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“political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.”

-- George Orwell

News and Opinion

Worth a full read and consideration of the ways in which the government attempts to control not only what testimony can be spoken, but also the language that it can be spoken in. It seems a blatant attempt to avoid culpability for war crimes, which of course is a primary object of this entire long-running exercise - eight years so far without a trial.

At Guantánamo Bay, Torture Apologists Take Refuge in Empty Code Words and Euphemisms

The two psychologists who helped design and execute the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” are now at the center of the proceedings in Guantánamo. Last week, Dr. James E. Mitchell testified for four days, and on Monday and Tuesday his testimony continued. His colleague, Dr. Bruce Jessen, is expected to testify later this week. Their appearances constitute one of the most unusual moments in the 18-year history of Guantánamo, because now the men who were at the center of one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. policy are defending their conduct in open court. ...

Last week, Connell, the defense lawyer, pursued questions taken from Mitchell’s 2016 book “Enhanced Interrogation,” and other books by former CIA employees which had undergone prepublication review by the agency. But in a strange twist, a new classification guidance redacts categories of information in those books. This means that although the books contain information that is available to anyone with a library card or enough money to buy a copy, the defense lawyers try not to mention the forbidden categories. ...

Mitchell and Jessen’s multiple roles as interrogator, debriefer, and psychologist, and their status as contractors in the black sites, are questioned by the defense as potential conflicts. Euphemism is a foundation of the torture structure. Even Mitchell railed against some of the words used by the government to describe the program he was pursuing: “You want to watch the use of euphemism for what you’re doing. Don’t be fooled by ‘enhanced interrogation,’ you are doing coercive physical techniques,” he said last week. So there is a euphemism for the euphemism, which in plain English is torture.

As the testimony continues, euphemisms abound. There are code words for locations as well as code numbers and pseudonyms for names. An overlay of psychological terminology tries to give method and reason to examples of physical abuse. These phrases are used: “intelligence requirements,” “abusive drift,” “countermeasures to resistance,” “Pavlovian response,” “learned helplessness,” “negative reinforcement,” “conditioning strategy,” a chart of “moral disengagement.” Torturers used a technique known as “walling,” in which a detainee is thrown against a wall that is described as “safe” because it is made of plywood and constructed to have “bounce.” When walling was used, a beach towel was protectively wrapped around the prisoner’s neck and later became a “Pavlovian” tool that the detainee could be shown to remind him of the suffering he’d endured. This is how torturers speak, cloaking their actions in anodyne language.

During the hearings, CIA cables were either flashed on the overhead monitor if they had been declassified, or remained hidden from our view if they were still secret, recounting the number of slaps, the hours and days of sleep deprivation, the stopwatch counts of waterboard drownings, the rounds of “walling.” The effect is deadening to the observer; it seems part of a bureaucracy of nightmares. ...

On Friday, after many allusions to an October 2001 statement by an anonymous George W. Bush administration official that “the gloves are off,” the word “torture” was finally spoken by [learned counsel for Mustafa al] Hawsawi [one of the five alleged perpetrators of the 9/11 attack, Walter] Ruiz, over objections by the prosecution.

“I know torture’s a dirty word,” Ruiz said. “I’ll tell you what, judge, I’m not going to sanitize this for their concerns.” ...

“Did it matter in your assessment that Mr. Al Hawsawi had been tortured in this many ways?” Ruiz asked. “Did it matter to you?”

Mitchell objected to the characterization of Hawsawi’s treatment as “torture.”

Cohen, the judge, responded, “Of course he says no because he doesn’t think it is torture.”

Ruiz then showed a video clip of a 2018 podcast in which Mitchell said: “We never used the word torture. Because torture’s a crime.”

Deployment of new low-yield US nuclear warhead on submarine a dangerous step

The US has deployed its first low-yield Trident nuclear warhead on a submarine that is currently patrolling the Atlantic Ocean, it has been reported, in what arms control advocates warn is a dangerous step towards making a nuclear launch more likely. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the USS Tennessee – which left port in Georgia at the end of last year – is the first submarine to go on patrol armed with the W76-2 warhead, commissioned by Donald Trump two years ago.

It has an explosive yield of five kilotons, a third of the power of the “Little Boy” bomb dropped on Hiroshima and considerably lower than the 90- and 455-kiloton warheads on other US submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

The Trump administration’s nuclear posture review (NPR) in February 2018, portrays this warhead as a counter to a perceived Russian threat to use its own “tactical” nuclear weapons to win a quick victory on the battlefield.

Advocates of W76-2 argued that the US had no effective deterrent against Russian tactical weapons because Moscow assumed Washington would not risk using the overwhelming power of its intercontinental ballistic missiles in response, for fear of escalating from a regional conflict to a civilian-destroying war.

Critics of the warhead say it accelerates a drift towards thinking of nuclear weapons as a means to fight and win wars, rather than as purely a deterrent of last resort. And the fielding of a tactical nuclear weapon, they warn, gives US political and military leaders a dangerous new option in confronting adversaries other than Russia.

Buried in Trump-Netanyahu Deal Is Effort to 'Torpedo' ICC War Crimes Probe

As the International Criminal Court moved forward this week with its investigation into alleged war crimes committed against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, the White House's new so-called "peace" plan includes a largely unreported provision that would end such efforts to hold the Israeli government to account.

The document, released Tuesday, was widely criticized as a "screw the Palestinians over harder non-peace plan" that lets Israel continue its illegal occupation and a "ludicrous" proposal that offers no path towards Palestinian statehood.

The plan's architect, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House advisor Jared Kushner, suggested Palestinians "take a cold shower" and accept it lest they "screw up," he said, like with "every other opportunity that they've ever had in their existence."

A portion of the document states that "the parties should conduct themselves in a manner that comports with this vision, and in a way that prepares their respective peoples for peace." For the Palestinians, that means victims of war crimes should keep quiet.

The plan states, in part, that Palestinians must take "no action, and shall dismiss all pending actions, against the State of Israel, the United States, and any of their citizens before the International Criminal Court" and other tribunals.

The provision drew criticism from Amnesty International.

"A just and sustainable peace requires a plan that prioritizes the human rights of Palestinians and Israelis, and must include justice and reparation for victims of war crimes and other grave violations. This plan not only fails this fundamental test; it seeks to torpedo efforts towards justice for both Palestinians and Israelis that are currently under way," said Philip Luther, the organization's Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director.

Netanyahu, who was indicted Tuesday on corruption charges and stood alongside Trump as he released the plan, reiterated his condemnation of the ICC this week.

In an interview set to air Thursday with Christian network TBN, he called on global powers to sanction the court over the probe.

Doubts raised over workability of Trump's Middle East peace plan

Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan could make the creation of a viable Palestinian state much less likely, despite the US president heralding it as a “realistic two-state solution”, diplomats, analysts and aid organisations have warned. ...

The immediate official response of many governments were guarded statements, like that issued by France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which noted that France would “carefully study” the US proposals. Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, was perhaps the most enthusiastic of European leaders, with his official spokesman saying: “What the PM has said, and the foreign secretary as well, is that they are serious proposals for peace and that they therefore deserve a fair hearing.”

Behind the scenes, EU countries were also concerned over how to react should Israel take the plan as a green light to annex illegal settlements on the West Bank which Trump has suggested should be recognised as under Israeli sovereignty. “There is an EU position we have expressed previously stressing opposition to annexation and consequences if they do so,” one European diplomat said. “But it is fair to say there is no consensus on what those consequences could be.”

For his part, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, issued a terse but polite rejection, that echoed the French statement pointing out that while he had “seen the announcement … the position of the United Nations on the two-state solution has been defined, throughout the years, by relevant security council and general assembly resolutions by which the secretariat is bound.”

More heated language, was used by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who described the plan as “absolutely unacceptable” ignoring Palestinians’ rights while “legitimising Israel’s occupation”. “The plan outlined,” he added, “will not serve peace or bring about a solution.” Many Arab countries, in contrast, have tried to hedge their bets despite reservations, anxious not to alienate Trump.

France to send warships to support Greece in Turkish standoff

Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has welcomed a decision by France to dispatch war frigates to the eastern Mediterranean as a standoff with Turkey over regional energy reserves intensifies. With tensions between Athens and Ankara causing growing international alarm, Mitsotakis described the vessels as “guarantors of peace”.

