https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIm3mt8lnIM&feature=emb_logo
Monday, September 7, 2020
'We Need a Free Press But Do Not Have It': UK Climate Campaigners Defend Blockade of Murdoch's Destructive Media Empire
The real story, according to Extinction Rebellion UK, is that humanity is facing "an emergency of unprecedented scale and the papers we have targeted are not reflecting the scale and urgency of what is happening to our planet."
Jon Queally, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/05/we-need-free-press-do-not-have-it-uk-climate-campaigners-defend-blockade-murdochs
After staging overnight blockades of newspaper printing and delivery operations owned by right-wing magnate Rupert Murdoch and others for perpetuating the global climate crisis, members of Extinction Rebellion UK on Saturday defended the provocative direct actions by pointing out the life-threatening role these media giants play by willfully misinforming the public about the emergency now facing humanity.
According to the Guardian:
More than 100 protesters used vehicles and bamboo structures to block roads outside the Newsprinters printing works at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, near Liverpool, on Friday evening.
Hertfordshire police said delivery lorries had not left the Broxbourne site as of 6:00 am on Saturday, and that 42 arrests had been made.
The coordinated actions by Extinction Rebellion UK and local allies—part of a string of new climate demonstrations that kicked off at the beginning of the week—continue a global campaign that argues too few entities, including many existing members of the environmental and climate movement, show in deed that they understand the true peril presented by the rapidly-heating planet.
"We're not moving forward at the speed we need to turn the climate and ecological emergency around," Extinction Rebellion UK said in a Friday night statement explaining the nature of the blockades. "We're trapped somewhere between acceptance and the reality of just how bad the situation is. The right wing media is a barrier to the truth, failing to reflect the scale and urgency of the crisis and hold governments to account."
Watch:
While Secretary of State for the Home Department Priti Patel, a member of the ruling Tory government, accused the demonstrators of attacking "the free press, society, and democracy," members of Extinction Rebellion pushed back against that characterization as both "hyperbolic" and revealing.
"Let's not get distracted," the group said in a mid-day statement Saturday. "Our free press, society and democracy is under attack—from a failing government that lies to us consistently, is becoming increasingly authoritarian, and is leading us towards [4°C] of warming."
"Priti Patel and her government are part of a political system that does not want and does not benefit from a free press," the statement continued. "Instead our leaders have allowed the majority of our media to be amassed in the hands of five people with powerful vested interests and deep connections to fossil fuel industries. Powerful vested interest has led to the appointment of Tony Abbott—a friend of Rupert Murdochs, a climate change denier, misogynist and homophobe—as a UK Trade Envoy. Our leaders are allowing these powerful few to deny the young the information they need to plan for their futures and defend themselves."
"We need a free press but we do not have it," said Extinction Rebellion UK. "They have failed us."
The group defended the overnight action for bringing the people of the U.K. at least "one day with far less misinformation, division and hate," and said: "For one night ordinary people—terrified by the climate and ecological emergency that so much of our media is failing to report sufficiently—made these powerful and undemocratic corporations feel the vulnerability ordinary people live with everyday."
A small group of people blockading the news trucks of billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch, the group argued, should not be the story.
The real story, according to XR, is that humanity is facing "an emergency of unprecedented scale and the papers we have targeted are not reflecting the scale and urgency of what is happening to our planet."
"Even as we in the UK are experiencing the impacts of our warming world, the Murdoch press remains silent. We—and the free press—have so much more work to do," the statement continued. "A free press does not push the agenda of its billionaire owners. Freedom of the press to these corporations means a completely unregulated fanfare with no threat of accountability for the harm and division they cause."
The group apologized to "any small businesses disrupted by the action," but added: "We hope that our actions seem commensurate with the severity of the crisis we face and that this day of disruption successfully raises the alarm about the greater disruption that is coming. There are five very wealthy people who own these newspapers and we encourage them to compensate you."
