Oxford alumni threaten to withhold donations to college amid row over fossil fuels

‘The heat has really turned up on colleges who have own endowments,’ warns alumnus
Eleanor Busby Education Correspondent

Alumni of the Oxford college attended by Tony Blair and Evan Davies are threatening to withhold donations unless it commits to selling shares in fossil fuel companies.

Hundreds of graduates have signed a letter to St John’s College urging bosses to cut all ties with fossil fuel firms after students camped out in the college quad to protest against investments.

The college, which is the wealthiest in Oxford, currently invests around £8m in BP and Shell.

A five-day student occupation, which ended on Sunday, attracted support from Oxford alumni around the world — including award-winning poet and writer Mark Abley.

But the group of graduates has accused college leaders of “dismissing” the action taken by students.

It comes after Professor Andrew Parker, principal bursar of the college, told students demanding divestment that he could instead arrange for the gas central heating to be switched off.
The letter from alumni, which has been sent to Professor Parker and the college’s president, says: “In light of your troubling response to this peaceful occupation and continued refusal to align your endowment with climate justice, as alumni and alumnae, we cannot in good faith donate to St John’s, the University of Oxford, or any college which has not made a divestment commitment at this time.”

Last month, an analysis revealed that almost all of Britain’s top universities have pledged to at least partially divest from fossil fuels following years of campaigning from students.

Oxford and Cambridge have committed to remove investments from coal and tar sands companies, but they are still subject to student-led campaigns over their links to the fossil fuel industry

Read more
 

Universities commit to selling shares in fossil fuels after protests

Just last week, another Oxford college, Balliol College, agreed to reduce investments in fossil fuel companies “as far and as fast as is practicable” following increasing pressure from students.

Julia Peck, who launched the open letter on behalf of alumni, said: “I think this occupation will be a watershed moment. It comes at a really crucial time when student campaigners are actively taking divestment proposals to the highest decision-making bodies of the university.

“This is a moment where Oxford leadership have clearly seen the amount of public support among the students, the faculty and the alumni. This kind of thing has never happened at an Oxford college.

“Now the heat has really turned up on the colleges who have their own endowments. They can make just as strong a statement about aligning themselves as climate justice as can the university.”
(Suzanne Williams )

A spokesperson for St John’s College said the college had received a lot of correspondence following the protests, adding that the views expressed “have been mixed and on both sides of the debate”.

They said: “We would like to assure you that, like many of our students, the president, bursar and fellows of St John’s are deeply concerned about climate change — indeed some directly work on aspects of it.

“The college is conscious of many calls for divestment. In response to this, we set up a working group in 2019 which is conducting a wide-ranging review of current policies, sustainable finance and ‘intentional’ investing — how trustees might reflect their charity’s aims and values in their investment policies.

“This work will, of course, continue and we expect to bring recommendations to the governing body by the end of the academic year.

“It is absolutely crucial in our view, that divestment does not become a divisive debate.”

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Four in 10 people are not aware that women have a right to equal pay while only a quarter of women say their workplace is open about the issue of wages, a new study has found.

The research, carried out by the Fawcett Society, found only a third of people know women possess the legal right to probe male co-workers about how much money they earn if they suspect they are suffering pay discrimination.

Equal pay law in the UK is “not fit for purpose” and there is a grave ignorance among a “shocking amount” of people towards issues of equal pay, the women’s rights organisation warned.

Trump's State of the Union speech was the most exploitative TV I've seen in years

The president pulled out his greatest gameshow tactics for his speech to the nation, and who cares who's going to pay for these children's therapy?

SOTU never disappoints with Donald Trump at the helm, and this really was a bumper edition. You will laugh; you will cry. You will mostly cry. 

Holly Baxter New York @h0llyb4xter THE INDEPENDENT 

Welcome to SOTU, 2020’s brand new gameshow! It’s like Oprah or Ellen except the star is a straight white man and most of the real beneficiaries will be too! We have a really great show planned for you tonight, folks! You won’t believe the prizes, the intrigue, the ups and downs! You will laugh and you will cry! The best is yet to come!

