Dispatches From the Culture Wars - Coal in the Stockings Edition
- Unearthing America's Deep Network of Climate Change Deniers - Eric Roston (BloombergBusiness)
- American Muslims Raise More Than $100,000 for Families of San Bernardino Shooting Victims - Teresa Watanabe (Los Angeles Times)
- Remembering the Life and Legacy of John Trudell - Alex Jacobs (Indian Country Today Media Network)
- 6 Signs the NRA Is Losing Its Stranglehold on Gun Policy - Delphine d'Amora (Mother Jones)
- ‘Girl in a Country Song’ Hits No. 1 by Mocking Bro Country. The Bros Aren’t Laughing. - Emily Yahr (Washington Post)
Unearthing America's Deep Network of Climate Change Deniers
By Eric Roston
November 30, 2015
BloombergBusiness
New research for the first time has put a precise count on the people and groups working to dispute the scientific consensus on climate change. A loose network of 4,556 individuals with overlapping ties to 164 organizations do the most to dispute climate change in the U.S., according to a paper published today in Nature Climate Change. ExxonMobil and the family foundations controlled by Charles and David Koch emerge as the most significant sources of funding for these skeptics. As a two-week United Nations climate summit begins today in Paris, it's striking to notice that a similarly vast infrastructure of denial isn't found in any other nation.
ExxonMobil has maintained for years that it does not fund denial of climate change. A spokesman pointed out that the company's $100 million founding commitment to Stanford University's Global Climate & Energy Project was made in 2002, right in the middle of the period covered by the Nature Climate Change study. Representatives for any of the Koch family foundations could not be reached for comment.
American Muslims Raise More Than $100,000 for Families of San Bernardino Shooting Victims
By Teresa Watanabe
December 8, 2015
Los Angeles Times
Faisal Qazi had no idea the shooters who massacred 14 people in San Bernardino last week were Muslims, like himself. The Pomona-based neurologist only knew that the victims and their families were his Inland Empire neighbors, and his faith obligated him to help.
In just four days, the Muslims United for San Bernardino campaign has raised more than $100,000 from more than 1,000 donors across the country, including in Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The money will be disbursed through San Bernardino County and the United Way to assist victims’ families with funeral expenses and other needs, Qazi said.
Remembering the Life and Legacy of John Trudell
By Alex Jacobs
December 8, 2015
Indian Country Today Media Network
John Trudell was a Santee Dakota activist, artist, actor, and poet, who led a life dedicated to indigenous human rights, land and language issues. He helped spark a spoken word movement that is a continuation of Native American oral traditions. He walked on December 8 at the age of 69.
Native American students and organizers, Trudell among them, occupied Alcatraz Island from November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1970. That group became “Indians of All Tribes,” and they issued the manifesto, We Hold the Rock, and eventually the book, Alcatraz is Not an Island. The Alcatraz Occupation became an incubator for the nascent Native American rights movement, including the American Indian Movement (AIM) in Minneapolis.
6 Signs the NRA Is Losing Its Stranglehold on Gun Policy
By Delphine d'Amora
December 10, 2015
Mother Jones
For gun control advocates, this year's doom has been compounded by an ample dose of gloom. Even after a series of high-profile mass shootings and a reported death toll from gun violence topping 12,000 last year, Congress remains deadlocked and unlikely to pass any laws aimed at reducing gun deaths.
But beneath the morass of bad news are glimpses of progress. In schools, communities, states, and even in the federal government, people are taking action to curb the gun violence epidemic. Here are six areas in which gun control is actually advancing in America.
‘Girl in a Country Song’ Hits No. 1 By Mocking Bro Country. The Bros Aren’t Laughing.
By Emily Yahr
December 10, 2014
Washington Post
“Girl in a Country Song,” the breakout first single from duo Maddie & Tae, just hit No. 1 on the Mediabase and Billboard country airplay charts this week. It brilliantly mocks “bro country,” the massively dominant sub-genre that celebrates endless streams of ice cold beer, those rambling dirt roads to the old swimming hole and hot girls with long, tan legs dangling off of the back of truck tailgates.
When it first hit this summer, the song was widely praised as ushering a new era. Now, its No. 1 status makes history: Maddie & Tae are the first female duo in eight years to top the charts with a debut single. But despite the critical acclaim, one group is definitely not laughing about the success of “Girl in a Country Song”: The alpha bros themselves.