Author Archives: EtsukoTunbridge

Australians call their prime minister an ‘idiot’ for ignoring wildfire victims

The Land Down Under has been on fire for weeks. At least 17 people have been killed by wildfires in Australia this season to date. On Thursday, New South Wales declared a state of emergency — the third emergency prompted by uncontrollable wildfires since November. Australians have lost homes, land, and loved ones. And a lot of them are furious with their government.

While his country battled dozens of simultaneous infernos in late December, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was vacationing with his family in Hawaii. When he realized that his absence wasn’t going over well with his constituents, Morrison returned and tried to stage a photo op in wildfire-ravaged Cobargo, a tiny town between Sydney and Melbourne with a population under 1,000. As you can see, hell hath no fury like an Aussie scorned in the middle of a climate disaster.

“You won’t be getting any votes down here buddy,” one man said. “You’re an idiot, mate,” another tactfully added. “You really are.” One resident, who arrived to greet the prime minister with what appeared to be a goat by her side, asked why Cobargo had only received four fire trucks to help battle the blazes.

Morrison promised help was on the way and asked for patience. “What we are saying is we cannot control the natural disaster but what we can do is control our response,” he said. But there are, in fact, a few things Morrison’s government could do to control the extent of the “natural disaster” — like rapidly phasing out fossil fuels.

Unlike a majority of Australians, Morrison has been slow to realize that climate change poses an immense threat to his nation’s health and safety. As recently as December 22, Morrison told journalists it’s “not credible” to suggest a link between climate change and any individual wildfire. (The science linking this year’s catastrophic wildfire season to rising temperatures is robust.). In November, as Aussies took to the streets to protest the government’s inaction on the climate crisis, Morrison vowed to stop climate activists who pressure companies not to do business with the coal-mining industry. “We are working to identify serious mechanisms that can successfully outlaw these indulgent and selfish practices that threaten the livelihoods of fellow Australians,” he told a group of miners.

But public outcry over the government’s handling of the fires has forced the prime minister to defend his controversial positions on the crisis. On Wednesday, Morrison called a national security meeting to assemble a response to the crisis, and he made sure to say that climate change is a factor in the wildfires. “Our emissions reductions policies will both protect our environment and seek to reduce the risk and hazard we are seeing today,” he said. There’s no telling whether the public outcry over the apocalyptic wildfires will prompt Morrison to revisit his emissions reduction policies. What’s clear, however, is that politicians around the world are going to have a hard time openly denying climate change when its effects are on full display.

Link:

Australians call their prime minister an ‘idiot’ for ignoring wildfire victims

Posted in Accent, alo, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Australians call their prime minister an ‘idiot’ for ignoring wildfire victims

Joe Biden says he’ll take the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. Here’s why that matters.

Read original article: 

Joe Biden says he’ll take the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. Here’s why that matters.

Posted in ALPHA, ATTRA, Everyone, FF, G & F, GE, ONA, Ultima, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Joe Biden says he’ll take the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. Here’s why that matters.

Obama reminds us things are getting better all the time

obamaptimist

Obama reminds us things are getting better all the time

By on Jul 20, 2016Share

It’s not common knowledge, but the Obama administration has been a powerhouse in fighting poverty abroad. The president hasn’t talked much about this — probably because modern Republicans reflexively oppose anything he supports (up to and including otter cuddling). Now, he’s opening up.

At the White House Summit on Global Development on Wednesday, Obama laid out his administration’s achievements. His Power Africa initiative is on track to connect 60 million homes and businesses to the electrical grid by 2030. The Feed the Future program has brought new seeds and tools to small farmers in 19 countries, boosting incomes by $800 million. In areas where Feed the Future was operating in 2015, the number of people in poverty dropped by a quarter, and the number of children permanently injured by malnutrition dropped by as much as a third. Anti-malaria efforts have saved some 6 million lives and the goal of a completely AIDS-free generation is within reach, Obama said.

As the speakers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland paint a picture of a world in decline, Obama pointed out that we are living in the “most prosperous, most progressive era in human history.” This world may seem like a viper pit, but it’s really a pool full of cuddly otters.

Election Guide ★ 2016Making America Green AgainOur experts weigh in on the real issues at stake in this electionGet Grist in your inbox

Read more – 

Obama reminds us things are getting better all the time

Posted in alo, Anchor, bigo, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, solar, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Obama reminds us things are getting better all the time

The Obama Administration Is (Rather Belatedly) Making Homegrown Terrorism a Priority

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

In the wake of this year’s series of devastating mass shootings on American soil, the Department of Justice is boosting its efforts to fight the loosely defined menace of “domestic terrorism” with the appointment this week of a “domestic terrorism counsel.” The new appointee has not yet been named but will coordinate cases, identify trends, and “analyze legal gaps or enhancements required to ensure we can combat these threats,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, head of the agency’s National Security Division, said Wednesday.

“We recognize that, over the past few years, more people have died in this country in attacks by domestic extremists than in attacks associated with international terrorist groups,” Carlin said in a speech at George Washington University.

Mass shootings have struck a number of communities across the United States this year, from this summer’s massacre at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, to the killings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon earlier this month.

The shooting in Charleston set off debates in the media and across society on how the perpetrators of ideologically motivated attacks are to be viewed. Are they disenfranchised, potentially mentally ill young Americans? Or are they “domestic terrorists”? And if the latter, what qualifies as domestic terrorism? FBI Director James Comey drew criticism for saying shortly after the Charleston shooting that the attack did not appear to bear the marks of terrorism, a claim contested by historians and security experts.

Carlin on Wednesday offered an expansive definition of violent extremism and terrorism, terms he used interchangeably, saying, “The threat ranges from individuals motivated by anti-government animus, to eco-radicalism, to racism, as it has for decades.”

Carlin also drew a close parallel between these domestic attacks and the activities of the brutal radical Islamist group ISIS, which has seized broad swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria and is currently under fire from US air strikes.

Both ISIS and domestic extremists have made intensive use of social media to promulgate their messages and attract followers, and both have lately seen a rise in attacks by “lone offenders,” he said.

While there is no definitive evidence proving the role of social media use in the rising tide of mass shootings, a recent Mother Jones investigation found that many law enforcement and forensic psychology experts do believe there is a connection.

In order to combat the menace of homegrown terrorism, Carlin called for the use of all means at investigators’ disposal—including, controversially, the cooperation of internet service providers.

“Service providers must take responsibility for how their services can be abused,” he said. “Responsible providers understand what the threats are and take action to prevent terrorist groups from abusing their services to induce recruits to commit terrorist acts.”

Original article: 

The Obama Administration Is (Rather Belatedly) Making Homegrown Terrorism a Priority

Posted in Anchor, ATTRA, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Obama Administration Is (Rather Belatedly) Making Homegrown Terrorism a Priority