Daily News Digest August 16, 2023
Images of the Day:
8/14Ted Rall: Dragnet Aint’t the Same
Steve Bell On Reports Julian Assange May Be Offered A Plea (For What Crime Exactly?)
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:
Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like Nascar drivers, then we know who owns them — Robin Williams
Podcasts/Vidoes of the Day:\
Why No Insurrection Charge? Ralph Nader on How Trump Could Still Be Reelected Unless DOJ Acts
Environment:
One of Many Ways to Begin to End Global Warming: Expose ‘Greenwashing’ — Tax the Polluters 100%!
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
After World War II Rosa Luxenburg Coined the Slogan: ‘S0cialism or Barbaism’! Now the Slogan Should Be: ‘Ecosocialism or Ecocide’!
‘This Is Huge’: Judge Sides With Montana Youths in Historic Climate Ruling “This is a landmark decision establishing enforceable principles of intergenerational justice.” “As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet,” said one attorney representing 16 young plaintiffs. Climate advocates on Monday expressed hope that an unprecedented ruling by a state judge in Montana, siding with 16 young residents who argued the state violated their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction, will mark a sea change in the outcomes of climate lawsuits. In Held v. State of Montana, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that rights of the plaintiffs—who range in age from 5 to 22— have been violated by the Montana Environmental Policy Act because the law has prevented the state from assessing the climate impacts of mining projects. Fossil fuel emissions including Montana’s “have been proven to be a substantial factor” in heating the planet and causing pollution, Seeley said in the nation’s first ruling on a constitutional, youth-led lawsuit regarding the climate.
Scientists Warn of Toxic Particle Pollution in Maui Wildfire Smoke “When you burn people’s belongings, vehicles, and boats, we don’t necessarily have a good understanding of what those chemicals are,” said one expert. Scientists and health officials in Maui County, Hawaii on Mondayurged residents to stay away from the island’s western coast if possible to avoid exposure to potential toxins that may have been released following the wildfire that killed at least 96 people and destroyed the historic town of Lahaina.
After Maui Fires, Health Risks in the Air, Water and Buildings Many airborne pollutants fell to the ground, and chemical hazards can reach well beyond the fire zone. People returning to what remains of the beachside town of Lahaina, Hawaii, and other Maui communities after one of the nation’s deadliest wildfire disasters face more dangers, beyond the 2,700 buildings destroyed or damaged and dozens of lives lost. The fires also left lingering health risks for humans and wildlife. When fires spread through communities, as we’ve seen more often in recent years, they burn structures that contain treated wood, plastics, paints and hazardous household wastes. They can burn vehicles and melt plastic water pipes. All of these items release toxic gases and particles.
Colonialism Set the Stage for the Wildfire Destruction of Maui Transformation of the island for mass tourism helped turn it into a tinderbox that has claimed 96 lives so far. The death toll from the Maui wildfires is now about 100 and is expected to continue to climb in what is now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century and the worst natural disaster in Hawaii’s history. As recovery efforts continue, many residents are asking why Hawaii’s early warning system, with about 80 alarms on the island of Maui alone, did not get activated to alert residents about the approaching flames. We speak with Kaleikoa Kaeo, professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii Maui College, who gives a history of colonialism in Maui and how the transformation of the island for mass tourism, such as changes to agriculture and water management practices, helped to turn the area into a tinderbox. “Our people who have lived there since time immemorial are suffering because of the consequences that have been imposed really from outside foreign forces,” says Kaeo.
Florida Isn’t Teaching Its Students About the Climate Crisis Threatening the State’s Survival Instead, its “education” department has approved a series of right-wing videos from Prager U, which draws much of its funding from some of the country’s biggest frackers. On the list of crazy weather records this overheated summer, it’s possible that the single most extreme might have been a 101.1°F temperature measured by an ocean buoy at Manatee Bay in Florida in July. That appears to be the hottest temperature ever measured in the ocean; it’s in a murky and shallow stretch of the Keys, but across the entire Gulf coast temperatures are truly astounding. The average for the Gulf of Mexico this week is more than 88°F , crushing the average for the date across the last three decades by two and a half degrees; God forbid a hurricane gets loose in there any time soon. Coral reef researchers were reporting “100% mortality” at sites in the Keys.
Expert Warns US Nuclear Agency’s ‘Reckless’ New Rule Will Weaken Emergency Safety “People everywhere need to be aware of the NRC’s dangerous decision and its implications for their health and safety.” A physicist at the Union of Concerned Scientists on Monday condemned a proposed U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule allowing the licensing of new nuclear reactors without requiring them to have offsite emergency plans, a policy experts argue could adversely affect disaster safety. Proponents contend that the NRC’s Part 53 rule—which would provide regulatory relief for advanced nuclear reactors—makes sense because those types of power plants are much safer than currently operating units. However, Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said in a statement that “past natural and human-made disasters have taught us that having a robust and workable emergency plan in place is the key to minimizing human suffering and loss of life if the unthinkable happens.” “NRC’s reckless decision today flies in the face of that experience,” he added. For over 50 years, the NRC and its predecessor agency, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, sought to build nuclear power plants away from densely populated areas due to the threat of accidents. However, under the new rule, construction of advanced nuclear reactors would be allowed in areas with high population densities.
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. 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!
The US Mainstream Media Beats the China War Drums A recent NBC Nightly News segment perfectly illustrates the media’s usefulness in the hawks’ endeavor to seek a more confrontational relationship with the rising superpower. As the United States tries to navigate a new world order in which China has emerged as its primary competitor and at times rival, hawks in Washington, the weapons industry, and other financially or politically interested parties are seeking to base that relationship on fear, confrontation, and animosity rather than healthy competition and cooperation.
