Daily News Digest February 22, 2023
Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and Nuclear War Catastrophes!
Images of the Day:
Decisions on a Nuclear Future are Guided by Myths
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 Capitalism 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:
Earlier this month, Pitchbook — the premiere news outlet for the private equity industry — declared that “private equity returns are a major threat to pension plans’ ability to pay retirees in 2023.” With more than one in ten public pension dollars invested in private equity assets — and with states continuing to keep their private equity contracts secret — Pitchbook cited a new study finding that losses from the investments may be on the horizon for retirement systems that support millions of teachers, firefighters, first responders, and other government employees. — A Wall Street Time Bomb After reaping huge fees off workers’ savings, private equity firms’ subterfuge could imperil promised benefits for millions of workers and retirees.
The United States has been Using Nuclear Weapons Since the First Iraq War! For example, this quote From, The Queen’s Death Star Depleted Uranium Measured in British Atmosphere from Battlefields in the Middle East, shows how depleted uranium spread worldwide after the “Shock & Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq: The Sunday Times Online, February 19, 2006, reported on a shocking scientific study authored by British scientists Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan: “Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf War 2 result in contamination of Europe? Evidence from the measurements of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK”. The highest levels of depleted uranium ever measured in the atmosphere in Britain, were transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia; of special significance were those from the Tora Bora bombing in Afghanistan in 2001, and the “Shock & Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003. Out of concern for the public, the official British government air monitoring facility, known as the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), at Aldermaston was established years ago, to measure radioactive emissions from British nuclear power plants and atomic weapons facilities.
Nukes in Space?: There is another agenda afoot here, of course, and it’s a military one and the sinister battle for who controls space. If you thought shooting down the Chinese spy balloon was exciting, that was child’s play compared to what is planned for NASA’s nuclear reactors in space. This includes being able to power satellites to become more agile in maneuvering away from “enemy” satellites. Using nuclear propulsion will achieve that, but what other consequences might result from a host of nuclear powered satellites buzzing around in space? It’s no surprise that the Space Force, created for war-fighting in space, is involved in all this. And of course, apparently taking its cue from the mess we have already created on Earth, NASA wants to place nuclear reactors on the Moon as a power source. But for who or what exactly? Will we plant the US flag there while we are at it and claim a new military and strategic frontier? The signs are ominous. — Decisions on a Nuclear Future are Guided by Myths
No matter how roughly we treat the planet, we are going to vanish before the insects will. But what we will see is fewer or no birds in the sky. If you want birds, you need insects. If you want fruits and vegetables, you need insects. If you want healthy soils, you need insects. If you want diverse plant communities, you need insects. — Insect Apocalypse in the Anthropocene, Part I
Videos/Podcasts of the Day:
Ohio train derailment: What chemicals were spilled and how toxic are they?
The DC blame game begins over Ohio train derailment. Whose fault is it?
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
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! Both Parties Support U.S. Capitalism’s Wars! (The Only War the Democrats Opposed was the Civil War!)
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 D. Brandeis Quotes
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. MLK, Beyond Vietnam
Biden in Ukraine — Trump Going to East Palestine?
Putkin Response: The Ukraine War Escalates: ‘Dangerous and Reckless’: Putin Halts Russia’s Participation in Nuclear Treaty With US “Russia must immediately return to full compliance with the agreement and continue to adhere to warhead limits,” said the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a national address Tuesday that he is suspending his country’s participation in the New START Treaty, Moscow’s lone nuclear arms control agreement with the United States. Non-proliferation advocates responded to the move with alarm and condemnation as fears of a broader—and possibly nuclear—conflict in Europe remain elevated, with Russia’s assault on Ukraine raging on with no end in sight.
Many in East Palestine, Skeptical of Official Tests, Seek Out Their Own The moves reflect residents’ deep-seated mistrust of government screenings of toxic chemicals and fears of long-term effects from the train derailment. . . . Residents are also deeply suspicious of Norfolk Southern conducting its tests in tandem with government agencies and have questioned whether the tests are accounting for the creation of other chemicals when officials decided to burn the cargo of a car on the brink of explosion. The news, which arrived days after the derailment and the controlled burn, that the train had been carrying additional chemicals, further fueled their mistrust. The threat of possible long-term exposure to the chemical cocktail released into the air and water, coupled with a deep fear that the town and its neighboring villages will be forgotten in the coming months, has also left many residents feeling as if they are on their own to prove that it is safe to remain or return through means that include paying out of pocket for their own tests. Some have become novice chemists, rattling off the names and effects of chemical compounds that had no meaning to them two weeks ago.
The Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
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When a freight train derailed in Ohio on Feb. 3, it set off evacuation orders, a chemical scare and a federal investigation.
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A Heated Town Hall: Hundreds of Ohio residents gathered to demand answers about the fallout from the derailed train. Officials for the railroad company pulled out hours earlier, infuriating locals.
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Norfolk Southern: As the railroad company’s profits rose in recent years, so too did its accident rate. Experts say a focus on financial returns may be partly to blame for derailments such as the one in Ohio.
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Federal Response: The head of the Environmental Protection Agency traveled to East Palestine with promises of aid but faced skepticism from residents.
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Spurring Speculation: For many influencers across the political spectrum, claims about the environmental effects of the train derailment in Ohio have gone far beyond established facts.
Did Five Supreme Court Justices Lie to Congress About Abortion Views?Their auditions for lifetime appointments on the highest court in the land were an affront to the rule of law and the Constitution they are sworn to uphold. The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, issued last year, overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), and dismantled the federal constitutional right to abortion. One of the lingering questions in the aftermath of Dobbs is whether any of the five justices who voted to take that drastic step lied about their views on abortion during their respective confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A strong argument can be made that each of them either lied or made materially misleading statements.
Chris Hedges: Rage Against The War Machine Speech Hedges spoke at the Washington DC rally on Feb. 19 alongside an array of other notable speakers. . . . The political class, the media, the entertainment industry, the financiers and even religious institutions bay like wolves for the blood of Muslims or Russians or Chinese, or whoever the idol has demonized as unworthy of life. There were no rational objectives in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Somalia. There are none in Ukraine. Permanent war and industrial slaughter are their own justification. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman earn billions of dollars in profits. The vast expenditures demanded by the Pentagon are sacrosanct. The cabal of warmongering pundits, diplomats and technocrats, who smugly dodge responsibility for the array of military disasters they orchestrate, are protean, shifting adroitly with the political tides, moving from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and then back again, mutating from cold warriors to neocons to liberal interventionists. Julien Benda called these courtiers to power “the self-made barbarians of the intelligentsia.
Environment — Ecosocialism of Ecocide!:
Toxic Crash: Norfolk Southern’s Governor of Ohio!: Investigation Shows Rail Giant Donated to Ohio Governor a Month Before Toxic Crash If Norfolk Southern “can pay for lobbyists and politicians, they can pay to clean up the mess they made in our community,” said one local group. An investigation published Monday revealed that just weeks before a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials derailed and caused a toxic chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, the rail giant donated $10,000—the maximum amount allowed—to help fund the inauguration of the state’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. According to WSYX, the Columbus-based news outlet that conducted the investigation, “This contribution, which is part of $29,000 the Virginia- based corporation has contributed to DeWine’s political funds since he first ran for governor in 2018, is merely one piece of an extensive, ongoing effort to influence statewide officials and Ohio lawmakers.”
Erin Brocovich: Some Free Advice To CEOs: When Your Company Causes An Environmental Crisis, You’ve Gotta Make It Right. I’ve been watching CEOs fumble for years, and I have one simple message to convey. The truth always comes out. When you start with ethical business practices, you don’t have to deal with legal or regulatory repercussions. You can be the ones to stop this legacy of pollution and corruption.
Biden Urged Not to Approve Oil Terminals That Could Create ‘Carbon Bombs’ Report finds four new offshore depots would emit around three times what the entire US emits each year, pushing world closer to climate catastrophe Joe Biden’s administration has been urged not to sink its own climate goals by approving an unprecedented ramp-up of oil export infrastructure off the Texas coast that could result in planet-heating emissions equivalent to three years of the US’s entire emissions output.
