NYMHM for 9 Dec 2018

When #newsyoumayhavemissed (December 9) writers make our rounds of reliable sources, we are amazed at what’s quietly behind the headlines: The news that universe may be made of dark liquid. Carefully wrought stories about climate change, Greenland’s ice caps, resource extraction, the undermining of the Department of the Interior. A piece from the Center for Public Integrity that weaves together the political history of Latin America and the consequences for individuals now at our borders. Keep the lights burning, y’all, and miracles may follow.

RESOURCES

  • The Americans of Conscience checklist is always worth checking out—but especially this week for the heartening list of good news.
  • Want to comment on the record? Martha’s list has a wide variety of issues calling for public comment, among them the proposal to drill for oil off the coast of Alaska as well as plans to sell oil leases on public land, divert water in environmentally damaging ways, and re-evaluate the issue of rodenticide that is toxic to wildlife.
  • For a comprehensive summary of the Trump administration’s rapacious approach to oil, gas and coal resources, see Antonia Juhasz’s excellent op ed in the LA Times.
  • Sarah-Hope has another excellent list of people to write on various topics, notably immigration, energy, education, ethics, and the environment.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. No protection for LGBTQ workers in the new NAFTA

The newly signed United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaces NAFTA, initially included protections for LQBTQ individuals to be enforced by all three nations. In the version signed last week, those protections were watered down significantly after congressional Republicans signed a letter saying they would refuse to ratify the treaty with the original language in place. A footnote further clarified that the United States, where there is no federal protection for LGBTQ people against workplace discrimination, would not have to change existing laws. [Global News]

2. National Park Service appointees put public lands at risk

NYMHM previously reported that three-quarters of the members of the National Park System Advisory Board (which designates historical and cultural sites and advises the NPS Director and Interior Secretary on running NPS programs and existing parks) resigned in frustration back on January 23rd after Interior Department Secretary Zinke hadn’t bothered to meet with them for a year.

They’ve been replaced with a minimally-qualified group of 9 men and 2 women, all appearing to be white, and including three donors of more than half a million dollars to Republicans since 2008 (beer distributor John L. Nau III and two bona fide real estate tycoons, John C. Cushman III and Boyd C. Smith) as well as the Republican Mayor of Gulfport, Mississippi, of whom WaPo notes, “Hewes once served as the national chairman of the powerful American Legislative Exchange Council. The group, while nonpartisan, is best known for writing model bills for state legislatures that advance conservative policy goals such as cutting environmental regulations.” None of the new members have academic backgrounds, in contrast to the members who resigned, among them professors from Harvard, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, and Yale.

The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report, “Science Under Siege at the Department of the Interior” (with title headings like, “Meet Ryan Zinke and His Oil and Gas Connections,” “Refusing to Acknowledge Reality,” and “Silencing Scientists and Other Agency Staff.”) which states that in the first ten months of 2018, 25% of Interior Department science advisory committees failed to meet as often as their charters require (an improvement over 2017, when it was 67%). The report notes a widespread pattern of environmentally-destructive actions (see their page 5 for a timeline), including making it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute and dramatically increasing the amount of public land used for oil and gas and coal extraction, all of which is likely to worsen the climate crisis. Scientific American states:

It is a desecration of the concept of public service for Zinke to ignore science aimed to protect the public’s best interest, and an insult to the taxpayers who pay his salary and those of his political colleagues. Zinke won’t be around forever, but he has filled the ranks of political appointees at DOI with like-minded industry lobbyists and climate deniers, so things are not likely to change at Interior anytime soon unless Congress, with a vocal public behind it, insists on transparency, scientific integrity and immediate climate action.

[WaPo, Scientific American, UCS (pdf)]

3. Some updates on Puerto Rico

Hero chef José Andrés (who flew to Puerto Rico post-Hurricane-Maria to serve four million meals, started World Central Kitchen, and wrote We Fed An Island) has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize. [NBC/WaPo]

The Washington Post reports in their Travel section that Puerto Rico is booming from a tourism perspective, though their News section reporting still refers to the island as “struggling to rebuild.” Four Democratic Senators are calling for “the Department of Homeland Security to broaden an ongoing investigation into contracting and hurricane relief problems in Puerto Rico.” [WaPo] The U.S. territory’s planning board assesses Maria’s economic impact at $43 billion, while consulting firm H. Calero estimates $139 to $159 billion [USA Today].

4. More Environment & politics stories:

A. Patagonia

Responding to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, Patagonia is donating $10 million to fight climate change, using their entire tax cut from last year, according to CEO Rose Marcario’s open letter at Linked In.

B. Paris Agreement

Meanwhile, the U.S. has responded to the Fourth National Climate Assessment by reaffirming “its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement” while 19 other countries reaffirmed “that the Paris Agreement is irreversible and commit[ted] to its full implementation.” [Mother Jones]

In just one step that will undermine any effort to limit climate change, coal-fired plants will no longer be required to install technology that lowers their carbon emissions, the Trump administration announced last week.

And in a United Nations working group this past weekend, the U.S. declined to “welcome” the report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but instead to join a proposal by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Russia simply to “note” it. The U.S. government refuses to endorse the report, as Trump variously believes it is overblown, hysterical, or a “hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.” [Washington Post]

C. Energy & Natural Resources

In a tweet, Vox author David Roberts notes that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “may become the ranking member of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee. If that happens, he would become chair of the committee when/if Dems take the Senate in 2020. That would be a DISASTER for climate policy.” Manchin is “the single worst Senate Dem on this issue.” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) would be the ranking member but her planned move to Commerce leaves Manchin as the most senior Democrat. Washington Governor Jay Inslee is petitioning Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to block Manchin [Guardian]. If you want to comment on this issue, see Sarah-Hope’s list for details.

5. What launched the caravan? Facts and Fake News

In addition to US interference in Latin American politics, cocaine produced for United States consumers is at the center of the violence and corruption that has made life untenable for Hondurans, according to Vice. Individuals at the highest levels are involved in drug trafficking, and drug cartels lead to social breakdown. [Vice]

Departing chief of staff John Kelly at one point understood this; as the Center for Public Integrity reported, telling the Navy Times in 2015 that “In many ways [parents] are trying to save their children” from the violence in their own countries.

An imposter account on Facebook was used to increase the numbers in the so-called migrant caravan, according to Buzzfeed. A well-known Honduran activist and journalist, Bartolo Fuentes, said that his account was used to spread messages that the caravan had been organized by established migrant support groups–which would have led more people to join. The account has since been closed and Facebook will not reveal who was using it. [Buzzfeed]

For an overview of U.S. involvement in Latin America, the current political situation, the legal status of asylum seekers and the individual stories of migrants and those who try to assist them, see The Center for Public Integrity’s excellent piece.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

6. Universe may be mostly a “dark fluid” with negative mass

Scientists have known for years that the observable universe is missing something, quite a lot of something in fact. What we can see only makes up about 5% of the mass that should be in the universe. Based on observation, there isn’t enough “stuff” out there to keep everything together and moving, if we only take into account its own gravity. Hence, something is out there pushing and pulling things that we cannot see. Astrophysicists have used the terms “dark matter” and “dark energy” as descriptors for these phenomenon and have thought of them as separate things: dark matter to pull things together and some form of dark energy to explain the fact that the universe is expanding at an increasing rate.

A paper published in “Astronomy and Astrophysics” makes the case that both dark matter and dark energy can be explained using only one theoretical model and source; the key is something called “negative mass.” Negative mass is difficult to explain; however, it has been postulated and modeled before and physicists are very comfortable with the closely aligned concept of “negative energy,” which can be created and measured in labs. Negative mass would repel objects instead of attract them as “normal” matter does–a marble made of negative mass/energy would not roll away from you if you nudged it. Instead, it would nudge back with equal force.

One way of conceptualizing how a universe made mostly of negative matter would work would be to imagine a pot of bubbling syrup. The top of the surface is a foaming mass of bubbles growing, colliding, shoving each other out of the way and popping. Those bubbles can be thought of as negative mass while the syrup being pushed around and flowing together into larger droplets would be “normal” mass. Syrup wants to stick together but the bubbles want to push it apart and sometimes shove it out of the way faster than it might otherwise flow. If the theory is correct, this is why our galaxies hold together and don’t fly apart despite the speeds at which they rotate, despite not having enough mass to hold them together. We might have the means to prove this is the case when the largest telescope ever built, the Square Kilometer Array, is complete. It will survey and map the distribution of galaxies throughout the universe. [Phys.org]

7. Greenland’s ice cap is melting at historically unprecedented rates

Greenland is covered by an enormous sheet of ice, one of the largest repositories of fresh water in the world. So much water, in fact, that were it all to melt, world oceans would rise by 20 feet which would put cities like Miami, New Orleans, Charleston and most of New York and Boston completely underwater, displacing millions. Unfortunately, that seems to be the direction we’re headed, according to a comprehensive study of ice cores conducted by Rowan University. Ice cores can show when surface snow melted, sank down into deeper snow and refroze to eventually be compacted into glacial ice. Because the ice builds year by year in layers, we can date these melt/re-freeze events with precision; the data show that the number of such events has increased dramatically over the past thirty years.

2012 alone saw the *entire* surface of Greenland in a melt event, and compared to the 20th century we’re running 33% above average with the 2012 event standing out as the largest melting ever recorded, going back seven thousand years. Dramatic steps will have to be taken in order to slow the rate of melting and buy time to manage the safeguarding and or evacuation of coastal areas due to be lost to rising oceans. [Ars Technica]

8. But they seem so trustworthy… US Carriers may have lied about coverage areas.

The FCC has announced an investigation into whether or not US cell carriers misrepresented their coverage maps to profit from a federal program to boost high speed broadband coverage in rural areas. The 4.5 billion dollar program needed accurate coverage maps to best target which areas needed additional funding incentives to build up a network notoriously slow and lacking by global standards. While the announcement didn’t mention any carrier by name, the Rural Wireless Association has publicly accused Verizon of lying to the FCC about its 4G LTE coverage in rural communities. The Rural Wireless Association represents small rural carriers that operate in areas that larger companies have abandoned as not profitable enough, and so would stand to benefit from a larger share of the 4.5 billion dollars being given out. Verizon claiming to have robust, fast coverage in areas where they actually do not deprives the rural carriers in those areas from reaping any benefits. Considering the extremely cozy relationship between the current FCC and telecom companies, the lying must have been truly egregious to provoke an actual investigation. [Gizmodo]

NYMHM for 2 Dec 2018

News You May Have Missed for 2 December 2018, as well as tracking the less-known elements of major stories, has a comprehensive overview, meticulously sourced, of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes against girls and how people at the highest levels of government (and in both political parties) were involved. Who needs conspiracy theories when the facts are so disturbing?

RESOURCES

Some great sources on the Mueller investigation:

  • Sheila Markin Nielson, a former assistant U.S. attorney, puts out the Markin Report, a blog with clear, readable explanations of what’s going on.
  • Investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler writes “Empty Wheel,” a blog with solidly sourced reporting.
  • Martha’s list this week includes opportunities to comment on specific pesticides and underground storage of hazardous waste. In addition, comments are open on Betsy DeVos’s proposal to weaken federal Title IX protections for sexual assault and harassment survivors in K-12 schools as well as colleges and university. Comments are closing soon on the Inadmissibility on Public Charge that can be applied to some permanent residents who may use services—even perhaps school lunches and ACA.
  • Whether you care most about education, ethics, the environment, or other issues, Sarah-Hope’s list on her blog, Whatifknits, has snapshots of the most pressing issues and people to write to make your voice heard. See the link in the Resources comments.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Trump undercuts the Affordable Care Act—again

Trump administration policies continue to hammer on ACA effectiveness, as we have detailed before. Now Politico is reporting that sign-ups for 2019 have experienced a steep drop of 9.2%. The article notes, “Just 1 in 4 Americans who buy their own health insurance or are uninsured are aware that the deadline for enrolling in coverage is Dec. 15, according to the latest polling data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.” To sign up, go to healthcare.gov by December 15th. [Politico]

2. Thousands of teenagers in a detention camp in Texas

The AP reports that Tornillo, a “desert detention camp for migrant kids” has grown to house 2,349 teens and is still growing. These aren’t children taken from their parents, but those who arrived alone at the US border hoping to join family who already live here. In those cases where a parent lives in the US, they are likely eligible for permanent resident status under family reunification policies, even if they are not eligible for asylum.

The camp is being run by a San Antonio nonprofit, BCFS, along the same lines as the evacuation centers it normally runs to house people displaced by natural disasters. The migrant teens are apparently receiving no formal education, and there’s a severe shortage of mental health clinicians (one for every 50 children, vs. the one for every dozen children required by federal policies). BCFS claims that every child is seen every day, which would allow about 10 minutes per child. Further, the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement waived the normal child abuse and neglect background checks for Tornillo workers. Perhaps most troubling is the unusual secrecy surrounding the facility, which rarely allows visitors and which, astonishingly, requires workers to sign non-disclosure agreements, prompting NYMHM to wonder what they are hiding, beyond the fact that we’re now keeping thousands of children in a concentration camp.

3. What refugees are fleeing: political violence, thanks to us, and climate

The tear-gassing of asylum seekers by the U.S. at the U.S. border with Mexico has received a lot of attention in mainstream media. What has received less attention is the role of the U.S. in creating the conditions asylum seekers are fleeing, and the role of climate change in exacerbating the poverty that makes those conditions so unbearable. Articles by Esquire on the former, and the Guardian and Washington Post on the latter, are linked in the comments. A brief quote:

“It didn’t rain this year. Last year it didn’t rain,” a caravan migrant from Honduras named Jesús Canan told the Guardian. “My maize field didn’t produce a thing. With my expenses, everything we invested, we didn’t have any earnings. There was no harvest. . . In past years, it rained on time. My plants produced, but there’s no longer any pattern [to the weather].”

[Esquire, Washington Post, Guardian, Reuters]

4. Iranian families separated by the travel ban meet in Canadian/American library

Though the horrors at the U.S. border with Mexico are in the foreground, other families are still wracked from the separations caused by the travel ban, upheld by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision this summer. Under the ban, immigrants and visitors cannot receive visas if they come from the following Muslim-majority countries: Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Yemen — plus North Korea and Venezuela. The ban keeps out refugees from Syria and Yemen, as well as the families of the many students in the U.S. from Iran. In the tiniest of loopholes, Iranian families have been permitted to meet in the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which straddles the border between Quebec and Vermont. US residents from Iran can visit the library without leaving the U.S., and Iranians can visit it via Canada, which does not bar visitors from Muslim countries. [Reuters, NY Times]

5. Radioactive waste spread by wildfires?

Toxic material and radioactive waste may have been spread by the Woolsey fire, which burned 100,000 acres in Southern California. A former rocket testing site where a partial nuclear meltdown took place sixty years ago may have been the epicenter of the fire, according to Physicians for Social Responsibility. The site was supposed to have been cleaned up by 2017, but cleanup has not yet begun. Rain that has since fallen on the site will have washed toxic ash toward surrounding communities. [Truthout, Forbes]

6. The Senate votes to allow a vote on Yemen to advance

The civil war in Yemen, led by the Saudis and supported by the U.S., has killed 50,000 people and resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe, with children starving and the whole population suffering from lack of supplies and medical care. In an unprecedented bipartisan vote, the Senate agreed to allow a resolution to go forward which would withdraw all unauthorized U.S. military support. According to Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), the vote represents a significant break with Saudi Arabia. [The Intercept]

7. Women make half of men’s wages

We’ve heard it said that American women make 80 cents to male workers’ dollar, but apparently the news is much worse. A report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that over 15 years, women make 49 cents to men’s dollar. The gender gap is due to in part to women taking time out of the workforce to care for children and sick family members; the longer women stayed out, the lower their wages. [IWPR, Vox]

8. Extraordinary web of crime involving Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump and others highly placed

Several women will testify against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in December 2018. They allege that he “paid them for nude massages, and sometimes sex, at his mansion in Palm Beach” while they were underage, and further that hiding details of a 2008 plea agreement violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. [Miami Herald]

This story involves potential crimes by multiple people:

A. JEFFREY EPSTEIN

In 2008, he was convicted of solicitation of a minor. His defense was provided by Kenneth Starr (yes, that Kenneth Starr) and Alan Dershowitz. A former Bear Stearns banker, Epstein served a mere 13 months in the Palm Beach Jail from the 2008 conviction, due to an unusual sealed non-prosecution agreement he made with Alexander Acosta, who in 2008 was a U.S. Attorney and is now Secretary of Labor, apparently as a reward for information against Bear Stearns in the subprime crisis. Epstein’s alleged victims were not told of the agreement, which also provides immunity to federal prosecution for sex-trafficking and to any co-conspirators (unnamed in the agreement). An FBI investigation of his crimes was shut down, and any co-conspirators were never charged. [Miami Herald, QZ, Palm Beach Post, Slate, Mother Jones]

Epstein has “reached over two dozen out-of-court settlements with young women who have accused him of prostituting them to his friends and clients” [Sun Sentinel].

B. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

At least one of Epstein’s victims was introduced to him at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property. [Miami Herald]

Trump allegedly attended at least four of Epstein’s sex parties. The filings in Doe v. Trump and Epstein make for rather grim reading, including sections like this (trigger warning: graphic content):

During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but with no effect. Defendant Trump responded to Plaintiff’s pleas by violently striking Plaintiff in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted.

A second witness (“Tiffany Doe”) stated that Trump knew Jane Doe #1 was 13 at the time. Doe #1 dropped her lawsuit following death and bomb threats and her firm’s website being hacked, apparently by Anonymous. Doe #1’s story has not seemed entirely credible to many journalists, partly due to two men she is associated with, Steve Baer and Al Taylor, whose antics are described in a well-sourced 2016 Vox story linked in the comments. [Vox, Guardian]

Separate from cases involving Epstein, Trump has been accused of more than 20 incidents of sexual misconduct, including multiple allegations of groping*, multiple allegations of forced kissing, multiple allegations of Trump entering changing rooms unannounced while underage beauty contestants were naked [Guardian], and at least one alleged attempted rape, of business associate Jill Harth [Newsweek]. Ivana Trump, his first wife, has also said he raped her while they were married.

*NYMHM notes that the media widely reports many of these allegations of groping as simply “groping,” but some of them may rise to the level of rape, at least under the definitions used in Tennessee law, where this writer is based, if Trump’s fingers caused “intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person’s body or of any object into the genital[s].” It’s beyond our expertise to evaluate.

D. ALAN DERSHOWITZ

Alan Dershowitz was one of Epstein’s defense attorneys in 2008. In 2014, he was named in a December 2014 filing from Jane Doe #3. He has retired from the law and from Harvard Law School, and is now a frequent CNN and Fox News commentator.

E. ALEXANDER ACOSTA

In 2008, when he struck the plea deal with Epstein, Alexander Acosta was a U.S. Attorney. He is now Secretary of Labor, which means he oversees international child labor and human trafficking laws.

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz wants “the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate whether Acosta engaged in misconduct when he made the secret plea deal.” [Mcclatchy, Mother Jones]

E. OTHERS

In his mansions and on his sex jet, the “Lolita Express,” Epstein is alleged to have facilitated the rape and molestation of underage girls by Prince Andrew, Duke of York [Guardian, Telegraph], president Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, director Woody Allen, actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker, Harvard economist Larry Summers, and lawyer Alan Dershowitz [Gawker, Daily Beast].

Others named in suits against Epstein as participating in sex with underage girls include modeling agency owner Jean Luc Brunel [Jezebel] and Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, British philanthropist Ghislaine Maxwell [Vanity Fair, Telegraph].

It’s possible that Epstein may also have blackmailed at least some of the hundreds of powerful people he entertained, whether or not they were involved in sex with minors [Gawker].

