Daily News Digest April 12, 2024

Daily News Digest Archive

Images of the Day:

Mike Luckovich: Cement Recovery Rooms

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:

As the planet warms, sea level rises at an ever-faster rate. Wetlands have generally kept pace by building upward and creeping inland a few meters per year. But raised roadbeds, cities, farms and increasing land elevation can leave wetlands with nowhere to go. Sea-level rise projections for midcentury suggest the waterline will be shifting 15 to 100 times faster than wetland migration has been clocked.     I have been studying coastal geology and wetlands for more than 40 years. The rates of sea-level rise that we’re seeing now mean portions of today’s coastal wetland ecosystems will be lost to the ocean in the years and decades to come at a tempo never seen before. —  Coastal Wetlands Can’t Keep Pace with Sea-level Rise

Pocasts/Videos of the Day:

“We’re Responsible for This”: American Surgeons Return from Gaza, Call for End of U.S. Culpability in Genocide

Black Agenda Radio April 5, 2024

The Black Vote and Swing State Michigan in 2024

Guyana is an Imperialist Target

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

Bullies are a Reflection of Imperialism: It Doesn’t Have to Be Like This There is no natural law stating that bullies have to dominate our lives. The researchers claim to be surprised by their findings, but is it really so remarkable? A large and impressive study of children’s progress into adulthood found that those who display bullying and aggressive behaviour at school are more likely to prosper at work. They land better jobs and earn more. The association of senior positions with bullying and dominance behaviour will doubtless come as a shock to many.

The White House Summit With Japan and the Philippines Is a Big Deal The celebration of a “categorical leap” in Japanese rearmament risks inflaming tensions in the Pacific.  The White House is rolling out the red carpet for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who arrived in Washington Tuesday for meetings with President Joe Biden followed by a state dinner Wednesday. The pair will be joined Thursday by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the first ever trilateral summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.     The summit is a significant step up in cooperation between the states, as the leaders look to increase their economic cooperation and collaboration on technological development. But the real show is all about security in the Indo-Pacific, as China becomes more assertive in its claims over disputed territories in the South China Sea and North Korea steps up its missile testing in the region.     As the trio works to bolster security in the region, they’ll face the daunting task of balancing military efforts with diplomatic overtures needed to keep tensions with China in check, experts say. Improving U.S.-China relations will stabilize the situation, Mike Mochizuki of George Washington University said, adding that “focus on military deterrence is likely to cause China and North Korea to then respond in such a way [as] to beef up their security interests.”

U.S. Funded Plestinian Genocide: 

On the Right to Resist! Then and Now  Are the Israelis carrying out crimes as did the German government in the 1940s? Yes. Did the Jews of that era have a right to resist these crimes? Yes. Do the Palestinians have a right to resist their oppression and persecution? Yes. Should the people of the world support the Palestinians? Yes again. Should Jewish people support Palestinians? Absolutely. If we are to uproot the soil on which antisemitism and all forms of racism flourish, we must oppose this racialized nationalism and racial persecution wherever it manifests itself, whether in Germany in 1940, or Israel or the U.S today.

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?

The Earth is Big Oil’s Killing Field! The Brockovich Report: Are There Microplastics In Your Drinking Water? Learn More About Our Big Plastic Problem, Who Is Responsible For It & How To Protect Your Tap. Earth day’s theme this year is about plastics and for good reason. The campaign is demanding a 60 percent reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come.      “Plastic pollution is one of the most serious environmental crises facing the world today,” according to an explosive February report from the Center for Climate Integrity.     “Between 1950 and 2015, more than 90 percent of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment.”      Earth day’s theme this year is about plastics and for good reason. The campaign is demanding a 60 percent reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come.      “Plastic pollution is one of the most serious environmental crises facing the world today,” according to an explosive February report from the Center for Climate Integrity.      “Between 1950 and 2015, more than 90 percent of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment.”     The report describes a decades-long campaign of fraud and deception about the recyclability of plastics.     As I’ve said before, these companies knew it.      They’ve always known.    They knew that recycling plastics is not technically or economically viable, and yet they engaged in fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling as a solution to plastic waste.    Plastics have been notoriously difficult to recycle, and the industry knew that for years.

