There are a number of reasons for high gas prices but the reasons some are trying to make you believe just are not true. Do yourself a favor and learn the truth. It will help you make your decision when you go to the polls.
A law in Florida (at least one positive thing about the state) prevents fuel price gouging after hurricanes. A federal law would protect everyone during disastrous circumstances like we are experiencing now instead of making corporations & their executives even wealthier.
Over the past few weeks we have focused almost exclusively on pro-choice, pro-ERA women candidates for the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate and state governors. After all, we are a website predominately by, for and about women.
But we very much need the support of good men who will have our backs and will work on behalf of our families. So with election day upon us, we offer suggestions for some of those good men.
Arizona Mark Kelly U.S. Senate
Florida Charlie Crist Governor
Georgia Raphael Warnock U.S. Senate
Marcus Flowers U.S. House
Illinois Dick Durbin U.S. Senate
Michigan Sen. Gary C. Peters U.S. Senate
Pennsylvania John Fetterman U.S. Senate
Josh Shapiro Governor
This list is not intended to suggest these are the only good men running for office this year. In fact, we would go so far as to suggest vote for the Democrats up and down the ballot. Given the radicals who have taken over the Republican Party, any Democrat is definitely a much better choice.
JUST DO IT! VOTE!
This post by Julia Wiklander lays out what should concern us regarding the threat social media poses for all of us.
The Indivisible Digital Attack On Our Freedom To Think and What You Can Do About It
By Julia Wiklander of Girl’s Globe
Despite initial reluctance by the board of Twitter, Elon Musk struck a deal to purchase the social media giant for USD 44 billion. This makes him the sole owner of Twitter. Elon says that his intentions are to uphold the important “town square” that Twitter can be. Yet, his takeover should remind us of the current invisible digital attack on our freedom to think.
“You should never have an information space like this owned by one person. No matter what their ideals are.”
Susie Alegre, Human Rights Lawyer
What ultimately swayed the board to go forward with the sale, were the perspectives of Twitter’s shareholders. Would this be profitable for them? The answer was Yes. The decision to sell to Elon Musk by the Twitter board was a profitable deal.
Our massive public spheres of communication are controlled by individuals who want, and need, these platforms to turn a profit.
This will time, and time again, prove to go before the benefits of its users.
In 2021, Frances Haugen blew the whistle on how Facebook prioritizes profit over people. She shared internal documents showing how the company knew that it was doing harm, yet did nothing. This included, the ill effects for young girls’ mental health and even its influence in genocide.
Digital violence against women has been experienced and witnessed by 85 % of women who use the internet.
Hate speech, bullying and discrimination lives on these platforms, with close to no regulation.
Musk says he’ll defend free speech and fight censorship, yet, simultaneously black employees are suing him for racial discrimination.
Actor and feminist activist Jameela Jamil wrote on Instagram about her decision to leave Twitter following Musk’s takeover. Her public decision was followed by digital attacks of hate and threats from men online.
“I don’t want a freedom of hate speech because it is detrimental to the freedom of speech of the oppressed as they face such horrific and scary real life consequences for objecting to their oppression. This is a move towards (esp straight male) white entitlement. Nobody else is safe there if they do not think the already HORRIFYING vitriol on the app is enough “freedom.” It’s about to become the Purge and some sort of crypto bro fever dream I fear.”
Jameela Jamil
On April 27, 2022, I attended an online event organized by OpenDemocracy. The panel discussed big tech’s influence on our freedom of thought. Human Rights Lawyer and author of Freedom to Think, Susie Alegre, explained how big tech decides what we see, hear and experience; and how that in turn deprives us of independent thought.
Big tech’s products are built to be addictive, and they are gaining so much information about us – as we continuously use them in our daily life.
Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff and author of Surveillance Capitalism, said at the same event, “We’ve tended to underreact to this new [digital] power – information warfare that uses our family photos and all our personal information in a benign form of power to get into our heads.”
“It’s the weaponization of our own information against us ordinary citizens in our everyday lives.”
Shoshana Zuboff
Artificial Intelligence is using our data to not only improve their services to us, Zuboff explains. It goes far beyond targeted advertisement. We don’t know what the algorithms look like, how they collect data from us or how that data is used.
