Daily Archives: April 12, 2017

Ramboll hired to monitor cleanup of Bento Rodrigues dam disaster – Consultancy.uk

Posted: April 12, 2017 at 9:11 am

The collapse of a iron ore tailing dam in Bento Rodrigues, Brazil, resulted in 18 deaths and considerable environmental and social damage. In a bid to restore the region back to pre-disaster conditions, the Renova Foundation was established. To audit and monitor the delivery of programmes aimed at restoring the region run by the Foundation, the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil has hired Ramboll.

Followng the breach of an iron ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues, Brazil, a deluge of toxic waste, around 60 million cubic meters of iron waste, flowed along the Doce River to the Atlantic ocean. The catastrophic failure of the dam resulted in the 18 deaths, as well as doing considerable damage to the regional socio-economic environment and the natural environment more generally. The disaster, which has been described as the worst environmental disaster in Brazils history, left deep scares on the environment and the livelihoods of regional people. The owner of the mine, and dam, Samarco, has so far agreed to pay a fine of more than $4.8 billion, although this does not include compensation to people affected by the disaster, nor the environmental cleanup process.

Damages to the regions socio-economic and environment have been reported as extensive. To support local communities and the wider environment affected by the disaster, the Renova Foundation was established. The not-for-profit organisation is dedicated to its mission of implementing and managing the repair, restoration and reconstruction programmes within the region, which aim to, among others, restore the regions social-economic and environment thereby re-establishing communities and resources affected by the collapse. The programmes run by the foundation are subject to constant monitoring audits and broad dissemination.

The announcement from the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil will see Rambolltasked with ensuring that the remediation programmes achieve the promised outcomes, stepping in to propose additional measures required to restore the region in full, if required, within the shortest practical timeframe. As it stands there are 41 propose programmes, 18 that address socio-environmental factors and 23 that address socio-economic factors. For the task the consulting firmwill send 30 of its specialists to the region, including expertise in disaster remediation, ecology, geology, biology, and environmental and civil engineering.

Regarding the appointment, Eugenio Singer, Managing Director Rambolls Environment & Health practice in Brazil, remarks, "Because we have all the relevant disciplines in-house. we are uniquely positioned to conduct a detailed and critical analysis to determine not only whether the promised results can be achieved, but also whether they will meet the expectations of regulators, affected communities and the Brazilian people."

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Poland For Beginners: ‘Some political reforms bring different results … – PoliticalCritique.org

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Rafa Wo talked about Law and Justice's social reforms at Krytyka Polityczna's "Poland for Beginners", a series of lectures on current political, social, and cultural issues in Poland and the international sphere. The event took place last Thursday (6th of April) in English and a full recording of the discussion can be found below.

Rafa Wo was invited by Krytyka Polityczna in order to present and reflect on Law and Justices (PiS) social policies. PiS had already governed Poland between 2005 and 2007. At that time they won the elections with a socially oriented solidaristic agenda, but nevertheless when being in power led quite liberal policies. After being re-elected in 2015, experts expected that the situation would be the same, but unexpectedly there were several social programs introduced by the government. Rafa Wo, who is a journalist and writer, confronted specific aspects of these programs and presented through a socio-economic and political lens.

The discussion started with a brief presentation on the situation in Poland during the years following the collapse of communism. This was a huge economic and political transformation. In some areas, Poland made a huge step forward, but in some areas it did not, sometimes it even made a step back, Wo said. There was a rather mediocre development of the community housing and labour. The economy was not developing in a fair, solidaristic way and that was obvious to the people. Moreover, after communism, the Polish dream to be an industrialised country slowly collapsed and the country underwent enormous austerity. The politicians decided that the state had to shrink massively and fast, Wo informed us. And the last part of the problem is that during the last 20 years there has been no public debate over the economy in Poland: The neoliberal paradigm wants to take economics from politics and give it to some technocrats, he says.

Some political reforms bring different results that politicians wanted or anticipated.

Given that background, it is surprising that some change has taken place after 2015. It was the first time after many years that political parties started considering economics as a part of politics again. PiS introduced two new reforms that had a rather positive aspect, especially as regards the law for supporting people with children. This law awards PLN 500 for each child to every family. The goal of the government was to increase the fertility rate but one year after the reform, the demographic problem didnt seem to differ. There was a huge effect on poverty and social exclusion, though, which wasnt anticipated by the government. Some political reforms bring different results that politicians wanted or anticipated, comments Wo.

