Daily News Digest December 15, 2016

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As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99% — Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not The 1% Who Profit From Austerity!

Daily News Digest December 15, 2016

Images of the Day:

Let Us Eat Mad Cow Disease!imageofthedayJeremy Corbyn Quoteimageoftheday2 Quotes of the Day: 

Anyone who thought Donald Trump was going to live up to his populist-sounding rhetoric and stand up for the “forgotten working people of America” against the evil-doers on Wall Street has been served notice that his campaign oratory was a deceptive public relations act meant to get a selfish billionaire and a team of parasitic super-capitalists installed in the White House. A longstanding Washington maxim holds that personnel is policy. Look at Trump’s appointments — The Empire Has No Clothes: Trump’s Class War Cabinet, the F-Word, and the Coming Resistance

Is Donald Trump signaling the end of conflict of interest prohibitions for elected officials? According to a December 8 New York Times article, the President-elect “intends to keep a stake “ in his many businesses (both international and domestic) and to resist calls to divest.   In the same article, the Times quotes Mr. Trump as saying: “The law’s totally on my side, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” Not even the emoluments clause of the Constitution appears as a major deterrent to the incoming administration.   Article II, Section 9, Clause 8 states that no American officeholder shall “without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”  Unless the Congress “consents,” that provision would bar a president from reaping a financial reward from any global business deals involving a foreign state. An article in The Economist of December 4, 2016, notes that preventing such conflicts of interest was considered by the framers as “vital to the survival of the new state;” and that foreign gifts to American government representatives “were of particular concern.” — The Demise of Conflict of Interest

Videos of the Day:

The Real News of the Day – Tuesday, December 13

Portland is the First City to Tax Corporations that Pay their CEOs 100 Times More than Workers Portland commissioner Steve Novick joins the Real News for a live discussion of the measure he championed that fights inequality by taxing the 1%

Former Financial Regulator: White Collar Crime Will Have a Field Day Under Trump Bill Black says none of Trump’s economic picks – which now include three people from Goldman Sachs – were picked for their knowledge of economics

U.S.

USA Has Killed More Than 20 Million People in 37 ‘Victim Nations’ Since World War II By SatyaRajusahaskilled Banned by 119 Countries, U.S. Cluster Bombs Continue to Orphan Yemeni Children By Alex Emmons and Mohammed Ali Kalfoodyemmen Jim Crow is Back: Greg Palast: By Rejecting Recount, Is Michigan Covering Up 75,000 Ballots Never Counted?gregpalastSenate Quietly Passes The “Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act” (ZHE) While we wait to see if and when the Senate will pass (and president will sign) Bill  H.R. 6393, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which was passed by the House at the end of November with an overwhelming majority and which seeks to crack down on websites suspected of conducting Russian propaganda and calling for the US government to “counter active measures by Russia to exert covert influence … carried out in  coordination with, or at the behest of, political leaders or the security services of the Russian Federation and the role of the Russian Federation has been hidden or not acknowledged publicly,” another, perhaps even moresenatequitely

Environment:

 Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:

Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:barFreedom Rider: Fighting for Southern Human Rights  The South, where more than half of the Black U.S. population lives, has based its economic appeal on the stinginess of its social safety net, the relative poverty of its people, and the savagery of its criminal justice system. Capitalism truly turns morality upside down. Mississippi is considered good for business because its “retrograde history of slavery and Jim Crow segregation creates a compliant and largely non-unionized source of labor.” by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley barmargaret Gabbard’s Law: To End War on Terror, Stop Arming Terrorists If Tulsi Gabbard, Barbara Lee and a handful of other lawmakers have their way, Washington’s so-called “moderate” rebels in Syria would be cut off from American money and arms. The U.S. would also “be compelled to cut off aid to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. aid in the world.” The U.S. proxy war on Syria has always been illegal; Gabbard’s bill would make it doubly so. A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford barglenA Lesson from Standing Rock  There have been very few people’s victories under the Obama administration. His corporate policies have prevailed mainly by default, due largely to the failure of progressives to confront the First Black President. “The anti-war movement has been buried in the Democratic Party graveyard throughout the duration of Obama’s tenure.” The Standing Rock Sioux, however, never waivered in their determination, and faced down Big Energy and the U.S. government. by Danny Haiphongbardanny The Election of Donald Trump and the Implosion of Liberalism Trump’s victory signals the inevitable implosion of the liberal order. This will pave the way for construction of the alternative, which comprises: at the national level, the abandonment of liberal economic management for the benefit of sovereign projects, giving rise to social progress; and at the international level, the construction of a system of polycentric globalization. by Samir Aminbarsamir Trump’s Education Pick Will Continue Chartered Destruction of Detroit Schools A fabulously rich white woman who has never been a public school parent or student — and who seems to despise public education – has been tapped for secretary of education. Betsy DeVos is largely to blame for the fact that 80 percent of Michigan charter schools are for-profit. She comes from a world that is implacably hostile to Black and poor communities. “Their reality sees our children as sources of profit and our educated adults as threats.” by Shea HowellbarsheaCan the Black Panthers Offer Jamaicans Lessons on Checking Police Violence? The Caribbean is the source of many voices of liberation — Franz Fanon, Walter Rodney, Kwame Toure, Bob Marley — but Jamaica, in particular, might do well to study the experience of the Black Panther Party, which began as an armed cop-watch program. Tivoli Gardens, where police killed 70 people in 2010, would also “be in full agreement with Franz Fanon’s articulation of the role of the police.” by Ajamu Nangwaya barajamu Fidel’s Legacy to the World on Theory and Practice People who know nothing about history or politics try to frame Fidel Castro as a stereotypical doctrinaire communist. The opposite is true: Castro has been described as “the anti-dogmatist par excellence.” He had an extraordinary ability to link theory and practice “like no other revolutionary of the 20th and early 21st centuries.” Castro seized “the moment based on the needs and aspirations of the vast majority of Cuban people at any given time.” by Arnold August arnold The Oil Siege Is Over, “The Cartel” Looks East The western-backed collapse of oil prices has abated, and most of the targeted governments are still standing, partly because China has not cooperated with the siege. “The intention with the drop (siege) was to put Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Ecuador, and Bolivia out of business.” The lesson is clear: “Despite the US victory in the Cold War, the monopolists do not have the unipolar world they desire.” by Caleb T. Maupinbarcaleb Labor:

Economy:

Shadow Government Statistics: Alternate Inflation Charts The CPI chart on the home page reflects our estimate of inflation for today as if it were calculated the same way it was in 1990. The CPI on the Alternate Data Series tab here reflects the CPI as if it were calculated using the methodologies in place in 1980. In general terms, methodological shifts in government reporting have depressed reported inflation, moving the concept of the CPI away from being a measure of the cost of living needed to maintain a constant standard of living.shadowWorld:

South Korea: Victory to the mass movement – Parliament votes to impeach Park On 9 December 2016, the South Korean National Assembly voted to impeach President Park Geun-Hye with 234 out of 300 votes, including 62 votes from the president’s ruling Saenuri Party. This came after a wave of mass protests against Park has been taking place for seven weeks. by Yola Kipcaksouthkorea

Robert Fisk: There is more than one truth to tell in the terrible story of Aleppo Western politicians, “experts” and journalists are going to have to reboot their stories over the next few days now that Bashar al-Assad’s army has retaken control of eastern Aleppo. We’re going to find out if the 250,000 civilians “trapped” in the city were indeed that numerous. We’re going to hear far more about why they were not able to leave when the Syrian government and Russian air force staged their ferocious bombardment of the eastern part of the city. And we’re going to learn a lot more about the “rebels” whom we in the West — the US, Britain and our head-chopping mates in the Gulf — have been supporting.

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: