April 22, 2022

Export Financing Subsidies Could Pour Into Fracked Gas

The Export-Import Bank is pledging to help fund renewables and not to finance stranded assets. Can they help it?

https://prospect.org/environment/export-financing-subsidies-could-pour-into-fracked-gas/


President Donald J. Trump participates in a walking tour of Cameron LNG Export Terminal, May 14, 2019, in Hackberry, Louisiana.

As the U.S. attempts to bring down the soaring price of energy, financing from a New Deal–era agency could be used to ramp up domestic gas production. It is planning those controversial investments with almost no opportunity for public review.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim), a government agency that helps finance sales for American exporters, last year provided its first loan guarantee for the domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. It went to Greensill Capital, a Softbank-backed financier that also lent money to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal-mining empire, and it was aimed at channeling $50 million in supply chain financing to a natural gas facility in Texas. Two months after Exim provided the financing, the company imploded.

Now, under pressure from LNG interests, Exim may double down on its investment in fracked gas through a domestic financing program President Biden has created to strengthen supply chains.

Exim was long criticized on a bipartisan basis as either picking winners or providing corporate welfare. While it has historically backed large and politically powerful multinationals, Biden has made the case for productive federal investment and has tasked the bank with backing neglected sectors like semiconductors, renewables, and critical minerals. The plan is to help overseas sales of American products—for instance, supporting the export of mining equipment. There is emphasis on loans for small businesses, which Exim, along with similar agencies like the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC), could assist in finding a market for their products abroad.

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April 22, 2022

Nik Colk Void - Bucked Up Space (Full LP 2022) Electronica/Abstract/Techno

Label: Editions Mego – EMEGO 295V
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album, Transparent Red
Country: Europe
Released: 6 Apr 2022
Genre: Electronic
Style: Abstract






Going solo.

https://ra.co/exchange/606



Nik Colk Void's new LP, Bucked Up Space, is her ninth studio album, but her first as a solo artist.

Based in Norfolk, Void is an electronic musician and analogue synthesiser virtuoso who forms part of both Factory Floor and Carter Tutti Void (with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti of pioneering industrial group Throbbing Gristle). Her work has been released on iconic labels like DFA, Mute and Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records, and in late 2017 she released 33 33, a collaborative record as NPVR with the late Peter Rehberg of Editions Mego.

In this week's Resident Advisor Exchange, Void talks about her relationship with Rehberg and how her confidence grew significantly through their working together. Without him, she explains, she may not have found the voice and the language she was looking for to put out her own full-length record. It is fitting and meaningful, therefore, that on April 8th, Bucked Up Space came out on Editions Mego.

In conversation with RA writer Katie Thomas, Nik Colk Void discusses her album, the process of mastering analogue synths, the art and value of collaboration and affirming performances—plus details of a new Factory Floor record that's on the horizon.

https://soundcloud.com/ra-exchange/ex606-nik-colk-void

April 22, 2022

Sweden's ruling Social Democrats set Nato deadline

Sweden's ruling party aims to end its internal discussion over Nato membership on May 12th, after which the party's ruling committee will take a final decision, the party announced after holding a "marathon meeting" in the Swedish parliament.

https://www.thelocal.se/20220422/swedens-ruling-social-democrats-to-end-nato-discussion-on-may-12th/


Annika Strandhäll, chair of the Social Democratic Women in Sweden, arrives at the party meeting at the Swedish parliament on Friday. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

“The discussion will be completed on May 12th, and after that we will begin the decision process,” Tobias Baudin, the party’s Secretary General, said at a press conference. “The discussions have been good and constructive,” he said of the discussions of the security situation. “We have also discussed the process we have ahead of us in the Social Democratic party”.

The meeting, in the parliament’s second chamber, involved the party’s main committee, its action committee, and all of the party’s MPs. As well as security policy, the meeting, which was planned before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also discussed the party’s annual reports and other internal business.

The discussion process launched in the Social Democrats is widely seen as intended to build broad support within the party for a coming decision to back Nato membership, overturning the non-aligned security policy which has been at the centre of Social Democrat foreign politics since the 1930s. At the last party congress, the party’s members voted to keep its historic policy of staying outside Nato. But Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, now wants to reassess this on the basis of the “changed security policy situation”.

Annika Strandhäll, chair of S-kvinnor, the party’s women’s organisation, which has long been heavily focused on disarmament and peace activism, said that her organisation was running a parallel dialogue process. “We also have a discussion process where members will have the opportunity to be involved in the discussion,” she said. “Which decision the party ends up taking will be taken at a meeting of the party committee which is planned for the end of May.”

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April 22, 2022

Swedish political parties call for ban on conversion therapy (broad coalition from left to right)

Multiple political parties in Sweden's parliament want to ban so-called conversion therapy, which aims to change young LGBT+ individuals’ sexual orientation.

https://www.thelocal.se/20220422/swedish-political-parties-call-for-ban-on-conversion-therapy/



I added in some explanations of the parties

The Liberals (centre right, trending right) have campaigned for a ban for some time, and a motion has now been submitted to parliament by the Social Democrats (centre left). Now, the Moderates (aka the Conservatives, similar to the Tories, but less viscous and crazy) and the Centre Party (centre right, it would take paragraphs to explain them, so complicated, and they are an aspirational kingmaker party) are joining them in calling for conversion therapy to be made illegal, Sweden’s public broadcaster Radio Ekot reports.

“The entire idea is that homosexuality is an illness which can and should be treated. That is, obviously, completely incorrect and a very out-of-place view in a modern society,” Centre’s spokesperson on legal issues, Johan Hedin, told the radio.

Conversion therapy consists of subjecting LGBT+ individuals to pressure or force to hide their sexuality or gender identity. According to MUCF, the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, it occurs “to a not insignificant extent” in Sweden.

“We think there should be a ban. Sweden should be a tolerant country, where nonsense like this quite simply shouldn’t be allowed to happen,” Johan Forssell, the Moderate’s legal spokesperson told Radio Ekot.

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April 22, 2022

Senate front-runner in PA embraces Biden and progressive agenda amid Democrats' midterm dilemma

In the Pennsylvania US Senate Democratic primary, Fetterman dominates in polls and fundraising.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/21/politics/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-democrats-senate/index.html

Jennerstown, Pennsylvania (CNN) Lt. Gov. John Fetterman swung by the heart of Republican country in Southwestern Pennsylvania, in the reddest of red districts, where then-President Donald Trump trounced Joe Biden by more than 55 points and MAGA signs are still apparent on seemingly every other street corner. But rather than moderate, Fetterman leaned into his progressive views.

As he worked a few dozen voters at the Flyin' Lion watering hole, while wearing a hooded sweatshirt, basketball shorts and gym shoes on a snowy spring day, Fetterman renewed his push for marijuana to be legalized nationwide, touted the role of immigrants in the US, called for the transgender community to be treated equally, decried efforts to pare back abortion access and backed calls for stricter gun laws, including a ban on semi-automatic rifles.

In an interview with CNN, Fetterman didn't hide his palpable frustration with Democratic senators, saying, "I am disappointed in our caucus" for not increasing the $7.25 federal minimum wage, and he blamed West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin for blocking the Biden agenda, leaving his party "floundering."

When asked about calls for more bipartisanship, Fetterman didn't flinch, asserting there's little common ground in working with Republicans who undermined the legitimacy of Biden's 2020 victory and tried to outlaw abortion. "I also want a full head of hair," said the bald, 6-foot-8 Democrat. "But realistically that's not going to happen right now."

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April 22, 2022

The Greenest Countries on Earth Are Stunning Destinations

Ethical wanderlust never looked so good.

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/worlds-most-sustainable-countries



Imagine a world where one day every month was a national holiday dedicated to making your neighborhood a cleaner place. In Rwanda, on the last Saturday of each month, they do just that. During Umuganda—the Kinyarwanda word for “coming together in common purpose”—people from around the country of a thousand hills pick up trash, repair roads, and generally help each other to make the world sparkly and just a little more beautiful.



While that’s just one example of a community actually caring about having a liveable home, other countries are making it easier for travelers to participate in metaphorically picking up some of our collective trash. The best part, though, is that these countries are taking on most of the work—just by picking the right places, travelers can enjoy all the perks of seeing more greenery without much personal effort. Just decide where to put your money, so it goes to places with the right intentions, and then kick back and explore forests you just helped to still be there in 50 years.



“We’re seeing a rise in the conscious traveler,” says Jessica Blotter, CEO & Co-Founder of Kind Traveler. According to the company’s 2022 Impact Tourism Report, 96% of those surveyed said it’s important that their travel dollars make a positive impact in the communities they visit. “In 2022 and beyond, we expect to see more hotels and travel companies focus more heavily on building sustainability efforts,” she continues—but in a way that visitors actually notice, beyond just not washing towels as much. Launched in March 2022, Alight became the first hotel booking platform that allows travelers to book their hotel while simultaneously calculating and offsetting their carbon emissions, inspiring what they call a sense of ‘ethical wanderlust’ in all of us.







“The trend across all of these destinations, despite their vast differences, is a push towards sustainability, not because it can be more profitable, but because there is a genuine desire to create a more sustainable hospitality industry,” Alight founder Nelly Gedeon told Thrillist. “If you can avoid flying, the impact of your travel could be greatly reduced; however, we don’t believe you should let flights stop you from traveling and exploring the world. Travel is what inspires many of us to want to create a better world.” Of course, it goes without saying that anytime you board a plane that’s haemorrhaging carbon emissions into the atmosphere, the opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint—whether flying direct, staying longer in the destination, or choosing to stay in a sustainable hotel—has never been more important.

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April 22, 2022

What we need for long-term peace and prosperity

Recent crises have exposed the shortcomings of our international institutions and growth-obsessed economic models.

https://socialeurope.eu/what-we-need-for-long-term-peace-and-prosperity



Russia’s war in Ukraine is a humanitarian catastrophe which violates the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law and has exacerbated socio-economic and environmental crises around the world. It is also the latest manifestation of a global system which does not improve the human condition. Our imperfect responses to climate change, biodiversity loss, the Covid-19 pandemic, rising energy and food costs and war reveal international systems in dire need of redesign. An economic model predicated on the pursuit of indefinite production and consumption has confronted us with climate and ecosystem breakdown. The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscore the severity of the climate crisis and the narrowing opportunity for more climate-resilient development.

Green jobs

Governments need to deliver on pledges to align public support behind clean-energy investments and deployment, and to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels. But the war in Ukraine is increasing pressure on fiscal authorities to maintain and even increase support for fossil fuels and intensive, protectionist agriculture. Policy-makers therefore must recognise that the current crisis is an opportunity to invest in a faster transition to clean energy and resilient agriculture—all of which will create green jobs in the process. Climate finance should focus on those most affected by, and least able to address, climate change. Rising food and energy prices were already creating hardship for poorer countries before the war. Now, even higher prices have threatened a food-security crisis which the World Food Programme may struggle to address, given that it has historically sourced more than half of its wheat from Ukraine. Peace is necessary to ensure that all societies and nature thrive. But peace and long-term prosperity rely, in turn, on our ability to create an equitable, net-zero, nature-positive global economy.

This week and in the months ahead, governments and multilateral organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will have an opportunity to lay the groundwork for achieving this vision. The IMF’s proposed Resilience and Sustainability Trust can help to ensure that the recently allocated $650 billion in special drawing rights (the fund’s reserve asset) will channel more cost-effective, flexible finance to the most vulnerable countries. At the same time, increased development finance can help to scale up green industrialisation and employment, while supporting those countries making the shift away from carbon-intensive industries. For its part, the World Bank must use its financial leverage to fund a faster and more equitable clean-energy transition. It should support countries suffering from the pandemic, the physical effects of climate change and the economic shocks of war by making a greater commitment to financing adaptation, facilitating concessional lending and deploying its risk-mitigation tools to help ‘crowd in’ more private finance.

Changing the rules

Beyond supporting a just transition, transforming the global economic and financial system means changing the ‘rules of the game’. Natural resources and nature’s services must be properly valued and externalities properly disclosed, priced and built into financial markets. We also need to change how we measure progress, because gross domestic product is no longer fit for purpose. Rather than helping us tackle our biggest problems, it contributes to them by encouraging over-consumption. Replacing GDP with a new yardstick that tracks wellbeing and prosperity across generations would encourage investment in natural and social capital, as well as a transition to a nature-positive global economy that respects and operates within the biosphere’s limits. The UN Sustainable Development Goals were meant to do that but we have yet to match those commitments with action.

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April 22, 2022

Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?

More than 100 interviews by Russian researchers have shed light on the different groups in Russian society who are pro-war—and why.

https://socialeurope.eu/why-do-russians-support-the-war-against-ukraine



Since the very beginning of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, the reaction of Russians themselves to the war has remained a central question. What do they think about the war? Why do people support it? Opinion polls generally show that the majority of Russian citizens support Russian military actions in Ukraine. But social scientists have criticised these polls as unreliable. They point out that many of these surveys are run by polling companies loyal to the Russian state, that respondents in authoritarian regimes tend to choose answers that emphasise their loyal attitude towards the authorities and that all polling companies, including independent organisations, face a high number of rejections when asking people to participate, which again biases the results towards respondents who support government policy. Most importantly, opinion polls do not show how people who apparently support the Russian military’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine think. Who are these people? What exactly do they support? What is the logic behind their thinking?

Independent research

Only a more in-depth study of Russians’ perception of the war in Ukraine can answer these questions. Public Sociology Laboratory, an independent research collective, began conducting in-depth interviews in Russia on February 27th and continues to do so today. We collected interviews with people both offline and online. The offline work included interviews at public events in major cities of Russia (mainly Moscow and St Petersburg)—for example, at anti-war or pro-war gatherings—and interviews during the daily routine of our interviewers, for example, with the cashier of a store near home, a hairdresser in a regular salon, a bartender in a favourite bar, fellow train passengers and so on. The online interviews were conducted with people who responded to call-outs on social networks, and with people found by the ‘snowball’ method—where a previous respondent or personal acquaintance of the interviewer recruits other people. Propaganda and repression mean it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people’s permission to discuss the war. At the time of writing, our archive contains 134 anonymous sociological interviews with an average duration of 40 to 50 minutes. Of these, 30 interviews were recorded with those who identify themselves as supporting Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

More complicated

We often think of those who support the war as people who believe in Russian state propaganda, who believe Ukraine has been ‘captured by Nazis’ and/or that Ukraine (with the help of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was planning an attack on Donbas and Crimea, and then on Russia. Another stereotype is that these people support the president, Vladimir Putin, or are ready to ignore the negative consequences of the west’s economic sanctions against Russia. But our research shows that the reasons people support the Russian military operation in Ukraine are more complicated. The very first interviews we conducted demonstrated that we would not be able to compile a single portrait of a person who supports the war against Ukraine. Instead, we found a range of types of support, which we have separated into different groups.



The state propaganda audience

Among Russians who support the military’s actions against Ukraine, we found people who tend to reproduce the clichés of Russian state propaganda in their reasoning. These people trust official Russian sources of information (and most often do not consume other media). They justify the war by referring to the need to protect the inhabitants of Donbas from the Ukrainian regime (referred to as ‘nationalist’, ‘Nazi’ or ‘fascist’) and to fight Ukrainian ‘Nazism’ or ‘fascism’ in general. These people are concerned about civilian casualties among Ukrainians but they believe the Ukrainian army is responsible for this: the latter, they say, hides in residential areas and provokes return fire on civilians. They are inclined to admit that the sanctions will hit the Russian economy but are ready to ‘endure’ their consequences. They support Putin and despite the fact that they see internal problems in Russia, they are ready to forgive these problems during a difficult time for the country. When conducting interviews with these informants, however, we noticed one interesting pattern: the more time that had passed since Russia’s initial invasion, the more likely it was that these people were ready to doubt their picture of the world. In the first week of the war, none of the supporters of this type suggested that information received from official Russian sources could be inaccurate or incomplete.

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April 22, 2022

Complaint About Bill Murray's Alleged Inappropriate Behavior Halts Film

https://www.thedailybeast.com/complaint-about-bill-murrays-alleged-inappropriate-behavior-halted-production-on-being-mortal



News broke earlier this week that production for the film Being Mortal had been suspended, and now we are finding out why: A complaint about inappropriate behavior was leveled against star Bill Murray, Deadline reports.

It is uncertain whether the actor-comedian will have a role in the project—which is written and directed by and stars Aziz Ansari—moving forward, the site reports.

Production has been put on hold as the complaint, which was made last week, is investigated. The film had been slated to be released in 2023.

Read it at Deadline

April 22, 2022

How can you have OAN openly calling for Hillary and Biden to be publicly executed for treason

over and over and over???

Every so often I flip the internet stream I use over to the RW scum cable news sites, and OAN is just insanely off the rails with the continuous calls for public executions of all or most of the Democratic leadership. This is around the 10th time or so I have seen this shit over the past few months. Surely, after months and then years of watching this, so many unhinged RW wankpuffins will have it so implanted in their damaged brains they could well act out on these continuous calls for death. Is the 1st Amendment REALLY this permissive?

This time it was this asshole:

Pearson Sharp

(older snap)




and OF COURSE the advert after the segment was (this is my snapshot just now) this POS, ranting about how to fight traitors and spread freedumb by buying his fucking shitty slippers




what the fuckery