Additionally, PiS introduced a huge plan for developing Polands economy and establishing an innovative modern economy in the future. The plan is very ambitious but has been strongly criticised by other political and intellectual groups. Rafa Wo, on one hand, explained the positive aspects of the plan and, on the other, his doubts. I only hope that the failures of PiS government in other fields, like when it comes to personal politics in the media or taking over public media in a very shameful way, wouldnt destroy the feeling that the state should play a far more important role in the economy of a country like Poland.

Krytyka Politycznas series Poland for Beginners will have its next event on April, 27th, Thursday, at 18.00. This time Elbieta Korolczuk, a sociologist, activist, and commentator, will discuss the Black Protests against the abortion ban in Poland. On May 11th at 18.00 Jan piewak, a city activist and Councillor at Srodmiecie District Council, will host a discussion on how to become an owner of an inhabited building, schoolyard, public park or city square (Aaaa We Buy Compensation Claim). And last but not least, on May 25th at 18.00, Mamaliga de Varsovia and others will talk about migrants making media in Poland.

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Time for a rebirth of Zimbabwean politics The Zimbabwe Mail – The Zimbabwe Mail

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THE current crisis arresting the country revolves around the leadership question especially the failure to respond to problems including those of the states making, it is a clear sign of the broken politics of Jongwe and Munhumutapa buildings.

by Jacob Mafume

For close to four decades, Zimbabwe has been dominated by mediocrity, false and corrupt personalities, huge egos, hubris, arrogance, individualism, selfishness and crony capitalism.

It is the Peoples Democratic Partys view that the way we do politics must change; only proper leadership can solve the problems we are facing.

Our state is engulfed in a serious socio-economic crisis causing unpalatable suffering to the Zimbabwean people.

The fact of the matter is that Zimbabwe is in the fourth year of a structural economic recession which the authorities do not understand and are incapable of offering sustainable solutions to stem the same.

The economy is continuously shrinking, predatory fiscal policies have created a huge budget deficit, there is weak export performance, corruption and leakages, lack of competitiveness, lack of meaningful FDI, shrinking diaspora remittances and low levels of capital formation, persistent levels of disserving, have contributed to the crisis.

Our independent calculations reflect that actual GDP for 2015 was -1.8%, -3.8% for 2016 and a projection of -4.8 in 2017.

The state has so far issued out toxic treasury bills to finance the budget deficit which is over 42%.Government has also raided RTGS and NOSTRO accounts at the RBZ as a result a crippling cash crisis has hit the economy.

Long bank queues are now the order of the day, the only attempt by government to deal with the matter was through dubious measures pronounced by the RBZ including a low ceiling on maximum withdrawals and the insanity of introducing the bond note.

In the midst of an amalgamated crisis in Zimbabwe, the situation is compounded by sterile leadership with no ability to provide solutions; the balance sheet of failure is there for everyone to see.

The incompetence of ZANUPF is coupled with the legitimacy question which is born out of ZANUPFs record of electoral fraud including in 2013.The people of Zimbabwe do not trust the ZANUPF government at the same time state officials do not feel compelled to account since they do not draw the mandate from the people but from the rigging machinery.

We also note that the ZANUPF government is further crippled by age which is catching up with most senior individuals in the regime.

Mugabe who is still the President at 93 he recently got a wheel chair as a present from his party members who seem to admit that he is too old to walk around his office space.

The rest of his friends are also very old including the ones who are dying to succeed him. A quick look at their ages of a few examples tells the story; Phelekezela Mpoko 77, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa 75, Simon Khaya Moyo 72, Mahofa Mahofa 76, Sydney Sekeramayi 73, Simbarashe Mbengegwi 72, Patrick Chinamasa 70, David Parirenyatwa 67, Ignatious Chombo 65, Kembo Mohadi 68.

Most of these have been in government since 1980, they no longer have anything new to offer. We therefore call for a rebirth of Zimbabwean politics to save the nation from a total collapse. There must be a significant generational change in leadership; even judges are required to retire at the age 70 the same principle must be applied to the executive.

We state in the Agenda for Restoration and Rehabilitation of Electoral Sustainability that there must be a generational coalition in which components from the old movement coalesce with the younger post liberation generations.

Equally important is the fact that the generational equation should be based on the terms and aspirations of the younger generation.

The aim is not to create a modern refined liberation movement but rather a modern democratic entity that will finish the unfinished business of the liberation struggle.

We therefore encourage mobilisation of social movements which as seen in 2016 were driven by young people, networking and collaboration of progressive political and social movements against dictatorship.

There must be national dialogue of stakeholders and the consummation of the social contract, social movements must be involved in resolving the political challenges the country is facing through sustainable policy formulation.

Jacob Mafume is national spokesman of the oppostion PDP party

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This Day in History – Jamaica Observer

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Today is the 101st day of 2017. There are 264 days left in the year.

TODAYS HIGHLIGHT

2002: Police fight pitched battles with protesters after more than 150,000 people march on the presidential palace demanding President Hugo Chavezs ouster as a general strike grips the country. Nineteen people are killed and 350 injured.

OTHER EVENTS

1689: William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1713: The Treaty of Utrecht was signed, ending the War of the Spanish Succession.

1814: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally as emperor of France and is banished to Elba by the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

1899: The treaty ending the Spanish-American War is declared in effect; the Philippines are transferred from Spain to the United States.

1913: Postmaster General Albert S Burleson, during a meeting of President Woodrow Wilsons Cabinet, proposed gradually segregating whites and blacks who worked for the Railway Mail Service, a policy which went into effect and spread to other agencies.

1919: New Zealanders vote in a referendum against prohibition.

1921: Iowa becomes the first US state to impose a cigarette tax.

1945: During World War II, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

1951: President Harry S Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his commands in the Far East.

1953: Oveta Culp Hobby became the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

1961: Nigeria imposes total boycott on trade with South Africa.

1963: Pope John XXIII issued his final encyclical Pacem in Terris Peace on Earth.

1970:

Apollo 13 blasts off on a mission to the moon that is disrupted when an explosion cripples the spacecraft; the astronauts manage to return safely.

1979: Idi Amin is deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seize control.

1980: US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issues regulations specifically prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.

1981: US President Ronald Reagan returns to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt.

1986: Washington state employees win a lawsuit requiring the state to pay women as much as men for comparable work.

1991: UN Security Council announces a formal end to the Gulf War, accepting Iraqs pledge that it will pay for war damages and scrap its weapons of mass destruction.

1993: Despite appeals for calm, two whites are burned to death in South Africa by a black crowd, a day after the assassination of black leader Chris Hani.

1994: US President Bill Clinton orders trade sanctions against Taiwan for trafficking in endangered tiger and rhinoceros parts.

1999: India tests an improved medium-range missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles). Pakistan tests a similar missile two days later.

2001: Israeli tanks and bulldozers rumble into the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Palestinian-controlled territory in the Gaza Strip, damaging 30 homes and triggering fighting that kills two Palestinians and wounds more than two dozen.

2002: Wouter Basson, a scientist who headed South Africas covert chemical- and germ-warfare operations during the apartheid era, is acquitted on 46 charges of murder, conspiracy, drug possession and fraud.

2003: Hong Kong bans quarantined residents from leaving the city as the deadly SARS virus turns up in Indonesia and the Philippines, in both cases among foreigners who had recently been to Hong Kong.

2008: French troops capture six pirates after they released 30 hostages who were aboard a tourist yacht off Somalias coast.

2009: Protesters in Bangkok storm a summit of Asian leader, breaking through glass doors to demand the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

2012: George Zimmerman, the Florida neighbourhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. A California prison panel denied parole to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and probably final bid for freedom.

2013: A US intelligence report concludes that North Korea has advanced its nuclear know-how to the point that it could arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead.

TODAYS BIRTHDAYS

John I, King of Portugal (1385-1433); George Canning, English statesman (1770-1827); Manuel Quintana, Spanish poet (1772-1857); John Davidson, Scottish poet/playwright (1857-1909); Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (1869-1943); Bill Irwin, US actor (1950- ); Joss Stone, British singer (1987- ); Ethel Kennedy (1928- ) American human-rights campaigner and widow of Senator Robert F Kennedy; Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman (1928-); Actor Meshach Taylor (1947-2014); Songwriter-producer Daryl Simmons (1957-); Singer Lisa Stansfield (1966-); Rapper David Banner (1974- )

AP

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The superpower’s dilemma – The Guardian (Australia)

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Editorial

The superpowers dilemma

In December 2016 Donald Trump called Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss the close economic, political, and security ties that exist between Taiwan and the United States, as a statement from the White House put it. Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming president of Taiwan earlier this year.

This is a reflection of the history of the US approach to China. After Chinas revolution in 1949 Washington supported the nationalist remnant under Chiang Kai-shek after it fled to the island of Taiwan, claiming to be the entire countrys legitimate government.

While much of the world recognised the mainlands Peoples Republic of China, the US only talked to the Republic of China on Taiwan. In 1979 president Jimmy Carter formally shifted diplomatic recognition to the PRC, which also now filled Chinas Security Council seat at the United Nations. However, US Congress then passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which institutionalised unofficial relations with Taipei, while acknowledging that there is only one China and top US officials avoided contact with Taiwanese leaders.

In 1997 the return of Hong Kong was a further step in the long struggle of the Chinese people in their liberation from imperialist domination. It was a step towards the reunification of all parts of China which had become separated from China in the colonial era.

During WW2 Taiwan was seized by Japan, but its return has been complicated because the remnants of the reactionary Kuomintang armies retreated to Taiwan and set up their headquarters under the protection of the US.

Such is the stuff of unfinished business.

Hong Kong was not willingly handed back by Britain. If British governments had sincerely repudiated colonialism they could have taken that step a long time before. It was the decline of the British empire and the emergent strength of a liberated socialist China which forced British governments to bow to the inevitable.

Nonetheless, Britain and the US continue to play games with One China. They have not for a moment given up the objective of overthrowing socialism in China and reimposing their modern form of colonialism.

During its imperialist occupation, Hong Kong was always controlled by British-appointed governors. There were no elections for this or any other role. For years after the revolution the US waged the Cold War, blocking Chinas application as Most Favoured Nation trade status and blocked its membership not only of bodies such as the World Trade Organisation but also the United Nations.

China has adopted a one nation, two systems relationship: the Chinese mainland with a socialist system while Hong Kong retains a capitalist system, a new experience for any nation.

Part of the US spin on China is the DPRK (North Korea), with the USs empty gesture of recognition of Chinas key role in relation to one of Washingtons perennial rogue states.

From the day of its foundation, the DPRK has not had a moments rest from outside interference. Sabotage, invasion, mass destruction, germ warfare, nuclear threat, encirclement and crippling economic blockade have all been used in the US-led attempt to remove this impediment to its regional domination. All of these efforts have failed. Naturally, the major capitalist powers subject such rogue states to an unrelenting campaign of vilification in order to enlist public opinion.

The DPRK is not just a thorn in the side of a declining superpower seeking to shore up its position in the Asia Pacific. Its territory, which borders the Peoples Republic of China, is eyed off by the US military for the location of its troops and nuclear weapons. China has stressed that resolving human rights differences should be through constructive dialogue and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect. That wont happen unless world opinion insists upon it and demands that the US halts its aggression towards the DPRK and China.

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Female Student Shaves Head to Fight ‘Gender Norms’ – PJ Media

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When a kid goes off to college, you expect him or her to be learning how to handle the reality of adulthood. That's literally the point of college.

But here we have the exploits of feminist activistYvonne Nguyen, who has shaved her head to make ... a STATEMENT.She didn't shave it to support a friend who is fighting cancer, though -- that's always a great move. Nor did she do it because she just likes the way it looks. While it's not my thing, I'm not the one who has to wear it, so more power to her.

Instead, she did it to COMBATSOMETHING OR OTHER:

On Tuesday, the Villanova student published an op-ed in the campus student newspaper, The Villanovan, where she explained that the small and constant comments about how to play the role of my gender were burdensome. ... Throughout my life, I was told how to look, think, feel, act and be a girl in order to fit in.'

Nguyen also asserted that shaving my head enabled me to be reflective of the ways society forces me to conform to labels that I didnt choose. Shaving my head liberated me, as I allowed myself to be faithful to my values and genuine self. She soon added that shaving my head allowed me to be in solidarity with people undergoing cancer treatment and take time to identify the privileges that I take for granted.

I won't pretend that gender norms don't exist, but to treat this as oppression proves that at no point during her education has she studied oppression.

Here's a tip: If you can protest something without ANYramifications, such as imprisonment or threats of government reprisal, you're not oppressed. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example, spent plenty of time in jail for his activism.

While gender norms are a thing, they evolve from the culture -- and it's not as if the choices of free women had no role in creating those. And gender norms are not necessarily good or bad.

