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The world going green: deal by deal, continent by continent

The climate crisis is pressing. We hear about it every day, talk about it every day, and unfortunately, we see it every day. Its increasing urgency is a reminder that every little action towards preservation counts. Yet still, in the grand scheme of things, big numbers can become overwhelming to the individual. Climate and energy legislation is what will make the real difference.

On the European Green Deal, the Commission’s focus will be overhauling our relevant climate and energy legislation to align with the newly proposed target to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030, as compared to 1990 levels. 

European Commission

We can’t waste time with the climate crisis

After calling the Paris agreement a “disaster” and pulling the U.S from the climate accord, Trump left the country hanging in a critical environmental state.

Before he was elected, Biden made promises aiming to achieve the Green New Deal objectives, with investments in clean energy that exceed 2 trillion dollars. Unfortunately, those are currently being somewhat compromised.

Between the recently endorsed bipartisan infrastructure deal criticized for going against some of the President’s initial promises, and also Louisiana’s Federal Judge Terry Doughty seeking to halt Biden’s ban on offshore gas and oil leases, the obstacles are abundant.

But positive prospects are ahead and meanwhile, the rest of the world isn’t stopping. In fact, these days may be open to greater opportunities than ever before.


A green light ahead

Indeed, as we seem to slowly be coming out of these unprecedented times, our society finds itself at a rare crossroads. With the hope of recovering the economic wreckages of the pandemic, many decisions are being made. More than ever, we have the opportunity to make long-term choices that can impact our planet in a positive way.

While Asia hasn’t yet declared an official “Green Deal,” several of its Southeastern countries are opting for sustainable alternatives to their energy production.

From developing hydroelectric power plants in Laos, to infrastructure investments in countries like Vietnam and the Philippines to overcome their reliance on coal and fossil fuel imports, changes are being made.

The necessity for fiscal stimulus engendered by the pandemic is thus an opportunity to couple such investments with long-term sustainability goals.


Even big deals start with small steps

The European Commission recently declared its own Green Deal for 2050.

That’s in less than 29 years, which is a little mind-boggling to wrap our heads around at home. While these timelines highlight that the world won’t change overnight, they also mean we can’t wait 28 years to make changes to face the climate crisis.

Because as easy as it is to lose sight of what saving our planet means, especially in an economically driven society, plans are laid out for a reason. And as cheesy as it may sound and as far from us as they may feel at times, those changes still begin with us.

We will put forward a series of measures on smart and sustainable transport, including a revision of the Regulation on the trans-European transport network and of the Directive on intelligent transport systems. We will continue the implementation of the circular economy action plan, looking at eco-design and sustainable products, in particular circular electronics, including improving the collection, reuse and repair of mobile phones, laptops and other devices. 

European Commission

The circular economy concept has been put to work in recent years, where the way our economy is run would attempt to mirror the renewable cycle of nature itself.

Switch 2 Green is an initiative funded by the European Commission, offering assistance to all with one goal: going green. In addition to its services, the platform is home to everything you need to know about the matter, including country-specific case studies.

One of many, they are there to inspire positive change for our planet.

Who you got? A list of Trump-supporting rappers we’ll still low-key bump

As the election results continue to roll in – and hopefully all get counted – we are stressed to know that our playlists may have been infiltrated by open Trump-supporting rappers.

This may be conflicting to particular groups who listen to hip-hop, in where half of the content is about living a life only 1% of people can relate to, usually.

But now that Election Day has come and went, and the future is still uncertain. Is your favorite rapper conflicting his or her pockets with the pockets of their fan base? Hip Hop has historically been an art for those that have been oppressed by societal influences.

Reason be told, the main thing about MAGA aficionados and Trump-supporting rappers is their concern about higher taxes on richer individuals.

Trump has handed out a tax cut to top millionaires and fortune 500 companies, back in 2018, that’s not including the rest of America.

Now, the Trump-supporting rappers and other celebs are concerned about Biden’s proposed 60% wealth tax of over $400,000 or more in areas like New York City, California, and New Jersey.

election rappers

Economically, this can be beneficial down the line to uplift communities through funding for projects. Communities in which a lot of these Trump-supporting rappers come from.

But ironically these rappers – who may have handed out a few thousand dollars to the homeless and people in need, and even given select kids the money for college – are not main providers for community programs that change the dynamic for the people living there.


Now that you know a little bit about why, let’s find out who.

With a roster of rappers who continue to support Black culture and hip-hop culture and those who support Trump and a considerably hollow agenda, we are drafting rappers that represent our cultural views – more or less. And those who may be clout chasing in the process of chasing paper, are likely chasing “fools gold,” according to John Legend.

