Daily News Digest June 8, 2023
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:
Bendib: The Miracle of Bipartisanship
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:
Along with global warming, the increasing pollution of the oceans, the fresh water, the land, and the air throughout the world has put into question the future of our species and other species. Fidel Castro expressed the urgency of these problems in his speech to the Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. He opened with these words: “An important biological species-humankind-is at risk of disappearing due to the rapid and progressive elimination of its natural habitat. We are becoming aware of this problem when it is almost too late to prevent it. It must be said that consumer societies are chiefly responsible for this appalling environmental destruction. … Tomorrow will be too late to do what we should have done a long time ago.” In this context, the fight for the spotted owl, the snail darter, and other endangered species, while important in their own right, are indicative of a far greater concern-the survival of humanity. Profits vs. The Planet: Does Humanity Have a Future? The Environmental Crisis of Capitalism (1999)
I attended the “Dialogue With Cuba” conference at the University of Berkeley on March 23,1998. I went to the panel discussion on agriculture in Cuba and saw the film; The Greening of Cuba. In that film one can see the dramatic transformation that is taking place in agriculture.Normally it takes 3-5 years, after the transition, to begin to achieve the previous levels of productivity. Cuba had the task of feeding its population while undergoing this transformation.The Greening of Cuba is a documentary on how well the Cubans have met the challenge. One of the gains of the Cuban Revolution has been the development of education. Although Cuba has only 2% of the population of Latin America, it has 11% of the PhD’s in Latin America. Cuban scientists were mobilized — not to protect chemicals as in this country — but to develop the alternative organic model . In the past few years Cuban scientists and planners have accelerated this process by using sophisticated biotechnology techniques, such as the mass production of naturally occurring local organisms to create biopesticides and biofertilizers. Among the alternative tactics being used for pest control, the most important are conventional biological controls based on mass releases of parasitic and predatory insects and the use of biopesticides. Cuba The Road Not Taken: The Other Cuban Revolution
Videos/Podcasts of the Day:
Black Agenda Radio June 2, 2023 With Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Rditor
The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up
Breaking The Colonial Grip On African Journalism
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. Tax 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
Patrick Lawrence: First There Were Neo-Nazis, Then There Were No Nazis, Then There Were . . . And now we have the case of Thomas Gibbons–Neff, a square-jawed former Marine covering the Ukraine war for The Times—strictly to the extent the Kyiv regime permits him to do so, as he explains with admirable honesty. This guy is serious times 10, he and his newspaper want us to know. Tom’s job this week is to persuade us that all those Ukrainian soldiers wearing Nazi insignia, idolizing Jew-murdering, Russophobic collaborators with the Third Reich, gathering ritually in Nazi-inspired cabals, marching through Kyiv in Klan-like torch parades are not what you think. Nah, our Tom tells us. They look like neo–Nazis, they act like neo–Nazis, they dress like neo–Nazis, they profess Fascist and neo–Nazi ideologies, they wage this war with the Wehrmacht’s visceral hatred of Russians—O.K., but whyever would you think they are neo–Nazis?
Biden Ignored Intel About Nord Stream Sabotage Three Months Before It Happened The Biden administration knew about the plot to sabotage the Nord Stream pipeline three months before the attack occurred, reports The Washington Post. The details come from a report given to the CIA by a European intelligence service in June 2022, which placed a team of six divers under the leadership of Gen. Valery Zaluzhny—Ukraine’s highest ranking military officer—at the center of the plan devised to destroy the natural gas pipeline. One of the divers has also been suspected of serving in the Ukrainian military.
History Lessons of Imperial Decline Empires built on dominance achieved through a powerful, expansionist military necessarily become ever more authoritarian, corrupt, and dysfunctional. Ultimately, they are fated to fail. All around us things are falling apart. Collectively, Americans are experiencing national and imperial decline. Can America save itself? Is this country, as presently constituted, even worth saving?
‘Nothing Off the Table’: Wyden Says Subpoena Possible for Billionaire Harlan Crow “It comes as little surprise that Mr. Crow is doubling down on bogus legal theories as he continues to stonewall basic questions about his gifts to Clarence Thomas and his family.” U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday said that “nothing is off the table”—including a subpoena—after a lawyer for Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow continued to duck questions about the billionaire’s gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives. In a June 2 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Crow attorney — ‘No Check And Balances’? —R,S.) — Michael Bopp expressed “respect” for the panel’s “important role in formulating legislation concerning our federal courts system,” while stating that he would “welcome a discussion with your staff.” However, Bopp also reiterated his assertion that “Congress does not have the power to impose ethics standards on the Supreme Court” and “therefore cannot mount an investigation for the purpose of helping craft such standards.”
Envionment:
Industrial Farming is Killing Billions of Birds Scientists: Saving birds requires rapid transformative change, especially agricultural reform Worldwide, 49 percent of all bird species are in steep decline. The authoritative State of the World’s Birds 2022 report estimates that there are now nearly three billion fewer wild birds in Canada and the U.S. than in 1970, and about 600 million fewer in the European Union. More limited surveys in the Global South show similar declines. Many accounts of bird population decline simply list multiple possible causes for the decline — wind turbines, urbanization, climate change, logging, wildfires, hunting and even domestic cats. The absence of data on which factors are most important has been a convenient excuse for doing nothing to save the birds. That has now changed. An important study published in the May 15 issue of PNAS — the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — takes that excuse away. Its title states its principal finding: Farmland Practices Are Driving Bird Population Decline across Europe.
‘People Didn’t Listen’: Complete Loss of Arctic Summer Sea Ice Now Inevitable, Warn Scientists “As scientists, we’ve been warning about the loss of Arctic summer sea ice for decades,” said one researcher. Scientists on Tuesday warned that the planet is rapidly headed toward the consequences of the climate crisis that they have been warning about for decades as researchers published a new study showing that a complete loss of Arctic sea ice in the summer months is now unavoidable. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in 2021 alarmed many with its warnings that if high or even intermediate planet-heating fossil fuel emissions continued, the Arctic would be ice-free by the 2040s—but its authors implored policymakers to focus on their finding that the region would retain its summer ice if decisive action was taken to limit an increase in global temperature rises to 2°C or less. The new study published by researchers in South Korea, Germany, and Canada in Nature Communications found that even far-reaching action will no longer save the sea ice.
Drinking Water Threatened and Thousands Evacuate After Ukrainian Dam Destroyed Already heightened concerns about the operational safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have intensified. Already heightened concerns about the operational safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine intensified further on Tuesday after a major downriver dam was destroyed, forcing thousands to evacuate as water surged through the breached structure. The wrecked barrier held back a body of water equal in size to Utah’s Great Salt Lake, and the reservoir supplies water for the cooling of the Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The reservoir also serves as a key source of drinking water. Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for the dam’s destruction, which would constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Reuters noted that “neither side offered immediate public evidence” to substantiate their accusations.
Lula Unveils Plan to Halt Deforestation of Amazon by 2030 “I’m aware of the scope of the challenge of ending deforestation by 2030,” said Brazil’s leftist president, “but this is a challenge we’re determined to achieve.” Leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday unveiled his administration’s plan to halt deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. “I’m committed to resuming Brazil’s global leadership in mitigating climate change and controlling deforestation,” Lula said in a speech marking the launch of the plan. “Brazil will once again become a global reference in sustainability.”
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Homophobic Mob Attacks Defenders of LGBTQ+ Equality Outside School Board Meeting in California “This violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in California,” said one California lawmaker. “We stand in strong support of our LGBTQ+ community. Diversity and inclusion is our strength, and our schools WILL remain welcoming to all.” Far-right fascist groups and homophobic parents instigated violent clashes outside a local school committee meeting in the town of Glendale, California on Tuesday evening which resulted in defenders of the district recognizing June as Pride Month being punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed, and thrown about as police failed to maintain a peaceful situation.
Labor:
Economy:
The World Economy Is Changing—the People Know, But Their Leaders Don’t The year 2020 marked parity between the total GDP of the G7 (the U.S. plus allies) and the total GDP of the BRICS group (China plus allies). then, the BRICS economies grew faster than the G7 economies. Now a third of total world output comes from the BRICS countries while the G7 accounts for below 30 percent. Beyond the obvious symbolism, this difference entails real political, cultural, and economic consequences. Bringing Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to Hiroshima to address the G7 recently failed to distract the G7’s attention from the huge global issue: what is growing in the world economy vs. what is declining. The evident failure of the economic sanctions war against Russia offers yet more evidence of the relative strength of the BRICS alliance. That alliance now can and does offer nations alternatives to accommodating the demands and pressures of the once-hegemonic G7. The latter’s efforts to isolate Russia seem to have boomeranged and exposed instead the relative isolation of the G7. Even France’s Macron wondered out loud whether France might be betting on the wrong horse in that G7 vs. BRICS economic race just under the surface of the Ukraine war. Perhaps earlier, less-developed precursors of that race influenced failed U.S. land wars in Asia from Korea through Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Silvergate Bank Lands in the Middle of Another Massive Alleged Crypto Fraud – This Time at Binance It’s only June 7, but the liquidating, federally-insured, crypto-loving Silvergate Bank is having one helluva month. On June 1, the Federal Reserve released an enforcement action (called a Cease and Desist Consent Order) that it and a California banking regulator had filed against Silvergate Bank and its parent, Silvergate Capital Corporation. (See our report: Disgraced Silvergate Bank Hints It May Not Be Able to Cover All of Its Deposits; Fed Slaps It with a Cease and Desist Consent Order.)
World:
Education. Heal, 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
Fueled by Stock Buybacks, Pay of Top Insurance CEOs Surged to $335 Million Last Year “These health insurance CEOs have been so successful not because they have improved the health and well-being of Americans, but rather because they have sustained financial returns for Wall Street investors.”
‘Shameless Greed’: Pharma Giant Merck Sues to Kill Medicare Drug Price Negotiations “This lawsuit is a desperate attempt by the industry to beat back popular legislation that would curtail Big Pharma’s ability to price gouge Medicare,” said one consumer advocate. Merck on Tuesday became the first pharmaceutical company to sue the Biden administration over a recently enacted law that empowers Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of a small number of high-cost prescription medicines with drug makers—a change that could threaten Merck’s bottom line. Filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., Merck’s lawsuit characterizes the drug price negotiation policy established by the Inflation Reduction Act as “tantamount to extortion” and claims the “singular purpose of this scheme is for Medicare to obtain prescription drugs without paying fair market value.”
“Religious Indoctrination”: Oklahoma Officials Approve Catholic Public School “It’s hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers,” one opponent said. Astate school board in Oklahoma has voted to approve what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school in a move that opponents, including the state’s attorney general, are saying is blatantly unconstitutional. The application to form the school, an online public charter school that would serve K-12, was submitted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma. The purpose of forming the school is very clearly aimed at spreading Christianity: in the “vision and purpose” section of the application, the Archdiocese wrote, “The Catholic school participates in the evangelizing mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.”