2018-11-26: News Headlines

Robert Hunziker (2018-11-26). Carbon Capture — Does it Work? counterpunch.org Harken! Good news (maybe) "encouraging news" is a better description, as Negative Emissions Technology ("NET") starts coming into focus. Conceptually, carbon removal or direct air capture removes CO2 from the atmosphere, which would be great for suppressing climate change. In that regard, Elizabeth Kolbert recently interviewed (Yale Environment 360) Stephen Pacala (Princeton professor) chairman of More

wsws (2018-11-26). Hundreds rally in San Diego in defense of migrant caravan. wsws.org Over 200 people attended a rally just hours before the US Customs and Border Protection shut down the crossing and fired tear gas at immigrants seeking to enter the US.

VWSW (2018-11-26). Hundreds Rally in San Diego in Defense of Migrant Caravan. indybay.org On Sunday morning [26 November 2018] over 200 people attended a rally in Larsen Field, San Ysidro, on the San Diego-Tijuana Border, to support the migrants in the Central American caravan, who are seeking to claim asylum in the United States. The protest occurred several hours before US Customs and Border Protection shut down the San Ysidro border crossing and fired tear gas at several hundred men, women and children seeking to cross into the United States.

Dan Bacher (2018-11-26). Delta Council Staff Finds CA WaterFix Inconsistent with Delta Plan, Chair Urges Withdrawal. indybay.org Since the Delta Stewardship Council must find that WaterFix is consistent with the Delta Plan before DWR can begin construction of WaterFix facilities, "It now appears that there is almost no chance that Delta tunnels will be approved and begin construction before Governor Brown leaves office in January 2019," according to Chris Shutes of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA).

CFBD (2018-11-26). Trump Moves to Open Alaska Wilderness to More Oil Leasing. indybay.org New Plan Could Remove Wildlife Protections From Western Arctic…

wsws (2018-11-26). New climate change report: Impact of global warming "already being felt" wsws.org The latest report from the US Global Change Research Program confirms the danger posed by climate change and the inability of capitalist governments to address it.

Kate Hitt (2018-11-26). Will CA Department of Pesticide Regulation ban Big Ag's use of Toxic Air Contaminates? indybay.org As a Watsonville local and school bus driver, I have had it with all the toxic fumigants and sprays that are poisoning us and contributing to climate change. I joined Safe Ag, Safe Schools to stop poisoning kids and neighbors by making 1 mile 24-hour no toxic spray or fumigation buffer zones around schools.

Jake Johnson (2018-11-26). The Climate Report Trump Didn't Want You to See. zcomm.org "The decision to release this damning report when families are beginning to celebrate the holidays and newsrooms are short-staffed is a brazen attempt to bury the truth."

RFE (2018-11-26). 200 Wounded As Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Shakes Western Iran. iranian.com Iran said on Sunday that no fatalities had been reported but that about 200 people were injured after an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck near its western border with Iraq, Iranian state TV reported. The tremor was also felt in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and in Kuwait. "About 200 to 210 people have been injured […]

Shared by Hezvo Mpunga (2018-11-25). Laura Flanders Show: Divest to Decolonize. therealnews.com At the traditional start of the holiday season, many in the US come together with family and friends to celebrate and give thanks. Though for indigenous peoples around the world perhaps apologies, even recompense, would be more in order. We hear from Native American activists Michelle Cook and Hartman Deetz about the ongoing struggle for…

Justin Anderson (2018-11-25). Minimal Media Attention Helped Sink Crucial Climate Initiatives. globalresearch.ca Climate change took a backseat to other issues in this year's midterm elections, and humanity may end up paying the price. The majority of climate change-related ballot measures failed, many climate deniers in the Republican party won or kept …

Juan Cole (2018-11-25). Three Charts: What Trump Doesn't Want You to Know About the Climate Emergency. globalresearch.ca The Trump administration dropped the 1,000-page second volume of a congressionally-mandated study of the impact of the climate crisis on the United States late on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend in order to bury it. This sort of move is designed …

Shared by Anton Woronczuk (2018-11-25). Government Could Hold Migrant Families Indefinitely Under New Plan. truthout.org This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast. | Migrant families could be held indefinitely in unlicensed detention centers under a new federal plan that also would end critical court protections for immigrant children, according to new court records. | Under the so-called Flores agreement, created in 19…

RT (2018-11-25). School says Nazi-saluting students protected by First Amendment, sparking outrage. rt.com Wisconsin school authorities faced criticism for ruling that students doing Nazi salutes have First Amendment protection. They were accused of raising "white supremacists" and having little understanding of the gesture's meaning.

Staff (2018-11-25). Catastrophic Northern California Fire Is Finally Contained. truthdig.com LOS ANGELES — A massive wildfire that killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes in Northern California has been fully contained after burning for more than two weeks, authorities said Sunday. | The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the Camp fire had been surrounded by firefighters after several days of rain in the Paradise area. | The nation's deadliest wildfire in a century killed at least 85 people, and 249 are on a list of those unaccounted for. The number of missing dropped in recent days as officials confirmed that more people were alive. | Crews continued siftin…

Staff (2018-11-25). Bernie Sanders: The U.S. Needs to Be Aggressive Toward the Fossil Fuel Industry. truthdig.com In an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation" shortly after the Trump administration attempted to bury a devastating report on the climate crisis, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said it is more important than ever to unite the public around ambitious solutions to human-caused climate change as the White House actively works with the fossil fuel industry to make it wor…

Shared by Anton Woronczuk (2018-11-25). Pro-Environment Groups Spent Millions on "Green" Midterm Candidates. truthout.org In October, the United Nations released a landmark report describing a grim future for the planet if climate change isn't aggressively and rapidly addressed. | The report describes near-apocalyptic conditions — mass food shortages, stronger wildfires and dying coral reefs — as early as 2040. | Many environmental advocacy groups, like Environment America and the …

wsws (2018-11-24). World Trade Organisation warns of rising protectionism ahead of G20 summit. wsws.org The WTO spoke of significant economic risks if the current course continues.

FHRII (2018-11-24). Iran Must Pass Legislation to Protect Women Against Violence. iranian.com Women with Disabilities and Other Vulnerable Groups Face Heightened Risk of Abuse November 23, 2018—The Iranian authorities must bring legislation protecting women from domestic violence that has been languishing for years to parliament and ratify it so that Iranian women can have the protections against domestic violence required under international law, the Center for Human […]

Shared by Anton Woronczuk (2018-11-24). Google Searches Reveal Public Interest in Conservation Is Rising. truthout.org OK, Google: Has the general public lost interest in biodiversity conservation? Has people's interest in environmental issues been overshadowed by climate change alone? | The answer to both questions, according to Google searches at least, is "No." Public interest in both conservation and climate change seems to be rising, a new study has found. | At first, Zuzana Burivalova, a tropical forest ecologist at Princeton University who was also the lead researcher on Mongabay's …

Shared by Hezvo Mpunga (2018-11-23). The Doomsday Machine and Nuclear Winter — Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (11/12). therealnews.com An H Bomb first strike will create firestorms and smoke that ends most human life; this is a fact ignored by military planners and by the Trump administration which doesn't believe in climate science — says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay

amnesty (2018-11-23). Protect LGBTI activist Vitalina Koval. amnesty.org Vitalina Koval has been central to the LGBTI community in Ukraine. She helped set up a community centre – a safe space for LGBTI people within the growing hostility of the country. | During the International Women's Day March in Ukraine in 2017, Vitalina was attacked by a dozen young men, who charged at her and other protesters — tearing up their posters and shouting threats. Vitalina tried to file a police report. The police ignored her. | Vitalina wanted to attend the 2018 Women's March, this time going to the police in advance for protection. They said she'd be fine. But during the march, two men and fou…

Jeffrey St. Clair, Joshua Frank (2018-11-23). It's Getting Hot Up in Here. counterpunch.org When the overnight low (109F in Oman) would be a record high in most places on Earth, you know your planet is in trouble. The evidence of our warming climate is all around us. At times it feels as if our world is unraveling. Ice shelfs melting. Seas rising. Rivers flooding. Wildfires broiling. Hurricanes destroy- ing. Droughts devastating. It's not as if these events haven't been around since the dawn of time, but man-made global warming is undoubtedly making matters much, much worse. There's little hope that we can stem the rising tides and turn back the damage carbon has wrecked on our little blue planet. But t…

amnesty (2018-11-23). Demand protection for land defender Nonhle Mbuthuma. amnesty.org Nonhle Mbuthuma is facing danger for trying to stop mining company from taking her land. So why is the government not protecting her? | Nonhle is a farmer whose ancestral land means everything to her: "If you take my land you take my identity". But Nonhle and her community on the Eastern Cape of South Africa are at risk of losing everything because a mining company want to kick them off their land. | "This land was my grandmother's, who inherited it from her grandparents. What am I going to leave for my children? Mining is not an option." — Nonhle | Nonhle and other members of her community have led a campa…

