A result we cannot lose ourselves in the darkness we have to remind ourselves that there is still an amazing amount of good in this world and that there is still hope there is always hope so today let us celebrate some of the good that has come from all of this bad starting with the tremendously fantastic news that since us humans across the globe been spending more time indoors the outdoors has had the time to start healing itself yes the guardian other outlets are are now reporting that according to satellite imagery from the European Space agency the coronavirus pandemic is shutting down industrial activity and temporarily slashing air proo pollution levels around the world and that levels of nitrogen dioxide over cities and industrial clusters in asia and europe were markedly lower than the same period last year. Meanwhile another bit of great news for both the environment and remind us of our ability to change the world the Standing Rock sioux tribe just won a major victory in court after a federal judge ruled that the Us Army Corps of engineers were violated the National Environmental policy act by approving federal permits for the Dakota Access pipeline. So on todays show we shall celebrate these new stories and a few unique good people who are shining the light of hope in this sea of pandemic darkness as we start watching the us. Go on a city street you want to. See this is this joyce state see a. Great city displays systemic deceptions show which. Brings up. A welcome everyone to watching the ox i am Tyrone Ventura and today we are highlighting some of the positive news stories of the day and the and some of bens to come out of this tragedy in this pandemic starting with r. T. America contributor alex mahela bitch who joins me now from toronto with the news that alex i guess air pollution is actually coming down now that many of us humans can no longer go outside is this actually true is that what were seeing. It looks like thats exactly what were seeing think about it most people when they go outside or i should say a lot of people what do they do they get into their cars and they drive someplace so thats a major factor along with the fact that were looking at in the industrial world basically shutting down so those are 2 places that we know pollution comes from the 3rd being power plants all these places produce dioxide now nitrogen dioxide i should say nitrogen dioxide when it gets up with the atmosphere it causes some problems mostly for people who. More respiratory difficulties it is not however a Greenhouse Gas but wherever nitrogen dioxide comes from so do Greenhouse Gases so this is a great measurement of what is happening right now the European Space agency say is saying that were seeing a massive drop and with that actually a lot of healthy things happening when you look at this happening as i mentioned people who have respiratory illnesses its business is better for them and then in the Bigger Picture its also good for agriculture because plants when theres pollution they just dont grow as well so this is whats happening right now can be positive and even with the corona virus itself there is a good possibility that the virus moves better in areas that are highly polluted because peoples systems there their Natural Systems to fight off their immune systems are not as strong as they would be in cleaner environments wow and i want to ask where are we seeing some of the biggest drops in this pollution around the world. Though some not so drop sopping will primarily in asia and in europe if you will get will hand which was the epicenter of this we know that lockdown happened in that city of 11000000 in january massive drops there parts of china 10. 00 to 2010th i should say to 30 percent drops in and oxide so that is big move over to europe the biggest drop weve seen so far is in northern italy now northern italy is it Industrial Hub you know around the land theres tons of factories there and its also surrounded by the alps which sense to hold in pollutants weve seen a 40 percent nitrogen oxide drop in the dioxide drop in that area so that is just massive going over to the u. K. Also thinks of slow down 80 percent of the pollution that they have from nitrogen dioxide is from automobiles in the london area and theres a marked difference there as well so globally speaking this has some repercussions that are. Positive our pollution levels are down and many are saying that we should try to keep it that way i couldnt agree more alex and you know the other interesting thing that have to ask is are we seeing any other positive effects on the environment now that now that were all self isolating and do you think were decided to spill the will these improvements last beyond the quarantines. Well the most marked effect would be tourism you know the slowdown of tourism obviously theres less air travel theres less cruise ships going around and in a city like venice italy this is really prominent and you think about 700000. 00 tourists a day this time of year walking through venice gone bill is going around boats moving around the water is cleaner theres less garbage theres less pollution happening and this is all positive so from that respect not only is our air becoming cleaner but theres less garbage going around and there are the water at least around venice is becoming cleaner now according to the United Nations these are things that we really need to be looking at and taking seriously at this point seeing that this lowering of pollution is something that we need we need to stop destroying our Natural Environment because if we continue the way that were going and do not keep this warning what will do is release more viruses like this from our Natural World that we live in and that would be a bigger problem but on the flip side of course the United States of america as you know the e. P. A. Has just lowered the levels of restrictions towards polluters in the United States because of the coronavirus so its completely counterintuitive and hopefully some of this is something that americans will will be taken seriously as well because we have a chance to make things better this is our chance it might be the only one or you know us alex we are always about the counterintuitive down here in the states i can promise you that thank you so much for that report alex awesome awesome news the year the pollution is kind of clearing up because of the lack of human activity in the world thank you so much sir. Thank you. With one 3rd of the worlds human population under some form of coronavirus related lockdown the thought of more and more days and weeks of social distancing insult by salacious can seem daunting and yes even scary humans are social animals we need that kind of