Author: rsheppard

Daily News Digest January 14, 2021

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

What Zika And The Flint Water Crisis Have In CommonMichigan 2016 - 1/20/16 Politico.com editorial cartoon, courtesy Matt Wuerker Quotes 0f the Day:

Zika and the epidemic of birth defects, like the lead poisoning in Flint, highlight the added burdens especially facing the poor and people of color.  There are striking similarities between the lead-poisoned water hurting Flint citizens and the burdens facing Latin American women with babies born with microcephaly, likely due to Zika nfections.  What do these two tragedies have in common? They—and many other similar problems—largely affect poor people of color, people who are politically powerless. — What Zika And The Flint Water Crisis Have In Common

Videos of the Day:

Lynchings and Racial Violence During Reconstruction Illustration of EJI’s report, Reconstruction in America  . The report documents nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America than previously detailed, bringing the total number of confirmed lynchings to 6,500 with thousands more that may never be documented. The report examines the 12 years following the Civil War when lawlessness and violence perpetrated by white leaders created an American future of racial hierarchy, white supremacy, and Jim Crow laws—an era from which our nation has yet to recover.

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay

As Almost 400,00 people (Black, Poor, Unisured, Underinsured, and Elderly)  Have Died of Coronavius, United States Capitalism is Guilty Of Depraved Indifference Murder!

The Poisoning of Flint: ‘About Damn Time’: Cautious Optimism as Imminent Charges Reported for Michigan Ex-Officials Over Flint Water Crisis “Justice for Flint is long overdue,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman. “But we need… reparations and long-term support for the kids and families who were irreparably harmed by racism and greed.” By Brett WilkinsAs Trump was Playing Golf and Planning Insurrection, the Federal Government Failed to Do Its Job:  Past Time to Remember Thousands Displaced and Left Behind by Hurricanes Laura and Delta  . . . . In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates in will be “early summer 2021” before everyone who needs housing gets it. Elizabeth Cook says the administration of assistance “has been a disaster. The entire process to help these folks has been badly coordinated. The state which is overseeing this process has allowed or looked the other way as entire families were evicted from hotels in New Orleans with nowhere to go. No one should be evicted. Louisiana already had an affordable housing problem and this has made more people homeless. It is shameful. The state of Louisiana, FEMA, the Red Cross have all caused unbearable stress for families and in-dividuals.” The Mayor of Lake Charles, Nic Hunter, is also quite frustrated. On December 26, 2020, the Mayor told American Press in Lake Charles that he estimated that 5% of the city’s housing stock is still offline. Hunter wrote FEMA after Christmas complaining about the slow process of getting temp-orary housing, saying that while thousands need help only 383 temporary housing units have been installed and “the number and pace of those installations is grossly inadequate” a performance that is “just not acceptable.” All of this is aggra-vated by Covid. Over 15,000 people have tested positive in Calcasieu Parish, nearly 300 have died. On January 4, Nic Hunter, the Mayor, announced on Facebook he tested positive for Covid. The nation justifiably spent much time focusing on the election. But it is past time to remember the thousands of families who have been left behind.  By Bill QuigleyLee Camp: America Condemns One Violent Mob While Celebrating Another Where is the corporate media’s disgust for the courtesans of corporate destruction that wreak violence on Americans daily?

FBI Report Warned of “War” At Capitol a Day Before Fatal Riot An FBI notice a day before the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol warned of “war.” But Capitol security was not increased to meet the threat. Jeff Pegues has the latest.

Environment:

We have summarized predictions of a ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health, and climate-disruption upheavals (including looming massive migrations) and resource conflicts this century. Yet, our goal is not to present a fatalist perspective, because there are many examples of successful interventions to prevent extinctions, restore ecosystems, and encourage more sustainable economic activity at both local and regional scales. Instead, we contend that only a realistic appreciation of the colossal challenges facing the international community might allow it to chart a less-ravaged future. While there have been more recent calls for the scientific community in particular to be more vocal about their warnings to humanity (Ripple et al., 2017; Cavicchioli et al., 2019; Gardner and Wordley, 2019), these have been insufficiently foreboding to match the scale of the crisis. Given the existence of a human “optimism bias” that triggers some to underestimate the severity of a crisis and ignore expert warnings, a good communication strategy must ideally undercut this bias without inducing disproportionate feelings of fear and despair (Pyke, 2017; Van Bavel et al., 2020). It is therefore incumbent on experts in any discipline that deals with the future of the biosphere and human well-being to eschew reticence, avoid sugar-coating the overwhelming challenges ahead and “tell it like it is.” Anything else is misleading at best, or negligent and potentially lethal for the human enterprise at worst. — Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

We are in the midst of a climate emergency and there is no way out without radically changing the way society is organised. If humanity does not free itself from the capitalist drive for ever greater profits and ever-expanding economic growth, rising global temperatures alone will make the planet uninhabitable for humans and millions of other living species.   We urgently need to find a collective road to a new way of living that is based on human solidarity and ecological sustainability!’ (See An Ecosocialist Manifesto: For an Egalitarian, Cooperative Road to Ecosocialism!)  The Emergency is Now! We Need To Move Beyond Capitalism To Ecosocialism! We Need to Build a World Movement for Ecosocialist Revolution!— Whither Humanity? The Environmental Crisis of Capitalism We Don’t Need a Green New Deal! — We Need a Green Industrial Revolution!

With Alarming New Assessment, 17 Scientists Offer ‘Cold Shower’ to Wake Up Humanity to Hot World “We need to be candid, accurate, and honest if humanity is to understand the enormity of the challenges we face in creating a sustainable ture.” In an example to the rest of the scientific community and an effort to wake up people—particularly policymakers—worldwide, 17 scientists penned a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the planet and what the future could hold due to biodiversity loss, climate disruption, human consumption, and population growth. “Ours is not a call to surrender—we aim to provide leaders with a realistic ‘cold shower’ of the state of the planet that is essential for planning to avoid a ghastly future,” according to the perspective paper, co-authored by experts across Australia, Mexico, and the United States, and published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science. By Jessica Corbett

Capitalism and Catastrophe Covid and climate change aren’t aberrations: they are aspects of the system’s permanent global crisis. “The end is in sight. Effectively deployed testing may be able to ameliorate social distancing until the vaccines arrive …To have several highly effective vaccines for this horrible virus after less than a year is a quite astonishing achievement, among the greatest things that we — by which I mean both humanity in general and molecular biologists in particular — have ever accomplished.”  So wrote Rupert Beale of the Francis Crick Institute in the London Review of Books early last month. But before we start celebrating, we should remember that a year ago the possibility that the world might be engulfed in a pandemic that would kill millions and spark the worst economic slump since the 1930s was beyond the imaginings of almost all of us. By Alex CallinicosCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”. Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 18771. How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple— The answer is simple —By the Use of Terrorism! — They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal and ‘legal’ activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. — The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement

Capitol Mob Reveals Ongoing Refusal to Accept Black Votes as Legitimate Trump’s mob had chilling echoes of the armed white mobs that terrorized elected Black officials during Reconstruction. By George YancyLabor:

Economy:

World:

Sweden: COVID-19 Policy Shift Reveals Failure of Capitalism “This autumn, too many people have neglected to follow advice and recommendations.” This was the explanation for the deadly wave of coronavirus sweeping over Sweden given in late November by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in an address to the nation. While shifting blame to the general public, he was conveniently silent about the government’s responsibility for decades of cuts to healthcare, understaffing in the elderly care sector, and lacklustre testing capacity. Now the government has been forced to introduce several measures that they for a long time argued against. But it is all too, little too late.Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Daily News Digest January 14, 2021

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

What Zika And The Flint Water Crisis Have In CommonMichigan 2016 - 1/20/16 Politico.com editorial cartoon, courtesy Matt Wuerker Quotes 0f the Day:

Zika and the epidemic of birth defects, like the lead poisoning in Flint, highlight the added burdens especially facing the poor and people of color.  There are striking similarities between the lead-poisoned water hurting Flint citizens and the burdens facing Latin American women with babies born with microcephaly, likely due to Zika nfections.  What do these two tragedies have in common? They—and many other similar problems—largely affect poor people of color, people who are politically powerless. — What Zika And The Flint Water Crisis Have In Common

Videos of the Day:

Lynchings and Racial Violence During Reconstruction Illustration of EJI’s report, Reconstruction in America  . The report documents nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America than previously detailed, bringing the total number of confirmed lynchings to 6,500 with thousands more that may never be documented. The report examines the 12 years following the Civil War when lawlessness and violence perpetrated by white leaders created an American future of racial hierarchy, white supremacy, and Jim Crow laws—an era from which our nation has yet to recover.

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay

As Almost 400,00 people (Black, Poor, Unisured, Underinsured, and Elderly)  Have Died of Coronavius, United States Capitalism is Guilty Of Depraved Indifference Murder!

The Poisoning of Flint: ‘About Damn Time’: Cautious Optimism as Imminent Charges Reported for Michigan Ex-Officials Over Flint Water Crisis “Justice for Flint is long overdue,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman. “But we need… reparations and long-term support for the kids and families who were irreparably harmed by racism and greed.” By Brett WilkinsAs Trump was Playing Golf and Planning Insurrection, the Federal Government Failed to Do Its Job:  Past Time to Remember Thousands Displaced and Left Behind by Hurricanes Laura and Delta  . . . . In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates in will be “early summer 2021” before everyone who needs housing gets it. Elizabeth Cook says the administration of assistance “has been a disaster. The entire process to help these folks has been badly coordinated. The state which is overseeing this process has allowed or looked the other way as entire families were evicted from hotels in New Orleans with nowhere to go. No one should be evicted. Louisiana already had an affordable housing problem and this has made more people homeless. It is shameful. The state of Louisiana, FEMA, the Red Cross have all caused unbearable stress for families and in-dividuals.” The Mayor of Lake Charles, Nic Hunter, is also quite frustrated. On December 26, 2020, the Mayor told American Press in Lake Charles that he estimated that 5% of the city’s housing stock is still offline. Hunter wrote FEMA after Christmas complaining about the slow process of getting temp-orary housing, saying that while thousands need help only 383 temporary housing units have been installed and “the number and pace of those installations is grossly inadequate” a performance that is “just not acceptable.” All of this is aggra-vated by Covid. Over 15,000 people have tested positive in Calcasieu Parish, nearly 300 have died. On January 4, Nic Hunter, the Mayor, announced on Facebook he tested positive for Covid. The nation justifiably spent much time focusing on the election. But it is past time to remember the thousands of families who have been left behind.  By Bill QuigleyLee Camp: America Condemns One Violent Mob While Celebrating Another Where is the corporate media’s disgust for the courtesans of corporate destruction that wreak violence on Americans daily?

FBI Report Warned of “War” At Capitol a Day Before Fatal Riot An FBI notice a day before the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol warned of “war.” But Capitol security was not increased to meet the threat. Jeff Pegues has the latest.

Environment:

We have summarized predictions of a ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health, and climate-disruption upheavals (including looming massive migrations) and resource conflicts this century. Yet, our goal is not to present a fatalist perspective, because there are many examples of successful interventions to prevent extinctions, restore ecosystems, and encourage more sustainable economic activity at both local and regional scales. Instead, we contend that only a realistic appreciation of the colossal challenges facing the international community might allow it to chart a less-ravaged future. While there have been more recent calls for the scientific community in particular to be more vocal about their warnings to humanity (Ripple et al., 2017; Cavicchioli et al., 2019; Gardner and Wordley, 2019), these have been insufficiently foreboding to match the scale of the crisis. Given the existence of a human “optimism bias” that triggers some to underestimate the severity of a crisis and ignore expert warnings, a good communication strategy must ideally undercut this bias without inducing disproportionate feelings of fear and despair (Pyke, 2017; Van Bavel et al., 2020). It is therefore incumbent on experts in any discipline that deals with the future of the biosphere and human well-being to eschew reticence, avoid sugar-coating the overwhelming challenges ahead and “tell it like it is.” Anything else is misleading at best, or negligent and potentially lethal for the human enterprise at worst. — Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

We are in the midst of a climate emergency and there is no way out without radically changing the way society is organised. If humanity does not free itself from the capitalist drive for ever greater profits and ever-expanding economic growth, rising global temperatures alone will make the planet uninhabitable for humans and millions of other living species.   We urgently need to find a collective road to a new way of living that is based on human solidarity and ecological sustainability!’ (See An Ecosocialist Manifesto: For an Egalitarian, Cooperative Road to Ecosocialism!)  The Emergency is Now! We Need To Move Beyond Capitalism To Ecosocialism! We Need to Build a World Movement for Ecosocialist Revolution!— Whither Humanity? The Environmental Crisis of Capitalism We Don’t Need a Green New Deal! — We Need a Green Industrial Revolution!

With Alarming New Assessment, 17 Scientists Offer ‘Cold Shower’ to Wake Up Humanity to Hot World “We need to be candid, accurate, and honest if humanity is to understand the enormity of the challenges we face in creating a sustainable ture.” In an example to the rest of the scientific community and an effort to wake up people—particularly policymakers—worldwide, 17 scientists penned a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the planet and what the future could hold due to biodiversity loss, climate disruption, human consumption, and population growth. “Ours is not a call to surrender—we aim to provide leaders with a realistic ‘cold shower’ of the state of the planet that is essential for planning to avoid a ghastly future,” according to the perspective paper, co-authored by experts across Australia, Mexico, and the United States, and published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science. By Jessica Corbett

Capitalism and Catastrophe Covid and climate change aren’t aberrations: they are aspects of the system’s permanent global crisis. “The end is in sight. Effectively deployed testing may be able to ameliorate social distancing until the vaccines arrive …To have several highly effective vaccines for this horrible virus after less than a year is a quite astonishing achievement, among the greatest things that we — by which I mean both humanity in general and molecular biologists in particular — have ever accomplished.”  So wrote Rupert Beale of the Francis Crick Institute in the London Review of Books early last month. But before we start celebrating, we should remember that a year ago the possibility that the world might be engulfed in a pandemic that would kill millions and spark the worst economic slump since the 1930s was beyond the imaginings of almost all of us. By Alex CallinicosCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”. Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 18771. How did they accomplish this betrayal? The answer is simple— The answer is simple —By the Use of Terrorism! — They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal and ‘legal’ activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. — The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement

Capitol Mob Reveals Ongoing Refusal to Accept Black Votes as Legitimate Trump’s mob had chilling echoes of the armed white mobs that terrorized elected Black officials during Reconstruction. By George YancyLabor:

Economy:

World:

Sweden: COVID-19 Policy Shift Reveals Failure of Capitalism “This autumn, too many people have neglected to follow advice and recommendations.” This was the explanation for the deadly wave of coronavirus sweeping over Sweden given in late November by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in an address to the nation. While shifting blame to the general public, he was conveniently silent about the government’s responsibility for decades of cuts to healthcare, understaffing in the elderly care sector, and lacklustre testing capacity. Now the government has been forced to introduce several measures that they for a long time argued against. But it is all too, little too late.Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Daily News Digest December 28, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

No Twitters?Quotes 0f the Day:

Environmental Racism is Alive and Well in Cancer Alley:The parishes with the highest per capita COVID-19 death rates are all contained within Cancer Alley. It makes sense—air pollution damages the lungs and lung damage causes a greater risk of death from the virus. —  In Louisiana’s Petrochemical Corridor, COVID-19 Spreads Like Cancer

Videos of the Day:

(Audio) Chicago Teachers Pledge Collective Action as January Reopening Approaches

‘Trying to Kill Me’: Black Doctor Who Died of Covid-19 Posted Harrowing Video Alleging Medical Racism

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay

The DC Political Monopoly Just Doesn’t Get It  The spectacle of political “leaders” disconnected from basic social realities survived Trump’s defeat. He and his GOP had shown little grasp of the two great crises of 2020: the crash of capitalism and the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s resulting political defeat did not reconnect them. The Biden Democrats already show they learned little from Trump’s loss; disconnection governs them too.    A basic social reality of the United States is its capitalist economic system that organizes enterprises internally into a small minority (employers) dominating the majority (employees), with markets to distribute resources and products. Like capitalisms everywhere, the U.S. version crashes recurringly. Variously called crises, recessions, or depressions, they have happened, on average, every four to seven years throughout capitalism’s history. With three in this century’s first 20 years (“dot-com” in 2000, “subprime mortgage” in 2008, and “COVID-19” in 2020), the United States illustrates that four-to-seven-year schedule. The 2020 crash is second only to the Great Depression of the 1930s in its social impact. That fact alone demands major policy interventions on the scale, at least, of what was done then (including the creation of Social Security, federal unemployment insurance, the first minimum wage, and the creation of millions of federal jobs). Moreover, the 1930s were not simultaneously a time of deadly viral pandemic. Given the uniquely immense challenge of 2020’s two crises, no remotely adequate policies were undertaken nor even contemplated by Trump, Biden, Republican or Democratic establishments. They just don’t get it. By Richard D. Wolff

Politicians Failed Us in 2020. Our Movements Built Lasting Power. Even as 2020 took turns for the worst, the seeds of justice and liberation extended their roots. For decades to come, 2020 will be remembered for the failures of politicians and capitalism. In a selfish bid to “save the economy” and rally his base ahead of the election, President Trump and his allies spread disinformation about COVID-19 and threw common-sense public health measures into the meatgrinder of partisan politics. Predictably, the United States became one of the world’s worst hot spots for COVID-19, exposing every crack and fault line in society. As of this writing, the death toll is nearing 300,000. To say that the Trump administration failed to flatten the curve is a gross understatement. By Mike LudwigEnvironment:

Another Bomb Train Accident Highlights Regulatory Failures A train carrying over 100 cars of volatile Bakken oil derailed in Washington state, causing the evacuation of the town of Custer. At least two of the train cars ruptured and the oil ignited and burned — reminding us once again why these dangerous trains are known as bomb trains.   Matt Krogh of Stand.earth has been leading efforts to keep these dangerous trains off the tracks for years, so he was well aware of the potential deadly consequences of oil train accidents in populated areas. Krogh could see the smoke from this latest accident from his home in Bellingham, Washington.  “I think we got lucky today,” Krogh told the Associated Press, echoing the words of others after previous close calls with oil trains — several of which were highlighted in the DeSmog piece Luck Rides the Rails.  By Justin MikulkaCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

Legal/Extra-legal Terrorism Has Been a Tool of the United States 1% to  Subjugate Black People During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply The Iron Heel to Everyone! By Roland Sheppard Politicians Failed Us in 2020. Our Movements Built Lasting Power. After Trump Blocked UN Inquiry of Racist Violence, NGOs Are Conducting Their Own Shortly after the public lynching of George Floyd, the U.S. Human Rights Network and the ACLU organized an international coalition of more than 600 organizations and individuals to urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to convene a commission of inquiry to investigate systemic racism and police brutality in the United States. George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, addressed the Council by video, stating, “You in the United Nations are your brothers’ and sisters’ keepers in America.” He implored the UN, “I’m asking you to help us — Black people in America.”   However, the Trump administration lobbied heavily against this investigation, objecting to limiting the inquiry to the U.S. The Council subsequently declined a request by a group of African countries within the Council to establish the inquiry commission. “The outcome is a result of the pressure, the bullying that the United States did, assisted by many of its allies,” said Jamil Dakwar, the ACLU’s human rights program director. By Marjorie Cohn

