Amazon forest felled to build road for climate summit

“A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vy191rgn1o

Who needs a giant asteroid when we have these assholes?

#habitat #humanity #fools #extinction #billionairses #corporatocracy #capitalism #COP30

#ClarenceThomas secretly attended fundraising event for group pushing cases before the court, new report says

The #Koch network is frequently behind cases before the court, including a closely watched challenge this term that could upend decades of precedent.

by Kelsey Reichmann, Sep 22, 2023

"Thomas’ attendance at the Koch network fundraiser is coupled with his failure to disclose the trip. Ethics experts called on the Judicial Conference — the rulemaking group for federal courts — to refer Thomas’ disclosure lapses to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

"'The law is very clear,' Gabe Roth, executive director at Fix the Court, said in an email. 'The Judicial Conference must refer to the Attorney General 'any individual' for which there is 'reasonable cause to believe' that 'information required to be reported' in their disclosure has not been reported. We're far past 'reasonable cause' territory.'

"Thomas’ failure to disclose other gifts from #billionaires has already been reported to the Judicial Conference, however no action has been taken by the group.

"According to ProPublica, the Palm Springs event was just one instance the Koch brothers rubbed elbows with the conservative justice. The trio all took regular trips to an exclusive all-male retreat in California, Bohemian Grove. Thomas is said to attend the camp as Crow’s guest. Other attendees at the retreat include #Blackwater founder #ErikPrince, George H.W. Bush, and Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi."

https://www.courthousenews.com/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-fundraising-event-for-group-pushing-cases-before-the-court-new-report-says/

#SCOTUS #Oligarchy ##Corporatocracy
#Corruption

A shadowy and controversial secret club meets in the California woods every year — and at least 5 US presidents were members

by Áine Cain
Mar 11, 2018,

"George H.W. #Bush joined the club in 1973, while chairing the Republican National Committee during the Watergate scandal.

"Domhoff writes that Bush belonged to a camp called Hill Billies, along with top executives from #BankOfAmerica, #GeneralMotors, and #ProcterAndGamble.

"Bush also brought along a future president as a guest on one trip to Bohemian Grove. He introduced his son — George W. Bush — at a lakeside talk in 1995, saying that he'd make a great president, according to Domhoff."

https://www.businessinsider.com/bohemian-grove-club-us-presidents-2018-3?op=1#george-h-w-bush-bunked-with-executives-from-influential-companies-7

#BohemianGrove #Oligarchy
#Corporatocracy
#Corruption #Koch #Blackwater

Well, well, well... It seems we've come full circle, eh?

#ClarenceThomas secretly participated in #Koch network donor events

Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, helping a political network that has brought cases to #SCOTUS

By Joshua Kaplan - Justin Elliott - Alex Mierjeski
Published September 22, 2023

"Thomas' involvement in the events is part of a yearslong, personal relationship with the Koch brothers that has remained almost entirely out of public view. It developed over years of trips to the #BohemianGrove, a secretive all-men's retreat in Northern California. Thomas has been a regular at the Grove for two decades, where he stayed in a small camp with real estate billionaire #HarlanCrow and the Kochs, according to records and people who've spent time with him there.

"The Grove is an exclusive, two-week party held in the Sonoma County redwoods every July. A member or his guest can wander from the Grove's shooting range to a lecture by #Blackwater founder #ErikPrince, or from a mint julep party to a performance by the Grove's symphony orchestra. Wine, sometimes at $500 a bottle, flows freely, and late at night, members consume clam chowder and chili by the gallon. More than one attendee recalled walking outside in the morning to find a former cabinet secretary who fell asleep drunk in the grass.

"There's a saying among the Bohemians, as the club's members call themselves: The only place you should be publicly associated with the Grove is in your obituary. That privacy is paramount, members said, in part to allow the powerful to speak freely — and party — without worrying about showing up in the press. Only designated photographers are allowed to take pictures. Cellphones are strictly forbidden.

"Members typically must pay thousands of dollars to bring a guest. Several people ProPublica spoke to said that before the pandemic, they saw Thomas there just about every year. ProPublica was able to confirm six trips Thomas took to the retreat that he didn't disclose. Flight records suggest Crow has repeatedly dispatched his private jet to Virginia to pick up Thomas and ferry him to the Sonoma County airport and back, usually for a long weekend in the middle of the Grove festival."

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/22/clarence-thomas-secretly-participated-in-koch-network-donor-events_partner/

#Oligarchy #Corporatocracy #Corruption

Extent of #Blackwater and #CIA Collaboration Uncovered

By Yana Kunichoff
Published December 11, 2009

"New details of Blackwater participation in clandestine CIA raids detail the extent to which private security contractors were involved in covert government antiterror operations.

"According to former employees and current and former American intelligence officials, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because they feared repercussions, Blackwater security guards participated in clandestine raids to capture or kill suspected insurgents in #Iraq and #Afghanistan and in transportation of detainees on CIA flights.

"The raids against suspects were said to occur almost nightly between 2004 and 2006, the height of the Iraqi insurgency. Several of the former Blackwater employees said the lines dividing the government-sanctioned agencies (the CIA and the military) and Blackwater began to blur.

"This information highlights a more extensive relationship between the CIA and Blackwater, now re-named Xe Services, than government investigation had previously acknowledged.

"This was confirmed recently by an article about #ErikPrince, the founder of Blackwater, published in Vanity Fair. In it, Prince spoke about the extent of his involvement with the CIA, which ranged from putting together, funding and executing operations to bring personnel into 'denied areas' to targeting specific people for #assassination who were deemed enemies by the #USGovernment.

"Though Prince alleged that he participated as a private citizen and used his personal funds to carry out operations, the Blackwater employees interviewed by The New York Times confirmed both their full knowledge of and participation in the raids.

"#Xe spokesman Mark Corallo, however, continued to deny this."

Full article:
https://truthout.org/articles/extent-of-blackwater-and-cia-collaboration-uncovered/

#TigerSwan #BigOil #HumanRights #Covert #Corporatism #Corporatocracy
#Corruption #Capitalism #Colonialism

https://substack.com/@neilshooter/note/c-87571771

#Health #Healthcare #UnitedHealthcare #Luigi #LuigiMangione #BrianThompson #CEO #HumanRights #usa #america #canada #profit #stockprice #shooter #update #news #UniversalSinglePayerHealthcare #BernieSanders #corruption #WeAreStupid #WhatWouldTheFrenchDo #Politics #Corporatocracy #Oligarchy #Plutocracy #autocracy #ToxicCapitalism #Capitalism #Economics #Democracy #EatTheRich #NationalStrike

In 2014, #BernieSanders asked #JanetYellen: "In your judgment, given the enormous power held by the billionaire class and their political representatives, are we still a capitalist democracy or have we gone over to an oligarchic form of society in which incredible enormous economic and political power now rests with the billionaire class?”
Now more than ever!

Source:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bernie-sanders-asks-fed-chair-whether-us-oligarchy/
#USPol #Oligarchy #Corporatocracy #Oligarchs

#BernieSanders on the Worldwide #Oligarchy

'We are in a struggle between a progressive movement that mobilizes around a shared vision of prosperity, security and dignity for all people, against one that defends oligarchy and massive global income and wealth inequality'

March 23, 2022

"f you watch the corporate media, you'll often hear the word '#oligarch' preceded by the word '#Russian.' But oligarchs aren't uniquely a Russian phenomenon or a foreign concept. No. The United States has its own oligarchy.

"Today, in the United States, the two wealthiest people own more wealth than the bottom 42 percent of our population – more than 130 million Americans. And the top one percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 92 percent. During the last 50 years there has been a massive transfer of wealth in our country, but it’s going in the wrong direction. The middle class is shrinking while the people on top are doing better than ever.

"Further, in terms of the global economy, there is no question that we are seeing a huge and destructive increase in income and wealth inequality. While the very, very richest people become much wealthier, ordinary people struggle and the most desperate starve.

"While massive levels of inequality existed before the rise of COVID, that situation has become much worse over the past two years.

"Today, around the world, the wealthiest 10 multi-billionaires now own more wealth than the bottom 3.1 billion – almost 40 percent of the world’s population. Unbelievably, the wealth of these ten multi-billionaires has doubled during the pandemic, while the income of 99 percent of the world’s population has declined. The oligarchs spend huge amounts of money buying fancy yachts, mansions and great paintings while 160 million people throughout the world have slipped into poverty. According to Oxfam, global income and wealth inequality has led to the deaths of more than 21,000 people each and every day throughout the world as a result of hunger and the lack of access to healthcare. Yet the world’s 2,755 billionaires saw their wealth go up by $5 trillion since March 2021 – increasing from $8.6 trillion to $13.8 trillion.

"But it’s not just the increased income and wealth gap between the very rich and everyone else. It’s a growing concentration of ownership and brute economic and political power. Something which is not talked about much, either in the media or political circles, is the reality that a handful of Wall Street firms, Black Rock, Vanguard and State Street, now control over $21 trillion in assets – roughly the GDP of the United States. This gives a tiny number of CEOs enormous power over hundreds of companies and the lives of millions of workers. The result: in recent years we have seen the ultra-wealthy significantly increase their influence over media, banking, health care, housing and many other parts of our economy. In fact, never before have so few owned and controlled so much.

"Add it all together and what you see is a nation and world trending very strongly toward oligarchy – where a small number of multi-billionaires exercise enormous economic and political power.

"So, in the midst of all of this, where do we go from here?

"Clearly, while we face oligarchy, COVID, attacks on democracy, climate change, the horrific war in Ukraine and other challenges it is easy to understand why many may fall into cynicism and hopelessness. This is a state of mind, however, that we must overcome – not only for ourselves, but for our kids and future generations. The stakes are just too high, and despair is not an option. We must come together and fight back.

"What history has always taught us is that real change never takes place from the top on down. It always occurs from the bottom on up. That is the history of the labor movement, the #CivilRights movement, the women’s movement, the #environmental movement and the #GayRights movement. That is the history of every effort that has brought about transformational change in our society.

"That is the struggle we must intensify today.

"We must bring people together around a progressive agenda. We must educate, organize and build an unstoppable grassroots movement that helps create the kind of nation and world we know we can become. One that is based on the principles of justice and compassion, not greed and oligarchy.

"We must never lose our sense of outrage when so few have so much and so many have so little.

"We must not allow ourselves to be divided up based on the color of our skin, where we were born, our religion or our sexual orientation.

"The greatest threat of the billionaire class is not simply their unlimited wealth and power. It is their ability to create a culture that makes us feel weak and hopeless and diminishes the strength of human solidarity.

"Yet, as a result of the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the extraordinary courage and solidarity of the Ukrainian people, countries throughout the world are waking up to the fact that there is a global struggle taking place between autocracy and democracy, between authoritarianism and the right of people to freely express their views.

"Now is the time to build a new progressive global order that recognizes every person on this planet shares a common humanity and that all of us – no matter where we live or the language we speak – want our children to grow up healthy, have a good education, breathe clean air and live in peace.

"What we are seeing now is not just the incredible bravery of the people in Ukraine, but thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets to demand an end to Putin’s war in Ukraine, knowing that it’s illegal to do so and that they will likely be arrested and punished.

"We have seen the courage of working people here in our country who are coming together to take on corporate greed and organize for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

"Sisters and brothers, right now we are in a struggle between a progressive movement that mobilizes around a shared vision of prosperity, security and dignity for all people, against one that defends oligarchy and massive global income and wealth inequality.

"It is a struggle we cannot lose. And it is one that we can overcome, as long as we stand together."

https://portside.org/2022-03-23/bernie-sanders-worldwide-oligarchy

#GlobalOligarchy #GlobalPol #USPol #StillSanders #Corporatocracy #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #Autocracy #WealthInequality #Oligarchs

And how much economic damage is from climate change and pollution from #FossilFuels? #BigOil is the real criminal here!

#ClimateProtesters are taking action against Big Oil. UK courts are handing them prison terms akin to rapists and thieves

By Kara Fox, CNN
September 14, 2024

London CNN — "As #RightWing rioters attacked communities with #racist violence across parts of the UK last month, 22-year-old #ClimateActivist #CressieGethin sat in a prison cell.

"Her crime? Organizing a disruptive protest against new government-granted licenses to drill for oil — a planet-heating #FossilFuel — in the #NorthSea.

"In late July, a London court found #Gethin and four other members of the #JustStopOil activist group guilty of 'conspiring intentionally to cause a #PublicNuisance,' after recruiting protesters to climb structures along the M25 — a major ring road around London — bringing traffic to a standstill in parts over four days in November 2022.

"Prosecutors alleged that the protests, organized over a #ZoomCall, disrupted more than 700,000 drivers, caused economic damage of over £760,000 ($980,000) and racked up £1 million ($1.3m) in policing costs.

"Now Gethin and three others — Louise Lancaster, #DanielShaw and #LuciaWhittakerDeAbreu, who planned the disruption on the call — are serving four-year jail terms, while Just Stop Oil co-founder #RogerHallam was given five years. All are appealing.

"The sentences are believed to be the longest in the UK’s history for #nonviolent protest and were delivered under two new controversial laws that supercharged #policing powers to crack down on disruptive protests, even when they are peaceful.

"They place the act of planning a 'public nuisance' event, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, on a similar footing as #ViolentCrimes like robbery, for which punishments range from community service to 12 years’ jail, or rape, which is four to 19 years.

"The judge — who in court referred to the activists as '#extremists' — justified the long jail terms because all five activists had previously been convicted of one or more offenses in relation to direct action protest. Each were on bail for another set of proceedings when the Zoom call took place. He also noted people missed important doctor’s visits and funerals because of the protest.

"But activists like Gethin say their demonstrations are proportionate to the problem at hand — a rapidly warming world that threatens to transform life as we know it, through deadly #ExtremeWeather events and by pushing #ecosystems to their brinks. They are now battling the bolstered powers of the #police and courts to get their point across.

“'A very harsh sentence like this doesn’t make sense morally or legally — but it does make sense politically,' Gethin told CNN in a handwritten letter from HMP Bronzefield, a women’s prison just south of London’s Heathrow Airport.

"The laws have drawn criticism from the UN’s special rapporteur on #EnvironmentalDefenders, #MichaelForst, who said not only do they criminalize peaceful protest, but they are being enforced in 'punitive and repressive' ways."

Read more:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/14/climate/uk-climate-protests-policing-laws-prison-intl/index.html

#BigOilAndGas #ClimateActivists #ClimateProtest #SLAPPs #CorporateColonialism #WaterDefenders
#ClimateDefenders
#EnvironmentalActivists
#SilencingDissent #SLAPPs #ClimateActivists #CorporateColonialism
#EarthDefenders #CriminalizingDissent #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #BiodiversityNecessityDefense
#EarthDefenders
#SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilDisobedience
#Activism #ClimateStrike
#HumanRights #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct #ClimateNecessityDefense #Corporatocracy #CorporateFascism #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe