Readings 18/01/2020

Election, 
Cambridge Analytica and the end of elections, by Nanjala Nyabola

The latest Cambridge Analytica leaks show just how compromised voting - one of the pillars of democracy - has become.

Public Health; Suicide
Black kids and suicide: Why are rates so high, and so ignored?, by Rheeda Walker
"Black youth may be less likely to share their thoughts of loneliness or depression than other youth, which could be a reason for higher rates of death by suicide among black youth"

Militarism Has Become Enormously Popular and Nearly Universally Accepted by HOWARD LISNOFF

Militarism Has Become Enormously Popular and Nearly Universally Accepted

by HOWARD LISNOFF

On December 13, 2019, the segment “188 Democrats vote for Trump’s Bloated Defense Budget” aired on The Read News. Here’s host Marc Steiner about 13 minutes into the discussion of the $738 billion so-called defense “budget” that will stoke the profits of the permanent war contractor class to levels of stratospheric proportions for the endless wars the US now fights and supports: "I mean the people in this country and from many and interesting and good reasons support their military.”

When the antiwar group I was involved in in 2001 gave up the ghost and disbanded in response to the rise of militarism following the heinous attacks on September 11, 2001, I knew the handwriting was on the proverbial wall for the celebration of all things connected to war and militarism. Many go hungry in the US, schools aren’t properly funded, the environment decays beneath our feet, and millions of others can’t get good medical care, but anything the military and its contractors want is okay in this not-so-new world order.

Trade Deals Are About Increasing Protectionist Barriers, by Dean Baker- Counterpunch

Trade Deals Are About Increasing Protectionist Barriers

The impact of trade was devastating for large segments of the U.S. workforce. It cost 3.4 million manufacturing jobs (20 percent of the total) between the years 2000 and 2007. (It cost almost 40 percent of all unionized manufacturing jobs.) Note, that this was before the Great Recession, which began in December of 2007.

... deals like the TPP are largely about locking in rules on items like intellectual property protections and preserving Mark Zuckerberg’s dominance of the Internet. The TPP, like other recent trade deals, calls for longer and stronger patent and copyright monopolies.

These protections are 180 degrees at odds with free trade. They are about shifting more income from the bulk of the population to people who benefit from rents on patents and copyrights, by making them pay more for drugs, medical equipment, software and a wide variety of other items.

...

Biosphere Collapse? by ROBERT HUNZIKER

BiosphereCollapse? (Counterpunch)

(...) global governments plan to increase fossil fuels by 120% by 2030, including the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, Canada, and Australia.

Additionally, over that past 18 months China has added enough new coal-based power generation (43GW) to power 31 million new homes. China plans on adding another 148GW of coal-based power, which will equal the total current coal generating capacity of the EU.
India increased coal-fired power capacity by 74% over the past 7 years. The country expects to further increase coal-generated capacity by another 22% over the next 3 years.

China is financing 25% of all new worldwide coal plant construction outside of its borders, e.g., South Africa, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Meantime, China, kissing goodbye to its commitment to cut emissions, cuts renewable power subsidies by 30%.

Mining and water pollution

Water. Water-pollution problems caused by mining include acid mine drainage, metal contamination, and increased sediment levels in streams. Sources can include active or abandoned surface and underground mines, processing plants, waste-disposal areas, haulage roads, or tailings ponds. Sediments, typically from increased soil erosion, cause siltation or the smothering of streambeds. This siltation affects fisheries, swimming, domestic water supply, irrigation, and other uses of streams.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a potentially severe pollution hazard that can contaminate surrounding soil, groundwater, and surface water. The formation of acid mine drainage is a function of the geology, hydrology, and mining technology employed at a mine site. The primary sources for acid generation are sulfide minerals, such as pyrite (iron sulfide), which decompose in air and water. Many of these sulfide minerals originate from waste rock removed from the mine or from tailings. If water infiltrates pyrite-laden rock in the presence of air, it can become acidified, often at a pH level of two or three. This increased acidity in the water can destroy living organisms, and corrode culverts, piers, boat hulls, pumps, and other metal equipment in contact with the acid waters and render the water unacceptable for drinking or recreational use. A summary chemical reaction that represents the chemistry of pyrite weathering to form AMD is as follows:

"Yellowboy" is the name for iron and aluminum compounds that stain streambeds. AMD can enter the environment in a number of ways, such as free-draining piles of waste rock that are exposed to intense rainstorms, transporting large amounts of acid into nearby rivers; groundwaters that enter underground workings which become acidic and exit via surface openings or are pumped to the surface; and acidic tailings containment ponds that may leach into surrounding land.

Read more: http://www.pollutionissues.com/Li-Na/Mining.html#ixzz5ypIXITXK