Month: February 2019

Democrats introduce the Green New Deal, and the right-wing media has a freakout

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2018 Was Earth’s Fourth-Hottest Year On Record since modern record-keeping began in 1880. “The hottest five years on record are, in fact, the last five years. The year 2016, which was 1.69 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the 20th-century average, holds the top spot, with 2018 at 1.42 degrees F warmer.”

Antarctica Is Melting Three Times as Fast as a Decade Ago. And the Arctic melting faster than the Antarctic. Greenland’s ice sheet is melting faster than in the last 350 years.

Ocean temperatures are rising faster than previously thought, and sea levels are rising. “Scientists say there are multiple causes for the rise in sea levels. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science points to melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica and changing ocean currents (thermohaline circulation). Researchers at Woods Hole attribute the differences to “post-glacial rebound,” or the way the earth’s surface has slowly re-arranged itself since the end of the last ice age.”

The extreme heatwaves and wildfires wreaking havoc around the globe are ‘the face of climate change’ says leading scientist, “with the impacts of global warming now “playing out in real time.”

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Listen, Download, Support: “Border Cowboys” Investigative Report On Buffett’s Adventures/Spending On Arizona/Mexico Border

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Sun Sounds of Arizona is a nonprofit reading service for people who have difficulty holding and/or reading print material because of a disability. It broadcasts statewide and has volunteer readers in Tucson, Flagstaff and Phoenix. BFA contributor Paul Weich (Arizona’s Politics) regularly records the Phoenix New Times.

Most of the articles would not be appropriate to post here, but some of the award-winning reporting is a perfect fit for BFA.

The two-part series published last month is among the latter, and inaugurates this new feature. “Border Cowboys” delves into what is going on down on the Cochise County portion of the U.S./Mexico border, and how the heck billionaire Howard G. Buffett (the Warren Buffett’s son) fits into the vigilante history there. Throw in the Sheriff’s Offices in Cochise County and a couple of Illinois operations and conservation districts, and you have an article that must be heard (or, read) to be believed.

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The Fund for Investigative Journalism, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, and the Center for Media and Democracy contributed financial support to this reporting. And, those

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Lock your love on 4th Avenue

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“♥️Lock Your Love on the Avenue: The Heartbeat of Tucson ♥️ Sat. Feb. 9, 2 to 6 p.m. on Historic 4th Avenue, 434 E. 9th St. Tucson Every time you purchase an item from a Participating Merchant or buy a lock from one of the nonprofit groups set up by the Lock Your Love Sculptures, … Read more

GOP scaremongering over socialism – going back to an old playbook

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In his State of The Union Address, President Trump rolled out a “new” 2020 campaign theme that in actuality is a very old campaign theme that the GOP has been using in campaigns since the 1936 election — that Democrats are “socialists” (this is in response to self-described Democratic Socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez).

Keep in mind this is coming from the political party which has abandoned traditional Republican values and transformed itself into an authoritarian personality cult of Donald Trump, and which has openly embraced all the early warning signs of fascism. Donald Trump is a Russian asset and puppet of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accurately diagnosed, Donald Trump engages in psychological projection. Trumpism, the new American fascism is the genuine threat to America.

Franklin D. Roosevelt ran on traditional economics in 1932, the New Deal only emerged during his first term. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Socialist or “Champion of Freedom”?:

The use of such tactics to discredit those who believe in government intervention in the economy is not new, of course. Franklin Roosevelt faced similar charges when he ran for re-election in 1936. Like President Obama and those in Congress who favor government programs to put people to work and ensure that all Americans can enjoy a healthy and productive life, FDR’s New Deal — including his passage of unemployment insurance and Social Security — was attacked as “undisguised state socialism” by one senator. Others went so far as to insist that FDR was a communist, including FDR’s erstwhile colleague Al Smith, who, as one of the founders of the right-wing American Liberty League, warned in the 1936 election that “the people could either breathe the clear fresh air of America, or the foul breath of Soviet Russia.”

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17 Cannabis Bills Introduced in Avalanche of Legislation

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By Mikel Weisser, editor of Arizona Cannabis Monthly and State Director, Arizona NORML. Reprinted with permission. We have been following the AZ state legislature for six years now and have never seen such an avalanche of ccannabis-related bills in the opening week at the Capitol. Seventeen cannabis-related bills came in the opening week. In addition to fourteen that impact AZ’s … Read more