Daily News Digest October 25, 2023
Images of the Day:
Antarctic Glaciers Melting ‘Passed Point 0f No Return’
Israel Palestine Tension
Capitalism 2023: Delcine of Democracy: Mapped: The State of Democracy Around the World Only 8% of the world’s population actually lives in a full, functioning democracy, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Meanwhile, another 37% of people live in some type of “flawed democracy”, while 55% of the world does not live in democracy at all, based on the EIU’s latest Democracy Index Report. Events such as the war in Ukraine and restrictive, long-lasting COVID-19 measures, have caused numerous declines to country democracy scores in recent years. Since the source report first began tracking scores in 2006, the global average has fallen from 5.52 to 5.29.
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!
Qu0te of te Day:
In The Part Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man, Friedrich Engels wrote:. . . Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which only too often cancel the first. …
Videos of the Day:
Navigating Through the Media’s Propaganda Campaign Om Palestine
Palestinian Genocide:
he British Roots of the Conflict in Palestine While the proximate causes of Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide clearly lie squarely at the feet of Israel and its chief sponsor the United States, the United Kingdom has a special responsibility. Israeli flags are flying over all government buildings in the United Kingdom currently, but this isn’t the first time the former imperial hegemon has put its weight behind Zionism. In 1917, the British government issued the infamous Balfour Declaration. This brief document—67 words—was a turning point in modern Palestinian history. It committed Great Britain to establishing a “national home” for Jewish people in Palestine. (The initial language promised a “Jewish state,” but was changed later.) The Balfour Declaration contained language that was meant to safeguard Palestinians, but we have seen how that has played out in the ensuing century. From World War I to 1948, the British ruled Palestine, the bulk of that time under a mandate issued by the League of Nations. The population of Jewish settlers in Palestine increased over these decades—particularly the 1930s—as the British government fostered their immigration. In 1922, only 11 percent of the population in the region was Jewish. By 1931, the figure was up to about 17 percent. By 1939, it was almost 30 percent. At that point, the British government sought to limit any further expansion of the Jewish population in order to ensure stability in the region. But by then, it was too late—the facts on the ground had changed. What had been a region that was almost 90 percent Palestinian had become a contested land between two demographically numerous groups. Moreover, the British had confiscated land from Palestinians to hand it over to Jewish people and engaged in violent repression of incipient Palestinian nationalism. And in the 1930s, a British government commission recommended that Palestine be partitioned, laying the groundwork for the failed “two-state solution.”
Palestine: The Failure of the Two-State Solution and the Communist Alternative Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is reaching a pivotal stage. The horrifying images of butchered civilians have provoked a wave of revulsion across the world. Thousands have taken to the streets in capitals throughout the Middle East, demanding action in support of Gaza, while hundreds of thousands of people in the West have protested the complicity of their governments in Israel’s crimes. The IMT wholeheartedly supports this movement and stands in complete solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for national liberation and freedom from imperialist oppression. But the question immediately arises, how is Palestinian freedom to be achieved? And this question requires a clear answer.
Tens of Thousands Continue yo Fill The Streets of Various Cities Across rhe World to Support the Palestinian People. Massive protests took place in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Weeks of protests in France defying a nationwide ban have led to the successful lifting of the ban and there was a huge turnout at the first pro-Palestinian rally following the overturning of the ban.
“I Expect You to Die” – Israel’s Biggest Crime Isn’t Threatening Hospitals, It is Starving 2.2 Million Civilians of Potable Water The government Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began its counter-attack on the Palestinians of Gaza with an announcement that water, electricity, and the provision of goods would be cut off. Gaza’s water plant and public water networks were deactivated by the Israelis. The “goods” being interdicted include food imports.
Newspeak: Unconfirmed ‘Beheaded Babies’ Report Helped Justify Israeli Slaughter There’s perhaps no more serious a time for journalists to do their jobs responsibly than during a war. But corporate media have not been, as evidenced by their repetition of the shocking, unsubstantiated claim that Hamas had beheaded 40 babies in its violent attack on a kibbutz in southern Israel on October 7. It all started with television reporting by journalist Nicole Zedek, who works for the 24-hour Israeli cable news channel i24, now embedded with the Israeli Defense Forces.
Israel-Hamas War Live: UN Human Rights Chief Calls For ‘Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire’ Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, called on Monday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza. In a statement, he said “far too many civilian lives, many of them children, have already been lost”: The first step must be an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saving the lives of civilians through the delivery of prompt and effective humanitarian aid. This violence will never end unless leaders stand up and take the brave and humane choices that are required by fundamental humanity.
Israel Ramps Up Assault on West Bank With Airstrike on Mosque, Deadly Raids “Settlers all over the West Bank see this war as a golden opportunity to torment Palestinians from small communities who are literally defenseless,” said one human rights campaigner.
Israel Bombs South Gaza After Ordering Over 1 Million Palestinians to Flee There “The situation is catastrophic, catastrophic, catastrophic,” said the director of a UNRWA shelter in Khan Younis. The Israeli military continued to pummel Gaza with airstrikes on Sunday, including residential neighborhoods in the south, as a top IDF commander said the bombing would now intensify ahead of an expected ground invasion. Despite urging Palestinians and others caught in Gaza to flee the northern areas, bombings that claimed the lives of yet more civilians — including children — were reported in Khan Younis and the city of Rafah.
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!
There is no Capitalist Solution to Global Warming What is Neeeded Is a Green Industrial Revolution! Our Fixation on Green Technology Harms Our Ability to Confront Climate Crisis Green technology “solutions” to the climate crisis distract us from the deep structural changes that we need to make. Green technology is at the forefront of many climate conversations, from electric cars, to solar energy batteries, to the burgeoning interest in carbon capture. Though sometimes well-meaning and useful, green technology is only one piece of the greater climate solutions pie. A narrow focus on green technology as a panacea for the climate crisis can obscure the importance of immediate political action and social change.
Scientists Pursue Climate Activism Despite Violent Threats Last month, 29 of the world’s prominent scientists published a paper in the journal Science Advances showing conclusively that given the worsening of climate change, biodiversity loss, and five other global emergencies generated by industrial society, “Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity.” It has been known for years that we are in big trouble, but this paper put an exclamation point on the massive trove of research showing that our species’ abuse of the Earth is causing ecological breakdown. And the world’s rich nations pretend nevertheless that everything is just fine.
Progressives, Green Groups Applaud EPA’s Proposed Ban on Carcinogenic Solvent “Today is a moment we have been fighting for for nearly 45 years,” said Sen. Ed Markey. “We can see a future where we will no longer be manufacturing, processing, and distributing a chemical known to be deadly.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed to prohibit all uses of the industrial solvent trichloroethylene, a move cheered by environmental and public health defenders, as well as progressive politicians who support banning the widely used neurotoxin. The EPA describes trichloroethylene (TCE) as “an extremely toxic cemical known to cause serious health risks including cancer, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity” that is “used in cleaning and furniture care products, degreasers, brake cleaners, and tire repair sealants.”
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is Also a Looming Climate Disaster 1/26/23 Israel and the Palestinian territories are among the most climate vulnerable places on the planet. Yet the newly-formed government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has focused more on shoring up far-right support than addressing the challenges of global warming in the region. Whereas worldwide temperatures have increased by an average of 1.1°C since pre-industrial times, in Israel and the surrounding areas, average temperatures have risen by 1.5°C (2.7°F) between 1950 and 2017, according to the Israeli Meteorological Service, with a forecasted increase of 4°C (7.2°F) by the end of the century. Meanwhile, rising sea levels—projected by Israel’s Environment Ministry to be as high as a meter by 2050, according to a new investigative report by Haaretz newspaper—threaten to obliterate Israel’s famed beaches, damage its desalination plants and undermine the sewage and drainage systems of many coastal cities. In the densely populated Gaza strip, where 2.1 million Palestinians are crammed into 365 square km (141 sq. mi.), sea level rise means a loss of precious real estate as well as saltwater intrusion into an already overtaxed aquifer.
Rapid Ice Melt in West Antarctica Now Inevitable, Research Shows Sea level will be driven up no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, putting coastal cities in danger. Accelerated ice melt in west Antarctica is inevitable for the rest of the century no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, research indicates. The implications for sea level rise are “dire”, scientists say, and mean some coastal cities may have to be abandoned. The ice sheet of west Antarctica would push up the oceans by 5 metres if lost completely. Previous studies have suggested it is doomed to collapse over the course of centuries, but the new study shows that even drastic emissions cuts in the coming decades will not slow the melting.
How the Israel-Hamas War Imperils Action Against Global Warming Oil prices could surge. Disagreements between nations could worsen. The conflict complicates already fragile global diplomacy ahead of crucial climate talks. Global efforts to addres s climate change are already clouded by bitterness and distrust among countries of the world. Now a widening gyre of conflict in the Middle East threatens to fracture an already divided world, raise oil and gas prices at a time of persistently high global inflation and direct financial resources to the business of fighting wars instead of the business of slowing down climate change.
Controversy Over European Climate Activists’ Criticism of Israel Extinction Rebellion protest at The Hague accuses Netanyahu of ‘war crimes’ and running an ‘apartheid regime’ European climate activists have staged protests and posted messages in support of Palestinians, prompting an online backlash and raising internal questions within the environmental movement.
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
The U.S. Is Spending a Fortune on War and a Pittance on the Climate Crisis While the U.S. sends tens of billions of dollars to Israel and Ukraine, countries in the global south are left pleading for pennies. In the Middle East this week, world leaders have tensely debated who bears responsibility for the mounting destruction that could claim countless more lives. I’m referring not (at least exclusively) to the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, but a meeting in Aswan, Egypt. Some 700 miles from the Gaza border, United Nations negotiators have been wrestling over how best to finance the rebuilding of countries where lives and livelihoods are being destroyed by the climate crisis—and the United States is playing a familiarly troubling role.
Marjorie Cohn: Assange Freedom May Be Pivotal in Australian Support for US Cold War With China For nearly five years, publisher and journalist Julian Assange has fought extradition to the United States where he faces 175 years in prison for revealing evidence of U.S. war crimes. Instead of protecting freedom of the press, to which he pledged allegiance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, Joe Biden is continuing Donald Trump’s prosecution of Assange under the infamous Espionage Act. James Ball is one of at least four journalists that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI are pressuring to cooperate with the prosecution of Assange, Ball wrote in Rolling Stone. Biden’s DOJ is apparently attempting to bolster its prosecution of Assange in the event he is extradited to the United States. Ball said that all three of the other journalists being pressured to provide a statement told him they have no intention of helping the prosecution. For nearly five years, publisher and journalist Julian Assange has fought extradition to the United States where he faces 175 years in prison for revealing evidence of U.S. war crimes. Instead of protecting freedom of the press, to which he pledged allegiance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April, Joe Biden is continuing Donald Trump’s prosecution of Assange under the infamous Espionage Act. James Ball is one of at least four journalists that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI are pressuring to cooperate with the prosecution of Assange, Ball wrote in Rolling Stone. Biden’s DOJ is apparently attempting to bolster its prosecution of Assange in the event he is extradited to the United States. Ball said that all three of the other journalists being pressured to provide a statement told him they have no intention of helping the prosecution.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
The US Supreme Court’s Incoherent, Idiotic, and Racist Rulings on Gerrymandering The Court may be ready to scuttle remaining portions of the Voting Rights Act by giving states the ability to racially gerrymander by claiming that they’re only engaging in partisan gerrymandering. It’s outrageous.
Labor:
Economy:
Fed’s Financial Stability Report Says $20.3 Trillion Is Subject to a Run Last Friday, the Federal Reserve published its Financial Stability Report, which takes a detailed look at U.S. financial stability through the second quarter of this year. Although the Fed does its best to put a rosy glow on the outlook, it’s not a pretty picture. We found the most disturbing sentence in the report to be the following: “Overall, estimated runnable money-like financial liabilities increased 3.4 percent to $20.3 trillion (75 percent of nominal GDP) over the past year.”
World:
Education, Health, 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