“The only way to end differences in the eastern Mediterranean is through international justice,” he told reporters after holding talks in Paris with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Greece and France are pursuing a new framework of strategic defence.”

Mitsotakis was in the French capital on a visit aimed at rallying EU support at a time when hostile relations with Turkey have eclipsed all other issues on the agenda of his near seven-month-old government. Macron pledged France would step up its strategic bond with Greece, accusing Turkey of not only exacerbating regional tensions but failing to stick to its promised course of action in war-torn Libya.

“I want to express my concerns with regard to the behaviour of Turkey at the moment … we have seen during these last days Turkish warships accompanied by Syrian mercenaries arrive on Libyan soil. This is an explicit and serious infringement of what was agreed [at last week’s peace conference] in Berlin. It’s a broken promise.”

An interesting analysis worth a read, here are some highlights:

The painful truth for Saudi Arabia: it needs the Iranian regime to survive

Saudis on Twitter were gleeful and official Saudi media were jubilant, declaring in al-Riyadh newspaper that a new decade had started for the region as Iran’s dark shadow receded. If Saudi officials celebrated, they did so quietly, relieved Suleimani was dead, and even more relieved they didn’t have to do it themselves, but wary of Iranian retaliation. There were calls for quick de-escalation, and within three days the crown prince’s brother and deputy minister of defence, Khalid bin Salman, travelled to Washington DC for meetings at the White House.

This pattern of clamouring for tough action against Iran and then calling for de-escalation has characterised the Saudi-Iran rivalry since the Iranian revolution of 1979. That year is remembered mostly as the moment when Iran and the US became enemies in the wake of the US embassy hostage crisis in November. But the relationship between Tehran and Riyadh was also transformed. The two countries, once friendly rivals and pillars of US efforts to contain Soviet influence in the region, became enemies when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the ultimate leader of the revolution, began to challenge the Saudis in their role as leaders of the Muslim world and custodians of the two holy sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina.

The rivalry has become an intrinsic part of US-Iran enmity over the past 40 years, creating a threesome in which Saudi Arabia plays the role of indispensable counterweight to Tehran. But Saudi Arabia both thrives off this state of affairs and feeds it. As much as the kingdom fears Iran, its status as America’s special friend in the region has become tied to the continuation of the regime in Tehran.

This explains why Riyadh was so angry with Barack Obama for pursuing detente with Iran, worried it would undermine its own place in the region. This dependence has become even more important at a time when the US-Saudi relationship is fraught with tensions over the alleged hacking of Amazon president Jeff Bezos’s phone by bin Salman and the killing of the Washington Post columnist and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. All of Saudi Arabia’s faults and excesses seem to be excused as long as the Trump administration is focused on pressuring Iran.

Brexit: MEPs ratify UK withdrawal agreement

Britain’s departure from the EU on 31 January was set in stone in a historic moment for the nation as MEPs in Brussels ratified the withdrawal agreement before breaking out in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

As the president of the European parliament, David Sassoli, announced the result of the vote, with 621 in favour to 49 against with 13 abstentions, MEPs stood almost as one to sing the Scottish song.

The vote ensures that the UK’s 47 years of membership of the EU will now end at midnight central European time on Friday, after years of troubled talks and uncertainty. ...

Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit party, had left the chamber after being reprimanded for waving a union jack and speaking in terms of his “hate” for the EU, in a notably truculent intervention.

Scottish government wins vote to keep EU flag flying over Holyrood

The Scottish government has narrowly won a vote to keep the EU flag flying over the Edinburgh parliament building after Brexit, despite being accused of undermining the impartial status of Holyrood’s governing body. The result came at the end of a fractious afternoon in the Holyrood chamber, with the Scottish National party government facing heavy criticism for taking up parliamentary time with the flag motion and another debate about independence, which was likewise won by a small margin.

The flag vote, which the SNP secured by nine votes with the support of the Scottish Greens, reversed a previous decision by the Scottish parliamentary corporate body (SPCB) – a management group made up of members of each of Holyrood’s parties – that the flag should be lowered at 23:00 on 31 January, the moment the UK officially leaves the EU. This is the first time that Holyrood has overturned a decision of the governing body in this way. ...