To Murdoch, however, the message was different and contained no apology. "We are not sorry for disrupting your business," the group said. "Stop suppressing the truth about the climate crisis and profiting from the division your papers create."
Can the Democratic Party Landslide the Criminal Tyrant Trump?
Why has the Democratic Party been losing again and again at the federal and state level to the worst, cruelest, soft on corporate corruption, war-mongering, anti-worker Republican Party in history?
Ralph Nader
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/05/can-democratic-party-landslide-criminal-tyrant-trump
Why can't the Democratic Party landslide the serial corporate criminal and government outlaw Donald Trump? He is a servant of Wall Street and, by his deeds favoring the powerful, a proven "enemy of the people."
Why has the Democratic Party been losing again and again at the federal and state level to the worst, cruelest, soft on corporate corruption, war-mongering, anti-worker Republican Party in history?
The two-party duopoly and an electoral system that obstructs challengers from smaller parties lets the Democratic Party stagnate. Unfortunately, the fate of the nation and our Constitutional Republic is in its hands. Joe Biden should be thirty points ahead in the polls against the delusional, falsifying, lawless, selected occupant of the White House who spends most of his time tweeting insults, lies, and fictional accusations when he isn't watching the Fox News adoring bloviators. Instead, Biden's lead is in single digits and he is having a hard time getting the offensive Trump on the defense. Here are some suggestions for the Democratic Party's quivering leaders:The answers are many. The Democratic Party is indentured to monied interests and is incapable of taking responsibility for its losses and mistakes. Democratic operatives resist organized grassroots pressure and the party excludes/punishes any dissent inside its ranks. The shrinking trade unions that have historically pushed the Democratic Party are increasingly content with crumbs for workers and afraid of union members who have swallowed the Trump lies.
Organize a mass demand for Trump/Pence to Step Aside and let experienced pandemic scientists and managers run the federal response to Covid-19, saving tens of thousands of lives and allowing the economy to recover. Trump's Virus, spreading daily owing to Trump's bungling, fabricating, quackering, chaos, denials, and grinding government scientists through his ignorant, ego-obsessed shredders, requires such a demand. It will encourage more people and state and local governments to be more assertive and insist on professional management and critical coordination by Washington.
There are many Republicans in Congress who privately dread how the daily Trump Virus Show is diminishing their own electoral poll numbers.
Stop Coddling, Aiding, and Abetting Corporate Crooks who are cheating and endangering the health/safety of red state and blue state Americans alike. Demand Law and Order enforcement and greater funding for the corporate crime police. By massively dismantling government law enforcement, Trump is intensifying the corporate crime wave with subsidies, handouts, bailouts, and huge tax escapes. How's that for putting Big Business over Main Street? Let them steal, let them pollute, let them park their profits in tax havens abroad are elements of the Trumpian mantra which he brazenly applies to his own business interests.
Stop Trump from committing big-time violations of our Constitution and our federal laws in order to deepen his dictatorial regime. Trump illegally uses federal employees and property to promote his political campaign – a federal crime under the Hatch Act. He seizes the "power of the purse" from Congress, spending money for unauthorized domestic and foreign objectives thereby violating the criminal statute known as the Anti-Deficiency Act. He fires prosecutors and Inspectors General closing in on his and his crony's crimes and egregious misdeeds.
Take on Trump when he declares phony national emergencies to grab more dictatorial powers making him the largest national emergency of them all. Trump makes it easy for the Democrats when he declares "I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president."Nixon was about to be impeached and convicted in 1974, before he resigned, for a tiny fraction of what the Democrats are letting Trump get away with.
Announce it is time to Vote Trump Out and Vote in the long-overdue Pay Raise. Ending the freeze on the $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage and raising some 25 million workers' wages to $15 per hour would answer the question: "Whose Side are You On?" The House of Representatives has passed a $15 an hour minimum wage bill, though with a long implementation schedule. The Republican Senate, however, blocks passage and it has blocked the $600 a week relief payment to many millions of Americans without jobs due to Trump's Virus.
Shouldn't the Democrats make these contrasting, notorious corporate-driven cruelties more vivid, and more front and center? Repetition is what reaches people who are numb to years of empty rhetoric and who want authenticity. Comparing Walmart's CEO making $12,000 an hour while many of his workers languish well under $15 per hour sharpens what should be the authentic contrast between the Republicans and Democrats.
Make Mitch McConnell, the self-styled "Grim Reaper" toady of big business, who buries scores of good bills passed by the House, the number two Ogre in the campaign. The evil McConnell is the worst suffocator of necessities for the American people, their children, and retirees in American congressional history. The Democrats have listed scores of bills under McConnell's chokehold – such as protections for poor children, fragile worker and retiree pensions (including those for coal miners in his state of Kentucky), lowering drug prices and expanding health care coverage, controlling climate disasters – to name a few. Yet, once again, they have not made "Moscow Mitch's" record (including blocking safeguards for election security and voter's rights) vocal, vivid, and front of center. The Democrats certainly have the campaign money to do so.
The arrogant McConnell is up for re-election against a hyper-cautious conservative Democratic opponent. Democrats should take McConnell's pompous boast "The one thing I get to do that the other 99 /Senators/ don't get to do, is decide what we're going to do." and flood Kentucky with the truth about this malicious, destructive tyrant of the Senate and his 200 confirmed right-wing and corporate judges. McConnell's lapdog delivery of the Senate has made possible Trump's monarchical drive to repeal the American Revolution against Kings and for "a new birth of freedom."
Last November, 61% of women in a national CNN poll wanted Trump impeached and convicted. Certainly on their minds was Trump's long history of being a publicly bragging sexual predator and a terrible example for boys and young men. Over twenty brave women have come forward with credible accusations of sexual assaults by lying Donald. Why aren't the Democrats making this a campaign issue and making Trump pay a political price for such disgusting outrages? Democrats can turn the Republican Party's campaigns on "values" against Trump and his apologists.
The Democratic Party must choose to stand with the people by presenting a solemn covenant that improves all the livelihoods of all Americans and addresses the widespread anxiety, dread, and fear where they live, work, and raise their families. Help make people's dreams of a secure, fulfilling future a reality. This specific covenant would show that the Democratic Party stands for much more specific changes than not being Trump. Make it vivid and memorable, including empowering the people in distinct ways.
If you like these suggestions, add some of your own, and call or email Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the House Democratic Caucus leader Hakeem Jeffries.
To Contact Chairman Tom Perez
Visit: https://democrats.org/contact-us/
or call (202) 863-8000
To Contact Members of Congress, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121
'Nightmare Scenario': Sanders Warns Nation That Trump Is Laying Groundwork for Election Result Mayhem
"Trump is now using his lies and misinformation to sow confusion and chaos in the election process and undermine American democracy," says the Vermont senator.
by
Jon Queally, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/05/nightmare-scenario-sanders-warns-nation-trump-laying-groundwork-election-result
Warning of the very real chance of a "nightmare scenario" in which President Donald Trump misleads the American people over the results of the November election—or refuses to leave office voluntarily if voted out—Sen. Bernie Sanders is raising the alarm and mobilizing his army of supporters to be aware of just how dangerous a game the president is now playing.
"What we have got to do in the next two months is to alert the American people about what that nightmarish scenario might look like in order to prepare them for that possibility and talk about what we do if that happens."
—Sen. Bernie SandersIn an interview with Politico and an email sent to his massive email list Friday, Sanders suggested that too many news organizations, social media companies, and lawmakers—in addition to the broader public—remain unaware of the manner in which Trump is laying the groundwork for a potentially devastating series of events.
