Daily News Digest June 9, 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:
Global Warming is Endemic to Capitalism! (See Graph Below) Atmospheric Carbon Dixon CO2 at Mauna Loa Week beginning on May 28, 2023:424.64 ppm. Week beginning May 14, 2023:423.45 ppm. Weekly value from 1 year ago:421.71 ppm. Weekly value from 10 years ago: 399.94 ppm.
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:
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. — Thomas Jefferson
Videos/Podcasts of the Day:
“Downstream Radioactivity: What on Earth Is Coming Out of the Pipes? (Fracking)? (Transcript)
Envionment: Socialism or Ecocide!
Latest Data Reveals ‘Unprecedented’ Increase In Global Warming Update to IPCC report shows record jump in emissions and temperatures
Among the updated indicators:
- Between 2013 and 2022, global warming averaged of 1.14°C above pre-industrial levels. This is up from 1.07°C between 2010 and 2019.
- Human-induced warming is now increasing by more than 0.2°C per decade.
- Increased temperatures are driving “an intensification of many weather and climate extremes, particularly more frequent and more intense hot extremes, and heavy precipitation across most regions of the world.”
- Between 2012 and 2021, greenhouse gas emissions were at an all-time high, adding the equivalent 54 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. That’s about 1,700 tonnes every second.
- The Earth’s “carbon budget” — the emissions that can be released to have a 50% chance of keeping global temperature rise under 1.5°C — is shrinking fast. In 2020, the IPCC calculated the remaining budget at 500 gigatons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It is now about 250 gigatons.
- Improving the odds to 66% or 80% would cut the budget to 150 gigatons and 100 gigatons, which at present rates will be exhausted in less than three years.
Chomsky and Pollin: Just Transition Can Stop Earth From Becoming Uninhabitable We must act now to heed the UN secretary-general’s warning that climate change is “making our planet uninhabitable.” Climate change is “making our planet uninhabitable,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in late March. Indeed, the threats of the impending climate crisis have become very tangible, and the world’s top scientists are warning that the Earth is likely to pass a dangerous temperature threshold very soon unless we act now. Nonetheless, the gap between what is happening to the planet and what is needed in terms of climate action is growing rather than decreasing because, as Noam Chomsky points out in the joint interview with Robert Pollin that follows, “this is how the system works,” unless collective action forces those in power to change course. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly evident that a just transition is pivotal to transformative climate action for workers, communities, and all regions of the world. Pollin shows what a just transition entails and why it is so important.
‘Game Changing’: Spate Of US Lawsuits Calls Big Oil To Account For Climate Crisis Climate litigation in the US could be entering a “game changing” new phase, experts believe, with a spate of lawsuits around the country set to advance after a recent supreme court decision, and with legal teams preparing for a trailblazing trial in a youth-led court case beginning next week. The number of cases focused on the climate crisis around the world has doubled since 2015, bringing the total number to over 2,000, according to a report last year led by European researchers.
- The first constitutional climate lawsuit in the US goes to trial on Monday next week (12 June) in Helena, Montana, based on a legal challenge by 16 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from five to 22, against the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies.
- A federal judge ruled last week that a federal constitutional climate lawsuit, also brought by youth, can go to trial.
- More than two dozen US cities and states are suing big oil alleging the fossil fuel industry knew for decades about the dangers of burning coal, oil and gas, and actively hid that information from consumers and investors.
- The supreme court cleared the way for these cases to advance with rulingsin April and May that denied oil companies’ bids to move the venue of such lawsuits from state courts to federal courts.
- Hoboken, New Jersey, last month added racketeeringcharges against oil majors to its 2020 climate lawsuit, becoming the first case to employ the approach in a state court and following a federal lawsuit filed by Puerto Rico last November.
The Border. Switching Them On Would Devastate Desert Ecosystems. The powerful lights mounted on the border wall threaten the dark skies that make southern Arizona a biodiversity hotspot. The tallest panels of border wall between the U.S. and Mexico stand about three stories high. On the ground, the partitions have a long and troubled record of blocking natural waterways and severing wildlife migration corridors, but the environmental impacts don’t stop there. When the sun goes down, the wall’s ecological footprint expands up and out, with lights reaching into the sky and illuminating cross-border habitats. Most of that illumination is concentrated near population centers and ports of entry, but with the flip of a switch, that could easily change. According to a new survey, federal contractors have placed nearly 2,000 stadium-style lights in southern Arizona alone in recent years, imperiling some of the most ecologically complex and celebrated public lands in the United States
Surging Atmospheric CO2 Hits Level Unseen in Millions of Years The only way to stop this march to a fully tropical globe is to stop burning gasoline and diesel in our vehicles, and to stop generating electricity and heating our homes with coal and fossil gas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday that parts per million of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere averaged 424 ppm in the month of May, reaching a level not seen for millions of years. In May 2022 it was only 421 ppm so this is a tremendous jump on a year over year basis. It probably reflects the resurgence of the world economy as the COVID pandemic has transitioned to an endemic infection and governments have dropped most prophylactic measures.
‘Declare a Climate Emergency’: Biden Urged to Act as Wildfire Smoke Chokes Eastern US “We are in a climate emergency, and it’s absurd that our government isn’t acting like it,” said one campaigner Environmental groups are demanding that world leaders take urgent action as smoke from Canadian wildfires fueled by the climate crisis continued to smother eastern regions of the United States on Wednesday, pushing the Air Quality Index (AQI) in both nation’s capitals to “unhealthy,” with at least 16 states issuing air quality alerts affecting millions of people. New York City had the worst air quality of any major city Tuesday night, and then again on Wednesday afternoon, when its AQI jumped up to “hazardous,” the highest possible level that signals a “health warning of emergency conditions.” “New York City looks like it’s on fire, kids are choking on dirty air, and the AQI is a serious health threat equivalent to breathing in smoke from cigarettes. We are in a climate emergency, and it’s absurd that our government isn’t acting like it,” Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash said in a statement.
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
Gargantuan Pentagon Budget Puts ‘Special Interests Over the National Interest,’ New Reports Warn “The U.S. has a government that is largely devoted to war and militarism,” finds a new analysis from Brown University’s Costs of War Project. Two separate reports published Thursday reach similar about the United States’ sprawling and ever-growing military budget: It is not making the country or the world any safer, it is far too amenable to corporate lobbying, and it is drawing funding away from healthcare, clean energy, education, and other critical public goods.
Report: 2 Million Federal Workers Face Stricter Ethics Rules Than Supreme Court Most federal employees can’t accept a gift worth over $20 from people who aren’t friends or relatives. Millions of federal workers across the U.S. face stricter ethics requirements than those faced by Supreme Court justices, a new report finds, revealing the large insufficiencies in oversight regarding nine of the most powerful individuals in the country. A Bloomberg analysis published this week reveals that at least 2 million U.S. federal workers, of which there are roughly 2.9 million in total, are subject to higher standards of ethics than the Supreme Court.
The USS Liberty: a Well-Planned Accident Today marks the 56th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, which has been described by too many U.S. and Israeli accounts as an accident. In fact, the attack took place after eight hours of aerial surveillance by Israel, and it involved a two-hour air and naval attack that killed 34 sailors and wounded an additional 172 servicemen. This marked a casualty rate of 70% in a crew of 294. The Israelis claimed that they were attacking an Egyptian ship, but the configuration of the Liberty clearly marked it as the world’s most sophisticated intelligence ship, one that could only belong to the United States.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Ekenge Mayele: Not One Step Backwards! FBI Attacks the Black Liberation Movement…again. Drop the Charges NOW! The Black is Back Coalition issued this call to their 14th annual national conference to be held in St. Louis, Missouri on August 12 and 13. Originally published in Black is Back. On July 29, 2022 the U.S. government initiated a watershed assault on the African Revolution headquartered in the U.S. with an attack on the home of the Chairman of the Black is Back Coalition, Omali Yeshitela, who is also the Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party and leader of the international Uhuru Movement. This attack went beyond the harassment the anti-imperialist and black liberation movement have come to expect from the U.S. government when its class peace and domestic colonial domination are challenged. The July 29 attack on the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru Movement are akin to the massive, murderous attack that centered on the Black Panther Party, but targeted the liberation movement of the 1960s as a whole. On July 29, 2022 the FBI military assault on the home of Chairman Omali Yeshitela in St. Louis, Missouri was accompanied by an attack on six other homes and properties associated with the Uhuru Movement in two states. Armored vehicles, stun grenades, militarily-attired FBI troops with assault weapons used battering rams, drones and other means to destroy and steal property, temporarily take a radio station based in the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida off the air, break down every door in the building and raid the Party’s archives.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement Cop City is an effort to ensure that state violence will bring the most draconian methods to bear against Black people. State violence is also being used proactively, in an effort to end opposition to this creation of Atlanta’s white ruling class and their errand boys and girls who ostensibly control a fake mecca for Black people. “The politicians don’t care about the people. They don’t work for the people. They work for corporations, the developers, and the police. The Atlanta City Council ignored the largest mass mobilization ever because the corporate-funded Atlanta Police Foundation controls them.” Kamau Franklin, Community Movement Builders Atlanta, Georgia is no mecca. The idea that it is a “good for Black people” city is a lie. Atlanta is little more than a glorified plantation where powerful white people give directions to the Black people they choose to be overseers. The power of the latter group is severely limited of course. They can always be counted on to act on behalf of the white power structure they serve.
Labor:
Economy:
Welcome to Dystopia: From Wildfires, to Flooding, to Serial Banking Crises and Crypto Frauds, It’s All Too Surreal Yesterday, news headlines blared that New York City had the worst air quality in the world, as an eerie brownish-orange haze enveloped the city and Long Island. Photographs that looked more like scenes from a sci-fi movie popped up all over Twitter. Daytime took on a nighttime quality as streetlights automatically flipped on. Outdoor activities of all kinds were cancelled: the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies cancelled their home games that had been scheduled for Wednesday; schools banned outdoor activities on playgrounds; millions of Americans living in the Northeast United States were cautioned to remain indoors.
World:
Venezuela: Stop Maduro’s Attack on the Communist Party of Venezuela! The leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the governing party in Venezuela, is moving towards the decisive phase of its plan to undermine the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV). On 21 May, a group of hired agents held a fraudulent ‘Extraordinary Congress of PCV branches’ in Caracas, usurping the acronym and symbols of the Communist Party and preparing the ground for future attacks on the party by the state.
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
Sanders to Biden: Don’t Let Big Pharma Bankrupt Medicare With ‘Unconscionable’ Price of Alzheimer’s Drug “We must substantially lower the price that Medicare pays for prescription drugs like Leqembi,” said the Vermont Independent, “and HHS has the power to do just that.”
CFPB Warns End of Student Loan Payment Freeze Could Spell Disaster for Millions “This is ugly. And it is only going to get worse,” warned one advocate. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned Wednesday that millions of federal student loan borrowers in the U.S. could struggle to make payments once forbearance ends in late August—a timeline codified by the debt ceiling measure that President Joe Biden signed into law over the weekend.