Daily News Digest March 8, 2024

Daily News Digest Archives

Images of the Day:

Deja Do Do

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:

“Today I have reached my conclusion,” wrote W. E. B. Du Bois on October 1, 1961: “Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction. No universal selfishness can bring social good to all. Communism—the effort to give all men what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute—this is the only way of human life. — W. E. B. Du Bois’s Revolutions

This is not a war in defense of “Ukrainian democracy” — a phrase that causes one either to laugh or do the other thing. It is the West’s proxy war, start to finish, Ukrainians cynically cast as cannon fodder, expendable stooges.       Russia had no choice when it intervened two years ago, this after eight years’ patience as the Europeans — Germany and France, this is to say — broke every promise they made by way of supporting a settlement. The Americans didn’t break any promises because they never made any — and no one would take them seriously if they had.    I come to the judgment I offered when the war that began in 2014 erupted into open conflict two years ago. The Russian intervention was regrettable but necessary. I took some stick for this view back in 2022. I learn lately it is recorded in some European intelligence files as if it were a major transgression. — Patrick Lawrence: The Russians in Ukraine

Pocasts/Videos of the Day:

Alan Woods: Sunak, Galloway and the Crisis of Bourgeois Democracy Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a grave message outside 10 Downing Street: “democracy is under attack”! What led him to draw this dramatic conclusion? The people of Rochdale (formerly a safe seat for the British Labour Party), voted overwhelmingly for an anti-imperialist firebrand George Galloway, with a monumental collapse of support both for Sunak’s Tories and for Keir Starmer and his Blairite ilk. Galloway profited from the profound disgust felt by the masses towards both the traditional parties in Britain, particularly their unanimous support for Israel’s terrible crimes against the Palestinians. And Sunak’s cure for this troubling situation? Curtailing democracy! Namely: attacking the right to protest the criminal activities of the Israeli military in Gaza! With Israel’s bloody war on the people of Gaza still raging, the disgusting complicity of the British ruling class has graphically revealed the true nature of Sunak, Starmer and the whole rotten capitalist establishment in Britain. But this mood is not limited to one country. All over the world, workers and youth are growing sick of the hypocrisy, betrayal and corruption of bourgeois democracy. As Alan Woods explains in this video, bourgeois democracy is in a deep crisis. Only the communists seriously defend democratic freedoms, and offer a way forward for humanity, out of the morass of war, poverty and misery. That is why we are founding the Revolutionary Communist International between 10-15 June this year!

Israel’s “Killing Machine”: How U.S. Military Support Is Undercutting Ceasefire Talks, Prolonging War

Biden Admin Quietly Approves 100+ Arms Sales to Israel While Claiming Concern for Civilians in Gaza

New Pakistan Gov’t Marks Return of “Bourgeois Old Guard” as Jailed Imran Khan Looms Large

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 

‘Unconscionable’: Biden Has Approved 100+ Arms Sales to Israel in Just Five Months “When people ask, ‘What do you want Joe Biden to do?’ the answer is: Stop making these weapons deals,” said one campaigner. The Biden administration has approved more than 100 separate weapons sales to the Israeli government since its massive assault on the GazaStrip began five months ago, transfers that did not require congressional notification because they were each below a certain dollar amount.     The Washington Postreported Wednesday that the sales, which were disclosed to lawmakers during a recent classified briefing, included “thousands of precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms, and other lethal aid.”

Former NATO Analyst Jacques Baud on Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: The Defeat of the Vanquisher Former NATO Analyst Jacques Baud on Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: The Defeat of the Vanquisher Doctrinal Apparatus Ill-Suited to an Asymmetrical Conflict The BETHLEHEM Doctrine.    This doctrine was developed by Daniel Bethlehem, legal advisor to Benjamin Netanyahu and then to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It postulates that states are entitled to preventive self-defense against an “imminent” attack. The difficulty here is to determine the “imminent” nature of an attack, which implies that the terrorist action is close in time and that there is a body of evidence to confirm it.     In February 2013, NBC News released a Department of Justice “White Paper” defining “imminent:”     The imminent threat of a violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have proof that a specific attack against American persons or interests will take place in the immediate future.

Patrick Lawrence: The Russians in Ukraine Recent disclosures provide an incomplete inventory of the West’s covert activities in Ukraine. There is more than we have been told, surely. You may have read or heard about the freakout that ensued after Emmanuel Macron convened a summit of European leaders in Paris last week. At a press briefing afterward, the French president allowed that NATO may at some point send troops to Ukraine to join the fight against Russian military force. … It went this way in Paris last week. At the presser following the summit Macron was asked whether Ukraine’s Western backers were considering deploying troops in Ukraine. The French president replied that while European leaders had not reached any kind of agreement, the idea was certainly on the table when they gathered at Elysée Palace. And then this: “Nothing should be ruled out. We will do anything we can to prevent Russia from winning this war.”