That was the feel of Trump’s State of the Union speech tonight, delivered as it was in this brave new world where it’s perfectly normal for a president to stand up and declare the union “stronger than ever before” 24 hours before he faces an impeachment vote in the Senate. Come and watch the orange man in a red tie and his vice president, who gave so many standing ovations during the excessively long speech that he gave the impression of a jack-in-the-box powered by sycophancy. Come and see wealthy, conservative men in expensive suits jump out of their seats to applaud for a “blue-collar boom”. Watch again as they boo “the previous administration” while the Speaker of the House, wearing the same pin she used during the House’s impeachment on her white suit jacket, shakes her head after having her handshake refused by the president.

Come and watch a promise to “ban late-term abortion” announced minutes after the leader of the free world cynically introduces the teary mother of a small child born at 21 weeks’ gestation. Come and watch Donald Trump take personal credit for inventing gentrification when he claims that “wealthy people are pouring money into poor neighborhoods” in the “first time these communities have seen anything like this”. Come and watch a billionaire snowflake with a victim complex and a miniature American flag claim that “for many years we were treated unfairly on trade” because of “China’s massive theft of America’s jobs” which they were “getting away with year after year, decade after decade”. Truly, it has to be seen to be believed.

If you think it’s cynical and audacious for the president to bring a single mother and her young daughter to a State of the Union address to illustrate how Democrats are apparently failing in their state, then fine. But at least wait until the final reveal — the one where the president says: “Tonight we can exclusively reveal you will be going to the school of your choice!” to a confused eight-year-old who’s been waiting for a scholarship in Philadelphia. Nothing beats watching that awkward, awkward moment play out. Nothing at all.

Or does it? Wait, because there’s more. There’s a young family — a mother called Amy and her two children — being introduced to the floor because her husband is currently on deployment. The president just wants to thank her for being part of a military family that makes sacrifices on behalf of America. Actually, he doesn’t just want to thank her. He wants to announce that “we have your husband right here and we’re bringing him out!” Amy’s two small children, caught up in the clapping and the Republicans unironically chanting “USA, USA!” look stunned as their father appears in uniform. The little boy mouths, “Daddy?” Yes, Donald Trump has paid to have this prize delivered to them in front of the cameras. Will he pay for the years of therapy this will likely necessitate? Who cares?! USA, USA!

Then there are, of course, the mentions of Space Force; the promise to put the first woman on the moon; the claims that “unlike so many before me, I keep my promises”; the “true and real president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido” forced to stand and nod for a long, uncomfortable few minutes to Trump can segue into a rant about how “socialism destroys countries” and Democrats are socialists who will take away your healthcare. Everyone can be a player in the Trump 2020 campaign: an exiled Venezuelan politician, a two-year-old born prematurely, Brett Kavanaugh, Rush Limbaugh, those “illegal alien criminals” who just keep shooting people, Hunter Biden. All Trumpworld’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players (well, except women at eight months’ gestation with dead fetuses in their wombs. But who cares about them?!)

And he wouldn’t let you go without playing some of his greatest hits, either. The wall is back! (‘We have now completed over 100 miles and have over 500 miles completed in a very short amount of time, so by next year we will have 500 miles completed,” FYI. That’s creative math.) Space Force is going to make your child an astronaut! “The best is yet to come”! Nancy Pelosi will hand out a special treat at the end: signed shredded pieces of the speech made by the 45th president to the United States of America.

SOTU never disappoints with Donald Trump at the helm, and this really was a bumper edition. You will laugh; you will cry. You will mostly cry. But your tears will be used to power great new opportunities for oil and gas workers! And you will get to keep your overpriced healthcare plan! Smile a little, why don’t you? “The United States is where all the action is!” And shouldn’t that count for something?

