#jeff markey

[beatsforbrothels]

SKECH185 - Up To Speed

[culturedarm]

Jaffar Hussain Randhawa unfurls raags on a foggy winter afternoon from the rooftop of his house in Shahdara, Fatima Al Qadiri pairs up with her fellow Kuwaiti vocalist Gumar for an homage to lamentation singing as restive airs ruminate around the theme of unrequited love, and Kalia Vandever finds a sonorous bridge between cosmic jazz in the devotional vein of Turiya Sings by Alice Coltrane and ‘The Anchor Song’ by Björk, shafts of light stretching homeward to dispel the tenebrous gloom. Plus Jane Ira Bloom, Mark Helias, and Bobby Previte, Julian Lage, and Seljuk Rustum.

https://culturedarm.com/tracks-of-the-week-04-02-23/

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Rowaida Abdelaziz at HuffPost:

A group of Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter Tuesday night to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to shut down four private detention centers. The letter, first reviewed by HuffPost and signed by Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), targets facilities in New Mexico, California, Louisiana and Virginia. All of the facilities have faced serious complaints over treatment of detainees. Contracts for two of those facilities are up for renewal this week.

“We do not support a system that detains people in inhumane conditions that result in long-term medical issues, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. We urge that these facilities be shut down, in a step towards building an immigration system that welcomes and respects migrants,” read the letter. The letter, addressed to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Patrick Lechleitner, the acting director of ICE, also demands immigration officials to hand over a list of all public and private ICE detention facilities as well as a timeline for ending contracts at those four facilities. “After reports of inhumane conditions, including sleep deprivation, dirty drinking water, and psychological trauma, independent watchdogs and other experts have recommended that the Biden administration close the worst of these facilities,” Warren said. “This would be a meaningful step toward ending the federal government’s reliance on private detention centers.”

10 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), sent a letter calling for the closing of the inhumane ICE detention centers. It's also why ICE should be abolished.

[kp777]

By Alexander Bolton

The Hill

May 17, 2023

A group of Democratic senators led by Sen. Tina Smith (Minn.) are circulating a letter urging President Biden to invoke his constitutional authority under the 14th Amendment to raise the nation’s debt limit without having to pass legislation through Congress.  

These senators say the spending reforms that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has demanded in exchange for raising the debt limit are unacceptable and that Biden should circumvent Republican lawmakers by raising the debt limit unilaterally, something that has never been done before and would almost certainly be challenged in court.  

“We write to urgently request that you prepare to exercise your authority under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which clearly states: ‘the validity of the public debt of the United States…shall not be questioned.’ Using this authority would allow the United States to continue to pay its bills on-time, without delay, preventing a global economic catastrophe,” they write in a letter currently circulating through the Senate Democratic conference. 

The signatories on the letter so far include Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.).  

The lawmakers warned they will not accept any concessions attached to the debt limit that cut federal assistance for low-income Americans without raising taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.  

“We cannot reach a budget agreement that increases the suffering of millions of Americans who are already living in desperation. At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, we must ask billionaires and large corporations who are doing phenomenally well to start paying their fair share of taxes,” they wrote in response to proposals by House Republicans to increase work requirements for people who rely on Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. 

The Democratic senators warned that Republican proposals in a House-passed bill to raise the debt limit could push as many as 21 million people off of Medicaid and deny nutrition assistance to 1.7 million women, infants and children. 

Read more.

[defjux]

50 of my favorite Hip Hop releases of 2023 i know it's a few months late, but i'm still posting this for whoever might find it useful. maybe there's something on here that went under the radar for you, or something from earlier in the year that you mightve forgotten about. the albums titles are all hyperlinked to the bandcamp or spotify page where you can hear them. i could also do a list for non hip hop albums from 2023 if anyone would be interested in seeing that. as always, i also want to know what your favorite releases were & what came out last year that's still in rotation for you? i'm talking any genre, not just hip hop. let me know! Chart with album titles included

billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps

Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions

Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips

MIKE - Burning Desire

AKAI SOLO - Only The Strong Remain

Fatboi Sharif & Steel Tipped Dove - Decay

King Kashmere & Alecs Delarge - The Album To End All Alien Abductions

Blockhead - The Aux

Aj Suede & Televangel - Parthian Shots

Sunmundi & Āthmaan - Midnight Oil

McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?

Theravada & Zoomo - Waste Management

KILLVONGARD - Life Is a Masterpiece.

Skech185 & Jeff Markey - He Left Nothing for the Swim Back

Onry Ozzborn - BlvckBeachBoi

Defcee & Messiah Musik - The Golem of Brooklyn Original Soundtrack

R.A.P. Ferreira - LILAC DIESEL

Unsung - Hand Painted Model Trains

Stik Figa & The Expert - Ritual

Anwar HighSign & Giallo Point - Whatever The Case May Be

Mary Sue & psychedelic ensemble. - CACOPHONOUS DIGRESSIONS

King Vision Ultra - SHOOK WORLD

Jack Jetson & Illinformed - CAMOGODSKIN

spectacular diagnostics - Raw Lessons

Bloodblixing - Sodom And Gomorrah (Gangsta Edition)

Backwoodz Studioz - High Bias

Fly Anakin & Foisey - Skinemaxxx

yungmorpheus - From Whence It Came

Earl Sweatshirt - Voir Dire

Ja'king the Divine & Javi Darko - Fear & Loathing In Long Island

Tomcantsleep & KILLVONGARD - The Sun is Yellow

Oddisee - To What End

Onoe Caponoe - Concrete Fantasia

Lukah - Permanently Blackface (The 1st Expression)

Open Mike Eagle - another triumph of ghetto engineering

Real Bad Man & Blu - Bad News

El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game

Danny Brown - Quaranta

H31R - HeadSpace

Zilla Rocca & Jason Griff - Stacking Chips

Navy Blue - Ways of Knowing

Wiki & Tony Seltzer - 14K Figaro

Supastition - Every Last Word

Noname - sUndIAl

Skyzoo & The Other Guys - The Mind of A Saint

Nappy Nina - Mourning Due

G's Us - WHAT THEM DOGS DON'T KNOW THEY KNOW

illingsworth - i'm not supposed to be here

Jehst - Mork Calling Orson

Budamunk & Ill Conscious - Sakanoue

[beardedmrbean]

Hawaiian officials attributed the cause of catastrophic wildfires to alleged failures from the state's main power utility company and downed power lines this week after Democrats blamed the disaster on global warming.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the government of Maui County, Hawaii, alleged Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and its subsidiaries failed to properly power down live electrical equipment amid a red flag windstorm earlier this month. Due to this failure, downed power lines operated by the utility company sparked a series of deadly fires on the island, the lawsuit claimed.

"The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants acted negligently by failing to power down their electrical equipment despite a National Weather Service Red Flag Warning on August 7th," Maui County said in a release announcing its lawsuit. 

"The lawsuit further alleges HECO’s energized and downed power lines ignited dry fuel such as grass and brush, causing the fires," the announcement added. "The lawsuit also alleges failure to maintain the system and power grid, which caused the systemic failures starting three different fires on August 8th."

EXPERTS THROW COLD WATER ON DEM CLAIMS THAT HAWAII WILDFIRES CAUSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE

Maui County argued in the lawsuit that HECO has a duty "to properly maintain and repair the electric transmission lines, and other equipment including utility poles associated with their transmission of electricity, and to keep vegetation properly trimmed and maintained so as to prevent contact with overhead power lines and other electric equipment."

However, Democratic lawmakers, a top White House official and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green have all blamed the event, which has claimed the lives of at least 115 people, on human-caused global warming.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE BLOCKING FOREST MANAGEMENT METHODS SAVING ICONIC SEQUOIAS AMID YOSEMITE WILDFIRE

"This is devastating. This is a climate emergency," Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., an original sponsor of the Green New Deal, wrote in a post on X on Aug. 10. "I stand in solidarity with my friends and colleagues from Hawai’i — we must act fast, provide aid, and invest in a resilient and safe future."

"Heartbreaking fires in Hawaii! Scientists are clear that climate chaos wreaking havoc on ecosystems everywhere is the new norm," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a separate post. "We need to take action immediately or else it will get even worse."

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who spearheaded a recent congressional investigation into Big Oil, called on President Biden to declare a "climate emergency" in response to the fires.

"My heart breaks hearing of the devastation in Maui," Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., added. "The climate crisis is here and it's killing people. It’s time for [Biden] to declare a climate emergency."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined in, saying the wildfires were a "devastating view of our planet as we fail to adequately address the climate crisis."

And White House clean energy czar John Podesta called for policies to reduce carbon emissions to fight future natural disasters like the Maui wildfires which he said were "fueled by climate change."

HAWAII WINDS TO LESSEN AS FIREFIGHTERS ATTEMPT TO CONTAIN WILDFIRES; CONDITIONS REMAIN DRY AND BREEZY

"This summer has brought one climate disaster after another, from extreme heat in Arizona and Texas and across the Southeast, to floods in Vermont and upstate New York, to thick smoke from Canadian wildfires," Podesta told reporters on Aug. 16. "And all of us have watched in horror as the Maui fires have claimed over 100 lives — the largest loss of life of a fire in the last 100 years in America."

"To stop these disasters from getting even worse, we have to cut the carbon pollution that’s driving the climate crisis, and that’s what the Inflation Reduction Act is all about," he continued.

Experts, though, have thrown cold water on claims that climate change triggered the Maui fires.  Instead, they said the event was largely a result of years of poor forest and brush management, in addition to declining agriculture. Such conditions, they said, allow fires to spread rapidly and make fires harder to contain. "Blaming this on weather and climate is misleading," said Clay Trauernicht, a University of Hawaii at Manoa professor and environmental management expert. "Hawai'i's fire problem is due to the vast areas of unmanaged, nonnative grasslands from decades of declining agriculture."

"These savannas now cover about a million acres across the main Hawaiian Islands, mostly the legacy of land clearing for plantation agriculture and ranching in the late 1800s/early 1900s," he continued. "The transformation to savanna makes the landscape way more sensitive to bad 'fire weather' — hot, dry, windy conditions. It also means we get huge buildups of fuels during rainy periods."

[saydams]

the usa senate passed the budget that banned all aid to UNRWA and Biden signed it.

the senators who voted for this budget (preventing usa from funding UNRWA) are under the readmore. if your senator is on this list, call (202) 224-3121 and demand they find another way of funding relief to palestine.

Tammy Baldwin Wis.

Richard Blumenthal Conn.

Cory Booker N.J.

John Boozman Ark.

Katie Britt Ala.

Sherrod Brown Ohio

Laphonza Butler Calif.

Maria Cantwell Wash.

S. Capito W.Va.

Benjamin L. Cardin Md.

Tom Carper Del.

Bob Casey Pa.

Bill Cassidy La.

Susan Collins Maine

Chris Coons Del.

John Cornyn Tex.

C. Cortez Masto Nev.

Tom Cotton Ark.

Kevin Cramer N.D.

Tammy Duckworth Ill.

Dick Durbin Ill.

Joni Ernst Iowa

John Fetterman Pa.

Deb Fischer Neb.

Kirsten Gillibrand N.Y.

Lindsey Graham S.C.

Chuck Grassley Iowa

M. Hassan N.H.

Martin Heinrich N.M.

John Hickenlooper Colo.

Mazie Hirono Hawaii

John Hoeven N.D.

Cindy Hyde-Smith Miss.

Tim Kaine Va.

Mark Kelly Ariz.

Angus King Maine

Amy Klobuchar Minn.

Ben Ray Luján N.M.

Joe Manchin III W.Va.

Edward J. Markey Mass.

Mitch McConnell Ky.

Robert Menendez N.J.

Jeff Merkley Ore.

Jerry Moran Kan.

Markwayne Mullin Okla.

Lisa Murkowski Alaska

Chris Murphy Conn.

Patty Murray Wash.

Jon Ossoff Ga.

Alex Padilla Calif.

Gary Peters Mich.

Jack Reed R.I.

Mitt Romney Utah

Jacky Rosen Nev.

Mike Rounds S.D.

Brian Schatz Hawaii

Charles E. Schumer N.Y.

Jeanne Shaheen N.H.

Kyrsten Sinema Ariz.

Tina Smith Minn.

Debbie Stabenow Mich.

Dan Sullivan Alaska

Jon Tester Mont.

John Thune S.D.

Thom Tillis N.C.

Chris Van Hollen Md.

Mark R. Warner Va.

Raphael G. Warnock Ga

Elizabeth Warren Mass.

Peter Welch Vt.

Sheldon Whitehouse R.I.

Roger Wicker Miss.

Ron Wyden Ore.

Todd Young Ind.

[infiniteartmachine]

"painting by jeff markey, forest of the dead in red"

[gillianthecat]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (@uscpr)

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

BREAKING: This morning on Capitol Hill, Capitol Police arrested 52 human rights activists during sit-ins at eight senators' offices. These activists were demanding senators publicly call for an immediate ceasefire for Gaza and an end to U.S. weapons and military funding to Israel.

Human rights activists have been protesting inside these eight senators' offices today: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).

"Today 52 more American activists were arrested after engaging in civil disobedience in defense of the human rights of the Palestinian people," said Ahmad Abuznaid, Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. "The U.S. government is arresting human rights defenders protesting genocide, while arming the war criminals."

Activists are calling out senators for remaining silent during a genocide, arming Israel with plans to send $14.3 billion in additional weapons, and refusing to speak the demand of the streets: "Ceasefire NOW."

As dozens of major cities hold massive protests each day, hundreds of thousands of people of conscience are taking courageous actions to end U.S. complicity in Israel's atrocities. Today's sit-ins at the Senate are only the beginning.

[garudabluffs]

Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 26.

Congress must find solutions to stop death toll in Gaza 01./23/2024

"Ten U.S. senators joined Sen. Bernie Sanders to pass Resolution 502B(c). This resolution is under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This resolution simply asks the State Department for a report on human rights records of any country receiving United States military assistance. This information can help Congress decide if there are human rights violations and if so, Congress can consequently make any changes to military aid and assistance. Only 11 senators chose to vote just to make a request for information.

"I want to thank these senators for beginning a conversation and educating us about the responsibilities of Congress: Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Martin Heinrich and Ben RayLujan of New Mexico, MazieHirono, of Hawaii, Laphonza Butler, of California, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Rand Paul of Kentucky."

READ MORE https://www.gazettenet.com/Letter-to-the-editor-53775709

[caltropspress]

RAPS + CRAFTS #14: SKECH185

1. Introduce yourself. Past projects? Current projects?

Hey, I’m Willie McIntyre Jr. but on stage I am SKECH185. I grew up largely in Chicago, in neighborhoods on its South Side, but I am now a New York resident for the last 9 years. I am a part of a 6-man crew called Tomorrow Kings, a duo called War Church, a duo with producer Jeff Markey and have worked with various labels (Galapagos4, Fieldwerk, ReServed, Backwoodz) over the last 18 years. My most recent project is entitled He Left Nothing For The Swim Back.

2. Where do you write? Do you have a routine time you write? Do you discipline yourself, or just let the words come when they will? Do you typically write on a daily basis?

A lot of my writing is done at coffee shops. Being at home is far too distracting because there is always something to clean or arrange, etc. I usually start my day by hitting the gym and then writing for a couple of hours. There is no guarantee that I will write a full verse or a verse that I love when I write, but I write daily as a matter of improving my techniques or experimenting with new ways to phrase things or deliver lines. I maintain a level of discipline with it in hopes of being able to steadily evolve my style.

3. What’s your medium—pen and paper, laptop, on your phone? Or do you compose a verse in your head and keep it there until it’s time to record?

I will write in my head and in my phone but all verses eventually make it on paper. It's the only way I can finalize and edit and it's the only way I’ll remember the cadence or timing of some bars.

4. Do you write in bars, or is it more disorganized than that?

I write in bar-looking structures but some lines are two bars that I will leave as one long line because it is a complete thought. I do a lot of scratching out and writing new pieces and notes in the margins too.

5. How long into writing a verse or a song do you know it’s not working out the way you had in mind? Do you trash the material forever, or do you keep the discarded material to be reworked later?

There is no real time I can think of. Sometimes you can just tell it's working. Sometimes you're trying to be aimlessly intelligent and miss the mark. Sometimes simple for effect is lazy. I will always perform surgery on a verse and pull out lines that work. I tend to write bar by bar so every bar can stand on its own as a thought. I rework material all of the time and I will mine from old verses if what I’m writing at that moment fits with older material.

6. Have you engaged with any other type of writing, whether presently or in the past? Fiction? Poetry? Playwriting? If so, how has that mode influenced your songwriting?

I’ve only done op-ed type of writing and, perhaps, poetry for school.

7. How much editing do you do after initially writing a verse/song? Do you labor over verses, working on them over a long period of time, or do you start and finish a piece in a quick burst?

I edit verses anywhere from 2 to 5 times and I do different types of edits (edits for flow, originality, accuracy, progress, and ambition).

8. Do you write to a beat, or do you adjust and tweak lyrics to fit a beat?

I usually write in silence. I will listen to a beat and memorize the pockets, tone and drum pattern then write in silence until I have an idea about how I want to structure the song.

9. What dictates the direction of your lyrics? Are you led by an idea or topic you have in mind beforehand? Is it stream-of-consciousness? Is what you come up with determined by the constraint of the rhymes?

The beat will often tell you to write to it. With that in mind I will also hear beats and I will recognize a verse or song that was written that fits it. I rarely keep a stream of consciousness rhyme but that will often be a jumping-off point. There aren’t too many constraints in my rhymes; my chorus and bridge structures depend on how much I can pull out of the beat based on how it services the rhyme approach or subject.

10. Do you like to experiment with different forms and rhyme schemes, or do you keep your bars free and flexible?

Every rhyme is an experiment and exercise of some sort. That is what keeps it fun for me.

11. What’s a verse you’re particularly proud of, one where you met the vision for what you desire to do with your lyrics?

The first verse on “High John The Conqueror Speaks” on my War Church album Gunship Diplomacy. It was one of the moments in which I felt like I actually contributed something new to hip-hop. It was something that only I could have done.

12. Can you pick a favorite bar of yours and describe the genesis of it?

“At a distance, even the greatest man is just an ant.”

While getting my degree, I had to take an art history class in which we spent a brief moment learning about painters who focused on painting scenes of the sublime. The idea of realizing nature and the universe is so much of a humbling experience that I had to throw it in a rhyme.

13. Do you feel strongly one way or another about punch-ins? Will you whittle a bar down in order to account for breath control, or are you comfortable punching-in so you don’t have to sacrifice any words?

None of that matters to me at all. As long as it sounds cool that is all that will be remembered.

14. What non-hiphop material do you turn to for inspiration? What non-music has influenced your work recently?

Groups like Protomartyr, Radiohead, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Moses Sumney, Animal Collective, Arms… A lot of post punk, a lot of comic books. Podcasts. Old Dick Gregory interviews. I have, as of late, been obsessed with watching interviews from the 60s and 70s because there is something to seeing a person speak about something when they don’t know when the next time they will speak is. There is gravity to it that I find important still.

15. Writers are often saddled with self-doubt. Do you struggle to like your own shit, or does it all sound dope to you?

My biggest fear is making something that people can find somewhere else. By the time it gets recorded, I’m confident in performing it in front of a full house based on the quality. I worry about making songs that sound similar the most.

16. Who’s a rapper you listen to with such a distinguishable style that you need to resist the urge to imitate them?

Teddy Faley and my brothers in Tomorrow Kings

17. Do you have an agenda as an artist? Are there overarching concerns you want to communicate to the listener?

I don’t have an agenda but I am very opinionated. I just want to illustrate what being human means to me and maybe start a couple fires along the way.

RAPS + CRAFTS is a series of questions posed to rappers about their craft and process. It is designed to give respect and credit to their engagement with the art of songwriting. The format is inspired, in part, by Rob McLennan’s 12 or 20 interview series.

Photo credit: Fresh Kils

[beatsforbrothels]

Jeff Markey - Bud Billiken (ft. Skech185)

[culturedarm]

The trumpeter Enrico Rava and pianist Fred Hersch interpret the lilting romance of ‘The Song Is You’ by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern, the saxophonist Sam Gendel slips inside the squelching bass and cascading shower head of ‘Anywhere’ by 112 and Lil’ Zane, and Lori Goldston goes long with her Pacific Northwest collaborator Greg Kelley for the visceral strains and gossamer improvisations of All Points Leaning In. Plus Skech185, Jeff Markey, Lia Kohl, Deerhoof, and Vladislav Delay.

https://culturedarm.com/tracks-of-the-week-22-01-23/

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Phillip Jackson at HuffPost:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a bill Wednesday that would give federal and state officials more power to hold police departments accused of bad behavior to account. The Enhancing Oversight to End Discrimination in Policing Act, led by Warren and in the House by Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), would strengthen the power of state attorneys general to launch investigations into police departments involved in civil rights violations if the Justice Department fails to act on them. The bill would also task the Justice Department with looking beyond “traditional law enforcement mechanisms” when providing reforms to selective police departments such as mental health support, civilian oversight bodies, and community-based restorative justice programs, according to Warren’s office.

Warren had introduced a version of the bill in 2020. This newest version of the measure would also revitalize the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, granting an increase in funding to pursue civil rights investigations into police departments and other government offices accused of discriminatory practices. It would increase funding for the civil rights division to $445 million per year over a 10-year period. (For scale, the 2023 budget for the division was $189.9 million.)

Warren first introduced her bill following the death of George Floyd in 2020. That earlier draft also called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to rescind a 2017 memorandum from his predecessor, Trump-era Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that limited the DOJ’s ability to initiate consent decrees on police departments — a key way of stopping bad behavior. (Garland rescinded that memorandum in April of 2021.)

Nine senators co-sponsored the bill: Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). Several civil rights organizations are backing Warren’s new bill, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Urban League and others.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 9 other co-sponsors in the Senate are supporting the Enhancing Oversight to End Discrimination in Policing Act to strengthen police accountability. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) is pushing this in the House.

[kp777]

By Jake Johnson

Common Dreams

July 31, 2023

"Thanks to the illegal lies of the fossil fuel industry, climate change is wreaking catastrophic damage upon the United States," four progressive U.S. senators write in a new letter.

A group of progressive U.S. senators on Monday urged President Joe Biden's Justice Department to take legal action against the fossil fuel industry over its deliberate efforts to "mislead consumers and discredit climate science in pursuit of massive profits."

"The actions of ExxonMobil, Shell, and potentially other fossil fuel companies represent a clear violation of federal racketeering laws, truth in advertising laws, consumer protection laws, and potentially other laws, and the department must act swiftly to hold them accountable for their unlawful actions," reads a letter that Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The senators pointed to recently unveiled records that show Shell knew as soon as the early 1970s that burning fossil fuels could cause climate change—knowledge that was not reflected in their public messaging and advertising. Exxon also knew about the link between fossil fuels and climate change in the 1970s but publicly cast doubt on the connection and funded groups peddling climate denial.

"Despite these companies' knowledge about climate change and the role their industry was playing in driving carbon emissions, they chose to participate in a decadeslong, carefully coordinated campaign of misinformation to obfuscate climate science and convince the public that fossil fuels are not the primary driver of climate change," the senators wrote in their letter to Garland.

"To coordinate their illegal misinformation campaign, the fossil fuel industry funded a multimillion-dollar plan through the American Petroleum Institute that sought to make climate change a 'non-issue,'" the senators continued. "According to this plan, 'victory will be achieved' when 'recognition of the uncertainties [in climate science] become part of the 'conventional wisdom.' Exxon, whose climate predictions from the 1970s have proved remarkably correct, was a primary contributor to this plan."

"Like with Big Tobacco, the fossil fuel industry's illegal, coordinated campaign of misinformation has proven tremendously profitable."

The oil and gas industry's efforts to mislead the public about climate change "bears a striking resemblance" to the tobacco industry's campaign of lies about the dangers of cigarettes, the senators argued. In 2006, major U.S. tobacco companies were found guilty of violating civil racketeering laws and making deceptive statements about their products.

"Both industries have used the same public relations firms and researchers since the 1950s," the senators wrote Monday. "Like with Big Tobacco, the fossil fuel industry's illegal, coordinated campaign of misinformation has proven tremendously profitable. From 1990 to 2019, the six largest private fossil fuel companies made $2.4 trillion in profits."

"Thanks to the illegal lies of the fossil fuel industry, climate change is wreaking catastrophic damage upon the United States," the senators added. "Floods, droughts, extreme weather disturbances, and wildfires are causing unprecedented damage. Deloitte estimates that unchecked climate change, driven by the fossil fuel industry, could cost the United States $14.5 trillion over the next 50 years... Polluters must pay."

Dozens of U.S. cities and states have sued the oil and gas industry in recent years, part of a growing global wave of climate lawsuits aimed at holding fossil fuel giants accountable in the face of worsening extreme weather and government inaction.

The Biden Justice Department recently filed a Supreme Court brief siding with local governments in Colorado in a climate lawsuit against oil companies, but the administration has yet to take legal action of its own.

In their letter on Monday, the senators implored the Justice Department to "join the fight and work with partners at the Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcement agencies to file suits against all those who participated in the fossil fuel industry's illegal conspiracy of lies and deception under federal racketeering laws, truth in advertising laws, consumer protection laws, and any other applicable federal law."

"The future of our planet depends on it," they wrote.

[phantasm-masquerade]

these are the only 11 Senators who voted in favor of ending arms shipments to Israel

Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) [proposed resolution] Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico) Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) Laphonza Butler (D-California) Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i)