Daily News Digest August 27, 2024
Images of the Day:
Bendib: Which Lives Matter?
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:
It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself! ― Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us (1951)
Because of the Betrayals of the Labor bureaucracy, Social Democracy, and Stalinism that US capitalism and Capitalism continue to exist! And that Capitalism and US capitalists are now an immediate threat, through endless wars, burning fossil fuels etc., to humanity and life itself! It is the Dawning of the Age of the Apocalypse!
Yet in the hours before Salaam spoke at the convention, many Americans were learning for the first time that the DNC had removed its goal of ending capital punishment from its official platform. The issue had previously been enshrined in the party platform for years, with the language in 2016 especially robust: “We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment,” it read. “It has no place in the United States of America. — Democrats Abandoned Their Anti-Death Penalty Stance. Those on Federal Death Row May Pay the Price
Between the U.S. and Israel, our world is defined by those who view it in radically simplistic binaries. To them there is no place for complexity in our increasingly complex global environment. One could argue this is a good definition of incompetence. This is our dreadful predicament—dreadful because the way forward, beyond these people, cannot be but long and arduous. And here we come to a final conclusion of sorts. Only failure holds any promise of forcing either Israel or the U.S. to change course. I unshyly applaud all the very costly foreign policy failures of both for this reason, although I must quickly add that failure very often disappoints because the policy cliques in Washington and Tel Aviv seem committed to going from one failure to the next without changing anything. If anything, Zionist Israel appears yet more dedicated than the U.S. to its course of righteous murder and destruction in the name of its apocalyptic destiny. This seems to me the grimmest reality of our time. If the assault Israel prosecutes in Gaza and the West Bank—and now possibly in Lebanon and Iran — is an end-days battle against Gog and Magog, how can the righteous desist, or make peace, or negotiate an enduring settlement? How can it end short of the Israelis’ destruction? — Patrick Lawrence: “The End of Days”
Podcasts/Vide0s of the Day:
Steve Macek on Dark Money How do we acknowledge the fact that many people’s opinions are shaped by messages that are created and paid for by folks who work hard to hide their identity and their interests?
Cornel West, An Independent Black Presidential Candidate, Speaking at the August 24 Chicago Palestinian Rally: Cornel West on Gaza and the Genocidal Democratic Party
The Problem Isn’t The US Having The Wrong President, The Problem Is The US Empire’s Existence The reason I find myself fighting with both Harris supporters and Trump supporters is because they see the other party as the problem while I see the US empire itself as the problem. The reason I find myself fighting with both Harris supporters and Trump supporters is because they see the other party as the problem while I see the US empire itself as the problem. They seek to make things better by ensuring that the empire is under the correct management, while I seek the end of the empire.
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.
If the US Enforces a Ceasefire in Gaza, It Will Be Only After the Palestinian Genocide is Completed!:
Democrats Tuned Out Gaza Protests at the DNC. History Won’t Forget. Gaza was barely mentioned in the convention hall, but protesters centered Palestine as they took to Chicago’s streets.
DNC Climate Panels Offered Empty Rhetoric Instead of Specific Plans At ExxonMobil-sponsored events on the sidelines of the convention, energy CEOs rehashed fossil fuel misinformation.
Pax Americana’s Proxy Wars: Israel Launches Massive Attack on Lebanon, Heightening Fears of All-Out War “Looks like Israel is now escalating in Lebanon in a major way in the hopes of kicking off a major war in the north that has thus far been kept to more limited exchanges,” warned one analyst. Israel’s military deployed around 100 fighter jets to launch a massive bombing campaign in southern Lebanon on Sunday, endangering tens of thousands of civilians and heightening the chances of an all-out regional war. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) characterized the wave of airstrikes as an effort to preemptively “remove the threat” posed by a purportedly imminent Hezbollah attack, but observers argued the Israeli bombing marked a serious escalation that could further undermine hopes of a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
United States Funded Genocide in Israel:
We, Alumni Recipients of ihe MLK Spirit Award, Return Our Awards and Urge the University to Divest We, the undersigned, are alumni recipients of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Spirit Award at the University of Michigan. In January of this year, the University awarded recent alum Salma Hamamy the MLK Spirit Award in recognition of her steadfast activism promoting Indigenous sovereignty and Palestinian liberation — activism that included calling for the University to divest from weapons manufacturers. The University also awarded the MLK Spirit Award to the student group Hamamy led as president, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. Five months later, in May, Provost Laurie McCauley sent a letter to Hamamy’s personal home stating, “With the full support of the Board of Regents and President Ono, I am writing to notify you that your award has been revoked effective immediately,” based on an Instagram story post from her personal social media account. In the letter, Provost McCauley characterized Hamamy’s post as “inconsistent with the University’s values.” This letter was dated May 21, 2024 — the same day that campus police violently removed the University’s Gaza solidarity encampment from the Diag. Whether intentional or not, it planted the decision firmly within the context of a broader attempt to suppress the burgeoning anti-war student movement.
Western Media Can Be Held Legally Accountable for Its Role in the Gaza Genocide The ruthlessness of the Israeli genocide machine in Palestine, and the direct complicity of the U.S., UK, and other Western governments are two key pillars in the horrors being perpetrated against the Palestinian people (and in the attacks on human rights defenders around the globe). But there is an essential third pillar: the role of complicit Western media corporations knowingly disseminating Israeli disinformation and propaganda, justifying war crimes and crimes against humanity, dehumanizing Palestinians, and blacking out information on the genocide in the West. From the perspective of international human rights law, such actions could and should be subject to sanctions. And there are historical precedents.
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!
Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa Week beginning on August 18, 2024: 422.83 ppm, Weekly value from1 year ago: 419.25 ppm, Weekly value from 10 years ago: 396.92 ppm’. Last Updated August 25, 2024.
Ecosocialism or Ecocide! Ecocide and Ecosocialism are both related to the environment, but in different ways. Ecocide The destruction of the environment by humans, which can threaten human populations that depend on natural resources. The term comes from the Greek word oikos meaning “home” and the Latin word cadere meaning “to kill”. The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide defines ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts” that are committed with the knowledge that they could cause severe, widespread, or long-term damage to the environment. Examples of ecocide include:
- Large-scale destruction of flora and fauna
- Massive contamination of air, land, and water resources
- Actions that could produce an ecological disaster or destroy an ecosystem
- Damage to the oceans caused by industrial overfishing, oil spills, and pollution from plastics
- Deforestation caused by intensive livestock farming, agriculture, arson, and mining
- Water and soil pollution from chemical spills, mining, and hydraulic fracturing
- In 2019, Pope Francis proposed that ecocide should be considered a fifth category of crimes against peace at the international level.
Ecosocialism An economic theory that aims to reconcile the needs of people and nature in the ecological transition. Some say that ecosocialism could lead to a stable climate, greater biodiversity, and protection from pandemics. Others say that ecosocialist strategies could make life easier and cheaper for workers by providing green public infrastructure.
The Biggest Death Project In Human History Friday, August 23, 2024 by Extinction Rebellion Renown climate scientist Johan Rockström has given an updated assessment of our planet, and his verdict is terrifying. The Earth is heating quicker than scientists expected, the planetary systems that absorb heat are already showing signs of overwhelm, and irreversible cataclysmic tipping points are on our doorstep. Rockström ends on a note of positivity (this is a TED talk) by affirming that the majority of citizens across the world care about the planet and want solutions to this crisis, and those solutions are available – we just have to use them. Except we don’t. We trundle on towards the abyss, seemingly uninterested in cheaper green energy and circular economies. While Rockström doesn’t mention this paradox, let alone explain it, he does show the reason for it on a slide…. To avert disaster, we need to see the fastest economic transition in history. But capitalism has created vast inequality, meaning too much power is in the hands of a small elite that would rather sustain their privileges under the current economy than sustain life under a new one. So instead of political progress we get COP, instead of technological disruption we get carbon capture and AI, and instead of market forces we get fossil fuel subsidies of more than $7tn globally. Which just leaves us, mass movements. We are the one remaining driver of economic transition that this elite hasn’t extinguished – though they are certainly trying, as the recent 5-year imprisonment of an XR co-founder demonstrates.
George Monbiot: The Shock of the New The livestock industry is furiously lobbying to shut down alternatives, and tame politicians are giving it what it wants. or many years, certain car manufacturers sought to obstruct the transition to electric vehicles. It’s not hard to see why: when you have invested heavily in an existing technology, you want to extract every last drop before disinvesting. But devious as in some cases these efforts were, they seem almost innocent in comparison with the concerted programme by a legacy industry and its tame politicians to suppress a far more important switch: the essential transition away from livestock farming. Animal farming ranks alongside fossil fuel production as one of the two most destructive industries on Earth. It’s not just the vast greenhouse gas emissions and the water and air pollution it causes. Even more important is the amount of land it requires. Land use is a crucial environmental metric, because every hectare we occupy is a hectare that cannot support wild ecosystems. Wild ecosystems are crucial for the survival of most species on Earth, and of Earth systems themselves: for example, the rainforest and cerrado of South America help to regulate weather systems. The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed above all by cattle ranching, whose expansion is driven in part by the foodie fad for “grass-fed” beef. The cerrado is being trashed primarily by soy farming to produce feed for pigs and chickens.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
And as Martin Luther King said: In the final analysis, racism is evil because its ultimate logic is genocide. Hitler was a sick and tragic man who carried racism to its logical conclusion. And he ended up leading a nation to the point of killing about 6 million Jews. This is the tragedy of racism because its ultimate logic is genocide. — Genocide is ‘American as Apple Pie’!
Systemic Environmental Genocide: Bluelining Is the New Redlining Bluelining occurs when insurers raise their prices or pull out of areas that they perceive to be at greater environmental risk. These tend to be minority or low-income areas made vulnerable by historic discrimination. On July 21, the world experienced the hottest global temperature on record, only to surpass that record the next day. However, not everyone experiences the impacts of this heat and other climate-exacerbated disasters equally. As summer intensifies, the impacts of climate change—especially extreme heat—are becoming more severe, disproportionately affecting low-income and minority populations. In the U.S., a history of racial discrimination in finance and housing policies has left Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities more susceptible to the impacts of climate change and less equipped to recover from extreme weather disasters. Today, home insurers are pulling out of areas they perceive as risky to climate hazards, once again leaving BIPOC communities behind. From Redlining to Bluelining The disparate impact of climate change on property and infrastructure in U.S. minority communities is the result of nearly a century of discriminatory home lending and insurance policies.
Labor:
Economy:
World:
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