Daily News Digest October 17, 2024
Images of the Day:
Ted Rall: Mudslide Victims Unite! Hurricane Helene has devastated western North Carolina. Yet the federal government has only doled out a paltry $4 million over the last two weeks to American hurricane victims. Meanwhile, Israel and Ukraine have received over $200 billion in federal largesse over the last two years, much of it without any oversight whatsoever. 
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 the duty of communists everywhere to expose the lies and crimes of the imperialists in all countries, and offer a genuine internationalist alternative to the hypocritical phrases of the reformist so-called ‘left’. It is for precisely this reason why the Revolutionary Communist International has launched its ‘Books Not Bombs’ campaign in the summer. We appeal to anyone serious about fighting imperialism to get involved. But to finally defeat imperialism we must get organised, and build a world party of proletarian revolution. This is the task that the Revolutionary Communist International has set itself. Join us – the time is now! Down with the warmongers! Fight for the expropriation of the bankers and capitalists whose avaricious greed for profit is a constant cause of wars and crises! For a socialist world that will be free from the scourge of poverty, exploitation, wars, and oppression! The only just war is the class war! — The Struggle for World Revolution by Alan Woods
New U.S.-European Satellite Tracking Sea Level Rise
We’re Basically Being Asked To Believe That The Palestinians Are Genociding Themselves One of the dumbest things we are asked to believe about Israel’s genocide in Gaza is that all these civilians are being butchered because the Palestinians are evil and not the Israelis. That it’s the victims doing evil things and not the perpetrators.
Another Phony Biden PR Stunt About Humanitarian Aid In 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.
‘Americans Understand That Immigration Is a Fundamental Part of Our Society’: CounterSpin interview with Insha Rahman on immigration Janine Jackson: Unfortunately, we can assume listeners know the popular right-wing lines: Immigrants—that’s shorthand for Black and brown immigrants—are criminals, violent drug criminals especially, but also they’re stealing jobs, draining social services and, in election season, we hear they’re voting illegally in large numbers, because they are, in some way, props for the Democratic Party. Anyone who wants to dispute those noxious tropes can do so with a search engine. Harder to combat is the overarching and bipartisan framing of immigration and immigrants as a “problem.” How do we replace batting away the latest slur with the reality-based humane conversation we need to move us to the 21st century immigration and asylum policies we could have?
U.S. Support to Israel The attached paper calculates United States spending on Israel’s military operations, $17.9 billion, plus related U.S. operations in the region, from October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Posted on October 7, 2024. U.S. spending on Israel’s military operations and related U.S operations in the region total at least $22.76 billion and counting. This estimate is conservative; while it includes approved security assistance funding since October 7, 2023, supplemental funding for regional operations, and an estimated additional cost of operations, it does not include any other economic costs.
Costly Replacement of ICBMs With Sentinel Missiles Increases Risk of Nuclear War Many of our unmet needs as US citizens are due in part to the cost of the US nuclear arsenal. At the September 10 presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris described her support for maintaining the “most lethal fighting force” in the world. Almost certainly that includes the United States’ plan to upgrade its nuclear arsenal with more powerful, more accurate nuclear warhead delivery systems, as well as new tactical nuclear warheads and bombs for use on the battlefield. The world is already awash in nuclear weapons with an astonishing capacity for mass death: The U.S. has 14 Ohio-class nuclear-armed submarines. A single submarine can launch 24 missiles. Each missile can carry eight independently targeted warheads with blast forces many times greater than the Hiroshima bomb — 100,000 tons of TNT equivalent versus 15,000 tons. The missiles launched from just one such submarine can obliterate the major cities of any nation on Earth. The U.S. also maintains 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in fixed silos and hundreds of strategic nuclear bombs mounted on B-52 and B-2 bombers.
A Coup Atempt on Election Day? Trump Calls for Using Military Against Left-Leaning “Enemies” on Election Day Trump’s calls for military action come as he’s made a number of disturbingly authoritarian comments this election cycle. During an interview over the weekend, former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for president, said that the National Guard should consider using force against left-leaning people in the U.S., baselessly alleging that the left would disrupt the accuracy of the 2024 election and describing them as “the enemy from within.” Trump made the remarks on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program in response to a question about the possibility of foreign influence in the upcoming election. Trump’s answer focused on the domestic scene, arguing, without evidence, that a widespread coalition of leftist voters would rig the election against him.
Georgia Judge Rules Local Officials Can’t Refuse to Certify Election Results “Election superintendents in Georgia have a mandatory fixed obligation to certify election results,” the judge wrote. Democratic officials and voting rights advocates on Tuesday celebrated “a victory for voters” in the crucial battleground state of Georgia after a county judge ruled that local officials must certify results regardless of claims of “election fraud” — an occurrence experts have found to be “vanishingly rare” despite Republican claims to the contrary. Fulton County Superior Court Judge James McBurney handed down a ruling late Monday in a case brought by Fulton County Board of Elections member Julie Adams, who worked with the America First Policy Institute, a group with ties to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, on the lawsuit.
United States Armed and Funded Middle East War/Palestinan Genocide: When Biden Says ‘He’s a Zionist’ — Believe Him!
Blinken and Austin Scold Netanyahu Over Gaza Atrocities, Playing Cynical Presidential Politics Barak Ravid at Axios got the scoop. He was leaked a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accusing them of reneging on undertakings of last April to pursue their war on Hamas in a manner consistent with the protection of innocent civilians as required by US law and by International Humanitarian Law. The two American leaders only obliquely referred to IHL, of course, since the U.S. only approves of international law when it can be used against enemies such as Vladimir Putin. The letter is a frank admission that the extremist Israeli government now in power has been endangering civilian lives in a manner inconsistent with the Leahy Act, which requires the State Department to certify that US weaponry sold to other countries is used in a manner that, to the extent possible in war, preserves the lives of innocent civilians. ProPublica revealed in late September that US AID had concluded that Israel had deliberately blocked deliveries of food and medicine into Gaza. This finding should have provoked a cut-off of US arms to Israel under the provisions of the Leahy Act. Blinken, however, buried the conclusions and lied about them to Congress so that he could keep the arms pipeline to Israel going.
Israel’s Bombing of Palestinians in Tent Camps Draws International Outrage “This evil genocide must end and President Biden has to stop enabling it,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar. Humanitarian groups, United Nations experts, and lawmakers on Monday expressed horror and demanded action from the international community — and the United States in particular — following the latest flurry of atrocities by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, including the deadly bombing of a hospital complex filled with tent camps housing scores of displaced Palestinian families.
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’!
We Must Hold These Monsters to Account!
Tracking 30 Years of Sea Level Rise Thirty years ago, scientists and engineers launched a new satellite to study the rising and falling of seas over time, a task that once could only be done from the coast. TOPEX/Poseidon rocketed into space on August 10, 1992, and started a 30-year record of ocean surface height around the world. The observations have confirmed on a global scale what scientists previously saw from the shoreline: the seas are rising, and the pace is quickening. Scientists have found that global mean sea level—shown in the line plot above and below—has risen 10.1 centimeters (3.98 inches) since 1992. Over the past 140 years, satellites and tide gauges together show that global sea level has risen 21 to 24 centimeters (8 to 9 inches).
The Brockovich Report: A Flooded Town Now Has No Water Special Essay: On Losing Places We Hold Dear and What It Means To Not Go Home Again It’s been more than two weeks since Hurricane Helene barreled into the mountains of Western North Carolina, causing extreme flooding and devastation. Normally in October tourists flock to Asheville, North Carolina, and the surrounding mountain towns to enjoy the incredible display of fall leaves. Reds, yellows, oranges, and more. This year is very different. After the storm, schools and businesses remain closed. Local farms have seen significant losses. Some folks have regained power, but everyone is waiting on water to return to their taps. Best estimates say it could be weeks until it is restored, and months might be more realistic.
