Reflections On the "Extreme Left" and Transforming Harmful Narratives Into Ones That Heal, Connect, Empower, and Awaken

"We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Can you imagine our nation no longer under the ideology and influences, practices  and policies, propaganda and politics of neoliberal capitalism? For those who listen, try taking NPR for instance. Imagine if "Planet Money" were instead named "Planet Earth", if "How I Built This" was called "How We Built This", if "Market Place" was reframed as "Community Place." Just imagine the impact of this transformation in how we think, perceive, and care.

The author, poet, and activist bell hooks spoke of the pervasive influence of "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy," something which I believe, on a continuum, has impacted us all. This includes our vulnerability to being misled, propagandized, polarized, disinformed, and disempowered. It is a toxic status quo that we have been indoctrinated to believe in and hold as sacred truth. 

Millions of us cling to the belief that there is nothing better, no alternative to capitalism that would better serve ourselves, our nation, and the world. And those who question, challenge, and envision another way are often silenced, dehumanized, demonized, and called "communist." Just look at the new Red Scare underway mirroring the McCarthy era of the 1950s. 

* * * * *

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

— George Orwell, 1984

I am inspired today to once again shine light on the subtle and blatant narratives which cut us off from our larger wisdom and capacity to recognize and embody love, truth, care, compassion, and connection with ourselves and all of life on Earth. Over the many years that I have been following both corporate funded media and independent media, I have increasingly been empowered to discern what is being left out or distorted in the narratives that we are exposed to — and when we are being empowered to connect the dots of larger pictures and deeper truths that are essential for us to be aware of, absorb, and act upon.

The lack of pushback that I continuously witness in resources such as NPR, in all honestly, just infuriates me. There is no discussion related to fascism when talking about the "right." Where Amy Goodman and those she interviews have been shining bright light on the connections between burning fossil fuels and the horrifying climate catastrophes — how Amy refers to them — that we are witnessing and experiencing across our country and world, NPR and other mainstream media most often frame them as "natural disasters" and leave it at that. 

It is also true that corporate funded media completely fails to expose the genocide in Gaza and the Republicans and Democrats in the pockets of AIPAC. And when discussing the "left", again and again I hear the words "extreme left" and how "middle America" is in support of "moderate centrist" democrats. Really?? In these narratives that perpetuate left vs right, the truth gets buried in the polarizing propaganda. We don't hear in-depth discussion of facts and policies. And what is left out is profoundly dangerous, disturbing, distracting, and disempowering.

What I imagine sweeping across our country and beyond is something that is vastly different and inherently grounded in integrity, courage, commitment to truth, and free from the influences of the toxic greed that is embedded in wealthy individual and corporate interests. What I am referring to here are independent resources of information such as Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!, Chris Hedges, Henry Giroux, Rebecca Solnit, and a whole host of other independent sources of integrity and truth such as those I have listed on the sidebar of my blog. As Amy Goodman has said — the commitment is to holding the powerful accountable rather than being their voice pieces.

* * * * *

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… and the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem."

— Howard Zinn

Just imagine if the policies and goals of democratic socialists and other progressives were presented to us in detail. Just imagine if we were actually informed! 

Would we Americans then see it as "extreme" to want an end to endless wars and trillions of dollars poured into the imperialist wars of our government? Would we want to dismiss the wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

Would we Americans object to removing the takeover of our politicians and political system by the most wealthy 1% among us? Would we reject taking action to remove Dark Money out of our politics?

Would it be "extreme" to implement Medicare For All, to recognize healthcare as a right rather than a privilege, and to ensure that millions of human beings stop dying or being driven into bankruptcy because of a healthcare system built on profit and greed? 

Would most Americans see it as too "extreme" to seek economic justice and completely overhaul our tax system, end the obscene redistribution of wealth upwards, ensure that a social safety net is in place to ensure that no one need live in abject poverty, and guarantee that food, housing, childcare, education, and our basic needs are met? Would that be too extreme for a nation that is considered to be the wealthiest on Earth?

And what about the climate crisis that is now impacting everyone across our nation and the world? Just look at Tibet. Tears... The reality is that all around us are catastrophic wildfires, floods and droughts, tornadoes and hurricanes and tropical storms, frigid winter storms and summer heat domes, melting glaciers and rising seas, critical water shortages and drying lake beds, dying coral reefs and mass extinctions, shrinking habitable places to live and climate migrations, resource wars and unimaginable desperation and destruction and death. "Unprecedented" is now the new normal. 

And yet, here in the United States there is still a debate about whether or not there even exists a human caused climate crisis. No administration has declared a climate emergency and acted to implement the radical changes vital to saving ourselves and giving us any chance of preserving a habitable planet. This is madness. And this puts my children and grandchildren and all of the children of all of the species everywhere at risk. Infuriating, heartbreaking, horrifying!

And for so many years now I have been noticing the damning and glaring differences between a mainstream for-profit media and independent media. Rather than calling them "natural disasters," resources such as Amy Goodman — and the experts she consistently interviews on Democracy Now! — illuminate that what we're witnessing and experiencing everyday are not natural, but are "climate disasters." And again and again the links are made connecting these human caused climate catastrophes and the criminal greed and delusion embedded in the failure to transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewables. Imagine if we had long been told the truth!

 

And then there is the genocide. Instead of giving power and credence to the voices of those such as the psychopath Netanyahu, independent journalism gives us the horrifying truth about the genocide in Gaza and its ongoing support by our government under both Democratic and Republican administrations. This empowers us to stop our collusion with atrocities, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. 

Once we recognize that Palestinians are experiencing what the Indigenous Peoples here in America did when they were annihilated in that genocide, we humans can then understand why standing up to and exposing rather than supporting AIPAC funded politicians in our country becomes a priority. Truly, what we would have done during the genocide perpetrated by Hitler is what we are doing now. And as Omar El Akkad has said, we all need to fight against the theft of our souls. (https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2026/06/omar-el-akkad-at-least-fight-against.html)

And this leads me into ICE... More tears of grief and outrage. I have to stop and breathe... The utter cruelty, the intentional brutality, the racism and scapegoating and horrifying terrorism perpetrated on our immigrant sisters and brothers simply shatters my heart into pieces. Like the genocide does. 

Because of the independent voices of truth, courage, and integrity that I have long sought out, today I am acutely aware of so much that is happening in our nation and worldwide. I see the utterly heartless, sociopathic, criminal acts of profound dehumanization and violence perpetrated by our government on the peoples of our country and other nations and on all of life on Earth. The trauma impacting billions of beings is so hard to look at, to hold in conscious awareness, and to act upon individually and collectively in everyway that we possibly can. That said, this is the imperative our of times.

* * * * *

“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough.” — Joanna Macy

What comes to me in this moment is a vision of courage, individual and collective courage that is contagious and expanding its reach ever more deeply into our own hearts and the hearts and minds of our planetary sisters and brothers everywhere. Because it takes courage to truly and deeply look and recognize how we've been hoodwinked and that it isn't just those nasty ________ (fill in the blank with republicans, democrats, immigrants,  socialists, communists, etc.) who are destroying our lives and causing us to suffer. 

It takes courage to seek to truly know and understand a larger picture. It takes courage  and commitment to explore and question what we've been propagandized to believe and to cultivate a profound commitment to truth. And it takes love to increasingly embody a commitment to doing whatever our part is in alleviating the suffering within ourselves and our shared beautiful hurting world.

I imagine that more and more of us are awakening to the realization that what is often framed by those in power — including those aligned with both neoliberal democrats and fascist republicans — as "extreme" are in reality communicating what they do not support. As we look deeply into the specifics of what is being said in mainstream media and by most, but not all, politicians to be "extreme", it becomes clear what they are standing in opposition to. 

On that list of fierce opposition — by both corporate funded republicans and democrats — is getting Dark Money out of our political system. There is opposition to anything that threatens the status quo. And this absolutely includes empowering those we elect to actually represent We The People and the planet — rather than their wealthy donors — and to act of the consciousness of the highest good for us all. There is a very tight clinging to and justification for power, control, and greed. Full stop.

