Daily News Digest August 23, 2024
Images of the Day:
Bendid: Mirror on The Wall
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:
This is the Biggest Food Scandal in History America’s largest meat producers are reportedly fixing prices. Tyson, Hormel, and Cargill are using a little-known technology—Agri Stats—to share secret data and make your groceries more expensive. It’s one of the biggest conspiracies in corporate history. —– More Perfect Union’s mission is to build power for working people. Here’s what that means: We report on the real struggles and challenges of the working class from a working-class perspective, and we attempt to connect those problems to potential solutions. We report on the abuses and wrongdoing of corporate power, and we seek to hold accountable the ultra-rich who have too much power over America’s political and economic systems.
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.
Democrats Release Insanely Hawkish Middle East Policy Platform When you’re siding with John Bolton on whether to bomb Iran, you’re as insanely hawkish as it gets.” Celebrity progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris “is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza” at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night. There is literally no evidentiary basis anywhere for this assertion. She made it up. Kamala Harris is not “working tirelessly” to do anything at this time besides become the next president. Her own staff are saying she is opposed to an arms embargo on Israel and won’t consider cutting or conditioning military aid, which is the only way the Israeli government can be effectively forced to stop sabotaging a peace deal so that the US-backed genocide can finally end. Saying you’ll continue pouring military explosives into a regime that is using those military explosives to conduct regular massacres of civilians is the exact opposite of working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire.
‘Socialist’ Ocasio-Cortez Demonstrates That Instead of Reforming the Democratic Party, She’s the One ‘Reformed’!: Democratic Party Unites Under Banner of Silence on Gaza Genocide Progressives and moderates came together to support Kamala Harris by largely ignoring the most pressing moral issue of our time. The display of Democratic Party unity was as pitch perfect as it was tone deaf to what is arguably the most pressing moral issue of our time. Blink, and you would have missed any mention of the U.S.-backed genocidal war Israel continues to carry out against Palestinians in the Gaz As Biden spoke, one small group of audience members silently unfurled a white banner, which read “Stop Arming Israel.” Zeteo’s Prem Thakker reported from Chicago’s United Center that chants of “We Love Joe” from surrounding spectators grew louder. “Stadium lights over this spot then dimmed and [the] banner was ripped away,” wrote Thakker on X. The few fleeting mentions of the war, Israel, and Palestine in Monday night’s speeches were dismissive and misleading, while devaluing of Palestinian lives in comparison to those of Israelis. Ocasio-Cortez said, “Kamala is working tirelessly for a ceasefire” — to thunderous applause. It may or may not be true, but such an approach would stand in contrast to the Biden–Harris administration’s record. Since Harris accepted the presidential nomination, the administration approved a $20 billion weapons sale to Israel, without any conditions. If this is “working tirelessly” for an end to the fighting, Harris is bad at her job.
United States Funded Genocide in Israel:
Don’t Fall for Talking Points That Smear Palestine Solidarity Protesters at DNC Efforts to smear, co-opt and deflate protesters who demand the US end support for the Gaza genocide are well underway. The Democratic National Convention is taking place this week in Chicago, and efforts to smear, co-opt and deflate the planned massive protests — and the Uncommitted movement within the convention itself — are already underway. Since securing the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Vice President Kamala Harris has not only refused to signal any real break from President Joe Biden’s Gaza policy of lockstep support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, instead she has reaffirmed it. Those committed to pressing Democratic Party leadership into ending their arming of Israel have not let up their pressure campaign. After all, the supply of weapons stands in violation of both U.S. and international law (namely, the January International Court of Justice ruling compelling states to cease selling arms to Israel). Despite the party and the presidential campaign’s best efforts to distance Harris from Biden’s deeply unpopular support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza with “I See You, I Hear You” bromides and Brat summer “Gen-Z powered” memeing, those focused on actual policy are not budging from their demand that the United States cease arming an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
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!
