WELL, THAT WAS POINTLESS.

January means rebajas in Spain. Resist the temptation to buy clothes we don’t need, no matter how cheap! 

Today's Climate Update
The High Price We’re All Paying for Those Cheap Clothes

It´s January, and that means rebajas! Clothes are on sale, and at these prices, who can resist grabbing a few bargains? But deep discounts come with a steep cost. Textile production is the second “dirtiest” industry after oil, and C02 emissions from fast fashion are expected to increase 60% by the year 2030, amounting to 2.8 billion tons per year. The industry is water intensive, diverting clean water from people who need it, and relies on harsh chemicals and dyes, which are major polluters of groundwater.
 
Fast fashion refers to clothes that are mass produced and cheaply made by outsourced workers, usually young women, who are exploited, underpaid, and working in hazardous conditions to cut corners. These clothes are cheap, easy to buy without thinking, and don’t last long. They’re not supposed to. The poor quality is intended to make the item easy to discard, without being reused, resold, or repurposed. In the US we send 13 million tons of our clothing to landfills every year. And then we’re ready to buy more.
 
What can we do? Resist the temptation to buy clothes we don’t need, no matter how cheap! Buy second-hand clothes when we can, and when we must buy new, look for items that are made from recycled materials, and invest in items that will last many years.
 
Second-Hand Shops in Seville: Humana, Ropero, Nostalgia.
 
Documentary Recommendation: The True Cost (Available on Netflix. Don’t have Netflix? Watch with a friend who does.)
 
Article by Natalie Snow Purinton
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STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

Well, THAT was pointless.
Although it’s interpreted differently in FoxWorld, the end of the government shutdown is generally seen as a win for Nancy Pelosi and a loss for Trump. The deadlock over a border wall ended more or less where it started, with the president accepting a deal he previously rejected (after having originally agreed to it.) 
However, let us not forget to blame Mitch McConnell for his part in the whole long stupid ordeal. 
—Kathy Sherretts

Video:
CNN: You’re calling it a wall? (2 min)
What makes you think I didn’t know that? (2 min)
An interview with legal counsel for the oil industry.

Article:
The New Yorker: Halfway Through the Trump Presidency, the Resistance Is Winning by John Cassidy
At the halfway point in this Presidential cycle, Trump has undoubtedly disrupted the American system of government, but he hasn’t upended it. . 

Article:
Slate: The Trump Administration Quietly Changed the Definition of Domestic Violence and We Have No Idea What For by Natalie Nanasi 
A domestic violence relationship rarely begins with physical violence, much less violence that rises to the level of a crime.

Cartoon:
This Modern World: Life in the Stupidverse by Tom Tomorrow

On Jan. 17th, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started the hashtag #whereismitch after looking for Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — whose priority, rather than reopening the government, was an anti-abortion bill that would disproportionately affect lower-income women. For now, his efforts were defeated.
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Ready to do more?

Read the Indivisible Guide 2.0, a new strategy for a new congress.
 
Check out the weekly action plan from Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) which mobilizes progressive Americans living overseas.
 
Sign up for the Americans of Conscience Checklist, a weekly action list that also provides encouragement and good news.
 
Learn more at ClimateRecovery.org, a new group organized by members of American Resistance Sevilla and other community activists. Have questions or want to volunteer? [email protected].
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