‘Incredibly Intelligent, Highly Elusive’: US Faces New Threat From Canadian ‘Super Pig’ Northern states on alert for invasion of cross-bred pig that threatens flora and fauna – and is difficult to stop For decades, wild pigs have been antagonizing flora and fauna in the US: gobbling up crops, spreading disease and even killing deer and elk. Now, as fears over the potential of the pig impact in the US grow, North America is also facing a new swine-related threat, as a Canadian “super pig”, a giant, “incredibly intelligent, highly elusive” beast capable of surviving cold climates by tunneling under snow, is poised to infiltrate the north of the country.
As the Oceans Rise: An Admission by the !% That Global Warming is Systemic to Capitalism!: Geoengineering the Atlantic Ocean? A series of retractable gates out in the Atlantic Ocean between New Jersey and the Rockaways in New York City—for $119 billion. That’s among the projects that have and are being considered—“geoengineering” is their category—at enormous cost to try to protect the New York Metropolitan Area from intense storms, among the impacts of global warming. Just out in the current issue of Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management of the American Society of Civil Engineers is an article about the schemes—with a title as extensive as the proposed projects: “Coastal Defense Megaprojects in an Era of Sea-Level Rise: Politically Feasible Strategies or Army Corps Fantasies?”
Civil Rights Black Liberation:
Over 85 People Incarcerated at Washington Detention Center Go on Hunger Strike The detention center is notorious for its lack of sanitation, medical neglect, and use of solitary confinement. Earlier this month, over 85 people incarcerated at Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington, went on a five-day hunger strike to protest worsening living conditions. According to advocates, the strike started on Feb. 1 when guards accused detainees of having contraband materials during an inspection. When detainees across units joined in protest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers retaliated by tear gassing inmates in unit F4 and using smoke bombs and pepper spray on others. Strikers demanded an end to this inhumane treatment, as well as access to better medical care and COVID-19 preventative measures, timely and warm food service, clean bedding and attire, lower telecommunications and commissary prices, among other basic necessities. Detainees ended the strike on Feb. 6 after ICE officials promised to meet their demands, though many say their food is still arriving late and other conditions have yet to be met.
Labor:
The Pauperization of the Working Class!: Hunger Cliffs Looms in US With Extra Food Benefits Set to Expire Millions of Americans will find it harder to put enough food on the table starting in March 2023, after a Covid-19 pandemic-era boost to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits comes to an end. Congress mandated this change in budget legislation it passed in late December 2022. Roughly 41 million Americans are currently enrolled in this program, which the government has long used to ease hunger while boosting the economy during downturns.
Working Class Pauperization: The Drive for Cheaper Labor! A Return to Child Labor? At a time of widespread labor shortages (‘Spin’ for Understaffing R.S.), one might expect policymakers to welcome asylum seekers and economic migrants eager for an opportunity to make a living in the United States. Instead, as the Washington Post reports, legislators in some states have come up with a harebrained proposal for filling those jobs: loosening the restrictions on child labor.
Economy:
Credit Suisse Tanks to New Intraday Lows as Wall Street Mega Banks Mysteriously Shake Off the Contagion Effect The shares of Credit Suisse can’t find a bottom. They plunged to a new intraday low this morning in Europe to trade at the equivalent of $2.79 – down over 6 percent from their previous close. Sparking the continued exodus out of Credit Suisse shares is the growing concern that the exodus of client assets from Credit Suisse has not found a floor. Reuters is reporting this morning that the Swiss financial regulator, FINMA, is investigating remarks made by Credit Suisse Group Chairman Axel Lehmann to the media in early December, which suggested that client asset outflows had stabilized. Simple math indicated they had not.
World:
India: Adani’s Crimes Exposed – Expropriate All the Fat Cats! The US-based market watchdog, Hindenburg, published a report on 25 January accusing the Indian mega-conglomerate Adani Group of a litany of dirty financial dealings, triggering mass sell-offs that have so far wiped at least $100 billion off its value. This is a bombshell detonating right in the heart of Indian capitalism, which could have big implications for the Modi regime. The Adani Group is absolutely dominant in the Indian economy, with tentacles wrapped around infrastructure, ports, airports, power and many other sectors, assisted by the brutal privatisation policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. By leeching the country dry, its stock soared by over 1,000 percent in the past year alone. But Hindenburg’s investigation exposed a tangled web of stock manipulation, fraud, hidden debts and corruption running throughout the Adani Group, which it summarised as “the largest con in financial history.”
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 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!