North America

New York City

Appeals court rejects challenge to NYC curfews

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of protest curfews in New York City. The curfews, imposed in response to demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd by then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, were in force for a one-week period in June 2020. Lamel Jeffrey, Thaddeus Blake and Chayse Pena were each arrested and charged with violating the curfew. In a subsequent lawsuit, they alleged that the city’s protest restrictions violated their First Amendment right to free assembly and their Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful arrest. In 2022, a federal district court dismissed the case, stating that the curfews constituted a valid public safety regulation that “left open ample alternative channels for expressive activity.” The Second Circuit has now upheld this ruling. (Photo: The Village Sun)

North America

First Nations challenge Ontario Mining Act

Six First Nations from northern Ontario announced initiation of a lawsuit challenging the provincial Mining Act, arguing that the legislation infringes upon their treaty rights and other guarantees under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The central contention is that the Act enables prospectors and mining companies to stake claims on Crown lands, including traditional Indigenous territories, without prior consultation, due to a digital claim-staking process that was introduced in 2018. This mechanism allows claims to be registered online within minutes, without the knowledge of affected First Nations. (Photo: Attawapiskat First Nation Office. Credit: Paul Lantz via Wikipedia)

North America

Podcast: Tim Walz and the struggle in Minnesota

In Episode 238 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock of the Democratic ticket’s new vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and the role he played as Minnesota governor in two of the major activist struggles in the North Star State over the past years—the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising, which began in Minneapolis; and the fight against Line 3, which delivers Canadian shale oil to US markets, and imperils the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe indigenous people. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: Stop Line 3)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: are we still sleepwalking into fascism?

Trump and MAGA are no longer hiding their intention to instate a dictatorship if they regain power, and the most radical elements of their base are mobilizing to unleash a reign of terror on the local level from coast to coast. The Democrats, however, have regained some momentum since Biden relinquished his candidacy in favor of Kamala Harris—who is certainly compromised, but (at least!) not a fascist. And progressives are organizing against the fascist attack on the grassroots level. But Palestine remains a wedge issue that could divide the progressive camp. In Episode 236 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues to look for a way forward. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: Johnny Silvercloud via Wikimedia Commons)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: sleepwalking into fascism

With Trump gaining momentum since surviving an assassination attempt, and the Democrats demoralized and in disarray, the forces of MAGA-fascism seem poised to retake the White House—and, with Project 2025, are this time armed with the organizational wherewithal to effectively instate their program. Meanwhile, the radical left, which by rights should be the most intransigent source of anti-fascist resistance, is actually in danger of being coopted by Trumpism in a new Red-Brown alliance, lured by perceived “isolationism” and a shared antipathy to the “liberal order.” In Episode 235 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg desperately scours the American political landscape—as well as historical precedents such as Italy in the 1920s—for glimmers of hope. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo via CEPR)

North America

Biden executive order restricts asylum seekers at border

President Joe Biden signed an executive order barring asylum claims from anyone who crosses the US-Mexico border illegally. The ban will be suspended if border agents observe a seven-day average of fewer than 1,500 “encounters,” which include apprehensions of undocumented migrants within 100 miles of the border or entry refusals at US-Mexico land border crossings. However, if border authorities record a seven-day average of 2,500 or more encounters, the restriction will be reinstated. Shortly after the proclamation was signed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vowed to challenge it in court. The civil rights group said the order “will severely restrict people’s legal right to seek asylum, putting tens of thousands of lives at risk.” (Photo via FWS)

North America

Podcast: Four dead in Ohio. And two in Mississippi.

As the police crackdown on the Gaza protests continues coast-to-coast—drawing concern from Amnesty International—Bill Weinberg notes that this repression comes in the month marking the 54th anniversary of slayings of student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio and Jackson State University in Mississippi. With police now unleashing violence on student protesters in Paris, Amsterdam and elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Jordan and Lebanon, there is an unsettling sense of deja vu. In Episode 225 of the CounterVortex podcast, Weinberg warns that the world could be headed toward an historical moment that rhymes with May 1970. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: Kent State University Libraries via Britannica)

Planet Watch

Lower emissions from US power grid (at least)

The US Department of Energy released its preliminary estimate for the nation’s carbon emissions in the previous year. While falling far short of the kind of drop needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals, a dip in emissions was recorded—almost entirely due to changes in the electric power sector. US carbon emissions have been trending downward since 2007, when they peaked at about six gigatonnes. The COVID-19 pandemic produced a dramatic drop in emissions in 2020, bringing the yearly total to below five gigatonnes for the first time since before 1990, when DoE monitoring began. Carbon releases rose after the return to “normalcy“; 2023 marked the first post-pandemic decline. The drop is largely due to the phase-out of coal-burning power plants. However, electricity generation remains the second source of emissions, behind transportation. (Photo: Ralf Vetterle, Pixabay)

North America

US deports Haitians amid surging gang violence

The Biden administration reportedly sent over 70 Haitians back to their homeland amid the Caribbean nation’s ongoing struggle with gang violence. The deportations were met with condemnation from human rights organizations, including the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), which characterized the move as “intentional violence.” The HBA and nearly 500 other rights groups sent a letter to the Biden administration last month requesting an extension on the moratorium on deportations of Haitians. The letter also called for the White House to re-designate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program for migrants from countries beset with armed conflict, allowing them to live and work in the US without fear of deportation. The letter reminded the administration of its “promise to build a fairer and more inclusive immigration and asylum system.” (Photo: msjennm/Pixabay via Jurist)

North America

Feds blame Texas in deaths on US-Mexico border

Two migrant children and their mother drowned while trying to cross from Mexico into the United States, after Texas authorities prevented US Border Patrol agents from reaching the victims to render life-saving aid, charged US Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents a district on the border. The US Department of Homeland Security said the three migrants drowned near Shelby Park in the border town of Eagle Pass after Texas Guardsmen “physically barred” Border Patrol agents from entering the area. Mexican officials recovered the bodies the next morning on their side of the Rio Grande, in Piedras Negras. “This is a tragedy and the State [Texas] bears responsibility,” said Cuellar in his statement detailing the series of events. (Map: Google)

North America

Alberta invokes Sovereignty Act over emission regs

The legislature of the oil-producing Canadian province of Alberta invoked the controversial Alberta Sovereignty Act in response to new federal environmental policies. The provincial legislature passed a resolution resolving to “urge the Government to use all legal means necessary to oppose the implementation and enforcement of the Federal Initiative in Alberta.” The initiative referred to is Canada’s proposed Clean Energy Regulations, which the resolution says would have “an extreme chilling effect on investment” in Alberta’s energy sector. Premier Danielle Smith introduced the Sovereignty Act in November 2022, asserting that Albertans no longer wanted “Ottawa to…interfere in our constitutional areas of jurisdiction,” and proclaiming a right to provincial non-compliance. (Photo of Alberta’s shale oil fields by Kris Krug, via The Tyee)

Planet Watch

US report urges action amid extreme weather events

A comprehensive US government report has confirmed that extreme weather linked to climate change is worsening despite drops in US greenhouse gas emissions. The report urges further action to mitigate potentially catastrophic consequences. The Fifth National Climate Assessment follows a rash of extreme weather events across the US this year, from deadly wildfires in Maui to intense flooding in the Northeast. The assessment was mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, requiring the US Global Change Research Program to deliver a report every four years. The report describes the increase in extreme weather as “unprecedented over thousands of years” and warns of “large scale changes” in temperature, sea levels, ocean acidification and rainfall patterns, “with a cascade of effects in every part of the country.” (Photo: US Forest Service via Wikimedia Commons)