Daily News Digest April 17, 2024
Images of the Day:
Ted Rall: What Will Be Left of Gaza for Trump To Make Worse? 
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:
Constituent Assembly: A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods.[1][2] Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature, although members of the legislature may compose a significant number or all of its members.[3] As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state’s normal legislative procedures in some jurisdictions;[4] instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy.[5]
Pocasts/Videos of the Day:
Yanis Varoufakis Banned from Germany as Berlin Police Raid & Shut Down Palestinian Conference
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
Patrick Lawrence:“Fire and Ice.” How will America fail? —A decade ago I published a book wherein I reckoned the U.S. had 25 years to come to terms with the loss of the geopolitical primacy it had enjoyed for the previous seven decades. I called the book Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century. I took as my beginning date 2001, when, in my reasoning, the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington brought “the American century” to a stunningly abrupt close. “Can America transform itself from a nation with a destiny into a nation with a purpose?” I drew this distinction from The Promise of American Life, a book Herbert Croly, the noted Progressive Era social critic, published in 1909. The question I posed was key to my case: Destiny, holding people in the space of timeless mythologies, confers upon them a semi-sacred “mission.” To have a purpose is to live in the stream of history, with earthly things to do. A century after Croly wrote his classic commentary, the events of 2001 had lent the transformation he proposed a new urgency. America could accomplish it, and so accept its place as one nation among many, with grace, wisdom, dignity, imagination, and a measure of courage. Others had made such passages successfully, I argued, and come out vastly the better for it. Or America could resist the turning of history’s wheel—resist the 21st century altogether—and surrender its global hegemony only after a prolonged, incessantly destructive struggle to defend it. My prediction was not so difficult to make. And, 23 years after the traumatic attacks of 11 September 2001, the choice America’s purported leaders have made is now evident—gruesomely, disastrously evident. I wondered, as I prepared to write this commentary, whether the chaos, disorder, and human suffering that now overtake our world is without precedent in modern history. This may be a matter of judgment, but there can be no question at all that the United States, in its refusal to accept the realities of our new century, has dragged us into a very dark time of war, violence, and inhumanity.
Our Budget Priorities Should Reflect the People’s Agenda, Not Hasten Nuclear Oblivion This fiscal year 2024, the United States will spend $94.485 billion on all nuclear weapons programs, an increase of over $4 billion from last year. Today, April 15, is the day we fund our nation’s priorities as determined by our elected leaders. Last month the United Way released its 2023 211 Impact Survey of roughly 16 million requests, offering insights into the trends and challenges faced by households and communities across the country. Topping the list were housing, utilities, and food assistance as the top needs of people seeking support nationwide. Similarly, a Gallop poll released last month listed the economy, inflation, hunger and homelessness, and healthcare costs in the top five priorities.
The United States’ ‘Shadow’ War with Iran: Shadow War no more: With Direct Warfare between Israel and Iran, is there any going Back? For decades, Iran and Israel have been engaged in a “shadow war.” Falling short of direct military confrontation, this conflict has been characterized by war through other means – through proxies, cyber attacks, economic sanctions and fiery rhetoric. Events over the last few weeks in the Middle East have, however, changed the nature of this conflict. First, Israel – it is widely presumed – broke diplomatic norms by bombing an Iranian mission in Syria. The operation, in which 12 individuals were killed – including seven officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp Quds Force – ratcheted up the stakes. It also crossed a new threshold. Never before had that many Quds Force or other Iranian military officials been killed in a single attack by Iran’s adversaries. Almost immediately, rhetoric from leaders in Tehran indicated Iran would respond swiftly and dramatically.
U.S. Funded Plestinian Genocide:
United States Directly Intervened in Genocide War: U.S., Not Israel, Shot Down Most Iran Drones And Missiles American forces did most of the heavy lifting responding to Iran’s retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Damascus. The United States shot down more drones and missiles than Israel did on Saturday night during Iran’s attack, The Intercept can report. More than half of Iran’s weapons were destroyed by U.S. aircraft and missiles before they ever reached Israel. In fact, by commanding a multinational air defense operation and scrambling American fighter jets, this was a U.S. military triumph. The extent of the U.S. military operation is unbeknownst to the American public, but the Pentagon coordinated a multination, regionwide defense extending from northern Iraq to the southern Persian Gulf on Saturday. During the operation, the U.S., U.K., France, and Jordan all shot down the majority of Iranian drones and missiles. In fact, where U.S. aircraft originated from has not been officially announced, an omission that has been repeated by the mainstream media. Additionally, the role of Saudi Arabia is unclear, both as a base for the United States and in terms of any actions by the Saudi military.
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?
Biden Must Choose—People or Plastic “We must seize this moment to turn the tide on plastic pollution and safeguard our planet for this and future generations.” As the penultimate round of negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty begin in Ottawa, Canada, the U.S. must back a strong agreement that protects our health, our communities, and the planet. Plastic pollution has become an omnipresent threat, infiltrating every corner of our planet and leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. From endangering human health to exacerbating social injustices, decimating biodiversity, and intensifying the climate crisis at every turn, the urgency to address this crisis cannot be overstated.
Norfolk Southern to Pay $600 Million To Settle Spill Case Norfolk Southern Corp. said it would pay $600 million to settle lawsuits over its train derailment in Ohio last year that spilled more than 1 million gallons of toxic chemicals and sickened residents. The Atlanta-based railroad company said Tuesday it had agreed to resolve consolidated legal claims pressed by as many as 500,000 residents, property owners and businesses in the East Palestine area over the disaster. The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment of a freight train released dangerous chemicals such as vinyl chloride, considered a carcinogen, and prompted an evacuation of local residents. Shares of Norfolk Southern were up 1.6% at $254.31 at 9:35 a.m. in New York. Shortly after the accident, Norfolk Southern launched a controlled burn of the chemicals to mitigate the explosion risk. East Palestine residents blamed the resulting cloud for headaches, lingering odors and pet deaths, and said the incident had led to increased cancer risk.
Academia in Lock Step with Genocide!: Statement by University of Southern California Student Asna Tabassum, Class of 2024 Valedictorian: I am honored to have been selected as USC Class of 2024 Valedictorian. Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all. This campaign to prevent me from addressing my peers at commencement has evidently accomplished its goal: today, USC administrators informed me that the university will no longer allow me to speak at commencement due to supposed security concerns. I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the University is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice. I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university—my home for four years—has abandoned me.
How American Policing Became So Violent The horrific recent murders of Tyre Nichols, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Laquan McDonald, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and many other African American citizens have brought increased public awareness to police violence in America. Today, police officers in the United States kill suspects at 100 times the rate of their English counterparts and employ deadly force more than 30 times more frequently than German law enforcers. Among affluent, industrial nations, the U.S. stands alone in police violence. Although neither police brutality nor racialized police murders is a new phenomenon, police brutality and police homicide have increased dramatically during the last 100 years in the United States. Why are American police so violent? And how do we make sense of the horrific increase of these killings? At the start of the 20th century, American police officers were often brutal and sometimes murderous. As law enforcers embraced more professional practices and became better trained, they also killed suspects, especially African American suspects, at skyrocketing rates. A century ago, American patrolmen, detectives, and sheriffs supported and protected violent vigilantes more often than they committed violent acts, particularly toward people of color. But this changed abruptly after World War I, when American police violence—ranging from sadistic interrogation methods to the preemptive use of lethal forces against unarmed suspects—soared. Police violence became normalized as the preservation of law and order, gained support from many white citizens, and became shielded and defended by the courts. During the early 20thcentury, American society largely rejected lynching and mob violence but began to accept and embrace the even more frequent use of deadly violence by police officers. A warrior mentality emerged among many law enforcers, who perceived aggressive, even deadly actions against certain groups as an essential component of preserving social order. In the process, many Americans, including prosecutors, jurors, and judges, recast police violence as necessary public safety, operating fully within the “rule of law.”
The Climate/Global Warming Emergency:
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Gerrymandering Denies Incarcerated People Fair Democratic Representation The US Census counts incarcerated people as residents of prisons, not their home towns — with undemocratic results. … The United States, though, is home to injustices that extend far beyond this election-rigging. The bipartisan project of mass incarceration has swept up enormous swaths of the population, disproportionately people of color — with the result that the country now exceeds all other nations in total prisoner numbers. Until recently, that was true both of the raw number and the per-capita rate. (The latter has apparently fluctuated since a 2019-2020, partly COVID-related drop; the total-number first-place status remains in place.
Labor:
Mass Layoffs Have Our Rich Thriving … and Workers Writhing … Only 44 percent of U.S. adults, analysts at Bankrate reported this past February, have enough savings to handle an emergency $1,000 expense. Some 66 percent of U.S. adults, Bankrate also notes, worry “they wouldn’t have enough emergency savings to cover a month’s living expenses” if they lost their primary source of household income. And plenty of American adults, the Labor Institute’s executive director Les Leopold reminds us, are losing that primary source of household income, their job. “Mass layoffs” — what happens when a company lets 50 or more workers go within a five-week period — have become “so commonplace” that top corporate execs “do not
Economy:
Stanford Finance Professor Anat Admati Is Making Jamie Dimon Very Nervous – Again Calling His Bank “Dangerous” Stanford Finance and Economics Professor Anat Admati has been valiantly attempting to save the American financial system from the corrupting influence and disinformation campaigns of men like JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon for more than a decade. Her voice is gaining traction and that’s making Dimon very nervous. Dimon has admitted in his recent letter to shareholders that his federal banking regulators want the bank to raise 25 percent more capital. Making banks hold more equity capital (as opposed to debt) is an issue that Admati has made a central focus of her arguments for years.
World:
Colombia: Can Petro’s Constituent Assembly Break the Deadlock? On Friday 15 March, Colombian President Gustavo Petro took to the streets of Cali. In the speech he delivered on the day, he proposed a constituent assembly as a route out of the various problems his presidency has encountered in attempting to pass the reforms for which he was elected. To quote that speech: “If the institutions we have today in Colombia are not capable of living up to the social reforms that the people have decreed through their vote… then it is not the people who must return home on their knees, defeated. Rather, we must raise the transformation of those institutions… And therefore, if this possibility of a popularly elected government in the context of the present state and under the present constitution of Colombia cannot apply the constitution because it is surrounded in such a way as it cannot be applied and is stimied, then Colombia has to go for a national constituent assembly.”
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