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This evening's music features New Orleans blues piano player and singer Champion Jack Dupree. Enjoy!

“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

-- Antonio Gramsci

News and Opinion

Doomsday clock stays at two minutes to midnight as crisis now 'new abnormal'

The risk to global civilisation from nuclear weapons and climate change remains at an all-time high, according to a group of prominent US scientists and former officials, who said the world’s predicament had become the “new abnormal”.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that its symbolic “doomsday clock”, unveiled every year, was stuck at two minutes to midnight, the same as last January. The only other time the Bulletin has judged the world as being this close to catastrophe was 1953, in the early volatile stages of the cold war. The reasons given by the Bulletin’s panel of experts included the collapse of arms control treaties, and the emphasis in Washington and Moscow on modernising nuclear arsenals rather than dismantling them, and the lack of political will to reverse climate change.

“We are like passengers on the Titanic, ignoring the iceberg ahead, enjoying the fine food and music,” said Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, said. Since leaving office this month, Brown has become the Bulletin’s executive chairman, citing the imminent threats to humanity. “It’s late and it’s getting later. We have to wake people up. And that’s what I intend to do!” ...

Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin’s president, said there should be no comfort taken from the fact that the clock did not move forward over the past year.

“This new abnormal is a pernicious and dangerous departure from the time when the United States sought a leadership role in designing and supporting global agreements that advanced a safer and healthier planet,” Bronson said. “The new abnormal describes a moment in which fact is becoming indistinguishable from fiction, undermining our very abilities to develop and apply solutions to the big problems of our time.”

A Coup in Progress? Trump Moves to Oust Maduro & Install Pro-U.S. Leader in Oil-Rich Venezuela

Venezuelan general says US-backed 'criminal plan' risks civil war

The head of Venezuela’s armed forces has thrown his weight behind the embattled president, warning that the country could be thrust into a devastating civil war by what he called a US-backed “criminal plan” to unseat Nicolás Maduro. In a live address to the nation on Thursday, the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, accused the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó, the United States and regional allies such as Brazil of launching an attempted coup against Maduro that risked bringing “chaos and anarchy” to the country.

“We are here to avoid, at all costs … a conflict between Venezuelans. It is not civil war, a war between brothers that will solve the problems of Venezuela. It is dialogue,” said Padrino, flanked by the top brass of Venezuela’s armed forces, declaring unwavering support for “our commander-in-chief, the citizen Nicolás Maduro." ... Further bolstering Maduro’s position, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the Venezuelan leader by telephone and issued his first comments on the crisis, which he insisted was “provoked from abroad”, according to a Kremlin statement.

Donald Trump has warned that “all options are on the table” for a US response if the Maduro government seeks to hold on to power by force. His national security advisor, John Bolton, refused to exclude military action on Thursday, but said the immediate emphasis would be on economic measures. “What we’re focusing on today is disconnecting the illegitimate Maduro regime from the source of its revenues,” Bolton told reporters. “We think consistent with our recognition of Juana Guaidó as the constitutional interim president of Venezuela that those revenues should go to the legitimate government, it’s very complicated, we’re looking at a lot of different things we have to do, but that’s in the process.”

He said that Washington was currently trying to strengthen the coalition against Maduro among American and European states. The EU has called for new elections but most member states have not followed Washington in recognising Guaidó, the head of the opposition-led national assembly. The UK however, broke European ranks on Thursday and sided with the US.

The US has left its embassy staff in place in Caracas and ignored the Maduro government’s order for their expulsion. “We’re still there. They’ve been invited to stay by the legitimate government, consistent with their safety, that’s our intention,” Bolton said. The Maduro government has ordered water and electricity supply to be cut off to the US embassy, but the US has warned it not to try to use force to eject its diplomats.

So-Called 'Trump Resistance' Mostly Silent as US President Openly Foments Coup d'Etat in Venezuela

As U.S. President Donald Trump and his hawkish cabinet officials declared that "all options," including military force, are on the table in Venezuela after the White House on Wednesday formally recognized the country's opposition leader as the "interim president," Democratic lawmakers, pundits, advocacy groups, and other members of the self-styled "Trump Resistance" have gone almost completely silent on what has been denounced as an attempted coup d'état.

"There's a deafening silence from progressive Democrats on Venezuela," declared Lucia Baca, a research and policy associate at Colombia Diversa. "Democrats and Republicans may be diametrically opposed on domestic policy but they're cut from the same cloth when it comes to foreign policy."

With the notable exceptions of Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—most congressional Democrats have yet to publicly condemn the Trump administration's announcement of official support for Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido, which prompted current President Nicolas Maduro to demand that all U.S. diplomats leave Venezuela within 72 hours.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Maduro's demand in a statement late Wednesday, referring to him as the "former president" and threatening to take "appropriate actions" if the Venezuelan military does not protect American diplomats. "We stand ready to support interim President Guaido as he establishes a transitional government and carries out his constitutional duties as interim president, including determining the status of diplomatic representatives in the United States and other countries," Pompeo said. "The United States does not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela." ...

Shortly after Trump formally recognized Guaido on Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) declared his support for the U.S. president's decision, calling the Venezuelan opposition "brave patriots." In response to Durbin, Khanna disagreed with the Illinois senator and said that the "U.S. should not anoint the leader of the opposition in Venezuela during an internal, polarized conflict." ...

The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald was quick to compare the corporate media and Democratic Party's silence on or open support for the attempted coup in Venezuela to the praise Trump received from Democrats and prominent pundits after he bombed Syria for the first time in 2017.

An activist with @codepink disrupted a meeting of the OAS to denounce their role in the coup underway in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/SDiHasAHsc

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) January 24, 2019

Gilets jaunes name 10 candidates for European elections

The gilets jaunes (yellow vests) have named 10 candidates for the European parliament elections in May and called for more of their fellow demonstrators to put their names forward. The French protest movement that, until now, has had no official leaders or formal organisation, announced on Wednesday that it would take part in the vote on 26 May after 10 weeks of occasionally violent demonstrations across the country. The list is headed by Ingrid Levavasseur, 31, a health worker who has become one of the most high-profile members of the movement. Nine other candidates, five women and four men whose ages range from 29 to 53 and who come from various backgrounds, have come forward. A communique from the group said names for France’s other 69 seats in the parliament are open to suggestions before 10 February. Candidates will be chosen in a vote by gilets jaunes activists.

Levavasseur accused the French president, Emmanuel Macron, of ignoring the gilets jaunes. “We just want to be heard,” she said. ... Macron is currently travelling around France overseeing a “great national debate” aimed at responding to public anger expressed by the gilets jaunes, but protesters have continued their demonstrations. Gilets jaunes continue to call for demonstrations across France every weekend. In major cities including Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille, these have led to violent clashes between police and protesters.

The new group is calling itself the Ralliement d’Initiative Citoyenne (Citizen Initiative Rally) and has the same initials – RIC – as one of the gilets jaunes’ key demands for citizens’ referendums to decide national policy. “We want this list to be carried by people who have been involved in the mobilisation on the roundabouts from the beginning. No technocrats,” their statement read. ”We must transform the anger into a human political project that is able to bring solutions to the French." ...

Le Figaro newspaper said the group had to raise €700,000 (£610,000) to field the election list of candidates and had about 10% of that figure so far. RIC has not said how it will raise the remainder, but is considering appealing for donations through a crowdfunding campaign. Its programme is likely to be anti-European. The group’s statement added: “We no longer wish to suffer the decisions of European authorities and the diktats of the castes of financiers and technocrats who have forgotten the most important things: the human being, solidarity and the planet.”

Court in Italy rules Matteo Salvini should be tried for kidnapping

Italy’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, Matteo Salvini, is one step away from facing trial after a surprise court ruling determined that he be tried for kidnapping. In August, prosecutors in Agrigento, Sicily, placed Salvini, who is leader of the far-right party the League, under investigation for the alleged kidnapping and detention of 177 migrants whom he prevented from disembarking the Italian coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti.

The ship had been docked for six days at the Sicilian port of Catania as Salvini maintained a standoff with the EU in an attempt to push other member states to take in the migrants. The Catholic church, Ireland and Albania, which is not an EU state, eventually agreed to host the mostly Eritrean migrants.

“I could face up to 15 years of jail because I have stopped the disembarking of illegals in Italy,” Salvini wrote on Facebook in response. “I’m speechless. Am I afraid? Not at all. I’m not going to give up on this. Now the decision will pass through the Senate. We’ll see how it goes …”

Since Salvini is a government minister, the accusations against him will be put to parliamentarians or senators, who will vote either for him to stand trial or for the proceedings to be halted. Salvini said he was confident he had the support of the senators from the League. But the support of his coalition partners, the populist Five Star Movement, is far less assured. One of the M5S’s founding principles has always been to ask for the resignation of politicians under investigation.

In Iraq, political wrangling spawns debate over US troops

From the halls of parliament to the lightning-fast rumour mills of social media, pro-Iran factions are demanding US troops withdraw from Iraq in a challenge to the country's fragile government. The political wrangling is another indication of Iraq's precarious position as it tries to balance ties between two key allies -- the United States and the Islamic republic of Iran.

Calls for a US pullout have intensified since President Donald Trump's shock decision last month to pull troops from neighbouring Syria, while keeping American forces in Iraq.

In recent weeks, pro-Iran parties have organised protests to demand an accelerated US troop withdrawal while affiliated media outlets published footage of alleged US reinforcements in Iraq's restive west and north.

The debate is heating up in parliament as well.

Lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck: Bush, Rumsfeld & Cheney Are a Troika of Tyranny & Should Be in Prison

Brazil accuses US missionary of putting isolated tribe's lives at risk

Brazil’s indigenous affairs department (Funai) has accused an American missionary of exposing an isolated indigenous tribe to disease and possibly death. Steve Campbell, a Christian missionary, entered the area occupied by the Hi-Merimã tribe last month, one of the few dozen tribes in Brazil that has had no contact with the outside world.

“It’s a case of rights violation and exposure to risk of death to isolated indigenous population,” a Funai spokesman said in a written statement to Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Even if direct contact has not occurred, the probability of transmission of diseases to the isolated is high.”

Experts have warned that there is an increasing likelihood of missionaries trying to contact isolated tribes in Brazil after the country’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, appointed an evangelical preacher as the new minister in charge of indigenous affairs.

During his campaign, Bolsonaro pledged to open up protected land and demarcate “not one centimeter” for indigenous people or quilombolas – descendants of runaway slaves.

No One Said Rich People Were Very Sharp: Davos Tries to Combat Populism

Let's see, cattle ranchers are against vegetarianism, coal companies are against restricting CO2 emissions, and the Davos crew is trying to combat populism, according to The Washington Post. It is kind of amazing that the rich people at Davos would not understand how absurd this is.

Yeah, we get that rich people don't like the idea of movements that would leave them much less rich, but is it helpful to their cause to tell us that they are devoting their rich people's conference to combating them? The real incredible aspect of Davos is that so many political leaders and news organizations would go to a meeting that is quite explicitly about rich people trying to set an agenda for the world.

It is important to remember, the World Economic Forum is not some sort of international organization like the United Nations, the OECD, or even the International Monetary Fund. It is a for-profit organization that makes money by entertaining extremely rich people. The real outrage of the story is that top political leaders, academics, and new outlets feel obligated to entertain them.

Heh. Certain reformist progressives are pissed. Apparently they still don't understand that there's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans.

'Why Are They So Terrible at This?': Democrats Reportedly Plan to Offer Trump Billions for So-Called 'Smart Wall'

As immigrant rights groups pressure Democrats to refuse to offer President Donald Trump any money for his anti-immigrant agenda, House Democratic leaders are reportedly preparing to release a plan on Thursday that would provide billions of dollars in funding for more Border Patrol agents, new drones, and other so-called "border security improvements" if Trump agrees to reopen the government first. While the plan would not include any funding for Trump's physical wall, the Democratic proposal—which has yet to be finalized — is expected to offer billions of dollars for border surveillance technology that House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) called a "smart wall."

"If you look at all the things that we are proposing, more judges, more border patrol, additional technology, these are the kinds of things that we are going to be putting forth," Clyburn told reporters on Wednesday. "And I think that they can be done using the figure that the president has put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security, then we see ourselves fulfilling that request only doing it with what I like to call using a 'smart wall.'"

"Walls are primitive—what we need to do is have border security," Clyburn added. "Use technology, use scanners, use x-ray equipment."

No, we wouldn’t. https://t.co/m5Z4kGBHvv

— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) January 23, 2019

Top Democrats have been repeatedly calling for more government surveillance as an "alternative" to Trump's absurd proposal for a physical wall. That rhetoric poses a serious danger to our basic civil liberties: https://t.co/jt77P2eMzb

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) January 23, 2019

According to Politico, Pelosi is planning to unveil House Democrats' new "border security" proposal Thursday night, following a scheduled Senate vote on two competing bills to reopen the government. While the full details of the Democratic "counteroffer" are not public, the Washington Post reported that the funding offered in the plan is likely to be "higher than the levels Democrats have supported in the past, which have ranged from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion."

"Some Democrats suggested they would even be willing to meet Trump's request for $5.7 billion—as long as it goes for technology and other improvements, not the physical wall the president is seeking," the Post noted, pointing to remarks by Clyburn and other top Democrats.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democrats are "prepared to spend a very substantial sum of money because we share the view that our borders need to be secure."

Trump’s brain trust is already rejecting Pelosi’s bid to end the shutdown: “it’s a nonstarter”

The Senate will go ahead Thursday with two votes on competing government spending measures to end the shutdown. Both are expected to fail. One is a GOP measure based on President Trump’s last offer: $5.7 billion for the wall in exchange for protecting some immigrants. The other is the Democrats’ counter: $5.7 billion for border security without a cent for border wall funding, plus a promise to take up comprehensive immigration reform after the government reopens.

“It has zero for new fencing, so it’s a nonstarter,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said of the Democrats’ bill, right before entering the House chamber to cast a vote on Wednesday. “Let’s face it: That message has been consistent for 33 days, and it’s not going to change just because you throw a little bit more money at it.”

The only glimmer of hope for the hundreds of thousands of Americans directly or indirectly impacted by the extended partial shutdown is that some sort of deal could emerge after the failure of those measures. It’s a symbol of the deep pessimism in Washington that simply having two measures for the Senate to vote on counts as a bright spot.

The Democrats’ proposal provides cash for new technologies along the border, hiring more border agents, and even money for repairing existing portions of the barriers along the southern border, but no money for new portions of wall. ... The new offer from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team is already being laughed off by Trump’s far-right brain trust at the Capitol, but Democrats insist Trump won’t get a dime for wall funding while large swaths of the government remain closed.

As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019

....alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber. I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019

We’ve Reached Peak Political Absurdity

American telescreens broadcast an endless theater of the politically absurd. Take, for example, the ongoing saga over the government shutdown and President Donald Trump’s border wall that has been playing out on screens across the nation for weeks. Recently, news channels showed Trump telling reporters he can empathize with 800,000 federal workers struggling to pay their bills thanks to the government shutdown he ordered on the pretext of a “national security” crisis on the United States’ southern border. ... The closure could go on “for years,” claimed the president, adding that given federal government workers support the move, it was better to call his payment stoppage a “strike.”

The following weekend, Trump made another appearance to offer Democrats a “deal” he claimed would end the shutdown and “the humanitarian crisis at the border.” ... His entire proposal was absurdity in its purest form for a number of reasons. To begin with, contrary to what the president would have Americans believe, border crossings have been dropping for years and are now at historic lows. There is also no evidence of anything remotely akin to a terrorist (“Islamic” or otherwise) influx at the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s actually Trump’s draconian policies, replete with the vicious mass-internment of asylum-seeking families and children from Central America, which are the main causes of humanitarian horror unfolding at the border. ...

But Trump and his party do not have a monopoly on the political absurdity that stalks the cable news.

Top Democrats’ claim to find Trump’s wall “immoral” is a case in point. Their party’s leaders have long championed expensive and draconian “border security” measures, including fencing. Wall-building at the border increased dramatically under Bill Clinton, who feared an influx of Mexican farmers displaced by his arch-neoliberal North American Free Trade Agreement. Fence construction also continued under the record-setting “deporter-in-chief” Barack Obama. One recent morning, I tuned into “liberal” MSNBC, the cable news headquarters of “progressive neoliberalism,” that curious mixture of corporate-financial allegiance and metropolitan identity politics that holds sway atop the Democratic Party. There I beheld morning MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle speak passionately against the human costs of Trump’s “ridiculous” shutdown. Ruhle mocked the president’s pretense of empathy with unpaid federal workers. Then, right before a swath of drug commercials, she said that her next segment would turn to “Wall Street, my favorite place.” That’s right, the same Wall Street that has been screwing over working-class people of all kinds (federal workers included) in service to the nation’s unelected dictatorship of capital for as long as it has existed. ...

An MSNBC roundtable last Sunday morning ended with a “Democratic strategist” offering curious commentary on what’s happened to the right- and nationalist-leaning U.S. and Europe over the last two years. Things were going great, the strategist said, under the leadership of Barack Obama, who embodied the best of enlightened Western civilization. Then Vladimir Putin came along and single-handedly ruined it all by passing Brexit, electing Donald Trump and fueling “populism” across Europe. The suggestion begs a darkly interesting question regarding the nation’s reigning “corporate-managed democracy,” as Alex Carey calls it. Who’s more absurd: those who blame corporate-ruled America’s continuing systemic decline on a mythical invasion of Mexican and Central American rapists or those who point the finger at the supposedly all-powerful president of Russia?

Democrats Rewriting Med4All Bill In Secret

'Outrage Spiking': Federal Workers Occupy Senate Building With 33 Minutes of Angry Silence to End Trump Shutdown

Protesting the widespread economic hardship caused by the ongoing shutdown and demanding that the Senate vote to reopen the government, federal workers and their allies gathered inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday for a 33-minute silent demonstration—one minute for every day the government has been partially closed over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding.

"The protest happening right now in the Senate office building is just the start," declared MoveOn.org's Ben Wikler. "Public outrage is spiking. GOP senators are feeling the pressure."

The union-organized demonstration comes as the Senate is set to vote Thursday on two competing measures to reopen the government—a Trump-backed bill that would fund the border wall and a Democratic continuing resolution with no wall money.

'This Is Called Union-Busting': As Teachers Union Approves Strike, Denver Superintendent Wants to Turn Furloughed Federal Workers Into Scabs

For seeking to exploit a situation in which hundreds of thousands of public employees nationwide are going without paychecks as the Trump shutdown enters its second month, the superintendent of Denver's public schools is under fire for floating the idea that those suffering workers could be used as replacements for city teachers who voted Tuesday to approve a district-wide strike. Ahead of the vote, held by the city's 5,600-strong teachers union, Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Susana Cordova told the local press that she was preparing to offer furloughed federal workers substitute teaching jobs for the duration of a potential strike.

"We've got a whole group of federal employees who've been furloughed who are not working or not getting paid," Cordova told NBC affiliate KUSA. "We have attended some of the work events where folks who are looking to pick up extra cash can come substitute with us."

Cordova was planning to offer twice the daily substitute teaching wage to public employees, hundreds of whom have turned to the crowd-funding website GoFundMe.com to raise money for rent and mortgage payments, groceries, and other necessities as President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have refused to take action to end the shutdown.

As local SEIU president Ron Ruggiero wrote on Twitter, Cordova was preparing for a blatant "union-busting" operation in order to weaken the teachers' momentum. "Teachers fighting for better pay are now facing the possibility of their jobs being temporarily filled—and their union's efforts undermined—by federal employees who are themselves getting screwed out of work by an uncaring administration seemingly content to let this particular ouroboros eat its own ass for the immediate future," wrote Rafi Schwartz at Splinter News.

Michael Cohen just got subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee

President Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen just got subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, his lawyer told VICE News in a statement on Thursday. The announcement comes a day after Cohen said he would postpone a planned public appearance before the House Oversight Committee scheduled for Feb. 7. Cohen’s attorney and public relations advisor, Lanny Davis, cited “threats” made publicly by Trump against Cohen’s family, in an email to VICE News explaining his client’s abrupt decision. ...

Cohen’s Senate Intel testimony date is now set for Feb. 12. The Senate subpoena marks the latest shot fired in an escalating battle between Congress and the White House over the appearance of Trump’s inner circle in front of congressional committees.

Cohen’s original planned appearance on Capitol Hill had provoked outbursts from Trump and his TV lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, about Cohen’s family. Trump and Giuliani quickly got personal, targeting Cohen’s father-in-law, on Twitter and TV. Cohen, they claimed publicly, appeared to be motivated by an impulse to shield his father-in-law from criminal exposure. In an appearance on CNN last weekend, Giuliani suggested, without evidence, that Cohen’s father-in-law may have links to “organized crime.”

Members of Congress reacted with outrage to Cohen’s announcement that his appearance would be postponed, and warned Trump that intimidating a witness is a crime.

Kamala Harris Announces Presidential Run With PLATITUDES

Rock on, kid!

Greta Thunberg's Demand to Davos Elite: Act Urgently on Climate

Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg threw down the gauntlet to the global elite gathered in the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum (WEF) this week, urging them to work towards meaningful climate action in order to "safeguard the future living conditions for humankind."

"Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we all have created. But that is just another convenient lie," the Swedish teen says in a video posted to Twitter. The video was also posted on the WEF Facebook page and was intended to be shown to the attendees inside.

Some people say that we are not doing enough to fight climate change.
But that is not true.
Because to ”not do enough” you have to do something.
And the truth is we are basically not doing anything.

This film was shown inside the #wef today.#FridaysForFuture #WhateverItTakes pic.twitter.com/VVAa9x8aGI

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 22, 2019

In fact, there is blame to be assigned, she says, namely to "some companies and decision makers" who have "known exactly what priceless values they are sacrificing."

Corporate America Is Getting Ready to Monetize Climate Change

Bank of America Corp. worries flooded homeowners will default on their mortgages. The Walt Disney Co. is concerned its theme parks will get too hot for vacationers, while AT&T Inc. fears hurricanes and wildfires may knock out its cell towers. The Coca-Cola Co. wonders if there will still be enough water to make Coke. As the Trump administration rolls back rules meant to curb global warming, new disclosures show that the country’s largest companies are already bracing for its effects. The documents reveal how widely climate change is expected to cascade through the economy -- disrupting supply chains, disabling operations and driving away customers, but also offering new ways to make money.

The disclosures were collected by CDP, a U.K.-based nonprofit that asks companies to report their environmental impact, including the risks and opportunities they believe climate change presents for their businesses. More than 7,000 companies worldwide filed reports for 2018, including more than 1,800 from the U.S. ... Most of the largest U.S. companies by market capitalization submitted information to CDP, and the vast majority say the threat is real and serious: Of the 25 companies whose submissions were reviewed by Bloomberg, 21 said they had identified “inherent climate-related risks with the potential to have a substantial financial or strategic impact” on their business.

Climate change isn’t all downside for the largest U.S. companies. Many of those that filed reports with CDP said they believe climate change can bolster demand for their products. For one thing, more people will get sick. “As the climate changes, there will be expanded markets for products for tropical and weather related diseases including waterborne illness,” wrote Merck & Co. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment. More disasters will make iPhones even more vital to people’s lives, Apple predicted. ...

Living with climate change is also going to cost money, which some banks see as an opening. “Preparation for and response to climate-change induced natural disasters result in greater construction, conservation and other business activities,” Wells Fargo and Co wrote, adding that it “has the opportunity to provide financing to support these efforts.” More disasters will mean increased sales for Home Depot, the company wrote. And as temperatures get higher, people are going to need more air conditioners. Home Depot predicted that its ceiling fans and other appliances will see “higher demand should temperatures increase over time.”

Celebrities call on Japan to scrap resumption of whaling

Celebrities and environmentalists are demanding Japan reverse its decision to resume whaling, condemning the “cruel and archaic practice which has no place in the 21st century”. An open letter to the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, criticises Tokyo’s decision to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC), as campaigners plan a peaceful protest march on the Japanese embassy in London on Saturday.

The actors Ricky Gervais and Joanna Lumley, the broadcasters Stephen Fry and Ben Fogle, and the naturalist Chris Packham are among signatories. Packham said: “To the utter disgust of the rest of the world, Japan intends to resume killing whales. We don’t need statements of disgust, we need sanctions that will hurt. If shame won’t turn the Japanese then economic pain might.”

Japan is facing international condemnation after confirming in December it will resume commercial whaling in July for the first time in more than 30 years. Greenpeace has disputed Japan’s view that whale stocks have recovered. Japan has killed 8,201 minke whales in the Antarctic since 1986, say campaigners.

Fogle, UN patron of the wilderness, said: “Whaling is a despicable practice that offends our most basic humanity. I call on Japan to heed the wealth of global voices calling for an end to the senseless killing of whales once and for all.”

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Assange Lawyers File Petition to Get US to Reveal Charges and Stop Ecuador From Extraditing Him

Venezuela - U.S. Again Tries Regime Change Which Is Again Likely To Fail

Military buildup in Arctic as melting ice reopens northern borders

The $5.7 Billion Hole in Shutdown Coverage

BDS will not ‘destroy Israel’

Medicare For All — The Democratic Party Audition for 2020

Ocasio-Cortez Rattles Pundits Across the Corporate Media Spectrum

Kirsten Gillibrand Defends Filibuster: “If You Don’t Have 60 Votes Yet, It Just Means You Haven’t Done Enough Advocacy”

Bad News for Deutsche Bank Is Bad News for Wall Street and Trump

A Little Night Music

Champion Jack Dupree - Schooldays

Champion Jack Dupree - You`re Always Cryin` The Blues

Champion Jack Dupree - Stack-O-Lee

Champion Jack Dupree - Clog Dance (Stomping Blues)

Mr. Bear & Champion Jack Dupree - Daybreak Rock

Champion Jack Dupree - Frankie & Johnny

Champion Jack Dupree - Black Woman Swing

Champion Jack Dupree - Shake Baby Shake

Champion Jack Dupree - Johnson Street Boogie Woogie

Champion Jack Dupree - Stumbling Block

Champion Jack Dupree - Freedom