JEANNE THEOHARIS – The way we talk about Rosa Parks covers up uncomfortable truths about American racism.
Category: Big Picture
‘A Day Peace Activists… Have Been Waiting For’: Biden Vows to Curb US Support for Saudi-Led War on Yemen
KENNY STANCIL – Peace advocates rejoiced on Thursday in the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement that his administration will be ending U.S. support for “offensive operations” in the Saudi-led war on Yemen and appointing a diplomatic envoy to help resolve the devastating conflict that has caused an estimated 233,000 deaths. “This war has to end,” Biden said during an address at the State Department. “And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arm sales.”
Three Pro-Nuclear Power Bills Introduced into the Legislature
LLOYD K. MARBET – The three pro-nuclear power bills introduced into the legislature must be opposed.
‘Raises From Coast to Coast in 2021’: New Year, Higher Minimum Wages in 24 States and 50 Municipalities Thanks to Fight for $15
“These increases [in the minimum wage around the United States] are a testament to the power of workers coming together and fighting for what real people and families need.”KENNY STANCIL –
Georgia Closes Black Polling Stations
GREG PALAST and ZACH D. ROBERTS – With Georgia voters to decide control of the United States Senate in a special run-off on January 5, GOP officials appear to be doing all they can to make voting for African-Americans a hellacious experience.
The Boss Who Put Everyone on $70K
STEPHANIE HEGARTY – In 2015, the boss of a card payments company in Seattle introduced a $70,000 minimum salary for all of his 120 staff – and personally took a pay cut of $1m. Five years later he’s still on the minimum salary, and says the gamble has paid off.
Governor Newsom, Oregon Governor Brown, Tribal Leaders and Klamath Dam Owner Announce Agreement to Advance Historic Salmon Restoration Plan
JENNIFER K. FALCON – California Governor Gavin Newsom today joined with Oregon Governor Kate Brown, leaders of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes and Berkshire Hathaway-owned PacifiCorp in announcing an agreement to provide additional resources and support to advance the most ambitious salmon restoration effort in history. The project, when completed, will address declines in fish populations, improve river health and renew Tribal communities and cultures.
Trump Calls on Signatories to Withdraw from Nuclear Prohibition Treaty
JOHN LAFORGE – In a fashion reminiscent of lawless dictatorships the world over, the Trump White House has written to countries that have adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons urging them to withdraw their ratifications.
Oregon’s Only Coal-Fired Power Plant Shuttered
BRETT VANDENHEUVEL – According to PGE, the Boardman plant, which opened in 1977, will be the youngest U.S. coal plant closed for environmental reasons. Incredible work, team!
The U.S. Government Should Be Supporting International Law—Not Undermining It
BOB FLAX – The U.S. government has championed ICC investigations into abuses in Burma and Syria, and even recently used human rights as a cudgel against China, Iran, and North Korea. But when the investigators’ eyes turned towards America, cooperation ends.
Is There Life Beyond Plastic?
ROBERT KOEHLER – What are we doing to ourselves? Is there life beyond plastic? I certainly have no answers, but the questions flow without stop. And they won’t break down.
Conservationists Say State Regulators are Allowing Power Plant Developers to Avoid Carbon Fees
TED SICKINGER – Opponents of a proposed power plantin Umatilla County say state regulators are poised to allow construction of a “road to nowhere” that would allow the plant’s backers to avoid paying millions of dollars in extra fees under a strengthened global warming standard established this spring by Gov. Kate Brown.
Andrew Bacevich’s Prescription for Biden’s First Two Weeks
ANDREW BACEVICH – Free of charge, Joe, here is an action plan that will get you from Election Night through your first two weeks in office. Follow this plan and by your 100th day in the White House observers will be comparing you to at least one President Roosevelt, if not both.
Pressured by Climate Activist Groups, Deutsche Bank Ditches Drilling in the Arctic
KRISSY WAITE – Deutsche bank joins a list of two dozen others that will not back Arctic drilling projects.
