The Politics of a Vaccine Safety Commission ** February 21, 2017
Guest // Pratik Chougule, JD ** Hosts // Robert J. Krakow, Esq and Louise Kuo Habakus
Anna Sophie Gross – Amazon deforestation rises as government moves to weaken Indigenous protections
The Brazilian government is changing the process for approving indigenous lands, with critics warning the country now risks sliding back after years of progress on climate and environment. The move to strip the country’s National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) of its power on Indigenous land matters comes after the country saw a 30% rise in deforestation of tropical rainforests. Brazil’s justice …
Graham Readfearn – How Donald Trump Kingmaker-Billionaires Robert and Rebekah Mercer Have Poured Millions Into Climate Science Denial
When it comes to climate science denial, some names come easily and deservingly to mind. There’s oil giant ExxonMobil — a company that contributed millions of dollars to organizations that told the public there was no risk from burning fossil fuels. There are the oil billionaire Koch brothers — Charles and David — and their ideological zeal against government regulations that drove them …
Jeremy Brecher – ‘Social Self-Defense’: Protecting People and Planet Against Trump and Trumpism
Donald Trump and a powerful collection of anti-social forces have taken control of the U.S. government. They seek permanent domination in service of their individual and class wealth and power. Trump’s presidency threatens immigrants, African Americans, Muslims, workers, women, children, the elderly, the disabled, LGBTQ people, and many others. Indeed, it threatens all that holds us together as a society. …
JON EMONT – The Growing Urban-Rural Divide Around the World
Immediately following the U.S. presidential election on November 8, anti-Donald Trump demonstrations sprang up in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—cities that vote overwhelmingly Democratic. The protesters felt robbed: Hillary Clinton had won the majority of voters nationwide. But, like Al Gore in 2000, Clinton was hamstrung by the Electoral College, an institution designed to ensure a voice for …
Progressive Commentary Hour – 12.27.16
The deterioration of democracy in America, loss of liberties, and how the nation’s 25-year trajectory of folly brought us the presidency of Donald Trump
Lynn Stuart Parramore – Homo Obnoxious: Is Toxic Masculinity Really Taking Over the Country?
It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. We were said to be approaching the demise of a certain type of swaggering, predatory masculinity: let’s call him Homo Obnoxious. As men like Roger Ailes, Bill Cosby, Anthony Weiner, and Billy Bush scrambled unsuccessfully to find cover in the old-boy bastions of privilege, Homo Obnoxious appeared to be lumbering around like …
Brandon Turbeville – Hundreds Of GMO Studies BUSTED By Discovery Of Major Conflicts Of Interest
Researchers affiliated with France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research recently announced the results of their study regarding potential conflicts of interest and published studies on GM crops. The study was published by the journal PLOS One and determined that a large portion of studies on genetically modified crops were rife with conflicts of interest. Most of these studies were tainted …
William Astore – Tomgram: William Astore, All the President’s Generals
In a sense, human history could be seen as an endless tale of the rise and fall of empires. In the last century alone, from the Hapsburgs and Imperial Japan to Great Britain and the Soviet Union, the stage was crowded with such entities heading for the nearest exit. By 1991, with the implosion of the USSR, it seemed as …
Economic Update – “Escape from Labor in Capitalism” – 12.18.16
“Updates on US defense spending, French vs US capitalism, Ikea’s US paid family leave, Trump’s economics. Interview with Prof Kristin Lawler on escapisms from capitalist drudgery: fantasy vs progressive.”