On February 22, Heather Cox Richardson answered the question of whether we have been here before, whether the political situation in the U.S. has ever before been in such crisis, and if so, how democracy was preserved. If you dozed through 9th grade civics, she reviews the history succinctly and tells us what we need to do.
1. Medicare for all would save $450 billion and 68,000 lives
According to a new report published in the Lancet, the plan proposed by Warren and Sanders, “Medicare for All” “…will save Americans more than $450 billion and prevent 68,000 deaths every year,” Democracy Now reported. The authors of the report, researchers at Yale University, say that Medicare for all is more “cost-effective” than “Medicare for All Who Want It,” the option preferred by Buttigieg. They write, “The entire system could be funded with less financial outlay than is incurred by employers and households paying for health-care premiums combined with existing government allocations. This shift to single-payer health care would provide the greatest relief to lower-income households.”
Just for the sake of comparison, the LA Times reported in January that the U.S. health care system costs four times as much to operate as the Canadian system. A 2017 study in Annals of Internal Medicine found that health care costs every American (including children) $2,497 per year, while in Canada, it costs $551 per person. (Makes you wonder where that extra $1,940 goes.) You can look at the study in Annals if you want to see how it breaks down: note “insurers’ overhead” and “hospital administration,” for example. RLS
2. Border volunteers acquitted: Judge objects to deterence by death
Earlier this month, the conviction of four volunteers from No More Deaths/No Más Muertes who had left food and water for immigrants in the desert was reversed by a federal judge. Hundreds of bodies have been found in the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, where the volunteers had left life-saving supplies, the Tucson Sentinel reports. Central to their defense was the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA: They persuaded the judge that they were acting on their religious convictions. According to the Intercept, the judge wrote that “In other words, the government claims a compelling interest in preventing defendants from interfering with a border enforcement strategy of deterrence by death…This gruesome logic is profoundly disturbing.” RLS
If you want to read about the wide-ranging work that No More Deaths /No Más Muertes does or to contribute to the organization, start with this page.
3. Notes from children’s therapy sessions used in deportation proceedings
Since a 1997 court-ordered settlement which established minimum detention standards for the detention of immigrant children, children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) have been provided with therapy to help them deal with the traumas that have led them to flee their countries of origin and of their migration and detentions. After policy changes in 2017 and 2018, notes from those therapy sessions have been used by ICE in asylum and removal processes, despite therapists telling children that their sessions would be confidential. According to the Washington Post, the therapists sometimes were themselves unaware of how their notes would be used by the ICE. JM-L
The head of the American Psychological Association condemned the use of therapy notes in asylum and deportation decisions. The letter is here; you can also write to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services–addresses are on the letter.You can also see Rogan’s list for whom you might write.
4. Are you now or might you ever be?
The Supreme Court this week permitted the Trump administration to deny green cards to immigrants who might at some point in the future become a “public charge.” Quartz points out that despite public misconceptions about immigrants who receive benefits, most of them are employed and work in industries where they are much needed. A 2019 study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) found that “immigrants help fill key gaps in the U.S. economy,” partly because they are more mobile; in addition, they address the labor shortage left by the baby boomer generation and raise upwardly mobile children. CBPP notes that “the rule will discourage their families from receiving health care, nutrition, and housing assistance that can improve their ability to contribute as future members of the adult community and workforce.”
In her dissent to the decision, Justice Sotomayor noted that cases are being rushed to the Supreme Court without being fully heard in lower courts, thereby “putting a thumb on the scale in favor” of the Republican administration, Bloomberg news reported. RLS
5. Officials lied when they said there was no room at the inn
The catastrophic “Remain in Mexico” policy was justified in part by the idea that facilities for asylum-seekers on this side of the border were out of space. They were not, according to a Customs and Border Protection official in a deposition for a legal case brought by the immigrant support organization in Tijuana, El Otro Lado; the official said he was told to lie when turning back those applying for asylum. Buzzfeedquotes the testimony: Attorney: “In fact, it was obvious to everybody who was implementing this policy at Tecate that the capacity excuse was a lie, right?” CBP officer: “Correct.” RLS
El Otro Lado’s website has more information about what they do. In 2019, Mother Jones reported that their staffers routinely receive death threats, some presumably from the cartels their clients are fleeing.
6. Contracting rules waived for border wall
Among the laws being waived so that Trump’s border wall can be built are those governing contracting. Concerns about inflated prices and cronyism have been raised by critics of the project. The AP quotes Charles Tiefer, professor at University of Baltimore School of Law as saying that the government “can just pick the contractor you want and and you just ram it through … The sky’s the limit on what they bill.” RLS
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
7. 900,000 civilians under assault by Syrian forces
As we noted last week, the last sanctuary for rebel forces opposed to President Bashar Al-Assad, Idlib province, is under relentless assault by Russian-backed Syrian forces. The Guardian has a devastating video of conditions there and Time points out that American inaction has allowed this catastrophe to continue. Turkish President Erdogan has said he will hold a summit about Idlib on March 5 with leaders of Russia, France and Germany, according to Al Jazeera. But March 5 is a long time away when 900,00 people are crowded into ever-shrinking zones, freezing and starving. The United Nations humanitarian chief has alerted the world to an “unfolding humanitarian catastrophe…In Idlib, nowhere is safe,” he said. RLS
Two links to rescue organizaions working to support civilians in Idlib can be found here. You’ll also find ways to contact your elected representatives if you want to tell them that no matter what is going on in Washington, we have a responsibility to the rest of the world.