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

9. Climate change may bring snowballing health challenges

A study issued by the United States government in conjunction with UN agencies and published in the public health journal “The Lancet” paints a grim future of compounded health problems associated with human-caused climate change. Higher global temperatures will mean more heat stress not only on farms but on farm workers, decreasing yields and leading to dangers of famine and malnutrition overwhelming current health infrastructure. On the other end of the spectrum, torrential downpours and massive floods may cause contaminated drinking water and the spread of water-borne illnesses from vectors such as mosquitoes spreading into wider, warmer areas that were once inhospitable. This study adds one more piece of evidence that while making the necessary economic changes to combat climate change are going to be costly, doing nothing will be even more so. [New York Times, Lancet]

10: Tariffs on Chinese rare earth materials backfire and harm US producer

China has for years had a dominant position as the global supplier of so-called “rare earth” metals, which are in high demand for high tech products, but tariffs put in place by the Trump administration to curtail their hold on the market might only be helping them. The issue is refining capacity, as the largest supplier China has most of the production capacity for refining the rare earth ores, so US mines actually ship their ore to China to be refined more cheaply than could be done here. In response to tariffs placed on Chinese rare earth metals, China has put in place tariffs on US goods entering their country, including rare earth ores, which makes China a more expensive proposition to provide refining. In the long run, this market pressure might induce more refining capacity here in the United states but as manufacturers devise ways to become less dependent on these scarce minerals for their products and other countries including Australia come into the market, the room for US companies to operate profitably seems to be shrinking. [Ars Technica]

11: Dirty water is the culprit for E. Coli outbreak, as is the Trump administration

The most recent outbreak of E. Coli, spread via lettuce and causing at least 210 hospitalizations and five deaths can be traced to an irrigation canal in Yuma, Arizona. The water from that canal was likely contaminated by runoff from a large cattle feedlot upstream. This didn’t have to happen: there was a similar outbreak involving spinach in 2006 that resulted in legislation requiring farmers to test their irrigation water for pathogens such as E. Coli; however, under pressure from farmers the Trump administration has pulled back on regulations due to go into effect this year. Now the rules are set to be delayed by as much as an additional eight years, leaving a gaping hole in our food safety system. The cost for complying with these regulations? 12 million dollars. The cost to provide healthcare for outbreaks such as these? An estimated 210 million dollars. [Wired]

NYMHM for 25 Nov 2018

News You May Have Missed for 25 November 2018 is also news you need to know. Look in particular at the climate change story, the neo-Nazis, the closed border…

RESOURCES

  • If you want to be heard quickly—about the teargassing of children at the border, say—text “resist” to 50409, and a bot will turn your text into a fax and send it to your appropriate elected officials. It takes about three minutes.
  • If you have more than three minutes, Sarah-Hope has a new, very informative list of people to write: Family separation, gun control, asylum issues, the underpayment of incarcerated firefighters, and much more.
  • Martha tells us that the comment period is open on oil drilling in Alaska federal waters. See her list for opportunities to comment on environmental regulations, access to contraception, sales of public lands—among other issues.

DOMESTIC NEWS

1. Tear gas fired on children trying to cross border

Trump closed the border between Tijuana and San Diego after a few migrants tried to get through the fence; US border agents fired tear gas on the whole group. Migrants have been waiting in Tijuana for their asylum applications to be considered; only about 100 per day have been processed, though about 5000 are waiting. [Guardian, AP] Meanwhile, legal residents returning to the U.S. after the Thanksgiving break cannot get through; some 90,000 people cross the border legally each day and the closure jeopardizes jobs and schoolwork.

Migrants who arrived at the border have already weathered violence in their home countries and in Mexico; crimes against migrants in Mexico quadrupled between 2015-2017—which is why people travel in caravans. Shakedowns, sexual assault, and random gunfire are common. See the Texas Tribune for a glimpse of what migrants have been through.

Meanwhile, NBC reports that the Department of Homeland Security has undercover informants among the migrant caravan, and that it is monitoring their text massages as well. NBC does not speculate on whether paid informants were among those storming the fence earlier today. [Mother Jones, Vanity Fair]

2. Neo-Nazis uniting, forming paramilitary groups

A neo-Nazi who calls himself Norman Spear is developing a network, both digital and in-person, of people committed to fighting what he says will be an upcoming race war. He calls the digital network “The Base,” and members are organizing through meet-ups and weapons trainings. Vice has an extensive description on what is on the website, from methods of guerrilla warfare to survival tactics to manuals for creating explosive devices. Last year Spear said, “We don’t need to convert or transform every weak-willed white person into a great Aryan warrior in order for us to win. We just need to unite the best of us who are willing to fight to do what’s necessary.”

3. Native American tribe who created Thanksgiving deprived of land

In September, the Department of Interior formally ruled to reverse an Obama-era decision that placed 321 acres of land into a federal trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, the tribe credited with aiding the Pilgrims in the Thanksgiving myth. Despite evidence that the federal government was aware of the Mashpee prior to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the tribe wasn’t recognized by the federal government until 2007, which forms the legal basis for the DOI’s decision. The decision and related court cases are wrapped up in competing gaming interests trying to eliminate competition on native land. [HuffPost, Lakota Law]

If you want to comment on this issue, see Sarah-Hope’s list.

4. Indigenous sites in Arizona bulldozed

Ancient stone tools, some more than 12,000 years old, were dug up and archaeological sites bulldozed at several Arizona state parks. The State Parks director and deputy director have been suspended, while archaeologists and Native American politicians are pressing for investigations. As the director of the Arizona State Museum put it, these kinds of actions are:

destroying the unwritten history of their people, affecting real human beings who have descendants, ancestors who need to be cared for in a respectful and dignified way.

[Indian Country Today]

INTERNATIONAL

5. As Trump makes nice, Saudi women’s rights activists tortured in prison

While Trump sided with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite the CIA’s allegations that he ordered the killing of assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, imprisoned advocates for the repeat of the driving ban in Saudi Arabia have been beaten, tortured with electric shocks and sexually harassed, according to separate investigations by the Washington Post and Amnesty International. Even though the driving ban has been repealed, the women remain in prison. [WaPo, WaPo]

6. Significant incident between Russia and Ukraine

Tensions have flared between Russia and Ukraine after Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels in waters off the Crimean peninsula. Russia has also placed a tanker vessel directly under a bridge in the Kerch Strait, blocking access to the Sea of Azov, which is shared by Russian-occupied Crimea and Ukraine. Ukraine is set to declare martial law on the 26th. [BBC]

7. Surprise! Steven Bannon and Cambridge Analytica were involved in Brexit

As NYMHM reported a number of months ago, Cambridge Analytical was involved in shaping the eventual vote in Britain to leave the U.K. While Cambridge executives deny that Cambridge was involved, emails show that the company was engaged in planning; Steve Bannon was copied on some of the emails the New Yorker obtained. One strategy was that Cambridge Analytical targeted Americans with British relatives. Yet to be determined is whether foreign money was used in the Brexit campaign, a practice that would have been illegal. [New Yorker]

8. Buy too many video games? No flights for you!

China is continuing to roll out its social credit scheme, blocking millions of people from bookING flights or train trips, according to the Independent, which based its reporting on a Chinese government website. People gain points by volunteering or giving blood, and lose points for traffic infractions or purchasing too many video games. Other penalties are expected to include being banned from particular kinds of employment, restricting children from better schools, prohibiting people from moving, and so forth, creating a downward spiral. [Independent]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

9. Climate Change: What did they know and when did they know it?

As early as 1954, the American Petroleum Institute knew that fossil fuels were leading to climate change. According to a Stanford historian, the Institute commissioned a study which showed that CO2 levels had risen 5 per cent in the previous hundred years. The president of the Institute said at the time, “The substance of the report is that there is still time to save the world’s peoples from the catastrophic consequence of pollution, but time is running out.” [Democracy Now]

64 years later, the National Climate Assessment, produced by 300 respected scientists, came out on Black Friday. Its 1,656 pages detail the devastating effects of climate change, from California’s wildfires to billions of dollars of economic losses. The Trump administration is unfazed: Steven J. Milloy, a member of Mr. Trump’s E.P.A. transition team, summed up the Trump administration’s view on the report: “We don’t care,” he said. “In our view, this is made-up hysteria anyway.” [Atlantic, FAIR]

10. Why you can’t eat Romaine: deregulation

Six months ago, the FDA placed an Obama-era regulation on hold that would require the testing of farm irrigation water for pathogens such as E. coli. The implementation of this regulation could have prevented the recent outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of E. coli that has sickened 32 people in the United States and 18 in Canada. [Wired]

11. Sea turtles frozen in icy water

146 sea turtles, including some from endangered species, died after they were found frozen off the coast of Cape Cod, following a sudden temperature drop. Another 54 were saved. According to the Daily Beast, a change in their migration patterns has put them at risk; warming waters leads them to expand their range, into some territories where they cannot be sustained:

The Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary has said that ‘once in a lifetime’ weather—including high winds and tide—effectively incapacitating these turtles.

[Daily Beast, Buzzfeed]

12. Ecological devastation from palm oil plantations

Palm oil along with other biofuels was supposed to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, but it has instead lead to environmental catastrophe. In Borneo, slashing and burning of carbon-rich forests to grow palm trees released “more carbon than the entire continent of Europe,” according to the New York Times. Corporations which owned palm-oil plantations are very profitable, relying on abusive labor practices and quasi-legal appropriation of land from villages and small farmers. Though the Bush-era initiative to produce palm oil was intended to support American farmers currently producing corn and soy and to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, those crafting the policy did not consider how land would actually be used. In addition to carbon release, another consequence of the destruction of forests has been out of control wildfires.

As the Times put it:

This was what an American effort to save the planet looked like. It was startlingly efficient, extremely profitable and utterly disastrous.

NYMHM for 18 Nov 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed is in transit—so late. Still, we’ve been picking up the news stories you might have missed and locating the context of stories you might have read. Read up on the Pentagon audit, the flu vaccine, air quality and other issues around the California fires, and more—including a story on a previously undiscovered form of life on earth (in Canada, of course!).

RESOURCES

DOMESTIC STORIES

1. Air quality in California—mask information

The fires in California have become a tragedy, with 71 people dead and almost 1300 people unaccounted for in the Camp Fire, most of them older; three people have been confirmed dead in the Southern California fires, with almost 100,000 acres burned. Along with countless animals, 26,000 people have lost their homes, and in Chico, those now homeless have been asked to leave the Walmart parking lot where they have been staying—and many have nowhere to go.

The long-term risks of smoke inhalation could add to the losses; on November 16 the air quality in San Francisco was the worst in the world. In Sacramento, the air quality on November 18 was the equivalent of inhaling 14 cigarettes per day. Masks and air purifiers are recommended, though there are specifications for both you should know (details are in the comments, along with an air-quality tracker).

Most at risk, of course, are people who work outdoors and who do not have the option to stay home. However, in the San Joaquin Valley, volunteers attempting to hand out masks to farmworkers were turned away by farm managers. And people of color are most at risk from wildfires, according to a study by a University of Washington graduate student: Emergency messages tend to be in English; Native American reservations are located in fire-prone areas; and lower income people are less likely to have insurance or funds to relocate.

