Monthly Archives: December 2018

2018-12-24: News Headlines

Ralph Nader (2018-12-24). A "Massive Outlaw" zcomm.org Interview on Single Payer, Climate Devastation, Impeachment…

Katharine Trendacosta, Ernesto Falcon (2018-12-24). The Year Without the Open Internet Order: 2018 Year in Review. commondreams.org In the waning hours of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, ending net neutrality protections for the millions of Americans who support them. The fallout of that decision continued all throughout 2018, with attempts to reverse the FCC in Congress, new state laws, and governor executive orders written to secure state-level protections, court cases, and ever-increasing evidence that a world without the Open Internet Order is simply a worse one.

Julia Conley, staff writer (2018-12-24). 'Shame on this President:' With Shutdown, Trump Cuts Off Funds for 'Vital Services and Protections' for Women Who Face Abuse. commondreams.org Along with nearly 400,000 federal employees who face a furlough thanks to President Donald Trump's decision to let the government shut down, programs that support women who have survived violence may face funding shortages due to the turmoil on Capitol Hill. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-5139573681_0.jpg

Andrea Germanos, staff writer (2018-12-24). Denouncing 7-Year-Old's Death, UN Rights Expert Demands US Halt Child Detentions. commondreams.org A day after the 7-year-old girl's small body returned to Guatemala in a coffin, a United Nations human rights expert demanded an independent probe into the death of Jakelin Caal while she was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—and made a broader call for the U.S. to stop its international law-violating practice of detaining children on the basis of their migratory status. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/un-human-rights-expert-jakelin-caal.png

teleSUR (2018-12-23). Petrified Pompeian Horse Provide Glimpse Into Pre-Vesuvian Past. telesurenglish.net Archaeological excavations in Pompeii have unearthed a new discovery after researchers exhumed the petrified remains horses and their riding accessories, the Italian newspaper Ansa reported Sunday. | RELATED: | Culture Ministry: Remains of Ancient Lost Greek City Found | Inside the ancient villa of a high-ranking military officer, the remains of two or three horses were found, Pompeii archaeological park head Massimo Osanna told Ansa. Volcanic ash and scalding vapors serging from the…

Lawrence Carter (2018-12-23). Leading Brexiteers' Funded by US Business Interests Meet to Weaken UK Food Standards. globalresearch.ca A recent visit to Washington DC by former Brexit secretary, David Davis, was funded by US business interests that want the UK to weaken its food and environment standards after it leaves the EU, according to Unearthed. | Davis visited the …

Shared by Anton Woronczuk (2018-12-23). Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal. truthout.org In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." | Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger ― exemplified by the collapse of arms control and disarmament a…

Blake Skylar (2018-12-21). U.S. on wrong side of history as agreement is reached at COP24. peoplesworld.org The Trump administration showed its true colors—not one of them green—when it dismissed the conclusions of a special climate change report at the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference. Also known as COP24, the summit was held Dec. 2-15 in Katowice, Poland to settle on rules to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. On one hand, it …

Michelle Zacarias (2018-12-21). Willowbrook, Ill. residents call for closure of polluting Sterigenics plant. peoplesworld.org CHICAGO—Controversy arose this week in Willowbrook, Ill., after the residents of Chicago's southwest suburb discovered that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has known about the cancer risk from the Willowbrook Sterigenics plant for decades. Community members are demanding accountability and the immediate closure of Sterigenics International. Demonstrators gathered around the medical supply headquarters this week …

Rob Urie (2018-12-21). Ecocide as Creative Destruction. counterpunch.org According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), since 1970 60% of the mammals, birds, fish and reptiles on the planet have been driven to extinction. To the extent that the WWF has it right, climate change accounts for less than 10% of these losses (graph below). As important and logistically complex as resolving climate change is, it is but one of a host of environmental ills in equal or greater need of resolution. More

Pete Dolack (2018-12-21). World's Governments Indulge in Symbolism, Not Action, at COP24. counterpunch.org The good news from the annual climate summit just concluded in Katowice, Poland, is that the world's governments agreed on a "rulebook" intended to implement the Paris Accord, the 2015 agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The bad news is that the world is no closer to actually tackling global warming than before and the rulebook More

Janine Jackson (2018-12-20). 'Domestic Workers Don't Have Protections Against Discrimination and Harassment' – CounterSpin interview with Mariana Viturro on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. fair.org Janine Jackson interviewed Mariana Viturro about the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for the December 14, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…

Paul Dobson (2018-12-20). ANC Deputy Julio Escalona: 'The People are Angry Because They Consider that We Aren't Doing Our Job'. venezuelanalysis.com The revolutionary's criticisms came during the passing of 2019's budget, 75% of which is destined for "social protection."

ACLU (2018-12-19). Trump Administration Recommends Slashing Civil Rights Protections for Students of Color. aclu.org A federal commission's post-Parkland recommendations include reversing an Obama-era guidance on racial disparities in school discipline. | On Tuesday, the Federal Commission on School Safety issued recommendations that it claims will help makes schools safer following the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. But at the center of the report is a proposal that will endanger millions of public school students, especially students of color and students with disabilities, by reversing federal guidance intended to address racial disparities in school discipline. Doing away with the guidance will weaken federal civil rig…

ACLU (2018-12-19). Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Policy Gutting Asylum for People Fleeing Domestic and Gang Violence. aclu.org Once again, the Trump administration's attacks on asylum are held unlawful. | The Trump administration's campaign to dismantle our asylum system just suffered another major setback. | A federal judge in Washington, D.C., permanently blocked a June 2018 "expedited removal" policy that gutted asylum protections for immigrants fleeing domestic violence and gang brutality. Holding that "there is no legal basis for an effective categorical ban on domestic violence and gang-related claims," Judge Emmet Sullivan struck down the policy for being c…

Mrill Ingram (2018-12-18). How to Feel Good about the Climate in 2019. progressive.org Despite national schizophrenia on the issue, a growing number of Americans are on board with accepting human-caused climate change—and doing something about it.

ACLU (2018-12-18). People Should Be Allowed to Sue Facebook If It Violates Law on Face Recognition Privacy. aclu.org We filed a court brief opposing Facebook's effort to make it harder to enforce a pro-privacy law. | Ten years ago, Illinois enacted a law that imposes important protections against companies collecting and storing our biometric information — including using facial recognition— without our knowledge and consent. The law is called the Biometric Information Privacy Act. Although facial recognition was relatively crude when it was passed, the wisdom of Illinois' decision has been borne out over the last decade, as facial recognition and other biometric collection has developed and spread. | On Monday, the…

Human Rights Watch (2018-12-18). Maldives: New Government Should Promote Rights. hrw.org | | Ibrahim Mohamed Solih interacts with supporters during a gathering in Malé, Maldives, September 24, 2018. | © 2018 Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo | (New York) — The Maldives' new government should make human rights protections a top priority, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made public today. Solih, who was elected p…

Democracy Now! (2018-12-17). Headlines for December 17, 2018. democracynow.org Countries Adopt "Rulebook" to Implement Paris Climate Agreement, Ryan Zinke Steps Down as Interior Secretary as Ethics Scandals Mount, Mick Mulvaney to Replace John Kelly as Trump's Acting Chief of Staff, Texas Judge Declares Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional, White House Threatens Government Shutdown over Border Wall Funds, Family Demands Answers in Death of 7-Year-Old Girl in Border Patrol Custody, ICE Arrests and Deportations Under Trump Rise in 2018, Michael Cohen Says Trump Knew Hush Money Payments Were Wrong, Giuliani Says Trump Pursued Moscow Skyscraper Deal into November 2016, Reuters: Johnson & Johnso…

Democracy Now! (2018-12-17). Ralph Nader on Single Payer, Climate Devastation, Impeachment & Why Mulvaney Is a "Massive Outlaw" democracynow.org As President Trump threatens to shut down the federal government over border wall funding, there have been some shake-ups in the White House. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will resign as he faces at least 17 federal investigations into suspected ethics violations. A former fossil fuel industry lobbyist, David Bernhardt, will become the interim interior secretary. Meanwhile, Trump has tapped Mick Mulvaney to become acting chief of staff to replace Gen. John Kelly. Mulvaney already holds two posts in the administration: White House budget director and acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And…

Democracy Now! (2018-12-14). Bangladeshi Scientist: World Leaders Must Take Urgent Action to Prevent Climate Crisis Rise. democracynow.org At the U.N. Climate talks in Katowice, Poland, we speak with climate scientist Saleemul Huq, who is advising the bloc of least developed countries in the climate negotiations, about their demands. He is director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.

Jill Ryan (2018-12-11). Congress Must Take Action on Toxins. progressive.org Why is the Environmental Protection Agency refusing to study PFAS? The toxic chemicals are found in drinking water around the country.

kathy_f (2018-12-10). Climate movement attracts new generation of activists. greenleft.org.au The latter part of 2018 will be remembered for the re-emergence of climate action on the national agenda. | Independent Kerryn Phelps' win in the Wentworth byelection promising "meaningful environmental action" and Labor's subsequent adoption of a 50% renewable energy policy by 2030 has come in the midst of researcher Rebecca Huntley's findings that "climate and environmental concerns" have increasingly become "a test of leadership" for voters. | These centrist platforms, however, have been rightly superseded by the newest base of the climate movement: high school students. | Tired of the "dinosaurs in parliament…

Lawrence Wittner (2018-12-08). Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal. zcomm.org In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger‚Äïexemplified Read more…

pip.hinman (2018-12-06). The fightback against Adani and Aurizon steps up. greenleft.org.au Adani CEO Lucas Dow's November 29 declaration that work on a scaled-down coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin would begin before Christmas was met with one of the most powerful nationwide protests against it so far as primary and high school students walking out of class the next day for the Student Strike 4 Climate Action. | A reported 20,000 students, many of them with their parents and grandparents in tow, took to the streets with a powerful message to Adani and policymakers: ignore us at your peril. | This was followed by a sit-in at Parliament House in Canberra on December 5. | Another round of #StopA…

kathy_f (2018-12-04). Sorry To Bother You offers rich lessons in seeking radical social change. greenleft.org.au Sorry to Bother You
| Written & directed by Boots Riley
| In cinemas now | This review includes mild spoilers. | As an Australian living abroad, incidents of Australians being racist and/or misogynistisic that attract attention from international media outlets are frequently forwarded to me in anticipation of a seething refrain. | My response is typically motivated by a mix of rage and embarrassment, as well as a deep concern for how racial capitalism has been almost completely normalised. I am deeply concerned by the fact that not only is our social and political climate ill-equipped to address racism, i…

kathy_f (2018-12-03). NSW law will 'lead to a new stolen generation'. greenleft.org.au Another stolen generation appears certain to be created in NSW, after the Coalition government passed a new adoption law making it easier for a child to be adopted by a foster family without parental consent. | The new adoption law, Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Bill, passed on November 22 despite fierce opposition, imposes a two-year limit on fostering a child. The Children's Court now has the power to decide whether a birth parent should be rei…

Anton Glaving (2018-12-02). Debunking the Times on Bush I:s foreign policy record. zcomm.org Below is a list of the most blatant pieces of deception concerning George H.W. Bush's foreign policy record, reported in Adam Nagourney's commemorative NYT piece. Nagourney writes that "Environmental groups praised Mr. Bush's record on climate change and the environment. As president, he signed the United States to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Read more…

stuart_m (2018-12-01). Eight new books for ecosocialists. greenleft.org.au Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus offers up eight new books as recommended reading for ecosocialists. Inclusion does not imply agreement with a book's contents. | ***
1. The Biofuels Deception: Going Hungry on the Green Carbon Diet
| By Okbazghi Yohannes
| Monthly Review Press, 2018 | Eliminating fossil fuels is essential, but biofuels have far more to do with sating profit-hungry corporations than saving the Earth. Combining meticulous scientific narrative with devastating economic analy…

stuart_m (2018-12-01). A true people's artist. greenleft.org.au Rock & Roll Harbour
| Exhibition by The Shop Gallery
| 112 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
| Thurs January 3 — Wed Jan 9 | Peter Gow is the people's artist. | His ouvre is driven by his down-to-earth, inner-city environment such as boathouses and the heritage-listed Sydney Harbour Bridge in various attitudes, all of which feature prominently in this exhibition. | Gow is a qualified electrician and builder as well, very handy for making the frames in his spare time that embrace his art. | His deep, rich, contrasting colours leap from his palette onto the canvas. His short brush strokes create a palindrom…

stuart_m (2018-11-30). US condemned for tear-gassing refugees, children. greenleft.org.au Legal experts and human rights advocates have denounced the tear gassing of children and other asylum seekers by US forces at the Mexico border on November 25. | "The migrants at our southern border include mothers and small children exercising their legal, human right to seek asylum," declared the ACLU in a tweet on November 26. It told the US Customs and Border Protection agency: "Tear gassing children is out…

Joe Emersberger (2018-11-30). "No Deal" Brexit predictions, GDP, average incomes, austerity and the CLIMATE CRISIS. zcomm.org If Bill Gates walks into a room full of factory workers then the average income of everybody in the room skyrockets. It would skyrocket even if everybody else in the room were going bankrupt as Gates entered. Similarly, the average income of the people in the room would plummet as Gates walked out the door even Read more…

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…

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…

2018-12-24: Social Media Postees

A "Massive Outlaw"
Ralph Nader | zcomm.org | 2018-12-24
Interview on Single Payer, Climate Devastation, Impeachment…
zcomm.org/zvideo/a-massive-outlaw/

The Year Without the Open Internet Order: 2018 Year in Review
Katharine Trendacosta, Ernesto Falcon | commondreams.org | 2018-12-24
In the waning hours of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, ending net neutrality protections for the millions of Americans who support them. The fallout of that decision continued all throughout 2018, with attempts to reverse the FCC in Congress, new state laws, and governor executive orders written to secure state-level protections, court cases, and ever-increasing evidence that a world without the Open Internet Order is simply a worse one.
commondreams.org/views/2018/12/24/year-without-open-internet-order-2018-year-review?cd-origin=rss

'Shame on this President:' With Shutdown, Trump Cuts Off Funds for 'Vital Services and Protections' for Women Who Face Abuse
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-24
Along with nearly 400,000 federal employees who face a furlough thanks to President Donald Trump's decision to let the government shut down, programs that support women who have survived violence may face funding shortages due to the turmoil on Capitol Hill. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-5139573681_0.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/24/shame-president-shutdown-trump-cuts-funds-vital-services-and-protections-women-who?cd-origin=rss

Denouncing 7-Year-Old's Death, UN Rights Expert Demands US Halt Child Detentions
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-24
A day after the 7-year-old girl's small body returned to Guatemala in a coffin, a United Nations human rights expert demanded an independent probe into the death of Jakelin Caal while she was in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—and made a broader call for the U.S. to stop its international law-violating practice of detaining children on the basis of their migratory status. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/un-human-rights-expert-jakelin-caal.png
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/24/denouncing-7-year-olds-death-un-rights-expert-demands-us-halt-child-detentions?cd-origin=rss

Petrified Pompeian Horse Provide Glimpse Into Pre-Vesuvian Past
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2018-12-23
Archaeological excavations in Pompeii have unearthed a new discovery after researchers exhumed the petrified remains horses and their riding accessories, the Italian newspaper Ansa reported Sunday. | RELATED: | Culture Ministry: Remains of Ancient Lost Greek City Found | Inside the ancient villa of a high-ranking military officer, the remains of two or three horses were found, Pompeii archaeological park head Massimo Osanna told Ansa. Volcanic ash and scalding vapors serging from the…
telesurenglish.net/news/Petrified-Pompeian-Horse-Provide-Glimpse-Into-Pre-Vesuvian-Past-20181223-0019.html

Leading Brexiteers' Funded by US Business Interests Meet to Weaken UK Food Standards
Lawrence Carter | globalresearch.ca | 2018-12-23
A recent visit to Washington DC by former Brexit secretary, David Davis, was funded by US business interests that want the UK to weaken its food and environment standards after it leaves the EU, according to Unearthed. | Davis visited the … | The post Leading Brexiteers' Funded by US Business Interests Meet to Weaken UK Food Standards appeared first on Global Research.
globalresearch.ca/leading-brexiteers-funded-by-us-business-interests-meet-to-weaken-uk-food-standards/5663739

Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal
Shared by Anton Woronczuk | truthout.org | 2018-12-23
In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." | Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger ? exemplified by the collapse of arms control and disarmament a…
truthout.org/articles/reviving-the-nuclear-disarmament-movement-a-practical-proposal/

Ecocide as Creative Destruction
Rob Urie | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-21
According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), since 1970 60% of the mammals, birds, fish and reptiles on the planet have been driven to extinction. To the extent that the WWF has it right, climate change accounts for less than 10% of these losses (graph below). As important and logistically complex as resolving climate change is, it is but one of a host of environmental ills in equal or greater need of resolution.
counterpunch.org/2018/12/21/ecocide-as-creative-destruction/

World's Governments Indulge in Symbolism, Not Action, at COP24
Pete Dolack | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-21
The good news from the annual climate summit just concluded in Katowice, Poland, is that the world's governments agreed on a "rulebook" intended to implement the Paris Accord, the 2015 agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The bad news is that the world is no closer to actually tackling global warming than before and the rulebook…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/21/worlds-governments-indulge-in-symbolism-not-action-at-cop24/

Ralph Nader on Single Payer, Climate Devastation
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-21
counterpunch.org/2018/12/21/ralph-nader-on-single-payer-climate-devastation/

Willowbrook, Ill. residents call for closure of polluting Sterigenics plant
Michelle Zacarias | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-21
CHICAGO–Controversy arose this week in Willowbrook, Ill., after the residents of Chicago's southwest suburb discovered that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has known about the cancer risk from the Willowbrook Sterigenics plant for decades. Community members are demanding accountability and the immediate closure of Sterigenics International. Demonstrators gathered around the medical supply headquarters this week …
peoplesworld.org/article/willowbrook-ill-residents-call-for-closure-of-polluting-sterigenics-plant/

U.S. on wrong side of history as agreement is reached at COP24
Blake Skylar | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-21
The Trump administration showed its true colors–not one of them green–when it dismissed the conclusions of a special climate change report at the 2018 UN Climate Change Conference. Also known as COP24, the summit was held Dec. 2-15 in Katowice, Poland to settle on rules to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. On one hand, it …
peoplesworld.org/article/u-s-on-wrong-side-of-history-as-agreement-is-reached-at-cop24/

ANC Deputy Julio Escalona: 'The People are Angry Because They Consider that We Aren't Doing Our Job'
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-12-20
The revolutionary's criticisms came during the passing of 2019's budget, 75% of which is destined for "social protection."
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14195

'Domestic Workers Don't Have Protections Against Discrimination and Harassment' – CounterSpin interview with Mariana Viturro on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2018-12-20
Janine Jackson interviewed Mariana Viturro about the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for the December 14, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/domestic-workers-dont-have-protections-against-discrimination-and-harassment/

Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Policy Gutting Asylum for People Fleeing Domestic and Gang Violence
ACLU | aclu.org | 2018-12-19
Once again, the Trump administration's attacks on asylum are held unlawful. | The Trump administration's campaign to dismantle our asylum system just suffered another major setback. | A federal judge in Washington, D.C., permanently blocked a June 2018 "expedited removal" policy that gutted asylum protections for immigrants fleeing domestic violence and gang brutality. Holding that "there is no legal basis for an effective categorical ban on domestic violence and gang-related claims," Judge Emmet Sullivan struck down the policy for being c…
aclu.org/blog/federal-judge-blocks-trumps-policy-gutting-asylum-people-fleeing-domestic-and-gang-violence

Trump Administration Recommends Slashing Civil Rights Protections for Students of Color
ACLU | aclu.org | 2018-12-19
A federal commission's post-Parkland recommendations include reversing an Obama-era guidance on racial disparities in school discipline. | On Tuesday, the Federal Commission on School Safety issued recommendations that it claims will help makes schools safer following the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. But at the center of the report is a proposal that will endanger millions of public school students, especially students of color and students with disabilities, by reversing federal guidance intended to address racial disparities in school discipline. Doing away with the guidance will weaken federal civil rig…
aclu.org/blog/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/trump-administration-recommends-slashing-civil-rights

How to Feel Good about the Climate in 2019
Mrill Ingram | progressive.org | 2018-12-18
Despite national schizophrenia on the issue, a growing number of Americans are on board with accepting human-caused climate change–and doing something about it.
progressive.org/dispatches/how-to-feel-good-climate-change-181218/

People Should Be Allowed to Sue Facebook If It Violates Law on Face Recognition Privacy
ACLU | aclu.org | 2018-12-18
We filed a court brief opposing Facebook's effort to make it harder to enforce a pro-privacy law. | Ten years ago, Illinois enacted a law that imposes important protections against companies collecting and storing our biometric information — including using facial recognition– without our knowledge and consent. The law is called the Biometric Information Privacy Act. Although facial recognition was relatively crude when it was passed, the wisdom of Illinois' decision has been borne out over the last decade, as facial recognition and other biometric collection has developed and spread. | On Monday, the…
aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/people-should-be-allowed-sue-facebook-if-it

Maldives: New Government Should Promote Rights
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih interacts with supporters during a gathering in Malé, Maldives, September 24, 2018. | © 2018 Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo | (New York) — The Maldives' new government should make human rights protections a top priority, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made public today. Solih, who was elected p…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/maldives-new-government-should-promote-rights

Ralph Nader on Single Payer, Climate Devastation, Impeachment & Why Mulvaney Is a "Massive Outlaw"
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-17
As President Trump threatens to shut down the federal government over border wall funding, there have been some shake-ups in the White House. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will resign as he faces at least 17 federal investigations into suspected ethics violations. A former fossil fuel industry lobbyist, David Bernhardt, will become the interim interior secretary. Meanwhile, Trump has tapped Mick Mulvaney to become acting chief of staff to replace Gen. John Kelly. Mulvaney already holds two posts in the administration: White House budget director and acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/17/ralph_nader_on_single_payer_climate

Bangladeshi Scientist: World Leaders Must Take Urgent Action to Prevent Climate Crisis Rise
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-14
At the U.N. Climate talks in Katowice, Poland, we speak with climate scientist Saleemul Huq, who is advising the bloc of least developed countries in the climate negotiations, about their demands. He is director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/14/bangladeshi_scientist_world_leaders_must_take

Congress Must Take Action on Toxins
Jill Ryan | progressive.org | 2018-12-11
Why is the Environmental Protection Agency refusing to study PFAS? The toxic chemicals are found in drinking water around the country.
progressive.org/op-eds/congress-must-take-action-on-toxins-181211/

Climate movement attracts new generation of activists
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-10
The latter part of 2018 will be remembered for the re-emergence of climate action on the national agenda. | Independent Kerryn Phelps' win in the Wentworth byelection promising "meaningful environmental action" and Labor's subsequent adoption of a 50% renewable energy policy by 2030 has come in the midst of researcher Rebecca Huntley's findings that "climate and environmental concerns" have increasingly become "a test of leadership" for voters. | These centrist platforms, however, have been rightly superseded by the newest base of the climate movement: high school students. | Tired of the "dinosaurs in parliament…
greenleft.org.au/content/climate-movement-attracts-new-generation-activists

Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal
Lawrence Wittner | zcomm.org | 2018-12-08
In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger‚Äïexemplified Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/reviving-the-nuclear-disarmament-movement-a-practical-proposal/

The fightback against Adani and Aurizon steps up
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-06
Adani CEO Lucas Dow's November 29 declaration that work on a scaled-down coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin would begin before Christmas was met with one of the most powerful nationwide protests against it so far as primary and high school students walking out of class the next day for the Student Strike 4 Climate Action. | A reported 20,000 students, many of them with their parents and grandparents in tow, took to the streets with a powerful message to Adani and policymakers: ignore us at your peril. | This was followed by a sit-in at Parliament House in Canberra on December 5. | Another round of #StopA…
greenleft.org.au/content/fightback-against-adani-and-aurizon-steps

Sorry To Bother You offers rich lessons in seeking radical social change
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-04
Sorry to Bother You | Written & directed by Boots Riley | In cinemas now | This review includes mild spoilers. | As an Australian living abroad, incidents of Australians being racist and/or misogynistisic that attract attention from international media outlets are frequently forwarded to me in anticipation of a seething refrain. | My response is typically motivated by a mix of rage and embarrassment, as well as a deep concern for how racial capitalism has been almost completely normalised. I am deeply concerned by the fact that not only is our social and political climate ill-equipped to address racism, i…
greenleft.org.au/content/sorry-bother-you-offers-rich-lessons-seeking-radical-social-change

NSW law will 'lead to a new stolen generation'
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-03
Another stolen generation appears certain to be created in NSW, after the Coalition government passed a new adoption law making it easier for a child to be adopted by a foster family without parental consent. | The new adoption law, Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Bill, passed on November 22 despite fierce opposition, imposes a two-year limit on fostering a child. The Children's Court now has the power to decide whether a birth parent should be rei…
greenleft.org.au/content/nsw-law-will-lead-new-stolen-generation

Eight new books for ecosocialists
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-01
Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus offers up eight new books as recommended reading for ecosocialists. Inclusion does not imply agreement with a book's contents. | *** | 1. The Biofuels Deception: Going Hungry on the Green Carbon Diet | By Okbazghi Yohannes | Monthly Review Press, 2018 | Eliminating fossil fuels is essential, but biofuels have far more to do with sating profit-hungry corporations than saving the Earth. Combining meticulous scientific narrative with devastating economic analy…
greenleft.org.au/content/eight-new-books-ecosocialists

A true people's artist
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-01
Rock & Roll Harbour | Exhibition by The Shop Gallery | 112 Glebe Point Road, Glebe | Thurs January 3 — Wed Jan 9 | Peter Gow is the people's artist. | His ouvre is driven by his down-to-earth, inner-city environment such as boathouses and the heritage-listed Sydney Harbour Bridge in various attitudes, all of which feature prominently in this exhibition. | Gow is a qualified electrician and builder as well, very handy for making the frames in his spare time that embrace his art. | His deep, rich, contrasting colours leap from his palette onto the canvas. His short brush strokes create a palindrom…
greenleft.org.au/content/true-people%E2%80%99s-artist

US condemned for tear-gassing refugees, children
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-11-30
Legal experts and human rights advocates have denounced the tear gassing of children and other asylum seekers by US forces at the Mexico border on November 25. | "The migrants at our southern border include mothers and small children exercising their legal, human right to seek asylum," declared the ACLU in a tweet on November 26. It told the US Customs and Border Protection agency: "Tear gassing children is out…
greenleft.org.au/content/us-condemned-tear-gassing-refugees-children

"No Deal" Brexit predictions, GDP, average incomes, austerity and the CLIMATE CRISIS
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2018-11-30
If Bill Gates walks into a room full of factory workers then the average income of everybody in the room skyrockets. It would skyrocket even if everybody else in the room were going bankrupt as Gates entered. Similarly, the average income of the people in the room would plummet as Gates walked out the door even Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/no-deal-brexit-predictions-gdp-average-incomes-austerity-and-the-climate-crisis/