Tag Archives: country

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson Resigns in the Wake of "Panama Papers" Scandal

by AnnetteLorenzo Posted on April 5, 2016

Mother Jones

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Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson announced his resignation on Tuesday amid mounting public anger over evidence that he and his wife owned a secretive offshore company called Wintris that managed millions of dollars of investments in three Icelandic banks that collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis.

Calls to step down were sparked by this weekend’s so-called “Panama Papers” leak, a massive trove of documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonesca that exposed a number of international leaders and their closest confidantes as participating in complex offshore banking arrangements. High-profile leaders linked to the leak include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But Gunnlaugsson is the first leader ousted in the international fallout. The public outcry in Iceland is particularly intense due to lasting memories of the 2008 financial crisis, which paralyzed the country’s economy, and sent shock waves around the world. And as our own Kevin Drum noted, Iceland was “ground zero for the European banking crisis.”

Gunnlaugsson had initially insisted on staying in office. When questioned about his ties to Wintris on Monday, the visibly shaken prime minister was unable to properly respond and ended the interview. “You are asking me nonsense,” he is heard telling the reporters conducting the interview.

In the days following the leak, mass demonstrations calling for Gunnlaugsson to step down were held outside Parliament. Some people were seen hurling yogurt at the building in protest:

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Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson Resigns in the Wake of "Panama Papers" Scandal

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Obamacare Notches Another Win. Are You Tired of Winning Yet?

by Maurici0519 Posted on April 5, 2016

Mother Jones

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I’ve mentioned before that one of the reasons Obamacare signup rates are below projections is because employer coverage is above projections. Back in 2010, analysts assumed that employers would steadily drop health coverage and simply pay their employees to buy insurance on the exchanges. But that hasn’t happened—and that’s a good thing.

Now the New York Times has joined the party, so maybe everyone else will start to get this too:

The surprise turnaround adds to an emerging consensus about the contentious health law: It has not upturned the core of the country’s health insurance system, even while insuring millions of low-income people.

….About 155 million Americans have employer-based health insurance coverage in 2016, according to an analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office last month. The number will fall to 152 million people in 2019, the C.B.O. estimates, but will remain stable through 2026. Slightly more than half of people under 65 will be enrolled in employment-based coverage.

Employers seem to be staying the course even more strongly than they did before the law. The percentage of adults under 65 with employer-based insurance held firm for the last five years after steadily declining since 1999, according to an analysis of federal data released last month by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which closely tracks the health insurance market.

The CDC has been tracking health coverage for years, and their numbers show that private coverage (not including exchanges) has gone up since Obamacare went live. These numbers include both employer coverage and private coverage purchased off-exchange, but employer coverage is by far the biggest component and there’s no special reason to think that off-exchange individual coverage has increased much. This provides a very strong indication that the employer market has stayed healthy, and the CBO report confirms this.

If you want to know how Obamacare is doing, don’t look at Obamacare enrollments compared to early projections. Instead, look at the total uninsured rate compared to early projections. That’s the only number that provides a comprehensive look at all forms of health insurance and how they’ve done compared to predictions. When you do that, you’ll find that Obamacare is actually doing a little better than anyone thought it would.

To paraphrase a prominent politician, I wonder if Obamacare’s critics are tired of losing all the time? If so, come on over to the side of light and goodness. You’ll win so much you’ll get tired of winning.

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Obamacare Notches Another Win. Are You Tired of Winning Yet?

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The unexpected ways climate change harms your health

by AlyciaX57289953 Posted on April 4, 2016

A man rests during a heat wave in Manhattan, New York. Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

The unexpected ways climate change harms your health

By on 4 Apr 2016commentsShare

Climate change is bad for your health. There’s no question that the impacts of a warming world — harsher heat waves, increased flooding — will put a strain on our nation’s public health. Take one example: studies predict some 11,000 additional heat-related deaths during summers about 15 years from now.

But other health-related climate consequences have proven more difficult to tease out and thus more difficult to quantify. The White House released a scientific report on Monday that draws on research from eight federal agencies to provide the most comprehensive look yet at climate’s health impacts.

“I don’t know that we’ve seen something like this before, where you have a force that has such a multitude of effects,” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told reporters when previewing the report. “As far as history is concerned, this is a new type of threat that we’re facing.”

Here are some of the more unexpected consequences of climate change identified in the report:

Americans are at greater risk of eating contaminated food. Higher temperatures and more extreme weather create perfect conditions for dangerous contaminants to make their way into the food supply. For example, researchers found a link between higher ocean temperatures and mercury accumulation in seafood. Warmer weather and flooding also raises the chance for foodborne illnesses like salmonella.

More of the water we drink may be unsafe. The same problems in food affect water quality, with extreme weather and floods raising the risk of bacteria, pathogens, and other contaminants. Plus, higher temps give harmful algae the opportunity to thrive in new, more widespread parts of the country. Compounding the problem is when flooding overwhelms our existing and quite creaky water infrastructure.

Mosquitoes and ticks will be more than an itchy nuisance. Mild winters and early warmer seasons allow insects to travel further and faster, carrying illnesses like Lyme Disease with them.

Disasters will compromise mental health for already-vulnerable populations. Just think about the stress that extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy add to people’s lives: displaced families, economic losses, ruined livelihoods. For children, the elderly, and pregnant women, who are among the most vulnerable, these conditions can lead to post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression.

The air you breathe is dirtier. Fossil fuels make our air dirtier — that’s obvious. But greenhouse gases can impact air quality in other ways. Climate change affects weather and precipitation patterns, changing how smog and particulate matter moves over cities. More wildfires add pollution  to the air, too.

Lives are literally at stake if we don’t act on climate change. Even a small global change in average temperature can hurt people at the extremes, and the same holds true for health — affecting the poor, indigenous, very young, and very elderly people the most.

“The public health case for climate action is really compelling beyond words,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said. “It’s not just about glaciers and polar bears. It’s about the health of our kids.”

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Women’s Soccer Is Raking in Cash. Why Do US Players Get Embarrassingly Low Pay?

by Brendaea Posted on March 31, 2016

Mother Jones

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The latest labor dispute between the World Cup-winning US women’s national soccer team and the US Soccer Federation has illuminated an issue for workers throughout the country: the gender pay gap. On Thursday, five high-profile players filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing the soccer federation of gender-based wage discrimination.

“This is the strongest case of discrimination against women athletes in violation of law that I have ever seen,” Jeffrey Kessler, the players’ lawyer, told the New York Times.

Numbers cited in the EEOC filing show just how vast the divide is. Despite projections that the women’s team will bring in $5 million in profit in the coming fiscal year and nearly $18 million in revenue, the players allege that they are paid four times less than their male counterparts. If the women win 20 exhibition matches, the minimum number the team is expected to play annually, they would earn $99,000 each. Men’s team members would earn $352,500 for doing the same—and would earn $100,000 even if they lost all 20.

US Soccer told the Times that it hadn’t seen the complaint and was “disappointed” by the players’ actions.

“It’s just completely unbalanced,” goalkeeper Hope Solo, who has signed on to the action, told Mother Jones in December. “The argument is, well, women should not get paid as much as men, because they don’t bring in as much revenue. We hear it all the time. Our argument back is that we have the best television ratings between the men’s team and the women’s team, and had we gotten more marketing dollars, we would have more ticket revenue.”

Here’s a look at the gender pay gap between the men’s and women’s national teams, according to the players’ complaint.

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Women’s Soccer Is Raking in Cash. Why Do US Players Get Embarrassingly Low Pay?

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Chipotle aims for a Better Burger (without making anyone sick)

by UlrichFocken Posted on March 31, 2016

Chipotle aims for a Better Burger (without making anyone sick)

By on 31 Mar 2016commentsShare

Stop the presses: Your favorite purveyor of burrito bowls and foodborne illness is branching out into burgers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Chipotle Mexican Grill is developing a new burger chain. The name? Better Burger.

Better Burger will continue Chipotle’s existing model of providing fresher fast food than the classic preservative-laden slop you find at most American chains. Chipotle currently has around 2,000 burrito joints around the U.S., but sales and stocks plummeted last year after roughly 500 people in 13 states contracted food poisoning from the eatery.

The great E. coli, salmonella, and norovirus outbreaks of 2015 also forced the chain to close several stores around the country, and led to at least one lawsuit. In February, Chipotle closed all its stores for a day to discuss the crisis and proper food-handling protocol with employees. It also gave away a whole lot of burritos.

Diversifying the revenue stream could be a wise move, according to the WSJ, as the fresher fast food market has gotten increasingly crowded by competitors like Shake Shack and Five Guys. As to whether or not Better Burger will actually be a better burger, stay tuned, but it certainly can’t be any worse than the 14-year-old McDonald’s hamburger that looks the same as the day it was made. Or can it?

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This Law Just Took Abortion Pseudoscience to a New Low

by Angelia35W Posted on March 29, 2016

Mother Jones

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Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Monday signed a bill that makes the state the first in the nation to require doctors to anesthetize fetuses before performing abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. Previously, fetal anesthesia for abortion after 20 weeks was optional in Utah.

Supporters of the new law, called the Protecting Unborn Children Amendments, say fetuses can feel pain starting at about 20 weeks, so anesthesia or analgesic should be administered to “eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child.” But scientists have rejected the fetal pain claim, saying there is no conclusive evidence to back up such legislation.

Still, 12 states ban abortion after 20 weeks post-fertilization on the grounds that the fetus can feel pain. The 20-week mark is several weeks before the point at which the fetus is considered viable and abortion is no longer legally protected by Roe v. Wade. Utah already bans abortion after viability.

Republican State Sen. Curt Bramble initially planned to introduce a 20-week ban, but attorneys in the state advised him the law would not pass constitutional muster, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

“The process of a child being born is a natural process. There’s nothing natural about abortion. In fact, it’s barbaric,” Bramble said, adding, “In this quote ‘medical procedure,’ let’s call it what it is: It’s killing babies. And if we’re going to kill that baby, we ought to protect it from pain.”

Dr. Sean Esplin, a Utah-based physician, told the Associated Press that in order to comply with the law, the anesthesia will have to go through the woman to reach the fetus. Doctors can give the woman general anesthesia, which would make her unconscious, or a heavy dose of narcotics, neither of which were previously necessary for the procedure.

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, side effects of anesthesia include nausea, confusion, chills, and rarely more serious symptoms like delirium or long-term memory loss. “You never give those medicines if you don’t have to,” David Turok of the University of Utah’s obstetrics and gynecology department told NBC.

Utah is the only state in the country with an anesthesia requirement during abortion. The Montana Legislature passed a similar law in 2015, but it was vetoed by the governor.

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This Law Just Took Abortion Pseudoscience to a New Low

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How much energy could the U.S. get from solar?

by EugeneWaltman Posted on March 24, 2016

How much energy could the U.S. get from solar?

By on 24 Mar 2016commentsShare

This story was originally published by Mother Jones and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

It seems like every few weeks there’s some new measurement of how successful solar power is in the United States. In early March, industry analysts found that solar is poised for its biggest year ever, with total installations growing 119 percent by the end of 2016. This week, federal government analysts reported that in 2015, solar ranked No. 3 (behind wind and natural gas) in megawatts of new electricity-producing capacity brought online. That rank is even more impressive when you consider that each individual solar installation is fewer megawatts than a wind turbine, and far fewer than a natural gas plant; that means solar panels are popping up like crazy across the country.

Which makes you wonder: Is there a limit to that growth? According to a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a federal research outfit, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news: Yes, there is a ceiling for solar power in the U.S. The good news: We’re not even remotely close to reaching it. In other words, solar’s potential has barely been tapped.

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The report is the deepest dive on solar’s potential since NREL conducted a similar analysis in 2008. The new report’s estimate is much larger than the older report’s, mostly because of vast new troves of satellite imagery data of the country’s rooftops and computer models that are better able to calculate how much power each panel can produce. The analysis leaves behind policy and cost considerations. Instead, the only question is: How much power could we really get if we slathered every roof in America with solar panels? The answer: About 39 percent of the country’s electricity consumption, at current levels.

It’s important to note that the report looks only at rooftop panels, as opposed to utility-scale solar farms. Utility-scale solar provides about twice as much power as rooftop panels, so the full potential of solar is likely even higher than what NREL describes in this report. Even 39 percent, though, would be a revolutionary change from where we are now; despite solar’s rapid growth in the last several years, it still accounts for less than 1 percent of electricity consumption. Coal, which is still the nation’s No. 1 energy source, commands about 32 percent of the market. So the future that NREL is envisioning here would basically flip our energy makeup on its head.

The most potential exists in sunny states, obviously, but also in states that have relatively low electricity needs. The map below shows what percentage of each state’s power could be derived from rooftop panels if they were fully utilized:

NREL

Again, NREL stresses that the estimates here “provide an upper bound on potential deployment rather than a prediction of actual deployment.” It’s very unlikely that this exact scenario will come to pass. The most recent study by Stanford energy economist Mark Jacobson, who researches ways the U.S. could get 100 percent of its power from renewable sources, sees rooftop solar contributing about 7 percent of total electricity by 2050. And that’s with, as Vox’s David Roberts put it, “enormous, heroic assumptions about social and political change.”

But hey … we’re dreamers of the golden dream, right?

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How much energy could the U.S. get from solar?

