Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160516 : comparemela.co

Extremely interesting phenomenon. Has mobilized a large number of young people. These and people are saying, look, were not going to consent anymore. If that turns into a continuing, organized, mobilized force, that could change the country. Maybe for not not for this election, but longer term. Amy today, professor noam chomsky live for the hour. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Protests against the oil, coal, and Gas Industries erupted across multiple continents over the weekend as part of the Global Campaign to break free from fossil fuels. In washington state, 52 people were arrested after blockading Railroad Tracks leading to two oil refineries. Protesters pitched their tents on the tracks and occupied the bnsf Railway Tracks from friday afternoon until police broke up the encampment early sunday. This has been one of the most inspiring things i have ever been a part of in my life, i have to say. Grip ofto break the fossil fuels on our economy. Temperatures to 1. 5 degrees celsius. There is no current plan anywhere in the world to do that. The only thing that has been massive social again to bring change our mass disobedient movements. Amy meanwhile, hundreds of kayaktivists took to the waters to around the shell and tesoro refineries. They displayed a banner in front of the refineries that read, transition together. Liz lafferty spoke out about why she decided to take the waters. I am here today because for the last 100 years, we have been spending our childrens childrens resources. It has been an insane act on our part to take resources that really belong to future generations and spend them as if we can replace those. They are irreplaceable resources. So i am out here another reason im out here, for democracy to work, you have to have an important populous. Informed populace. We have been asleep for too long. Amy in upstate new york, thousands of people converged on the port of albany to protest shipments of explosive crude oil by rail in socalled bomb trains. The trains pass just yards behind a Public Housing complex in the new york state capital. Albany Council Member Vivian Kornegay spoke about the action. People have come to us from vermont, massachusetts, connecticut, even maryland to be one unified voice with this small community. Small communities across the country are getting together to make one unified voice and have that one unified voice heard from where we are today here in albany or wherever else these protests are happening to the white house to let them know the small communities are impacted and affected, and we are not going to go away until you hear from us and here that we want and deserve to have safe communities. We deserve to be able to breed clean air, drink clean water, and have our total be safe and free from the backdrop of an oil train when they play in the playground. Amy as part of the action in albany, new york saturday, many , protesters sat down on the train tracks. In the early afternoon, two climbers suspended themselves from a railroad bridge, blockading a train from north dakota carrying crude oil. At least five people were arrested, including the two climbers marissa shea and maeve mcbride. Mcbride described their action. Orissa and i and another team of folks were able to drop a line over the railroad bridge this afternoon. [cheers] and stop mainline traffic in an oil train that was heading from essentially western new york down we just got our arraignment. The last thing the judge said to us when we left was, thanks for coming out. Amy protests against also fill in the impacts of Climate Change were held all over the week and from new zealand to south africa, new jury a were residents demanded a cleanup of the niger delta to brazil to turkey to denver, colorado, to ecuador where participants planted trees on a future oil refinery site to protest a national park. Demonstrators converged in los angeles and vancouver, canada in , west java, indonesia, where they dropped banners from machinery used to unload coal, and chicago to washington, d. C. In germany, more than 100 people were arrested after thousands gathered to shut down one of europes largest lignite coal mines for two days. The protesters blocked rail access and made their way onto the grounds of a coalfired power station. In another reminder of the fossil fuel industrys impact, a shell oil facility spilled about 90,000 gallons of crude oil into the gulf of mexico off the coast of louisiana. Others say the spill has been contained and cleanup is underway. And in the latest sign of humaninduced Climate Change driven by the fossil fuel industry, last month marked the hottest april on record worldwide, crushing the previous high by the widest margin on record. It was the seventh month in a row to break global temperature records. In iraq, isis militants attacked a natural gas plant north of baghdad, killing at least a dozen people. More than have been killed in 120 isis attacks over less than a week. The attack began with a car bomb explosion then suicide , bombers entered the plant and fought with security guards before blowing themselves up. House Speaker Paul Ryan has continued to offer guarded praise for Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump. Ryan praised a meeting on thursday between trump and republican leaders, but said more work remains to unify the republican party. It is no secret that donald and i have had some disagreements. It is no secret we from time to time clashed on an issue or two depth. That happens with people. The question is, can we put together a process that really actually helps get our Party Unified so we are full strength in the fall . Based upon the meetings on thursday, and encouraged for the beginning of this process. Amy donald trump is facing renewed scrutiny over his treatment of women, including reports he raped his exwife ivana in a fit of rage. Ivana trump made the accusation in a deposition. However, in the book, lost tycoon the many lives of donald j. Trump, trumps lawyers insisted a statement by ivana trump be placed in front of book which read i referred to this as a rape, but i do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense. The New York Times has interviewed dozens of women who interacted with trump, from a beauty pageant contestant who said trump kissed her on the lips, to a woman executive who said trump commented on her weight, telling her you like your candy. Rowanne brewer lane, a model who dated trump, said he asked her to change into a swimsuit almost immediately after meeting her at a pool party at his florida mansion. Trump is known for his disparaging language against women, calling comedian Rosie Odonnells face fat and ugly, and saying fox news host megyn kelly asked him tough questions because she was menstruating. Asked about trumps reported history of disrespecting women during a Fox News Sunday interview with chris wallace, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus initially said no one cares. Well, you know, a lot of things bother me, chris, obviously, im the wrong person to be asked that particular question. Wait a minute, why you the wrong person . This is your nominee and theyre saying he has mistreated women over the years. Working on have been this primary for over a year, chris. I have got to tell you, i think that all of the stories that come out, and they come out every couple of weeks, people just dont care. I think people look at donald trump and they and Hillary Clinton and say, who is going to bring an earthquake to washington, d. C. . Amy a major boost to donald trump, billionaire casino magnate and republican Megadonor Sheldon Adelson has told trump in a private meaning he could donate upwards of 100 million in order to help get trump elected. Adelson reportedly said he was willing to contribute more to trump than he has to any previous campaign. President obama took aim at Donald Trumps racist rhetoric as he delivered the commencement address at Rutgers University in new jersey. Obama criticized trumps call to ban all muslims from entering the United States. Isolating or disparaging muslims, suggesting they should be treated differently when it comes to entering this country, just a betrayel of are, ites, of who we would alienate the very communities home and abroad who are most important partners in our fight against violent extremism. Amy on the democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders face off in primaries in kentucky and oregon tuesday. Republicans also have their primary in oregon. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro extended a state of emergency in venezuela for another 60 days and accused the United States of working to oust him from power. Maduro said his rightwing opponents in venezuela have been emboldened by the ouster of brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. Like brazil, venezuela, has been embroiled in an economic crisis. Triggered by low oil prices, the crisis has seen water shortages, blackouts and the instatement of , a twoday work week for government employees. President maduro issued his decree on friday. I decree today, friday the 13th of may, a state of economic emergency in order to defend the country. Here is the decree am assigned an approved for the protection of our country. Once this is published in the next few minutes, this new degree will go into effect. I maintain the constitutional power to defend the country against the threat of an economic war. Amy meanwhile in brazil, protests continue over the legislatures vote to suspend president Dilma Rousseff and put her on trial. Rousseff is accused of tampering with government accounts to hide a budget deficit. But she has accused her rightwing opponents of fomenting a coup. Her replacement has instated an allwhite male cabinet charged with implementing corporatefriendly policies. Rousseff said the new government is illegitimate. I believe we are seeing a new concept with regards to the president ial system in latin america. I think it is a mixture come as military coups are out of fashion. There is a problem for all regimes, like under the president ial system in which there is a fixed state for it to begin and end. Amy el salvador has refused to recognize the new brazilian government that replaced president Dilma Rousseff. El salvadors president salvador Sanchez Ceren said rousseffs ouster had the appearance of a coup detat. In spain, thousands took to the streets to mark the fifth anniversary of the indignados movement. On may 15, 2011, the Mass Movement erupted against unemployment, austerity, the big banks and the political system. , the indignados helped inspire the occupy movement and the emergence of the Political Party podemos. The protest comes as spain heads for new elections last month following a political deadlock after december elections resulted in a Spanish Parliament divided between podemos, the socialist, and the ruling peoples party. The pharmaceutical giant pfizer has taken steps to bar the use of its drugs in executions. In a statement, pfizer said the Company Strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment. About two dozen other u. S. And european drugs firms have drug firms have adopted similar restrictions. The Human Rights Group reprieve says all fdaapproved manufacturers of execution drugs have now blocked their sale for use in executions, potentially forcing states to go underground if they want to buy the drugs. And palestinians marked the 68th anniversary of the nakba, or what they call the catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of palestinians were displaced during the period around israels declaration of statehood. In the west bank city of ramallah, residents reenacted the movement of refugees, carrying suitcases and baskets. In bethlehem, demonstrators created a mock train bearing the names of cities where palestinians lost their homes. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades at the train and its accompanying marchers. And those are some of the headlines. This democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Were on the road here in new york, then on today to canada, to madison, wisconsin, and then to toronto, canada. The New York Times is reporting president obama has just passed a littlenoticed milestone. He has now been at war longer than any president in u. S. History longer than george w. Bush, longer than franklin d. Roosevelt, longer than abraham lincoln. Obama has taken military action in at least seven countries iraq, afghanistan, libya, syria, pakistan, men, and somalia. Just last month, president obama announced the deployment of 250 more special operations troops to syria in a move that nearly doubles the official u. S. Presence in the country. As war spreads across the globe, a record 60 Million People were driven from their homes last year. Experts warn the refugee crisis may also worsen due to the impacts of Global Warming. Over the weekend, nasa released data showing 2016 is on pace to be by far the hottest year ever, breaking the 2015 record. April became the seventh month in a row to have broken global temperature records. Meanwhile, many fear a new Nuclear Arms Race has quietly begun as the United States, russia, and china race to build arsenals of Smaller Nuclear weapons. These multiple crisis come as voters in the United States prepare to elect a new president. To make sense of the challenges facing the globe and the state of the u. S. Election we are joined now by the worlds preeminent intellectuals, noam chomsky. Institute Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of technology where he has taught more than half a century. His latest book is called who , rules the world . Noam chomsky, welcome back to democracy now glad to be with you again. Amy who rules the world . To signet to a certain extent, it is up to us. It is possible for populations to rule the world, but they have to struggle to achieve that. And if they dont, the world will be ruled by concentrations of power. Economic power, state power, closely linked with consequences that are of the kind that you describe. But that is a choice. Statesw does the united set the terms of the global discourse, and overall, what is happening in the world . Well, that is basically an outcome of the second world war. At the end of the second world war, the United States had a level of our power and that it had not had in history. It literally had half of the worlds wealth. It had an incomparable position of security, controlled the hemisphere, controlled both oceans, controlled the opposite sides of both oceans. The military terms, it was overwhelmingly preeminent. Other industrial societies had been devastated or severely weekend. The war had actually greatly ,enefited the u. S. Economy a debt that it could easily go out of it by growth. The u. S. Was in fact in a position to pretty much set the terms for virtually the entire global system. It could not stay that way, of course, and it began to erode pretty quickly. Though it is with all the changes over the past years, the United States still is in a preeminent position with incomparable advantages and maybe now one quarter of the worlds wealth. In military terms, on that dimension the United States is the only country that has hundreds, maybe 1000 military bases around the world, troops all over the world. U. S. Military spending is almost as great as the rest of the world combined, technologically, much more advanced. Pastn that context of the 70 years or so, the united prettyhas had, usually, dominant role in World Affairs and setting me framework within which those operate, not without conflict, of course. Amy you talk about the two major threat facing the world today nuclear war and Climate Change. Talk about each. Well, i might start by ,eferring to the Doomsday Clock a clock that since 1947, shortly after the atomic bombing, the established Doomsday Clock every year, a panel of specialists make an estimate of how close we are to midnight. Midnight means termination for the species. Moved up and back over the years. Right now, just last year it was moved two minutes closer to midnight because of the two year, you mentioned this three minutes to midnight, closer than it has been since the early 1980s when there was a major war scare that was recognized then to be serious. Now that russian archives have been opened, we see it was far more serious than was assumed. We were at one point literally minutes away, several points in fact, minutes away from nuclear war. That is where the Doomsday Clock stands now. On thelear threat russian border, which happens to be the invasion route through which russia was virtually dest