Daily News Digest August 29, 2024
Images of the Day:
ed Rall What If Israel Nukes Iran?
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:
You Don’t Get To Vote On Any Of Your Government’s Most Consequential Actions The functioning of a globe-spanning empire is seen as too important to be left in the hands of the voting public — so it isn’t. Nothing that is critical to the empire’s operation is ever on the ballot. You’ll often hear Democrats calling people “privileged” if they talk about voting third party, or if they say it doesn’t matter whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the election in November. The idea is that if you’re not doing everything you can to make sure the Democrat wins, it must be because you are white and wealthy and coddled enough to be unconcerned about Donald Trump getting in and implementing racist and discriminatory policies.
Watch the Speech the DNC Wouldn’t Allow on Stage Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination Thursday after a four-day convention in Chicago where her campaign refused to allow a Palestinian American to take the stage to address Israel’s war on Gaza.
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!:
Russia Warns US Will Face ‘Much Harsher’ Consequences for Backing Kursk Invasion Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday that the US would face “much harsher” consequences for backing Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. “The impression is that our colleagues [in Washington] have discarded the remnants of common sense and believe that they can do anything,” Ryabkov said, according to TASS. “The consequences [for the United States] could be much harsher than those they are already experiencing, they know where and in what areas we are reacting in practical terms,” Ryabkov added. The US claims it was not involved in the planning of the Kursk offensive, but it has allowed Ukraine to use US-provided armored vehicles, missiles, and bombs in the attack on Russian territory. The New York Times reported that the US and the UK have also provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other information about the Kursk region. Ryabkov said that US involvement in the Kursk offensive is an “obvious fact.”
During Antitrust Trial, Exec Admits Kroger Jacked Up Milk and Egg Prices Above Inflation The thing is, execs all over the economy were saying this stuff on their earning calls back in 2021,” said one progressive economist. “This was not a secret.” A top Kroger executive admitted under questioning from a Federal Trade Commission attorney on Tuesday that the grocery chain raised its egg and milk prices above the rate of inflation, a concession that came as no surprise to economists who have been highlighting corporate price gouging across the U.S. economy in recent years.
United States Funded Genocide in Israel:
The U.S.-Led Ceasefire Talks are Just Buying More Time for Israel’s Genocide Breaking this cynical cycle requires getting honest about Biden and Harris’s roles in this blood-soaked charade. FOR ANYONE PAYING attention, it is now abundantly clear that the U.S.-led Gaza ceasefire talks have become a tool for the perpetuation of Israel’s genocidal war. What began as a liberatory demand by Rep. Cori Bush and grassroots peace advocates has now been fully co-opted by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The so-called ceasefire negotiations are a form of camouflage that is being deployed by Biden and Harris to distract from the reality of their support for Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza. To even use the word “ceasefire” to describe what the Biden administration is pursuing is itself a form of linguistic violence. The latest draft “ceasefire” proposal announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken essentially endorses continued Israeli occupation of Gaza with no permanent cessation of war. But even this was apparently too much of a concession for Netanyahu, which is why he reportedly continues to undermine it. Meanwhile, it was just one week ago that the State Department announced the sale of another $20 billion in U.S. weapons to Israel.
Israel Says US Has Delivered 50,000 Tons of Military Aid Since Start of Gaza Slaughter The Israeli Defense Ministry said Monday that the US has delivered over 50,000 tons of weapons and other military equipment since the start of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, demonstrating the Biden administration’s staunch support for the slaughter. Since October 7, 107 ships and 500 transport planes have brought US military aid shipments to Israel. The Israeli Defense Ministry said the deliveries have included “armored vehicles, munitions, ammunition, personal protection gear, and medical equipment.” The ministry added that the US support was “crucial for sustaining the IDF’s operational capabilities during the ongoing war.”