amnesty (2018-11-23). Protect Pavitri Manjhi . amnesty.org Pavitri is an indigenous rights defender who is standing up to big corporations who are trying to take away her community's land — but she faces threats and intimidation. Demand her protection now. | Right now, businesses in Chhattisgarh, central India, are trying to take over land that belongs to an Adivasi Indigenous community so that they can make way for two power plants. Members of the community report that they were tricked into selling their land, and those that refused to sell faced threats and intimidation by agents acting on behalf of two private companies. | Pavitri is on the front line protecti…

amnesty (2018-11-23). Stop forcibly evicting the Sengwer people. amnesty.org The Sengwer people are being forced off their land. They are losing their homes, their livelihoods and their cultural identity — now someone has been killed. Help stop this now. | The Sengwer Indigenous people have lived in the Embobut Forest in North Rift Valley of Kenya for centuries. It's their ancestral land and they have a deep spiritual bond with the beautiful and vast forest. But the Kenyan government is brutally and illegally driving them off it, threatening their livelihoods and way of life.p | The government claims they are acting in the name of conservation, and that the Sengwer people are da…

Democracy Now! (2018-11-22). Noam Chomsky: The Future of Organized Human Life Is At Risk Thanks to GOP's Climate Change Denial. democracynow.org As the death toll from the climate change-fueled Camp Fire in California continues to rise and hundreds remain missing, we rebroadcast our conversation about climate change with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky from October. He says Republican Party leaders are dedicated to "enriching themselves and their friends" at the cost of the planet, and warns: "We have to make decisions now which will literally determine whether organized human life can survive in any decent form."

Fight Back (2018-11-22). Student fight for noncompliance with attacks on immigrants, confront USF administration. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On November 20, students held a rally at the University of South Florida (USF) calling for increased protections for immigrant students. The event was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a part of their campaign, "Immigrants are Here to Stay," to win noncompliance with federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Customs and Border Protection, that are charged with implementing attacks on the undocumented. | The rally included speeches about the context of immigration…

Joe Emersberger (2018-11-22). Elected Constituent Assembly in Venezuela provoked International Outrage, not the illegal handpicked one in Ecuador. zcomm.org "CONAIE and CREO direct the new National Electoral Council" announces a headline yesterday in the rightwing Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo. CONAIE is a self-declared "left" federation representing indigenous peoples in Ecuador. CREO is the party of the "defeated" right wing presidential candidate in 2017. I put "defeated" in quotes because CREO's electoral defeat — which they stupidly Read more…

Shared by Hezvo Mpunga (2018-11-21). Sunrise Movement Holds Green New Deal Day of Action. therealnews.com On Tuesday, young climate justice activists with the Sunrise Movement held a day of action around the U.S. to demand a Green New Deal—a plan to decarbonize the economy in ten years. Sunrise members gathered in New York, Oakland, DC, and dozens of other cities. In San Francisco, some members confronted House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, asking her to back the proposal. | We are here gathering outside the Brooklyn office of @RepJerryNadler to ask him to sign onto @Ocasio2018

Chauncey K. Robinson (2018-11-21). 'CAM': Sex worker empowerment through horror genre. peoplesworld.org A common saying goes that sex work is considered the oldest profession, yet it also happens to be one where the workers are often the most exploited. Exploitation and safety on the job is a constant problem, with little protection. A system embedded with patriarchy and male supremacy doesn't leave much space, without a fight, …

Human Rights Watch (2018-11-21). Greece: Dire Conditions for Asylum Seekers on Lesbos. hrw.org | | A boy holds a bicycle at a camp next to the Moria refugee camp in the island of Lesbos on August 5, 2018. | © 2018 Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images | (Brussels) — The already dire conditions in the overcrowded Moria camp for asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos may deteriorate into a full-blown humanitarian disaster as winter approaches unless urgent action is taken, Human Rights Watch said today. | "Thousands of people seeking protection in E…

Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski (2018-11-21). Transgender Day of Remembrance: To Fight For Trans Lives, Think Local. therealnews.com On Transgender Day of Remembrance, Sylvia Rivera Law Project founder Dean Spade talks about the lack of federal protections for trans people and how communities are fighting back at the local level

Justin Anderson (2018-11-21). Minimal Media Attention Helped Sink Crucial Climate Initiatives. fair.org Climate change took a backseat to other issues in this year's midterm elections, and humanity may end up paying the price. The majority of climate change-related ballot measures failed, many climate deniers in the Republican party won or kept their seats, and even Democratic winners were not pressed on their commitment to climate change legislation …

teleSUR Desk (2018-11-21). Humanity faces simultaneous climate disasters: study. mronline.org The future risk of dealing with multiple climate impacts at once depends on geography and whether humanity succeeds in rapidly drawing down greenhouse gas emissions. | Source

splcenter (2018-11-20). SPLC sues Trump administration for records detailing rollback of protections for transgender people in prison. splcenter.org The SPLC, along with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, sued the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) today.