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Leonardo DiCaprio attacks climate change deniers running for president

by VicenteSommers Posted on March 24, 2016

Leonardo DiCaprio attacks climate change deniers running for president

By on 24 Mar 2016commentsShare

Famed person Leonardo DiCaprio stunned audiences in Japan recently by discussing climate change at a press event in Tokyo. Just kidding! He talks about it all the time — sometimes with an e-cigarette or a model hanging from his mouth.

DiCaprio — who was in Japan promoting his Oscar-winning film about a bear cape — used the occasion to slam Republican presidential hopefuls. “We should not have a candidate who doesn’t believe in modern science to be leading our country,” the actor said in Tokyo. “Climate change is one of the most concerning issues facing all humanity and the United States needs to do its part.” The GOP electorate pays this no mind: Their frontrunner has repeatedly said that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese to steal American dollars and make the U.S. look like a yuge loser. Donald Trump says he’s not a “big believer in man-made climate change.”

In recent years, DiCaprio has matured from a young international playboy to an older international playboy, and he has increasingly focused on activism. In his Oscar acceptance speech last month, DiCaprio said, that climate change is “the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.” DiCaprio attacked “corporate greed” of the fossil fuel industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. “You know better,” DiCaprio said. “The world knows better. History will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet.”

Expect to hear more from DiCaprio soon enough. His upcoming documentary about climate change, a collaboration with Fisher Stevens, producer of the 2010 Oscar-winner The Cove. DiCaprio visited both the North and South Poles, as well as China and India, for filming. No word yet if the bear cape will make a cameo.

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Leonardo DiCaprio attacks climate change deniers running for president

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Protestors turn a federal offshore oil auction into a circus

by Rosemary60V Posted on March 23, 2016

Protestors turn a federal offshore oil auction into a circus

By on 23 Mar 2016 1:38 pmcommentsShare

About 150 activists disrupted a federal auction for offshore oil and gas leases on Wednesday at the New Orleans’ Superdome, taking over what’s normally a sedate meeting to make a statement against fossil fuels.

The anti-drilling protest included members of national environmental groups, community advocates and indigenous rights groups who want the Obama administration to close off the Gulf of Mexico to more offshore development.

“There was singing and chanting, and the industry guys actually managed to hold the lease sale over all the yelling,”  Marissa Knodel, a climate campaigner with Friends of the Earth who marched with the group on Wednesday told Grist, adding that the protestors stayed in the room for about an hour as the auction continued. “We definitely made a strong stand.”

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Check out the chaos for yourself:

This protest countered a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auction for two planned sales off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico on tracts located anywhere from approximately three to 230 miles off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The area, said to contain the say the eighth-largest carbon reserve on Earth, stretches across about 45 million acres. According to Politico, BOEM took bids on one of the two sales on Wednesday.

The Obama administration this month reversed an earlier plan that would allow drilling off the Atlantic coast, but he hasn’t spared the Gulf of Mexico from future drilling. The Gulf could be up for 10 new leases from 2017-2022, and activists haven’t lost hope that the Gulf of Mexico will be taken off the table, as well.

“Here in Gulf, this is the first time people from all over the coast and the country have converged to demand no new leases on oil and gas.” Knodel added the protesters will be back the next time there’s an auction in August.

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Paul Ryan Says He Regrets Calling the Poor “Takers.” That Isn’t Enough.

by AnnisZus52255331 Posted on March 23, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here is Speaker Paul Ryan today in an address to a group of House interns:

Instead of playing to your anxieties, we can appeal to your aspirations….We don’t resort to scaring you, we dare to inspire you….We question each other’s ideas—vigorously—but we don’t question each other’s motives….People with different ideas are not traitors. They are not our enemies. They are our neighbors, our coworkers, our fellow citizens.

….I’m certainly not going to stand here and tell you I have always met this standard. There was a time when I would talk about a difference between “makers” and “takers” in our country, referring to people who accepted government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong….So I stopped thinking about it that way—and talking about it that way.

The obvious pushback is that while Ryan may have stopped talking about “makers and takers,” his policies are exactly the same as they’ve always been. After all that time spent listening, he changed his rhetoric but apparently none of his substantive views.

Which is true enough. If all Ryan is doing is telling a bunch of interns that they can get more done if they watch their language and hide their true intentions, then there’s nothing much to applaud here. At the same time, it’s still good to say this stuff out loud, regardless of how sincere it is. Not many people do anymore. Now, how about doing it again in front of a more important audience and with a few explicit references to Donald Trump thrown in?

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