98-Year-Old Kansas Newspaper Co-Owner Dies Day After “Gestapo” Style Police Raid The police sent the message: “mind your own business or we’re going to step on you,” the co-owner said. The entire local police force showed up to raid the offices, treating the press like they do in authoritarian regimes. Atown’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies raided a small newspaper in Kansas, the Marion County Record, seizing computers, cellphones and reporting materials from the newspaper’s office, its reporters, and the publisher’s home. “This looks like the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes,” Seth Stern, advocacy director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization that protects, defends and empowers public-interest journalism in the 21st century, said Friday. “The anti-press rhetoric that’s become so pervasive in this country has become more than just talk and is creating a dangerous environment for journalists trying to do their jobs.”
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
New Jersey Activists Won a Ban on Private Prisons, Now Biden Wants to Reverse It The Biden administration is backing CoreCivic in a lawsuit against a state law banning contracts with private prisons.
A White Mob Attacked a Black Riverboat Captain. This Time, His Life Mattered. That the dock worker was not presumed to be the aggressor against the attacking white mob is a victory for Black lives. On Saturday, August 5, a group of white boaters violently attacked Damien Pickett, a Black riverboat co-captain in his 60s who asked the boaters to move their pontoon so the riverboat could dock. Instead of respecting the authority of the captain, the white boaters began to hit him repeatedly and knocked him to the ground. Any uncertainty about the racialized nature of the incident is put to rest by the hurling of a racial epithet. Witnesses heard the assailants exclaim “fuck that n*****r” just before they attacked Pickett. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the violence is that it took place at the riverfront in Montgomery, Alabama. By the antebellum era, Montgomery had become one of the largest domestic slave trading cities in the country. Hundreds of thousands of Black enslaved people were brought from the North and Upper South to the city by white slave traders and sold to enslavers from across the region. Black adults and children disembarked steamboats upon their arrival in Montgomery at the very dock where last Saturday’s incident unfolded.
Labor:
Shadow Government Statistics Alternate Real Unemployment Rate has been little above 25% for the Past Three Years! The Popular Headline Unemployment Measures Narrowed a Bit in July 2023, Such Was Not Happy News It was Due to Long-Term Discouraged Workers Moving/Aging Beyond Headline Reporting Consideration by the Bureau of Economic Analysis
Economy:
Shadow Government Statistics ShadowStats New Weekly Commentary – Monday, August 14, 2023 All Recovered? An Overheating Economy? Inflation Contained? Not a Chance! On Top of the Federal Reserve’s Monetary Excesses, an Intensifying Federal Deficit Explosion Will Exacerbate Inflationary Pressures Congressional Budget Office Just Upped Its Fiscal 2023 Deficit Estimate to $1.7 Trillion, from $1.5 Trillion a Few Months Back The Federal Reserve Contends that an Overheating U.S. Economy Is Driving Inflation Higher So, the Fed Keeps Hiking Interest Rates, Purportedly to Suffocate the Economy and Inflation, but That Is Nonsense While Its Rate Hikes Indeed Are Savaging the Economy Anew, They Only Exacerbate, Re-Intensify the Pre-Existing, Pandemic-Driven Collapse The Inflation Problem Was and Is Driven by the Fed’s Extraordinary and Excessive Money Supply Creation in Response to that Same Pandemic-Driven Collapse June 2023 Money Supply Increased, Despite the Fed’s ―Tightening,‖ With Systemic Liquidity Still Holding at an Inflationary 53-Year High Level July 2023 CPI Annual Inflation Jumped to 3.18% from 2.97%, as Gasoline Prices Jumped in the Month, Against a Sharp Drop in Year-Ago Ukraine-Spiked Prices Headline Second-Quarter 2023 GDP Growth Softened, but Held Positive Yet, July 2023 Labor Numbers and Second-Quarter 2023 Real Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Construction Spending, Housing Starts and Home Sales All Signaled a Continuing or Renewed Downturn The June 2023 Trade Deficit Also Resumed a Deteriorating Trend, Further Sapping Domestic Economic Strength Headline Inflation The July 2023 Consumer Price Index Notched Higher Year-to-Year ShadowStats Alternate Inflation (1980 Base) Year-to-Year Percent Change 1970 to July 2023, Not Seasonally Adjusted [ShadowStats, BLS]
Wall Street Mega Banks and Their Disgraceful Bailout Charts Since the Repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 The Bill Clinton administration’s repeal in 1999 of the 1933 Banking Act, commonly known as the Glass-Steagall Act, ushered in the greatest kleptocracy America has ever known. The Cambridge dictionary defines “kleptocracy” as: “a society whose leaders make themselves rich and powerful by stealing from the rest of the people.” In fact, the actual goal of repealing Glass-Steagall was to do just that.
World:
1,500+ Academics Say Israel’s Occupation of Palestine Is Apartheid “There cannot be democracy for Jews in Israel as long as Palestinians live under a regime of apartheid.” An open letter equating Israel’s illegal 56-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in Palestine with apartheid has now been signed by more than 1,500 academics in the United Statesd, Israel, and around the world. In what one professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University called “a watershed moment,” the academics published an open letter entitled “The Elephant in the Room” in which they “call attention to the direct link between Israel’s recent attack on the judiciary and itsillegal occupation of millions of Palestinians.”
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