UPDATED 

Biodiversity crisis: Habitat loss, pesticides and light pollution pushing fireflies to extinction, scientists warn
‘Warning bell’ for species as vulnerable ecosystems record impact of heavy industry

Harry Cockburn Tuesday, 4 February, 2020

Gleaming clouds of fireflies glow in a forest at dusk ( Getty )

Fireflies, of which there are more than 2,000 species strobing softly throughout dark corners of the world, are facing grave threats to their continued existence due to the impact of humans, a study suggests.

Habitat loss, pesticide use and artificial light are three of the most serious threats to fireflies, with certain species more at risk than others.

The widespread insects are soft-bodied beetles remarkable for their enchanting use of bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey.

The health of firefly populations helps illustrate the impact humans have on sensitive ecosystems.

To better understand what threats are faced by fireflies, a team led by Professor Sara Lewis at Tufts University, Massachusetts, alongside the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, surveyed firefly experts around the world to assess the most prominent threats to survival for their local species.

Species to be protected by "blue belt" conservation zones

The research, published in the journal Bioscience, “sounds a warning bell” about the insects’ future, highlighting specific threats and the vulnerability of different species across geographical regions.

According to survey respondents, habitat loss is the most critical threat to firefly survival in the majority of geographic regions, followed by light pollution and pesticide use.

“Lots of wildlife species are declining because their habitat is shrinking,” said Professor Lewis.

“So it wasn’t a huge surprise that habitat loss was considered the biggest threat. Some fireflies get hit especially hard when their habitat disappears because they need special conditions to complete their life cycle. For instance, one Malaysian firefly (Pteroptyx tener), famous for its synchronised flash displays, is a mangrove specialist.”

Drastic declines have recently been recorded in this species after the destruction of their mangrove habitat to make way for palm oil plantations and aquaculture farms.

Across the world, light pollution was regarded as the second most serious threat to fireflies.

Artificial light at night has grown exponentially during the last century.

“In addition to disrupting natural biorhythms – including our own – light pollution really messes up firefly mating rituals,” said Avalon Owens, a co-author of the research paper.

Many fireflies rely on bioluminescence to find and attract their mates, and previous work has shown too much artificial light can interfere with these courtship exchanges. Switching to energy efficient, overly bright LEDs is not helping.

“Brighter isn’t necessarily better,” Ms Owens said.

The firefly experts also said the widespread use of pesticides in agriculture was another key threat to firefly survival.

Most insecticide exposure occurs during larval stages, because juvenile fireflies spend up to two years living below ground or under water.

Insecticides such as organophosphates and neonicotinoids are designed to kill pests, yet they also have off-target effects on beneficial insects. While more research is needed, the evidence suggests many commonly used insecticides are harmful to fireflies.

The paper acknowledges previous studies which have quantified firefly population declines, such as those seen in the tourist-attracting synchronous fireflies of Malaysia, and the glowworm Lampyris noctiluca in England.

Numerous anecdotal reports suggest that many other firefly species across a wide range of habitats have also suffered recent declines.

“We really need better long-term data about firefly population trends. This is a place where citizen science efforts like Massachusetts Audubon’s Firefly Watch project can really help,” said Professor Lewis.

The researchers also highlighted risk factors that allow them to predict which species will be most vulnerable when faced with threats like habitat loss or light pollution. For instance, females of the Appalachian blue ghost firefly (Phausis reticulata) are flightless.

“So when their habitat disappears, they can’t just pick up and move somewhere else,” said co-author J Michael Reed, professor of biology at Tufts.

Despite the verdict the researchers remain optimistic about fireflies’ future.

“Here in the US, we’re fortunate to have some robust species like the Big Dipper fireflies (Photinus pyralis),” said Professor Lewis.

“Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere, and they’re beautiful, too.”

By illuminating these threats and evaluating the conservation status of firefly species around the world, researchers aim to preserve the magical lights of fireflies for future generations to enjoy.

“Our goal is to make this knowledge available for land managers, policy makers, and firefly fans everywhere,” said co-author Sonny Wong of the Malaysian Nature Society.

“We want to keep fireflies lighting up our nights for a long, long time.”

Blinded by the light, firefly species face extinction

TUFTS UNIVERSITY/AFP / Jason STEELFireflies are beetles that glow to attract a mate

Fireflies are in deep trouble, with many species facing extinction due to habitat loss and exposure to pesticides, according to the first major review of their global status, published Monday.

Adding irony to injury, one of Nature's most entrancing spectacles is also being snuffed out by artificial light pollution, researchers reported in the journal BioScience.

More than 2,000 species of fireflies -- which are, in fact, beetles -- illuminate wetlands, marshes, grasslands, forests and urban parks worldwide.

A few, such as the Big Dipper in the United States, seem to be flourishing.

"Those guys can survive pretty much anywhere," said Sara Lewis, a biologist at Tufts University in Massachusetts and lead author of the study, based on a survey of dozens of firefly experts.

But other varieties -- from the glowworms of southern England to Malaysia's synchronous fireflies and the Appalachian blue ghost, both of which draw tourists -- are being extinguished by humanity's ever-expanding ecological footprint.

AFP/File / STRArtificial light, habitat loss and pesticides pose a grave threat to firefly species

"Some species get hit especially hard by habitat loss because they need specific conditions to complete their life cycle," said Lewis.

The Malaysian firefly Pteroptyx tener, for example, lives during its larval phase in riverside mangroves, many of which have been ripped up to make way for palm oil plantations and fish farms.

The glowworm (L. noctiluca) has another problem -- females are flightless, which means that can't simply buzz off to a new location when their habitat is swallowed by a suburb, commercial crop or country road.

Other species of fireflies, which eat only during their larval phase, are "dietary specialists," meaning they subsist on one or two kinds of snail, earthworm or other soft-bodied prey.

When fruit orchards in Mediterranean Spain are abandoned or give way to urbanisation, so too do the snails preferred by aptly named Lampyris iberica, leaving the firefly larva nothing to eat.

- 'Flashing through the gloom' -

Adult Pteroptyx in Malaysia, meanwhile, gather for nightly courtship displays in specific trees located along mangrove rivers. Many of those trees have been cut down.

Of 10 possible drivers of extinction, experts fingered habitat loss as the top threat everywhere -- except east Asia and South America.

In those two regions, artificial light was seen as the biggest menace to the world's luminescent beetles.

"In addition to disrupting natural biorhythms, light pollution really messes up firefly mating rituals," said co-author Avalon Owens, a doctoral student at Tufts.

Many species of firefly depend on their ability to light up to find and attract mates.

TUFTS UNIVERSITY/AFP/File / RADIM SCHREIBEROne of Nature's most entrancing spectacles -- fireflies -- is also being snuffed out by artificial light pollution

To make matters worse, that window of opportunity is very narrow: while the firefly larval phase lasts months to years, adults typically live only a few days.

The twinkling beetles are so focused on reproducing that they don't even eat.

The survey found that fireflies are also being decimated by commonly used insecticides, the third major threat.

"Organophosphates and neonicotinoids are designed to kill pests, yet they also have off-target effects on beneficial insects," the researchers wrote.

Fireflies light up by triggering a chemical reaction –- involving oxygen, calcium and an enzyme called luciferase -- inside special organs in their abdomen, a process called bioluminescence.

Their otherworldly glow has been an enduring source of fascination.

But firefly tourism -- long popular in Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan -- has also taken a toll, with fragile ecosystems damaged by too much foot traffic.

The plight of fireflies at the beginning of the 21st century add a new layer of meaning to lines written more than a century ago by Canadian poet Bliss Carman.

"And the fireflies across the dusk, Are flashing signals through the gloom," he wrote.

While climate change is not seen as a current threat, future sea level rise and drought also could accelerate the drive towards extinction.

The dozen authors contributing to the study are all affiliated with the Firefly Specialist Group -- set up in 2018 -- of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles the Red List of threatened species.

Billy Porter attacks Trump with 'State of the LGBTQ Union'



Actor Billy Porter has shared a message of optimism with the United States hours before Donald Trump was set to take the stage to give the State of the Union.

The "Pose" actor said in the address, which was his second "LGBTQ State of the Union", that the movement for equality and civil rights is strong, even if still attacked.

"Last year, I told you that the state of our union was strong," Porter said. "And while it's certainly been battered, our union is far from broken."

"So far, our nation has survived the first term of Donald Trump," he continued. "But who's to say what another term would do to this country, to democracy and truly to the entire world."

“The fate of the entire country is in the balance,” he later said in the speech. “It sounds dramatic, but if now is not the time for drama, child, when is?”

The address was streamed live on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter accounts for the LGBTQ brand Logo, which is owned by ViacomCBS.

During the 8-minute speech, the actor stood before a glass podium, flanked on either side by a gay pride flag and a US flag.

Porter's address is just one among many alternate State of the Union speeches that will be given on Tuesday before and after the president's own speech.

THE WAR ON WOMEN & LIBERTY

Trump calls for ban to 'late-term' abortion during State of the Union address

The president says people of all political beliefs must 'agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God'

Donald Trump has said he will ask Congress to pass legislation to ban what he called "late-term" abortions.

During his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill, he addressed one of his guests, two-year-old Ellie Schneider, who survived despite being born at just 21 weeks and six days.


The president said: "Ellie reminds us that every child is a miracle of life. Thanks to modern medical wonders, 50 per cent of very premature babies delivered at the hospital where Ellie was born now survive.

"Our goal should be to ensure that every baby has the best chance to thrive and grow just like Ellie. That is why I am asking the Congress to provide an additional $50 million to fund neo-natal research for America's youngest patients.

"That is also why I am calling upon the members of Congress here tonight to pass legislation finally banning the late-term abortion of babies."
Mr Trump added: "Whether we are Republican, Democrat, or Independent, surely we must all agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God!"

Late-term abortion is a political and not medical term, but broadly refers to abortions in the later stages of a pregnancy.

Those abortions are among the most contentious, with Republicans accusing Democrats in recent years of advocating for abortions right up until birth (which Democrats have not done).

During Mr Trump's presidency, the United States has seen a renewed effort to ban abortions across the country, raising the potential that an abortion ban might make it to the Supreme Court, which has seen two conservative justices added to the nine member bench. Many of those state-level bans are known as "heartbeat" abortion bans, as they would effectively ban abortions at any point after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Most states do regulate abortions later during pregnancies, however most of those also provide exceptions during certain circumstances.

Christian nationalist wants $22 million to win top 2020 battleground states – and eradicate Separation of Church and State

February 4, 2020 David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement


Christian nationalist political operative David Lane is seeking $22 million for a campaign to boost conservative Christian turnout in 10 battleground states—Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Iowa—this year. In a column published by Charisma, Lane claims that his American Renewal Project increased “Christian turnout” by 5 to 7 percent in half a dozen key states in 2016.

Lane has a much bigger vision than just helping put President Donald Trump back in the White House. Lane views politics as spiritual warfare necessary to defeat secularists and pagans and make America the Christian nation he says it was founded to be. He teaches that the U.S. has a national mandate to promote the Christian faith and calls the separation of church and state a lie.

In recent years, Lane has recruited conservative pastors to run for office and mobilize their congregations as election volunteers. In his new column in Charisma, he imagines hundreds of conservative evangelical pastors running for office in the next few election cycles, “triggering a third great awakening” and “bringing about a full-impact collision between the two rival religions in America of Christianity and secularism.”

“Since each worldview is expansive and evangelistic, there will be no reconciliation of opposites with God; one will ultimately end in the eradication of the other,” Lane adds.

As Right Wing Watch has noted repeatedly over the years, Lane’s divisive Christian nationalist extremism hasn’t prevented Republican officials at all levels from embracing him and supporting his work. They don’t seem to be bothered by his anti-LGBTQ extremism either; he once urged conservative Christians to prepare for martyrdom in their fight to “save the nation from the pagan onslaught” of marriage equality and legal abortion. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Donald Trump attended one of Lane’s organizing events in Florida.

