Daily News Digest March 6, 2024
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! 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 War proclaims the downfall of the national state. Yet at the same time it proclaims the downfall of the capitalist system of economy. By means of the national state, capitalism has revolutionized the whole economic system of the world. It has divided the whole earth among the oligarchies of the great powers, around which were grouped the satellites, the small nations, who lived off the rivalry between the great ones. The future development of world economy on the capitalistic basis means a ceaseless struggle for new and ever new fields of capitalist exploitation, which must be obtained from one and the same source, the earth. The economic rivalry under the banner of militarism is accompanied by robbery and destruction which violate the elementary principles of human economy. World production revolts not only against the confusion produced by national and state divisions but also against the capitalist economic organizations, which has now turned into barbarous disorganization and chaos. — Leon Trotsky
Pocasts/Videos of the Day:
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
Biden’s Middle East Policy Trades Humanitarian Aid for Endless Warfare The withdrawal of funding from UNRWA does not merely impact the agency’s ability to deliver vital services but also contributes to the perpetuation of poverty and marginalization that feed into the cycle of violence. On February 13, the U.S. Senate passed a $95.3 billion supplemental funding package that will fund weapons, war, and militarism in Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. The bill would also further entrench the Biden Administration’s cruel and unnecessary decision to cut all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by prohibiting humanitarian funds from going to the agency. UNRWA serves almost six million Palestinian refugees and is the main provider of aid in Gaza. Further restrictions on funding could result in a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response and many more preventable deaths.
Hundreds of Millions Watch Launch of the Revolutionary Communists of America! Last Sunday, our US comrades announced the launch of a brand new organisation: the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA). In just a week, it has caused something of a sensation. Social, mainstream, and state media outlets quickly picked up on the news. In total, millions in the US, and hundreds of millions around the world have seen the launch videos after being picked up by state media in a number of countries. The announcement has become a beacon for communists and class fighters across the continent and beyond, with our US comrades being flooded with hundreds of write-ins in just one week. It’s not hard to understand why the announcement was received with such elation. To see communists openly declaring that they have arrived in the United States – the belly of the beast, the centre of world capitalism, home of McCarthyism – and marching in downtown Brooklyn, New York, has caused millions to sit up and pay attention.
U.S. Funded Palestinian Genocide:
Why the United States Funds Genocide! — It is Profitable!: Palestinian Genocide is in the United States’ and Israel’s Economic Interests! From Israel as the United States Imperialist’s Police Force in the Middle East! 10/31/23 Update: Fossil Fuel Corporations Always Profit from Wars in the Middle East! Natural Gas Control is the Reason for Israel’s Genocidal War on Gaza! From 2020 Article: Israel Kicks Off Middle East Gas Exports While Continuing to Deny Palestinians Their Drilling Rights The flow of natural gas from Israel to Jordan and Egypt could be upsetting to many, including Palestinians, who are denied their right to drill and extract gas from the Gaza Marine field – discovered in 1999 off Gaza’s seashores. The field is located a proximity 30 kilometres off the seashore of Gaza, but due to the complexity of the geopolitics of the region and the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, it has laid dormant for nearly 20 years so far since its discovery. The field is estimated to contain one trillion cubic feet of gas and estimated to have a life of 15 years. . . . If Palestinians were to have free access and drilling rights to their fields, this would reduce their reliance on foreign aid and Israeli energy and be self-sufficient in electricity generation in both Gaza and the West Bank. But as long as the political split persists and as long as peace talks between Israel and the PA remain frozen, especially in light of US President Donald Trump’s biased policy towards Tel Aviv, then Palestinians will not be able to develop the gas reserves without political and security clearance from Israel to export the gas. In late 1999, the PA granted an exploration 25-year licence to the BG Group, Consolidated Contractors Limited (CCC), the British Gas Group (BG Group) and the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) to develop and commercialise the Gaza fields. Under international law, every state with a coastline is entitled to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline, within which the coastal states can enjoy extensive rights in relation to natural resources. But when its it comes to Palestinian rights and their natural resources, then this, sadly, does not apply. Why did Israel provoke a war with Hamas? Behind the Current Gaza War the U.S. Oil Profiteers!: 2O21 Article: Energean Selects Halliburton for Offshore Israel Drilling Campaign Integrated Services Contract To Deliver Five Wells in Eastern Mediterranean Through Halliburton Consulting And Project Management SLB, Baker Hughes, Halliburton Primed for Middle East Boom A bevy of projects in the Middle East promises a boom in future revenues for SLB, Baker Hughes and Halliburton.
As Palestinian Children Die of Hunger, US blows ineffectual Kisses with Air Drop he known deaths from starvation of Palestinian children in Gaza hospitals rose to 16 on Monday. This is a fraction of the actual such deaths, since Israel has put most of the Strip’s hospitals out of commission and many infants and children are dying of malnutrition at home. In February, Israel let only half as many food and aid trucks into Gaza as it had in Gaza, with UN and other aid workers warning that mass starvation of 500,000 people is imminent if these policies continue. The response of some in the Biden administration to do an end-run around President Joe Biden’s studied unconcern with these child deaths by joining in a Jordanian air drop effort ends up being more a public relations effort than an effective food provision strategy. On Sunday, the US air dropped 38,000 meals for 2.2 million people, which is like putting a band aid on an amputated leg. Air drops are costly and inefficient and would be rendered unnecessary if Israel allowed in sufficient food aid and actually began governing this territory it military occupies
Tell the Truth About Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity Israeli forces killed more than a hundred Palestinians and wounded more than 700 on February 29, 2024 during a distribution of food aid in Gaza city, pushing the Palestinian death toll to 30,000 since October 7, 2023. The food aid massacre was straightforward in its deadliness as armed Israeli forces aimed weapons at desperate, hungry Palestinian civilians and killed many of them. It was also plausible within the context of who has firepower and who doesn’t, and wholly consistent with Israeli atrocities, especially those committed since October 7, 2023. And yet, Western media headlines went out of their way to obscure and protect the perpetrators of this awful crime. CNN reported there was a “Carnage at Gaza food aid site amid Israeli gunfire,” as if the victims had little to do with the gunfire. The outlet didn’t even bother to mention Palestinians.
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?
Climate Crisis: Record Low 3% Great Lakes Ice Coverage during Usual Peak Period As much of the Great Lakes region experiences its warmest winter on record, and more record high temperatures are expected in Michigan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported record low levels of ice coverage on the Great Lakes, amid a steady, decades-long decrease in coverage.
On the Brink: California’s Luxe Clifftop Mansions in Peril After Record Rain Homeowners in wealthy towns watching anxiously in face of heavy storms that have caused flash floods and coastal erosion The torrents of water coming from the sky are having ripple effects on the cliffs that hold up some of California’s most expensive real estate. In the first two months of the year, nearly 18in of rain has fallen in the southern California area, about 8in above normal to date – and more is on the way this week.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:Prisoners in Texas and Florida Face Biggest Risk of Increasingly Deadly Heat Almost 45% of detention facilities on US mainland suffered rise in hazardous heat days between 1982 and 2020, study says
Labor:
Economy:
Shadow Government Statistics New Weekly Commentary March 4, 2024
U.S. Inflation Will Get Worse, and So Will Broad, Domestic Economic Conditions. ShadowStats Contends that Major Sectors of the U.S. Economy Remain Shy of a Full “Recovery” From the Pandemic-Driven Economic Downturn. “Recovery” Is Defined by Real or Inflation-Adjusted Economic Activity Regaining and Moving Above Pre-Recession and/or Pre-Pandemic Levels of Activity. In Prologue to ShadowStats’ Pending Review and Preview of the Pre- and Post-Pandemic U.S. Economy (2019 to a Prospective 2025), Consider: The University of Michigan’s Full-February 2024 Consumer Sentiment Survey Just Faltered Anew, Holding Shy by 23.9% (-23.9%) of Ever Recovering Its 16-Year High February 2020 Pre-Pandemic Peak, Albeit Well Off Bottom February’s Monthly Decline Followed Two Successive Monthly Gains, Driven by Mounting Expectations for Inflation Relief in the Year Ahead. That Said, U.S. Inflation Pressures Continue to Intensify from:Uncontained U.S. Federal Government Spending and the Related Federal Debt Explosion: Just Reported February 29th National Debt Hit an Historic High of $34.5 Trillion: $34,472,083,338,222.75. Federal Reserve Monetary Stimulus, with the January 2024 Money Supply and the February 2024 Monetary Base Continuing To Push 59-Year-Plus High Levels of Relative Systemic Liquidity, Amidst Mounting Monetary Inflation Pressures. Overview Concentrating on Consumer Conditions Drivers of Inflation. Previously Noted, Consumer Sentiment Has Reflected U.S. Consumer Conditions for 70-Plus Years, Providing a Primary Plot of Aggregate Economic and Inflation Conditions, Pre-Pandemic to Date. Renewed Signals of Deepening U.S. Economic Woes Seen in Faltering Consumer Conditions Likely Will Surface in Headline Economic Numbers in the Month Ahead. Intensifying, Serious Inflation Threats Continue to Flow from Both the Federal Government’s Fiscal and Federal Reserve’s FOMC Monetary Excesses
- Federal Debt Outstanding, Quarterly 1q1966 to Latter-2q2024 In June 2023, the U.S. Congress and President Abandoned the $31.5 Trillion Debt Ceiling until 2025. The February 29, 2024 Debt Level Was a Record $34.5 Trillion [U.S.Treasury, ShadowShadowStats
- U.S. Federal Debt Growth 2000 to Date To Late-First Quarter 2024 (As of February 29th) Percent Change Year-to-Year and vs. 4q2019 Pre-Pandemic Level Seasonally-Adjusted [ShadowStats, St. Louis Fed, U.S. Treasury]
New York Community Bancorp Was JPMorgan’s Top Regional Bank Pick for 2024; It’s Lost 73 Percent Y-T-D and Had Its Deposit Rating Downgraded to Junk New York Community Bancorp’s tumultuous share price descent began on January 31 when the bank filed an 8K form with the SEC indicating a $260 million net income loss in the fourth quarter; a dividend cut from 17 cents to 5 cents; and a $552 million provision for credit losses on commercial real estate. (Year-to-date, the company’s share price has lost 73 percent of its market value. Yesterday, its shares closed at $2.73, down 23 percent from the prior trading session on Friday, when the shares had lost 26 percent.). Somehow, JPMorgan banking ana lyst Steven Alexopoulos was able to swat the gargantuan warning signs of January 31 away like a pesky gnat on an otherwise perfect day. On February 1, Alexopoulos penned a missive recommending that investors “take advantage of this valuation and accumulate shares on this weakness.” To drive home his strong buy recommendation, he wrote: “Not only do we maintain our Overweight rating, but NYCB remains our top pick for 2024.”
World:
German Military Leak Reveals British Soldiers Are in Ukraine Helping Fire Storm Shadow Missiles German military officers were also discussing how Taurus missiles could destroy the Kerch Bridge
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
How the Corporate University Created and Destroyed Diversity The Supreme Court did not kill diversity. Higher education did it to itself. It has done it slowly and methodically over the last few years, as the corporate university created and then destroyed diversity as part of its business plan to attract students and make itself more relevant to American capitalism.