A Canadian newspaper has a pertinent information identifying the history of disasters associated with P G & E, the utility company. While their role in these fires has not been confirmed, the writer’s speculation on the effects of deregulation is worth considering. [NY Times (1, 2, 3), Bay Area Air Quality, Vox, Chico Enterprise, the Star, PSmag]

2. Trump administration pondered handing over US resident to protect Saudi prince

NBC news reported that the Trump administration directed the Justice Department to re-examine ways to extradite the Turkish cleric and critic of the current president of Turkey, Fethullah Gulen, to Turkey, possibly in a bid to alleviate international pressure against crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi. Turkey has been persistent over the years in its demands for extradition of Gulen, whom current Turkish president Recep Erdogan blames for a failed 2016 coup attempt. In previous reviews of the case against Gulen, supposed evidence supplied by Turkey was found not to meet standards for extradition and it is unclear what has changed that would warrant another look into the extradition request. Turkey has supported a sustained international outcry over the extrajudicial killing of Kashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, part of a larger row over colliding spheres of influence within the Middle East, a killing which has badly hurt the reputation of the Saudi crown prince and Saudi Arabia’s attempts to economically diversify its economy. [NBC]

3. GOP dominated state legislatures scramble to hamstring elected Democratic governors

Republican-led state legislatures in four states now face the prospect of Democratic governors as a result of the mid-term elections held this month. Taking a lead from the North Carolina playbook, they are now looking at ways to negate or circumvent the incoming Democratic governor’s power so as to preserve their agenda and legislation. In Michigan they’re feverishly working to water down an increase in minimum wage, having quickly passed legislation to do so only to prevent a voter initiative that they would be unable to alter from becoming law.

Wisconsin legislators are working to strip executive powers from the office of governor after Republican Scott Walker leaves office so that incoming Democrat Tony Evers will be limited in his ability to make appointments, set rules and strip proposed work requirements from an expanded Medicaid program within the state. Readers may recall a very similar situation in North Carolina when governor Cooper took office, requiring Cooper to fight through the courts to reinstate his powers. In these states, as far as the GOP is concerned, a delay through the courts is almost as good as a win. [AP]

4. Pentagon fails first ever audit of its finances, as expected

After almost a year and 413 million dollars spent on it, the first-ever full audit of the US military’s estimated 2.7 trillion dollars in assets has been completed and the Pentagon failed just as expected. The audit is actually 21 different audits of various departments throughout the Department of Defense; of those 21 audits, only five made a passing grade. The Pentagon claims that the simple existence of an audit at all is a win, as it had been sought for decades and never completed. The good news is it appears military payrolls are in order and no obvious fraud or large scale theft was discovered. The worst violations were in the areas of inventory control and IT security, with the latter being particularly disturbing giving the sensitive nature of military computer networks. It’s now estimated that a further 500 million dollars will be required to address the areas of concern found by the audit; the US military budget runs to 700 billion dollars annually. [Defense News]

5. For asylum-seekers, Trump’s double bind

Under Trump’s new proclamation, asylum-seekers are prohibited for applying for asylum for 90 days if they enter the U.S. illegally. They are being required to enter only at official ports of entry. However, those locations require people to wait for weeks because of lack of staffing, which the Trump administration refuses to provide.

2,500 from the so-called “Caravan” have arrived in Tijuana, where they are waiting in refugee camps to apply for entry; some residents of Tijuana have protested their arrival, insisting that Tijuana’s own poor population be addressed first.

The ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center have filed suit to block the imposition of the new rules. However, they may be reinstated by the Supreme Court, given its new configuration. [Mother Jones, NY Times, WSJ]

6. The effect of voter suppression

Vox posted an interesting piece right after the election on how voter suppression may have affected the results, noting the differential effect on poor voters, voters of color, and voters with less mobility and work flexibility.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

7. Climate-change protestors block bridges

Thousands of climate-change protestors blocked five bridges in London on November 17, 85 of whom were arrested. Organized by the new Climate Change action group, Extinction Rebellion, which we reported on a couple of weeks ago, the protests are calling on the government “to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025 and establish a “citizens assembly” to devise an emergency plan of action similar to that seen during the second world war.” [The Guardian]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

8. Running the numbers: 1 percent rise in flu vaccination rates saves 807 lives

Last year was considered a “bad” flu season and was directly responsible for 80,000 lives lost in the United States. Currently the vaccination rate for the flu stands at about 45 percent, but if that rate could be raised to around 70 percent, the benefits of so-called “herd” immunity would be delivered, eliminating a majority of deaths and economic losses from the flu. The majority of those who die are over the age of 75, so convincing younger healthier people to get a flu shot is a tall order: this is why there have been some discussion of using monetary incentives to increase the vaccination rate. Relatively small payments have been proven in studies to substantially increase the numbers of those willing to be vaccinated and when measured against the lost of productive work hours it would more than pay for itself. [Conference (pdf), Chicago Tribune]

9. New kilogram for an ultra-precise future

The kilogram as a standard international unit of measurement had a surprisingly old-school definition: until recently, all kilograms everywhere were measured against a single cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy kept in a vault in France called the International Kilogram Prototype. It served its purpose well for decades but has been coming up short (and occasionally over) in an era where scientific measurements can be performed up to including single atoms.

To remedy this unacceptably various standard, the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Versailles convened and has voted unanimously after years of heated debated to define a kilogram using a strict and ultra-precise amount of electricity. In addition to the newly revised kilogram, there is also now a revamped ampere, kelvin and mole—all now referenced against universal and immutable constants in physics. [Science Daily]

10: Walk in the woods leads to discovery of an entire new category of life on earth

Dalhousie University graduate student Yana Eglit was taking a hike in Nova Scotia, Canada and on a whim collected a vial of dirt along her path. That dirt has rewritten the family tree of life on earth, giving it an entirely new main branch. In the dirt she collected, she found tiny organisms called hemimastigotes, a very rare kind of microbial life that has been known for over a hundred years but until now had never had a genetic study done to one.

It turns out that hemimastigotes are entirely unlike any animal, fungal or plant life, to the extent that one would have to go back a billion years to the very beginnings of life on earth to find a shared ancestor. This means they constitute their own mega branch of life among eukaryotes (life with cell membranes and nucleus). In an additional coup, Ms. Eglit was able to learn how to cultivate and raise one of the two kinds of hemimastigotes so as to have a stable population to further study. [CBC]

NYMHM for 11 Nov 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed thinks Yogi Berra had it right: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” With recounts in Florida, Arizona and Georgia, key races are still undecided, even while Americans are tallying up some remarkable wins and heartbreaking losses. See Chrysostom’s summary—link in the Resources comments. Still, in what has become a pattern, we hardly had time to find our footing when tragedies hit—the mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, the fires in California.

RESOURCES

  • Want to say something about Trump’s attempt to block asylum claims? Drilling in Alaska? Prohibiting potential immigrants from using public services? Martha’s list has the sites where you can comment.
  • Sarah-Hope’s list of issues to address from November 2 is still relevant: lunches for children, preschool programs for low-income children, vaccines against diarrhea for children in developing countries.
  • Chrysostom, our elections correspondent, has a round-up of where the mid-term election stands as of November 9—it’s on Metafilter.

NATIONAL

1. California wildfires the face of climate change

With the most destructive fire in California history still burning, the effects of climate change are painfully evident. Almost the entire town of Paradise has been destroyed, so quickly that most people could not collect possessions or protect their pets; many horses were released simply to fend for themselves. As of November 9, 6,453 homes and 260 businesses had been demolished; 29 people are known to have died, although many more are still missing. Elderly and disabled people may not have been able to dash out of their houses quickly enough.

Meanwhile, the Woolsey fire in Southern California has burned 130 square miles, with 177 homes destroyed. Increasing winds on Sunday fanned the flames. Firefighters had obtained some control over a smaller fire, near Ventura.

A 2016 study by scientists from the University of Idaho and Columbia University found that wildfires have become “twice as destructive over the past three decades due to climate change,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And last summer, the State of California issued a comprehensive report identifying the consequences of climate change, among them wildfires. As the LA fire chief put it:

…it’s evident from that situation statewide that we’re in climate change and it’s going to be here for the foreseeable future.

[SF Chronicle (1, 2, 3), Ca.gov, The Guardian]

2. Trump tries to cancel the 14th Amendment

The ACLU is suing Trump for attempting to cancel the portion of the 14th Amendment that permits children born in the U.S. to be citizens, regardless of the status of their parents. The ACLU argues that the constitution cannot be changed by executive fiat, as amending the constitution requires that both houses concur with a 2/3 majority and that ¾ of the states ratify. The ACLU reminds us of the origins of the 14th Amendment: in 1898, it repealed the Dred Scott decision, thereby permitting the children of former slaves to be citizens. Thirty other countries grant citizenship to children born there. For a more in-depth look at this issue, see the Harvard Human Rights Journal study (pdf). [ACLU, Axios]

3. Young evangelicals disenchanted with the GOP

The Republican Party has long counted on the support of evangelical Christians, but demographic data shows that younger evangelicals are increasingly disillusioned with the traditional hard line stances on moral issues, and by 2024 will no longer make up a significant voting block for the Republican Party. NYMHM would like to call your attention to “In God We Trump,” a documentary on Trump and evangelicals available on iTunes and Amazon Prime. [Newsweek]

4. Monday-morning suing

Arizona is suing to stop the count of mail-in ballots in the Senate race, a process which in Arizona (and elsewhere) is arduous, because voter registrars must verify the signatures and may contact the voter to verify them if they cannot be otherwise confirmed. Urban counties which are likely to favor Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema are particularly targeted in the suit. As of 11/10, Sinema was 28,000 votes ahead of Republican Rep. Martha McSally, with 49.5% of the vote for Sinema and 48.2% for McSally. [CNN, NBC]

5. Troops on the border: mission impossible

On Veterans Day (Remembrance Day in Canada), 5600 troops were stationed along the southwestern border, awaiting the arrival of the migrant caravan and providing photo ops of barbed wire to hearten Trump supporters before the midterms. They will likely be there through Thanksgiving, though their mission is ambiguous. Under U.S. law, they are not able to enforce immigration law; unless Trump declares martial law, they will not be able to do more than string wire. [NY Times]

6. Judge blocks Keystone XL pipeline

Saying that Trump ignored its potential effect on climate change, a Montana judge has blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run for 1,200 miles—from Canadian oil sands to Texas refineries. As the Washington Post explained, “the administration ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires “reasoned” explanations for government decisions.” The restriction is temporary; the government now must do a thorough study of the project’s “adverse impacts,” including its effects on climate change. See the Post’s detailed analysis of the decision in the link below.

The company in charge of the Canadian leg of the pipeline, TransCanada, said it continued to be committed to the project. Indigenous groups in both Canada and the US have opposed the pipeline. [Washington Post, the Star]

INTERNATIONAL

7. Possible peace in Afghanistan

Thirty years after the Soviet Union was forced out of Afghanistan, Russia is hosting peace talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s High Peace Council. These talks come at a time when civilian casualties are at a record high, the Afghans are exhausted, and the Taliban controls ever-increasing territory.

The main demand of the Taliban is the removal of foreign troops, but the United States is not involved in the talks, though an observer is present. Writing in Cold Type, Conn Hallinan maps what a peace plan might look like and what some of the barriers to peace are, among them whether women’s rights can be preserved. [Washington Post, BBC, Cold Type]

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

8. DNA study tells a new story about South and Central America

A study on the genomes of 49 human remains conducted by experts at Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany has found that there have been three major waves of migration into the continent of South America over 11,000 years. The first came with the so-called Clovis culture peoples, the first major identifiable Native American culture found in the archaeological record, at around 11,000 years ago. The Clovis people were completely displaced about 9,000 years ago by a people originating from the Channel Islands of California. A further migration completed the modern DNA makeup, starting around 4000 years ago.

A second study published in Science described the migration of peoples across the Americas. All of this presents a dynamic and fast moving picture of pre-Colombian migrations in the Americas, with quite few mysteries left unresolved including some markers of Australasian ancestry whose origin is completely unknown. [Quartz, Phys, Science]

9. Add droughts to hurricanes as climate-change induced threats to the Caribbean

Research done by Cornell University and published in Geophysical Research Letters shows an increase in severity and length of droughts occurring across the Caribbean, pointing to a severe widespread drought during 2013-2015 as an example of what can be expected to become more common. Data indicates that human-driven climate warming contributed to about a 15-18% increase in severity for the drought, which cost over half of Haiti’s agricultural output and put over a million people into food insecurity.

Additionally, water use problems are certain to be exacerbated as water tables become contaminated with sea water due to overpumping from aquifers during drought conditions. These factors combine to put around 2 million people into chronic food insecurity as a direct result of climate change. [Science Daily]

10. DEA and ICE are watching you

A piece written by Quartz using documents obtained from the federal government shows that the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency are spending large sums on concealed video cameras that are being hidden inside street lights, traffic barrels and other roadside infrastructure.

There is very little oversight or regulation regarding these cameras as they are placed in public areas using government-owned property; however, given the agencies’ extensive and aggressive use of facial recognition and tracking software, one can imagine the kinds of mass surveillance that can be possible with such a network of cameras. [Quartz]

NYMHM for 4 Nov 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed for November 4, 2018 is trying to remember that there is life after the midterms. Critical in that life is the climate change crisis—so we’re offering a climate change round-up, including info about a new group protesting climate change. See, too, the disturbing news about suspicious deaths among Ferguson activists. If you want to peek at the polls, see the first link in the resources section, and if you want to continue to be useful, see the links in the resources comments.

RESOURCES

  • Midterms! Our colleague Chrysostom has been posting daily updates on polls and prospects.
  • Sarah-Hope’s most current list of places & people to write is at whatifknits.com. Sarah-Hope suggests that your congresspeople need plenty of mail when they return to their offices after the midterms; your comments could ensure that children have nutritious lunches, children in developing countries have access to the vaccine for a deadly diarrhea, and that low-income American children have access to low-cost, high-quality preschool programs.
  • Martha’s list of places to comment on federal policy changes includes just the most urgent invitations. In particular, Tuesday is the last day to comment on the Flores agreement, which limits the number of days in which children can be incarcerated to 20. The Trump administration proposes to end Flores, so that children could be jailed indefinitely.
  • It’s a good week to look at the Americans of Conscience checklist.
  • If you would like to help address the famine in Yemen, the New York Times has a list of reputable places which can put your donations to work.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. Climate change round-up

Even more devastating climate change on the horizon:

In October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.), which advises the United Nations on Climate Change, published its most alarming findings yet: with one degree of warming, the impacts of climate change are already severe; over 1.5, severe weather, crop failure, disease and economic collapse will become pervasive. We have only a few years to meet the target 1.5; even if all nations honored the Paris Accords (which Trump has pulled out from), by the century’s end, the climate will increase by 3 degrees. A meeting of international leaders to discuss climate will take place in December. [The New Yorker]

Climate lawsuit by young people:

After initially pausing the climate change case brought by young people, a pause authorized by Chief Justice John Roberts in response to a petition from the Trump administration, the Supreme Court has now allowed it to go forward. With 21 plaintiffs, the case argues that “the federal government is violating their Constitutional rights to life, liberty and property by promoting an energy system that exacerbates climate change.” [Climate Liability News (1, 2)]

Extinction rebellion:

A group of activists in the UK is preparing to commit civil disobedience to protest climate change. 500 people have signed up to be arrested, and they plan to bring “large sections of London to a standstill,” according to the Guardian. Bernie Sanders posted a link to the group, called “Extinction Rebellion”; the group is meeting with other environmental groups and is backed by a group of 100 academics including the former Archbishop of Canterbury. As one of the organizers told the Guardian, “Children alive today in the UK will face the terrible consequences of inaction, from floods to wildfires, extreme weather to crop failures and the inevitable breakdown of society. We have a duty to act.” [The Guardian]

Climate change is eroding the coast:

Coastal Californians may be interested in the article about climate change-related coastal erosion in California; Santa Cruz is the case study. [The Guardian]

Oceans have absorbed more heat than previously thought:

Once again scientists are being forced to revise upward the amount of danger the planet is in due to climate change after finding that the world’s oceans have already absorbed far more heat than had been thought. The ARGOS study involves hundreds of autonomous buoys that dive to specific depths and measure the temperature, salinity and current of the ocean around them. They then rise every ten days to beam that data to a satellite. The ARGOS probes have found that the oceans are absorbing 150% more energy that all human-produced electricity in any given year, dwarfing the warming found on land and in the atmosphere.

This warming has devastating implications as it makes the daunting demand to end all use of carbon fuels even more urgent, as the ability of oceans to absorb excess heat has already been used. As the earth’s great heat sinks, oceans have enormous effects on atmospheric and climate conditions: the more energy they contain, the more energetic the storms they will produce and the greater extreme swings that will be produced in rainfalls leading to more devastating floods and droughts. This is to say nothing of the grave threat posed to all ocean ecosystems which humans are dependent on, ecosystems which are highly sensitive to temperature changes. [Physics.org]

2. Children dying in Yemen

In Yemen, 400,000 children are in danger of starving to death, according to UNICEF; eight million people are relying on emergency rations and that number could double. The United Nations is urging the Saudi-led, US-supported coalition as well as the Houthi Shia rebels to cease hostilities so that food and medical supplies can be brought in. Food and fuel costs have skyrocketed as a result of the civil war, so that the civilian population can neither buy food nor afford to bring their children to hospitals. The New York Times published pictures of emaciated children, a strategy which engaged readers already and at last prepared to look critically at Saudi Arabia as a result of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. See the link in the Resources comment for ways to help address starvation. [NY Times (1, 2, 3), Al Jazeera]

3. Women organizing against Bolsonaro

Women are at the forefront of organizing against newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, where a woman dies every two days from complications of an illegal abortion and where 4,500 women were killed and more than 60,000 were raped in the past year, reports the Atlantic, citing the Brazilian Forum for Public Security.

As a congressman, Bolsonaro voted to impeach Brazil’s first woman president, Dilma Rousseff, and dedicated his vote to the head of the torture unit; Rousseff herself was later tortured. He is famous for his anti-woman and anti-feminist remarks. A Facebook group, Women Against Bolsonaro, has 3.8 million members. [The Atlantic]

DOMESTIC NEWS

4. Militias head for the caravan

Armed vigilante groups, including the Texas Minutemen, are heading to the border, intending to assist the 7,000 troops that Trump is deploying. (Newsweek points out, however, that Trump was briefed on the fact that only 20 per cent of the caravan is expected to arrive at the border.) Not only local landowners but army commanders are uneasy about the situation, according to a leaked document obtained by Newsweek (a power-point presentation describing where troops will be located along with possible arrival points is on Newsweek’s site).

Meanwhile, the people in the caravan—who have struck such terror into the hearts of Republican voters—are struggling. The Post describes them as continuing to walk on “blistered, bleeding and bandaged feet,” when the Mexican government, not wanting to be seen by the U.S. as helping the caravan, blocked their buses. It is windy and hot—up to 100 degrees in the daytime—cold at night, and respiratory illnesses are endemic. Some are pregnant; others are on crutches. [Washington Post (1, 2, 3)]

5. Suspicious deaths among Ferguson activists & families

Danye Jones, son of Ferguson activist Melissa McKinnies, was apparently lynched on October 17. Authorities are calling it a suicide, but he was found hanging from a tree in his mother’s backyard with his pants around his ankles (a common feature in lynchings), and had just bought property. Essence notes that there have been at least three previous Ferguson-activist-related deaths, “In 2014, Deandre Joshua, 20, was found shot once in the head, and then set on fire inside his car the same day a grand jury refused to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Prominent Ferguson activist Darren Seals was also found dead inside of a burning car back in 2016. He had also been shot. And then there was the 2017 death of Edward Crawford, the activist captured in the iconic photo tossing a canister of tear gas away from those protesting Brown’s death. Police claimed that he died of a ‘self-inflicted’ wound while in the back seat of his own car.” [Essence (1, 2, 3), Atlanta Black Star, NY Times]

6. Birthright Citizenship

Mother Jones has an analysis of the origins of Trump’s ideas about birthright citizenship: two legal scholars whose work is widely repudiated. [Mother Jones]

7. ICE sending out fake court dates

In an effort to prevent immigrants from using the “stop-time rule” to stay in the country, ICE has been sending out fake court dates to immigrants. The “stop-time rule” permits immigrants to stay if they have been in the U.S. continuously for ten years and have a family member with citizenship or a green card. ICE is somehow hoping that by setting up fake dates, immigrants will not be able to use the “stop-time rule.” Immigration lawyers can check whether the dates are real, but immigrants who lack representation have gone to considerable expense and lost work time, only to find that the date and time given—midnight, say—are false. [Vice]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

8. Kemp declares investigation into Democrats for hacking; evidence and details are scarce

Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate for the state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, who is also the Secretary of State, has announced an open investigation into an attempted hacking of the state voter registration system, saying that the Georgia Democratic Party is a suspect. Mr. Kemp is no stranger to controversy regarding the use of his office as the state’s election commissioner to influence the election for governor, as ongoing questions surround his decision to purge thousands of voters from rolls and remove polling sites from predominately black communities.

Georgia is one of only five states not to have a paper verification of electronic voting, and Kemp has not made any effort to find funding to replace voting machines. He also declined support from the DHS to address vulnerabilities in Georgia’s voting infrastructure.

The allegations of hacking are puzzling as Mr. Kemp and his entire staff seem largely ignorant of the technologies used in the state election system, having accused the Department of Homeland Security in 2016 of attempting to hack the Georgia Secretary of State’s firewall. It later was explained that the ‘hacking attempt’ was in actuality a routine check of the state’s firearm license database as part of a standard background check for security guards assigned to a federal facility.

In this case, it appears that the “hacking attempt” was actually an attempt to alert state officials to security vulnerabilities found by IT security experts working for a variety of concerned parties, including the Coalition for Good Governance and the Democratic Party of Georgia. It’s quite a leap to go from being a good citizen pointing out potentially dangerous flaws and conflating it with a nefarious hacking attempt by the opposition party. [Gizmodo, Wired, NY Times]

9. Antibody found in llamas being tested to fight the flu

An international team of researchers has published their work in the journal “Science” showing that a vaccine utilizing antibodies derived from Illamas protected mice from a broad range of strains of influenza. The flu is notoriously tricky to pin down, mutating rapidly into several different strains yearly and existing vaccines are only effective for one strain, generally chosen to be the strain identified in any given year as the one most likely to be dangerous to a broad population.

The answer to creating a universal flu vaccine might be found in the antibodies produced by llamas exposed to flu viruses. Llama antibodies (antibodies are proteins produced by immune systems to neutralize pathogens and work by interrupting molecular processes by binding to certain areas in the invading germ) are remarkable in that they have the smallest binding site of any known antibody; less is more when it comes to versatility. Llama antibodies also have the benefit of being long lasting and easy to create in labs. Human trials are expected to follow soon, expedited by the great need for such a vaccine; the flu killed 80,000 people in the United States during 2017 alone. [Real Clear Science]

NYMHM for 28 Oct 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed for October 28, 2018 is finding it difficult to focus on anything other than the deaths at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh—but we know we have to keep a panoramic view, and do.

Some of our friends are donating to HIAS, the organization that supports refugees which the shooter seemed to be obsessed with. Others are donating to the Center for Public Integrity in memory of Jamal Khashoggi.

Finding ways to change the world in which these crimes proliferate is essential. Also see the resources section if you’d like to object to the plan to destroy government documents.

RESOURCES

The synagogue shooter was especially incensed about HIAS—the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which aids refugees of all backgrounds. A good opinion piece about what HIAS does is in the NY Times.

Jamal Khashoggi’s editors have an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit. You may want to donate in his memory to the Center for Public Integrity—to support investigative reporting. Look at their stories on their main page while you are at it.

Martha’s list reminds us that we have only until November 6 to weigh in on the proposal to end the Flores amendment, which (among other things) states that child immigrants can only be incarcerated for 20 days. The list includes a link to comment on the Interior Department’s plan to destroy its records. Alt.gov has additional information.

A link to advocate for the release of the 80 mothers and children still in immigrant detention in Dilley, Texas, is in the comments. It is sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the ACLU.

Sarah-Hope’s 10/13 list of places and people to write is still relevant. She’ll give us an updated one after the midterms.

Last but not least: Chrysostom has a thorough pre-election roundup—and is posting daily.

NEWS

1. Kroger shooting victims

In danger of being lost in the horrors of the synagogue shooting are the victims of the Louisville Kroger shooting, Maurice Stallard and Vickie Lee Jones, both black grandparents. The shooter had tried to enter a black church shortly before but the doors were locked. The shooter, who is white, made a racist comment in the parking lot after the shooting, according to one witness; he also has a history of domestic violence and mental illness, the latter according to his Facebook posts. [Courier-Journal]

2. Muslims raise funds for synagogue survivors

As of October 28th, the day after the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, two Muslim organizations, Celebrate Mercy and MPower Change, had raised $57,362 for survivors and families of the victims to help pay for medical and funeral costs. On its fundraising page, the group wrote:

Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate and violence in America. We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event.

[Hill, Forward, fundraising site]

3. Patterns of right-wing violence

The Intercept has a partial list of right-wing attackers inspired by Trump’s rhetoric, along with the administration’s responses (or lack thereof). And the Center for Investigative Reporting ran a piece last summer that identified right-wing incidents or plots as occurring twice as often as those initiated by such groups as the Islamic State (most of which were foiled). Left-wing plots or incidents were quite rare. [Intercept, Center for Investigative Reporting]

4. War games as US withdraws from arms treaty

As Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INFT) with Russia, NATO has launched a series of war games in Norway, involving 50,000 troops from 31 countries, according to Democracy Now. The treaty had lowered stockpiles of nuclear weapons worldwide from 70,300 weapons in 1986 to 14,485 today, according to Derek Johnson, writing for CNN.

One opinion writer, Marc Thiessen, argues that the withdrawal sends a message to North Korea—that if the country declines to end its nuclear program, it could be surrounded by short- and medium-range missiles. But Conn Hallinan, who writes for Foreign Policy In Focus, pointed out to us that the loss of the INFT matters not only in its own right but because “a unilateral withdrawal puts other treaties in danger.” [CNN, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Democracy Now]

5. Make it Viral

A superb ad supporting Democratic candidates—all women with histories of military or government service—is not being aired due to campaign financing laws; an entity such as the Democratic Party would have to sponsor it, which they have not yet done. Of course, nothing prevents you from sharing it. Link in the comments. [NY Times]

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

6. Caravan myths and facts

The caravan traversing Mexico to escape conditions in Honduras has been supported by Mexicans all along the route, Mexicans who have given the migrants food, water, clothing, and medicine. “Today it’s them. Tomorrow it could be us,” said one volunteer.

In contrast, right-wing social media has spread hoaxes about the caravan, among them that they are funded by George Soros, planning an invasion, or—as Trump said—had among them dangerous people from the Middle East. The migrants themselves say they are fleeing violence or trying to rejoin family members in the U.S.

The violence in Honduras has some of its origins in the 2009 coup, in which President Manuel Zelaya, democratically elected, was removed from office by right-wing lawmakers and the military—a coup which then-Secretary of State Clinton supported. Since then, human rights abuses have accelerated.

The Atlantic has a history of how the Trump administration partnered with Fox News to construct the caravan as a national emergency—just in time for the midterm elections, and just in time to inspire the man who killed 11 people in the Tree of Life synagogue, the man who blamed Jews for the caravan.

The Department of Homeland Security has said it will send National Guard troops to the border, and White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders referred to the “influx” of immigrants. However, border patrol apprehensions have dropped sharply; they are now at the lowest level in 37 years—though border patrol staffing has more than doubled. [WaPo (1, 2, 3), Center for Public Integrity, the Atlantic, CNN, FPIF]

7. Brazil’s new president endangers LGBTQ, indigenous people, as well as the Amazon

Jair Bolsonaro—who has made virulent anti-gay remarks, praised previous right-wing dictatorships, and said his political opponents should be shot—won the run-off vote for Brazil’s presidency, ending 15 years of left-wing governance. He has promised to make Brazil “great” again and has castigated the “fake news”; his campaign depended on the deft use of social media and the critique of the corruption that has plague the country.

Bolsonaro has pledged to take Brazil out of the climate accord, take land away from indigenous people and end environmental protections for the Amazon. Climate activists have said that the EU could pressure Bolsonaro with trade restrictions, however, if EU countries were moved to act. [Washington Post, Climate Change News, Guardian]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

8. Social media under scrutiny for lack of self policing in wake of high profile right-wing terrorism

Social media giant Twitter is coming under fire after revelations that threatening tweets authored by suspected mail bomber Cesar Altieri Sayoc were reported to Twitter, which then failed to take action, saying they did not find the threats “serious.”

Also under fire is social media site “Gab,” which has become a haven for far-right extremists due to its relaxed “free speech” policies. Gab has had its payment processing services pulled as well as its cloud hosting service in the wake of postings found there authored by Synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers. Social media companies are front and center in national discussions about the role they play as a tool in the hands of propagandists and in facilitating terrorism within the context of freedom of speech. As no legislative options appear forthcoming, it has fallen to private industry to rein in irresponsible behavior by such companies. [Gizmodo]

9. Oldest intact ship wreck found at the bottom of the Black Sea.

A Greek ship some 2400 years old has been found by an archaeological survey about fifty miles off the coast of Bulgaria; it is in remarkable condition, with goods still piled on its decks and benches still intact for long-dead rowers. The Black Sea has some unique traits which make it ideal for preserving ancient wooden artifacts like ships; the lower depths’ water doesn’t mix with top layers and as a result is devoid of oxygen which combined with the cold and lack of light keeps wood from deterioration. The design of the ship is unmistakable, very closely resembling paintings on period vases, including such details as the rudder and mast positions. The wreck sits at a depth of two thousand meters, making recovery efforts very difficult; on the bright side, the depth protects it from would-be looters as well. [Ars Technica]

10. Study of Puerto Rico rain forest shows disturbing drop in insects and insectivores

A study conducted by biologists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has determined that the overall biomass of arthropods (insects) and insect-feeding animals has dropped to between a quarter and an eighth of what it was forty years ago. This closely mirrors similar declines recorded in German nature preserves, including a 76% drop in flying insects that NYMHM reported previously.

This is described as one of the most disturbing articles one expert in insect conservation has ever read. It’s important to note that these areas in Puerto Rico and Germany are well protected reserves, meant to be “pristine”—and the declines are still drastic. The suspected culprit is a warming environment, caused by man-made increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Insects make up the base of the food chain and the majority of animal biomass on land by far.

To put this in perspective, of the dozen or so mass extinctions in earth’s history, only one claims the distinction of being the only mass extinction event for insects: the Permian/Triassic otherwise known as “The Great Dying.” It seems the man-made ongoing “Holocene” extinction event is going to give it a run for its money. [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature]

NYMHM for 21 Oct 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed for October 21, 2018 is conscious of how everything is shadowed by the ghastly murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi—shadowed and yet more clear. As others have pointed out, his death requires us to look at the cost of American alliances, notably but not only in the war in Yemen, fought with American weapons and American mercenaries, according to a new investigation. It also should lead us to question the atmosphere in which journalists are at increasing risk.

RESOURCES

NEWS

1. US mercenaries fighting in Yemen—civilians at risk of starvation

Yet another group of civilians was killed last week by the Saudi-led, US-supported coalition that is at war with Yemen’s Shiite rebels. Over 10,000 people have been killed in the war so far, and the United Nations, along with aid workers, condemned the routine targeting of civilians. [NY Times]

Civilians are also at risk of starvation—12-13 million of them, according to Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen. [Irish Times]

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates hired American mercenaries—former US soldiers—to assassinate clerics and political leaders in Yemen, according to an investigation by Aram Roston of Buzzfeed and affirmed by Democracy Now. According to Roston, “Experts said it is almost inconceivable that the United States would not have known that the UAE—whose military the US has trained and armed at virtually every level—had hired an American company staffed by American veterans to conduct an assassination program in a war it closely monitors.” Roston’s point in his compelling and very detailed story is that this strategy—the use of targeted assassinations—changes the nature of war. Read the transcript of Amy Goodman’s interview with Roston (second link) and Roston’s full story (first link). [Buzzfeed, Democracy Now (1, 2)]

2. Attacks on journalists

Human Rights Watch explains why it matters so much whether Saudi Arabia is held to account for Khashoggi’s death. If you haven’t yet read Khashoggi’s last column for the Post—published posthumously in English and in Arabic—Khashoggi calls for an “independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda,” which would give people in Arab countries—and elsewhere—access to information and dialogue that they seek.