Democracy Now! (2018-11-19). Meet the Prisoners Being Paid $1 an Hour to Battle the Deadly Climate-Fueled Fires of California. democracynow.org As the death toll from the Camp Fire rises to 77, California is combating its deadliest fire in state history using prison labor. Some 1,500 of the 9,400 firefighters currently battling fires in California are incarcerated. They make just a dollar an hour but are rarely eligible to get jobs as firefighters after their release. According to some estimates, California saves up to $100 million a year by using prison labor to fight its biggest environmental problem. In September, the Democracy Now! team traveled to the Delta Conservation Camp in Northern California, a low-security prison where more than 100 men are i…

aclu (2018-11-16). Betsy DeVos Wants to Roll Back Civil Rights Protections For Students Filing Complaints of Sexual Harassment or Assault. aclu.org Our analysis of how DeVos' proposed rule would change how colleges and universities deal with allegations of sexual assault under Title IX. | The Department of Education headed by Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday released a proposed rule that, if implemented, would dramatically limit schools' obligations to students who experience sexual violence and would not further the stated goal of fair process. The ACLU is equally committed to ensuring students can learn in environments free from sexual harassment and violence and to guaranteeing fair process for both respondents and complainants. | The new rule preserv…

Consortiumnews (2018-11-16). National Exclusive: Former Sen. Barbara Boxer's Son and California Powerbroker Found Bilking Indian Tribe. consortiumnews.com Darius Anderson and his business partner, Douglas Boxer, preyed upon Native American clients who were too intimidated by their political connections to seek recourse, writes investigative reporter Peter Byrne. Judges Find Breach of Contract and Trust By Peter Byrne Darius… Read more →

Democracy Now! (2018-11-16). As Camp Fire Death Toll Rises, Meet the Prisoners Making $1 an Hour to Fight California's Wildfires. democracynow.org The death toll from the Camp Fire in California has risen to at least 63, with 631 people reported missing. As California continues to battle the deadliest fire in the state's history, we turn to the hidden heroes on the front lines the raging climate-fueled wildfires: prisoner firefighters. At least 1,500 of the 9,400 firefighters currently battling fires in California are incarcerated. They make just a dollar an hour battling on the front lines but are rarely eligible to get jobs as firefighters after their release. In September, the Democracy Now! team traveled to the Delta Conservation Camp about an hour nort…

stuart_m (2018-11-16). Out-of-control system burns California. greenleft.org.au A combination of real estate capitalism and climate change has unleashed murderous fires in California, writes Phil Hearse. | Things are getting serious. On November 15, at least are 56 were confirmed dead with hundreds missing. Thousands of homes and businesses have burned down. Two major fires, in the north and south of the state, were still not under control. | The scenes could be the aftermath of a US or Russian bombing raid in the Middle East — bodies littered on the ground, people burned to death in their cars, families devastated with grief at the loss of homes and loved ones. | United States Preside…

CounterSpin (2018-11-16). Ari Berman on the State of Voting 2018, Jackie Prange on Keystone XL Re-Review. fair.org Media…

Fred_F (2018-11-15). Why students are striking for climate action on November 30. greenleft.org.au This November 30, I, along with hundreds — possibly thousands — of high school students will be participating in a student strike for climate action. | Initiated by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), the School Strike 4 Climate has gained momentum in recent weeks, with nearly thirty events being organised in capital cities and regional areas around Australia. | We are currently facing an unprecedented climate emergency. With 2018 (once again) being the hottest year on record, we face the prospect of an uncertain and dangerous future. | Climate change is "threatening water security", accord…

TeleSur English (2018-11-05). Maduro: Venezuela Sitting on 2nd Biggest Gold Reserve on Earth. venezuelanalysis.com President Nicolas Maduro described the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela as "crazy" and "criminal."

Don Fitz (2018-10-18). Nuclear Power & Climate. zcomm.org The great environmental challenge of our time is to understand that the many sources of biodestruction are interconnected and must be confronted simultaneously, rather than disparaging one danger to focus on another…