Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG

The Paris climate agreement, hammered out at last December’s COP21 talks and signed Friday by close to 170 nations, is alternately being hailed as “a turning point for humanity” and denounced as “a dangerous distraction.” There’s no doubt that the deal “is the capstone of years and years of hard work,” as Union of Concerned…

Unencumbered by much in the way of campaign finance regulation, Wall Street mega-donors are on pace to eclipse even their own “exorbitant precedents” during the 2016 election cycle, according to a new report from national watchdog group Public Citizen. The analysis, which uses data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the Federal Election Commission,…

Fighting back against the notion, put forth by American academics, that isolated tribes must be forced into contact with the modern world, Amazonian Indians are warning of another potential Indigenous “genocide” if such ideas come to pass. U.S. anthropologists Kim Hill, a professor at Arizona State University, and University of Missouri associate professor Robert Walker,…

As the contentious Democratic Party platform drafting committee negotiations come to an end, many Bernie Sanders surrogates have watched in disbelief as core progressive principles have been waylaid—largely by Hillary Clinton supporters. “Congratulations everyone! We have just written half of the GOP Platform tonight, Democrats!”—Nomiki Konst, progressive commentator The trend continued on the second-to-last day of platform…

Former President Obama and his advisers are reportedly urging former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to run for president in 2020, according to Politico Magazine.  Obama, a personal friend of Patrick, has privately encouraged him to consider a 2020 bid, the magazine said. Meanwhile, Valerie Jarrett, a close adviser to the former president, said that Patrick being…

EDMOND, Okla. – Augustana wrestling opens the season ranked 16th in the first Division II Wrestling Coaches Association poll of the 2012-13 season. The Vikings earned 46 points in the coaches’ poll and are one of four teams in the NSIC that were ranked in the top 20. Defending national champion Nebraska-Kearney is the preseason…

The historic and scandal-prone Buenos Aires zoo is set to close and all animals transitioned to nature preserves because, as the city’s Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta put simply on Friday, “Captivity is degrading.” The 140-year-old zoo in Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighborhood will be turned into an “ecopark” when it reopens later this year after its…

In the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, LGBTQ advocates and allies are demanding the violence—a targeted attack on a club that was a safe space for LGBTQ people—be called out as a hate crime. “This isn’t about LGBT people taking ownership of the pain and anguish,” Guardian columnist Owen Jones wrote on Monday….

Bernie Sanders is reportedly poised to endorse Hillary Clinton for president at their first joint campaign appearance on Tuesday. Both teams confirmed Monday that the Vermont senator would join the former secretary of state during a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where they would “discuss their commitment to building an America that is stronger together…

After several rounds of voting Saturday afternoon, an effort by progressive Democrats to abolish what they see as the anti-democratic superdelegate process was defeated. The amendment, co-sponsored by 52 members of the Democratic Party Rules Committee, was defeated when 108 members voted against and just 58 voted in favor.  Though a stinging defeat for those…