Inside Exxon’s Playbook: How the Oil Giant Works Through Front Groups to Head-Off Regulations on Toxic Chemicals and Plastics ExxonMobil worked with groups including the powerful American Chemistry Council to influence policy on ‘forever chemicals’ and plastic waste, insider tells undercover reporter ExxonMobil ran a behind the scenes US lobbying campaign against legislative efforts to restrict the use of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, one of the oil giant’s most senior lobbyists has told an undercover reporter.   Keith McCoy, a senior director of federal relations at Exxon, told a reporter for Unearthed posing as a head-hunter that that the company had conducted a fingerprints-off lobbying push via several trade groups in an effort to stave off tighter regulations on these controversial chemicals.    This included, he said, lobbying Congress “under the guise” of the American Petroleum Institute, one of Exxon’s powerful trade associations.

Climate Victory: Texas Solar Power Growing So Rapidly, it is Reducing demand for Fossil Gas The far right Texas legislature, dominated by Republicans in the back pocket of the fossil fuel industry, has done what it could to promote fossil gas as a power source for electricity generation. Just last summer, it passed a bill that offered companies bonuses for connecting new gas plants to the electricity grid and offered 3% loans to developers in this industry. In so doing, these ignorant cretins guaranteed further deadly carbon dioxide emissions, which are wrecking the planet. … Exhibit A is a new report by the Energy Information Agency that shows how rapidly solar power is overtaking fossil gas in the state.     Wind farms produce the most renewable energy in Texas, but solar is making rapid strides, alongside vastly increased battery storage. Solar power generation in the Lone Star state has already overtaken that in California, which is saying something.

Black Liberation/Civil Rights:

Black Agenda Report

Labor:

Economy:

China’s Unfair ‘Overcapacity’ The recent nonsense issued by the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on China’s ‘overcapacity’ and ‘unfair subsidies’ to its industries is particularly pathetic.  As Renaud Bertrand put it: “the so-called threat of China’s industrial overcapacity” is a buzzword that actually means that China is simply too competitive, and by asking it to address this, what Yellen is truly asking of China is akin to a fellow sprinter asking Usain Bolt to run a less fast because he can’t keep up.”     Indeed, let me quote Bertrand’s rebuttal of Yellen’s claims of ‘overcapacity’.  “Let’s start with capacity utilization rates. it’s crystal clear they’ve been pretty much constant in China for the past 10 years, standing at roughly 76% right now, which is in the same ballpark as America’s own utilization rates at about 78%. So no issue there.”    Bertrand goes on: “despite the very low prices for its EVs or solar panels, Chinese companies involved still make a profit (industrial profits are rising at double digit growth), and they DO charge higher prices abroad than at home. The competitiveness of Chinese companies is overwhelming: today, in scores of industries – like solar or EVs – there is simply no way for American or European companies to compete with Chinese ones. This is the real issue: Yellen and Western leaders are afraid that if things keep going, China will simply eat everyone’s lunch.    

Shadow Government Statistics New Weekly Commentary March 4, 2024 John Williams, Shadow Government Statistics Banner

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 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: (1) 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 (2) 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.    U.S. Systemic Liquidity.    Federal Debt and Money Supply Continue at Extremes Fueling Surging Systemic Liquidity and Inflation.    U.S. Federal Debt Outstanding.

The Black Swan Rears Its Head: The Fed Has Negative Capital Using GAAP Accounting The Fed’s unprecedented experiments with years of ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy) and QE (Quantitative Easing), where it bought up trillions of dollars of low-yielding U.S. Treasuries and agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) and quietly parked them on its balance sheet, are now posing a threat to the Fed’s flexibility in conducting monetary policy.  (Since 2008, the Fed’s concept of conducting monetary policy has come to enshrine serial Wall Street mega bank bailouts as a regular part of its monetary policy. Large and growing cash losses at the Fed may seriously crimp such future bailouts.)

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