Global

Climate advocates on Monday asked the California Supreme Court to reverse a new rooftop solar panel policy in the state that the groups say has proven "irony is alive and well," as the policy is impeding the expansion of renewable energy in California just as regulators are calling for a solution to the state's energy crisis. 

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a new solar policy last year at the urging of the state's three investor-owned utilities, led by Pacific Gas & Electric. The new rules slashed a solar power incentive for homeowners by about 75%, sharply reducing the amount utilities pay people with solar panels when they sell surplus power to the grid. 

Read the news, hup, two, three, four!

“Top United States officials prodded Israel on Monday to do more to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip . . .”

Thus began a recent, and oh so typical, piece of war reportage. It was purveyed by the New York Times but it’s something you find in almost any mainstream source. The essence of the news is that the U.S. will continue to support Israel’s right to “defend itself” by bombing the crap out of Gaza and will keep feeding it the military equipment necessary to do so, but it sternly urges Israel to try not to kill too many babies or other civilians. Get it? War must be — and is, when we wage it — a moral undertaking.

Europe stayed silent when Israel began pounding the besieged Gaza Strip with the kind of ferocity that could only lead to a genocide. In fact, Europe remained silent when the word ‘genocide’ quickly replaced the earlier reference to the ‘Israel-Hamas war’, starting on October 7.

 Those familiar with Europe’s political discourse and action regarding Israel and Palestine, must already realize that most European governments have always been on the side of Israel.

 However, if this is entirely true, what can we make of the latest comments by the Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union, Josep Borrell, when he seemed to lash out at Israel on January 23, accusing it of “seeding hate for generations”?

“I ate breakfast last week with the president of a network news division and he told me that during non-election years, 70% of the advertising revenues for his news division come from pharmaceutical ads.  And if you go on TV any night and watch the network news, you’llsee they become just a vehicle for selling pharmaceuticals. He also told me that he would fire a host who brought onto his station a guest who lost him a pharmaceutical account.”-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - See more at:http://annedachel.com/2015/05/25/21560/#sthash.H39UDGx9.dpuf

"Slavery is the legal fiction that a person is property. Corporate personhood is the legal fiction that property is a person."-- Anonymous

Our gathering begins with former Google executive AHMED MUSTAFA and a deep dive into the politics of the world’s leading search engine.  

With power and clarity, Ahmed, among other things, issues a stark warning on the challenges being posed to our future by Artificial Intelligence.

JOHN STEINER asks for specifics on Ahmed’s campaign for Congress now navigating the primaries in Silicon Valley.

STEVE CARUSO, ERIC LAZARUS, LYNNE FEINERMAN and CAMILLA REES join the dialog.

TIM JUDSON of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service updates us on the horrendous Senate decision to remove Commissioner Jeff Baran from the Nuclear Regulator Commission, proving beyond any lingering doubt that any member of the NRC who values public safety over private profit will not remain.

MYLA RESON updates us on our YouTube presence and asks for your thumbs up!

MIKE HERSH then introduces us to “local hero” KEN BAWERS, who gives us a very impressive deep dive into the demanding world of Stormwater Control and his battles with the $25 billion Riverine Restoration industry.

Sometimes there’s a thin line between vile demagoguery and pure idiocy. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi straddled both during a Sunday appearance on CNN, when she smeared protesters who’ve been demanding a ceasefire to end Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian people in Gaza.

“The former House speaker said, without offering evidence, that she believed some protesters are connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin,” NPR reported.

Today 26 January 2024 (after 112 days of carnage), the International Court
of Justice issued a decision /injunction with six "provisional" measures
(available here
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-ord-01-00-en.pdf)
amd will continued deliberation. The six provisional measures requested are
an important win for human rights and could be a game changer even as
Israel tried to dismiss them..... more at
https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2024/01/icj-rules.html