Juan Cole | In Epochal Shift, California Votes for 100% Green Electricity by 2045

01 September 18 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News Juan Cole | In Epochal Shift, California Votes for 100% Green Electricity by 2045  Juan Cole, Informed Comment Cole writes: "This week, the California state legislature voted to mandate that all the state's electricity come from non-carbon sources (chiefly wind, solar and hydro) by 2045." READ MORE Red Square in Moscow, Russia. (photo: AfricaPatagonia) A DOJ Lawyer Was Told Russia Had Trump 'Over a Barrel' Eric Tucker and Chad Day, Associated Press Excerpt: "A senior Justice Department lawyer says a former British spy told him at a breakfast meeting two years ago that Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump 'over a barrel,' according to multiple people familiar with the encounter." READ MORE Immigrant children in a detention center. (photo: Ross D. Franklin) Most Undocumented Parents Whose Kids Are Still Detained Were Already Deported Libby Watson, Splinter News Watson writes: "Hundreds of undocumented children are still separated from their parents, and as MSNBC's Jacob Soboroff reported last night, the latest government court filings show that of the 497 children still separated from their parents, 322 of those kids' parents have already been deported." READ MORE Businessmen on Wall Street. (photo: AP) Welfare, But for CEOs: A New Report Shows How the US Is Lining Corporate Executives' Pockets With Tax Dollars Meagan Day, Jacobin Day writes: "Twitter users knew something was up last week when they noticed a bunch of accounts with names like 'Amazon FC Ambassador' in their display names, saying things like 'I actually do make a decent living working at Amazon' and 'I can use the restroom anytime I want!' Suspicion was warranted: Amazon confirmed this week that it's been giving perks to warehouse workers who tweet positive things about their employer." READ MORE The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has long advised the Department of Energy on safety problems at high-risk facilities around the country, like Hanford Nuclear Reservation, pictured. But a new federal order could limit the board's oversight. (photo: Jeff T. Green/Getty Images) Nuclear Safety Board Slams Energy Department Plan to Weaken Oversight Rebecca Moss, ProPublica Moss writes: "A new Department of Energy order that could be used to withhold information from a federal nuclear safety board and prevent the board from overseeing worker safety at nuclear facilities appears to violate longstanding provisions in the U.S. Atomic Energy Act, the board's members said Tuesday." READ MORE Thousands of Sahrawi men, women and children set up Gdeim Izik, a protest camp, in an act of mass protest against their continuing marginalization under the decades-long Moroccan occupation of their land. (photo: ACCORD) Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara: A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony Democracy Now!  Excerpt: "In this exclusive broadcast, Democracy Now! breaks the media blockade and goes to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco's violent crackdown." READ MORE It appears that hundreds of Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles died after they became entangled in an illegal fishing net. (photo: PROFEPA) Hundreds of Decomposing Sea Turtles Were Found Off the Mexican Coast Mitch McCluskey and Nicole Chavez, CNN Excerpt: "More than 300 endangered sea turtles were found dead near the southern coast of Mexico, the country's environmental officials said." READ MORE Contribute to RSN Become a Fan of RSN on Facebook and Twitter Update My Monthly Donation

RSN: Donald Trump's Barbarism, Sea Shepherd: Endangered Species Found Dead, Likely Result of Illegal Fishing

Reader Supported News | 09 March 16

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Donald Trump's Barbarism

William Saletan, Slate
Saletan writes: "How does an enlightened nation descend into barbarism? That used to be a question for historians. Now it's a process you can watch in real time. In recent days, Donald Trump has been casting aside moral constraints on torture and violence against civilians."
READ MORE

Freddie Gray Case: Maryland High Court Says Officer Porter Must Testify Against All 5 Co-Defendants
Justin Fenton, Baltimore Sun
Fenton writes: "Maryland's highest court ruled in favor of prosecutors in the Freddie Gray cases Tuesday, ordering that Officer William Porter can be compelled to testify against his fellow officers."
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International Women's Day: Meryl Streep, Amy Poehler and Others Pen Letter to World Leaders to 'End Gender Inequality'
The Telegraph
Excerpt: "To mark International Women's Day, a group of celebrities from Oprah Winfrey and Sheryl Sandberg to Elton John have penned an open letter calling for global gender equality."
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Missouri Democrats Wage Wendy Davis-Style Filibuster Against Anti-Gay Religious Amendment
Zack Ford, ThinkProgress
Ford writes: "Tuesday morning, Democrats in the Missouri Senate are still chatting about the many businesses that support their LGBT customers and the importance of not discriminating."
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Surprise! Study Finds Online Harassment of Women Is Becoming an 'Established Norm'
Rachel Vorona Cote, Jezebel
Cote: "Today in tragic non-surprises: an Australian study finds that online harassment of women has very nearly become the 'established norm.' Women under 30 are especially susceptible."
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Journalism Under Police Surveillance in Erdogan's 'New Turkey'
Gunay Hilal Aygun, Turkish Minute
Aygun writes: "Walking past hundreds of meters of police barricades surrounding my newspaper's building and lined up across the road, I was welcomed by a young riot police officer holding a machine gun in front of the entrance."
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Sea Shepherd: Endangered Species Found Dead, Likely Result of Illegal Fishing
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Excerpt: "Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to increase night patrols of the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of California after two endangered species were found dead this weekend - a presumed result of illegal fishing activity in the area."
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Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to increase night patrols of the Vaquita Refuge 