Following the irritable 30-minute debate, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, introduced another motion which called on MSPs to back holding a second referendum in 2020. Sturgeon asked MSPs whether they supported the principle of people having the right to choose and to change their minds. “Given what the Tories have in store, another referendum on independence is not just legitimate,” she said.

UK car output sinks in run-up to Brexit

The End of American Exceptionalism? Study Indicates Failure of US Democracy Creating Wave of Self Doubt

More Americans are dissatisfied with democracy than at any point since records began in 1995, according to a new study published Wednesday, and the number of citizens with a positive view of the U.S. system of government dipped for the first time below 50%.

To observers like journalist Rania Khalek, the reason for such a shift in global attitudes was clear.

"Our systems aren't actually democratic," said Khalek. "We live in a miserable oligarchy, no wonder people are unhappy."

A majority of people around the world—57.5%—are dissatisfied with democracy, the University of Cambridge's Centre for the Future of Democracy study (pdf) found.

"If confidence in democracy has been slipping, it is because democratic institutions have been seen failing to address some of the major crises of our era, from economic crashes to the threat of global warming," said study lead author Dr Roberto Foa.

According to the study, Americans' dissatisfaction with democracy has been on the rise since the financial crisis of 2008:

The U.S. has seen a "dramatic and unexpected" decline in satisfaction, according to researchers. In 1995, more than three-quarters of US citizens were satisfied with American democracy, a figure that plateaued for the next decade. The first big knock came with the 2008 financial crisis, and deterioration has continued year-on-year ever since. Now, less than half of US citizens are content with their democracy.

"Such levels of democratic dissatisfaction would not be unusual elsewhere," said Foa. "But for the United States it may mark an end of exceptionalism, and a profound shift in America's view of itself."

More broadly, Foa said, the dissatisfaction should be seen in the context of rational actors replying in a logical fashion to the questions posed by researchers. If the systems fail, they don't deserve the people's faith.

"Our findings suggest that citizens are rational in their view of political institutions," said Foa, "and update their assessment in response to what they observe."

White House seeks to block publication of Bolton's book

The White House has sent a letter to former national security adviser John Bolton seeking to block publication of certain aspects of his book.

In a letter obtained by The Hill, a National Security Council official said review of Bolton's manuscript determined it contained "significant amounts of classified information."

"Under federal law and the nondisclosure agreements your client signed as a condition for gaining access to classified information, the manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information," Ellen J. Knight, senior director for records, access and information security management, wrote to Bolton's attorney in a letter dated Jan. 23.

Knight said some of the information included reaches the threshold of being "top secret" based on a preliminary assessment. The National Security Council's records division is still reviewing the document, she said, and would provide additional guidance to Bolton once it is complete.

"We will do our best to work with you to ensure your client's ability to tell his story in a manner that protects U.S. national security," she wrote.

Keiser Report: Dethroning the Dollar

Bipartisan legislation could curtail long-running National Security Agency data collection efforts.

A bipartisan cadre of lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would reform the 9/11-era authorities used by the intelligence community to access Americans’ phone records and other domestic communications.

The Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act would narrow Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which provided the National Security Agency and sister intelligence agencies sweeping information-gathering authorities following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.  According to lawmakers, the bill would end the phone surveillance program that would ensnare Americans’ phone records and prohibit the warrantless collection of location data. The bill would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, adding transparency to secretive court processes that decide whether to surveil individuals. ...

In a statement, Sen. Ron Wyden, D, Ore., said the bill “preserves authorities the government uses against criminals and terrorists, while putting Americans’ constitutional rights front and center.” A companion bill has been introduced in the House, led by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio.

Thousands of people forced to live in their cars in California

Remain in Mexico: 80% of migrants in Trump policy are victims of violence

A staggering 80% of asylum seekers sent to Mexico to await US court hearings report being victims of violence, according a survey by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). In one month – September – three-quarters of asylum seekers seen by MSF physicians in Nuevo Laredo reported having been kidnapped for ransom, according to the figures released on Wednesday. Some 44% of MSF patients also reported having been victims of violence in the week leading up to their consultations.

Wednesday marked the first anniversary of a scheme officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), under which migrants seeking asylum in the United States are sent to Mexico to wait as their cases wind their way through US courts.

Under the scheme, also known as “remain in Mexico”, more than 57,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers have been sent to wait in cities along the border – many of which have been plagued by drug-war violence for years. Migrants – who stand out because of their appearance and accents – are routinely targeted for abduction outside migration offices and bus terminals, and held until relatives back home wire ransom payments to the kidnappers.

Trump Is Growing Concerned About Bernie Sanders, While His Advisers Think the Vermont Senator Will Be Easy to Beat

On Sunday morning, Donald Trump’s reelection campaign sent an email to millions of subscribers that came with a dire warning in the subject line: “Socialist Invasion: Bernie Sanders and AOC Barnstorm Iowa.” The note began: “Forget Joe Rogan. An endorsement from AOC is actually problematic.” The rest of the email was an unremarkable recitation of the horrors of a Sanders-led socialist regime in America, but it underscored Trump’s shifting electoral concerns as Sanders surges in the final week before the first caucus in Iowa.

Trump, according to operatives in his circle, has expanded his reelection worries from his longtime focus on former Vice President Joe Biden to the new twin threat of Sanders and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is running for the nomination but has committed to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune to defeat Trump, no matter who is nominated. Trump’s interest in Bloomberg and his money is described by his advisers as “an obsession,” but he has also long been concerned that the populism embraced by Sanders, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, would play out in unpredictable ways in a general election.

Last week, the New York Times reported that some of Trump’s advisers believe that Sanders is a beatable general election candidate and have worked to elevate him, a report that former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign seized on to argue that Sanders is a risky nominee. But the same article suggested that Trump himself disagrees and has been working to undermine Sanders with his public comments. “The president, his advisers say, has been in need of a clear target for months, and he believes he is actually hurting Mr. Sanders. Mr. Trump’s advisers do not necessarily share that view,” the Times reported. The divergent views among Trump and his aides lead to an amusing strategic synchronicity: Trump believes that he is hurting Sanders by attacking him, while the president’s advisers believe that he is helping Sanders with those same attacks — and so Trump attacking Sanders serves the interests (as they understand them) of both Trump and his advisers.

While only one of those prognostications can be correct, Trump’s private fears, as ever, have emerged publicly as well, according to an analysis of Trump’s public comments on the race going back to early 2019. Trump has tweeted more times about Sanders in just the first few weeks of this year than he has since last summer, while he has tweeted slightly less about Biden, even as the former vice president has been central to Trump’s narrative around impeachment. In stump speeches made in January, Trump mentioned Sanders’s name — or, as Trump refers to him, “Crazy Bernie” — eight times as often as Biden. This marks a drastic change from last fall when Biden was a frequent Trump target at campaign rallies, while Sanders was barely mentioned.

Saagar Enjeti: The GOP's foolish attacks on Bernie are doomed to fail

Yang, Tulsi, Sanders alliance?

Joe Biden Wanted to Form an Alliance With Amy Klobuchar. She Said Nope.

Just days before the Iowa caucus and the official start of the 2020 presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign floated the idea of a pact with Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s campaign, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The Klobuchar team reportedly said thanks, but no thanks.

Three Biden staffers met with Klobuchar strategist Pete Giangreco earlier this week to ask about “the prospect” that, on caucus night, the campaigns could organize their supporters to back the other candidate in precincts where one or both would fall short of the 15 percent threshold needed to reach the second round, the Times reported.

Giangreco said Klobuchar wouldn’t go for it, according to the Times, and the campaign later put that on the record. “Our campaign is on the rise,” communications director Tim Hogan told the Times. “We’ve never made caucus deals with other campaigns and don’t intend to.”

In recent weeks, Sen. Bernie Sanders has shot to the top of the polls in Iowa, heightening fears among moderate Democrats that he could go on a run in early primary states. Although recent polling has Biden essentially tied with Sanders nationally, the caucus system played a significant role in Sanders’ success in 2016.

Joy Reid’s Homophobia Proves Rogan Outrage Fake

Huge! @JCisnerosTX is taking on the most powerful corporations and special interests in her bid to unseat Trump's favorite Democrat: Henry Cuellar.

We're so proud of this endorsement from @BernieSanders who has dedicated his career to fighting for working families. pic.twitter.com/IhPTc0f40R

— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) January 29, 2020

Krystal Ball: #NeverBernie rises, it will fail

'Out of Touch' Pro-Israel Group Criticized for Ads Hitting Bernie Sanders on Electability

A right-wing AIPAC-affiliated group is airing ads targeting Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa in an attempt to stop the increasing success of his presidential campaign days before the state's voters caucus to kick off the 2020 Democratic primary.

The Democratic Majority for Israel, a group tied to AIPAC, sponsored the ad.

"This is dishonest, disgusting, and discrediting," said Sanders surrogate James Zogby, founder of the Arab-American Institute.

This is dishonest, disgusting, & discrediting of @DemMaj4Israel. They want to attack @BernieSanders cuz he’s balanced on Israel/Palestine, but can’t cuz Dems don’t support their view. So they use “too old, heart attack, socialist” canards. https://t.co/e6N6wvr9hT

— James J. Zogby (@jjz1600) January 29, 2020

The Democratic Majority for Israel was created in January 2019 as an arm of AIPAC to address the Democratic Party's move toward supporting Palestinian rights, said progressive Jewish advocacy group IfNotNow's founder Emily Mayer.

"AIPAC created the Democratic Majority for Israel because they know they're losing ground in the Democratic Party," said Mayer. "The vast majority of Democrats agree that our country should not give a blank check to Israel if the Israeli government continues the violence of the occupation and to deny Palestinians basic freedom and dignity." ...

"The ads don't focus on any of the AIPAC-front group's foreign policy positions because they know they are increasingly out-of-touch with Democratic voters, so they have to hide behind tired talking points about electability instead," said Mayer.

It's no secret that we're taking on the political establishment and the big money interests, who are now running attack ads against us in Iowa. But we have the people, and our grassroots movement will prevail. pic.twitter.com/77Zxpvn8RB

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 29, 2020

57 Climate Scientists Object After Biden Falsely Claims "Not a Single Solitary Scientist" Thinks Sanders' Green New Deal Can Work

After former Vice President Joe Biden late last week falsely claimed that "there's not a single solitary scientist that thinks" the kind of bold Green New Deal initiative put forth by his 2020 Democratic primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders "can work," more than four dozen U.S. climate scientists responded Tuesday to make clear that just isn't true. 

Sanders' Green New Deal is a sweeping proposal that calls for "100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization by at least 2050" while investing $16.3 trillion over ten years to create an estimated 20 million new jobs, support vulnerable communities and a just transition for workers, and fund a massive infrastructure project.

The Vermont senator has said such a plan is necessary to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

Biden made his comment attacking the plan during a campaign event in Claremont, New Hampshire on Friday, but climate experts like meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus were quick to object:

I'm a scientist, and I think it can work. https://t.co/w2TlbQz4wv

— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) January 24, 2020

Sanders also rejected the comment, telling a crowd in Iowa, "Well, Joe, you're wrong."

NEW: More than 55 scientists sign letter supporting @BernieSanders' climate plan #GreenNewDeal pic.twitter.com/xfRvjei7st

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) January 28, 2020

Proof of that support came Tuesday in the form of the succinct yet forceful letter (pdf) addressed to Sanders by 57 climate researchers and scholars. "The top scientific body on climate change, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), tells us we must act immediately to bring the world together to stop the catastrophic impacts of climate change," the letter states.

"The Green New Deal you are proposing is not only possible, but it must be done if we want to save the planet for ourselves, our children, grandchildren, and future generations," it continues. "Not only does your Green New Deal follow the IPCC's timeline for action, but the solutions you are proposing to solve our climate crisis are realistic, necessary, and backed by science. We must protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we call home."

The Guardian Applauded for Banning Ads From Fossil Fuel Companies

Climate advocacy groups and campaigners celebrated after the Guardian announced Wednesday that it "will no longer accept accept advertising from oil and gas companies," which applies "to any business primarily involved in extracting fossil fuels, including many of the world's largest polluters," and urged media outlets across the globe to follow the British daily newspaper's lead.

