News Roundup 12/2/19 Cont.
Student Protest at the Yale Bowl
Harvard and Yale students protested at the two schools’ annual football game, occupying the playing field during halftime, delaying the game for over an hour. Students (including players from both schools) joined the protest, whose demands were two-fold: an immediate divestment in the two universities’ holdings in fossil fuel industries and debt relief for Puerto Rico (whose debt skyrocketed after Hurricane Maria in 2017). 100 students sparked the protest, which soon swelled to include 500 students. Harvard’s team captain, Wesley Ogsbury, was one of those 500 and said in a recorded video, “…at this moment, both our institutions continue to invest in the industries destroying our futures.”
Source: Washington Post
Losing the Battle for Breathable Air in the I.E.
Over the last 10 years more than 150 million square feet of industrial space has been erected, which has the extraordinary expanse and lack of regulation limiting the number of tractor trailers coming and going each day. This has brought increasing health concerns to local residents. According to OSHA, short term diesel exhaust has many negative health effects and long-term exposure can lead to cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, respiratory disease and lung cancer. Residents and some state representatives have pushed for a “Good Neighbor Policy” which would put minimal regulations on the industry with the goal of protecting community heath. Despite efforts, few if any safe-guards have been implemented anywhere in the Inland Empire. The I.E. has the worst air pollution in the United States.
Source: LA Times
Syrian Gas Attacks?
In 2014, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) launched the “Fact Finding Mission in Syria” to investigate alleged chemical attacks on civilians by the forces of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. The OPCW’s report concluded that Assad had dropped chlorine gas in a civilian neighborhood in Douma. A recently leaked report by engineers was sent by the OPCW, who had themselves previously repressed the report. The report by engineers who had investigated the alleged attack in Douma cast a shadow on the validity of the original report. The engineers’ leaked report stated that the alleged chlorine bombs were manually placed at the scene rather than dropped from a helicopter by Syrian forces. Additionally, chlorine levels in the surrounding area tested low. Unfortunately, based on the original OPCW report, President Trump had ordered airstrikes on targets within Syria, and at the time most Democrats said this was not a strong enough response.
Source: Syria Propoganda Media
Obama to Campaign Against Bernie
Reports last week claim that former President Barrack Obama plans to speak out against the candidacy of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders is among the top three candidates, has the most individual donations, and has the most support from black and Latino voters than any other candidate. Obama has advised the Democratic Party not to move too far to the left, favoring a more centrist campaign. This, despite Hillary Clinton losing to Trump on a centrist campaign in 2016. After the 2016 election Obama dashed the hopes of progressive Keith Ellison of becoming head of the DNC by supporting the candidacy of centrist Tom Perez. Sanders is running on M4A, a policy idea with 70% approval among all Americans.
Source: The Hill
Democrats Reauthorize the Patriot Act. “Sunset Clause”
A reauthorization of the controversial Patriot Act was added to the last two pages of the latest funding bill supported by House Democrats. The Patriot Act, since it first passed in 2001, has aggressively rolled back constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, sparking opposition from various constitutional and civil liberty watch-dog groups. Representatives Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ayanna Pressly and Rashida Tlaib, all of whom voted no on the bill, voiced concerns over the abuses of the ever-growing National Security State.
Source: Common Dreams