Daily News Digest May 23, 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”
The Rise Capitalism was Under the Banner of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity! Now Ther Their Less Liberty, More Inequality, and Less Fraternity of Humanity! Every Day, From Global Warming to Global War There is a New Example of Capitalism in Imperialist Decay!
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:
When Biden told the World he was a Zionist, as a Spokesman for US Imperialisn, in the present context, it means that he and the 1% were in favor of Palestinian genocide!
The US has also defended Israel over the case brought before the International Court of Justice, a separate body in The Hague, alleging that Israeli forces are committing genocide in Gaza. This is yet another example of the incestuous relationship between Israel and US imperialism. It is precisely this unconditional and permanent support that has enabled Israel to get away with murder – quite literally – for decades. — ICC Arrest Warrant: Will Netanyahu be Brought Before the Law?
The Supreme Court is a supreme threat to American democracy. That was Abraham Lincoln’s view in light of the Dred Scott decision, expressed in his First Inaugural Address. And it was vividly illustrated after Lincoln’s assassination, when the Civil War amendments and civil rights legislation passed by Congress were effectively nullified by the Supreme Court, enabling former Confederates and other white supremacists to destroy the possibility of multiracial democracy for almost a century. “Our democracy suffers when an unelected group of lawyers take away our ability to govern ourselves,” as Harvard Law professor Nikolas Bowie wrote in 2021, based on his testimony before the do-nothing Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. Since then, the Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned the precedent of Roe v. Wade, has brought Bowie’s point home with a vengeance. But it’s not just about abortion. On guns, environmental protection, discrimination, labor rights, affirmative action, student debt relief and numerous other issues, Mitch McConnell’s court-packing scheme and Donald Trump’s appointments have succeeded in dramatically undercutting Americans’ people’s capacity for self-government and the promotion of “the general welfare” promised in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. — Today’s Supreme Court is a Threat to Democracy — But Activists Plan to Fight Back
Podcasts/Videos of the Day:
“Collective Punishment”: Israel Raids Jenin Camp in West Bank, Killing 8, “Shooting Everything”
“We Hope to Be a Model”: Students & Faculty at The New School Secure Divestment Vote
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
The Chris Hedges Report:The Slow-Motion Execution of Julian Assange Continues The ruling by the High Court in London permitting Julian Assange to appeal his extradition order leaves him languishing in precarious health in a high-security prison. That is the point. The decision by the High Court in London to grant Julian Assange the right to appeal the order to extradite him to the United States may prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. It does not mean Julian will elude extradition. It does not mean the court has ruled, as it should, that he is a journalist whose only “crime” was providing evidence of war crimes and lies by the U.S. government to the public. It does not mean he will be released from the high-security HMS Belmarsh prison where, as Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, after visiting Julian there, said he was undergoing a “slow-motion execution.” It does not mean that journalism is any less imperiled. Editors and publishers of five international media outlets —– The New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais and DER SPIEGEL —– which published stories based on documents released by WikiLeaks, have urged that the U.S. charges be dropped and Julian be released. None of these media executives were charged with espionage. It does not dismiss the ludicrous ploy by the U.S. government to extradite an Australian citizen whose publication is not based in the U.S. and charge him under the Espionage Act. It continues the long Dickensian farce that mocks the most basic concepts of due process
U.S. Funded Plestinian Genocide:
When Biden told the World he was a Zionist, as a Spokesman for US Imperialism, in the present context, it means that he and the 1% were in favor of Palestinian genocide!
Protesting U of Texas-Dallas Arrest and Suspension of Faculty and Students Peacefully Protesting against Gaza War Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association
Dr. Richard C. Benson President, University of Texas at Dallas [email protected] . . .
We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern over your administration’s recent actions with respect to the peaceful student encampment at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) in support of Palestinian rights. We are particularly distressed by your decision to call the police to campus on 1 May 2024, resulting in the arrest and brutalization of several students and faculty on your campus, including Professors Ben Wright, Rosemary Admiral and Ali Asgar Alibhai. We note that Professors Alibhai and Admiral are members of the Middle East Studies Association.
Israel Threatens ‘Severe Consequences’ for Nations Who Recognize Palestine Warning comes after key European allies—Norway, Ireland, and Spain—announced their “landmark” decision to formally recognize a Palestinian state. Israel’s foreign minister issued a blunt threat of “severe consequences” for the countries of Norway, Ireland, and Spain—and presumably other nations that may follow—after the trio announced their decision Wednesday to formally recognize a Palestinian state, In their joint move, inspired in large measure by the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, the governments of Norway, Ireland, and Spain said they would make the formal recognition next week on May 28. In response, Israel recalled its ambassadors from Oslo and Dublin as an initial sign of displeasure and protest.
Israel Displaced Nearly 1 Million Palestinians in Past 2 Weeks, UN Report Shows The latest report from the UN comes even as President Biden continues to deny that a genocide is occurring in Gaza. AUnited Nations (UN) report issued on Monday describes how more than 900,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced in just the past two weeks alone, a disturbing trend that is a direct consequence of Israel’s continuing genocidal attacks and actions in the region. The report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showcases how 100,000 residents have been forced to flee the northern region of Gaza, as well as how a staggering 812,000 living in Rafah — where many have sought refuge over the past several months of bombardments — have also been displaced.
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 Victims File Criminal Case Against Bosses of Oil Firm Total Case alleges French company’s exploitation of fossil fuel contributed to deaths of victims in extreme weather disasters A criminal case has been filed against the CEO and directors of the French oil company TotalEnergies, alleging its fossil fuel exploitation has contributed to the deaths of victims of climate-fuelled extreme weather disasters. The case was filed in Paris by eight people harmed by extreme weather, and three NGOs. The plaintiffs believe it to be the first such criminal case filed against the individuals running a major oil company. The public prosecutor who received the file has three months to decide whether to open a judicial investigation or dismiss the complaint. The case aims to establish the alleged criminal liability of TotalEnergies’ directors and its major shareholders for deliberately endangering the lives of others, involuntary manslaughter, neglecting to address a disaster, and damaging biodiversity. Such crimes, if proven, are punishable by imprisonment and fines.
Big Oil Uncovered: A New Project Promised Low-Income Families ‘Zero Net Energy Homes’ – But They Still Rely on Gas Utilities attach themselves to social justice causes amid culture war over attempts to phase out gas US gas utilities are partnering with one of the nation’s most trusted non-profits as part of a “cynical PR stunt” to combat efforts to curb fossil fuel usage, a Guardian investigation has found. Local Habitat for Humanity affiliates have teamed up with at least four utilities across 10 states to build “zero-net energy homes”, which are meant to produce more energy than they use.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
The Historic Role of Police Brutality in the Black Community and African American Oppression To begin to understand, the role of the police, the following quotes By Jam Baldwin, which are still true today — they act like a army of occupation.: Harlem (The Black Community) is policed like occupied territory.—James Baldwin, A Report from Occupied Territory And the police are simply the hired enemies of this population. They are present to keep the Negro in his place and to protect white business interests, and they have no other function. They are, moreover — even in a country which makes the grave error of equating ignorance with simplicity—quite stunningly ignorant; and, since they know that they are hated, they are always afraid. One cannot possibly arrive at a more surefire formula for cruelty. — James Baldwin, From ‘Victim’ to ‘Threat’: James Baldwin and the Demands of Self-Respect
Anti-Mask Laws Target Gaza Protests, But They Threaten All Progressive Movements Several states are considering expanding bans on public masking as a means to repress protest. Across the United States, right-wing legislators are targeting protesters who oppose the genocide in Palestine by resurrecting laws against wearing face masks in public. In North Carolina, the Republican-backed “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill” was approved by the state Senate last week and headed to the state House this week. Fresh anti-mask efforts are also underway in Ohio, Texas and Florida. These laws threaten to effectively criminalize anyone attempting to protect themselves — whether from political repression or airborne illness.
As Capitalism is Pauperizing People Now It wants to Criminalize the Paupers!: Will Involuntary Homelessness Become a Crime? An upcoming Supreme Court decision could dramatically criminalize poverty and homelessness nationwide. On April 22nd, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case that focuses on whether unhoused — the term that has generally replaced “homeless” — people with no indoor shelter options can even pull a blanket around themselves outdoors without being subject to criminal punishment. Before making its way to the Supreme Court on appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court held that municipalities can’t punish involuntarily unhoused people for merely living in the place where they are. This is exactly what the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, did when it outlawed resting or sleeping anywhere on public property with so much as a blanket to survive in cold weather, even when no beds in shelters were available. The law makes it impossible for unhoused residents to stay in Grants Pass, effectively forcing them to either move to another city or face endless rounds of punishment. In Grants Pass, the punishment starts with a $295 fine that, if unpaid, goes up to $500, and can escalate from there to criminal trespass charges, penalties of up to 30 days in jail, and a $1,250 fine.
Labor:
UC Santa Cruz Student Workers Launch Strike Over Treatment of Pro-Palestine Protesters Nearly 1,500 UC Santa Cruz graduate student workers walked off the job on Monday after the union voted to strike to protest how the University of California, at multiple campuses, used police to arrest pro-Palestine protesters and clear encampments. UCSC is the first campus to go on strike after United Auto Workers 4811, which represents about 48,000 graduate students across the 10 UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, voted last week to launch a job action over the treatment of protesters. The union’s executive board is using the “stand-up” strike model, which in this case, means that they’ll be calling on specific campuses to strike at different times.
Economy:
Citigroup Gets Fined $79 Million Two Years After It Caused a $300 Billion Flash Crash in European Stock MarketsTwo U.K. regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), announced this morning that they have leveled fines totaling $78.5 million against Citigroup’s European trading arm, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. (CGML). See here and here. The fines relate to a $300 billion flash crash in European stock markets on May 2, 2022.
World:
How Can a Child in Care Cost £281,000 A Year? Ask The Wealth Funds That Have Councils Over a Barrel Children crying out for stability are paying the highest price for Britain’s chaotic and exploitative residential care It’s an astonishing, inspiring thing to witness, as the children begin to calm, uncurl and find purpose and hope. It can have life-changing results. But, though I can in no way speak on Sirona’s behalf, I’m painfully aware that such charities can help only a tiny fraction of the children in desperate need of stable relationships, trust and love. Some of the children who come to Sirona are in care, a sector that has now become a business. Children’s residential care, foster care and special schools have steadily been taken over – with the blessing of successive governments – by profit-making companies. Private agencies now own 36% of the fostering sector in England, while profit-making corporations own 83% of children’s residential care. “Blocks of provision” – which means numbers of children – are traded from one company to another. How much is a human being worth? The value of a child on the books, as the dedicated journalist Martin Barrow documents, is £100,000. So this is what I have learned. That nothing is now sacred. Nothing is too valued, too important, too vulnerable to not be hacked and stacked and used as fuel on capitalism’s bonfire. Inured as we are to the scorching of all we hold dear, turning children into commodities from which commercial ventures can extract profit stretches the boundaries of belief. Can it be true? Is this really how the system operates? Yes and yes.
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