by George Monbiot and Solar Foods at Monbiot.com on 26th Nov 2022 via thefreeonline

I believe this is the most important environmental technology ever developed. It might be all that now stands between us and Earth systems collapse

So what do we do now? After 27 summits and no effective action, it seems that the real purpose was to keep us talking. If governments were serious about preventing climate breakdown, there would have been no Cops 2-27. The major issues would have been resolved at Cop1, as the ozone depletion crisis was at a single summit in Montreal.

Nothing can now be achieved without mass protest, whose aim, like that of protest movements before us, is to reach the critical mass that triggers a social tipping point.

But, as every protester knows, this is only part of the challenge. We also need to translate our demands into action, which requires political, economic, cultural and technological change. All are necessary, none are sufficient. Only together can they amount to the change we need to see.

Let’s focus for a moment on technology.

Specifically, what might be the most important environmental technology ever developed: precision fermentation.

Precision fermentation is a refined form of brewing, a means of multiplying microbes to create specific products. It has been used for many years to produce drugs and food additives. But now, in several labs and a few factories, scientists are developing what could be a new generation of staple foods.

The developments I find most interesting use no agricultural feedstocks. The microbes they breed feed on hydrogen or methanol – which can be made with renewable electricity – combined with water, carbon dioxide and a very small amount of fertiliser.

They produce a flour that contains roughly 60% protein, a much higher concentration than any major crop can achieve (soy beans contain 37%, chick peas, 20%). When they are bred to produce specific proteins and fats, they can create much better replacements than plant products for meat, fish, milk and eggs. And they have the potential to do two astonishing things.

Frontiers | Edible Microorganisms—An Overlooked Technology Option to Counteract Agricultural Expansion

Continue reading “#RePlanet – Fermenting Revolution – Protein Breweries to cut Animal Farming? #RebootFood”

by Turkish Minute November 25, 2022 via thefreeonline

Erdogan bombs, shells, drones and vows new invasion, claims he’s “protecting the rights of millions of women and children“

Protestors hold slogans to support women during a demonstration to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Ankara, on November 25, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) shared with thanks

Dozens of women who gathered in various Turkish provinces on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity and Elimination of Violence against Women, marked on November 25, have been detained, while marches were blocked by the police in a number of cities, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing local media.

Turkey’s military has invaded and occupied with three offensives in northern Syria, expelling the Kurdish population with ethnic cleansing: “ With the next new security [zone] we are establishing on the other side of our border, we are also protecting the rights of millions of women and children,” Erdoğan said during a televised speech yesterday .

As part of the International Day of Solidarity and Elimination of Violence against Women on Friday, some 25 women who were marching in Turkey’s eastern provinces of Şırnak, Ağrı and Van were detained, including the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) provincial and district presidents and elderly members of the Saturday Mothers.

✊🏾 Rise up for the women's #revolution and show your solidarity for #Rojava. The fascist Turkish state is attacking us. Now is the time for action.#TurkeyAttacksRojava #YPJ #YPG #RiseUp4Rojava pic.twitter.com/cmn4NaIQkZ

— YPJ International (@YPJ_volunteers) November 24, 2022

The Saturday Mothers is a group of activists and family members seeking the whereabouts of loved ones who disappeared while in police custody in Turkey in the 1990s.

The United Nations had earlier called on women’s organizations to join 16 days of activism led by the UN secretary-general and UN Women since 2008.

According to a UN statement, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women will mark the launch of the UNiTE campaign (November 25- December 10) — an initiative of 16 days of activism concluding on International Human Rights Day (December 10).

Members of the İstanbul-based 25 November Women’s Platform said they do not recognize the ban. “Our march, which will start from Taksim on November 25, the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as it does every year, was banned by a decision of the district governor,” they said.

Erdogan claims ‘only terrorists’ suffered from his second invasion of Syria when he carpet bombed with Russian air permission and US made jets, expelled 75% of the Kurdish population, handed thier lands and property to his Islamic extremist mercenaries, etc etc. Now he demands a new ‘safe zone’ bombing what’s left of Rojava.

The platform also said, “We do not want permission, we want a life without violence,” and invited other women’s rights groups and individuals to Taksim Square on the 25th.

Femicides and violence against women are serious problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten every day.

Many critics say the main reason for the situation is the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which protects violent and abusive men by granting them impunity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked outrage in Turkey and the international community after he issued a decree in March 2021 that pulled the country out of an international treaty that requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation.

YPJ women’s defense volunteers, condemned as ‘Terrorists’, still resist Turkish invasions and mass murder

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the İstanbul Convention, is an international accord designed to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence in societies and was opened to signature of member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.

By : Featured, This Week in Fascism It’s Going Down via thefreeonline

This Is America #178: Mourning & Fighting for Colorado Springs; Inside the UAW Strike

Welcome, to This Is America, November 25th, 2022.

Reports include:

• Living and Fighting
• Class War
• ACAB
• Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Struggle for Sovereignty
• ELF Prisoner Sentenced to Time Served
• Action in Defense of the Atlanta Forest
• Solidarity
• Fuck FIFA
• Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Releases Thousands of Mink
• Upcoming Events
• It’s Going Down

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: RSS

On today’s episode, first we speak with two members of the Black Rose Anarchist Federation about the ongoing mass United Auto Workers (UAW) strike across the University of California system.

We talk about how the strike grew out of a wave of wildcat strikes in early 2020 across the UC system and how workers are fighting to build rank-n-file power and win a cost of living wage increase, in one of the most expensive housing markets in the US.

We then turn towards our discussion, as we offer up an anarchist analysis of the midterms, why the pundit class got it so wrong, and what this means for social movements and struggles going forward.

All this and more, but first, let’s get to the news!

Living and Fighting

REPORTBACK: 🏴🚩#SacramentoCA vigil for #COSprings #QClubMassacre. In honor of #5dead and over 25 injured after a gunman opened fire inside Queer Venue, the #QClub in #ColoradoSpringsCO. Over 50+ attendees chant #QueerMeansAttack // #QueersBashBack! 🧵 pic.twitter.com/Mi26rOYzZ1

— pridewasariot.sac (@pridewasariot_) November 23, 2022

While more information is coming out all the time, we do know that the shooter’s grandfather is a MAGA Republican in California and his own father when interviewed espoused anti-gay views. People who knew the shooter have also reported that he often used anti-gay slurs and a video has also emerged of the shooter and his mother shouting racist slurs at an airport. The wider Right has responded by attacking those who stopped the shooter for attending an LGBTQ+ event in the first place while doubling down on attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, grandson of a MAGA State Assemblymember, is the 22 year-old suspect accused of carrying out a deadly mass shooting at a LGBTQ+ club in #ColoradoSprings. The killings follow months of attacks, death threats + anti-LGBTQ bills in Colorado + beyond. A thread. pic.twitter.com/W8pVlyDe3g

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) November 21, 2022

Across the US, people held vigils and rallies in solidarity, denouncing the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ attacks and threats by groups like the Proud Boys against Pride and beyond.

Continue reading “This Is America #178: Living and Fighting/ UAW Strike/ + 10 key news Reports ..Read/Listen”

Posted on November 25, 2022 by ELCOMUNISTA.NET in SPAIN, translation thefreeonline

The focus has been on the victims of sexist violence, which has already left 1,171 women murdered since 2003.

Thousands of people are demonstrating this 25-N through the streets of the main Spanish cities to raise their voices and denounce the “cruel sexist violence” suffered by women. Shouting “Not one more” and “Basta ya”, they have shown their condemnation of any type of aggression and have wanted to remember the 38 murdered at the hands of their partners so far this year.

In different parts of the country, various feminist platforms and movements have organized marches for the Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

«With or without clothes, my body must not be touched», «Enough of unanswered aggression», «Not an isolated incident, it is patriarchy» or «It is not an ‘outburst’, it is a murder», have been some of the slogans. Also messages like “It’s not no”, “I don’t want to be brave, I want to be free” or “If they attack one, they attack us all”.

The focus has also been placed on the victims of sexist violence, which has already left 1,171 women murdered since 2003, and on the risk situation of many of them.

Thus, in Albacete they have highlighted that a fifth of the victims had a disability, while in Valencia they have reminded Iranian and Afghan women and girls that “they are subjected by religious patriarchy”.

From Barcelona to Las Palmas: demonstrations flood Spanish cities

In Barcelona, ​​3,000 people, according to the Guàrdia Urbana, have demanded an end to aggression and the so-called rape culture. Following the call of the November Feminist collective, the demonstration started from Paseo de Gracia with Rosellón and moved to Gran Vía, where the reading of the manifesto took place and Batucada Escandalera (drummers) performed with the theme «The rapist is you».

Thousands of people have also demonstrated through the streets of Valencia, where the demo started at 7:30 p.m. from the Porta del Mar in the capital, behind a banner with the slogan “Dones vives i unides contra el masclisme”, and it concluded in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where two women survivors of sexist violence read a manifesto.

In Alicante, dozens of red shoes and as many empty chairs have served to remember each of the 38 women murdered by their partners or ex-partners during this 2022 and who have symbolized the rejection of sexist violence in Alicante society, which has come out on the streets with three different demonstrations to protest against this «scourge».

The Cantabrians have also toured the streets of Santander this Friday. Purple has once again been the predominant color this 25N in the Cantabrian capital, in a march in which hundreds of people have filled Paseo Pereda, to cover the distance between Puertochico and the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

The demonstration, called by various feminist assemblies from municipalities such as Santander, Torrelavega or Cabezón de la Sal, has had the institutional support of the Government of Cantabria and was attended by the regional president, Miguel Ángel Revilla.

The main streets of the Canarian capitals have also been filled with protesters who have asked in a manifesto “not to deny indecency”, as well as more public policies and resources to fight against this scourge.

The 25N in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was bathed in violet and in a tide of more than half a thousand people. For its part, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the demonstration was led by a banner with the slogan “Sexist violence does not stop, transformative policies now”.

RTVE

Continue reading “Thousands of people cry out in Spain against gender violence: “Not one more””

By Will Henney at Reclaim The Net. Nov 24, 2022 via thefreeonline

Some Viral posts on WeChat are disappearing.

While the Chinese government’s ‘zero-tolerance’ COVID policy has deprived workers of income, mismanagement by Apple’s supplier, Foxconn, means that remaining employment opportunities are full of exploitation and unfair treatment,” Li told the Star.

On Thursday, Foxconn paid each worker $1,400 and bussed them to the train station, but at least hundreds can't get tickets home and are stuck at the station now. They only have a few hours left to find transportation – Zhengzhou will be placed under lockdown starting midnight.

— Viola Zhou (@violazhouyi) November 24, 2022

WeChat “removed a viral post that criticized China’s Covid policies. The account that posted it was also blocked because the post violated “related rules.”

The unidentified author of the post, which was removed after reaching 100,000 hits (the maximum number WeChat publicly reveals), asked questions directed at the National Health Commission.

Foxconn workers united, protest continues pic.twitter.com/asf2MW071A

— China Labor Watch (@chinalaborwatch) November 24, 2022

According to US New York based @chinalaborwatch “there has been rising discontent by the public over China’s highly restrictive Covid policies. However, direct and detailed criticism of the government is rare given how closely Beijing monitors traditional and social media”.

China’s draconian ZERO-Covid policies originated in fears of a ‘Race Specific” virus against ethnic Chinese escaping from a US Bio War Lab. Later China’s efficient lockdowns policy was copied unsuccessfully around the world. Now as the virus has waned the Zero Covid policy seems absurd and totally counter productive.

They asked why there are still tough restrictions when other parts of the word, including Hong Kong, have gone back to conditions matching the pre-pandemic period..

Continue reading “WeChat censors posts as workers continue protests against iPhone factory and Zero-Covid restrictions”