Chris Hedges's Blog, page 320

Young Activists Demand Justice on Climate Crisis

Youth climate leaders from across the globe penned an open letter on Friday condemning the inaction of world leaders in the face of planetary catastrophe and vowing to “make change happen by ourselves.”

“Young people make up more than half of the global population. Our generation grew up with the climate crisis and we will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. Despite that fact, most of us are not included in the local and global decision-making process,” reads the letter, which was published in the Guardian ahead of a March 15 day of action spanning every continent. “We are the voiceless future of humanity.”

The open letter comes amid a wave of youth demonstrations across the world demanding immediate climate action, many of which have been inspired by the tireless campaigning of 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Over the past several weeks, students in Germany, Australia, Thailand, and other nations have walked out of class to protest their governments’ failure to pursue climate solutions that match the urgency required by the scientific evidence—which says that global carbon emissions must be slashed in half by 2030 to avert planetary disaster.

The school strikes continued on Friday, as Common Dreams reported, with thousands of students marching in Germany, Ireland, and elsewhere.

Denouncing the refusal of governments around the world to treat climate change like a genuine existential crisis, the youth leaders declared in their letter, “We can and will stop this madness.”

“We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not. United we will rise until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision-makers take responsibility and solve this crisis,” the letter continued. “You have failed us in the past. If you continue failing us in the future, we, the young people, will make change happen by ourselves. The youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.”

As of this writing, the global youth-led day of action on March 15 will consist of more than 500 events in over 50 countries, with at least 16 taking place throughout the United States.

“For people under 18 in most countries, the only democratic right we have is to demonstrate. We don’t have representation,” Jonas Kampus, a 17-year-old student activist from Switzerland, told The Guardian. “To study for a future that will not exist, that does not make sense.”

Read the youth activists’ full open letter:

We, the young, are deeply concerned about our future. Humanity is currently causing the sixth mass extinction of species and the global climate system is at the brink of a catastrophic crisis. Its devastating impacts are already felt by millions of people around the globe. Yet we are far from reaching the goals of the Paris agreement.

Young people make up more than half of the global population. Our generation grew up with the climate crisis and we will have to deal with it for the rest of our lives. Despite that fact, most of us are not included in the local and global decision-making process. We are the voiceless future of humanity.

We will no longer accept this injustice. We demand justice for all past, current, and future victims of the climate crisis, and so we are rising up. Thousands of us have taken to the streets in the past weeks all around the world. Now we will make our voices heard. On 15 March, we will protest on every continent.

We finally need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It is the biggest threat in human history and we will not accept the world’s decision-makers’ inaction that threatens our entire civilization. We will not accept a life in fear and devastation. We have the right to live our dreams and hopes. Climate change is already happening. People did die, are dying, and will die because of it, but we can and will stop this madness.

We, the young, have started to move. We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not. United we will rise until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision-makers take responsibility and solve this crisis.

You have failed us in the past. If you continue failing us in the future, we, the young people, will make change happen by ourselves. The youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.

Oakland Teachers Strike Ends With Tentative Deal for Raise

OAKLAND, Calif.—Striking teachers in Oakland, California, celebrated after reaching a contract deal Friday with school administrators to end a seven-day walkout.

To cheers and applause, union leaders from the Oakland Education Association announced that teachers had won everything they demanded — higher pay, smaller classes and more school resources — in a week of marathon negotiating sessions with the district.

“This is a historic contract with a win in every major proposal we made,” the Oakland Education Association said in a statement.

“We have achieved so much in the seven days of our historic strike in Oakland,” union President Keith Brown told a news conference. “Our power in the streets prevailed.”

The deal includes an 11 percent salary increase and a one-time 3 percent bonus, once the deal is ratified, Brown said.

Teachers were expected to vote Saturday, and if the deal is approved, return to classrooms next week.

“On Monday, March 4, we look forward to everyone being together again in the classroom,” Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell said in a statement. “The contract will help ensure more teachers stay in Oakland and that more come to teach in our classrooms and support our students.”

Oakland’s 3,000 teachers walked off the job Feb. 21, effectively shutting the city’s 86 schools.

The district kept Oakland schools open during the strike staffed by a skeleton crew of substitutes. But most students stayed away in support of their striking teachers. The district said about 6 percent of students came to class during the weeklong action.

The walkout affected 36,000 students.

The Oakland Education Association said educators were forced to strike because administrators had not listened to their demands for two years. Teachers had been working without a contract since 2017.

Among their demands was a 12 percent retroactive raise covering 2017 to 2020 to compensate for what they say are among the lowest salaries for public school teachers in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area.

A starting salary for teachers at Oakland schools is $46,500 a year and the average salary in the district is $63,000 a year.

Brown said the new proposed salary will allow teachers to earn “a living wage.”

“Experienced teachers will now be able to stay in the classroom,” he said.

Nearly 600 teachers left their positions at Oakland public schools last year, according to the union, which said the district was not able to retain teachers or attract experienced new teachers with such low wages.

The union also won a “five-month pause” on school closures after protesting a district plan to shut as many as 24 schools that serve primarily African-American and Latino students. The union had argued that closing the schools would send more students to charter schools that drain more than $57 million a year from the district.

The union rejected two earlier salary proposals from the district, which initially offered a 5 percent raise covering 2017 to 2020.

The deal also requires the district to reduce class sizes and hire more student support staff, including special education teachers, psychologists and nurses.

The talks did not center on pension or health care benefits, which are free for full-time workers and their beneficiaries. The Oakland district spends an additional $13,487 per teacher annually for health benefits for educators and their families.

Oakland teachers were the latest educators in the country to strike over pay and classroom conditions.

Recent strikes across the nation have built on a wave of teacher activism that began last spring. Unions for West Virginia teachers, who staged a nine-day walkout last year, ended another two-day strike last week.

Last month, teachers in Denver ended a three-day walkout after reaching a deal raising their wages.

Teachers in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district, staged a six-day strike last month that ended when they settled on a 6-percent raise with promises of smaller class sizes and the addition of nurses and counselors.

Eyeing 2020, White House Steps Up ‘Socialism’ Attack on Dems

WASHINGTON — As the White House gears up for the 2020 campaign, it’s pressing the case that Democrats are rallying behind what it’s calling the policies of “socialism.”

Trying to portray Democrats as out of step with ordinary Americans, Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the choice in the next election is “between freedom and socialism, between personal responsibility and government dependence.”

It was the latest step in a coordinated effort by President Donald Trump and his allies to drive up enthusiasm among the GOP base by sowing fears about the policies pushed by Democrats.

“The moment America becomes a socialist country is the moment America ceases to be America,” Pence told the crowd of conservative activists.

Pence also took aim at “Medicare-for-all” and the Green New Deal, policy proposals prominent in the crowded Democratic contest for the presidential nomination.

The Medicare proposal really means “quality health care for none,” Pence said. And “the only thing green” about the Democrats’ environmental framework to combat climate change, the vice president said, “is how much green it’s going to cost taxpayers if we do it: $90 trillion.”

The American Action Forum, a Republican-linked think tank, has estimated that the Green New Deal could cost $51 trillion to $93 trillion over 10 years. Democrats have not specified a price tag, though Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who introduced the plan along with Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, said it would be “the same way we paid for the original New Deal, World War II, the bank bailouts, tax cuts for the rich and decades of war — with public money appropriated by Congress.”

The health care and climate proposals have become litmus tests in the race for the Democratic nomination, with many liberals embracing the ideas even as some pragmatists raise questions about cost and feasibility.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said at the conference Thursday that Americans should “put socialism on trial and then convict it.” Trump was expected to deliver a similar message when he addresses the conference on Saturday.

A Trump campaign official said the campaign was exploring ways to use the “socialism” message to drive a wedge between Democratic voters and independents. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal planning.

The campaign also believes that the attacks will activate Trump’s base, which may have lost some motivation because the president has run into congressional opposition as he tries to fulfill his U.S.-Mexico border wall promise.

The head of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, told the conference on Thursday that the GOP would look to “go out and educate” voters about socialism.

Responding to Pence’s socialism accusation, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said: “This is no surprise. It’s nonsense, but Donald Trump and Donald Trump’s minions will do whatever they think helps Donald Trump. That’s all that’s going on here.”

Pence called Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is making a second run for the Democratic presidential nomination, an “avowed socialist,” though Sanders identifies as a “democratic socialist,” calling for sweeping social programs to help reduce income inequality. Pence added Sanders that epitomized Democratic candidates and officials who “have papered over the failed policies of socialism with bumper-sticker slogans and slick social media campaigns.”

Sanders fired back in a missive to his vast small-dollar donor list, encouraging them to give to his campaign in Pence’s “honor” and saying Pence was targeting them because his “campaign is the strongest and most powerful challenge to Trump’s re-election.”

The White House has tried to cite the political chaos in Venezuela, where moderates backed by the Trump administration are challenging the socialist government of Nicholas Maduro after years of economic collapse, as a warning sign about the consequences of Democratic policies in the United States.

A Gallup poll from last August found that 37 percent of Americans feel positive about socialism, a share little changed over the past decade. Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats (57 percent) reported having a positive view of socialism, more than three times the share of Republicans (16 percent).

According to Gallup, young adults are especially likely to view socialism positively. About half of Americans under 30 (51 percent) and 41 percent of those age 30 to 49 reported feeling positive on that topic, compared with about 3 in 10 of those 50 and older.

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Associated Press writers Alexandra Jaffe and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Tom Beaumont in Dubuque, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Truthdigger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New Face of the Democratic Party

Despite her short career in politics, there’s already a lot to praise about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rising to fame by unseating Democratic heavyweight Joe Crowley in a shocking primary upset last year, the freshman representative from New York’s 14th District has scarcely been out of the limelight since. Even before she won the 2020 midterm election, she began to garner fame as the new face of the Democratic Party, much to the discomfort of some political elites: Young, female, queer, Latinx, democratic socialist—“New party, who dis?” indeed.

The 29-year-old campaigned on a progressive agenda shaped during her stint as an organizer in Bernie Sanders’ historic 2016 primary challenge, a campaign that ended up winning her a seat in Congress as the youngest member in U.S. history. She’s made Medicare-for-all, tuition-free college and other progressive goals the tenets of her tenure from the get-go, making good on her promise to fight for “a modern, moral … Society [in which] no American [is] too poor to live.” Ocasio-Cortez has also been getting under the skin of both the Republican and Democratic establishments with her fierce determination to stick to her left-leaning principles despite a constant barrage of criticism from all sides. It is likely her staunch sense of purpose that has led her to become one of the most influential politicians in the U.S., with Democratic presidential hopefuls already vying for her endorsement in the 2020 race.

Her social media presence has not only made her relatable to millennials and others, it has helped drag Democrats—many who are quite literally taking lessons from the freshman—kicking and screaming into the 21st-century political playing field President Trump has been using to his advantage for years. Social media, especially Twitter, is also where Ocasio-Cortez has been able to promote and defend her agenda, and with 3.33 million followers and counting, her reach shouldn’t be underestimated, particularly since the media seemingly can’t stop hanging on her every word. Regarding the frequent comparison to Trump’s use of Twitter, one Congress member said in a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone:

Well, I think that there’s this rush to make that comparison, but any time media fundamentally changes, the first movers to recognize that change — and to learn it and to adapt to it — tend to have that first-move advantage. So this is less about personality, less about Trump, and more about who has had the first-mover advantage. But there are similarities. People who succeed in social media follow similar tenets. In order to resonate with people, you have to tell them what you mean, you have to be willing to make mistakes, you have to be willing to be vulnerable and learn as you go.

As a millennial, Latinx, feminist progressive myself, I’m nothing short of ecstatic to see someone from a similar background make such impressive political gains. It’s made all those memories of growing up being told any of us could be president suddenly feel less like a lie and more like reality-in-the-making. As a child, I did not have anyone like Ocasio-Cortez to look up to in the primarily white male sea of politicians on C-SPAN, and it’s incredibly moving to know that will no longer be the case for Latinx American kids. Representation—in every sense of the word—matters immensely, and the House representative has already made history by being undeniably herself.

While AOC, as she’s known, even has a comic book hero modeled after her now, her crowning achievement has no doubt been the drafting of the Green New Deal, which she introduced alongside Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts on Feb. 7. “The most visionary resolution to emerge from Congress in recent years,” writes Truthdig’s Sonali Kolhatkar, “encompassing both the climate crisis and economic inequality, has captured the imagination of many Americans.” The plan, which unites climate change concerns with a jobs guarantee, could change the nation’s course toward a greener, more equal and prosperous future at a time when the Trump administration is leading us in the opposite direction.

In a recent column, Truthdig’s Ellen Brown explains why Ocasio-Cortez’s plan to fund the ambitious deal isn’t pie in the sky, but rather a sound economic proposal with plenty of historical data behind it:

Ocasio-Cortez and the 22 representatives joining her in calling for a select committee also are proposing a novel way to fund the program, one that could actually work. The resolution says funding will come primarily from the federal government, “using a combination of the Federal Reserve, a new public bank or system of regional and specialized public banks, public venture funds and such other vehicles or structures that the select committee deems appropriate, in order to ensure that interest and other investment returns generated from public investments made in connection with the Plan will be returned to the treasury, reduce taxpayer burden and allow for more investment.”

A network of public banks could fund the Green New Deal in the same way President Franklin Roosevelt funded the original New Deal. At a time when the banks were bankrupt, he used the publicly owned Reconstruction Finance Corp. as a public infrastructure bank. The Federal Reserve could also fund any program Congress wanted, if mandated to do so. Congress wrote the Federal Reserve Act and can amend it. Or the Treasury itself could do it, without the need to even change any laws. The Constitution authorizes Congress to “coin money” and “regulate the value thereof,” and that power has been delegated to the Treasury. It could mint a few trillion-dollar platinum coins, put them in its bank account and start writing checks against them. What stops legislators from exercising those constitutional powers is simply that “everyone knows” Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation will result. But will it? Compelling historical precedent shows that this need not be the case.

Republicans, including the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, have been quick to criticize the jobs guarantee element of the Green New Deal. Ocasio-Cortez has responded by using her experiences as a low-wage-earning server to highlight the personal experiences that have informed her push for better-paid work. After being lauded for her questioning of Trump attorney Michael Cohen during Wednesday’s House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, Ocasio-Cortez again referred to her working-class background:

Thanks!

Bartending + waitressing (especially in NYC) means you talk to 1000s of people over the years. Forces you to get great at reading people + hones a razor-sharp BS detector.

Just goes to show that what some consider to be “unskilled labor” can actually be anything but

Lyft Reveals Big Growth but No Profits as It Readies for IPO

NEW YORK — Lyft is growing quickly ahead of its initial public offering but continues to bleed money and may struggle to turn a profit, according to a federal filing.

The company released its financial details for the first time on Friday, giving the public a glimpse into its performance before deciding whether to buy into the ride-hailing phenomenon.

Lyft reported $2.2 billion in revenue last year — more than double its $1.1 billion in revenue in 2017. That continued a growth trajectory that saw revenue skyrocket more than 200 percent in 2017 compared with 2016, when the company brought in $343.3 million.

But Lyft is still losing money and its executives warned it may struggle to turn a profit, according to Friday’s filing. The company lost $911 million last year and nearly $3 billion in total since 2012 while raking in $5.1 billion in venture capital.

Its cash balance also is shrinking. Lyft had $517 million in cash and equivalents at the end of last year, about half of what it had at the end of 2017.

Lyft has been in a race with Uber to be first to offer its stock to the public, and has positioned itself as the affable alternative to its larger and more ubiquitous rival. Uber, which struggled with public relations setbacks in the past, expects to file its IPO later this year.

Together, the two could raise billions of dollars to fuel their expansions and give investors an opportunity to see how the companies plan to become sustainable.

Lyft’s filing says that its co-founders — CEO Logan Green, 35, and President John Zimmer, 34 — will keep significant control of the company after it goes public and “will be able to significantly influence any action requiring the approval of our stockholders,” including the election of board members, a merger, asset sales or other major corporate transactions.

The company’s share of the U.S. ride-hailing market was 39 percent in December 2018, up from 22 percent in December 2016, according to the filing, which cited growth from new drivers and riders as well as increased ride frequency. It reported 30.7 million riders and 1.9 million drivers in more than 300 cities in 2018, and has given more than 1 billion rides since its inception in 2012, according to the filing.

Lyft’s market-share gains in recent years came at a time when Uber was dogged by reports that drivers accosted passengers and that the company allowed rampant sexual harassment internally — revelations that ultimately led its co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign. Uber has been working to repair its image under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who tweeted congratulations to the Lyft team Friday, calling it “a big moment for ridesharing!”

Lyft allowed customers to tip drivers earlier than Uber, building into its brand the sense that it treats drivers better than its main competitor. In its filing, Lyft said it will pay cash bonuses of $1,000 and $10,000 to drivers who meet certain criteria, and that drivers may use those bonuses to buy the company’s shares.

Bookings — the amount of money spent by customers, minus taxes, fees and tolls — are rising dramatically, which Lyft will try to emphasize to investors. The company had just over $8 billion in bookings last year, 76 percent more than in 2017 and more than four times the number from 2016.

“We believe this is a key indicator of the utility of transportation solutions provided through our multimodal platform, as well as the scale and growth in our business,” the company said in the filing.

Lyft, known for the pink moustaches that used to adorn car grilles, was valued at just over $15 billion last year. In addition to ride-hailing, it offers shared car, bike and scooter rides.

By being the first company in the ride-hailing category to go public, Lyft is likely to attract institutional investors who want to get in on the sector, said Rohit Kulkarni, senior vice president of research at Forge. Based on the figures in the filing, and assuming steady revenue growth of more than 50 percent in the next year, institutional investors are likely to value Lyft at $20 billion to $25 billion, he said.

The next step is for Lyft managers to go on the road to woo investors, presenting details and fielding questions from potential buyers in hopes of drumming up interest. That will help the company determine the price of its shares when it goes public, likely in late March or early April.

“Lyft has clearly demonstrated progress along its pathway to profitability … but the key question is whether Lyft can accelerate its pathway to profitability,” Kulkarni said. “On its upcoming roadshow, public equity investors would have a lot of tough questions for Lyft’s management on this topic.”

In its risk assessments, Lyft outlined the difficulty of attracting and retaining drivers and riders “in a cost-effective manner,” complying with laws and regulations, and being able to manage growth and expand beyond the U.S. and part of Canada.

The company conceded that it has lost money since it started in mid-2012 and its expenses are increasing as it launches new services.

“We have incurred net losses each year since our inception and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future,” the company said.

Lyft also said it faces intense competition and could lose market share to competitors.

The company acknowledged the importance of developing autonomous vehicle technology on its own or with partners. Uber — as well as Waymo, General Motors and others — is working on self-driving vehicles, which they expect to enter the ride-hailing business. If they are able to do that, and Lyft is still relying on drivers, its cost of giving rides likely would be far higher.

Despite competing with Lyft, General Motors and Alphabet — Waymo’s parent company — each own more than 5 percent of Lyft’s Class A common stock, according to the filing.

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Krisher reported from Detroit and Liedtke reported from San Francisco.

Pakistan Hands Over Captured Pilot to India

ISLAMABAD — The Latest on escalating India-Pakistan tensions (all times local):

9 p.m.

Pakistan has handed over an Indian pilot captured after his plane was shot down by the Pakistani military this week amid a dramatic confrontation between the two nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistani officials brought the pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, to the border crossing with India at Wagah and handed him back to India on Friday.

On the Indian side of the border, Indian officials greeted the pilot who was in a dark blue suit, accompanied by a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Islamabad has said that the handover was a gesture of peace that could defuse tensions and avoid another war between India and Pakistan.

Varthaman was shot down on Wednesday in Pakistani-held Kashmir.

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4:50 p.m.

India’s prime minister says a tough response by his country’s armed forces to recent attacks in Indian controlled Kashmir have curtailed the influence of terror groups in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to curtail acts of terrorism further.

Modi, who faces elections this spring, spoke at a public rally on Friday in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, Pakistani officials were preparing to hand over a captured Indian pilot from a plane downed by Pakistani forces amid the worst escalation between the archrivals in two decades. Modi made no mention of the pilot.

Modi cited the Feb.14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops and set in motion the latest escalation and said Indoan soldiers now have full “freedom to do what they want.”

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3:50 p.m.

Pakistani officials have brought the Indian pilot captured from a downed plane to a border crossing with India for handover.

The pilot, identified as Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was taken in a convoy that set out from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore to the border crossing at Wagah on Friday, escorted by military vehicles with soldiers, their weapons drawn.

On the Indian side of the border, turbaned Indian policemen lined the road as a group of cheering Indian residents from the area waved India’s national flag and held up a huge garland of flowers to welcome him back.

Islamabad has said the handover is a gesture of peace that could defuse tensions and avoid another war between India and Pakistan.

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3:15 p.m.

India has banned a largest political and religious group in Indian-held Kashmir in an ongoing crackdown against rebels seeking the end of Indian rule in the disputed region.

The ban comes against the backdrop of the most serious confrontation between India and Pakistan in two decades.

India also imposed a security lockdown in several parts of the region on Friday, including in downtown areas of the main city of Srinagar, in anticipation of protests and clashes against Indian rule.

India’s home ministry issued a notification against Jama’at-e-Islami on Thursday night, accusing the group as “unlawful association” and supporting militancy in the region.

Police have already arrested at least 400 leaders and activists, mainly from the Jama’at-e-Islami, which seeks self-determination for the Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety.

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3:10 p.m.

China welcomes Pakistan’s decision to “express kindness” and hand over a captured Indian pilot after four straight days of cross-border attacks in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during a regular news briefing on Friday that “the alleviation of tensions between the two countries serves their fundamental interests.”

Pakistan said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot on Wednesday.

A close Pakistani ally, China has blocked India’s attempts to have the U.N. list as a terrorist the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based group that claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing on Indian troops earlier in February in Indian-Controlled Kashmir.

In 2017, however, China joined several nations in declaring Jaish-e-Mohammad and another group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, as terrorist organizations.

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3 p.m.

Pakistan’s civil aviation authority has partially re-opened the country’s airspace, allowing travel to four major cities, another sign that tensions with archrival India are de-escalating.

The agency issued a statement on Friday saying all domestic and international flights will be allowed to and from the cities of Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta.

It says other airports, including the one located in the eastern city of Lahore that borders India, will remain closed until March 4.

Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistan’s military shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The closures snarled air traffic.

The pilot is expected to be handed back to India later in the day, a move Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said was a gesture of peace.

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2:45 p.m.

Pakistan’s parliament is reiterating praise for the country’s military in responding to India’s incursion this week by downing two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot in Pakistani-held Kashmir.

The lawmakers in both the 342-seat Assembly and the 104-seat Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Friday, concluding a joint session that began the previous day over the latest escalation between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

The resolution also endorses Prime Minister Imran Khan’s offer of talks to New Delhi, saying this is the only way to solve all outstanding issues, including the issue of Kashmir, which is split between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both in its entirety.

Pakistani Defense Minister Perfez Khattak told the parliament Islamabad would give a “memorable response” to India if it attacks Pakistan again.

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11:55 a.m.

Pakistan’s top diplomat says he is skipping a meeting of foreign ministers from the world’s leading Islamic organization in the United Arab Emirates to protest the host’s decision to invite India, a non-member.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s announcement that he won’t be attending the inaugural session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi amid soaring tensions this week with archrival India.

The escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals over the disputed region of Kashmir has brought them close to the brink of an all-out conflict.

Qureshi told Parliament on Friday he decided to stay away from the OIC gathering after UAE’s Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan refused to withdraw the invitation to India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Qureshi says India is neither a member of the 57-nation organization nor has observer status.

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10:25 am.

Pakistan’s civil aviation authority says the country’s air space remains closed for all domestic and international flights because of continuing tensions with neighboring India.

In a statement, the agency said the government decision about the closure of the air space will remain effective until 1 p.m. on Friday, after which authorities will announce whether they are reopening it or keeping the airspace closed.

Islamabad closed its air space on Wednesday after saying that Pakistan’s military had shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot, escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. The pilot is expected to be handed back to India later in the day, a move that could de-escalate the crisis.

The closing of Pakistan’s airspace forced may airlines to reshuffle their flights, causing problems for passengers.

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10:10 a.m.

Pakistan is preparing to hand over a captured Indian pilot as shelling continued for a third night across the disputed Kashmir border even as the two nuclear-armed neighbors seek to defuse the most serious confrontation in two decades.

Tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers face off against each other along the disputed Himalayan border known as the Line of Control in one of the world most volatile regions.

Tensions have been running high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian aircraft and capturing a pilot.

World leaders have scrambled to head off an all-out war on the Asian subcontinent.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister is expected in Islamabad later Friday.

Washington Gov. Inslee Focuses on Climate Change in 2020 Bid

SEATTLE — Declaring climate change the nation’s most pressing issue, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee launched his 2020 Democratic presidential bid on Friday with a promise to refocus American government and society.

“It is time for our nation to set a new priority,” Inslee told supporters gathered at a solar panel business in Seattle. “This is truly our moment. It is our moment to solve America’s most daunting challenge and make it the first, foremost and paramount duty of the United States … to defeat climate change.”

The 68-year-old former congressman becomes the first governor to enter a race dominated by senators. Former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke also are expected to make highly anticipated 2020 announcements in the coming weeks.

But Inslee says his emphasis on combating climate change sets him apart from his competitors and from Republican President Donald Trump.

“We are all angry and outraged by this president,” he said, adding that rather than get drawn into Trump’s vortex, he would “unite Americans in this moment to solve our most urgent problem.”

Inslee frames climate action as an economic opportunity, not just a moral imperative. He didn’t talk specifically Friday about the costs of his vision, other than to criticize considerable tax subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. But he argued that public and private investments in clean energy are a net boon for working Americans that would create “millions of jobs,” from building “electric cars in Michigan” to installing solar panels on homes in every state.

Inslee says no presidential candidate has hinged a campaign as heavily on climate and environmental policy as he will. He unveiled a blue-and-green campaign logo with an arc of the Earth, eschewing the typical red, white and blue. His Twitter feed Friday was replete with the hashtag #OurClimateMoment.

He plans his first trip as a candidate to Iowa next week, with events geared to climate issues. Trips to Nevada and California will follow.

Inslee may have a larger opening on climate since billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has passed on a national campaign, opting instead to continue his advocacy for impeaching and removing Trump from office. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who has spent millions of dollars on climate issues, may run.

Steyer tweeted Friday: “It’s good to know that a climate champion like @GovInslee will be in the race, pushing the country to recognize what is at stake.”

Inslee hasn’t specifically endorsed the Green New Deal introduced by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, and he didn’t during his speech Friday. But he said last month that he was “thrilled that this … resolution has been brought forward” to push for action.

“This is an aspirational document that sets the goal, rather than the policy. It’s not meant to be a policy document,” he said during an interview after his campaign event. “I will be rolling out my own proposed policy. It will be comprehensive. It will be robust. It will have a sector-by-sector approach which will be targeted to reduction of carbon pollution and job creation.”

On the Green Deal, he said, “I think this is fantastic that we have multiple voices now rather than just mine.” He called that “something to celebrate.”

Inslee announced his intention to “power our economy with 100 percent clean energy,” but he set no target date for the U.S. to become carbon neutral. The Green New Deal sets a target of 2030.

Despite his emphasis on climate policy, Inslee says he’s not a one-issue candidate. He pitches his breadth of personal and political experiences as ideal to bridge political and cultural divides among the Democratic base and the broader electorate.

Inslee has governed Washington state as an unabashed liberal, promoting clean energy, gay rights, abortion rights, environmental preservation, tighter gun restrictions and more spending for education and job training. In Congress, he voted against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and for a ban on certain military-style guns.

Most recently, he’s called for a state-based public option health insurance plan in Washington that he says is a “step toward universal health care.”

The state GOP recently has derided his “extreme environmental agenda” and pointed to its price tag.

Inslee started his legal and political career in small-town central Washington, winning a state legislative post and, for one term, a congressional seat before being knocked out in the GOP sweep of 1994. He returned to Congress representing a metro-Seattle district for 12 years before resigning to run for governor in 2012.

Inslee raised his profile serving as the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 2018; Democrats picked up seven governor’s offices, and Inslee became a familiar guest to cable news audiences, using the opportunity to lambaste Trump on such issues as immigration and ethics.

“Unlike the man in the White House, I believe in all the people who make up America,” he said Friday.

When asked if he would consider declaring a national emergency over climate change, Inslee said he found the current declaration related to the U.S.-Mexico border wall to be “illegal and unconstitutional.”

“If the rules change, of course everything will be on the table to figure out how we solve this problem,” he said, adding that, at this point, he would not commit to declaring a national emergency on climate.

“The best way to do this is to work with Congress to develop a national consensus about how to build a clean-energy economy,” he said.

___

Barrow reported from Atlanta and Hanover, New Hampshire. Associated Press associate polling director Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report.

Michael Cohen Knows Exactly What Trump Is Capable Of

On February 27, Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee for six hours. In two months, Cohen will begin serving a three-year prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations involving illegal hush money and falsely testifying to Congress that Trump Tower Moscow negotiations had ended before the campaign.

“The last time I appeared before Congress, I came to protect Mr. Trump. Today, I’m here to tell the truth about Mr. Trump,” Cohen testified. “I am not protecting Mr. Trump anymore.”

Cohen called Trump “a racist,” “a conman” and “a cheat,” who enlisted others to do his dirty work. “Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That’s not how he operates.” He “would look me in the eye and tell me there’s no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people.”

“In his way, he was telling me to lie,” Cohen testified. He added that Trump would say, “Michael, it never happened” or “It’s a lie.” Moreover, he said, “Lying for Mr. Trump was normalized and no one around him questioned it. In fairness, no one questions it now.”

Trump “knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it,” according to Cohen. “And so, I lied about it, too — because Mr. Trump had made clear to me … that he wanted me to lie.”

Cohen said Trump knew ahead of time that the hacked Democratic National Committee emails would be released. When Cohen was in Trump’s office, Roger Stone called. Trump put him on speakerphone. Stone said Julian Assange had told him that within a couple of days there would be a massive email dump that would hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

“Trump is a cheat,” Cohen testified. He described Trump inflating and deflating his assets as it suited his financial interests. Trump would direct Cohen to call small business owners to whom Trump owed money and tell them they would receive no payment or a reduced payment.

Cohen painted a picture of Trump strong-arming people like a mob boss. Trump didn’t directly threaten those he sought to intimidate, Cohen testified. “He would use others.”

Cohen worked for Trump for 10 years. “Quite a few times,” on some 500 occasions, Trump ordered Cohen to threaten people. That’s mobster-like behavior.

Cohen Provided Evidence That Trump Was a Co-Conspirator

“Mr. Trump is a conman,” Cohen said. “He asked me to pay off an adult film star with whom he had an affair, and to lie to his wife about it, which I did.” Trump told Cohen to say that Trump “was not knowledgeable of these reimbursements and he wasn’t knowledgeable of” what Cohen was doing.

All co-conspirators are legally responsible for the acts of the other co-conspirators, even if they didn’t directly participate.

Cohen displayed a copy of a $35,000 check written to him on Trump’s account, signed by Trump and dated August 1, 2017, while Trump was president. Cohen said the check was “pursuant to the cover-up, which was the basis of my guilty plea.” It was one of 11 payments Trump made to reimburse Cohen for the hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. This constituted obstruction of justice.

“The President of the United States thus wrote a check for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws,” Cohen testified. He told Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) that Trump “directed transactions in conspiracy” with Trump, Don Jr. and Allen Weisselberg “as part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud.” Weisselberg is the CFO of The Trump Organization.

Cohen also characterized Trump as a co-conspirator to violate federal election law. According to Cohen, Trump had advance knowledge of the June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. Don Jr. arranged the meeting with the expectation of receiving dirt the Russian government had about Hillary Clinton. Cohen said he was in the room when Don Jr. whispered to his father, “The meeting is all set.” Trump said, “OK good … let me know.”

All co-conspirators are legally responsible for the acts of the other co-conspirators, even if they didn’t directly participate in those acts or are unaware of the details of the conspiracy. Trump need not have attended the June 9 meeting to be liable as a co-conspirator.

“Mr. Trump is a racist,” Cohen stated. While Barack Obama was still president, Trump asked Cohen if he could name a country run by a Black person that wasn’t a “shithole,” a term Trump has used in the past. Once, when they drove through a “struggling neighborhood in Chicago,” Trump told Cohen only Black people could live that way. “And,” Cohen testified, “he told me that Black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid.”

Republicans Upset That Cohen Stopped Lying to Congress for Trump

The Republicans on the committee mounted no objections to the substance of Cohen’s testimony. They attacked his credibility, noting that he’s going to prison for charges that include lying to Congress. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) called Cohen a “fraudster, cheat, convicted felon and, in two months, a federal inmate.”

But Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) charged that GOP committee members were angry because Cohen “stopped lying to Congress for the president.” Cohen told the committee, “I did the same thing that you’re doing now, for 10 years. I protected Mr. Trump for 10 years.”

Trump “directed me to commit multiple felonies,” Cohen said. “I covered it up and protected his brand and him as well.”

Cohen explained why he agreed to testify even though he has nothing to gain and much to lose: “I fear that if [Trump] loses the election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”

That is the most disturbing thing Cohen said. He knows better than anyone what Trump is capable of.

West Virginia Offers a Blueprint to Combat School Privatization

West Virginia’s most recent statewide teacher walkout came and went so quickly there was too little time and attention to comprehend and appreciate the impact the teachers’ actions will likely have long-term on changing the narrative of the teacher movement and how politically progressive advocates and candidates relate to it.

In the very first day of the strike, teachers squelched new state legislation they objected to and then held out an additional day to ensure it would die. The day after schools reopened, the teachers got what they wanted—a “clean” bill increasing teacher pay five percent.

But, unlike their largely successful labor action from last year, this time the teachers weren’t making pocketbook issues the focal points of their demands. Instead, it was all about stopping school privatization through charter schools and a new voucher program. The point of the strike was to oppose a Senate bill that included bringing charters and a voucher program to the state even though the measure included the pay raise teachers wanted. Teachers accompanied their protests in the capitol building with chants of “Hey-hey, ho-ho, charter schools have got to go.”

This was a huge gamble for the teachers, not only because they risked a confrontation with the wealthy establishment that backs charters and vouchers but also because they could alienate the coalition of progressive activists who had supported teachers in the past but had never forcefully opposed charter schools.

Teachers Take a Risk

“There had been no widespread debate on charter schools in West Virginia until now,” Gary Zuckett tells me. Zuckett and the West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WVCAG) for which he serves as executive director gladly joined with other social, economic, and environmental justice movements across the state last year to back West Virginia teachers in their demands for a pay raise and a fix to the state’s broken public employee health program. But neither WVCAG nor the groups’ national affiliate People’s Action had ever before made opposition to school privatization a major policy point.

“It’s true—at the national level, progressives don’t talk a lot about K-12 and charter schools,” says Ryan Frankenberry, executive director of the West Virginia Working Families Party, a hyper-local political party that backs candidates largely for their stances on social, economic, and environmental values and their opposition to big money in politics.

So it was never a sure thing should West Virginia teachers make their stand on opposition to charters that the progressive coalition that backed last year’s strike would have their backs.

Clarifying the Politics of Privatization

When teachers began walking off the job across the country last year, their demands were similar to those that progressive policy activists have long supported, such as workers’ rights, higher wages, and better funding for public services like education.

But for years, the politics of school privatization efforts have been confusing. Charters and school voucher programs have been falsely framed as a civil rights cause. Former President Barack Obama gave charter schools a big boost in his administration’s Race to the Top program. Popular Democratic politicians like New Jersey U.S. senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker have strongly backed voucher programs and taken campaign donations from the charter school industry. Progressive leaders like Vermont U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders have been vague on their views about charters. And progressive advocacy groups have either generally supported charters or declined to take a position.

But in this year’s walkouts, teachers have raised the stakes in challenging progressives to come down firmly on their side to oppose further expansion of privatization efforts.

Teacher Strikes Change Minds

Beginning with the strike in Los Angeles, teachers began adding opposition to charter schools to their other demands and making a case that these taxpayer-funded, privately operated schools are harmful to public schools.

“The flavor of the teacher strikes has changed,” writes Education Week reporter Madeline Will. “Unlike last year, when teachers across the country shared a similar narrative of crumbling classrooms and stagnant paychecks, the strike demands now are far-reaching. Now, teachers are pushing back against education-reform policies, like charter schools … There’s no clearer evidence of the shift in teacher activism than in West Virginia.”

In the Mountain State, progressives shifted into the anti-privatization column “because of these strikes,” says Frankenberry. “Teachers were able to convince people that resisting charters and vouchers was about fighting for the future of public schools.”

Progressive organizers in the state also can’t deny what they see and hear about the conditions in their public schools and how they’d be affected by the introduction of charters.

“Teachers already know their schools are strapped for cash,” says Zuckett. “The state is already losing its population of school-aged children,” he notes, adding that the school where his wife works as a counselor lost 10 percent of its students this year alone. “Any loss of resources is going to hurt our schools.”

Strikes Spread to Oakland

As soon as the walkout in West Virginia resolved, a teacher strike in Oakland, California, quickly flamed up.

That strike resembles the strike in Los Angeles in which teachers demanded better pay, smaller class sizes, more nurses, counselors and other support staff, as well as an end to the spread of charter schools. But the negative impact of charter schools is likely even worse in Oakland, where the charters enroll 30 percent of the students in the district and siphon over $57 million from the public schools. To further accommodate the charters, the district has announced plans to close 24 public schools.

As of this writing, Oakland teachers are still on strike, declaring in their latest press release, “When 19 out of every 20 teachers… [are] walking the picket line joined by parents, when our rallies attract thousands, when 97 percent of our students stay home—it’s clear that this community wants what [the teachers’ union] demands.”

As the opposition to charters surges to the front of teacher strikes in Oakland, a new bill swiftly moving through the state legislature, with the strong backing of Governor Gavin Newsom, will tighten oversight of charter schools and demand more financial transparency of them.

The growing opposition to charters spurred by teacher strikes has the charter industry worried. As Politico reports, the success teachers have had in “blaming charter schools for squeezing traditional schools … has raised alarm among charter school backers … who see it as unfair to blame the charter sector for financial woes.”

The growing conflict and sharply contrasting points of view will likely pressure political candidates and progressive activists on the left to take sides.

‘The Fight Is On’

Democrats in West Virginia are “absolutely solidified against charters,” says Frankenberry. “Even more solidified on this than they are on gun control.”

He concedes, however, there are still unresolved issues in how progressives will coalesce on charters elsewhere. His progressive colleagues in states with lots of charters still feel an urge to not totally reject charters because parents whose children attend the schools are often from marginalized communities. And teachers who work in charters are potential targets for labor unions who want to organize the workers.

But he finds in places such as West Virginia, and neighboring Virginia and Kentucky, where there are very few or no charters, opposition to the schools is about saving public education. Opponents are quick to point to high-profile charter school scandals in Ohio and Pennsylvania as examples of what would befall their states. “It’s been 20 years of experimenting,” he says, “and experiments often fail.”

Frankenberry’s hope is that the solidarity shown by progressive opposition to school privatization in West Virginia can rub off on his colleagues in states where charters are more abundant. “We’re showing that we’re not going to accept these schools,” he says. “Maybe the progressive organizers in places where they already have them can get inspiration from us to rein charters in.”

Zuckett foresees opposition to charter schools and voucher programs continuing to be more of a point of contention that progressives will push in their policy positions, and not just in West Virginia. “The fight is on,” he says. “Shame on us if it isn’t.”

To learn more about school privatization, check out Who Controls Our Schools? The Privatization of American Public Education, a free ebook published by the Independent Media Institute.

Click here to read a selection of Who Controls Our Schools? published on AlterNet, or here to access the complete text.

This article was produced by Our Schools, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

Israel’s Killings in Gaza May Amount to ‘War Crimes,’ U.N. Finds

Human rights groups demanded accountability and justice for victims on Thursday after United Nations investigators said Israeli troops may have committed war crimes during anti-occupation protests in Gaza last year.

“The Israeli security forces killed and maimed Palestinian demonstrators who did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to others when they were shot, nor were they directly participating in hostilities,” the U.N. officials wrote in a new report(pdf), which relied on interviews, thousands of documents, and video footage showing Israeli soldiers using live ammunition against Palestinians—including children, journalists, and medical workers.

According to the report—which is the result of a months-long investigation—Israeli snipers killed over 180 unarmed Palestinians and injured more than 6,100 others with live ammunition between March 30 and December 31 of last year.

Bangladeshi lawyer Sara Hossein said in a statement that there “can be no justification for killing and injuring journalists, medics, and persons who pose no imminent threat of death or serious injury to those around them.”

“Particularly alarming is the targeting of children and persons with disabilities,” Hossain continued. “Many young persons’ lives have been altered forever. One hundred twenty-two people have had a limb amputated since March 30 last year. Twenty of these amputees are children.”

#COIProtests: (1/2) Israeli snipers deployed near the separation fence to police the protests referred to as “the Great March of Return”, shot over 6106 demonstrators, killing 183, between 30 March 2018 and 31 December 2018. #Gaza #UN #HumanRights Report: https://t.co/PhDGvbQnV3 pic.twitter.com/1LISfvQghd

— HRC SECRETARIAT (@UN_HRC) February 28, 2019

Santiago Canton of Argentina, who chaired the U.N. panel that compiled the report, said the detailed investigation found that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that “Israeli soldiers committed violations of international human rights and humanitarian law” during last year’s anti-occupation protests.

“Some of those violations may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, and must be immediately investigated by Israel,” Canton added.

But as the report points out, Israeli officials have not been quick to probe those responsible for killing and maiming Palestinian civilians:

The government of Israel has consistently failed to meaningfully investigate and prosecute commanders and soldiers for crimes and violations committed against Palestinians or to provide reparation to victims in accordance with international norms.

In a statement, Amnesty International called the U.N.’s conclusions “damning” and called for Israel’s “long-standing cycle of impunity” to finally come to an end.

“The U.N. must now follow through on its recommendations to gather information on alleged perpetrators that can be passed to national and international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court,” concluded Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director. “Those responsible for these deplorable crimes must not go unpunished.”