How's everyone enjoying their "Global Warming"?

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Land activist murdered in Brazil after refusing to testify against Dorothy Stang's successor [In-Depth]

Marcio Rodrigues dos Reis, a land activist murdered in Brazil, in an undated photo. (Credit: Courtesy of CPT)


SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- Marcio Rodrigues dos Reis's murder on Dec. 4 in the Amazonian city of Anapu was the 15th case of a peasant being killed in the region due to land conflicts since 2015, according to the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), which is affiliated with Brazil's National Bishops' Conference.

Anapu has been one of the epicenters of violence against the rural poor in the Amazon in the past few decades and is the city where the American-born nun Dorothy Stang was murdered by gunmen working for local ranchers in 2005.

Reis, 33, was working as a motorcycle taxi driver when he was stabbed by a passenger in his neck. The murderer hasn't been found.

Reis was a landless rural worker and in 2016 had taken part in the occupation of a farm in Anapu, along with dozens of families. The occupants demanded possession of the territory and claimed that it had been illegally taken from the Brazilian State by a local farmer. The governmental land agency recognized their claim and filed a lawsuit in order to recover the farm, but a higher court's final decision is still pending.

After the peasants' movement showed no signs of ending, Reis was charged with several crimes and imprisoned for nine months in 2017. The local CPT coordinator, Father José Amaro Lopes de Sousa, was accused of being the leader of the occupation and was also arrested for 92 days in the beginning of 2017. Amaro worked for 15 years with Stang defending landless peasants and the local environment and is considered her successor.

"Reis was the main defense witness in the case against Father Amaro. Both the local ranchers and the police pressed him to testify against Father Amaro, so he would be convicted. But Reis never did so and kept his initial version that Father Amaro is innocent," said José Batista Afonso, the priest's lawyer, who is also a member of the CPT.

According to Afonso, the evidence gathered by the prosecutors against Amaro is "weak" and he will probably be found innocent in the first half of 2020, when a decision is scheduled to be announced. If Reis had changed his story at the police's urging and testified against Amaro, it would have effectively silenced the priest and put an end to his work in the region, Afonso claimed.

"That's why they hated him so much," the lawyer told Crux.

[...]

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+


CBS This Morning @CBSThisMorning [Video: 7 min]

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Climate alarmists always put their predictions at some point in the future--20 years from now, 30 years from now, 50 years from now, by the end of the century. This way, when they wind up being wrong their predictions will have been forgotten so they don't have to own up to the fact that they did not know what they were talking about.

The climate is supposed to change--deal with it.

[Zarathustra]

Glacier National Park Quietly Removes Its 'Gone by 2020' Signs . . . because the glaciers aren't gone. In fact, some of its biggest glaciers are growing, as much as 25% in the past decade.

In recent years the National Park Service prominently featured brochures, signs and films which boldly proclaimed that all glaciers at GNP were melting away rapidly. But now officials at GNP seem to be scrambling to hide or replace their previous hysterical claims while avoiding any notice to the public that the claims were inaccurate.

. . .

A common trick used by the National Park Service at GNP is to display old black-and-white photos of glaciers from bygone years (say, "1922") next to photos of the same glaciers taken in more recent years showing the glaciers much diminished (say, "2006"). Anyone familiar with glaciers in the northern Rockies knows that glaciers tend to grow for nine months each winter and melt for three months each summer. Thus, such photo displays without precise calendar dates may be highly deceptive.

. . .

The 'gone by 2020' claims were repeated in the New York Times, National Geographic, and other international news sources. But no mainstream news outlet has done any meaningful reporting regarding the apparent stabilization and recovery of the glaciers in GNP over the past decade. Even local Montana news sources such as The Missoulian, Billings Gazette and Bozeman Daily Chronicle have remained utterly silent regarding this story.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

We are entering the time when many predictions from the 90s are going to proven wrong. It is our duty to report on every story where the lies of the alarmists are proven to be lies.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+


Tony Annett @tonyannett | Twitter

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+


David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells | Twitter

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I disagree with his assessment. Rational people will still continue to realize that "climate change" is not the global catastrophe alarmists keep screeching that it will be.

[Rawedge Rim]

I disagree with his assessment. Rational people will still continue to realize that "climate change" is not the global catastrophe alarmists keep screeching that it will be.

not to mention that I believe at least a few people on this planet or at least slightly smarter and more intelligent than dinosaurs. Humankind will survive climate change, just like they survived the ice age. We could probably survive a "dinosaur killer" from space (though might be a return to the stone age for a while)

[SoulBiter]

I disagree with his assessment. Rational people will still continue to realize that "climate change" is not the global catastrophe alarmists keep screeching that it will be.

not to mention that I believe at least a few people on this planet or at least slightly smarter and more intelligent than dinosaurs. Humankind will survive climate change, just like they survived the ice age. We could probably survive a "dinosaur killer" from space (though might be a return to the stone age for a while)

Absolutely accurate!

