Daily News Digest November 7, 2023
Images 0f the Day:
This Weekend’s DC Protest Was Largest Pro-Palestine Mobilization in US History Over 300,000 people gathered at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. on Saturday for the National March on Washington for Palestine. The march was the largest in support of Palestine in the history of the United States.
Protesters in Oakland Blocked Ship Carrying Weapons for Israel
Military Contractor Stocks 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!
Qu0tes of the Day:
Delegates at COP are ‘negotiating with our health’, says Maria Neira, the doctor in charge of environmental health at WHO Politicians who delay climate action should be prepared to live with the human fallout of their choices, the World Health Organization’s top environment expert has warned. “Anytime you postpone, OK, are you ready to cope with that?” said Maria Neira, the doctor in charge of environmental health at the WHO. “You have to live with that weight on your shoulders of the fact that you are at least not saving those lives – I don’t want to say killing – but at least not protecting the lives of those people.” It likely won’t be the last. As communities around the country lament soaring electricity rates, dangerous blackouts, and a frustratingly slow transition to renewables, more and more people are considering a public alternative to investor-owned utilities, which currently serve three-quarters of customers in the U.S. From San Diego to Rochester, New York; Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Ann Arbor, Michigan; and the District of Columbia to Decorah, Iowa; advocates in a growing public power movement say that energy should be reliable, affordable, and accountable to the people using it. They argue only a publicly owned and managed electric grid can rise to the challenge of climate change by providing renewable power as a public good and serving the needs and interests of the people using it, rather than shareholders. – In Historic First, Public Power Will Be on the Ballot in Maine
Videos of the Day:
Voices from Largest Pro-Palestinian Protest in U.S. History: Stop the Siege on Gaza Now!
Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisor Dr. Alice Rothchild on Gaza Catastrophe as Health System Fails
Palestinian Genocide:
Biden proudly stands with the Jewish extremists, fanatic Zionists, religious zealots, ultranationalists and crypto-fascists in the apartheid state of Israel:
Chris Hedges: Israel’s Final Solution for the Palestinians When Jewish extremists, fanatic Zionists, religious zealots, ultranationalists and crypto-fascists in the apartheid state of Israel say they want to wipe Gaza off the face of the earth, believe them. I covered the birth of Jewish fascism in Israel. I reported on the extremist Meir Kahane, who was barred from running for office and whose Kach Party was outlawed in 1994 and declared a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States. I attended political rallies held by Benjamin Netanyahu, who received lavish funding from rightwing Americans, when he ran against Yitzhak Rabin, who was negotiating a peace settlement with the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s supporters chanted “Death to Rabin.” They burned an effigy of Rabin dressed in a Nazi uniform. Netanyahu marched in front of a mock funeral for Rabin. Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated on Nov. 4, 1995 by a Jewish fanatic. Rabin’s widow, Lehea, blamed Netanyahu and his supporters for her husband’s murder. Netanyahu, who first became prime minister in 1996, has spent his political career nurturing Jewish extremists, including Avigdor Lieberman, Gideon Sa’ar, Naftali Bennett, and Ayelet Shaked. His father, Benzion — who worked as an assistant to the Zionist pioneer Vladimir Jabotinsky, who Benito Mussolini referred to as “a good fascist” — was a leader in the Herut Party that called on the Jewish state to seize all the land of historic Palestine. Many of those who formed the Herut Party carried out terrorist attacks during the 1948 war that established the state of Israel. Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook and other Jewish intellectuals, described the Herut Party in a statement published in The New York Times as a “political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to Nazi and Fascist parties.” There has always been a strain of Jewish fascism within the Zionist project. Now it has taken control of the Israeli state.
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’!
Politicians Who Delay Climate Action Must Live With Consequences, Says WHO Expert Delegates at Cop are ‘negotiating with our health’, says Maria Neira, the doctor in charge of environmental health at WHO Politicians who delay climate action should be prepared to live with the human fallout of their choices, the World Health Organization’s top environment expert has warned. “Anytime you postpone, OK, are you ready to cope with that?” said Maria Neira, the doctor in charge of environmental health at the WHO. “You have to live with that weight on your shoulders of the fact that you are at least not saving those lives – I don’t want to say killing – but at least not protecting the lives of those people.” — In Historic First, Public Power Will Be on the Ballot in Maine
Amazon Deforestation: A Time Bomb for New Pandemics Environmental destruction strengthens existing diseases and exposes humans to new pathogens Home to the greatest biodiversity on the planet, the Amazon is also a ticking time bomb for the emergence or resurgence of diseases with pandemic potential. This is because environmental degradation and altered landscapes are important factors in this process, which are exacerbated during periods of extreme drought, such as the one now affecting the region. In the Amazon in particular, the paving of the BR-319 highway, linking Porto Velho to Manaus, is a significant source of concern. Conservative estimates predict that deforestation around the road will triple in the next 25 years, mainly due to land speculation. This is made worse by the fact that 90% of the area directly affected consists of untouched forest.
1.5°C Global Heating Likely to be Locked in by 2030 The world has less than a decade to reach ‘net zero’ emissions – and even then warming could continue Without rapid carbon dioxide emission reductions, the world has a 50% chance of locking in 1.5°C of warming before 2030. A new study, led by Imperial College London researchers and published October 30 in Nature Climate Change, is the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the global carbon budget. The carbon budget is an estimate of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that can be emitted while keeping global warming below certain temperature limits.
