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Earth Day's 50th anniversary goes digital amid coronavirus pandemic, with virtual protests, video teach-ins and more

The 50th anniversary of Earth Day was destined to be a worldwide celebration.

It still will be — just virtually. 

With social distancing restrictions in place around the world to fight the spread of coronavirus, the millions of people who were expected to fill parks, stadiums, universities and plazas around the world on Wednesday to mark the annual day devoted to environmental protection will instead rally online.

"Amid the recent outbreak, we encourage people to rise up but to do so safely and responsibly — in many cases, that means using our voices to drive action online rather than in person,” Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network, said in a press release.

There are many ways people can participate: protesting virtually; creating a poster and sharing it on social media with hashtags like #EarthDayNetwork; attending a virtual presentation organized by students, universities and other leaders; watching a performance; playing trivia games; and more.

Earth Day activities for children:From a cereal box guitar to paper beads to a milk carton bird feeder.

"We're super happy that we have these great online activities, but we are looking forward to being outside and volunteering, planting trees, doing cleanups, signing petitions, registering people to vote," Rogers told USA TODAY.

The Earth Day Network created a citizen science initiative called Earth Challenge 2020 with the U.S. Department of State's Eco-Capitals Forum and the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., that allows people to engage with science through a smartphone app.

"It's sort of one-click activism," said Rogers, adding that users can upload photos and alert their local government of any plastic pollution in their communities.

Hot, hot, hot:2020 expected to be Earth's warmest year on record, scientists say

This data will allow researchers to identify the world's most affected areas.

The Earth Day Network also has an online database that people can search to find digital events across the world, such as a  Facebook Live in which local business owners in Arizona will discuss how they're addressing climate change — this year's theme for Earth Day.

Some organizers decided to start their events before Wednesday to allow people who work during the week the chance to participate on their days off. In Boston, for example, organizer Michael Kozuch began hosting various Facebook Live conversations over the weekend with local politicians and non-profit organizations.

Kozuch told USA TODAY that part of the desire was to provide people with comfort during the coronavirus pandemic by bringing on local musicians to play music, a live demonstration of tree planting and a cooking class on how to make plant-based meals.

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, yoga teacher Kristina Nikols will have a free 30-minute guided meditation session to "send energy for the healing of Mother Earth," according to her website.

Other events will focus on educating the public on environmental justice. Seattle University is hosting five-minute "Earth Talks," where students, faculty and community partners will present research and ideas on how to take action on climate change.

A 'megadrought' is emerging in the western US:It might be worse than any in 1,200 years

The Jesuit Catholic university, and many others across the nation, will also join Interfaith Power & Light for a "Nationwide Climate Prayer" from April 20-25 on Facebook.

Phillip Thompson, organizer for Seattle University's Earth Month, told USA TODAY he's mostly excited to share an interview with Earth Day co-founder Denis Hayes.

Hayes coordinated the first U.S. Earth Day in 1970, and expanded it internationally in 1990. He is now on the board of directors for Earth Day Network and is president of the Bullitt Foundation.

"I think this year is more when we're aware and it's much more time to get serious about how we're going to be bringing about the changes in the future," Hayes told USA TODAY.

There are simple ways to do that, he said, including using public transportation, recycling, eating organic and voting for officials who want to help the environment.

It may be difficult for people to feel encouraged and hopeful for the planet amid the coronavirus pandemic, and before that, the horrific fires in Australia and California, Hayes admitted. Don't lose faith, he said.

"It is depressing," Hayes said. "But I got a message for you: We've not reached the end of the line. We've still got time to be able to turn this around before we reach tipping points that do become irreversible."

usatoday.

On 4/20, ACLU Highlights Racist Marijuana Enforcement In New Report

April 20, or 4/20, is a day when many people across the world celebrate marijuana culture by toking up, jamming out to tunes and filling up on munchies.

But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is using the unofficial cannabis holiday to draw attention to a serious issue: Despite the growing number of states that are enacting legalization laws, people of color are still much more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people are—even though consumption rates are virtually identical across races.

In a new report released on Monday, ACLU reveals that while overall arrests are way down in states that have ended prohibition, racial disparities in remaining enforcement persist in those places. Meanwhile, some still-criminalized states are arresting black people for cannabis at almost ten times the rate that whites are busted.

Here are the key findings of the report—“A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform”—which is a follow-up to a similar study the organization released in 2013 that drew broad attention to unfair cannabis arrests rates at a time when legalization was just starting to become a major issue in American politics:

Marijuana Arrests Are Still Widespread Across The U.S.

Marijuana arrests nationally are down 18% since 2010, but there has been an uptick since 2015—even though more states are enacting legalization or decriminalization policies.

Cannabis arrests accounted for 43 percent of all drug arrests in 2018, the most recent year the report covers, and an overwhelming majority of those arrests—89.6 percent—were for possession alone.

Extreme Racial Disparities In Marijuana Enforcement Persist

Overall, black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, even though usage rates are comparable. The trend toward legalization and decriminalization hasn’t reduced national trends in disparate enforcement—and in some parts of the country, they have worsened.

African Americans are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in every single state in the country.

“Racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests exist across the country, in every state, in counties large and small, urban and rural, wealthy and poor, and with large and small Black populations,” the report says. “Indeed, in every state and in over 95 percent of counties with more than 30,000 people in which at least 1 percent of the residents are Black, Black people are arrested at higher rates than white people for marijuana possession.”

Marijuana Arrests Decrease After Decriminalization, But Drop More Sharply In Fully Legalized States

Not surprisingly, states that legalized cannabis saw decreases in marijuana possession arrests—though ACLU found that some of these had been experiencing a downward trend even before prohibition was ended.

States with less far-reaching policies that simply decriminalize possession also see reductions in arrests, but not as much as in those places where prohibition is ended altogether. Cannabis possession bust rates are roughly eight times higher in decriminalized states than in ones that have fully legalized, though they are lower than in those where broad criminalization is still the law.

When it comes to arrests for selling marijuana, states with legalization saw an 81.3 percent drop between 2010 and 2018, while decriminalized states experienced a 33.6 percent reduction over that period.

Racial Disparities Persist Even Legalized Or Decriminalized States

Even while overall marijuana arrests are down in legalized and decriminalized states, black people are still much more likely to be busted for cannabis than white people are. “In every state that has legalized or decriminalized marijuana possession, Black people are still more likely to be arrested for possession than white people,” ACLU found.

“Most jurisdictions that have enacted progressive marijuana policy have failed to do so from a foundation of racial justice,” the report warns. “As such, though legalization and decriminalization appear to reduce the overall number of marijuana possession arrests for black and white people alike, such laws have not substantially reduced, let alone eliminated, the significantly larger arrest rates of black people.”

While on average legalized states have lower racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests compared those that have only decriminalized or where prohibition is in full force, Maine and Massachusetts—which both voted to legalize cannabis in 2016—had larger racial disparities in 2018 than they did in 2010.

“The one common finding across every state and the vast majority of counties is that black people are more likely to be arrested for possessing marijuana than white people, regardless of whether possession is illegal, legal, or decriminalized in their state,” the report concludes.

ACLU also reported that shortcomings in police data make it hard to get a full understanding of the unfair impact marijuana enforcement has across racial lines. For example, FBI arrest numbers do not distinguish between Latinos and those of other races, obscuring the particular impact that prohibition has on brown as well as black people.

Along with the report, ACLU launched an online tool that makes it easy for people to see just how discriminatory marijuana enforcement practices are in their own states.

Montana is the worst offender, with black people there being 9.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white people. Kentucky was not far behind with a disparate rate to the tune of 9.4.

Racial disparities in marijuana arrest rates by state.

Racial disparities in marijuana arrest rates by state. ACLU

In Colorado, the state with the least discriminatory enforcement rate, African Americans are still 1.5 times more likely to be busted for cannabis than white people are.

Zooming in further to the county level, ACLU found that even within states there are vast differences in how cannabis laws are being enforced.

In Franklin County, Massachusetts, a black person is 117 times more likely to be busted for marijuana possession than a white person is.

Racial disparities in marijuana arrest rates by county.

Racial disparities in marijuana arrest rates by county. ACLU

“The U.S. has waged a failed, devastating, decades-long war on drugs, including marijuana, in specific communities. Rounding up hundreds of thousands of people every year—millions every decade—for marijuana offenses, this racist campaign has caused profound and far-reaching harm on the people arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated for marijuana offenses,” ACLU said. “Such harm cannot be undone, but as a country we can acknowledge, repair, and rebuild so that our future looks nothing like our prohibitionist past.”

Looking ahead, the organization is recommending that the federal and state governments legalize marijuana, but that they not stop there. In addition to expunging prior convictions and granting clemency to people still incarcerated on cannabis changes, the group is urging that newly legal markets be made equitable and accessible to people from communities that have been most harmed by the war on drugs.

“The question no longer is whether the U.S. should legalize marijuana—it should—or whether marijuana legalization is about racial equity—it is. It is also no longer about whether all levels of government should redirect resources away from prosecution of marijuana and toward public health investments and community collaborations—they should,” the report says.

“Rather, the question is: When states legalize, how can they do so through a racial justice lens to address the panoply of harms that have been selectively aimed at Black and Latinx communities for decades?” it continues.

Although opponents of marijuana legalization have pointed to previous data showing ongoing racial disparities in enforcement post-prohibition as a reason to argue against the policy change, ACLU is very clear that their new report should not be used to push for continued criminalization.

“In short, legalization by itself means fewer black people getting arrested. Conversely, prohibition means more—many, many more—black people getting arrested, jailed, convicted,” Ezekiel Edwards, who authored the report and is the director of the organization’s Criminal Law Reform Project, said in an email. “So it would be wrong to suggest that legalization is a wash regarding alleviating the negative impacts of marijuana criminalization.”

He also cautioned against stopping at simply decriminalizing cannabis possession, a policy that some legalization opponents say they support as an alternative between incarceration and a commercial marijuana market, pointing out that there are “more black people getting arrested in states that decriminalized than those that have legalized.”

That said, he noted that “legalization on its own does not address the racial disparities in marijuana arrests or achieve racial equity more broadly in marijuana reform.”

It is crucial, Edwards argued, for states to “center legalization in racial justice.”

“This means not only including equity-focused legislation led and informed by communities directly harmed by prohibition, but also tethering legalization to changing the way police departments treat communities of color,” he said. “If marijuana is legalized without reducing racial profiling and the unnecessary harassment and surveillance of people because of the color of their skin or the neighborhood they live in, there will be a drop in marijuana arrests but no tangible impact on the racial disparities of those arrests, or on other arrests for other petty offenses regarding which we consistently find the police treating people differently based on race.”

forbes

Shake Shack returns $10 million emergency loan to the US government

Hong Kong (CNN Business)Shake Shack (SHAK) is returning a $10 million loan it received from the US government under an emergency program that was touted as a way to help small businesses pay workers and keep their operations running during the coronavirus crisis.

The burger chain was awarded the loan as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The $349 billion stimulus package, overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA), ran out of funding last week.

Over the last few days, there has been a growing backlash over the distribution of the funds. Several media outlets have revealed how large chunks of the package were taken up by chain restaurants, hoteliers and publicly traded corporations, rather than small, local businesses.

Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti and chairman Danny Meyer revealed their decision to give back the funding in an open letter Monday, saying that the NYSE-listed company no longer needs the money because they are "fortunate to now have access to capital that others do not." The company said in a filing Friday that it expects to be able to raise up to $75 million from investors by selling shares.

The executives also shared their frustrations with the PPP, arguing that many restaurants had been left out unfairly because the program "came with no user manual and it was extremely confusing."

It didn't 'seem right to us'

Garutti further explained to CNN's Poppy Harlow that the program was a "great opportunity" for restaurants to receive funding, but the company changed its mind and returned the loan after hearing small business owners' stories about not getting access to it.

"That doesn't seem right to us," he said on CNN Newsroom. "As we watched this opportunity play out over the weeks, it was very clear that the program was underfunded and wasn't set up for everyone to win."

Shake Shack has around $100 million in cash on hand. Harlow asked him why they applied for it in the first place and Garutti said it was aimed at "taking care" of its workforce and maintain liquidity. "Our team members have equal value to any other team member in the world," he said.

"By returning our $10 million, that $10 million can go back into the pot and go to the people that deserve it. We hope it can go inspire the next round," he said.

Shake Shack's reversal was praised by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He tweeted Monday that he was "glad to see" the burger chain return the money.

Calls to increase funding

Garutti and Meyer are now calling on the SBA to increase funding to the program. They also want the US agency to assign a local bank to work with each applicant and ease the process, and to make the forgiveness policy more flexible.

Union Square Hospitality Group, another food and beverage business that is run independently by Meyer, has received "some" of the loans it's applied for, the executives said. They said all of those restaurants closed last month and the company was forced to lay off more than 2,000 workers. They did not specify whether that company would be returning any funds as well.

A deal for additional PPP funding, meanwhile, could be announced soon.

President Donald Trump on Sunday said during a coronavirus task force briefing that "we are continuing to negotiate with the Democrats to get our great workers and small businesses all over the country taken care of."

"I think we are getting close to a deal. It could happen. It could happen," Trump said. "A lot of good work has been going on and we could have an answer tomorrow and we are going to see what exactly does take place."

CNN Business

Tom and Jerry, Popeye director Gene Deitch passes away at 95

Oscar-winning illustrator and animator, Gene Deitch, has passed away at the age of 95, according to media reports.

Deitch, one the directors behind one of world’s most popular cartoons, Tom and Jerry, died in his apartment in Prague, his Czech publisher, Petr Himmel, told The Associated Press.

Born on August 8 in 1924, in Chicago, Deitch, whose full name was Eugene Merrill Deitch, was known for directing some of the most popular animator cartoons, including Popeye the Sailor Man, Munro, Tom Terrific and Nudnik.

He had directed 13 episodes of Tom and Jerry and multiple episodes of the Popeye the Sailor series.

Deitch arrived in Prague in 1959 on a 10-day trip, where he fell in love with his future wife, Zdenka, and decided to settle down in the Czechoslovakian capital. He created some of his best works while living in Prague.

Deitch's won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1960 for his film Munro. He also received nominations for the same category twice in 1964 for Here's Nudnik and How to Avoid Friendship.

Another series, Sidney's Family Tree, which he had co-produced, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1958.

He received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifelong contribution to animation in 2004.

Deitch is survived by his wife and three sons from his first marriage. All his three sons are cartoonists and illustrators.

thehindubusinessline

Trump’s old friend Piers Morgan watches briefings ‘with mounting horror,’ urges president to stop ‘self-aggrandizing’

Piers Morgan, the outspoken host of “Good Morning Britain,” issued a personal plea Sunday to his old friend, asking President Trump to stop “playing petty politics” with the coronavirus pandemic and to “stop making it about yourself.”

Appearing on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with host Brian Stelter, the longtime Trump ally said he was watching the president’s daily coronavirus briefings “with mounting horror.” Trump, he said, couldn’t seem to stop blaming governors or attacking Democrats, and kept wasting time quarreling with reporters.

The whirlwind news conferences were becoming “almost like a rally to him — almost like what’s more important is winning the election in November,” Morgan said.

“No it’s not, Donald Trump. What is more important right now is saving American lives,” he said.

The British tabloid fixture, whose brash commentary has courted a fair share of outcry over the years, made sure the president saw his critical CNN interview by reaching out directly to him on Twitter, where he probably has a better chance of catching the president’s attention than most people in the world. Morgan is one of the 47 people or companies, among them the Trump properties, that the president follows on Twitter.

“Mr President @realDonaldTrump, you won’t want to watch this, but I hope you do,” Morgan wrote. “Please drop your angry, petty, disingenuous, blame-gaming, self-aggrandising daily briefing antics & start being a proper wartime president.”

Morgan is the latest critic of Trump’s briefings, which sometimes last 90 minutes or longer as Trump’s top doctors and coronavirus task force members sit in chairs waiting for a turn to speak. He has often berated reporters if they ask questions he doesn’t appear to like, sometimes calling their questions “nasty.” He has interrupted Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, to block him from answering a medical question about a drug Trump had been touting. He has played misleading, propaganda-like videos that praise his coronavirus response or attack the media.

His behavior has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, some of whom particularly spoke out after Trump claimed during one briefing that the presidency gave him “total” authority over states, or that coronavirus testing was a local responsibility.

Trump says government will step up coronavirus testing efforts, after governors blast federal inaction

Other Republicans expressed concern in a New York Times story earlier this month that Trump was hurting himself by constantly taking center stage instead of his medical experts. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a close Trump confidant, said the president “sometimes drowns out his own message,” while Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said the briefings were “going off the rails a little bit.”

The criticism did not appear to have any effect, as the president returned to the same behavior in the days that followed, including on Sunday, when he told CBS reporter Weijia Jiang to “lower your voice” and “just relax” after she asked a question he disliked.

But Trump’s relationship with Morgan is different from Republican politicians in that it goes back to his days as a reality TV star. Their friendship began when Morgan, following stints as an “America’s Got Talent” judge, won the seventh season of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” show in 2008. Morgan supported Trump throughout his campaign for president, becoming the president’s first international TV interview after he took office. He has criticized the president’s positions on various issues in the past, including gun control and the travel ban, issuing pleas to the president to change course like he did Sunday on Stelter’s show.

So far none of that past criticism has crumbled their friendship, or appeared to have had much of an effect. But Morgan told Stelter on Sunday he did not “really care about the niceties about whether Donald Trump is going to be offended by what I’m saying.”

“He has to put the country before himself. He has to put Americans before electioneering,” Morgan said. “He has to remind himself every day, what can I do today to prevent more lives being killed? Not how can I score more petty points, and stand here for two hours … and try to have arguments with the media.”

Morgan appeared on Stelter’s show after attracting attention for his relentless “Good Morning Britain” interviews with public health officials and members of parliament in the United Kingdom, demanding answers about shortcomings with a style some described as almost “uncomfortable” to watch.

He told Stelter that he saw a key similarity between Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in that their talents as populist politicians have not translated well amid the greatest global crisis since World War II. Trump, he said, needed to show empathy for the pain so many thousands of families are enduring, needed to present accurate information and to be calm and decisive, but “on almost every level of that, Donald Trump at the moment is failing the American people.”

“Donald Trump’s approval ratings are falling, and the reason for that — he needs to understand this — they’re falling because people don’t trust him,” he said. “They think he’s turning these briefings into self-serving rallies, and they don’t understand why he can’t just do the basics of crisis leadership."

Morgan, speaking to Trump directly on CNN, told the president that if he were concerned about winning the election, he would have to worry about saving Americans’ lives first, warning, “you will lose the election in November if you continue to make it about yourself.”

washingtonpost