Top U.S. & World Headlines — September 21, 2020

Democracy Now!

Sep 21, 2020

“A National Tragedy”: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Friend & “Favorite Client” Remembers the Legal Icon

Democracy Now!

Sep 21, 2020

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg first gained fame in the 1970s when she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union and argued six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court. One of those cases was Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, which centered on a widower who was refused Social Security benefits after his wife died during childbirth. We speak with Stephen Wiesenfeld, who was told his gender made him ineligible and that only women were entitled to survivor’s benefits. Ginsburg argued in the Supreme Court that denying fathers benefits because of their sex was unconstitutional, and won a unanimous 8-0 decision in the case. Wiesenfeld, who would become a lifelong friend to the late Supreme Court justice, says she “took their very conservative court and taught them that the stereotypes when they hurt one gender, hurt the other gender, as well.”

“RBG”: Film Director Reflects on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Lifelong Fight for Gender Equity

Democracy Now!

Sep 21, 2020

In her later years, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was internationally known simply as her initials — RBG — and a 2018 documentary film by the same name about Ginsburg’s legal career, personal history and unexpected celebrity became a surprise smash hit. We speak with Julie Cohen, co-director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary “RBG,” about Ginsburg’s early years and leadership in fighting for equal rights for women, including arguing a case before the Supreme Court with nine male justices who were condescending to her. “She never let that condescension get her down,” notes Cohen. “She was a deeply strategic person.”

Remembering RBG: Legal Giant’s Death Sparks Furious Fight in D.C. over Vacant Supreme Court Seat

Democracy Now!

Sep 21, 2020

We look at the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as the future of the Supreme Court, in a wide-ranging interview with Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate, where she is the senior legal correspondent and Supreme Court reporter. Ginsburg died September 18 at the age of 87 after serving 27 years as a Supreme Court justice, where she became the most prominent member of the court’s liberal wing. Her death just 46 days before the November election sets up a major political battle over her replacement, with President Trump and many Senate Republicans vowing to nominate and confirm a right-wing judge to fill her seat by Friday or Saturday. In 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland, President Obama’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died 269 days before the election. “Hypocrisy doesn’t begin to touch on that,” says Lithwick. “The court is profoundly misaligned both with popular opinion polling and with the will of this country.”

Watch the US stall on climate change for 12 years

Vox
Oct 10, 2018

It was once a bipartisan issue, but now one of America’s major parties acts like climate science doesn’t exist. This is an updated version of a video we published in 2016. Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO
Check out Climate Lab, our video series on climate change produced with the University of California, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkZ7B…
And read our story on why we only have 12 years to stop catastrophic climate change on Vox.com: https://www.vox.com/2018/10/8/1794883…
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How America can leave fossil fuels behind, in one chart

Sep 10, 2020

And what the 2020 US election means for climate change. What do you think the presidential candidates should be talking about? http://vox.com/ElectionVideos

All of recorded human history has happened during a period in which the average global temperature didn’t change by more than 1 degree Celsius. But the burning of fossil fuels has triggered a temperature rise projected to exceed 3 degrees by the end of the century. It will be catastrophic. But it can be avoided if we massively scale back the burning of fossil fuels. The US isn’t the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, but it’s emitted more carbon dioxide in total than any other country. So the US has an important role to play in global decarbonization; the world basically can’t get there without the US’s full participation. But the current US president doesn’t have any plans to do that. His Democratic challenger in the 2020 election, Joe Biden, does. Biden’s plan is ambitious: Its goal is to completely transition the US to clean energy by 2050. But his plan doesn’t get into the details of exactly how that will happen. For that, we talked to physicist and engineer Saul Griffith, who took us through his incredibly detailed road map for how the US could actually walk away from fossil fuels in the next 30 years. This video is the first in our series on the 2020 election. We aren’t covering the horse race; instead, we want to explain the stakes of the election through the issues that matter the most to you. To do that, we want to know what you think the US presidential candidates should be talking about.

Tell us here: http://vox.com/ElectionVideos
You can check out Saul Griffith’s report on decarbonizing the US through electrification at Rewiring America: https://www.rewiringamerica.org/handbook And explore his Sankey diagram of the US energy economy in detail here: http://energyliteracy.com/

To read more about the fluctuations in Earth’s global average temperature and why the current spike is so dangerous, check these sources: https://www.climate.gov/news-features…
https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/gr…
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2865/a-…
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploa…

Read more about why carbon dioxide is so problematic for climate change here: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/why-…
You can dig into historic carbon emissions by country or region at Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/an…
The impact of the Trump administration on climate change is covered in more depth on our website: https://www.vox.com/energy-and-enviro…
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-enviro…

Millions across the UK under tougher local lockdown restrictions | ITV News

ITV News

Sep 17, 2020

Tougher local restrictions are in force in specific towns and cities across the country – in total around 11.2 million people.

New measures come into effect from 12.01am on Friday 18 September across the north east of England.

UK chief scientists warn of 50,000 new infections every day without tougher restrictions – BBC News

BBC News

Sep 21, 2020

Without further action to limit the spread of Coronavirus there could be 50,000 new cases every day in the UK by mid-October, according to the government’s chief scientists.

Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty say all four UK nations are at tipping point and they stressed the importance of respecting the health guidelines at all times.

Officials have recommended that the Covid alert level be raised to 4 — which means the transmission rate is high or rising exponentially. They called it a 6 month problem.

The prime minister Boris Johnson is to make a statement to the House of Commons to outline new restrictions in England — which may include ordering pubs to close at 10pm.

Downing Street says the UK’s four nations have agreed to adopt a united approach as far as possible.

Huw Edwards presents BBC News at Ten reporting by medical editor Fergus Walsh and political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim introduce ‘Thomas Berry, a Biography’

Kosmos Journal

Dec 17, 2019

Kosmos Journal | Great Thinkers and Seekers Series
Written and narrated by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim
Produced by Kosmos | www.kosmosjournal.org (TRT 4:23)

Thomas Berry (1914–2009) was one of the twentieth century’s most
prescient and profound thinkers. As a cultural historian, he sought
a broader perspective on humanity’s relationship to Earth in order
to respond to the ecological and social challenges of our times.

Berry urged humans to recognize their place on a planet with complex
ecosystems in a vast evolving universe. He sought to replace the modern
alienation from nature with a sense of intimacy and responsibility.
Berry called for new forms of ecological education, law, and spirituality
and the creation of resilient agricultural systems, bioregions, and ecocities.

At a time of growing environmental crisis, a new biography shows the
ongoing significance of Berry’s conception of human interdependence with Earth
within the unfolding journey of the universe.

Learn more about Thomas Berry, a Biography, by Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and Andrew Angyal at: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/thomas-…

NASA Sees High Temperatures, Wildfires, Sea Ice Minimum Extent in Warming Arctic

NASA Goddard

Sep 21, 2020

On Sept. 15, 2020, Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent — the second-lowest on record. This summer, temperatures soared in the Siberian Arctic, and intense fires burned through peatland. The Arctic region is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet.

Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/…

Music: “Curves Ahead” and “Genetic Analyzer,” via Universal Production Music

Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC Interns): Lead Producer
Kate Ramsayer (Telophase): Lead Writer
Elizabeth Hoy (GST): Scientist
Rachel Tilling (University of Maryland): Scientist

This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio at: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13722