Ron's News

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[Exxon works to silence journalists who criticize them, vehemently opposes the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and maintains strict silence on what it knows about who is being made rich and who is being in hurt in deals it has made in Equatorial Guinea and Angola. Should their leader be made US Secretary of State? *RON*]
Janine Jackson, CounterSpin / Truthout, 23 December 2016

Janine Jackson interviewed Zorka Milin about Rex Tillerson for the December 16, 2016, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

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Janine Jackson: A widely circulated news article on the appointment of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of State opens with the note that "the brash Texas oilman…helped forge or supervise exploration, production, and refinery projects in 50 countries on six continents." But corporate media really only appear interested in one country, and that's Russia.

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["The valiant and peaceful Native-led resistance to DAPL is in large part responsible for the Army Corps decision, which represents a major blow to the Black Snake. But in the end, the kill shot may be delivered by the project’s backers. Investors must now also realize that the people’s resistance to fossil fuel infrastructure is not going to be cheap." *RON*]

Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, The Leap: System Change on a Deadline/Common Dreams, 22 December 2016
The Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) is yet another violent variable in the equation of environmental racism that plagues the United States, and the world—to the peril of Indigenous and low-wealth communities of color everywhere.

"The financial implications of this decision are both far reaching and profound, and may signal the death knell of DAPL."

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[The oil companies say the composition of dilbit is an industrial secret and that releasing this information would harm their competitive position. And if you believe that, I have a watch I'd like to sell you. *RON*]

By Judith Lavoie, DeSmog Blog, 23 December 2016

Knowledge gaps about the behaviour of diluted bitumen when it is spilled into saltwater and lack of information about how to deal with multiple problems that can result from extracting and transporting bitumen from the Alberta oilsands, make it impossible for government or industry to come up with effective policies to deal with a disaster, says a newly published research paper, Oilsands and the Marine Environment.

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[Research puts air pollution on a par with smoking as threat to human health. I know they are supposedly working on this - probably more than we'll be able to say about the US over the next 4 years. But is it enough? And soon enough? See also: China names and shames heavy polluters during this week’s thick smog; Man escapes uninjured after car plunges off pier in heavy smog; Scientists crack Beijing smog puzzle. *RON*]

Alice Yan, South China Morning Post, 23 December, 2016


Smog is related to nearly one-third of deaths in China, putting it on a par with smoking as a threat to health, according to an academic paper based on the study of air pollution and mortality data in 74 cities and published in an international journal.

The findings by Nanjing University’s School of the Environment, which were published in the November edition of the journal the Science of the Total Environment, provides the latest scientific estimates of the health cost of C…

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[For decades, the military and the VA have repeatedly turned to one man to guide decisions on whether Agent Orange harmed vets in Vietnam and elsewhere. His reliable answer: No. I wonder where people like Alvin Young come from - what makes them tick? "Most of the stuff he talks about is in no way accurate. He's been paid a hell of a lot of money by the VA over the years, and I think they don't want to admit that maybe he [isn't] the end all and be all."*RON*]

Charles Ornstein & Mike Hixenbaugh, Mother Jones, 25 December 2016

This story originally appeared on ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot.

A few years ago, retired Maj. Wes Carter was picking his way through a stack of internal Air Force memos, searching for clues that might help explain his recent heart attack and prostate cancer diagnosis. His eyes caught on several recommendations spelled out in all capital letters:

"NO ADDITIONAL SAMPLING…"

"DESTROY A…

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["In the last eight or so years, Democrats have lost 900 legislative seats in state capitols all over this country. So I think any independent assessment, without casting any blame, says the current approach has failed. All right? And the new approach, I think, is to create a kind of grassroots party, where the most important people in the party are not just wealthy campaign contributors, but working people, young people, people in the middle class, who are going to come in and going to start telling us what their needs are and give us some ideas as to how we go forward. So, where we are now is in a difficult moment. I don’t want to minimize the difficulties facing us. But throughout history, serious people have fought back. It is not acceptable—it really is not—for people to throw their hands up and say, 'Oh, I’m depressed. Oh, I’m giving up.' It’s not about you. It’s about the future of this planet. It’s about your kids and your g…