Daily News Digest March 1, 2024

Daily News Digest Archives

Images of the Day:

3 Months AgoGerman Lawsuit

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:

However, there are many, many other elements to this story, which are not being talked about. First of all, as opposed to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, coming up with this number of 353,000 new jobs, a private payroll company, which essentially gathers, you know, basically, it knows who is paying whom, how much in wages, etc. what is the payroll of different companies, reported that only 107,000 private sector jobs were created, which is a very small amount. And even if to this, you add the public sector jobs that are created, which will have expanded, because of Biden administration initiatives, nevertheless, it, you know, this would mean that if 353,000 new jobs were created, then job creation is being led by the government.     But at the same time, let’s also see something else, full time employment has fallen. That means, and this is, of course, been historically the issue, the United States always claims that it is such a wonderful job creating economy. But few people point out that the bulk of the jobs that are created are part time jobs, they may even be zero hours contracts, and so on. So, the actual quality, and of course, the kind of jobs there are, the benefits are low, the wages are low, etc. So, you essentially have an epidemic of McJobs rather than good paying jobs. — Radhika Desai

Pocasts/Videos of the Day:

The Reality of Bidenomics: How Good was Biden for the Economy?  What you’re seeing is a kind of crapification of the economy!

Black Agenda Radio February 23, 2024

Colonialism, Imperialism, and Conflict in the Congo

Bipartisan Consensus for Punitive Immigration Policies Continues – Part 2

Guinea-Bissau Struggles Against Imperialism

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 

Pax Americana and The Failure of ‘Lesser Evilism’

Pax Americana

Capitalism is Taking Humanity on the Road to Ecocide    Just before the 2000 Presidential Election, in September 2000, George Bush’s think tank, The Project for the New American Century, put into writing a document titled Rebuilding America’s Defenses, Forces and Resources For a New Century.     In that document they called for war upon Iraq, a US military presence in the middle east, and the construction of military bases throughout Asia and the world to enforce, what they termed, as a ‘strategic goal’, the preservation Pax Americana — the ‘new world order’ that was proclaimed after the first Gulf War.     There has been no objection or opposition, from the Democratic Party, to this ‘strategic goal’ for this century, even though the document stated, two years prior to 9/11: ” A transformation strategy that solely pursued capabilities for projecting force from the United States, for example, and sacrificed forward basing and presence, would be at odds with larger American policy goals and would trouble American allies. Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”    When the September 11, 2002 implosion of the World Trade Center occurred, both the Democrats and the Republicans were united in taking the advantage of the ‘catastrophic and catalyzing event’ to begin to implement the first stage of Pax American-the war upon Iraq and to make the middle east a zone of ‘democratic peace’ — a safe area for exploitation and control, by the United States, or as the document stated: “Today its task is to secure and expand the “zones of democratic peace;” to deter the rise of a new great power competitor; defend key regions of Europe, East Asia and the Middle East; and to preserve American preeminence through the coming transformation of war made possible by new technologies.     In its founding principles, the Project for the New American Century proposed preventive strikes:     “Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership of the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of the past century should have taught us, to embrace the cause of American leadership.”  (My Emphasis)

One thing about written documents — there is no deniability, but not once in the past eight years has the major media reported these facts, nor has the Democratic Party opposed the program proposed in REBUILDING AMERICA’S DEFENSES Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century, with the strategic goal of preserving Pax Americana — ‘America Überalles’.     In fact the Democratic Party, at every step, has voted for the implementation of this program.     By the actions of their political parties and their mass media, the program of the capitalist ruling class of the United States, under the guise of the never ending ‘war on terror’, is to develop a Pax Americana for their corporate rule of the world. Or as Gore Vidal characterizes as ‘the perpetual war for perpetual peace’.      Also, under the guise of the war on terror, the Bill of Rights has been attacked and eroded to the point that every President, from now on, can implement martial law on the slightest instance on the pretense of undefined terrorism.      United States Capitalism, at this stage has no other choice; it must either fight to become the dominant force in the world, or become a dominated force due to the unending ending capitalist competition – the drive for profits in a finite world, with declining markets.      In the process, the United States has become the world’s leading debtor nation, due to the costs of military spending, for war and the ‘preservation of Pax America’. The United States is beginning to implode like the Roman Empire, when it tried to impose a Pax Romana upon Europe.

