Images of the Day:
Ted Rall: CeaseFire Now! Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close ally President Joe Biden are both playing for time, pretending to be opposed to what’s going on while not changing anything. As Biden sends Netanyahu more money and more weapons, day by day the Gaza Strip is being ethnically cleansed. Even now, it’s probably too late for a ceasefire to do much good!
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, and The 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 Still Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
The Majority of the World, Despite the Media Monopoly’s Lies, are Opposed to the Palestinian Genocide and Global Warming — The 1% Minority Funds Them! At, this Time in History, Capitalism is Exposing the Fact That it is Opposed to Majority Rule/Democracy!
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:
Trotsky’s Their Morals and Ours Quotes:
- A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified.
- A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains – let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
- “Civil war”, will perhaps respond the philosopher caught unawares, “is however a sad exception. But in peaceful times a healthy socialist movement should manage without violence and lying.” Such an answer however represents nothing less than a pathetic evasion. There is no impervious demarcation between “peaceful” class struggle and revolution.
- Every strike embodies in an unexpanded form all the elements of civil war. Each side strives to impress the opponent with an exaggerated representation of its resoluteness to struggle and its material resources. Through their press, agents, and spies the capitalists labor to frighten and demoralize the strikers. From their side, the workers’ pickets, where persuasion does not avail, are compelled to resort to force. Thus “lie and worse” are an inseparable part of the class struggle even in its most elementary form. It remains to be added that the very conception of truth and lie was born of social contradictions.
While the capitalist world-system is in a permanent structural crisis and the legitimacy of Western political elites is dwindling, governments tend to resort to states of war and emergency, as this allows them to silence domestic conflicts and to justify massive crackdowns on dissidents. In the logic of war, the view is narrowed to the external enemy, societies are called upon to close ranks. Anyone who disagrees runs the risk of being declared an ally of the enemy. It is obvious that these developments are extremely dangerous for a democracy. In view of the global challenges that are likely to increase in the coming decades due to geopolitical shifts, growing environmental crises and scarcity of resources, it is high time question the logic of war and to highlight different responses to current and future crises. — Ending the Logic of War
Federally Subsidized Tenants Are Being Evicted for Pot Even Where It’s Legal Legalizing marijuana statewide while upholding a federal ban for low-income tenants only reinforces historic inequities. While 24 states have passed laws to legalize recreational marijuana, federal law continues to prohibit the plant. This disparity between state and federal laws has grave consequences, not just in terms of the criminal legal system but elsewhere, too: Federally subsidized tenants, including Section 8 and public housing tenants, can be evicted or denied admission for possessing, using or dispensing marijuana — while their neighbors down the block who aren’t federally subsidized may enjoy recreational marijuana without such consequences.
Podcasts’Videos of the Day:
“Stop Weaponizing Antisemitism”: Police “Body-Slam” Jewish Dartmouth Prof. at Campus Gaza Protest
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
Bipartisan Censorship — An Attack on a Free Press!: Romney Admits Push to Ban TikTok Is Aimed at Censoring News Out of Gaza A conversation between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Republican senator offered an “incredible historical document” showing how the U.S. views its role in the Middle East. A discussion between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sen. Mitt Romney over the weekend included what one critic called an “incredible mask-off moment,” with the two officials speaking openly about the U.S. government’s long-term attempts to provide public relations work for Israel in defense of its policies in the occupied Palestinian territories—and its push to ban TikTok in order to shut down Americans’ access to unfiltered news about the Israeli assault on Gaza.
I Oppose Israel’s Atrocities In Gaza Because I’m Not A Psychopath I don’t oppose the butchery in Gaza because I love Hamas or hate Jews or love Islam or hate America. I don’t oppose the butchery in Gaza because I’m a lefty or a commie or an anarchist or an anti-imperialist. I oppose the butchery in Gaza because I’m not a fucking psychopath. Opposing Israel’s butchery in Gaza is so obvious, so common sense, such a bare-minimum, fundamental-level, Being Human 101 position that if it isn’t immediately self-evident to you after learning the basic facts, your problem is much, much deeper than whatever ideology or bias or prejudice you might happen to have. There’s something wrong with you as a person. If you support Israel’s butchery in Gaza, you’ve got much bigger problems than merely not having the correct ist or ism belief system. You’re just all fucked up inside. Your conditioning has made you into a generally shitty human being. You have deep and immensely consequential flaws in your character, and you won’t mature as a person until you heal and transcend them. Opposing Israel’s atrocities in Gaza doesn’t make you a good person, it just makes you a normal person — and supporting Israel’s atrocities in Gaza makes you a bad person. Nobody gets any points for opposing an active genocide; that’s just the basic, bare-minimum requirement for a normal human being with a functioning empathy center in their brain. If you can’t meet that basic, bare-minimum standard, you deserve to be viewed with suspicion and disdain, and anyone in your personal life who cares about truth, morality and humanity should seriously reassess their relationship with you.
U.S. Funded Plestinian Genocide:
When Biden Declared ‘That He was a Zionists’! — Believe Him!
Natural Gas Control is the Reason for United States’s/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.
Children in Gaza Are Suffering From Prolonged Trauma and Starvation, Doctor Says Walid Masoud of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund discusses the conditions among the besieged population. The World Food Programme is warning northern Gaza has reached a “full-blown” famine that is spreading south. This comes after the Israeli military has spent months blocking the entry of vital aid into Gaza, attacking humanitarian aid convoys and opening fire on Palestinian civilians waiting to receive lifesaving aid. We get an update on conditions among the besieged and starving population of Gaza — including of children now suffering from the psychological effects of intense and prolonged trauma — from Walid Masoud, a vascular surgeon and a board member of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund who is just back from heading a medical mission to Gaza.
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?
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
Inflation and Interest Rates: The US Experience Once again the US Federal Reserve is in a quandary. Does it cut its policy interest rate soon in order to relieve pressure on debt servicing costs for consumers and businesses and perhaps avoid a stagflationary economy (ie low or no growth alongside higher inflation); or does it hold its current interest rate for borrowing in order to make sure inflation falls towards its target of 2% a year? That’s what mainstream economists and investors in financial assets want an answer to. But it’s not really the important issue. What the Fed’s current quandary really shows is that yet again ‘monetary policy’ (ie central banks adjusting interest rates and money supply) has little effect on controlling inflation in the prices of goods and services that households and businesses must pay. Central bankers and mainstream economists continue to argue that monetary policy does make a difference to inflation rates. But the evidence is to the contrary. Monetary policy supposedly manages ‘aggregate demand’ in an economy by making it more or less expensive to borrow to spend (whether as consumption or investment). But the experience of the recent inflationary spike since the end of the pandemic slump in 2020 is clear. Inflation went up because of weakened and blocked supply chains and the slow recovery in manufacturing production, not because of ‘excessive demand’ caused by either a government spending binge or ‘excessive’ wage rises or both. And inflation started to subside as soon as the energy and food shortages and prices ebbed, global supply chain blockages were reduced and production began to pick up.
Owing the US a Living? Living within your means is considered a virtue in many cultures, with one notable exception – the United States, whose public debt grows by roughly a trillion dollars every 100 days and is projected to continue doing so for the next few decades. In the past, it helped to sustain the so-called American lifestyle, but the benefits of this seemingly endless ballooning for ordinary citizens are much less apparent now. How much longer can the United States exist on the assumption that the world owes it a living? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Michael Hudson, Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri.
- S. Economy And Dollar Continue To Weaken, znd
- Gold Continues To Gain, Amidst A Deepening Economic Turmoil
- And Mounting Inflationary Pressures
- The April/May 2024 FOMC Backed Off a Needed Easing,
- Purportedly Continuing to Hold Its Targeted Federal Funds Rate at 5.50%,
- In Order to Kill a Faux Overheating-Economy-Driven Inflation
- In the Prior Major Fed Funds Cycle, the FOMC Held Fed Funds
- At 5.25% for a Protracted Period, Which Helped to Trigger
- The Great Recession of 2007
- Beyond Temporary Gyrating and Somewhat Offsetting Extremes of Pandemic Economic Disruptions, There Is and Has Been No Overheating Economy Driving Recent Inflation
- Current-Period Inflation Is Driven by the Massive Monetary Stimulus Out of the Fed, Again, Not by an Overheating Economy, Despite FOMC Misdirection to the Contrary
- Rising Inflation Has Reflected Surging Liquidity in the
- FOMC Driven Money Supply, With March 2024 Systemic Liquidity (“Basic M1”/M2) Just Hitting a New 57-Year Peak
- Inflationary Pressures from the Fed’s Extreme Monetary Stimulus Have Been Complimented and Enhanced by Uncontained and Unconstrained
- Deficit Spending by the U.S. Government
From the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Continuing Heavily Gimmicked and Distorted Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Has Shown a Remarkable Pace of 3% Real Year-to-Year Growth
- For the Last Three Quarters Yet, Neither the Related Monthly Broad Economic Measures, Nor the GDP’s Theoretically Equivalent Gross Domestic Income (GDI)
- Confirm Such Economic Strength in the GDP
- The Last Time Such a Major GDP-GDI Growth Dichotomy Was Seen,
- Was at the Onset of the Great Recession of 2007
- A Second Reference Here to “Last Seen at the Onset of the Great Recession,”
- Likely Will Prove to Be more Than Coincidental
- Extremely Difficult Inflation and Economic Circumstance
- Likely Lie Ahead
ShadowStats broad outlook has not changed. The ShadowStats Broad Outlook remains for a continuing and accelerating pickup in headline (and actual) U.S. Inflation, and an intensifying downturn in headline (and actual) U.S. Economic Activity. This ShadowStats New Weekly Commentary e-mail has its usual links to the latest Alternate Data files Money Supply, GDP, Unemployment and the CPI.
JPMorgan Chase and Its Regulators Are Hiding Dark Trading Secrets at the Largest and Riskiest U.S. Bank Last Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase, the publicly-traded parent of the largest federally-insured bank in the United States as well as a five-count felon, revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that on top of the $348 million it paid out in March to two of its banking regulators for sketchy trading violations involving “billions” of trades on 30 global trading venues, it “expects to enter into a resolution with a third U.S. regulator that will require the Firm to, among other things, pay a civil penalty of $100 million….” (See “Trading Venues Investigations” on page 168 of the SEC filing at this link.) JPMorgan Chase did not name this third regulator but Bloomberg News reported that it is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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