8. Could the Irish re-unify post-Brexit?
The left-wing Sinn Fein Party in Ireland won the recent elections–but by a margin so narrow that they cannot form a government. The two center-right parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, are in exploratory talks to form a coalition government, according the BBC, a coalition founded on vilifying Sinn Fein, the Irish Times reports. Foreign Policy in Focus has a piece usefully sketching Irish history since 1609 and speculating that the reunification of the Republic and Northern Ireland is now a possibility. In the Brexit vote, Northern Ireland and Scotland both voted to remain in the E.U.; now that Britain has left, if Northern Ireland follows, border complexities will seriously impede trade with the Republic, which remains in the E.U. Reunification would solve this issue–but whether a vote could succeed, given the history, depends on whether both countries could be persuaded that serious social issues–health care, housing, jobs, education–would be better addressed united, FPIF asserts. RLS
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE
ENVIRONMENT
9. No country for young kids
A wide ranging report by the World Health Organization in cooperation with UNICEF and The Lancet has declared that not a single nation on earth is creating a healthy enough environment for our children. Compiled by a team of more than forty child heath experts, the report warns of extreme environmental degradation and irresponsibly aggressive marketing of unhealthy products to children, according to the Independent. Among the recommendations to correct the problems that threaten to reverse decades of global child wellness improvement: Deep cuts to CO2 emissions, child centered policy vision and much tighter regulations on marketing products to children. JC
10. Individual atomic interactions imaged for first time
A lab at the University of Otago in New Zealand has captured incredible images of individual atoms combining to form molecules, a process so far studied only by inference using statistical analysis of large numbers of atomic interactions. Phys.org reports. The process involves blending a cutting edge variety of technologies using lasers, near absolute zero temperatures, a vacuum chamber and quantum imaging technology. The experiment was able to show in real time three atoms being brought together to unite two of them in combination to form a molecule, releasing energy (you can see a diagram of this at APS Physics). This heralds a new level of control that promises to one day allow us to build molecules from the individual atoms up, allowing for an almost unimaginable precision in material engineering. JC
11. 25% of all tweets on the climate crisis produced by bots
A quarter of all tweets on the climate crisis were produced by bots, according to a study coming out from Brown University, the Guardian reports. The researchers looked at 6.5 million tweets from around the time Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords. Tweets from bots tended to spread misinformation or downright climate crisis denial. Tweets such as “Get real, CNN: ‘Climate Change’ dogma is religion, not science,” and “Get lost, Greta” reached tens of thousands of followers. RLS
RESOURCES
The Americas of Conscience Checklist is on hiatus this week, but we recommend that you look at their new “We Make an Impact” feature, which charts the many victories people working for justice have had.
Sarah-Hope is away this week but there are lots of actions you can still take if you haven’t worked through last week’s list.
Rogan’s list has any excellent ideas for ways you can comment on and intervene in things as they are: on Trump’s “pardonapalooza,” disabled asylum-seeking children waiting in Mexico, Native American voting rights, and much more.
Martha’s list this week offers numerous opportunities to comment for the public record, along with important news on Gulf of Mexico region-wide oil and gas lease sales on all federal holdings (with some named exceptions) and the waiver of laws for the border wall across several states. There is no formal opportunity to comment so she recommends writing your legislators.
Heather Cox Richardson’s column for February 16 recounts the history of the Democrat and Republican parties: It is intriguing to see the echoes into the present. Previous columns look at Trump’s efforts, directly and via Barr, to undermine the DOJ; threaten New York (see Martha’s list); and make an argument (February 9) for the power of stories to make change. The Constitution is a rather remarkable story about change; cryptic as it is, it–along with the Bill of Rights, and the evolving commentaries in the form of judicial decisions–is what we have.
On February 10, Trump released a 4.8 trillion dollar budget with a laundry list of cuts to social services, according to the Wall Street Journal. The budget would provide two billion for the wall and would cut Social Security disability by 71 billion. It would eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, Artforum reports, given them only enough money to shut down, Artnet noted. His budget would eliminate the student loan forgiveness program for public sector workers, CNN reports; the program is already deeply flawed, with very few people actually receiving loan forgiveness, according to an ongoing suit by the American Federation of Teachers. The budget would also eliminate subsidized loans for low-income students. The Washington Post offers a useful chart of how the budget process works. RLS
If you want to weigh in on how Trump’s budget affects the issues that concern you, you can find your elected representatives’ addresses here. If you are especially interested in how the budget would cut funds related to environmental issues and climate change, see the post from EcoWatch.
2. Good news on work requirements for Medicaid, food stamps
One of the moves that the Trump administration has repeatedly made is adding work requirements to safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. We can report two positive developments in efforts to ensure such benefits are available to those who need them. First, on Valentine’s Day, appropriately enough, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had violated federal law by allowing states to impose work requirements on Medicaid programs, according to Axios. The ruling went on to state that the administration had not satisfactorily justified the change which was not in line with Medicaid’s statutory goals. Second, H.R.5349, the Protect SNAP Act, would prohibit rules changes adding work requirements to SNAP benefits (Supplemental Food Assistance Program, or food stamps). This legislation is currently with the House Agriculture Committee. S-HP
If you want to urge the chair of the House Agriculture Committee to take quick, positive action on H. R. 5349 and to tell your elected representatives that you do not want to see work requirements added to safety-net programs, the addresses are here.
3. Who (else) has your cellphone data?
It’s not just corporations buying up data on cell phone users’ apps, purchases, teams and the like—apps and sites to which consumers may unthinkingly grant location tracking. The Department of Homeland Security is also buying cell phone data, according to the Wall Street Journal. Since 2017, DHS has been buying information from Venntel, a “pioneer in mobile location information.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly spent $190,000 on Venntel data. Customs and Border Protection has spent over $1 million. Originally, this data was used in anti-human trafficking operations, but it is now being used to track immigrants in order to arrest them.
As Vice points out, a Supreme Court ruling requires a warrant to collect wireless data from wireless providers, but the ruling does not cover the large data-mining and data-selling businesses that have sprung up in tandem with increased cellphone use. What was once creepy commercial surveillance is now becoming a government means for avoiding the kinds of documentation and processes involved in obtaining an electronic collection warrant. While government representatives claim tracking information is only being used in the case of “illegal” immigrants, the data being purchased by DHS agencies includes vast numbers of cellphone users in the U.S., regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. This kind of data collection is possible because of Congress’s failure to enact meaningful online privacy legislation. As the New York Times observes, “The use of location data to aid in deportations also demonstrates how out of date the notion of informed consent has become.” Representative Carolyn Maloney, Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has announced that the committee will be holding hearings on this issue. S-HP
You can urge Venntel to stop potentially illegal searches and seizures by ending sales to government organizations, thank Maloney for the promised hearings and ask your Congressmembers to educate themselves on electronic privacy, which is an issue that merits bipartisan support.Addresses are here.
4. How voter rights are—and aren’t—being protected
Remember when Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, was elected governor of Georgia after purging 700,000 voters from the state’s rolls between 2016 and 2018? As Governor, Kemp has fought to prevent the release of specifics about those purges—whom they affected and how they were directed. Now, thanks to a suit brought by journalist Greg Palast, federal judge Eleanor Ross ruled “sua sponte” that the state of Georgia must release this information without a trial, a move not requested by Palast’s attorneys, because Kemp’s defense was so weak that no trial was warranted, according a Georgia newspaper, Valdosta Today.
And…
In early February, Senate Democrats attempted to pass three pieces of election security legislation by consent, the Hill reports. Two would have required campaigns to alert the FBI and the Federal Elections Commission about offers of foreign assistance. The third would have provided additional election funding and prohibited voting machines from being connected to the internet. Consent passage is used for noncontroversial legislation of bipartisan interest—like, say, election security. A single Senator can block consent, making the affected legislation’s path to the Senate floor much more complicated and uncertain. One Senate Republican, Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), objected, sidelining these basic efforts to protect our electoral system. S-HP
You can point out the desperate need for improved election security and voting rights protection to your Congressmembers and let Blackburn know how you feel about her decision to block consent. Addresses are here.
5. Honor among thieves?
Historian Heather Cox Richardson puts it succinctly: “Trump, and evidently Barr, see the Department of Justice as a tool for Trump to reward friends and take revenge on enemies.” As the New York Times explains, Trump has been looking for an attorney general who was an advocate for him in all things, as Roy Cohn was for him in the 70s–and in many ways, Barr has obliged (Roy Cohn was Joe McCarthy’s right-hand man in the 1950s). He intervened in the Justice Department’s sentencing of Roger Stone for lying to Congress, leading to the resignation of four Justice Department prosecutors. He has assigned a special prosecutor to reconsider Michael Flynn’s case–another Trump ally who lied to Congress in the Mueller investigation, the Times reports, and hired prosecutors to handle other cases of interest to Trump, interrogating prosecutors about the decisions. Barr has also declared that only he, not the FBI, can open investigations into presidential and vice-presidential candidates, according to CNN. He has in addition, according to Cox Richardson, arranged to accept “information about the Bidens in Ukraine from Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.” He is, in short, undermining prosecutorial independence and the authority of federal agencies.
At the same time, he said that Trump’s tweets made it impossible for him to do his work, the Times revealed in another story. And without notifying Trump, Barr declined to prosecute Andrew McCabe, former director of the FBI, who investigated Russia’s interference into the 2016 election. It is not clear whether Barr’s actions are intended to create an appearance of independence or whether he is actually trying to distance himself, however marginally, from Trump. Wherever the truth is, Barr’s hoarding of power is alarming. (Slate has an excellent round-up of his outrageous decisions and the Washington Post has an explanation of the re-investigating that Barr is doing and the effects of it.) RLS
1,100 former Justice Department employees have sent a letter recommending Barr’s removal. You can write to him suggesting that he resign and ask the Judiciary Committees of both houses of Congress to investigate Barr’s multiple ethics violations and his failure to fulfill his responsibilities as outlined in the Constitution.
6. Hookers for Jesus
The business of federal grants generally operates as follows. A call for proposals is released. Groups apply. The applications are read blindly by a group of experts who score each proposal on a number of criteria, giving each a final score. Then, the score range is looked at (again blindly) and the scores are sorted into tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, etc. Grants in the Tier 1 category are prioritized for funding, although there is no guarantee there will be sufficient funding for all Tier 1 proposals. Tier 2 and lower proposals are very rarely funded.
However, as alleged in a whistleblower complaint filed by the Justice Department’s employee union, things did not play out this way in a recent series of Department of Justice grants to aid victims of human trafficking. Two long-established nonprofits, the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach and Chicanos Por La Causa of Phoenix, were originally given Tier 1 status and slated to receive grants. Both organizations were later removed from the list and additional grants were awarded to a pair of Tier 2 proposals: Hookers for Jesus and the Lincoln Tubman Foundation. Hookers for Jesus provides a safehouse for trafficking survivors. In manuals published by Hookers in 2010 and 2018, the organization required participation in Christian services and had rules that included a ban on reading “secular magazines with articles, pictures, etc. that portray worldly views/advice on living, sex, clothing, makeup tips”; they said that homosexuality is immoral and abusing drugs for pleasure is “witchcraft.” The Lincoln Tubman Foundation was launched by the daughter of a prominent Republican who supported President Donald Trump as a delegate at the 2016 convention and is close to South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott. Reuters noted that the grant reviewers described the Foundation as still in its “infancy” with “little to no experience.” The Washington Post explains how the substitution of grant recipients is part of a pattern. S-HP
You can ask the Inspector General for the Department of Justice to fully and carefully investigate the activities highlighted in the whistleblower complaint and ask the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on the process by which these changes were made. Addresses are here.
7. Native American burial sites blown up for Trump’s wall
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona’s Sonora Desert has been home to endangered species and Native American burial sites. Now, however, blasting has begun to make way for the border wall, according to CBS and confirmed by Snopes. Saguaro cactus are being destroyed, a rare aquifer is being drained, and human remains have been disturbed, the Intercept reports, noting that the Real ID Act permits the waiving of environmental regulations by the Department of Homeland Security. (Snopes notes that a cemetery in Texas where US veterans are buried which was originally in the pathway of the wall seems to be being protected from border wall construction.) There has been no consultation with the Tohono O’odham nation whose ancestral lands those are, according Congressman Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and who represents the area. “This administration is basically trampling on the tribe’s history — and to put it poignantly, its ancestry,” Grijalva told CBS. RLS
You can thank Representative Raúl Grijalva for speaking up and let your members of Congress know how you feel about the wall. Addresses are here.
8. Department of Justice sends tactical units to cities, sues states over sanctuary laws
The Republican administration has declared war on sanctuary cities where police have been directed to decline to work with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). CBP has begun to send elite tactical units to apprehend immigrants in sanctuary cities, according to the New York Times, among them Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark. The Times also reports that the Department of Homeland Security will prohibit residents of New York from buying or renewing Global Entry passes or participating in other programs which make it easier for those who frequently travel among Canada, Mexico and the U.S. to do so. And the Republican administration has again sued California, New Jersey and Washington State, arguing that their sanctuary laws are unconstitutional, according to the Times. RLS
If you want to urge mayors of these sanctuary cities to stand firm in upholding the values of their cities’ residents in the face of administration harassment, their addresses are here.
9. White nationalists in the armed forces
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Lecia Brooks recently testified before the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel to warn of the presence of white supremacist individuals in the armed forces and to make recommendations on how to stop this problem. Brooks testified that “the white supremacist movement in the United States is surging and presents a distinct and present danger to this country and its institutions, including the U.S. Armed Forces. Recent investigations have revealed dozens of veterans and active-duty servicemembers who are affiliated with white supremacist activity.” She cited a 2019 poll by The Military Times, finding that 36% of active-duty servicemembers who were surveyed reported seeing signs of white nationalism or racist ideology in the U.S. Armed Forces—a significant rise from the year before, when 22% reported witnessing these extremist views. In the same survey, more than half of servicemembers of color reported experiencing incidents of racism or racist ideology, up from 42% in 2017.
Brooks argued that the issue has not been treated with appropriate seriousness, noting that the most recent National Defense Authorization Act was altered in the U.S. Senate to remove mention of “white nationalists” in the screening process for military enlistees, leaving “extremist and gang-related activity” as the focus of screening processes. Supremacist groups like Atomwaffen, the Base, and Identity Evropa view the U.S. military as a valuable source of weapons training and a productive ground for recruiting new members. Brooks called for implementation of a true zero-tolerance for white supremacist activity and ideology in the U.S. military. She concluded her prepared remarks by urging “this Subcommittee and this Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities and to use its powers to ensure that every branch of the military take the strongest action possible to prevent the infiltration of white supremacists and to weed out those who are already active. They represent a serious and ongoing threat not only to military order and the values that servicemembers are sworn to uphold but to the safety of every American.” S-HP
You can write to the chair of the House Subcommittee on Military Personnel and the chair of the House Armed Services Committee to raise the issue of white supremacists in the military.
10. Rule proposed to permit all breeds of service dogs on planes
One of the challenges faced by people with disabilities when travelling is that many commercial airlines have blanket policies prohibiting certain breeds of dogs from traveling in the passenger area of planes. However well intended, this policy results in either separating disabled individuals from their service dogs or in severely reducing travel options for disabled individuals—despite the fact that service animals go through extensive training and certification. The Department of Transportation has proposed a federal rule change that would exempt certified service dogs from these blanket prohibitions. S-HP
If you want to comment for the public record on this rule change, the instructions are here.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
11. Ruthless bombing of Idlib province in Syria
800,000 Syrians have fled Idlib province and another 500,000 are trying to escape, as the Syrian army continues its relentless bombing campaign. The last sanctuary for rebel forces opposed to President Bashar Al-Assad, Idlib had been where Syrians fled from other parts of the country. The E.U. has called for an end to the bombing and a “humanitarian corridor,” according to Al Jazeera, essential as the border with Turkey is closed. The circumstances for refugees are dire, as it is almost impossible to get aid to them and the weather is freezing, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. See the New York Times for an intensely vivid photo essay on those fleeing.
The International Rescue Committee says that hospitals and ambulances have been deliberately targeted, and that they have had to move 30 staff people from the line of fire; the Inquirer reported that “In 2019 alone, there were 85 attacks on health-care facilities in Northern Syria,”according to the head of CARE USA. A doctor who works in Idlib described conditions there in a piece for Al Jazeera. RLS
If you want to donate to help refugees from Idlib, two links are here. In addition, it might be worth explaining to your Congressmembers that the only kind of involvement the U.S. should have in Syria is humanitarian.
12. Alarming turn of events in El Salvador
El Salvador is facing a constitutional crisis as President Nayib Bukele attempts to force passage of an international loan to fund “his Territorial Control national security plan, which intends to ‘modernize’ the police and armed forces with advanced weapons, tactical gear, aircraft, drones, surveillance equipment including facial recognition, and other materials,” as explained by the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. Taking a move from the Trump playbook, on Friday, February 7, Bukele issued an order via tweet to the Salvadoran legislature calling for a special Sunday night legislative session that would have to sole purpose of approving this loan. Bukele also tweeted a call for popular insurrection if the legislature did not comply. The military issued tweets confirming its oath of loyalty to President Bukele [as opposed to the nation of El Salvador].
On February 8, legislature security personnel were removed and National Civilian Police and Armed Forces members surrounded, then entered the Assembly, the nation’s legislative building. Far-right and far-left political parties found themselves agreeing on the illegality of this move by Bukele. On Sunday, February 9, only 28 legislators, less than a quorum, appeared for the meeting. That same day the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, issued an international call (also via tweet) for dialogue and respect for democratic institutions in El Salvador. On Monday, February 10, El Salvador’s Supreme Court issued a blanket suspension of any acts resulting from the underattended Sunday legislative meeting. In an op ed in theNew York Times, Human Rights Watch Director José Miguel Vivanco called U.S. and E.U. responses to Bukele’s actions inadequate “mild rebukes,” noting that “It’s going to take more than that to cow a man who shows absolute disregard for the balance of democratic powers.” World Politics Review called Bukele’s actions “the most serious constitutional crisis in El Salvador in nearly three decades.” The situation in El Salvador mirrors the way that the military’s role in Latin American countries is intensifying, as the Washington Post explains. S-HP
You might want to ask your Congressmembers to monitor the situation in El Salvador and urge that, in its position as a member of the Organization of American States, the United States respect and support Salvadoran democracy.Addresses are here.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE
ENVIRONMENT
Two million tons of radioactive waste dumped in Oregon
Oregon law prohibits improper disposal of radioactive waste. Nonetheless, between 2016 and 2019, Chemical Waste Management, a landfill in Arlington, Oregon near the Columbia River Gorge, accepted and buried over two million tons of radioactive fracking waste, which registered radium levels up to three hundred times higher than allowed under state law. Oregon law limits landfill waste to no more than five picocuries of radium per gram; the average reading of the material accepted in Arlington was 140 picocuries per gram. Kevin Niles, Assistant Director for Nuclear Safety with the Oregon Department of Energy said that, while the facility was cited, it would not be fined because the landfill operators misunderstood the state guidelines and were not aware they were committing violations. According to ABC News, Niles said that fines could only be levied for violations repeated after an official warning, for willful acts, or for acts that result in “serious adverse impacts” to humans or the environment, which begs the question of exactly how many tons of radioactive fracking waste would be required to meet the “serious adverse impacts” threshold. The organization Columbia Riverkeeper has launched a petition calling for an investigation of Chemical Waste Management’s handling of the material, an immediate fix to loopholes that allowed this dumping to occur, an end to new oil and fracked gas projects in the state, and accountability for the organizations responsible for the radioactive dumping. S-HP
You can join the Columbia Riverkeepers in demanding both stronger state laws regarding radioactive fossil fuel waste and consequences for those responsible for such waste–addresses for the Oregon governor and attorney general are here.
11. Climate change and homeland security
The House has passed H.R.4737, the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] Climate Change Research Act. This legislation would require the DHS to evaluate federal research in order to anticipate potential impacts of climate change on homeland security, to identify gaps in that research, and to launch research projects to fill those gaps. This legislation has moved to the Senate where it is currently with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. S-HP
You can urge leadership of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and your own Senators to take swift, positive action on H.R.4737 because real security requires acknowledging the threats posed by the climate crisis.
RESOURCES
The Americas of Conscience Checklist has easy, straightforward things you can do. Now you can click them off when you’ve done them, so they have a idea of their impact.
If you want to work from Sarah-Hope’s complete list, it is here.
Martha’s list offers opportunities to comment on major revisions to Medicare and Medicaid (scroll down–there are several), the travel ban for New Yorkers, rules changes to permit drilling and mining in Bear Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase Escalante, migratory birds, seismic blasts at polar bear dens, and a request for climate scientists on some recommendations–pass the word.
Rogan’s list has ways to respond to the outrages at the Department of Justice, send support to the four prosecutors who resigned, speak up for disability rights, comment on Trump’s budget, object to the shredding of files at the archives, and more.
Many of you have circulated this great list of 64 things white people can do for racial justice.
Trump is lashing out like a blinded basilisk at those who have attempted to hold him to Constitutional norms. Two people who deserve thanks: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whose leadership has been crucial during the impeachment process, and Mitt Romney, the sole Republican to vote to convict Trump on either of the two articles of impeachment. Whether or not we generally share his political viewpoint, he was unique among Republicans in his willingness to hold the President to account. Their addresses are in the links if you want to send your thanks. Common Cause is also suggesting that we speak up for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who has been dismissed from the National Security Council for testifying truthfully about Trump’s phone call with the president of Ukraine.
Once again, Heather Cox Richardson explains the impeachment debacle and urges us to listen closely to Trump’s budget speech tomorrow, when he is expected to propose deep cuts to Medicaid.
Human Rights Watch has been tracking the fates of asylum-seekers deported to El Salvador. The organization reports that between 2013 and 2019, two hundred of these deportees were killed, raped, or tortured upon return to El Salvador. 138 of these deportees were killed by “gang members, police, soldiers, U.S.-trained death squads, or ex-partners” (in the case of those fleeing domestic abuse)–in other words, ” the same perpetrators the asylum seekers had fled from,” according to Democracy Now. Human Rights Watch identified these cases through news accounts, court records, and interviews with family members; since no official data is kept on the fate of deportees the actual number of those affected is probably higher.
You can speak up about the practice of returning asylum-seekers to the country they fled and ask the House Homeland Security Committee to begin monitoring this situation. Addresses are here.
2. Trump trolls hacked Iowa caucus phone lines
All sorts of lessons can be drawn from the debacle that was the Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus, but let’s focus on two. First: We. Need. Paper. Ballots. Yes, a ballot box can be stuffed, but the parts of our election systems that are most vulnerable are electronic. In 2018, we saw how easily eleven- and twelve-year-old children could hack U.S. voting systems. We need secure operating systems and secure machines. Second: We have to identify and combat new forms of election interference as they arise. Bloombergfirst reported that one of the problems the Iowa caucus had to contend with was deliberate clogging of the phone lines used to tally results. When the tallying phone app failed, caucus leaders had to phone in results to a central number. Unfortunately, as NBC reported, the phone number to which results were reported was easily found via Goggle search—and had been shared on right-wing message boards in advance of the caucus. Those answering the phones on caucus night found themselves fielding calls excoriating the Democratic party and touting Donald Trump, rather than calls with caucus results. S-HP
If you want to recommendlegislation to make our elections secure, including legislation that requires paper ballots and that penalizes deliberate attempts to interrupt voting and tallying procedures, you can find addresses for your Members of Congress here.
3. Southern states propose to criminalize gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender kids
A House committee in South Dakota passed a bill which would impose fines of up to $2000 and jail sentences of up to a year on doctors who prescribe puberty-blocking hormones and gender-affirming surgery to transgender teens under 16, according to the Washington Post. Other states are proposing these bills as well, among them South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, where providing puberty-blocking hormones to children would be defined as child abuse, the Tennessean reports. The bill in Georgia would make the provisions of gender-affirming care a felony; the legislator who is proposing it refers to it as “child abuse,” according to the Marietta Daily Journal. Legislators argue against allowing transgender youth to make permanent changes to their bodies when they may merely be “experimenting with their identity,” the Post reports. The Campaign for Southern Equality, an organization of medical professionals in the South, has spoken out against these bills, saying that “gender-affirming care is linked to significantly reduced rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide attempts.” The risk is that young transgender teens will take puberty-blocking hormones without medical supervision and will be at higher risk for mental health challenges and suicide. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 25% to 30% of transgender adolescents report attempting suicide at some point during their lives; the risk for female-male transgender adolescents is especially high, 62.5%. RLS
If you are a doctor in the South, you can sign the Campaign for Southern Equality’s letter. Otherwise, you can remind your Congressmembers that we need national-level protections for LGBTQ+ rights—including the rights of minors. Addresses here.
4. DNA samples to be collected from asylum-seekers
The Center for Public Integrity has reported on a Republican administration plan to collect DNA samples from nearly one hundred thousand individuals, some of them minors, being held in immigration detention. This would likely be the U.S.’s largest ever law enforcement collection of DNA from individuals not accused of a crime (it is important to remember that those in immigration detention are in civil, not criminal, detention). The plan, announced in early January, would begin with DNA collection at two migrant detention centers, one in Michigan and the other in Texas. Civil rights advocates have raised concerns that DNA collected could be used to link immigrants to family members who might then be targeted as well. While those charged with a crime can request that their DNA samples be destroyed if they are found innocent, no such provision is included in administration plans. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signed a $5.2 million contract with Bode Cellmark Forensics for supplies and services. The contract will expire in April. S-HP
If you want to suggest that Bode Cellmark Forensics honor civil rights by refusing to extend or reapply for this contract and to ask the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees to investigate this large-scale collection of DNA from individuals not charged with any crime, addresses are here.
5. National archives are being purged
Let’s add a small corollary to Santayana’s warning that “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it” and note “Corrupt governments will encourage that forgetting when they find it expedient.” A New York Times opinion piece by professor of history Matthew Connelly warns that “vital information [held by the National Archives] is actually being deleted or destroyed, so that no one—neither the press and government watchdogs today, nor historians tomorrow—will have a chance to see it.” In 2017, it was revealed that the National Archives had authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) delete or destroy documents detailing the sexual abuse and death of undocumented immigrants. After thousands of critical comments were received from individuals, Congressmembers, and organizations that plan was given minor changes, but last month the National Archives gave ICE permission to begin destroying documents from the first year of Trump’s presidency.
The opinion piece goes on to identify other documents being destroyed with Archives approval: Department of the Interior files on endangered species, offshore drilling, safe drinking water, and management of Native American lands; Department of State papers of the under-secretary for economic growth, energy, and environment, which include everything from aviation safety to foreign takeovers of American firms. As Connelly notes, “All this is happening without so much as a congressional hearing—Congress has not called [National Archives Director] Mr. Ferriero to appear for almost five years.” Part of Congress’s lack of action may be that maintaining and running archives is an expensive business, and one that the nation has repeatedly underfunded. S-HP
You can tell the Director of the National Archives and your Congressmembers that you want to see the preservation of documents currently being or slated to be destroyed–which will require better funding of the Archives. Addresses here.
6. House supports union organizing, Republican administration undercuts it
On February 7, the House passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would allow the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to fine employers who fire employees for union organizing, allow contract (“gig”) workers to unionize, and ease “Right to Work” provisions in various states that undermine union organizing, according to the Washington Post. Central Coast representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) described the bill as “the most significant upgrade to U.S. labor law in 80 years…a direct response to the struggle that many hardworking families are facing to keep pace with the rising costs of education, child care, housing, and other basic essentials.” The bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Senate, as it is opposed by right-wing and industry forces. Why launch it, given it will not become law anytime soon? According to In These Times, the point is to announce the Democratic agenda and map the future should Democrats be in a position to enact it.
A staple of collective bargaining agreements is the carry-over principle, which is that the provisions of an agreement stay in force even if it expires while a new one is being negotiated. The Republican administration has proposed a rule which would undermine this long-standing way of preserving continuity. A “General Statement of Policy or Guidance: Agency-Head Review of Agreements that Continue in Force Until New Agreements Are Reached” would allow heads of federal agencies to review expiring agreements and decline to continue any provision whose legality they question. Not only will workers’ rights under their contracts take a hit, but unions will be under pressure to settle contracts more quickly, perhaps accepting retrograde agreements. RLS
If you want to preserve the continuity of workplace regulations and the rights of workers, you can comment on this rule by 2/24/2020. In addition, you might want to advise your senator to urge that the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R.2474, be brought to the floor of the Senate. It has already been passed by the House.
7. State of disunion
Trump’s “fanciful” State of the Union Address has left our country’s fact-checkers grossly overworked, but let’s focus for a moment on two legislative issues. First, Trump urged Congress “to pass bipartisan legislation to “dramatically” lower the cost of prescription drugs,” as theHill reports. If you were listening, you may have heard the chants of “H.R.3! H.R.3!” coming from the Democratic side of the aisle, Vox notes. H.R.3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, was passed by the House in December and received in the Senate that same month, but has not yet been assigned to a Committee by Senate Majority Leader McConnell.
You may also have noted the lack of Democratic enthusiasm when Trump called for paid family leave. The legislation to which Trump was referring is S.2976, the Advancing Support for Working Families Act. S.2976 does offer working families a new means for covering family leave, but it does not actually include any paid family leave, via either the government or employers. Instead, it allows families to collect a portion of future child tax credits early to “pay” for the leave. In other words, families would be borrowing from their future selves in order to cover family leave offered by S.2976. Additionally, S.2976 only applies to family leave for babies or adopted children under age six and includes no provisions to care for sick family members or to cover an individual’s own health emergencies. S.2976 also does not provide any job protection for individuals covering family leave by this method, according to the New York Times. S-HP
It would be a good time to remindyour Senators that the drug-price legislation Trump called for is sitting idle in the Senate and that real paid family leave is paid family leave, not a juggling of the books that can threaten a family’s future financial security.
8. Immigration judges appointed with no experience
We’ve reported before on the pressures—both workload demands and political interference—immigration judges are forced to deal with, but there’s another threat to our immigration justice system that hasn’t been getting the notice it deserves. The Trump administration has been hiring immigration judges who have no experience in immigration law, according to the Hill. The experience requirement for immigration judges doesn’t mention immigration law experience, but only that applicants must have seven years of “post-bar experience as a licensed attorney preparing for, participating in, and/or appealing formal hearings or trials.” Of the 28 new immigration judges recently sworn in by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, 11 of them had no immigration law experience. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee has been speaking out on this issue. S-HP
You can thank Representative Lee for reminding us that immigration judges should have immigration law experience and urge your Congressmembers to join her in bringing attention to this problem. Addresses are here.
9. Asylum seekers on hunger strike
In a story that has received virtually no attention in the U.S., five men in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention have been engaging in a hunger strike that is now beginning its fourth month. The organization Freedom for Immigrants has filed a complaint against ICE for refusing to release the medical records of two of these men for independent review, a right that should be available to anyone in ICE custody, the Guardian reports. ICE has been force feeding two of the men, leaving nasal feeding tubes in for up to three weeks at a time. Because it can be both violent and painful, force-feeding is only allowed under a judge’s orders. The five men are from South Asia and are filing asylum claims based on fear of religious or political persecution
You can ask the House Homeland Security Committee to initiate a Congressional investigation of hunger strikes among ICE detainees and ICE’s treatment of these individuals.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
10. RCMP arrest First Nations people defending land in Canada
The RCMP tore down tents and arrested six First Nations people who are trying to keep a pipeline out of traditional Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia. In support of those objecting to the pipeline, protestors in Vancouver stopped traffic; a car drove through the protest group, though no one was hurt, Global News reported. Protesters in Ontario blocked the rail service between Toronto and Montreal, stopping 62 trains, according to the Toronto Star. Organizers from the group No One is Illegal told the Star that they were blocking the trains because “the RCMP has sent militarized police to evict Wet’suwet’en people from their unceded territory, to support a dangerous and disruptive pipeline project.”
“Unceded” means that the land was never surrended nor sold to Canada. Na’Moks, a hereditary chief with the Wet’suwet’en Nation who also goes by John Risdale, told the Star that “They came in with armed forces to remove peaceful people that are doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. We’re protecting the land, the air, the water.” RLS
To follow this issue or to look for ways to support the Wet’suwet’en people, see their website.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE
ENVIRONMENT
11. US Navy discontinues climate change task force
The United States Navy has long understood the need for ascertaining the impact climate change would have on the world in order to fulfill its mission, if for no other reason than the Navy has the vast majority of its assets (naturally) located in coastal areas that are due to see sea level rises. To this end, the Navy created a climate change task force in 2009 that issued a number of important reports outlining the dangers of climate change to world stability and naval assets as well as estimating the costs involved in mitigating the damage. It’s puzzling, then, why the Navy quietly shut down the task force back in March of 2019 without a press release or public comment period and scrubbed all data and information regarding the task force from the internet, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. One can only assume the Trump administration’s ongoing purge of everything climate related from federal agencies is to blame, though the Navy says its mission was “duplicative.” However, there is no other identifiable group or command in charge of climate change issues. JC
12. Cost to make California net carbon neutral? 8 billion a year
A report issued by Lawrence Livermore National Labs estimated the costs and means by which California can achieve the goal set by former governor Jerry Brown in 2018 to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. In order to do that, the state will need to not only drastically reduce its overall carbon emissions but also pay for carbon capture to offset the emissions that cannot easily be eliminated. Among the methods are some relatively easy and inexpensive things such as restoring wetlands, changes in forestry, soil improvement and revisions in agricultural crops. Beyond that, there will need to be some relatively costly technologies employed. One option is to convert bio-waste to hydrogen fuels and store the carbon in underground repositories and another is simply to suck the CO2 directly from the air and inject it underground where there is geological capacity for 100 years of storage. The cost for all of this is estimated at eight billion a year, a large sum, but it represents .4% of state GDP or 5% of current state tax revenues, Ars Technica reports. Given the extraordinary costs of climate change impacts, the costs seem very reasonable. JC
RESOURCES
The Americas of Conscience Checklist focuses on easy actions you can take in the areas of democracy, voting access, equality for all Americans, basic respect for aspiring Americans.
Rogan’s list this week focuses on Black Lives Matter at school, nominating Adam Schiff for a Profiles in Courage award, battleground seats in the Senate, and much more.
Martha’s list offers many opportunities to comment for the public record. She notes that the opportunity to comment on high fees for immigrants, asylum seekers, and citizenship petitions has been extended till tomorrow. She gives you links for commenting on the many proposed regulations in support of faith-based organizatios. And there’s a new posting asking for general comment on their regulations process.
If you are in despair about the vote in the Senate not to allow witnesses, read Heather Cox Richardson’s last few columns. Her long view is quite bracing. And if you want to thank the House Impeachment Managers, who have performed impeccably– documenting all claims and insisting on respect for the Constitution–their names and addresses are here.
Just a word about the other “big” story, the new coronavirus: There is understandable concern about the new virus, but less worry about influenza, though as many as 25,000 people have died in the U.S. so far this flu season, according to the Washington Post. (3500 die annually in Canada; numbers from this season are not available.) See award-winning science writer Laurie Garrett’s piece from last fall on the connection between climate change and pandemics and on how the most vulnerable people and countries will suffer most. As with everything–political or seemingly non-political–it is important to focus not (only) on the sensational but on the news that doesn’t make the headlines (or that disappears quickly from the headlines). To that end, we bring you News You May Have Missed.
DOMESTIC NEWS
1. Trump authorizes the use of landmines
In 2014, Barack Obama issued a directive prohibiting U.S. production or acquisition of anti-personnel landmines (APLs). Landmines are a notorious weapon of war, designed to kill or main and often used in areas with significant civilian populations. In addition, landmines don’t disappear when a conflict ends. Voxreports that, according to the watchdog group Landmine Monitor, there were over 130,000 landmine casualties between 1999 and 2018. More than 160 countries—but not the U.S.—have signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, known as the Ottawa Treaty, which prohibits production, stockpiling, use, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines; Canada signed it as well and has not reneged. Now, a cable from the Trump administration indicates that the U.S. has given itself a blanket authorization to use landmines in current or future conflicts. S-HP
If you are aghast at the revival of landmines, consider objecting. You can write to the Secretary and Undersecretary of Defense as well as to your elected representatives; addresses are here.
2. Abuse of immigrants in detention centers authorized
“Hog-tying, fetal restraints, [and] tight restraints” are now all permitted at immigration detention centers; minors may be handcuffed, and the reasons for using solitary confinement have been broadened under new rules governing these facilities, according to the Texas Observer.Even more ominously, guards only need to notify ICE that an inmate needs to be transferred to a hospital “as soon as practicable,” rather than immediately. In addition, non-profit organizations, such as those that represent immigrants in their asylum appeals, will have less access to prisoners, the ACLU notes. One of the reasons for these lowered standards is to enable local jails and prisons to serve as detention centers, according to Rolling Stone. RLS
You can object to lowered standards at immigration detention centers and point out that seeking asylum is a right under international law, not a crime. Appropriate addresses are here.
3. Medicaid cuts would jeopardize elders and babies
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)–the government insurance programs that serve 70 million Americans, including a third of all children–would be seriously undercut under new proposals from the Trump administration. As the LA Times reports, these programs cover half of all births in the South and 62% of nursing home residents nationwide. The new Republican proposal would permit states to convert their Medicaid allocation to block grants, according to the LA Times, allowing them to use the funds as they wished. The grants would be capped, likely diminishing access to medical care for low-income people. RLS
If you want to let your members of Congress know that cuts to Medicaid are inhumane, you can find your addresses here. You can mention your grandma, if appropriate.
4. Supreme Court won’t stop Republicans from using public benefits to keep out immigrants
The Supreme Court, in a typical 5-4 split, has determined that Trump’s “public charge” rule can be enforced while it makes its way through the courts, according to Politico and other new outlets. Under this rule, potential immigrants can be denied residency in or admission to the U.S. because they have used or because it is deemed likely that they may in the future use public-assistance programs, meaning an immigration official’s predictions of individuals’ future income could determine their fate. As numerous commentators have pointed out, this kind of regulation is what kept some 300,000 Jewish refugees out of the US during World War II. H.R.3222, the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act, would end this program by prohibiting paying for it with federal monies. This legislation has 118 co-sponsors, including the Central Coast’s Jimmy Panetta. It is currently with the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee. S-HP
You can urge appropriate committee leadership to support H.R. 3222. Addresses are here.
5. “Saving” Social Security
Trump tweeted recently that he is going to “save” Social Security, but then had the following exchange with a CNBC interviewer at the World Economic Program in Davos: Interviewer: “One last question: Entitlements ever be on your plate?” Trump: “At some point they will be.”
Those of us uncomfortable with what a Republican “save” of Social Security might look like can urge passage of the Social Security 2100 Act (S.269 in the Senate; H.R.860 in the House). The legislation would provide an increase of about 2% of the average benefit to all beneficiaries; would improve the annual cost of living adjustment to better reflect the costs incurred by older Americans; would protect low income workers by setting a new minimum benefit at 25% above the poverty line; would cut taxes for beneficiaries by raising the threshold for non-Social Security income before benefits are taxed; and would ensure that any increase in benefits from the bill don’t result in a reduction in SSI, Medicaid or CHIP benefits. The measure would also gradually phase in an increase in the contribution rate to keep the system solvent (for the average worker, this would mean paying an additional 50 cents per week every year), and would allow income up to $400,000 to be taxed for Social Security (these taxes currently tax income earned up to, but not beyond $132,900 a year). S.269 has been languishing in the Senate Finance Committee for over a year now. House action on H.R.860 has been similarly nonexistent, except for one referral to a subcommittee: the House Ways and Means Committee sent it to their Subcommittee on Social Security. In the House H.R.860 is also with the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. S-HP
You can urge the appropriate Congressional committees to take quick action on these bills. Addresses are here.
