RSN: Charles Pierce | The Republicans Aren't Even Pretending This Is About Healthcare Anymore

21 September 17 PM

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Charles Pierce | The Republicans Aren't Even Pretending This Is About Healthcare Anymore 
 
Charles Pierce, Esquire 
Pierce writes: "Over the past few days, as all hands attempted to sell to the country and to their colleagues the planet-sized lemon that is the so-called Cassidy-Graham healthcare plan, I noticed that these folks had become so exhausted by the effort that they simply don't have the energy even to lie well about it any more. The mask has dropped." 
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Trump Is Lying About the Republican Healthcare Bill Covering People With Pre-Existing Conditions 
Chris Riotta, Newsweek 
Riotta writes: "Unlike former President Barack Obama's landmark health care law, however, the new Republican bill would not guarantee coverage for people living with pre-existing conditions." 
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Here's What the Key Republican Swing Votes Are Saying About Graham-Cassidy 
Addy Baird, ThinkProgress 
Baird writes: "As Republicans try (again) to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a small group of Republican senators are in the spotlight." 
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Oklahoma Cops Fatally Shoot Deaf Man as Neighbors Scream 'He Can't Hear You' 
Eleanor Sheehan, Splinter 
Sheehan writes: "Police officers fatally shot Magdiel Sanchez, 35, who is deaf, outside of his home in Oklahoma City, OK, on Tuesday night. When authorities arrived at Sanchez's home investigating a hit-and-run, they found him on the porch carrying a metal walking stick." 
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Russians Appear to Use Facebook to Push Trump Rallies in 17 US Cities 
Ben Collins, Gideon Resnick, Kevin Poulsen and Spencer Ackerman, The Daily Beast 
Excerpt: "The demonstrations - at least one of which was promoted online by local pro-Trump activists - brought dozens of supporters together in real life. They appear to be the first case of Russian provocateurs successfully mobilizing Americans over Facebook in direct support of Donald Trump." 
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Buddhist Protesters Block Aid to Muslim Rohingya 
Al Jazeera 
Excerpt: "Police in Myanmar have clashed with a mob blocking an aid shipment in Rakhine state while nine people have died in a road accident involving a Red Cross truck in Bangladesh." 
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Mary Robinson on Hurricanes, Monsoons and the Human Rights of Climate Change 
Pat Mitchell, Moyers & Company 
Mitchell writes: "In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the United States, and extreme monsoons in South Asia, I reached out to Mary to get an update on her work and where things stand now in terms of climate justice and the global fight to curb climate change." 
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RSN: Fukushima's Anniversary Should Remind Us Nuclear Power Poses Threat to Human Survival, End Israel's Violations of International Law in Gaza

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Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson | End Israel's Violations of International Law in Gaza

Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "The UN should mandate an end to the siege of Gaza as a first step towards a settlement in Gaza."
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US Companies Are Stashing $2.1 Trillion Overseas to Avoid Taxes
Richard Rubin, Bloomberg
Rubin writes: "Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and five other tech firms now account for more than a fifth of the $2.10 trillion in profits that U.S. companies are holding overseas."
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The Case to Release The Eric Garner Grand-Jury Records
Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker
Blitzer writes: "Grand-jury records should be released in cases where transparency could serve the public interest. In the Garner case, the public stakes are high: last year saw a significant uptick in police killings nationwide, and widespread protests of police violence against African-Americans."
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Chicago Teacher Pension Money Invested With Rahm Emanuel's Friends and Donors
Matthew Cunningham-Cook and David Sirota, International Business Times
Excerpt: "Chicago teachers' pension money flowed to financial companies connected to some of the mayor's friends and top donors. Emanuel received campaign cash from those same financial firms despite his own 2011 executive order purportedly preventing donors from receiving city business."
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Israel Elections: Rising Panic in Likud Ranks as Opposition Gains Momentum
Peter Beaumont, Guardian UK
Beaumont writes: "Israel's opposition leader, Yitzhak Herzog, appears to be gaining momentum in the runup to next week's general election, triggering a rising sense of panic in Likud, the party of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu."
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Cory Doctorow | Technology Should be Used To Create Social Mobility - Not To Spy on Citizens
Cory Doctorow, Guardian UK
Doctorow writes: "Why spy? Because it's cheaper than playing fair. Our networks have given the edge to the elites, and unless we seize the means of information, we are headed for a long age of IT-powered feudalism, where property is the exclusive domain of the super-rich."
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Harvey Wasserman |Fukushima's Anniversary Should Remind Us Nuclear Power Poses Threat to Human Survival
Harvey Wasserman, Reader Supported News
Wasserman writes: "The catastrophe that began at Fukushima four years ago today is worse than ever. But the good news can ultimately transcend the bad-if we make it so."
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DemocracyNOW!: "This is History"....Get Dirty Money Out of Politics....

 

Stories

Voices from the People's Climate March: Indigenous Groups Lead Historic 400,000-Strong NYC Protest As many as 400,000 people turned out in New York City on Sunday for the People's Climate March, the largest environmental protest in history. With a turnout far exceeding ... Read More →

Heirs of Billionaire Oil Tycoon John D. Rockefeller Join Growing Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement In major climate divestment news, the Rockefeller family, which made their vast fortune on oil, has announced it will begin divesting from fossil fuel companies. The heirs of Standard Oil ... Read More →

Musician Sting: Why I Am Walking with the Indigenous Bloc in People's Climate March The world-renowned musician and activist Sting stops by our three-hour special from the People's Climate March to talk about why he is marching with indigenous activists on the front lines of ... Read More →

Bernie Sanders at People's Climate March: To Stop Global Warming, Get Dirty Money Out of Politics Speaking at the People's Climate March in New York City, independent Senator Bernie Sanders discusses a potential 2016 presidential run and how getting money out of politics is critical to ... Read More →

"This is History": People's Climate March Organizer Bill McKibben on 400,000-Strong Turnout Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and a lead organizer behind Sunday's People's Climate March and global day of action, joins us to reflect on the historic protest. "There hasn't been a political ... Read More →

Socialist Seattle Politician Kshama Sawant: We Need a Radical Militant Nonviolent Climate Movement Climate activists traveled from across the country and the world to take part in Sunday's historic People's Climate March in New York City. We speak to Seattle City Councilmember Kshama ... Read More →

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: "The Only Thing We Have in Our Power is People Power" Environmental activist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was one of up to 400,000 people joining the People's Climate March Sunday in New York City. "American politics is driven by two ... Read More →

Singer Angélique Kidjo: The Women of Africa Are Paying the Price of Climate Change As up to 400,000 filled the streets, Democracy Now! did an exclusive three-hour global broadcast from the heart of the People's Climate March in New York City. We air highlights of the ... Read More →

Anti-Coal Climate Activists March with Massachusetts District Attorney Who Almost Prosecuted Them Earlier this month, two climate activists were set to go on trial in Massachusetts for blocking the shipment of 40,000 tons of coal to the Brayton Point power plant, a 51-year-old facility that is one of ... Read More →

"Climate Change is Now": Former Irish President Mary Robinson and Marshall Islands' Tony deBrum Among the hundreds of thousands of people who attended the People's Climate March in New York City was Mary Robinson, former Irish president and U.N. high commissioner for human ... Read More →

Up to 400,000 Join Historic People’s Climate March in NYC

Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hit New Record; U.S. Share Increases 2.9%

Heirs to Rockefeller Oil Fortune Divest from Fossil Fuels

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Climate Change Is A ‘Serious Issue Of Human Rights': Mary Robinson

Great interview worth reading in its entirety!

Climate Change Is A ‘Serious Issue Of Human Rights': Mary Robinson

By Sophie Yeo

23 September 2013
Responding to Climate Change

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, speaks to RTCC about climate justice, the UN, and why climate skeptics make her angry

 

Pic: Flickr / Open Government Partnership

 

Climate justice is a phrase which eludes a neat definition.

 

Morally laden and politically controversial, it is used interchangeably to discuss the law, politics and ethics of climate change. Even the most seasoned negotiators may find themselves promoting one of its many meanings over another.

 

For Mary Robinson, these various meanings are not disconnected concepts, but a jigsaw of related ideas that together create a comprehensive picture of how best to tackle one of the world's greatest problems: “When we're talking about climate change, the issue of justice starts with injustice,” she says.

 

A barrister, a politician, and a top official in the UN, Robinson, now 69, remains best known as the first female president of Ireland – a largely ceremonial role she occupied between 1990 and 1997 through which she strove to influence through the “moral authority” it bestowed on her.

 

She admits that moral leadership continues to fascinate her, and is something she continues to exercise since became a member of the Elders in 2007, a group of global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela, who work together to provide guidance on peace making and human rights.

 

 

 

 

http://www.countercurrents.org/yeo230913.htm

Mary Robinson: Bearing Witness And Giving Voice

Mary Robinson has long been a hero of mine, changing the Theocracy in which she grew up both from the inside and the outside.

Her fascinating interview and recitation of significant changes brought about under her tutelage reminds of the costs of Theocracy.

Many in this country wrongly believe that their particular religious beliefs must be intertwined with our governance.

As Mary Robinson highlights, when religion becomes entangled, time stands still, government ceases to progress or recognize the need for change.

Our wise Founding Fathers studied the Theocracies in Europe and assured us of Separation with good cause. While they assured a 'christian' nation with a small 'c' based on Christian values, they recognized the flaws and threats. Thus, the US evolved as a wondrous melting pot that struggles to adjust, but lacks the imposition of Church imposed laws.

Who can imagine: divorce prohibitions: illegality of contraception? women lacking standing in courts of law? and much else.   

Wikipedia explains Theocracy  and various forms of Government

This highlights why Public Broadcasting is important.

Thursday, March 14, 2013
Mary Robinson: Bearing Witness And Giving Voice

Former Irish President Mary Robinson answers reporters’ questions in Seoul, South Korea, following a trip to North Korea in April 2011. (Lee Jin-man/AP)

 

In her career as a lawyer and a lawmaker, Mary Robinson has tried to advance the cause of human rights, especially for women.

Growing up Catholic in Ireland she became a lawyer so she could fight for a woman’s right to – among other things – have access to contraceptives, because they were illegal to buy or sell at time.

She was eventually elected to the Irish Senate and served very symbolically as Ireland’s first woman president.

After stepping down from the presidency, Robinson was the United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights. Today she heads the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice.

Robinson writes about all of that in her new book “Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice” (see excerpt below). Here & Now’s Robin Young spoke to her recently at a Harvard Bookstore event at First Parish Church in Cambridge, Mass.

Robin took this cell phone video at the event:






Book Excerpt: ‘Everybody Matters’

By: Mary Robinson

Chapter 14

They are begging us, you see, in their wordless way,
To do something, to speak on their behalf
Or at least not to close the door again.

—Derek Mahon, “A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford”

Throughout my time in office I had to think constantly about how a small and underfunded office could make an impact on advancing human rights and holding governments to account where there was wide- scale impunity. I realised that I could play a significant role by being close to the victims, bringing out their accounts, which was why so much of my time as high commissioner was spent travelling to many of the most troubled regions of the planet, where people’s rights were being violated and they longed for somebody to alert the world to what was happening to them.

In all, I made 115 trips to more than seventy countries during five years, almost always with the idea of helping to amplify the voices of victims, helping them to feel that somebody was listening. It brought home to me the power of the act of bearing witness. This was something I had en- countered when I visited Somalia as president of Ireland. The act of witnessing is neither easy nor as forthcoming as might be expected. We turn away so often. I did not want to let that happen. Even though I held a UN title, I had nothing tangible to offer victims who were expressing their direct witness of torture, how their families had been killed, how they had been deprived of their land, their homes. They needed our action, not our tears; our practical, downright, problem-solving help, and not our wordless horror. Yet I felt that to listen, bear witness, and respect the humanity of those I was listening to, and report back to a jaded world, was a start. I wanted to nurture a sense that the United Nations understood that these voices mattered.

There are some visits that stay in my mind because they illustrate perfectly the different facets of the work my colleagues and I were doing, and the kind of human rights violations we were dealing with.

In early 1999, world attention focused on the conflict in Kosovo, and the huge exodus of refugees driven out to different countries, especially Albania. In May the Swiss government put at my disposal a small plane to visit countries of the region and draw attention to the plight of victims and to the human rights violations being perpetrated by Serbian forces. Over a few days, we travelled to Albania, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and into Serbia itself by road from Zagreb. My two most vivid memories involve Kosovar refugees in Tirana, Albania, and ordinary Serbian civilians in Niš, who had just endured NATO cluster bombing of their housing estate.

Visiting the makeshift camp in Tirana, crowded with Kosovar refugees still traumatised after fleeing violence and savagery by Serbian forces in Kosovo, I listened to some of the worst stories while sitting in small tents that housed about fifteen people, seeing the fear still in the eyes of the children. My human rights officers were compiling initial evidence from witnesses that could be helpful to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the event that leaders such as Slobodan Milošević were indicted. At one stage a colleague suggested I come to a field behind the tents where a teacher was instructing a class. We watched as the children, sitting on the grass, repeated the teacher’s words; they had no pens or paper. When she finished, we were introduced. She spoke good English, had been a teacher in Pristina, and had volunteered to teach the children in the camp. “This is what I do; it helps me to cope.” She brought me to meet her elderly parents, sharing a tent with two other families, and described their escape from their home in Pristina, how they had watched it burn as they drove away.

The following day, my colleagues and I were in Belgrade meeting the foreign minister and other officials to raise serious concerns about human rights. President Milošević refused to meet me, perhaps because, a few days before, I had met with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Louise Arbour, in Sarajevo. Milošević may have feared that Arbour had given me an indictment to serve on him. Indeed, within a matter of weeks, and despite political pressure from some sources, an indictment for his arrest was issued. Though, as we now know, tracking him down took years.

My colleagues were keen that I travel to the city of Niš to meet the mayor, who had, at great personal risk, been in contact with our office to report human rights violations. With a Serbian military escort, we set off by road, a journey of about two hours. We saw flashes of bombing in the distance. Shortly afterwards our small convoy was stopped and we were informed that NATO forces had just bombed part of Niš. I feared we would have to abandon the visit. We waited, and then suddenly we were rushed at some speed to a suburb, where we saw the immediate aftermath of the cluster bombs NATO planes had dropped. No one in that suburb had been killed, but several people were injured; a man invited me into his room in a high-rise block of flats that had suffered a direct hit and showed me a live, unexploded cluster bomb on the window ledge. As I came back down I was told the mayor had arrived, and we had a brief, tense meeting, where he quickly updated me and then left; he was clearly worried about being seen with me.

Our convoy returned to Belgrade before nightfall. There had been much emphasis by NATO forces on how targeted bombing was, hitting only military targets. I had seen for myself that this was not always the case.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/03/14/mary-robinson-ireland