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Ron Fein: Troubling Signs of Inaction from the Jan. 6 Insurrection Investigation; Jodie Evans: The Role of the Military in the Global Climate Crisis Goes Largely Unaddressed; Ben Levenson: Biden Must Lead Effort to Vaccinate the Global South -- No One is Safe Until Everyone is Safe; Bob Nixon: This Week’s Under-reported News Summary.

The impacts of climate disruption are not theoretical; they are happening. Those already worst off are facing the worst of it, and those who profit from it continue to profit. There are finer points, but that’s reality. And it’s fair to measure journalism not by its cleverness, or by demonstrated balance between the voices of various power players—because when it comes to climate change, power players are the problem—but by the justice it does to that reality. As national leaders meet at COP26 in Glasgow to discuss ways to confront this already unfolding disaster, the Washington Post is suggesting US readers celebrate —what’s this?—new federal pipeline safety standards! Also on the show: press ballyhoo claiming no more whippings fails to mention lack of change in Haiti rejection policy.

Prof. Moomaw wrote in 2021: Humanity puts out 11 billion tons of carbon each year; amazingly, less than half ends up in the atmosphere. NASA satellite data and research show that a bit more than half of the remaining 6 billion tons of carbon are going into forests, plants, wetlands and soils. The other 40 – 45% is being absorbed by the oceans. However the extraordinary capacity of forests to absorb carbon is being undermined by world-wide logging and clear-cutting – which ironically turns forests, that could be our best protection from climate disaster – into yet another powerful source of greenhouse gases. William Moomaw is Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy at Tufts University.

If extradited to the United States, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would face 175 years in prison for exposing evidence of U.S. war crimes, and the chilling of a free press might never thaw out, with Majorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, member of the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Cohn testified before Congress about the Bush torture policy. Her books include The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse.

The magnitude of US support, in light of the wealth of Israel, is obscene, and of course tragic for Palestine, which is the main victim of this huge military, the fifth largest in the world. Add to that the fact that Israel is the largest per capita importer and exporter of military hardware on the planet, you have to ask why. Why does the US send 3.8 billion dollars of military aid a year to a major manufacturer and distributor of arms to the international community? Why are US police being sucked into Israeli "training" and provided with Israeli arms for use back home? Today, this whole issue is addressed by Palestinian author, researcher and journalist Susan Abulhawa, at the annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture which she delivered recently at the Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center in Washington DC. Susan Abulhawa has for years been conducting her own research into the Israeli arms industry making chilling discoveries which she will share with you in this slightly edited lecture.

For the extremely wealthy who want to stash their money where nobody can find it, South Dakota is the place to go—or so recent reporting in the Pandora Papers has suggested. The state’s lax regulations have made it possible for all kinds of unsavory characters to protect unthinkable sums from taxes or scrutiny. Is it time to make South Dakota just go away? On episode 37 of The Politics of Everything, hosts Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene discuss how the United States has become a tax haven and what would help solve the problem. Guests include Timothy Noah, a staff writer at The New Republic; Chuck Collins, the author of Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions; and Casey Michel, whose new book, American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History, will be published in November.

The answer: inclusion of the world's militaries in climate commitments. Military emissions are often treated as a sacred cow. Don't question, don't disturb. OK, tell that to nature! Stuart Parkinson is Executive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility. He has been an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and provided advice to UK negotiators to the UN climate change convention. He then spent a year working for Friends of The Earth, co-ordinating research and policy work highlighting the link between environmental problems and social injustice. His reports include The environmental impacts of the UK military sector; and Under the radar: the carbon footprint of Europe’s military sectors. He is also co-author of a book on the Kyoto Protocol, and an editor of Responsible Science Journal.