Kept Out: Banks Across U.S. Caught Systematically Rejecting People of Color for Home Loans

Climate Boston – YouTube Channel of Climate-Boston.Net

Climte-Boston.Net

A public platform for the exchange of news and views about the climate change challenges facing Boston, Massachusetts and the surrounding areas of New York, New England and the Gulf of Maine.  This is one of a series of programs produced by the Citizen-Science Online Learning Initiative (CSOLI). 

 

See related 2018 lecture/discussion course on Boston’s Climate Vulnerability and its supporting resource and reference material at:

• climate-boston.tv
• climate-boston.com
• climate-boston.org
  and
• climate-boston.info

Sustaining our Earth’s Ecosystems: Environmental Panel

Harvard Extension School
Published on Jun 23, 2010

Professor Jack Spengler pays homage to two key leaders in conservation and discusses how “local” communities are defined today and Harvard’s role in using its resources to benefit them. Spengler is the Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation at Harvard and director of the Extension School’s Graduate Program in Sustainability and Environmental Management. Part 1 of 11. Harvard Extension School Centennial Environmental panel: Sustaining our Earth’s Ecosystems April 14, 210 On-campus and online environmental studies courses at Harvard Extension School cover sustainability, environmental management, climate change, public health, green business, and more. We also have a Sustainability and Environmental Management Graduate Program and a sustainability certificate. Visit http://www.extension.harvard.edu for details.

One Montana City Saw the Temperature Rise 82 Degrees in One Day | The Weather Channel

Yes, this really happened Tuesday in Fort Belknap, Montana, thanks to Chinook winds causing the temperature to rise from an early-morning low of minus 37 degrees to an afternoon high of 45 degrees, a temperature change of 82 degrees in less than 24 hours. Fort Belknap is in northern Montana, about 135 miles northeast of Great Falls.

At a Glance

• The temperature in Fort Belknap, Montana, rose 82 degrees from the morning low (minus 37) to the afternoon high (45 degrees).
• Chinook winds were the cause of the drastic temperature change.
• Other incredible temperature swings have occurred in past years, mainly in the Plains and High Plains.

West Virginia Woman Dragged from Capitol for Calling Out Campaign Donors

Feb 13, 2018

In West Virginia, lawmakers are under fire for ordering the removal of a citizen from the state Capitol, after she called out the names of state politicians who’ve accepted campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. Lissa Lucas was speaking Friday during a public comment session at the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee.

Lissa Lucas: “The people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry, and the people who are going to be voting on this bill are also often paid by the industry. For example—and I have to keep it short, simply because the public only gets a minute 45, while lobbyists can throw a gala at the Marriott, with whisky and wine, and talk for hours to the delegates. So, to keep it short, on the Judiciary Committee, Charlotte Lane, about $10,000 from gas and oil interests, including AEP, Marathon, FirstEnergy, Dominion, EQT—and I could go on.”

As Lucas listed the names of other lawmakers who’ve received campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, Republican committee chair John Shott had her microphone cut and ordered her to be physically removed.

Tonga: Massive Cyclone Destroys Homes, Flattens Parliament Building

Feb 13, 2018

In the South Pacific, the island nation of Tonga was left devastated Monday after a major cyclone made landfall, leveling homes, flooding neighborhoods and flattening the kingdom’s Parliament building. Tropical Cyclone Gita arrived Monday evening with winds of 145 miles per hour—far higher than forecasters had predicted. The storm made landfall as a new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds sea level rise due to human-driven climate change is happening now, as ice from Antarctica and Greenland melts at an accelerated rate. The report found sea levels have risen by an average of nearly 3 inches over the past quarter-century. The storm in Tonga is the worst in more than 60 years.

Trump’s $4.4T Budget Plan Would Gut Social Programs, Expand Pentagon

Feb 13, 2018

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/13/headlines

President Trump unveiled his $4.4 trillion budget plan Monday, proposing deep cuts to education, healthcare and social safety net programs—while massively increasing the Pentagon’s budget.

Trump’s plan would slash the Department of Education’s budget by more than 10 percent. It would sharply reduce income-based student loan repayment plans, while ending the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Trump’s budget would cut more than $17 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—or SNAP—barring food stamp recipients from buying fresh fruit and vegetables, and instead providing only a boxed food delivery program. The budget would also phase out federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports public and community radio and TV stations.

This comes as McClatchy reports the Trump administration is considering a plan that would not only impose work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, but which would also put a lifetime limit on adults’ access to Medicaid.

Meanwhile, Trump’s budget would see a 13 percent rise in spending on weapons and war, bringing the Pentagon’s budget to $686 billion. The administration says its plan would add $7.1 trillion to U.S. budget deficits over the next decade, though many economists say that number relies on rosy projections. The budget comes less than two months after Trump signed into law one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history—one that overwhelmingly favors the wealthiest Americans.

Document Leaks: The consequences of revealing secrets | Public Radio International

America Abroad  February 06, 2018

When is leaking documents and revealing secrets worth the potential security risks? This hour, we’ll talk about when document leaks are legal, when they are morally justified, and when they aren’t — how, at times, they’ve put lives in danger.

We’ll look at the balance of protecting national security versus freedom of the press and the responsibility of journalists once they obtain leaked documents.

Beyond our borders, we’ll look at the extraordinary measures China takes to suppress secrets; how Finland is grappling with its first major leak; and how military leaders in Pakistan may have used a leak for their own political advantage. Finally we’ll examine what it takes for a leaked document to ignite a political movement.

Featuring interviews with:

Gen. Michael Hayden – former director of the CIA and NSA

Jameel Jaffer – executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

RB Brenner – director of the journalism school at the University of Texas, Austin

Heather Conley – director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Hardy Merriman – president of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Juan Zarate – former deputy national security advisor under President George W. Bush

…(read more).