interaction to survive so the question is how do we find community when for our own safety we must have none well one of the more ingenious methods weve seen has come out of the united kingdoms james sells the musician behind whats called sopa signatures yes so a free to anyone online Video Conferencing choir that lets folks were around the world joined together in song during these pressing times james joins us now from london james welcome to the show. That really great to be here so ive really great work that youre doing i want to ask you what was your inspiration for so for singers what brought this. Well i guess it was seeing the scenes and to the few weeks ago where people were singing in the street spontaneously you know coming together in their communities and using song to kind of you know bind them together. If too few weeks ago i was running my usual quietness and singing with shops which and to bring people together through singing. I thought well how can we make the most of the situation and still create those human connections. How important is just the simple act of bringing people together during times like these especially through the power of news or calm porton is that. I think coming as you said away is really important so im trying to just check in with my friends every day in the phone all of which you know through a video call but theres something about singing together and the kind of sense that the shared purpose that really just bonds people instantly and whats been amazing from the singing sessions is that people often being you know coming into the session on their own they didnt know anybody else in the room and afterwards they felt they felt a real sense of kind of joy in connection and some of the faces we seeing there you know it just it just says it all and so i think you know were finding that common language of song and new music to really help is in these in these really Uncertain Times i couldnt agree with you more and when i saw this story kind of come across my back i really thought there was this is someone i want to talk to because that we need more people like you out there kind of you know finding some kind of positive finding ways to bring us together and finding the light in the tunnel you know for those with an edge to join you in this quest of song how can make buying soap or singers online and whats kind of required to join or take part. Yeah well what was say 1st is that its not a choir way expected to read music or have any particular experience in fact i dont really call it a choir in that the singers can actually hear each other but we can see each other and so its kind of this global kind of sing along in a way on tuesday session we had over a 1000 people singing one love by bob marley across about 20 Different Countries and so its very low pressure its all about participation and so you can go to the website which is w w dot the so for singers dot net that tells you when the next session will be its absolutely free for people to take parts of the 500 digital spaces in the room so you seen the pictures with all of their you know all the little squares on we do that through a conferencing platform and so you have to register for that there are 500 people free places but if you dont get in the room and it has proved very popular then were also streaming on you tube live as well so you can still join in at home you wont have your face on the screen but you hopefully will still get that same sense of kind of connection i got to ask how do you pick the music how do you pick the songs that everyone joins together and how does our process work. Yes a good question. Picking songs you know that kind of classics for a kind of uplifting that are going to help bring people together because you know like said you know singing and music is the universal language so its picking songs that will really resonate across different cultures so so far we sung stand by me as the 1st session and then there and trying to remember a lean on me you have course and then we did some bob marley this week so kind of continue in that vein but looking at songs you know that have themes of kind of solidarity of companionship that just you know celebrate our humanity and thats what these sessions are all about. I got and like i said i cant thank you enough for doing things like this one just a little bit of a minute left what it what do you have moving forward in the future and where were you looking for to do with your career. Well im just this is really excited me to be honest because up to now ive never really thought about bringing singing into the digital sphere in this way but you know interested in taking this forward reaching more people id love to get some special guests in for the sofa singing sessions. You know and and just really open it out to even more people were only on to our 4th session and it just feels like were just at the beginning of something really exciting and so what are say is watch this space you know comes to website be part of it see what were doing and lets just see but but after krone virus im looking at doing some so for singers live events in the u. K. And maybe in the states as well where everyone has been joining in from their sofas we can actually do it face to face and feel those benefits even more because were in the same room together ill be happy to have you over here in the states thank you so much for the work that youre doing and keep it up out there bringing hope and bringing song to people always a pleasure sir thank you. Thank you thank you very much. As we go to break remember that you can also start watching the hawks and the man of the. Brand new portable t. V. Which is available on smartphones through google play on the Apple App Store by searching portable t. V. Or stream us to your t. V. By downloading the portable t. V. App on apple t. V. Or online a portable dot to be portable t. V. Will also be available on more devices coming soon all right up next we find some hope with boyer and autism advocates a loss and then we showcase the big win for the water protectors and made of americans of Standing Rock stay tuned to watching the books. To. See problem with having too many claims and gold is really hitting the markets in a serious way people want their gold now because they realize that the money world is collapsing and then they go to get their gold and these exchanges well max or b. M. A. Are saying no we dont have the gold actually. Its that here and so thats causing people to they want their gold even more than all the countries that have repatriated their gold ever since we told germany that they dont even have the gold on their own soil then they repatriated their gold now Everyone Wants to repatriate