Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Will Climate Change Turn The Day After Tomorrow Into A Documentary? | Rhom Hartmann | 07/28/23 | 7:37

Trump dominates DeSantis in 2024 poll with third place way behind
Axios | Erin Doherty | 07/31/23

Former President Trump is trouncing his Republican rivals in the 2024 primary, according to a new N.Y. Times/Siena College poll, leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 37 percentage points nationally among likely primary voters.

Why it matters: The nearest third place candidate is at 3%, and Trump also leads DeSantis by 31 percentage points if polled head-to-head.

In the overall poll, Trump was at 54% and DeSantis at 17%.

Former Vice President Pence, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott each had 3%. ... Read more

Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore

American evangelical Christianity has lost its way. While the witness of the church before a watching world is diminished beyond recognition, congregations are torn apart over Donald Trump, Christian nationalism, racial injustice, sexual predation, disgraced leaders, and covered-up scandals. Left behind are millions of believers who counted on the church to be a place of belonging and hope. As greater and greater numbers of younger Americans bleed out from the church, even the most rooted evangelicals are wondering, "Can American Christianity survive?"

In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore calls his fellow evangelical Christians to conversion over culture wars, to truth over tribalism, to the gospel over politics, to integrity over influence, and to renewal over nostalgia. With both prophetic honesty and pastoral love, Moore offers a word of counsel for how a new generation of disillusioned and exhausted believers can find a path forward after the crisis and confusion of the last several years. Believing the gospel is too important to leave it to hucksters and grifters, he shows how a Christian can avoid both cynicism and complicity in order to imagine a different, hopeful vision for the church.

The altar call of the old evangelical revivals was both a call to repentance and the offer of a new start. In the same way, this book invites unmoored and discouraged Christians to step out into an uncertain future, first by letting go of the kind of cultural, politicized, status quo Christianity that led us to this moment of reckoning. Only when we see how lost we are, we can find our way again. Only when we bury what's dead can we experience life again. Only when we lose our religion can we be amazed by grace again.

Fmr. Trump WH aide Miles Taylor shares warning about possible second Trump term | MSNBC | 07/27/23 | 6:58

Extreme weather may aid global climate push
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/28/23

Unparalleled extreme weather simultaneously affecting multiple continents are reverberating in domestic U.S. politics, and may provide much-needed tailwinds for the upcoming United Nations' Climate Summit in Dubai.

Why it matters: The world is falling short of meeting Paris climate targets, particularly the 1.5-degree Celsius goal that small island nations view as essential to their survival.

For example, though it is a single month and not a long-term average, July's monthly average global temperature was 1.5°C (2.6°F) above pre-industrial levels, new data showed on Thursday.

The big picture: The upcoming UN climate negotiations are a critical moment, when rapid and steep new emissions reduction commitments would be required in order to reach net zero emissions by midcentury, or earlier. ... Read more

How Climate Change Will Reshape Where Americans Live | FiveThirtyEight | 05/23/23 | 41:48

The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle

Even as climate change dominates the headlines, many of us still think about it in the future tense-we imagine that as global warming gets worse over the coming decades, millions of people will scatter around the world fleeing famine and rising seas. What we often don't realize is that the consequences of climate change are already visible, right here in the United States. In communities across the country, climate disasters are pushing thousands of people away from their homes.

A human-centered narrative with national scope, The Great Displacement is “a vivid tour of the new human geography just coming into view" (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times bestselling author of The Uninhabitable Earth). From half-drowned Louisiana to fire-scorched California, from the dried-up cotton fields of Arizona to the soaked watersheds of inland North Carolina, people are moving. In the last few decades, the federal government has moved tens of thousands of families away from flood zones, and tens of thousands more have moved of their own accord in the aftermath of natural disasters. Insurance and mortgage markets are already shifting to reflect mounting climate risk, pricing people out of risky areas.

