The Weekly Watch
Glimmers of Light in a Sea of Darkness
There was some good news this week. We had a couple of court rulings favorable to the environment. People came out in mass to protest the G20. One protester said it was a meeting of the 20 biggest criminals on the planet. There was movement toward a cease-fire in Syria after T-rump and Putin met. Jeremy Corbyn continues to gather steam in the UK especially among young people. Some cities are standing up to corporations (like Richmond, CA). Also worker coops are receiving some recognition. Let's look for success where we can!
Let start with news from the G20 protests
... the message from those demonstrating in the streets was clear for those willing to listen:
a better world is possible.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/06/beneath-dramatic-g20-clashe...
I’m here at the countersummit where we’re talking about how to build an alternative world.
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/6/tens_of_thousands_of_protesters_plan
Two part interview with transcripts from Hamburg
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/7/welcome_to_hell_100_000_people
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/7/srecko_horvat_on_democracy_in_europe
We want to show that protests are necessary, important and have a purpose. (11 min and transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19490:%27Welcome-to-Hell%27%3A-100%2C000...
Perhaps there is some positive news coming out of Hamburg?
A cease-fire with Syria has to be a good thing, but doesn't get extensive coverage.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/president_trump_meets_with_vladimir_...
Jimmy Dore discusses the poor press coverage of a likely cease fire in Syria (14 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nlG9LLvTEE
Historian and author Vijay Prashad discusses the Trump administration's apparent policy shift on Syria and how Western media often get it wrong on the Middle East (15 min or transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19498:Trump-Fumbles-Syria%2C-and-So-Does...
Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the long-awaited first meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, where Syria and Russiagate topped the agenda (22 min – no transcript yet)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19496:Trump%2C-Putin-and-Russiagate-Coll...
From the UK...Corbyn is so successful with young people that they are trying to pre-empt any attempts to chant “Oh Jeremy Corbyn” at Wimbleton. Jimmy Dore is amused (and amusing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MwqZkBOEz0 (16 min)
Richard Wolff explains why the Queen gave an economics award to a cooperative (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km0jTPwHEJc
and another successful coop described by Richard (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WReHRPdsS6E
and another 8 min explaining why we need more coops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D08QC-eG1A4
City fights Chevron...and WINS! (7.5 min and transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19273:A-Small-City%27s-Big-Lessons-About...
US conference Mayors suggest moving money from the military to helping people – Lee Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94EAWv8rJjY (3 min)
Reparations
At least the Canadians recognize their complicit illegal actions in collusion with the US
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/canada-guantanamo-torture-omar-khadr...
A new bill to help election fairness...The bill would do three things: require all congressional districts to be drawn by independent redistricting commissions, establish multi-member districts, and have all districts use what’s known as ranked-choice voting (RCV).
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/05/new-house-bill-would-kill-gerrymande...
Some Success in the Courts
Finally some good news from Standing Rock... a favorable court ruling and a grant to provide clean energy for the tribe.
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/4/standing_rocks_fight_against_dakot...
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/4/grandson_of_former_vp_henry_a
A federal appeals court handed President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda a major defeat on Monday by rejecting the administration's effort to halt an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing methane leaks, which have a powerful warming effect on the environment.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/03/court-smacks-down-trumps-ca...
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19482:Court-Orders-Trump%27s-EPA-to-Enfo... (15 min or transcript)
However we still have a long way to go!
The G20 nations provide four times more public financing to fossil fuels than to clean energy, according to a new report from Oil Change International's Alex Doukas (10 min or transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19484:How-G20-Governments-are-Financing-...
Office of Government Ethics (OGE) head Walter Shaub said in a televised interview on CBS that it appears Donald Trump and members of his family are profiting from his presidency.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/07/departing-ethics-chief-sure... Article and 2.5 min clip
T-rump's buddies are cashing in too
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/trump_confidant_cashed_in_on_housing...
Meanwhile legislators invest in health insurance companies ahead of Obamacare repeal
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/republican-lawmakers-buy-health-insu...
