Daily News Digest July 6, 2023
Image of the Day:
Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and/or Nuclear War Catastrophes!
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:
Podcasts/Vidoes of the Day:
[Podcast] France: Police Killing Sparks Mass Fury Last week, a French policeman shot an unarmed French-Algerian teenager (Nahel M.) in the chest after a traffic stop. Before pulling the trigger, Nahel was told “I will lodge a bullet in your head”. A video of the brutal slaying was uploaded to social media, resulting in a massive outpouring of rage that swept the country.
Black Agenda Radio June 30, 2023 With Margaret Kimberley
Settler Colonial Racism on Canada Day
Activists Demand the US Take Cuba #OffTheList of “State Sponsors of Terrorism”
OceanGate and How the Wealthy Kill
Environment:
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%!
THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST Life and Death on a Scorched Planet In June 2023, the daytime temperature in parts of Iran passed 49ºC, the hottest ever recorded, too hot for human survival. Goodell shows how extreme heat, beyond anything humans have ever experienced, is already dramatically changing the world, impacting everything from food supply to disease outbreaks. If it isn’t stopped soon, global heating means global catastrophe.
A Major Question for a Smoky Independence Day What exactly does the Supreme Court recommend we do about the most dangerous crisis our species has ever faced? The original 13 states have been largely blanketed in smoke this holiday weekend—the ongoing Canadian fires, which we now learn may burn till the snow falls in October, are changing the very quality of summer sunlight to something grayed-out and menacing. But it’s nothing compared to the smokescreen coming from D.C. The big Supreme Court decisions of recent days—allowing commercial bigotry, ending affirmative action, and preventing the White House from expunging student debt—are venal and mean. But they are also something else: an effort to make sure that the more functional politics of an earlier era can’t interfere with the bought-and-paid-for nihilism of the present.
‘Terrifying’: Tuesday Was Hottest Day Ever, Breaking Record Set Just 24 Hours Earlier “Not a milestone we should be celebrating,” said one climate scientist. “It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems.” Data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction shows that the average global temperature reached 17.01°C, or 62.62°F, on Monday—making it the hottest day ever recorded. The record lasted just 24 hours. On Tuesday, the global average temperature peaked at a new all-time high of 17.18°C as regions worldwide—from Asia to Africa to the U.S. South—reeled from dangerous heatwaves. As Bloombergreported, “The heat this summer has already put millions of people around the world at risk.”
Campaigners Demand End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies as Global Heat Records Shatter “Stop giving our money to the corporations cooking the planet.” The trillions of dollars in public subsidies that governments around the world hand to the fossil fuel industry each year are facing growing scrutiny from lawmakers and climate campaigners as heatwaves across the planet push global temperatures into uncharted territory.
Despite Warnings, IAEA Approves Japan Release Plan for Contaminated Fukushima Water “Piping water into the sea is an outrage. The sea is not a garbage dump,” said one local fisherman earlier this year. Despite years of protest and warnings from environmentalists, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog on Tuesday approved a plan by Japan to release tens of millions of gallons of water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The massive storage of radioactive water has been ongoing since the 2011 tsunami disaster triggered a meltdown of the plant, but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the plan orchestrated by the Japanese government and TEPCO, the plant operator, meets safety standards.
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
A Vote for Trump or Biden is a Vote for Ecocide!
Biden Fast-Tracked a Green Energy Mine in One of Earth’s Rarest Ecosystems. Arizona Locals Took It to Court. Carolyn Shafer Spreag the maps out on her patio table. Another sun-dappled Saturday morning under her backyard trees in the picturesque border town of Patagonia, Arizona. Shafer wasn’t relaxing though. She was getting to work. Birds chirped as the 76-year-old traced the 75,000 acres of mining claims on the edge of her community with her finger. She wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with a fearsome wolf hovering above a rugged mountain range. The wolf is the calling card of the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, or PARA. The local group monitors industrialized mining in the Patagonia Mountains, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Schafer is president of the board. “We think of ourselves as local watchdogs,” Schafer told me. “We pay attention to what’s going on with the companies and the agencies, and then we bark really loudly to the big dogs, who have the staff, the knowledge, and the experience to do what is necessary.” The big dogs, Shafer and her allies believe, are needed now more than ever. Last month, the Biden administration announced the “first-ever” inclusion of a mine in a federal program that expedites permitting for high-priority projects. In this case, it was the extraction of minerals from the Patagonia Mountains to support the president’s green energy agenda — manganese and zinc, specifically, for producing electric vehicle batteries and fortifying renewable energy installations, among other purposes.
As We Celebrate Independence, the US Stifles Freedom Around the Globe The U.S. has been a major force of violent repression globally that stamps out people’s hopes for freedom and justice. As fireworks boom and politicians solemnize Independence Day, the United States betrays the freedom of people around the world. The 4th of July is a strange spectacle: In Washington, D.C., patriots wave American flags at a parade even as the U.S. approves Morocco’s occupation of the Western Sahara, helping to crush the Sahrawi people’s hope for independence.
