Daily News Digest December 14, 2023
Images of the Day:
Ted Rall: Linguistic Ethnic Cleansing 
World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, since then, 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: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, andThe 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:
It’s incredible that first by provoking and welcoming a war, then by blocking a peace, the United States has helped engineer the killing or maiming of perhaps 500,000 young men — and yet the war is not even close to over. The West may be fatigued with it, and suddenly murmuring wisely and sheepishly about the need to negotiate a peace. But the Russians are ascendant, and many, many thousands more deaths are likely coming this winter and spring. In fact, the only real hope to prevent another mass annihilation of young Slavs by the tens or even hundreds of thousands rests upon whatever generosity, mercy or statesmanship we might see from, of all people, Vladimir Putin. — How NATO Undermined a Peace Agreement in Ukraine
‘Bunker Depleted Uranium Buster’ Bombs’ were Used During ‘Shock and Awe’.: The Sunday Times Online, February 19, 2006, reported on a shocking scientific study authored by British scientists Dr. Chris Busby and Saoirse Morgan: “Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf War 2 result in contamination of Europe? Evidence from the measurements of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK”. The highest levels of depleted uranium ever measured in the atmosphere in Britain, were transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia; of special significance were those from the Tora Bora bombing in Afghanistan in 2001, and the “Shock & Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003. Out of concern for the public, the official British government air monitoring facility, known as the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), at Aldermaston was established years ago, to measure radioactive emissions from British nuclear power plants and atomic weapons facilities. — The Queen’s Death Star Depleted Uranium Measured in British Atmosphere from Battlefields in the Middle East
Rick Sklader:Israel denies Palestinians water, which is life itself. Its settler fascists uproot and burn olive trees many hundreds of years old, they control the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers depriving others in the region with water that is not theirs while they fill swimming pools. These practices are done undercover provided by Capitalist Arab regimes who condemn the Israeli racist regime while making greenwashing deals with thrm behind the scenes. Re: How Arab Eco-Normalisation of Israel Covers Up Its Crimes
Videos of the Day:
Climate Activists Outraged as COP28 Draft Text Drops Call for Fossil Fuel Phaseout
Texas Woman Denied Abortion for Nonviable Fetus, Flees State, “One of Thousands” in Similar Position
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
Patrick Lawrence: Gaza & Confronting Power The American state, broadly defined, is well on its way toward a form of apple-pie absolutism, forcing distorted meanings not merely on three university administrators but on all of us. The events of the past seven days are sobering no matter where you look. The Israelis’ daily attacks in southern Gaza, after telling Gazans in the north to seek refuge there, strips bare the apartheid state’s intent to ethnic-cleanse the Gaza Strip and scatter to the winds those of its people who survive. Is there some word other than “genocide” we should use to name this horror, this stain upon the consciences of everyone who does not raise a voice against it? It is also clear as of last week that the Biden regime’s amoral support for the Israelis’ bloodlust in Gaza is destabilizing America and hastening the collapse from within that this
US Veto of Ceasefire Resolution Reflects Its Colonial View on Whose Lives Matter Centuries of colonialism and orientalism have shaped U.S. leaders’ calculus on who deserves the right to live. In 1996, CBS journalist Lesley Stahl asked then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright about the deaths caused by U.S. economic sanctions on Iraq. “We have heard that half a million [Iraqi] children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima,” Stahl said. “And, you know, is the price worth it?” “I think that is a very hard choice,” Albright replied after some consideration, “but the price, we think, the price is worth it.” Her statement makes clear that in the U.S. government’s calculus, Iraqi lives did not matter.
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
‘Deeply Sick’: IDF Murder Porn Channel Compared to Horrors of Abu Ghraib Content posted to the Telegram platform, reportedly by the Israel Defense Forces, described as “full of hatred, dehumanization, and genocidal glee.” Promising “exclusive content from the Gaza Strip,” a Telegram channel reportedly operated by a unit of the Israel Defense Forces regularly posts grotesque videos and images that depict the killing and mutilation of Palestinians—often accompanied by celebratory captions and emojis. Citing an unnamed senior military official, the Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported Tuesday that the channel—titled “72 Virgins — Uncensored”—is run by the IDF Operations Directorate’s Influencing Department, which is tasked with carrying out psychological warfare initiatives.
‘Bunker Buster’ Bombs are Radioactive: Israel Used 22,000 US-Provided Bombs on Gaza in Just Six Weeks, Report Reveals With extensive help from the U.S., at least 18,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s assault on Gaza. In just the first month and a half after the October 7 attack by Hamas forces, Israel deployed over 22,000 U.S.-produced bombs on Gaza, according to intelligence figures provided to Congress and reported by The Washington Post on Saturday. In that time, the U.S. transferred 15,000 bombs to Israel, including 2,000-pound “bunker busters” that experts say are not normally for use in densely populated residential areas like the Gaza strip, and over 50,000 artillery shells.
Report: US Provided White Phosphorus Shells That Israel Used in Lebanon Attack At least one shell was from the same batch of white phosphorus used by Israel in its 2009 assault on Gaza. White phosphorus shells used by Israeli forces in an October attack on a Lebanese village that human rights advocates say should be investigated as a war crime were provided by the U.S., a new investigation finds.
The View from Washington: Let the Killing in Gaza Continue Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-
‘Unconscionable’: WHO Accuses Israel of Obstructing Ambulances “Healthcare, including ambulances, are protected under international law,” said the World Health Organization. “They must be respected and protected in all circumstances.” The World Health Organization on Tuesday accused Israeli forces of delaying an aid and ambulance convoy and abusing medical personnel as they tried to transfer critically wounded patients to a hospital in southern Gaza, resulting in at least one death. In a detailed account of what it called a “high-risk mission” conducted on December 9, the WHO said that as the emergency convoy made its way to Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital to deliver medical supplies and pick up badly injured patients, it was inspected by Israeli forces at a checkpoint and crew members were forced to leave the vehicles.
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’!
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (Last updated: December 12, 2023) Week beginning on December 03, 2023: 421.02 ppm, Weekly value from 1 year ago: 419.23 ppm. Weekly value from 10 years ago: 396.43 ppm 
The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet What if our understanding of capitalism and climate is back to front? What if the problem is not that transitioning to renewables is too expensive, but that saving the planet is not sufficiently profitable? This is Brett Christophers’ claim. The global economy is moving too slowly toward sustainability because the return on green investment is too low. Today’s consensus is that the key to curbing climate change is to produce green electricity and electrify everything possible. The main economic barrier in that project has seemingly been removed. But while prices of solar and wind power have tumbled, the golden era of renewables has yet to materialize. The problem is that investment is driven by profit, not price, and operating solar and wind farms remains a marginal business, dependent everywhere on the state’s financial support. We cannot expect markets and the private sector to solve the climate crisis while the profits that are their lifeblood remain unappetizing. But there is an alternative to providing surrogate green profits through subsidies: to take energy out of the private sector’s hands.
The Greenwashers: Dozens of US Lobbyists Represent Both Climate-Focused Charities and Fossil Fuels – Report Watchdog finds 86 foundations, including New Venture Fund and Pew Charitable Trusts, that share firms with fossil fuel companies Dozens of US charities, including ones prioritizing climate action, are employing lobbying firms who also work for fossil fuel companies, new data shows. Pew Charitable Trusts work on environmental issues while sharing a lobbying firm with Chevron. New Venture Fund’s priorities include a “range of conservation, climate, and energy issues”, yet it employed lobbying firms representing oil and gas companies in six states since the beginning of 2022. And Ballmer Giving funds climate and Indigenous rights programs, yet represents a company building fossil fuel infrastructure on tribal land.
California Children Sue EPA Over ‘Intentional’ Role in Climate Crisis Genesis Bv EPA is the latest in a series of youth-led constitutional climate cases brought by non-profit law firm Our Children’s Trust Eighteen California children are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency over its role in the climate crisis. In a lawsuit filed on Sunday, plaintiffs between the ages of eight and 17 allege the federal body “intentionally” allows dangerous levels of planet-heating emissions from vehicles, power plants, fossil fuel wells and other pollution sources, despite knowledge that doing so endangers children’s health and welfare.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Labor:
The Trade Union Leadership in Partnership with The Boss:
The UAW’s “Stand-up” campaign rolled strikes in the Big Three from one plant to another, never involving more than one-quarter of the work force, dividing workers one against another (those at work receiving full pay while “strikers” marching picket lines got a paltry $500 a week). Over time, the UAW piecards succeeded. They wore down the ranks, pushed through a corrupt contract that, even now, few members have ever seen. It was another tragic loss for the rank and file. And it was a replay of the 1970 GM strike, aptly covered by then Detroit Free press journalist William Serrin in “The Company and the Union” which ends with: “The Company and the Union–they’re the same.” — Beating a Dead Horse to Death, Again. CFA This Time.
Economy:
World:
UN Members Support Gaza Cease-Fire in Overwhelming 153-10 Vote “Humanity has prevailed,” said Egyptian Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek. “The Israeli aggression on Gaza must end. This bloodshed must stop.” The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding “an immediate humanitarian cease-fire” in Israel’s two-month war on Gaza after the U.S. last week used its permanent member status to veto a similar Security Council measure. The resolution also demands “that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians,” as well as “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access.”
Health, Education, 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