Penn wrote that the Democratic Party must “move to the center and reject the siren calls of the left.” Perhaps it is because he has invested in Republican advocacy firms — and profits from the electoral defeat of Democrats.
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/mark-penn-centrist-neoliberal-democr...
Dems have no interest in single payer...“Not in my lifetime,” scoffed Gephardt
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/01/dick-gephardt-single-payer-health-in...
CNN threatens to publish the identiy of the reddit user who posted T-rump beating up their logo at a wrestling tournament – Glenn Greenwald weighs in....
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/05/cnn-anonymous-critic-trump-wrestling...
From last fall, a conversation between Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky (55 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3kFzwiNQkQ
Zinn's 2006 Fourth of July address
One of the effects of nationalist thinking is a loss of a sense of proportion. The killing of 2,300 people at Pearl Harbor becomes the justification for killing 240,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The killing of 3,000 people on September 11 becomes the justification for killing tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan and Iraq.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/04/howard-zinns-july-4-wisdom...
James Earl Jones reads Frederick Douglass speech from July 5th, 1852, in Rochester, New York, 165 years ago, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." (4 min or transcript)
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/4/what_to_the_slave_is_4th
Well I hope you had a good fourth of July. So far we are having a wet summer...just the opposite of last year. So I've got many more chores trying to keep up with all the growth...which is a good thing. However, as a result there are so many important stories I missed...like the threat to Qatar to take down Al Jazeera. I hope you will chime in with other stories on your mind in the comments below.
Comments
Nice roundup. Thanks. Yes, there are glimmers of hope here and
there that help to keep me sane.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
Wow!
will you send me a road map to sanity? I've lost my way (or perhaps my mind).
All joking aside, hope you found a piece or two of interest.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The criminal class meets, the people protest,
everybody moves on to the next thing, then we have another election. To elect politicians to represent us.
I wish George Carlin was still alive.
One of the articles for the G20 talked about radical reform. It mentioned an article in Der Speigel about that, couldn't find it. We need to start with radically reforming how we are governed.
Thanks for the weekly collection.
I thought is was good
To hear from anarchists at the protests, and I ready have been amused by the line "the 20 worst criminals in the world have gathered in Hamburg"
One plan of action was to just take the three main battlegrounds: climate change, internet freedom and arms trade.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/05/are-protests-enough-bring-...
Sadly both the rethugs and the dems seem solidly for promoting war.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Aways looking...
for the Weekly Watch.
Thanks Lookout!
Always good stuff I didn't know about.
I want a Pony!
Always glad to have you drop by
Hope all is well for you in your adventures!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Richmond starting?
Richmond has been trailblazing the way for a decade. Starting? You should apologise!
But seriously, Richmond is the model for how we take back our rights and our wealth. KPFA has several interviews in the archive on progressive Richmond politics.
you are so right
Starting was a poor choice of words. Not only have they been standing up for years, but those who started are stepping down to let the young folks take their places. They are successful on several levels.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I find myself looking forward to your selections.
They are always really timely and engaging.
Thanks for bringing your curated views to c99.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Thanks
Some weeks the events tell a story ...and some weeks you have to reach for a slim limb of coherency. Sometimes the way you tell the story is as important as the content.
As we've discussed many times what you tell (and perhaps more important what you don't tell) is the way the spin is created.
I caught the Disney (ABC) news tonight...a rarity for me. They lead with Russia, Russia, T-rump, Putin. Then off to several minutes of mainly drug ads, but I remember a Natural gas ad too. Then back with Iraq captures Mosul (with no comments on citizen casualties). Now more ads. Then (I kid you not) a piece on how to get the most out of Amazon's Prime day (an ad within the news). Followed by the CA wildfires (good visual footage), and a bicycler being hit by a car (helmet cam). Many more ads. Wrap up with the human nature piece - disabled veteran brings himself back with sports.
That was it. No wonder we wander in a waste land, PR. All the best.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The link to Russia Today on Roku is back up
So, I've been gorging on news for the past few days. Also, some of the better US shows are hosted there. What.A.Difference! It saddens me how much US news has decayed in just a few short months. Of course, we should all be frightened by it. It's a signal that there's trouble afoot, I think.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato