Sudan protesters met with gunfire

12/25/2018 2PM from the ground. We were in a peaceful protest but the response from the government was not in words but in violent tear gas bombs and live ammunition. My sister and I ran for our lives. We are safe but our country needs PEACE. #مدن_السودان_تنتفص #sudan pic.twitter.com/VrYeMscwxs

— Hiba (هبة الله)🇸🇩 (@hibbythekitty) December 29, 2018

El Niño will bring deadly heat in 2019

There is an 80 percent chance a full-fledged El Niño has already begun and will last until at least the end of February 2019, according to the Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The impacts of El Niño have been more severe in recent years because of global warming, and these impacts will be worse as temperatures continue to rise, according to a recent study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“With an El Niño, it’s entirely possible 2019 will be the hottest year ever,” said co-author Samantha Stevenson, a climate scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/12/2019-may-be-hottest-year-yet-el-nino-climate-change/ 

Missing from discussion of Syria pullout

To understand the human condition today, start with energy. If you do not think energy is the top of the chain, then turn off all your electricity for a week.

Energy runs economics (how we feed and shelter ourselves) and whoever controls energy has great power.

The governments of the world, in service of the top capitalists, are trying to get access to the huge reserve of easy-to-drill oil under Kirkuk, Iraq. But ISIS has made this difficult.

The US needs boots on the ground. It used KRG, that failed. They dumped it and used Iran-controlled Iraq government, that backfired. They were forced to use the Syria regime for "stability." During this time they cultivated the PKK. They pumped up nationalism to try to get Kurdish people to support them. This has failed as well.

Now, the US has to regroup. So they are withdrawing from Syria. This will fail also.

What's missing from the discussion? The developed world, the US especially, has an oil problem. There is so much concrete and steel infrastructure that cannot be converted. Many tens of trillions of dollars in debt have been bet on this system. What is their solution? To build more, and to fight more wars.

US crowing about 'beating' ISIS while it grows exponentially in Africa

Extremists are penetrating sub-Saharan Africa at an alarming rate, threatening states ill-prepared to deal with the resulting complex social and security challenge, western and African officials have said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/sub-saharan-africa-isis-boko-haram-al-qaeda-terror-attacks-islam-jihad-extremism-a8689126.html? 

Will Green New Deal successfully address #climate or #energy problems?

Climate, energy, and economy are linked and there is no evidence of de-linking.

Climate solutions can be supply-side or demand-side.

There is confusion about demand. Some assume that demand is what we measure in the market. But what about those who don't come to the market? The Jevons principle means that as long as there is demand there can be no energy savings.

In any case, there are a billion people who are saving up for a car. Cars promote sprawl and growth. Until economy and climate are de-linked, that means a hotter earth [biosphere], regardless of what fuel is used.

What is a good demand-side solution? The money currently spent on oil wars could provide free public transit, free education, and free health care. This would cause birth rates to fall more quickly -- the most effective way to reduce demand.

LA Metro CEO proposes free public transport for all in Los Angeles

Last week, Metro CEO Phil Washington endorsed a bold proposal: implement congestion tolls on drivers to make public transportation free. More: https://farefreenz.blogspot.com/2018/12/la-metro-ceo-proposes-free-public.html

Read more:

https://farefreenz.blogspot.com/2018/12/la-metro-ceo-proposes-free-public.html

https://fptsocal.blogspot.com/2018/12/freetransit-in-la.html?

Tropics losing forest at the rate of 40 football pitches per minute

In total, the tropics experienced 15.8 million hectares (39.0 million acres) of tree cover loss in 2017, an area the size of Bangladesh. That’s the equivalent of losing 40 football fields of trees every minute for an entire year.

Techonfix advocates want to build energy wasting carbon-capture plants while we are at the same time busy killing nature's plants.

Russia and US are rivals, not enemies

KATOWICE, Poland—The United States worked with Russia and Saudi Arabia on Saturday night to sideline climate science in U.N. negotiations, angering nations that say urgent action is needed for their survival.
The three countries and Kuwait blocked nearly 200 nations involved in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change from “welcoming” a U.N. report in October saying that “unprecedented” action is required to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and stave off worldwide hardship.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-stands-with-russia-and-saudi-arabia-against-climate-science/?

The banks and billionaire bond-holders run the world. They are constantly promoting anything that keeps us confused and divided. The propaganda war between Russia and the west is fooling a lot of knowledgeable people. The billionaires know not to repeat WWI, they let proxies fight, but do not step in to help the victims.

What is fascism like?

The brutality of the Assad regime’s detention practices is not new. Forced disappearances, torture in detention, and extrajudicial killings were integral to Hafez al-Assad’s control over the country and his son has adopted a similar modus operandi. Since Syrians peacefully took to the streets to demand freedom in March 2011, tens of thousands of Syrians have been arrested and tortured; thousands reportedly have died in custody. Most of those arrested are “forcibly disappeared” — cut off from their families and loved ones, their locations and fate unknown. The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates that 95,056 individuals remain forcibly disappeared today.

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/418826-syrias-execution-of-us-citizen-shows-need-for-accountability? 

All Luxembourg #publictransit to be #farefree starting this summer

Luxembourg is set to become the first country in the world to abolish all fares on public transport.

A new coalition government is taking office in the Grand Duchy with the promise of abolishing tickets on trains, trams and buses next summer.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/luxembourg-free-trains-public-transport-trams-buses-when-a8668496.html? 

Clear explanation of #jevons, and why #efficiency and #technofix make things worse

Taking this global perspective with respect to the economy, efficiency gains will do the exact opposite of what efficiency policy advocates claim it will do. If technological changes allow global energy productivity or energy efficiency to increase, then civilization will grow faster into the resources that sustain it. This grows the economy, but it also means that energy consumption and CO2 emissions accelerate.

CO2 emissions can be stabilized despite efficiency gains. But this is possible only if decarbonization occurs as quickly as energy consumption grows. At today’s consumption growth rates, this would require roughly one new nuclear power plant, or equivalent in renewables, to be deployed each day.

http://nephologue.blogspot.com/2018/09/is-increasing-energy-efficiency-driving.html?