Daily News Digest December 16, 2024
Images of the Day:
Claim Denied
Healthcare Denied Denied!
Chinese High-Speed Railway Map 2008 vs. 2020
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 has Outlived its Time, It is Now a Threat to Life and Humanity! Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Has Been Aware of the Coming Catastrophe of Global Warming Over 5 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 Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
The Current Five Current and Constant Threats to Humanity!:
- Pauperization of the World, as the 1% get Righer!
- Global Warming!
- Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace!
- The Crisis of Famine is Soaring Throughout the World! And
- Factory Farms Production is the Primary Cause of Pandemics!
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:
Isreal Provoked the Current Gaza War/Genocie: For some days after violence erupted last Saturday I was struck by the absence in the mainstream coverage of any explanation as to why Hamas determined to launch an attack against a power it cannot hope to defeat. Why would the Gaza leadership decide on such a course? I eventually came upon reports indicating that the Netanyahu government had been again provoking Hamas, probably but not certainly with intent, by permitting ultranationalists to enter the grounds of the al–Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a sacred site for Muslims. Sequence: Hamas warned the Israeli government about such interventions on October 1. This was understood to be a Hamas red line. Three days later dozens of intentionally provocative settlers forced their way into the mosque complex—this while thousands more had been touring the complex since Hamas issued its October 1 warning. So far as I have been able to find, accounts of these events have appeared only in Al Jazeera and other non–Western publications. You will search long and fruitlessly in Western media to discover the “why” of the Hamas offensive, the motive. The al–Aqsa events may have lit the fuse, but if this is so, it is doubtful they alone explain the Hamas attacks. There are three-quarters of a century to take into account—the ad hoc persecutions and harassments, the confiscations of land, the raids on Palestinian towns, the arrests and murders—and altogether the punishing psychological humiliation of a people for 75 years. Gazans are as aware as anyone that Israel now has the most extreme-right government in its history. Even from a distance it looks as if the lines of the apartheid state will be drawn ever more sharply. — Patrick Lawrence: ‘Innocent Israelis’10/11/23
Podcasts/Vide0s of the Day:
Assassination or Socialist Organization? The Dilemma Posed by Luigi Mangione. Luigi Luigi Mangione’s assassination of the United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, showed us how intense and widely recognized the class struggle in America has become. But let’s win the class war, not by violence, but by organizing a socialist Industrial union structure to put the means of production of goods and services under social ownership and democratic control.Mangione’s assassination of the United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, showed us how intense and widely recognized the class struggle in America has become. But let’s win the class war, not by violence, but by organizing a socialist Industrial union structure to put the means of production of goods and services under social ownership and democratic control.
The Chris Hedges Report: Lee Lakeman and The Whoredom of the Left – Read by Eunice Wong The radical feminist Lee Lakeman has spent her life calling out patriarchy for its oppression, the left for its bankruptcy, neoliberalism for its cruelty and organizing women to fight back.
Some Thoughts On The Mystery Drones Okay I need to jot down some thoughts on the “mystery drone” thing because it’s way too interesting a story to ignore.
Let Yourself Be Shattered By Gaza These last 14 months have shattered me. Shattered me beyond the power of recollection. But sometimes it’s good to be shattered.
Enduring the Trauma of Genocide (w/ Gabor Maté) | The Chris Hedges Report
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.
Biden Aims to Go Out With a Bellicose Bang Having failed thus far to ignite Nuclear Armageddon, what’s up next for the U.S. military industrial complex? I’ll tell you: New bases in Europe, 47 of them, to be exact, in Scandinavia in coming years. That’s Joe Biden’s legacy, a blood transfusion to NATO’s moribund carcass by adding Finland and Sweden and thereby ballooning the Empire’s global military footprint, a footprint of over 800 imperial foreign military bases already bankrupting us Welp, we’re gonna get 47 more, per journalist Patrick Hennigsen, and they’re gonna be near Russia. If you’re a Finn or a Swede, you might want to consider emigrating, since the pusillanimous NATO to which you now belong has set you up as a tripwire for the Atomic Apocalypse. That’s Biden’s legacy. Don’t think for a minute these bases make anyone safer. Quite the contrary. Besides being hugely provocative and thus endangering the local population, the bases’ U.S. soldiers are in harm’s way. Moscow eloquently demonstrated this on November 25. That was when Russia retaliated for recent ATACMS assaults, manned and operated by U.S. personnel. Most of that personnel are now dead. That’s because Russia shot its unstoppable Iskander missiles at the launchers, killing at least 30 U.S. operators.
As The Ukraine War Escalates!: Ukraine war briefing: Ukrainian Drones Make Multiple Strikes Inside Russia Attack on several regions comes after Russia hammered Ukrainian energy facilities with drones and missiles. What we know on day 1,025 Ukrainian drones made several strikes inside Russia overnight into Saturday, including an infrastructure facility storing fuel in central Russia’s Oryol region, sparking a fire and smashing windows in homes. The Oryol governor, Andrei Klychkov, said early on Saturday that a “mass attack” on an infrastructure site caused fuel to catch fire. The governor of Krasnodar region, Vladimir Kondratyev, said air defences destroyed Ukrainian drones in several areas of the region south and east of Ukraine. One drone smashed windows in village houses, but there were no injuries. Air defences destroyed seven drones over Bryansk region on Ukraine’s northern border, said the governor, Alexander Bogomaz. And in Russia’s Belgorod region, the governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukrainian strikes hit two villages, injuring one resident and triggering a fire in a house.
