Daily News Digest November 15, 2016

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Daily News Digest November 15, 2016

Images of the Day:

When?imageoftheday0The Democrats’ Baggageimageoftheday

Quote of the Day:  

‘White Backlash’? — From Martin Luther King’s The Other America Speech at Stanford UniversityApril 14, 1967 A Film by Allen Willis on : And this leads me to say something about another discussion that we hear a great deal, and that is the so-called “white backlash.” I would like to honestly say to you that the white backlash is merely a new name for an old phenomenon. It’s not something that just came into being because of shouts of Black Power or because Negroes engaged in riots in Watts, for instance. The fact is that the state of California voted a fair housing bill out of existence before anybody shouted Black Power or before anybody rioted in Watts. It may well be that shouts of Black Power and riots in Watts and the Harlems and the other areas are the consequences of the white backlash rather than the cause. What it is necessary to see is that there has never been a single solid monistic determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans on the whole question of Civil Rights and on the whole question of racial equality. This is something that truth impels all men of good will to admit.

Video of the Day: 

Climate Scientist Michael Mann: Trump’s Policies Are ‘Game Over’ for Our Climate  

U.S. 

Statement from the United National Antiwar Coalition, November 12, 2016unacInternational Solidarity Take Action!

  • We stand in solidarity with all oppressed people under attack at  home and abroad!

  • We urge full participation in the anti-Trump demonstrations!

  • NO to TRUMP and his Racism! NO to the War at Home! 

Through the Gates of Hell: From the Invasion of Iraq to Donald Trump President Trump, the empire of chaos, and the end of the American experiment The one thing you could say about empires is that, at or near their height, they have always represented a principle of order as well as domination.  So here’s the confounding thing about the American version of empire in the years when this country was often referred to as “the sole superpower,” when it was putting more money into its military than the next 10 nations combined: it’s been an empire of chaos. By Tom EngelhardtgateofhellTrump and the Middle East: Where Political Graves are Made ‘Make America Great Again’ was the slogan of Donald Trump’s election, but the immediate impact of his victory is to make the US less of a power in the world for two reasons: American prestige and influence will be damaged by a general belief internationally that the US has just elected a dangerous buffoon as its leader. The perception is pervasive, but is not very deeply rooted and likely be temporary, stemming as it does from Trump’s demagogic rants during the election campaign. Those about relations with foreign countries were particularly vague and least likely to provide a guide to future policy. by Patrick CockburnpatrickcockburnWhere to Turn  In July 1941, Albert Einstein, ten months a US citizen, wrote Eleanor Roosevelt asking her, as First Lady, to raise with the president the matter of lifting bureaucratic hurdles so that Jewish refugees threatened by Hitler’s final solution could be granted entry into the U.S. “I know of no-one else to whom to turn for help,” he wrote. But the U.S. government chose not to heed Einstein’s appeal. The following year, some 2.7 million Jews—nearly half of all Jewish victims of the Holocaust—were annihilated. Throughout 2016, as millions overseas faced First-world refugee policies with consequences ranging from the cruel to the brutal to the lethal, it has seemed increasingly unlikely that any U.S. voice – save, perhaps U.S. citizens’ voices raised in unlikely unison – could sway the U.S. White House to give comfort to those fleeing the chaos and death that U.S. wars have sown in Iraq and Afghanistan. By Kathy Kelly wheretoturn

Muslims in Trump’s America: Fearful but Defiant Over the course of Donald Trump’s electoral campaign, the now president-elect repeatedly promised to turn Muslim Americans’ darkest fears into reality. Trump has suggested that under his administration, Muslims may be listed and recorded in a national database, forced to carry special identification cards, and subjected to intensified surveillance in their places of worship. Trump has also suggested that many Muslims could be banned from the United States wholesale, as part of a broader crackdown on immigration. By Murtaza HussainmuslimsdfiantEnvironment: 

Endangered species database ‘outdated’, underestimates risk of extinction: new study Nearly 200 forest bird species from six of the world’s most biodiverse places are at immediate risk of extinction despite being deemed non-threatened in the IUCN Red List, a new study has found. By Shreya DasguptaendangeredWarming Wreaks Havoc on Ecosystems Climate change has already begun to alter the world’s ecosystems — at sea, in rivers and lakes, and in the forests and meadows on land, according to an international team of scientists. They have identified 94 vital ecological processes that support healthy ecosystems, and have found that more than 80 percent of them are already affected by global warming. By Tim RadfordtimradfordClimate Change Has Already Altered Nearly Every Ecosystem on Earth Some animals are already shrinking, as a smaller body mass helps stay cool on rapidly heating planet by Nadia PrupisclimatechangeWhat’s a ‘Managed Decline’? Coal Industry Must Face ‘Managed Decline’ If Countries Are Serious About Paris Agreement Climate Targets By Mat HopecoalindustryOngoing Big Energy Crisis: 

Man Pulls a Gun and Drives Through Pipeline Protesters Witnesses say he ran over two people and fired shots in the air. By Wes EnzinnamanpullsgunNuclear Power Is Not “Green Energy”: It Is a Fount of Atomic Waste Let’s not recreate the follies of the 20th century by recycling this atomic technology into the 21st century. The evidence proves that new nuclear power plants will make global climate change worse due to huge costs and delayed implementation periods. Lift the CO2 smoke screen and implement the alternative solutions that are available now — faster to implement and much less expensive. By Arnie GundersenarniegundersenBlack Liberation/ Civil Rights:

Labor:

Economy:

wallstreetonparade The ‘Stop and Frisk’ Man: Giuliani’s Track Record Shows He’s the Wrong Man to Lead Justice Department By Pam Martens and Russ MartensmartensWorld:

More Austerity Planed in England: Theresa May’s plan to slash employment rights and cut workers’ wages in poorer areas revealed Mrs May made George Freeman MP her new policy guru last week, and he believes people working in new firms should have NO employment rights By Jack BlanchardtheresamayKorea: One Million Protesters Show People Power A never-ending stream of one million people marched into Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, Saturday, to join the nation’s biggest candlelit protest in decades, calling for President Park Geun-hye to step down. People from all walks of life chanted: “Park should step down.” The President is under mounting pressure because of the influence-peddling scandal involving her confidant Choi Soon-sil. By Choi Ha-young, Kim Bo-eun korea Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: 

History teacher suspended for lesson showing ‘remarkable parallels’ between rise of Trump and Hitler Navarro — a 40-year classroom veteran and expert in Holocaust studies — said, “This feels like we’re trying to squash free speech. Everything I talk about is factually based. They can go and check it out. It’s not propaganda or bias if it’s based on hard facts.” “I’ve had Mexican kids come and say, ‘Hey, Mr. Navarro, I might be deported,’” he said. “Is it better to see bigotry and say nothing? That’s what the principal was telling me (during our conversation). In my silence, I would be substantiating the bigotry.” By David Ferguson historyteacher

Capitalism’s $1.3 Trillion Unicorn Problem It is said that a man standing on the edge of cliff does not reason. Today’s global economy is full of cliffs, one of the steepest being the Silicon Valley tech sector, and the men peering over it can be heard chattering nervously about . . . an impending stampede of unicorns. Those uninitiated in the Orwellian parlance of Silicon Valley and its venture capitalist circles could easily mistake such talk for the absurd ravings of a lunatic. But this term has come to describe the primary danger threatening to devastate the tech sector in a cataclysmic repetition of the 1999 dot-com bubble. by Antonio Balmerunicorn