"Trump is now using his lies and misinformation to sow confusion and chaos in the election process and undermine American democracy," stated in the email, sent to millions of his supporters on Friday. "In other words, he does not intend to accept the results of the election if he loses and leave office voluntarily. This is not just a 'constitutional crisis.' This is a threat to everything this country stands for."
Speaking with Politico earlier in the day, Sanders said one crucial thing to be done immediately is to educate people. "What we have got to do in the next two months is to alert the American people about what that nightmarish scenario might look like in order to prepare them for that possibility and talk about what we do if that happens," he said.
Earlier this week, Trump was accused by legal experts of committing an outright felony when he publicly called on voters in North Carolina to vote twice in the November federal elections. For Sanders, the comment should be seen as just part of a larger ploy by the president and the GOP to sow doubt about the integrity of the election while also creating conditions to actually steal power by refusing to concede if Trump is defeated by Democratic rival Joe Biden.
In his email, Sanders said:
At a time when he is behind in almost every national poll and in most battleground state polls, Trump recently stated, "The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election."
Think about what that means. What he is saying is that if he wins the election, that's great. But if he loses, it's rigged. And if it's rigged, then he is not leaving office. Heads I win. Tails you lose.
As Common Dreams reported earlier this week, Sanders is not alone in his concerns. After researchers at the analysis firm Hawkfish presented a scenario in which Trump could try to prematurely claim an election night victory on November 3 based on incomplete results—a so-called "Red Mirage" win based on same-day voting by Republicans but leaving out millions of yet-to-be-counted mail-in ballots by Democrats in key battleground states—it was clear to many that both the president and his GOP supporters will create untold havoc if not adequately confronted.
"The fact is that we will not get results on election night—it may take days or even longer for states to count the unprecedented number of mail-in ballots needed to conduct a safe election after Trump botched the response to the coronavirus," said Ryan Thomas, a spokesperson for Stand Up America, after Trump invoked the "Red Mirage" scenario on Wednesday, but inversing the implications by saying it would be Democrats "rigging" the delayed results against him.
Such "baseless charges being spread by Trump and his allies in the right-wing media about the election results," said Ryan, "are not only damaging to the foundation of our democracy, but also wholly unAmerican."
And Sanders agrees.
"Trump is not only trying to create chaos and delegitimize the election process," he warned in his email. "He and the Republican Party are now spending tens of millions of dollars in the courts to make it harder for people to vote."
To combat the ability of Trump to sow such misinformation, Sanders is calling for four things to be done without delay:
With the pandemic and a massive increase in mail-in voting, state legislatures must take immediate action to allow for votes to be counted before Election Day, as they come in;
The news media needs to prepare the American people to understand there is no longer a single Election Day and that we may not know the results on November 3;
Social media companies must finally get their act together and stop people from using their tools to threaten and harass election officials and spread disinformation; and
We need Congressional hearings with local officials to learn how they plan to handle the Election Day process and the days that follow.
While Sanders told Politico he hopes "with all of my heart that none of this happens," he admitted he is very much concerned that Trump will do nearly anything to cling to power and would even go so far as to refuse to leave office if defeated.
"There is a very high likelihood that Trump will contest the results if he loses," he told the outlet. "And it would be an unprecedented moment in American history and undermining everything that this country stands for if we have a president remain in office who lost the election."
The reality, he said in his email, is not easy to face but the truth must be told.
"In the United States we have an antiquated and inefficient process for conducting elections," he wrote. "And, today, that system is operating under the additional strain of the coronavirus pandemic. Sadly, instead of trying to improve this flawed situation Trump and many Republicans appear willing to exploit it to maintain power."
As his final message to supporters in the email, he said the hard work ahead in the weeks and months ahead is "to deliver Joe Biden an overwhelming victory on election night. But, we must also stay vigilant, and do everything possible to prevent Trump from staying in power if he loses."
And concluded: "Nothing less than our democracy is at stake."
EPA To Allow Lead, Mercury, Toxic Discharge From Coal Plants Into Drinking Water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6FeOWskq7c
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