Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage

PROVING THERE ARE TWO DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

A PROGRESSIVE ONE AND A WALL ST. ONE, 

THE LATTER SHOULD JOIN WITH DISAFFECTED REPUBLICANS

TO FORM THEIR OWN PARTY OF THE 1%

Just plain wrong’: DNC blistered for letting billionaire Mike Bloomberg onto the debate stage

January 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham

THIS IS WHAT A LABOR FAKIR LOOKS LIKE

The Democratic National Committee was blasted online on Friday after changing the rules for 2020 debates in a manner that could allow billionaire Michael Bloomberg to essentially buy his way onto the stage.

“The Democratic National Committee is drastically revising its criteria to participate in primary debates after New Hampshire, doubling the polling threshold and eliminating the individual donor requirement, which could pave the way for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to make the stage beginning in mid-February,” Politico reported Friday.

“The new criteria eliminate the individual-donor threshold, which was used for the first eight debates, including next week’s debate in New Hampshire. Bloomberg, the self-funding billionaire, has refused to take donations from other individuals, which has thus far precluded his participation in any of the debates since he joined the race late last year,” Politico explained.

The decision was harshly criticized by current and former candidates.

Let’s make one thing clear: @TheDemocrats decision to change the rules now to accommodate Mike Bloomberg and not changing them in the past to ensure a more diverse debate stage is just plain wrong.https://t.co/BoCVpahWpx

— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) January 31, 2020


Billionaire Bloomberg just bought the @DNC. #PayToPlay #StandWithTulsi

— Tulsi Gabbard  

(@TulsiGabbard) January 31, 2020


Democrats should not be connecting the ability to be heard to money. Period.
DNC did that in setting debate requirements & in removing them. You link money & politics, process gets corrupted. Dems should be rejecting money’s influence, not letting it guide our primary.
— Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) January 31, 2020

Here’s what others were saying:

Mike Gravel qualified for the Democratic debate with a grassroots surge that gave him 67,000 donors. The DNC shut him out.

Mike Bloomberg spent $180 million on a massive ad campaign, donated $250,000 to the DNC, and has exactly 1 donor. The DNC let him debate.

Fuck the DNC.
— The Gravel Institute (@GravelInstitute) January 31, 2020

DNC really waited for the Black and Brown candidates to drop out and then changed up the rules so a billionaire could stop and frisk his way to the debate stage.

You expect to see it. https://t.co/82T30qhy8p

— blackness everdeen  

(@traceyecorder) January 31, 2020


Fewer things better encapsulate just how beholden to big money the @DNC is than rewriting the rules to let billionaire Michael Bloomberg buy his way onto the debate stage.
The Democratic establishment does not care about you and will sell you out in a heartbeat.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 31, 2020

Fuck Tom Perez and fuck Mike Bloomberg. That's it. That's the tweet.https://t.co/1bBoZlTlQ0
 

Darren Wong (@darrenmwong) January 31, 2020


1. ⁦DNC members didn’t vote on this, or any of the debate rules.
2. Every candidate and every donor who gave to that candidate who played by the rules (to date) should voice outrage at Tom Perez.
3. Perez will never be Governor of MD by doing this https://t.co/p0HEXmoukR
— Nomiki Konst (@NomikiKonst) January 31, 2020

If you look at the new DNC debate thresholds as anything other than "Get Andrew Yang off stage and put Mike Bloomberg on," Then you are high.
— Brad Bauman (@bradbaumn) January 31, 2020

EVEN A JANEY CANUCK CAN SEE THE CRIME THIS IS
DNC changes debate rules so Bloomberg can buy his way in, that's how scared they are of #Bernie2020. Also: Bloomberg's bump has has zero to do with popular support – the same thing would happen to a russet potato with $150-million of TV ads behinds it. https://t.co/9MMHtnFFbf
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 31, 2020


Make no mistake about it: the @DNC changing its debates rules to open the door for @MikeBloomberg is Dem elite waving white flag on @JoeBiden. They see the writing on the wall and are now moving beyond hedging their bets to propping up Bloomberg https://t.co/OdzXn6KTUj
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) January 31, 2020

Nothing to see here… just Bloomberg buying the DNC… everyone move along.https://t.co/JKRqSE9s4H
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 31, 2020

No wonder ⁦@TomPerez⁩ was thinking abt his exit pay package: this is “$ buys access” Nice job—elbow out ppl of color/ppl w ideas but give a certain billionaire a ticket in. #dnc https://t.co/h7URt7U7Nk
— Jonathan Tasini (@jonathantasini) January 31, 2020

I thought the rules were set?!?! That is what they told us when we demanded a climate debate. https://t.co/l5FV6Z60te
— Brianna Westbrook (@BWestbrookAZ8) January 31, 2020

Bloomberg should NOT be on the debate stage. It's the DNC, not the DLC. The debate stage should only feature characters that people actually want. Elections should not be pay to win.
— Ace Watkins (@GamerPres2020) January 31, 2020

So now that Bernie Sanders is the frontrunner, the DNC is changing its debate rules mid-primary, eliminating the small donor threshold to let Bloomberg buy his way onto the stage.

Bloomberg’s surrogates are openly admitting he’s running as a Sanders spoiler.

Here we go again. https://t.co/WqGTuQijKo
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) January 31, 2020

DNC: climate debate? Nah
Bloomberg debate? Yah https://t.co/R7H7xmSq3t
— Jamal Raad (@jamalraad) January 31, 2020

this is an extremely bad call by the dnc imo, esp when this kind of bar kept cory booker and julian castro out of debates https://t.co/59lB7Kibxc
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 31, 2020

Congratulations to the DNC & its chair, Tom Perez, for altering the rules to let the world's 8th-richest person who spent $200 million of his own money on the election in 5 weeks & just happens to be big DNC donor onto the debate stage. https://t.co/7lk6Bk1l5W
— Alex Kotch (@alexkotch) January 31, 2020

‘Definition of a rigged system:’ Sanders campaign rips DNC changing debate rules for Mike Bloomberg

January 31, 2020 By Common Dreams

“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire.”

After debate rules were changed in favor of allowing billionaire Mike Bloomberg to join the candidates onstage vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign hit back, calling the decision emblematic of the corrupt political system the Vermont senator has centered his run for the White House on defeating.

“To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong,” Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver told Politico. “That’s the definition of a rigged system.”

New statement from Bernie Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver on DNC debate rules: “To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong. That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) January 31, 2020

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Friday afternoon that the criteria for making the debate stage will no longer include a requirement about individual donors—allowing Bloomberg, whose campaign is largely self-funded, to join the candidates if his polling numbers reach the new threshold.

“DNC changing the rules to benefit a billionaire,” tweeted Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir. “I much prefer Democrats being a grassroots party. And under Bernie Sanders, that’s the way it will be.”

According to Politico:
Candidates will need to earn at least 10% in four polls released from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, or 12% in two polls conducted in Nevada or South Carolina, in order to participate in the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas. Any candidate who earns at least one delegate to the national convention in either the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary will also qualify for the Nevada debate.

The rules change caught Democrats by surprise.

Some observers noted the timing of the change and wondered if it was part of a coordinated attack on Sanders from both the DNC and Bloomberg.

The DNC & Bloomberg ready to try & defeat Bernie! 

  pic.twitter.com/aHZ5OgAuVQ

— Anthony Clark for Congress (@anthonyvclark20) January 31, 2020

The Intercept‘s Ryan Grim, citing Federal Elections Commission data, noted Bloomberg donated $325,000 to the DNC in November 2019.

“Totally normal system,” said Grim.

Just before jumping into the race, @MikeBloomberg gave $325,000 to the DNC, on top of the gobs he spent on ads this month. Totally normal system. pic.twitter.com/u4JDelWb7H
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 31, 2020

The debate rules have been a source of contention throughout the primary process, with some former hopefuls like Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro questioning the restrictions on polling and donors as prohibitive to their campaigns.

Progressive strategist Tim Tagaris wondered what could have been different if not for the qualifications.

“How much money did candidates like Julián Castro and Cory Booker have to spend chasing donor thresholds that could have been spent building organizations in early states?” said Tagaris.

Comedian and writer Jack Allison took a wry look at the changes and what they mean about the party.

“Remember when they wouldn’t even think of changing them for like Cory Booker,” Allison tweeted. “This is what we mean when we talk about the DNC cheating, obviously and out in the open.”

“Thankfully seeing Bloomberg speak can only hurt his standing,” Allison added, “but still.”

The Christian Right is both anti-Semitic and stridently pro-Israel — here’s why

THEY ARE AMERICAN HOME GROWN PROTESTANTS NOTHING CHRISTIAN ABOUT THEM 
January 31, 2020 Alex Henderson, AlterNet- Commentary


One of the most bizarre characteristics of the Christian Right has been its ability be anti-Semitic and stridently pro-Israel at the same time. On the surface, it seems like a contradiction: how can far-right evangelical groups such as Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition of America and the Family Research Council (FRC) be passionate supporters of Israel and anti-Semites at the same time? But when one delves into the End Times ideology that is so prominent among white evangelicals, it makes perfect sense to them.

Certainly, not all Christians are anti-Semitic; in fact, the vast majority of Catholics and Protestants are not. The Christian Right embraces a severe form of fundamentalist Protestant Christianity that is separate from what non-fundamentalist Christians believe — and in Christian Right ideology, Jews will be condemned to eternal hell unless they convert to fundamentalist Protestant Christianity. In contrast, numerous Catholics and Mainline Protestants (non-fundamentalist Protestants such as Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and the African-Methodist Episcopal Church) are happy to join forces with synagogues for charitable events and agree to disagree about some elements of scripture. Catholics and Mainline Protestants, as a rule, aren’t interested in trying to turn Jews into Christians; their bottom line is that Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the Ten Commandments.

But to the Christian Right, Judaism is a one-way ticket to eternal hell — and that includes Jews they claim to consider allies, such as White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Far-right white evangelicals will insist that they aren’t anti-Semitic yet claim that President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump (a convert to Judaism) is going to hell unless she returns to Christianity (the president was raised Presbyterian). So why does the Christian Right consider itself supportive of those it believes deserve eternal punishment? They view it as a marriage of convenience, and this marriage underscores their obsession with Armageddon and the End Times.

On January 23, Mother Jones published an excellent, highly informative article by journalist Stephanie Mencimer that described one of the Christian Right’s most disturbing reasons for being so fond of President Trump: they believe he will escalate a catastrophic war in the Middle East (which Israel will be a key part of), and that war will speed up Jesus Christ’s return to the Earth.

Among End Times evangelicals, one book that is considered essential reading is “Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days,” which was published in 1995 and written by Jerry B. Jenkins and the late Rev. Tim LaHaye (a highly influential Christian Right evangelist). According to Mencimer, that 25-year-old book addresses “the war of Gog and Magog, a biblical conflict prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel. In the Bible, Gog is the leader of Magog, a ‘place in the far north’ that many evangelicals believe is Russia. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, Gog will join with Persia — now Iran — and other Arab nations to attack a peaceful Israel ‘like a cloud that covers the land.’ LaHaye, like many evangelicals, believed this battle would bring on the Rapture, the End Times event when God spirits away the good Christians to heaven before unleashing plagues, sickness and other horrors on the unbelievers remaining on Earth. Meanwhile, the Antichrist reigns supreme.”

The Christian Right views Netanyahu as a hell-bound sinner who deserves eternal punishment because he has refused to bathe himself in the blood of Jesus Christ, who Jews and Muslims don’t consider the Messiah. But if the Israeli prime minister can play a role in the End Times and the Rapture, they’re happy to ally themselves with him.

It’s important to understand that the anti-Semitism of the Christian Right is quite different from the anti-Semitism of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, who are bitterly anti-Israel. While groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the Aryan Nations view Israel as an enemy of Aryans, the Christian Right view Israel as an ally that will play a crucial role in the End Times and the Rapture — even though Israeli Jews will go to hell when they are killed in the catastrophic Middle East war that End Times evangelicals long for.

To fully understand just how twisted the Christian Right is, one needs at least a basic understanding of how diverse Christianity is. There are plenty of non-fundamentalist Protestants who flatly reject the Christian Right’s extremist interpretation of Christianity, including the Rev. Al Sharpton (the liberal civil rights activist who hosts “Politics Nation” on MSNBC) and Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (an openly gay Episcopalian). And the decidedly left-of-center Chris Hedges, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, has spent a lot of time explaining why he considers the Christian Right so dangerous. Hedges’ 2007 book “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America,” pulls no punches and describes far-right white evangelicals as the extremist lunatic fringe of Christianity — a fringe that the Republican Party has been embracing for decades.

The Christian Right is not only anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim —

it is also contemptuous of non-fundamentalist Catholics and Mainline Protestants it considers insufficiently radical. But if a Presbyterian like President Trump can support their theocrat agenda, the Christian Right will embrace him. President Trump is wildly popular among far-right white evangelicals even though his daughter, Ivanka Trump, is a convert to a religion they don’t believe offers salvation.

For neo-Nazis, meanwhile, the Christian Right’s support for Israel is a deal breaker. The Christian Identity movement, which is separate from right-wing white evangelicals, believe that only WASPs — an Aryan Anglo Saxon race — are true Christians. The Christian Right will feature token blacks in its megachurches; neo-Nazis and white supremacists won’t even associate with either Jews or African-Americans

Although End Times evangelicals are likely to hold racist views and applaud President Trump’s white nationalist rhetoric, they won’t be marching with the KKK or the Aryan Nations — as they see it, white supremacists’ contempt for Israel gets in the way of the Rapture. But rejecting the KKK, neo-Nazis and flat-out white supremacists doesn’t make the Christian Right any less anti-Semitic.

HERE ARE THE FRIGHTENING HEADLINES FROM THE FINAL FASCIST TAKEOVER OF THE DIS-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Trump is on the brink of entering a horrifying new phase of his presidency

Voting to acquit this noxious criminal is the point of no return for the Republican Party

‘Give up the fantasy that the GOP can be rescued’: Conservative lashes party for selling out to Trump

AND IF HE DOES GET VOTED OUT IN 2020 HE WILL NOT LEAVE THE POSITION BUT RATHER CALL FOR A COUP AND CIVIL WAR

BUSTED: President’s campaign reveals ‘steering over $1.8 million’ to his family and Trump Organization businesses

MORE IMPEACHABLE BEHAVIOR 

IT WILL NEVER END TILL THE WHOLE CRIME FAMILY IS LOCKED UP 

AND THE GOP RENAMED THE LOONEY TUNES T-PARTY

BUSTED: President’s campaign reveals ‘steering over $1.8 million’ to his family and Trump Organization businessesJanuary 31, 2020 By Bob Brigham


In a new filing with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign reported spending a staggering amount of money at Trump family businesses.

Anna Massoglia, a researcher at Open Secrets, analyzed Trump’s latest public filings on how he is spending donors’ money.

“New FEC filing: Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paid $194,247.57 to Trump family members, properties & businesses in the final quarter of last year alone—steering over $1.8 MILLION in donations from presidential campaign donors to Trump’s private interests,” Massoglia reported.

The filings show tens of thousands of dollars going to Trump Tower Commercial LLC and Trump Hotel Collection.

The Trump Corporation, Trump Restaurants, LLC and daughter-in-law Lara Trump also received payments from the campaign.

New @FEC filing: Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign paid $194,247.57 to Trump family members, properties & businesses in the final quarter of last year alone—steering over $1.8 MILLION in donations from presidential campaign donors to @realDonaldTrump's private interests. pic.twitter.com/ell9EtWkDH

— Anna Massoglia (@annalecta) February 1, 2020

MURKOWSKI TO CHILL IN WARMING ALASKA

Lisa Murkowski lashes out at ‘all sides’ after her vote against impeachment trial witnesses: ‘I’m just going to chill’

UNFORTUNATELY FOR SENATOR MURKOWSKI OF ALASKA THERE IS NOWHERE TO CHILL IN HER HOME STATE THANKS TO GLOBAL WARMING THAT NEITHER HER PARTY NOR TRUMP BELIEVE IN

Climate change is causing the Arctic to become GREENER 

Rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its historical importance

Metal detectorist Andy Hall, 55, found the coin during a trip to Wiltshire farmland

However, experts and scholars questioned the authenticity of the silver penny

Tests have now shown it consistent with coins of the time and 95 per cent silver

The penny depicts Ludica, who ruled Mercia for just one year from 826–827 AD
Its existence proves that old London did not fall to the West Saxons until 827 AD

By IAN RANDALL FOR MAILONLINE  31 January 2020

A rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its authenticity.

Experts and scholars dismissed the silver penny Andy Hall unearthed in a muddy field in Wiltshire, as it featured the head of a virtually-unknown Saxon king.

Moreover, the date it was hammered — 826 AD — would also have meant that the history books on Britain would have to be re-written.

Undeterred, the 55-year-old metal detectorist was determined to prove them wrong.

He spent the next three years having his coin examined by other experts and even paid £300 for it to be metallurgically analysed.

The scientific tests confirmed that the coin was 95 per cent silver and ‘completely consistent with coinage in the period 810–840 AD’.

A rare 1,300-year-old coin featuring the face of an obscure Saxon king could sell for £15,000 at auction after its owner spent three years trying to prove its authenticity

The face depicted on the coin is that of the Saxon king Ludica, who ruled for a single year from 826–827 AD in Mercia — a kingdom which included London, or 'Lundenwic' as it then was.

According to the historical record, London fell to the Wessex King Ecgberht as a result of the outcome of the Battle of Ellendun in 825 AD.

However, Mr Hall's coin proves that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD.

It did not fall under Ecgberht’s control, therefore, until after Ludica was killed fighting the East Angles in 827 AD.

The coin features the bust of Ludica facing right, with the legend LUDICA REX MER, while the reverse features the inscription LUN/DONIA/CIVIT across three lines.

Mr Hall has now offered his coin for sale with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, who have given it an estimate of £15,000.

'I have a love for history and numismatics and so wanted the historical importance of this coin recorded and as the finder I felt I had a responsibility to do so,' said Mr Hall.

'The process took just over three years and cost £300 in total.'

'I was over the moon when I first read the analysis results, I re-read them about five times. Even though I was expecting a positive result I felt enormous relief.'

'I knew I had dug it up, but there is always the thought that it may have been a contemporary forgery or a 19th century fantasy piece.'

'I felt that at last my patience and determination over the last three years had paid off, even though it seemed impossible at times.'

'It’s very satisfying to have made a very tiny contribution to our knowledge of the period.'


Experts and scholars dismissed the silver penny Andy Hall, (pictured) unearthed in a muddy field, as it featured the head of a virtually-unknown Saxon king

Andy found the penny buried around four inches deep in the mud during a one-off visit to farmland at Coombe Bisset, Wiltshire, in the January of 2016.

'I saw that it was a Saxon silver penny and when I got it home I gently washed off the mud with distilled water,' Hall explained.

'I then had to Google Ludica to find out who the monarch was,' he added.

'I then sent photos and details to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, as that is where new discoveries of early medieval coins are registered.'

When he tried to auction the coin the following June, however, he was told by a leading historian and expert in Anglo-Saxon coins that there were concerns about the penny's authenticity.

'I agreed to take the coin back and approach specialists myself,' Mr Hall said.

'I organised a meeting at the Fitzwilliam Museum and received a positive reception —although the issue was still concern over its authenticity.'

Eventually, after another 18 months, the coin was sent off for analysis, at which point it was verified.


Mr Hall has now offered his coin for sale with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, who have given it an estimate of £15,000

'Ludica is only mentioned briefly in the Anglo Saxon chronicles, so this coin shows he retained London during his reign,' said Dix Noonan Webb expert Nigel Mills.

'Ludica is first recorded as a military commander in 824 AD, under the Mercian king Beornwulf.'

'Beornwulf was defeated by the Wessex king Ecgberht in 825 AD and it was believed that he then took control of south eastern England.'

'This coin shows that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD and that it did not fall under Ecgberht's control until after Ludica was killed in 827 AD.'

The coin is scheduled to be sold on March 10, 2020, with Mr Hall sharing the proceeds with the owner of the land on which the coin was found.

According to the historical record, London fell to the Wessex King Ecgberht (pictured) as a result of the outcome of the Battle of Ellendun in 825 AD. However, Mr Hall's coin proves that Mercia still retained London in 826 AD

Andy found the penny buried around four inches deep in the mud during a one-off visit to farmland at Coombe Bisset, Wiltshire, in the January of 2016

Climate change is causing the Arctic to become GREENER as warmer temperatures cause trees and plants to flourish in the frozen world

Scientists are using drones and satellites to track levels of Arctic greenery 

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land with little foliage 

But recent analysis has found trees and plants are thriving in the Arctic

By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE 31 January 2020 

Ecologists are on 'red alert' as warmer temperatures caused by climate change causes the Arctic to become greener.

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land but higher temperatures are now allowing foliage to thrive.

Trees and plants are being found in areas that were once perennially frozen, according to a new study.
                                                         
The worrying phenomenon - branded 'Arctic greening' - is being studied by researchers using drones and satellites to study the change of Arctic permafrost (pictured)

The worrying phenomenon - branded 'Arctic greening' - is being studied by researchers using drones and satellites.

A group of 40 scientists from 36 institutions, led by two National Geographic Explorers, are behind the huge project.

As Arctic summer temperatures warm, snow is melting earlier and plants are coming into leaf sooner in spring.

Tundra vegetation is spreading into new areas and in the areas where plants have always survived, they are now flourishing.

Study lead author Dr Isla Myers-Smith, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, said: 'New technologies including sensors on drones, planes and satellites, are enabling scientists to track emerging patterns of greening found within satellite pixels that cover the size of football fields.'

Changes in vegetation alter how carbon is captured and released into the atmosphere.

The Arctic is normally a vast and barren expanse of frozen land (pictured) but higher temperatures are allowing foliage to thrive

Small changes to this balance could significantly impact efforts to keep warming below 1.5°C – a key target of the Paris Agreement.

But researchers in Europe and North America also found Arctic greening, which can be seen from space, is caused by various factors.

Ground warming is important, researchers found, but so are changes to the timing of snow melt and the wetness of landscapes.

The new study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The team behind it say it is vital for understanding global climate change because tundra plants act as a barrier between the warming atmosphere and huge stocks of carbon stored in frozen ground.

Co-lead author Dr Jeffrey Kerby, who was a Neukom Fellow at Dartmouth College while conducting the research, said: 'Besides collecting new imagery, advances in how we process and analyse these data - even imagery that is decades old - are revolutionising how we understand the past, present, and future of the Arctic.'

Alex Moen, Vice President of Explorer Programmes at the National Geographic Society, added: 'We look forward to the impact that this work will have on our collective understanding of the Arctic for generations to come.'

WHAT DO EXPERTS PREDICT FOR THE FATE OF THE PLANET'S PLANTS AND ANIMALS?

Nature is in more trouble now than at any time in human history with extinction looming over one million species of plants and animals, experts say.

That's the key finding of the United Nations' (UN) first comprehensive report on biodiversity - the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat.

The report - published on May 6, 2019 - says species are being lost at a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past.

Many of the worst effects can be prevented by changing the way we grow food, produce energy, deal with climate change and dispose of waste, the report said.

The report's 39-page summary highlighted five ways people are reducing biodiversity:

- Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals homeless. About three-quarters of Earth's land, two-thirds of its oceans and 85% of crucial wetlands have been severely altered or lost, making it harder for species to survive, the report said.

- Overfishing the world's oceans. A third of the world's fish stocks are overfished.

- Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half of the world's land mammals - not including bats - and nearly a quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by global warming.

- Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world's waters.

- Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals. The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70 per cent since 1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian species.

RIP Spitzer: NASA bids an emotional farewell to its infrared space telescope that has been capturing stunning images of the Milky Way and cradles of newborn stars for over 16 years

After more than 16 years studying the universe in infrared light since its launch in 2003, NASA has switched off the Spitzer Space Telescope (main image), bringing its mission to an end. Since its launch, Spitzer studied comets and asteroids in our own solar system, detailed the seven rocky exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 star system and found a previously unidentified ring around Saturn (bottom right). The infrared telescope also captured stunning images of the Cat's Paw nebula (bottom left) and Helix nebula (top left) and composed an extensive map of our Milky Way galaxy (top right)

how global climate crisis inaction will lead to an explosion of civil unrest

Related video: Sir David Attenborough warns short governments could hinder climate action

As Asia’s youngest cabinet minister, this is how global climate crisis inaction will lead to an explosion of civil unrest

I am terrified for the future of young people. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, industrialised and developing countries need to go further

Syed Saddiq

To borrow from Greta Thunberg's powerful reminder at the World Economic Forum last week, it is our youth – those who will inherit the planet – who will be most affected by the decisions we make today.

As Malaysia’s youth minister – and Asia’s youngest cabinet minister – her stark words resonate with me deeply. I have seen first hand how young people across the region and the wider Muslim world are disillusioned with the business-as-usual approach to the planet.


Thunberg represents a new generation of young people across rich and poor countries who are demanding urgent reform. They won’t be silenced. Their anger is not just about the climate emergency, but about everything: corruption, economic inequalities, hunger.

In the Muslim world, this wave of unrest extends the same outbreak of rage we saw in 2011. The food, climate and economic drivers of that unrest are now worse than ever.

A decade ago, unemployment in Muslim nations was the highest in the world. Since then, it has grown more than anywhere else. Now nearly a third of young people across the Middle East and North Africa are unemployed – over double the international average.

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures
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Across the region, economic growth is sluggish; economies are dependent on diminished revenues from oil exports; public services are languishing and science spending is less than 0.5 per cent of GDP. Meanwhile, Muslim-majority nations are among the most corrupt in the entire world.

But the biggest threat of all is the climate crisis. The region has faced almost continuous regional drought since 1998; floods in Saudi Arabia; heat waves in Kuwait; and rising sea levels in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria. Within 30 years, large areas of the Middle East and north Africa could become “uninhabitable”.

As a government minister representing the issues that young people face, I am terrified of what's in store for our youth in this region.

South Asia could face extreme drought and food insecurity as early as the 2030s. Bangladesh could experience a sea-level rise on a scale that could force tens of millions from the homes. Progress on poverty alleviation by Malaysia and Indonesia could be reversed due to climate-induced economic losses being bigger than anywhere else. The impact of the climate on agriculture, tourism and fishing, for example, could shave off a tenth of the region’s GDP, and as much as 50 per cent of rice yields.

Neither the east nor west can tackle these challenges alone. Western nations are right to point out how developing nations resort to environmentally-destructive practices. But they are responsible for creating a highly unequal global system dependent on fossil fuels, the legacy of empire.

One area where we desperately need co-responsibility is global deforestation – the world’s second-largest source of carbon emissions from human activities.

Undoubtedly, oil palm plantations have been among the main drivers of deforestation in southeast Asia. But shortly after winning landslide elections overthrowing decades of corruption, my government was the first to declare a moratorium on oil palm expansion to conserve forest cover at no less than 50 per cent, while introducing mandatory standards to make oil palm production 100 per cent sustainable.

Yet within months, the European Union snubbed these efforts and declared a ban on palm oil for biodiesel. My country did not have a chance.

I’m not convinced that this was about deforestation. The EU sought a trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay last year, although this would see European beef imports escalate. Yet beef consumption is the single biggest driver of climate-linked deforestation.

