Daily News Digest May 16, 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 May 16, 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 Those  Who Profit From Austerity! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled,  and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico!

Images of the Day:

Eugene Debs Got 1 Million Votes For President — As Convict Number 9653 Radiation at Hanford Nuclear Site — No Fly Zone Imposed ! ! ! According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – their “RADnet” system for monitoring radiation throughout the USA is now showing a fast rise in radiation levels in the entire Richland, WA area, where the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is located.  Below is a screen shot from the EPA’s Geiger Counter readings showing more than 100 point spike in local Gamma radiation levels, and those levels are still rising rapidly: Quotes of the Day:

…it cannot be repeated too often—that the working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish their corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace. It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war, and they alone make peace. Yours not to reason why; Yours but to do and die. — Eugene Debs Got 1 Million Votes For President — As Convict Number 9653

Each step in the development of the bourgeoisie was accompanied by a corresponding political advance of that class. An oppressed class under the sway of the feudal nobility, an armed and self-governing association in the medieval commune⁽⁴⁾: here independent urban republic (as in Italy and Germany); there taxable “third estate” of the monarchy (as in France); afterwards, in the period of manufacturing proper, serving either the semi-feudal or the absolute monarchy as a counterpoise against the nobility, and, in fact, cornerstone of the great monarchies in general, the bourgeoisie has at last, since the establishment of Modern Industry and of the world market, conquered for itself, in the modern representative State, exclusive political sway. The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. — Manifesto of the Communist Party

Videos of the Day:

Trump Expanding War From Syria to Afghanistan As Media Focuses on Comey  VJ Prashad and Paul Jay: while the media continues its frenzy over Comey’s firing and the “Russia connection”, Trump is readying his “global war against Islamic Fascism” to be fought “without restraint”

Wilkerson: Trump ‘Needs a Good War’ and Pence is Waiting in the Wings to Lead It Col. Lawrence Wilkerson and Paul Jay discuss the significance of the Comey affair, the prospect of the rise of VP Mike Pence as the real power in the White House, and the danger of war as a way out for a dysfunctional administration

U.S.:

The Bi-Products of War and Poverty — Homelessness and Selling of Humans: There Are 21 Million Victims of Human Trafficking Right Now: Coming to Grips and Trying to Solve Mass Human Suffering Panel at Columbia explores the atrocities of human trafficking. By Ilana Novick NSA Chickens Come Home to Roost: Leaked NSA Malware Is Helping Hijack Computers Around the World By Sam Biddle Trump Is the Symptom, Not the Disease — Demagogues rise up in failed states that destroy their own democratic institutions and the rule of law. What is done to the populations we allow to be demonized will be done to all of us. (Includes interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal.) By Chris Hedges Our Imperiled Democracy Ambitious national political leaders invariably face a problem: how to get things done in the face of competing interests and institutional rules.  Democratic leaders generally learn how to accommodate those interests, respect the rules, and understand that accountability is the essence of democracy. They work within the system because for all its flaws, the system works. Autocrats regard competing interests and rules of operation with disdain. Impatient to achieve their ends, they bully opponents, limit accountability and transparency, and seek to become the sole source of authority.  Donald Trump seems to be leaning toward the latter approach.Democracy Now Runs Interference for Imperialism in Syria One of the most peculiar features of the United States is the presence of a rabidly pro-war leftism that poses as “independent” politics. Ever since the Obama Administration made it fashionable for so-called liberals to strike a “Grand Bargain” with the GOP, anti-war politics have been non-existent in public life. The non-profit industrial complex hasn’t helped the situation. Democracy Now, as the best known non-profit “independent news” organ, is the perfect example of pro-war leftism in motion. The organization’s recent coverage of Syria has only encouraged imperialism’s war narrative despite the presence of a GOP-led Administration, House, and Senate. By Daniel Haiphong Trump and Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman are the most dangerous men in the world — and they’re meeting next week Trump has already ordered greater US support for the Saudi war effort in Yemen, but the deputy crown prince will be primarily bidding for US backing for his confrontation with Iran By Patrick Cockburn

Donald Trump’s Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands Dutch TV did what no American TV network dares, suggesting Trump’s past includes illegal racketeering. By Steven Rosenfeld Comeytose in Washington So our Mountebank-in-Chief, Donald Trump, has finally fired James Comey. Good riddance. I’ll shed no tears for our vain Inspector Javert. But once again Trump, the Master of the Self-Inflicted Wound, has done the impossible. In a single stroke, he has transformed the almost universally loathed Comey into a sympathetic, if not heroic, figure. By Jeffrey St. ClairBlack Liberation/Civil Rights:

Environment:

EPA Allows Copper, Gold Mine Company to Pursue Permits in Bristol Bay, Alaska In a sharp reversal, the Environmental Protection Agency has cleared a way for the company seeking to develop a massive copper and gold deposit near the headwaters of a world-class salmon fishery in southwest Alaska to pursue permits. As part of a court settlement with the Pebble Limited Partnership, the EPA agreed to begin the process of withdrawing proposed restrictions on development in the Bristol Bay region, an area that produces about half of the world’s sockeye salmon.

Ongoing Big Energy Crisis:

Labor:

Economy:

Shadow Government StatisticsThe Fox Protecting the Chicken Coup: Dutch Documentary May Have Contributed to Abrupt Dismissal of FBI Director Comey Six days after Zembla, a Dutch public broadcasting program, aired an investigation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s business ties to Russian oligarchs and mobsters, Trump fired the man in possession of a great many more details on that matter: FBI Director James Comey. Next, Trump announced that his law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, was providing a “certified” letter stating that he had no business interests in Russia. (That law firm, as ABC News was quick to point out, was itself named Russia Law Firm of the Year in 2016 by Chambers & Partners.) By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

 Trump’s Denial of Ties to Russian Investments Opens Next Leg of Scandal Last evening, Donald Trump was interviewed by NBC’s Lester Holt on the growing controversy surrounding Trump’s motivations in firing the Director of the FBI, James Comey. Excerpts from the interview have been widely carried on numerous media channels. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens World:

The Spectre of Marx Haunts the British Election Well now we know: Karl Marx’s famous (or infamous, depending on your viewpoint) admonition at the very beginning of his equally famous/infamous Communist Manifesto – i.e. that “a specter is haunting Europe” – should be amended to read “a specter is haunting the UK general election.”by John Wight Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

 People Don’t Trust Scientific Research When Companies Are Involved The recurring topic of conflict of interest has made headlines in recent weeks. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has revised its conflict of interest guidelines following questions about whether members of a recent expert panel on GMOs had industry ties or other financial conflicts that were not disclosed in the panel’s final report. By John C. Besley, Aaron M. McCright, Kevin Elliott, and Nagwan Zahry of Michigan State University and Joseph D. Martin of University of Leeds