CHRIS HEDGES – We must organize to replace existing structures of power with ones capable of coping with the crisis before us.
Category: September 2019
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.
Accepting “Partial Scores” from New Media Leads to Poor Understanding of Issues
JEFF COHEN – In the old George Carlin joke, the TV sportscaster announces: “Here’s a partial score from the West Coast – Los Angeles 6.†For a brilliant comedian like Carlin – who skewered corporate power, class structure and political/media propaganda – that’s one of his more innocuous jokes. But it’s sharply relevant today as corporate TV news outlets serve up a series of partial scores. Call it “propaganda by omission.â€
We Are Not All Equal When It Comes to the Consequences of Climate Change
LESLIE GREGORY and TOM H. HASTINGS – Not only are we already well into the worst mass extinctions of other species since the Cretaceous Debacle, but it is also evident that climate chaos will indeed impact health and well-being of people of color more than anyone. Consider the evidence.
How the Youth-led Climate Strikes Became a Global Mass Movement
NICK ENGELFRIED – It began as a call to action from a group of youth activists scattered across the globe, and soon became what is shaping up to be the largest planet-wide protest for the climate the world has ever seen. The Global Climate Strike is the result of a whole new generation taking bold action and could be the turning point for grassroots resistance to fossil fuels.
Following Outcry, Armenian Government Steps Back on Controversial Mine Project
ANI MEJLUMYAN – Two weeks after declaring that it would go ahead with a long-debated gold mine project, Armenia’s government has reversed course and said that it will continue to study whether it would in fact be safe for the environment.
Economic Sanctions on Venezuela: War by Another Name
H . PATRICIA HYNES – Recall the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 from grade school history? President James Monroe proclaimed that European nations could not colonize nor otherwise interfere in North and South American countries. Ironically, since 1890, the U.S. has intervened in Latin American elections, civil wars and revolutions at least 56 times, according to historian and author Mark Becker, to bolster US corporate interests and to eliminate democratically elected governments and leftist movements.
The Logic of the Nuclear Age and the Insanity of Our Nuclear Weapons Policy
E. MARTIN SCHOTZ, MD – Once the US and Russia see each other as partners in survival, they would be in a position to work together to help other nations join in the process. This is the way an international ban on nuclear weapons can eventually be achieved.
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.”
We Need Civility, but We Also Need Open Exploration of our Differences
WINSLOW MYERS – The times are too momentous for us to bite our tongues in the name of a veneer of civility that inhibits the constructive exchange of views. Civility, while necessary, is not sufficient.
Immigration Resistance Has Many Faces
ANDREW MOSS – For the most part, major news organizations like the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times have provided comprehensive, accurate coverage of major immigration-related developments. Significant policy changes and their impacts on people have been presented with careful regard for both detail and larger issues. This is as it should be. Nevertheless, coverage often falls short in underplaying a critical dimension of unfolding events: the extraordinary depth and breadth of resistance to the Trump administration’s policies.
The Primary Contradiction: Corporate Power vs. Progressive Populism
NORMAN SOLOMON – For plutocrats, this summer has gotten a bit scary. Two feared candidates are rising. Trusted candidates are underperforming. The 2020 presidential election could turn out to be a real-life horror movie: A Nightmare on Wall Street.
Trump Broke US Law when He Withdrew from the INF Treaty
DR. TIMMON WALLIS – President Trump violated the US Constitution when he unilaterally pulled the United States out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty on August 2, 2019.
Film ‘Official Secrets’ Reveals the Depth of Deception Behind the Iraq War
SAM HUSSEINI – A new film depicting the whistleblower Katherine Gun, who tried to stop the Iraq invasion, is largely accurate, but the story is not over, says Sam Husseini.