U.S. Armed and Funded Palestinian Genocide:

Marjorie Cohn: Israel Didn’t Even Try to Defend the Legality of Its Occupation to World Court Israel’s system is “an even more extreme form of the apartheid” than South Africa’s was, South African ambassador said. For six days, more than 50 countries, the League of Arab States, the African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation presented testimony to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, or World Court) about the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. The overwhelming majority of them, largely from the Global South, told the court that the occupation was illegal.  The historic hearing, which took place February 19-26, was held in response to the United Nations General Assembly’s December 30, 2022, request for an advisory opinion on the following questions:

  1. What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?
  2. How do the policies and practices of Israel … affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from this status?

Most Americans Want the US to Stop Sending Weapons to Israel, Poll Finds Only 27 percent of respondents say they agree with the US’s current arms transfers to Israel. With over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed by the U.S.-backed Israeli military in just the past five months and millions more starving due to Israel’s blockade, powerful new polling results have shown that the majority of Americans think that the U.S. should stop sending weapons to Israel amid its genocidal assault. According to polling of 1,000 adults done by YouGov, commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), 52 percent of Americans say the U.S. should halt weapons shipments to Israel. This includes over 6 in 10 Americans, or 62 percent, who say they voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, signaling a huge rift between Biden’s extreme pro-Israel policies and his base. 

We Are Witnessing a Resurgence of Anti-Science Fundamentalism The recent ruling in Alabama regarding “frozen embyros” can’t help but evoke memories of the trial of John T. Scopes. The recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are “children” reveals the growing importance of state supreme courts in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overruling Roe v. Wade.     So far this year, at least 14 states have introduced fetal personhood legislation — extending not only to fetuses, but also to embryos and eggs. Two-thirds of pregnancy criminalization arrests are now coming from Alabama, Oklahoma, and South Carolina — whose highest courts have defined “children” to include fetuses, fertilized eggs, and embryos. If you suffer a miscarriage, you could potentially be arrested for homicide or manslaughter. State courts have become the scenes of a growing number of reproduction criminalization trials.

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?

February Was Warmest on Record Globally, Say Scientists Global average temperature for past 12 months highest on record at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels, data shows Last month was the warmest February on record globally, making it the ninth month in a row with record temperatures for the time of year, scientists have said.     Global sea surface temperatures are also at their highest ever recorded, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows.     The data shows February was 1.77C warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month, from 1850 to 1900, and 0.81C above 1991-2020 levels. The global average temperature for the past 12 months – between March 2023 and February 2024 – was the highest on record, at 1.56C above pre-industrial levels.

‘Explosive Growth’ in Petrochemical Production Poses Risks to Human Health New report warns of deadly health risks from fossil fuel pollution, including alarming rise in neurodevelopmental issues Chemical pollution tied to fossil fuel operations poses serious risks to human health, warns a new analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.      Citing data from dozens of studies, the report points to an alarming rise in neurodevelopmental issues, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and certain cancers in young people taking place amid what the paper’s author calls “explosive growth” in the petrochemical industry. Between 1990 and 2019, rates of certain cancers in people under 50 increased dramatically. Meanwhile, fossil fuel use and petrochemical production have increased fifteen-fold since the 1950s, according to the report.

Black Liberation/Civil Rights:

Black Agenda Report

Labor:

Economy:

Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Secretary/Foreclosure Kingpin, Joins with Hedge Fund Guys to Grab a Teetering, Federally-Insured Bank for $2 a Share Former Trump Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, has teamed up with his pals from his days as a foreclosure kingpin at OneWest and assorted hedge funds/private equity guys, to pull a coup d’etat at the teetering New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), parent of Flagstar Bank.      A press release from NYCB yesterday confirmed that Mnuchin and his pals would be injecting $1 billion in equity at a purchase price of $2 a share for NYCB, massively diluting existing shareholders whose share price on the last trading day of last year was $10.23. (For why shares of NYCB have been in free fall this year, see our report on Tuesday: 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.)

World:

Following French Victory, Spain’s Left Wants to Enshrine Abortion Rights in Constitution “The French feminists did it. The Spanish feminists can do it.” Days after French lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to enshrine the right to abortion care in their country’s constitution, Spain’s far-left Sumar Party on Wednesday announced its intention to do the same, ensuring people can terminate pregnancies in a country where abortion is technically legal—but where doctors frequently refuse to provide care.

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