Daily News Digest Archives
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 27, 2016
Images of the Day:
Healthcare is For Profit — Not For Health
Mark Twain Quote (During the Last Age of the Robber Barons)
Quotes of the Day:
Once again, Pope Francis has made global headlines, shocking reporters late Sunday after blaming the “god of money” for the extremist violence that is taking place in Europe and the Middle East. A ruthless global economy, he argues, leads disenfranchised people to violence. Responding to a question from a journalist about whether or not there is a link between Islam and terrorism, more specifically addressing the fatal attack on a priest by a Muslim extremist in France last week, Pope Francis said, “Terrorism grows when there is no other option, and as long as the world economy has at its center the god of money and not the person.” “This is fundamental terrorism, against all humanity,” he continued.“I ask myself how many young people that we Europeans have left devoid of ideals, who do not have work. Then they turn to drugs and alcohol or enlist in [the Islamic State, or ISIS],” he said. — Pope Francis: Capitalism is “Terrorism Against All of Humanity”
Videos of the Day:
Christmas in the Trenches Music Video
US Fines Deutsche Bank to the Applause of Shareholders The fines for mortgage fraud had to be low so as not to endanger the viability of Deutsche Bank or Credit Suisse – but now it’s not a real punishment, says economist John Weeks
‘A Marriage Made in Hell’: Construction Companies and the Brazilian State Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht was recently fined $4.5 billion by the U.S. Department of Justice. The case shows the role played by nefarious infrastructure deals in Brazil’s economic growth over the last 40 years, says Professor Rafael Ioris.
We’re Not in a New Cold War — It’s Far Worse Between nuclear weapons, election-time informational warfare, and the conflict in Syria, we’re dancing on the edge of a volcano, says professor Richard Sakwa
U.S.:
Tax The Rich!: Portland city council passes tax on CEOs who earn 100 times more than staff Revenue from the new tax, which seeks to address income inequality, is intended to be used to pay for programs for homeless people The Portland, Oregon, city council has voted to pass a first-of-its-kind measure that would levy a tax on public companies whose CEO-to-workers pay ratio is more than 100-1. The new tax, which seeks to address income inequality, was voted in 3-1 by the council on Wednesday. It increases corporate income tax by 10% if a company’s CEO has a salary ratio of above 100-1, and by 25% if the CEO has a ratio of 250-1 or more. fficials expect that the measure will raise $2.5m a year from January 2018, with former environmental lawyer Steve Novick, the city commissioner who proposed the measure, saying that the revenue is intended to be used to pay for programs for homeless people. By Nicky Woolf 
In the Time of Trump, All We Have Is Each Other Under Donald Trump’s presidency — the outgrowth of the corporations’ 40-year-long war against democracy — we will have to battle a form of state repression far more sophisticated than McCarthyism. Our weapon: rebuilding alternative structures through small, local political actions. By Chris Hedges
Donald Trump’s wrecking crew: A cabinet of zealots who yearn to destroy their own agencies Previous GOP presidents have appointed anti-government hardliners, but Trump’s cabinet goes further than ever By Paul Rosenberg
Syria and the Antiwar Movement The continued slaughter of people in Syria poses urgent questions for the fragmented Left. What really needs to be done to end post Cold War escalating violence against civilians? Current events in Aleppo highlight the unreliable information and proliferation of political positions contributing to obstruction and paralysis. Conflicting reports obscure the number of civilians and fighters who have evacuated or remain in Aleppo, their condition, their political beliefs, their situation as refugees, the civilian toll, and the perpetrators. What is to be done when there are so many contradictory versions of this war: that of a civil war, a proxy war with international players, or multiple wars with fluid coalitions and divergent aims? by Judith Deutsch
Environment:
Cities of Death: History, Pollution and China’s Smog Cities are the monsters of civilization, the accrual of various factors of organisation that stress development and advancement. The latter two terms are often impossible to gauge except by comparison with other cities or States. We are left with the consequences of these thanatic drives, where life will itself suffer because the better variant of it is supposedly around the corner. This means the pollution of waterways from the belching efforts of progress. It means dangerously high levels of invasive, cardiovascular threatening dust particles. It means a thriving industry of masks, and a city populace looking distinctly like platoons of bacteriological weapons inspectors. These problems are merely the new, grander manifestations of old. By Binoy Kampmark
Yes, the Arctic’s Freakishly Warm Winter is Due to Humans’ Climate Influence For the Arctic, like the globe as a whole, 2016 has been exceptionally warm. For much of the year, Arctic temperatures have been much higher than normal, and sea ice concentrations have been at record low levels. The Arctic’s seasonal cycle means that the lowest sea ice concentrations occur in September each year. But while September 2012 had less ice than September 2016, this year the ice coverage has not increased as expected as we moved into the northern winter. As a result, since late October, Arctic sea ice extent has been at record low levels for the time of year. By Andrew King
Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:
Black Liberation/ Civil Rights:
Black Agenda Radio for Week of December 26, 2016
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: one hour. Listen
Green Vs. Lesser-Evilism:
The Green Party must learn how to “differentiate ourselves from the Democrats.” Otherwise, said Dr. Margaret Flowers, the party’s recent candidate for U.S. Senate from Maryland, “If Trump runs again, it will be another ‘anybody-but Trump’ year, and whoever the Democrats throw up there, no matter how bad, will be considered better than Trump” — and we’ll have the same old problem. “If we, ourselves embrace ‘lesser-evilism,’ then it only makes sense for other people to do that, as well.” Dr. Flowers said Green presidential candidate Jill Stein failed to think “strategically” before launching her voter recount effort, which was ultimately an expression of lesser-evilism.
Police Reformer Weighs Run for NYC Mayor, Cites Courts Full of “Crap” Cases:
When Robert Gangi, director of the Police Reform Organizing Project, sends observers into the New York City court system, they see mainly “crap cases” based on minor offenses rarely, “if ever, involving anyone who we could possibly characterize as being dangerous or predatory.” Gangi said the court dockets prove “the cops are engaged in blatantly racist practices that do little, if anything, to contribute to public safety, and that do harm to people.” He’s considering running for mayor as a “protest candidate” against Bill de Blasio, who has bought into an intrusive and aggressive “Broken Windows” policing policy.
Technology Makes Universal, Quality Employment Possible – But Not Under Capitalism:
“The task right now, is how we rethink work, rethink distribution, and rethink ownership –- fundamentally,” said Dr. J. Phillip Thompson, professor of Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Dr. Michael Dawson, the nation’s premier Black social demographer and director of the University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, Dr. Thompson said President Obama missed the chance in 2008 to “use the takeover of General Motors as an opportunity to change ownership or the way manufacturing happens in America.” Thompson said studies show it would cost $600-$700 billion a year “to gainfully employ every able-bodied person in the U.S.” at a good job paying about $50,000 annually — about one-twentieth of the cost of Obama’s bailout of the financial industry.
Labor:
Health, Science, Education, and Welfare: