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Newsletter
Huge Area of Texas Oil Patch is Heaving and Sinking
Reposted from DK GREENROOTS Community at Daily Kos.
“Our analysis looked at just this 4000-square-mile area. We’re fairly certain that when we look further, and we are, that we’ll find there’s ground movement even beyond that. This region of Texas has been punctured like a pin cushion with oil wells and injection wells since the 1940s and our findings associate that activity with ground movement.” Jin-Woo Kim, a research scientist in the SMU Department of Earth Sciences.
According to geophysicists from Southern Methodist University, oil and gas activity is contributing to alarming land movements and a rising threat of sinkholes across a huge swath of W Texas. The authors of the study reported that there are approximately 297,000 oil wells many of which are in the Permian Basin, the hottest oil patch in the world.
Injection of wastewater and carbon dioxide increases pore pressure in rocks, a likely cause of uplift. Lu told the Guardian that cracks and corrosion from aging wells may help explain the sinking.A “subsidence bowl” near one of the Wink sinkholes has sunk at a rate of more than 15.5in a year, probably as a result of water leaks through abandoned wells causing salt layers to dissolve, the report found. Elsewhere, a lake formed after 2003 as a result of sinking ground and rising water.Another Southern Methodist University study last year indicated that wastewater injection, often a byproduct of fracking, is a likely cause of recent earthquakes in Texas – with the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of the most populous in the country, a hotspot.Seismic activity in previously quiet and sparsely-populated parts of west Texas has soared in the past couple of years as the energy industry has expanded its attention beyond the Midland-Odessa area towards a mountainous and tourist-centric region near the border with Mexico.Decades of Oil Production Activity have Destabilized Localities Populated by Small Towns
The SMU researchers found a significant relationship between ground movement and oil activities that include pressurized fluid injection into the region’s geologically unstable rock formations.Fluid injection includes waste saltwater injection into nearby wells and carbon dioxide flooding of depleting reservoirs to stimulate oil recovery.Injected fluids increase the pore pressure in the rocks, and the release of the stress is followed by ground uplift. The researchers found that ground movement coincided with nearby sequences of wastewater injection rates and volume and CO2 injection in nearby wells.Also related to the ground’s sinking and upheaval are dissolving salt formations due to freshwater leaking into abandoned underground oil facilities, as well as the extraction of oil.Duke Energy Convinces NC Court that Solar Panels on Church Rooftops are Against the Law
Reposted from Walter Einenkel, Daily Kos Staff at Daily Kos. North Carolina is a state that’s been profoundly affected by the undemocratic gerrymandering the Republican Party uses to consolidate their minority share of the American imagination. Back in November 2015, North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN), an advocacy group for environmental change, made a stand by trying to install solar paneling to the rooftop of a predominantly black church. Trump's New Tarrifs on Solar Energy likely to Wipe Away Tens of Thousands of New Solar Jobs PALMETTO BAY, FL - JANUARY 23: Roger Garbey and Andres Hernandez (L-R), from the Goldin Solar company, install a solar panel system on the roof of a home a day after the Trump administration announced it will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad on January 23, 2018 in Palmetto Bay, Florida. Daren Goldin the owner of the company said, 'the tariffs will be disruptive to the American solar industry and the jobs they create.' (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) The utilities argue that electricity generated by customers or sold by third-party providers—in this case the environmental group that was selling power to the church—would upend their business model, leaving them with fewer customers who would then have to pay more for power. Often, when states in the region have changed the rules to expand access to rooftop solar, they have done so within a framework set by the utilities and with restrictions.This appeal came after the North Carolina Utilities Commission fined NC WARN for offering considerably cheaper and cleaner energy than Duke Energy—the monopolistic energy provider in North Carolina—could. This was a violation of competition because Duke has paid for North Carolina to have laws against any competition. Just like Adam Smith wanted. The key point in the case was that NC WARN was selling electricity on a kilowatt-hour basis, which regulators found was a violation of rules that Duke Energy has the exclusive right to sell electricity to end users in its territory.Of course, there’s another angle here. The country's No. 2 electricity company, the state's utilities regulator and other power companies say NC WARN is producing electricity "for the public," which would mean it's intruding on the protected territory of the publicly regulated monopoly utilities. NC WARN's lawyers contend they aren't selling to the public, only helping nonprofits save money with clean energy."NC WARN is not interested in selling power. NC WARN is engaged in an altruistic program designed to combat the climate crisis," the group's attorney, Matthew Quinn, told the court's seven justices.If you need a refresher on Duke Energy’s track record with the environment, you can type “Duke Energy environmental violations” into a Google search and watch your computer melt. According to Inside Climate News, there are nine states with similar laws, and this case was one of the hopes in breaking the fossil fuel industry’s smothering of energy progress. Along with Trump’s new tariffs on solar energy that have stifled solar expansion projects and will likely wipe away tens of thousands of new solar industry jobs, the blood-red wave that stinks of sulfur and calls itself the Republican Party is doing its best to push against time and space. |
Update: Forming the Rodney Sumler Foundation - Helping the Community be Heard
Back in February, I wrote a tribute to my father and other civil rights leaders. In it, I also explained the perils of community building for the black community and some of the institutional challenges that we as a community continue to face. I felt compelled to create something to both continue the work of my father in North Carolina and contribute to the process of community building for all communities. This is why we are launching the Rodney Sumler Research Foundation for Economic Empowerment and Environmental Protection. The AC Phoenix News Front page of the AC Phoenix News, the 1964th issue dedicated to Black History Month. Also covers the Haitian Earthquake from 2010. Rewriting Cultural Narratives Requires Voices from the CommunityThe foundation has the mission to rewrite negative cultural narratives for people of color through education, research, and development. We will achieve this mission through data-driven community building, however most importantly, rewriting cultural narratives requires voices from the community. We are currently working on the infrastructure for getting perspectives from the community, and getting people what they need to be heard. One way to achieve this is to identify and preserve vehicles that already do this: community newspapers, community bulletins, and other editorial opinions that have valuable insight on what the community needs. In partnership with the Bluford Library at North Carolina A&T State University and Digital NC, our first project is identifying the voices of our community in North Carolina through digitizing my father's community newspaper. Digitalization: Making the Voice of the Community more Accessible for EveryoneThe AC Phoenix News has served the community for over 30 years. It employed a number of authors from the community, who gave community insights, impacts from past political campaigns, and cultural events. Not only will this preserve the history of the community, it will also make it searchable. Digitizing community newspapers provide data that can be used to gain valuable insights on the community. This data can be further used to not only build the community but also help with overcoming challenges. Digitizing the community paper also provides sources for community insights. This means that we can contribute information to reference websites like Wikipedia or even NCPedia.org, making the voices from the community more accessible for everyone. Increasing Access: Promoting more Authors from the CommunityAfter digitalization, the next steps we will take are creating a Wikipedia for the newspaper, Rodney Sumler, and the Foundation itself. Eventually, we will also be creating a writing center with the goal of promoting more authors from the community, continuing the great work of the AC Phoenix. If you are interested in providing your own insights, or just keeping up with our updates, feel free reach out to us! |
It finally Happened: Goldman Sachs asks 'Is Curing Patients a Sustainable Business Model?'
Reposted from Walter Einenkel, Daily Kos Staff at Daily Kos.
On April 10 in the year of our Lord, 2018, analysts at Goldman Sachs allegedly released a report titled “The Genome Revolution.” According to numerous news reports, the report delved into a pretty awkward subject—cures.
Gene Therapy Genethon Bioprod
The AFM-Telethon, which was created 58 years ago, started a lab of gene therapy Genethon Bioprod in 2013 in the scientific park of the Genopole of Ivry. The Telethon took place on December 2 and 3, 2016.
"The potential to deliver 'one shot cures' is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies," analyst Salveen Richter wrote in the note to clients Tuesday. "While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow."It isn’t “good business,” to be absolutely frank. We all know it isn’t. There are entire fringe worlds of conspiracy that continue to exist based on this one single kernel of truth. Why is this news now? Because science and medicine are getting very close to big and meaningful breakthroughs on diseases and maladies that were once only somewhat treatable with very expensive routines of medications. Gene therapy breakthroughs have been a big part of this, with the FDA approving promising gene therapy trials, and even more exciting results coming in from around the world. But as CNBC reports, solving serious problems for the public doesn’t mean you get to keep buying mega-yachts.
Goldman Sachs analyst Salveen Richter has some bad news for our current “free market” system:
Richter cited Gilead Sciences' treatments for hepatitis C, which achieved cure rates of more than 90 percent. The company's U.S. sales for these hepatitis C treatments peaked at $12.5 billion in 2015, but have been falling ever since. Goldman estimates the U.S. sales for these treatments will be less than $4 billion this year, according to a table in the report."GILD is a case in point, where the success of its hepatitis C franchise has gradually exhausted the available pool of treatable patients," the analyst wrote. "In the case of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C, curing existing patients also decreases the number of carriers able to transmit the virus to new patients, thus the incident pool also declines … Where an incident pool remains stable (eg, in cancer) the potential for a cure poses less risk to the sustainability of a franchise."Class of 2018: What to Expect when Entering the Job Market
Update from Dan Crawford, Media Relations Director at the Economic Policy Institute After ten years of slow but steady recovery, young college graduates’ economic prospects continue to look up. However, compared with those who graduated in the tight labor market of 2000, the class of 2018 still faces real economic challenges—as demonstrated by elevated levels of underemployment as well as worsened wage gaps, particularly for women and black workers.  In EPI’s Class of 2018: College edition our economists and researchers provide in-depth analysis of the labor market for young graduates. According to Senior Economist Elise Gould: While by many measures the labor market for young college graduates is now almost or fully back to where it was before the recession, we should be striving for a stronger labor market than 2007. We should instead be striving for the high-pressure economy of the late 1990s and 2000, in which an extended period of labor market strength translated into better opportunities for workers across the board.Additionally, this report finds:
There is still much more to do to ensure that young people enter a job market that allows them to reach their full potential. |
Here is a ranking of the 10 most endangered rivers in the United States
Reposted from Walter Einenkel, Daily Kos Staff at Daily Kos. Non-profit organization American Rivers has released its ranking of the most endangered rivers in our country. Big Sunflower River, Coahoma County, Mississippi Children canoe the Big Sunflower River. | Photo: John Ruskey Quapaw Canoe Company This is the 33rd year the group has released a river ranking. From the Lower Rio Grande in Texas threatened by mining operations to the Smith River in Montana, American Rivers ranks the biggest dangers according to the most pressing issues. Most of these issues surround mining operations, accelerated and made less and less safe by a toothless EPA and the 180-degree turn-around our government has made in environmental regulations. On the #1 river on this year’s list, the Big Sunflower in Mississippi, members of Congress are pushing to undermine the Clean Water Act to resurrect the Yazoo Pumps, one of the most environmentally damaging projects ever proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If allowed to advance, it would be the first time ever that an EPA veto of a Corps project (the George W. Bush EPA stopped the project in 2008) was overturned by Congress, undermining the authority of the EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act.The ranking from American Rivers:
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Taking Political Action: How to prepare for Elections 2018
The performance in Alabama has brought local elections to our attention. This came about because of people mobilizing within their communities to bar a nefarious candidate from getting into office.
With more recent events like continued gun violence, people are looking for ways to be more active. One of the ways is to be politically active: voting in any and all elections, both local and national.
Local elections, in fact, affect you far more than Federal ones do. Local issues like budgetary spending are determined at local and state level. Your vote has more impact at the local level than at the state level- Alabama victory came by an incredibly slim margin. A few hundred votes do count. There are some critical elections coming up in 2018, start preparing now!
Go to this link and tell us how you are preparing: Voting Plans for 2018
Ballotpedia.org
According to Wikipedia, Ballotpedia is a nonpartisan online political encyclopedia founded in 2007.It covers American federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Middleton, Wisconsin. It employs a number of writers, researchers, and editorial staff.
Community Diary by Rahni S.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rahnijs
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ln/rahnisumler
Resist voter suppression by:
Ballotpedia.org
According to Wikipedia, Ballotpedia is a nonpartisan online political encyclopedia founded in 2007.
It covers American federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Middleton, Wisconsin. It employs a number of writers, researchers, and editorial staff.
Community Diary by Rahni S.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rahnijs
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ln/rahnisumler
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rahnijs
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ln/rahnisumler
Starting Early
- Look to see if you can look up your registration online
If you need to register, start researching documents you need to registerIf you need documents to vote, start ordering those documents (voter ID numbers, photo ID, passports, birth certificates, SSN cards…)
- Identifying your voting location district
- Checking the history of that location to ensure that it will still be there when it comes time to vote
- Inquiring about voting at another more "secure" location
Preparing to Vote Early or Absentee
- Research how absentee voting works in your state
A good place to start is TurboVote.org
- Know the difference between voting provisionally and voting absentee
Provisional: your vote must be verified after the election. This is critical because it means that your vote won't count towards the election at all.Absentee: your vote is cast via mail using your voting information.This is done in case you can't make it to the polls, you're traveling, you're in the hospital, or you just want to vote early! Most states have absentee voting available because G.I need to vote from overseas. This is a great way to resist voter suppression because your vote is validated by the U.S mail. How this information is tracked varies State-by-State.
- Learn where early voting polls are going to be and the information needed to vote there
Becoming Informed
- Do research on the issues you care about
This can be done using Ballotpedia.org. You can even see what issues people are focusing on in your state.If you are looking for candidates funded by the NRA, for example, Ballotpedia also includes funding reporting. Here is also New York Times Op-Ed listing current Senators taking NRA monies.Start requesting the 2018 ballot
- Do research on people announcing that they'll run and check in on their progress
Contact these candidates and ask them about the issues you care aboutSee who is already registered and if they will actually represent you
Opinion: Inheriting a Movement
Growing up, I was sheltered from the movement. It was common knowledge that my mother was active in the NAACP. It was common knowledge that my father organized demonstrations in his youth.
After my father's passing, I learned much more about what he did in the community. He said that it would happen this way, as he very intentionally raised his family with love and understanding. That is: there was no expectation to "participate in the movement" because this is path literally marked with blood and bodies. It's not glamorous work, it is dangerous even, and it's not something that you should wish upon your children. I was separated from my father at the tender age of 4 because he was sent to prison for political corruption, despite never having held political office. For context, this is the same charge for which Nelson Mandela was sent to a South African, 'Gulag' style prison. This was never explained to me in my youth.
Esteemed Senator John Lewis of Georgia
Met Martin Luther King Jr at 17, working with him as a representative of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). As he participated in the first wave of Civil Rights movement, he was a student. He spent the majority of the second wave (Early 70's and 80's) working in politics.
Community Diary by Rahni S.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rahnijs
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ln/rahnisumler
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rahnijs
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ln/rahnisumler
How Activists are Made
After I properly compartmentalized this life event, the loss of a parent is
a continuous process that many go through, I had a realization. One was that my father's work needed to continue in the community and that it needed an institution to continue it. Another was the proliferation of the
movement: how activists are made.
It's not something that is inherited. There is no coming of age, ritual, or passing down of responsibilities. As it currently stands, the process of becoming an activist for the Black Community happens in one of two ways.
Way one: You open your eyes one day, look around, and you see something is wrong. It is followed by an overwhelming sense of entrapment, and you become an activist when you start thinking of ways to get yourself out.
Way two: You are thrust into a situation, either directly or indirectly, where you need the movement to come in on your behalf.
I'm not sure how this happened for my father. He did grow up in a single parent home in the South, where he watched his mother work double and triple shifts to support her family. He did have to care for his abusive father, who was in his final days in a nursing home. He was also blackballed and expelled from Howard University in the 60s by one of his professors for being too vocal. He ended up transferring to another historically black college, NC A&T, graduating in 1965.
For me it became clear after watching my Father die while working, crumbling under the stress and strain. It's very personal, but I did witness in real time what happens to individuals who try to speak out. It's not just him. History gives us many examples.
How Activism in the Black Community Occurs
The Civil Rights movements for Black people in this country can be broken down into several waves.
The earlier waves in America's modern history, they occur after WWII: Adam Clayton Powell, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X.
The second wave occurs after the race riots in the 50s and 60s: Black Panthers, SNCC that our current Esteemed Senator John Lewis of Georgia participated in, and coincidentally my Father.
This current wave occurs after years of deterioration: from the continuing crack epidemic of the 80s, upscale mass incarceration following the Clinton Administration, the uptick of racial violence following the election of Obama and the reawakening of the White Supremacy movement. This lead to Black Lives Matter, Kilpatrick's demonstration and others in the athletic arena.
Each movement was inspired by the generation before it. Watching your parent return from WWII, from defending this country, only to be disgraced by Jim Crowe. This was such the case as with my Mother.
Conversely, it could be from having your parent taken from you. Be it increased incarceration, police brutality or just the slow unforgiving grind of systematic racism, as with me and many others.
Institutions, safe havens, places of thought where those trying to make a difference can get what they need; while there is no "passing of the torch", there is this. While it won't immediately make things better for those who feel trapped, it is a way to take away some of the strain.
Why Cause Marketing isn't Long Term: Small Business Building Relationships to Combat Corporations' Marketing Manipulations
When making friends, how do you get people to like you? Consider for a moment how relationships are built: do you find out what their likes and dislikes are? How might you set the tone of your relationship?
When lead to its logical conclusion the best marketers will invest hours to attract people, build brand recognition, and build a relationship with customers. In reality however, marketing is actually a list of manipulations. In addition to not being a sustainable business solution for companies, especially small businesses, this can be incredibly problematic when considering Cause Marketing.
 The Golden Circle is a Venn Diagram of how leaders inspire others. Why, their mission, is the core of what they do. "Why" is the mission, "How" is the process, and "What" is the action. Community Diary by Rahni S. What is Cause Marketing?Cause marketing is defined traditionally as a relationship where an organization or nonprofit will temporarily combine resources with a corporation for the furthering of their mission. One example includes Yoplait dedicating 5 cents of every sale to Susan Komen's foundation for breast cancer. People will buy the yogurt in support of the cause and money may go to research. However in many cause marketing relationships, once the promotion ends, nothing is reported as changed. They will continue to have these promotions, perhaps yearly but, in the example, the cause of breast cancer and it's complexities is never addressed. Further, one or both of the companies may do things in direct opposition to the cause. In this particular example, it went public in 2012 that the Susan Komen foundation refused to donate money to breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood because of conservative ideals about women's sexual health.
The only goals met, then, had little to do with advancing the cause. More importantly, in the example this manipulation is usually to the detriment of people who bought the yogurt in good faith thinking that it would further the cause. This is absolutely a failure to the people effected by the cause. Further, they are exploited for their pain and suffering to coheres people into buying a product that claims it's purchase will eventually bring relief. Signs of Manipulation- How Marketing is ManipulativeAccording to Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" there are two ways to influence behavior: manipulation or inspiration. Manipulation is often what is deployed when marketers do not dedicate the time to get the information they need to build proper relationships. Sinek specifically refers to these tactics as "carrots and sticks".
