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Friday, February 13, 2015
Alty News: Canada's Mining Boom Pollutes the US; How the Military Prepares for Climate Change
Posted By Eric S. Peterson on February 13, 2015, 1:52 PM
Before Ted Cruz got into politics, he made an ardent defense of President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus program.
Top of the Alty World
"Ted Cruz, Closet Keynesian: Read His 2009 Defense of President Obama's Stimulus "—Mother Jones
A state report found a shockingly high number of public school students in Connecticut were restrained; one student alone was restrained more than 700 times.—ProPublica
A North African film is making waves for depicting Islamic extremists as both ruthless and ridiculous.—The Walrus
Canada's mining boom is polluting rivers running into the United States.—High Country News
Top of Alty Utah
A lawmaker has proposed a bill to protect religious liberties without also addressing LGBT rights as legislative leadership has requested.—Utah Political Capitol
A bill seeking to rein in payday lenders was killed by a legislative committee.—Salt Lake City Weekly
A new poll has found growing support for LGBT nondiscrimination legislation.—Utah Policy
Derek Kitchen, the defendant in the lawsuit that overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, is running for a seat on the Salt Lake City Council.—Q Salt Lake
Rantosphere
Former member of the Board of Education Kim Burningham reflects on the rhetoric of the anti-common core crowd.
Rolling Stone looks at how the military is preparing itself for the impact of climate change.
Top of the Alty World
"Ted Cruz, Closet Keynesian: Read His 2009 Defense of President Obama's Stimulus "—Mother Jones
A state report found a shockingly high number of public school students in Connecticut were restrained; one student alone was restrained more than 700 times.—ProPublica
A North African film is making waves for depicting Islamic extremists as both ruthless and ridiculous.—The Walrus
Canada's mining boom is polluting rivers running into the United States.—High Country News
Top of Alty Utah
A lawmaker has proposed a bill to protect religious liberties without also addressing LGBT rights as legislative leadership has requested.—Utah Political Capitol
A bill seeking to rein in payday lenders was killed by a legislative committee.—Salt Lake City Weekly
A new poll has found growing support for LGBT nondiscrimination legislation.—Utah Policy
Derek Kitchen, the defendant in the lawsuit that overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, is running for a seat on the Salt Lake City Council.—Q Salt Lake
Rantosphere
Former member of the Board of Education Kim Burningham reflects on the rhetoric of the anti-common core crowd.
A uniquely American phrase—the tail wagging the dog—can be traced to the late 1800s. In 2015, I note a modern application in Utah. Some strident fringe groups have been shouting so loud about their fears of the common core that the whole education system has been shaken. This is unfortunate, and it time for such distortion to cease!The Long View
For the last few years as a member of the Utah State School Board I have listened to spokespeople of the “far right” describe the common core as an evil conspiracy. I have been amazed by the claims that the common core is alternately a weak curriculum, an imposition of the federal government, and/or a denial of local rights. I have read the core, watched it implemented in the classroom, and been a part of the process where it was adopted. I find those accusations false.—Utah Politico Hub
Rolling Stone looks at how the military is preparing itself for the impact of climate change.
Before climate change became taboo for Republicans, it was possible for even conservative politicians to have rational discussions about the subject. In 2003, under Donald Rumsfeld, former President George W. Bush's defense secretary, the Pentagon published a report titled "An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security." Commissioned by Andrew Marshall, who is sometimes jokingly referred to within the Pentagon as Yoda — and who was a favorite of Rumsfeld's — the report warned that threats to global stability posed by rapid warming vastly eclipse that of terrorism. Some of the climate science in the report was flawed, but the broader conclusions were not. "Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life," the report stated. "Once again, warfare would define human life."
Even McCain, now firmly in the denial camp, didn't hesitate to draw the connection between climate change and national security. "If the scientists are right and temperatures continue to rise," he said on the Senate floor in 2007, "we could face environmental, economic and national-security consequences far beyond our ability to imagine."—Rolling Stone
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