Daily Archives: March 12, 2020

2020-03-12: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-12). Russia-Saudi revenge against shale oil threatens to crush entire US financial system, Professor Wolff tells Boom Bust. rt.com Global stock markets hit bear territory this week, with oil prices experiencing their biggest plunge since the 1991 Gulf War. | Boom Bust is joined by Professor Richard Wolff of the Economic Update to discuss the ongoing oil crisis. He explains that the US, which wanted "energy independence," decided 10-20 years ago to go into the fracking business simply because it was profitable. | "Fracking is very expensive… but everything was premised on the notion that the price of oil would stay very high," Wolff says. "The Saudis and the Russians were hurt by the emergence of the American fracking industry; they've h…

Staff (2020-03-12). Bernie Sanders: We Are Winning "Ideological" & "Generational" Debate, Now Need to Win "Electability" democracynow.org After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those peopl…

M. G. Piety (2020-03-12). Extraordinary Democratic Delusions and the Madness of the Crowd. counterpunch.org Just when I am starting to think that the New York Review of Books is not irredeemably idiotic on political issues, they publish an article that is so conspicuously incoherent and outrageously out of touch with the political climate in the U.S. that it is destined to be anthologized in perpetuity in collections with "Clueless"

Staff (2020-03-12). Joe Biden Pays Lip Service to Climate But Has Fallen Short on Action. truthout.org As Joe Biden's chances of clinching the Democratic nomination continue to rise, environmentalists are absorbing the possibility that they may eventually be faced with the challenge of trying to exert pressure on a nominee with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry. | Though awareness of the climate crisis among the public has

Earth Day Network (2020-03-12). Earth Day 2020: 50th Anniversary of Earth Day Activism 1970-2020 (Global). indybay.org Worldwide climate strikes, actions, and environmental events…

The Canary (2020-03-11). Budget 2020: chancellor pledging to invest 'historic amounts' in infrastructure. thecanary.co Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised to invest "historic amounts" on infrastructure and innovation in the Budget he will deliver against a backdrop of coronavirus instability.The Treasury said hundreds of billions of pounds will be pledged on Wednesday to invest in infrastructure including roads, railways, broadband and housing.It was understood this figure could be more than £600bn over the five-year parliament. | However, the government has faced criticism for delaying its key National Infrastructure Strategy to tackle the climate crisis and boost transport connectivity.Meanwhile, analysts were keeping a w…

commondreams (2020-03-11). New Report Reveals Colorado's Bella Romero Academy Exposed to Unsafe Levels of Benzene from Fracking. commondreams.org ______________________________…

news.un (2020-03-11). Climate change: educating students to fight the crisis. news.un.org With the latest UN climate report containing worrying evidence that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, how can teachers help children and adults to sort through the growing mass of information, avoid being overwhelmed, and come to an understanding of the challenges, and potential solutions, to what the UN Secretary-General has called "an existential crisis"?>

Stan Cox (2020-03-11). Peer Pressure? Too Little and Way Too Late for the Climate Emergency. counterpunch.org In a Washington Post opinion piece last month, Robert Frank sought to instruct us in how peer pressure can "help stop climate change." He wasn't very convincing on that point; he did help, however, to inadvertently make the case that collective efforts, ones much more sweeping than individual role-modeling, are necessary to staving off climate

Shawgi Tell (2020-03-11). Charter School Oversight Remains Weak. dissidentvoice.org In 2016, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for a moratorium on new charter schools, citing many problems with these privatized schools, including poor performance, extensive waste, widespread segregation, and inadequate accountability. Oversight, transparency, accountability, and good governance have never been the strong suits of charter schools or charter school …

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-03-11). Greta Thunberg Urges Strikers to 'Unite Behind Science' and Join #DigitalStrike for 'Best Interest of Our Common Society'. commondreams.org In light of the coronavirus spreading around the globe, climate action leader Greta Thunberg called on her supporters to observe a #DigitalStrike instead of attending in-person climate protests, as millions have on Fridays for more than a year and a half. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/greta_0_1_0.png

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (2020-03-10). Farmers say fight climate change by investing in sustainable family agriculture. peoplesworld.org The following op-ed is based on an open letter from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), whose vision of agriculture is one where a safe, nutritious, ample, and affordable food supply is produced by a legion of family farmers who make a decent living pursuing their trade, while protecting the environment, and contributing to the strength …

The Canary (2020-03-10). Seabird numbers decline as climate breakdown bites, experts warn. thecanary.co Many seabirds are struggling in the face of food shortages and storms brought on by

The Canary (2020-03-10). Contaminated water at nuclear plant still an issue ahead of Tokyo Olympics. thecanary.co Work to deal with contaminated water at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant continues as the Olympic Games approach.Inside a giant decontamination facility at the destroyed plant, workers in hazmat suits monitor radioactive water pumped from three damaged reactors.The decontamination process is a key element of a contentious debate over what should be done with the nearly 1.2 million tons of still-radioactive water being closely watched by governments and organisations around the world ahead of this summer's Tokyo Olympics.The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, says it needs to free up sp…

RT (2020-03-10). 'Missing the mark': Ex-Warren staffers face outrage over campaign tattoos eerily similar to Holocaust concentration camp numbers. rt.com Former staffers for Elizabeth Warren have been taken to the woodshed over tattoos meant to memorialize her ill-fated campaign — which just happen to closely resemble markings given to Holocaust concentration camp prisoners. Oops! | Intending to commemorate the Democratic senator's failed bid for the presidency, at least two former Warren staffers thought tattoos displaying the hex code for the campaign's "Liberty Green" theme would be a clever tribute — until Twitter caught wind of it. In an avalanche of criticism, netizens wasted no time in pointing out the obvious — albeit accidental — r…

RT (2020-03-09). Chernobyl to Katrina: Pundits scramble to compare Trump's handling of coronavirus to previous catastrophes. rt.com Media are comparing US President Donald Trump's (mis)handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic to high-profile historical disasters, from the Chernobyl nuclear accident to Hurricane Katrina…and even the fall of Rome. | Pundits eager to see the end of Trump have rushed to compare what they view as his failure to properly deal with the coronavirus outbreak to legendary disasters from recent and ancient history, regardless of how well those disasters reflect current events. | The president himself retweeted a meme that was quickly interpreted as comparing himself to Emperor Nero, who supposedly fiddled whil…

Robert Hunziker (2020-03-06). Global Warming on a Rampage. dissidentvoice.org Global warming is not waiting around for the signatories to the Paris climate accord '15 to go to net zero emissions 2030/50. Sorry, those bold plans are way too little way too late. Already, across the board, the planet is on a hot streak that defies all projections. It's starting to look downright scary! Listen… …

pip.hinman (2020-03-04). 'Quiet Australians' organise for climate action. greenleft.org.au

Stuart Munckton (2020-03-04). Eight new books for an ecosocialist bookshelf. greenleft.org.au By John Bellamy Foster & Brett Clark
| Monthly Review Press, 2020 | Foster and Clark examine how capitalism plunders natu…

Lawrence Wittner (2020-03-02). Could the climate crisis be "The Good News of Damnation"? zcomm.org There really is no other solution to the onrushing climate catastrophe than for people and nations to forget their tribal animosities and start behaving as part of a world society…

CounterSpin (2020-02-21). Paul Paz y Miño, Saqib Bhatti & Beverly Bell on Environmental Justice & Cross-National Solidarity. fair.org There will only be an increasing number of frontline struggles between extractive, climate-disrupting industry and those willing to stand up to it. Corporate media's inadequate attention, and unwillingness to truly call out the moneyed interests causing present and future harms, make them more often part of the problem than the solution.

Jon Rainwater (2019-11-07). Take Action — Some actual, SANE legislation. peaceaction.org Trump has plans to spend nearly $2 TRILLION over the next 30 years on unneeded and unnecessary nuclear weapons and delivery systems. This makes no sense. This is insane. That's nearly $100 million wasted every day for thirty years on weapons we are supposed to be getting rid of. To put that amount in perspective, …

2020-03-12: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

Bernie Sanders: We Are Winning "Ideological" & "Generational" Debate, Now Need to Win "Electability"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-12
After a disappointing showing in Tuesday night's Democratic presidential primaries, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he will stay in the race. In his address from Burlington, Vermont, Sanders challenged his rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to address key issues like economic inequality, healthcare access and the climate crisis. Sanders is set to debate Biden this Sunday in Arizona. "It is not just the ideological debate that our progressive movement is winning. We are winning the generational debate," Sanders said. "While Joe Biden continues to do very well with older Americans, especially those peopl…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/12/bernie_sanders

Russia-Saudi revenge against shale oil threatens to crush entire US financial system, Professor Wolff tells Boom Bust
rt.com | 2020-03-12
Global stock markets hit bear territory this week, with oil prices experiencing their biggest plunge since the 1991 Gulf War. | Boom Bust is joined by Professor Richard Wolff of the Economic Update to discuss the ongoing oil crisis. He explains that the US, which wanted "energy independence," decided 10-20 years ago to go into the fracking business simply because it was profitable. | "Fracking is very expensive… but everything was premised on the notion that the price of oil would stay very high," Wolff says. "The Saudis and the Russians were hurt by the emergence of the American fracking industry; they've h…
rt.com/business/482947-russia-saudi-revenge-shale/

Watsonville Youth Rally
Regeneration-Pájaro Valley Climate Action | indybay.org | 2020-03-12
Watsonville Plaza | 350 Main St, Watsonville…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/08/18831370.php

Extraordinary Democratic Delusions and the Madness of the Crowd
M. G. Piety | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-12
Just when I am starting to think that the New York Review of Books is not irredeemably idiotic on political issues, they publish an article that is so conspicuously incoherent and outrageously out of touch with the political climate in the U.S. that it is destined to be anthologized in perpetuity in collections with "Clueless"
counterpunch.org/2020/03/12/extraordinary-democratic-delusions-and-the-madness-of-the-crowd/

Joe Biden Pays Lip Service to Climate But Has Fallen Short on Action
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-03-12
As Joe Biden's chances of clinching the Democratic nomination continue to rise, environmentalists are absorbing the possibility that they may eventually be faced with the challenge of trying to exert pressure on a nominee with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry. | Though awareness of the climate crisis among the public has reached a high, voters have failed to notice the meaningful differ…
truthout.org/articles/joe-biden-pays-lip-service-to-climate-but-has-fallen-short-on-action/

Earth Day 2020: 50th Anniversary of Earth Day Activism 1970-2020 (Global)
Earth Day Network | indybay.org | 2020-03-12
Worldwide climate strikes, actions, and environmental events…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/03/11/18831441.php

Charter School Oversight Remains Weak
Shawgi Tell | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-11
In 2016, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for a moratorium on new charter schools, citing many problems with these privatized schools, including poor performance, extensive waste, widespread segregation, and inadequate accountability. Oversight, transparency, accountability, and good governance have never been the strong suits of charter schools or charter school …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/charter-school-oversight-remains-weak/

New Report Reveals Colorado's Bella Romero Academy Exposed to Unsafe Levels of Benzene from Fracking
commondreams.org | 2020-03-11
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/03/11/new-report-reveals-colorados-bella-romero-academy-exposed-unsafe-levels-benzene?cd-origin=rss

Peer Pressure? Too Little and Way Too Late for the Climate Emergency
Stan Cox | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-11
In a Washington Post opinion piece last month, Robert Frank sought to instruct us in how peer pressure can "help stop climate change." He wasn't very convincing on that point; he did help, however, to inadvertently make the case that collective efforts, ones much more sweeping than individual role-modeling, are necessary to staving off climate…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/11/peer-pressure-too-little-and-way-too-late-for-the-climate-emergency/

Climate change: educating students to fight the crisis
news.un.org | 2020-03-11
With the latest UN climate report containing worrying evidence that climate change is having a major effect on all aspects of the environment, how can teachers help children and adults to sort through the growing mass of information, avoid being overwhelmed, and come to an understanding of the challenges, and potential solutions, to what the UN Secretary-General has called "an existential crisis"?>…
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1059151

Budget 2020: chancellor pledging to invest 'historic amounts' in infrastructure
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-11
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised to invest "historic amounts" on infrastructure and innovation in the Budget he will deliver against a backdrop of coronavirus instability.The Treasury said hundreds of billions of pounds will be pledged on Wednesday to invest in infrastructure including roads, railways, broadband and housing.It was understood this figure could be more than £600bn over the five-year parliament. | However, the government has faced criticism for delaying its key National Infrastructure Strategy to tackle the climate crisis and boost transport connectivity.Meanwhile, analysts were keeping a w…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/03/11/budget-2020-chancellor-pledging-to-invest-historic-amounts-in-infrastructure/

The Loopholes Lurking in BP's New Climate Aims
Kelly Trout | commondreams.org | 2020-03-11
Being better than the worst is not good enough in a time of climate emergency. (Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bp_0.jpeg
commondreams.org/views/2020/03/11/loopholes-lurking-bps-new-climate-aims?cd-origin=rss

Greta Thunberg Urges Strikers to 'Unite Behind Science' and Join #DigitalStrike for 'Best Interest of Our Common Society'
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-03-11
In light of the coronavirus spreading around the globe, climate action leader Greta Thunberg called on her supporters to observe a #DigitalStrike instead of attending in-person climate protests, as millions have on Fridays for more than a year and a half. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/greta_0_1_0.png
commondreams.org/news/2020/03/11/greta-thunberg-urges-strikers-unite-behind-science-and-join-digitalstrike-best?cd-origin=rss

'Missing the mark': Ex-Warren staffers face outrage over campaign tattoos eerily similar to Holocaust concentration camp numbers
rt.com | 2020-03-10
Former staffers for Elizabeth Warren have been taken to the woodshed over tattoos meant to memorialize her ill-fated campaign

Contaminated water at nuclear plant still an issue ahead of Tokyo Olympics
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-10
Work to deal with contaminated water at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant continues as the Olympic Games approach.Inside a giant decontamination facility at the destroyed plant, workers in hazmat suits monitor radioactive water pumped from three damaged reactors.The decontamination process is a key element of a contentious debate over what should be done with the nearly 1.2 million tons of still-radioactive water being closely watched by governments and organisations around the world ahead of this summer's Tokyo Olympics.The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, says it needs to free up sp…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/03/10/contaminated-water-at-nuclear-plant-still-an-issue-ahead-of-tokyo-olympics/

Seabird numbers decline as climate breakdown bites, experts warn
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-03-10
Many seabirds are struggling in the face of food shortages and storms brought on by climate breakdown, conservationists have warned.The warning comes as the latest report on breeding seabirds from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee reveals significant declines in species such as Arctic skuas, kittiwakes and northern fulmars in the past two decades.Numbers of black legged kittiwakes are estimated to have halved since 2000, when the last major census of breeding seabirds took place, while Arctic skuas are down 70% and northern fulmars are down 36…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/03/10/seabird-numbers-decline-as-climate-breakdown-bites-experts-warn/

Farmers say fight climate change by investing in sustainable family agriculture
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition | peoplesworld.org | 2020-03-10
The following op-ed is based on an open letter from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), whose vision of agriculture is one where a safe, nutritious, ample, and affordable food supply is produced by a legion of family farmers who make a decent living pursuing their trade, while protecting the environment, and contributing to the strength …
peoplesworld.org/article/farmers-say-fight-climate-change-by-investing-in-sustainable-family-agriculture/

Chernobyl to Katrina: Pundits scramble to compare Trump's handling of coronavirus to previous catastrophes
rt.com | 2020-03-09
Media are comparing US President Donald Trump's (mis)handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic to high-profile historical disasters, from the Chernobyl nuclear accident to Hurricane Katrina…and even the fall of Rome. | Pundits eager to see the end of Trump have rushed to compare what they view as his failure to properly deal with the coronavirus outbreak to legendary disasters from recent and ancient history, regardless of how well those disasters reflect current events. | The president himself retweeted a meme that was quickly interpreted as comparing himself to Emperor Nero, who supposedly fiddled whil…
rt.com/usa/482683-trump-katrina-chernobyl-media-coronavirus/

Chernobyl to Katrina: Pundits scramble to compare Trump's handling of coronavirus to previous catastrophes
rt.com | 2020-03-09
Media are comparing US President Donald Trump's (mis)handling of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic to high-profile historical disasters, from the Chernobyl nuclear accident to Hurricane Katrina…and even the fall of Rome. | Pundits eager to see the end of Trump have rushed to compare what they view as his failure to properly deal with the coronavirus outbreak to legendary disasters from recent and ancient history, regardless of how well those disasters reflect current events. | The president himself retweeted a meme that was quickly interpreted as comparing himself to Emperor Nero, who supposedly fiddled whil…
rt.com/usa/482683-trump-katrina-chernobyl-media-coronavirus/

Global Warming on a Rampage
Robert Hunziker | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-06
Global warming is not waiting around for the signatories to the Paris climate accord '15 to go to net zero emissions 2030/50. Sorry, those bold plans are way too little way too late. Already, across the board, the planet is on a hot streak that defies all projections. It's starting to look downright scary! Listen… …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/global-warming-on-a-rampage/

Rebels continue disruptions
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-05
Climate crisis Zebedee ParkesIssue 1256 Australia Extinction Rebellion climate emergencyMarch 5, 2020Extinction Rebellion activists are continuing to cause disruption around Australia.
greenleft.org.au/content/rebels-continue-disruptions

The case for ecosocialism
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-05
Socialism Peter Boyle Pip HinmanIssue 1256 Australia ecosocialism climate crisisMarch 5, 2020If there is one thing the recent unprec…
greenleft.org.au/content/the-case-for-ecosocialism

'Quiet Australians' organise for climate action
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-04
Climate crisis Susan PriceIssue 1256 Australia Extinction Rebellion Blacktown City Council ParramattaMarch 4, 2020…
greenleft.org.au/content/quiet-australians-organise-climate-action

Could the climate crisis be "The Good News of Damnation"?
Lawrence Wittner | zcomm.org | 2020-03-02
There really is no other solution to the onrushing climate catastrophe than for people and nations to forget their tribal animosities and start behaving as part of a world society…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/could-the-climate-crisis-be-the-good-news-of-damnation/

Paul Paz y Miño, Saqib Bhatti & Beverly Bell on Environmental Justice & Cross-National Solidarity
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2020-02-21
There will only be an increasing number of frontline struggles between extractive, climate-disrupting industry and those willing to stand up to it. Corporate media's inadequate attention, and unwillingness to truly call out the moneyed interests causing present and future harms, make them more often part of the problem than the solution.
fair.org/home/paul-paz-y-mino-saqib-bhatti-beverly-bell-on-environmental-justice-cross-national-solidarity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=paul-paz-y-mino-saqib-bhatti-beverly-bell-on-environmental-justice-cross-national-solidarity

Paul Paz y Miño, Saqib Bhatti & Beverly Bell on Environmental Justice & Cross-National Solidarity
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2020-02-21
There will only be an increasing number of frontline struggles between extractive, climate-disrupting industry and those willing to stand up to it. Corporate media's inadequate attention, and unwillingness to truly call out the moneyed interests causing present and future harms, make them more often part of the problem than the solution.
fair.org/home/paul-paz-y-mino-saqib-bhatti-beverly-bell-on-environmental-justice-cross-national-solidarity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=paul-paz-y-mino-saqib-bhatti-beverly-bell-on-environmental-justice-cross-national-solidarity