they want their gold back and sell the physical price of gold is now zooming higher and the paper price soon will become a meaningless price. Join me every thursday on the alex simon show and ill be speaking to us from the world of politics sports business im show business ill see you then. Thats the Crucial Point of the book and bottom line of the book namely i think youre pretty much stuck with your looks but if you have other things that youre good at either music or running or doing intellectual work or politics then one should take advantage of ones advantages and project hours and forget about the fact that you may not be the best looking person on the block. Your government and our government and all the other major governments of the world know whats going to and when its going to. But they havent told you and they havent told me they havent announced. Imagine something as big as the earth is going to cause tidal waves or earthquakes volcanoes erupt and its going to chill. So very for a while right. My great grandfathers quote. Nobody would care about the law or prison so youd have wallace those should have. A terrible life between now and the. All right welcome back everyone you know i cant stress enough how important it is in times like these to remember that there was always a light at the end of the tunnel and one of the best ways to keep fanning the flames of hope is to highlight those of us in our community who one could easily argue not only talk the talk when it comes to finding hope and beauty in the struggle but who also walk the walk in overcoming adversity and realizing self actualization without a doubt one of those good people is haley ma so when diagnosed with autism at age 3 her family was told that she would be lucky to graduate from High School Get a drivers life license or even make a friend or 2 while Flash Forward to today and not only does ms mosse have a law degree from the university of miami school of law as well as to bachelor degrees in psychology and criminology from the university of florida but she is also an accomplished author and writer whose byline has appeared everywhere from the Washington Post to teen vogue to fast company she joins us now to discuss the importance of keeping and maintaining hope in a time of adversity always great having you on welcome back. Thank you so much for having me you know i really we are without a doubt you know living in a very scary turbulent and Uncertain Times and while dealing with stay at home quarantine social distancing and the threat of disease is difficult for everyone i have to ask what kind of effect has this pandemic had on our brothers and sisters around the world with mental and physical disabilities. Its honestly been kind of a mixed bag so obviously you have folks who are and you know compromise then you do have disabilities are not high risk captain something or having symptoms of coronavirus but you also see something really exciting happening when it comes to remote work or this even being south isolated or quarantined because a lot of or no work up. Different Virtual Events and things that otherwise would have been inaccessible or might have been seen as an unreasonable accommodation are suddenly the norm so its really happening is youre seeing this Community Around together and youre seeing a society that might not otherwise be as welcoming to people of disabilities incorporating things that weve been asking for for a very long time you know i have to ask someone who quite literally took what many would call you know adversity by being diagnosed on the spectrum with autism you truly turn that into as you said a superpower what do you feel is a good way for folks you know either you know with disabilities or not to overcome their own hurdles in life as we as we move forward in these times. I think its really important to remember what youre passionate about and why you do the things that you do so kind of having a lot of time to suffer a flight that this plane is something that i think all of us can benefit from and also to channel that energy into something that we care a lot about i mean for me its doing more writing another book and i know that i get to spend more time with my family which i really appreciate so i think about the good things that youre able to do and what there is to do especially when youre thinking about that light at the end the tunnel that you can speaking about is is really important really and there is good that can come out of this and every day try to think of something that youre thankful for and think of something that matters to you and remember kind of your why is why are you doing what youre passionate about why is it important to you Autism Awareness month actually starts on april 2nd what do you feel about the biggest improvements you see in the our society handles our brothers and sisters with autism. I think that society has a long way to go but i am really hopeful for the future especially as we are in 2020 i think whats really going on as far as april and Autism Awareness month which i think should be caring more towards acceptance and awareness is according to a recent c. D. C. Statistics the prevalence rate of autism is now one in 54. 00 but whats exciting about that while it might sound. Larry is that were closing the divide in who is getting diagnosed autism so now we dont see it necessarily just being one racial group in particular or just gender and that were seeing kind of the gap close and that we have more access to identifying people so there is more going on in the awareness here but i think its far as acceptance even having more jobs in closing the unemployment gap which i know at this time seems kind of scary to think about its something thats been going on slowly as time goes on even just having a greater understanding and more education about autism and listening to artistic people especially is really important and its something that i see happening more and more that is that is great news because its one of the most important things we have to do is actually listen to the people who have it to tell us what they need from us not decide what they need for them it was hope what is your advice on how not to lose hope you know and keep pushing forward about a minute left. I think for not losing hope its important to realize that one day this will be over but it is not going to be the same after and the scariest that sounds i think its a good thing because you realize how much positive change can cause like earlier on the show when youre talking about the environment for instance and even for me seeing minute possibilities of the remote work in new Creative Solutions to problems and things that in our community weve been pushing for for a long time are suddenly reality even though it might not have calmed the way that we had hoped to see it come we are still having this reality where things are Getting Better so dont lose hope knowing that things will change and you have the ability to do something creative and bring about innovation because disability at the end of the day has always brought innovation that it most certainly has haley always up to say you were definitely a light in the darkness thank you for coming on and sharing your views with the audience today always a pleasure thank you for having me. In what has to be one of the biggest wins against big oil in many a moons this week it was announced that a federal judge ruled that the trumpet minutes. Violated the National Environmental policy act when the u. S. Army corps of engineers approved federal permits for the Dakota Access pipeline joining me now with the details is r t america correspondent rachel bloodworms rachel this is this is a huge what do we know so far about this ruling so this decision was made by a federal judge here in washington d. C. Who ruled that these permits that were given to open the Dakota Access pipeline actually violate federal law now hes calling for a new Environmental Impact review all together but when we take a look at the issues that he found with this pipeline its almost insane and egregious how massive these problems were yet the review still Going Forward so that includes the fact that the pipelines Leak Detection system was unlikely to work this time was also not designed to catch slow spills and the operators history of serious incidents was not taken into account at all and on top of that the worst Case Scenario given in the review was not realistic with what were actually looking at here in the u. S. Now one of the biggest things about this is that this is something that members of the Standing Rock sioux tribe have warned about since day one whenever they started to protest against the creation of this pipeline not only because it was on their land but also because of all of the factors that harmed people in their tribe along with the environment as a whole while well you know how is the trumpet ministration played a role in this pipe was you know moving forward despite the protests i mean trump those will be the big things as were going to start this part of the world which is ridiculous of the great exactly and that was one of the 1st things he did when he got into office was in the 1st few days he issued an executive maria and that pushed forward fast track the review of this pipeline and now we are finally hearing a court saying wait a 2nd maybe that wasnt such a good idea because it was just within a few months that the pipeline was open for business and the Environmental Impact review said that everything was great and good to go and now we are finally hearing otherwise but at the same time the traveling ministration is expected to fight back against those. Because a trump is really a legacy for himself where hes fought back against the National Environmental policy act and he seems to want federal agencies to be able to do whatever they want whenever it comes to opening a pipeline or building a highway or Something Like that without taking the time to take the environment into consideration or take responsibility when things go south what is this is a this is a huge window for the Standing Rock sioux what is the next step in this process moving forward so the judge right now is calling for both sides to present their arguments on whether or not the pipeline should remain open and hold that new Environmental Impact review is completed so there is a chance that he could push for shutting the pipeline down altogether if a well enough argument is made for that now this absolutely is a win for the tribe and the chairman for the Standing Rock sioux tribe did released a statement on this where he said quote after years of commitment to defending our water and earth we welcome this news of a significant legal when its humbling to see how actions we took 4 years ago to defend our ancestral homeland cant in you to inspire a National Conversation about how our choices all to mostly affect this planet so this case is still ongoing but this is a major win coming and incredibly crucial time and a really nice piece of good news for us all rachel i want to say thank you so much for coming on and sharing that with us and congratulations to the Standing Rock sioux they deserve this well thank you. Ladies gentlemen all i can say is look these are dark times but there is hope and keep hope alive be good to each other take care of each other as we try to navigate our way through this disease and through this pandemic and most of all just remember to love each other i say that every day at the end of every show in this world we are definitely not told that we are loved and i mean it when i say i love you. Keep on watching those talks and have a great day and night everybody. Believing weird things by the way is called superstition or magical thinking believing weird things like that is not a bug in the system its a feature that comes equipped in the software of our program mean to try to connect things in the environment just in case theres a real connection. Is your media a reflection of reality. In a world transformed. What will make you feel safe. Isolation full community. Are you going the right way or are you being led. By. What is true whats his face. In the world corrupted you need to descend. To join us in the depths. Or inmate in the shallowness. A dark industry comes to life in los angeles every night. Dozens of women sells their bodies on the streets many of them under age. Los Angeles Police reveal a taste of their daily challenge no if youre going to exploit. Charles youre in los angeles and were going to come as you see officers going undercover as 6 workers and customers to fight the 6 trades. Hello everyone and welcome to this edition of the press im Steve Malzberg and this week we decided to try something a little different because like everybody else were adjusting to the new landscape out there it affects the media just as it affects every one of you sitting out there and watching the media or in this case the show so were going to do it an indepth interview with a single guest and i think youre going to find him to be extremely interesting and and his his opinions are going to are going to really resonate with you i think hes roger l. Simon he is the epic time senior Political Columnist hes also a prize winning novel thats an Academy Award nominated screenwriter and his latest book is the goat as in greatest of all time and you can follow on twitter at roger l. Simon hello my friend roger