When Black Movements Win, Everybody But the 1 Percent Wins Donald Trump and the right wing refer to Black protesters as “thugs” and “looters” guilty of “treason.” In contrast, liberals offer support for the protests, urging white people to become “allies” to the movement. Though their rhetoric is starkly different, there is a dangerous overlap between the Trumpian and liberal views. They both imply that concessions won by Black protesters will hurt white people. Trump tells whites to defend their interests, while liberals urge them to make altruistic sacrifices. By Megan L. Jordan, Joshua Murray, Michael Schwartz and Kevin A. Young

Labor:

‘Shameful’: Trump Golfs, Tweets Election Lies as 14 Million Set to Lose Unemployment Benefits Just After Christmas “The ability of millions of Americans to pay rent and buy groceries hangs in the balance, and Donald Trump spent the day golfing. “By Jake Johnson

The War at the Point of Production: The ‘Killing Fields’ of the United States:     A Temp Worker Died on the Job After FedEx Didn’t Fix a Known Hazard. The Fine: $7,000. FedEx workers at the Memphis World Hub said they were pressured to work faster than they felt was safe. The company faces its busiest season ever, but experts worry about safety practices after the “extremely preventable” death of a temporary worker. . . . FedEx, which is headquartered in Memphis, reported the Nov. 22, 2016, incident to fhe Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency charged with protecting workers. TOSHA asked the shipping giant to investigate itself and suggest corrections, according to state records reviewed by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and ProPublica and reported here for the first time. By Wendi C. ThomasEconomy:

Sorcerer’s Apprentices at the World Bank and the IMF In December 2020, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the signature of the Paris Agreement on Climate, the UN General Secretary sounded the alarm because the situation has fundamentally worsened. In this article we analyse what the World Bank and the IMF have done in connection with the environmental crisis and climate change.     At the end of October 2006 Nicholas Stern, Adviser to the Government on the economics of climate change and development, handed Prime Minister Tony Blair a 500 page report on the consequences of the current climate change and measures to counteract this trend. In his report Nicholas Stern writes: “Climate change will affect the basic elements of life for people around the world – access to water, food production, health, and the environment. Hundreds of millions of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms.” [1] Implicitly the diagnosis suggested in the report is a condemnation of policies implemented by the IMF and the WB, where Nicholas Stern was Chief Economist. [2].    The present article compares the Stern Report with the positions of major figures in the WB, the IMF and the Washington government since 1990. It also offers comments on the report on natural catastrophes the World Bank issued in 2006. The World Bank’s analysis contradicted what it had claimed so far. Its current discourse is an attempt to minimize the credibility crisis it suffers from, but this does not change its basic adherence to a market-oriented and productivist model that destroys both people and the environment. While the Stern report includes interesting views it does not open to any alternative to the productivist model and the obsession with growth. While the World Bank had announced that it would stop supporting fossil energies from the end of 2019, it is now clear that it has further financed the construction and exploitation of coal fuelled plants, the exploitation of oil and natural gas. In 2020, several analysts and NGOs exposed its responsibility in the tragic continuation of climate change and the environmental crisis. By  Éric Toussaint

World:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare  

States Say They’re Decarcerating, Yet 1 in 5 Prisoners Has Had COVID Some of us wear masks even in our beds, but it feels futile,” said Sarah Jo Pender, incarcerated at the Rockville Correctional Facility, one of Indiana’s three women’s prisons. “There is little to do except watch the infection spread and wait my turn to suffer.” These measures did not prevent Pender and six of the 14 women in her cell from contracting COVID-19. They were not alone: As of December 18, the prison had tested 1,050 women; 302 (nearly 29 percent) tested positive. On December 10, nearly nine months after the virus exploded across the United States, prisons reported 276,235 confirmed COVID cases, a rate more than four times as high as that among the general public. One in five prisoners has had COVID-19. Prisons have had at least 1,738 deaths from COVID. (These figures only include state and federal prisons, not jails, immigration prisons or juvenile detention.) Prisons have had at least 1,647 deaths rom COVID. By Victoria LawUS’s Mass COVID Vaccination Effort Has Had a Rough Start One tray of COVID-19 vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer contains 975 doses — way too many for a rural hospital in Arkansas.But with the logistical gymnastics required to safely get the Pfizer vaccine to rural health care workers, splitting the trays into smaller shipments has its own dangers. Once out of the freezer that keeps it at 94 degrees below zero, the vaccine lasts only five days and must be refrigerated in transit. In Arkansas — where over 40% of its counties are rural and COVID infections are climbing — solving this distribution puzzle is urgently critical, said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state’s epidemiologist. “If their providers come down with COVID-19,” Dillaha said, “there’s no one there to take care of the patients.”Such quandaries resonate with officials in Georgia, Kentucky, Utah, Indiana, Wisconsin and Colorado. The first push of the nation’s mass COVID vaccination effort has been chaotic, marked by a lack of guidance and miscommunication from the federal level.  By Rachana Pradhan, Lauren Weber & Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News

Daily News Digest December 17, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Doing the “Trickle Down’Quotes 0f the Day:

After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world. I am strongly of the opinion that the great majority of people will always find these are the moving impulses of our life. But it is only those who do not understand our people, who believe that our national life is entirely absorbed by material motives. We make no concealment of the fact that we want wealth, but there are many other things that we want much more. We want peace and honor, and that charity which is so strong an element of all civilization. The chief ideal of the American people is idealism. —  Calvin Coolidge

Videos of the Day:

Proud Boys Run Wild While Police Stand By (Again)

Securitizing climate change can lead to more surveillance and eco-fascism

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

Another 1% Bailout!:  Covid-19 Relief Draft Bill Provides $100 Billion “Double-Dip” Tax Deduction For the Wealthy No stimulus checks, but big tax giveaways for well-connected business owners. A draft of coronavirus relief legislation, circulated by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, eschews direct payments to average Americans but contains an unusually generous handout to the very wealthy. The draft legislation, the Bipartisan Emergency COVID Relief Act of 2020, was released this week as part of a package of two major bills to confront the ongoing crisis. By Lee FangWill Biden’s America Stop Creating Terrorists? The new Biden administration needs to take a truly fresh look at the whole range of destructive policies the United States has pursued around the world for decades, and the insidious role the CIA has played in so many of them.   Joe Biden will take command of the White House at a time when the American public is more concerned about battling coronavirus than fighting overseas wars. But America’s wars rage on regardless, and the militarized counterterrorism policy Biden has supported in the past—based on airstrikes, special operations and the use of proxy forces—is precisely what keeps these conflicts raging. By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. DaviesDon’t Fawn Over Biden. Fight Neoliberalism. “Under Biden, we are expected to surrender our political will out of sheer gratitude,” says Truthout’s Kelly Hayes. It’s easy to forget in the fog of Trumpism that mass privatization, the dismantling of this country’s social safety net, escalating corporate welfare and the mass expansion of prisons are all bipartisan projects. Kelly Hayes talks about the neoliberal policies we can expect from the Biden administration and how we can fight them. by Kelly Hayes

A Return?! — No A Continuation of 1% Rule!: Biden’s Cabinet: a Return to Ruling Class Politics Insane people who study playing Russian roulette with a well-lubricated and seasoned six-shooter understand that the odds on survival are far greater than the expected 83.3 percent, that is, five out of six. That’s because the single loaded bullet chamber is heavier than the empty chambers and is more likely, after a firm spin, to settle at the bottom, away from the striking pin at the top of the firing mechanism. In essence, you can cheat your fate a bit if you choose to engage.Not so with engaging in the periodic electoral games orchestrated by the twin parties of U.S. capitalism. There the result is always 100 percent fatal. All chambers are fully loaded in advance by the ruling rich. Without exception, human needs are subordinated to capitalist profits.   Capitalism’s Horses of the ApocalypseCapitalism’s never-ending imperialist oil and resource wars and sanctions kill millions. Its COVID-19 pandemic now kills 3,000 Americans daily. Its global warming climate crisis threatens near-term mass extinction and daily catastrophes. Its repeated and deepening economic depression cycles render increasing tens and hundreds of millions jobless and hopeless. Its systemic racism relegates countless more to poverty, police brutality and mass incarceration, and its sexism and homophobia subject women and LGBTQI+ people to the lowest rungs of the job market and to discrimination and violence. With this in mind, let’s have a look at what the “lesser evil” Democrats have in store for working people. By Jeff Mackler

Environment:

America’s Last Wilderness is About to Go to the Highest Bidder for Oil Drilling Language is everything.Those who argue for oil drilling in the Arctic national wildlife refuge, a place of stunning wild beauty in far north-east Alaska, seldom call it what it is – a refuge.Instead, they reduce it to an acronym: ANWR. They talk about “opening it up”, as if it is closed. It’s not. It is public land. They talk about “exploring” for oil because that is what we do. We find stuff, dig it up, process it, sell it, then burn it or eventually throw it away. They talk about drilling in an “environmentally safe” manner without mentioning the hundreds of oil spills in Prudhoe Bay and along the Trans-Alaska Oil pipeline, including a 267,000-gallon spill that went undetected for days. By Kim Heacox

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist: Freedom Rider: Master Biden Speaks The civil rights groups’ rather basic requests for voting rights protections and the need for federal intervention to address police brutality were minimized and dismissed by the president-elect.

Editors, The Black Agenda Review: Racial Capitalism, Black Liberation, and South Africa The phrase racial capitalism first emerged in the context of the anti-Apartheid and southern African liberation struggles in the 1970s.

Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor: When Austerity’s Chickens Came Home to Roost in the U.S., Bernie and “the Squad” were Unprepared The theory of change that depicts the likes of Bernie Sanders and AOC as the leaders of the class struggle has failed to materialize in reality

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence: Imagine: The Town Crier’s Cabinet Selections Cut plastic cuffs from imaginations— Dream larger in dire situations… IMAGINE every cook governing— every governor cooking up people\

Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist: Agenda 2021: Resist the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination
It is critical that the Black left understand U.S./European imperialism as a race project, and organize accordingly

Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor: The Planet’s Problem from Hell: Samantha Power As head of USAID, Power will be in perfect position to wield foreign aid as a cudgel for beating foreign heads of state till they bow to US empire, writes Ann Garrison.

Selamawit D. Terrefe: On Afropessimism by Frank B. Wilderson III Afro-pessimism theorizes slavery as a social relation which distinguishes Blackness as a paradigmatic position antithetical to humans.

Too Black: The Myth of the Perfect Victim The denial of Black humanity is essential to the order of racial capitalism, and dictates that Blacks deserve whatever treatment they get.

Rajko Koundzic: Biden’s Victory Was Hardly a Win for “Democracy.” It Was Another Win for the 1%.
An authentic and organized mass movement is the only way to combat money-power and make progressive policies possible

Chris Wright Could Unions Have Liberated Dixie from Racist Rule? The right-wing leadership of the CIO refused to seriously confront white supremacy in the South. “The demand to abolish the police needs to be sharpened.”

Kim Ives: Top Haiti Cop Specializes in Counter-Insurgency Intelligence Gathering and Repression Léon Charles, Haiti’s new national police chief, is a mass killer dedicated to suppressing the nation’s poor majority.

Labor:

Recovery For the 1% — No Recovery For the Working Class!

Since June 2009 Americans have lived in the false reality of a recovering economy.  Various fake news and manipulated statistics have been used to create this false impression.  However, indicators that really count have not supported the false picture and were ignored. For example, it is normal in a recovering or expanding economy for the labor force participation rate to rise as people enter the workforce to take advantage of the job opportunities.  During the decade of the long recovery, from June 2009 through May 2019, the labor force participation rate consistently fell from 65.7 to 61.5 percent. —Paul Craig Roberts, The Diminishing American Economy(Updated

FRED Labor Force Participation Rate is  61.5 %Shadow Government Alternate Unemployment Charts The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment. November 2020 Shadow Government Stastistics Alternate Unemployment is 26.3%

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.Shadow Government Staistics ts Economic Commentary, Issue No. 1453  Money Supply, CPI, Labor Numbers, Revised GDP, Trade Deficit, Construction

  • Four Million Unemployed People Are Missing from the Headline Labor Force

  • Pandemic-Disrupted U.3 Unemployment Effectively Was 9.0% in November 2020, Not the Headlined 6.7%

  • November Unemployment and Payrolls Confirmed Stalled, L-Shaped, Non-Recovering Economic Activity

  • For the Second Straight Month, Payrolls Declined Year-to-Year by 6.0% (-6.0%)

  • For the Second Straight Month, Payrolls Declined Year-to-Year by 6.0% (-6.0%)

  • Unprecedented in 40-Plus Years of Weekly Monetary Reporting: Money Supply M1 Jumped by 14.1% in the Last Two Weeks, in a Post-Election / COVID-19 Flight to Cash, From M2 to M1

  • Unprecedented in 40-Plus Years of Weekly Monetary Reporting: Money Supply M1 Jumped by 14.1% in the Last Two Weeks, in a Post-Election / COVID-19 Flight to Cash, From M2 to M1

  • Unprecedented in 40-Plus Years of Weekly Monetary Reporting: Money Supply M1 Jumped by 14.1% in the Last Two Weeks, in a Post-Election / COVID-19 Flight to Cash, From M2 to M1

  • A Weak Dollar Is Highly Inflationary for the United States and Bullish for Gold

  • Collapsed Oil Prices Still Suppressed November CPI and PPI Annual Inflation; Yet, Oil Prices Suddenly Are Surging Anew

  • Holding Physical Gold Protects the Purchasing Power of Dollar Assets, Irrespective of Any Near-Term Volatility in, or Manipulation of, Gold Prices

World:

Fish Wars and Brexit Warring over fish in the twenty-first century might seem an unlikely proposition. But the deployment of four Royal Navy ships to deter European fishing vessels from encroaching on British waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit has tongues wagging. The prospects of a trade pact between the EU and UK by the end of this month are becoming cold and remote. This much has been admitted by the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his EU counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen. A key contention between the parties is the issue of fishing. Access to British waters by European nations is a long affair that prompted the late diplomat Sir Con O’Neill to remark that, “The question of fisheries was economic peanuts, but political dynamite.” Eight European member states who fish in British waters are demanding that Britain, despite Brexit, maintain the status quo on fishing arrangements.Non-UK boats have certainly been very happy to avail themselves of waters within the UK’s 200-nautical mile economic zone. Between 2012 and 2014, it was estimated that 58% of fish and shellfish landed from the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone were caught by non-UK boats. This comprised 650,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth £408 million each year. UK fishing boats, in contrast, landed 90,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, worth £103 million.By Binoy KampmarkBritain: One Year After the Election – Boris’ Government of Crisis Boris Johnson’s government has now been in power for one year. But it is already being engulfed by turmoil and splits, as the crisis of capitalism takes its toll. We need a militant opposition that will fight to kick the Tories out.

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

 

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

‘On the Verge of Global Vaccine Apartheid’: Rich Countries Hoard Supplies as Poorest Left Out “Unless something changes dramatically, billions of people around the world will not receive a safe and effective vaccine for Covid-19 for years to come.” Months after more than 150 the U.S. is one of a few wealthy countries that have not pledged to support COVAX. countries joined the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, with the aim of ensuring rich countries finance vaccine distribution to poor nations in order to bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic, global public health officials fear that the push for international solidarity “has mostly been lost” as the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe has claimed a vast majority of the available vaccines. Under the Trump administration, as Common Dreams has reported, By Julia Conley,

Daily News Digest December 9, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Bendib: Get Out of Jail Free CardQuotes 0f the Day:

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations.     Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.     In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

Videos of the Day:

‘DeSantis Sent the Gestapo’: Fired Florida Covid Data Scientist Films Home Being Raided by Police The data scientist fired for refusing to ‘manipulate’ Florida’s Covid figures filmed her home being raided by state police who seized her computer equipment.

Black Mom Swarmed & Beaten by Philly Riot Police with Toddler in Car Demands Officers Be Fired

Signe Wilkinson:What Philly Police Can DoUnited States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

‘They Pointed Guns at My Kids’: Outrage After Florida Cops Raid Home of Scientist Who Refused to Censor Covid-19 Data “DeSantis needs to worry less about what I’m writing about and more about the people who are sick and dying.” Data scientist Rebekah Jones on Monday evening assured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that she would not stop reporting accurate information about the coronavirus pandemic in the state, despite a raid by state authorities at Jones’s home Monday morning which she says was aimed at silencing her.  Jones shared a video of state police entering her home with guns drawn while her children and husband were upstairs, saying the authorities pointed the weapons at her family while executing a search warrant in regards to an unauthorized message that was allegedly sent by Jones to the state Department of Health (DOH). By Julia ConleyTrump ‘America First’ Vaccine Order Denounced as ‘False Choice’ That Ignores Real Problem: Pharma Monopolies “Monopolies have no place in a pandemic—especially for scientific insights that build upon billions of dollars in public money.” By Jake Johnson

Environment:

As the World Burns: As World Teeters on Brink, Over 250 Scientists and Scholars Warn of Full-Fledged ‘Societal Collapse’ More than 250 scientists and scholars from 30 countries have issued an open letter calling on policymakers to “engage more with the growing risk of societal disruption and collapse due to damage to the climate and environment,” arguing that only then “might communities and nations begin to prepare and so reduce its likelihood, speed, severity, harm to the most vulnerable, and to nature.” By Jessica Corbett Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

THE NYPD FILES Investigating America’s Largest Police Force ProPublica reporters uncover abuse and impunity inside the NYPD, using confidential documents and insider interviews, giving the public unprecedented access to civilian complaints against officers. — It Wasn’t the First Time the NYPD Killed Someone in Crisis. For Kawaski Trawick, It Only Took 112 Seconds. Trawick was alone in his apartment when an officer pushed open the door. He was holding a bread knife and a stick. “Why are you in my home?” he asked. He never got an answer. — The NYPD Files: Search Thousands of Civilian Complaints Against New York City Police Officers After New York state repealed a law that kept NYPD disciplinary records secret, ProPublica obtained data from the civilian board that investigates complaints about police behavior. Use this database to search thousands of allegations. — NYPD Cops Cash In on Sex Trade Arrests With Little Evidence, While Black and Brown New Yorkers Pay the Price Some NYPD officers who police the sex trade, driven by overtime pay, go undercover to round up as many “bodies” as they can with little evidence. Almost no one they arrest is white.

Black Agenda Radio for Week of December 7, 2020 With Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford

  • Black Masses Not Yet Sold on Defunding the Police Lawrence Grandpre, research director for the Baltimore-based activist organization “Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle,” agrees in principle with the demand for defunding police but doesn’t think Black Lives Matter has been able to sell the concept in Black communities. “Working people need to see you on the ground every day, for years, pushing that alternative,” but that’s not yet happened, said Grandpre, speaking on Dr. Jared Ball’s acclaimed podcast “I Mix What I Like.

  • Reparations Not Yet a “Mainstream” Demand Reparations “hasn’t reached the point where there’s really a discussion among white politicians” on the merits of the issue, said Zuri Arman Kent-Smith, a writer and activist with a degree in Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Kent-Smith doesn’t forsee a “productive conversation” about reparations when politicians like president-elect Joe Biden not only refuse to endorse defunding of police, but “want to increase funding” for the cops.

  • Beware Biden-Harris Neoliberalism Corporate Democrats may be more dangerous than overt racists, because neoliberals “cloack themselves in the rhetoric of ‘racial uplift,’” said Rebecca Ann Wilcox, a community organizer and PhD candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary. For example. celebrations of Kamala Harris elevation to first Black woman vice president “obscures the fac that she will helm genocidal wars in the Middle East…and the wars she already started with Black incarcerated children.”

Labor:

Economy:

Bull Market? Had Three Dow Stocks Not Been Removed in August, 43 Percent of Dow Stocks Would be Negative Year-to-Date There has been a lot of bullish talk about the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 30,000 for the first time in history. But the underpinnings of the bellwether Dow index look a lot less rosy. Replacing three of the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks on August 31 looked like a desperate move by S&P Dow Jones Indices, the folks that oversee that stock index. One of the stocks replaced, Exxon Mobil, had been a Dow component for 92 years, joining the Dow in 1928 under the name Standard Oil of New Jersey. Exxon was replaced with Salesforce, a company that only went public in 2004. Salesforce describes itself as a “customer relationship management platform,” explaining that “We help your marketing, sales, commerce, service and IT teams work as one from anywhere — so you can keep your customers happy everywhere.” If that sounds a little nebulous to you, it should. But the stock price has been on a rip for the past four years so Wall Street loves it. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

British Capitalism’s ‘Systemic Crisis’: Social Explosion Brewing Even the strategists of the ruling class are warning of an apocalyptic scenario for British capitalism, as the pandemic, Brexit, and economic chaos combine to create a perfect storm. We are entering a period of revolutionary convulsions. First thing to be noted regarding the Venezuelan election yesterday is the scandalous campaign of imperialist interference by Washington and Brussels. The US has clearly obviously failed in its “regime change” offensive in 2019/20 which included the self-proclamation of Guaidó as “president”, a failed military coup, a mercenary incursion, sanctions, threats, etc.. By Rob SewellVenezuelan National Assembly elections amidst imperialist meddling marked by low turnout  The 6 December National Assembly elections in Venezuela were marked by a low turnout in the midst of imperialist aggression and a deep economic crisis. The US and the EU had already announced in advance they would not… By Jorge Martín

 

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Sustainable Farming Advocates Warn Biden That Vilsack ‘A Very Bad Pick’ for Ag Secretary “America needs an Agriculture secretary that will finally prioritize sustainable family farming and national food security over corporate profits.” By Andrea Germanos

Coronavirus Live Updates: Trump Administration Declined Multiple Offers To Secure More Vaccines For 2021 HuffPost reporters are tracking the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic. The first doses of the coronavirus vaccine were given in the U.K. on Tuesday, as cases continue to surge in the United States. To date, more than 14.9 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 1.54 million people worldwide, including more than 284,000 in the U.S., have died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daily News Digest November 30, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

The Small Pox Spreaders: Signe Wilkison: Early Thanksgiving Super-Spreaders

Quotes 0f the Day:

Pope Francis: What Would He Say to Our Supreme Court about COVID? …

With some exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the well-being of their people first, acting decisively to protect health and to save lives. The exceptions have been some governments that shrugged off the painful evidence of mounting deaths, with inevitable, grievous consequences. But most governments acted responsibly, imposing strict measures to contain the outbreak. — Pope Francis: A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts

Videos of the Day:

Unmasking Biden’s Imperialist War Cabinet Maj. Danny Sjursen guest stars on the Nicky Rew Podcast to talk about President-elect Joe Biden squad of urbane imperialists and “diverse” death-dealers.

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

The Media Monopoly: Yesterday, six corporations controlled the mass media, two merged, and then were five corporations controlling the mass media, if two more merge there will be four!:  What Simon & Schuster’s Acquisition Would Mean for American Publishing If past experience is a useful guide to the future, we need not overly fear such imperial mergers and acquisitions. The recent news that Bertelsmann, the German owner of the publishing empire PenguinRandomHouse, has made an all-cash offer of $2 billion to acquire Simon & Schuster, continues the relentless conglomeration that has marked global publishing for the past forty-plus years. If approved, the deal will leave only four gigantic publishing enterprises dominating the landscape of American publishing. The prospect is thought by some to pose a threat to the nation’s delicate ecology of literary and cultural life. Considerable alarm over the fate of the so-called mid-list book and a further contracting of diversity in the marketplace is widespread. How real are these fears? By Steve Wasserman‘A Win for Voters’: Rights Advocates Celebrate After Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Attempt to Block Certification of PA Election Results “The Trump campaign should end its pathetic and futile attempts to subvert democracy and ignore the will of the people.” Voting rights advocates expressed excitement and relief on Friday after a federal appellate panel upheld a lower court’s ruling rejecting a request from President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign for an emergency injunction to overturn the certification of election results in Pennsylvania. By Jessica Corbett

Hunger Like They’ve Never Seen It Before’: US Food Banks Struggle as 1 in 6 Families With Children Don’t Have Enough to Eat “We’re now seeing families who had an emergency fund but it’s gone and they’re at the end of their rope,” said one Texas food bank director. By Brett Wilkins Environment:

Cancer Alley Community Leaders Are Cautious As Biden Picks Their Fossil Fuel-Friendly Congressman for White House Role Community leaders long at odds with the powerful petrochemical industry in Louisiana took note when their Congressional representative, Cedric Richmond, announced November 12 that he was taking a new job in the Biden White House. In his announcement, Richmond, a Democratic representative in Louisiana for most of the heavily industrialized region stretching from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, made no mention of his constituents’ ongoing battle for environmental justice. Richmond has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in fossil fuel campaign contributions during his career. Despite this history, some fenceline communities in Louisiana are looking forward to the potential of what Joe Biden’s ascension to the White House with Richmond by his side could mean for their majority-Black neighborhoods which are impacted daily by air pollution from an expanding petrochemical industry.  On his campaign website, Biden has called for environmental justice and “rooting out the systemic racism in our laws, policies, institutions, and hearts,” linking this cause to the pandemic, which continues to disproportionately impact people of color. By Julie DermanskyCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

“A Living Hell”: Dispatches From a California Prison Amid the Climate and Coronavirus CrisesThe only way to ascertain the temperature at the California Institution for Women, or CIW, on a given day is to check the hourly forecast at the nearest weather reporting stations. During the September 5 and 6 heat wave in Southern California, the closest recorded temperature to CIW hit 115 degrees. But those stations only measure outside temperatures, not the real heat index of a roughly 8-by-12 cement-walled cell, with no ventilation or air circulation. The second-most populous women-designated state prison in California, CIW sits on arid former farmland, where San Bernardino and Riverside counties meet, at the western edge of the expanse of suburbs commonly known as the Inland Empire. Abutted by a golf course, fields of row crops, and a housing development called “The Preserve,” CIW is situated on the outskirts of two cities, Chino and Corona, that are hesitant to claim it. By Cyrus DunhamLabor:

Economy:

World:

Trotskyism in China In the early 1930s there were more Trotskyists in China than anywhere else outside Russia. The defeat of the Chinese revolution in 1927 was one of the decisive factors in the emergence of Trotskyism as a distinct body of thought, and a powerful influence in shifting Trotsky’s views on the nature of Stalinism. It is thus hardly surprising that those who had been on the sharp end of the defeat should be especially receptive to his critique. And yet the history of Chinese Trotskyism is hardly known even among Trotskyists today. [1] This magisterial work, building on materials both previously translated and written by the editor, should do much to reverse that lack of knowledge. It is an inspiring story of perseverance against unimaginable odds to keep alive a revolutionary tradition.

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

US CDC Plans to Reduce Quarantine Time After Potential COVID-19 Exposure The purpose of reducing the isolation period to as little as seven days is to ensure workers will be back on the job faster, even though the CDC admits this will increase the transmission of the virus. By Benjamin Mateu

Daily News Digest November 19, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Signe Wikinson: Giving Thanks at Our COVID-19 ThanksgivingQuotes 0f the Day:

The white conservatives aren’t friends of the Negro either, but they at least don’t try to hide it. They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them. But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling. The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the “smiling” fox. One is a wolf, the other is a fox. No matter what, they’ll both eat you.— Malcolm X, On Foxes, Wolves, and the Chickens caught in the Middle

Videos of the Day:

Florida ‘Rights of Nature’ Amendment Protects Ecosystems and the Right to Clean Water

As COVID Deaths Soar, El Paso at Breaking Point with Hospitals & Mobile Morgues Filling Up

As North Dakota Faces World’s Deadliest Outbreak, Native Communities Condemn States’ COVID Response

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

After Trump, the Fight for Immigrant Rights Will Continue Under Biden The fight for immigrant rights must acknowledge the racist bipartisan roots of our current status quo. I have spent most of recent weeks bleary-eyed and exhausted, and now momentarily relieved for a Democratic win. But for many advocating for and with the immi-grants in our families and communities, our tired rage is thoroughly bipartisan. The terror I have felt is not simply what another four years of the Trump administration would bring to the immigrants in my life once the counting and litigating dust settled. Rather, it is now the fear of continued Democratic destruction and com-placency. It is a compelling argument that a Joe Biden victory is a pragmatic form of harm reduction. But it is also essential to understand the real harm that we have had to — and will need to — continually fight against. By Shannon GleesonBiden’s Agriculture Secretary: Heitkamp Is the Wrong Choice We cannot afford an old-school agriculture secretary who maintains today’s disastrous status quo when the job calls for a bold change agent. As president-elect Joe Biden weighs agriculture secretary candidates to steer America’s food and farming policies, an important question looms: will his pick reflect his ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make agriculture more sustainable and socially just? Or, will he bow to pressure from agribusiness and corporate interests, and choose a conservative throwback like former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who voted with Trump nearly 70 percent of the time, and who Trump nearly picked for the job in 2017? By Christopher D. Cook

Biden Appoints Cancer Alley’s Democrat: Joe Biden Just Appointed His Climate Movement Liaison. It’s a Fossil-Fuel Industry Ally Joe Biden says confronting climate change is one of his top priorities. But today, he appointed as his liaison to the climate movement a congressman who has raked in big money from the fossil fuel industry while voting to help oil and gas companies. By David Sirota, Julia Rock, and Andrew Perez

More Humane Cages? Prospects for Immigration Justice Under Biden Appear Dim In stacking not just his DHS team but all of his transition teams with neoliberals and hawks, Biden has sent the world a clear signal that despite the cage-free fantasies of liberal Democrats, his immigration policy will be more of the same. By Adrienne Pine  

Fact Check: Joe Biden Has Advocated Cutting Social Security for 40 Years “I tried with Senator Grassley back in the 1980s to freeze all government spending, including Social Security, including everything,” Biden said in 1995. As early as 1984 and as recently as 2018, former Vice President Joe Biden called for cuts to Social Security in the name of saving the program and balancing the federal budget. Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders highlighted Biden’s record on Social Security in prosecuting the case that Biden isn’t the most electable candidate. The issue could be raised again in Tuesday night’s debate. By Ryan Grim

Biden and the CIA The CIA has floundered at key moments because of the lack of a stable and senior leader at the top, and a “culture of secrecy” that has blurred the judgment of many CIA leaders who have allowed the tailoring of intelligence at key junctures.  There probably is no perfect resume to suggest suitability for the role of CIA director, but the professional military, Capitol Hill, and perhaps the Agency itself may not be the best place to train a tough-minded leader who recognizes the central role of intelligence analysis and is suited to “tell truth to power.” By Melvin Goodman

The United States Is Not a Democracy. Stop Telling Students That It Is. When our students only learn about this exceptionally strange system from their corporate-produced history and government textbooks, they have no clue why this is how we choose our president.  By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca

Environment:

NOAA Research Shows Climate Crisis Primary Cause of 98% of Dead Florida Coral Reef “Our work in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans shows a dire outlook for coral reef ecosystem health, from warming ocean waters, fishing, disease, and pollution from the land.” By Julia ConleyCivil Rights/Black Liberation:Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist : Freedom Rider: The Real Trump Coup Trump puts whiteness first and that means he will always have support and Republican leaders know it.

Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor: How the Black Movement Teaches Us to Fight Cold Wars Both Old and New  China is rising not merely out of colonial underdevelopment but into a position of global leadership.

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence: Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance Militarist Macarena all pomp and circumstance— they’re baaaack with Donkey Dung 2/4 Dance… First you cry, “Wolf!” in tune with corporate law

Anthony Monteiro, BAR editor and columnist: V.I. Lenin and W.E.B. Du Bois: Class Struggle and Civilization While the ruling elite is calling for a capitalist reset which could leave half the working class without jobs or adequate income, many leftists are proclaiming working class backwardness.

Robin D.G. Kelley: Births of a Nation, Redux: Surveying Trumpland with Cedric Robinson What Robinson identified as “the rewhitening of America” a century ago is what we’re seeing play out today.

Mark P. Fancher: Global Africa’s Mission: Out-Think and Out-Maneuver Stupid, Violent Imperialists AFRICOM is designed to do only one thing well, and that is to kill Africans.  “Global Africa must find a way to eliminate the AFRICOM threat.”

Vijay Prashad: Sanctions Against Venezuela Will Continue Under Biden There is every indication that a Biden administration will maintain the punitive sanctions against Venezuela, suffocating the country during the pandemic.

Tye Salandy: Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism From Obama v McCain to Biden v Trump, the good cop/bad cop drama of US imperial politics, continues.

Riva Enteen: Don’t [Mourn] Celebrate, Organize! The same “injustice” system that unlawfully locked up the Central Park will continue unabated with Biden and his “top cop” sidekick.

Margaret Flowers:​​​​​​​We’ll Have to Fight Corporate Democrats for Medicare for All We must not allow the Democrats to weaken our demand that every person in the United States have access to the care they need.

Flint Taylor: Torture Survivor Jackie Wilson Exonerated in Pandemic Murder Trial Wilson’s 40-year ordeal has ended, but his attorneys hope to make Chicago prosecutors pay for their crimes.

David Gilbert: Letters of Life from Slow Death Row Tiyo Attallah Salah-El’s exemplary life (without parole) is testament to the human spirit and the cause of abolition.

Labor:

Economy:

From Soros to Warren Buffett, the Smart Money Is Dumping Shares of JPMorgan Chase According to the 13F filing that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the quarter ending December 31, 2019, it held 59.5 million shares of JPMorgan Chase with a total value at that time of $8.29 billion. By June 30 of this year, that position had been trimmed by more than half, to 22.2 million shares. By September 30, one day after JPMorgan Chase had just admitted to its fourth and fifth felony count in the past six years, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, Berkshire Hathaway’s position in JPMorgan Chase tallied up to just under 1 million shares, a 98 percent reduction from the beginning of the year, according to the SEC filing Berkshire Hathaway made on Monday. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Britain: Corbyn Readmitted But Denied The Whip – What Next? Jeremy Corbyn is back in the Labour Party, after apologising for earlier remarks. But no amount of appeasement will satisfy the right wing. Starmer’s spiteful decision not to restore the whip showsThe Korean War’s Forgotten Lessons on the Evil of Intervention This year is the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, a conflict from which Washington policymakers learned nothing. Almost 40,000 American soldiers died in that conflict that should have permanently vaccinated the nation against the folly and evil of foreign intervention. Instead, the war was retroactively redefined. As Barack Obama declared in 2013, “That war was no tie. Korea was a victory.” By James Bovard

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Poorer Countries May Have to Wait Years for a COVID VaccineACOVID-19 vaccine appears to be on the way, raising plenty of questions about how much vaccines will cost and who get will get them first. On Monday, Moderna announced initial results from a clinical trial showing that its COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5 percent effective. That’s promising news for people in the United States, where COVID-19 is surging and the government invested heavily in developing the vaccine. However, consumer advocates warn U.S. taxpayers will ultimately pay twice for Moderna’s vaccine if it’s approved by regulators. A $2.5 billion public investment by the Trump administration covers the cost of bringing the vaccine to market — and pays for the vaccine itself. This gives Americans quick access to the vaccine once it is approved in the U.S., but much of the world could be left behind during a pandemic that knows no borders. By Mike Ludwig

Daily News Digest November 16, 2020

There are now over a Quarter Million Coronavirus Deaths  in the United States! ‘Making America Great Again!’:  As of  11/1420, During the Psychopathic ‘Dr. Trump’s’ ‘Coronavirus War’, Due to His Incompetence, Mis-Leadership, and  Depraved Indifference, We Are, By Far,  The World Coronavirus Leader!!! The Casualty Count  is Now:

  • 11,226,038 Total Cases,

  • 251,256Total Deaths, 

  • 6,891,015 Total Recovered,

  • 4,083,767Active Cases , and

  • 20,415 People in Serious/Critical Condition!

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Past The Tipping PointQuotes 0f the Day:

This last is an important point for the Biden-Harris energy team to note. By including so-called new nuclear, they are dooming themselves to wasting both time and money better spent focused on renewables. Small modular reactors will not, as their plan asserts, come in at “half the construction cost of today’s reactors.”    They will be far more expensive in relation to the electricity they would eventually produce. And of course they would arrive too late, and in too small a quantity and generate too little — and very expensive — electricity to make any difference to climate change at all. den-Harris must look at empirical data, not listen to spin doctors and establishment cronies who will keep them anchored to the status quo, thus deferring the very energy revolution they claim they will lead. If Biden-Harris remain in favor of action on climate AND for nuclear power, then they are part of the problem, not the solution. — In Promoting New Nuclear Power, Biden-Harris Back Fiction Over Science

Videos of the Day:

Voting Activist Desmond Meade on Re-enfranchising People & Why “Ex-Felon” Is a Dehumanizing Label

Can Trump Pardon Himself? Jane Mayer on Trump’s Desperate Bid to Stay in Power & Avoid Prosecution

Dehumanizing the disabled won’t end with a Dem in office

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

FromState of the Union November 2020:

Tomorrow Will Be Too Late to Change Course!  When the racist segregationist George Wallace ran for President with the slogan that ‘There ain’t a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.’ He got support from workers. Why? Because when people don’t see any economic difference between the 1% duopoly, they vote on other issues, such as affirmative action, racism, sexism, immigration, etc. . — The section of the working class that the 1% uses as scapegoats for their declining standard of living. This was made abundantly clear during both the 2008 and 2000 economic crisis. Both parties voted for the economic bailout of Wall Street (1%) — Not Main Street (The 99%)!