Black Liberation/Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
Poorest Countries in Worst Financial Shape Since 2006, World Bank Says Low-income countries still poorer than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, report finds. The world’s 26 poorest countries are deeper in debt than at any time since 2006 and increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters and other shocks, the World Bank has said. The poorest economies are worse off today than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the rest of the world has largely recovered, the Washington, DC-based lender said in a report released on Sunday.
Why Nations Succeed or Fail: a Nobel Cause: Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson have been awarded the Nobel (really the Riksbank prize) in economics “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” Daron Acemoglu is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Simon Johnson is a professor at the same university. And James Robinson is a professor at University of Chicago. Here is what the Nobel judges say was the reason for winning: “Today, the richest 20 percent of countries are around 30 times wealthier than the poorest 20 percent of countries. The income gaps across countries have been highly persistent over the past 75 years.39 The available data also show that between-country disparities in income have grown over the past 200 years. Why are the income differences across countries so large and so persistent? “This year’s Laureates have pioneered a new approach to providing credible, quantitative answers to this crucial question for humanity. By empirically examining the impact and persistence of colonial strategies on subsequent economic development, they have identified historical roots for the extractive institutional environments that characterize many low-income countries. Their emphasis on using natural experiments and historical data has initiated a new research tradition that continues to help uncover the historical drivers of prosperity, or lack thereof.
World:
In the following article Alan Woods Fails to Even Mention Global Warming/Environmental Crisis and Crisis of Capitalism! A World Revolution Can’t Succeed Without an Oppositionto Ecocide!
The Struggle for World Revolution by Alan Woods … Marxism is internationalism It is no accident that Marx and Engels stated in the Communist Manifesto that internationalism is one of the main things that distinguishes communists, and that “… in the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality.” While combating all forms of discrimination, inequality and oppression, we stand for the sacred unity of the working class and combat implacably every attempt to divide the workers’ movement on lines of nationality, language, religion, gender or race. This internationalism of Marx and Engels was not the product of sentimental considerations; it flowed from the fact that capitalism develops as a world system. Out of the different national economies and markets there arises one single, indivisible and interdependent whole – the world market. Today the crushing domination of the world market is the most decisive fact of our epoch. Not a single country, no matter how big and powerful – not the United States, not China, not Russia – can stand apart from its mighty pull. The need for proletarian internationalism is not diminished during periods of war. On the contrary, it is at its greatest when the war drums are beating and the ruling classes seek to stupefy the workers of their own countries with the poison of national hatred. Marxism and War. This is something that Marx and Engels always understood. Following the defeat of Napoleon III by Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War, the entirety of the ‘respectable’ German press was filled with bloodthirsty calls for heavy reparations and the annexation of French territory. After all, hadn’t France started the war? The German section of Marx and Engels’ international, the International Working Men’s Association, stood alone in condemning the invasion of the new French Republic, and held out a hand of friendship and solidarity to the workers of France: “… the German workmen will not patiently tolerate the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine […] We shall faithfully stand by our fellow workmen in all countries for the common international cause of the proletariat!” And when German troops were used to assist the French ruling class in crushing the Paris Commune in May 1871, Marx issued the following clarion call of proletarian internationalism: “That, after the most tremendous war of modern times, the conquering and the conquered hosts should fraternise for the common massacre of the proletariat – this unparalleled event does indicate, not, as Bismarck thinks, the final repression of a new society upheaving, but the crumbling into dust of bourgeois society. The highest heroic effort of which old society is still capable is national war; and this is now proved to be a mere governmental humbug, intended to defer the struggle of classes, and to be thrown aside as soon as that class struggle bursts out into civil war. Class rule is no longer able to disguise itself in a national uniform; the national governments are one as against the proletariat!”
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