2019-02-20: News Headlines

STAFF (2019-02-20). The Next 5 Years Could Be the Hottest in Human History. truthdig.com Here is a climate forecast that climate scientists, meteorologists, politicians, voters and even climate sceptics can check: the next five years will be warm, and will probably help to complete the hottest decade ever. | They will on a global average be at least 1 ∞C higher than the average temperature of the planet 200 years ago, before the accelerating combustion of fossil fuels. | That is because the planet is already midway through what may well prove to be its warmest 10 years since records began on a planetary scale in 18…

Bill McKibben (2019-02-20). Climate Change Is Scary—Not the Green New Deal. commondreams.org U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey announce Green New Deal legislation in Washington on February 7, 2019. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/aoc_9.jpeg

Shared by Merula Furtado (2019-02-20). It's Possible to Face Climate Horrors and Still Find Hope. truthout.org For decades, the climate movement has suffered from a debilitating self-inflicted wound: the assumption that "we can't tell the public the truth" about the urgency of the crisis, or the scale and speed of the necessary solution. Many climate scientists joined forces with professional "climate communicators" and corporate philanthropies to decree: Fear doesn't work as a motivator! Only hope "works," so let's keep things positive and promote gradualist policies like carbon pricing! This counterproductive mentality is finally changing — and author David Wallace-Wells is a major part of the reason why. | In…

teleSUR (2019-02-20). Antarctica Is Divided into Giant Icebergs, Scientists Warn. telesurenglish.net Scientists, who are currently studying the growth of meltwater lakes in Antarctica, confirm that giant blocks of ice are separating from the continental shelf and warn that this process has very high effects to global climate change. | RELATED: | Climate Mitigation Centers During Regional Indigenous Meeting | The last block to detach was the Larsen C which…

RT (2019-02-20). DC Comics drops 'superhero Jesus' series after campaign calls it 'blasphemous'. rt.com DC Comics — home of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman — has shelved plans for a series that would see Jesus Christ return to Earth and "set the gospel straight," after an outcry from American Christians. |

ACLU-NC (2019-02-20). Settlement Reached in Customs and Border Protection Sexual Assault Case. indybay.org Teen Was Assaulted by Border Patrol Agent in Texas…

WSWS (2019-02-20). Mexican migrant details harrowing journey across the Sonoran desert following deportation. wsws.org The threats posed by an unforgiving terrain and climate are only a portion of the dangerous landscape that is filled with the Mexican police, cartel thugs and the US border patrol.

Peace Action of San Mateo County (2019-02-20). Screening of the video of 'Drawdown' about reversing climate change. indybay.org Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo | 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue | San Mateo, CA 94402…

Jeff Abbott (2019-02-19). The Other Americans: Guatemalan Congress Seeks to Grant Amnesty for War Crimes. progressive.org "Reforming the law would be a step back for the culture of peace, a step back for the access to justice for the indigenous peoples, and a step back for the victims that were affected by the armed conflict."

Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski (2019-02-18). Teen Environmental Activist Tells Congress to Stop Putting "Profit Over People" therealnews.com Nadia Nazar, a 16-year-old leader of youth environmental organization Zero Hour, responds to a representative dissing the Green New Deal and explains the role of youth in fighting climate change…

John Nichols (2019-02-18). History Will Accord Donald Trump No Forgiveness. thenation.com History Will Accord Donald Trump No Forgiveness…

Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski (2019-02-16). New Poll Shows Increased Bipartisan Desire to Act on Climate Change. therealnews.com The results, released in December, also show widespread bipartisan support for a Green New Deal and renewable energy…

Sam Cowie (2019-02-16). Jair Bolsonaro Praised the Genocide of Indigenous People. Now He's Emboldening Attackers of Brazil's Amazonian Communities. theintercept.com "The Brazilian cavalry was very incompetent. Competent, yes, was the American cavalry that decimated its Indians in the past and nowadays does not have this problem in their country." That's the opinion of Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, expressed on the floor of Congress in 1998. His views appear to have changed little since then; in a video message to supporters 18 years later, he promised to revoke the protected status of an Indigenous reserve in 2…

Fight Back (2019-02-15). Tampa Bay students disrupt USF board meeting, demand protections for undocumented students. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – The Tampa Bay chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a series of protests and a sit-in at the University of South Florida's (USF) main student center on February 12, to pressure the administration to increase protections for immigrant and international students. These protests were a continuation of Tampa Bay SDS's main campaign called, "Immigrants are Here to Stay" in which they demand noncompliance with federal agencies such as ICE, FBI, DHS so that those agencies cannot receive the personal information of documented and undocumented students on campus. | Students held a series of p…

Janine Jackson (2019-02-15). Court Strikes Down FCC's Mean-Spirited Effort to Reinforce Digital Divide. fair.org by Janine Jackson | A federal appeals court has overturned FCC chair Ajit Pai's attempt to gut the subsidy that makes it possible for low-income communities to access broadband. For reasons known only to themselves, the FCC's Republican majority voted last fall to make it much harder for people, including tribal residents, to obtain a subsidy provided by a program appropriately called Lifeline. | Lifeline helps people who qualify with a $9.25 monthly subsidy to buy phone and Internet service; for those living on t…

Shared by trnn_cms_operator (2019-02-14). Reintroducing the Climate Crisis Bureau. therealnews.com The climate crisis is the most pressing issue of our time. We asked for your help, and you listened. Thanks for helping us fund our climate coverage. | 2018: A Year of Climate Devastation and Resistance | We'd like to extend a warm (but not too warm) welcome to our new Climate Crisis Reporter reporter, Steve Horn. Steve was a longtime guest on the Real News Network and his investigative skills are unmatched. Read his vision for the bureau — and more about him and the rest of the team — below. | Thanks!

ACLU (2019-02-14). Border Patrol Detained Me for Speaking Spanish in Montana. Then My Town Turned Against Me. aclu.org Customs and Border Protection violated our rights as U.S. citizens just for speaking Spanish in a grocery store. | I moved to Havre, Montana — near the U.S.-Canada border — in 2014 with my husband and our two young children. Home to around 10,000 people, I've always found Havre to be a friendly town, one where I felt good about raising my kids. But that all changed last May when my friend and I were illegally targeted and detained by a Customs and Border Protection agent, just for speaking Spanish to each other in a convenience store. | I didn't think it was possible for one incident to change our liv…

ACLU (2019-02-14). U.S. Border Patrol Detained U.S. Citizens for Speaking Spanish in Montana. aclu.org Illegal arrests and seizures reflect an out-of-control agency emboldened by Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. | For Ana Suda and Martha "Mimi" Hernandez, May 16, 2018, began like any other in Havre, Montana: work, school, and a trip to the gym once their kids were in bed. They stopped by Town Pump — a local convenience store — to pick up groceries. While in line, the friends were chatting in Spanish, just two people having an ordinary conversation. But the Customs and Border Protection agent standing in line behind them did not see it that way. | He demanded to know where Ana and Mimi were born. After t…

Fred_F (2019-02-14). Stop Adani protesters target federal parliament opening. greenleft.org.au About 500 protesters rallied outside federal parliament on February 12 under the slogan "Stop Adani – Climate action now!" | Speaking to the protesters, Doctors for the Environment Australia's Sujata Allan said to strong applause: "This is the year we will finally put a stop to the Adani coalmine. | "We know climate change is driving longer, hotter heatwaves. And heatwaves are causing increasing numbers of deaths of people and animals. | "Climate change, and coalmines like Adani, are an inter-generational injustice. | "We must put a stop to Adani and other major coal projects," she said. | High school clim…

Fred_F (2019-02-14). NSW Land Court rules against new coalmine. greenleft.org.au The NSW Land and Environment Court's decision to refuse the Rocky Hill coalmine near Gloucester on February 8 is ground breaking. For the first time in legal history, the impact of a new coalmine on climate change was a determining factor in refusing consent. | It is the result of years of work by the community in the Upper Hunter, as well as others campaigning for a safe climate. | Groundswell Gloucester chairperson Julie Lyford was ecstatic about the judgement, which had saved the community from a 250-metre-deep open cut coalmine less than 1 kilometre from family homes. She said the Court posed a foundational q…

unitedEditor (2019-02-13). Red China goes green: a broad look at Sino-environmentalism. uwidata.com Most people see China as anything but environmentalist, having for some time been one of the most polluted countries on earth. Images in the media are often heart-wrenching, children wearing pollution masks while their parents go through the day more or less helpless to protect them, all while the Chinese government continues to push mass-industrialization …

splcenter (2019-02-08). SPLC statement on removal of provisions that protect consumers from predatory lenders. splcenter.org We are deeply disappointed in a decision this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to rescind rules that would have protected consumers from predatory lenders.

Jeremy Brecher (2019-02-01). Climate Jobs for All. zcomm.org Building Block for the Green New Deal…

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