[Hashi Lebwohl]

We could probably survive a "dinosaur killer" from space (though might be a return to the stone age for a while)

It wouldn't even have to be an astronomical event. Some evidence seems to suggest that human beings encontered a "genetic bottleneck" about 70,000 years ago, about the time a supervolacno erupted (I think it was Toba). The relative lack of genetic diversity which exists among humans today means that an event occurred which caused a lot our long-distant ancestors to die off--we are the descendants of lottery winners.

If such an event occurred, though, it might still take two or three generations before the survivors forget how to read many of the languages whose writings manage to survive. Technological knowledge would disappear almost overnight--do *you* know how to build a computer? I don't have the soldering equipment for it....but my father does. Or did, at one time. Do you know how to correctly build a brick wall? I know how to *make* bricks, provided I can get the kiln hot enough, but I don't have plumb line. All things considered, libraries would become the most valuable and important places on the planet.

[Rawedge Rim]

We could probably survive a "dinosaur killer" from space (though might be a return to the stone age for a while)

It wouldn't even have to be an astronomical event. Some evidence seems to suggest that human beings encontered a "genetic bottleneck" about 70,000 years ago, about the time a supervolacno erupted (I think it was Toba). The relative lack of genetic diversity which exists among humans today means that an event occurred which caused a lot our long-distant ancestors to die off--we are the descendants of lottery winners.

If such an event occurred, though, it might still take two or three generations before the survivors forget how to read many of the languages whose writings manage to survive. Technological knowledge would disappear almost overnight--do *you* know how to build a computer? I don't have the soldering equipment for it....but my father does. Or did, at one time. Do you know how to correctly build a brick wall? I know how to *make* bricks, provided I can get the kiln hot enough, but I don't have plumb line. All things considered, libraries would become the most valuable and important places on the planet.

all that flamable material just waiting for the campfire to keep my ass warm

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+


Matthew Walther @matthewwalther | Twitter

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

The anti-Greta: A conservative think tank takes on the global phenomenon [In-Depth]

Naomi Seibt poses for a portrait near her home in Munster, Germany. Seibt, 19, uses YouTube to denounce "climate alarmism," countering the arguments of young climate activist Greta Thunberg. (Sebastien Van Malleghem for The Washington Post)


How a group allied with the Trump administration is paying a German teen to question established climate science.


For climate skeptics, it's hard to compete with the youthful appeal of global phenomenon Greta Thunberg. But one U.S. think tank hopes it's found an answer: the anti-Greta.

Naomi Seibt is a 19-year-old German who, like Greta, is blond, eloquent and European. But Naomi denounces "climate alarmism," calls climate consciousness "a despicably anti-human ideology," and has even deployed Greta's now famous "How dare you?" line to take on the mainstream German media.

"She's a fantastic voice for free markets and for climate realism," said James Taylor, director of the Arthur B. Robinson Center for Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute, an influential libertarian think tank in suburban Chicago that has the ear of the Trump administration.

In December, Heartland headlined Naomi at its forum at the UN climate conference in Madrid, where Taylor described her as "the star" of the show. Last month, Heartland hired Naomi as the young face of its campaign to question the scientific consensus that human activity is causing dangerous global warming.

[...]

Graham Brookie directs the Digital Forensic Research Lab, an arm of the nonprofit Atlantic Council that works to identify and expose disinformation. While the campaign "is not outright disinformation," Brookie said in an email, it "does bear resemblance to a model we use called the 4d's -- dismiss the message, distort the facts, distract the audience, and express dismay at the whole thing."

Brookie added: "The tactic is intended to create an equivalency in spokespeople and message. In this case, it is a false equivalency between a message based in climate science that went viral organically and a message based in climate skepticism trying to catch up using paid promotion."

Naomi said her political activism was sparked a few years ago when she began asking questions in school about Germany's liberal immigration policies. She said the backlash from teachers and other students hardened her skepticism about mainstream German thinking. More recently, she said that watching young people joining weekly "Fridays For Future" protests inspired by Greta helped spur her opposition to climate change activism.

[...]

In addition to climate change, Naomi echoes far-right skepticism about feminism and immigration. The German media have described her as sympathetic to the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), the biggest opposition party in parliament, whose leaders have spoken of fighting "an invasion of foreigners." Naomi says she is not a member of AfD -- she describes herself as libertarian -- but acknowledges speaking at a recent AfD event.

[...]

Why would an American think tank want to get involved in German politics? Because it worries that Berlin's strong stance on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions could be contagious, according to a recent investigation aired on German television.

For two decades, Germany has been a leader in pressing other nations to curb carbon output and shift to renewable energy. Though it is falling short of its ambitious goals, Germany has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions this year by 40 percent compared to 1990 -- and by up to 95 percent by mid-century.

[...]

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Both sides are now exploiting young people. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

[Avatar]

There are two types...one type truly and honestly believes that in order to save the world we must / must not do certain things.

The other is just interested in how they can make money from either side, either via existing vested interests like oil etc. or via the equally bullshit "green new deal" which is just green-washed monopoly capitalism with different capitalist monopolists on-board.

Neither is likely to be ashamed by anything that serves their ends.

--A

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Brazilian church commission examines mining's impact on local communities

Yanomami Indians follow agents of Brazil's environmental agency during an operation against illegal gold mining on indigenous land in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The Brazilian bishops' conference has established a commission to assist dioceses and prelatures in areas where mining operations are harming communities and the environment. (Credit: Bruno Kelly/Reuters via CNS.)


SAO PAULO, Brazil -- The Brazilian bishops' conference has established a commission to assist dioceses and prelatures in areas where mining operations are harming communities and the environment.

Meeting since December, the Special Commission on Mining and Integral Ecology is preparing to address Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's plan to allow mining and other development projects on indigenous lands and elsewhere.

Studies have shown that indigenous and other traditional peoples are among the groups most vulnerable to widespread mining operations.

"About 25 percent of the indigenous lands and other reservations in the Amazon have been already registered by several mining companies" for extraction, Father Dario Bossi, a commission member, told Catholic News Service.

The commission emerged from a working group established by the bishops in 2017 to study the consequences of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil and to map the rising number of communities impacted by extractive industries.

At the time, Brazil was continuing to recover from the aftermath of the November 2015 collapse of the Mariana dam, which caused millions of gallons of toxic fluid and mine tailings to spill into rivers and nearby communities. The collapse killed 19 people and devastated a large territory.

The working group, led by Bishop Sebastiao Lima Duarte of Caxias do Maranhao, organized meetings among bishops and community residents to document conflicts with mining operations. The encounters led to a theological-pastoral reflection that was presented during the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.

As the meetings continued, a second tailings dam collapsed in January 2019 in Brumadinho, causing more than 250 deaths.

"The crimes of Mariana and Brumadinho ... are a tragic confirmation of the structural violence which is intrinsic to this model," Bossi said.

The commission's initial research demonstrated that conflicts between mining ventures and communities exist in at least 60 locales and that persecution of activists who oppose extractive operations was increasing.

"Brazil has always had an economy strongly based on extractivism," Bossi explained. "The current mining model allows a reckless and usually irresponsible organization of extractivist activities. There are numerous tailings dams in critical situation in the country, with serious risks of collapse."

[..]

Despite the disasters, the church commission on mining does not oppose every kind of mineral exploitation, Bossi said, but considers the "current rates of extraction" to be "unsustainable" and that they constitute a violation of "human and environmental rights."

Citing Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home, and the understanding that social and environmental rights are connected, Bossi said the commission advocates for the protection of traditional peoples. The commission, he said, believes local communities should always be consulted before any mining project begins.

"We also believe in the possibility of alternative models of development, with a transition from predatory mineral extraction to an essential one," the priest said.

[Skyweir]

There are two types...one type truly and honestly believes that in order to save the world we must / must not do certain things.

The other is just interested in how they can make money from either side, either via existing vested interests like oil etc. or via the equally bullshit "green new deal" which is just green-washed monopoly capitalism with different capitalist monopolists on-board.

Neither is likely to be ashamed by anything that serves their ends.

--A

Truth.

One thing that Australias recent climate crisis has shown me is how incredibly resilient the environment is. Yes thousands and thousands of hectares of land has been destroyed and billions of native wildlife lost ... but the environment is already regenerating. Of course its not healthy habitat status but it IS recovering. It will take years to restore the biodiversity needed to support the wide range of wildlife dependent on it ... but it is a process.

Also a great many species have been severely impacted but I truly believe they too can for the most part recover.

I read just yesterday about the blue whale categorised as functionally extinct has now recovered after decades in decline

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have found an unprecedented amount of the whales in South Georgia after their numbers had reduced by a drastic 97 percent in recent years.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

That is why the alarmists should always be ignored--the planet will be just fine, as will the species which inhabit it.

[Skyweir]

All things being equal I agree ... and there is little value in alarmist rhetoric ... far better to be alertist lol