@martaschaaf
DrPH; Director of the Program on Climate, Economic & Social Justice & Corporate Accountability at Amnesty International; former Mailman School at Columbia University; Organize w/ClimateFamiliesNYC.org; not going into ‘internal exile.’ All views my own.
When those in power try to silence us or cut us off from each other - by limiting education, censoring ideas, blocking news, or keeping the rest of the world in the dark - we don’t just sit back. We stand together. #WorldBookDay2026
This is quite serious to the millions having their lives upended or ended but the guys in charge are unalterably unserious
Hoping to stave off discussions of its energy use, big tech is hyping AI as a climate solution. Instead, AI is a climate problem. And like so many other “solutions” peddled by industry, misstatements, cherry picked data and slick PR are behind the claims, not actual data.
“The resolution attempts to turn the ICJ’s interpretation of key legal standards into a practical roadmap for state accountability, which is likely to trigger pushback from…countries wary of their historical responsibility” says @candyofime.bsky.social apnews.com/article/un-r...
This article by Paul Krietman in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social is beautiful - it sets up the long game for de-colonial struggles in Hong Kong & Taiwan and, without stretching it, relates it to the political situation in the U.S. Perspective is important to imagining & securing a different path.
Chilling and powerful.
"The morning after the tour, the Mayor of Ohrdruf killed himself. And maybe he did not know the full extent of the outrages that were committed in his community, but he knew enough. And we don’t know exactly how ICE will use this warehouse. But we know enough."
Authoritarianism 101: the sloppiness is a feature, not a bug. It directs money to regime cronies (Palantir), discretion to paramilitaries, and fear to citizens. A system designed for legitimate law enforcement or border control would not fulfill these goals as well.
The Washington Post layoffs come at a moment when press freedom is already under assault by the Trump administration, and journalists around the world face repression at the hands of their governments.
Today, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on Sunrise Wind offshore Long Island. With the ruling, all five under-construction offshore wind projects halted by the Trump administration have been allowed to resume work.
The current U.S. administration seeks to damage climate action in the U.S. and globally; strong resistance from governments and people is key to safeguarding our collective future. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ca...
The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement threatens a “race to the bottom” in global climate action. Other historic emitters must also continue to phase out fossil fuels irgently, despite coercion and bullying from the US. www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...
brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
HOLD THE LINE SCHUMER!! @schumer.senate.gov
Let us use this period of justified rage, sadness and insecurity to reflect on the feelings our friends and colleagues have experienced here and abroad for decades
Some reasons authoritarians lie: 1) relentless conspiracy theories pollute the info environment, damaging truth as a shared basis for collective action 2) scientific & other sources of information are forced into the service of the authoritarian. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Protest banner reading "NOT ANOTHER DIME FOR ICE AND BORDER PATROL TO VIOLATE OUR HUMAN RIGHTS" and "ICE OUT!" displayed at night with a U.S. flag in the background.
How many more people must die before U.S. leaders act?
📞 CALL 347-514-6400 NOW to be connected to your representatives. Urge them to use their legislative power to stop any new funding for ICE and demand real accountability!
As a physician I can say with utmost confidence that the biggest threat to public health in our country at this point is our own fucking government.
Snowstorm or no, I plan to go to this and demand that Schumer use his power to stop ICE. Two people are dead. Join me.
The Trump regime is systematically removing science, transparency and democratic process from policy-making, hiding behind closed doors as they craft policy to provide more money to a few, and pollution and costly unnatural disasters to the rest of us.
It is minus 12 F In Minneapolis; thousands are out protesting. Thank you, Minnesotans for claiming the streets for human rights, solidarity, and love.
Important to remember:
The reason why RFK Jr will not feel even slightly bad about these 10,000 low-income people losing access to life-saving antiviral medicines is that he is an AIDS denialist
He does not think HIV is the cause of AIDS
His conspiracy theories are killing people
At #WEF #Davos, the world’s richest will meet under “A Spirit of Dialogue”. But dialogue w/out multilateral cooperation & int’l law means nothing. While most of the #SDGs are off-track, authoritarian practices threaten peace, worsen the climate crisis & erode #humanrights. A 🧵
“Withdrawing from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in particular is unprecedented and the United States will be the only country to have done so.” www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...
I went to an emergency rally last night and am going to another one this w/e. There were folks out all day today in NYC and beyond. As helicopters circle my neighborhood, I feel grateful for those who keep coming out to exercise our right to peaceful assembly and to demand change. We cannot stop.
I need people to wrap their minds around the fact that here in Minneapolis, ICE broke the window of a vehicle yesterday, pepper sprayed the occupants, and arrested them, and shot another observer in the face today, and OBSERVERS ARE STILL GOING OUT TO PROTECT THEIR NEIGHBORS AT MASSIVE PERSONAL RISK
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the shooting and killing of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal agent during immigration enforcement operations today.
A win for hugely profitable U.S. corporations but a big loss for almost everyone else. The FACT Coalition's @zorkamilin.bsky.social on why this deal undermines global progress to stop tax dodging by multinational corporations. @factcoalition.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/business/202...
100 agree. Whatever our position in society - we all must stand in opposition to the harm we witness the regime doing. This is especially the case for those in trusted positions with expertise or who otherwise hold power, including health providers.
Fossil fuels are a major currency in the U.S. slide towards kleptocracy. The demand for Venezuela’s vast oil reserves isn’t there w/o the U.S.’ and other petrostates’ coercion & bullying. The transition to renewables is evermore urgent. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/o...