John Legend made things clear at a performance in support of the Biden and Harris campaign. He said, “Now, some people see the meanness, the bullying, the selfishness of Donald Trump and they mistake it for strength, a kind of twisted masculinity…”

“Some see his greed and they mistake it for being good at business. […] Some of your former favorite rappers have been taken in by these lies.” 

John Legend

Legend went on to say, “But Trump’s Platinum Plan for Black folks is nothing but fool’s gold – because you can’t bank on a word he says […] Ask the students of Trump University. Ask all of the contractors he stiffed. Ask people his charity was supposed to help before it was shut down for being a fraud.”

He continued, “Ask all the Black and Brown Americans who are dying from this virus and losing their jobs under his watch.”


Trump-supporting rappers we need to stop playing, #NoCap

Our top draft picks

50 Cent
trump supporting rapper 50 Cent
50 Cent

Has always been an antagonist of hip hop culture. And as a rapper we accepted it. But when that mentality transfer over to the presidential office, it’s rather unacceptable.

But 50 has been giving us too many clues on the Trump topic. After Biden’s tax plan came out, 50 made his vote a little more clearer.

Fivio Foreign
election rapper Fivio
Fivio Foreign

A specially designed MAGA hat appeared in Fivio Foreigns ”Big Drip” video and has claimed the “it’s hip-hop” to wear one. He followed up by saying “I ain’t going against Trump.” We could question his idea of their asking, ‘Is he going against us, though?’

Kanye West
Trump supporting rapper Kanye West
Kanye West

Ye’ is the most notable of all Trump-supporting rappers, making his way to the white in all-time meme fashion – a red hat with hip hop slanted brim. He has seen the light and has changed his position since.

He has plans for sustainable fashion and communities of his own.  West also ran for the presidency in this 2020 election receiving roughly 60,000 votes.

Waka Flocka Flame
waka flocka
Waka Flocka Flame

Waka has subtly, but openly expressed his support for the MAGA Jesus with “guess I’m a clown.” This was a comment in response to a piece of footage shared on Instagram where a user commented “Its people who really think Trump is a better President.”

Safe to assume Waka does as well.

Ice Cube

Ice Cube

Ice Cube has been approached by both parties in efforts to get him on the campaign trail. Ice Cube has responded to Trump -support allegations and his plan for a “Contract with Black America” in a conversation he had with CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo. Cube says,

“I didn’t run to go work with any campaign. Both campaigns contacted me. Both campaigns wanted to talk to me about the Contract with Black America.” 

Cube explains the two campaigns contacting him saying, ‘We love what you have, but let’s really dig into after the election.” While the other says, “We love what you have, do you mind talking to us about it?”

He continues,

“I’m not playing no more of these political games, we’re not part of a team … so I’m going to whoever’s in power and I’m going to speak to them about ‘our’ problems, specifically. I’m not going in there talking about minorities, I’m not going in there talking about people of color or diversity or none of that stuff. I’m going there for Black Americans, the ones who are descendants of slaves.”


Trump-supporting rappers MAGA can keep

The unsigned draft picks

Lil Wayne
lil wayne supporting trump
Lil Wayne Meets and Pledges His Support for Trump   https://twitter.com/LilTunechi/status/1321941986174226432

Has recently been photographed with Trump, and failed to acknowledge the BLM in a television interview in 2016. Oddly enough, Lil Wayne happens to be a Black American living in America and didn’t know – or claimed to – of the most prominent Black organization in America today.

Lil Pump
little pimp rapper
Lil Punp is great on stage by President Trump

Lil Pump went on to join Trump at one of his rallies on election day to endorse him. Lil Pump has been posting Pro-Trump images for a week now. 

BlocBoy JB
BlocBoy JB
BlocBoy JB

“I’m Starting To Like Trump No Cap. Dude Ass To Gangsta,” BlobBoy said in a tweet on March 20 of this year.

He goes in with a follow-up, “Trump Might Would Got My Vote If I Wasn A Felon.” Regardless if he is capping himself, this has real-world power from his platform.

Asian Doll

Asian Doll has no filter on her reason as she claims Trump is “giving out a lot of money right now.” She goes on,

“I get my money a different way, and a lot of the people I’m around get they money a different way.”

But what about the 99% of society who get it only one way? Who’s giving them a lot of money right now?

6ix9ine
6ix9ine trump-supporting rapper
Tekashi 6ix9ine

Has made claim to have no issues with Trump and recalls how people have compared him to the 45th president. In an interview with The New York Times on September 2, 6ix9ine said “I would vote for Trump.”

Look out for this article on PAGE magazine.

So you voted, right? Here’s how to prepare for the election outcome

As we all wait for the 2020 presidential election outcome, we have to remember this is not a normal year and we need a game plan.

In fact, in a normal year, we’d already know who the president would be. But, 2020 has been anything but a normal year, so no surprise there.

So you voted, right? You did your civic duty, and for many of you, myself included, you felt a responsibility to vote this time around, even if you never had before. Take pride in the fact you did what you can. And take solace in the face that it’s now out of your hands.

So where do we go from here? You can stare nervously at the news, biting your fingernails until they’re bleeding, and wait for the election outcome. You can ask people around you “who did you vote for?” But ultimately, none of this is helpful in the post-election world.

It is completely out of our hands, and with that being the case, we’ve come up with a game plan for how you can maneuver through this weird and triggering time, regardless of the election outcome.


The election outcome will bring out the crazies. So, post up in the crib

Crib GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Don’t start wilding out.

Tensions are high, and there’s a lot of people out there with less to lose than you do. Don’t give them a reason to think they’re being a martyr.

Take this time to find helpful distractions! If you can, delve into that creative outlet you’ve been meaning to get to for awhile (i.e. sewing, writing, recording).

Dive into that book that’s been collecting dust on your nightstand for ages. All those times you could’ve turned to your book, but you went for your phone instead, now is the time to do the opposite. Ain’t nobody realistically want to be on social media right now. You don’t need that stress in your life fam.


“First rule in this world baby: Don’t pay attention to anything you see in the news.” – Kanye West

Pin by Katie Brown on Important GIFs | Kanye, Pay attention, News

The man who can’t seem to get it right lately… damn sure got it right a lot of times in the past. It’s why he’s the musical superstar and cultural icon he is right now.

Ye told us to not believe everything we see on TV, and he’s right. News channels fight for ratings, even if publicly they say it’s all about journalistic integrity. Money makes the world go round. For these media moguls, it ain’t no different.

Channels want to be the first to break news, and often this leads to inaccurate reporting. Especially when it comes to the presidential election results.

I hate to bring up such a harrowing example, but remember the misinformation that came out when the great Kobe Bryant passed earlier this year? Saying his entire family was on board the chopper that went down?

Breathe. Check on your friends. And then breathe again. We’ll find out the news. It just doesn’t have to be in record time.


No matter the election outcome DO NOT TURN TO THE SAUCE for your game plan

New trending GIF on Giphy | Steve harvey, Funny gif, Harvey

I may have had some rosé last night… so what?

We all had a thought about whether we were going to go sober election night or turn towards the bottle or reefer. Let’s not play dumb. That shit can help in the moment.

But only the moment. Especially as the bottle is concerned, it’s only down from there. Not to mention if the election outcome doesn’t play in your favor.

Today is a new day with endless possibilities. And we can only control what we can control. Don’t go down that bottomless pit, it’s not worth it.

If not for you, then for your close circle. They need you, just as you need them. Lean into that love and direction fam.


Don’t ask people who they voted for

I don't like it - S08E05

After we find out the election results, please don’t ask people who they voted for. Realistically, what do you have to gain?

And believe me, I’m cutting off anyone that votes for racism, xenophobia, misogyny, corruption, and a plethora of other heinous actions.

But at this point, who’s to say someone will tell you the truth? And the overwhelming stress talking about the presidential race post-election takes is too big to let it drag you down.

We’ll find out who wins the presidency soon enough. Just like we’ll all find out who the people in our lives voted for by their words and actions in the coming weeks and months. This country is too polarizing to not be able to tell.

And really, if you’ve been paying attention and take your blinders off, you know who they voted for. You know.


Check who your homies “really” follow

Unfollow GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

It can be a fascinating-yet-harrowing trip down the rabbit hole investigating who your friends and acquaintances follow on social media. Do they follow Trump? Ok, but many people like and need to stay up to date on issues, so that can make sense.

But do they follow Ben Shapiro (yuck)? Do they follow Candace Owens? Do they follow Breitbart? These are questions worth asking and investigations worth solving. I don’t care if they say it’s just for jokes, it rarely is just that.

You can tell a lot about someone by who they follow, the trends in that search, and who they refuse to unfollow. Social media should not be taken too seriously, but it is deeply entrenched within the fabric of our lives.

There are few accidents here. If your homie is following Candace Owens, it’s probably because they want to hear what she has to say.

It’s post-election, all votes have been placed, and the outcome is yet to be decided. Take care of yourself in this stressful time. Hopefully, our game plan was able to help steer you in the right direction.

Trump vs. Biden: Recapping the worst presidential debate in history

President Trump and former Vice President Biden clashed in the first 2020 presidential debate that stretched the very definition of the word “debate.”

For the uninterrupted 90-minutes, the subjects, picked by moderator Chris Wallace, were: the supreme court, COVID-19, healthcare, race & violence in U.S. cities, the economy, and climate change. 


The interruptions begin

Both candidates started off decently calm and collected. Both made their statements on the Supreme Court nomination, and there were no interruptions. This didn’t last for very long though.

“Well, you’re certainly going to socialist [sic]. You’re going to socialist-,” Trump interjected eight minutes into the debate. Full statements were also barely made after this point. 


Coronavirus policy ambiguity

The next topic of the presidential debate, the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic, has been an important point in both the candidates’ campaigns. At the time of the debate, the US had 7.2 million confirmed Coronavirus cases and 205.901 deaths. The US currently leads in the number of global cases. The number of both infections and deaths are still growing.

Trump’s answer to the Coronavirus policy question was riddled with inaccuracies. He failed to state a plan for the coming year except for his promise to release a vaccine by the end of this 2020, a promise he had made before.

This claim has been rejected by Trump’s own CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield. In congressional testimony, Redfield said, when asked about a generally available vaccine, that it would be available in the second or third quarter of 2021. 

When pointed to this fact, Trump said that he disagrees with Dr. Redfield. “Well, we’re going to deliver it right away. We have the military all set up.”

Trump continued, “We have our military that delivers soldiers and they can do 200,000 a day.”  


Who can we trust?

This answer raises doubt around the trustworthiness of CDC officials. If we can’t trust the head of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on things as fundamental as vaccines, who can we trust? Considering the multiple fallacies in Trump’s speech he does not seem like a reliable source either.

During the COVID discussion, Trump repeatedly said that Mr. Biden would have “lost far more people” and that the former Vice President would have been “months late” in his response to the pandemic. 

We can’t know for sure how the pandemic would have panned out if Biden was in office but we can make an informed guess.  Looking at the COVID timeline put together by Britannica ProCon.org, Biden labeled the virus as a “global health challenge” all the way back in January.

This was while Mr. Trump said the virus was “like a flu” well into February. The first time the current POTUS acknowledged the virus as a national emergency was March 13. 

Given this, it’s highly likely that if Biden was in charge during the Coronavirus pandemic, steps to prevent and contain it would have been taken earlier and some deaths could have been prevented.


A telling answer

The debate had multiple moments with viral potential but the one that stood out specifically is moderator Chris Wallace asking the President to publicly denounce white supremacists. “Say it. Do it. Say it,” Biden interjected, spurring on Trump. 

Wallace’s question was in response to Trump’s criticism of Biden’s reluctance to call out Antifa and other left-wing extremist groups. Trump in his turn had yet to comment on the right-wing violence that happened in Kenosha and Portland. 

Instead of condemning right-wing violence and white supremacist groups, Trump’s message sounded more like a tacit endorsement. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” he said. 


A horrid presidential “debate”

From the onset of the debate, the expectations for both candidates were rather low. Trump is not known to be a strong debater with a tendency for impulsive, exaggerated statements, and personal attacks.

Biden was presented as near-senile in a monthlong Trump team effort and has, in the past, struggled to articulate his thoughts and has tripped up with numbers. Well-worded statements and self-control would be the basic tools needed to meet and exceed this baseline.

The Trump campaign put months into painting Biden as old and incompetent with spliced-together videos and the moniker “sleepy Joe”. This approach backfired last night. When Mr. Biden made concise clear points and didn’t allow himself to be baited into endless back-and-forth’s with the current president, he showed maturity, not old age. 

Trump’s insults and rants highlighted Biden’s focus on reaching the American voters. Instead of stooping down to the President’s level, Biden smiled, nodded his head, waved his hand, said “will he just shush for a moment?” and stayed mostly on message.


Poor moderation

Moderator Chris Wallace from Fox News announced beforehand that he would not be fact-checking either candidate. This would be an acceptable stance if the two candidates were known for factual rhetoric. However, since this is and has never been the case, the “debate” was instead a platform for Trump’s unsupported misinformation. 

In a TV appearance prior to the debate, Wallace said: “If I’ve done my job right, at the end of the night people will say, ‘That was a great debate. Who was the moderator?’”

Had both candidates been respectful towards each other and of the debate’s rules, this could very well have been achieved. Since they were not, the crosstalk and interruptions made Wallace’s “Mister President, Mister President, Mr. President, Mr. President” the tune of the night. 

Overall, the presidential “debate” lacked substance and dignity. It was continuous interruptions, insults from both sides, exaggerations, and an excessive amount of facial expressions from the POTUS. 

The question is: who won? Definitely not the American people hoping to be further informed. Trump did nothing to convince voters that weren’t already squarely in his corner and while Biden made some points, he wasn’t able to fully explain his policies or finish his talking points. 

All in all, this whole debate was, in the words of CNN’s Dana Bash “a shitshow.”

Please go out and VOTE.