Category Archives: Viva!

Over Half of the World’s Tropical Forests Have been Destroyed, Say Conservationists

UN Biodiversity Conference in progress in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. The conference ends November 29. Credit: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

By Rabiya Jaffery
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 28 2018 (IPS)

Biodiversity conservationists have revealed that at least 10 more percent of land than what is currently being used to grow green crops will be required to successfully replace fossil fuels with alternatives derived from natural sources such as biofuel.

Speaking to government ministers and other high level representatives at the ongoing Biodiversity Conference in Egypt, Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), said that the increase in the need for land for energy-related uses could undermine natural habitats across the world.

Deforestation and forest degradation are one of the biggest threats to forests worldwide and, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in the last 60 years, over half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed.

Currently, one of the biggest drivers of deforestation is the meat industry with over 2.71 million hectares of tropical forests destroyed to pasture for beef cattle every year. To put it into perspective, this is more than half of tropical deforestation in South America, and more than five times as much as any other commodity in the region. Other significant drivers also include wood products, soybeans, and palm oil.

“Degradation and loss of forests threatens the survival of many species, and reduces the ability of forests to provide essential services,” states Larigauderie. “And an increase in the need for more land could have devastating impacts that undermine the essential diversity of species on Earth.”

Established by 130 member governments in 2012, IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body that provides objective scientific assessments regarding the planet’s biodiversity to global policymakers – similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that was established 30 years ago.

During a panel discussion, Larigauderie said IPCC’s latest report gives a sense of “extreme urgency” on “tradeoffs and synergies between climate, biodiversity and land degradation.”

While it is uncertain just how much land is currently being used for biofuel crops, several researches estimate it lies between 15 and 30 million hectares. Meanwhile, IPCC predicts an increase of up to 744 million hectares in the land area needed to grow biofuel crops to slow down global warming.

“Where would this huge amount of new land come from?” asked Larigauderie. “Is there currently such a large amount of ‘marginal land’ available or would this compete with biodiversity?”

‘Marginal land’ refers to areas of land that have little to no agricultural potential because of poor soil or other undesirable characteristics.

Scientific studies on the better use of marginal lands have been going on for nearly two decades and studies show that marginal lands represent significant untapped resources to grow plants specifically used for biofuel production.

But some scientists also argue that there is not enough marginal land left to grow enough biofuels to significantly replace fossil fuels.

Larigauderie pointed out that the important issue of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities which drives up global warming needs to be addressed but relying on biofuels as a replacement for fossil fuels will almost certainly result in an increase in the demand for land which will have negative consequences on biodiversity – and consequently, carbon dioxide emissions.

Land ecosystems today soak up about a third of annual carbon dioxide emissions, with the world’s oceans accounting for about another quarter annually.

“Reforestation and safeguarding plant and animal species is far better at protecting the climate than most biofuel crops,” she stated. ““All methods that produce healthier ecosystems should be promoted as a way to combat climate change.”

IPBES intends to publish a primer detailing elements of its Global Assessment of Biodiversity in May 2019.

The post Over Half of the World’s Tropical Forests Have been Destroyed, Say Conservationists appeared first on Inter Press Service.

After years of debate, L.A. legalizes sidewalk vending: ‘This means freedom’

If unregulated, it will mean lots of folks get sick from bad food.

In Los Angeles, they have long been a familiar sight: the vendors who hawk ice cream from pushcarts in Echo Park, sell bottled water to sweaty tourists strolling in Hollywood, and show off their wares under rainbow-y umbrellas in the Fashion District.

Now, after years of protests and packed hearings…

Trevor Noah: ‘If you’re a black American, gun rights are not for you’

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The Daily Show host discussed the shooting in Alabama that saw police kill Emantic Bradford Jr while the shooter remains at large

Trevor Noah delivered an impassioned, frustrated speech about the latest black man to be killed by police in Alabama.

Related: Trevor Noah on Trump: ‘How can one man possess all the stupidity?’

Continue reading…

Pound would crash and inflation soar under no-deal Brexit, says Bank of England – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and the publication of the government’s official analysis of the economic impact of Brexit

5.04pm GMT

And here is more from the Press Association report about the Bank of England Brexit analysis.

In the event of a disruptive Brexit, where there is no change to border trade or financial markets, GDP may fall 3% from its level in the first quarter in 2019.

In this scenario, the unemployment rate will hit 5.75% and inflation rises to 4.25%.

4.55pm GMT

My colleague Graeme Wearden is covering the Bank of England announcement in more detail on his business live blog.

Related: UK banks pass ‘disorderly Brexit’ stress test – business live

Continue reading…

Five more women make sex-offence allegations against Luc Besson

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New accusations bring total to nine women who allege misconduct against French director and producer

Five more women have come forward to allege sex-related crimes against French film-maker Luc Besson, adding to the four already public.

After an investigation by French website Mediapart, a former assistant of Besson’s said she was coerced into a sexual relationship with the director, as well as being regularly sexually harassed by him. The assistant, who remains anonymous, claims she told colleagues at the time.

Continue reading…

Ohio isn’t an anomaly—the anti-choice movement is about punishment

It’s about hating women freedom and punishment for thinking they have their own rights. Too many men still want to be superior because they are lazy and dolts.

Earlier this month, the Ohio state House passed a bill that would ban abortion with virtually zero exceptions when the fetus develops a heartbeat at about six weeks, which is before many women realize they’re pregnant. And as of last week, Ohio’s state House is considering another bill, HB 565, which would confer personhood upon fetuses and criminalize abortion.

Violation of this law, either by offering abortion care or receiving it, would warrant punishment ranging from a prison sentence to the death penalty.

HB 565 is still under consideration by the House health committee and likely won’t be voted on this year. Notably, Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich vetoed a fetal heartbeat abortion ban passed in 2016, but has also signed into law a dangerous bill banning abortion at 20 weeks, in violation of Roe v. Wade’s guarantee of the right to abortion until fetal viability.

As shocking as killing those women for seeking health care may sound, considering one in four women has an abortion before turning 45, Ohio’s HB 565 isn’t isolated. Rather, it’s part of a terrifying, mounting trend of conservative thinkers and anti-choice lawmakers calling for the punishment of those who provide and have abortions.

Earlier this year, prominent conservative columnist Kevin Williamson was terminated from a brief stint at The Atlantic when he adamantly stood by his opinion that women who have abortions should be sentenced to the death penalty by hanging. Suffice to say, the usual band of “free speech” advocates was enraged, as if there’s nothing violent about advocating for a quarter of all American women to be hanged. Williamson’s comments and their high-profile nature brought an uncomfortable, oft-dodged question to the forefront: If anti-choice politicians really do regard fetuses as people, and abortion as murder, what is the appropriate consequence for people who have abortions?

Around the same time Williamson’s comments went viral, Republican Idaho state Sen. Bob Nonini similarly called for policy to subject women who have abortions to the death penalty by hanging. On the campaign trail in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump said there “must be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions. And Ohio is not the only state that has floated legislation of this nature; Oklahoma and Texas have both considered bills to recognize abortion as a felony in recent years.

Other state anti-abortion laws have centered around shaming and punishing women, too—albeit less explicitly. Fetal burial laws in states like Texas briefly required women to pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to bury or cremate the remains of their fetus, before being struck down in federal court. An Arizona law enacted earlier this year requires women who have abortions to submit lengthy, detailed explanation justifying their choice. And, of course, there are “rape exceptions” to anti-abortion bills that force survivors to prove their trauma just to receive health care. Each of these policies has costly, invasive, and even traumatic consequences for women seeking reproductive health care.

Mainstream anti-choice politicians have a long history of attempting to pivot from the question of what punishment women who have abortions should face. But in addition to comments from Williamson, Nonini, and Trump, Ohio’s HB 565 should make the anti-choice perspective on punishment—and the value of women’s lives—clear. In recent years, in tandem with the rise of Trump’s political career, there has been a jarring increase in threats, violence and both attempted and completed murders at abortion clinics. This uptick in anti-choice violence has gotten minimal coverage by media outlets, which instead seem more interested in  Republican politicians being yelled at in public.

