Marcus Deon Smith Was Killed One Year Ago by Police. His Life Still Matters.

Sunday, September 8, 2019 Help Truthout continue telling the stories that corporate media outlets don't want you to see. [Donate Now →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Marcus Deon Smith Was Killed One Year Ago by Police. His Life Still Matters.]( Flint Taylor, Truthout One year ago at midnight, a 38-year-old Black man named Marcus Deon Smith was restrained by eight Greensboro, North Carolina, police officers in a violent hogtying. Smith was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly thereafter, and officials launched a full-blown cover-up that continues to this day. Smith's family, along with several community organizations, is continuing to fight for accountability. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Major U.S. Insurer Says It Will No Longer Underwrite and Invest in Coal]( Elana Sulakshana, Truthout We may not immediately consider insurance as a key driver of climate change, but insurance companies provide a crucial service to dangerous fossil fuel projects. But now, that may be changing. Earlier this summer, Chubb, the largest commercial insurance company in the U.S., became the first major U.S. insurer to adopt a policy restricting coal insurance. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Apartheid System in Hebron Persecutes and Subjugates Palestinians]( Jake Batinga, Truthout In the occupied Palestinian city of Hebron, Jewish settlers and the local Palestinians live under two drastically different sets of laws. While the settlers enjoy freedom of movement, the comforts of a highly subsidized economy, and total legal impunity, the Indigenous Palestinians are subject to daily humiliations by Israeli soldiers and settlers, have restricted mobility, a crumbling infrastructure, and virtually no rights or recourse to justice. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Corporate TV News Covered Climate Connection to Hurricane Dorian Only Once]( Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams Even as Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas and crept up the southeastern U.S. seaboard, broadcast news networks were loathe to connect the powerful storm's strength to the climate crisis. According to a study by watchdog Media Matters For America, only CBS aired a segment tying climate change to hurricane activity like Dorian's. NBC and ABC aired no such programs. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Tax the Rich Before the Rest]( Chuck Collins, OtherWords Presidential candidates are outlining ambitious programs to improve health care, combat climate change and address the opioid crisis -- and trying to explain how they'll pay for it. Here's an idea: Whatever spending plan is put forward, the first $1 trillion in new tax revenue should come exclusively from multi-millionaires and billionaires through a 10 percent surtax on their incomes. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Key to a Sustainable Economy Is 5,000 Years Old]( Ellen Brown, The Web of Debt Blog We are again reaching the point in the business cycle known as "peak debt," when debts have compounded to the point that their cumulative total cannot be paid. We need to find a way to pay the creditors while relieving the borrowers of their debt burden. Food for thought: In ancient Mesopotamia, writing off debts worked brilliantly well for two millennia. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [How Cruise Lines Lobby Congress to Block Victim Compensation Bills]( Yue Stella Yu, Center for Responsive Politics For families whose loved ones suffer an accident on ships sailing the high seas, it isn't an option to sue cruise lines for physical or emotional losses, even when the companies are at fault. Efforts to expand compensations families can pursue from cruise lines in cases of on-board accidents have been blocked for years by powerful cruise line lobbyists who have poured millions into Capitol Hill. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Should We Feed Hungry Children, or the War Machine?]( Medea Benjamin, OpenDemocracy The UN recently issued an appeal for nations to pledge $4 billion to send humanitarian aid to war-torn Yemen. The U.S. offered a mere $300 billion -- less than four hours of Pentagon spending. Every dollar of public money for U.S. militarism is a dollar that could fight hunger, homelessness or climate change. What if, instead of military interventions, the U.S. decided to fight global poverty? [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Shifting Blame Is a Favorite Habit of Polluters and This President]( William Rivers Pitt, Truthout Trump blaming businesses for the failures of his economic policies and polluters blaming consumers for the state of the environment are all of a piece: The captain of the Titanic blaming the passengers for the iceberg. Both Trump and the polluters have a great deal of power and money to fling their blame-shifting into the zeitgeist. Please don't fall for it. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Jewish Activists for Justice Must Not Ignore Palestine]( Donna Nevel, Truthout Progressive Jewish organizations across the U.S. have mobilized to resist Trump's immigration policies and human rights abuses at the southern border. However, the principle "Never Again" means never again for anyone, including Palestinians. As some Jewish groups try to distance themselves from those working toward justice for Palestine, we must remember that you can't fight for one form of justice in isolation from others. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Like what you're reading? Support Truthout's independent news and analysis by making an automatic monthly donation. 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