Over the next fifty years, millions of Americans will be caught up in this churn of displacement, forced inland and northward in what will be the largest migration in our country's history. The Great Displacement compassionately tells the stories of those who are already experiencing life on the move, while detailing just how radically climate change will transform our lives-erasing historic towns and villages, pushing people toward new areas, and reshaping the geography of the United States.

12 ALIEN CRAFT In US Custody, Per Intel: Michael Shellenberger; Single Source Claims PILOT Recovered | The Hill | 05/08/23 | 12:58

Heat wave puts over half of U.S. population under heat alerts
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 07/27/23

A heat wave that has hammered the southern U.S. for weeks expanded into the Great Plains, Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday, triggering heat alerts for over 170 million people, according to the National Weather Service.

Why it matters: The extreme heat is expected to persist over a massive swath of the country through Friday, all the while posing an immediate risk to public health.

Heat events are the top annual weather-related killer in the U.S., especially when they persist over a long period of time, as the current heat wave has in many locations. ... Read more

5 Crises Republicans Made up to Distract You | Robert Reich | 07/27/23 | 4:48

Rejected plea deal leaves Hunter Biden's team fuming
Axios | Alex Thompson | 07/27/23

Hunter Biden's legal team was angry and dejected late Wednesday after a plea deal to help the president's son avoid prison blew up in a chaotic, three-hour court hearing.

Why it matters: Judge Maryellen Noreika's rejection of Biden's plea deal on tax charges ensures that legal issues will continue to shadow Biden just as Republicans on Capitol Hill are turning up the heat in investigating him and his father.

Wednesday's hearing also revealed a disconnect between Biden's lawyers and prosecutors over the terms of the plea deal - and even subtle divisions among those on Biden's side. ... Read more

Mitch McConnell abruptly stops mid-sentence during press conference
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell freezes during remarks to reporters | Guardian | 07/26/23 | 1:05 TheGuardian | AP | 07/26/23

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, briefly left his own press conference on Wednesday after stopping his remarks mid-sentence and staring off into space for several seconds.

McConnell approached the podium for his weekly press conference and began speaking about the annual defense bill on the floor, which he said was proceeding with "good bipartisan cooperation". But he then appeared to lose his train of thought, trailing off with a drawn-out "uh".

He then appeared to "freeze" and stared for about 20 seconds before his colleagues in the Republican leadership, who were standing behind him and could not see his face, took his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office. ... Read more

The Senate is debating an $886,000,000,000 defense budget. Here's why I intend to vote against it. | Bernie Sanders | 07/25/23 | 8:45

Poll: Youth sour on America
Axios | Sareen Habeshian | 07/25/23

Why it matters: Pride in national identity is lowest among those 18-34, and illustrates the fracture between young Americans and older generations at a time of deep partisanship in the United States.

In the most recent Gallup poll, Americans 55 and older were nearly 3 times more likely to be extremely prideful of their nationality than younger generations.

By the numbers: Overall, 39% of U.S. adults say they are "extremely proud" to be American in the most recent poll.

Meanwhile, only 18% of those aged 18-34 said the same, compared to 40% of those aged 35-54 and 50% of those 55 and over.

By comparison, in 2013, 85% of those aged 18-29 said they were "extremely" or "very" proud to be an American. ... Read more

Heat wave expands across the U.S., as Southwest continues to swelter
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/25/23/span>

The big picture: As of Tuesday morning, heat alerts stretched in patches from South Florida, where yet another "Excessive Heat Warning" was in effect for Miami, northwestward to Montana.

This affected over 81 million people, and more alerts are expected to be issued as the heat dome responsible for this weather sprawls out further, before eventually retreating southward and sticking around through August.

The Midwest, East Coast and other areas could see their hottest weather of the summer this week, including the potential for a triple-digit-reading in Washington, D.C. ... Read more

McCarthy's winning streak
Axios | Josh Kraushaar | 07/24/23

One of the defining skills of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) tenure is his ability to identify issues that divide moderate Democrats from their more progressive counterparts.