I don’t believe we can simply ban our way to a more sustainable and inclusive world – there’s a real risk of displacing rising demand onto to other commodities.

Numerous scientific studies by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Oxford University, and York University among others show that replacing palm oil with soy, rapeseed or corn would drive great levels of deforestation. They are less efficient and use more land, fertiliser and pesticides.

Similarly, killing off livestock industries would degrade soils irreparably under continuous crop production. In contrast, sustainable approaches like "mob-grazing" cattle can help reverse climate change by increasing soil’s capacity to store carbon.

Malaysia’s efforts to transition to sustainable palm oil are not perfect and there remains much work to be done. Yet instead of working with us, the EU has simply ignored our efforts while fuelling greater causes of deforestation elsewhere.
Read more

Will planting a trillion trees actually solve the climate crisis?

Instead of pointing fingers at each other, industrialised and developing countries must work together to support more sustainable production practices. In the Amazon, that means rearing cattle in ways which protect and nurture the rainforest. In Malaysia, that means cultivating sustainable palm oil in a way which allows precious species like the Orangutan to not just survive, but thrive – as we are trying to do.

Across the east and west, we must find ways to support each other. If we don’t, civil unrest will not only become a perfect storm, it will be the new normal. That means co-responsibility and collaborative approaches not just on problems like deforestation, but on the urgent task of building new kinds of societies where governments and businesses provide for citizens within planetary boundaries.

This is the only future where the next generation has a chance, not just of surviving but thriving. If we political leaders do not work towards that, we can expect to be removed from power: the next generation will make sure of it.​

Syed Saddiq is Malaysia’s minister for youth and sports, and Asia’s youngest ever cabinet minister. He is also youth chief of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition

Japan planning to release over a million tonnes of radioactive water into sea from Fukushima power plant

Coolant contains toxic element which cannot be removed

Harry Cockburn
Friday 31 January 2020 20:03

Tanks containing contaminated water at the Fukushima nuclear plant ( AP )

Massive amounts of radioactive water being stored at Japan’s Fukushima power plant could be released into the sea under plans provisionally accepted by the country’s government.

Tokyo Electric has collected nearly 1.2 million tonnes of contaminated water from cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting since the plant was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami which hit eastern Japan in 2011.

The water, containing 62 radioactive elements, is stored in huge tanks on the site of the now disabled power plant, but Tokyo Electric has said it will run out of room to store the water by 2022.

The water has been treated and Tokyo Electric said it is able to remove all radioactive particles from the water to levels not harmful to humans, except tritium, an isotope of hydrogen which is more difficult to separate from water.

A panel of experts working for Japan’s economy and industry ministry concluded that letting the water run into the sea was the best option after looking at other proposals. The only other viable option considered was to let the water evaporate.
Inside the twisted remains of Fukushima nuclear plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company officials and journalists 

and journalists visited the site yesterday

In Friday’s proposal, the ministry said the controlled release to the sea is superior because its route is predictable and easier to sample and monitor.

“Compared to evaporation, ocean release can be done more securely,” the committee said, pointing to common practice around the world where nuclear power stations operating under normal conditions routinely release water containing tritium into the sea.

But the decision will alarm neighbouring countries and comes ahead of Japan’s hosting of the 2020 Olympic Games, with some events due to be held less than 60km away from the Fukushima site.

Fishermen and residents also fear health effects from releasing the radioactive water as well as harm to the region’s image and farm industries.

Neighbouring South Korea has retained a ban on imports of seafood from Japan’s Fukushima region imposed after the nuclear disaster and summoned a senior Japanese embassy official last year to explain how the Fukushima water would be dealt with, Reuters reported.

South Korean athletes are planning to bring their own radiation detectors and food to the Games.

Experts say there is no established method to fully separate tritium from water, but it is not a problem in small amounts. Government officials also say tritium is routinely released from existing nuclear power plants around the world.

The report acknowledges the water releases would harm industries that still face reluctant consumers despite safety checks. It promised to reinforce monitoring of tritium levels and food safety checks to address safety concerns.

Additional reporting by agencies

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