Daily News Digest August 20, 2024
Images of the Day:
Gaza War, Lack of Palestinian Labor, drives Contraction of Israeli GDP, with 46K Businesses Shuttered
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”There is No Democracy! When Less Than 1% Control the Wealth, Production, and Price of Everything Produced and Consumed in the World! In the present period of unfettered Capitalism, the pretense of democratic rule does not exist, except in the minds of ‘socialists’ like Bernie Sanders and the Labor Bureaucracy! Capitalists view all struggles as struggles against capitalist rule! Transition demands immediately become revolutionary demands! Therefore, any resistence to the attack of capitalists has to be organized by those that understand this! 
Today, the United States Capitalists are Consolidating Themselves as the Supreme Capitalists! Capitalism’s Gluttony is Demonstrated by It’s Quest for More and More Profits at the Expense of Humanity! The Rise of Capitalism was Under the Banner of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity! Now There is 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 6 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 Five Horsemen of the the Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, Death, and Misinformation! 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:
Podcasts/Vide0s of the Day:
Rapid Fire – What Brain and Sperm Share and Why
Care | Dr. Devra Davis | TEDxJacksonHole
Israel Is Rape Just like the ongoing mass atrocity we are witnessing in Gaza, this fondness for rape is just one of the many, many symptoms of the injustice and abusiveness that the state of Israel is founded on and built from.
Republicans Are Morons One reason westerners are so clueless about communism is because every four years the most influential western nation launches a massive months-long disinformation campaign about what communism is.
Black Agenda Radio August 16, 2024
Kamala Harris and the Failure of Black Political Imagination International sports governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee have banned athletes from Russia and other countries due to the actions of their governments. The International Federation of Football Associations, known by its acronym FIFA, allowed Israel to compete in the recently completed Olympic games, despite committing war crimes in Gaza, and has postponed making any decision about Israel’s participation in FIFA events. Katarina Pijetlovic is Head of the Palestine Football Association Legal Department. She joins us from Portugal to discuss other double standards in international sports as they impact Palestine. Our guest is Jon Jeter. In addition to his contributions to Black Agenda Report, he is a former foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, the author of Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People , and the co-author of A Day Late and a Dollar Short: Dark Days and Bright Nights in Obama’s Postracial America. He joins us from Washington to talk about the state of US politics and his soon-to-be-published book, Class War in America: How the Elites Divide the Nation By Asking Are You a Worker or Are You White?
Palestine and International Sports Double Standards International sports governing bodies such as the International Olympic Committee have banned athletes from Russia and other countries due to the actions of their governments. The International Federation of Football Associations, known by its acronym FIFA, allowed Israel to compete in the recently completed Olympic games, despite committing war crimes in Gaza, and has postponed making any decision about Israel’s participation in FIFA events. Katarina Pijetlovic is Head of the Palestine Football Association Legal Department. She joins us from Portugal to discuss other double standards in international sports as they impact Palestine.
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 : My own Government, I cannot be Silent. ― Martin Luther King Jr.
To this day, we have a government and state apparatus that is designed to “protect the minority of the opulent against the majority.” Democracy for white and wealthy men only! — Roland Sheppard, My Forefathers and The 1%’s Forefathers.
The Illusion of of Democracy: The Rich Choose Who the Majority Can Vote For! ‘Turning Into the Super PAC Election’: Outside Spending Tops $1 Billion for 2024 Empowered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling allowing unlimited independent financial contributions to support political campaigns, outside spending during the current election cycle has hit a record $1 billion, according to a report published Thursday by the watchdog group OpenSecrets. “Super PACs and other outside groups that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money have poured about $1.1 billion into 2024 federal elections as of August 15—nearly twice what similar groups spent over the same period in the 2020 presidential election cycle when independent expenditures hit an all-time record,” OpenSecrets said. “More than half of all outside spending during the 2024 cycle— about $585.8 million—has gone into the presidential election, which saw an especially expensive Republican presidential nominating contest,” the group added.
United States Funded Genocide in Israel:
‘My Dream is for the War to End’: Inside Gaza’s Last Schools Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian schools and universities has not deterred teachers from teaching, or students from seeking an education. Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and this is particularly true for sites of key civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools. Since October, Israel has damaged or destroyed 80 percent of Gaza’s schools and all its universities, decimating a core pillar of Palestinian society. In spite of this scholasticide, Palestinian educators and students remain committed to ensuring class remains in session. The Real News reports from Rafah, speaking directly with children and their teachers resisting genocide through education.
Israel Is Holding Thousands of Palestinians Captive — Including Children Under “administrative detention,” Palestinians held without trial face hunger, torture and even death. In October 2023, Fadiah Barghouti’s home in Ramallah was raided by Israeli forces. Soldiers broke down her door and smashed everything that they could get their hands on. They were searching for her son Basel, whom they beat along with her other son, saying they would all “pay the price for supporting Hamas.” It was a claim Barghouti was familiar with: Her husband Mahmoud is currently being held in an Israeli prison for the same unsubstantiated charge, as he has been on and off for 10 of the last 30 years.
Environmanet:
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’!
We Must Hold These Monsters to Account!
Thousands of Disaster Survivors Urge the Department of Justice to Investigate Fossil Fuel Companies for Climate Crimes The action follows a growing trend of lawsuits and legislation aimed at making oil, gas, coal and petrochemical companies pay for their damage to the atmosphere. Allen Myers was getting ready to visit his parents in his hometown of Paradise in November 2018 when the community was hit with the deadliest wildfire in California’s history. As he traveled home, Myers experienced the destruction in real time. “I was watching chaos unfold live, as friends drove through flames, as my godparents were surrounded by fire,” he remembered. Myers’ childhood home was destroyed and his parents and neighbors lost everything, he said. And although the local utility company—PG&E—pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter, Myers said another culprit went unnoticed: the fossil fuel industry, for exacerbating the conditions, like drought and dryness, that enable increasingly devastating fires.
‘Exceptionally Difficult’: Grueling Wildfires Test the Resolve of US Crews Thousands of firefighters are deployed as an all time record for acres burned – and it’s only August. Now some worry about the long months ahead It’s still early in the wildfire season for the American west, but it’s already shaping up to be a tough and, in some cases, record-breaking year. It’s still early in the wildfire season for the American west, but it’s already shaping up to be a tough and, in some cases, record-breaking year. Oregon has seen more fire than any year on record, with almost 1.5m acres (607,028 hectares) scorched in recent weeks as huge wildfires, primarily caused by lightning strikes, have exploded across the region. Nearly 70 major fires are burning across the US this week alone, primarily in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). Oregon has seen more fire than any year on record, with almost 1.5m acres (607,028 hectares) scorched in recent weeks as huge wildfires, primarily caused by lightning strikes, have exploded across the region. Nearly 70 major fires are burning across the US this week alone, primarily in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC.
BLM to Protect ND Drinking Water, Yet Continues Oil Leasing Under Missouri River In contradictory move, Bureau touts end to oil leasing for ND public water sources at same time as auctioning oil lease under Missouri, water source for million Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the results of its most recent oil and gas sale on public lands in North Dakota and Montana. The majority of the proceeds for this round come from a $15.1 million winning bid for a 273-acre parcel located entirely underneath the Missouri River, which serves as a major source of drinking water for millions of Americans. That relatively small lease is a big reminder of the ways shale extraction continues in and around places where people get their drinking water. The sale was made amid continuing battles over just how much public land will be made available to oil and gas drillers, and how much protection will be extended for public lands.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
The Path for Abolishing the Police Already Exists America watched in horror this spring as armed phalanxes of police assaulted peaceful pro-Palestine protesters on campuses across the nation. The raids on student encampments ranged from dubious arrests to snipers on campus rooftops. This most recent episode of widespread police aggression only reinforced Americans’ belief that law enforcement is quick to violent escalation. Last year, a nationwide ABC News-Washington Post survey of 1,003 adults found that only 39% of Americans polled were confident police were adequately trained to avoid excessive force, and only 41% believed they treated Black and white people equally. These were drastic decreases from 2014 (responses polled at 54% and 52%, respectively), illustrating that the public’s confidence in policing is plummeting year over year.
Labor:
California’s Low Wage Future Low-wage industries are forecast to lead job growth, and the share of workers 55 and older has doubled. For many Californians, the phrase “low-wage worker” undoubtedly conjures a couple of very specific images: a kid grinding through a summer job, or a farmworker sweating in the heat of a planting or harvesting season. To be sure, both groups have been paid low wages for decades — but that’s not close to the state’s actual labor picture. Teenagers comprise only 7.5% of all low-wage workers in California. And agriculture as an industry, lumped together with forestry, fishing and hunting for survey purposes, accounts for less than 4% of the low-wage workforce because of its relatively small number of workers overall.
Economy:
U.S. Food Prices Rose by 25 Percent Fro9 to 2023
Prior to the Early 80s, Food and Gas Prices Were Included if the Official Consumer Price Index. Since then, Food and Gas Prices are Not Included in the Official Consume Price Index!: Core Inflation: What It Is and Why It’s Important What Is Core Inflation? Core inflation is the change in the costs of goods and services, but it does not include those from the food and energy sectors. This measure of inflation excludes these items because their prices are much more volatile. It is most often calculated using the consumer price index (CPI), which is a measure of prices for goods and services.
World:
‘Two-Tier Justice’ in Britain is Real – But It’s Not What the Right Says It Is Compare the rioters’ prison sentences with those of Just Stop Oil. How can our justice system claim to be blind? Afunctioning society depends on equality before the law. If crimes are not treated equally and dispassionately by the justice system, we lose trust in democracy and each other. But as sentences begin to be passed on racists who rioted earlier this month, we see once again a blatantly unequal application of the law. Let’s make a couple of obvious comparisons. One was highlighted this week by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi). Had those sentenced for their part in the riots this week – who heeded the calls of racist organisers and rampaged through England’s cities – been Muslims inspired by Islamists, they are likely to have been prosecuted as terrorists, potentially facing much longer sentences. Assaulting people in the name of Islam appears to be treated as a far graver crime than assaulting people in the cause of Islamophobia.
Venezuela: for a Class Position – Statement by Lucha De Clases and Junta Patriótica De Salvación on the Political Crisis Below, we publish a joint statement issued by Lucha de Clases (Venezuelan section of the RCI) and Junta Patriótica de Salvación, on the current political crisis in Venezuela. In this statement, we put forward a class position in the face of government authoritarianism and the false democratic disguise that the pro-imperialist right wing is trying to flaunt today
Education, Health, 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
The Right’s Push to Whitewash History Is a Precursor to Fascism As a new school year begins, we must resist turning schools into right-wing indoctrination centers. As the 2023-2024 academic year ended in June, far right attacks by politicians and university administrators foreshadowed the troubling challenges that students and faculty will face as public and higher education resume this year. It is hard to forget that with the end of the academic year, the usual focus on commencement speeches and joyful graduation ceremonies gave way to what Michael Gould-Wartofsky calls the “American Homeland Security Campus.” Amid widespread campus protests against Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, snipers were stationed on campus rooftops, peaceful student protesters and faculty were beaten, police and National Guard units manned college checkpoints, and the familiar smell of cut grass and freshly planted flowers was replaced by the “scent of gunpowder.” In short, higher education was transformed into a police precinct. Beneath this sweeping repression aimed at silencing dissent, free speech and critical inquiry lies a series of right-wing policies that threaten to undermine education’s role as a democratic public sphere and its commitment to fostering critical thinking. In this environment, we can expect a sustained assault on critical pedagogy, historical understanding, informed judgment, faculty job security, critical literacy, civic awareness, and any effort to connect learning with civic engagement and democratic values.
Spread of Mpox Underscores Global Health Disparities and Lack of Vaccine Access A mutated strain seems to be more contagious — and more deadly, threatening to become a pandemic on par with COVID-19. Another global emergency involving mpox is unfolding, with cases spreading from Africa now springing up across the globe, an echo of the viral crisis two years ago. But this time around, things are different, with a mutated strain of the mpox virus that seems to be more contagious — and more deadly, threatening to become a pandemic on par with COVID-19.