Most importantly, long or shaved, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, because no one in the U.S.cares what a young adult does to her hair. "Society" is not trying to define your hair. Society's only interest in your hair is either due to professionalism, or occasionally, public hygiene.

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#SectoralDebate: Uproar in Parliament as Opposition objects to bill to amend property tax – Jamaica Observer

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KINGSTON, Jamaica Members of the Parliamentary Opposition today objected as Finance Minister Audley Shaw asked the House of Representatives to pass the Bill which would enact the Government's new property tax regime.

Members objected on the basis that they were not given an opportunity to properly assess the Bill, and accused the Government of trying to circumvent Parliamentary Standing Orders by trying to pass the Bill along with another Bill, which the Opposition would support.

Peter Bunting, the spokesperson nominated by the Opposition to respond to Shaw's presentation today, accused the Government of subterfuge and anancyism in trying to simultaneously pass the Bill to amend the Property Tax Act with a separate Bill to validate taxes already collected by the Government.

Bunting said the latter Bill was a normal course of conduct for the House, but said that there was nothing connecting it to the former Bill and therefore they should not be passed together.

Bunting reiterated that the Opposition would not support the Bill to amend the Property Tax Act.

Leader of Opposition business, Phillip Paulwell, said the Opposition members only became aware of the new Bill to amend the Property Tax Act when they arrived at Parliament, and would not accept oppression by the Government in trying to pass the Bill today.

Paulwell added that the practice had always been to notify the Opposition of a bill which needed to be urgently passed before the sitting at which it was intended to be passed.

Leader of Government Business Derrick Smith, however, objected to Paulwell's use of the word 'always', saying the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members had suffered the same lack of notice in the past.

Bills to validate the collection of taxes before the passing of legislation which allow for the new taxes are commonly used by Parliament so that the Government cannot be sued for collecting taxes without proper legal basis.

Both Smith and Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte said the Bill to validate the collection of taxes was necessary because of the previous administration's omission.

Forte insisted that the bills needed to be passed together because they were connected.

Both bills were eventually passed with the 31 Government MPs in favour, 25 Opposition MPs against, and six absent.

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Kashmir Rejects India – The Nation

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The latest violence witnessed in Indian occupied Kashmir (IOK) resulted in the death of six persons and more than two dozen were injured. This took place on April 9 as Indian security personnel opened fire on protesters campaigning against the by-election in Srinagar.

Firing bullets into masses of protestors is as contemptible as any state action gets, but the Indian forces returned to using a much more heinous tool shotguns using steel pellets. Despite the massive outcry by human rights groups across the world, India continues to use the weapon that has caused partial to severe blindness among countless Kashmiris. Injuries and even fatalities are collateral of protests and clashes with protestors, but Indias use of inhumane, indiscriminate and brutal methods is far beyond what any reasonable state should ever use.

The Indian government would do well to heed the message of the Kashmiri people, but it is unlikely that the increasingly right-wing Hindu nationalist government will be partial to a negotiated solution that respects the rights of the provinces people. This regime has shut its eyes and point-blanked refused to talk about the Kashmir issues, hoping that not talking about it will make it go away.

On Monday, Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, also asked India to wake up to the atrocities that were being committed in Kashmir and think of a political rather than a military solution. If India does not mend its fences, the consequence of it would be losing Kashmir.

As long as the Indian government continues using oppression, this problem will not go away, and the moderates in India realise this. The Pakistani government must ensure that it assist the Kashmiri people in any way and mean possible, they keep arguing the Kashmiri cause and that that they keep highlighting Indian atrocities at the world stage.

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Leonard Pitts: The new federal ‘War on Drugs’ will be just as ineffective as the last one – Press Herald

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Looks like the War on Drugs is back. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is preparing a return to the same hardline strategies that have so spectacularly failed to reduce drug use since 1971. Indeed, the nation has spent more than a trillion dollars, made itself the biggest jailer on the planet and yet seen the use, availability and quality of drugs rise like a rocket from a launch pad while the cost dropped like a watermelon from a skyscraper.

Thats why it was welcome news when President Obama quietly dismantled much of the machinery of the drug war. His Department of Justice radically scaled back federal involvement in so-called civil asset forfeitures, a program wherein police confiscate your cash and require you to prove its not drug money before you can get it back.

The Obama Justice Department looked the other way as states liberalized marijuana laws. It also extended clemency to incarcerated nonviolent drug offenders and declined to seek harsh mandatory minimum sentences for the ones facing trial.

