Daily News Digest September 1, 2023
Image of the Day:
Hurricane Idalia Could Become 2023’s Costliest Climate Disaster for the US
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:
Video:
Trump Indictment Distraction
Black Agenda Radio August 25, 2023 Impending Haiti occupation and Black face imperialism, attacks on abortion and reproductive rights, how the climate crisis impacts Black people
The Niger Crisis and U.S. Imperialism
Cop City Referendum in Atlanta
Jackson MS Organizations Petition EPA for Emergency Relief on Water System
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!
Record-Breaking Extreme Weather Will Only Become Worse, Says Climate Scientist By allowing fossil fuel expansion, the Biden administration will bring us deeper into catastrophe, says Peter Kalmus As Hurricane Idalia left a wake of destruction Wednesday, President Joe Biden said, “I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore.” Climate activist and scientist Peter Kalmus calls for Biden to declare a climate emergency in order to unleash the government’s ability to transition away from fossil fuels. “The public just doesn’t understand, in my opinion, what a deep emergency we are in,” says Kalmus. “This is the merest beginning of what we’re going to see in coming years.” Kalmus blasts the fossil fuel industry for manipulating politics through campaign contributions, and GOP presidential candidates for misleading the public about climate science. “As a parent, as a citizen and as a scientist, I find it appalling and disgusting,” declares Kalmus. “I can’t mince words anymore.”
The Unhowled Land Without wolves or lynx, our ecosystems remain barren, depleted and overrun by proliferating deer. What’s missing from this picture? I mean the picture of rural Britain many of us hold in our heads, whether it be a thatched and mullioned idyll, or the bare hills fetishised by naive nature writers? Well, quite a lot. Trees in the uplands; soft boundaries between habitats (ecotones) that are crucial for thriving food webs; dead wood, of which there’s a dearth in this country; scrub (a vital but derided habitat); undrained wetlands; and wild, healthy rivers. But there’s something else, something whose absence is less visible but just as important. Wolves. Not just wolves, but any large or middling terrestrial predators. We talk here of wolves and lynx as “top” predators. But our native top predators, until modern humans finished them off, were lions, hyenas, bears and scimitar cats. Wolves and lynx would better be described as mesopredators. The wolf that didn’t howl helps solve the mystery of how this country, for all its love of nature, remains one of the most ecologically barren places on Earth.
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!
Marjorie Cohn: The US Is Fanning the Flames of War With China U.S. actions intensify the danger of nuclear war in the Asia-Pacific. The United States is gunning for war with China. By cozying up to Taiwan and arming it to the teeth, President Joe Biden is undermining the “One China” policy which has been the cornerstone of U.S.-China relations since 1979. he Biden administration is enlisting South Korea and Japan to encircle China. The U.S. military is conducting provocative military maneuvers that exacerbate the conflict in the South China Sea. Biden is escalating tensions with China and intensifying the danger of nuclear war in the Asia-Pacific. And Republican presidential candidates are also fanning the flames of war with China. In March, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines called China the “leading and most consequential threat to U.S. national security.” Chinese President Xi Jinping stated, “Western countries — led by the U.S. — have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us.” The Biden administration has “doubled down” on the most bellicose aspects of Trump administration policies, especially over Taiwan, which the U.S. had long recognized as part of China, Peter Kuznick, professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, told Truthout.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Ruling Allows New Jersey’s Last ICE Jail to Remain Open Despite State Ban Biden supported a private prison company’s suit to keep the jail open, but immigrant rights activists aren’t giving up.
TN Prosecutor Threatens Pride Event With Enforcement of Blocked Anti-Drag Law The Blount County District Attorney says he can enforce the ban even though a judge ruled it unconstitutional.
When Police Killed a Trans Woman, Small Town Officials Scrambled to Protect Them Since the killing, officials have publicly celebrated the police and tried to stop circulation of a watchdog newspaper.
