[Peace-discuss] Notes

[J.B. Nicholson]

Carl & David,

It'll be good to see you guys back on-air! Here are some topics for 
consideration in your next discussion.




Questioning the Democrats: Dems claim they want to ban fracking but should 
we believe them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq4xRTBFECs -- Democrats say they want a 
fracking ban.

Sen. Bernie Sanders posted 
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1169319241876721671:
> Any proposal to avert the climate crisis must include a full fracking
> ban on public and private lands.

Yet according to OpenSecrets.org:

Bernie Sanders took $5,019 in individual contributions from oil & 
gas-connected sources in his 2018 campaign 
(https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/industries?cid=N00000528&cycle=2018&recs=0&type=I), 
and he did in 2016 as well 
(https://theintercept.com/2016/04/01/bernie-sanders-took-money-from-the-fossil-fuel-lobby-too-just-not-much/).

Sen. Elizabeth Warren:
> On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a
> total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and
> on public lands. And I will ban fracking—everywhere.

But is this really going to challenge the power of federal law?

http://forestpolicypub.com/2019/04/20/can-she-do-that-elizabeth-warrens-campaign-goals-and-oil-and-gas-on-public-lands/ 
asks "[Can] an Executive Order [...] override federal laws that allow 
activities on public lands?" and one respondent, Jon Haber, replied:

http://forestpolicypub.com/2019/04/20/can-she-do-that-elizabeth-warrens-campaign-goals-and-oil-and-gas-on-public-lands/#comment-452966
> An executive order can certainly prohibit agencies from doing what they
> would otherwise be “allowed” to do, but not what they are required to do
> by law. The quoted article refers to “federally mandated quarterly lease
> sales.” That seems to be a reference to the Mineral Leasing Act
> requirement for quarterly sales of parcels that are “available” for
> lease. That presumably refers to the leasing availability/suitability
> decision we have discussed previously, and an executive order could
> probably stop further designations. It might take more to redesignate
> currently available but unleased lands (if there are such things) as
> unavailable.

Sen. Kamala Harris said:
> There's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking.

but she has a mixed record on working in the public's interest against oil 
companies. She claimed at the recent CNN climate town hall 
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbFyFv1u_vU) that she "sued Exxon Mobil" 
but there's no evidence she filed a lawsuit.

Kassie Siegel, climate director at the Center for Biological Diversity 
Action Fund said
> She [Kamala Harris] opened an investigation into Exxon for lying about
> climate change. But she didn’t take it further. She could have and she
> should have filed a lawsuit like the attorney general of New York.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/us/politics/kamala-harris-exxon.html 
concurs:
> “What would you do?” Erin Burnett, a CNN moderator, asked. “Would you
> sue them? Would you sue Exxon Mobil?”
> 
> “I have sued Exxon Mobil,” Ms. Harris replied.
> 
> Not quite.
> 
> An investigation, yes. A lawsuit, no. In 2016, The Los Angeles Times
> reported that Ms. Harris, then California’s attorney general, had begun
> an investigation into “whether Exxon Mobil Corp. repeatedly lied to the
> public and its shareholders about the risk to its business from climate
> change — and whether such actions could amount to securities fraud and
> violations of environmental laws.”
> 
> The New York Times reported the existence of the investigation the next
> day. Both articles cited people with knowledge of the inquiry, though
> Ms. Harris’s office did not confirm it.
> 
> But after that, no progress came to light, and no case was ever filed;
> eventually, the purported inquiry passed on to Ms. Harris’s successor,
> Xavier Becerra, who has also not brought a suit.

Harris' campaign spokesman Ian Sams wrote to Politifact.com an email that 
Harris "obtained $50 million in settlements from oil companies she took on 
like BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66. She also announced 
criminal indictments against Plains Pipeline for the massive oil spill they 
caused off the coast (of) Santa Barbara. The case continued after Harris 
left the AG's office and resulted in conviction[2].".
[1] 
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-kamala-d-harris-announces-indictment-plains-all-american
[2] https://www.apnews.com/98c6da87a0f8469a8d401ace5196ff12

In light of previous interaction with oil companies, how seriously should 
we take these claims to ban fracking?