Canada’s Biggest Indigenous Police Force Has Zero Shooting Deaths In 26 Years
COLIN PERKEL – In its 26 years of existence, officers with Canada’s largest Indigenous police force have never shot and killed anyone and no officer has died in the line of duty, despite a grinding lack of resources and an absence of normal accountability mechanisms.
‘Historic Day’ for Standing Rock as Pipeline Company Told to Shut Down, Remove Oil
KOLBY KICKINGWOMAN – A federal judge has ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline to shut down and remove all oil within 30 days, a huge win for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and the other plaintiffs.
Citing Financial Cost of Pandemic, House Liberals Demand Cut in Military Spending
MIKE DEBONIS – Twenty-nine of the House’s most liberal Democratic members called Tuesday for a cut in military spending in the yearly national defense authorization bill — a declaration, they said, that is meant to focus federal resources on the coronavirus pandemic.
Former UK Commanders Call for Nuclear Cuts to Address Covid-19
MOVE THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS MONEY – Three former UK Royal Navy Commanders sent a letter to all UK parliamentarians on April 1 questioning the policy of maintaining a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent. The commanders note that the £2 billion a year cost of maintaining this nuclear posture and readiness for war appear to be unjustifiable, especially as the economic costs of the coronavirus pandemic are mounting
Virus Worsens Yemeni Situation: US Backs Saudi Terrorists
KATHY KELLY – As COVID-19 threatens to engulf war-torn Yemen, it is even more critical to raise awareness of how the war debilitates the country.
Governments Have ‘Historic Opportunity’ to Accelerate Clean Energy Transition, IEA Says
CHLOE FARAND – IEA head Fatih Birol is calling on heads of state and international financial institutions to make coronavirus recovery plans sustainable.
Sanders Releases Extensive Plan to Deal with Coronavirus Crisis
BERNIE SANDERS – This is a moment that we have got to be working together and going forward together. What I wanted to do is talk about a series of proposals that we are working on and that we will introduce to the Democratic leadership about how we can best go forward.
UK Quietly Admits it’s Buying New Nuclear Warheads – After Being Forced to by US
OLIVER MILNE – Anti-nuclear campaigners said that any decision to upgrade Britain’s nuclear tech should have been debated by MPs.
Big 5 Leaders’ Meeting Proposed by Putin Can Be Helpful amid Changing Int’l Situation
MOHAMMED ALI – A meeting of the leaders of Russia, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, the permanent members of the UN Security Council, which was proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, can be helpful and even necessary in light of the changing international situation.
‘Really, Really Bad’: Scientists Raise Alarm Over Warm Ocean Water Beneath ‘Doomsday Glacier’ in Antarctica
JULIA CONLEY – A study by British and American scientists revealed that a massive sheet of ice known as the “doomsday glacier” is melting faster than experts previously believed—edging the world closer to a possible sea level rise of more than 10 feet.
NATO’s Upcoming War Games Targeted Against Russia
PAUL ANTONOPOULOS – Last week NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained why the U.S. are strengthening their military presence in Europe. The reason is unsurprisingly to pressurize and intimidate Russia, but also against China and the so-called fight against terrorism. Stoltenberg explained that there are now more U.S. soldiers in EU Member States, more than ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In the coming months, the Defender-Europe 2020 exercises, the largest of its kind in the last 25 years, will begin. And with this exercise, U.S. troop numbers will only increase in Europe with another 20,000 troops and officers arriving.
It Is Now 100 Seconds To Midnight
GAYLE SPINAZZE – Doomsday Clock Now Closer to Midnight Than Ever in Its History; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Cite Worsening Nuclear Threat, Lack of Climate Action & Rise of “Cyber-Enabled Disinformation Campaigns” in Moving Clock Hand.
The U.S. is Boosting Production of Nuclear Bomb Cores (For More Nuclear Weapons)
MICHAEL PECK – In another sign that the nuclear arms race is heating up, the U.S. is ramping up production of nuclear bomb cores.
Artificial “Trees” in London Offer an Impressive Climate Mitigation Solution
ALEX LANDON – The world is, finally, awakening to the imminent threats posed by climate change and pollution, and London is starting to do its bit to help. From zero-emissions streets to pollution-eating solar panels, along with restaurants trending towards zero-waste and veganism, the capital has begun to put greener, more sustainable methods into practice. Next in the war on global warming are three new City Trees, a series of CO2-filtering structures which have just been installed in Leytonstone.
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Issues Call to Catholics: Let Us End Our Complicity in War
BISHOP THOMAS GUMBLETON – All Catholics should refuse to kill and should refuse cooperation with United States wars.
An Eyewitness to the Horrors of the US ‘Forever Wars’ Speaks Out
KATHY KELLY – What are the lessons learned from the rampage, destruction and cruelty of U.S. wars? I believe the most important lessons are summed up in the quote on Cynthia Banas’s T-shirt as she delivered water to Marines in Baghdad, in April, 2003: “War Is Not the Answer”; and in an updated version of the headline Ramzi Kysia wrote that same month: “Heavy-handed & Hopeless, The U.S. Military Doesn’t Know What It’s Doing” -in Iraq, Afghanistan or any of its “forever wars.”
Kaine Introduces Resolution to Block War with Iran
ALEXANDER BOLTON – Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Friday introduced a resolution to block President Trump from further escalating hostilities with Iran. The resolution is privileged, which means Republicans cannot block it from reaching the floor, and comes the day after the surprise drone strike that killed Iraninan Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s elite Quds Force.
Iraqis Storm US Embassy in Baghdad After US Bombing of Militias; Iran, Russia and China Conduct Joint Naval Exercises in Gulf of Oman
NATYLIE BALDWIN – In response to an attack last Friday in Iraq that killed a U.S. military contractor and injured several U.S. service members, the U.S. bombed Iraqi Shia militias known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU’s), particularly one known as Ketaib Hezbollah, which it claimed was responsible for the Friday attack. The Iraq government warned Washington not to conduct the retaliatory attack, citing violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. The conflict has arisen amid a climate of relations that were already frayed as many of the recent popular protests in Iraq were partly an expression of disgust about perceived foreign control of the country by both the U.S. and neighboring Iran, in addition to domestic grievances.
188 Democrats Join GOP to Hand Trump $738 Billion Military Budget That Includes ‘Space Force’
JAKE JOHNSON – More than 180 House Democrats joined a nearly united Republican caucus Wednesday night to pass a sweeping $738 billion military spending bill that gives President Donald Trump his long-sought “Space Force,” free rein to wage endless wars, and a green light to continue fueling the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.
Social Justice Index of Developed Nations Puts US Near Bottom
JON QUEALLY – ‘Make America 36th Out of 41 Developed Nations Again’: Social Justice Index of Developed Nations Puts US Near Bottom.
California Halts Hundreds of Fracking Permits in Oil Producer Crackdown
ADAM BEAM – California Gov. Gavin Newsom cracked down on oil producers [a week ago] Tuesday, halting approval of hundreds of fracking permits until independent scientists can review them and temporarily banning another drilling method that regulators believe is linked to one of the largest spills in state history.
Raising the Stakes in the Struggle over Immigration Detention
ANDREW MOSS – As the struggle for immigrant rights continues to be fought across America, new battlegrounds may come into view, then fade from public attention. What hasn’t yet come to full attention, however, is the struggle over the future of immigration detention itself, a conflict whose outcome may have far-reaching consequences for immigration reform in years to come.
Carbon Emissions From 30 of the World’s Largest Cities Are Already Dropping Since Signing Climate Pact
C40 CITIES and GOOD NEW NETWORK – The world’s leading scientists have calculated that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2020 in order to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. New analysis published ahead of the C40 World Mayors Summit confirms that 30 of the world’s largest cities, representing more than 58 million urban citizens, have now reached this crucial milestone.
Climate Disruption: New Study Highlights the Devastating Global Impact of Regional Nuclear Conflict Between India and Pakistan
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS – The title of a new study by Toon et al, published this week in Science Advances, speaks volumes: “Rapidly Expanding nuclear arsenals in Pakistan and India portend regional and global catastrophe.”
Major Media Bury Groundbreaking Studies of Pentagon’s Massive Carbon Bootprint
JOSHUA CHO – US military is responsible for the most egregious and widespread pollution of the planet, yet this information and accompanying documentation goes almost entirely unreported.
The US Is Spending $1.25 Trillion Annually on War
WILLIAM D. HARTUNG and MANDY SMITHBERGER – There are at least 10 separate pots of money dedicated to fighting wars, preparing for yet more wars, and dealing with the consequences of wars already fought. So the next time a president, a general, a secretary of defense, or a hawkish member of Congress insists that the U.S. military is woefully underfunded, think twice. A careful look at U.S. defense expenditures offers a healthy corrective to such wildly inaccurate claims.
America’s Great Climate Exodus Is Starting in the Florida Keys
PRASHANT GOPAL – Mass migration begins as coastal homes are bulldozed in the state facing the biggest threat from climate-driven inundation.
To Stop the Worst Effects of the Climate Crisis, Report Says ‘The Level of Ambition Needs to be Tripled’—At Minimum
EOIN HIGGINS – The new U.N. report referencing increasing impacts of the climate crisis underscores the need for urgent action.
U.S. Invasion of Iraq Left a Plethora of Environmental Poisons
DAVID MASCIOTRA – First the U.S. invaded Iraq — then we left it poisoned. Bombs, bullets and military hardware abandoned by U.S. forces have left Iraq “toxic for millennia.”
Sanders’ New Plan to Rein In Corporate Misbehavior
DAVID SWANSON – Meet the corporations that could lose their federal contracts when President Sanders signs a new executive order protecting workers’ rights.
Virgin Plastic Pellets are the Biggest Pollution Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of
ZOE SCHLANGER – “Pellets make up the second most common type of microplastic that we find, second to fragments which break down from things that are bigger,” says Sherri Mason, a plastics pollution researcher at Pennsylvania State University who has published foundational studies on microplastics found in freshwater. She spends much of her time collecting and counting bits of plastic in the environment. “I can go to any beach, give me five minutes and I’ll find a nurdle,” she says. “Along a river, 10 minutes. Once you know what a nurdle looks like you find them everywhere.”
2019’s States with the Most Underprivileged Children
ADAM MCCANN – In an ideal world, all children would live worry-free and have access to their basic needs: nutritious food, a good education, quality health care and a secure home. Emotionally, they all would feel safe and be loved and supported by caring adults. When all such needs are met, children have a better chance of a stable and happy adult life. But in reality, not every child is so privileged — even in the richest and most powerful nation in the world.
‘Completely Terrifying’: Study Warns Carbon-Saturated Oceans Headed Toward Tipping Point That Could Unleash Mass Extinction Event
JULIA CONLEY – The continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide in the planet’s oceans—which shows no sign of stopping due to humanity’s relentless consumption of fossil fuels—is likely to trigger a chemical reaction in Earth’s carbon cycle similar to those which happened just before mass extinction events, according to a new study.
OR Lawmakers Send Campaign Contribution Cap to Voters
ERIC TEGETHOFF – Oregon voters will have a chance to weigh in on the role of money in politics next year.
Insurance Giant Ditching Coal Industry Called ‘Major Step Forward’-Especially If Others Follow
JON QUEALLY – Chubb has become the first major U.S. insurance company to acknowledge the key role the insurance industry has to play in stopping the climate crisis.
Nuclear Weapons: Experts Alarmed by New Pentagon ‘War-Fighting’ Doctrine
JULIAN BORGER – US joint chiefs of staff posted then removed paper that suggests nuclear weapons could “create conditions for decisive results.”