6. HUD finds tracking discrimination “burdensome”
Originally passed in 1968, the Fair Housing Act outlawed discrimination in housing, but federal enforcement was lackluster. In 2015, the Obama administration moved to increase enforcement of the act by requiring local governments to track patterns of poverty and segregation. Federal funds could then be withheld from cities that did not address segregation. Calling this tracking “burdensome,” Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson is now moving to eliminate it. HUD has also cancelled efforts to end unintended discrimination in home loans caused by banking algorithms. According to Politico, this past November every Senate Democrat signed on to a letter to Carson, saying they were “deeply troubled by the direction this administration is heading in relation to fair lending and fair housing protections.” Currently homeownership rates are 73% for Whites and are a bit under 43% for Blacks. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance, the Treasury Department’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) saw an 8% increase in housing discrimination cases in 2018 (the 2019 annual report is not yet available), but according to Politico, the administration has filed only a single fair lending enforcement case since Trump appointees took over management of the CFPB. S-HP
If you want to remind the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development that addressing segregation isn’t burdensome but essential, and tell appropriate officials that CFPB’s poor record of fair lending enforcement is unacceptable, you will find addresses here.In addition, if you want to post a comment for the public record, see Martha’s list, here.
8. Trump pleases the crowd at the March for Life, threatens to punish California
Undermining abortion rights is a key strategy in Trump’s re-election campaign. His latest move is to threaten California with the loss of some federal funding if the state continues to require that health plans cover abortion services, according to the L.A. Times.Five other states already have this requirement, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The announcement was intended to coincide with Trump’s appearance at the March for Life rally in January, Politico reports, the first sitting president to do so. There, according to the BBC, he told the crowd, without irony, that “We’re here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child born and unborn to fulfill their God-given potential.” RLS
If you want to urge your Congressmembers to defend women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions and let California officials know not to cave in to this blackmail, addresses are here.
9. Boy Scouts still working with Border Patrol
Last August, we wrote about the Border Patrol Law Enforcement Explorer Program, a program for 14-to-20-year-olds, jointly run by the Boy Scouts and the Border Patrol. Its ostensible aim is to teach survival skills and first aid, and to participate in training exercises in which they “play” either Border Patrol agents or the immigrants they target. The Boy Scouts, which claims to “train youth in responsible citizenship [and] character development” continue to participate in the program. S-HP
If you would like to ask the Boy Scouts in what ways targeting minorities, separating families, and ignoring international law regarding the rights of asylum seekers improve their members’ citizenship and characters, addresses are here.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
10. Travel ban extended–who will be next?
Trump has extended the travel ban to six more countries with significant Muslim populations: Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania . Set to go into effect February 21, this move is likely to further endanger Myanmar’s Rhohingya Muslims, who face genocide in Myanmar and misery in refugee camps elsewhere, the New York Times notes. Nigeria is likely to be particularly hard-hit, as 7,920 Nigerians were given immigrant visas in 2018. Student visas would still be permitted, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which provides detailed information on its website. Most people from China are now being denied entry, but this prohibition is due to the coronavirus and hence is temporary. The previous travel ban was upheld by the Supreme Court, so it is hard to see what legal challenges will prevail against this one. Families separated by borders will particularly suffer, explained Doug Rand, who worked on immigration policy in the Obama White House: “It has become a de facto family separation policy besides the obvious one at the border,” he said. “This will just magnify the pain to extend it to other countries.” RLS
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE
ENVIRONMENT
11. Astronomers observe warping of the fabric of space and time
An international team of astrophysicists has published data in the journal Science showing an effect called “frame dragging,” observed in a neutron star rapidly spinning around a white dwarf companion star, chalking up yet one more validation for Einstein’s theory of relativity. When a quickly spinning, quickly orbiting and very massive body moves, it bends the fabric of time and space around it, affecting the light radiating through the area of space around the object. This can have some unusual apparent effects. For example, if you were to throw an enormous spear right at the neutron star, it would appear that the spear would actually be moving in an orbit opposite the orbit of the star, away from the target. This is because the tip of the spear would actually be moving at a slower rate than the end of the spear, warping its image from any observer’s point of view. This observed and confirmed phenomenon can be added to the historic observation of light deflection during solar eclipse in 1919 and 1922 as proof that general relativity continues to make accurate predictions about the nature of the universe, Phys. Org notes. JC
12. Protecting migratory birds
As explained by Audubon, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) makes it illegal to pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect migratory birds or their eggs or nests—or attempt to do so—without a permit. For decades, both deliberate acts and “incidental take” (accidental or inadvertent killing of birds) were considered violations of this legislation. In 2018, the Interior Department announced that it would no longer enforce rules against incidental take.
The problem is that “incidental take” is not necessarily accidental or inadvertent. For example, if a property owner decides to knock down a barn that contains an owl nest, the killing of nestlings is no longer considered a violation of the MBTA because the “intent” of the action was to tear down the barn, not to kill the nestlings. In other words, come up with the right story and you have a free license to kill and injure migratory birds and their nestlings. That decision to allow incidental take is being challenged in the courts by several wildlife and ecological protection organizations that argue that this new interpretation is clearly in conflict with the intent of the original legislation. The Migratory Bird Protection Act, H.R.5552, would affirm that the intent of the MBTA was to prohibit incidental take of birds without a permit and would require that the Fish and Wildlife research the impact of ongoing commercial activity on bird populations and that it identify and/or develop best practices to minimize this impact. The House Committee on Natural Resources had approved H.R.5552, which can now go to a vote of the full House. S-HP
If you want to encourage your representative along with the Speaker of the House to support H.R.5552, addresses are here.You can also see Martha’s list, below, to post a comment for the public record.
Amazon passes 500k employees, 1 trillion dollar valuation
It’s fair to say that most people know that Amazon is a huge company. With its quarterly earnings report, it’s possible to more clearly define exactly how huge and influential the company is in the US marketplace. This past year saw Amazon add 150,000 workers to its payroll (more than Apple’s entire workforce), a 42% increase over the previous year. While stocks tumbled this past week, Amazon stock reached over $2000 per share, doubling in value over the past two years. 150 million people are paying to be Amazon Prime members. Amazon has attracted criticism from Democratic presidential candidates for paying little tax relative to its size, a claim the company attempted to rebuff with a disclosure released this past week detailing the various taxes paid. While the company has indeed paid billions in payroll taxes and customs duties to the federal government, and has a tax bill of one billion dollars for 2019, it has deferred paying 900 million of those taxes, Geekwirereports. The amount paid in federal income tax for 2019 so far? 162 million dollars on an operating revenue of 14.5 billion. JC
RESOURCES
The Americans of Conscience Checklist not only has quick, clear-cut actions you can take but a long list of good news!
Our colleague Crysostom is back–with a comprehensive round-up of election news.
Sarah-Hope’s whole list has some California specific items, plus everything above.
If you get your health insurance through the ACA, you really need to look at the first item on Martha’s list.
Rogan’s list has great information on actions state-by-state, as well as ways to engage in upcoming primaries and an action you can take to restore asylum.
