Daily News Digest February 27, 2023

Daily News Digest Archives

Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and/or Nuclear War Catastrophes!

Images of the Day: 

Profits vs. Safety?

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:

Thus far, the Ukrainians have shown a remarkable level of resilience. But how long the morale of both the civilian population and the soldiers at the front can be maintained is unclear.    One thing is clear, however. The next Russian offensive will not be like the previous one that failed so ignominiously. The Russians will attack with all the numbers and firepower at their disposal. And it seems most unlikely that the Ukrainians, already severely weakened by heavy losses and the destruction of their infrastructure, will be able to resist.     However, that does not signify an end to hostilities. In order to secure a total victory, the Russians will have to go much further, until they have utterly undermined the fighting capacity of the Ukrainian army. Is this possible? Yes, it is possible. Russia has considerable reserves that have not yet been brought into play, and which Ukraine lacks. But it will be neither easy nor quick.     News of serious reverses at the front will have an effect on morale. Eventually, splits will break out in the leading layer in Kyiv between the right-wing nationalists, who wish to fight to the bitter end, and the more pragmatic elements, who see that further resistance will only lead to the total destruction of Ukraine and that some kind of negotiated settlement is the only way out.     Whatever the result, there can be no question of a return to the status quo in Europe. A new period of extreme instability, wars, civil wars, revolution and counterrevolution has been born. — Alan Woods, Ukraine’s Bloody Anniversary

Videos/Podcasts of the Day:

Must see the video demonstrating the extent of environmental damage. the effects of industry-wide deferred maintenance policies. and the never-ending effects of the chemicals that become part of the environment!: Watch Live: Erin Brockovich Holds East Palestine Town Hall After Train Derailment

Carl Sandberg: To A Contemporary Bunkshooter  (Christian Right) This recitation is lovingly dedicated to Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Jerry Falwell Jr., and any number of like-minded con artists who, if there were actually a god, would surely be sent straight to hell. 

Environmental Racism ir Kalamazoo!: Kalamazoo Michigan Air Pollution SCANDAL You’ve Never Heard Of

After she had declared herself to be originalist: Watch: Barrett (Originalist) Can’t Name All Five Freedoms of the First Amendment During her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Judge Amy Coney Barrett was unable to list the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. “What are the five freedoms of the First Amendment?” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) asked the nominee.     “Speech, religion, press, assembly. Speech, press, religion, assembly, I don’t know, what am I missing?” she responded. Sasse explained to her that she had failed to mention the right to protest.

Black Agenda Radio February 24, 2023 With Margaret KimberleyUkraine One Year On

No to War, No to NATO: North American Perspectives on Ukraine, Russia, and NATO

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa Support Mumia Abu Jamal 

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 

Ninety Seconds to Midnight and War’s Escalation in Ukraine There is too strong a possibility of nuclear war breaking out as a product of miscalculation to dismiss or understate the risk of escalation.We live in “a time of unprecedented danger.” The Doomsday Clock was moved to ninety seconds before midnight by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on January 24, 2023. This is the closest to apocalypse the clock has been set since its founding in 1947, largely because of “the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine.” Specifically, “Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict—by accident, intention, or miscalculation—is a terrible risk.” The seriousness of the threat of war’s escalation, says the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, requires the US, NATO, and Ukraine to find “a path to serious peace negotiations” with Russia.

Chris Hedges: How the Press Misled the Public on RussiagateVeteran New York Times reporter Jeff Gertz dissects the role of the media in concocting a false narrative portraying Trump as a ‘Russian asset’ rather than a homegrown horror.

China Report Excoriates ‘US Hegemony’, War Crimes, CIA Coups 400 Foreign Interventions China’s Foreign Ministry published a lengthy report condemning “US hegemony” and its crimes around the world, including wars with millions of victims, coups and “regime change” against elected leaders, and 400 foreign military interventions. The Chinese government has published a lengthy report condemning “US hegemony” and its destructive effects on the world. The document analyzed the ways in which the United States has “abused” its hegemony politically, militarily, economically, financially, technologically, and culturally.

‘Biden and Yellen Should Be Ashamed’: US Picks Ex-Wall Street Executive to Lead World Bank “This moment demands a World Bank leader who will prioritize the urgency of the climate crisis, not another Big Business executive with no experience in development, environmental work, or the public sector.”     U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated a private equity executive and former Mastercard CEO to lead the World Bank, drawing furious backlash from climate and anti-corruption campaigners who said the pick would ensure the key global financial institution remains a tool of corporate interests and funder of climate chaos.

Environment — Ecosocialism of Ecocide!: 

Climate Change: Hidden Emissions in Liquid Gas Imports Threaten Targets Europe’s growing reliance on liquefied natural gas (LNG) is coming at a high environmental cost, new research shows. LNG imports have soared in the wake of the Ukraine war which has limited piped supplies from Russia.     Analysis, seen by the BBC, shows that the production and transport of LNG causes up to ten times the carbon emissions compared to pipeline gas.     There are worries that the extra carbon could hamper efforts to rein in warming.

US Energy Firms Use Ukraine War To Lock In Long-Term Gas Contracts,Report Says Oil and gas companies seek expansive contracts to tackle short-term problem of tight European gas supply US oil and gas companies are pushing to solve the short-term problem of a tight European gas supply, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, a new report shows. The US fossil fuel industry has locked in 45 long-term contracts and contract expansions since the start of the war, according to research by Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and BailoutWatch. That’s a major increase from the 14 such contracts signed in 2021. 

All Fish Tested From Michigan Rivers Contain ‘Forever Chemicals’, Study Finds Researchers found PFAS chemicals – used to make products resistant to heat and water – in all samples of 12 species of fish All fish caught in Michigan rivers and tested for toxic PFAS contained the chemicals – and at levels that present a health risk for anyone eating them, according to a new study.

Kalamazoo Michigan Air Pollution Scandal You’ve Never Heard Of After East Palestine, As In 2005, Harmful Chemical Releases Are Unlikely To Affect The Rail Company’s Stock Price Or Bottom Line More than a decade before the train derailment that triggered a series of events sending a mushroom cloud of carcinogenic vinyl chloride burnoff over East Palestine, Ohio, the same rail company, Norfolk Southern, fought responsibility for another large-scale accident in Graniteville, South Carolina. The Graniteville crash released chlorine gas stored in derailed train cars, resulting in the deaths of nine people and hospital admissions for over 500. The crash, caused by two trains colliding from an improperly aligned railroad switch, released 90 tons of chlorine gas. The accident, the largest rail disaster of its type since 1978, resembled a chemical weapons attack. Many of the casualties were local textile workers who were killed by asphyxia from inhaling the gas, which hovered over a nearby plant owned by Avondale Mills.

Civil Rights Black Liberation:

Originalist Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to ‘Unconstitutional’ Arkansas Anti-BDS Law “The struggle for collective liberation requires global solidarity and economic pressure,” said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib. “Today’s decision is a travesty, but the people will not be silenced.” In a move decried by one critic as a “significant loss for the First Amendment,” the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge to an Arkansas law requiring companies doing business with the state to sign a pledge vowing not to boycott Israel.

Labor:

US Strike Activity Surged in 2022 as SCOTUS Workers’ Rights Ruling Looms The number of U.S. workers who staged work stoppages in a wide array of industries in 2022 surged by nearly 50% from the previous year, new federal data shows—but the resolve among employees demanding fair pay after years without a raise, better working conditions, and paid sick leave may be under threat as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a key labor case.

To Prevent More ‘Catastrophic Derailments,’ Rail Workers Outline Plan for Immediate Reforms  “We demand that the railroad be run safely, efficiently, and professionally, and not as some ‘cash cow’ for Wall Street investors and billionaires,” said one union leader. “Much of what is wrong with the rail industry today can be fixed easily and quickly.” Three weeks after the lives of East Palestine, Ohio residents were upended by a fiery wreck involving a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials, rail union leaders on Friday implored federal regulators and lawmakers to “focus on the primary reasons for the derailment and take immediate action to prevent future disasters.”     In a statement, Railroad Workers United (RWU) pointed to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) newly published preliminary report on the February 3 crash and subsequent burnoff of vinyl chloride and other carcinogenic chemicals, which suggests that an overheated wheel bearing likely caused the train to derail. The inter-union alliance of rail workers also cited NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who said Thursday at a press conference: “This was 100% preventable. We call things accidents—there is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable.”

 Economy:

What Will Happen When Banks Go Bust? Bank Runs, Bail-Ins and Systemic Risk Financial podcasts have been featuring ominous headlines lately along the lines of “Your Bank Can Legally Seize Your Money” and “Banks Can STEAL Your Money?! Here’s How!” The reference is to “bail-ins:” the provision under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act allowing Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs, basically the biggest banks) to bail in or expropriate their creditors’ money in the event of insolvency. The problem is that depositors are classed as “creditors.” So how big is the risk to your deposit account? Part I of this two part article will review the bail-in issue. Part II will look at the derivatives risk that could trigger the next global financial crisis. — From Bailouts to Bail-Ins — The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 states in its preamble that it will “protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts.” But it does this under Title II by imposing the losses of insolvent financial companies on their common and preferred stockholders, debtholders, and other unsecured creditors, through an “orderly resolution” plan known as a “bail-in.”

Judge John Dorsey Has Effectively Privatized Justice in the FTX Bankruptcy Case Judge John Dorsey is the presiding judge in the bankruptcy proceedings for Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed house of cards, which includes the now frozen crypto exchange, FTX; his now shuttered hedge fund, Alameda Research; and more than 100 opaque affiliates operating in the shadows around the globe. Undisputed is the fact that despite FTX being represented by some of the most prominent law firms in America as it built this criminal enterprise – notably Sullivan & Cromwell – more than 10.3 million user accounts were looted of more than $8 billion right under the nose of Big Law.

World:

Ukraine’s Bloody Anniversary Exactly 12 months ago today, Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine. The anniversary of that event has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, it has occupied many hours of time on television and as many columns in the pages of the press. Exactly 12 months ago today, Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine. The anniversary of that event has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, it has occupied many hours of time on television and as many columns in the pages of the press.    Both the President of the Russian Federation and that of the United States of America delivered long speeches on the same subject, although, to judge by the content, they might as well have been speaking about quite different events taking place in a distant galaxy.     In his State of the Union speech, Putin stated that the war in Ukraine was caused by the deliberate action of US imperialism. This claim was indignantly denied by the western media, which continued to repeat the idea that this was “Putin’s war” – a war caused by the megalomaniacal tendencies – or actual insanity – of the man in the Kremlin.     Replying to the Russian President, Joe Biden assured a multitudinous audience of adoring fans in Warsaw that NATO was not the aggressor, that it was an entirely innocent, peace-loving assembly of noble-hearted lovers of democracy that never threatened anyone.     “We have nothing against the people of Russia,” he reassured the Poles. We pose no more of a threat to them than would a group of boy scouts who come knocking at your door offering to clean your windows. And so on and so forth in this vein.     Insofar as this lovable assortment of pacifistic boy scouts are armed to the teeth with every imaginable weapon of mass destruction known to humankind, this is, of course, purely for the purpose of self-defence. For the world, as we know, is full of bad guys who are always threatening to overthrow our democratic way of life.

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!