Point of No Return: Earth Reaches 400ppm Threshold Permanently

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

Common Dreams | 29 September, 2016

The confirmation comes soon after a report from the U.K. Met Office in June warned that the planet was well on its way toward that grim milestone. (Photo: Kevin Gill/flickr/cc)

September’s carbon dioxide output failed to drop below 400 parts per million (ppm) despite historically being the year’s low point for CO2 emissions, which means the Earth has very likely passed that symbolic climate threshold forever.

The Earth has hit 400ppm before, but seasonal cycles have always reduced carbon dioxide output back below that level. Now, climate scientists say it is “almost impossible” that will ever happen again.

Air Pollution Skyrocketing Worldwide in ‘Public Health Emergency’: WHO

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

Common Dreams | 27 September, 2016

WHO found that fully 92 percent of people worldwide live in regions where the pollution exceeds the organization’s safety limits. (Photo: UCL News/flickr/cc)

More than 90 percent of people on the planet live in places where air pollution levels are dangerously high, and millions of people are dying as a result of the exposure, according to new research from the World Health Organization (WHO) released Tuesday.

Using an air quality model based on satellite data and other ground and air monitors in 3,000 locations, the WHO found (pdf) that fully 92 percent of people worldwide live in regions where the pollution exceeds the organization’s safety limits.

Earth ‘Locked Into’ Hitting Temperatures Not Seen in 2 Million Years: Study

by Nika Knight, staff writer

Common Dreams | 27 September, 2016

“This is not an exact prediction or a forecast,” the author of the new research said, advising caution regarding her study’s temperature predictions. “The experiment we as humans are doing is very different than what we saw in the past.” (Photo: Massmo Relsig/flickr/cc)

Earth is the warmest it’s been in 100,000 years, a new reconstruction of historical temperature data finds, and with today’s level of fossil fuel emissions the planet is “locked into” eventually hitting its highest temperature mark in 2 million years.

The new research published Monday in Nature was done by Carolyn Snyder, now a climate policy official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as a part of her doctoral dissertation at Stanford University, according to the Associated Press.

New Report Finds People-Powered Energy Revolution is Very Possible

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

Common Dreams | 26 September, 2016

One of the ways households could contribute to the energy revolution is by installing solar panels on their roofs, the report states. (Photo: Liralen Li/flickr/cc)

A people-powered energy revolution—an era in which people can produce their own electricity—is possible, and could happen soon, according to a new report released Monday by the environmental group Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE).

The report, The Potential of Energy Citizens in the European Union (pdf), finds that over half the residents of the E.U. could be generating their own renewable electricity by 2050. That’s 264 million “energy citizens” meeting 45 percent of the region’s energy demand through a democratized, citizen-owned system that allows people to be the operators of their own utilities—taking power away, in more ways than one, from a market monopolized by large corporations.

Cuban university students condemn subversive U.S. schemes

by  Eduardo Palomares Calderón

Granma | 29 September, 2016

Students from Santiago de Cuba condemned U.S. schemes. Photo: Eduardo Palomares

On September 28, before the monument to Julio Antonio Mella, students from the University which bears his name in Santiago de Cuba, condemned maneuvers by the U.S. government, such as the World Learning program, which attempt to manipulate Cuban youth.
“I will be returning to my city of Las Tunas in a few months as a civil engineering graduate and in these five years our Revolution has guaranteed all my studies, free of charge, which is why we don’t need any scholarships from the U.S.,” stated Orestes Martínez Guerra, speaking toGranma at the demonstration.

Cuban students denounce World Learning

by  Ortelio González Martínez

Granma | 28 September, 2016

World1: Initial protests were held at the universities of Havana, Computer Sciences, and José Antonio Echeverría Higher Polytechnic Institute (Cujae). Photo: Ismael Batista

Ciego de Ávila.—The members of the Federation of University Students (FEU) are not asleep, nor passive, and much less remain with their arms crossed in the face of the interventionist and hostile plans of the U.S. government, warned Jenniffer Bello Martínez, FEU national president, speaking on September 27, in this province.

Damage caused by the U.S. blockade to education in Cuba

by  Yenia Silva Correa

Granma | 28 September, 2016

The U.S. blockade prevents Cuba from obtaining tools, state-of-the-art applications and IT resources. Photo:Jose M. Correa

The aggressiveness of this policy markedly increased from April, 2015 through March, 2106; affecting in particular the export of educational services from Cuba to other countries. This, according to Dr. Paul Torres Fernández Ministry of Education (Mined) spokesman, during a recent press conference.

Dr. Torres highlighted losses associated with having to operate in distant markets, one of the areas where the negative impact of the blockade is most evident, with higher shipping fees raising costs for the island.

Edgardo Lander: Venezuela Must Face its Civilizational Crisis

By HUGO PRIETO AND EDGARDO LANDER

PRODAVINCI | 18 September, 2016

Translated, edited, and abridged by venezuelanalysis.com. | 29 September, 2016

(Gabriel Méndez/ Prodavinci)

Professor Edgardo Lander is a sociologist and political commentator from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He is the author of numerous books on neoliberalism, and economics and society in Latin America. He is also a member of the Amsterdam based Transnational Institute, which seeks to promote democracy and social justice. In this interview with Prodavinci’s Hugo Prieto, Lander argues Venezuela is facing a “civilizational crisis” brought on by its dependence on oil revenue.

War Against Mahabharata

by J U B V Prasad

Frontier | Autumn Number, Vol. 48, No. 14 – 17, Oct 11 – Nov 7, 2015

Ranganayakamma (76), a well-known Telugu novelist, story writer, essayist and the authoress of An introduction to Marx’s Capital once again waged a literary battle against another classical Indian epic, Mahabharata. A literal translation of the title of Ranganayakamma’s critique of Mahabharata reads: ‘This is, O sir, Mahabharata‘. Her earlier critique of Ramayana titled Ramayana Vishavruk-sham (‘Ramayana the poison tree’) had appeared about forty years ago and has been undergoing reprints till today. An English translation of Ramayana Vishavruksham appeared in 2004.

The book has appeared in the second week of December 2014 and underwent three reprints so far. The writer acknowledges that her ‘introduction’ is based on three previous works. (1) The English prose translation of “The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa” by K M GANGULI (original publication 1883-1896), (2) ‘Sri Madandhra Mahabharatam’ (in Telugu) by the Kavitrayam (the poet-trio: Nannaya, Thikkana and Errapraggada). (3) ‘Vyaavahaarikaan-dhra Mahabharatam’ (in Telugu) by Puripanda Appalaswamy.

Contesting Symbols and Stereotypes

by Anirban Biswas

Frontier | Vol. 49, No.11, Sep 18 – 24, 2016

It is fact that the Hindutva brigade in India has been striving over the years to present a view of Indian history in conformity with their political objectives, and are making all sorts of fantastic claims in order to give this view a fairly reasonable appearance. It is also undeniable that over the last three decades or so, they have gained considerable strength. Although they more often than not prefer to impose their views on others by the force of sticks, knives and guns instead of trying to establish their propositions by means of logic and facts, there remains the need to unearth the various related aspects of India’s history and present them in their true light in order to beat back the nefarious schemes of the Hindutva brigade, and the brigade’s efforts to legitimize these schemes in terms of history by making all sorts of false claims.