Time and time again, wealthy individual and corporate interests have in reality stood against any depth of true democracy, justice, peace, equality, a nation that cares for all, and respect for the basic needs of humans and nonhumans across America and beyond. And those who have repeatedly worked for justice, worked to end the vast immoral and criminal redistribution of wealth upwards, worked to address and meet our authentic needs and ensure our basic rights, and worked to heal and transform our nation have been sabotaged and shut out of positions of power. And any time that we hear the words  "extreme left" we can be assured that that is what is happening.

This truth-seeking has been a long, humbling, disillusioning, painful, empowering, and amazing journey for me, one for which I am eternally grateful. As my heart has been broken open again and again, my capacity to act out of fierce love has grown, evolved, deepened. And, ultimately, today my heart holds with care all of life everywhere. 

May we humans awaken our vast capacity to act

out of wisdom, generosity, and love...

🙏💜🙏

Molly

Photo by Molly

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

"Climate change is the single biggest thing that 

humans have ever done on this planet. 

The one thing that needs to be bigger 

is our movement to stop it."

— Bill McKibben

As I grieve the horrifying catastrophe in Tibet, I am moved to write through my tears of anguish, anger, pain and trauma, and fierce caring and love.

What I witness here today, and again and again over time, are the ongoing devastating impacts of the greed, ignorance, and delusions of those in positions of power who have long been reacting to the human caused climate crisis by spreading denial, doubt, distraction, and deadly disinformation.

We also cannot blame a lack of action related to the climate crisis on any one political party. Republicans and Democrats alike have long been denying that there is a crisis and failing to act. No administration has officially stepped up to declare a climate emergency and enact the radical policy changes long urgently need to transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewables. 

Consequently, we did not arrive overnight to this reality of the climate disasters that are unfolding daily across our nation and world. And it infuriates me that they are referred to as "natural disasters" or "Mother Nature" rather than climate disasters! This criminal misinformation, inaction, and deafening silence and denial has been occurring over decades. And these voices of politicians and "experts" in the mainstream media have been sustaining their deadly lies even though what is at stake is a habitable planet. 

Which makes them the greatest criminals of our time and all times. There is no injustice, no evil more immense than putting at risk all of life on Earth. And now the evidence is overwhelming that we are on a suicidal trajectory which imperials humans and all of our planetary sisters and brother across the planet.

***

There are also tragically many Americans who dismiss the burning of fossil fuels as the greatest cause of the climate changes we see. They believe that there have always been these cycles of devastation on Earth, spreading the belief that humans are not the root cause of the emergency we face today. Or some will say that it is all God's will. Or the disasters are happening because the Earth is angry. Of course, all that those perspectives do is let us off the hook of needing to act to save ourselves because of the belief that (1) global warming is a hoax, (2) God is in control, not man, or (3) it's too late and there's nothing we can do.

A friend accurately responded to one comment by someone justifying inaction or any need for accountability and radical changes — because of their belief that Earth's "natural cycles" that have always happened and are not manmade ones — this way: "Current glacier thinning is unprecedented in human history and heavily driven by human activity. While Earth has experienced natural heating and cooling cycles over millions of years (primarily due to slow shifts in its orbit known as Milankovitch cycles), the modern trajectory departs from these cycles entirely. Scientists prove human culpability by identifying specific chemical "fingerprints," and distinct geological anomalies in the atmosphere, oceans, and ice that natural forces simply cannot replicate... Furthermore, communities absolutely can and do what they can to prepare for the damage caused by thinning glaciers. Engineering and disaster management teams worldwide actively mitigate the risks of thinning glaciers. But there is no preparing or future-proofing for catastrophes like this without also doing all we can to mitigate human-caused CO2 levels rising and contributing to climate change."

***

There is so much that is connected with and fueling the climate crisis. Today we are witnessing endless resource wars and deadly greed, the unstoppable winds and wildfires, droughts and floods, tornadoes and tropical storms and hurricanes, bitter cold and the heat domes, starvation and desperation of millions, melting glaciers and rising seas and dying coral reefs, the sixth major extinction and the loss of so many planetary beings who will never be seen again, excruciating poverty and millions of climate refugees, and all of the many faces of suffering and devastation and death related to the human caused and ever accelerating climate catastrophe. And now the apocalyptic horror in Tibet.

Life on Earth is all connected and no one is left untouched by this emergency that we collectively face. It is absolutely essential that everyone who is able — who aren't struggling to simply stay alive and survive — take responsibility for informing ourselves about the climate crisis. There is an urgent need for more and more voices of truth illuminating where we are at and the urgent need for radical changes. We must transition off of fossil fuels and onto renewable resources! Our children and grandchildren and all of the children of all of the species are depending on us to do the right thing. The eyes of the children are watching.

BLESS ALL BEINGS ON EARTH

CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

(This is my latest bumper sticker.)

— Molly

For anyone wondering how there came to be

so much doubt about our warming planet, 

please watch this excellent documentary:

Nepal Floods Demonstrate Threat of Climate-Driven Glacier Collapse

I've been joining with countless human beings worldwide in experiencing such an incredible depth of grief. It had already been too much — the resource wars and deadly greed, the unstoppable winds and wildfires, the droughts and floods, the tornadoes and tropical storms and hurricanes, the bitter cold and the heat domes, the starvation and desperation of millions, the melting glaciers and rising seas and dying coral reefs, the sixth major extinction and the loss of so many planetary beings who will never be seen again, the excruciating poverty and the millions of climate refugees, and all of the many faces of suffering and devastation and death related to the human caused and ever accelerating climate catastrophe. And now the apocalyptic horror in Tibet.

Those most responsible for the climate crisis must be held accountable!

And, yes, we must also seek and speak the truth ourselves, courageously bear witness to these horrors, and expose those who for decades have been the sources of greed-soaked inaction and the poisonous propaganda of denial, doubt, and devasting disinformation. We must.

May the trauma of this horror and heartbreak inspire us — all of us who aren't overwhelmed with daily simply trying to survive — to take action and to doing our part, no matter how large of small, in the great work of standing in protection of life on Earth. May we join in solidarity with all who are dedicated to alleviating the suffering in our world and to being forces of truth, compassionate action, and fierce love in the face of the climate emergency that is leaving no life untouched. Bless us all! 🙏🙏Molly

A resident walks along a street covered in mud following flash floods and a landslide disaster in Devighat, in Nepal's Nuwakot district on August 26, 2026. Prakash Mathema / AFP via Getty Images

“What happened yesterday is unfortunately the new normal,” one geoscientist said of the devastating floods.

By 

Chris Walker ,

Truthout
August 27, 2026

Preliminary investigations into the massive floods in Nepal earlier this week indicate that the cause of the disaster was likely glacial collapse, a phenomenon wherein a glacier or part of one disintegrates, resulting in a rush of water being released.

The impact of the collapsing glacier was so monumental that it was initially but incorrectly identified as an earthquake, registering a 5.2 rating on the Richter scale.

So far, at least 389 deaths have been counted from the devastating flooding that took place on Wednesday near the Lhende Khola and Bhote Koshi River in the Rasuwa district of Nepal. More than 1,300 individuals remain missing, among them at least 700 tourists (including around 90 Americans) who were visiting the region.

While the exact cause of the flooding can’t technically be attributed quite yet, a rapid analysis of the area by a team of geoscientists from satellite monitoring company Planet Labs suggests glacial collapse was to blame. According to before and after images, a glacier that was near the region was reduced by around 2 million square feet after the event occurred.

Witness accounts of the devastation offer a horrifying glimpse into what happened.

“Nepal authorities are telling us entire villages are wiped out with waves of 8-10 meters. It’s shocking,” said Tommaso Della Longa, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Geneva. “The scale of devastation is immense. There are areas that simply don’t exist anymore.”

Collapsing glaciers are sometimes a natural phenomenon, but as the planet continues to warm due to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis, their rapid retreat and collapse have increasingly become a major threat to communities around the world.

“What happened yesterday is unfortunately the new normal. It’s going to get worse from here onwards,” said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, speaking to The Associated Press about the situation.

Simon Cook, a glacier expert with the University of Dundee in Scotland who also works with Planet Labs, agreed that the climate crisis was largely to blame for the disaster and possibly other future flooding events, telling the BBC that:

The logic is that with a warming planet, you will see shrinking glaciers, lots of snow melt. The permafrost that is partially holding some mountainsides together is warming and thawing and degrading. So you are going to get more landslides, debris flows, glacial meltwater, lake outbursts, glacier collapses, because climate warming ultimately destabilizes these high mountain environments.

Aakriti Dotel, National Network Coordinator for Nepalese Youth for Climate Action, described the floods as “another painful reminder of the growing climate crisis facing Nepal and the Himalayas.”

“As our glaciers melt and extreme weather events become increasingly unpredictable, communities living downstream are bearing the devastating consequences,” Dotel explained in a 350.org press release.

“We mourn the lives lost and the livelihoods affected and call for urgent global climate action. There must be stronger support for vulnerable mountain communities, and accountability from those most responsible for the climate crisis,” Dotel added.

Please go here for the original article: https://truthout.org/articles/nepal-floods-demonstrate-threat-of-climate-driven-glacier-collapse/

Scientists Warn Accelerated Himalayan Glacier Melt Threatens Lives of Billions

There have been clear warnings exposing the climate emergency for years and years. Tragically for humans and nonhumans and all of our descendants, too many have been digesting the poisonous greed-soaked propaganda of doubt, denial, and disinformation for decades related to the human causes of the climate crisis. And now here we are in the midst of the worse case scenarios unfolding day by day by day here in the United States and worldwide. Because of my passionate love and caring for my children and grandchildren and all life on Earth, I am inspired to continuously be a strong voice of truth again and again and again. May truth, courage, and love increasingly inspire us all to act in every way that we possibly can NOW. 🙏🙏 Molly

This picture taken on October 19, 2022, shows a trekker observing the Gangotri Glacier, which is one source of the Ganges River, at Gangotri National Park. Xavier Galiana / AFP via Getty Images

Absent urgent climate action, glaciers in the Hindu Kush range could lose up to 80 percent of their volume by 2100.

By

Jake Johnson ,

CommonDreams
June 20, 2023

A team of international scientists based in Nepal warned Tuesday that glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting at an accelerated rate and could lose up to 80% of their volume by century’s end if ambitious action isn’t taken to slash planet-warming emissions.

The latest research from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) shows that Himalaya glaciers disappeared 65% faster in the decade between 2010 and 2020 than in the previous 10 years as a result of global temperature increases.

By 2100, if current emissions trajectories hold, the critical glaciers that provide fresh water for 2 billion people in Asia could irreversibly lose 80% of their ice, according to the new report, which was published amid a punishing heatwave in the region.

“Snow cover is projected to fall by up to a quarter under high emissions scenarios—drastically reducing freshwater for major rivers such as the Amu Darya, where it contributes up to 74% of river flow; the Indus (40%); and Helmand (77%),” the researchers found. “The extent of frozen ground (permafrost) is decreasing, which will lead to more landslides and problems for infrastructure at high elevation.”

Izabella Koziell, ICIMOD’s deputy director-general, said Tuesday that “with two billion people in Asia reliant on the water that glaciers and snow here hold, the consequences of losing this cryosphere are too vast to contemplate.”

“The glaciers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a major component of the Earth system,” said Koziell. “We need leaders to act now to prevent catastrophe. There is still time to save this critical region, but only if fast and deep emissions cuts start now. Every increment of a degree of warming matters to glaciers here and to the hundreds of millions of people that depend on them.”

The new report stresses that the glaciers and snow-covered mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are a crucial water source for 12 river basins that run through 16 countries, meaning increasingly rapid melting poses a dire threat to people and wildlife in the region.

“Mountain communities are already living with the impacts of the accelerated melting of glaciers, changing snowfall patterns, growing variability in water availability, and increasing incidences of cryosphere-related hazards,” the report notes. “These changes have a direct impact on their lives and livelihoods.”

Philippus Wester, a lead author of the new report, told AFP that the speed with which the Himalayan glaciers are warming is “very worrying.”

“This is going much faster than we thought,” said Wester. “It underscores the need for urgent climate action. Every small increment will have huge impacts and we really, really need to work on climate mitigation… that is our plea.”

The study was released hours after more than 140 economists and policy experts implored rich countries on Monday to end fossil fuel subsidies and tax the very wealthy to fund the kinds of sweeping climate measures needed to prevent devastating glacial melting and other consequences of runaway warming.

Also on Monday, the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service published research showing that the combination of below-average precipitation and scorching summer temperatures across Europe “contributed to the largest loss of glacial ice recorded in the European Alps” last year.

“The Greenland ice sheet continued to lose mass during 2022,” the organizations found, “and in September periods of exceptional warmth led to widespread surface melt.”

The ICIMOD study warns that even if global warming is kept between the Paris accord targets of 1.5°C and 2°C above preindustrial levels, the Himalayan glaciers “are expected to lose 30%-50 % of their volume by 2100 relative to 2015.”

Saleemul Huq, director of the Bangladesh-based International Center for Climate Change and Development, said Tuesday that the study lays bare “the devastating implications this will have on two billion people and the nature that rely on the water and ecosystems of the Hindu Kush Himalaya.”

“It is beyond time that governments, donors, and agencies step up: to exit fossil fuels and honor their commitments to limit warming, to help communities adapt to those temperature rises already locked in, and to compensate them for property and ways of life that have already been lost,” said Huq.

Please go here for the original article: https://truthout.org/articles/scientists-warn-accelerated-himalayan-glacier-melt-threatens-lives-of-billions/

Dahr Jamail: Scientists Are Stunned by How Rapidly Ice Is Melting in the Arctic

This article from 2019 is yet one more example of dire warnings related to the human caused warming of our planet that have been occurring for decades. Deepest bow of respect and gratitude to Dahr Jamail! I'd been reading and following Dahr for many years when his articles and courageous voice of truth about the impacts of the climate crisis were no longer frequently appearing in the usual trusted independent media resources that I found him in... Tears... 

There are so many courageous souls who have been bearing witness and bringing us the horrifying facts related to the devastating warming of our Earth Mother for literally decades. And these are the voices that mainstream corporate funded American media has refused again and again to bring out into the light of day. And we wonder why there are so many in our country who still believe that humans are not the root cause of the climate catastrophes that we are witness to and experiencing each and every day across our country and the world. It breaks my heart. 

Our descendants are counting on us — as are all of the children of all of the species on Earth. And those who are not in any way taking responsibility for the climate emergency are failing them. Which is why I am so fiercely passionate about my research, seeking trusted resources of integrity and courage and facts, bearing witness, and being a relentless voice of truth in the midst of devastating denial, doubt, and disinformation. — Molly

A helicopter flies over a glacier on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The current sea ice coverage in the Arctic is the lowest ever recorded for mid-June. Lev Fedoseyev \ TASS via Getty Images

One researcher offered a bleak prognosis: “We’re not going to stop this train wreck.”

By Dahr Jamail 

June 20, 2019

June has set a record low of Arctic sea ice, while the extent of melting across the Greenland Ice Sheet this early in the summer has never been seen before.

Recently, temperatures in parts of Greenland soared to 40 degrees above normal, while open water (not covered by sea ice) is already being observed in places north of Alaska where it has seldom, if ever, been observed.

The current sea ice coverage in the Arctic is the lowest ever recorded for mid-June.

Rick Thoman, a Fairbanks-based climatologist, told The Washington Post that the loss of sea ice over the Chukchi and Beaufort seas of Alaska’s northern coast is now “unprecedented.”

Scientists have long been warning that what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Some liken the situation to what happens when a refrigerator door is left open. The cold air that is usually contained within the Arctic region of the planet is now often being displaced by high-pressure zones in the Arctic, all of which is then being augmented by human-caused climate disruption. This has resulted in lower-than-normal temperatures across much of the central and eastern United States in early June, while the Arctic was baking under abnormally high temperatures that have facilitated the unprecedented melting of ice across so much of the region.

“The jet stream this week was one of the craziest I’ve ever seen!” Jennifer Francis, a leading researcher who has published studies connecting mid-latitude weather to the dramatic changes across the Arctic, told The Washington Post.

Greenland Is Melting, Seals Are Dying

By mid-June, nearly half of the ice of the Greenland Ice Sheet was melting. One day alone saw a loss of two billion metric tons of ice. This photo, which is not photo-shopped, is worth viewing. It displays a dogsled being used by scientists to retrieve their oceanographic moorings and a weather station in Northwest Greenland atop an ice sheet that is literally melting underneath their feet.

What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic.

There are other indications of how severe the changes are in the northlands. Southeastern Alaska recorded its first-ever extreme drought in May. In fact, the southernmost region of Alaska has already been in drought for the last two years running.

“Officials say areas experiencing lesser ‘severe’ and ‘moderate’ droughts have also expanded and the region’s precipitation, while higher than other areas, is drastically less than normal,” the CBC reported of the crisis.

On June 13, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was investigating “unusually large numbers” of dead ice seals along the Bering and Chukchi sea coasts. The seals are integral to the subsistence lifestyle of the Inuit people in the area.

“Harold Okitkun was maneuvering his skiff along the coastline near the Western Alaska village of Kotlik on Friday afternoon when he first saw the seal carcasses, he said,” reported the Anchorage Daily News. “He counted 18 dead ice seals along about 11 miles of shore. In his 48 years in the village, he’d never seen anything like it, he said. It was overwhelming.”

NOAA received reports of at least 60 dead ice seals along the west coast of Alaska in just the last month. This was enough to cause the agency to launch an investigation into what it said are “unusually large numbers” of seal deaths.

“At this point, we don’t know what’s going on,” Julie Speegle, spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, told the Anchorage Daily News. “We are mobilizing crews to go out and collect some samples and try to investigate what’s happening.”

Of course, the brutal impacts of climate disruption on the Arctic aren’t new this year. During an interview in Anchorage in 2016, Bruce Wright, a senior scientist with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA), told Truthout of a warming event that occurred in Alaska in 2015: “This last summer, the gulf warmed up 15°C warmer than normal in some areas,” Wright told me. “Yes, you heard me right. 15°C. And it is now, overall, 5°C above normal in both the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, and has been all winter long.”

Wright discussed how the climate-disruption-driven warming of the Northern Pacific and the Gulf of Alaska was driving toxic algal blooms. This, coupled with the warmer waters, had “broken” the food web in his region.

This, along with all the other catastrophic global impacts of human-caused climate disruption, caused Wright to issue a bleak prognosis for the future.

“We’re not going to stop this train wreck,” Wright told Truthout. “We are not even trying to slow down the production of CO2, and there is already enough CO2 in the atmosphere. We are going to see the consequences, and they will be significant.”

Recent data show steep increases in CO2 for the seventh year running, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased by their second highest annual rise in the last six decades.

Please go here for the original article: https://truthout.org/articles/scientists-are-stunned-by-how-rapidly-ice-is-melting-in-the-arctic/

__________

Darh Jamail is a former mountaineer, guide, and rescue volunteer on Denali in Alaska, who went on to work for a decade as a war correspondent in the Middle East, then for another decade as a journalist covering the global environmental crisis. The author of five books, his most recent focused on Indigenous perspectives of the polycrisis. Dahr is a storyteller, and believes in the transformational properties of bearing witness to both the grief and pain arising from what is being done to our planet. He sees this work as integral to creating ethical impacts towards supporting future generations.

Dahr Jamail is also the author of The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption (The New Press, 2019), a finalist for the E.O. Wilson/PEN/E.O. Wilson Science Writing Award. Jamail is also the co-editor, with Stan Rushworth, of We Are The Middle Of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth (The New Press, 2022). Jamail has won numerous other awards including the Martha Gellhorn Award for Investigative Journalism and the Izzy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Media. He is also the author of Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket, 2007).

For more from Dahr Jamail, please go here:

 https://truthout.org/authors/dahr-jamail/

https://homeplanetfund.org/impact/

Dolly Parton Remembered as ‘Advocate for Inclusion, Women’s Rights, Children’s Literacy, and More’

For all of the most authentic reasons which were steeped in compassion, generosity, wisdom, and love, Dolly Parton was indeed a national treasure. Grief and gratitude for this remarkable woman. Dolly will be missed.  And her legacy lives on. 🙏💜 Molly

Dolly Parton died August 25, 2026 at the age of 80. (Photo by Dolly Parton/Facebook)

“She was not only a talented musician and songwriter, but a lifelong philanthropist and advocate for literacy, education, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare, and disaster relief. Her music and humanity touched millions.”

By Jessica Corbett

Dolly Parton died Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 80, and was fondly remembered by people around the world for not only her decades in the entertainment industry but also her philanthropy and promotion of the belief that “everybody should be treated with respect.”

Parton’s nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, confirmed the country music icon’s passing in a video message shared on her social media accounts. As Rolling Stone reported, she “was born January 19, 1946, the fourth of Robert Lee and Avie Lee Owens Parton’s 12 children, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River,” and “grew up in rural poverty,” lacking plumbing and electricity.

Peace & Justice Project

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Dolly Parton was a tireless advocate for expansion of literacy around the world. Her Imagination Library programme distributed over 300 million books into communities in every continent, and boldly stood by the principle of education opportunities for all. RIP.

Sky News

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“Dolly Parton could have retired long ago having achieved greatness,” Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said of the singer and actress who won multiple Grammy and Emmy awards, among numerous others, and whose songs include “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Will Always Love You,” and “Jolene.”

Rather than retiring from the spotlight, Khanna noted, “she chose to continue her life pursuing the arts, and pushing boundaries to advocate for inclusion, women’s rights, children’s literacy, and more. Dolly touched countless hearts and will forever be remembered.”

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on social media that “Dolly Parton was one of the great entertainers of our era. She was not only a talented musician and songwriter, but a lifelong philanthropist and advocate for literacy, education, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare, and disaster relief. Her music and humanity touched millions. She will be sorely missed.”

DSA

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Democratic Socialists of America extends our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Dolly Parton, a hero of the working-class and an inspiration to us all.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that “Dolly Parton gifted the world with her talent and heart. From supporting children, donating to science, investing in Tennessee, and giving us songs to sing our hearts out to (looking at you, ‘9 to 5’), she made the world a better place. Thank you, Dolly, for leading with love.”

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said that “Dolly Parton was so special, so universally loved. The first word that came to my mind just now was ‘authentic,’ which is funny since she is well known for her big wigs and extravagant gowns. But she was always herself. Her music was powerful and moving... But her impact on the world was much greater—from providing kids free books to funding vaccine research and promoting tolerance. America lost one of our best today.”

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

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Dolly Parton knew that all of our kids deserve to dream & see themselves reflected in our books. Her Imagination Library made that possible for millions. Let's honor her by protecting the freedom to read nationwide. Rest in power, Dolly.

Similarly saying that “Dolly Parton represented the very best in America,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote at his blog that “I think what I admired most was her empathy (the sentiment disparaged by Elon Musk. In fact, to my mind she was the human that embodied the exact opposite of Musk.) She felt the pain of those in poverty. She felt for women subordinated to patriarchy... She felt for working women.”

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

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Dolly Parton used her gift for music to highlight the challenges of poverty, inequality, and struggle in ways that uplifted and inspired working people. “And I told 'em all the story / Momma told me while she sewed / And how my coat of many colors / Was worth more than all their clothes.

 

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani

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This is truly heartbreaking. Dolly Parton was an extraordinary person and an irreplaceable champion of the working class. We are a better country because of her.

 Parton took stances on topics that have become divisive in US politics—such as supporting LGBTQ+ rights and vaccine research—but she openly avoided wading into political races, and was also honored on Tuesday by various right-wing politicians and other figures, from Cabinet members, federal lawmakers, and governors to Republican President Donald Trump, who announced on Truth Social that “I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period.”

Meanwhile, as elected Republicans ban books and cut programs for the working class while giving more tax breaks to the ultrarich, Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, said that “Dolly Parton spent her life helping kids, marginalized communities, and people in need, while entertaining millions. She never had to, she chose to. In a world full of wannabe Donald Trumps, choose to be a Dolly Parton.”

Please go here for the original article and links: https://www.commondreams.org/news/dolly-parton