Tactics that specifically speak to Cause Marketing in particular are specifically: AspirationsThis manipulation exploits people's own insecurities or inability to address the cause directly. They are encouraged to do something easier in exchange, like buy a product or give money; either of which may not ever address the cause. The only thing guaranteed is profit and good press for the companies involved.
Peer Pressure and Novelty & Faux innovationThese two manipulations are deployed by companies that do surface level campaigns to raise awareness about a cause. This can lead to many people, for example, buying clothes to wear that feature a cause, yet no real action is taken. These are deployed in combination in 'trendy' causes, like the (RED) global cause or the many apps created to raise "awareness". Why this is a Problem for Long TermLike many manipulative relationships, marketing purely serves the company as a means of bringing in funds. While this is sufficient for many companies, which is why this continues to happen, it is often at the detriment of the people. | Acceptable marketing manipulations leads to a continued exploitative system, which defeats the purpose of cause marketing as a means to advance a cause. This is especially problematic for causes such as child abuse, restrictive access to women's health care, and a host of others that have real consequences on society as a whole. Further, and as a consequence for companies, manipulations are never a sustainable procedure in the long term. In a society where people always have another choice in the products they buy, building brand loyalty in the information age is key. People will always have access to information for better and more informed choices. Many companies, especially small businesses who cannot afford large losses, have failed or are failing for these reasons.
Solution: Inspiration through the Golden CircleReturning to Snek's book, the other way to influence people's behavior is to inspire them. How to inspire people lies in why companies supply a service. Snek describes the "Golden Circle", a Venn diagram that shows how leadership inspires others. Many companies know what they do and how they do it. They never consider why.
Figuratively it is like using the diagram as a dart board, tossing darts and hoping they stick, as supposed to it's an actual use as a diagram. Inspirational leaders always begin at the center with why, radiating outward. Martin Luther King, for example, had a mission to liberate people from the ugliness of racism. This manifested into conversations with communities affected by it, including churches where people had the space to organize. What came from it was action, specifically, activism: boycotts, marches, speeches, political involvement, even petitioning the highest office in the land. The Golden Circle is a visual representation of how mission statements drive companies, organizations, or even leaders to work.
A proposed Alternative to Cause Marketing: ExpeditionsBeginning with why takes investigation. "How" something is done (behavior) and "What" comes from that something (action) is dependent upon things discovered at the middle of the Golden Circle. Uncovering why, then, can be revealed in a series of campaigns called Expeditions. Unlike a jointly sponsored marketing campaign, interested entities (companies, non-profits, small business) can combine resources to directly sponsor and host those with the know how to do the Expedition.
For example, an online community like AC Pharos can host an Expedition sponsored by a nonprofit and a series of small businesses who want to combat child abuse. After a series of questions during the Expedition it may come out, for example, that the cause will be better served with more political community engagement. The small businesses then could co-host spaces where the community can discuss the issue, along with organize to directly lobby congressional leaders at the state and local levels. The [why] for the Expedition is a mission to address the problem of child abuse. The expedition reveals that there is a lack of representation and requires more political community engagement. The [how] is through the behaviors of organization, activism and the community becoming more politically engaged. The [what] then becomes providing space and resources for community organization.
In this example, the Expedition will reveal common experiences in the community and the behaviors needed to bring about action. It may or may not be political community engagement, it depends upon what the Expedition would unearth. These Expeditions would serve not only activists, journalists, researchers, community organizers and their causes; businesses become the space for organization. If they are truly mission aligned, beginning with why, the rest of the circle is filled with specific answers that eventually build loyal relationships. Small Businesses then have the tools to become a pillar within their communities without having to rely on short term manipulations.
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AC Pharos Community: Calendar Events
 | Check out our calendar events! This includes topics for the week, events around the community, and upcoming community interviews. If you have an event that you would like to promote, or any cross posting opportunities, please feel free to submit it through our contacts page. If you would like to discuss some of ways you are combating economic injustice, we invite you to come speak to us! Fill out this intake form, and lets schedule a time to talk. Stay Determined!
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