastern United States, powerful storms and extensive flooding in Bangladesh and India, megafires and a continuation of the decadal drought in the western United States, a massive flood that closed Yellowstone National Park, and unusually severe heat waves or “heat domes” in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere…”. Sixteen of thirty-five planetary vital signs are at record extremes; “Three major greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—all set new year-to-date records for atmospheric concentrations in 2022… Ocean heat content rose greatly in 2021 and is now at a record high… The number of extremely hot days has nearly doubled since 1980… Globally, roughly 500,000 deaths between 2000 and 2019 were heat-related… Impacts may not track linearly with global heating. Models indicate that this leaping pattern or threshold response may be the case in the United States for both the area burned by wildfires and the number of inland floods that have caused at least US$1 billion dollars in damages… global wildfire activity appears to be exhibiting a rapid increase since 2009.” Feedback loops are upon us; “Rising temperatures increase the risks of feedback loops and tipping points being triggered, including permafrost thawing and Amazon forest dieback… Higher temperatures will increase the risk of cascading effects such as disease and conflict, as well as heighten the probability of and our vulnerability to other catastrophic threats… The increasing frequency and intensity of climate disasters emphasize the need for immediate mitigation and adaptation… In addition to protecting nature, including forests, efforts should be made to explore the potential of effective carbon dioxide removal strategies, which can help cool the planet in the long term by countering historical emissions.” Conclusion; “We are now in a major climate crisis and global catastrophe with far worse in store if we continue with business as usual… There is more at stake today than at any time since the advent of the stable climate system that has supported us for more than 10,000 years… We stand at the precipice, with the opportunity to make such an immense difference for life on Earth… The very future of humanity depends on the creativity, moral fiber, and perseverance of the 8 billion of us on the planet now… We must equitably reduce ecological overshoot and immediately pursue massive-scale climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is the only way we can limit the near-term damage, preserve nature, avoid untold human suffering, and give future generations the opportunities they deserve.”
Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:
Aftershock: The Repercussions of Black Maternal Mortality The United States is the most dangerous country in the industrialized world to have a child or be pregnant. And, conditions are much worse in Black and other communities of color. Aftershock, 2022 winner of the Sundance U.S. Documentary Special Impact for Change Award, centers on two women — Shamony Makeba Gibson and Amber Rose Issac — who died because of preventable childbirth complications. Aftershock’s directors, Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt, mothers themselves, document two grieving families to expose a growing epidemic of U.S. Black maternal mortality. In the U.S., Black women are nearly four times more likely to die during or following giving birth than white women. The film, streaming on Hulu, follows two mourning fathers on their journey to raise their children as single parents. At the same time, they build a movement to expose the dangerous reality of reproductive healthcare for women of color as a systemic issue that dogs our society.
Abortion Access and Funding Have Always Been a Struggle in US Territories Access to abortion in U.S. territories isn’t even a discussion within the mainstream reproductive rights movement. In June, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively eliminating the federal right to abortion, but in Guam, it’s been four years since the last surgical abortion provider retired, leaving the small island territory without anyone who can perform the procedure. Pregnant people seeking an abortion can either receive abortifacients by mail, or, if they are beyond the timeframe where it’s possible to have a medication abortion, they have to travel to Hawai‘i. That is only feasible if they have the means to — and many do not.
Labor:
48,000 Unionized University of California Academic Workers Launch ‘Historic’ Strike “We’re fighting so those of us who do the majority of teaching and research do not have to live with severe rent burdens and debt, while highly paid administrators live in publicly funded mansions,” explained one strike leader. Around 48,000 unionized academic workers at every University of California campus on Monday began what’s being called “the largest higher education strike in U.S. history” as they demand a living wage and better benefits and working conditions.
As Workers Flee China’s Largest iPhone Factory, Activists Say Apple Is to Blame Videos show workers attempting to escape a Foxconn factory where they’re essentially imprisoned to produce the iPhone14. Chinese overseas labor activists and allies have launched a campaign demanding accountability from Apple and Foxconn for their gross mistreatment of workers at a Chinese factory where half the world’s iPhones are made. They rallied in front of the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City on November 6, handing out flyers inviting passersby to sign a petition with the support of labor and community organizations across the world.
Economy:
This Is Where Bankrupt FTX’s Money Went: $74 Million for Caribbean Real Estate; $59 Million to Politicians; Tens of Millions to Big Law, Celebrity Endorsements…The executives running the bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX, may have broken speed records for how fast they could spend other people’s money. They just weren’t any good at managing it on behalf of their investors or safeguarding it for their crypto exchange customers. Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, lived in a 12,000 square foot, five-bedroom luxury penthouse overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in a prestigious resort in the Bahamas, which was put up for sale for $39.5 million the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy, according to reporting at the U.K. news outlet, The Guardian. The Block reports that an FTX-related entity called FTX Property Holdings “spent $74,230,193 on property in the Bahamas over 2022. The bulk of that money, $67,440,193.99, went to entities surrounding Albany Bahamas, a luxury condo resort in New Providence.”
World:
Major Media Outlets From 20+ Nations Demand Windfall Profits Tax on Big Oil A bare minimum, a windfall tax on the combined profits of the largest oil and gas companies—estimated at almost $100bn in the first three months of the year—needs to be enacted.”
Spain: Hundreds of Thousands Hit the Streets Of Madrid in Defence of Public Health And Against the Ayuso Government! On Sunday 13 November, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Madrid against the criminal health policy of Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s right-wing Community of Madrid Government, and in defence of public health. Ayuso, whose colossal arrogance is equivalent to her ignorance and idiocy, is beginning to see her popular support undermined, even among the middle-class elements that formerly supported her. What is needed is a final push to bring her down. 
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
Private Equity Is Quietly Taking Over Health Care — and Making It More Expensive In addition to higher prices, this quiet takeover has also often resulted in lawsuits and complaints about care. Two-year-old Zion Gastelum died just days after dentists performed root canals and put crowns on six baby teeth at a clinic affiliated with a private equity firm. His parents sued the Kool Smiles dental clinic in Yuma, Arizona, and its private equity investor, FFL Partners. They argued the procedures were done needlessly, in keeping with a corporate strategy to maximize profits by overtreating kids from lower-income families enrolled in Medicaid. Zion died after being diagnosed with “brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen,” according to the lawsuit.