Daily News Digest August 29, 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:
Martin Luther King on Capitalism in His Own Words “I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic… [Capitalism] started out with a noble and high motive… but like most human systems it fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has out-lived its usefulness.” – Letter to Coretta Scott, July 18, 1952. “In a sense, you could say we’re involved in the class struggle.” – Quote to New York Times reporter, José Igelsias, 1968. “And one day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth.’ When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society…” – Speech to Southern Christian Leadership Conference Atlanta, Georgia, August 16, 196
Videos of the Day:
ParodyProject: VORRUPTION – Parody of Truckin’ (Grateful Dead)
Robert Sheer: UC Berkley’s Dark Past
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 is Ecoscialism or Ecocide!
After America’s Summer of Extreme Weather, ‘Next Year May Well Be Worse! A freakish season of record temperatures, wildfire smoke and the destruction of Lahaina could soon become normal, climate experts say A freakish season of record temperatures, wildfire smoke and the destruction of Lahaina could soon become normal, climate experts say. It’s been a strange, cruel summer in the United States. From the dystopian orange skies above New York to the deadly immolation of a historic coastal town in Hawaii, the waning summer has been a stark demonstration of the escalating climate crisis – with experts warning that worse is to come. A relentless barrage of extreme weather events, fueled by human-caused global heating, has swept the North American continent this summer, routinely placing a third of the US population under warnings of severe heat and unleashing floods, fire and smoke upon communities, with a record 15 separate disasters causing at least $1bn in damages so far this year.
The Climate Crisis Demands Collective and Individual Leadership and Responsibility Not everyone can lower their carbon footprint, but every person can do one thing within a community context of support. As temperatures continued to rise this summer, with dire predictions that the next year will be hotter than the one that preceded it, communities around the globe have added climate adaptation and building resilient infrastructure to their list of priorities. Grim statistics greet us as we read news stories, ranging from the worldwide crash of the amphibian population to the decline of pollinators, so necessary for global food production. Recently, the increased temperatures in the southern Florida Keys have caused coral reefs to bleach and struggle for survival. In many cases, these corals will die, eliminating entire ecosystems. The recent deadly wildfires in Maui and tropical storm in Mexico and Southern California remind us that the climate crisis, in addition to human decisions, continues to have dire effects. These stark reminders reveal that we are now on the runaway climate train. Even if we stopped emitting all carbon tomorrow (impossible of course), the snowball effect will continue for decades.
What is REDD?: Protecting the world’s forests is crucial for the climate. Forests absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide and can be a source of greenhouse gas emissions when destroyed or damaged. Countries established the ‘REDD+’ framework to protect forests as part of the Paris Agreement. ‘REDD’ stands for ‘Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries. The ‘+’ stands for additional forest-related activities that protect the climate, namely sustainable management of forests and the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Under the framework with these REDD+ activities, developing countries can receive results-based payments for emission reductions when they reduce deforestation. This serves as a This serves as a major incentive for their efforts.
Forest Carbon Offsets, Supposedly Worth Billions, Have No Climate Benefit! REDD projects combine false emission claims, worthless credits and human rights abuses In January 2023, The Guardian, Die Zeit, and SourceMaterial published the results of a nine month investigation into forest carbon offsets. They found massive overestimates of the number of carbon offsets generated from the projects. The research focused on Verra, the world’s largest carbon standard, and found that “94% of the credits had no benefit to the climate.” The investigation used the analysis in a preprint paper that had not yet been peer reviewed. The paper has now been peer reviewed and published in the journal Science. The authors looked at 26 REDD projects in six countries on three continents and found that “most projects have not significantly reduced deforestation.” Some of the projects did reduce deforestation, but “reductions were substantially lower than claimed.”
Thousands Evacuated After Toxic Leak and Massive Fire at Louisiana Oil Refinery The blaze is the latest fossil fuel-related disaster to threaten residents of Louisiana’s so-called “Cancer Alley” Amandatory evacuation was ordered for thousands of people living within a two-mile radius of a Marathon Petroleum refinery in Louisiana’s so-called “Cancer Alley” after a chemical leak and massive fire broke out at a storage tank there on Friday.
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!
Biden’s March to Ecocide: Rejecting Destruction to Communities, Groups Sue Biden Admin Over Offshore Lease Sale “This vast lease sale—for millions of acres—poses threats to Gulf communities and endangered species while contributing to the climate crisis this region knows far too well,” said one advocate. Calling the Biden administration’s plan to go ahead with an offshore drilling lease sale “mind-boggling” as the United States faces escalating climate harms including “record heat, fires, and flooding,” several advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the U.S. Interior Department’s impending sale of 67 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to the fossil fuel industry.
Trump Brought the Coups Home The violence on January 6, 2021, was just a shadow of the bloodshed that accompanied countless U.S.-sponsored interventions around the globe. August 19 marked the 70th anniversary of the overthrow of Mohammad Mosaddegh, the first democratically-elected prime minister of Iran. It was the first coup d’état in the modern era orchestrated by the United States, launching decades of coups, assassinations and “regime change.” While Iran’s grim anniversary generated scant attention in the U.S., one attempted coup was in the news, as defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia, election interference case against former president Donald Trump and his 18 coconspirators began surrendering for arrest. This is the second indictment served on Trump for his attempted coup against the United States following his 2020 election defeat. The Trump-summoned mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol almost stopped the peaceful transfer of power. The violence on January 6, 2021, though, was just a shadow of the bloodshed that accompanied countless U.S.-sponsored interventions around the globe.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
In The Struggle for Jobs and Freedom, After the Assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and Support to the ‘Lessor Evil Democrates’ has Proven to be a Failed Stategy!:
‘Sixty Years Since the March on Washington and We Are Still Demanding Jobs and Freedom’ ‘Our legacy of resistance & building never ends’ Tens of thousands of Americans converged on Washington Saturday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a turning point in the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement at which Martin Luther King Jr gave his galvanizing “I have a dream” speech. Organizers say today’s march was not a commemoration but a continuation of the demands made in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr.’s only grandchild Yolanda Renee King, 15, told the gathering that if she could speak to her grandfather today, she would say, “I am sorry we still have to be here to rededicate ourselves to finishing your work.” “Sixty years ago, Dr. King urged us to struggle against the triple evils of racism, poverty, and bigotry,” she said. “Today, racism is still with us. Poverty is still with us. And now gun violence has come for our places of worship, our schools, and our shopping centers.
60 Years After the March on Washington, the Black-White Wealth Gap Is Still Too Wide To act today, based on the fierce urgency of now, we must make the investments to eliminate racial disparities within one generation. It’s now been 60 years since the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. At the rally, Dr. King famously proclaimed that all people, Black as well as white, have a “promissory note” from their government guaranteeing “the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” He lamented that “America has defaulted on this promissory note” to Black citizens. Six decades later, despite incremental progress on some fronts, the check has still come back marked “insufficient funds.” But with enough political will, we can clear it quickly. That’s the conclusion of our new report, Still a Dream: Over 500 Years to Black Economic Equality.
Labor:
Peter Infante’s Cancer and Blue-Collar Workers: Who Cares? EDITOR’S NOTE: This paper was presented before the President’s Cancer Panel meeting on “Lung Cancer: Societal and It is reported that the National Cancer Institute (NCD Clinical Implications” last October 5 at Tysons Corner, Virginia. This article by Peter Infante is a cogent summary of recent information on the number of workers ex- posed to carcinogens in the U.S. and the inadequacy or incompleteness of current regulations. Dr. Infante has been a leader for many years in pointing out the risks of cancer and other serious diseases borne by workers, and he made this recent eloquent presentation to the President’s Cancer Panel last October. It is noteworthy that he estimated a considerable ongoing excess risk of death from lung cancer associated with a new Permissible Exposure Limit for cadmium; this is because of the “technological/economic feasibility” constraint on setting OSHA standards. This is one type of constraint that worker health and safety advocates will have to continue to battle in the coming years. Another recommendation Infante made to the President’s Cancer Panel was to fund cancer registries to “collect detailed occupational histories in order to make data bases available to facilitate the identification of unrecognized causes of cancer related to occupational exposures.” This is clearly needed in the U.S., because most cancer registries don’t routinely collect this type of information. Montreal already has a model for this type of system (1) which can be supported by worker health and safety advocates in the U.S. — Richard Clapp, Scientific Solutions Editor
Don’t Blame Retail Workers for Poor Service, Blame the CEOs My job was to build merchandise displays at Lowe’s, the home improvement chain. I wasn’t supposed to deal directly with customers. But when people asked me for help, I was often the only employee available. So I wound up doing everything from sawing lumber to cutting keys — all the while worrying about finishing my assigned projects. Such understaffing leads to frustration for customers and burnout for employees who have to hustle like mad for a paycheck that barely covers their bills. CEOs argue they just don’t have the money to hire more workers or pay family-supporting wages. But their actions say something else. A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies shows that Lowe’s spent nearly $35 billion over the past three and a half years on stock buybacks. This is when a company takes money that could go towards worker wages or other productive investments and uses it to artificially inflate the value of their stock — and the value of their CEO’s stock-based pay.
Econommy:
The Rise of the Walking Dead: Zombie Firms Around the World The rise in the number of unproductive and unviable (‘zombie’) firms worldwide does not bode well for future productivity growth. This column documents global trends in zombification over the last two decades by creating a new dataset of nonfinancial zombie firms, listed and private, for a large set of countries. Despite the widespread increased zombification, the results point to a silver lining: negative macro-financial spillovers from zombie firms to non-zombies can be mitigated by strengthening banks and improving insolvency frameworks. The macroeconomic implications of zombie firms returned to the forefront of the public debate during the Covid-19 pandemic, as concerns emerged that unprecedented public support to firms may have helped zombie firms stay afloat, thus delaying a necessary creative destruction process. The existence of zombie firms is not a new phenomenon, dating back to Japan’s lost decade starting in the 1980s, a period when lending to unproductive and unviable firms played a key role in amplifying the economic stagnation by misallocating capital away from the most productive firms (Peek and Rosengren 2005, Caballero et al. 2008, Giannetti and Simonov 2013). Similar findings have been found during the 2010s European sovereign debt crisis, when weak banks ‘kicked the can down the road’ by evergreening zombie loans (Storz et al. 2017, Acharya et al. 2020, Blattner et al. 2023).
World:
Pax Americana: Bidenomics Isn’t New Deal 2.0. It’s About the Restoration of US Global Hegemony Biden’s program aims to rival China, ease inequalities, and neutralize challenges from the left and the Trumpian right. President Joe Biden has made “Bidenomics” the centerpiece of his reelection campaign, touting it as an explicit break with Ronald Reagan’s “trickle-down economics” and a return to FDR’s New Deal policies. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calls it “the new Washington consensus,” while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen terms it “modern supply-side economics,” a post-Keynesian development strategy. But Bidenomics should be labeled “imperialist Keynesianism.” Biden designed it to prepare U.S. capitalism for imperial rivalry with China, ameliorate domestic social inequalities, and neutralize challenges from the Left and especially the Trumpian right. While the administration failed to secure increased spending on social infrastructure, it has implemented a new industrial policy investing in hard infrastructure and high-tech manufacturing to restore U.S. supremacy over Beijing and other rivals.
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