Ecology: Microplastics render soil unusable to worms, and we depend on 
worms to thrive in normal soil.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/12/worms-fail-to-thrive-in-soil-containing-microplastics-study

> Worms fail to thrive in earth containing microplastics, new research has
> shown, adding to the growing body of evidence of impacts from the
> increasingly widespread contaminants on the natural world.
> 
> The rosy-tipped earthworm, Aporrectodea rosea, is one of the most common
> found in farmland in temperate regions. Scientists found that worms
> placed in soil loaded with high density polyethylene (HDPE) – a common
> plastic used for bags and bottles – for 30 days lost about 3% of their
> body weight, compared with a control sample of similar worms placed in
> similar soil without HDPE, which put on 5% in body weight over the same
> period.
> 
> Bas Boots, lecturer in biology at Anglia Ruskin University, and lead
> author of the study, said the specific reasons for the observed weight
> loss were not yet clear, but could be owing to the effects of
> microplastics on the worms’ digestion. “These effects include the
> obstruction and irritation of the digestive tract, limiting the
> absorption of nutrients and reducing growth,” he said.
> 
> If the presence of microplastics inhibits earthworm growth on a wide
> scale, it could have implications for soil health and farming, as worms
> are vital part of the farmland soil ecosystem.

[...]

> Microplastics have now been found in tapwater, the seas around the
> world, human stools, in the air and a wide variety of other
> environments.
> 
> Soils in many places are likely to harbour large numbers of
> microplastics, deposited there from their presence in sewage, in water
> and in the air. However, the extent of contamination is largely unknown,
> though there are European studies reporting anything between 700 and
> 4,000 plastic particles per kilogram of soil in some agricultural land.








War: Drones are gaining a special place in warmaking

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/middle-east-drones-signal-end-to-era-of-fast-jet-air-supremacy 
-- "Middle East drones signal end to era of fast jet air supremacy"

This is particularly interesting in light of anyone who might question a 
focus on drones in particular over any other kind of bombing. Drones 
possess a unique economic and size advantage traditional bombers don't. 
Also consider the supportive rhetoric and choices of recent administrations 
on drones: G.W. Bush used them, Obama scaled up their use sharply (and 
caught the attention of Noam Chomsky who called Obama's drone program "The 
Most Extreme Terrorist Campaign of Modern Times"), and Trump has followed 
suit scaling up their use even further.

> In the history of modern warfare, “own the skies, win the war” has been
> a constant maxim. Countries with the best technology and biggest budgets
> have devoted tens of billions to building modern air forces, confident
> they will continue to give their militaries primacy in almost any
> conflict.
> 
> Tiny, cheap, unmanned aircraft have changed that, especially over the
> battlefields of the Middle East. In the past three months alone, drones
> have made quite an impact in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and possibly now Saudi
> Arabia, where half the country’s oil production - and up to 7% of the
> world’s global supply – has been taken offline by a blitz that caused no
> air raid sirens and seems to have eluded the region’s most advanced air
> warning systems.
> 
> Drones are now an integral part of the inventory of the region’s most
> advanced militaries, and the also-rans. Non state actors have been
> clamouring to secure them as well – convinced by the utility of
> hard-to-detect, dispensable flying toys to be used as weapons of war.
> 
> The Israeli military is armed with the latest fast jets and precision
> weaponry, yet it has turned to its fleet of drones to hit targets in
> Syria. Deniability has played a big factor – the ability of drones to
> elude radar and therefore keep targets guessing about who actually
> bombed them is playing well for Israeli leaders who are trying to
> prevent an increasingly lethal shadow war with Iran from developing into
> an open conflict.

Sen. Bernie Sanders supported killer drones in his "Meet the Press" 
interview from 2016 -- 
https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/bernie-sanders-would-use-drones-to-fight-terror-542522435844

> Chuck Todd: What does counterterrorism look like in a Sanders 
> administration? Drones? Special forces? Or what does it look like?
> 
> Bernie Sanders: All of that and more.
> 
> Chuck Todd: You're okay with the drone, using drones--
> 
> Bernie Sanders: Look, drone is a weapon. When it works badly, it is 
> terrible and it is counterproductive. When you blow up a facility or a 
> building which kills women and children, you know what? Not only
> doesn't do us any -- it's terrible.
> 
> Chuck Todd: But you're comfortable with the idea of using drones if you 
> think you've isolated an important terrorist?
> 
> Bernie Sanders: Yes.
> 
> Chuck Todd: So that continues?
> 
> Bernie Sanders: Yes.

So did Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (often referred to by supporters and critics 
alike as "anti-war") in her 2018 Intercept interview -- 
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/intercepted-podcast-white-mirror/

> Jeremy Scahill: I’m wondering what your position, I know that in the 
> past you have said that you favor a small footprint approach with strike
> forces and limited use of weaponized drones. Is that still your position
> that you think that’s the — to the extent that you believe the U.S.
> military should be used around the world for counterterrorism, is that
> still your position?
> 
> Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Well, when we’re dealing with the unconventional 
> threat of terrorist groups like ISIS, al Qaeda and some of these other 
> groups that are affiliated with them, we should not be using basically 
> what has been and continues to be the current policy of these mass 
> mobilization of troops, these long occupations and trillions of dollars 
> going in, really abusing the Authorization to Use Military Force and 
> taking action that expands far beyond the legal limitations of those 
> current AUMFs.
> 
> So, with these terrorist cells, for example, yes, I do still believe 
> that the right approach to take is these quick strike forces, surgical 
> strikes, in and out, very quickly, no long-term deployment, no long-term
> occupation to be able to get rid of the threat that exists and then get
> out and the very limited use of drones in those situations where our
> military is not able to get in without creating an unacceptable level of
> risk, and where you can make sure that you’re not causing, you know, a
> large amount of civilian casualties.







Environmentalism: Dunkirk, France residents give up their cars and enjoy 
gratis bus rides

https://www.france24.com/en/20190831-france-dunkirk-free-transportation-bus-success-climate-cities

> The city of Dunkirk in northern France launched a revamped bus system
> last year with a twist – it’s completely free. A new study shows that
> the programme is not only revitalising the city center but also helping
> the environment.

[...]

> [T]he city (population 90,000) seeks to become a beacon of a greener 
> economy, by building infrastructure such as a large-scale wind farm off 
> the coast and transforming its city center to be more 
> pedestrian-friendly. Key to this effort is its free bus system, 
> inaugurated on 1 September, 2018. The network connects Dunkirk to a 
> cluster of neighbouring towns, with five express lines running every
> ten minutes throughout the day, and a dozen other lines serving less
> dense areas. Altogether, it serves some 200,000 residents.
> 
> For many, the effect has been nothing short of liberating, says Vanessa 
> Delevoye, editor of Urbis, a magazine of urban politics published by
> the local government. To get around town, you no longer need to look at
> the schedules, buy tickets or worry about parking, she says. You just
> hop on the bus.
> 
> “It’s become a synonym of freedom,” she says, attracting those who
> might not otherwise have used public transport. In this largely
> working-class city, “people of limited means say they’ve rediscovered
> transport” – a prerequisite to finding a job, maintaining friendships or
> participating in local arts and culture. But it’s not only disadvantaged
> or working-class people who take the bus. It is also attracting 
> white-collar workers, students and pensioners, according to Delevoye.







Environment: A region of Australia is close to running out of water completely.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/15/parts-of-regional-nsw-set-to-run-out-of-water-by-november

> WaterNSW warns without significant rain, Macquarie River will run dry,
> wiping out supply to Dubbo, Cobar, Nyngan and Narromine

[...]

> Parts of regional New South Wales could run out of water as early as
> November with data showing the worst-case scenario for the state if
> there’s no rain or government intervention.
> 
> The projections from NSW’s river operator and bulk water supplier
> WaterNSW show without significant rain the first towns to lose water
> supply will be Dubbo, Cobar, Nyngan and Narromine with the Macquarie
> River forecast to run dry by November.
> 
> The Macquarie River experiences an average inflow of 1,448GL annually
> but in the past two years has seen just 97GL enter the river system, the
> data shows.
> 
> It has been described as a “critical” situation by the NSW water
> minister, Melinda Pavey, who told reporters in Canberra on Sunday the
> government is doing “everything humanly possible” to make sure the state
> gets through this devastating drought.
> 
> The NSW government has committed $130m for extra bores and pipelines to
> reduce water lost in transmission, she said, citing a pipeline to extend
> Tamworth’s water supply by 18 months and $30m for bores in Dubbo.
> 
> Australia’s longest river, the Murray, has been severely affected with
> 901GL of water entering the system in the past 12 months compared with
> its annual average of 5000GL.






Labor: GM strike

"Your healthcare hinges on the good nature, at the whim of your capitalist 
employer."
-- Jimmy Dore on one of the points raised in the GM strike: healthcare is 
being taken away for 50,000 striking workers. The same is true at other 
jobs too, which is why Dore & co. repeatedly (and rightly) endorse Medicare 
for All.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXfQzm_iWt4 -- good coverage from Jimmy 
Dore & co. on the GM strike (1st GM strike in 12 years).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxELjIUjqLE -- the referenced explanation 
of why GM workers are on strike including the following:

At midnight Monday, 49,000 United Auto Workers walked off their jobs at 33 
GM plants across the country.

The strike is organized action against a new 4-year contract which:
- doesn't cover the worker's healthcare.
- classifies some workers as temporary so those workers don't qualify for 
the same salary and benefits as full-time workers.
- lowers pay & benefits for new hires under GM's two-tier wage scale 
despite that as GM employee Juan Gonzalez pointed out, "Everybody does the 
same work and everybody should be getting the same pay and there should be 
no inequality here.".

Also:
- pay raises were not paid for almost 11 years after the GM bankruptcy (by 
workers' choice because the workers were trying to help GM stay in 
business). But GM has been making lots of profit since the bailout (which 
handed GM back to the same managers who bankrupted it) and not paying 
raises to the workers.
- 4 GM plants are closing including Warren and Hamtramck (pronounced 
ham-TRAM-ik) (a city in Wayne County, Michigan, population 22,423, which is 
mostly surrounded by Detroit). These closures come despite that GM says it 
has offered more than $7 billion in investments. GM alleges "solutions" for 
some of the plants to close (we don't know what those are). Meanwhile, UAW 
contracts at Ford and Chrysler have been extended.

The strike costs GM about $400 million per day according to AP, but workers 
get $250/week in strike wages.





Labor/exploitation: Kickstarter workers fired for unionizing.

User "Not the Mama" (user @taylordotbiz) wrote a series of posts to his 
Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/taylordotbiz/status/1172257828473573377
> This morning, after six years of pouring my life into the mission, the 
> staff, and the creators of @kickstarter, I was fired for organizing a 
> union. They offered me no real reasons, but one month's severance for 
> signing an NDA [non-disclosure agreement]. I will not be signing it.
https://twitter.com/taylordotbiz/status/1172260257613123608
> Last week another member of the organizing committee, @ClarissaRedwine 
> was also fired, and today a third prominent member of the union was
> told there is no place for him at the company. I stand firm in
> solidarity with my friends and colleagues.
https://twitter.com/taylordotbiz/status/1172260258770751496
> The union busting campaign that Kickstarter management is engaging in
> is illegal and wrong. It is an unforgivable abandonment of the values of
> an organization that I have loved and served with my whole heart.
jbn: Tech workers, in my experience, are unwisely leery of unionization 
because they (broadly speaking) take a strong Libertarian view which 
includes believing that the market will somehow see to their collective 
needs if they're good enough tech workers (job mobility will allow them to 
move to a better job which might come with healthcare, for example). But 
history has shown that collective bargaining puts workers in a better 
position to get what they need and deserve from their extant jobs. It's 
also sad that young tech workers aren't spending more energy politically 
organizing for Medicare for All which would remove the issue of healthcare 
from employment entirely.

I'll try to find the exact quote and URL, but I recall reading Doug Henwood 
(Behind the News, Left Business Observer) on why American companies oppose 
Medicare for All: these companies stand to benefit from Medicare for All 
because Medicare for All would simplify their bookkeeping and reduce costs 
for the workers who get healthcare through their jobs. But these same 
companies object to Medicare for All because they see it as the government 
taking away a field of work and those businesses fear that the same could 
happen in their field if they don't resist Medicare for All now.





Environment/Labor: Farming subsidies are "destroying the world"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/1m-a-minute-the-farming-subsidies-destroying-the-world

> The public is providing more than $1m per minute in global farm
> subsidies, much of which is driving the climate crisis and destruction
> of wildlife, according to a new report.
> 
> Just 1% of the $700bn (£560bn) a year given to farmers is used to
> benefit the environment, the analysis found. Much of the total instead
> promotes high-emission cattle production, forest destruction and
> pollution from the overuse of fertiliser.
> 
> The security of humanity is at risk without reform to these subsidies, a
> big reduction in meat eating in rich nations and other damaging uses of
> land, the report says. But redirecting the subsidies to storing carbon
> in soil, producing healthier food, cutting waste and growing trees is a
> huge opportunity, it says.
> 
> The report rejects the idea that subsidies are needed to supply cheap
> food. It found that the cost of the damage currently caused by
> agriculture is greater than the value of the food produced. New
> assessments in the report found producing healthy, sustainable food
> would actually cut food prices, as the condition of the land improves.
> 
> “There is incredibly small direct targeting of [subsidies at] positive
> environment outcomes, which is insane,” said Jeremy Oppenheim, principal
> at the Food and Land Use Coalition (Folu), the collaboration of food,
> farming and green research groups that produced the new report. “We have
> got to switch these subsidies into explicitly positive measures.”
> 
> He said the true global total was likely to be $1tn a year, as some
> subsidies are difficult to quantify precisely: “That trillion dollars of
> public funding is available and is a massive, massive lever to
> incentivise the farming community across the world to act differently.”

[...]

> Benefits from reforming subsidies has been seen in some places. Farmers
> in the European Union have reduced greenhouse gas emissions from
> fertiliser by 17% while yields rose, and China is phasing out support
> for fertilisers.
> 
> The “remarkable” return of forests in Costa Rica, the report says,
> followed the eliminating of cattle subsidies and payments for improving
> nature. “But there is a long way to go,” the report concludes. “Perverse
> subsidies need to be rapidly redirected or phased out.”

-J