Public Space Magazine
A Place to Think About Mind
and What Matters
How much longer until hollow words of condemnation will translate into action to lift the siege, resume a ceasefire and save whatever is left of humanity?, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commmissioner-General, April 22.
ABOUT
MARCH APRIL HAPPENINGS
law environment public health movements technologies human rights government migration immigration basic needs civil liberties development education society public spaces people war and peace public health/healthcare climate change participatory democracy media the arts resistance
HIGHLIGHTS
Starting on October 9, 2023 Pope Francis made nightly calls to a small Christian community in Gaza. His last call was two days before his death.
HUMAN RIGHTS, In FAIR, April 26 - While Pope Francis persisted in his plea for justice for Palestinians, "...The obituaries for Pope Francis in the leading US newspapers ignored the late pontiff’s commitment to the Palestinian people and the acute suffering in Gaza in the last years of his life."
From NBC News, April 22, reported " In his last public statement on Easter, Francis appealed for peace in Gaza, telling the warring parties to "call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace".
Technology, April 7 In Bloomberg City Lab Daily Newsletter - Maybe it's time to get real about low tech living and climate change. The US typically tumble dry laundry which takes a lot of energy. Most other countries have more earth friendly ways to dry clothes. As one example, the Irish have a hot press closet space where they take advantage of waste heat, e.g., a hanging rail or shelves above a hot water heater which is used to dry slightly damp laundry that had initially been dried outdoors.
Law, April 10 - When did the Constitution, crafted to balance the three arms of government, leave us in the hands of thuggish politicians? The Republican-dominated House passed the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA) limiting the power of U.S. District Court judges' ability to block some of the most heinous of Trump's executive orders. In Common Dreams - Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) spelled out the travesty done to a rule of law that has held through history for the benefit of all. "'Why should every person affected [by an issue] have to go to court. Why should millions of people have to create their own case? Why should Brown vs. Board of Education have applied to just Linda Brown as opposed to everybody affected?'"
War and Peace, In The Guardian, April 23 - "Up to January, the humanitarian zone had been marked on maps that were posted online and dropped from the air by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)...Mention of the humanitarian zones has disappeared from maps since Israel’s ceasefire with Hamas collapsed in March. The IDF has resumed its airstrikes and seized swathes of land as a “security buffer zone” and the UN estimates that 70% of Gaza is now under either an evacuation order or is a “no-go zone”.
Climate Change - It is difficult to be isolated from the world when it comes to collaborating with other countries to address climate change. A MoveOn campaign petition asks individuals to demonstrate their desire as Americans to uphold the Paris Agreement.
In The Hill, April 21 - "When nearly 200 nations, including the U.S., signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, the preferred goal was to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial temperatures. Scientists now predict that the Earth’s average surface temperature may climb 3 degrees Celsius in the lifetimes of children born today."
In France 24, April 23 - "84 percent of the world's coral reefs have been hit by the worst bleaching episode on record, in an unfolding human-caused crisis that could kill off swathes of essential ecosystems, scientists warned Wednesday. Reefs can rebound from the trauma but the window for recovery is getting shorter as ocean temperatures remain higher for longer."
A global study with a behavioral science perspective was conducted across 125 countries. 130,000 individuals were interviewed. The study found that systemic perception gaps are an obstacle to climate action. The study, published on February 9, 2024 in Nature Climate Change, determined that a prevailing pessimism causes people to think that they are alone in their belief about climate change. Consequently, they are more pessimistic and so less motivated to take action. However, the study countered people’s belief that they are alone by showing that 69% of the study’s participants were willing to contribute 1% of their personal income, 86% endorsed pro-climate social norms and 89% demanded intensified political action.
It also showed that individual involvement in climate depends on where people live. Those who reside in wealthier more financially resilient nations in colder countries gave less, 62%. In contrast, people who reside in more vulnerable poorer countries in warmer climates who face greater climate risks gave more, 78%.
The study concluded that public education is critical to address climate inaction that is caused by the systemic misperception about the contribution of others.
Basic Needs, In ProPublica, April 23 - The administration is quietly putting America’s children at risk by cutting funds and manpower for investigating child abuse, enforcing child support payments, providing child care and much more.
Government - There are movements, there is resistance, there is a terrifying move toward oligarchy in America - and there are informed ideas about building back better. Jon Stewart interviews Pete Buttigieg.
InThe Guardian, March 30 - Trump' rampaging war on institutions includes the Smithsonian. He released an executive order against what he calls the Smithsonian's "divisive, race-centered ideology." The order specifically targets exhibits on slavery and the upcoming American Women's History Musuem, based on his concern regarding the possible inclusion of trans women. The excutive order mandates withholding as much as 70% of the Smithsonians budget if there is non-compliance - $1.3 billion in federal funding a year.
The looming image of the American Vice President JD Vance as a precursor to the death of Pope Francis is unpleasant. However, then there is the Pope's message about beauty. "To instruct in beauty is to instruct in hope, and hope is never separated from the drama of existence -- it crosses the daily struggle, the fatigue of living, the challenges of our time."
On April 19 the voices of women from the past, who had been part of the first Women’s Right Convention in 1848, were part of the protest at Seneca Falls, New York along with cars carrying wide smiles, waves and honks. The town was one of many villages and towns across America where people lined streets. Stories were shared. Democracy was alive. Even when some driving by in all civility had thumbs down it was democracy in action and it all felt good.
From AP, April 17 - The Trump Administration has proposed expanding the killing field for nature. Habitat loss is the single largest reason for species extinction. Its proposed rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on April 17 with a 30-day public comment period.
Resistance, April 14 - Reported in the New York Times, "Harvard became the first university to directly refuse to comply with the administration. By the evening, federal officials said they would freeze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to Harvard, along with a $60 million contract."
Harriet Tubman, photographed by Harvey Lindsley. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger. -Harriet Tubman, 1896
In USA Today, April 8 - "'Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership'" The webpage was immediately restored to its original content thanks to the existence of the internet archive Wayback Machine the Administration's DEI war was thwarted in this case. However, other web pages have suffered the same fate.
Environment, April 9 - Trump strips NEPA of its power.
Movements, April 5 - The People's Court is rising and the pablum dished out by legacy media can't stop the tide.
In Fair, April 8 - Despite a groundswell of hundreds of thousands people in America and around the globe saying "Hands Off" in response to the draconian rule of the US Administration legacy media did their best to bury the lead.
See google sheets for Hands Off happenings on April 5 around the United States.
The Arts, April 5 - Trump & Company slash the arts; a key component of free speech.
People, April 4 - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is running for re-election against yet another member of the billionaire class. She is defending Boston's sanctuary policies and has the endorsement of the Boston Police Patrolman's Association.
"I arrive with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate... And so Cory Booker did...for 26 hours. It was not business as usual.
Money can't buy you love - Cheese head lost, Justice Susan Crawford handily won the State Supreme Court. Congratulations hard-working Wisconsin.
Basic Needs Leonard "Ned" Johnson is Not Dead, Elon Musk wants to play with the Social Security database with a quick fix that can dismantle the entire system. The Henny Penny myth - social security is falling? Head Start is unequivocally one of the most successful government programs ever conceived. With the apparent blessing of the US Supreme Court, Trump wants to end the program on behalf of military spending.
Climate Change - The average person will be 40% poorer with climate change study shows.
In Inside Climate News, April 9 - Climate Change has increased insurance rates. It is likely that tariffs will boost rates even higher for the average American.
Law - Trump invokes Alien Enemies Act of 1798. April 1, 2025, On April 7 the US Supreme Court let it stand with a fundamentally worthless caveat. Section 230, a very big but little noticed bipartisan bill affects Internet users. Read More.
In Government - Bernies' Stump is to campaign for democracy, not politics
Intelligence seeks escape from idiocracy (read)
In Technology - climate change is changing the behavior of Satellites
In Public Health - Covid never left us, let's hope RFK does, top vaccine official resigns over RFK's "misinformation and lies.
Education- the noose around free speech tightens with Texas Law SB13
In War and Peace - one family, a single moment, 132 dead
In Resistance - Nationwide Hands Off! event on April 5ARCHIVES
This is what freedom
looks like
Chris Hedges writes In Consortium News April 5 - Our history, our very identify and honesty, is being disappeared and we are left with lies in history under the Trump Administration. For now, the National Forest Service (NFS) features the Underground Railway as part of a treasure trove of American History where DEI still lives for now. The NFS collection helps all of us understand the true America in contemporary times.
Acts of Kindness - In South Africa old cats have a place to rest.
The thermosphere is already crowded with satellites and debris. Climate change is making it worse, according to an MIT study.
"More satellites have been launched in the last five years than in the preceding 60 years combined," said one of the researchers. The study looked at whether the current situation is sustainable.”
The thermosphere is the atmospheric layer where most satellites operate in low earth orbit. Evidence from satellites shows that this upper part of Earth’s atmosphere is contracting due to greenhouse emissions.