Here’s some more background on Lane from Right Wing Watch reporting in 2018, when Lane teamed up with California-based dominionists to try to “turn California around”:

Lane, who declared in 2013 that “Christians must be retrained to war for the Soul of America,” has been organizing events since the mid-1990s to encourage conservative evangelical pastors to preach more about politics, to get their congregants more politically engaged, and to run for office. Lane’s “pastors and pews” events have functioned as matchmakers between right-wing politicians and tens of thousands of pastors; and his Issachar trainings have encouraged pastors to run for office themselves.

Lane preaches that the U.S. has a divine mission to glorify God and advance the Christian faith, and he has called the separation of church and state a “lie” and a “fabricated whopper” designed to stop “Christian America—the moral majority—from imposing moral government on pagan public schools, pagan higher learning and pagan media.” He has complained that there was “not a peep from the Christian Church” in response to the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, when the church “should have initiated riots, revolution, and repentance.”

Among the Republican congressional candidates running with Lane’s support are Bethel worship leader Sean Feucht in Northern California and Young Kim, who is running again in California’s Orange County after narrowly losing in 2018.

This article was originally published at Right Wing Watch

NOT SATISFIED WITH PARDONING WAR CRIMINALS
NOW TRUMP TARNISHES THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM FURTHER 

Donald Trump to bestow nation’s highest Medal of Freedom award on Rush Limbaugh

A PERVERT, A FELON, A MISOGYNIST, A RACIST, AND A DRUG DEALER 

While Rush Limbaugh is currently under fire for his unchecked misogyny and sexism, another running theme of Limbaugh’s broadcast career has been hostility towards racial and ethnic minorities. This antagonism, often expressed obliquely via coded language and other dog whistles, became more explicit with the election of Barack Obama.

Here’s a rundown of Rush Limbaugh’s many years of discriminatory attacks on minorities in general and President Obama specifically.

Internet remembers Rush Limbaugh saying 

Michael J. Fox was faking Parkinson’s Disease

 

Trump booed after slamming Obama economy during SOTU

ABOUT TIME 
WHY DIDN'T THEY CALL HIM 'LIAR' 
THEY SHOULD HAVE STOOD AND TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HIM 

As President Donald Trump attempted to attack President Barack Obama’s administration during his discussion of economic performance, Democratic members of Congress audibly hissed and booed his remarks:

Straight up boos in the chamber now as Trump continues to attack economic policies of the Obama administration. All of the applause coming from Republicans so far. #SOTU
— Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) February 5, 2020

Audible boos and hisses from Democratic side at this point
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 5, 2020


Audible and consistent groans and boos from the Democratic side.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 5, 2020

Wow, you can hear boos and groans from the room when Trump dings Obama era, says “failed” economic policies, and more murmurs when he claims minority gains. Pelosi sitting on her hands. #SOTU
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) February 5, 2020

While many economic indicators have increased under Trump, most have just been continuations of trends that began in the Obama era.

Trump also bragged about how many people had been eliminated from food stamp rolls, conveniently omitting that at least some of the 7 million person decline is due to his decision to tighten eligibility restrictions, rather than people being lifted from poverty.

Watch the moment below:

WATCH: Bernie Sanders responds to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address

Here Are Some Memes About How Badly The Iowa Caucus Went

The Fyre Fest of the 2020 campaign.


Wellllllllllllllllllp. The 2020 campaign has officially begun, and it's not off to a great start.

The Iowa caucuses took place Monday night in 1,682 precincts around the state and 87 satellite locations around the country and the world. But, as the night wore on, it became clear that things weren't going quite as planned.

The Iowa Democratic Party revamped the process for 2020, taking a number of steps to make the caucuses more transparent and accessible, including a new app for precincts to report results. They did so after a contentious outcome in 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders finished neck and neck. But by late Monday, precinct chairs were struggling to report results to the party, and the party announced that the results would be delayed until sometime Tuesday.

READ ON