Daily News Digest December 19, 2024
Images of the Day:
Ted Rall: Doing Your Best Within an Evil System Thee quote in this cartoon is adapted from an employee of United Healthcare interviewed by the New York Times. It is remarkable for its lack of self-awareness. If the system is the problem, it’s immoral to work for the system.
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 Richer!
- 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:
Scary Thought What Will Lame Duck Biden do Next to Escalate Towards WWIII! From Monday’s News Digest: Trump Says No to ‘Foolish’ US Missile Attacks on Russia President-elect Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of “escalating this war” in Ukraine and “making it worse” by allowing U.S. long-range ATACMS missiles to be fired from Ukraine deep into Russia. “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia,” Trump told Time magazine in an interview published on Thursday. He said: “Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done. Now they’re doing not only missiles, but they’re doing other types of weapons. And I think that’s a very big mistake, very big mistake.”
Podcasts/Vide0s of the Day:
WWIII?: Trump And Israel Can’t Wait To Start Bombing Iran Both Israel and the incoming Trump administration are reportedly eager to start bombing Iran ASAP now that Assad’s out of the way.
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
Luigi Mangione Charged With Murder as ‘An Act of Terrorism’ for Killing of Insurance CEO uigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect arrested last week in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was indicted on charges including murder in the first degree in furtherance of terrorism and murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Thompson was gunned down outside of a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4, prompting a dayslong manhunt to find the shooter. The case also triggered a wave of dark humor and vitriol directed at the for-profit healthcare industry. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office previously filed paperwork charging Mangione, an Ivy League graduate and Maryland native, with murder, but the terror allegation is new, according to The Associated Press.
Hurricane Insurance: Not Really Insurance! Sent by Email: Dear ICN Reader, I’m Lisa Sorg, North Carolina reporter for Inside Climate News. Dear ICN Reader, I’m Lisa Sorg, North Carolina reporter for Inside Climate News. This year I’ve been investigating ReBuild NC, also known as the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency. The agency was supposed to be the lifeline for hurricane survivors displaced from their homes. Instead, it was an undertow. Let me tell you what I found. Some NC families had lived in motels or in other temporary housing for as long as four years, having endured the 2016 storm Hurricane Matthew or 2018’s Florence—or both. In other cases, the repaired or rebuilt houses were constructed so poorly they began falling apart shortly after the families moved in. At least a dozen people died while waiting to return home. ReBuild NC’s mismanagement—construction delays for months, even years, questionable contracts, and massive overspending—culminated into a crisis for the thousands of families displaced by the historic storms. Through a public records request to ReBuild NC, I received emails showing Director Hogshead had unsuccessfully tried to cover major funding shortfalls by moving money from the state’s pandemic-related funds to the hurricane recovery program. Budget officials deemed that move illegal and denied Hogshead’s request. I subsequently received a tip and supporting documents that showed ReBuild NC had overspent its budget by at least $175 million. By scrutinizing years’ worth of public HUD reports, I also learned that ReBuild NC had been moving money within its many programs—from affordable housing, for example—to hurricane recovery. While legal, that practice financially shorted other crucial services for people in need. After Inside Climate News published its findings, the state legislature convened an oversight committee to probe what had occurred at ReBuild NC. The committee held a hearing at which Director Hogshead revealed the shortfall was even greater: $221 million. Two days later, the Department of Public Safety Secretary, who is Director Hogshead’s boss, announced she was no longer employed with the agency. This is the power of journalism – to reveal what is hidden, hold the powerful to account, and right the wrongs faced by vulnerable communities. At Inside Climate News, we can do this work because readers like you make it possible. Will you give now to support our reporting in 2025? This is the power of journalism – to reveal what is hidden, hold the powerful to account, and right the wrongs faced by vulnerable communities. At Inside Climate News, we can do this work because readers like you make it possible. Will you give now to support our reporting in 2025?
In his last few months, ‘Lessor Evil’ Biden Pardons Child Seller Crooks!: Mother Who Lost Son in “Kids for Cash” Scheme Slams Biden’s Clemency for Judge “It stole his youth, his childhood,” said Sandy Fonzo, whose son was sentenced by former Judge Michael Conahan. President Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to a corrupt former judge has sparked widespread outrage, including from members of his own party. Biden announced nearly 1,500 commutations and pardons last week in what the White House described as the largest single-day act of clemency from a president, but among those whose sentences were reduced is former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan — one of two judges in the notorious “kids for cash” scandal. In 2011, Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years for accepting nearly $3 million in kickbacks for sending 2,300 children, some as young as 8 years old, to for-profit prisons on false charges. His co-conspirator, former Judge Mark Ciavarella, remains in prison. We speak with filmmaker Robert May, director of the Kids for Cash documentary, and Sandy Fonzo, mother of Edward Kenzakoski, who was incarcerated as a teenager as part of the kickback scheme and later died by suicide. “It’s just reopening wounds that have never healed,” Fonzo says of the commutation. She describes her son as “strong” and “proud” before his time in detention, but says “he came out broken” and never fully recovered. “It stole his youth, his childhood.”
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I cannot be Silent. ― Martin Luther King Jr.
United States Armed and Funded Terrorist Middle East War/Palestinan Genocide: When Biden Says ‘He’s a Zionist’ —Believe Him!
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s Family After Blinken Meeting: US Isn’t Holding Israel Accountable The secretary of state “was very deferential to the Israelis” in their meeting, Eygi’s widower said. The family of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi has said that they left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday with doubt that the U.S. will ever hold her killers accountable after the American pro-Palestinian activist was killed by Israeli forces in September. In interviews with various news outlets, Eygi’s family has said that Blinken did not offer any hope for U.S. action on her death, despite
The Moral Shame Of U.S. Foreign Policy “A New Study Has Found That Almost Half Of Children In Gaza Wish To Die, As A Result Of The Trauma They Have Been Forced To Endure. Every Single Supplier Of Arms To Israel Has Blood On Its Hands—And The World Will Never Forgive Them.” — Jeremy Corbyn, MP (Dec. 12, 2024) The Election Of Former President Donald Trump To Another Term As U.S. President Has Been Cause For Profound Despair Among Millions Of Democratic Voters. Certainly Anyone Who Cares About Human And Democratic Rights Can Only Feel Dismay About The Return Of This Notorious Megalomaniac To The White House. But Worse Than The Election Results Is Another Deflating Reality. Neither Major Party Candidate Represented A Challenge To U.S. Complicity In Israel’s Horrific War On The People And Land Of Gaza. The Presidential Election Proved To Be A Choice Between Two Electable Candidates, Manifestly Different On The Surface, Yet Neither Of Whom Was Capable Of Taking A Principled Stand Against The Worst Crime Imaginable — Genocide
U.S. Defied Spanish Embargo on Arms Bound for Israel by Making Enforcement More Difficult As the diplomatic row over the embargo escalates, the U.S. sent Israel millions of pounds of ammunition through Spanish territory. THE U.S. DEPARTMENT of Defense sent over a thousand tons of ammunition to Israel on a ship that stopped at a U.S. naval base in Spain — a violation of Spain’s embargo on ships carrying military cargo bound for Israel, according to researchers from the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International. The ship, owned by Sealift Inc., was also used for delivering aid to Gaza last spring, when the U.S. carried out its disastrous and short-lived floating pier aid mission. While partly operated by the U.S. Navy, Naval Station Rota is Spanish territory technically beholden to Spanish law. Moving ammunition bound for Israel through a U.S. Navy base on Spanish soil makes enforcement of the embargo trickier.
Closing Israeli Embassy does not Deter Ireland from Recognizing Palestine, Joining Genocide Case against Netanyahu Gov’t The current Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, is likely a war criminal by virtue of serving in the cabinet of a government pursuing a genocide. He nevertheless had the gall to accuse the Prime Minister of Ireland of being a bigot, closing the Israeli embassy in Dublin on the grounds that he views virtually all Irish people as racists. Hmm. There must be a word for when you negatively stereotype an entire people…
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!
The Gas (That does not occur in nature!) to Which the Victims of the East Palestine Rail Drailment were also Exposed!: Toxic Tuesdays: 1,4-Dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB) 1,4-dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB) – also known as p-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB) – is a colorless solid chemical that readily evaporates into the air. 1,4-DCB does not occur in nature, and it is often produced for use in deodorants or disinfectants because it has a strong odor that humans can smell at very low concentrations. It is commonly used in household products like mothballs and deodorizing sprays. It also has industrial uses as a pesticide ingredient and a precursor to commercial dyes. 1,4-DCB can enter the environment through its household uses, pesticides, and industrial waste disposal. 1,4-DCB mostly enters the environment as a vapor, and people are likely to inhale it in homes and buildings where it is used. Solid 1,4-DCB can also bind to soil and remain there for long periods of time, but people are less likely to be exposed to it in this way. Inhaling high concentrations of 1,4-DCB can cause irritation or burning sensations in the eyes and nose. It can also cause coughing, nausea, difficulty breathing, dizziness, headaches, and liver dysfunction. Touching products that contain 1,4-DCB can also cause burning sensations on the skin. In studies of laboratory animals, 1,4-DCB exposure caused liver, kidney, and blood defects as well as liver cancer. The US Department of Health and Human Services and the International Agency for Research on Cancer both classify it as being reasonably anticipated to cause cancer. Because of the danger to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum 1,4-DCB concentration that can be present in drinking water without observing adverse health effects. The European Union has gone even further, banning use of 1,4-DCB in mothballs and air fresheners because of its potential to cause cancer. Similar regulation in the US could protect more people from the health risks of 1,4-DCB exposure.
Black Liberation Civil Rights:
Labor:
World:
Health, Education, and Welfare:
Lenin’s Struggle Against Bureaucracy This year, for the centenary of Lenin’s death, we have dedicated our ‘Lenin in a year’ series to explaining the key works of this great revolutionary. As the year draws to a close, we share the final part of this series, which covers Lenin’s last struggle, as well as the works produced to wage it, chiefly his postscript to his ‘Letter to the Congress’, also known as his Testament. Written in early 1923, shortly before the end of Lenin’s life, this text takes up the struggle against the bureaucratisation of the Soviet state, which was threatening to derail all the gains of the revolution. Suppressed for decades by Stalin, the Testament dispels the slander that Stalinism was the continuation of Leninism. In conjunction with his last articles and letters, Lenin’s Testament gives evidence of the importance that he attached to the danger of the growing bureaucracy. In his letter and postscript, Lenin explicitly calls for the removal of Stalin as general secretary of the Communist Party, and contrasts him to Trotsky, who he described as “the most capable man on the present CC”.
Opioid Maker Avoids Massive Federal Penalty Through Bankruptcy, Slow-Moving DOJ Endo owed the US government $7 billion. It settled this year for just $200 million. This spring, the Justice Department announced a major victory against a drug firm that manufactured billions of opioid painkillers. Endo Health Solutions, the agency said, would face $1.5 billion in fines and forfeitures and plead guilty to a corporate criminal charge. … Endo would not have to pay the $1.5 billion in criminal penalties, which was already a deep discount from the billions federal officials said Endo owed for dodging taxes and driving up Medicare costs. In what amounted to a liability fire sale by the Justice Department, the company’s woes with the federal government would all be resolved by a $200 million payment.