Six In The Morning Wednesday October 10

Brazil’s Bolsonaro-Led Far Right Wins a Victory Far More Sweeping and Dangerous Than Anyone Predicted. Its Lessons Are Global.

Glenn Greenwald
FOR THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, Congressman Jair Bolsonaro was a fringe extremist in Brazilian politics, known mostly for outlandish, deliberately inflammatory quotes in which he paid homage to the most notorious torturers of the 1964-1985 military regime, constantly heralded the 1964 coup as a “defense of democracy,” told a female socialist colleague in Congress that she was too ugly to “deserve” his rape, announced that he’d rather learn that his son died in a car accident than was gay, and said he conceived a daughter after having four sons only due to a “moment of weakness.” (Last September, he used Google to translate a Brazilian epithet for LGBTs to, in essence, call me a faggot on Twitter).

His policy prescriptions were even more deranged. Western media has often referred to him as “Brazil’s Trump” but that is wildly inaccurate, understating the case by many magnitudes. In temperament, ideology, and personal history, Bolsonaro – a former Army Captain during Brazil’s notorious 21-year military dictatorship – is far closer to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte or Egyptian dictator General Abdel El-Sisi than Trump.

Global fish farming pollutes the ocean

The eco-disastrous salmon

Farmed salmon is Chile’s biggest export after copper and fills the country’s inland waters with caged fish. Twice, it’s proved an environmental hazard.

by Cédric Gouverneur

Kawésqar National Park, Chile’s largest, covers 2.8m hectares of islands and peninsulas in southwestern Patagonia. The Socialist president Michelle Bachelet signed a decree approving its creation on 29 January, shortly before she stepped down. But the park will protect only the area above water, not the adjacent waters and their fragile ecosystems. This anomaly springs from a desire not to hinder the growth of Chile’s salmon farms. In 2017 salmon was Chile’s second biggest export after copper, earning it $3.9bn.

Salmon, once a seasonal luxury, has become part of the world’s daily diet. After tuna, salmon and trout account for the largest share by value, and second largest by tonnage, of a global seafood and freshwater fish market worth an estimated $155bn. Fish farms produced 2.25m tonnes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in 2016, compared with only 300,000 tonnes in 1993.

Germany's Extremism ProblemOfficials Zero In on Neo-Nazi Terror Cell

In the wake of far-right unrest in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, investigators have uncovered a suspected neo-Nazi terror cell thought to have been planning a major attack. The arrests show how self-confident extremists have become. By DER SPIEGEL Staff

On October 3, the German national holiday commemorating reunification, it is drizzling in Chemnitz, the wind whistling through the trees. The only thing standing in the music pavilion on Schlossteichinsel, an island in a city park, are a few bottles. The crumbling walls are covered in graffiti, including an Antifa symbol above the words, "the volk must go."

In nicer weather, young, left-wing Chemnitz residents and refugees meet here. On the national holiday, however, a different group is on hand. A couple of men are hanging out at the dock, steering a remote-control boat through the water. Others in black jackets are drinking beer.

How will the Kavanaugh controversy affect US midterms?

The Supreme Court confirmation appears to have energised voters, angering many, but also boosting Republican support.

by William Roberts

With the vicious Senate battle over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh concluded by a 50-48 vote, focus now turns to the upcoming midterm elections.

Early indicators are that the Republican base was energised by Kavanaugh while female voters, who already favour Democrats by nearly a 2-1 margin, were polarised even more than they were before. Early poll numbers suggest modest gains for Republicans within an overall environment that remains negative for the party of President Donald Trump, analysts say.

Why North Korea’s latest nuclear concession isn’t one at all

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wants you to believe North Korea just gave up something big. It didn’t.

By Alex Ward @AlexWardVox alex.ward@vox.com 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made “significant progress” over the weekend toward dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear program. The problem is it’s not clear what advancement he’s pointing to.

The two met for a nearly three-hour summit in Pyongyang on Sunday to discuss a way to break the impasse in discussions. Speaking after the meeting on Monday, Pompeo told reporters that North Korea has agreed to let international inspectors visit Punggye-ri, the site of all six of North Korea’s nuclear tests. In September 2017, Pyongyang tested a nuke there that was around seven times stronger than the bomb America dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Letting inspectors visit the facility may sound well and good, except for one thing: It’s already been destroyed.

Japan continues to rely on coal and eyes more coal-fired plants despite global criticism

BY CHISATO TANAKA

STAFF WRITER

Japan may be feeling the effects of global warming more than ever with the series of natural disasters that hit the archipelago this summer, but this resource-poor country is sticking with coal-fired energy production that emits more than double the carbon dioxide generated by liquid natural gas-fueled plants.

To meet its pledge to the world in the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, Japan aims to achieve a 26 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by fiscal 2030 from the fiscal 2013 level. But the government has drawn a lot of criticism from both in and outside the country for going against the international trend to move away from coal.