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 ford 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
Biden Endorses the “Indispensable Nation” ‘It is the threat of the use of force that is going to put force behind diplomacy. But if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future….” – Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Making the case for the use of force against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, 1998. In his speech last month, President Joe Biden justified military support for Ukraine and Israel, arguing that “American leadership is what holds the world together. American alliances are what keep us, America, safe” and that only U.S. involvement can prevent global chaos. In referring to the United States as a “beacon to the world,” he even cited “my friend Madeleine Albright’s indispensable nation.”
Chris Hedges: ‘We’re a War Machine As a Nation’: The Truth About American Politics Israel’s ongoing massacre in Gaza has stirred worldwide calls for a ceasefire to stop the genocide unfolding. The United States has been no exception, which countless demonstrators taking to the streets in recent weeks. That hasn’t stopped the US government from backing Israel’s horrific campaign in Gaza to the hilt. The White House has refused to heed calls for a ceasefire and even deployed two aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean—not to defend Palestinians, but to dissuade regional powers from joining the fray to defend Palestine. As the possibility of a regional war looms with the entry of Yemen into the conflict, many wonder how the US might respond to such a scenario. Former US Congressperson Dennis Kucinich joins The Chris Hedges Report for a discussion on the US war machine—what it is, how it works, and how it might respond should the war in Palestine spiral into a wider conflagration.
Biden Funds Genocide!: Local Construction Firm For Secret U.S. Base In Israel Also Built An Illegal Settlement Y.D. Ashush, which got a piece of the $35 million Pentagon contract, built a new settlement community on stolen Palestinian land. The U.S. Military’s recent $35 million contract to do construction at its secret base in Israel went to a joint venture that includes an American firm and an Israeli one. The Israeli company, Y.D. Ashush Infrastructure, has been involved in many large-scale infrastructure and public works projects — including building an illegal settlement in occupied Palestinian territory.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Media’s In-House Critics to Reporters: Quit Quoting Palestinians About Civilian Deaths Articles that chided media for being credulous toward Gazan authorities themselves failed to critically examine the claims they relied on. The devastating explosion at a Gaza hospital on October 17 provoked soul-searching in US corporate media—over the willingness of press outlets to quote Gaza officials who attributed the calamity to an Israeli airstrike. “News Outlets Backtrack on Gaza Blast After Relying on Hamas as Key Source,” NPR (10/24/23) reported. “The initial coverage of a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital last week offers a fresh reminder of how hard it can be to get the news right—and what happens when it goes awry,” wrote NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.
Labor:
UK Workers Blockade Elbit Systems Arms Factory in Kent Responding to a call for solidarity from Palestinian unions, British workers are taking action to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. As Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza continues and thousands of civilians are killed or buried under rubble, a coalition of more than 30 Palestinian trade unions have issued an urgent call to labor organizations around the world to take action, including direct actions to halt arms deliveries to the Israeli military. While the vast majority of unions in the US are either staying silent or actively supporting Israel, fellow workers in Europe and the UK are heeding the call and taking direct action. Last week, for instance, over 100 members of the coalition Workers for a Free Palestine in the UK formed a human blockade in front of an arms factory in Kent owned by Instro Precision, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturers. In this TRNN livestream, we speak with a number of workers involved with that action about how and why they came to be active fighters in the movement to stop Israel’s
Economy:
Sri Lanka’s Debt Trap and the Vultures Last week a US district court granted Sri Lanka’s request for a six-month pause on a creditor lawsuit against the country. Hamilton Reserve Bank holds a big chunk of one of Sri Lanka’s now-defaulted bonds and had been suing it for immediate repayment. The court decided that there should be a pause in Hamilton’s demand for immediate repayment so that Sri Lanka could arrange a deal with other private sector creditors and bilateral lenders, as well as obtaining new funds from the IMF. The IMF has been unwilling to cough up money as long as it considered Sri Lanka unable to pay back its debt obligations. It is insisting that all creditors agree to a ‘restructuring’ of existing debt before agreeing to new IMF funding (which would also be accompanied by strong ‘conditionalities’ ie fiscal austerity, privatisations etc). The IMF, World Bank and other Western creditors have claimed that what is holding up a rescheduling is China. In turn, China is refusing to agree to a deal unless all other parties are agreed on the terms, and it does not like the terms currently proposed. 
There’s a News Black Out on the Strange Doings in the JPMorgan Chase/Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case in Manhattan There are extremely strange things happening in a very high-profile federal court case in Manhattan where the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, stands accused by victims of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring that sexually abused minors as the bank doled out $40,000 to $80,000 a month in hard cash for more than a decade without filing the legally required Suspicious Activity Reports. Further implicating the bank is the fact, documented by internal emails, that executives and staff of JPMorgan Chase were visitors to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion where rapes and sexual assaults of minors have been alleged by victims as occurring. (See our report: A JPMorgan Court Filing Shows Another Bank Exec Visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Sex-Trafficking Residences 13 Times – Two More Times than Jes Staley.)
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
‘Drug Corporations Have Really Been in the Driver’s Seat’ “Pfizer has decided to charge high prices to the few, rather than affordable prices to the many, in order to meet its benchmarks.” Janine Jackson: There are a number of crises that the Covid pandemic did not create, but certainly threw into relief. It has always been disgusting, frankly, that pharmaceutical companies are permitted to sell necessary, life-improving and life-saving drugs at many times the cost of their development and production, keeping them out of the hands of those who can’t afford them, and leading some who can just about afford them to ration them dangerously. It’s a particularly callous aspect of the US profit-driven system—so out of keeping with basic tenets of public health that one kind of wonders how long it can be allowed to continue.