Music: Joan Chamorro presents Carla Motis, Èlia Bastida & Andrea Motis — ‘Doodlin”
UK and Trump are diametrically opposed on the necessity of tackling the climate crisis
Mark Lynas writes: Fresh from the latest disasters on Brexit, surely the last thing the UK needs is a state visit from the world’s provocateur-in-chief, Donald Trump. Trump’s position on Brexit — bring it on — may be divisive, but his denialist and pro-coal view on global heating and the climate crisis is even more extreme and makes him particularly unwelcome at this moment in Britain. The British parliament declared a ‘climate emergency’ in May, while a day later the…
Theresa May should issue a powerful rejection of Trump and the far-right agenda he embodies
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, writes: Praising the “very fine people on both sides” when torch-wielding white supremacists and antisemites marched through the streets clashing with anti-racist campaigners. Threatening to veto a ban on the use of rape as a weapon of war. Setting an immigration policy that forcefully separates young children from their parents at the border. The deliberate use of xenophobia, racism and “otherness” as an electoral tactic. Introducing a travel ban to a number of predominately…
A divisive president landing in Normandy
Rachel Donadio writes: [On the 40th anniversary of the Normandy landings, Ronald Reagan] spoke of how the rangers had scaled the cliff, and also of “a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest.” That line reads differently today, after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where liberation has proved more vexing. Reagan also spoke out against isolationism. “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars: It is…
Trump’s tariffs will threaten GOP’s Senate majority
National Journal reports: President Trump’s abrupt threat to impose tariffs on Mexico doesn’t just threaten to stagnate the country’s economy and raise the price of goods for consumers back home. It poses a serious threat to Senate Republicans, who are fighting to hold their majority in battleground states that will suffer from a protracted trade war with our southern neighbor. It’s no coincidence that most of the Republican senators who spoke out against Trump’s move late last week are up…
Democrats, in California, confront deep divisions over how to handle increasing calls for Trump’s impeachment
The Washington Post reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was just moments into her speech Saturday when a man shouted out from the back of a convention hall stuffed with thousands of delegates to the state Democratic Party convention. “Impeach Donald Trump!” he screamed, uttering a battle cry Pelosi has rebuffed, despite growing demands from her party’s activist wing. “President Trump will be held accountable for his actions,” she said. The I-word never left her lips. Less than an hour…
The U.S. dubbed the UAE ‘a force for peace’ and showered its rulers with weapons. Now they’re destabilizing the region
The New York Times reports: Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the 29-year-old commander of the almost negligible air force of the United Arab Emirates, had come to Washington shopping for weapons. In 1991, in the months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the young prince wanted to buy so much military hardware to protect his own oil-rich monarchy — from Hellfire missiles to Apache helicopters to F-16 jets — that Congress worried he might destabilize the region. But the Pentagon, trying to…
Pentagon tells White House to stop politicizing military
The Associated Press reports: The Pentagon has told the White House to stop politicizing the military, amid a furor over a Trump administration order to have the Navy ship named for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain hidden from view during President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Japan. Trump’s top aide scoffed at the idea that anyone working for the White House might be punished. “We think it’s much ado about nothing.” A U.S. defense official said Patrick Shanahan, Trump’s…
Music: Milton Nascimento — ‘Cravo e Canela (Clove and Cinnamon)’
Kids suing the U.S. over climate crisis are getting global support
Quartz reports: In 2015, when a group of 21 children and teens first sued the US government over climate change, their claim in Juliana v. US was not totally new—youth in Uganda and the Netherlands had filed somewhat similar environmental suits—but it seemed a little strange. Shouldn’t these kids be playing video games or something, doing pretty much anything but litigating to save the planet? Now, the plaintiffs in Juliana v. US are part of an increasingly vocal global movement…
Facebook is an enemy of the effort to avert catastrophic climate change, scientists say
Joe Romm reports: ThinkProgress asked some experts what Facebook’s latest actions mean for the national conversation on climate change. “Facebook is complicit in spreading outright falsehoods and misinforming the public about matters of public concern,” environmental sociologist Robert Brulle wrote in an email. The company’s “refusal to take down this blatant distortion of Speaker Pelosi shows that they are an irresponsible actor, and contributing to the decline of public discourse.” Brulle explained that Facebook’s actions are particularly disastrous since there…
Good Samaritan faces 20 years in prison for giving food and water to migrants
Scott Warren is facing 20 years in prison. His crime? Providing food and water to migrants in Arizona’s deadliest desert corridor. https://t.co/MgHhBjRuTP pic.twitter.com/SArgVEdJij — New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) June 1, 2019
Rory Stewart, a latter-day Lawrence of Arabia, shakes up Britain’s Tories
The New York Times reports: [Rory] Stewart has hijacked the Tory leadership campaign with a surprising argument: Britain must reapply its energy to compromise, between its own angry factions and with Europe, and return to Mrs. May’s withdrawal agreement. This is a frontal challenge to the Tories. The front-runner for the post, Boris Johnson, has vowed to exit the European Union on Oct. 31, even if no agreement is in place. This promise is tailored to a small audience of…
A very moving symbol of modern Britain: Woking mosque
A very moving symbol of modern Britain in Woking mosque. Thank you so much for the hospitality #greenfairunited #rorywalks pic.twitter.com/n2H218792D — Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) May 31, 2019
Boris Johnson, favorite to become the UK’s next prime minister, is woefully unprepared for the job
BuzzFeed reports: BuzzFeed News conducted interviews with seven senior US, European and British officials and diplomats at the highest level of government to interrogate Johnson’s time in office, and what it tells us about how he might perform as UK prime minister. All had first hand experience of dealing directly with him on the international stage. They spoke on condition of anonymity, in order to be candid when sharing their views and experiences. None of the people BuzzFeed News talked…
Trump interferes in British politics and insults royal family ahead of state visit
Bloomberg reports: Donald Trump weighed into Britain’s political turmoil by expressing his admiration for Boris Johnson, the pro-Brexit former Foreign Secretary who’s favored to succeed Theresa May as prime minister. Trump insisted to the Sun newspaper he wasn’t giving a full endorsement to any of the 12 candidates to become leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative party but said Johnson “would be excellent” and would do a “very good job” running the country. The newspaper called Trump’s comments, on the eve…