Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Another editorial in Haaretz out yesterday, echoes our conversation on dehumanization and racism, and on the current situation of the Palestine-israel question: Gideon Levy: When the Israeli general met the Palestinian farmer | Opinion
When the Israeli general met the Palestinian farmer | Opinion
Gideon Levy, Haaretz. Oct. 4, 2021
"When oppressors don’t bother to meet with the oppressed leadership or its people, the dehumanization process is complete. Cruelty becomes more comfortable, and nothing remains of humanity."
Here’s some good news: The head of the army’s Central Command, Yehuda Fuchs, visited the village where the pogrom took place, Khirbet al-Mufkara.
Granted, the visit was very short, about a quarter of an hour. Granted, every time the residents said the word “settlers” in Arabic, the head of Israel’s Civil Administration for the Hebron area, Salim Saadi, was careful to translate it for the major general as “residents.” And granted, the general parroted the hollow phrase that “the army’s job is to protect the security of all the residents,” even though the army doesn’t do anything of the sort.
Nevertheless, it’s rare for a general to visit Palestinian residents and talk with them – not just in this remote, battered village in the South Hebron Hills, but throughout the occupied territories.
Maj. Gen. Fuchs deserves praise for this hasty visit.
He reminded us, even if only implicitly, of the minimum the occupation is obliged to do but has never actually done – to see the people under it as human beings. Fuchs met Palestinians for a rare moment and saw human beings, perhaps for the first time in his life. Most of his colleagues on the General Staff have never even done that.
Once upon a time, the two peoples still mingled with each other, even if they never did so as equals. Even the Israel Defense Forces knew its subjects. Israeli politicians and officers met Palestinian politicians and fighters. Moshe Dayan, a former chief of staff and defense minister, even met of his own initiative with the poet of devouring Israeli soldiers’ livers, Fadwa Tuqan; Israeli poet Dahlia Ravikovitch met with her as well.
There were people who listened to the Palestinians, people who were interested in their fate. People who weren’t Shin Bet security service agents knew them personally. There were people who saw them as human beings.
The fact that a general’s visit to a Palestinian village has generated an op-ed is testimony to how incredible such an event is today. It almost never happens.
At that very same moment, a boy named Mohammed Hamamda was lying in Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva after being hit in the head with a rock thrown by the scum from the settlement outposts of Havat Maon and Avigayil. But in reality, it was the IDF that threw those stones. Fuchs’ soldiers stood idly by, as usual, and did nothing to stop the pogrom.
Mohammed lay there all alone. Until Mossi Raz, the MK who fights the occupation, intervened, the IDF wouldn’t even let his parents be with him.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who visits every soldier who gets a scratch, didn’t visit this boy.
The head of Central Command didn’t visit the other members of the Hamamda family – an elderly couple and the wife’s disabled sister – whom the IDF has denied access to water and electricity. Maybe if Fuchs had met with them as well, the criminal conduct that takes place under his orders would have ended. Or maybe not.
All of these are trivialities that wouldn’t change the reality of the occupation. But without them, not even a trace of humanity remains in this domain of evil. Such steps would have told soldiers that they’re dealing with human beings, at a time when the IDF trains them to think that, actually, Palestinians aren’t human beings.
Everything starts from the top. Israel’s leadership doesn’t recognize the Palestinians. Not at all. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett knows them only from his army unit. Gantz knows them only through his gunsights. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid knows them only as the waiters in the hummus joint or the workers who renovated his house. Almost the first Arabs Lapid ever met were in the corrupt palaces of the Persian Gulf.
He and his colleagues have never met Palestinians and never listened to them. None of them has ever visited a refugee camp or a herding community. They have no idea how the people whose fate they decide actually live or what they look like.
When oppressors don’t bother to meet with the oppressed leadership or its people, the dehumanization process is complete. Cruelty becomes more comfortable, and nothing remains of humanity.
Thanks to this disconnect, halfway decent people like Gantz can tout the Palestinian body count, deprive bereaved relatives of a grave to visit, prevent the parents of a wounded child from being with him, order snipers to shatter demonstrators’ skulls and make elderly people go thirsty in the summer heat.
In Israel, good people do horrific things every day. If they could see the people they are abusing, perhaps they would act a little differently.
Maybe when Maj. Gen. Fuchs met with the farmer also named Mohammed Hamamda at the latter’s home, he was reminded for a moment of his own father. It’s hard to expect more than that from him.
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso Publishing House in London and New York
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Monday, September 27, 2021
Thursday, September 23, 2021
The Corruption of the Afghan Presidency
The Corruption of the Afghan Presidency
Part of the reason the Taliban have popular support is because the guy we propped up was so corrupt. (Like most of the regimes we prop up)
The Profits of War | Costs of War
The Profits of War | Costs of War
Weapons manufacturers make more money from the US government than the budgets of the State Department and US Agency for International Development combined
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Expanding the Military Draft Is Not Feminism. Abolishing Draft Registration Is.
Expanding the Military Draft Is Not Feminism. Abolishing Draft Registration Is.
In the past year alone, nearly 3 million women in the United States have been forced out of the workforce due to coronavirus-related issues. Across the country, women are being pushed into crushing poverty as homelessness and mass incarceration rise among women and children at alarming rates, and health care, voting and reproductive rights continue to be under assault.
What’s the government’s response? Passing expanded paid family leave? No. Continuing expanded unemployment benefits? Absolutely not. Unwilling to provide solutions to the very real issues that everyday people are facing, Congress has instead found a way to suck more resources into the war machine: expanding the draft to include women.
In a nation that has the world’s largest military budget and more than 800 overseas military bases, we refuse to let our bodies be a source of endless cannon fodder and exploitation: One in four women in the U.S. military have reported experiencing sexual assault and more than half have experienced some form of harassment. Requiring women to register for the draft would endanger them in more than one way should they ever need to be selected.
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Kayaking to Cut Coal Fired Power Plants: 2,341 Miles Down the Missouri River
Kayaking to Cut Coal Fired Power Plants: 2,341 Miles Down the Missouri River
One of the plants is at Labadie, just west of St Louis. Coal fired electricity plants are bad for air, humans, and water. Natural gas fired plants are not the answer. The answer is wind and solar.
Sunday, September 19, 2021
Friday, September 17, 2021
Great interview with Spencer Ackerman, author of "Reign of Terror: How 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump" in Jewish Currents
Read the whole interview here: Mainlining Fear and Hatred
Birtherism, for instance—which was how Trump really launched his political ascension—was not just anti-Black racism; it was also part of the culture of the War on Terror. It said Barack Obama was America’s enemy not just because he was supposedly secretly Kenyan, but specifically because he was supposedly a Kenyan Muslim, and that people like him were responsible for the attacks. The atmosphere of emergency post-9/11 allowed these things to fuse together and grow in intensity. I wrote Reign of Terror because I had grown frustrated with how all of the other explanations for Trump left out how by 2016 we had experienced 15 years of an agonizing, inconclusive war against a non-white enemy, from a religion that most Americans are unfamiliar with and regard as something to be feared. That was present in Trump’s own words, and he surrounded himself with some of the most vicious and exploitative proponents of that culture—including Mike Flynn, John Kelly, Erik Prince, Jeff Sessions, and Rudy Giuliani, among others.
Now we have all this gauzy bullshit rhetoric about how America was united, which it never truly was. America was mobilized against an enemy, both internally and abroad. That’s not unity or solidarity, it’s predation. We need to always remember that. Unfortunately, as we can see from how so much of the media and the Washington establishment responded to Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, no lessons have been learned."
"SA: I’m very grateful for the opportunity. In the book I try to explain that the forces defining the post-9/11 era were nothing new in American history—that 9/11 was a circumstance that gave the most violent, nativist, and racist aspects of American history a new rationale in an era of righteous, patriotic urgency. The War on Terror was an inflection point, and it had yet to be properly contextualized that way. We’ve had so many explanations on offer for Trump, many of which are very good and persuasive. My close friend Adam Serwer, for instance, has demonstrated how rooted Trump is in white supremacy and nativism that have been present throughout US history. But I wanted to demonstrate that the War on Terror is crucial context for all of the other explanations.
Birtherism, for instance—which was how Trump really launched his political ascension—was not just anti-Black racism; it was also part of the culture of the War on Terror. It said Barack Obama was America’s enemy not just because he was supposedly secretly Kenyan, but specifically because he was supposedly a Kenyan Muslim, and that people like him were responsible for the attacks. The atmosphere of emergency post-9/11 allowed these things to fuse together and grow in intensity. I wrote Reign of Terror because I had grown frustrated with how all of the other explanations for Trump left out how by 2016 we had experienced 15 years of an agonizing, inconclusive war against a non-white enemy, from a religion that most Americans are unfamiliar with and regard as something to be feared. That was present in Trump’s own words, and he surrounded himself with some of the most vicious and exploitative proponents of that culture—including Mike Flynn, John Kelly, Erik Prince, Jeff Sessions, and Rudy Giuliani, among others.
Now we have all this gauzy bullshit rhetoric about how America was united, which it never truly was. America was mobilized against an enemy, both internally and abroad. That’s not unity or solidarity, it’s predation. We need to always remember that. Unfortunately, as we can see from how so much of the media and the Washington establishment responded to Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, no lessons have been learned."
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Monday, September 13, 2021
Who do they think they are? Israel tells US to ease off Saudi, Egypt human rights – Responsible Statecraft
Who do they think they are? Israel tells US to ease off Saudi, Egypt human rights – Responsible Statecraft
also:
https://apnews.com/article/iran-asia-afghanistan-dubai-middle-east-b6aaf30d689d0a8e45901e51f0457381
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/09/chinese-operated-port-opens-israel-despite-american-concerns
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-releases-first-911-document-after-biden-order-cnn-2021-09-12/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-officials-cautioned-biden-against-heavy-criticism-of-egypt-saudi-arabia/
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Thursday, September 9, 2021
Letter from Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow: They are basically divesting from fossil fuels. Why doesn't WUSTL jump on board too?
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What if the US didn’t go to war in Afghanistan after 9/11? – Responsible Statecraft
What if the US didn’t go to war in Afghanistan after 9/11? – Responsible Statecraft
The Bush administration’s reaction to the 9/11 attacks, as Robert Kagan has recently recalled, was a mixture of panic, confusion, fear, and guilt. Moreover, “Bush personally wanted vengeance,” and he cites an on-the-record reflection by Secretary of State Colin Powell as published in early 2002: Bush “wanted to kill somebody.”
The more I learn about the oil and gas business - and fracking in particular - the more I am convinced we are right: It is a dirty toxic socio-technical infrastructure that should be banned. Ohio bills call for a ‘radioactive subsidy’ for one company’s oil and gas byproduct, critics say - Energy News Network
Ohio bills call for a ‘radioactive subsidy’ for one company’s oil and gas byproduct, critics say - Energy News Network
They want to use salty, radioactive water discharged from oil and gas wells to de-ice the roads. Bad idea all around.
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
The War on Terror Is Still Alive and Well (We'll be discussing this in Week 3)
The War on Terror Is Still Alive and Well
"Biden’s powerful rejoinder to their call for continuing a “low-risk war” indicts the entire strategy: “There’s nothing low-grade or low=risk or low-cost about any war.… We can see that in the statistic that should give pause to anyone who thinks war can ever be low-grade…18 veterans, on average, who die by suicide every single day in America.”Waging forever wars across the world has had poisonous effects on America, even beyond the cost in lives and money. The executive now asserts the right to dispatch troops and drones across the world, to target assassinations—even against an American citizen—preemptively. Or when, in the words of Obama’s lawyers, “elongated imminence” of a threat can justify the use of force."
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
As DOE ramps up Hydrogen Shot initiative, debate about means of production begins
As DOE ramps up Hydrogen Shot initiative, debate about means of production begins
Hydrogen is being pushed by the fossil fuel industries, because they do not want to let go of carbon-centric infrastructure and inputs.
I don't think we need it, but we will discuss.
Friday, September 3, 2021
Pipelines bring new forms of violence against women, especially sexual violence. Indigenous Peoples and some brave people in congress trying to stop them: "Trades group accuses Line 3 foes of ‘gaslighting’ workers"
And the men, of course, respond by accusing the victims of gaslighting.
"A 2020 report to the Minnesota Legislature, the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force,” noted the “risks on Indigenous women associated with Line 3 and other projects of this nature and predicted that construction would lead to more violence against Indigenous women,” according to the lawmakers’ letter."
EPA just detailed all the ways climate change will hit U.S. racial minorities the hardest. It’s a long list.
Some people used to say that climate activism was a "white" issue. It's not.
The new analysis, which comes four days after Hurricane Ida destroyed homes of low-income and Black residents in Louisiana and Mississippi, examined the effects of the global temperature rising 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels. It found that American Indians and Alaska Natives are 48 percent more likely than other groups to live in areas that will be inundated by flooding from sea-level rise under that scenario, Latinos are 43 percent more likely to live in communities that will lose work hours because of intense heat, and Black people will suffer significantly higher mortality rates.
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Democrats call on House leadership to use spending plan to repeal fossil fuel subsidies: This is the kind of leadership we need.
Democrats call on House leadership to use spending plan to repeal fossil fuel subsidies
"The group, led by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), penned a letter to the Democratic leaders Monday asking that the repeal of fossil fuel subsidies be included in Democrats’ Build Back Better Act because they do not bolster U.S. energy independence or create new jobs.
“Fossil fuel subsidies should be repealed because, instead of enhancing American energy independence or creating jobs, they simply enhance the profits of fossil fuel companies,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We should not fall for the industry myth that these subsidies are necessary for good job creation,” they later added."
We will be arguing that hydrogen - especially that backed by the fossil fuel industry - is a non-solution. Earthjustice agrees: Hydrogen industry must clean itself up before expanding into new uses, report finds
Hydrogen industry must clean itself up before expanding into new uses, report finds
"The hype around hydrogen as a clean fuel has reached the point where it threatens funding for genuinely clean energy, according to a new report by the environmental legal group Earthjustice.
Roughly 75 million metric tons of hydrogen are now being produced annually in ways that contribute to the climate crisis rather than help solve it. If hydrogen backers in the oil and gas industry want to make the case that hydrogen is a climate solution, they should start by decarbonizing these production processes, the report says."
Monday, August 30, 2021
Some people out there making sense (doesn't say anything about fossil fuels, but the two are closely linked): Opinion | History Is Clear. America’s Military Is Way Too Big.
Opinion | History Is Clear. America’s Military Is Way Too Big.
At home, the growth of the armed forces means that American society has become more militarized. Police departments are now equipped with battlefield gear and military equipment, some of it surplus from the Army. Former soldiers have joined the violent extremist groups that have multiplied over the last decade. Less than 10 percent of Americans have served in the military, but 12 percent of those charged in the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6 had military experience.
Of course, the U.S. military is one of the most professional and patriotic parts of our society. Our uniformed leaders have consistently defended the rule of law, including against a president trying to undermine an election. The trouble stems from how bloated their organizations have become, and how often they are misused.
We must be honest about what the military cannot do. We should allocate our resources to other organizations and agencies that will actually make our country more resilient, prosperous and secure. We will benefit by returning to our history as a big country with a small peacetime military.
The fossil fuel industry has never been on the side of labor, despite what they say.
One of thousands of times the state used military (police) force against coal miners in this country. Turned on a little Hazel Dickens to get psyched up for my first lecture and found this gem. Watch it all the way through.
Dear WUSTL students, this is the utility that provides power to WUSTL - in many ways they can be seen as an organized criminal enterprise, given how they have systematically fought environmental cleanup (and WUSTL takes money from them to sell us the lie of 'clean coal'): Experts tell Ameren to dump the scrubbers, close the coal plant
Experts tell Ameren to dump the scrubbers, close the coal plant
The question is: when they shut down the coal plants are they going to try to sell us natural gas, or do what we really need, transition to renewables at a large scale?
“I would bet my bottom dollar that it would be replaced with renewables,” said David Woodsmall, a Jefferson City-based attorney who represents the Midwest Energy Consumers Group, which advocates for large commercial and industrial power customers — from AT&T and Tyson Foods to Walmart. “The current trend in the industry is that renewables have much better economics than building gas, coal or nuclear.”
Others, though, aren’t treating renewable replacements as an inevitability.
Owen, for instance, is bracing for a public and political debate. He thinks “all options will be on the table” if a major coal plant is shut down, and he expects to see “a lot of people pushing for natural gas.”
In 2019, when Ameren was first ordered to outfit Rush Island with scrubbers, the company was given a 2024 deadline to comply. The Sierra Club, an intervenor in the case that was originally filed at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said that deadline hasn’t changed.
If you think we need to "harden" our existing fossil-fuel based grid, you are wrong. We need decentralized energy production, distribution, and storage, as well as resilient means of producing renewable energy in situations like this. New Orleans lost power in Hurricane Ida after tower collapsed in river; fix could take days, longer
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Friday, August 13, 2021
Thursday, August 12, 2021
Oil Groups React to USA Call for OPEC to Do More
Oil Groups React to USA Call for OPEC to Do More
(Translation, the oil industry wants prices to stay high and does not want the frackers to go bankrupt if prices come down and stay lower).
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Hope for the future: Gen Z climate tik tok
As a climate reporter I am often asked, what gives you hope? And the answer is, unequivocally, Gen Z climate tik tok pic.twitter.com/HYiC193zVZ
— Emily Atkin (@emorwee) August 10, 2021
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Friday, July 23, 2021
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Opinion | Is the United States Done Being the World’s Cop?
Opinion | Is the United States Done Being the World’s Cop?
"America’s post-Sept. 11 wars have killed over 800,000 people, displaced 37 million and cost some $6.4 trillion. (For reference, that is about $1.9 trillion more than the estimated cost of completely transitioning the U.S. power grid off fossil fuels.) "
Our messed up car culture - NYC
Hey @NYPD66Pct What do you intend to do about this behavior!? This just happened on Ocean Pkwy & Cortelyou. It’s happening all the time now.
— Antonio M. Rosario (@amrosario) July 20, 2021
( @bradlander @brooklynpaper @NYDailyNews @nypost @NYTMetro @NY1 @News12BK ) pic.twitter.com/OkNh5Ik10V
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
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