A decreased density of the upper atmosphere is causing less atmospheric drag which is the force that helps pull old satellites and other debris down to lower attitudes where they can burn up. Without this drag space junk and satellites remain in orbit longer. This increases the risk of collisions.
Space debris and old satellites stay in the air longer under these conditions. This leaves less space for satellites which results in a self-perpetuating cycle that is called a “runaway instability.” A cascade effect occurs which leaves a dense cloud of debris that makes orbital areas unusable.
Space X has over 7000 satellites (60% of all satellites) in space. The plan is to launch a total of 42,000 satellites. China is competing with Space X so that compounds things.
If the current levels of burning fossil fuels continues or accelerates, the number of satellites that can safely orbit Earth could drop by up to 66% by the end of the century or, to put it another way, there will be a projected loss of 25 million to 40 million satellites.
Alternatively, If we stop burning fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we can protect space operations from long-term problems and make sure it’s safer for satellites to orbit.
Currently, Musk's Space X is de-orbiting satellites daily. If global warming causes satellites to stay in space longer and if they cannot burn properly in the atmosphere even as more are launched is it likely that there would be more debris in space and more debris that will fall to the ground. Any retrieval effort would involve high costs so it is unlikely anyone will do much about it without clear standards.
One scientific paper stated that if the 1.5 degree goal was maintained the problem in space could be dealt with far more easily.
However, as things stand we are not going to reach the 1.5 degree global climate change goal and gas and oil production appears to be revving up. The problem will just get worse without stricter regulations.
In War and Peace - Fast Development on the West Bank.
Israeli army demolishes Palestinian homes in the Nur al-Shams Refugee Camp east of Tulkarm city, West Bank on March 06, 2025. [Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency
Peace Now reports that Isaeli's Higher Planning Council will discuss approval of housing units in the Maale Adumim and Kochav Yaacov settlements on March 26.
"Since early December 2024, the Higher Planning Council has been holding weekly meetings to advance housing projects in the settlements. The shift to a weekly approval process not only normalizes construction in the territories but also accelerates it. Since the beginning of 2025, including the plans slated for approval next week, the council has advanced a total of 11,511 housing units in less than three months."
Photo: NOAA Fisheries
In 1921, the Rice's Whale (Balaenoptera ricei) was discovered to be a unique species. It lives year around in the Gulf of Mexico in a restricted range. It is one of the rarest whale species in the world. There are an estimated 52 of these whales left in the Gulf and they are protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The primary causes of this whale's current status are gas and oil drilling, ocean debris, and energy exploration in the highly industralized gulf. Its final disapperance is more likely with the onset of President's Trump mandate, recently delivered to oil and gas executives called "customers" by the Administration, as its population size diminishes. In E&E News by Politico - the future of the Rice's whale is the subject of debate.
These past two months legal experts and pundits have been waiting to mark a final act of defiance against the judiciary by the White House that signfies a constitutional crisis. That has come and gone. We are in a different reality now. What's next?
In the Miami Herald - who exactly were on the planes headed for El Salvador's Terrorist Confinement Center? The sister of Mervin Jose Yamarte Fernandez, 29 (above) indentified her brother. She had convinced him to come to America to build a better life for his partner and daughter. She said "he shouldn't be ...in a dangerous prison...There are many innocent people behind bars. And today my brother is one of them."
In December 2023, South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel, claiming violations of the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestinians in Gaza. Several countries joined the case including Nicaragua, Colombia, Cuba, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain and Türkiye.
However, the world's international legal order has been seriously upended. Climate change efforts are stalled, and people will continue to die and suffer in wars without end without accountability.
The formation of the Hague Group, a tri-continental initiative, was announced on January 31, 2025. Nine states made a commitment to hold Israel to account for its assault on Palestine. The nine states are Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa.
Hague group members hope to restore a battered international rule of law, The members have already commited themselves to addressing gross injustices by Israel. The Hague Group might be a model for reform by bringing new life to international law. The hope is that its power will grow as other states join the initiative.
THE CHILLING USE OF THE TERM "MATERIAL SUPPORT
Liberal interpretations of the term "material support" leads to a chilling effect which defies the rule of law, creates further divisions, and extends the reach of endless wars and deep rooted social problems.
The Gaza war has led to factions on campuses across the United States. In a recent FAIR interview by Janine Jackson on the subject, Wadie Said, a professor of law and a dean’s faculty fellow at the University of Colorado Law School, said that the vague use of the term material support has opened the door to criminalization of free speech.
Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010) was the first decision by the US Supreme Court’s pitting First Amendment rights against national security interests since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Court departed from a basic principle of the First Amendment which was that speech may not be penalized because of its viewpoint and even speech advocating crime deserves protection until it constitutes incitement, and that political association is constitutionally protected absent specific intent to further a group’s illegal ends.(read)
Why public space magazine?
Public space is a negotiation of rights and privileges; of claimed public and private space that extend not only to humans but to all species.
As a people, what we think, what we do and what we believe represent our public space.
If we are to get along we need to own and use our public space to clear the air through mindfulness, activism, and compromise. To achieve that goal we need civility, fairness, and empathy.
It starts with people in diverse communities who are willing explore and share. In this way public space becomes stronger and more courageous.
How we honor this ownership of public space with mindfulness and action will determine our survival.
2025
2024
ARCHIVED ARTICLES
2024
War and Peace
You can't unsee shame
Never again...And the art of the deal
The ecocidal war on Palestine and beyond
The war on children
Climate Change
COP29 - When things fall apart
2025
2024
2023
2021
Escaping idiocracy
It’s been evolving for some time. It cumulated in a guy with a megaphone who said on January 6 - do not think.
This same guy, now president of the US, has some kind of twisted emotional intelligence about intelligence.
On one hand, he singles out people, with a veneer of hero worship, saying “very smart…, he/she is very, very smart.”
While on the other hand he is compelled to evoke the hounds of hell on universities. He attacks people who disagree with his sweeping and nonsensical words and he kicks people out of his country who might be smarter than he is.
He has attacked science across the board, libraries, higher education, k-12 public education, archives, governmental organizations, many created before he was born, museums, the arts, countries, and the list goes on.
So, the counter to the reigning idiocracy is either to fight back or leave the country.
When it comes to the institutions of higher learning it is understandable that leaving or not coming to this country in the first place is a good idea for a number of reasons; whether this is a matter of ideology, opportunities, funding or a desire to complete unfinished or unrealized research.
A culture of fear and repression as universities become an enemy of free speech is another reason for leaving.
Because this isn’t just about one guy with some sort of pathological fear of intelligence. It is nothing short of a collusion on the part of universities that were created to produce innovation and foster intelligence and protect freedom of thought and speech.
Who would want to be part of such a betrayal?
Seeking Asylum
America was historically a magnet for brain drains from other countries. Now the US is experiencing its own brain drain as a consequence of Trump’s actions.
In The Guardian -March 24 universities across the country have reduced their intake of PhD students, medical students and other graduate students. They have implemented hiring freezes and even rescinded offers of admission.
In response to this plight in the US, France’s research minister recently sent a letter to French universities seeking “concrete proposals” on how to lure researchers from the US, according to Agence France-Presse.
In University World -News Aix Marseille University launched an initiative earlier this month called a Safe Place for Science, which will invest between €10 million (US$10.8 million) and €15 million to support about 15 researchers. The offer has so far attracted more than 50 applicants.
In Gizmo In a press release about its “Safe Space for Science” initiative, the University announced that the 40 U.S. scientists included people from Stanford, Yale, NASA, the National Institute for Health, and George Washington University.
There was an interest in research topics were related to “health (LGBT+ medicine, epidemiology, infectious diseases, inequalities, immunology, etc.), the environment and climate change…as well as the humanities and social sciences…and astrophysics….
“Yi Rao, a neurobiologist at Peking University, former president of Capital Medical University, and prominent Trump critic, contacted researchers at the institution to offer his help. “I was shocked to learn of the vast cancellation of grants and contracts,” he wrote in an email reported in Science.
Rao added “if any good scientist … wants to have a stable position for conducting scientific research, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
At the University of Lausanne, oncologist Johanna Joyce, president-elect of the European Association for Cancer Research, says unsolicited applications to her lab from U.S.-based scientists have risen fivefold since January.
Danielle Cave, director of Executive, Strategy, and Research at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has pushed for fast-track visas or permits to top U.S. scientists, an idea that has also been under discussion in Norway and other countries in recent weeks.
Not capitalizing on the situation “would be wasting a unique opportunity,” she said.
Dutch scientists and institutions have had discussions with American colleagues about possible relocations, and some Dutch institutions are considering joining the effort to attract talent. The Netherlands has been described as a "brain exchange" country, with a high circulation of scientists and international collaboration.
Flemish Education Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is preparing an appeal to all universities, encouraging them to welcome American scientists. "Many research projects currently underway have not yet been completed," he explained.
Spokesperson Lorenzo Terrière said "Researchers from the United States could help us carry them out."
Many countries see a unique opportunity. On the other hand, many of those countries face funding problems. Consequently, the fear is that many of the best and brightest will simply leave their professions.