U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:

Egypt Warns Of ‘Catastrophic Repercussions’ If Israeli Attacks Rafah Egypt warned on Tuesday that Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza would have “catastrophic repercussions” for peace in the Middle East.    Foreign ministers from Arab League countries told the United Nations Human Rights Council that some nations were turning a blind eye to the suffering in Gaza.

Is The Int’l Community Concluding it is Time to End the World’s Longest Occcupation? Left to its own devices, Israel would never grant Palestinians their freedom. In the past, though, some people, whether in ignorance or otherwise, claimed that peace in Palestine can only be achieved through “unconditional negotiations”. This mantra was also championed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he cared enough to pay lip service to the “peace process” and other US fantasies. Back then, he spoke about his readiness to hold unconditional negotiations, while arguing constantly that Israel does not have a partner for peace.

Half a Million People in Gaza face Starvation, as 1 in 6 Children are Wasting Away The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that Israel only allowed half as many aid trucks into Gaza in February as had been in January.     The Gaza Ministry of Health said that two infants died on Tuesday at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza of dehydration and malnutrition. They were 2 of 6 known child deaths from hunger that day. Those are only the cases we are hearing about because the deaths happened at barely functioning hospital. About 150,000 Palestinians are still in the north, though most were forced south by the Israeli army. No aid trucks are going north because the Israelis routinely fire on aid missions. Those     Palestinians trying to survive up there suffer from lack of food and potable water because the Israeli military strategy has been to reduce everything to rubble, including bakeries. This policy of bombing everything in sight is not necessary to fight the Hamas guerrilla movement, and therefore it must be a deliberate attack on civilian lives.      Israel Made False Claims About Its Own Evidence in ICJ Defense, Analysis Finds In one example, Israel claimed an image showed aid trucks entering Gaza when they were actually driving away. Adamning analysis of the argument presented by Israel’s lawyers in its defense against South Africa’s genocide case finds that Israel’s legal team made false or misleading claims about evidence that it submitted to the court, undermining its arguments that its massacre in Gaza is justified.     This includes assertions, the lawyers argued, that Israel had good reason to carry out raids of hospitals across Gaza like Al-Shifa in Gaza City, for instance, and that it has allowed a sufficient amount of humanitarian aid into the region, when closer analysis by Forensic Architecture, a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London, finds in its report released this week that Israel’s lawyers misrepresented its evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

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?

Infrastructure: US Spends Billions pn Roads Rather Than Public Transport in ‘Climate Time Bomb’ New analysis finds money from Biden’s $1.2tn infrastructure bill has overwhelmingly been spent on widening highways for cars Roads, roads and more roads. The US is continuing to spend billions of dollars on expanding enormous highways rather than fund public transport, with a landmark infrastructure bill lauded by Joe Biden only further accelerating the dominance of cars at the expense, critics say, of communities and the climate.     Since the passage of the enormous $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021, hailed by Biden as a generational effort to upgrade the US’s crumbling bridges, roads, ports and public transit, money has overwhelmingly poured into the maintenance and widening of roads rather than improving the threadbare network of bus, rail and cycling options available to Americans, a new analysis has found.

Black Liberation/Civil Rights:

Uncensored Black History Offers Lessons in Global Struggles for Liberation Unearthing Black internationalism’s legacy can inform our fight for liberation in Palestine — and beyond.

Black Agenda Report

Labor:

Both Dems and GOP ‘Completely Silent’ as Macy’s Guts Workforce After Rewarding Wall Street “Blindsided” workers feels pain as retail giant says it will slash over 2,300 jobs and shutter 150 stores. As the iconic 166-year-old department store chain Macy’s this week announced a “bold new chapter” including a pivot to luxury stores, the closing of 150 locations across the United States in the coming years, and more than 2,300 layoffs, one labor expert is blaming the company’s deference to Wall Street and an economy in which firms prioritize stock buybacks over investing in their workforce.

When I was in grammar school, 60 years age, we were taught to be proud of the fact that there were open borders between Mexico and Candada. As the crisis of capitalisms deepen, Blacks, immigrants, and minorities beame capitalism’s scapegoats for the crisis of unemployment, and the declining health, employment, education, and welfare. (Only 62.5% of the labor force is currently employed!).

    US Immigration Policy Should Reflect That Immigrants Are Good for This Country A real solution to immigration would be to embrace the fact that immigration makes us stronger. It’s time to think bigger than cruelty at the border and the Senate’s most recent, doomed plan. Immigrants are good for this country. They work critical jobs, pay taxes, build businesses and introduce many of our favorite foods and cultural innovations (donuts, anyone?). But for decades, powerful players have chosen the self-serving politics of division over sensible immigration policies.

Economy:

Shadow Government Statistics New Weekly Commentary February 19, 2024 Opening Headlines, Latest Numbers and OutlookJohn Williams, Shadow Government Statistics Banner

  • No Parallel Real Economic Booms Have Been Seen in Underlying Monthly Economic Data, Versus the Headline 3% Real Annual Booms in 3rd- and 4th-Quarter 2023 GDP The Data Detailed Here All Are Preparatory for Next Weekend’s Pending Review-Preview
  • No Recovery Here, Yet, from the Pandemic-Driven Collapse – Preliminary February 2024 Consumer Sentiment Held 21.2% (-21.2%) Shy of Ever Recovering Its February 2020 Pre-Pandemic Peak
  • In Contrast, Headline Quarterly GDP Recovered Its Pre-Pandemic Peak in First-Quarter 2021, Rising Thereafter, Currently Up by 9.7% 
  • Consider that Heavily Politicized and Headlined, Booming Real Third- and Fourth-Quarter 2023 Three-Percent Year-to-Year GDP Growth Rates Are Reported in Place by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, While:
  • Last Week’s Heavy Reporting of Various, Better-Quality Headline Monthly Economic Releases Reconfirmed Flat-to-Contracting Broad Year-to-Year Economic Activity for Second-Half 2023
  • Moving into January/February 2024, Those Releases Showed a Continuing Pattern of Faltering Monthly Activity, Suggestive of Pending First-Quarter 2024 GDP Problems
  • Those Monthly Releases Included January Industrial Production, Real Retail Sales, Cass Freight Index®, New Residential Construction and the University of Michigan’s Initial-Estimate of February 2024 Consumer Sentiment: University of Michigan’s Preliminary February 2024 Consumer Sentiment

The Fed Pretends to Send a Warning to Wall Street’s Mega Banks on Derivatives and Counterparty Risk On Tuesday, the Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve, Michael Barr, delivered a speech at a risk management conference in Manhattan. Barr’s objective was to convince conference attendees that the Fed has its eye on the ball when it comes to Wall Street mega banks and their counterparties who are sitting on the opposite sides of derivative trades totaling tens of trillions of dollars. (Yes, trillions.) The most illuminating and dangerous elements of Barr’s speech are what he didn’t say.

World:

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 

Florida Officials Cut Sociology as Core College Class in War on Critical Thought Sociology educators say the discipline is a right-wing target because it challenges students to question the status quo. When Afshan Jafar arrived at Ohio Wesleyan University as an undergraduate in 1995, she enthusiastically enrolled in a variety of classes, including classics, dance, economics, philosophy and sociology. As an international student from Pakistan, she found the array fascinating, but it was an 8:30 am class called “Intro to Sociology” that most intrigued her.     “The class helped ease my transition from one culture to another and helped me understand our differences. It helped me put my individual experience into a broader context,” she told Truthout. “Sociology goes from the micro to the macro and gives us a way to look at social problems or social situations from multiple vantage points. I think this is why the field is so threatening to the right wing. Sociology provides a way to assess structural problems, allowing us to see beyond individual failures or individual difficulties.”