Sixth Mass Extinction Ushers In Record-Breaking Wildfires and Heat

[t]   Monday, August 20, 2018 [t r u t h o u t] [View Recent Newsletters]( [Tell a friend about Truthout!]( [Donate Today!](   Truthout is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization; donations are tax deductible. BuzzFlash In Afghanistan, Our Need to Rethink the Institution of War [Read the Article at BuzzFlash]( Why a New Fisheries Bill Is Being Dubbed the "Empty Oceans Act" [Read the Article at the Food and Environment Reporting Network]( The Anti-Truth White House [Read the Article at BuzzFlash]( Soybean, Pea Farmers Scramble as Chinese and European Trade Missions Cancel Visits [Read the Article at CNBC]( The Blue Wave Is Obscuring the Red Exodus [Read the Article at Axios]( Criminal Legal Reform Deal Facing Opposition From Left and Right [Read the Article at New York Magazine]( Giuliani Tries, Fails to Walk Back "Truth Isn't Truth" Comment [Read the Article at Politico]( Help Truthout expand our environmental and climate coverage while there's still something to protect. [Donate Now]( [Sixth Mass Extinction Ushers In Record-Breaking Wildfires and Heat]( Dahr Jamail, Truthout: The out-of-control wildfires, record-breaking temperatures, extreme drought conditions and unprecedented floods of this summer have left little doubt among most people of the link between these events and climate change. But for the Trump administration, with its head buried in the oil wells, not even the threat of mass extinction is reason enough to reverse environmentally destructive policies. [Read the Article]( [Creating a Public Bank in the Financial Capital of the World]( Laura Flanders, Truthout: A public bank on Wall Street territory sounds like an oxymoron, but that's exactly what a coalition in New York City is pushing for. Public Bank NYC has launched a campaign to create a municipal public bank as part of a broader effort toward economic and racial justice. Deyanira del Río of the New Economy Project, Linda Levy of the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union and Cindy Martinez of Enlace discuss putting communities over commodities. [Watch the Video and Read the Interview]( [Retirement Income in the 21st Century]( Dean Baker, Truthout: Last week marked the 83rd anniversary of Social Security, and while the program helps many, it still doesn't provide enough retirement income for most households. Fortunately, states have made progress in rebuilding a retirement structure that can provide middle-income workers with a decent retirement income. [Read the Article]( [Jake Tapper Admits CNN "Fact Check" on Medicare for All Was Not Factual]( Jake Johnson, Common Dreams: After nearly three days of constant pressure, on Sunday, CNN‘s Jake Tapper finally relented to the sheer force of the evidence and admitted that his Medicare for All "fact check" -- which aimed to discredit Sen. Bernie Sanders's claim that a Koch brothers-funded study showed single-payer would save Americans $2 trillion -- was horribly misleading. [Read the Article]( [ICE Guards in Texas Separate Fathers and Sons Who Had Just Been Reunited]( Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!: In Texas, armed guards forcibly removed 16 fathers from the Karnes County detention center, where they were being held with their sons after the families were separated at the border and then reunited. Authorities appear to have re-separated the parents and sons as retaliation for organizing a nonviolent protest. [Watch the Video and Read the Transcript]( [Why White House Counsel Don McGahn Has Donald Trump Extremely Worried]( Heather Digby Parton, Salon: Over the weekend, The New York Times published an article stating that White House Counsel Don McGahn has spent more than 30 hours in interviews for Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, which suggests that he had something interesting to tell the prosecutors. Of course, Trump reacted on Twitter -- a sign that the walls could be closing in. [Read the Article]( [Water Protectors Take Action to Keep Pipeline Out of Black and Indigenous Communities]( Jen Marlowe, YES! Magazine: An encampment of protesters in Louisiana is resisting the construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, whose environmental impact would disproportionately affect the poor and people of color. Some of the Water Protectors sleep in encampments in the swamp and directly block pipeline workers' construction access from kayaks in the bayou, among other actions. [Read the Article]( [The Money Behind Neo-Confederate Corey Stewart's US Senate Campaign]( Sue Sturgis, Facing South: This year's highest-profile race featuring a white supremacist candidate is the Senate contest in Virginia, where Republican and Confederate apologist Corey Stewart is challenging incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine. Though trailing in the polls and fundraising, Stewart's controversial campaign has still managed to rake in over $1 million. Where is it coming from? [Read the Article]( [The Militarization of Sports and the Redefinition of Patriotism]( William J. Astore, TomDispatch: Since 9/11, sports and the military have become increasingly fused in this country. Even when taxpayers aren't footing the bill for displays of massive American flags or camouflage-printed uniforms, the melding of sports and the military should be seen as inappropriate, if not insidious. [Read the Article]( [North Carolina Legislature's Power Grab Disregards Basic Principles of Democracy]( Wendy R. Weiser and Daniel I. Weiner, Brennan Center for Justice: North Carolina's GOP-dominated legislature is seeking to expand its own power -- including the power to change electoral rules for partisan advantage, as it has repeatedly tried to do -- by misleading voters into changing the state's constitution. Whether it succeeds will depend on the willingness of both courts and the public to stand up for democratic values. [Read the Article]( [Want to strengthen Truthout and help us plan for the future? Click here to become a monthly sustainer.]( [The Newspaper Guild] Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047 [Subscribe]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy](