Daily News Digest December 3, 2024
Images of the Day:
Understanding the Urgency of Climate Change
Demonstrations have erupted across Europe as Protesters Highlighted Israel’s Attacks Against the Gaza, Strip, Lebanon, and Iran and Syria Saturday and Demanded Justice, Solidarity and an Immediate Ceasefire. Major cities like Stockholm, Sarajevo, London and others in Spain witnessed large-scale rallies with participants condemning Israeli actions and their governments’ attacks.
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:
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.That death project has already begun, and it is about to get much worse, much quicker than we thought. Capitalism is its engine, and we must resist it in every way we can. Hundreds of millions of lives are in the balance.— Extinction Rebellion: Global Newsletter #91: The Biggest Death Project in Human History Our world is closer to collapse than scientists thought, yet activists are imprisoned, while carbon capitalism is free to keep killing.
Rachel Carson
Why is it that the global south has to suffer the consequences that were caused by the Global North? Cancel the debts of the Global South and turn the debts into climate action. — Shamim Zawadi, Social Scientist
Podcasts/Vide0s of the Day:
They Lied About Gaza, And They’re Lying About Syria If you saw through the lies about Gaza, don’t stop there. Keep going. Keep pulling on threads. Keep learning. Stay curious. They lied about Gaza, they lied about Iraq, they lied about Libya, they lied about Ukraine, and they’re lying about Syria too.
Michael Hudson on BRICS De-Dollarization, The Banking Crisis, and Multipolarity
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!)
Migration isn’t the Problem! The Migration of Wealth to the 1% is the Problem! The most significant “migration problem” is not the movement of people across borders, but rather the migration of wealth into the hands of a small elite (1%) which ultimately drives people to migrate in search of better economic opportunities! Addressing wealth inequality is key to tackling the root cause of global migration issues! — Roland Sheppard
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.
A Nation of Debtors:
FRED: Student Loans Owned and Securitized
Cornel West: We Must Keep Our Souls Intact as We Organize Under Trump Again “Trump is American gangsterism crystallized, honest about itself, unashamed and bold,” says West. After the election, I received several texts and email messages expressing a deep sense of sorrow, angst, dread and heartbreak. Personally, I felt that sense of anger. Specifically, I share Audre Lorde’s frankness: “My response to racism is anger.” My claim is not that every single person who voted for Donald Trump is a racist, a card-carrying white supremacist. I do hold, however, that as a result of his election we will inherit the whirlwind — the tumultuous process — of his dangerous neofascist sensibilities, his despicable sexism, his horrifying xenophobia, his ugly lies, retaliatory mentality and his support of white Christian nationalism. Another way of putting it: America, welcome to the nightmare that many of you have unleashed and have done so despite the reality of the unethical and dangerous man that Trump is.
United States Armed and Funded Terrorist Middle East War/Palestinan Genocide: When Biden Says ‘He’s a Zionist’ —Believe Him!
European Protests Demand Justice for Palestine Amid Israeli Attacks Over 125,000 March in London Against Israel’s Gaza Genocide “All of you here are beacons of hope in this darkness,” said one demonstrator in a speech to the massive crowd. Led by a coalition of humanitarian and anti-war groups, including Stop the War and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, organizers said the weekend demonstration was just the latest expression of collective outrage over the Israeli assault on Gaza made possible by the international backing of powerful allies like the United States and the United Kingdom. “It’s vital we continue to take to the streets in huge numbers to demand an end to British complicity in Israel’a genocide and apartheid, including through an end to all arms trade with Israel,” said the Palestine Solidarity campaign ahead of the march. Stop the War coalition rebuked BBC‘s reporting for downplaying the size of the march, saying: “For the record, it was at least 125,000!” Various news outlets put the size of the march in the tens of thousands.
They Lied About Gaza, And They’re Lying About Syria If you saw through the lies about Gaza, don’t stop there. Keep going. Keep pulling on threads. Keep learning. Stay curious. They lied about Gaza, they lied about Iraq, they lied about Libya, they lied about Ukraine, and they’re lying about Syria too.
The Guardian View on a Race for Missile Supremacy: Competition Fuels a Dangerous Escalation Five years ago, the collapse of a landmark cold war arms treaty opened a Pandora’s box, unleashing missile-shaped furies that have struck Ukraine. The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty ended when the US withdrew, citing Russian violations dating back to 2014 under Vladimir Putin. While abandoning the treaty aligned with the first Trump administration’s broader opposition to arms control, continuing to pressure Mr Putin into compliance would have been the wiser course. Five years ago, the collapse of a landmark cold war arms treaty opened a Pandora’s box, unleashing missile-shaped furies that have struck Ukraine. The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty ended when the US withdrew, citing Russian violations dating back to 2014 under Vladimir Putin. While abandoning the treaty aligned with the first Trump administration’s broader opposition to arms control, continuing to pressure Mr Putin into compliance would have been the wiser course.
Netherlands Supreme Court advised to uphold Israel F-35 Components Export Ban The advocate general of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the country’s highest court, was advised on Friday to uphold the ruling banning the Dutch state from exporting F-35 components to Israel. The Court of Appeal in The Hague in February ordered the government to stop exporting components due to concerns that they would be used to violate international law in the Gaza war, prompting the government to say that it would appeal to the Supreme Court. “According to the advocate general (of the Supreme Court), the Court of Appeal was justified in finding that there is a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets are being used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip,” the court’s advisor explained.
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!
It’s Too Late to Halt the Climate Crisis ‘Nature is going to solve the problem by eliminating the modern human In response to Ashish Ghadiali’s story last week (“Yes, there is a lot of greenwashing, but Cop summits are our best chance of averting climate breakdown”, Comment, last week), nearly 70 years ago Gilbert Plass coined the term “climate change” in a paper in the journal Tellus. Most of that 70 years has been spent arguing over the reality of climate change, an argument by vested interests that continues to this day. Meanwhile, global warming has continued to rise due to the burning of fossil fuels. Now, polar ice caps and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, causing sea level rises and threatening the survival of over half the world’s population living on islands and in coastal zones near sea level. Ashish Ghadiali’s story last week (“Yes, there is a lot of greenwashing, but Cop summits are our best chance of averting climate breakdown”, Comment, last week), nearly 70 years ago Gilbert Plass coined the term “climate change” in a paper in the journal Tellus. Most of that 70 years has been spent arguing over the reality of climate change, an argument by vested interests that continues to this day. Meanwhile, global warming has continued to rise due to the burning of fossil fuels. Now, polar ice caps and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, causing sea level rises and threatening the survival of over half the world’s population living on islands and in coastal zones near sea level. The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard. The time has come to describe climate change as the “Big Melt”, an environment in which humans will face increasing threats from the atmosphere and the oceans for centuries to come, when the inventions and institutions of mankind will slowly collapse along with the ecologies that comprise human habitats. We need to stop fooling ourselves into thinking that humans can fix this melting problem. Humans are the problem. It is nature that is going to solve the problem by eliminating the modern human.
Days Are Getting Longer Due to Climate Change, Potentially Affecting Navigation and the Internet, Study Finds The climate crisis is not only having an impact on temperatures, weather and environment, it’s also affecting the length of a day, according to a new study. Global heating is causing polar ice to melt, which is altering how fast Earth rotates, making each day longer. It is a shift that will accelerate as long as humans continue to burn fossil fuels that produce planet-warming greenhouse gases. “We can see our impact as humans on the whole Earth system, not just locally, like the rise in temperature, but really fundamentally, altering how it moves in space and rotates,” said professor Benedikt Soja of Switzerland’s ETH Zurich, as The Guardian reported. “Due to our carbon emissions, we have done this in just 100 or 200 years. Whereas the governing processes previously had been going on for billions of years, and that is striking.”
Trends in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa Week beginning on November 24, 2024:424.59 ppm. Weekly value from 1 year ago: 420.31 ppm/. Weekly value from 10 years ago: 397.98 ppm. Last updated: December 01, 2024.
Study Links Higher PFAS Levels to ‘Superfund’ Sites and Limited Fresh-Food Access Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood. The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.
Land Degradation Expanding by 1m Sq Km a Year, Study Shows Report calls for course correction to avoid land abuse ‘compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental wellbeing’ Land degradation is expanding worldwide at the rate of 1m sq km every year, undermining efforts to stabilise the climate, protect nature and ensure sustainable food supplies, a study has highlighted. The degraded area is already 15m sq km, an area greater than Antarctica, the scientific report says, and it calls for an urgent course correction to avoid land abuse “irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental wellbeing”.
Wake Up and Smell yhe Coffee: Rising Food Prices Show Destabilising Impact of Climate Crisis Policymakers must act as extreme weather events put more pressure on food inflation and production worldwide The cost of the beans accounts for only about 5% of the price of a fancy latte, according to the economic research group Capital Economics, so the impact on coffee drinkers is likely to be minimal, but almost every week seems to bring fresh news of climate-induced price increases. In the rich world these cause inconvenience and make the lives of low-income households harder. In developing countries, they can mean outright hunger.
Black Liberation Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Health, Education, and Welfare:
Ted Rall: How Long Before I Can Carry a Pitchfork? I fell and broke my wrist in two places. My urgent care place was wonderful, but referred me to a specialist they claimed carried my insurance. In fact, they did not. This is a common problem. Lists of covered providers are years out of date. Nothing is more maddening, especially when you are hurting and sick, to repeatedly be given the runaround about something as simple as whether a doctor accepts your insurance. If an insurance company claims that a doctor is in network, they should be liable if their list is wrong.
U.S.: Baby Killers The Logic of Healthcare for Profit Exposed: Parents Are Being Asked to Pay the Cost of Delivering Their Babies in Advance Childbirth is already unaffordable for many. Now some are being asked to pay the bill before they even go into labor. In April, just 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Kathleen Clark was standing at the receptionist window of her OB-GYN’s office when she was asked to pay $960, the total the office estimated she would owe after she delivered. Clark, 39, was shocked that she was asked to pay that amount during this second prenatal visit. Normally, patients receive the bill after insurance has paid its part, and for pregnant women that’s usually only when the pregnancy ends. It would be months before the office filed the claim with her health insurer,