Daily News Digest Archives
Daily News Digest November 7, 2016
Images of the Day:
Pigs At the Trough: The Ruling Elite, rich and greedy!
Robber Barons’ Propaganda
Quotes of the Day:
If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal. — Emma Goldman
For those of us in the public banking movement, used to holding up the Bank of North Dakota (the nation’s only public bank) as an example of how promising public banks are, the recent news that Dalrymple and an emergency spending panel voted to add $4 million in additional credit onto a $10 million line from BND, to fund law enforcement expenses at Standing Rock, is troubling. It means BND is using its heralded public power over fractional reserve banking to pay for those rubber bullets and a host of logistical expenses involved in arresting and evicting protesters the federal government has refused to evict, citing free speech concerns. This financing is part of one of BND’s core functions: providing emergency loans. A more positive deployment of that function happened in 1997, when BND provided emergency loans for the Grand Forks flood, at a time when communities desperately needed loans before receiving slow-moving FEMA reimbursements. Unlike the need to abuse peaceful protesters, the flood was a real public emergency–the flooding caused structure fires and destroyed dozens of buildings via fire or water. Property losses in Grand Forks topped $3.5 billion. There were 50,000 evacuees. BND provided over $70 million in funds for relief. — North Dakota’s Public Bank Is Funding Police Repression at Standing Rock
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1802)
Videos of the Day:
Whether Clinton or Trump, Tensions Will Escalate with China and Russia Under Next U.S. President
News from the pipeline: Hired thugs attack peaceful protesters — Obama says: “We’re going to let it ride.”
Politician Lie Detector Test-Johnny Carson
U.S.
One Evil Two Heads: Any Questions?
Perpetual Peace for Perpetual War: US to send tanks, helicopters & 6,000 troops to join 1st E. Europe armored brigade deployment
The War on the Home Front: Shock Report: More Americans Killed by Police Since 9/11 than Soldiers Killed in War By Matt Agorist
Three New Scandals Show How Pervasive and Dangerous Mass Surveillance is in the West, Vindicating Snowden By Glenn _Greenwald 
Election 2016: A Political System In Crisis by Nile Bowie
The Coming Plague of Poverty Among the Elderly: Clinton’s Plan For Gutting Social Security by Alan Nasser
US Election 2016: On the Eve of Armageddon As The New York Times put it, “With more than eight in 10 voters saying the campaign has left them repulsed rather than excited, the rising toxicity threatens the ultimate victor. Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic candidate, and Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, are seen as dishonest and viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters.” by John Peterson
The Bombing of Aleppo: US Hypocrisy at Max Volume by Gareth Porter
Chicago Cubs Owners Are Bankrolling Campaign to Let Nebraska Kill Again The Chicago Cubs won big Wednesday night, with their first World Series victory since 1908. Now, the team’s owners — the billionaire Ricketts family — are looking for another win next week. The Nebraska ballot referendum to reinstate the death penalty that they’ve helped bankroll goes before the voters on Tuesday. By Zaid Jilani
Environment:
‘Pipelines Leak’: Expert Finds Government Downplayed DAPL Impact on Tribe and Water Standing Rock Sioux chairman says Army Corps must deny pipeline crossing easement, in light of new review by Lauren McCauley
Despite Paris Climate Pledge, Planet on Track to Surpass 3°C Temperature Rise ‘After 24 years of negotiations we are hurtling towards a 3.5 degree world, which will be catastrophic for millions’ by Nika Knight
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
North Dakota’s Public Bank Is Funding Police Repression at Standing Rock By Matt Stannard
Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:
Labor:
Economy:
“A Ponzi Scheme” The Economy is Only A Paper Moon By Roland Sheppard September 2008
The Federal Government Owes $4.776 Trillion to Social Security: US Government Has Borrowed Trillions From Social Security Trust Fund For Social Security The OASI (Old-Age and Survivors Insurance) and Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds currently list trillions of dollars of assets. Here is the breakdown: End of 2011 Assets: OASI – $2.5241 trillion
DI – $153.9 billion However, instead of cash, these two trust funds have IOUs from the US government. All of those assets are held in “special non-marketable securities of the US Government”. So, the US government borrows from the OASI, DI and many others to finance its deficit spending. As a matter of fact, as of this second, the US government currently has “intragovernmental holdings” of $4.776 trillion. “Intragovernmental holdings” is money that the government owes to programs such as OASI, DI and many others. This is money that will have to be repaid down the line.
The ShadowStats Alternate Unemployment Rate for October 2016 is 22.9%. 
The New York Times Has a Fatal Wall Street Bias A few years back, when William D. Cohan was writing for Bloomberg News, one could reliably count on him to hold Wall Street’s feet to the fire. Now Cohan is writing for the New York Times and it feels like the Times sent him for an in-house lobotomy or at least a crash course in reoriented thinking. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:
Pax Americana and The Failure of ‘Lesser Evilism’ By Roland Sheppard
Republicrat: Painting by Anthony Freda
Just before the 2000 Presidential Election, in September 2000, George Bush’s think tank, The Project for the New American Century, put into writing a document titled Rebuilding America’s Defenses, Forces and Resources For a New Century.
In that document they called for war upon Iraq, a US military presence in the middle east, and the construction of military bases throughout Asia and the world to enforce, what they termed, as a ‘strategic goal’, the preservation Pax Americana — the ‘new world order’ that was proclaimed after the first Gulf War.
There has been no objection or opposition, from the Democratic Party, to this ‘strategic goal’ for this century, even though the document stated, two years prior to 9/11: “A transformation strategy that solely pursued capabilities for projecting force from the United States, for example, and sacrificed forward basing and presence, would be at odds with larger American policy goals and would trouble American allies. Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.”
When the September 11, 2002 implosion of the World Trade Center occurred, both the Democrats and the Republicans were united in taking the advantage of the ‘catastrophic and catalyzing event’ to begin to implement the first stage of Pax American-the war upon Iraq and to make the middle east a zone of ‘democratic peace’ — a safe area for exploitation and control, by the United States, or as the document stated: “Today its task is to secure and expand the “zones of democratic peace;” to deter the rise of a new great power competitor; defend key regions of Europe, East Asia and the Middle East; and to preserve American preeminence through the coming transformation of war made possible by new technologies.”
In its founding principles, the Project for the New American Century proposed preventive strikes: “Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership of the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of the past century should have taught us, to embrace the cause of American leadership.” (My Emphasis)
One thing about written documents — there is no deniability, but not once in the past eight years has the major media reported these facts, nor has the Democratic Party opposed the program proposed in REBUILDING AMERICA’S DEFENSES Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century, with the strategic goal of preserving Pax Americana — ‘America Überalles’.
In fact the Democratic Party, at every step, has voted for the implementation of this program.
By the actions of their political parties and their mass media, the program of the capitalist ruling class of the United States, under the guise of the never ending ‘war on terror’, is to develop a Pax Americana for their corporate rule of the world. Or as Gore Vidal characterizes as ‘the perpetual war for perpetual peace’. Also, under the guise of the war on terror, the Bill of Rights has been attacked and eroded to the point that every President, from now on, can implement martial law on the slightest instance on the pretense of undefined terrorism. United States Capitalism, at this stage has no other choice; it must either fight to become the dominant force in the world, or become a dominated force due to the unending ending capitalist competition — the drive for profits in a finite world, with declining markets.
In the process, the United States has become the world’s leading debtor nation, due to the costs of military spending, for war and the ‘preservation of Pax America’. The United States is beginning to implode like the Roman Empire, when it tried to impose a Pax Romana upon Europe. Read More