East Palestine Carcinogenic Train Distasaster: The Brockovich Report: A Hiddealn Report & Confirmation That Chemicals Spread To 16 States More Updates From The East Palestine Train Disaster Community members in East Palestine, Ohio, have a deadline. Tomorrow, they have to decide whether to accept their share of a $600 million class-action settlement with Norfolk Southern after a toxic train derailment last year forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Accepting that money, which can be up to $25,000 per person for personal injuries (depending on how close they lived to the derailment), means that they would forfeit the right to sue later, if they develop cancer or other serious health troubles due to chemical exposure. Community members in East Palestine, Ohio, have a deadline. Tomorrow, they have to decide whether to accept their share of a $600 million class-action settlement with Norfolk Southern after a toxic train derailment last year forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Accepting that money, which can be up to $25,000 per person for personal injuries (depending on how close they lived to the derailment), means that they would forfeit the right to sue later, if they develop cancer or other serious health troubles due to chemical exposure. The village with a population of less than 5,000 people sits about a mile from the Pennsylvania border, and more than 50,000 people lived within 10 miles of the crash site. This decision comes on the heels of a hidden report obtained by The Associated Press that some workers who were cleaning up contaminated creeks around East Palestine became sick. They detailed symptoms such as headaches and nausea and were sent back to their hotels to rest, according to the report. But these findings were not released to the public last year, despite citizen concerns about the health impacts of exposure to the chemicals that both spilled and burned. Their symptoms are similar to those experienced by members of the CDC team studying the health risks, who also became sick with chemical exposure while in the area. The results of the CDC’s Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE) for residents conducted just a few weeks after the toxic spill found many health problems related to the incident. More than 90 percent of the area residents who participated in the survey reported getting headaches and more than 70 percent reporting coughing and eye irritation. Others reported difficulty breathing, congestion or runny nose, and a burning nose or throat. Gaps remain in the public health response. Study shows 16 states impacted by toxic spill. Meanwhile, a new study came out in June revealing the widespread repercussions of the train accident and the toxic cocktail of chemicals that were released. “The impacts of the fire were larger in scale and scope than the initial predictions,” the authors found. That includes pollution from burning vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen.
There’s only One Issue in the 2024 Election: The Survival of a Habitable Earth In mid-July, Nature Climate Change published a global survey of over 9,000 scientists. Its findings should be like the sirens for a 5-alarm fire to our ears.
The DNC Fiddles While the World Burns … Under the slick climate plan former President Barack Obama sold to the world in Copenhagen and Paris, Americans’ per capita CO2 emissions are still around double those of our Chinese, British, and European neighbors, while U.S. oil and gas production have soared to all-time record highs. The combined dangers of nuclear war and climate catastrophe have pushed the hands of the Doomsday Clock all the way to 90 seconds to midnight. But the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties are in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry and the military-industrial complex. Behind the election-year focus on what the two parties disagree about, the corrupt policies they both agree on are the most dangerous of all. President Biden recently claimed that he is “running the world.” No oligarchic American politician will confess to “running the world” to the brink of nuclear war and mass extinction, but tens of thousands of Americans marching in the streets of Chicago and millions more Americans who support them understand that that is what Biden, former President Donald Trump, and their cronies are doing.
In The Part Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man, Friedrich Engels wrote:. . . Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which only too often cancel the first. … Plastic was Seen as a Human Victory — Now Plastics are Everywhere in our body and even our brains!:
Microplastics are Infiltrating Brain Tissue, Studies Show: ‘There’s Nowhere Left Untouched’ Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution. Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution. Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
She Wrote An Op-Ed Criticizing Biden on Gaza. The Justice Department Accused Her of Breaking the Law. A federal watchdog ruled that a Department of Justice employee’s article did not violate the Hatch Act. I n march, after a Justice Department employee wrote an op-ed criticizing the Biden administration over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, her supervisors accused her of violating federal law. Last week, the Office of Special Counsel squarely rejected that allegation, but the investigation sent a chilling message to other federal employees organizing around Israel and Gaza. Emma West Rasmus, a longtime Justice Department employee, wrote an op-ed in early March for The Hill about a recent visit to Palestine with her church. “I decided in November, and am surer than ever in March: Unless the Democratic Party and its leaders call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a lasting end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, I will not vote for Biden or any Democrat,” she wrote. The article, which published on a Friday, initially included a note stating West Rasmus “works at the Department of Justice and is a member of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church.” The following Monday, West Rasmus was accused by senior Justice Department attorneys and ethics officials of violating the Hatch Act, according to records reviewed by The Intercept. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their “official authority” to engage in certain political activity, especially advocating for or against a particular candidate or political party.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist:
KHive Snitches, Right Wing Liberals, and Palestine
On August 8, 2024, Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago, posted a seemingly uncontroversial missive on the X platform. “Oh Kamala is NOT ready for Chicago. But don’t worry; we’re ready for her.” Abdelhadi and thousands of other people are protesting the Democratic National Convention. For some reason this mild statement was offensive to the group who call themselves the KHive. They are Kamala Harris cult followers who will fight anyone who says or does anything that is out of alignment with their idolatry. The KHive sprung into action upon seeing the post, accusing Abdelhadi of violent threats and vowing to punish her for daring to confront Kamala. “That’s a direct threat,” opined one misguided member of the mob. “The @FBI and @SecretService need to look into her. Definitely sounds like a threat,” said another who felt compelled to tag the agencies in question. While another confessed to the dirtiest deed of all, actual snitching. “I reported it/her and flagged FBI Secret Service and FBI Chicago Field office don’t play with #KHive ,” boasted a KHive fanatic known as @blckburn . She and others made good on their threats because the FBI did in fact contact Dr. Abdelhadi, who was able to secure legal representation before her interaction with that agency. We are living in strange times when Black people tattle their hurt political feelings to the FBI in order to silence someone whose opinion they do not like. This is the same FBI that surveilled Martin Luther King and told him to commit suicide. This is the same FBI that murdered Fred Hampton. This is the same FBI whose director, J. Edgar Hoover , declared the Black Panther Party to be “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” and whose Counter Intelligence Program killed BPP members, sent others to prison, and in so doing destroyed the liberation movement. Yet here we are, in an upside down world where Black people turn to the feds because their beloved neo-liberal imperialist might face a protest,
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Making Sense of Venezuela’s Presidential Elections “The working class does not have a candidate On July 28 Venezuela held their presidential elections. Shortly after midnight, the National Electoral Council declared sitting President Nicolas Maduro the winner with 51 percent of the vote despite the opposition’s accusations of election fraud. Anti-government protests erupted the following day rejecting the results of the election and claiming they have proof of election fraud. Maduro accused the protestors of staging a fascist coup to reverse what he claims to be free and fair elections. Tempest’s Anderson Bean interviews Venezuelan socialist Gustavo Martinez from Marea Socialista, about the elections. Anderson Bean: To give some context, can you begin by giving a brief description of the social and economic crisis in Venezuela leading up to the election? Gustavo Martinez: Everyone discusses the social and economic crisis in Venezuela. Political actors, both domestically and internationally, address the crisis, but they rarely specify who truly suffers its consequences. I want to focus on the crisis from my perspective as a worker. I experience the crisis firsthand because I am part of the working class. From this perspective, I can say that workers in Venezuela, for years, have been enduring an official minimum wage of less than four dollars a month. In 2018, the government issued Memorandum 2792, an anti-worker document that greatly benefited employers and the capitalist class. This memorandum essentially nullified established rights and labor protections enshrined in both the Constitution and the Organic Labor Law. It dismissed all collective bargaining agreements nationwide, eliminated the right to strike, and allowed employers to unilaterally change labor conditions and terminate workers at will. The Constitution and the Organic Labor Law no longer govern labor relations between workers and employers; instead, Memorandum 2792, issued by the government, applies to both the public and private sectors.
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
America the Unwell: The Corporate Greed Threatening our Stability … Americans, who are getting sicker, sadder, and ever more anxious, are so often unable to access necessities like healthcare because all too many legislators, judges, and administration officials refuse to hold large companies accountable to the rule of law — when, that is, significant laws related to such corporations even exist.