During the Bernie Sanders in the 20016 Presidental Campaign, he attracted ‘blue-collar workers’ opposing scapegoating and pointing out that workers haven’t gotten a real wage increase for forty years and 2. that  40% of workers were living paycheck to paycheck. As a result his popularity in opinion polls, despite being a social democratic socialist, was substantially higher, than Hilary Clinton, versus Trump!   In the 2020 elections, fiven an economic Choice Worker Voted  For Economic isues not prejudice!

70% support for Medicare for All (M4A)

Florida Voted for $15.0 Minimum Wage, But Trump for President

14 Successful Ballot Initiatives to Reduce InequalityWhile all eyes have been on the race for the White House, voters in states across the country also weighed in on economic proposals with huge implications for inequality. Here are 14 successful ballot initiatives that will help narrow the divides for millions.

  • Tax Increases On The Wealthy And Corporations

  • Worker Protections

  • Housing

  • Transit Equity

  • Money In Politics

  • Digital Divide

  • Criminalization Of Poverty

An Alternate National Food Mandate America seems to have a romance with disease. Here is my National Mandate. Close all fast food chains. Put orange cone road blocks on all Dunkin’ Donuts drive thrus. Ban the sale of Coke and Pepsi. The war was not between those two Colas, it was a war against the human body.  The masks mask the elephant in the room. No human being can make a potent immune system with a diet of processed food and sugar. This promiscuous virus seems to have a field day with the the obese and the immune compromised.  The national and world wide addiction to sugar presents a feeding frenzy for a virus which, like all viruses, feed on sugar. Where are the scientists and leaders who can guide the populations of the world to actually combat the virus by starving it and also by strengthening its targets? We are told to behave like boxers in a corner with our gloves up to our face as we

Biden’s Mandate Is for Deep Solutions, Not Donor-Class Fetishism of Bipartisan Compromise Biden and the Democrats should put principles first and rally the nation around a serious vision: an agenda not simply to “restore the soul of America” but to expand that soul, make this country a true global leader as Planet Earth faces its treacherous future. By Robert C. Koehler

One-Time Stimulus Checks Aren’t Good Enough. We Need Universal Basic  Income. A universal basic income could restore a sense of safety that the pandemic has destroyed. “We set up a tent in the woods,” Bonnie said. “My husband will get money for us to eat.” We sat outside, sharing coffee and I asked how they became homeless. She begged at the off-ramp, held a cardboard sign and occasionally plucked a dollar dangled from a car window.In New York City, the poor increasingly camp on sidewalks or in parks. In the nation at large, millions are at risk of eviction. The CARES Act, the first stimulus package during the pandemic, prevented masses of people from losing their homes and falling into poverty. It was emergency stopgap legislation whose effects have worn off. Another stimulus bill will not be enough. By Nicholas Powers

Welcome to Trump’s Last Act, the Most Dangerous Show on Earth Trump has two months to rage against his humiliation, and deadly weapons at his disposal.Now that the Trump administration has an expiration date, some have argued that Trump’s refusal to concede and his retaliatory governance will be of no consequence. But Trump is a showman rebelling against a narrative of loss and humiliation. Kelly Hayes talks about what’s at stake and why downplaying the risks we face is irresponsible.  By Kelly Hayes

The Problem of Capitalist Politics, Nukes and Climate Change Edition With Donald Trump soon to be exiled from the White House, four years of speculation about the precise degree of departure from the normal course of American imperial management is about to be put to the test. Any path forward will be a consequence of the trends, processes and trajectories that were set in motion at the end of WWII. These were given new meaning by the capitalist revolution (neoliberalism) of the 1970s. Two years ago various United Nations environmental committees began to issue warnings that unless dramatic changes are made, the planet will soon be uninhabitable. The question: will it be political leaders or capital that stands in the way? By Rob UrieEnvironment:

The 1% Know That the  Earth is Warming!:

But even while Perdue publicly rejects the scientific consensus about climate change, the Georgia senator and former CEO of Dollar General is part of a gated beachfront community that has taken the global phenomenon and its consequences extremely seriously. Perdue owns a more than 9,000 square-foot mansion with six bathrooms, arched doorways, and a pool on Sea Island, a gated community on St. Simons Island, the wealthiest ZIP code in the state. Over the past few years, as sea-level rise has accelerated, the Sea Island Company, which owns the island resort, has constructed an elaborate and expensive system of jetties and sea walls in an effort to protect the lavish homes there. According to his federal disclosure forms, Perdue’s net worth is somewhere between $13.7 million and $39.8 million. — Georgia Senator Dismisses Climate Change While Enjoying Protected Beachfront Mansion

Humans May Have Passed the ‘Point of No Return’ in Climate A Convergence of Calamities Record numbers of war-displaced to be dwarfed by those driven from their homes by climate change. I saw them for only a few seconds. One glimpse and they were gone. The young woman wore a brown headwrap, a yellow short-sleeved shirt, and a long pink, red, and blue floral-patterned skirt. She held the reins of the donkey pulling her rust-pink cart. Across her lap lay an infant. Perched beside her at the edge of the metal wagon was a young girl who couldn’t have been more than eight. Some firewood, rugs, woven mats, rolled-up clothing or sheets, a dark green plastic tub, and an oversized plastic jerry can were lashed to the bed of the cart. Three goats tied to the rear of it ambled along behind. They found themselves, as I did, on a hot, dusty road slowly being choked by families who had hastily hitched up their donkeys and piled whatever they could — kindling, sleeping mats, cooking pots — into sun-bleached carts or bush taxis. And they were the lucky ones. Many had simply set out on foot. Young boys tended small   herds of recalcitrant goats. Women toted dazed toddlers.  In the rare shade of a roadside tree, a family had stopped and a middle-aged man hung his head, holding it in one hand. By Nick Turse

Crisis, Says Study—But That Doesn’t Mean All Hope Is Lost (Related Article: The Irreversible Emissions of a Permafrost ‘Tipping Point’) In order to roll back catastrophic carbon  missions, humans must “start developing the technologies for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,” says one of the study’s lead authors. By Brett Wilkins

An Earth System Model Shows Self-Sustained Melting of Permafrost Even If All Man-Made GHG Emissions Stop in 2020 The risk of points-of-no-return, which, once surpassed lock the world into new dynamics, have been discussed for decades. Recently, there have been warnings that some of these tipping points are coming closer and are too dangerous to be disregarded. In this paper we report that in the ESCIMO climate model the world is already past a point-of-no-return for global warming. In ESCIMO we observe self-sustained melting of the permafrost for hundreds of years, even if global society stops all emissions of man-made GHGs immediately. We encourage other model builders to explore our discovery in their (bigger) models, and report on their findings. The melting (in ESCIMO) is the result of a continuing self-sustained rise in the global temperature. This warming is the combined effect of three physical processes: (1) declining surface albedo (driven by melting of the Arctic ice cover), (2) increasing amounts of water vapour in the atmosphere (driven by higher temperatures), and (3) changes in the concentrations of the GHG in the atmosphere (driven by the absorption of CO2 in biomass and oceans, and emission of carbon (CH4 and CO2) from melting permafrost). This self-sustained, in the sense of no further GHG emissions, melting process (in ESCIMO) is a causally determined, physical process that evolves over time. It starts with the man-made warming up to the 1950s, leading to a rise in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere—further lifting the temperature, causing increasing release of carbon from melting permafrost, and simultaneously a decline in the surface albedo as the ice and snow covers melts. To stop the self-sustained warming in ESCIMO, enormous amounts of CO2 have to be extracted from the atmosphere. By. Jorgen Randers

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

Report Finds Over 100 Rebellions in Jails and Prisons Over COVID Conditions Demands for baseline safety measures by incarcerated people have been met with brutal repression and punishment. U.S jails and prisons, already death traps, have been completely ravaged by COVID-19. Crowded quarters, a lack of PPE, inadequate medical care, an aging population, and unsanitary conditions have contributed to an infection rate 5.5 times higher than the already ballooned average in the U.S. As of this writing, over 252,000 people in jails and prisons have been infected and at least 1,450 incarcerated people and officers have died from the novel coronavirus. Evidence suggests these figures are underreported, however. (The entire state of Wisconsin, for example, isn’t releasing any information to the public.) By Ella Fassler

Labor:

Economy:

The Fed Says It’s Considering a Central Clearing Facility for the Treasury Market The Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Federal Reserve, Randal Quarles, dropped a bombshell during the House Financial Services Committee hearing held yesterday, but because mainstream media ignores these hearings unless they have something to do with Donald Trump, this critical news went unreported.Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois addressed Quarles with this statement: “The Treasury market is the most liquid fixed income market in the world. It serves as a critical benchmark for other bond markets that are essential. It allows the U.S. Dollar to operate as the world’s dominant reserve currency. That is why it is crucial that these financial pipes continue to function well, especially as we continue to fight COVID-19 and we work to provide fiscal relief to millions of struggling families and small businesses. “When the Fed has to step in to support the market for Treasury bonds, I view it as the financial equivalent of our military going to DEFCON 2. ….” By Pam Martens and Russ MartensWorld:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Daily News Digest November 16, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Quotes 0f the Day:

Videos of the Day:

Trump Loss Decreases Chance of Iran War, But Many Iraqis Fear U.S. Policy Under Biden, Too

Brazil: Trump Ally Bolsonaro Refuses to Acknowledge Biden Win & Downplays COVID as Death Toll Mounts

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

Environment:

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

Labor:

Economy:


World:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Past The Tipping Point

70% support for Medicare for All (M4A)

Florida Voted for $15.0 Minimum Wage, But Trump for President

14 Successful Ballot Initiatives to Reduce InequalityWhile all eyes have been on the race for the White House, voters in states across the country also weighed in on economic proposals with huge implications for inequality. Here are 14 successful ballot initiatives that will help narrow the divides for millions.

  • Tax Increases On The Wealthy And Corporations

  • Worker Protections

  • Housing

  • Transit Equity

  • Money In Politics

  • Digital DivideCriminalization Of Poverty

Biden’s Mandate Is for Deep Solutions, Not Donor-Class Fetishism of Bipartisan Compromise Biden and the Democrats should put principles first and rally the nation around a serious vision: an agenda not simply to “restore the soul of America” but to expand that soul, make this country a true global leader as Planet Earth faces its treacherous future. By Robert C. Koehler

This last is an important point for the Biden-Harris energy team to note. By including so-called new nuclear, they are dooming themselves to wasting both time and money better spent focused on renewables. Small modular reactors will not, as their plan asserts, come in at “half the construction cost of today’s reactors.”    They will be far more expensive in relation to the electricity they would eventually produce. And of course they would arrive too late, and in too small a quantity and generate too little — and very expensive — electricity to make any difference to climate change at all. den-Harris must look at empirical data, not listen to spin doctors and establishment cronies who will keep them anchored to the status quo, thus deferring the very energy revolution they claim they will lead. If Biden-Harris remain in favor of action on climate AND for nuclear power, then they are part of the problem, not the solution. — In Promoting New Nuclear Power, Biden-Harris Back Fiction Over Science

The 1% K Know That the  Earth is Warming!:

But even while Perdue publicly rejects the scientific consensus about climate change, the Georgia senator and former CEO of Dollar General is part of a gated beachfront community that has taken the global phenomenon and its consequences extremely seriously. Perdue owns a more than 9,000 square-foot mansion with six bathrooms, arched doorways, and a pool on Sea Island, a gated community on St. Simons Island, the wealthiest ZIP code in the state. Over the past few years, as sea-level rise has accelerated, the Sea Island Company, which owns the island resort, has constructed an elaborate and expensive system of jetties and sea walls in an effort to protect the lavish homes there. According to his federal disclosure forms, Perdue’s net worth is somewhere between $13.7 million and $39.8 million. — Georgia Senator Dismisses Climate Change While Enjoying Protected Beachfront Mansion

An Alternate National Food Mandate America seems to have a romance with disease. Here is my National Mandate. Close all fast food chains. Put orange cone road blocks on all Dunkin’ Donuts drive thrus. Ban the sale of Coke and Pepsi. The war was not between those two Colas, it was a war against the human body.  The masks mask the elephant in the room. No human being can make a potent immune system with a diet of processed food and sugar. This promiscuous virus seems to have a field day with the the obese and the immune compromised.  The national and world wide addiction to sugar presents a feeding frenzy for a virus which, like all viruses, feed on sugar. Where are the scientists and leaders who can guide the populations of the world to actually combat the virus by starving it and also by strengthening its targets? We are told to behave like boxers in a corner with our gloves up to our face as we

Humans May Have Passed the ‘Point of No Return’ in Climate A Convergence of Calamities Record numbers of war-displaced to be dwarfed by those driven from their homes by climate change. I saw them for only a few seconds. One glimpse and they were gone. The young woman wore a brown headwrap, a yellow short-sleeved shirt, and a long pink, red, and blue floral-patterned skirt. She held the reins of the donkey pulling her rust-pink cart. Across her lap lay an infant. Perched beside her at the edge of the metal wagon was a young girl who couldn’t have been more than eight. Some firewood, rugs, woven mats, rolled-up clothing or sheets, a dark green plastic tub, and an oversized plastic jerry can were lashed to the bed of the cart. Three goats tied to the rear of it ambled along behind. They found themselves, as I did, on a hot, dusty road slowly being choked by families who had hastily hitched up their donkeys and piled whatever they could — kindling, sleeping mats, cooking pots — into sun-bleached carts or bush taxis. And they were the lucky ones. Many had simply set out on foot. Young boys tended small herds of recalcitrant goats. Women toted dazed toddlers.  In the rare shade of a roadside tree, a family had stopped and a middle-aged man hung his head, holding it in one hand. By Nick Turse

Crisis, Says Study—But That Doesn’t Mean All Hope Is Lost

In order to roll back catastrophic carbon emissions, humans must “start developing the technologies for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,” says one of the study’s lead authors. By Brett Wilkins

An Earth System Model Shows Self-Sustained Melting of Permafrost Even If All Man-Made GHG Emissions Stop in 2020 The risk of points-of-no-return, which, once surpassed lock the world into new dynamics, have been discussed for decades. Recently, there have been warnings that some of these tipping points are coming closer and are too dangerous to be disregarded. In this paper we report that in the ESCIMO climate model the world is already past a point-of-no-return for global warming. In ESCIMO we observe self-sustained melting of the permafrost for hundreds of years, even if global society stops all emissions of man-made GHGs immediately. We encourage other model builders to explore our discovery in their (bigger) models, and report on their findings. The melting (in ESCIMO) is the result of a continuing self-sustained rise in the global temperature. This warming is the combined effect of three physical processes: (1) declining surface albedo (driven by melting of the Arctic ice cover), (2) increasing amounts of water vapour in the atmosphere (driven by higher temperatures), and (3) changes in the concentrations of the GHG in the atmosphere (driven by the absorption of CO2 in biomass and oceans, and emission of carbon (CH4 and CO2) from melting permafrost). This self-sustained, in the sense of no further GHG emissions, melting process (in ESCIMO) is a causally determined, physical process that evolves over time. It starts with the man-made warming up to the 1950s, leading to a rise in the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere—further lifting the temperature, causing increasing release of carbon from melting permafrost, and simultaneously a decline in the surface albedo as the ice and snow covers melts. To stop the self-sustained warming in ESCIMO, enormous amounts of CO2 have to be extracted from the atmosphere. By. Jorgen Randers

 

The Problem of Capitalist Politics, Nukes and Climate Change Edition With Donald Trump soon to be exiled from the White House, four years of speculation about the precise degree of departure from the normal course of American imperial management is about to be put to the test. Any path forward will be a consequence of the trends, processes and trajectories that were set in motion at the end of WWII. These were given new meaning by the capitalist revolution (neoliberalism) of the 1970s. Two years ago various United Nations environmental committees began to issue warnings that unless dramatic changes are made, the planet will soon be uninhabitable. The question: will it be political leaders or capital that stands in the way? By Rob Urie

The Fed Says It’s Considering a Central Clearing Facility for the Treasury Market The Vice Chairman for Supervision at the Federal Reserve, Randal Quarles, dropped a bombshell during the House Financial Services Committee hearing held yesterday, but because mainstream media ignores these hearings unless they have something to do with Donald Trump, this critical news went unreported.Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois addressed Quarles with this statement: “The Treasury market is the most liquid fixed income market in the world. It serves as a critical benchmark for other bond markets that are essential. It allows the U.S. Dollar to operate as the world’s dominant reserve currency. That is why it is crucial that these financial pipes continue to function well, especially as we continue to fight COVID-19 and we work to provide fiscal relief to millions of struggling families and small businesses. “When the Fed has to step in to support the market for Treasury bonds, I view it as the financial equivalent of our military going to DEFCON 2. ….” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

One-Time Stimulus Checks Aren’t Good Enough. We Need Universal Basic  Income. A universal basic income could restore a sense of safety that the pandemic has destroyed. “We set up a tent in the woods,” Bonnie said. “My husband will get money for us to eat.” We sat outside, sharing coffee and I asked how they became homeless. She begged at the off-ramp, held a cardboard sign and occasionally plucked a dollar dangled from a car window.

In New York City, the poor increasingly camp on sidewalks or in parks. In the nation at large, millions are at risk of eviction. The CARES Act, the first stimulus package during the pandemic, prevented masses of people from losing their homes and falling into poverty. It was emergency stopgap legislation whose effects have worn off. Another stimulus bill will not be enough. By Nicholas Powers

Welcome to Trump’s Last Act, the Most Dangerous Show on Earth Trump has two months to rage against his humiliation, and deadly weapons at his disposal.Now that the Trump administration has an expiration date, some have argued that Trump’s refusal to concede and his retaliatory governance will be of no consequence. But Trump is a showman rebelling against a narrative of loss and humiliation. Kelly Hayes talks about what’s at stake and why downplaying the risks we face is irresponsible.  By Kelly Hayes

Report Finds Over 100 Rebellions in Jails and Prisons Over COVID Conditions Demands for baseline safety measures by incarcerated people have been met with brutal repression and punishment. U.S jails and prisons, already death traps, have been completely ravaged by COVID-19. Crowded quarters, a lack of PPE, inadequate medical care, an aging population, and unsanitary conditions have contributed to an infection rate 5.5 times higher than the already ballooned average in the U.S. As of this writing, over 252,000 people in jails and prisons have been infected and at least 1,450 incarcerated people and officers have died from the novel coronavirus. Evidence suggests these figures are underreported, however. (The entire state of Wisconsin, for example, isn’t releasing any information to the public.) By Ella Fassler

Daily News Digest November 5, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!:  Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!    For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel!   Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Deaths in the Entire World!

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Us Workers Support for Democrat/Republican Duopoly at All Time Low!Quotes 0f the Day:

The crisis is reflected in the polls as more and more voters refuse to identify with either of the two capitalist parties. A Rasmussen poll conducted earlier this month found that only “17% of likely US voters believe the US government has the consent of the governed” while 69% “believe the government does not have that consent”.  Another poll conducted by pollster Douglas Schoen finds that a “solid” majority of Americans (57%) are looking for alternatives to the two party system. Other findings were just as impressive with over 51% of voters favoring a third party and 31% of them saying that such a development is “very important” for the country according to Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen writing in yesterday’s Journal.   All recent polls reveal this trend, something that has been going on for some time as US workers and the middle class find themselves deeper and deeper in debt and in a country with some of the worst social services of all advanced capitalist economies.  Even a third of Republicans now say they would consider voting for a third party. “The “American people are desperate for a leader who stands outside of the political establishment.  A leader who can speak for the American majority—offering not just rhetoric but a new direction” says Caddell.  The authors expect a third party candidate to arise out of this discontent b y 2012. “The political order as we know it is deteriorating and disintegrating, and politics abhors a vacuum” they argue concluding that, “The American people clearly are looking for alternatives now.” — Us Workers Support for Democrat/Republican Duopoly at All Time Low!

Videos of the Day:

The Purged: The Vanished Voters of Trump’s America

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

The Writing’s On the Wall

Roaming Charges: The Fuck Up By Jeffrey St. Clair In the midst of a killer pandemic and mass unemployment, the Democrats could have offered the nation a universal health care plan, a moratorium on evictions and a guaranteed basic income. Instead, they believed that the key to victory over Trump was to meld neoliberal economics with a neoconservative foreign policy. I don’t know where they got this idea. Probably, the same place Obama got his health insurance plan, the Heritage Foundation.

  • The outcome is still in play, but if Biden loses, we’re going to hear a lot of Malarky about why and most of it will be bullshit. (When I called it a night, at 2am Left Coast Time, Biden had come back to claim to a narrow lead in Wisconsin.)
  • I predicted in my column last Friday that the polls were underestimating Trump’s support (or voter indifference to Biden) by 3 percent. It looks more like 5 to 6 percent in many of the decisive states. In Wisconsin, for example, Biden was favored by 8 percent. At 2Am, he was leading by 0.3 percent. The elite consultants and pollsters may have fucked up more profoundly than the Democrats who relied upon their statistical sorcery.
  • In the midst of a killer pandemic and mass unemployment, the Democrats could have offered the nation a universal health care plan, a moratorium on evictions and a guaranteed basic income. Instead, they believed that the key to victory over Trump was to meld neoliberal economics with a neoconservative foreign policy. I don’t know where they got this idea. Probably, the same place Obama got his health insurance plan, the Heritage Foundation.
  • The Democrats’ candidate voted for the Iraq war, NAFTA, the destruction of welfare, helped instigate the war on drugs, wrote federal crime laws that incarcerated two generations of young black & brown Americans and has preached austerity his entire political career. I’m not surprised by the inconclusive results of an election which should have been a sure thing.
  • I’ve long argued that Biden was a weaker candidate than HRC, who was terrible. At least HRC had a rationale for her campaign. Biden had none. The argument was that Biden wasn’t hated as much as Hillary. Perhaps. But most people just didn’t feel anything about him. Which is fatal for a politician.
  • Look on the bright side. Just think how much money the DNC will raise off of a Biden loss…
  • Trump’s 2am speech was worthy of Somoza’s infamous declaration, “Yes, you won the election. But I won the counting.”
  • Trump says he will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop ALL vote counting across the country. “As far as I am concerned, we have already won,” Trump says.
  • Trump says a sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise those who voted for him. Sad, indeed.
  • By contrast, Biden’s passive speech sounded like Tsar Alexander’s the night before the battle of Austerlitz, completely unaware of the concussive force that’s going to hit him in the morning….
  • Biden is speaking, but saying nothing. Biden should never speak. Ever.
  • Recall how Biden spent most of the early primary season telling people, most of them young progressives, to vote for someone else if they didn’t like his reactionary policies? Surprise!
  • Biden, who spent much of the year recruiting war criminals from the Bush administration, did worse with Republicans than HRC did in 2016.
  • Remember the Zoom election simulation the New Yorker did that got Jeffrey Toobin so excited? Do you think this was the scenario that triggered him?
  • The Biden campaign preferred to court the exiled neocons who started the Iraq war, than Hispanics and progressives. They may not lose, but they probably deserve to…
  • Back in May, the Biden campaign announced that they didn’t consider Latinos a key part of their “path to victory.” This kind of arrogance yielded the predictable results.
  • Hispanic voters per early 2020 exit polls.

The 1’%’s Duopoly Has Won Again! By Roland Sheppard

Since June 2009 Americans have lived in the false reality of a recovering economy.  Various fake news and manipulated statistics have been used to create this false impression.  However, indicators that really count have not supported the false picture and were ignored. For example, it is normal in a recovering or expanding economy for the labor force participation rate to rise as people enter the workforce to take advantage of the job opportunities.  During the decade of the long recovery, from June 2009 through September 2020, the labor force participation rate consistently fell from 65.7 to 61.4percent. —Paul Craig Roberts, The Diminishing American Economy (Updated)  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) Labor Force Participation Rate is 61.4%When the racist segregationist George Wallace ran for President with the slogan that ‘There ain’t a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.’ He got support from workers. Why? Because when people don’t see the any economic difference between the 1% dulopoply, they vote on other issues, such as affirmative action, racism, sexism, immigration etc. . — The section of the working class  that the 1% uses as scapegoats for their declining standard of living. This was made abundantly clear during both the 2008 and 2000 economic crisis. Both parties voted for the economic bailout of Wall Street (%) — Not Main Street (The 99%)!

What is needed to change the current political situation, is a party of, by, and for the majority! A political organization that is opposed to the current pauperization of the 99%, of the working class and the oppressed and exploited  majority!

Since “a ‘solid”‘ majority of Americans (57%) are looking for alternatives to the two party system. (And) Other findings were just as impressive with over 51% of voters favoring a third party and 31% of them saying that such a development is “very important” — The conditions are ripe for such a party. The major obstacle is the allegiance of the current working class leaderships to the capitalist class via the Democratic Party. Which has led to the current Inequality of Income and Wealth and pauperization in the United States and the Rest of the world!To begin with, all socialist groups that don’t give credence to lasser evil voting, should subordinate their differences, in order form a united political front to Begin of unfying the working in opposition against the capitalist wars,  financial and racial inequality, and capitalist system production of global warmings that is destroying the habitat for humanity!

* * *

US Elections 2020: The Dumpster Fire of American Bourgeois Democracy This year’s US presidential elections are a repulsive demonstration of the utter bankruptcy of American bourgeois democracy, at a time of unprecedented crisis and polarisation. No matter who wins, American workers and youth lose. Given the nightmare US capitalism has foisted on the country and the entire world, what is needed above all is a mass socialist party that will fight for the interests of working people.With $340 Million in Loans Soon Coming Due, Deutsche Bank Could Seize Trump Assets If President Defaults: Report The German bank, according to sources who spoke with Reuters, is angling to cut ties with the U.S. president.  Tired of bad press and global scrutiny—and owed hundreds of millions of dollars by the Trump Organization—Deutsche Bank’s management is trying to figure out how to cut ties with President Donald Trump after Tuesday’s election, Reuters revealed, citing three senior officials at the German investment bank. The Trump Organization didn’t respond to Reuters‘ requests for comment and both Deutsche Bank and the White House declined to comment. The president refused to divest from his business empire upon taking office in January 2017 but the Trump Organization—”a rat’s nest of hundreds of ambiguous limited liability companies“—is now managed by his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, and CFO Allen Weisselberg. By Jessica CorbettEnvironment:

Toxic Tuesdays: Arsenic:

Arsenic is a naturally-occurring element found throughout the Earth’s crust. It is usually found combined with other elements creating a powder that is odorless and tasteless and can exist either in an organic or inorganic form. Inorganic arsenic compounds are highly toxic and for years were used to preserve wood. Copper chromated arsenate (CCA) was used to make “pressure-treated” lumber. Though no longer used for residential uses, CCA is still used in industrial applications. Organic arsenic compounds are used as pesticides, primarily on cotton fields and orchards. Common ways people are exposed to arsenic include living near hazard-ous waste sites and industrial facilities that release arsenic air emissions; living near or work-ing in occupations such as metal smelting, wood treatment, or pesticide applications that use arsenic. Living in areas that have naturally high arsenic levels in rock can also result in exposure. Arsenic cannot be destroyed in the environment, so once it is released by either natural or human activity it can enter the air, soil, and water.      Arsenic is classified as a human carcinogen, meaning exposure to it can cause cancer. Skin, liver, bladder, and lung cancer are the most com-monly reported cancer types. There are also non-cancer health effects including circulatory, neurological, and endocrine effects. Arsenic may also cause developmental effects in children.     Residents of a North Birmingham, Alabama neighborhood located next to two coke manu-facturing plants know first-hand what it’s like to be exposed to arsenic. For years, the residents there have been suffering from air emissions that contain arsenic, lead and other metals.      They have complained of soot inside and outside their homes,  and have been plagued with health problems such as cancer and premature deaths. The residents organized People Against Neighbor-hood Industrial Contamination (PANIC) and raised enough pressure to get EPA and ATSDR’s attention.     Only problem was the EPA thought the residents could live with the contamination following some limited cleanup. Now residents are saying enough is enough and they want to be relocated.     One way the residents thought they might achieve this is by convincing the state to request that EPA place the 35th Avenue waste site on the federal Superfund list. PANIC and the state-wide group GASP hoped to convince the governor to do this by holding a protest caravan of over 50 cars that went around the city of Birmingham asking people to contact Governor Kay Ivey and ask her to put the 35th Avenue contaminated site on the federal Superfund list. The group is planning a follow-up to Montgomery to help convince the governor.

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

Labor:

Economy:

Poorer and Smaller: Ten Ways T\the Coronavirus Crisis Will Shape The Global Economy In The Long Term Much remains uncertain for business, the economy, domestic politics and international relations COVID-19 has had an immediate and massive impact. But how will it affect the longer term? That is far harder to tell.What do we already know, after 10 months of COVID-19? We know that the world was ill-equipped to cope with a pandemic. It has caused about 1.1 million deaths worldwide, mostly among the elderly. Moreover, some countries have suppressed the disease far more successfully than others. By Martin WolfWorld:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare 

Pinpointing the ‘Silent’ Mutations That Gave the Coronavirus An Evolutionary Edge RNA folding may help explain how the coronavirus became so hard to stop after it spilled over from wildlife to humans We know that the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 crisis lived harmlessly in bats and other wildlife before it jumped the species barrier and spilled over to humans. Now, researchers at Duke University have identified a number of “silent” mutations in the roughly 30,000 letters of the virus’s genetic code that helped it thrive once it made the leap — and possibly helped set the stage for the global pandemic. The subtle changes involved how the virus folded its RNA molecules within human cells.For the study, published Oct. 16 in the journal PeerJ, the researchers used statistical methods they developed to identify adaptive changes that arose in the SARS-CoV-2 genome in humans, but not in closely related coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins.

Daily News Digest October 7, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

The US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply:  The Iron Heel!

The Trump Administration is Going to Be Pushing/Proiteering Remdesivir When He Gets Out of the Hospital and On the Campaign Trail.:   Trump Has Been Treated With Gilead Sciences Remdesivir In Addition yo Regeneron’s Neutralizing Antibody Cocktail President Donald Trump, who recently tested positive for the coronavirus, has been treated with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir in addition to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s experimental neutralizing antibody cocktail. Gilead’s GILD, -1.81%  remdesivir received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in May. It is an antiviral therapy that so far has been proven to reduce recovery times in COVID-19 patients who have been hospitalized with severe cases of the disease. It helps stop the spread of the virus in the body. By Jaimy Lee

Extreme Fires and Floods — We Are at the Global Waming ‘Tipping Point’ If It’s Not Here, Its Near!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Deaths in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake! By Roland SheppardLaura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”

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

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

Quotes 0f the Day:

More than half of Earth’s freshwater resources are held by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which thus represents by far the largest potential source for global sea-level rise under future warming conditions1. Its long-term stability determines the fate of our coastal cities and cultural heritage. Feedbacks between ice, atmosphere, ocean, and the solid Earth give rise to potential nonlinearities in its response to temperature changes. So far, we are lacking a comprehensive stability analysis of the Antarctic Ice Sheet for different amounts of global warming. Here we show that the Antarctic Ice Sheet exhibits a multitude of temperature thresholds beyond which ice loss is irreversible. Consistent with palaeodata2 we find, using the Parallel Ice Sheet Model3,4,5, that at global warming levels around 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, West Antarctica is committed to long-term partial collapse owing to the marine ice-sheet instability. — The Hysteresis of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

Videos of the Day:

What Constitutes Affordable Housing? When we talk about affordable housing, we usually talk about whether someone has a place to live or not. But buried in that discussion is another facet of the housing shortage: whether someone’s rent is just a few dollars away from becoming unaffordable.

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

Against Covid-19, Imperfect Measures Do the Most Good Speed and scale may matter more than absolute effectiveness when it comes to tests, masks, treatments and vaccines. It is a basic instinct of infectious diseases clinicians and researchers to seek and prescribe prophylactics or treatments that are almost guaranteed to benefit the patients who entrust us with their care. With Covid-19, this instinct can be counterproductive. By  Dr. Schiffer  infectious diseases specialist.Environment:

Capitalism – Not ‘Humanity’ – Is Killing the World’s Wildlife The new Living Planet report grimly documents global environmental destruction, but lets the responsible systems and institutions off the hook The latest Living Planet report from the WWF makes for grim reading: a 60% decline in wild animal populations since 1970, collapsing ecosystems, and a distinct possibility that the human species will not be far behind. The report repeatedly stresses that humanity’s consumption is to blame for this mass extinction, and journalists have been quick to amplify the message. The Guardian headline reads “Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations,” while the BBC runs with “Mass wildlife loss caused by human consumption.” by Anna PigottAntarctica’s Ice Loss Could Soon Be Irreversible Global heating means the southern ice will melt. Antarctica’s ice loss could then be permanent, drowning many great cities. The greatest mass of ice on the planet is growing steadily more unstable, and that means Antarctica’s ice loss may before long be inexorable. New studies show that right now, just one degree of warming must mean an eventual sea level rise of 1.3 metres, simply from the flow of melting ice from the continent of Antarctica. By Tim RadfordCivil Rights/Black Liberation!

Labor:

Nearly 20,000 US Amazon and Whole Foods workers have been infected with COVID-19 The increase in Amazon’s market capitalization since the start of the year amounts to $34 million for each worker who got sick. On Thursday, the management of Amazon quietly revealed in a blog post that 19,816 employees in the US, including warehouse and Whole Foods workers, have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. By  Tom Carter

Economy:

World:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

Daily News Digest October 1, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

The US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply:  The Iron Heel!

Extreme Fires and Floods — We Are at the Global Waming ‘Tipping Point’ If It’s Not Here, Its Near!

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Deaths in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake! By Roland SheppardLaura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”

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

Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images  of the Day:

The ‘Debate’

 They Both Favor Wall Street — Not Main Street

Quotes 0f the Day:

Mark Twain on Congress: Idiots, Criminals, Dumber Than Fleas Twain, we can imagine, would be…oh, what’s the word? Appalled, perhaps? But hardly surprised. Twain held a poisonous disdain for Congress in particular and politics in general. As politicians praise him, it’s worth remembering what Twain had to say about them:

  • “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

  • “Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can.”

  • “An honest man in politics shines more there than he would elsewhere.”

  • “There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”

  • “All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.”

Videos Of the Day:

How the Corporate Media Helps the Fossil Fuel Industry Dupe the American Public on Climate

Trump Tells Proud Boys to ‘Stand By,’ Refuses to Agree to Concede Election

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Rax the Rich!  — They Can Afford To Pay!

Candidate Not Invited to the Dabate: United States: Democrats Move to Suppress Green Party Vote

Related Articles:

Voter suppression has become a real issue in recent years. The major discussion has been centred on Democrats correctly accusing the Republicans of disenfranchising people of colour and working-class peopleBut now the Democrats are actively seeking to keep the Green Party (Greens, GP) presidential and vice presidential candidates, socialists Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker, off the ballot in a number of states. They have been backed in this effort by the liberal media. A case in point was a September 23 front page article in the New York Times titled “The Green Party’s Biggest Fan? It’s Often the Republican Party”.  By Barry Sheppard

Anti-Fascists Worked to Keep Portland Community Safe Amid Far Right Rally  As hundreds of people flooded into Peninsula Park in Portland, Oregon, last weekend despite the pouring rain, they brought a level of energy that few would expect months into an unending protest in the city. While the city braced itself for dueling rallies between an influx of far right Proud Boys on the one side and anti-fascists on the other, instead, the latter triumphed in a celebration of the strength they have found in continually taking a stand against the far right and police violence. The Proud Boys have become a key part of Donald Trump’s base, with Trump even ordering them to “stand by” in case of accused election interference in November during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. This prompted Proud Boy organizer Joe Biggs to say that Trump basically gave the group the green light to fight anti-fascists. By Shane BurleyLegal Lynchings: Trump Nation of White Supremacist Cops Enforceing ‘Law and Order!’:  Unredacted Fbi Document Sheds New Light on White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement A 2006 intelligence assessment reveals that officials had concerns about the infiltration of police departments for years but failed to warn the public. THE FBI HAS long been concerned about the infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacist groups and its impact on police abuse and tolerance of racism, the unredacted version of a previously circulated document reveals. The FBI threat assessment report was released by Rep. Jamie Raskin, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee, ahead of a hearing about the white supremacist infiltration of local police departments scheduled for Tuesday. A heavily redacted version of the 2006 document had previously been published, one of a handful of documents revealing federal officials’ growing concern with white supremacists’ “historical” interest in “infiltrating law enforcement communities or recruiting law enforcement personnel.”   By Alice Speri 

As Proud Boys Celebrate Trump Shout-Out, Warnings Grow That President ‘Inciting Violence’ to Retain Power “Trump has repeatedly made it clear that he considers violent white supremacists to be a valued part of his base, even after people are murdered.” Members of the Proud Boys are rejoicing after President Donald Trump gave the far-right organization a shout-out and marching orders during Tuesday night’s nationally televised debate, heightening fears that the president is deliberately rallying extremist groups and stirring up white supremacist violence as part of his frantic effort to remain in power. The Daily  Beast  reported Wednesday morning that one Proud Boys leader readily interpreted Trump’s comments as instructions to commit violence against the president’s political opponents. “Trump basically said to go fuck them up!” wrote Joey Biggs after the president told the Proud Boys, a group that openly embraces violence, to “stand back and stand by.” By Jake JohnsonThat Was Not a Debate. That Was a Warning. This Nation Is Not Well In the lost innocence of yesterday morning, I wrote, “If a thumb-sized Winston Churchill on a spring bursts from Trump’s forehead tonight and bellows ‘Buy War Bonds!’ at the audience, his base will nod sagely to themselves and say it’s all part of The Plan.”  Would that it were so. Instead, what happened was tantamount to a neo-fascist Proud Boy on a spring bursting from Trump’s forehead, tipping a wink at the camera and saying, “That’s our guy!” As the pundits spend the day playing their favorite Trump-era parlor game — “What did you think the worst part was, Snuffie?” — the president’s pointed refusal to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, while giving what sounded like a call to arms to one of them, will stand out in stark relief. Part of The Plan, indeed. By William Rivers PittState Department Cut Funding For Controversial “Iran Disinfo” Project — But Kept Working With Its Creators   Internal documents show a multi-front effort to keep funding and collaboration alive, because the public was unaware of the links. In JUNE 2019, the State Department suspended a contract for a counterpropaganda program called the Iran Disinformation Project, widely known by its combative Twitter handle, @IranDisinfo. The project had come under scrutiny because, on Twitter, it was dedicating a significant amount of its output to attacking U.S. critics of President Donald Trump’s Iran policy. Within days of complaints being brought against Iran Disinfo, the project was suspended; by early June, the remainder of the $1.5 million contract had been terminated.  By Negar Mortazaviand Murtaza Hussain

‘As the World Burns’: Q&A With Author Lee van der Voo on Her New Book About a Landmark Youth Climate LawsuitEarlier this year a pair of judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to dismiss the groundbreaking American youth climate change lawsuit Juliana v. United States. But the case is not yet over — while the 21 young people who sued the U.S. government await a decision on whether the full appeals court will review the ruling to toss the lawsuit, a brand-new book by award-winning environmental journalist Lee van der Voo takes a behind-the-scenes look at this landmark legal case and the youth plaintiffs known collectively as the Juliana 21. The book, AS THE WORLD BURNS: The New Generation of Activists and the Legal Fight Against Climate Change, tells the stories of these young people who are part of a generation of youth fighting for their lives and their rights amidst the unfolding climate crisis. “AS THE WORLD BURNS is climate breakdown like you’ve never seen it — through the eyes of the young,” the book’s description notes.  By Dana DrugmandEnvironment:

An Ecosocialist Manifesto: For an Egalitarian, Cooperative Road to Ecosocialism!   We are in the midst of a climate emergency and there is no way out without radically changing the way society is organised. If humanity does not free itself from the capitalist drive for ever greater profits and ever-expanding economic growth, rising global temperatures alone will make the planet uninhabitable for humans and millions of other living species.   We urgently need to find a collective road to a new way of living that is based on human solidarity and ecological sustainability!

  1. The emergency is now

  2. We need to move beyond capitalism to ecosocialism

  3. Capitalism’s violent defence of power and privilege

  4. Building a movement for ecosocialist revolution

 Civil Rights/Black Liberation!

Labor:

Economy:

As the Wall Street Vubbke Exspands:

Even Though The Stock Market Has Been Bloated By The Federal Reserve’s Printing $Trillions For WallStreet, Tha Wall Street Banksters are Betting $Billions More  On the Come!

Despite Pandemic and Worst Downturn Since 1930s, Investors’ Margin Debt Grew by 15 Percent Since JanuaryConjuring up another era of “irrational exuberance,” data from Wall Street’s self-regulator, FINRA, shows that margin debt has grown by 15 percent since the end of January to a total of $645.5 billion as of August 31 of this year. That’s very close to the prior record of $668.9 billion set at the end of May 2018, according to the FINRA database. Margin debt is created when investors borrow money against their stocks (or other marginable securities) held in a margin account at a brokerage firm. Typically, the margin loan is to enable the customer to buy more stock on a leveraged basis. Under the Federal Reserve’s Regulation T, investors may borrow a maximum of 50 percent of the purchase price of stocks from their brokerage firm. The remaining 50 percent of the price of the securities must be funded with cash. That’s known as Initial Margin or IM. By Pam Martens and Russ MartensWorld:

After the Latest Betrayal, It’s Time to Change The Leadership of the Nigerian Trade Unions The trade union leaders in Nigeria have betrayed the working class once again by selling out a planned general strike against power and fuel price hikes, unleashing unprecedented anger by members crushed beneath economic hardship and the COVID-19 pandemic. The workers need a fighting leadership! The bourgeois economists have made several alarming predictions of impending economic crisis in Nigeria over the past five years. However, not even the far-sighted bourgeois analysts foresaw the rapidity and the intensity of the current crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the process in a way that none of the establishment strategists, including in the most-advanced capitalist countries, ever envisaged. By Ola Kazeem

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for  themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

Daily News Digest September 2020

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Daily News Digest July 31, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake! By Roland SheppardLaura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Signe Wilkinson: Virtually Learning How To Reopen SchoolsQuotes of the Day:

After the assassination of Martin Luther King and the subsequent rebellions in the inner cities protesting his assassination, the Democratic Party’s “war on poverty” started laying dollars on any potential Black leaders and grooming Black Candidates. John Lewis, formally of SNCC, became enlightened, he ignored the Black Panthers and saw the Democratic Party, symbolized by a jackass, as his party. Most of what W.E. B. Dubois described as the “talented tenth” were bought off by this process. The more radical concepts that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X had developed at the time of their deaths disappeared from the scene. No one took up where they left off. The governmental policy, directed towards the ‘leaders’ of the civil rights movement, of the carrot (dollarism) and the stick (assassinations) had proven to be successful. — Roland Sheppard, The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement

Videos of the Day:United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

“Unrest” Is Not the Enemy. Fascism Is. As Black Lives Matter protests continue to play out around the country, images of protesters squaring off with police in Portland have inflamed debates about “peacefulness,” violence and respectability. Some liberal figures have argued that Trump’s law and order narrative is facilitated by imagery of police dueling with protesters, and that unity will be needed to halt the march of fascism. Such critics have pointed to the riots of the late ‘60s, claiming that the Civil Rights Movement was derailed by those who resorted to violent tactics in the streets. As someone who has been calling on people for years to lock arms against the threat of fascism, regardless of personal difference, I can appreciate some of the sentiments behind these assertions. But I, too, see some tired historical patterns at work.By Kelly HayesEnvironment:

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

There is no democracy in the United States! — Just democracy for the 1%!  When the order in the United States is economic and social inequality. The slogan ‘Law and Order’ means the maintenance of that order— Rich 1% First and  the poorest of the 99% last!. Real democracy means that we all share the wealth equally! —Roland Sheppard

The Black-White Disability Gap Increases with Age With the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) happening this weekend as Black Lives Matter protests continue, it’s a good time to look at the intersection between race and disability in the United States. The figure below compares disability rates by age, sex, and race for non-Latinx adults. The data in the figure comes from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). A person is counted as disabled if they answer “yes” to any one of five questions in the survey. By Shawn FremstadLabor:

Multiple Jobholders: Who Are They and How Are They Impacted by the Pandemic? According to the Current Population Survey (CPS), 8.1 million employees worked one or more additional jobs in a typical week in 2019. As the figure below shows, the number of these “employee multiple jobholders” had been trending upward since 2013 before the pandemic hit. (We use the term “employee multiple jobholders” here because, as we discuss further below, the CPS does not capture “nonemployee multiple jobholders”.) Over the same period, the percentage of all employees who are multiple jobholders has been stable (at about 5 percent of all employees), so the increase in the number of employee multiple jobholders before the pandemic was driven by the underlying increase in employment. Since the pandemic, the number of employee multiple jobholders has fallen precipitously. In April 2020, 5.4 million employees reported working one or more additional jobs, a decline of 2.7 million, or 33 percent, since 2019. In June 2020, the number of employee multiple jobholders rebounded slightly to 6.1 million employees (4.3 percent) but remains far below the pre-pandemic level. By Hye Jin Rho And  Shawn FremstadEconomy:

World:

Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on HealthcareDaily News Digest July 31, 2020

Daily News Digest July 10, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter  Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake! By Roland SheppardLaura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Quotes of the Day:

Have you ever wondered why the CPI, GDP and employment numbers run counter to your personal and business experiences?  The problem lies in biased and often-manipulated government reporting.— John Williams

Sekulow’s nonprofit juggernaut has tentacles that involve defending Israel against perceived media bias; his playing a major role in writing the USA Patriot Act; setting up a nonprofit to funnel money to former Attorney General John Ashcroft; and legally representing 27 Tea Party groups across the country. (See here for more details.) Main Street businesses that received only a small portion of the amount of funds they requested under the PPP program, some as little as $1,000, may want to write to their representatives in Congress and request an investigation of why Sekulow’s well-funded, taxpayer-subsidized nonprofit got so much money. — Jay Sekulow, Trump’s Impeachment Lawyer, Collected $1-2 Million in a PPP Loan for his Scandal-Ridden Charity

Image of the Day:

Doctor Trump’s Coronavirus  Opinion: Don’t Worry Be Happy!Videos of the Day:

Looming Eviction Crisis Will Endanger Public Health And Economic Recovery

Strange Slow Dance Between Israel And The Gulf States, Despite Annexation

 United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

Health Official Says Tulsa’s Spike in COVID Cases Likely Linked to Trump Rally public health official in Tulsa, Oklahoma, suggested this week that President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in the city last month likely caused a spike in new cases of coronavirus seen in the jurisdiction. By Chris WalkerCoronavirus Relief Funds Are About to Run Out for the Child Care Industry As child care centers close en masse, Congress has been unwilling to provide the resources to stave off the crisis. By Alexis GoldsteinThe 1% Government Barely and Rarely Taxes Taxes the 1%!

‘An Absolute Outrage’: Sanders Rips ‘Wealthy Tax Cheats’ as CBO Estimates $381 Billion in Annual Unpaid Taxes “The richest 1% is responsible for 70% of all unpaid taxes… Congress is leaving hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes uncollected from the wealthy.” By Jake JohnsonHumanity on Track to Soon Hit 1.5ºC Paris Accord Limit as Atmospheric CO2 Nears Level Not Seen in 15 Million Years “It’s still not too late to avoid the worst effects of the #ClimateEmergency. But governments need to act NOW,” tweeted Greenpeace. By Jessica Corbett ‘No One Is Above the Law’: Supreme Court Allows New York Prosecutor to Subpoena Trump Financial Records A split decision on two separate cases pertaining to the president’s taxes will likely leave the documents out of public view until after the election. By Julia Conley

Environment:

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

There is no democracy in the United States! — Just democracy for the 1%!  When the order in the United States is economic and social inequality. The slogan ‘Law and Order’ means the maintenance of that order— Rich 1% First and  the poorest of the 99% last!. Real democracy means that we all share the wealth equally! —Roland Sheppard

Vanguard leadership by Blacks: The history of the US is one of thievery and national oppression.  Whites rarely know the truth about the history.   The Black leadership of the current upsurge and the BLM organisations know the truth.  Their vanguard political role has inspired other oppressed peoples to stand up.  The white backlash, led by Trump, is seeking to use more violence to suppress the movement and encourage liberals to protect the police institutions. In the past, that “law and order” message has worked.  History shows that Democratic elected officials and establishment liberals, including Africa Americans, have supported the police, the “law and order” agenda and mass incarceration. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has already declared he will increase police budgets if he is elected president.What next?: This is why the left wing of the protest movement is not shifting their focus away from peaceful street action to campaign for Joe Biden. The gains won so far are due to mass struggle and must continue no matter who is president and which party rules Congress. The American crises cannot be solved by liberalism and electoralism.  Trump’s race-war strategy can only win if the movement leaves the streets. As the examples in New York City, Minneapolis and Seattle show, protests will continue so long as killer cops are not prosecuted and put in prisons. A Third Radical Reconstruction (Revolution) is needed now. — Malik Miah, United States: July 4 Speech Signals New Stage in Trump’s Race War

Conservative Elites Are Fighting for “Values” Invented to Justify Slavery hroughout its history the U.S. has had two very different ruling elites, motivated by very different definitions of liberty. Let’s call them the New England Yankees vs. the Old South Planters. Their radically different definitions of “liberty” still divide liberals and conservatives today. By Peter Montague

Don’t Let the Democratic Party Bury the Movement  The Black movement will be asphyxiated by the ubiquitous fingers of the Democratic Party if it does not build independent nexuses of people’s power. By Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor Freedom Rider: The Police Defunding Con Game Cutting police budgets without establishing public control over their behavior doesn’t solve the problem, and invites politicians to shuffle budget numbers around like a three-card monte swindle. Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnistThe State and White supremacy: The Inextricable Link The demand for “justice” by the pubic had the ironic result of re-legitimizing the state as an institution that could in fact render justice – but only an empowered people can establish a just order. By Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist Beware of Right Deviations That Have Emerged from the Three-Headed Crisis of US Imperialism  Libertarianism, like all capitalist ideologies, is bound with white supremacy. By Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing EditorTo Abolish the Medical industrial Complex Like prisons, healthcare systems are part of the way that empire reproduces itself. By Gwendolyn Wallace#WE TOO If there can be no peace without justice, then there can never be peace while the US Prison Gulag exists. By Shaka ShakurWhen France Extorted Haiti – the Greatest Heist in History The indemnity Haiti paid to France is the first and only time a formerly enslaved people were forced to compensate those who had once enslaved them. By Marlene DautNicaragua – How Phony Human Rights Groups Slandered a U.S.-Targeted Nation  Nicaragua’s case is a text-book example of how genuine human rights research has been subverted so as to produce highly biased reports. By Stephen SeftonThe Weaponization of Culture While statues glorifying white supremacy are being torn down across the globe, a Maryland county is busy desecrating African graves and building a new edifice to white supremacy. By Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnistCuban Spies Disguised As Doctors The European Union now excludes travelers from the COVID-ridden U.S. , but welcomes those from the virtually COVID-free Cuba. By Roger StollWhat’s in a Name Change?: A New Black/Native American Solidarity Native American and African/Black people in America have both been victims of Settler Colonialism. By Gustavus GriffinLabor:

Economy:

COVID-19 Exposes the Weakness of a Major Theory Used to Justify Capitalism COVID-19 exposes the sham of orthodox economics. It was not profitable for capitalists to produce and stockpile adequate quantities of tests, masks, gloves, beds, etc., to be prepared for the virus. Given the costs to produce these commodities, there was no way of knowing how long they would need to be stockpiled before there would be a demand for and purchase of them. Stockpiling costs. So do monitoring stockpiles for deterioration and replacing deteriorated stocks or insuring against deterioration. There was, in short, no way to know (and thus be able to calculate) the costs in the manner fantasized by orthodox economics. By Richard D. WolffJay Sekulow, Trump’s Impeachment Lawyer, Collected $1-2 Million in a PPP Loan for his Scandal-Ridden Charity Jay Sekulow’s charities have been under a harsh glare for almost two decades for funneling vast sums to Sekulow and his family members. Now, one of those charities, the American Center for Law and Justice, has turned up on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan database that was released this week by the Small Business Administration. PPP loans were part of the CARES Act passed by Congress to help small businesses with no other source of funding stay alive during the pandemic By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Britain: Momentum election results show appetite for radical change On July 1, elections for Momentum’s leading body produced a victory for the grassroots slate, winning on a promise of democratic change and socialist policies. This should empower activists to get organised and fight the right.  By Adam Booth

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

‘The Last Straw’: As Pandemic Rages, Oxfam Warns 12,000 Could Die Per Day From Hunger “Meanwhile, those at the top are continuing to make a profit.” By Andrea Germanos

Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading  Racism,  War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1The Capitalist World is in Crisis!

  • The Economy is in deep crisis, the capitalist cannot afford to be reformed and/or war spending to get world capitalism ‘recovered’ like it did in the last depression!

  • The 1% capitalists rule must be opposed! Poverty is rampant! Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World! Blacks and other minorities, poor people, the uninsured, the underinsured, and the elderly account for the majority of these deaths.

  • Coronavirus and other new viruses are dueto the capitalist mode of food production— Argri-Business!

  •  Financial inequality is rampant!

  • Racial Inequality is rampant

  • There are ongoing wars throughout the world!

  • The environment in crisis— The habitat for humanity at stake!— Global warming has put the world on fire!

  • There is an extreme lack of housing!

  • The world’s masses are hungry — the Scepter of mass starvation looms! The pestilence of the coronaviruses worldwide continues, with no end in sight!

  • The rights of the capitalists to make a profit are in direct conflict with our basic human rights!

  • Black Lives Must Matter! Human lives Must Matter!

The world’s masses instinctively know that capitalism is not working! And that capitalism offers no solution! Despite the efforts of the petty bourgeoisie ‘leaders’ of mass organizations, capitalism has been proven that it cannot be reformed for the betterment of society. In the United States the social democrats, in office, voted unanimously for the coronavirus bailout to the 1% capitalists! (And gave less than 1% of that bailout to the 99%.)

Worldwide, with the support of the petty bourgeoisie ‘leaders’, of the oppressed and exploited,  the capitalist class is socializing their debts — transferring their losses to the 99%. Now they are in frenzy in their search for profits and are stripping the working class, Blacks, oppressed minorities. the poor, and sections of the middle class, of any and all assets. The people for whom capitalist poses no future

The capitalist mode of production is polluting the world, with no regard for life itself. Years ago Rachel Carson predicted  the coming catastrophe, if the mode of production does not change, Rachel Carson predicted this, when she wrote in The Sea Around Us.: “It is a  furious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.”

The military-industrial complex (The largest single polluter in the world!) is on an unending campaign of wars to plunder profit from the earth’s wealth! — Demonstrates that, due to the 1% capitalist class’s insatiable greed, human lives don’t matter.

This is what happened historically in the Roman Empire on its way to debt bondage and serfdom. The only capitalist solution the current economic and political crisis of capitalism, at this time, is the worldwide application of the Iron Heel, as described by Jack London in his book, The Iron Heel.

The current police terrorist violence of Black People in the United States is an example of what capitalism has in store for the rest of us unless we organize! In the United States, there has been one movement that is the exception — the Black Lives Matter movement and the massive worldwide multi-racial demonstrations demanding Black Lives Matter!An excerpt from Black Lives Matter Groups Release Political Action Program By Barry Sheppard:

. . .  Another section is on reparations for the harm done by slavery – a demand often raised by Black activists. The document takes the demand further, to include reparations for all the economic harm and exploitation of Blacks not only by slavery, but through Jim Crow up to the present day.   This exploitation is also addressed in a separate section on economic justice. Among other things, it calls for the elimination of regressive taxation and for worker protections for those not included under current regulations – including domestic workers, farm workers, restaurant and other workers who rely on tips. Many are Black and Latino, but this demand is in the interest of all workers, as is the demand for the right of all workers to organize unions.   “A vision for Black lives” is a work in progress. As it is read, discussed and changed by Black Lives Matter activists, their political awareness will be greatly deepened. It will also have an international aspect, as groups in other countries – including Canada, Britain and Australia – have taken up the name of Black Lives Matter in their own struggles.   It should also be read, discussed and debated among socialists and others on the left.   Black Lives Matter has increased the confidence of Black youth. They are taking the lead away from the Black political establishment, which is mired in the Democratic Party. “A vision for Black lives” will increase that confidence further.

The immediate task is to build the international opposition of the working class and the oppressed masses of the world to this international crisis of debt and overproduction. The petty-bourgeois leaderships of the working class and the worlds’ oppressed have no solution to this final crisis of capitalism.

We must begin the struggle against the ruling class monopoly of political power. As Frederick Douglass stated: “if there is no struggle there can no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation…want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters…. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

Now is the time to reorganize all anti-capitalist forces and fighters for working class emancipation and self-determination for people oppressed by capitalism for the rebuilding of a new revolutionary political organization to organize and build our combined power to overturn capitalism that is, in its death agony, waging war, famine, pestilence, and death, and the globalization of global warming throughout the world!

When we organize this combined power, we will have the force power to stop the corporate thievery! Instead of giving ‘bailout’ donations to these modern-day robber barons, we shall bailout the victims of the modern-day Wall Street Robber Barons!

Once we organize our power independent of the ruling class we can bring all the troops home now from Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other country where they’re stationed, and instead of spending trillions for war, we can initiate massive public works projects, to rebuild the nation’s inner cities, schools, hospitals, eliminate poverty, unemployment, and begin to restore humanity’s habitat!

What is needed is:

  1. Unity and Solidarity of the all exploited and oppressed In the present world.

  2. A Political organization based on that solidarity to lead and support the masses, need to be organized!

Jefferson’s words, that human rights are unalienable, mean that these rights can never be superseded. At all points of conflict the rights of humanity to survive must supersede the right of the few to make a profit. The right to life world is an unalienable human right!

Since the present crisis of capitalism is a global concern, it requires all of humanity to act collectively, in our overall interests for our survival as a species, to correct the problem and to remove the obstacle of capitalism. It requires a society where humanity has social, economic, and political control over the earth. Such a society, a socialist society, is needed to ensure that all decisions affecting the survival of our standard of living are under the democratic control of humankind so that the production of goods will be done for the needs and survival of humanity instead of the production and the destruction of humanity and other species for profit!

With common ownership of the means of production and common control and protection of all property and wealth, science and society will be in harmony with the ecosystem and humanity’s future.

With these goals, we can begin to build an effective movement. As we continue to organize against capitalism and its destructive course, we can and will transform the world.

Black Lives Matter! Human Lives Mater!

Daily News Digest June 16, 2020

The 1% Don’t Really Care About us!

A headline, in today’s Digest, The Trump Administration Has All But Given Up Fighting the Pandemic, overlooks the basic fact that is expose by the headline.  Since Blacks, other minorities, elderly, uninsured, underinsured, and poor people, are the majority of the people who die from the coronavirus and the 1% don’t die; proves  that They Don’t Care About Us! That fact is proven by the bipartisan Pandemic Bailout of the 1%. To the 1%, we, the 99%, are viewed as just cannon fodder in the Coronavirus ‘War’.

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Billion Dollar Government

Quotes of the Day:

“Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.” — History is Important

From the “Preface to The Sixth Edition (2001)” of the The Media Monopoly. By  Ben Bagdikian:  The impact on the national political agenda has been devastating, For years, the mainstream news has over dramatized its reporting of congressional and White House debate on the national debt and deficit beyond their intrinsic importance. Politicians raised the issue, but it was seized upon and overblown by the major media — media that politicians use as a bellwether on what issues will get them the  most public attention and partisan advantage. During these crucial years, the American economy was undergoing an astonishing phenomenon that the mainstream news left largely unreported or actually glamorized in its infrequent references: the largest transfer of the national wealth in American history from a majority of the population to a small percentage of the country’s wealthiest families.

Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development who led the US government’s response to international disasters between 2013 and 2017, said that stark contrasts in outcomes between different countries in terms of illness and death have been determined not by Covid-19 itself, but by how seriously each government took the risk and how early they acted. “On that score we failed badly,” he said. “You can have the best system in the world, but if you give the virus an eight-week head start it will eat you alive.” —  How Science Finally Caught Up With Trump’s Playbook — With Millions of Lives At Stake

Unfortunately for Wall Street, the first major crack in that p.r. campaign has now occurred. Former Wall Street veteran turned law professor, Frank Partnoy, has penned an article for The Atlantic, titled: “The Looming Bank Collapse.” In the article Partnoy reveals the big lie that these banks are “well capitalized” and exposes how the banks are back to their same old dirty tricks with the same complex instruments that blew up the financial system the last time around. — The Federal Reserve Has Its Own Police and Is Part of a Vast Surveillance Center – Should You Worry?

Videos of the Day:

Georgia’s Elections Were A  Voter Suppression Horror Show

The ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Video Police Don’t Want You To See

The Killing of Rayshard Brooks: Atlanta Police Shoot Dead Unarmed Man Who Fell Asleep in His Own Car

Police Anti-Bias Trainer Shot in Groin by San Jose Cops at Protest: “It’s Clear This Isn’t Working”

It’s a Pandemic, But Millionaire Trump Adviser Complains $600-Per-Week Boost in Unemployment Benefits Is Too Generous Economists have warned that in addition to “causing avoidable human misery,” ending the enhanced unemployment insurance “would severely hamper spending—and, by extension, the overall economic recovery.” By Jake Johnson,

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives tothe Rich.

The Twin Plagues of Scientific Indifference and Depraved Indiference Are Upon Us!:  The Trump Administration Has All But Given Up Fighting the Pandemic “It’s going to disappear,” President Trump said about the novel coronavirus at the end of February, before the first American was believed to have died from covid-19. “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” It never did — to date, more than 2 million Americans have been infected with the virus and more than 112,000 have died — but Trump’s administration is now acting as though the miracle already came.  In fact, it’s hardly an exaggeration to say that the president and his administration have all but given up fighting the pandemic. The task force, led by Vice President Pence, to coordinate the government’s actions, has scaled back its work, only meeting occasionally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly “remains largely demoralized and often sidelined” in fighting the virus. By  Paul Waldman

Police Killings are a Political Tactic As the spark that lit a fire, the murder of George Floyd was horrifyingly, sickeningly ordinary. According to the scant data on police killing of citizens that is available, about three people are killed by the police in the U.S. every day. And despite the protest movements Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street, this number has remained about constant in recent years through Democratic and Republican administrations. This persistence stands in contrast to the political ‘branding’ of the mainstream political parties where difference is claimed, but little is evident. By Rob Urie

The Military Must be De-Funded Along with the Police The fascist tactics used by our Western governments in the Global South will inevitably be brought home to be used against us. In the case of the US, these tactics have surely been introduced here, and we are now seeing this clearly as our police, sometimes backed by the military itself, are battling protestors in the streets in the same manner that a military force does as a foreign occupying power. By Dan Kovalik

It Appears That The New Gerneration Has Learned From the History of ‘Lesser Evilism’:    New Generation of Activists, Deeply Skeptical of Democratic Party, Resists Calls to Channel Energy Into the 2020 Campaign Hundreds of young activists were massing on the streets below the downtown waterfront skyscrapers here this month for a silent “die-in” to call for change in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd when the city’s mayor, a Democrat who has voiced support for the movement, rose and asked to address the crowd. But before Jane Castor could speak, she was greeted by an organizer brandishing a bullhorn.”Go home Jane!” yelled Bernice Lauredan, 28, an activist with Tampa Dream Defenders. “You are not welcome here.” By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

The Bipartisan Capitalist Austerity Program Must Be Opposed!:   Research Shows ‘Linking Climate Policy to Social and Economic Justice Makes It More Popular’ “The public wants a Green New Deal. The public wants green stimulus. The public wants to address inequality.” by Jessica Corbett Environment:

The Fight for Equitable Access to Water and Electricity Has Never Been More Urgent  In the midst of a pandemic, NRDC advocates are stepping up their work to prevent the risk of mass utility shutoffs, now and for the long-term. Back in March, when U.S. public health officials began advising handwashing as the first line of defense against COVID-19, they likely weren’t picturing the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who lacked running water. And when they encouraged social distancing and transitioning to online school, they may not have thought of families living in homes where electricity had been shut off.“These affordability issues were already simmering in the background…and then COVID hit,” says Mae Wu, who has advocated for access to safe and affordable drinking water at NRDC for 13 years. Now, with one in five American workers filing for unemployment since mid-March, the risk of mass utility shutoffs has skyrocketed—just as residents need these basic services the most. By Courtney Lindwall

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

King had gotten a lot right, Carmichael said, but in betting on nonviolence, “he only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent has to have a conscience. The United States has no conscience.” — Stokely Carmichael, A Philosopher Behind The Black Power Movement

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks and her husband slept with firearms at the ready. To justify guns for protection, Ella Baker of the Southern Non-Violent Coordinating Committee invoked the Second Amendment, as did Malcolm X. The Deacons for the Defense provided armed protection for Martin Luther King’s rallies. — Civil Rights and the Right to Self-Defense Go Hand-in-Hand

We believe we can end police brutality in our Black community by organizing Black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our Black community from racist police oppression and brutality. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all Black people should arm themselves for self- defense. — Black Panther Party The Ten-Point Program

Minneapolis City Council Unanimously Votes to Replace Police With Community-Led Model The Minneapolis City Council on Friday, 18 days after the death of George Floyd, unanimously passed a resolution to replace the police department with a community-led public safety system. The Minneapolis City Council on Friday, 18 days after the death of George Floyd, unanimously passed a resolution to replace the police department with a community-led public safety system. By Tommy Beer

Police Have Long History of Responding to Black Movements by Playing the Victim Amid calls to defund police, cops are framing themselves as victims. We must remember who is really being brutalized. By Max Felker-KantorAuthorities Investigate Hanging Death Of Black Man; Second In Region In 2 Weeks The bodies of Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch were found hanging in trees in two Southern California cities about 50 miles apart. Authorities in the Southern California city of Palmdale are investigating the death of a 24-year-old black man found hanging from a tree near City Hall, which they originally described as an apparent suicide, prompting outrage in the communityLabor:

Contagion Nation 2020: United States Still the Only Wealthy Nation without Paid Sick Leave The current global pandemic highlights the importance of paid leave for workers who are unable to work because of an illness or temporary disability, or because they need to care for a person with an illness or temporary disability. In a 2009 report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) reviewed paid sick leave policies in 22 countries ranked highly in terms of economic and human development. We found that the United States was the only country that did not guarantee that workers receive paid sick days or paid sick leave. Since then, several other countries included in our initial report have strengthened their standards for paid leave, including for self-employed workers, while the United States remains the outlier that provides no national guarantee. By Hye Jin Rho, Shawn Fremstad, and Jared Gaby-Biegel

Economy:

The Federal Reserve Has Its Own Police and Is Part of a Vast Surveillance Center – Should You Worry? Without any Congressional hearings on the matter, the USA Patriot Act in 2001 bestowed on the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks domestic policing powers. While the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. is deemed an “independent federal agency,” with its Chair and Governors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the 12 regional Fed banks are private corporations owned by the member banks in their region. As settled law under John L. Lewis v. United States confirms: “Each Federal Reserve Bank is a separate corporation owned by commercial banks in its region.” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

Former Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly Inside the Lower Manhattan Security Coordination Center

World:

The Struggle Against Police Is International. Our Solidarity Must Be Global. The current uprising against racist police violence first erupted in the U.S., but it has now become an international movement. Thousands of people in more than 40 countries have taken to the streets in a show of solidarity with Black Americans protesting in the U.S. following the vigilante and police murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Since these killings, young communists in Greece marched to the U.S. embassy in Athens to protest Floyd’s murder. In Rome, members of the Migrant Women and Daughters Network stood in front of a war memorial and held signs that said “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter: Justice for George Floyd.” In Amsterdam, thousands packed into Dam Square. ByAustin C. McCoyLebanon Protesters Call On Government To Resign Amid Crisis The country’s unparalleled economic and financial crises are proving a major challenge to the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Lebanese protesters took to the streets in Beirut and other cities Saturday in mostly peaceful protests against the government, calling for its resignation as the small country sinks deeper into economic distress. The protests come after two days of rallies spurred by a dramatic collapse of the local currency against the dollar. Those rallies degenerated into violence, including attacks on private banks and shops. By Sarah El Deeb

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

Signe Wilkinson: Studying Equality In School Funding

The argument against equal funding for school children in the state of Pennsylvania often goes something like, “Money doesn’t guarantee a good education.” Maybe, but when rich people put their kids in the “best” private schools, they now pay around $40,000 a year for high school: $39,250 for Agnes Irwin; $40,350 for Germantown Friends School; $37,600 for Episcopal Academy, a bargain. All of those tuitions are well over twice what is spent on a kid in Philadelphia public schools ($15,562 per student, according to the PA Dept. of Education’s annual financial report). I guess rich kids are just harder to educate.

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

There Has Not Been Progress for the 99% — Just Greater Inequality.:  Erasing 30 Years of Progress, Covid-19 Pandemic Could Lead to More Than One Billion People Living in Poverty: Study “These findings expose the extent of precarity in developing countries, but also the fragility of poverty reductions to any economic shock.” By Julia Conley

 

Daily News Digest June 12, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Racial Inequality Among Workers in Frontline Industries: Black Workers are Overrepresented and UndercompensatedQuotes of the Day:

“If his death ends up changing the world for the better, and I think it will, then he died as he lived. It is on you to make sure his death is not in vain.” —Philonise Floyd

Another timely example of how the Fed is exacerbating wealth inequality in the United States is the hundreds of billions of dollars in repo loans it is making weekly to Wall Street trading firms at the unheard of interest rate of 1/10th of one percent. This rate has been in effect for these loans since the middle of March. These firms could do nothing more complicated than re-loan this money out as margin loans to hedge fund traders and make effortless, windfall profits. But struggling consumers are still being forced to pay the bank parents of these trading firms upwards of 17 percent interest or more on their credit cards. Why isn’t Jerome Powell using his bully pulpit to call for banks to pass along their savings on borrowing costs from the Fed by lowering credit card rates to consumers?Why has the Fed loaned out more than $9 trillion cumulatively since September 19, 2019 to these Wall Street trading houses while the country is still waiting for the first loan to be made by the Fed to the Main Street Lending Facility? — Fed Chair Powell Attempts to Blame U.S. Inequality on Globalization – Gets Smacked Down by Bloomberg Reporter

Videos of the Day:

‘Make Law Enforcement the Solution And Not the Problem,’  George Floyd’s Brother Urges House

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

Listen to the ‘Calls Ringing Out in the Streets Across the World,’ Says George Floyd’s Brother in Emotional Testimony “The people marching in the streets are telling you enough is enough.” By Jake JohnsonNoam Chomsky: Amid Protests and Pandemic, Trump’s Priority Is Protecting Profits Many years ago, social scientist Bertram Gross saw “friendly fascism” — an insidious authoritarianism that denies democratic rights for corporate ends without the overt appearance of dictatorship — as a possible political future of the United States. Today, that future has arrived. Donald Trump has not only consolidated the integration between Big Business and government, but now, with the country in the grip of some of the biggest protests in more than half a century, he is actually trying to turn the U.S. into a police state, to “‘dominate’ by violence and terrify any potential opposition,” as Noam Chomsky astutely points out in a new and exclusive interview for Truthout. By C.J. Polychroniou

 Environment:

Agribusiness Drives Severe Decline of Essential Insects Four million tonnes of poison a year, most produced by four agribusiness giants, are killing essential insects everywhere. One-third of species face extinction.

Civil Rights/Black Liberation:

Time to Sharpen Our Weapons and Wits Having not yet won real power over the police, this is no time for a lull or a truce — it’s time to sharpen our political instruments and
deepen the mass movement’s social penetration By Glen Ford, BAR Executive EditorFreedom Rider: Rebellion, Confusion, Scoundrels and Kente Cloth Black rebellion brings insecurity to those in power, as editors, mayors and even long dead criminals are being called to account. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., House Majority Whip James Clyburn of S.C., and top Congressional Democrats raise their hands during a news conference to unveil policing reform and equal justice legislation on Capitol Hill, Monday, June 8, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

A Tale of Two Protests: Why the U.S. Ruling Class Loves Hong Kong Protests But Hates the Minneapolis-Led Rebellion
The protests in Hong Kong are led by an assortment of US-backed proxies who have separation from China as their principle goal. By Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor

Police detain protesters as they march down the street during a solidarity rally for George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, in New York. Protests were held throughout the city over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

How Did Two Beloved Members of Louisville’s Black Community Die Under Police Fire? Without justification, Louisville cops snuffed out the lives of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, drawing that city into the national vortex of protest. By Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing EditorCommunity Control Vs. Defunding the Police: A Critical Analysis Defunding the police might end the armed and uniformed force as we know it, but the ruling class will then hire mercenaries to protect their wealth and enforce their will. By Max Rameau and Netfa FreemanAfrica’s Response to the George Floyd Murder Outrage towards the US emanated from the Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, all condemning the killing. By Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, BAR editor and columnistWhite Images, Black Reality: How to Talk to the Accidental Apologists for Monsters The author offers some thoughts on how to deal with white people that seek to dominate Black political discussion on social media. By Earl HazellGlobal Africa Must Defeat Global Imperialist Policing Africans have flooded into the streets of Britain, Germany, Brazil, France and many other countries, not only in solidarity, but also as part of their own resistanc By Mark P. FancherIncandescent Whiteness: Dispatch from Portland, Oregon We are murdered, but there is no recourse because there is no crime. No death occurred because we are not human. By Ethan Johnson

Ooh La La: Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha and Civil Rights Myths in the Black “Mecca”  Mayor Lance Bottoms brought in troops to occupy her city while claiming that protesters dishonored the memory of MLK. By K. ScottThe Beginning of the End for Unearned Authority At last glance it looks like we are up to almost 600 documented episodes of police violence during the George Floyd protests. An attorney and mathematician have compiled a google doc titled “GeorgeFloyd Protest – police brutality videos on Twitter By Kathleen Wallace

Immigrants Who Defend Themselves From Sexual Violence Face Prison, Deportation Abusive partners often use the threat of deportation to prevent immigrant victims from seeking help or leaving. By Victoria LawLabor:

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.

Fed Chair Powell Attempts to Blame U.S. Inequality on Globalization – Gets Smacked Down by Bloomberg Reporter Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conferences are typically snooze sessions. Yesterday’s virtual press conference got off to a similar start with mainstream media reporters asking about inflation and monetary policy instead of the more critical questions they should have been asking in the midst of the worst labor market and business closures since the Great Depression and food pantry lines that stretch for blocks. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

International Reports From the Black Lives Matter Movement The Black Lives Matter movement has rapidly spread across the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police in the USA. The size and strength of the solidarity demonstrations internationally has revealed widespread outrage at police violence and the system that engenders it. Comrades of the International Marxist Tendency have taken part in demonstrations in countries such as: the USA, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Sweden. Below is a selection of reports from Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Canada.

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

Students and Staff Oppose COVID-Inspired Disaster Capitalism on US Campuses More than 80 years ago, during the Great Depression, college endowments fell by 26 percent and donations fell by more than 70 percent. But rather than cutting back on what was being offered on U.S. campuses, the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) hired 8.5 million people to lay more than 9,000 miles of storm drains and sewers, and build 4,000 new school buildings (most intended for K-12 instruction), 130 hospitals and 100 community arts centers.  In addition, during the eight years that the WPA existed (1935 to 1943), hundreds of colleges and universities benefited; by extending its reach to higher education, WPA laborers built classrooms and dormitories, and installed public artworks on campus lawns and inside buildings. The goal? To entice students to enroll and retain them until they graduated, assuring them of the skills they’d need to find work when the economy improved. Among the beneficiaries of these efforts were Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University); Arkansas State; Arizona State; Brooklyn College-City University of New York; The College of William and Mary; Delta State; Howard University; The University of Iowa; The University of Pittsburgh; The University of Rhode Island; and Virginia Commonwealth University. Fast forward to today. Similar to the Great Depression, the current economic crisis is raising important questions about government responsibility and whether or not state and federal lawmakers will use COVID-19 to gut public programs, including access to a high-quality public education, as they push more wealth to the top. By Eleanor J. Bader

Daily News Digest June 10, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

I Can’t Breathe!

Quotes of the Day:

As Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender acknowledged Sunday, “Efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.” If we want safe and thriving communities, we need to address the root of the current political crisis: the growing racial and economic inequality in our society that have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well documented that measures like expanding access to substance-abuse  reatment, mental healthcare and after-school programs all have a clear and sustainable impact on reducing crime. We need to fully fund public programs that are proven to reduce inequality and improve public safety in ways that policing fundamentally does not. Chicago is not broke, but the mayor’s priorities are. The best way to keep our communities safe and address police brutality is not by spending more on policing, but instead by investing in jobs, education and healthcare. It’s time for our city to seriously look at cutting the police budget and directing those funds to the public programs that will support working-class and poor Chicagoans. — Cutting Funding For Police Could Lead to a Better and Safer Chicago

Videos of the Day:

Trump Creates Chaos By Using The Military To Respond To Racial And Economic Injustice 

Pandemic 2.0 Picture the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the novel coronavirus spread from Wuhan, China, global deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed 400,000. Economic loss estimates range from an optimistic $3.3 trillion up to $82 trillion in case of a depression. And social norms changed overnight as people adjusted to self-isolation, face coverings, and social distancing. Now imagine the world coping with a new pandemic every month. This is not a prophecy or a piece of dark fiction, and surely not a plot for an upcoming Hollywood flick. This is what the world’s leading climate scientists are warning will happen when, not if, the planet’s ecological balance with microorganisms tips over, unleashing waves of pandemics of varying severity.

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

Hundreds of Protesters Being Detained Illegally in New York City, Lawsuit Against NYPD Alleges Hundreds of people are being detained illegally in New York City in violation of their right to an arraignment within 24 hours of their arrest, the Legal Aid Society alleges in a lawsuit filed against the New York Police Department (NYPD) Tuesday night, which demands the detainees’ immediate release. By By Madeleine Carlisle 

‘Truly Despicable’: Critics Pounce After Trump Tweets Conspiracy Theories About 75-Year-Old Victim of Police Brutality Martin Gugino Trump blames victim of police brutality for police brutality.” President Donald Trump came under fire Tuesday morning after tweeting out a conspiracy theory charging that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, who was assaulted by Buffalo police last week, resulted in his continued hospitalization, was a member of an ill-defined left-wing group and suggested he faked his injuries. By Eoin Higgins

Hundreds of Protesters Being Detained Illegally in New York City, Lawsuit Against NYPD Alleges Hundreds of people are being detained illegally in New York City in violation of their right to an arraignment within 24 hours of their arrest, the Legal Aid Society alleges in a lawsuit filed against the New York Police Department (NYPD) Tuesday night, which demands the detainees’ immediate release. By By Madeleine Carlisle Spending On Police Is Out of Control Data show the growth of police budgets has far outpaced population growth in cities across the country. “Defund the police” has become a nationwide mantra, and for good reason: Budget data from across the country show that in many cities, spending on police has far outpaced population growth, and drained resources from other public priorities. Basically, our cities have been siphoning money from stuff like education and social services and funneling the cash into ever-larger militarized security forces.  By David Sirota The Best Way to “Reform” The Police is to Defund the Police. Five years ago people were told, “Don’t worry, we’re going to take care of it. We’re going to give the police some implicit bias training. We’re going to have some community meetings. We’re going to give them some body cameras and it’s all going to get better.” And five years later, it’s not better. Nothing has changed. People are not going to listen to any more pablum.“Stay in the Streets. It’s Working”: Two Weeks Into Racial Justice Protests, NY Classifies Use of Chokeholds as Felony “Let’s keep pushing, marching, organizing, and winning for our communities.” By Julia Conley

Military Spouses Across the US Organize and March in Support of Black Lives Matter “I was screaming at the television,” an African American Navy spouse told CNN, as she watched peaceful protesters running from military police and law enforcement officers who were advancing on them near the White House. Protestors were covering their ears with their hands and gripping their mouths as they tried to escape the acrid clouds of smoke and wafting pepper spray. . . .They are black, white and Hispanic men and women, spouses of both enlisted service members and the officer corps, some of them veterans themselves, many with biracial children, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect their spouses’ careers and the personal safety of their families.  The spouses uniformly condemned the use of military force within the United States and described being stunned — and horrified — by the images from Lafayette Square. By Brianna Keilar and Catherine Valentine 

Environment:  

Civil Rights/BlackLiberation:

Top Recipients of Police Money Include Trump and Leading Congressional Democrats Police reform is now a congressional priority following nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Many of the protests in cities across the country, including Washington, D.C., have been met with militarized force and violence. Black Lives Matter, one of the main organizing bodies behind the protests, has long fought for transparency and accountability in response to police violence against Black communities. With Floyd’s death, the group is calling for a national defunding of police departments.. .. . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced plans for legislation to be introduced on Monday, with drafting efforts being led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The bill is expected to address qualified immunity — a legal doctrine that protects officers from repercussions after use of force — as well as training requirements and bans on excessive use of force such as chokeholds. Legislation is likely to pass the Democrat-controlled House, but its fate in the Senate is less certain. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he’s open to reviewing legislation but has yet to make any further comment regarding specific provisions. By olice reform is now a congressional priority following nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Many of the protests in cities across the country, including Washington, D.C., have been met with militarized force and violence. Black Lives Matter, one of the main organizing bodies behind the protests, has long fought for transparency and accountability in response to police violence against Black communities. With Floyd’s death, the group is calling for a national defunding of police departments

Black Agenda Radio for Week of June 8, 2020 Wwith Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford

  • Community Control of Police Vs Impunity “Until our Black and brown communities get control of the police, they are going to continue to murder us with impunity,” said Frank Chapman, chair of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “There’s a rebellion going on in this country,” said Chapman, “a rebellion led by Black people because it’s Black people who are catching the brunt of police repression.”

  • Blacks Will No Longer Be “Chumps” for the Democrats Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms showed her true colors when she berated protesters, said Trinity College sociologist Dr Johnny Williams. “She is part of that Black liberal politician wing that believes they can play with the system and get what they want, but everybody else is denied,” he said. “The Back community has been a loyal constituency of the Democratic Party, but we get nothing. This is the moment when we stop being chumps.”

  • The “Carceral State” is the Enemy The current wave of protest is correctly “targeting the commodification of Blackness by the state,” said Dr Brittany Friedman, a Rutgers University sociology professor at the Program in Criminal Justice. “We do not need the carceral state to save us, because the carceral state is the one that is killing us,” said Friedman.

Labor:

Economy:

Fed’s Repo Loans to Wall Street Skyrocket by 230 Percent Week Over Week The Federal Reserve is desperately hoping that the pandemic, the coast-to-coast protests and the military generals’ scathing rebuke of the President’s plan to “dominate” grannies and college kids with bayonets and Black Hawk helicopters in the streets would distract the public from its money-feeding tube to Wall Street. Unfortunately for the Fed, Americans can multitask. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Decrying ‘Unacceptable’ Brutality, UK Lawmakers Join Half a Million Britons in Calling to Halt Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets Exports to US “We should not be helping Donald Trump repress his own people,” said Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn. By Julia ConleyThe Brexit Crisis Led to Totally Incompetent Leadership at a Time of Unprecedented Calamity. Now We are Paying for It Britain is failing to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic as well as other countries in Europe and East Asia have. Out of 62,000 excess deaths in the UK, says former chief scientific officer Sir David King, “40,000 excess deaths could have been avoided if government had acted responsibly”.  By Patrick CockburnBritain: Capitalism – On the Wrong Side of History A social explosion is brewing in Britain. The pandemic, Brexit, and now the Black Lives Matter movement are throwing the Tory government from one crisis to another. The rottenness of the whole capitalist system is rapidly being revealed. The world is on fire, beginning with the United States, where the country has been gripped with an ongoing insurgency in response to the racially motivated murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police. “If coronavirus doesn’t kill us, the cops will,” stated Diana Richardson, a member of New York State Assembly, to protesters. By Rob Sewell

Racist Violence Can’t Be Separated From the Violence of Neoliberal Capitalism As a renewed Black Lives Matter uprising fills the streets following a spate of high-profile police murders, the state-sanctioned murder of Black people continues on other fronts as well, including public health and economic injustice. In addition to protesting the widespread killing of Black people by police, activists have called attention to the systematic abandonment of Black communities as a function of both white supremacy and neoliberal capitalism. While some mainstream voices have focused on condemning the looting happening in the streets, many activists have called attention to the much larger-scale looting perpetrated by neoliberal capitalism against marginalized communities. By Henry A. GirouxSaudi Arms Sales, the Ghost of a Reporter, and America’s Oil War in Yemen IG Steve Linick, who accused Pompeo of misconduct, has become the latest victim in a string of politically motivated firings of government watchdogs. If the president’s bunker mentality isn’t disturbing enough, a deeper look into this scandal shows how racism lies at the heart of Trump’s and Pompeo’s foreign policy. And how oil, most notably in the Middle East, and most particularly, in Yemen, is the driving force.  By Charlotte Dennett

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

In a Monday op-ed for The New York Times, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Dr. Paul A. Offit, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania, argue that Donald Trump could fast-track an unproven coronavirus vaccine as part of a campaign stunt to boost his chances of reelection. “Given how this president has behaved, this incredibly dangerous scenario is not far-fetched,” the op-ed reads. “In a desperate search for a political boost, he could release a coronavirus vaccine before it had been thoroughly tested and shown to be safe and effective.” — Donald Trump Could Fast-Track Unproven Coronavirus Vaccine As Campaign Stunt, Doctors Say

Daily News Digest June 2, 2020

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing,  the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. —  The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!

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!!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.!   Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Malcolm X

Quotes of the Day:

“Police departments have come to resemble military units, contributing to deadly violence disproportionately against black Americans.” — Philip McHarris, Yale University, — With Militarization of Cops on Full Display, Senator Plans Amendment to End Transfer of Military Equipment to Local Police

Videos of the Day:

Uprising in America: the School of Revolution The mass media is howling about the supposed violence of the protesters. But where is the real source of violence? Who is shooting at innocent and peaceful demonstrators? Who has been systematically carrying out violence against African Americans for centuries? Who maintains the highest incarceration rate in the world? It is the US state apparatus, which is far from a neutral arbiter that we are told it is. But like all capitalist states, it is in the last instance, nothing but armed bodies of men, organised to defend the interests of the capitalist class. These lessons are being drawn by thousands of American workers and youth these days. These are the first battles of the great revolutionary struggles of the future.

‘Autopsy’ Says George Floyd Died Of Natural Causes. w/Chris Hedges 

George Floyd Protests: Palast Reports from Downtown LA 

Trump’s Stormtroopers: 3 Young White Guys With a Machete Beat Up a Nonwhite Protester in Minneapolis

United States:

The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a  Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War!  Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.

It’s a Class War Now Too The scene along Melrose Avenue, one of L.A’s most renowned shopping districts, is now one of vengeance. Shards of glass litter the sidewalk. Storefronts are graffitied. The smell of smoke is still fresh in the early-morning air. Here was the epicenter of the looting that took place on Saturday night, shortly before Mayor Eric Garcetti declared a city-wide emergency and an 8 PM curfew. Garcetti later called on Governor Newsom to bring in the National Guard, marking the first time the Guard has roamed L.A.’s streets since 1992, when the Rodney King verdict was released. Today, Sunday, military humvees and troops protect what remains after the weekend’s display of mass anger and hurt. By Joshua Frank

Environment: 

Organic Farming — Cuba: “The Road Not Taken”: The Other Cuban Revolution The 38-year economic blockade of Cuba hampered the development of the Cuban economy.  To the credit of the Cuban Revolution they did not carry out any forced collectivizations.  They did copy the Soviet model of large chemically dependent state farms.  When the “Socialist Block” stopped all trade with Cuba, the Cuban economy was severely crippled.  They could no longer import the amount of oil, fertilizers, and pesticides to continue large-scale mechanized food production.   They had to move in the direction of the alternative model of agriculture that I previously described. In response to a huge drop in pesticide and fertilizer imports, Cuban agriculture is being transformed. Cuba is presently undertaking the  largest national conversion from conventional agriculture to large-scale alternative farming in history.Civil Rights/BlackLiberation:

Police Terrorism and Extra—Legal Terrorism Was Used to End the Gains Made During Black Reconstruction: The first civil and human rights movement by and for Black people started during the Civil War and the period of Black Reconstruction that followed. It was a time of radical hopes for many freed slaves. But it was also a time of betrayal. Then President Andrew Johnson and the non-radical Republicans, in collusion with the Democratic Party, the party of slavery, sold out the early post-war promises for full equality and “40 acres and a mule”. Instead, the promise of equality was soon replaced by the restoration of the property rights of the former slave owners in the South. This was accomplished by the Compromise of 1877 How did they accomplish this betrayal? —The answer is simple — terrorism. They used police and terroristic Ku Klux Klan violence. These extra-legal activities laid the basis for the overthrow of Black Reconstruction and the institutionalization of legal segregation (Jim Crow) in the former slave states. To enforce Jim Crow, Black people were, for decades, indiscriminately lynched and framed. —  The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights Movement Since the Civil Right Movement of the 1960s, the 1%’s Government Has Passed laws to Resegregate society,  Laws to establish the Prison Industrial Complex (The New Jim Crow), and Laws to increase inequality between the 1% and the 99%. They are once again using Police Terrorism and Extra—Legal Terrorism to enforce inequality!

 Who Exactly Is Doing the Looting, and Who’s Being Looted? We live in an Orwellian era, in which working-class people pilfering convenience store goods is called “looting.” Rich people stealing hundreds of billions of dollars, on the other hand, is just well-functioning “public policy.” By David Sirota

Watch: This Is What It Looks Like When the Response to Protests Against Police Violence Is… More Police Violence Driving SUVs into demonstrators. Firing paint-ball rounds at people on their own front porch. Pushing an elderly man to the ground. These were just a few of the incidents witnessed as a militarized nation faced off against its own people on Saturday. By Jon Queally ‘I Took the Helmet Off and Laid the Batons Down’: Michigan Sheriff and Police Didn’t Disperse Their Town’s Protest—They Joined It “Do I think this has solved the issue between police and unarmed black, human beings? No. But I do believe that this type of leadership is a positive step in the right direction and gives me hope for black men and women around the world and for all of humanity.” By Common Dreams staff

Labor:

Protection for the Medical-Industrial Complex — No Protection for the Rontline Workers!

States Are Copying and Pasting Immunity Laws for Nursing Home Executives Lawmakers across the country are using identical legislative language to shield hospital and nursing home corporations from prosecution for COVID–19-related illness and deaths — after those companies pumped huge amounts of cash into state elections. New York Was Patient Zero In The Spread of The Immunity Provision Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the corporate immunity provision into New York law on April 3. Exactly two weeks later, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed the same corporate immunity provision into Massachusetts law. A week and a half after that, North Carolina Republican Senate leader Harry Brown introduced a bill that included the same corporate immunity provision — and in early May, North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed it into law. By David Sirota

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 28: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is joined by Rosie Perez and Chris Rock at a press conference where the two performers helped to promote coronavirus testing, social distancing and the use of a face mask on May 28, 2020 in New York City. The news conference was held at the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club in the Flatbush, Brooklyn neighborhood, one of the hardest hit by Covid-19 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Economy:

Shadow Government Statistics Daily Update (June 1st to 2nd)

  • April U.3 Unemployment Rate Really Was 19.5% per Bureau of Labor Statistics, Where the Reported “Headline” 14.7% U.3. Reflected 5 Million Unemployed Counted as “Employed” (Second Month of Misreporting)

  • Headline 14.7% U.3 Still Was Highest in the History of Series (Since 1948)

  • The Also-Understated April 2020 Payroll Employment Plunge of 20.5 (-20.5) Million Was Worst in the Series History (Since 1939) /

  • May Money Supply Annual Growth Continued Surging to Record Highs (alternate data tab) // Extreme, Accommodative FOMC Policies to Continue for the Duration (systemic risk section) // As With the Retail Sales Benchmarking, the Benchmarked Durable Goods Orders Showed a Much Weaker Economy 2017 to Date

Financial Lynching Must Be Part of the National Debate As we watched the dangerous scenes of protesters interacting with riot police and the ransacking of banks and businesses in cities across the United States this past weekend, a warning from the 19th century abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, came to mind: “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Thousands Around The World Protest George Floyd’s Death in Global Display of solidarity Over the weekend demonstrators gathered in London, Berlin and Auckland, among other cities, to protest against police brutality in solidarity with the US crowds.

  • Britain:In London, protesters rallied in Trafalgar Squareon Sunday morning, in defiance of Britain’s lockdown rules which prohibit large gatherings. Some participants marched to the US embassy in the capital’s Nine Elms area.

  • Germany: Crowds gathered in Berlin in front of the US embassy on Saturday and Sunday. Participants wore face masks and carried signs declaring “Black lives matter” and “Justice can’t wait”.

  • Denmark: Chants of “no justice, no peace” were heard In the streets of Copenhagen on Sunday, as protesters marched over Floyd’s death. Some rallied outside the Danish capital’s US embassy.

  • Italy: In Milan, crowds held a flashmob near the city’s US consulate on Thursday

  • New Zealand: Protests over Floyd’s killing were held in multiple locations across New Zealand on Monday. Thousands held demonstrations and vigils in places including Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

  • Canada: Several protests were also held in Canada during the weekend, as crowds rallied against alleged police brutality.

  • Poland: Residents in Krakow, Poland gathered at the city’s US consulate on Sunday evening. Some lit candles in a tribute to Floyd.

  • Australia: A large group gathered in Perth’s Central Business District (CBD) on Monday to hold a Black Lives Matter protest. As well as expressing solidarity with US protesters, those gathered were also demonstrating against the treatment of minority and indigenous groups in Australia.

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare

Why the Neoliberal Agenda is a Failure at Fighting CoronavirusThe utter failure of private capitalism to prepare for the coronavirus should have surprised no one. Private capitalism, as business school graduates repeat, focuses on profit. The “profit incentive,” they learn, makes private capitalism the superior, “most efficient” economic system available. That is its “bottom line” and “chief goal.” The problem is that to produce adequate numbers of testing components, masks, gloves, ventilators, hospital beds, etc., and then to store, secure, monitor, maintain and demographically stockpile them were not and are not privately profitable businesses. By Richard D. Wolff