- The Climate Crisis Will End When Capitalism Ends
- EDITORIAL: Joanne Little: American Goes on Trial, Freedomways, 1975
- Blue Flag Over LasAnod: A Victory for Somali Nationalists
- Blue Flag Over LasAnod: A Victory for Somali Nationalists
- Counter-insurgency and Black Studies: An Interview with Tea Troutman
- Katrina, Rich Men North Of Richmond, And The Persistent Hatred of Poor People
- Challenging Imperialism: Communist Party of Kenya Stands in Solidarity for Justice and Equality with the Haitian People
- No to Blackface imperialism. Yes to Haitian Sovereignty
- Tens of Thousands Pledge to Resist an Imperialist-backed Intervention in Niger
- BRICS Expansion is Positive – But Not a Coherent Challenge to US Power
Labor:
Why I Celebrate May Day But I Do Not Celebrate Labor Day! By RolandSheppard Retired Business Agent Painters Local # 4 San Francisco I celebrate May Day, but I don’t celebrate Labor Day — I just observe it. To me, Labor Day means the codification of the labor bureaucracy’s subservience to the capitalist class. That was the original purpose for the United States capitalist class when it made labor day a holiday. It was organized as such in opposition to the Labor Day that was/is celebrated everywhere else in the world — a demonstration class solidarity! — May Day! May Day was celebrated, in memory of the martyrs of the Haymarket Massacre in 1886 Chicago and the unending struggle of the world working class for their “unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Econommy:
Navigating by the Stars Under Cloudy Skies —And Holed Below The Water Line In the last few days, the leading central bankers of the advanced capitalist economies met at the annual jamboree in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, US. Jackson Hole is a very upmarket ski and mountain resort where average household income is near $100,000 a year. So it is a very appropriate place for central bankers to meet and discuss the world’s economic problems and, in particular, the cost of living crisis and the fall in real incomes that has hit the rest of us across the globe. The meeting was kicked off by an eagerly awaited address from Fed Chair Jay Powell on the central bank’s progress on getting inflation down. Financial investors were hoping for a clear statement that the Fed would stop hiking its policy rate now that inflation was falling. But that hope was dashed as Powell made it clear that inflation was “still too high” and while the rate of inflation was falling, it would be necessary to keep the policy rate high for some time i.e. well into 2025, and it may be necessary to raise it again before the year is out. Powell sort of admitted for the first time that inflation had spiked to levels not seen since the 1980s because of “supply distortions”, but continued to claim that it was a combination of ‘excessive demand’ and weak supply. That was stating the obvious in the sense that it takes two to dance i.e. if the supply of commodities is lower than demand for them, then prices would rise and vice versa. But the question is: which was the leading the dance, supply or demand? The evidence is now overwhelming that it was the former, with rocketing energy and food prices caused by the collapse of supply chains internationally, very low productivity growth and the loss of skilled workers after the pandemic.The SEC and DOJ Are Doing Damage Control for 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase In much of the United States, if a person is convicted of a felony after conviction on two prior felonies, they receive a severe prison sentence. It’s known as the Three Strikes Law. But if you are the largest bank in the United States, charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with five felony counts since 2014, along with other major crimes for which you are given a non-prosecution agreement, not only do you not get harsher treatment for each new criminal act, but you actually get two federal law enforcement agencies doing damage control for you. We’re talking about JPMorgan Chase and its cozy relationship with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and certain officials within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The SEC and DOJ Are Doing Damage Control for 5-Count Felon JPMorgan Chase In much of the United States, if a person is convicted of a felony after conviction on two prior felonies, they receive a severe prison sentence. It’s known as the Three Strikes Law. But if you are the largest bank in the United States, charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with five felony counts since 2014, along with other major crimes for which you are given a non-prosecution agreement, not only do you not get harsher treatment for each new criminal act, but you actually get two federal law enforcement agencies doing damage control for you. We’re talking about JPMorgan Chase and its cozy relationship with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and certain officials within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
World:
Europe’s Rotten New Deal on Refugees The Mediterranean might be a paradise for holidaymakers, but it is simultaneously a graveyard, where at least 27,000 migrants have died in attempted border crossings since records began in 2014. A new EU deal is being touted as the best chance for a more ‘structured’ approach to this ‘problem’: distributing migrants more evenly across the continent. In reality, it will do nothing to alleviate the nightmare, and merely balances the reactionary interests of European powers. As the crisis of capitalism continues to bite, the ruling classes of Europe have increasingly blamed social and economic problems in their countries on a ‘deluge’ of migrants seeking refuge on the continent, themselves victims of imperialist military adventures and grinding poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
China: Economic Downturn Augurs Epoch of Instability and Struggle The news that Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States has sounded the final death knell for China’s real estate industries. A series of corporate defaults, a recession in the real estate market, soaring unemployment and a rapid decline in people’s consumption have debunked the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP) regime’s fraudulent claims of a “strong economic recovery” in China. The news that Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States has sounded the final death knell for China’s real estate industries. A series of corporate defaults, a recession in the real estate market, soaring unemployment and a rapid decline in people’s consumption have debunked the ruling Communist Party of China (CCP) regime’s fraudulent claims of a “strong economic recovery” in China. No matter how much power is centralised, the CCP bureaucrats will not be able to solve the crisis of capitalism, a reality that more and more workers and young people are realising.
Coup in Gabon: Pressure Continues to Build On the African Continent In the early hours of Wednesday morning, 12 military officers appeared on Gabon’s national television to announce they had cancelled the results of the latest elections, dissolved all state institutions, and closed the country’s borders. This latest military coup against a puppet of French imperialism continues a process that has already seen seizures of power in a number of African countries, including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. The country’s main port in Libreville was halted, with authorities refusing to grant permission for vessels to leave. It wasn’t immediately clear if airlines were operating in the country. The officers introduced themselves as members of the “Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions” and declared that they represent all Gabonese security and defence forces.
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