Daily News Digest February 29, 2024
Images of the Day:
Bendib: Fearless
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! Globaly, With the Current Gaza War, The Right of Assembly is Under Attack! 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:
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. — Thomas Jefferson
Pocasts/Videos of the Day:
How Israel is Making Gaza Unlivable
“Uncommitted”: Over 100,000 Cast Protest Vote Against Biden’s Gaza Policy in Michigan Primary
Ralph Nader at 90 on the “Genocidal War” in Gaza & Why Congress Is a Weapon of Mass Destruction
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
Michigan Rebukes Biden on Gaza Genocide with Arab and Muslim American “Uncommitted” Vote Michigan rebuked President Joe Biden on Tuesday for his unstinting support of the extremist Israeli government’s total war against Gaza. A movement for voting “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary in that state has been led by Arab American and Muslim American activists in Wayne County and the city of Dearborn. According to Elena Moore at NPR, tens of thousands voted “uncommitted.” If 15% do so, they would get a delegate at the Chicago convention this summer. In any case, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans are pledging to go to the Chicago conference to make their voices heard.
The Violence of Hamas Cannot be Equated to The Violence of Israel:20 Ways the Violence of the Oppressed Isn’t the Same As the Violence of the Oppressors Whenever we seek to change the world the first thing we are asked is, “Do you believe in violence?” We are asked this because the violence of the oppressed is seen as morally equivalent to the violence of the oppressors. But the two are not the same. Here’s why….
- Oppressed peoples have a fundamental right to self defense. This self-defense is characterized as “violence” because revolution is only seen as legitimate when it’s on the terms of the oppressors. By their rules. Because they set the rules.
- Nonviolence is a means of controlling the most rebellious of the oppressed. Nonviolence as an ideology is most often used to portray the violence of the oppressed as ‘irrational’ and the violence of the oppressor as ‘rational.’
- When the oppressed fight back we actually stand a chance of winning. Those in power know this. So they discourage the masses from fighting back. They may even sanctify our revolutionary ideals (“justice, freedom, peace”), so long as we petition for their mercy and disarm ourselves. That’s why the FBI has a Terrorist Watch List.
- Oppressed peoples have a fundamental right to self defense. This self-defense is characterized as “violence” because revolution is only seen as legitimate when it’s on the terms of the oppressors. By their rules. Because they set the rules.
- Nonviolence is a means of controlling the most rebellious of the oppressed. Nonviolence as an ideology is most often used to portray the violence of the oppressed as ‘irrational’ and the violence of the oppressor as ‘rational.’When the oppressed fight back we actually stand a chance of winning. Those in power know this. So they discourage the masses from fighting back. They may even sanctify our revolutionary ideals (“justice, freedom, peace”), so long as we petition for their mercy and disarm ourselves. That’s why the FBI has a Terrorist Watch List.
- Nonviolence’s philosophical appeal may be understandable but it’s mostly ahistorical. The Haitian revolution of 1791 didn’t end French slavery by pacifism. The French Revolution didn’t abolish the monarchy by pacifism. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 didn’t break from US imperialism by pacifism. The ZANU movement didn’t defeat apartheid in British Zimbabwe by pacifism. The Stonewall Uprising of the 1960s didn’t fight US police brutality against the LGBT community by pacifism. And so on….
- Nonviolence’s philosophical appeal may be understandable but it’s mostly ahistorical. The Haitian revolution of 1791 didn’t end French slavery by pacifism. The French Revolution didn’t abolish the monarchy by pacifism. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 didn’t break from US imperialism by pacifism. The ZANU movement didn’t defeat apartheid in British Zimbabwe by pacifism. The Stonewall Uprising of the 1960s didn’t fight US police brutality against the LGBT community by pacifism. And so on….
CIA Built “12 Secret Spy Bases” In Ukraine & Waged Shadow War For Last 10 Years! This is what the Mockingbird media, criminal politicians and “those who stand with Ukraine” aren’t actually telling you about what has been going on there, and frankly, the US involvement in Ukraine, especially concerning bioweapons, has been going on a lot longer. However, we do know that the Central Intelligence Agency, which continually destabilizes other countries for gain, set up 12 secret spy bases in Ukraine and has been destabilizing that country for the last decade. Tyler Durden reports: On Sunday The New York Times published an explosive and very belated full admission that US intelligence has not only been instrumental in Ukraine’s wartime decision-making, but has established and financed high-tech command-and-control spy centers, and was doing so long prior to the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of two years ago.
If We Want Mid-East Peace, We Must End the US War on Terror, Too We need to be equal-opportunity critics and consider not only the most highly reported conflict of the moment but also the chronic ones fought, whether we realize it or not, distinctly in our names. We Americans have been at war now since October 7, 2001. That was when our military first launched air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan in response to al Qaeda’s September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. That’s 22 years and counting. The “war on terror” that began then would forever change what it meant to be an Arab-American here at home, while ending the lives of more than 400,000 civilians—and still counting!—in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In the days after those September 11 attacks, the U.S. would enjoy the goodwill and support of countries around the world. Only in March 2003, with our invasion of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, would much of the world begin to regard us as aggressors.
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
Two-Thirds of US Voters Across Political Spectrum Support Permanent Gaza Cease-Fire More than three-quarters of Democrats now back a cease-fire, according to the latest polling. In the latest sign that the Biden administration’s continued defense and support of Israel’s assault on Gaza leaves it representing a shrinking minority of Americans, a new poll out Tuesday found that 67% of Americans of all political affiliations want the United States to join the international call for a permanent cease-fire.
The Decimation of Gaza: Making ‘Ecocide’ an International Crime Currently, The Hague can only prosecute four types of crimes. Ecocide could become the fifth. When reports emerged in late December that the Israeli military planned to pump seawater into the underground tunnel networks used by Hamas fighters in Gaza, scientists and advocates around the world raised alarm over the prospect of an environmental disaster. Flooding the tunnels threatened to permanently salinate the land, making it impossible to cultivate crops. Seawater could also seep underground and into an aquifer that the majority of Gazans rely on for water. Palestinian rights groups and protesters around the world were already accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide against the Palestinians, with more than 20,000 killed by Israeli bombings on Gaza since Hamas’ attack on southern Israel last October. Now, another term entered the conversation: ecocide.
Environment:
Fund Climate! — Not Genocide! 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’!
Capitalism’s Wars for Oil: When Bodies Start Stacking Up From Climate Change-Related Disasters, Will These Monsters be Held to Account?
Vanishing Ice and Snow: Record Warm Winter Wreaks Havoc Across US Midwest This winter’s mild temperatures, a result of climate change, have wrecked plans and disrupted local economies in the region As a child in the 1990s, Joseph Kuzma remembers how he and his father would – around this time of year – drive their truck out on to Lake Erie and set up a mini camp right on the ice. . . . Back then, winters on Lake Erie’s western shores were filled with the buzzing of snowmobiles and airboats as ice fishers took to the frozen lake in the hope of catching prized walleye and perch. But in recent days, there’s been a very different sound in Port Clinton, Ohio: waves lapping against the pier rocks. That’s because the ice is nearly nonexistent.
The Ohio Nuclear Bribery Plot Widens It was called “likely the largest bribery money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio.” And the shoes are still dropping. Or should that be ankle monitors? Because these latter belong to the three latest criminals indicted for their roles in a scheme that saw FirstEnergy hand over $61 million in bribes to Ohio politicians and their co-conspirators to secure favorable legislation. That bill, known as HB6, guaranteed a $1.3 billion bailout to FirstEnergy in order to keep open its two failing Ohio nuclear power plants, Davis-Besse and Perry, as well as struggling coal plants. The nuclear portion of the bill has since been rescinded, but Ohio consumers are still paying to prop up two aging coal plants, to the tune of half a million dollars a day, amounting to an extra $1.50 a month on every ratepayer’s electric bill.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Tennessee Bill Seeks to Bar Localities From Reappointing Expelled Legislators The bill appears to be a direct response to Republicans being unable to permanently expel two Black lawmakers in 2023. After failing last year to permanently expel two Black state lawmakers over a protest for gun reform, Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives have advanced a bill that would bar the re-appointment of lawmakers to their former held positions.
Labor:
Prisoners, Unions Sue Alabama, Alleging ‘Modern-Day Slavery’ The lawsuit claims that Alabama’s system of prison labor generates massive profits for private businesses and revenues for the state by forcing incarcerated people to work for little or no pay. A group of current and former prisoners have sued the state of Alabama with the support of two unions who have signed on as co-plaintiffs, the Union of Southern Service Workers, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The lawsuit claims that Alabama’s system of prison labor amounts to a “modern-day form of slavery” that generates massive profits for private businesses and revenues for the state by forcing incarcerated people to work for little or no pay. Jacob Morrison and Adam Keller join Rattling the Bars to discuss the lawsuit and the importance of the fight for prisoners’ rights to the overall labor movement.
Economy:
From Defusing the Derivatives Time Bomb: Some Proposed Solutions South Dakota’s Innovative Solution: The most readily achievable solution is probably that in a South Dakota bill filed on Jan. 29. The bill is detailed in a Feb. 2 article titled “You Could Lose Your Retirement Savings in the Next Financial Crash Unless Others Follow This State’s Lead”, which observes: … [I]f your broker … were to go bankrupt, the broker’s secured creditors (the people to whom the broker owes money) would be empowered to take the investments that you paid for in order to settle outstanding debts…. To avoid a catastrophe in the future, a nationwide movement is desperately needed to alter the existing Uniform Commercial Code. Of course, that won’t be easy to accomplish, especially because bank lobbyists and other powerful financial interests will almost certainly fight kicking and screaming to stop policymakers from taking away their advantage over consumers. The good news is, this “great taking” can be stopped at the state level. Americans don’t need to count on a divided Congress to get the job done. Because the UCC is state law, state lawmakers can take concrete steps to restore the property rights of their constituents and protect them in the event of a financial crisis. On Monday, South Dakota legislators introduced a bill that would do just that. The legislation would ensure that individual investors have priority over securities held by brokerage firms and other intermediaries. It would also alter jurisdictional provisions so that cases are determined in the state of the individual investor, rather than the state of the broker, custodian or clearing corporation. This would ensure that individual investors are able to rely on the laws of their local state.
$87 Million Buys This for Jamie Dimon: David Boies Can’t Utter the Words “JPMorgan Chase” in a Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case On Friday, February 16, ahead of a three-day weekend, JPMorgan Chase quietly filed its 10-K (annual report) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The document carried the bombshell that the bank had paid an astonishing $1.4 billon in legal expenses in 2023 – a 426 percent increase over the prior year’s legal expenses. While the bank didn’t break down the names of the law firms that received the lion’s share of those legal expenses, public records can fill in most of the blanks
World:
Shell Must Clean Up Pollution Before It Leaves Niger Delta, Report Says Firm told it must take responsibility for toxic legacy of pollution and safe decommissioning of abandoned oil infrastructure The oil firm Shell cannot be allowed to withdraw from the Niger delta before it takes responsibility for its toxic legacy of pollution and the safe decommissioning of abandoned oil infrastructure, a report says.Shell plc is preparing to divest from the delta but a report warns that it must remain until it has cleaned up its legacy of pollution.
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