The data is not only used to decide what reality is presented to us, but in ways that can have severe consequences for democracy and human rights.
Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp), Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft, and Apple are all private companies that use our data to grow in profit. When big tech get into our heads, it begins to dismantle our freedom and our possibility to live in a peaceful, democratic world.
“It should be guaranteed that a global information platform isn’t owned by a single person,”
Susie Alegre
In 2020, Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence (AI) researcher who at the time worked at Google, had produced a research paper with evidence of ethical issues with Google’s Artificial Intelligence. In short, after attempts to silence her, she was fired from the company. Since then she has started her own research institute continuing her important work with Ethical AI.
On the subject of Musk’s purchase of Twitter, Timnit Gebru has tweeted her opinions.
“The pattern of claiming you want to make AI/AGI “beneficial for humanity” while showing us some of the most unsafe products, THEN convincing us that YOU will be the one saving us from the issues? Witnessing this constant pattern drives me nuts. And then the cycle continues.”
Time and time again, we’ve seen that these big tech companies cannot self-regulate. They continue to silence those within the company who try to flag the faulty AI, or the ethical issues that they pose.
“What we need is recognition across the liberal democracy, that the digital must live in democracy’s house. So that our people and societies finally get to benefit from the fruit of this digital age.”
Shoshana Zuboff
Professor Zuboff reminds us to remember what these platforms were supposed to be. They were supposed to be networks she says, “not machine jungles driven by surveillance capitalism”.
Use your voting rights by contacting your representatives. Turn to your lawmakers. Demand legislation that will hold these companies accountable.
This week, the European Council have finally launched an agreement on the Digital Services At. It may not be perfect, but it is a first step towards overseeing platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
“I leave my phone downstairs. It’s small and liberating. Separating yourself is a good start.”
Susie Alegre
Seperating yourself from your phone and other digital tools have proven to help you sleep better and stay in a better state of health. It gives you the freedom to choose what you allow into your brain, instead of the constant download chosen for you as you scroll.
This space provides you with the freedom to have interesting thoughts and give you the resources you need to make truly informed decisions about your life.
Continue to learn about what these massive companies know about you. Hey, there are even apps for that!
Tech moves fast, and our laws aren’t keeping up – so it really is up to us to keep a learning mindset to protect ourselves and others.
Shoshana Zuboff concluded the OpenDemocracy event by saying this, “Nothing is inevitable! We’re big, we’re strong. We can change it. Pay attention!”
It’s not even a question about whether or not to use Twitter – or any other big tech platforms for that matter. It’s about your awareness of it’s impact on you and the world. As well as, your awareness of the power you hold to be a part of creating positive change.
As for me, I’d rather not be at a “town square” where privileged white men are given space to shout their sexist and racist jokes (just have a scroll through Musk’s personal Twitter feed).
Instead, I’d like to create spaces where we can collectively solve the world’s most pressing issues. And do so by allowing space for underrepresented voices to be heard – and no longer be underrepresented!
I would also like to personally call for feminist tech activists to reach out to Girls’ Globe at info@girlsglobe.org, so that we can continue to learn and rise against the power of big tech together.
We've officially witnessed one of the greatest tragedies in recent history. Roe v. Wade, the law of the land for decades, has been ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court.
If you've been waiting for a signal, or a war cry to protest, this is it. Abortion access will now be determined at the state level, many will either heavily restrict it or ban it altogether.
This is not a drill, or a dystopian scene. This is our new reality. go to MAP.WEWONTGOBACK.COM and find a demonstration near you at 5 PM today. Our time is now.
Florida NOW communications intern Melanie Hughes
Editors note: We asked you a few days ago to be prepared to do what was necessary and right when asked to do so. We are asking you to protest NOW! Find a local protest by clicking on the site listed above or make yourself a protest sign and go stand on a busy corner near you today at 5 PM.
WE WON'T GO BACK!
EDITORS NOTE: A longer article but chock full of important and eye-opening information. If you care about the environment, it is well worth your time to read this and other articles cited in it.
A bottle of water. It looks ordinary enough. But take a closer look and you can almost hear the Jaws music start to play…
This is not your average Evian you can pop to the shop and buy (although you’re probably not doing that because of plastic water bottles’ contribution to pollution and global warming). This is a bottle of melted iceberg and it comes with a potent message: the Arctic is melting.
As a matter of fact, on the Greenland ice cap alone, 17 million of these bottles are melting every second.
Over the last 50 years (the equivalent of a nanosecond in the grand scheme of the universe timeline), the Arctic has warmed three times more quickly than the planet as a whole. Widely considered by polar scientists as the Earth's refrigerator due to its role in regulating global temperatures, its own temperature has risen by 3.1 degrees Celsius, compared to 1 degree Celsius for the planet, with each fraction of a degree having a devastating impact. Now imagine we’re the fresh veg inside that fridge…
The "poster child" for the effects of the loss of sea ice on species is the polar bear, a species that could become extinct by 2100 if Arctic ice continues to melt at projected rates. Walruses and arctic foxes are also losing their homes.
But, as climate scientists are fond of saying: "What happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic." Rising sea levels will force coastal communities inland, seasonal temperature differences will become more polarised, and extreme weather events will become more frequent, which will in turn lead to a refugee crisis, the likes of which we have not seen before.
Arctic Basecamp is the group that have found themselves taking an unlikely career tangent to water bottling.
They’ve taken these bottles (as well as a four-tonne melting iceberg from Greenland) and set up camp (literally) at a handful of world events such as COP26, the Davos World Economic Forum, and, in a matter of days, Glastonbury. While they’re there, they hand these bottles to key decision makers to make sure that the Arctic has a seat on the table.
This year, they’re taking their melted Arctic message to the mother of all green festivals: Glastonbury. Founded with activism at its heart, it’s the perfect place for Arctic Basecamp to set up shop. If you’re heading to Worthy Farm this week, make sure to stop by and say “Hi”, and speak some science to power. They’ll be located in the “Green Futures” field.
Almost 5,000 kilometres away from Glastonbury Festival, the Arctic and its melting icebergs can sometimes seem distant and abstract. So to bring the polar region and its realities closer to home, Arctic Basecamp has come up with the “Arctic Risk Calculator.” Simply pop in your date of birth and it will tell you precisely by how much temperatures and sea levels have risen since you’ve been alive. Then get a ruler out to see what that sea level rise looks like, or imagine what would happen to the produce in your fridge if you turned it down that many degrees…
We met with Prof. Gail Whiteman, founder of Arctic Basecamp, to find out what it’s like going to the Arctic, what melted Arctic ice water tastes like, and why the Arctic is so important.
I am the Founder of Arctic Basecamp, a not-for-profit science communication platform, and a Professor of Sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School (UK).
Yes, I’ve been to the Arctic!
You do need to wear special clothes and have special gear. On a research vessel, you have normal gear but also need to know how to use protective clothing in case you fall in the water.
My PhD field work was in the sub-Arctic (just at the top of the treeline) when I lived with Indigenous Peoples in northern Canada for two years — the James Bay Cree.
On a scientific research vessel, the food is actually very good! During my PhD, when I was in the hunting camps, we had to hunt and eat local animals, fish, and in the summer, blueberries.
The idea of Arctic Basecamp emerged from a scientific trip through the NorthWest Passage on a Canadian research vessel in 2010. It was so clear then that the sea ice was rapidly disappearing and this would cause severe global risks far away from the Arctic. But no one outside academia or outside the regional geography was concerned about that.
My “task” after that trip was to figure out a way to get this message out of the Arctic and into the discussions of global decision makers. That’s why we set up Arctic Basecamp at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Our mission is to “speak science to power” in order to encourage urgent and transformative climate action. We are a unique science communication platform that tries to convey the science in an understandable way in unusual places. We work with celebrities like Rainn Wilson, who is on our board,
business and policy leaders, scientists, NGOs and youth activists — for example, Greta Thunberg camped with us in Davos in 2019. We bring youth climate leaders from around the world each year with us to Davos, including Indigenous youth from the Arctic.
But because we want to reach out beyond the elite crowd at Davos, we have also recently launched the online “Arctic Risk Calculator” which identifies the global risks from Arctic change and helps to curate the data into meaningful “alerts” about climate risks.
The Arctic is the poster child for the need to stay below the +1.5C emissions target, and it’s warming at least three times as fast as the rest of the planet. Climate research shows a strong and direct correlation with rising CO2 emissions and loss of Arctic ice. Science also shows that the Arctic is the barometer of global risk — what
happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay there.
A lot of people will know the ice is melting and that’s bad news for polar bears. But what other impacts is it having?
The science is clear — the dramatic changes in the Arctic region are an irrefutable warning sign of the impending global climate emergency. Yet, there remains a significant gap in public awareness and in-depth understanding of the magnitude and breadth of the global risks as a consequence of Arctic change — from extreme weather, storm surges, and global sea level rise, to changes to global precipitation and snowfall patterns. There is also a large disconnect between scientific monitoring of early warning signs of the impending risks from Arctic change and discussions by key global policy makers, business leaders, and local communities and citizens.
Arctic warming can cause extreme weather across the Northern hemisphere. The catastrophic and costly storms, heatwaves, wildfires, and other extreme weather hammering the world’s cities and regions have been linked to changes in the rapidly warming Arctic. Between 2010 and 2019, record-breaking storms, floods, and other natural disasters were the costliest in modern history with losses totaling US$2.98 trillion.
Arctic change will also affect global food and water security because of the central role it plays in the world’s climate system.
Some of the world’s most populated places are on the shores of rising oceans. Seas are rising faster now than over any century in the past 3,000 years. Coastline flooding of low-lying cities and regions as well as devastating coastal erosion will worsen and happen more often in the decades ahead.
Tell me more about the bottled water you took to COP26.
At COP26 in Glasgow, Arctic Basecamp handed out “Arctic Melt” bottles made from real melt water from Greenland. We wanted to put fresh, natural, unadulterated climate facts right under the noses of world leaders, COP26 delegates, climate deniers, and reporters in Glasgow. We brought the Arctic right into the heart of COP26 — “a single serving of alarming climate facts.” Each limited edition bottle contains messages of risk and the advice not to waste these precious glaciers. It was a literal “Bottled Warning” on the need to make bold and ambitious commitments on pledges for emissions reductions and climate action.
We worked with Qajak Brewery in Narsaq, a Greenlandic enterprise, to collect Greenland glacial meltwater at source and the water was then bottled by an independent bottler based in Irvine, near Glasgow. It arrived on a ship from Greenland, via Iceland, and transported along with our iceberg to Scotland where Graeme Lindsay from Uisge Source treated the water and bottled it in his factory. All transportation was offset by Ecologi.
It’s very neutral tasting because there are no minerals in it. But I don't know how I feel about actually drinking it. The water can of course be drunk but we hope people see it as a symbol of the climate crisis happening in the Arctic right now.
People are always astounded to learn that over 17 million bottles of our water melt off the Greenland Ice Sheet per second. That is a lot of meltwater. That's over 13 million litres per second. We also had one global policymaker visit us at COP26 three times!
We believe that ordinary people have a tremendous amount of power to force politicians and companies to act faster on climate change.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about the Arctic?
That the changes in the Arctic and the Antarctic will determine the fate of humanity.
Some days, that becomes a really hard question to answer. I had a big dip when I watched Don’t Look Up and felt crushed by the similarity with climate science and the dangerous lack of global action. But eventually I got my hope back because at the end of the day, there is love and there is ingenuity in the world. We can do this! But we have to face the facts and find the courage to make the impossible possible.
I was born in 1965 and here are my shocking climate numbers:
Global Citizen is partnering with Arctic Basecamp to amplify the call for action to tackle the devastating impact that climate change is having on the Artic, and on vulnerable and marginalized communities around the world. Head over to our Climate Action NOW page and see how many actions you can take today to defend the planet. You can also download the Global Citizen app, and take Challenges that help drive climate action in your own life, and call on world and business leaders to take urgent climate action now.