Tag Archives: black people
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Wait, Is That a Human on the Moon?
By Adrienne LaFrance 21 hours ago
In this age of big surveillance and miniature satellites, there is an idea that—once we are able to track everything around us—the magic and mystery of the universe will be replaced with data, knowledge, and understanding.
Yet it often seems like the deeper we get into the world around us, the more we realize how little we actually know. A mountain of data may promise us answers, but first you have to sift through the questions.
The latest evidence: A YouTube video that’s circulating and shows what looks like a human figure standing on the surface of the moon.
Sure enough, go to Google Moon and find the coordinates (27° 34′ 12.83” N, 19° 36’21.56 W) and you’ll see it, too. Here’s a screenshot I took (I added the red arrow):
Google Earth/NASA
It’s been a generation since humans ruled out the possibility of life on the moon—let alone a giant humanoid just chilling on the lunar surface. So, uh, what is that thing? NASA, which has checked the image against its trove of images from the same location, is shrugging it off.
“We have other images that do not show any imperfection so most analysts believe the image reflects nothing more than a tiny piece of debris on the lens,” spokesman Robert Jacobs told me. (And in a follow-up email: “Believe me, if there was a man on the moon, we’d be recounting our own astronauts to make sure we got them all back from Apollo and then telling everyone else!”)
Fair enough. The rational explanation, after all, is quite often the best one.
And yet there’s something about the image that lingers. In a vast landscape of shameless Photoshopping and Internet hoaxes, and at a time where most people have long since given up on the Loch Ness Monster and the Cottingley Fairies, there’s still that little tug of wonder—misplaced, though it may be.
Just think: We can zoom in on actual photographs of the actual moon from our unbelievably sophisticated handheld computers. But it’s the smudge of dirt on a camera lens that makes people marvel at the depths of what we still don’t know.
Read Wait, Is That a Human on the Moon? on theatlantic.com
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Weekly Address: America’s Resurgence Is Real
| Weekly Address: America’s Resurgence Is RealIn this week’s address, the President reflected on the significant progress made by this country in 2014, and in the nearly six years since he took office.
This past year has been the strongest for job growth since the 1990s, contributing to the nearly 11 million jobs added by our businesses over a 57-month streak. America is leading the rest of the world, in containing the spread of Ebola, degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL, and addressing the threat posed by climate change. And earlier this week, the President announced the most significant changes to our policy towards Cuba in over 50 years. America’s resurgence is real, and the President expressed his commitment to working with Congress in the coming year to make sure Americans feel the benefits. Watch the President’s Weekly Address now.
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| A Look Back at 2014As 2014 winds down, President Obama stopped by the press briefing room in the White House yesterday to offer his thoughts on what the past year has meant for the country.
“I said that 2014 would be a year of action and would be a breakthrough year for America,” he said. “And it has been.” If you missed the President’s news conference, check it out here:
The United States and Cuba are separated by no more than 90 miles of water, but an ideological and economic barrier has hardened between our two countries for the past 50 years. On Wednesday, however, President Obama announced historic new steps to chart a new course in our relations with Cuba. “Today, America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past so as to reach for a better future — for the Cuban people, for the American people, for our entire hemisphere, and for the world,” he said.
Take a deep-dive into the President’s historic actions at WhiteHouse.gov/Cuba-policy. President Obama Visits the Troops, “Just to Say Thank You” On Monday, the President traveled to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to offer his thanks to the U.S. military members and families stationed there and across the world for their service to our country. “The message I’m here to deliver on behalf of the American people is very simple,” he said. “It’s just to say thank you.”
The President also marked an important milestone: After more than 13 years, we are finally bringing a responsible end to America’s war in Afghanistan. When the President took office, we had nearly 180,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. By the end of this month, we’ll have fewer than 15,000 in both countries. Over the course of six years, we have brought home 90 percent of our troops. And this month, Afghans will take full responsibility for their security. As always, see more of the week’s events in the latest edition of West Wing Week. |
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One bank to wreck a world wonder?!
DearAvaazers across the world,
 India’s coal king Adani wants to turn the delicate Great Barrier Reef into a major shipping lane. But if we act fast we can sink his dirty coal complex by getting the State Bank of India to turn down his billion dollar lifeline:
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India’s coal king is bidding for a $1 billion bank loan to turn one of the world’s ecological treasures into a major shipping lane. But if we act fast we can block his billion and keep the Great Barrier Reef home for whales and dolphins, not hulking coal ships.
UNESCO says the project puts the Reef in danger and eight leading international banks have backed away. Now it’s up to the State Bank of India to make or break it. The Bank’s Chairwoman has staked her reputation on cracking down on “bad loans” — and a massive global campaign can persuade her to scrutinise and stop this crazy coal project.
Public pressure has already changed other banks’ minds, so add your name now to say no to the world’s worst loan. When we hit a million, we’ll prep a definitive dossier showing its financial and environmental problems, then deliver it to Chairwoman Bhattacharya with legal letters and a media blitz:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/india_great_barrier_reef_loc/?biEWLbb&v=49294
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living organism on Earth and home to thousands of protected species. In the past three decades it’s lost around half its coral, due to pollution from mines, climate change and other factors. German magazine Der Spiegel reported that “if current trends continue, the unthinkable could happen: the Great Barrier Reef could die.”
This wild coal rush is toxic for the planet. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel, and to get the coal to India, Adani would need to expand a shipping lane right through the Reef. Some argue that India needs coal to pull people out of poverty, but India’s own coal minister just announced that India should be able to phase out coal imports in the next three years, long before the Australian mine is ever completed!
Campaigns by Avaaz and others, plus doubts over the project’s viability, have persuaded banks like Citigroup and Deutsche to say no to Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine and infrastructure complex. Now the State Bank of India is under fire from India’s press and political opposition.
69% of Indians polled said they were against this project. As the head of India’s largest state-backed bank the Chairwoman will have to listen to public opinion and our million-strong petition, a flood of messages, ads, and reports can encourage the Board to turn Adani down. Add your voice now to hit a million against the reef-wrecking coalmine:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/india_great_barrier_reef_loc/?biEWLbb&v=49294
Time and again this year our community has shown it can rise to the challenge of making our climate safe for future generations. We’ve been fighting for the Great Barrier Reef for a long time so let’s ensure we unite again to save it from this catastrophic coal complex.
With hope and determination,
Danny, Nick, David, Alex, Oli, Alaphia, Nic, Ravi and the whole Avaaz team
MORE INFORMATION
Adani’s Australian project gets $1 billion SBI loan (The Times of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Adanis-Australian-project-gets-1-billion-…
Adani group’s Great Barrier Reef project in troubled waters (Forbes)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghabahree/2014/05/29/adani-groups-great-barrier-reef-project-in-troubl…
India could bankroll Adani group’s delayed Australian coal mine (IB Times)
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-could-bank-roll-adani-groups-delayed-australian-coal-mine-1475143
National Stock Exchange of India quizzes Adani on loan for Galilee Basin coal project (Sydney Morning Herald)
http://www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/national-stock-exchange-of-india-quizzes-adani-o…
SBI’s $1 billion loan to Adani makes no sense, here’s why (firstbiz)
http://firstbiz.firstpost.com/economy/sbis-1-billion-loan-to-adani-makes-no-sense-heres-why-108668.h…
India rejects Galilee Basin Coal (Market Forces)
http://www.marketforces.org.au/indiacoalpolling
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Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org … What happened yesterday
To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email.
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To be real with you, I was hoping that I’d never have to send you this email. With Republicans now in control of the Senate, we will see a change in Congress that signals deep challenges for our families and communities.
Over the coming weeks and months, analysts will have much to say about the role that Black voters played in this election. Already we know that across the country, Black voters defied expectations and turned out at rates higher than in 2010 despite continued attempts by the right wing to suppress our votes.
And, unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t enough for Kay Hagan (D-NC) who lost a must-win Senate seat to Thom Tillis (R-NC) by a razor thin margin — while our communities faced the most aggressive voter suppression laws passed in the country since the Voting Rights Act. It wasn’t enough in Georgia, either, as we watched Michelle Nunn (D-GA) concede while thousands of voter registration forms remained unprocessed. And it certainly wasn’t enough in Kentucky where Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Democratic challenger wouldn’t even admit to voting for President Obama.
As a movement, we’ve got a lot to figure out; a lot more work to do to hold the people in power accountable.
I know this much: an America in which candidates are afraid or unwilling to speak directly to Black voters about the issues that matter to us is an unacceptable, insufferable status quo; an America where politicians ignore police violence and support a broken criminal justice system, prioritize corporate interests over community values and fight to make it harder for us to vote is intolerable.
If we learn one thing from yesterday’s election, it’s that — now more than ever — is a time to organize.
Will you help sustain this movement with a $3 monthly contribution?
Obscured by the larger national picture, yesterday had some meaningful victories which demonstrate the strength of our movement. Californians passed Proposition 47 which will force the state to change course from four-decades of misguided, incarceration-only policies which have destabilized Black families and drained resources from Black communities.
Massachusetts passed a bill providing for earned sick time that will relieve working folks of having to choose between their job and the health of their families. Additionally, voters in South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Alaska passing ballot measures to increase the minimum wage shows that there is a groundswell of popular support for issues of economic equality but candidates must exhibit political courage to move this agenda forward.
And despite the Republican takeover, the 114th Congress will have more Black members than at any time in history.
With announcements coming soon about the indictments of the officers responsible for murdering Mike Brown and Eric Garner our movement has never been more important. We can’t afford to stop fighting.
Thanks and peace,
Rashad
Be a Seed for Change 
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