Daily News Digest December 27, 2023
Images of the Day:
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”
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:
“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost‘s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.” ― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
Reproductive justice is both a theoretical objective and a structure for activists advocating around three human rights values: the right to safely choose not to have children; the right to have children under chosen circumstances; and the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments. The horror we are witnessing in Gaza is a clear violation of the Palestinian people’s ability to parent their children in an environment free from state violence and settler colonialism. — We Won’t Have True Reproductive Justice Until Palestine Is Free
Videos of the Day:
Truthdig Live Event: Should We Mine the Final Frontier? Read the transcript from Truthdig’s recent live event in which Dig Curator Rachel Reeves leads a panel discussion on seabed mining.
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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Cornel West for President
[email protected]
Independent candidate for President of the United States, Dr. Cornel West today called on the International Criminal Court to launch an immediate investigation into likely war crimes committed by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Force (IDF). As more details and evidence emerge, Brother West believes the global community must intervene and administer comeuppance for clear violations of Articles 6 (Genocide), 7 (Crimes Against Humanity), and 8 (War Crimes) of the Rome Statutes of the International Criminal Court as part of a larger set of immediate actions to protect Palestinian civilians including, but not limited to, an immediate and enforced ceasefire. Dr. West commented, “I have seen enough, the global community has seen enough, and people of conscience have seen enough evidence of intentional barbaric and genocidal crimes committed by the Israel Defense Force at the behest of Prime Minister Netanyahu against the Palestinian people.” He added, “In addition to the nearly 20,000 murders of civilians, almost half of them children, the IDF’s indiscriminate killings now include three precious Israeli hostages who were clearly waving a white flag of surrender before they were taken out. As more truth is elucidated from this fog of war, it’s clear there must be swift and righteous justice. The ICC must intervene and demonstrate that no one is above the laws of the global community or basic humanity – Netanyahu and members of the IDF have to answer for the likely war crimes they are committing.” West’s comments come after video evidence has emerged along with accounts of numerous people in Gaza who witnessed IDF soldiers intentionally shooting and killing Palestinian women and children taking refuge in a school and IDF soldiers burning food and humanitarian supplies meant for Gazans trapped in the southern part of the strip, in addition to reports by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem that two Christian women were targeted and killed at Gaza’s Catholic Holy Family Parish in “cold blood” by an IDF sniper and the apparent use of white phosphorus, supplied by the United States, against Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah fighters. In addition to supplying the IDF with white phosphorus, Dr. West cited other examples of fact that the U.S. is a direct sponsor of, and complicit with myriad iniquitous activities and tactics used against Palestinian people by Israel. For instance, last week the Biden Administration vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, and more recently Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, have delayed their holiday recess, in part, to secure $14.3 Billion of aid to Israel. “Instead of rushing to send more money to fuel the IDF’s genocidal war machine, the Senate should be rushing to prevent the loss of more innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives,” West remarked. “ Moreover, until the ICC completes their investigation the U.S. must cease all military aid to the State of Israel – I believe that most U.S. taxpayers don’t want to be associated with funding war crimes, spiritual obscenity, and moral bankruptcy.”
US Foreign Policy Is a Scam Built on Corruption The $1.5 trillion in military outlays each year is the scam that keeps on giving—to the military-industrial complex and the Washington insiders—even as it impoverishes and endangers America and the world. On the surface, US foreign policy seems to be utterly irrational. The US gets into one disastrous war after another — Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and Gaza. In recent days, the US stands globally isolated in its support of Israel’s genocidal actions against the Palestinians, voting against a UN General Assembly resolution for a Gaza ceasefire backed by 153 countries with 89% of the world population, and opposed by just the US and 9 small countries with less than 1% of the world population.
From BLM to Gaza: Inside the Youth-led fight for a Demilitarized Future In January 2020, Dissenters — a grassroots, youth-led antiwar movement — began with the mission to connect violence against Black and brown communities in the U.S. to the systems of oppression that fund, arm and enable global militarism. While born from the legacy of the U.S. antiwar movement, Dissenters takes an intersectional approach that connects global wars with corporate elites, local police, border walls, surveillance and prisons. Operating across the country through campus chapters, training fellowships and a strong social media presence, Dissenters has been organizing for college divestment from weapons manufacturers, ending campus recruitment from military-affiliated companies and disbanding campus police departments.
Genocide Joe — Pax Americana: Iraq Slams US Airstrikes as ‘Unacceptable Violation’ of Sovereignty The Iraqi government called the latest round of U.S. bombing “a clear hostile act.” The Iraqi government on Tuesday accused the U.S. of an “unacceptable violation” of national sovereignty after the Biden administration launched a series of airstrikes purportedly targeting a militia group that’s seen as an Iranian proxy, a move that critics warned would further inflame tensions in the region and raise the risk of all-out war.
The U.S. is the Number 1 Arms Manfactuer!: War is Profitable for Arms Manufactures: Pope Decries Arms Industry Profits for Pulling ‘Puppet Strings of War’ “The human heart is weak and impulsive; if we find instruments of death in our hands, sooner or later we will use them,” said the Pope in his Christmas Day blessing. “And how can we even speak of peace, when arms production, sales and trade are on the rise?”
‘This Is on Biden’: Israel Ramps Up Gaza Assault After US Guts UN Resolution “Thanks to the U.S. watering down the U.N. Security Council resolution adopted Friday, Israel’s leaders apparently feel no pressure to stop attacking civilians in Gaza.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his nation’s forces will be expanding their assault on the Gaza Strip in the coming days after the U.S. weakened a United Nations Security Council resolution that originally aimed to pursue a stop to the fighting. Over just the past 24 hours, the Israeli military—armed to the teeth by the U.S.—has killed more than 250 people in the besieged Palestinian territory, flattening residential buildings and wiping out entire families. In central Gaza, Israeli forces bombed a refugee camp on Sunday, killing more than 100 people.
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
Netanyahu Advocates Ethnically Cleansing Palestinians of Gaza: Believe him the First Time The extremist, fascist government of Binyamin Netanyahu continues to press its monstrous, illegal and most of all completely implausible plan to push the 2.2 million Palestinians of Gaza out of the Strip into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula or into other Arab countries. Netanyahu also pledged to continue the high-intensity campaign against the people of Gaza. This blatant project of ethnic cleansing recalls the ways in which the dictators of the 1930s and 1940s moved around entire ethnic groups. Stalin displaced the Soviet Koreans to Uzbekistan or Siberia. I met some of their descendants in Tashkent in the mid-1990s. The exile of the Crimean Tartars is recognized by Ukraine as a war crime. Hundreds of thousands died in these paroxysms of ethnic cleansing. Hitler ethnically cleansed millions, as well, and at the end of the war there were 11 million displaced persons in Europe, 8 million in Germany.
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’!
The Earth has been Over the 1.5C Threshold for the Last 5 Months!: Tuesday Briefing: Why 2023 was a Watershed Year For The Climate Crisis In today’s newsletter: The last 12 months will be remembered for record-breaking temperatures, but also for government-backed clampdowns on climate protesters Record after record has been broken this year. Antarctic sea ice hit “mind blowing” lows; greenhouse gas levels and global temperatures hit record highs, as did ocean temperatures, and there has been unprecedented mass coral bleaching. Another alarming record was hit on 17 November when the Earth briefly hit 2C of warming above pre-industrial levels for the first time. This temporary fluctuation in temperature does not mean that we should throw in the towel, but it is a sign that the climate crisis is entering uncharted territory. All the scientific indications suggest that in the next decade, we will pass the critical 1.5C climate threshold unless drastic and immediate changes are made to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels.
New breed of Climate Protesters Vows yo Take Fight to ‘Cowards’ of US Politics Climate Defiance, trying to make the climate crisis a top issue in 2024 election, isn’t afraid to anger ‘cowards’ and ‘criminals’ A climate protest group backed by a cadre of Hollywood film-makers is preparing to take action against “cowards” and “criminals” of all political stripes as the 2024 election approaches. Climate Defiance, which disrupted events featuring a string of Biden administration officials this year, and targeted Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, in December, will consider protesting at events staged by both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail after concluding that its “very disruptive” action was bearing fruit.
Great unknowns: Nine Top Scientists on the One Mystery On Earth They’d Like To Solve What are the greatest secrets that remain about life on our planet – and how might they affect our future? We asked the experts to pick one burning question From the depths of the Amazon rainforest to the deserts of Antarctica, huge questions remain unanswered about life on Earth. We asked leading scientists and conservationists: what is the one thing you would like “Just how many different species of animals do we share the planet with? Estimates range from only 3 million to as many as 100 million, and there’s not much sign that we are yet converging on an answer.” to know about the planet that remains a mystery?
‘This River is Doomed’: Peru’s Gold Rush Threatens Waterways and the People Who Depend O\on Them Indigenous communities lead fight to stop illicit mining in Loreto that is poisoning the water and destroying its forests. “The river forms part of our spirit and culture. If the river dies, so does our human dignity,” he says. “Now this river is doomed. The colour of the water is changing, and the same devastation in other mining areas is beginning to be reproduced here in the Nanay.”
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Jeremy Corbyn: Palestinian Freedom Must Be Part of Our Commitment to Human Rights Seventy-five years after the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Jeremy Corbyn writes that some of its loudest celebrants are showing monstrous hypocrisy by supporting the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians. Yesterday was the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Adopted out of the scars of World War II, the UDHR outlined thirty inalienable rights and freedoms that belong to us all, regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, creed, language, religion, or background. Rights to life, liberty, and privacy. Freedom of expression, assembly, and movement. Freedom from torture, arbitrary arrest, or exile. Rights to social security, education, equal pay, and a decent standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care. The right to seek asylum.The magnitude of this achievement should not be underestimated. This document, for the first time, enshrined the fundamental human rights of individuals everywhere. Since then, it has served as a foundation for human rights campaigners to defend the dignity and equality of people across the globe. Today, however, is not a time for celebration. It is a time for reflection.
Labor:
Economy:
The DOJ Took More than Two Years to Answer a FOIA on Its Criminal Division Head; Three Days Before Christmas 2023 We Got a Troubling Disclosure On July 20, 2021 the U.S. Senate voted 56-44 to confirm Kenneth Polite (pronounced Po-leet) to head the most powerful criminal law enforcement office in the United States, the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The vetting of this candidate immediately raised red flags at Wall Street On Parade. Despite Polite owing more than $1.5 million in debts according to his financial disclosure form and public mortgage records; paying over 18 percent interest on an outstanding balance on a credit card; 19.99 percent interest on a personal loan; and then accepting a job where his income was going to be slashed by approximately 77 percent – not one Senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked a single question about Polite’s unusual financial obligations during his confirmation hearing on May 26, 2021.
World:
‘Disappearing the Disappeared’: Outcry After Mexico Reduces Number of Missing Activists say the review of 113,000 missing people in Mexico is a ploy to reduce the number ahead of the presidential election When the Mexican government announced it would review the official register of “disappeared” people, it was presented as an effort to eliminate false entries. But with little transparency over how it was being done, activists suspected a ploy to reduce the number ahead of the 2024 election. The government has now announced it was able to confirm just 12,377 of the more than 113,000 cases of disappeared people.
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