Why it matters: On issues ranging from crime, immigration, energy policy, COVID-19 mandates and, most recently, Israel, McCarthy has brought bills to the floor that win bipartisan support from Republicans and a sizable number of Democrats - while both marginalizing and raising the profile of polarizing progressives.

McCarthy rose to power in the GOP conference as a political operator, not a policy wonk. He's more attuned to how Republicans can keep the House majority than crafting consequential legislation in a divided Congress.

While many of these votes are symbolic, they're designed to re-emerge in campaign advertisements against vulnerable Democrats in 2024. ... Read more

The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood - and America - Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb by Greg Mitchell

Over at Paramount, Hal B. Wallis was ramping up his own film version. His screenwriter: the novelist Ayn Rand, who saw in physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer the model for a character she was sketching for Atlas Shrugged.

Greg Mitchell's The Beginning or the End chronicles the first efforts of American media and culture to process the Atomic Age. A movie that began as a cautionary tale inspired by atomic scientists aiming to warn the world against a nuclear arms race would be drained of all impact due to revisions and retakes ordered by President Truman and the military.

Mitchell has found his way into the lofty rooms, from Washington to California, where it happened, unearthing hundreds of letters and dozens of scripts that show how wise intentions were compromised in favor of defending the use of the bomb and the imperatives of postwar politics. As in his acclaimed Cold War true-life thriller The Tunnels, he exposes how our implacable American myth-making mechanisms distort our history.

Oppenheimer's Controversial Legacy | ColdFusion | 07/21/23 | 26:16

Jordan Klepper vs. Donald Trump's Road to 2024 Candidacy - Part 1 | TDS | 07/20/23 | 13:34

The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell

"When heat comes, it's invisible. It doesn't bend tree branches or blow hair across your face to let you know it's arrived.... The sun feels like the barrel of a gun pointed at you.""

The world is waking up to a new reality: wildfires are now seasonal in California, the Northeast is getting less and less snow each winter, and the ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctica are melting fast. Heat is the first order threat that drives all other impacts of the climate crisis. And as the temperature rises, it is revealing fault lines in our governments, our politics, our economy, and our values. The basic science is not complicated: Stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow, and the global temperature will stop rising tomorrow. Stop burning fossil fuels in 50 years, and the temperature will keep rising for 50 years, making parts of our planet virtually uninhabitable. It's up to us. The hotter it gets, the deeper and wider our fault lines will open.

The Heat Will Kill You First is about the extreme ways in which our planet is already changing. It is about why spring is coming a few weeks earlier and fall is coming a few weeks later and the impact that will have on everything from our food supply to disease outbreaks. It is about what will happen to our lives and our communities when typical summer days in Chicago or Boston go from 90° F to 110°F. A heatwave, Goodell explains, is a predatory event-one that culls out the most vulnerable people. But that is changing. As heatwaves become more intense and more common, they will become more democratic.

As an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of environmental journalism for decades, Goodell's new book may be his most provocative yet, explaining how extreme heat will dramatically change the world as we know it. Masterfully reported, mixing the latest scientific insight with on-the-ground storytelling, Jeff Goodell tackles the big questions and uncovers how extreme heat is a force beyond anything we have reckoned with before.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

The 15 hottest days, in the world's hottest month
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/20/23

By the end of the week, it is likely that 15 days just this month will have breached an unprecedented global temperature threshold - a clarion wakeup call in the form of extreme weather.

Why it matters: Nearly every facet of the climate system is flashing red this summer, from record-low sea ice extent in Antarctica to hot tub-like ocean waters surrounding South Florida, and all-time high temperature records set in multiple countries on at least three continents.

And all this is occurring as human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels and other sources continue to increase, despite the existence of ever-cheaper technologies to generate electricity and power certain modes of transportation.

Zoom in: Already this month, 14 days have recorded surface air temperatures greater than 17°C (62.6°F) - spikes that have not been seen for roughly 125,000 years. ... Read more

Extreme weather: the climate crisis in four charts
TheGuardian | Josh Nicholas | 07/19/23

The climate crisis is moving into uncharted territory as much of the northern hemisphere endures a blistering heatwave, many countries are deluged with rain, sea surface temperatures reach new heights, and Antarctic sea ice new lows. A number of climate records - some unofficial - have tumbled in recent weeks.

Many factors have combined for this to happen, including climate change but also the El Nino weather event, and the northern hemisphere summer. ... Read more

US sees deadliest six months of mass killings on record since at least 2006
TheGuardian | staff | 07/14/23

Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year's unrelenting bloodshed across the US has led to the grimmest of milestones - the deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.

From 1 January to 30 June, the nation endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.

Six months, 181 days, 28 mass killings, 140 victims, one country. ... Read more

Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis by Michael E. Mann

For the vast majority of its 4.54 billion years, Earth has proven it can manage just fine without human beings. Then came the first proto-humans, who emerged just a little more than 2 million years ago-a fleeting moment in geological time. What is it that made this benevolent moment of ours possible? Ironically, it's the very same thing that now threatens us-climate change.

The drying of the tropics during the Pleistocene period created a niche for early hominids, who could hunt prey as forests gave way to savannahs in the African tropics. The sudden cooling episode known as the "Younger Dryas" 13,000 years ago, which occurred just as Earth was thawing out of the last Ice Age, spurred the development of agriculture in the fertile crescent. The "Little Ice Age" cooling of the 16th-19th centuries led to famines and pestilence for much of Europe, yet it was a boon for the Dutch, who were able to take advantage of stronger winds to shorten their ocean voyages.

The conditions that allowed humans to live on this earth are fragile, incredibly so. Climate variability has at times created new niches that humans or their ancestors could potentially exploit, and challenges that at times have spurred innovation. But there's a relatively narrow envelope of climate variability within which human civilization remains viable. And our survival depends on conditions remaining within that range.

In this book, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann will arm readers with the knowledge necessary to appreciate the gravity of the unfolding climate crisis, while emboldening them-and others--to act before it truly does become too late.

Hollywood shuts down as actors join writers on strike
Axios | Tim Baysinger | 07/17/23

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents Hollywood actors, will strike for the first time since 1980 after failing to reach a new labor deal with the major studios.

Why it matters: The actors' strike, which begins at midnight, marks the first time in 63 years that Hollywood has two unions on strike simultaneously, which is expected to bring the industry to a screeching halt. It could also lead to a quicker end to Hollywood's labor war.

The big picture: A strike by Hollywood's largest union, which encompasses 160,000 members in total, will essentially stop all scripted film and TV production - many of which were already halted amid the writers' strike. ... Read more

Endgame | Frontline | 2007 | 54:56

Expanding heat wave leaves more than 112 million under alerts
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 07/13/24 | Note: click to expand

An expanding, intensifying heat wave prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 112 million people on Thursday morning, with no letup in sight for some areas.

Why it matters: The heat will topple longstanding records, especially in the Southwest, and the duration of this event that's set to continue well into next week increases public health dangers.

The big picture: This heat wave is already notable for its scope, intensity and endurance. ... Read more

Ocean heat around Florida is 'unprecedented,' and scientists are warning of major impacts
CNN | Eric Zerkel | 07/12/23

A sudden marine heat wave off the coast of Florida has surprised scientists and sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, threatening one of the most severe coral bleaching events the state has ever seen.

Sea surface temperatures around Florida have reached the highest levels on record since satellites began collecting ocean data. And the warming is happening much earlier than normal - yet another example of ocean heat being amplified by the human-caused climate crisis and the extreme weather it brings.

"We didn't expect this heating to happen so early in the year and to be so extreme," Derek Manzello, a coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, told CNN. "This appears to be unprecedented in our records."

The exceptional temperatures - close to 97 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas - are more than just another alarming climate record; extreme ocean heat and its duration are critical in deciding the survival of coral reefs. Temperatures that are too hot for too long cause coral to bleach, turning a ghastly white as they expel their algal food source and slowly starve to death. ... Read more

Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, author Siddharth Kara

Cobalt Red is the searing, first-ever expose of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt. To uncover the truth about brutal mining practices, Kara investigated militia-controlled mining areas, traced the supply chain of child-mined cobalt from toxic pit to consumer-facing tech giants, and gathered shocking testimonies of people who endure immense suffering and even die mining cobalt.

Cobalt is an essential component to every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today, the batteries that power our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Roughly 75 percent of the world’s supply of cobalt is mined in the Congo, often by peasants and children in sub-human conditions. Billions of people in the world cannot conduct their daily lives without participating in a human rights and environmental catastrophe in the Congo. In this stark and crucial audiobook, Kara argues that we must all care about what is happening in the Congo—because we are all implicated.

Scientists say Canadian lake marks start of the Anthropocene
Axios | Alison Snyder | 07/12/23

Earth's 4.5 billion-year history is divided into geological epochs that each typically span millions of years. On Tuesday, scientists announced that sediment at the bottom of a lake in Ontario, Canada, contains key indicators that the world has entered a new epoch called the Anthropocene.

The big picture: These researchers say humans, rather than a natural phenomenon like an asteroid strike, pushed the planet into this phase - one in which Earth is being rapidly transformed.

"[W]e are living in a new geological period, one in which the scale and power of human activities match or even exceed the scale and power of natural processes," Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science. ... Read more

Climate crisis is 'out of control', says UN after world's hottest week | TheGuardian | 07/08/23 | 1:45

'Heaviest rain ever' causes deadly floods and landslides in Japan
TheGuardian | Justin McCurry | 07/11/23

Six people died and three others were missing after the “heaviest rain ever” triggered floods and landslides in south-west Japan.

The Japan meteorological agency warned residents in Kyushu - one of the country’s four main islands - to stay alert for more landslides, a common hazard in mountainous areas after heavy rainfall. ... Read more

Money, Power, Impunity: The Bankers Who Stole The World | 2008 Bank Crisis | Java Discover | 2022 | 54:53

Vermont communities evacuated from historic flooding as storm slams Northeast
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 07/11/23

Severe storms sweeping the U.S. Northeast caused catastrophic flooding that officials in Vermont said Monday had surpassed levels experienced by the remnants of the deadly 2011 Hurricane Irene, which washed away homes and roads.

A flash flood emergency, the most dire flood warning, was issued for parts of central Vermont on Monday, including Ludlow and Woodstock.

Vermont State Police noted Monday evening "three dozen state roads are closed due to high water" and waterways hadn't yet crested. ... Read more

What El Nino Will do to Earth in 2024 | Astrum | 05/11/23 | 15:01

The new power couple taking on Wall Street: J.D. Vance and Elizabeth Warren
Politico | ELEANOR MUELLER | 07/07/23

Sen. J.D. Vance - the Trump-backing former venture capitalist - is trying to lead Republicans in a new cause: cracking down on big banks.

Following a Senate campaign in which he pledged to prioritize rural America over titans of industry, the Ohio lawmaker is using a seat on the Banking Committee to flex his populist bona fides, teaming up with Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Dick Durbin of Illinois on bills that the industry's biggest players despise - while championing legislation that protects smaller banks.

He's taking a lead role in advancing bipartisan proposals that would penalize bank executives when their companies fail, make it harder for giant lenders to get bigger by acquiring other banks and rein in credit card fees. Along the way, he's had some success in recruiting fellow Republicans to the cause - creating fresh headaches for big bank lobbyists, who are gearing up to fight the Vance-backed policies. ... Read more

Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: July 10 | MSNBC | 07/11/23 | 20:42