July 4 Glorifies the US Military — a Force With White Supremacy at Its Core According to a Military Times poll, 57 percent of troops of color report experiencing white supremacist behavior. In his “What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July” speech, Black abolitionist Fredrick Douglass highlighted the gross contradictions of a country that claimed to celebrate freedom and independence while embracing slavery. Douglass, however, took solace in America’s age. “There is consolation in the thought that America is young. Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages,” Douglass said in his speech on July 5, 1852. The country was 76 at the time. Lawmakers Aren’t “Progressive” If They Ignore Palestinian Rights Only three progressive members of Congress were bold enough to vote against the $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel. Even after years of dedicated judo training, both Mohamed Abdalarasool from Sudan and Fethi Nourine from Algeria refused to compete in the Tokyo Olympics when they were slated to perform against an Israeli athlete. In an official statement, Nourine said to an Algerian TV station, “We worked a lot to reach the Olympics… but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of this.” This gesture of sacrifice and solidarity with Palestinians oppressed by Israel earned Abdalarasool and Nourine hero status in the Arab world and beyond.
Bipartisan Bill for Middle East “Peace” Will Enable Dictatorships and Occupation The bill continues the U.S. tradition of propping up Arab dictatorships while justifying support for Israeli occupation. Aresolution with wide bipartisan support is being pushed through Congress that would codify one of Donald Trump’s controversial foreign policy initiatives — the so-called Abraham Accords which strengthened U.S. support for Arab dictatorships in return for their formal recognition of Israel. The Israel Relations Normalization Act has 329 House cosponsors, and 72 cosponsors in the Senate, almost evenly divided between the two parties.
Torture With Impunity Runs Rampant in ICE Facilities The federal government gives private prison companies millions to torture immigrants and snuff out the abolitionist movement At least three facilities operated by the private prison company CoreCivic systematically use torture as retaliation against immigrants who denounce the conditions of detention, according to advocates, attorneys, researchers, and detainees. Practices such as extreme solitary confinement, medical neglect, forceful transfers, and threats of removal silence immigrants and allow CoreCivic to maintain lucrative government contracts. Hunger strikes, federal investigations into abuse, and complaints against immigration agencies have made the Biden administration fully aware of the retaliatory practices used at New Mexico’s Torrance County Detention Facility, Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center, and California’s Otay Mesa Detention Center.
Civil Rights/Blackliberation:
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist: The Supreme Court and Political Corruption The Supreme Court has always been a political institution. Racism, political expediency, and outright corruption have dictated its decisions from its inception.
Austin Cole: Beyond Affirmative Action, Toward Black Unity The recent Supreme Court case which banned the use of race in college admissions criteria is indeed racist. The decision also obscures the need for Black unity and for a new Black politics which explicitly calls for liberation.
Jacqueline Luqman What To the Exploited Working Class and Poor in a Capitalist Dictatorship Is the Fourth of July? The 4th of July celebration is a relic of American exceptionalist ideology. There is very little independence in a capitalist dictatorship.
Abayomi Azikiwe Police Brutality, Racism and Poverty Underlines Youth Rebellion in France Protests erupted in France after police killed a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan ancestry. Just as in the U.S. racism in France is the cause of police violence.
Ben Norton US Legally Owes Nicaragua Reparations, But Still Refuses to Honor 1986 International Court of Justice Ruling 37 years after a 1986 International Court of Justice ruling, the United States still refuses to pay Nicaragua the reparations it legally owes. Today, the Nicaraguan government is demanding that the United Nations take action.
Labor:
Teamsters Say UPS Has Simple Choice Ahead of July 5 Deadline: ‘New Contract or Nationwide Strike’ “When UPS Teamsters say we’re strike-ready, we mean it.” The largest single-employer strike in U.S. history could soon be set in motion if United Parcel Service management does not quickly agree to a new contract that is acceptable to the shipping giant’s unionized workforce, which is represented by the Teamsters.
Economy:
From Greedflation to Stagflation and Then Slumpflation Global economic growth is slowing. There is a global manufacturing recession already in place: the latest surveys of economic activity in the major economies show that there is an outright contraction in manufacturing in all the major economies – and it is getting worse. US ISM manufacturing index (score below 50 means contraction
These Charts Show Why the Fed Is Terrified to Stop Raising Interest Rates and Why Nasdaq Is Ripping Higher The top chart above shows one of the most erratic eras in Federal Reserve policy-making history. In the 70s and early 80s, the Fed would slam on the brakes to bring down inflation by raising its benchmark rate (known as the Fed Funds rate), then slam its foot on the gas to revive the economy by cutting the Fed Funds rate. But because the Fed stopped raising rates too soon each time, it had to then raise rates to an ever staggering level to curb runaway inflation, eventually reaching over 20 percent in 1981.
World:
UN Forcefully Hits at US Blockade of Cuba and Prison in Guantanamo Nothing on the horizon now threatens the end of the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba. Critical voices inside the United States and beyond fall flat; nothing is in the works, it seems. Recently, however, the United Nations put forth a denunciation that carries unusual force, mainly because of the UN’s legal authority and its practical experience in Cuba. Criticism of U.S. policies on Cuba from within the United States is usually brushed aside due in large measure to the low priority Washington officials assign to Cuban affairs. Coalitions of nations that condemn the blockade may lack staying power and surely have no means for enforcement. The anti-blockade opinions of nations or individuals, alone or together, are useful mainly for consciousness-raising.
Health. Welfare, and Education:
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