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Common Dreams

News & Views | 6/17/20

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A sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is seen inside a cage at Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program's rehabilitation center on November 10, 2016 in Kuta Mbelin, North Sumatra, Indonesia. The orangutans in Indonesia have been known to be on the verge of extinction as a result of deforestation and poaching. (Photo: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
"We must curb the high risk trade and consumption of wildlife, halt deforestation and land conversion, as well as manage food production sustainably."

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President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at the Van Andel Arena on March 28, 2019 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

by Jon Queally, staff writer
"The leader of the United States government is defying science in order to hear cheers from his supporters," said the Senator from Vermont.



by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
"Bolton is a moral abomination in every way. It's also the case that basically everyone in government who comes close to Trump comes away thinking he's even worse than they realized."


Protesters took part in the March on Georgia, organized by NAACP, on June 15, 2020 in Atlanta. The march followed the police killing of Rayshard Brooks outside an Atlanta Wendy's restaurant on June 12.

by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Fired Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe is now facing 11 charges including felony murder for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, twice in the back outside a Wendy's restaurant on Friday night, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) talks to reporters after attending the weekly Senate Republicans policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol January 7, 2020 in Washington, D.C.

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
"The Senate must act so we can prevent tragedies like this from happening again."


Comedian Kristen Wiig playing "Target Lady" in a scene from "Saturday Night Live" on NBC.

by Jessica Corbett, staff writer
Longtime labor rights advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday welcomed the announcement that retail giant Target will permanently raise the starting wage for all hourly full-time and part-time workers at U.S. stores, distribution centers, and headquarters locations to $15 per hour beginning July 5.



by Eoin Higgins, staff writer
"Our country sacrificed the lives of meat workers to protect the business of meat companies."



by Jake Johnson, staff writer
"Use of these tools to monitor protesters is having a chilling effect against those exercising their constitutional rights to assemble and express their views."



by Julia Conley, staff writer
The CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric pled guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in a dramatic hearing regarding the Camp Fire of 2018, but advocates for corporate accountability argued the nation's largest utility should face more concrete consequences for the crime.


Vice President Mike Pence at the Kennedy Space Center on May 27, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

by Jake Johnson, staff writer
"The White House ignored the threat of Covid-19 until it was too late to stop it, left states without the equipment to fight it, and didn't track its spread to contain it. Now they want to wave a magic wand and declare 'Mission Accomplished.'"


Police officers in Buffalo, New York are seen shoving Martin Gugino to the ground during a protest on June 5, 2020. (Photo: Screengrab/WBFO)

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer
The veteran activist has been described as "simply a man that shows up to stand for peace and justice."

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Black Lives Matter demonstrators in DeLand, Florida (Photo: Shutterstock)

by Mesha Jefferson
Even here, people are organizing demonstrations to protest racism and police violence.


An ACT UP protest outside the FDA headquarters in Rockville, Maryland in 1988. (Photo: Peter Ansin/Getty Images)

by Margaret Klein Salamon
If we are silent about the climate emergency, others interpret our silence as a lack of concern, as a sign that things are normal. We need to channel our inner Larry Kramer, and loudly tell the truth to everyone we know.


Activists are winning no-excuse mail voting and COVID-19-excuse mail voting in many states. (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)

by Mimi Kennedy, Steven Rosenfeld, & Alan Minsky
This Voters' Calendar will stretch our civic attention span to make high-turnout elections a task that mere mortals can perform, not a superhuman feat that tests the endurance of even the most dedicated voters.


We must insist that all eligible voters have ready access to cast a ballot in the crucial upcoming 2020 general election. (Image: Craig Sunter/flickr/cc with overlay)

by Jeanne Mirer, Jerry Wallingford
Now is the time for people to demand that state and local governments take effective measures to ensure all eligible persons are permitted to exercise their constitutional right to vote—and that means removing all barriers and obstacles to voting.


"The entrenched racism in America has always meant that poor people of color are the first cast aside in society and disproportionately suffer from the most brutal forms of social control meted out by the police and the prison system," writes Hedges. "But there will not be, as Martin Luther King pointed out, racial justice until there is economic justice. And there will not be economic justice until we wrest power back from the hands of our corporate masters." (Cartoon: 'Blind Rage'/Mr. Fish)

by Chris Hedges
We are trapped in an abusive relationship. When we finally have enough, our abuser comes after us with flowers and apologies, promising never to do it again.


Demonstrators march on Constitution Avenue near the Dirksen Senate Office Building during a protest against police brutality and racism on June 6, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

by Robert Shetterly
In order for this country and people in this country to perform reprehensible acts, it has to deny its own professed values and laws while pretending to uphold them. Coming to grips with this is not easy, but it must be done.

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