in the Gulf of California, after two endangered species were found dead this weekend. 

(photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)

ea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to increase night patrols of the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of California after two endangered species were found dead this weekend—a presumed result of illegal fishing activity in the area.

While patrolling the Vaquita Refuge in the Gulf of California March 4, crew onboard Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s research vessel, the R/V Martin Sheen, found a dead vaquita porpoise floating in the water. Nearby, the crew also found a dead totoaba bass, along with a dead common dolphin. The dolphin had a hook piercing the body below the pectoral fin. In addition to finding the dead vaquita and totoaba, the crew of the M/V Farley Mowat’s small boat, the Wolf, found a dead totoaba just off San Felipe March 5. The totoaba’s belly was cut open and the swim bladder was removed. This swim bladder can fetch an estimated $20,000 on the illegal wildlife black markets in Asia. The vaquita and totoaba are both endangered and protected species.

After this devastating discovery, crews then found the body of a vulnerable species: a great white shark on March 6. The shark measured approximately four meters long and was entangled in a totoaba gillnet along with a dead dolphin. The past three days of Operation Milagro demonstrate why all gillnets must be permanently banned. Gillnets are indiscriminate killers, trapping any marine life that comes into contact with them. It is presumed that all of the deaths are a result of illegal fishing activity in the refuge and Sea Shepherd will therefore increase night patrols to protect these endangered species.

In recent weeks, crews of the R/V Martin Sheen and M/V Farley Mowat have been successfully dragging specially constructed hooks to find the illegal fishing gear. Just two weeks ago, the crews were able to free a humpback whale that was entangled in a gillnet. The gillnet was set for totoaba. Totoaba are targeted by poachers for their swim bladders while vaquita are often caught and drown in the gillnets used to catch totoaba, due to their similar size. Scientists studying the vaquita estimate that there are less than 100 individuals left and that the population is declining at 18.5 percent each year.

In April, 2015, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto announced a two-year ban on the use of gillnets in a 13,000 square kilometer range of the Gulf of California. Sea Shepherd’s ships the R/V Martin Sheen and M/V Farley Mowat, a former U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, have been patrolling the Vaquita Refuge since November 2015 in an effort to stop poaching of the totoaba and remove any illegal fishing gear to save the vaquita.

“Finding the dead vaquita was heartbreaking and my biggest fear became reality,” commented Operation Milagro campaign leader and M/V Farley Mowat captain, Oona Layolle. “The crew of both Sea Shepherd ships have worked so hard alongside the Mexican Navy and PROFEPA to save the vaquita. With so many poachers operating at night, we will increase our night patrols to protect the vaquita.”

Since Dec. 31, 2015, the Mexican government authorized Sea Shepherd to remove gillnets and other illegal fishing gear in the gillnet ban zone.

Captain Layolle continued, “This may seem like a horrible setback (and it is certainly horrible), but our efforts to save the vaquita will continue, stronger than ever. We are and will keep, doing our best so these beautiful and shy animals will not become extinct on our watch.”

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/35631-sea-shepherd-endangered-species-found-dead-likely-result-of-illegal-fishing

Pew Charitable Trusts: Illegal fishing? See why you don't mess with Palau

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Environmental Initiatives

Fishing Illegally? Don't Mess With Palau

Burn illegal fishing boats? Check. Create Earth's  sixth-largest marine reserve? Check. Act to stop  poachers in ports? Check. The December  ratification of an international treaty to combat  illegal fishing is Palau's latest bold move to protect its pristine waters. See how Palau handles poachers »

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Action Alert

Urge Congress to Oppose a New Attack on Public Lands This year, the U.S. Bureau  of Land Management issued historic conservation plans for public lands across 10 states.  But some members of Congress are attempting to derail this celebrated achievement.  Urgent: Take action »