Welcoming the move in a statement, Greenpeace U.K. senior climate campaigner Mel Evans said that "for too long fossil fuel giants like BP and Shell, who are causing our climate emergency, have been able to get away with greenwash advertising while investing 97% of their business in oil and gas."

"This is a watershed moment, and the Guardian must be applauded for this bold move to end the legitimacy of fossil fuels," Evans said. "Oil and gas firms now find themselves alongside tobacco companies as businesses that threaten the health and well-being of everyone on this planet."

"For BP the disconnect has been the most glaring: spending millions on lobbying to undermine environmental laws, then claiming to be progressive on climate in ads and on social media," she added. "Other media outlets, arts and sports organizations must now follow suit and end fossil fuel company advertising and sponsorship."

The Guardian's decision comes after Greenpeace U.K. launched a petition last year—now signed by more than 125,000 people—calling for an end to all oil advertising on billboards, magazines, television, and online.

Amateur stargazers capture new form of northern lights

A new form of the northern lights has been captured by amateur enthusiasts, researchers have revealed. ... The northern lights have been seen in many forms, including “quiet arcs”, spirals and corona. But now, thanks to the work of amateur enthusiasts, Minna Palmroth, a professor of computational space physics at the University of Helsinki and colleagues say they have discovered a previously unknown form, a pattern they claim resembles sand dunes. ...

The discovery came about when Palmroth was invited to join a Facebook group for aurora enthusiasts to explain the science behind the different forms of the phenomenon. ... As part of the project Palmroth asked the community of citizen scientists to capture images of particular forms. But there was a conundrum. “Some of them asked me ‘what about these stripes, which form are they?’,” she said. ...

Palmroth said the green colour of the display is produced by excited oxygen, with further work revealing its form is probably down to disturbances in the atmosphere, known as gravity waves – these are the same sort of ripples that form when a pebble is tossed into a pond. ... Details of the discovery are published in the journal AGU Advances.

Also of Interest

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

Intercepted podcast: John and the Giant Impeachment

How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment Against Chevron Lost Everything

Glenn Greenwald and David Miranda: The far-right Bolsonaro movement wants us dead. But we will not give up

One Year into “Remain in Mexico,” the U.S. Is Enlisting Central America In Its Crackdown on Asylum

Top 5 Ways Trump Plan for Palestinians Is a Crime Against Humanity

The FBI Has Been Caught Lying About Seth Rich

New Report Reveals Goldman Sachs’ Crime Wave Under Last Three CEOs (Who Got Obscenely Rich in the Process)

Cities Across the U.S. Are Counting Their Homeless This Week. Here's How It Works.

Is Amazon covering up a massive hack of Ring security cameras?

The Washington Post silenced one of its reporters

Social media giants disappear popular Iranian & Venezuelan accounts

Iraq-Raping Neocon Upset That People Keep Bringing Up The Iraq Thing

The New Class War author: How the Professional Managerial Class ruined everything

During Impeachment Trial, GOP Senators Schedule Blitz of High-Dollar Fundraisers

How the impeachment trial is upending Democrats' race for Iowa

Sanders Campaign Hits Back at AP Story Equating Bernie's Social Security Record With Biden's

Jimmy Dore: Biden Snaps! Pushes Questioner -“Vote For Someone Else!”

Rising: Will Biden's sad ground game hand Iowa to Bernie?

David Pakman: Impeachment update, Trump's Middle East Peace Plan going nowhere

Krystal and Saagar: Bernie breaking through Biden's Texas firewall

Sanders Takes Aim at Corporate Polluters With Bill to Clean Up Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' in Drinking Water

Telescope captures most detailed pictures yet of the sun

A Little Night Music

Roosevelt Sykes - Dirty Mother for You

Roosevelt Sykes - I'm a Nut

Roosevelt Sykes - Rock It

Roosevelt Sykes - Blues Will Prank with Your Soul

Roosevelt Sykes - Miss Durty Gurty Blues

Roosevelt Sykes - Pocketful Of Money

Roosevelt Sykes - Raining In My Heart

Roosevelt Sykes - Mama, Mama

Roosevelt Sykes - Sputnik Baby

Roosevelt Sykes - Hush Oh Hush

Roosevelt Sykes - Date Bait