A Tale of Two Cities facing Climate Crisis

A Journal of People report

Climate crisis is sparing no corner of the planet. Two US cities – Phoenix and Los Angeles – bear signs of the crisis and related developments. There are many things to learn about the crisis in these two cities.

A Los Angeles Times report on Phoenix said:

“This sprawling metropolis morphed in a matter of decades from a scorching desert outpost into one of the largest cities in the nation. Today, Phoenix is a horizon of asphalt, air conditioning and historic indifference to the pitfalls of putting 1.5 million people in a place that gets just 8 inches of rain a year and where the temperature routinely exceeds 100 degrees.

Astronauts at Work

The Social Relations of Space Travel

by Peter Dickens

Monthly Review | Volume 68, Issue 10 (March 2017)

<img width=”300″ height=”233″ src=”https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-300×233.png” class=”attachment-book-image size-book-image wp-post-image” alt=”Frequency Spectogram” srcset=”https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-300×233.png 300w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-200×155.png 200w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-400×311.png 400w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-500×388.png 500w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-100×78.png 100w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram-80×62.png 80w, https://monthlyreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/frequency_spectogram.png 686w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />

Diagram of a Frequency Spectogram

As societies interact with their external environment, human beings start changing their own internal nature. Marx applied this concept in order to understand the plight of workers at the dawn of industrial capitalism.1 It is used here to understand the relationship between the astronaut’s body and outer space. As astronauts penetrate ever further into the cosmos, how are their bodies and subjectivities being transformed? I will consider the earliest space missions to the Moon, as well as the experience of astronauts aboard the International Space Station, and their implications for future missions, such as those to Mars. Beginning from the idea of “space medicine,” which underlies many contemporary understandings of the astronaut’s body, I evaluate the usefulness of Henri Lefebvre’s notion of “rhythmanalysis,” with the aim of developing a more sophisticated relational framework for understanding the body of the astronaut.

The long shadow of the De Klerk regime

by Oupa Lehulere

Pambazuka News | 23 March, 2017

F. W. de Klerk. Source: Internet

February 1990 stands out as the most important month in South Africa’s history. This month divides South Africa’s history into two parts. The first, 1652 to 1989, represents the period of institutionalised racism and political oppression of black and indigenous people. The second period, 1990 to the present, represents a period of political freedom and self-determination of black people in South Africa. Now, 27 years into the new era, large sections of the black population are asking questions about the real meaning of the freedom that was ushered in in February 1990.

Cuba Backs Venezuela’s Fight at the OAS: ‘You Are Not Alone’

teleSUR |29 March, 2017

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement of support on Tuesday, backing Venezuela against a recent push by the U.S. and its hemispheric allies to expel the country from the Organization of American States.

The statement emphasized that Venezuela is “not alone,” and suggested that the most recent attempt by OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro — backed by the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Paraguay and Argentina — to expel Venezuela from the organization had failed given that the expected vote to expel the country did not take place.

Noting the similarities between the campaign to expel Cuba in 1962, the statement said that Venezuela’s hard-fought a battle “in defense of sovereignty, independence, self-determination, and dignity of Venezuela and of all of our America.”

US Congress Opens the Door to Sell off Private Internet Data

teleSUR | 29 March, 2017

U.S. Congress voted Tuesday to controversially repeal a number of regulations protecting internet users, which will open up the door for people’s private internet history to be openly sold off by service providing companies.

Congress voted 215-205 in favor of repealing the Obama-era regulations that required internet service providers to gain user consent before they could access private information, including a person’s information on health, internet browsing history, location data, email content and applications that people use.

The argument from ISPs and those favoring the move is about consistency, claiming that the previous rules gave massive websites like Facebook, Google and Twitter a greater opportunity to dominate digital marketing because the rules for data collection are different for websites than ISPs.

Quiet revolution cuts energy consumption

by Paul Brown

Climate News Network | 27 March, 2017

The energy-efficient headquarters of the National Trust in Swindon, UK. Image: Brian Robert Marshall via Wikimedia Commons

LONDON, 27 March, 2017 − Energy efficiency is a subject unlikely to grab the headlines, but there is a quiet revolution under way that is changing the electricity industry and helping to save the planet from climate change.

After decades of constant increases, the consumption of electricity in many European countries is going down. Coupled with the rise in the use of renewable energy, this has cut carbon emissions faster than expected.