IG Report Confirms Critics of Misguided US Aid Pier in Gaza Were Exactly Right Like outside humanitarian workers and other critics, USAID staffers warned the pier would detract from efforts to step up aid deliveries via border crossings. Palestinian civilians, humanitarian aid workers on the ground in Gaza, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and other rights advocates all said the same thing earlier this year as U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans to construct a $230 million temporary pier to deliver relief to Gaza residents being starved by Israel’s aid blockade: The pier was no substitute for reopening border crossings and would undercut efforts to pressure Israel to do so. Their warnings went unheeded, but a report released by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday showed that outside critics were echoing concerns that were also being brought up within the agency.
Why Are Liberal Zionists Cheering as Harris Echoes Biden on Gaza? J Street is eager to define the limits of acceptable criticism of Israeli government policies from the Democratic Party establishment—setting aside human rights as secondary to the mantra of Israel’s “right to exist.”
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!
Everywhere Capitalists Attempt to Corrupt Environmental Science!: Scientists Tied to Chemical Industry Plan to Derail PFAS Rule On Drinking Water Michael Dourson receives funds from chemical makers and plans to develop and publish studies that benefit firms Scientists with financial ties to industry and histories of producing controversial research to derail chemical regulations are mobilizing to attack strict new federal drinking water limits for toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, documents reviewed by the Guardian reveal.
Toxic Tuesdays: Acrolein Acrolein is a toxic chemical that presents itself as a clear to yellowish liquid that evaporates quickly and is highly flammable. As it vaporizes, it has an unpleasant smell and tends to accumulate in low areas since it is heavier than air. Acrolein is used as a precursor ingredient in many different kinds of manufacturing industries including plastics, paint, leather finishings, and paper coatings. It is also used as a biocide to control plant and algae growth in water systems. Acrolein exposure usually occurs in the form of inhalation. Acrolein is formed from the combustion of certain organic compounds. As such, it is commonly formed from the burning of fossil fuels, animal and vegetable fats, and tobacco. It is a common, albeit minimal, by-product of forest fires. The health effects of short-term exposures to acrolein are fairly well understood. Acrolein is severely irritating to skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. If inhaled, it causes respiratory distress, an asthma-like reaction, and delayed pulmonary swelling. Contact with the skin or eyes produces irritation and lacrimation, and can result in chemical burns. The long-term health effects of acrolein are much less studied. There are some indications that prolonged exposure can cause respiratory sensitization, a process through which exposure to a chemical leads to hypersensitivity of the airways when exposed again to the same or similar chemicals. Potential adverse reproductive effects or links to cancer have not been explored well enough to draw any conclusions.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
The Iron Heel: John Kiriakou: The Slide Into Authoritarianism The loss of civil liberties is almost always incremental. On a flight home from Greece, the author recently ran into an increasingly familiar and menacing problem. All of us who care about civil liberties, civil rights, human rights and freedom of the press have had a front-row seat lately to a slide toward what can only be described as authoritarianism. The governments of the U.S., U.K. and even Canada have been working hard, sometimes in a coordinated fashion, to silence dissenting voices. The governments’ tactics have been heavy-handed, to say the least. Most recently, journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested last week by British authoritiesRichard, who is one of the loudest and most important voices in support of human rights for Palestinians, was arrested at Heathrow Airport. Detaining a journalist is not terribly unusual in the U.K., unfortunately. What usually happens is that the journalist is held for several hours, his phone and laptop are taken from him, he is given a variety of threats that he must appear to answer questions at some future date, and he’s eventually released. Things were different for Richard, however. Our colleague Chris Hedges wrote, “After being taken into custody by six police officers, having his electronic equipment seized, and then questioned, he was placed in solitary confinement for almost 24 hours. He was released on pre-charge bail. He will remain under investigation for at least three months and he faces the prospect of being charged with an offense that could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.”
Labor:
Economy:
Why Poverty Reduction Under Capitalism is a Myth From its beginnings, the capitalist economic system produced both critics and celebrants, those who felt victimized and those who felt blessed. Where victims and critics developed analyses, demands, and ropposals for change, beneficiaries, and celebrants developed alternative discourses defending the system.