The Committee to Protect Journalists tracks the number of journalists killed—44 in 2018—noting where they are located and what the circumstances are of their deaths.

Writing for Medium, Diane Hembree compares the kinds of hostility against the alternative press in the 80s to the terrifying situation of journalists now.

Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the assault on a Guardian reporter by Montana congressman Greg Gianforte.

3. Transgender people’s rights under siege

Under a new policy drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services, people’s sex would be defined as the one they were born with, with ambiguities about sex addressed by genetic testing. As the memo puts it, “Sex means a person’s status as male or female [is] based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” This step is the latest and most draconian assault by the Trump administration on the rights of transgender people. [NY Times, Mother Jones]

4. Trump withdraws US from treaty on medium-range nuclear missiles

Claiming that Russia has violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, Trump has withdrawn from it. Experts on arms control point out that Trump could have called for negotiations with Russia, rather than ending the treaty unilaterally; the concern is that the end of the treaty will lead to further arms proliferation. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, said that Trump’s decision was “reckless.” [BBC, NY Times]

5. Russia and the mid-terms: what intervention looks like

A criminal complaint unsealed Friday demonstrates how Russians draw on favorite conservative themes to develop a “false narrative” intended to shape American political responses and voting patterns. Notable in the NY Times story are translations of Russian memos on how issues are to be framed. The Mother Jones story has a more comprehensive overview. [NY Times, Mother Jones]

Business Insider also has some examples of divisive memes posted by Russians posing as right-wing Americans.

6. Georgia election

Last week we pointed out that Brian Kemp, a candidate for Governor of Georgia, had purged voters from the rolls in his capacity as Secretary of State of Georgia. He also investigated organizations involved in voter registration, according to Mother Jones. Now a new investigation by the Palast Investigative Fund reveals that Kemp has cancelled the registrations of 340,000 voters on the grounds that they have moved. They have not moved. [Guardian, Mother Jones]

7. Immigrants summarily discharged from the military

Earlier this year we included a story on how some immigrant recruits to the armed forces were suddenly being discharged—without explanation and sometimes without notification. An investigation by AP reporters Martha Mendoza and Garance Burke reveals that 502 immigrants were discharged between July 2017 and July 2018 for reasons that many of the recruits themselves say are false. Initially recruited under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest program, a program which invites international recruits with exceptional language or medical skills to enlist with a promise of future citizenship, recruits had their lives upended when their enrollment in the program was cancelled. Some are appealing. [AP]

8. Activists try to stop the pipeline

A group of activists in Louisiana has been chaining themselves to equipment, kayaking into construction sites and occupying trees in order to stop a 160 mile section of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will cut through Native American lands, interrupt 700 bodies of water and land in a small African American community already overwhelmed by industrial development and waste. Pipeline projects have been environmentally disastrous in Louisiana, and residents have had little recourse. [Guardian] As Jody Meche, president of the local crawfisherman’s society, put it:

The people that were supposed to be looking out for me and my interests and my environment sold me out, no doubt. They’re billin’ us for killin’ us.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

9. Americans less confident they can detect bots online

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center has found that Americans are increasingly unsure of their ability to determine whether online content is generated by a person or by an artificial source called a “bot.” In 2016 84% of Americans were confident that they could detect made up or “fake” news generated and posted by automated programs, but in the most recent study that figure has dropped to just 47%. The study examined the opinions of those who knew what a ‘bot’ is; of those 47% say they are “confident” that they can identify bots while only 7% claimed to be “very confident.” Most of those polled believe bots are used maliciously, while a small percentage (11%) held they had a positive influence in dispersing the news. This dramatic shift has implications for the overall faith people put into their news sources as it has been found in the most recent survey of internet traffic by security firm Imperva, 52% of ALL online traffic is bot generated. [techxplore]

10. Climate change causing a spike in New England ticks, and in moose mortality

A study conducted by the University of New Hampshire has found that ticks have become a leading cause of death for moose calves, killing seven in ten. Moose collect thousands of ticks which prey on their blood through the fall and winter, detaching in the spring. Longer falls and earlier springs mean more ticks are finding the time to hitch a ride through the winter, with devastating effect on young calves who can’t tolerate the blood loss and other subsequent problems associated with infestation. Scientists say that a moose calf with more than 35,000 ticks is in serious jeopardy but calves have been found dead with over 100,000 ticks recently. Moose are becoming symbol of the impact of climate change on New England wildlife, with numbers reported declining since 2015. [Gizmodo]

11. Water levels in Rhine at critical levels

An ongoing severe drought in Germany has lowered water levels throughout the country, including its most well-known river. The Rhine currently stands at just 77 centimeters (30 inches), which is four centimeters lower than the previous low record of 81 centimeters set in 2003. The extreme low water level has reduced the amount of shipping possible over the river while exposing things on the dried river bed that have never been seen before, such as a 110 pound WW2 era bomb. The drought is expected to cost Germany around five percent of its agricultural output and while rain is expected next week it is not anticipated to be enough to restore water levels. [Phys.org]

NYMHM for 14 Oct 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed for October 14, 2018 is catching its breath following the careening news last week. We especially recommend that you read the climate change story, even though fewer than half of major newspapers thought it important enough to run (see the last story). And we offer carefully chosen ways to take action, thanks to Sarah-Hope and Martha.

RESOURCES

NEWS

1. Last day to comment on proposed policy re: White House protests

The National Parks Service has proposed changing regulations regarding protests near the White House and on the National Mall, including charging fees and potentially imposing criminal penalties on those protesting on sidewalks near the White House. The proposal was quietly introduced in August and the public comment period ends on Monday. See the google doc in the Resources.

2. Voter Suppression: Black voters in Georgia, Native American voters in North Dakota

53,000 voters in Georgia have had their registrations held because they are not an exact match with other data that the state has on the voter. The differences can be as small as an extra hyphen or incomplete middle name. 70% of these frozen registrations are for black voters. The policy is being administered by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brian Kemp—who is a candidate for governor. His opponent, Stacey Abrams, is black.

As Vox points out, Kemp has a long history of harassing activists, alleging that voter registration drives result in fraudulent ballots, and purging voters—1.5 million between 2012 and 2016. [Vox, Washington Post, WABE]

Thousands of Native American North Dakota voters—and tens of thousands of other North Dakotans—will likely lose their right to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, given that the Supreme Court refused to intervene in North Dakota’s voter registration law that had been challenged by Native American voters. The law requires voters to register with a street address, but Native Americans living on reservation often do not have a street address and use post-office boxes, as do other rural North Dakotans.

Voters can bring supplemental documentation such as a utility bill, but those homeless or living in poverty (or in a household where the utilities are not in their name) will not have such documents. Sarah-Hope {see the resources links} recommends that we lobby Congress for a national voters’ bill of rights.

Incumbent North Dakota Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp is ten points behind her Republican challenger. [ACLU, NPR, Scotusblog]

Meanwhile, NBC cites a report from the Brennan Center for Justice which asserts that nine states with a history of racial discrimination in voting practices have been particularly active in purging voter rolls since the Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act in 2013. [NBC]

3. Immigration: It gets worse

Adoptions

In the chaos surrounding child separation, judges may decide to place the children of deported migrant parents with adoptive parents—without ever notifying their actual parents, according to an investigation by the AP. AP reporters tell the heart-breaking story of five-year-old Alexa, whose foster parents were given custody of her over the objections of her Salvadoran mother, in part due to unsubstantiated allegations of abuse and the lack of judicial expertise. Once the decision was reversed, leaving her foster family and reuniting with her mother in El Salvador was traumatic for her as well. [AP]

New family separation policy

A new family separation policy is being considered by the Trump administration. Under a policy called “binary choice,” parents and children would be detained together for up to 20 days; then, parents would be offered the choice of staying in detention with the children or releasing them to a government shelter, after which relatives might be able to seek custody. Lack of facilities for family detention appears not to deter policy-makers. The ACLU said it would challenge any such policy, noting that “It is deeply troubling that this Administration continues to look for ways to cause harm to small children.” [Washington Post]

Parents deported

According to the Center for Public Integrity, 87,351 people with at least one child who is a US citizen were deported in the three years from 2015-2017. ICE is currently holding over 44,000 people in custody, 58% of whom had no criminal convictions and 21% of whom were guilty of only minor traffic violations. These children have little likelihood of ever reuniting with their parents, many of whom tried every possible route to legal status. [TracImmigration, Center for Public Integrity]

4. Kavanaugh process mis-steps

Did you have any doubt that the White House limited the scope of the FBI investigation? In response to questioning by Kamala Harris, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed in a Senate hearing on Wednesday that “the investigation was very specific in scope, limited in scope.” He refused to say whether the FBI looked into the possibility that Kavanaugh lied to Congress. [Mother Jones]

Though he declined to do so before Kavanaugh was confirmed, Chief Justice Roberts has now requested the 10th Circuit Court to investigate 12 ethics challenges—along with any new complaints on the same matter—of Kavanaugh, having to do with his behavior in the Senate hearing. [CNN, Forbes]

5. Like father-in-law, like son-in-law: Kushner and taxes

Though his net worth is something like $324 million, Jared Kushner has paid almost no taxes over the last few years. He managed this feat by declaring depreciation on his properties, even when he borrowed heavily to acquire them—so that he has been using other people’s money to reduce his tax bill. Kushner files separately from his wife, Ivanka Trump.

