Daily News Digest March 9, 2017

Daily News Digest Archives

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program:  1. Austerity, 2. Scapegoating Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal Immigrants’ for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel.

Daily News Digest March 9, 2017

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!

Images of the Day:

Hope?Pareesh Nath of the The Khaleej Times in the United Arab Emirates depicts the first victim of Trump’s “deportation squads” — Lady Liberty herself.

Quote of the Day:

This strategy (let’s call it the Trump strategy, although he’s not smart enough to have invented it) requires that you remain blind to the actual ramifications of your actions so that 1) you can live with yourself and 2) you can pretend the consequences won’t come back to bite you. What they actually propose to do will have exactly the opposite result from what they claim: their  Obamacare replacement plan will greatly reduce the choices of health plans that actually provide health care, and the choices will be reduced precisely because all the plans that actually cover expenses in any meaningful way will become strikingly more expensive and unaffordable. They also claimed their plan would increase competition. I guess they meant among the four or five large insurance companies who dominate the health insurance market across the entire nation, several of whom are trying to merge with each other to further reduce the competition (which mergers will no doubt soon be approved by the new Republican non-regulators). I’m going to make a wild-assed guess and predict that within not too many years this plan will make health care drastically worse for upwards of 150 million people in the USA. How’s that for making America great again? — The Big Lie About Health Care

Videos of the Day:

Trump’s EPA Cuts Would Gut Programs for Hazardous Waste Cleanup The administration’s attacks on environmental regulation will expose low-income communities of color to greater levels of pollution, says Environmental Integrity Project Executive Director Eric Schaeffer

GOP Health Care Bill Another Bailout for Insurance Companies National Nurses United’s Michael Lighty says the legislation represents a real threat to public health and will create barriers to treatment

Black Lives Matter on International Women’s Day
We must bring the movement to those who are most marginalized, says Black Lives Matter – Canada co-founder janaya khan

U.S.:

WikiLeaks Dump Shows CIA Could Turn Smart TVs into Listening Devices It’s difficult to buy a new TV that doesn’t come with a suite of (generally mediocre) “smart” software, giving your home theater some of the functions typically found in phones and tablets. But bringing these extra features into your living room means bringing a microphone, too — a fact the CIA is exploiting, according to a new trove of documents released today by WikiLeaks. By Sam Biddle  Tipis on National Mall Signal Days of Native Defiance and Action Pipeline fight has evolved into a ‘powerful global phenomenon highlighting the necessity to respect Indigenous Nations’ by Lauren McCauley Standing Rock Sioux Tribe not properly heard in pipeline dispute, says UN official ‘There was unnecessary use of force’ says Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN rapporteur on rights of Indigenous people By Blake Nicholson   How 90 Percent of American Households Lost an Average of $17,000 in Wealth to the Plutocrats in 2016 The richest 1 percent and the poorest 50 percent “have basically switched their income shares.”  By Paul BuchheitBlack Liberation/ Civil Rights: Freedom Rider: Trump and Russia, the Perfect Lie The latest New York Times article is proof that outgoing president Obama “was looking not for intelligence he knew didn’t exist, but anything that could be used against Trump and his team.” When it comes to intrigue, Donald Trump is grossly outmatched by the Democrats, the spooks and the corporate media. “Team Obama has the most adept spies in the world while Trump has his son-in-law and untested staff who are completely out of their league.” by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley  Democrats Fight Trump, the Man, But Not His Austerity and Militarism The Democrats would surely like to replace Donald Trump at the earliest opportunity. But they show no inclination to fight Trump and his fellow Republicans over obscene military budgets funded by cuts to social programs. Even Bernie Sanders has refused to push for Medicare for All, despite the looming health care catastrophe. It is up to grassroots activists to seize the time — but too many are caught up in the Democrats’ Great Russian Diversion. A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR executive editor Glen Ford When the Fox Becomes a Wolf: Understanding the Election of DNC Chairman Tom Perez Neither the wolves nor the foxes of the corporate parties can offer any real relief from the crisis their capitalist masters have created. Donald Trump offers only racist rhetoric against immigrants, while the Democrats are “equally, if not more responsible, for the crisis conditions that afflict the majority of workers and oppressed peoples around the world.“ The imperialist system is all teeth, and “no longer has the capacity to self-correct.”  by Danny Haiphong    How to Reverse Incarceration in Louisiana: Thirteen Steps to Stop Being First in Being Last Louisiana is the world capital of incarceration, with more prisoners than China. Racial profiling is endemic, sentences are draconian, and jury decisions need not be unanimous. Not coincidentally, Louisiana has the worst record of providing its citizens with the means to defend themselves in court. “When people get constitutional defense they usually are less likely to be convicted and if convicted receive less harsh sentences.” by Bill Quigley Xenophobia: South Africa is Disgracing Itself and Its Friends Attacks against resident non-South African Blacks are particularly disturbing, given the great assistance poor Black nations gave to South Africans during their struggle against white rule. One wonders if African “outsiders” are being “used by politicians who have become unpopular due to their lack of performance, to distract attention from problems such as massive unemployment and lack of housing in the townships? by Cameron Duodu

Labor:

 Environment

Drinking water in three Colorado cities contaminated with toxic chemicals above EPA limits 80,000 people south of Colorado Springs being warned of high levels of PFCs in water By Bruce Finley   Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:

Energy News:

Alarm at nuclear plant after radioactive leak — “Damaged fuel in reactor” — Workers immediately evacuated from site — Reactor in “a very special condition”… Dangerous neutron flux in core reported (VIDEO)

 Economy:

January Real Median Household Income Continued to Falter

World:

Bread riots reveal rising anger in Egypt  By Bahyea Shohdy  Yet another crisis has been haunting Egypt’s 3 July military regime in the past three days. Hundreds of Egyptians in different cities have come out to protest cuts to subsidised good – mainly bread – in a militant and angry reaction to the Al-Sisi’s onslaught against the workers and the poor.Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

The Big Lie About Health Care by Jeff Sher

 The GOP’S Health Care Plan: “Universal” Access for the Wealthy By Nicholas Conley