A group I’m with has a rally every week for over 18 months. During them, anyone could “take the curb” - kind of like “taking the podium” except on a sidewalk - if they had something to say. For a while I’ve been offering some “News Worth Knowing (Which You May Have Missed)” and I finally decided to post some of that here.
I hope that we’ll keep on rallying and I’ll keep on taking the curb and keep on posting.
That introduction taken care of, let’s go.
= = = =
Defy Corruption
A group called DEFIANCE.org has released a documentary about the corruption in the federal government under The Orange Overlord. It’s available to the public for viewing at CORRUPTIONLAND.org.
= = = =
Un-Origin of Species
Vertebrate animal populations around the world have declined by average of 73% since 1970, according to a report from the World Wildlife Fund.
Freshwater wildlife populations are down, on average, by 85%.
Marine species have declined by 59%.
Land Species are down 69%.
The report indicates this is largely due to the deforestation of Latin America and Africa.
With one-half of the world’s GDP based on nature and its ecosystems, Tanya Steele, the chief executive of WWF UK, correctly observed that “Nature loss is not just a crisis for wildlife. It’s already sending us the bill through growing risks to our food security, water supplies, economy, and resilience to climate shocks.”
The report, however, does conclude that all is not lost, noting that conservation efforts have successfully brought back endangered populations including wild tigers, green sea turtles, and bluefin tuna.
= = = =
Drink Up
According to a study by Food & Water Watch, household water costs have gone up 62% from 2015 to 2025, an increase greater than that of food or fuel over that time - and corporate control of our water supplies is a big reason why.
Among America’s 500 biggest water systems, the report found, “for-profit, corporate-owned systems charged on average 67% more than public systems.”
= = = =
A Bit of Good News Is Always Welcome
A while back I mentioned a program in Colorado to provide overpasses and underpasses along a stretch of I-25 to increase both animal and driver safety and to preserve migration routes.
The first part of that project, an overpass intended for large animals such as elk, came into use 10 months ago.
Over that time, car-animal collisions have been reduced by 91%.
The system is working and good for Colorado.
= = = =
Ya Gotta Know What You're Looking For
The National Institute of Injustice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Injustice (DOI), has put out a call for researchers, with a successful applicant receiving up to $1 million in federal grants.
For what, you say?
Quoting the Notice Of Funding Opportunity, the purpose is to “generate foundational research on gender dysphoria, its treatment, and the perpetration of violence and violent behavior. Available empirical evidence regarding this topic is limited, particularly in regard to underlying causal mechanisms. To address these gaps, NIJ is interested in retrospective, secondary data analyses1 that explore gender dysphoria, its treatment, and the perpetration of violence and violent behavior.”
In other words, the bigots, bozos, and transmisics* in the White (Power) House are offering a million bucks for someone to prove that being treated for gender dysphoria makes you violent. Because they know it does, well of course, who could think otherwise, they just don’t know the “underlying causal mechanism.”
= = = =
Hi, I'm Gaza. Remember Me?
A lack of funding has forced the UN World Food Program to cut food aid to Gaza by a third, leaving a half-million people without assistance.
Food aid delivered via parcels have been cut in half and the number of daily hot meals has been cut by 40%. The amount of cash assistance given to some families to buy their own food has also been cut.
Even before these cuts, around 1.4 million people, about two-thirds of the population Gaza, have been experiencing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse and these cuts will more than undo the small gain that had been seen recently. The agency says if urgently requires $450 million to maintain critical operations in Gaza /West Bank over the next 6 months - which is something less than two and a-half days of what we have spent on the war on Iran and about 0.5% of what we will spend on nuclear weapons each of the next ten years.
The WFP announcement came a little over a year after the “ceasefire” agreement under which Israel was to stop its attacks on Gaza and allow the delivery of life essentials at what experts say are minimum required levels.
Israel has failed on both those counts.
Over 1500 Palestinians have been killed in continued daily attacks even as Israel severely restricts the amount of aid allowed in, leading a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry to state on October 26 that Israel is continuing to “commit genocidal acts” in Gaza.
Note that none of this addresses the fact that Israel is also involved in military action in the West Bank and Lebanon and is establishing military outposts in Syria.
It also doesn’t address that fact that at least five Palestinian criminal gangs have been transformed into Israeli-backed and supported “militias” with encampments in areas along the east side of the yellow line, that is, in the area under Israeli military control. In some cases those encampments are no more than a few kilometers from one of the 50 Israeli fortifications along the yellow line.
= = = =
Decisions, Decisions
All of that should be more than enough to make it clear why I decided, better put I knew, that I could not vote for Cory Booker.
He has voted for seven arms packages to Israel since the slaughter in Gaza** began and voted against measures to block or at least restrict that money. When I could get an answer on the topic from his office, it offered banal lines about negotiation and a two-state solution even as high Israeli government officials - not just Netanyoyo - say “there will never be a Palestinian state” and talked about the slaughter in Gaza in the passive voice as if all the death and destruction was the result of some natural disaster with no human agent involved.
In April he finally voted to restrict some aid to Israel but even then he described his vote in terms of intending to have an effect on the war on Iran. Way too little, way too late.
Cory Booker has laid down a line which I simply would not, could not, cross even if this seat was a toss-up. (Which it’s not, just for the record.) So I voted for some third-party candidate. It won’t make a damn bit of difference in the outcome or to him, but at least it’ll be one less knot in my stomach.
As a footnote, don’t think if Netanyoyo is pushed out it will be much better: If he can’t form a government, the most likely alternative is Gadi Eisenkot forming a government with the support of the Arab Joint List. Eisenkot has called the idea of a Palestinian state “not relevant” and supports expansion of settlements in the West Bank, Israeli control of the Jordan Valley, and continued Israeli domination of Gaza. Kind of like Likud with better PR.
= = 30 = =
*Transphobes fear transgender people. Transmisics hate them. I can’t remember who I got that from, but if I ever do, I’ll be sure to credit them.
Posts