The reality is that obstructing access to contraception or abortion is a form of reproductive coercion and is inherently violent. One need not look further than the 25 million unsafe abortions that take place every year on the global level, the majority occurring in countries where abortion is illegal or highly restricted. In the U.S., compared with women who were able to access abortions, women who sought but were denied abortion care were more likely to go on to struggle with poverty, physical and mental health, and remain trapped in abusive relationships. For some women with severe health conditions, an unwanted pregnancy and delivery could kill them, which is perhaps part of the reason why the U.S. has the highest maternal death rates in the industrialized world—especially among women of color—with higher rates in states with more abortion restrictions.

Ultimately, whether or not women are punished by the courts, restricting abortion is an act of control that has been proven time and again to jeopardize women and their children’s lives. Anti-choice ideology reflects the prioritization of a select minority of people’s personal beliefs over the livelihood and autonomy of women; it is the degradation of women as a unit, stripping women of our humanity to instead confer it upon fetuses. And whether or not women face the death penalty or exorbitant fines for having abortions, the belief that the government can force people to give birth marks a fundamental violation of consent, and threatens our privacy, health, and safety.

Featured Image: Susan Walsh/AP Images

Wednesday Open Thread | So, Little Paulie Manafort Thought That He Could Outsmart Bobby Three Sticks? LMAO!!

So…..we get the news that the Special Counsel has decided to cancel out Paulie Manafort’s plea deal…

WHY?

Because Paulie thought that he could lie to Bobby Three Sticks.

Background:

Special counsel Robert Mueller said in a court filing Monday that Paul Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying to investigators since signing the agreement.

After signing the plea agreement, Manafort committed federal crimes by lying to

the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Counsel’s Office on a variety of subject

matters, which constitute breaches of the agreement. The government will file a detailed

sentencing submission to the Probation Department and the Court in advance of sentencing that

sets forth the nature of the defendant’s crimes and lies, including those after signing the plea

agreement herein.

As the defendant has breached the plea agreement, there is no reason to delay his

sentencing herein.

Manafort still doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get that Robert Mueller, III, doesn’t ask questions that he doesn’t already have the answers to. ….been that way since the beginning.

Now…THE best part about all of this?

Yup. Mueller delayed this until after Trump handed in his open book test.

Releasing a list of the lies Manafort told provide another opportunity to tell a story. A report, if you will. https://t.co/50p1E2Cuo9

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) November 27, 2018

That’s right, Ladies and Gentlemen….Bobby Three Sticks delayed all of this UNTIL HE HAD DOLT45’S ANSWERS IN WRITING.

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

I can’t get past that. Cracks me up everytime I think about it.

A poster on BJ put it in crystal clear focus:

To make the point more explicit, Mueller has Trump’s answer to his questions. If Trump used some of Manfort’s lies, they are now Trump’s lies, and Mueller has them in writing.

And..that’s what you call perjury…..

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

 

And, then, we get more news yesterday….

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told.

Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a key figure in Trump’s push for the White House.

It is unclear why Manafort wanted to see Assange and what was discussed. But the last meeting is likely to come under scrutiny and could interest Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor who is investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers.

Manafort, 69, denies involvement in the hack and says the claim is “100% false”. His lawyers declined to answer the Guardian’s questions about the visits.

Manafort….Assange……

What could they possibly have to discuss?

UH HUH

UH HUH

YEAH, BABY!!!

Garrett M. Graff

@vermontgmg

Yikes. The extent to which Manafort has apparently never realized that Bob Mueller knows all is incredible. Third time he’s been caught lying by Mueller over this year.

Here is what I think about Manafort lying. Mueller knew he lied when he did. And he didn’t say so until today, AFTER Trump submitted his answers to Mueller. Which is why Trump just melted down

I guess Trump fell into that perjury trap after all.

— Hilts, CAPTAIN Hilts (@geokelley) November 27, 2018

It’s about to be on and popping!

What a time….what a time…

Keep your eyes focused people….they will create all sorts of distractions…but, the real deal is right there, in front of us.