4 Billion People at Risk as ‘Water Table Dropping All Over the World’

A new analysis reveals that global water scarcity is a far greater problem than previously thought, affecting 4 billion people—two-thirds of the world’s population—and will be “one of the most difficult and important challenges of this century.” Previous analyses looked at water scarcity at an annual scale, and had found that water scarcity affected between 1.7 and 3.1 billion people. The new …

Black Agenda Radio – 02.15.16

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective.

– Michigan Governor Rick Synder has agreed to testify before a House committee investigating the poisoning of Flint, Michigan. The committee will also hear from Flint’s former emergency financial manager; the regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and, Gina McCarthy, the head of the EPA. We spoke with Black Agenda Report editor Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, who blew the whistle on the EPA’s complicity in the poisoning of South African vanadium miners. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo said Michigan’s Governor and the rest of the officials should be asked the “Watergate question.”

– The assault against the people of Flint began with a crime against democracy, when Michigan’s governor appointed emergency financial managers to run all of the state’s heavily Black cities, effectively disenfranchising half of Michigan’s African American population. In Newark, New Jersey, the People’s Organization for Progress, POP, demonstrated in solidarity with the people of Flint. POP chairman Larry Hamm says the people of Flint need their clean water and their democratic rights restored.

– In May of this year, Janine, Debbie and Janet Africa will once again be eligible for parole, after serving 37 years in prison for allegedly killing a Philadelphia policeman. The three women are part of the Move 9. The other Move members face even more time in prison. The draconian sentences stem, not from the 1985 bombing of the Move house by Philadelphia police, but a 1978 confrontation in which a cop was fatally shot. Move spokesperson Ramona Africa recounts the events.

– Alicia Garza, the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Network, has joined forces with advocates for Black women’s reproductive rights. Garza held a joint press conference with La’Tasha Mayes, founder of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, and Monica Simpson, director of the Trust Black Women Partnership. They denounced anti-abortionist forces for trying to co-op the language of the Black movement. Alicia Garza spoke first, followed by Ms. Mayes and Ms. Simpson.

Andrew J. Bacevich – Who Runs the Pentagon?

The crippling and pervasive defects in us national-security policy—costly exertions that, time and again, fail to yield the promised results—are patently obvious, consistently bemoaned, and yet effectively tolerated. To say that the apparatus principally responsible for implementing those policies is an underperforming behemoth qualifies as a considerable understatement. The kindest verdict one can offer regarding the Pentagon is that it …

Fearless Parent Radio – Is Fluoride Safe? – 01.20.16

Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to a public water supply to control tooth decay. The CDC says that the safety and benefits of fluoride are well-documented. It’s also in our toothpaste. Dentists promote it. Maybe you took fluoride pills when you were a child or you give fluoride in vitamin drops to your baby. We’ve been fluoridating our water for over 70 years; so long, in fact, that few people question its wisdom.

But there is much more to the story. The Fluoride Action Network shares some surprising facts, including:

97% of Western Europe does does not fluoridate its water
Fluoridated countries do not have less tooth decay than non-fluoridated countries
40% of teens show visible effects of fluoride over-exposure (36 studies show a correlation between fluoride and lower IQ)
Did you know that the fluoride that is put in our water is a toxic byproduct of the fertilizer and aluminum industries?

The dominant paradigm used to be, “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Now we are discovering that many toxins accumulate in our bodies and our environment.

Could many chronic diseases of modernity be linked to water fluoridation?

Halfway Through Paris… And a Very Long Way from World-Saving Deal

The COP21 climate talks in Paris reached their halfway point on Saturday, but a deal that experts and global justice campaigners would consider acceptable remains a long way off as the fossil fuel industry and wealthy nations maintain their powerful grip on the direction of the international summit. Given the troubled history of the UN-sponsored talks, most members of civil …

VALERIE BROWN AND ELIZABETH GROSSMAN – Why the United States Leaves Deadly Chemicals on the Market

A 6-month investigation finds that the revolving door between government and the chemical industry has led the EPA to rely on easily manipulated research. The result? Toxic substances remain in everyday products. Scientists are trained to express themselves rationally. They avoid personal attacks when they disagree. But some scientific arguments become so polarized that tempers fray. There may even be …

Paul A. Philips – The Manipulation of Our Water Supply and Fracking

On visiting supermarkets you see them stacked, row after row, brand name upon brand name … we’re spoiled for choices … but it can indeed be quite costly when added up after a while. It’s better to choose the glass option as opposed to plastic which leaches out toxic chemicals such as Bisphenol A which could affect health when taken …

Chris Hedges – Death by Fracking

DENVER—The maniacal drive by the human species to extinguish itself includes a variety of lethal pursuits. One of the most efficient is fracking. One day, courtesy of corporations such as Halliburton, BP and ExxonMobil, a gallon of water will cost more than a gallon of gasoline. Fracking, which involves putting chemicals into potable water and then injecting millions of gallons …

JOHN LAFORGE – Fukushima Radiation in Pacific Reaches West Coast

“[W]e should be carefully monitoring the oceans after what is certainly the largest accidental release of radioactive contaminants to the oceans in history,” marine chemist Ken Buesseler said last spring. Instead, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency halted its emergency radiation monitoring of Fukushima’s radioactive plume in May 2011, three months after the disaster began. Japan isn’t even monitoring seawater near Fukushima, according …