12 January 20
The last few months have very difficult for fundraising. We are strapped at this point. We do have very good donors but we need more people to chip-in.
This is a funding drive that "must-succeed."
Let’s do this.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
Founder, Reader Supported News
If you would prefer to send a check:
Reader Supported News
PO Box 2043
Citrus Hts, CA 95611
Reader Supported News
PO Box 2043
Citrus Hts, CA 95611
12 January 20
Pence and Pompeo Pushed for the Killing of Suleimani
John Cassidy, The New Yorker
Cassidy writes: "The Trump-Iran story continues to develop in alarming ways. On Thursday, reports that Western governments believe Iranian military forces mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing a hundred and seventy-six passengers and crew members, produced a predictably divided reaction."
READ MORE
John Cassidy, The New Yorker
Cassidy writes: "The Trump-Iran story continues to develop in alarming ways. On Thursday, reports that Western governments believe Iranian military forces mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing a hundred and seventy-six passengers and crew members, produced a predictably divided reaction."
READ MORE
Sen. Mike Lee speaks at the Utah Eagle Forum convention in Sandy on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020. (photo: Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Republican Mike Lee Signs on to Bernie Sanders' Bill to Prevent Funding for Military Intervention in Iran
Ryan Nobles, CNN
Nobles writes: "Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has agreed to co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' legislation that would freeze funding for any military action in Iran without express approval from Congress."
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Ryan Nobles, CNN
Nobles writes: "Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has agreed to co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' legislation that would freeze funding for any military action in Iran without express approval from Congress."
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'Twelve schools have kicked off the pilot program, which will go into effect statewide this fall.' (photo: Shutterstock)
New Jersey Schools Begin LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum
Daniel Reynolds, The Advocate
Reynolds writes: "An LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in the Garden State is coming to fruition."
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Daniel Reynolds, The Advocate
Reynolds writes: "An LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in the Garden State is coming to fruition."
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People walk and drive across a bridge on the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas. Thousands of people cross back and forth every day, in cars or on foot. (photo: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images)
This Migrant Won in Immigration Court, and the US Sent Him to Mexico Anyway
Joel Rose, NPR
Rose writes: "For a moment, Jesus thought his ordeal was coming to an end. Three months after fleeing Venezuela, he got his chance to tell a judge how he and his mother escaped political persecution."
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Joel Rose, NPR
Rose writes: "For a moment, Jesus thought his ordeal was coming to an end. Three months after fleeing Venezuela, he got his chance to tell a judge how he and his mother escaped political persecution."
READ MORE
Elizabeth Wurtzel in 2000. (photo: Neville Elder/Corbis/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Wurtzel and the Illusion of Gen-X Success
Ginia Bellafante, The New York Times
Bellafante writes: "A few years ago I got an email from Elizabeth Wurtzel telling me that her cancer had returned, and that it was advanced. Saying I was sorry would render precisely the wrong response, she let me know. Her illness didn't scare her."
Ginia Bellafante, The New York Times
Bellafante writes: "A few years ago I got an email from Elizabeth Wurtzel telling me that her cancer had returned, and that it was advanced. Saying I was sorry would render precisely the wrong response, she let me know. Her illness didn't scare her."
John Campbell, Jessica Petersen and Eileen Sambos are involved with the Poor People's Campaign in Iowa. (photo: Rekha Basu/Des Moines Register)
When 140 Million Americans Are Poor, Why Has Poverty Disappeared From Public Discourse?
Rekha Basu, Des Moines Register
Basu writes: "Someone from the Poor People's Campaign called last week, disturbed that presidential candidates haven't pushed hard enough for a debate on poverty. I responded by rattling off the sources of disagreement between the left and center candidates, such as single-payer health coverage and free college tuition."
Rekha Basu, Des Moines Register
Basu writes: "Someone from the Poor People's Campaign called last week, disturbed that presidential candidates haven't pushed hard enough for a debate on poverty. I responded by rattling off the sources of disagreement between the left and center candidates, such as single-payer health coverage and free college tuition."
EXCERPT:
The incomes of the top 1% of Iowans grew by 125% between 1979 and 2012, while those of the bottom 99% saw a 15 percent increase, according to the PPC, a national movement organized by religious and civil rights leaders and poor people. It has issued a "Poor People’s Moral Budget" that identifies a potential $350 billion in savings from annual military cuts and $886 billion in additional annual revenue from taxing the wealthy, corporations, and Wall Street. It plans a presence in Des Moines during next week's Democratic debate.
As the cost of rent has skyrocketed, government anti-poverty programs have been slashed. Monthly benefits under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, an income support program, have declined steadily and are now at or below two-thirds of the federal poverty level (less than $26,000 a year for a family of four). By one estimate, it helps only 23% of poor families with children. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently adopted regulations to deny food stamps (now called SNAP) to nearly 700,000 Americans by tightening work requirements for adults without children.
Some of the worst changes are in how communities have re-segregated by race and class and how poor people are depicted as a drain on society. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said of SNAP that it was becoming a "way of life" for too many Americans. Yet as Rev. William Barber II, a pastor and co-chair of the national Poor People's Campaign, pointed out, "When banks fail, politicians come together and say they are to big to fail and find billions to lift them up. But when 140 million people struggle and fail under the weight of poverty and low wealth, Republicans tend to racialize poverty, Democrats tend to run from poverty and only talk about middle class, and neither deal fully with policies to address the reality of poverty."
Barber cites a 2011 Columbia University public health study showing 250,000 deaths in 2000 were linked to poverty-related causes such as low education and poor social support. The lingering legacy of slavery, and consignment to live in polluted areas, drink contaminated water or work at unsafe jobs all have health effects.
Along Kamilo Beach, plastic is ever present. (photo: Liz Barney/Guardian)
Welcome to Hawaii's 'Plastic Beach,' One of the World's Dirtiest Places
Liz Barney and Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "An array of plastic crunched underfoot as Mattie Mae Larson walked down Kamilo Beach. Toothbrushes, a plastic broom, a leaking bottle, the back of a TV."
Liz Barney and Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "An array of plastic crunched underfoot as Mattie Mae Larson walked down Kamilo Beach. Toothbrushes, a plastic broom, a leaking bottle, the back of a TV."
EXCERPTS:
Hawaii sits at the center of swirling ocean currents, just east of the Great Pacific garbage patch. As a result, its shoreline catches plastic from all over the world, some of it decades old. Just a few weeks prior, Larson found a vintage Sea and Ski tanning lotion bottle, most likely from the 1950s.
On Kamilo Beach, plastic pollution accumulated unchecked for decades due to inaccessibility. The very first cleanup here was organized after the group’s founder, Bill Gilmartin, witnessed the birth of a rare Hawaiian monk seal pup on the massive piles of plastic. In 2003, he led a team in removing more than 50 tons of marine debris over three days.
Regular cleanups have prevented the return of 10ft tall piles of plastic, but daily debris continues to trickle in, with no end in sight. HWF estimates that between 15 and 20 tons of debris wash up here annually, and that 96% of it is plastic. The group has so far removed 283 tons of plastic debris from the shores of Hawai’i island, and a significant portion has been from this location alone.
Hawaii’s efforts to push back on rampant plastics consumption have been among the boldest in the country. In 2015, it became the first state in the US to ban plastic bags at grocery stores. Earlier this year, Maui and the Big Island banned polystyrene containers. And Honolulu, the state’s capital, in December passed one of the most restrictive plastic bans in the US, prohibiting all single-use plastic food containers, including straws and utensils, as well as Styrofoam.
Most experts agree that without big changes in the way corporations produce and consumers use plastics, places like Hawaii will continue to bear the brunt of the planet’s dependency.
