A Life of Incalculable Harm: David Koch (1940-2019) | News & Views

A daily roundup of progressive headlines, opinion, and analysis [Browser View](1f9d0/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) | 8/23/19 [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] The corporate media would like nothing more than to have Common Dreams disappear and never come back. And if we were just another for-profit news outlet, they could buy us out or cut off our advertising. But as long as we have you, our grassroots donors, we will never get bought out or shut down. [Our crucial Summer Campaign drive has a fundraising goal of $50,000. Will you donate to help make sure we have the funding we need to keep standing up to the powerful forces who wish we didn't exist?](1f9d0/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [DONATE NOW](1f9d0/ct2_1/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [] News & Views | 8/23/19 [] Feature... [] [After Life of Incalculable Harm, Billionaire Climate Denialist and Right-Wing Villain David Koch Dead at 79](1f9d0/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [David Koch at the 2015 Defending the American Dream Summit at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.](1f9d0/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Eoin Higgins, staff writer "Death is an escape hatch for David Koch while the rest of us are left scrambling for the emergency brake before we go over the cliff." [] [] News... [] [Despite Massive Police Lockdown, Protesters Vow to Offer 'Radical Solutions' to Counter G7 Failures](1f9d0/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Oxfam activists with a big head with the effigy of Shinzo Abe (C) perform during a demonstration in Biarritz, France on August 23, 2019, on the eve of the Group of Seven (G7) summit.](1f9d0/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Andrea Germanos, staff writer "If they were really interested in building a fairer world, surely the G7 would not need to put the whole region of France into lockdown, with thousands of police and 'unprecedented' levels of security." --------------------------------------------------------------- ['Our Lungs Are on Fire': Climate Campaigners Rally at Brazilian Embassies to Protest Destruction of Amazon Rainforest](1f9d0/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) 1f9d0/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri by Jake Johnson, staff writer "We need governments around the world to speak up against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro—and put pressure on him to stop these devastating fires and protect the Amazon." --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump Mulling 'Uniquely Dystopian' Proposal to Use AI to Identify Mental Health Issues as Risk Factors for Gun Violence](1f9d0/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) 1f9d0/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri by Julia Conley, staff writer In keeping with his insistence that people with mental illnesses, and not the wide availability of guns, are to blame for the epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings in the U.S., President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a new project aimed at detecting mental health issues, suggesting that doing so could stop a shooting before it happens. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [Common Dreams is fueled by readers, like you. We can’t fall short -- our survival depends on it. Make sure Common Dreams keeps bringing you the news that matters -- please pitch in today.](1f9d0/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [I Believe in Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [] [Warnings of Grave Climate and Human Rights Impact as US Export-Import Bank Approves $5 Billion for Natural Gas Project in Mozambique](1f9d0/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) 1f9d0/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri by Jake Johnson, staff writer "If there is a project with serious alarm bells, it's this one." --------------------------------------------------------------- [After Handing Rich $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut, Trump Reportedly Considering Slashing Medicare and Social Security as 'Second-Term Project'](1f9d0/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) 1f9d0/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri by Jake Johnson, staff writer "Mr. Trump, you are not going to have a second term," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders in response to the president's reported plan --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sanders Campaign Co-Chair Nina Turner Calls for All Democratic Candidates to Unite Against DNC Over #ClimateDebate](1f9d0/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Members of the youth-led Sunrise Movement protested at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting as the Resolutions Committee voted against holding a climate-specific 2020 debate. (Photo: Steve Rhodes)](1f9d0/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Jon Queally, staff writer "If all the Democratic presidential candidates say to the DNC, 'Let's have a debate or a forum about climate change'—what are they gonna do, kick out every single one of them?" --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More News](1f9d0/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [] Views... [] [When Reporting on Global Crises Like the Amazon Fires, the Media Needs to Focus on Who’s Fighting Them](1f9d0/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [ Corporate media addressing modern day crises like the Amazon fires will never do them anything approaching justice. (Photo: Getty)](1f9d0/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Janine Jackson It doesn’t matter so much how many reports corporate media write; if the same people stay at the center of them, the story won’t change. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Resist Locally, Renew Globally](1f9d0/ct22_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [To restore localized structures, we will need to enact a series of systemic changes to the way the global economy functions. (Photo: John Benford/Aurora Photos/Getty Images)](1f9d0/ct23_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Helena Norberg-Hodge Resistance to corporate rule at the policy level will need to be coupled with the generation of alternatives from below, to fill the gaps left by the departing old system. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Let's Stop Trying to Predict Who Can Beat Trump](1f9d0/ct24_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Here’s a novel idea: Voters in the primaries should pick a candidate they truly like, whose policies they are excited about, whose ideas they feel will best help the nation. (Photo: Matt Rourke / AP) ](1f9d0/ct25_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Sonali Kolhatkar Jill Biden’s tacit admission that her husband stands for nothing much beyond a vague idea of electability could hand the election to Trump. --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Amazon Is Burning Because the World Eats So Much Meat](1f9d0/ct26_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [A satellite image from NASA shows the fires raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in August 2019.](1f9d0/ct27_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Eliza Mackintosh And if saving the rainforest isn't enough to convince carnivores to stop eating Brazilian beef—the greenhouse gas emissions the cattle create may be. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Is a Nationally Widespread New Voting System Ready for the 2020 Elections?](1f9d0/ct28_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Election integrity activists have criticized this approach for redefining what constitutes a paper ballot by replacing a hand-marked record with a computer-marked record. (Photo: CHUCK BURTON / ASSOCIATED PRESS)](1f9d0/ct29_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Steven Rosenfeld An independent audit in Maryland raises key questions. --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Terrifying Legacy of David Koch](1f9d0/ct30_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [The Kochs were also key players in the successful effort to beat back a cap-and-trade bill in 2010, the closest the U.S. government has ever come to any kind of emissions policy. (Illustrated | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)](1f9d0/ct31_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) by Ryan Cooper David Koch was one of the most powerful people in the world over the last three or so decades, and he did his level best to stymie any effort to stop the biggest threat to human society. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More Views](1f9d0/ct32_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [] Newswire... [] [350 Action Responds to Nebraska Decision to Uphold KXL Pipeline Route, Calls on Presidential Candidates To Take #NoKXL Pledge](1f9d0/ct33_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Coalition Outraged Over Nebraska Supreme Court Decision and Committed to Fight KXL](1f9d0/ct34_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [As Amazon burns, Brazilians Disrupt Minister of the Environment Presentation Demanding Climate Action](1f9d0/ct35_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [G7: Johnson to Put Britain on Path to Devastating Trade Deal With Trump](1f9d0/ct36_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Law that Ignores Landowners’ Property Rights, Indigenous Sovereignty in Flawed Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline Route](1f9d0/ct37_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [More Newswire...](1f9d0/ct38_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [] [Share this newsletter with a friend](1f9d0/ct39_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) [] [Donate](1f9d0/ct40_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcqwXUQ9Ri) --------------------------------------------------------------- Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams, PO Box 443, Portland, ME 04112, USA Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. 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