It made sense, so it couldnt last. Back in February, Donald Trump himself announced that there would be a new drug war and it would be ruthless. Leaving aside that the old drug war was hardly ice cream and roses, there is no reason to believe being more ruthless will help.

After all, you can be beheaded for drug-related offenses in Saudi Arabia. Yet the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports that in 2008 the most recent year for which statistics seem to be available the Saudis seized 12.8 tons of amphetamines.

So much for the effectiveness of being ruthless.

There is a reason the 18th Amendment, the one outlawing liquor, was the only one ever repealed: Prohibition doesnt work. You cannot arrest people out of wanting what is bad for them. But as weve seen with liquor and tobacco, you might be able to educate, legislate and persuade them into wanting it less.

Diane Goldstein, a retired lieutenant commander with the Redondo Beach (California) Police Department, calls the new drug war a horrible idea. Goldstein is an executive board member of Law Enforcement Action Partnership, a group of law enforcement veterans who think that in asking police to solve a medical problem, weve made a costly mistake.

She cites a 1994 Rand Corp. study that said using health care strategies to combat drugs returns seven times the value for every dollar spent on it to the taxpayer. Shouldnt we be looking at what is not just cost-effective, but also returns better results for people who are impacted by chronic substance abuse?

Problem is, that wouldnt allow some of us to brag how ruthless they are.

African-Americans, who have been locked up at obscene rates, even though whites are the nations biggest users and sellers of drugs, should regard this new war as a clear and present danger.

Pot users of all colors in states where marijuana is now legal should feel the same; from now on, the feds will no longer be looking the other way.

They, and anyone else who is appalled by this, should tell that to the attorney general.

Youll find an online contact form at: https://www.justice.gov/doj/webform/your-message-department-justice.

The DOJ comment line is: (202) 353-1555. The main switchboard is: (202) 514-2000.

And heres the street address: U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20530-0001.

However you register your opinion, please do. Weve already had a War on Drugs.

And one was more than enough.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for The Miami Herald. He can be contacted at:

[emailprotected]

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Jeff Sessions Pushes New War on Drugs While Killing Obama-Era … – Democracy Now!

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZLEZ: We turn now to look at how Attorney General Jeff Sessions is attempting to shake up policing in the country by limiting federal oversight of police departments with a history of civil rights violations, while calling for an escalation of the war on drugs. Last week, Sessions ordered a wide-ranging review of the federal governmentof the federal consent decrees with local law enforcement agencies that have been accused of brutality and violating civil rights laws. The review signals the Justice Department intends to shift away from monitoring and forcing changes within police departments, such as the police department of Ferguson, Missouri, where systematic racial discrimination by the police and the police killing of unarmed 18-year-old African American Michael Brown sparked an uprising in 2014.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes after Attorney General Jeff Sessions openly expressed concerns about efforts at police reform in a recent speech.

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS: Unfortunately, in recent years, law enforcement, as a whole, I think, has been unfairly maligned and blamed for unacceptable deeds of a few bad actors. Youve got some 800,000 state and local law officers and federal officers in America. Imagine a city of 800,000. Are you not going to have people make mistakes, people who commit crimes out of that group? And so, were not perfect. We all know that. Department of Justice is going to fulfill its role to ensure that law enforcement officers are not out of control. And if they violate the law, they will be punished. But weve got to be careful about what were doing. We cannot malign entire departments. Too many of our officers, deputies and troopers believe the political leadership in this country has abandoned them. ...

I like that line from Pirates of Penzance, I think, Gilbert and Stewart [sic] old line, says, "When constabulary duties are to be done, to be done, the policemans lot is not a happy one." You know? Its no fun to go out and hammer somebody and see him go to jail. Nobody likes to do that. But its our duty. Its our lot.

AMY GOODMAN: During the same speech in Richmond, Virginia, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for what many see as a new war on drugs.

ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS: We need to say, as Nancy Reagan said, "Just say no." Dont do it. ... And our nation needs to say clearly, once again, that using drugs is bad. It will destroy your life. In the 80s and 90s, we saw campaigns stressing prevention. ... We can do this again. Educating people and telling them the terrible truth about drugs and addiction will result in better choices by more people. We can reduce the use of drugs, save lives and turn back the surge in crime that inevitably follows in the wake of increased drug use.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, were joined by two guests: Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department and the author of the book To Protect and Serve: How to Fix Americas Police.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Sherrilyn, lets begin with you. Is this a new war on drugs? And can you talk about the judges decision?

SHERRILYN IFILL: Well, what we see with Attorney General Jeff Sessions is an effort to basically take us back in time. And you heard, you know, in the clip that you just posted, I mean, he talks about Nancy Reagan. I mean, this is a person whos stuck in the '80s, and in some instances, stuck in the 50s. And so, it's not just about the war on drugs. Its a kind of a retro view of law enforcement and policing in which hes attempting to wipe out the last 30 years of progress in this country, to the extent that its been madethe last four years, in particular, where weve really been focused on the issue of policing reform. And you talked about Ferguson and the uprising and whats happened. This intense look at unconstitutional policing, this is what Jeff Sessions doesnt want to deal with. He talks about a few bad apples. Hes not interested in looking at issues of systemic problems in the police department.

But, you know, the statute that governs these investigations and consent decrees, like in Baltimore, is called the Law Enforcement Misconduct Statute, 42 U.S.C. 14141. It was enacted actually as part of the 1994 crime bill as a result of the Rodney King assault and the acquittal of those officers in the first trial. Thats a statute that authorizes the attorney general to investigate unconstitutional policing, to engage in these consent decrees. So, to the extent that hes a law-and-order attorney general, this is a law hes willing to completely ignore.

In Baltimore, what hes attempted to do is essentially to undermine a consent decree that had been entered in January, had been negotiated over the course of six months by the city of Baltimore and by the Department of Justice. As soon as he came into office, Jeff Sessions immediately tried to begin slow walking approval of the consent decree. Even up to last week, the day before there was to be a public hearing, when the community was to come before the federal judge and explain to him what they wanted to see in the consent decree, Jeff Sessions filed a motion asking for a 90-day extension for the judge to review the decree. The judge approved the decree. And even then, Jeff Sessions released a statement essentially criticizing the decree, saying he thinks it will make people in Baltimore less safe.

We tried to intervene in the case, because we believe the Department of Justice under Jeff Sessions has no intention of fully enforcing the decree. The judge did not allow us to intervene, basically said its too early, that he assumes that the Department of Justice will enforce the decree. I hope hes right. I think we have enough reason to believe that Jeff Sessions has no intention of actually enforcing the consent decree that really will bring about transformative policing in Baltimore City. People in Baltimore have been waiting for this for years.

JUAN GONZLEZ: I dont think Ive ever seen, certainly not in my memory and in the memory of most people, such a complete about-face of a federal

SHERRILYN IFILL: Yes.

JUAN GONZLEZ: of a federal institution versus what the policy was in December and November of last year to what it is now, and the impact on so many of these cities, that already have these decrees, in terms of the fact that the Justice Department has a responsibility to enforce them. Im wondering what youre thinking whats going to happen?

SHERRILYN IFILL: Its actually quite astonishing. I mean, he ordered this review of 14 consent decrees. So were talking about Ferguson. Were talking about Cleveland. Were talking about places all over the country, in which police departments themselves have gotten on board with the idea of transformation. You know, when I met with Jeff Sessionsand I met with himI said to him, "Do you actually talk to local police? Because the chief of police in Baltimore will tell you out of his mouth he wants the consent decree." Even the head of the FOP said at their most recent labor summit in Las Vegas

AMY GOODMAN: The Fraternal Order of Police.

SHERRILYN IFILL: The Fraternal Order of Policesaid consent decrees bring resources to police departments. If you talk to police chiefswe work with the International Association of Chiefs of Policethey know that this is a moment when reform has to happen, that there does have to be 21st century policing. And so, I questioned Jeff Sessions, "I understand you have your own views, but do you talk to police?" The man who was just confirmed as Jeff Sessions deputy, Rod Rosensteinhes the former U.S. attorney from Baltimorejust a week before I met with Attorney General Sessions, had indicted seven Baltimore police officers for racketeering from the elite gun unitpolice officers who were shaking down residents of the community. I told this to Jeff Sessions. Hes got his own worldview. And he came in with that worldview, and no fact is going to shake that view.

AMY GOODMAN: What did Sessions say to you? What did he respond?

SHERRILYN IFILL: Well, so, besides calling me articulate, he essentially said, "Well, maybe Baltimore has some problems." But as you can see, it had no effect on him, because hes come forward with an effort to try to scuttle the decree.

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Jeff Sessions Pushes New War on Drugs While Killing Obama-Era ... - Democracy Now!

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