If you haven’t yet read the NY Times piece on how Trump himself engaged in sketchy tax practices to help his father avoid paying taxes (and to avoid taxes himself), do. [Press Democrat, NY Times]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

6. Dietary supplements found to contain dangerous substances

A study conducted by the California Department of Public Health and published online in the journal JAMA Network Open outlines that supplements regulated by the FDA have had 700 warning issued regarding substances found not listed in the ingredients. The substances are in many cases drugs or drug-like compounds that require a prescription, with the majority of the problem supplements being marketed for “enhanced sexual pleasure” and “weight loss” as a close second. The problem appears to be growing more severe as half of the warnings have been issued since 2012; while the FDA has the authority to remove products from the market, it usually only does so after problems are reported. The two most common drugs found were sildenafil (viagra) and sibutramine, an appetite suppressant taken off the market due to cardiovascular risks in 2010. [Medical Xpress]

7. EPA disbands long standing air pollution advisory panel

The EPA has decided to eliminate the 20 person Particulate Matter Review Panel, handing off its duties to an existing seven-person Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, in a move experts worry will reduce the breadth of expertise available to weigh in on dangers posed by particulate pollutants. Particulates such as soot are a major variety of pollutant with wide-ranging health impacts, increasing instances of asthma but also implicated with ailments as varied as dementia and mouth cancers. While there is no legal requirement to maintain the PMRP, as we have noted in past articles, scientific advisory panels are a vital part of our oversight process and an avenue through which regulations can be undermined or softened by careful pruning of which voices are allowed to remain to advise regulators. [IFL Science]

8. Our time to mitigate climate change is running out

A major UN study released by the Intragovernmental Panel on Climate Change contains some of the direst warnings ever issued by experts. The world has just over a decade to drastically rein in carbon emissions if there is any hope of preventing catastrophic warming to the planet. The study involved a hundred respected scientists and thousands of peer comments and reviews; it determined that the current rate of warming is simply unprecedented in earth’s history. In order to preserve something like the climate our species has enjoyed for all of recorded history, carbon emissions would need to be cut by a billion tons by 2030. Currently, emissions are still growing and not shrinking at all. Almost all coal would need to be eliminated from the world’s power grids by 2050 and in addition to these cuts, the world would need to institute huge carbon capture programs to sequester existing carbon already in the atmosphere.

Despite the weight of this news, fewer than half of U.S. major newspapers reported on this study on their home pages. Media Matters has a list (link in the comments) of newspapers that did not mention it. [Media Matters, Washington Post]

NYMHM for 7 Oct 2018

#newsyoumayhavemissed suspects that after the events of this week, you may want to become more active and informed. Note the various possibilities in the Resources section for actions you can take. Don’t be overwhelmed—just pick a few. And to get informed, start with the NY Times story on Trump’s tax shenanigans vis a vis his father’s wealth; it confirms everything you might have suspected—and more.

RESOURCES

  • If you would like to help those whose lives were devastated in Palu, Indonesia (see story below), Denise Graab—a friend of News You May Have Missed who has family connections to Indonesia—says that she can vouch for this fundraiser, Palu Love. It is being run by friends of hers who will take contributions directly to those who need it most.
  • Inclined to object to the warehousing of separated children in a south Texas tent city? Believe you shouldn’t be fined for protesting on public lands? Think US weapons should not be used to bomb Yemen? Sarah-Hope’s list of people to write has meticulous summaries of issues along with contact information for decision-makers. See the second link in the Resources comments.
  • Martha, who sorts through the many invitations for public comment and recommends the most important, posts a google doc with various options. It includes a petition to impeach Kavanaugh. See the story below.
  • Our colleague Chrysostom has a new list of election-related news.
  • Finally, it’s a particularly good week to start following the Americans of Conscience checklist.
  • If you would like to send a thank you card to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford:

c/o Palo Alto University

1791 Arastradero Rd

Palo Alto CA 94304

INTERNATIONAL

1. Indonesia devastated by earthquake, tsunami

Many thousands of people may have died in the city of Palu, Indonesia, where 821 deaths have already been confirmed. The area was hit by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami. The city is devastated, in desperate need of food, water and medical aid. Rescue efforts are still being carried out mostly by hand, as people are trapped in the wreckage. One of the causes of the catastrophe appears to be that the tsunami warning was lifted too soon. The Washington Post had a piece on Saturday the 6th on how multiple conditions added to the disaster and why all the preparation the country had done did not save Palu.

Adding to the tragedy, Palu has been the center of activism in support of those who survived Indonesia’s violent persecution in the mid-sixties of those alleged to be communists. Elsewhere in the country, survivors remain marginalized. Some of those active on behalf of survivors have not yet been accounted for. [NY Times, The Conversation, The Guardian, Washington Post]

2. Shock troops in Mexico assault student protestors

For decades, student protestors in Mexico have been besieged by goon squads, called “porros,” as we reported a month or so ago, squads comprised of other students whom local authorities recruit to terrorize protestors. Now Nidia Bautista, a free-lancer, has produced a full story on the issue, noting that incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to stop the porros but has not indicated how he will do so. [Latin Dispatch]

3. Canada still in the fold

Canada was not after all left out of the new trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is slated to replace NAFTA. Not yet clear is the damage it might do. Canadian farmers say they will surely suffer, as they encounter foreign competition and disruption to their production schedules. Auto manufacturing seems to have been protected, and Canadians should benefit from lower customs charges, which have until now undermined on-line shopping. Canada agreed to lengthen patent protection for new drugs to ten years—an extension which will likely increase prices for consumers and provinces. Of great importance to producers of Canadian content and French language programming; the NAFTA language protecting it appears to be unchanged. [Globe & Mail, CBC, WaPo]

NATIONAL

4. Trump’s riches came from tax scams

Far from being a self-made billionaire, Trump got wealthy through a combination of $431 million given to him by his father and a series of tax scams he set up to help his parents dodge real estate taxes and take deductions that they were not entitled to. These strategies reduced the taxes he had to pay when their money was transferred to him. In the course of making the transfers, his parents saved about $500 million in taxes, since in one transfer alone, they paid only about 5% of what they would have owed, all this according to a vast investigation by the New York Times. (A lawyer for Trump says that the Times’ assertions are false and defamatory.) The investigation was based on interviews with Trump’s father’s employees, tens of thousands of pages of documents, and Trump’s father’s tax returns. The whole story is astonishing, very much worth reading. [NY Times]

5. LGBTQ visa denials—and where to write

As we noted last week, the Trump administration has begun denying visas to the unmarried same-sex partners of U.N. diplomats. Only 12% of U.N. member states have legalized same sex marriage, which makes this requirement a burden to many. Even if couples were to marry in the U.S. and become thereby able to stay together, they would risk criminal prosecution when they return to their home countries. [The Hill, NY Times]

If you find this policy troublesome, Sarah-Hope has a list of whom to write—in the Resources links.

6. Water Protector partly blinded by sheriff arrested

A Standing Rock activist shot in the eye by a sheriff’s deputy is now being prosecuted for “criminal trespass and obstruction of a government function,” charges which carry a two-year jail sentence. Marcus Mitchell, then a mechanical engineering student at the University of Arizona, is now blind in one eye and has hearing loss. After the injury, he was shackled to his bed, interrogated while in pain and on medication, and deprived for days of contact with his family. [The Guardian] About his ordeal, Mitchell said:

I don’t want my grandchildren to live in a world that’s barren and dead. I want them to live in a world that’s fertile and full of water. I don’t want to tell my grandchildren that I did nothing.

7. Homeland Security critical of ICE facility

A California ICE facility owned by GEO (which contributed $250,000 to President Donald J. Trump’s inauguration) has been criticized by Homeland Security for lack of medical care, inappropriate segregation, excessive discipline, and inadequate facilities for disabled inmates. A suicide and a number of suicide attempts have been attributed to conditions there. According to Freedom for Immigrants, an organization that advocates for detainees, the population in the huge facility includes “asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking, legal permanent residents (who’ve been placed in detention for some reason) and other immigrants.” [Center for Public Integrity (1, 2)]

8. No protection in/for wildlife areas

Managers of wildlife refuges will no longer have law enforcement authority under a new policy announced by the Trump administration. They will no longer be able to carry firearms and will not be able to enforce regulations, right at the time when some of these same refuges are being opened to hunting and fishing. Damage to the environment and wildlife will likely result, according to wildlife managers themselves. [The Hill]

9. Confirmation hearings galvanized protest

Over a thousand people took over the Senate office building on Thursday and over a hundred were arrested; demonstrators carried banners reading “We believe Christine Blasey Ford” and “November Is Coming.” Demonstrators also converged on the Supreme Court during the vote to confirm Kavanaugh, with 150 arrested.
Meanwhile, dozens of judicial misconduct complaints against Kavanaugh were sent to Chief Justice Roberts in the weeks before the confirmation, but Roberts has so far declined to refer them to an investigation. [Common Dreams, WaPo (1, 2)]

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

10. “Artificial flavors” hide many sins

The FDA agreed to ban seven food additives at the request of environmental and consumer advocacy groups because they have been linked to increases in cancer. The compounds are used in wide variety of foodstuffs to mimic mint and cinnamon but consumers would have little idea whether or not they were consuming these specific ingredients as they have been allowed to fall under the category of “artificial flavoring.” The FDA has given food manufacturers 24 months to remove the substances and find acceptable replacements but has issued a statement saying that the level of risk to consumers is low as these compounds are used in tiny amounts.

The federal law that compels the FDA to ban these substances is known as the “Delaney Clause” of the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, which states no substance known to cause cancer may be approved for human consumption. Critics say that the law is too restrictive and unnecessarily bans substances that are safe in the amounts typically consumed by humans, only showing a cancer risk in lab animals consuming huge amounts. [NPR]

11. Op-eds against SpaceX not what they seem

A series of op-eds published in newspapers in cities with close ties to the aerospace industry have claimed SpaceX was being cavalier in its safety standards for its upcoming human-crewed launches. What is interesting isn’t the content of the op-eds, whose veracity is questionable at best, but the way in which they were distributed. In contacting the author of the op-ed, a retired NASA employee with conservative politics named Richard Hager, Ars Technica found that he did not actually submit many of the op-eds published. Instead, they were submitted by a Washington DC public relations firm called Law Media Group, which lists Boeing as one of its major clients. Boeing is the primary competitor to SpaceX in the crewed-launch vehicle market, and a long standing giant in the aerospace/industrial arms industries. The blurring of lines between politics, news, PR and propaganda appears to extend to our local newspapers, now merely another vehicle to distribute misinformation. [Ars Technica]

12. Facebook is selling your phone numbers too

Anybody who has used Facebook has been helpfully prompted to update their security to “two-factor” authentication by providing a phone number so that would-be hackers would need not only your password but possession of your phone in order to take control of your account. Engadget reports, however, that Facebook has even monetized the supposedly-confidential information you use to log in and is selling users’ phone numbers for advertising purposes. Facebook asserts that the company’s “Data Use Policy” outlines its ability to do so and that all users may decide whether to opt in and can remove their information at any time. Engadget found that nowhere in the Data Use Policy was security information listed as fair game for purposes of advertising. Data security experts are dismayed that such a practice might discourage people from participating in two-factor authentication, one of the strongest tools for data security that is widely available. [Engadget]