Monthly Archives: February 2022

A letter to the Western Left from Kyiv

The ‘anti-imperialism of idiots’ meant people turned a blind eye to Russia’s actions

By Taras Bilous. Published 2-26-2022 by openDemocracy

I am writing these lines in Kyiv while it is under artillery attack.

Until the last minute, I had hoped that Russian troops wouldn’t launch a full-scale invasion. Now, I can only thank those who leaked the information to the US intelligence services.

Yesterday, I spent half the day considering whether I ought to join a territorial defence unit. During the night that followed, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a full mobilisation order and Russian troops moved in and prepared to encircle Kyiv, which made the decision for me. Continue reading →

How a Black writer in 19th-century America used humor to combat white supremacy

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*Charles Chesnutt was one of the first widely read Black fiction writers in the U.S.*
*RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images*

Rodney Taylor, University of South Carolina

Any writer has to struggle with the dilemma of staying true to their vision or giving editors and readers what they want. A number of factors might influence the latter: the market, trends and sensibilities.

But in the decades after the Civil War, Black writers looking to faithfully depict the horrors of slavery had to contend with readers whose worldviews were colored by racism, as well as an entire swath of the country eager to paper over the past. Continue reading →

Ukraine Officials Warn Chernobyl Radiation Levels ‘Exceeded’

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Experts attribute the increased radiation levels to the Russian military’s current assault on Ukraine.

By Kenny Stancil Published 2-25-2022 by Common Dreams

Chernobyl Reactor #4 and memorial. Photo: calflier001/Wikimedia Commons/CC

The Ukrainian government warned Friday that radiation near the Chernoybl nuclear power plant has “exceeded” control levels, a day after the Russian military took control of the area during its ongoing invasion, which has reached the capital of Kyiv.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine said that local experts attribute the increased gamma radiation dose rate to the “disturbance of the top layer of soil from [the] movement of a large number of radio heavy military machinery through the Exclusion zone and increase of air pollution.” Continue reading →

Over 1,000 Russians Arrested for Protesting Putin’s Ukraine Invasion

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“This is an unprecedented atrocity, for which there is no and cannot be any justification,” said nearly 200 officials from cities across Russia.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 2-24-2022 by Common Dreams

“Russia, don’t touch Ukraine!!” Photo: Хуёвый Питер/Twitter

Critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-awaited invasion of Ukraine on Thursday joined open letters and took to Russia’s streets to protest the ongoing air and ground assault—resulting in more than 1,000 arrests.

The protests within and beyond Russia came as Moscow claimed Russian strikes took out at least “74 ground facilities of Ukraine’s military infrastructure.”

“Nothing good will come out of this,” a 36-year-old computer programmer, Dmitry, told The Moscow Times in the Russian capital. “We don’t need war, we need to be able to come to agreements.” Continue reading →

US and Russian Physicians Warn War in Ukraine Risks Global Nuclear ‘Catastrophe’

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“No matter the genesis, the cause, or who started what, the reality remains that there are 15 operating nuclear reactors in Ukraine that, if conflict breaks out there, could be in peril.”

By Jake Johnson. Published 2-23-2022 by Common Dreams

Sign for Pripyat Town with Radiation Warning – Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – Northern Ukraine Photo: Adam Jones/flickr/CC

A renowned organization comprised of U.S. and Russian physicians warned late Tuesday that a military conflict involving the two powers in Ukraine risks a nuclear “catastrophe” that could have horrific effects on all of Europe—and potentially the entire planet.

In a new statement, nuclear energy specialists joined members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)—a coalition of medical groups that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its non-proliferation work—in noting that while Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, it does maintain more than a dozen nuclear power reactors that could be in the line of fire should the current situation descend into all-out war. Continue reading →

Putin is about to start the most senseless war in history

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A view from Russia: no sanctions will stop Moscow, and its actions will drive more countries into NATO’s arms

By Greg Yudin Puvlished 2-22-2022 by openDemocracy

Vladimir_Putin. Photo: Kremlin/CC

In the near future, a big war will begin – a war that we have not seen in the lifetime of my generation, and perhaps the previous generation too.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, last night formally recognised the separatist ‘People’s Republics’ in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent territories. Now, he has ordered so-called ‘peacekeeping forces’ into the Donbas region.

Meanwhile, on the borders of Ukraine, Russia has gathered an army of 75% of all available forces. Belarus has officially confirmed that, following extensive exercises, Russian troops are not leaving Belarus. A few kilometres from Ukraine, tanks sit in Russian forests and fields – as can be seen in videos filmed in Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, as well as in Belarus’ Homyel region. This military force is fully prepared for a large-scale operation – and is already in position to attack. Continue reading →

‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Linked to 11% Spike in US Gun Homicides: Study

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Researchers say the state-level laws “should be reconsidered to prevent unnecessary violent deaths.”

By Kenny Stancil, Published 2-21-2022 by Common Dreams

About 1000 people filled the Minnesota capitol rotunda in 2018 to demand stricter gun control laws. They protested against “stand your ground” and “permit-less carry” laws and demanded stricter laws on guns such as a ban on assault rifles. Photo: Fibonacci Blue/flickr/CC

So-called “stand your ground” laws are associated with hundreds of additional homicides each year in the United States, according to new research conducted by public health scholars, who say that these laws “should be reconsidered to prevent unnecessary violent deaths.”

Published Monday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed medical journal, the study compares homicide trends in roughly two dozen states that enacted stand-your-ground (SYG) laws between 2000 and 2016 with patterns from 18 states that didn’t have such laws during the study period. Continue reading →

The Supreme Court could hamstring federal agencies’ regulatory power in a high-profile air pollution case

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*Coal piles outside of PacifiCorp’s Hunter power plant in Castle Dale, Utah.*
*George Frey, AFP, via Getty Images*

Albert C. Lin, University of California, Davis

On Feb. 28, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in West Virginia v. EPA, a case that centers on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. How the court decides the case could have broad ramifications, not just for climate change but for federal regulation in many areas.

This case stems from actions over the past decade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, a centerpiece of U.S. climate change policy. In 2016, the Supreme Court blocked the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which was designed to reduce these emissions. The Trump administration repealed the Clean Power Plan and replaced it with the far less stringent Affordable Clean Energy Rule. Various parties challenged that measure, and a federal court invalidated it a day before Trump left office. Continue reading →

The Cold War, modern Ukraine and the spread of democracy in the former Soviet bloc countries

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*Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.*
*Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images*

Michael De Groot, Indiana University

As Russia masses forces and equipment on Ukraine’s border, international tensions over a possible invasion intensify almost daily. Ukraine has emerged as ground zero of what some pundits have dubbed a new Cold War between Russia and the West.

In my view as a Cold War historian, this comparison distorts the Cold War and misrepresents the stakes of the current crisis.

Yet reviewing the Cold War is important because its legacy shapes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policy toward Ukraine. Continue reading →

California Bill Would Allow Citizens to Enforce Assault Weapon Ban

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“If Texas can use a law to ban a woman’s right to chose and to put her health at risk, we will use that same law to save lives and improve the health and safety of the people in the state of California,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom.

By Kenny Stancil. Published 2-18-2022 by Common Dreams

Governor Gavin Newsom speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday endorsed legislation that would allow private citizens to enforce the state’s ban on assault weapons.

California’s new bill mimics a Texas law empowering private citizens to enforce the state’s draconian abortion ban by suing anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Continue reading →

Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Monthly Archives: February 2022

Ukraine Officials Warn Chernobyl Radiation Levels ‘Exceeded’

Experts attribute the increased radiation levels to the Russian military’s current assault on Ukraine.

US and Russian Physicians Warn War in Ukraine Risks Global Nuclear ‘Catastrophe’

“No matter the genesis, the cause, or who started what, the reality remains that there are 15 operating nuclear reactors in Ukraine that, if conflict breaks out there, could be in peril.”

Putin is about to start the most senseless war in history

A view from Russia: no sanctions will stop Moscow, and its actions will drive more countries into NATO’s arms

‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Linked to 11% Spike in US Gun Homicides: Study

Researchers say the state-level laws “should be reconsidered to prevent unnecessary violent deaths.”

The Supreme Court could hamstring federal agencies’ regulatory power in a high-profile air pollution case

The Cold War, modern Ukraine and the spread of democracy in the former Soviet bloc countries