Plastic made since 1950s weigh equivalent of one billion elephants, finds alarming study

A Journal of People report

Source: Internet

Plastic weighing the equivalent of one billion elephants has been created since the 1950s and most of it has ended up in landfill, an alarming new study has shown. The research report – Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made – was published in the journal Science Advances (July 19, 2017, Vol. 3, no. 7, e1700782
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700782)

Recent figures from Recycle Now show that Britain bins around 16 million plastic bottles a day and if a year’s worth of the UK’s unrecycled plastic bottles were placed end to end, they’d reach around the world 31 times, covering  just over 780,000 miles.

75% of Venezuelans Support Socialism: Poll

by RYAN MALLETT-OUTTRIM

Venezuelanalysis.com | July 19, 2017

Venezuela’s opposition says millions of workers have joined their 24 hour general strike, though life continued as usual Thursday in much of the country. (AVN)

Puebla, Mexico, July 19, 2017 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The majority of Venezuelans believe in a socialist economy, but want the government to be more efficient and promote private investment, a top pollster said Wednesday.

“Most [Venezuelans] believe in a strong, vigorous state [to] establish clear laws for the market,” said Oscar Schemel, the head of polling agency Hinterlaces.

He pointed to the latest Hinterlaces poll, which asked participants if “the best thing for Venezuela is a socialist economic model of production, where various forms of private property exist”.

Venezuelan Military Hits Back at US Sanctions Threat

teleSUR | July 19, 2017

Mural of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez. | Photo: Prensa Libre

The Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez stated in a press conference Wednesday that the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela strongly rejects the interference of western powers in the internal affairs of the country.

“The FANB categorically rejects the alliance of governments operating against the nation and repudiates as firmly as possible the statements of (U.S. President Donald) Trump who, in an affront to Venezuela has dared to threaten the Venezuelan people with imposing economic sanctions on the government if it goes ahead with its Constituent Assembly. It is a shameless and vile statement that represents clear meddling in the internal affairs of the country.”

The minister also denounced the opposition that calls its supporters into the streets, leading to violence that “sets people on fire, attacks medical and educational centers, and attempts to destroy cities.”

Venezuela: July 16 Opposition “Consultation” Countered by a Chavista Show of Strength

by JORGE MARTIN

venezuelanalysis.com | July 20, 2017

(AVN)

Venezuela’s reactionary opposition had put all their weight behind a “consultation” which was supposed to show that an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans not only reject Maduro’s proposed Constituent Assembly, but also want the Army to intervene and the formation of a “national unity government”. Their mobilisation on the day was sizeable, but fell far short of their own expectations. The real news was the massive turnout, on the same day, for the official dry run of the Constituent Assembly elections, which was a show of strength for Chavismo.

Let’s start with the opposition’s “consultation” which had been previously described as a referendum and a plebiscite and which, despite being called by the opposition-dominated National Assembly, had no legal status and no real guarantees. Much has been made by the international media of the fact that this consultation was organised “against the wishes of the regime”, but in reality, the government made no attempt to stop the consultation from taking place and it also had the logistical support of the opposition mayors and regional governors, as well as the National Assembly and the backing of the capitalist class.

Are Venezuela’s Unofficial Referendum Results Credible?

by RYAN MALLETT-OUTTRIM

venezuelanalysis.com | July 18, 2017

Julio Borges, leader of the opposition-controlled parliament, speaks following an opposition-organized vote to measure public support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plan to rewrite the constitution, in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 17, 2017.
(Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

On Sunday, Venezuelans rebuked their president by “a staggering margin” – at least, that’s according to the New York Times.

“More than 98 percent of voters sided with the opposition in answering three yes-or-no questions drafted with the aim of weakening Mr. Maduro’s legitimacy days before his constituent assembly is expected to convene,” the Times reported.

In fact, across the political spectrum, the western media has almost entirely agreed on the same narrative; a narrative that says over 7 million Venezuelans just voted against President Nicolas Maduro’s proposed National Constituent Assembly (ANC). On the face of it, this is an absolutely amazing turnout in a country with a population of just over 31 million, where around half the people oppose the opposition’s current protests. It’s also an unbelievable logistical achievement, given the opposition’s vote was conducted without support from the state. This narrative is so extraordinary, it must surely have some equally extraordinary evidence to back it up, right?

Time for the “International Left” to Take a Stand on Venezuela

by GREGORY WILPERT

venezuelanalysis.com | July 15, 2017

(AVN)

Venezuela is heading towards an increasingly dangerous situation, in which open civil war could become a real possibility. So far over 100 people have been killed as a result of street protests, most of these deaths are the fault of the protesters themselves (to the extent that we know the cause). The possibility of civil war becomes more likely as long the international media obscure who is responsible for the violence and as long as the international left remains on the sidelines in this conflict and fails to show solidarity with the Bolivarian socialist movement in Venezuela.

If the international left receives its news about Venezuela primarily from the international media, it is understandable why it is being so quiet. After all, this mainstream media consistently fails to report who is instigating the violence in this conflict. For example, a follower of CNN or the New York Times would not know that of the 103 who have been killed as a result of street protests, 27 were the direct or indirect result of the protesters themselves. Another 14 were the result of lootings, in one prominent case because looters set fire to a store and ended up getting engulfed in the flames themselves. 14 deaths are attributable to the actions of state authorities (where in almost all cases those responsible have been charged), and 44 are still under investigation or in dispute. This is according to data from the office of the Attorney General, which itself has recently become pro-opposition.

Nicaragua celebrates Sandinista Revolution

by Sergio Alejandro Gómez

Granma | July 20, 2017

Photo: Cortesía del autor

Managua, Nicaragua.– The entire city is celebrating. People from all over the country arrive with red and black flags, filling Plaza de la Fe.
Many Nicaraguans decided to stay through the early morning of this July 19, to welcome in the 38th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, which defeated one of the bloodiest dictatorships on the continent.
Festivities invade homes in the neighborhoods surrounding the square. It was the poorest people and workers who were the first to start building on the rubble of the 1972 earthquake. Music fills the air, telling stories of guerilla fighters, war-torn love, and Revolution.

The Our America Consensus: A guide for the future of the Latin American left

by  Sergio Alejandro Gómez

Granma | July 19, 2017\

The 23rd Sao Paulo Forum concluded in Managua during which it was announced that Cuba will host the next edition of the event. Photo: Sergio Alejandro Gómez

MANAGUA, Nicaragua.— With the approval of the Our America Consensus, the first programmatic document stemming from the Sao Paulo Forum, leftist and progressive parties from Latin America and the Caribbean have a new instrument with which to resist the right-wing onslaught and continue implementing political and social changes in the region.

The Consensus aims to facilitate, from a conceptual and practical point of view, efforts to consolidate a political agenda benefitting the masses.

The document features the principles and objectives of progressive forces, as well as an analysis of the reality which such movements are attempting to transform, those involved, and the initiatives for which they are struggling.

Viral essay: The Uninhabitable Earth

by David Wallace-Wells

Ecologise.in | July 15, 2017

New York Magazine

I. ‘Doomsday’

Peering beyond scientific reticence.

It is, I promise, worse than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible, even within the lifetime of a teenager today. And yet the swelling seas — and the cities they will drown — have so dominated the picture of global warming, and so overwhelmed our capacity for climate panic, that they have occluded our perception of other threats, many much closer at hand. Rising oceans are bad, in fact very bad; but fleeing the coastline will not be enough.

Indeed, absent a significant adjustment to how billions of humans conduct their lives, parts of the Earth will likely become close to uninhabitable, and other parts horrifically inhospitable, as soon as the end of this century.

India: Fifty Years On, Naxalbari Veteran Shanti Munda is Still At War With Injustice

by M. SUCHITRA

The Wire | July 12, 2017

“In those days, exploitation used to take place right in front of our eyes. We knew who the exploiters were. That is not the case now. Our exploiters are too many: the government, officials, powerful companies, real estate dealers.”

In the third of her series of interviews on the 50th anniversary of the Naxalbari uprising, the author speaks to Shanti Munda, one of the original participants in the armed clashes that took place with the police in West Bengal in 1967, and a close associate of the legendary Naxalite leader Kanu Sanyal.