Jamie Dimon’s Washington Post OpEd Gets Pummeled at Yahoo Finance The P.R. genius at JPMorgan Chase that thought it would be a good idea to have Jamie Dimon lecture the next president of the United States on how to run the country in an OpEd (paywall) at the Washington Post will likely be seeking a career change soon. Dimon is the Chairman and CEO of the largest and riskiest bank in the United States. Under Dimon’s tenure, the bank has racked up five felony counts which showcase Dimon as the worst possible source of sound leadership advice. In 2014, the bank was charged with laundering money for decades for the biggest Ponzi artist in U.S. history – Bernie Madoff. In 2015, the bank was charged with being part of a bank cartel that rigged foreign currency markets. And in 2020, the bank was charged with two more felony counts for engaging in “tens of thousands of instances of unlawful trading in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium…as well as thousands of instances of unlawful trading in U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in U.S. Treasury notes and bonds…”
World:
Systemic Discriminationa: Maasai People Protest Forced Evictions and Loss of Rights ‘Like Apartheid.’ Tanzanian pastoralists expelled from traditional lands, denied voting rights.
Indonesia: Masses Surge Up Through a Crack in the Bourgeois State On the morning of Thursday 22 August, upon learning that parliament planned to change an election law to the benefit of President Jokowi’s youngest son, tens of thousands of youths took to the streets and stormed parliament. The demonstrations spread like wildfire. Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Medan, Semarang, Makassar, Lampung, Banda Aceh: in one city after another, regional parliament buildings and city halls were breached and ransacked by the students. The upsurge caught the government off guard, and it was forced to beat a retreat. In an effort to calm the masses, the plan to revise the election law was cancelled by the deputy speaker. But this might be too little too late. The masses have now gathered their courage and have begun to move everywhere. The movement so far has shown no signs of receding. At the same time, the authorities are ramping up their repression. Already, hundreds have been arrested and many more injured. In Jakarta alone, 300 demonstrators were picked up by the police. Plain-clothes police and intelligence officers are posted everywhere to identify and weed out whoever they consider to be provocateurs. On the morning of Thursday 22 August, upon learning that parliament planned to change an election law to the benefit of President Jokowi’s youngest son, tens of thousands of youths took to the streets and stormed parliament. The demonstrations spread like wildfire. Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Medan, Semarang, Makassar, Lampung, Banda Aceh: in one city after another, regional parliament buildings and city halls were breached and ransacked by the students. The upsurge caught the government off guard, and it was forced to beat a retreat. In an effort to calm the masses, the plan to revise the election law was cancelled by the deputy speaker. But this might be too little too late. The masses have now gathered their courage and have begun to move everywhere. The movement so far has shown no signs of receding. At the same time, the authorities are ramping up their repression. Already, hundreds have been arrested and many more injured. In Jakarta alone, 300 demonstrators were picked up by the police. Plain-clothes police and intelligence officers are posted everywhere to identify and weed out whoever they consider to be provocateurs.
Morocco: Popular Anger Against Israel’s War on Gaza Spills into the Streets, Posing Dilemma for Rabat The Palestinian question has been a central topic for the Arab world for many decades now. Over the years, Arab leaders have used the Palestinian cause as one of their talking points to gain support from the populace. Over the last decade, however, the topic began to lose steam, especially thanks to the Abraham Accords that led to some Arab countries following Egypt and Jordan in normalising diplomatic relations with Israel. Against opposing voices and detractors, to explain their new-found ties with Israel these nations provided the excuse of seeking peace and stability in the region and a peaceful way for securing a Palestinian state. But the recent war on Gaza has reignited the importance of ‘the Palestinian question’ and reinvigorated Arabs’ passion for this cause leading to many protests and demonstrations against their countries and against normalisation with Israel.
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