Jacqueline Thomsen, - Reader Supported News/The Hill
Stephan: Here is some more good news, this time about New Zealand. It's not just what New Zealand and Sweden are doing, it is their stated reason for doing it. These are governments committed to fostering wellbeing.
An oil rig situated in the ocean exploring for oil and gas.
New Zealand will ban offshore drilling and gas exploration off its coast as part of its effort to fight climate change, the country’s government announced Thursday.
New Zealand officials will stop issuing new permits for drilling and exploration but will allow efforts that are currently underway to continue, according to The New York Times. Those existing permits will expire by 2030.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that decision was made as part of the country’s effort to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
“When it comes to climate change, our plan is clear,” Ardern said, the newspaper reported. “We are committed to the goal of becoming a net zero emissions economy by 2050.”
She added that she wanted the country’s electricity system to fully rely on renewable energy sources by 2035.
The 22 current offshore permits will be allowed to continue until their expiration dates. However, if companies find oil and gas reserves in areas covered by […]
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Saturday, April 14th, 2018
Robert Muggah and Colleen Thouez, research director of the Igarapé Institute and the SecDev Foundation – advises the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and lectures at the School of International Service in American University. - Ideas.Ted.com
Stephan: I see this article as good news because it describes how local communities are banding together as a network. I should also say that the article reflects my own thinking, particularly in the United States. As long as the Republican Party is in power, because they explicitly as a party deny the existence of human mediated climate change, nothing will be done at the federal level. Therefore it will have to fall to state and local level in Blue value states, and just the local level at Red value states.
While some world leaders resist global cooperation, city leaders are working across borders to tackle big issues like global warming, immigration and terrorism, says urban expert Robert Muggah.
Amid the relentlessly grim news on climate change, there is a glimmer of hope — and it’s coming from our cities. Even as the US is pulling out from its commitment to the Paris climate accord, cities of all sizes are stepping up to the plate. Enlightened mayors around the world are taking action, introducing emissions reductions targets, investing in green growth and shifting to renewable energy sources. It’s one manifestation of the new politics of empowered cities, in which local leaders demand their voices be heard on some of the most serious issues of the day, especially climate change, inequality, security and migration.
Whether nations like it or not, cities are muscling their way to the policy-making table. This is more radical than it sounds. Cities have long been shunned by international bodies such as the United Nations, and city leaders have also struggled to raise […]
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Saturday, April 14th, 2018
Sarah K. Burris, - Raw Story
Stephan: Personally I detest hypocrisy, and one of the many things I really dislike about the christofascist movement is its over the top hypocrisy. But I don't find it surprising, rather I see it as a confirmation because I consider christofascism to be a mental disorder, and the hypocrisy a natural component of the syndrome. Here are some facts.
Access Hollywood
One thing that came out of the hack on Ashley Madison was the information that the site was overwhelmingly dominated by male users. Data is now revealing, however, that among those men (and women) currently using the site, the majority were Republicans.
Ashley Madison is the world’s leading website for married people seeking additional relationships. According to their numbers, for all of those conservatives who claim “family values,” they’re more apt to compromise their morality if it is expedient for them to do so.
However, 89 percent of cheaters “say that opposing political views would compel them to cheat on their spouse.” Of those Ashley Madison users, 60 percent self-identify as Republicans. Those that are cheating also indicated that they’d prefer to cheat with a fellow Republican (55 percent).
“It’s […]
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Saturday, April 14th, 2018
Chauncey DeVega, Political Staff Write - Salon - Alternet
Stephan: The prescient article was written almost exactly a year ago. I have chosen it to show that the hypotheses it advanced have been proven to be correct by subsequent events, as the news of any day affirms.
On Thursday, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act in order to give the richest Americans and corporations billions of dollars. To accomplish this, Republicans will deny tens of millions of Americans who have chronic and preexisting health problems access to affordable medical care. The Republican Party’s plan to punish the sick and to kill the “useless eaters” has expanded its targets to include women who have been victims of sexual assault or domestic violence or suffered from post-partum depression. The Republican plan will also hurt disabled people, senior citizens, new mothers, pregnant women, children in special education programs and babies. It is estimated that at least 43,000 Americans a year will die if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
This is quite literally the politics of life and death. Republicans in Congress have chosen to place their fingers on the scale in favor of the latter.
After
finding “courage” prior to their vote from watching the movie “Rocky” and supposedly drawing inspiration from Gen. George Patton, these Republicans — a group largely comprised of rich, old white men — basked in the glow of their “success” while they […]
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Saturday, April 14th, 2018
Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate Economist and Op-ed Columnist - The New York Times
Stephan: I have said many times in SR that I consider Paul Ryan the worse pseudo-intellectual in the Republican Party since the grifter Newt Gingrich, who proceeded him as Speaker of the House, although he does seem to be a nicer person than Gingrich. It's a pretty low bar though; Gingrich once demanded a divorce from his then wife so he could marry his mistress as his wife lay in a hospital bed recovering from cancer surgery.
I have always found Ryan's Ayn Rand economics jejune, and like all Ayn Rand's thinking nasty and callous. Paul Krugman seems to agree, and he sees the implications of Ryan's shallow thinking.
Paul Ryan
Credit: CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times
Why did Paul Ryan choose not to run for re-election? What will be the consequences? Your guess is as good as mine — literally. I can speculate based on what I read in the papers, but so can you.
On the other hand, I do have some insight into how Ryan — who has always been an obvious con man, to anyone willing to see — came to become speaker of the House. And that’s a story that reflects badly not just on Ryan himself, not just on his party, but also on self-proclaimed centrists and the news media, who boosted his career through their malfeasance. Furthermore, the forces that brought Ryan to a position of power are the same forces that have brought America to the edge of a constitutional crisis.
About Ryan: Incredibly, I’m seeing some news reports about his exit that portray him as a serious policy wonk and fiscal hawk who, […]
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