Nearly Half of Older Americans Can’t Afford Basic Needs I worked hard my whole career and retired feeling secure. Then I lost every last dime in a scam. I was left with $1,300 a month in Social Security benefits to live on in an area where monthly expenses run about $3,700. I’m a smart woman, but scams against older Americans are increasing in number and sophistication. Whether through scams, strained savings, or costs of living going up, half of older Americans — that’s 27 million households — can’t afford their basic needs. And suddenly I became one of them. The experience has taught me a lot about the value of a strong social safety net — and why we’ll need to protect it from the coming administration.
Biden Pardon of ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Judge Michael Conahan Sparks Outrage “It’s a big slap in the face for us once again,” said one of the disgraced judge’s victims. Victims of a scheme in which a pair of Pennsylvania judges conspired to funnel thousands of children into private detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks expressed outrage following U.S. President Joe Biden’s Thursday commutation of one of the men’s sentences. In 2010, former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges and was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison after he and co-conspirator Mark Ciavarella shut down a county-run juvenile detention facility and then took nearly $3 million in payments from the builder and co-owner of for-profit lockups, into which the judges sent children as young as 8 years old.
United States Armed and Funded Terrorist Middle East War/Palestinan Genocide: When Biden Says ‘He’s a Zionist’ —Believe Him!
How the U.S. Invasion of Iraq Led to Chaos in Syria Washington torched the region and watched it burn through regime changes, Arab Spring, civil wars, and the regeneration of terror groups.
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!
Weekly Average CO2 at Mauna Loa Week beginning on December 08, 2024: 425.64 ppm. Weekly value from 1 year ago: 421.93 ppm. Weekly value from 10 years ago: 398.87 ppm. Last updated: December 14, 2024.
More Californians Are Freezing to Death — and Many Are Older Unhoused People Hypothermia deaths have also spiked nationwide, with about 2,520 people dying last year, up about 35 percent from
Toxic PFAS Chemicals Found in Rural CA Drinking Water Far From Known Sources Researchers worry that the “forever chemicals” could disproportionately harm farmworkers and communities of color. This year, researchers found worrisome levels of chemicals called PFAS in her well water. Exposure to PFAS, a group of thousands of compounds, has been linked to health problems including cancer, decreased response to vaccines, and low birth weight, according to a federally funded report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Valle worries that eating food from her farm and drinking the water, found also to contain arsenic, are to blame for health issues she’s experienced recently.
Black Liberation Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
World:
Health, Education, and Welfare:
Top 5 US Health Insurers’ Annual Profits Jumped 230 Percent Since ACA’s Passage The lion’s share goes to UnitedHealth Group, which reportedly denies nearly 1 in 3 medical claims from policy holders
Behind UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Is a Larger System of Corporate Rule The violence of for-profit health care’s megastructure can only be overcome through collective resistance campaigns. The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s Brian Thompson — a brazen assassination of a wealthy CEO in the streets of midtown Manhattan — shocked the United States. But the tsunami of mass anger unleashed against a hated for-profit health care system has so far defined the story in the news. The killing sparked a deluge of personal testimonies of horrifying experiences with health insurance corporations. Dark humor around the shooting continues to flood social media. Millions of people in the U.S. viscerally hate health insurance corporations, and see these companies and their CEOs as symbols of the worst kind of corporate greed. They enrich themselves by charging huge deductibles and then still denying claims for health care coverage that people desperately need. These corporations hold the power to ruin lives. It seems as if almost everyone in the U.S. has had a horrible experience with a health insurance corporation. UnitedHealth Group — the parent company of UnitedHealthcare — is a poster child for this system. It is the biggest health insurance corporation in the U.S. Its top executives rake in tens of millions of dollars. UnitedHealth Group has faced scrutiny for a range of alleged abuses, such as overcharging on Medicare bills and using AI to reject medically necessary coverage. It’s a leader in an industry that moves to crush any talk of a single-payer health care system. It’s Not Just Denied Claims. Insurance Firms Are Hiring Middlemen to Deny Meds. Lawmakers are looking to break up massive health care conglomerates that manage nearly 80 percent of prescriptions. Amid an outpouring of frustration with for-profit health insurance sparked by the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, much of the media coverage has focused on the alleged shooter, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, and the industry’s nasty habit of maximizing profits by denying claims and leaving sick and vulnerable patients with massive medical bills. There’s plenty of data to back up the anger over private health plans expressed online since the shooting. Insurance costs are far outpacing inflation, leaving patients with soaring out-of-pocket costs. Health insurance companies are notorious for exploiting prior authorization schemes to avoid paying for care and have denied claims at alarming rates in recent years.