Noam Chomsky: Ending Climate Change “Has to Come From Mass Popular Action,” Not Politicians
Jacobin – November 19. 2021 – Interview by Poyâ Pâkzâd and Benjamin Magnussen
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/noam-chomsky-climate-change-afghanistan-anarchism-china
Noam Chomsky talks about US hypocrisy in stoking needless conflict with China, the unnecessarily bloody and grinding war in Afghanistan, and why the United States could easily solve climate change.
Elizabeth Kolbert sees a world depleted, and possibly defeated, by climate change
The Harvard Gazette – November 19, 2021 – Clea Simon
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/11/harvard-welcomes-elizabeth-kolbert-for-climate-talk/
If human activity is killing the planet, can humans engineer a solution to save it? That was the question that ran through “The Climate of Attention,” a Harvard discussion with Elizabeth Kolbert, a New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, on Nov. It is also the theme of Kolbert’s latest book, “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future.”… Part of the problem, Kolbert said, is that there is a significant time lag in climate change. “We’re just feeling what was emitted 20 to 30 years ago,” she said. “Any intelligent coastal city has to be thinking about how are we going to protect ourselves against what we know is baked in at this point.”
The Moral Case for Destroying Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
The Guardian – November 18, 2021 – Andreas Malm
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/18/moral-case-destroying-fossil-fuel-infrastructure
If someone has planted a time bomb in your home, you are entitled to dismantle it. The same applies to our planet… The climate struggle has entered a new phase. It is marked by a search for different tactics: something that cannot be so easily ignored, a mode of action that disrupts business-as-usual for real, some way to pull the emergency brake. This search has only just begun, but the signs are there… Overall, the production of fossil fuels needs to be brought down to zero as fast as humanely possible, but in the real world, producers are planning to increase extraction as if there is no tomorrow… The ruling classes of this world are constitutionally incapable of responding to the catastrophe in any other way than by expediting it… We are deep into the catastrophe; the hour is late, but the escalation has only just begun. We don’t know what exactly will work. The one thing we can be certain of is this: we are in a death spiral, we have to break out of it, and we must try something more. The days of gentle protest may be long over.
Struggle against industrial agriculture
RT – November 19, 2021 – Chris Hedges and Daniel O’Connell.
https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/540552-struggle-industrial-agriculture-oconnell/
The disastrous consequences for family farms and farm workers plagued by extreme poverty, a retreat into often lethal addictions to blunt the pain and dislocation, and suicides, however is only part of the destruction brought by these industrial farms. These agribusinesses have, as the authors Daniel O’Connell and Scott Peters argue in their book, In the Struggle: Scholars and the Fight against Industrial Agribusinesses in California eroded the bedrock of democracy itself. The authors look at the fight by eight scholars who foresaw and fought the agribusinesses, most of whom were attacked, censored, and marginalized for their critiques.
Deadly Pesticide Still Legal in US Can Harm Bee Populations for Generations
EcoWatch – November 23, 2021 – Olivia Rosane
https://www.ecowatch.com/bee-populations-pesticides-2655783277.html
A new study shows just how dangerous pesticides can be for bees. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America this month, found that bee populations can take a hit for generations if a bee is exposed just once to a common pesticide during its first year of life. “Especially in agricultural areas, pesticides are often used multiple times a year and multiple years in a row,” study lead author and University of California in Davis ecology Ph.D. candidate Clara Stuligross told The Guardian. “So this really shows us what that can actually mean for bee populations.”
Two Most Widely Used Pesticides Likely Harm Majority Of Endangered Species
Center for Biological Diversity – November 15, 2021 – Nathan Donley
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/epa-two-most-widely-used-pesticides-likely-harm-majority-of-endangered-species-2021-11-15/
“It’s no surprise that these chemical poisons are causing severe harm to imperiled wildlife since U.S. use exceeds 70 million pounds of atrazine and 300 million pounds of glyphosate every year,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s long past time for atrazine to be banned, and the EPA needs to crack down on the reckless overuse of glyphosate. Without real conservation action, these pesticides will continue to push our most endangered wildlife closer to extinction.”
Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Includes Money for Recycling, But the Debate Over Plastics Rages On
Inside Climate News – November 24, 2021 – James Bruggers
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24112021/biden-infrastructure-bill-plastics-recycling/
The industry sees bipartisan support for “sustainable” plastics, while environmentalists call that an oxymoron and say the funding will have limited impact… There is broad agreement from competing political camps that the spending will not do nearly enough to solve the United States’ contribution to a global crisis of plastics waste. The Congressional action comes as the battle over plastic wastes continues in cities and states across the country, and as Congress struggles to find agreement on more robust plastics legislation… Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, was more dismissive. “It’s a good first step—for 1985,” she said. “What’s missing is a serious commitment to waste reduction.” Enck said any 7-year-old in the United States can recite the call to “reduce, reuse and recycle,” the step-ladder to effective environmental management of solid wastes. But “we continue to skip the first rungs,” she said.
Spending as if the Future Matters
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – November 27, 2021 – Paul Krugman
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2021/11/27/Paul-Krugman-Spending-as-if-the-future-matters/stories/202111270009
For centuries, America has invested taxpayer money in its future. Public funds built physical infrastructure, from the Erie Canal to the interstate highway system. We invested in human capital, too: Universal education came to the United States early, and America basically invented modern public secondary education. This public spending laid the foundations for prosperity and helped make us an economic superpower. With the rise of the modern right, however, America turned its back on that history. Tax breaks — essentially giving wealthy people money and hoping that it would trickle down — became the solution to every problem. “Infrastructure week” became a punchline under Donald Trump partly because the Trump team’s proposals were more about crony capitalism than about investment, partly because Mr. Trump never showed the will to override conservatives who opposed any significant new spending. Now Joe Biden is trying to revive the tradition of public spending oriented toward the future.
Using Federal Relief Funds to Invest in Non-Police Approaches to Public Safety
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – November 18, 2021 – Ed Lazere
https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/using-federal-relief-funds-to-invest-in-non-police-approaches-to
Many communities across the United States are considering new approaches to public safety that go beyond traditional policing, and the federal American Rescue Plan has given them a unique opportunity to make progress. The American Rescue Plan, enacted in March 2021, includes additional federal Medicaid funds for mobile mental health intervention services; education funds that can be used to replace school police and reform punitive discipline policies; housing funds that can be used to reduce homelessness and create more stable communities; and billions in flexible funding that states and localities can use to recover from the pandemic and to support communities hit hardest. These resources can be used to invest in proven community-based approaches to public safety, shift some responsibilities from police to other government agencies, and make additional investments in their residents to foster stable communities.
From Bush to Obama, and Trump to Biden, US Militarism Is the Great Unifier
The Intercept – November 21, 2021 – Jeremy Scahill
https://theintercept.com/2021/11/21/america-militarism-foreign-policy-bush-obama-trump-biden/
When it comes to national security policy, the U.S. has been on a steady, hypermilitarized arc for decades. Taken broadly, U.S. policy has been largely consistent on “national security” and “counterterrorism” matters from 9/11 to the present… What does it say about a country that manages to stay the imperial course through such a diverse succession of leaders as George W. Bush (and Dick Cheney), Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden?… The stark truth is this: The interests of the War Party trump any political disputes between the Democrats and the Republicans.
Being American Means Reckoning With Our Violent History
The Washington Post – November 22, 2021 – Ken Burns
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/22/ken-burns-sand-creek-massacre-america-violent-history/
I’ve been making films about American history for more than 40 years. In all of those years, there’s something central that I’ve learned about being an American: Veneration and shame often go hand-in-hand… Today, however, I fear patriotism is presented as a false choice. It seems that for many, to be patriotic is to remember and celebrate only our nation’s triumphs. To choose otherwise, to choose to remember our failings, is thus somehow anti-American… Being an American means reckoning with a history fraught with violence and injustice. Ignoring that reality in favor of mythology is not only wrong but also dangerous. The dark chapters of American history have just as much to teach us, if not more, than the glorious ones, and often the two are intertwined.
Train the Police to Keep the Peace, Not Turn a Profit
The New York Times – November 20, 2021 – The editorial board
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/20/opinion/police-traffic-stops-deaths.html
The situation cries out for departments to change how officers are trained. Ultimately, these departments need to stand down from practices that bring many more people than necessary into contact with the law under circumstances that too often lead to what one district attorney refers to as “anticipatory killings” by police officers. The New York Times lays out these and other issues in an alarming investigation of the culture that too often transforms traffic stops for common violations into unnecessary beatings, car chases or shootings. The Times investigation found that over the past five years, police officers have killed more than 400 drivers who were not brandishing guns or knives or who were not being pursued for dangerous crimes. Many of these motorists ended up dead in stops that began with standard violations like having broken taillights or running a red light.
Ahmaud Arbery’s Killers Gambled and Lost, But the Game Remains Rigged
Tim Wise Website – November 27, 2021
https://timjwise.medium.com/ahmaud-arberys-killers-gambled-and-lost-but-the-game-remains-rigged-f754d8002b4d
Although there was nothing to suggest Arbery had committed any crime for which Travis and Gregory McMichael would have had reason to stop or question him, he lived and died in a nation with roots planted deep in the soil of white contempt. Notice, I did not say white fear. The men who cornered Arbery, “like a rat,” as one boasted, were not afraid of him… In examining 400,000 homicides from 1980 to 2014, researchers found a clear pattern in which killings were far more likely to be deemed justifiable if the killer was white and victim Black than with any other combination… Even after controlling for all other relevant case attributes, whites who kill Blacks are nearly four times as likely to have the killing deemed justified than whites who kill other whites. In contrast, Blacks who kill whites are only half as likely to be deemed justified in their actions as whites who kill whites. What does this tell us?… It is a victory for all who believe the notion of white male vigilantism deserves to be forever discredited, knocked from its presumptive pedestal, and tossed into the ashbin of history, rather than reinforced as with the Rittenhouse verdict. But as we celebrate, and we should, let us remember that although the odds tilted against the house this time, the house still stands. And the people who built it — or at least take credit for having done so — still have most of the chips.
Cuba’s COVID Vaccine Could End Up Saving Millions of Lives
Jacobin – November 22, 2021 – Branko Marcetic
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/cuban-covid-vaccine-pandemic-biotech-research
After a dire twelve months, when a too hasty reopening sent the pandemic surging, deaths peaking, and the country back into a crippling shutdown, a successful vaccination program has turned the pandemic around in the country. Cuba is now one of the few lower-income countries to have not only vaccinated a majority of its population, but the only one to have done so with a vaccine it developed on its own. The saga suggests a path forward for the developing world as it continues struggling with the pandemic in the face of ongoing corporate-driven vaccine apartheid, and points more broadly to what’s possible when medical science is decoupled from private profit.
Establishment Journal The Lancet Publishes Rare Dissenting Voice on COVID-19 Vaccines
Global Research – November 24, 2021 – Calvin Freiburger
https://www.globalresearch.ca/establishment-journal-lancet-publishes-rare-dissenting-voice-covid-19-vaccines/5762635
A dissenting perspective from COVID-19 orthodoxy has found its way into one of the medical establishment’s most prestigious voices, with a letter by a German epidemiologist criticizing the narrative that COVID now represents a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”… “Historically, both the USA and Germany have engendered negative experiences by stigmatizing parts of the population for their skin color or religion,” Kampf concluded. “I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatization of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together.”
15 Ways Pharma Cleverly Manipulates You
The Peoples’s Pharmacy – November 8, 2021 – Dennis Miller, RPh
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/15-ways-pharma-cleverly-manipulates-you
You’re probably unaware of the many ways that Big Pharma manipulates you into accepting pills for everything. This discussion will tell you how it does that.
Medicare Premiums Are About to Skyrocket Because the Government Is in the Pocket of Big Pharma
Jacobin – November 19, 2021 – Branko Marcetic
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/11/biogen-aduhelm-alzheimers-drug-prices-inflation-fda
Perhaps most tragically, this would be far less of an issue if Congress simply did the commonsense thing and allowed Medicare, the single largest purchaser of prescription drugs in the United States, to use its buying power to negotiate down the extortionate prices pharma companies have free rein to charge for all drugs, let alone the absurd $56,000 a year Biogen is demanding for this one. But as we know, the White House and Democrats in Congress cut that provision from their big spending bill under major pressure from Big Pharma, along with almost every other part of their agenda… [This is] also a sadly perfect illustration of the irrelevance of so much of the inflation discussion, which obsesses over the price of milk and burritos while drugmakers continue to rob ordinary people blind.
The New Inflation Scare Is the Dumbest Thing Since Voodoo Economics
In These Times – November 16, 2021 – Max B. Sawicky
https://inthesetimes.com/article/inflation-scare-build-back-better-biden-supply-chain-voodoo-economics
Elites are sounding the alarm over threats of inflation in order to block Biden’s social spending plan. We shouldn’t fall for it… After years of hypocrisy and bungled forecasts of doom, the budget deficit no longer provokes panic. The elites need a new bogeyman, otherwise Congress might actually spend us into happiness. Now, the new monster in the closet is Inflation. The great prognosticators Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer have weighed in, and we are officially advised to be afwaid, vewy afwaid.
If first-graders are old enough to use racial slurs, they’re not ‘too young’ to learn about racism
The Washington Post – November 26, 2021 – Candace Howze
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/26/children-racial-slurs-teaching-about-racism/
No one wants a child to suffer from exposure to racism. But how can a second-grader be too young to learn about race when first-graders have called my students the n-word? If children are not too young to learn a hateful word and inflict it on a peer, they are certainly not too young to be taught about racism… If children are already learning how to be racist toward their peers — whether from family or friends, state agencies, or whatever flashes across their screens — isn’t it reasonable to presume that one of the best places to counteract this racist training is in the classroom, where instructors might encourage questions and lead sensitive, nuanced discussions? Our children’s minds are impressionable and filled with potential. While the topic of race is complex, the only way to preserve the innocence — the goodness — of our children is to teach them the role racism has played in our nation’s history and within modern society, so they won’t repeat their elders’ mistakes.
Let’s Find Alternatives to Striking
Portside – Organizing Work – November 22, 2021 – Rasmus Hästbacka and Kristian Falk
https://www.portside.org/2021-11-22/lets-find-alternatives-striking
Authors from the Swedish syndicalist union SAC caution against the “romanticization” of strikes and argue workers must re-learn how to build pressure within the workplace. … It takes time to build up the ability to pressure employers. This is what the fixation on big strikes overlooks. Colleagues need to test their ability to win small battles to see if they are ready for the next step. Below we provide a selection of alternatives to striking that also help build up the capacity to strike. The alternatives can be categorized into four different types of pressure: moral, psychological, economic, and legal… On the long road to staging a strike, a collective of workers may well discover that alternatives to striking work better than striking in their workplace. It is the results that count. The goal is a more humane working life and society.
Building Community by Buying Nothing
Yes! Magazine – August 10, 2021 – Lornet Turnbull
https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/how-much-is-enough/2021/08/10/building-community-gift-economy
Neither a group, organization, association, or nonprofit, Buy Nothing is a movement that has doubled in size during the pandemic. It now has more than 4 million participants in 6,500 groups, located in 44 countries across the globe. “It’s like a radical new economy, except of course it’s an old economy that has been around forever,” Rockefeller says. “We’re just re-presenting it.”