Naomi Klein: A Year After Hurricane Maria, There Is Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico's Disaster

27 September 18 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News "WHERE THE HELL DOES ALL THIS MONEY GO?" - Question posed by a reader today. Very well. We are paying 12 regular full time employees, 6 regular contributing authors and a jillion related vendors, contractors and service providers. It is and has always been a substantial organization, albeit dedicated to progressive and community values. Yes we need a budget. It is sorely lacking. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! Naomi Klein: A Year After Hurricane Maria, There Is Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico's Disaster  Democracy Now! Excerpt: "I don't think we should be terribly surprised by the fact that Donald Trump is denying hard reality. He did this beginning on his very first day in office, denying the accounts of the size of the crowd, and he denies the reality of climate change, so he denies inconvenient facts both small and large. And now he is denying the reality that Hurricane Maria was the catalyst for thousands of people losing their lives." READ MORE National Cathedral School's Hearst Hall. (photo: Wikimedia) We Didn't Call It Rape: The Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge Allegations Are Upsettingly Familiar Alexandra Lescaze, Slate Lescaze writes: "Sunday evening, the New Yorker published a second allegation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But it wasn't just the new allegation that caught my attention." READ MORE Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. (photo: AP) Forgive Me if I Don't Trust the Woman Prosecutor Interviewing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Molly Osberg, Jezebel  EXCERPT:  Mitchell is on leave from her current role as the county’s deputy attorney and chief of its Special Victims Division. Prior to that, she spent 12 years running the bureau responsible for prosecuting sex crimes, including child molestation and sexual assault. The FrontLine article, like many right-wing discussions of sexual violence, focuses on the innocence of young children in assault cases and clergy scandals: “False accusations are very rare,” said Mitchell. In her first major case, Mitchell sentenced the Reverend Paul LeBrun to 111 years in prison for molesting boys in the 1980s. This week, FrontLine wrote on its blog that false accusations do happen, in the context of #MeToo. Since her career became the subject of national attention, two failures have been repeatedly mentioned: In 2003, Mitchell’s office was criticized after it declined to prosecute a man for abusing his quadriplegic wife. (The woman went on to write a harrowing memoir about her experience.) In 2011, Mitchell granted a plea deal of only six months to a Jehovah’s Witness who was found guilty of assaulting a teenaged boy. What’s been largely left out of this narrative are the wide-ranging institutional failures of Maricopa County when it has come to reporting, investigating, and prosecuting sexual assault, particularly when reported in Latinx and immigrant communities. Osberg writes: "What's been largely left out of this narrative are the wide-ranging institutional failures of Maricopa County when it has come to reporting, investigating, and prosecuting sexual assault, particularly when reported in Latinx and immigrant communities." READ MORE Immigrants applying for citizenship at a class in Los Angeles. (photo: Mario Tama/Getty) US Immigrants Stop Using Public Benefits Over Fears of New Trump Rule Amanda Holpuch, Guardian UK Holpuch writes: "US immigrants have begun to remove themselves from public housing waiting lists, childcare subsidy programs and the food stamp program - out of fears that a rule proposed on Saturday night could jeopardize their immigration status." READ MORE Nearly two weeks after making landfall in North Carolina. (photo: Sean Rayford/Getty) South Carolina Families Urged to Leave Homes After Industrial Toxins Spread From Florence Flooding Kyla Mandel, ThinkProgress Mandel writes: "Four families in Cheraw, South Carolina have been told to leave their homes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found toxic chemicals present that had spread due to Hurricane Florence." READ MORE Retired General Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez during his last declaration at court in Guatemala City, September 26, 2018. (photo: EFE) Guatemala Recognizes Mayan Ixil Genocide, but Absolves General teleSUR Excerpt: "A court in Guatemala declared that the army committed crimes against humanity and genocide against the Indigenous Mayan Ixil people during the dictatorship of Efrain Rios Montt, but determined that the accused chief of military intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez was not able to give orders at that time." READ MORE Community living near a power plant in China. (photo: Kevin Frayer/Getty) China Said It Was Finished With These Coal Plants. Satellite Imagery Shows Otherwise. Nathanael Johnson, Grist Johnson writes: "Newly released satellite photos appear to show continuing construction of coal plants that China said it was cancelling last year, according to CoalSwarm." READ MORE Contribute to RSN Become a Fan of RSN on Facebook and Twitter Update My Monthly Donation