Nigeria: Amnesty activists uncover serious negligence by oil giants Shell and Eni .
Amnesty International | 2018-03-16
A groundbreaking research project by Amnesty International has exposed evidence of serious negligence by oil giants Shell and Eni, whose irresponsible approach to oil spills in the Niger Delta is exacerbating an environmental crisis. | Through the Decoders network, an innovative platform developed by Amnesty International to crowdsource human rights research, the organization enlisted thousands of supporters and activists to collect data about oil spills in the Niger Delta. Their findings were then analyzed by Amnesty International's researchers and verified by Accufacts, an independent pipelines expert. | According to this publicly available data, Amnesty International found that Shell and Eni are taking weeks to respond to reports of spills and publishing misleading information about the cause and severity of spills, which may result in communities not receiving compensation. | "Shell and Eni claim they are doing everything they can to prevent oil…
www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/nigeria-amnesty-activists-uncover-serious-negligence-by-oil-giants-shell-and-eni/
Nigeria: Negligence in the Niger Delta: decoding Shell and Eni's poor record on oil spills.
Amnesty International | 2018-03-16
This ground breaking research project by Amnesty International has exposed evidence of serious negligence by oil giants Shell and Eni, whose irresponsible approach to oil spills in the Niger Delta is exacerbating an environmental crisis. Through the Decoders network, an innovative platform developed by Amnesty International to crowdsource human rights research, the organization enlisted thousands of supporters and activists to collect data about oil spills in the Niger Delta. These findings confirm that Shell and Eni are failing to operate responsibly and in line with Nigerian law and best practice standards. Their failures are resulting in worse pollution in the Niger Delta, which has a negative impact on the rights of the people living there.
Nigeria: Negligence in the Niger Delta: decoding Shell and Eni’s poor record on oil spills
A Spark to a Wider Fire: Movement Against Immigrant Detention in New Jersey.
ELJA | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
Trump has delivered on his promise to step up attacks on immigrant workers: A surge in arrests by ICE, targeting of immigrant activists like Ravi Ragbir in New York City, ending DACA protection for 700,000 young people, and threatening cities and states that offer even minimal protections to immigrants. How do we respond? How do…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/a-spark-to-a-wider-fire-movement-against-immigrant-detention-in-new-jersey/
There's a New Law That Could Allow the President to Send Armed Secret Service to Polling Places.
William Boardman, Reader Supported News | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-16
This is an assault on voting rights. | SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION AT POLLING PLACES. | This section shall not prevent any officer or agent of the United States Secret Service from providing armed protective services authorized under section 3056 or pursuant to a Presidential memorandum at any place where a general or special election is held. [emphasis added]– H. R. 2825, section 4012The single sentence above, which amends current federal law, would give the president unprecedented authority to send armed Secret Service agents to any US polling place for any reason. The law allows the president to send armed Secret Service agents to every US polling place if he has enough agents. The 250-page bill containing this new authority, H. R. 2825, is the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act, introduced in the House on June 8, 2017, by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul. . .
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Breaking the Ice.
Robert Koehler | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
Perhaps the best political news of the Trump era has been the emergence of sanctuary cities — city governments valuing the presence of immigrants and standing for the protection of their right to live without fear — and their defiance of this country's current manifestation of legal racism.
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/breaking-the-ice/
Why Trump's Tariff Travesty Will Not Re-Industrialize the US.
Sharmini Peries, Michael Hudson | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
SHARMINI PERIES: It's The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or known as the OECD, predicted on Tuesday that Trump's tariffs on aluminum and steel imports could initiate a wave of protectionism and slow global economic growth. The tariffs have already spurred various…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/why-trumps-tariff-travesty-will-not-re-industrialize-the-us/
Mexico: 48 asylum seekers at risk of refoulement.
Amnesty International | 2018-03-16
48 people including families and children, who came to Mexico looking for protection, are at risk of being deported to possible persecution or grave human rights violations in their countries due to unusual failures in the procedures of Mexico ¥s refugee agency and migration authority.
U.S. Wildlife Protection Panel Stuffed With Trophy Hunters.
Staff | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-16
The new advisory board was created to help rewrite federal rules for importing parts of elephants, lions and rhinos. Some of its members have ties to the Trump family. | The post U.S. Wildlife Protection Panel Stuffed With Trophy Hunters appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/u-s-wildlife-protection-panel-stuffed-with-trophy-hunters/
Ukraine: Police must protect women's rights activists.
Amnesty International | 2018-03-16
Across Ukraine, marches marking International Women's Day, on 8 March, were marred by violence against peaceful demonstrators. Far-right groups physically attacked and have threatened with further violence women's rights activists taking part in the event. The local police say that they are unable to offer protection from far-right groups.
What to Do at the End of the World? Interview with Climate Crisis Activist, Kevin Hester.
Kollibri terre Sonnenblume | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
Kevin Hester is an environmental and anti-imperialist activist living in New Zealand who is raising the alarm about the dramatic, planetary-scale changes that are underway. He is expecting "the imminent collapse of the biosphere from the perfect storm of runaway abrupt climate change and indifferent human hubris." He regularly publicizes the latest pertinent stories and…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/what-to-do-at-the-end-of-the-world-interview-with-climate-crisis-activist-kevin-hester/
Clean Energy is Calling. Will Your Phone Company Answer?
Beth Porter | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
There currently is a cavernous lack of leadership in our federal government on tackling climate change. Fortunately, cities, states, universities, and some businesses have stepped up to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and grow our renewable energy. But there's been one reluctant industry: your phone company. The telecom industry uses enough electricity to power all…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/clean-energy-is-calling-will-your-phone-company-answer/
"Real Organic" Label Bites Back at Industrial Agriculture.
Truthout Stories | 2018-03-16
Support from readers keeps Truthout 100 percent independent. If you like what you're reading, make a donation! | When you think of organic food, you probably imagine a bucolic farm with happy cows out in the pasture and crops growing lush and healthy in fields free of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. | There's a reason for that image: It was the original intent of the organic movement, which aimed to reclaim farming and preserve soil integrity. Unfortunately, the value of the organic label — now regulated by the USDA — has been undermined in recent years by the rise of what some refer to as " industrial organic." | Now, "organic" includes
www.truth-out.org/news/item/43852-farmworkers-bring-human-rights-fight-to-wendy-s-doorstep-fasting-and-calling-for-boycott-over-abuses
Drenched in Crude: It's an Oil Free For All, But That's Not a New Thing.
Joshua Frank | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-16
For decades our public lands have been exploited by oil and gas companies and the price these greedy developers are paying for the right to drill continues to plunge. A recent analysis by Project on Government Oversight (POGO) reveals that since 1983, the per acre price for oil drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/16/drenched-in-crude-its-an-oil-free-for-all-but-thats-not-a-new-thing/
Niger Delta Negligence.
Amnesty International | 2018-03-16
Philippines: Onslaught on human rights defenders must end.
Amnesty International | 2018-03-15
The Philippine government must immediately halt its latest wave of dangerous attacks on human rights defenders and international institutions. Human rights defenders – among them two UN human rights experts – must be guaranteed protection in the country and be allowed to carry out their work freely.
On 10th Anniversary of Wall Street Crash, Democrats Help GOP Set Stage for Next One.
Truthout Stories | 2018-03-15
Thirty seconds: That's how long it takes to support the independent journalism at Truthout. We're counting on you. Click here to chip in! | Democrats had the power to stop a massive big bank giveaway from passing the Senate Wednesday night, but instead they decided — with a " green light" from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y) — to hand the GOP more than enough votes to ram the deregulatory bill through instead, commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis by significantly increasing the risk of another one. | In addition to Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), 16 Democrats joined a unified Republican caucus in approving the so-called "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act." | Rootstrikers, an anti-corruption group that worked for weeks to mobilize against what progressive critics…
www.truth-out.org/news/item/43849-on-10th-anniversary-of-wall-street-crash-democrats-help-gop-set-stage-for-next-one
Stephen Hawking: Fighter for Progressive Politics.
TRNN | The Real News Network | 2018-03-15
Scientist Stephen Hawking spoke out against wars, called for action against climate change, and defended socialist programs – Ben Norton reports.
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21376
No Cards Left to Play but the Threat of Armageddon.
Staff | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-15
There is no mystery to the ideological collapse of U.S. ruling class politics under late stage capitalism and imperial decline. Simply put, the corporate duopoly parties have nothing to offer the masses of people except unrelenting austerity at home and endless wars abroad. A shrunken and privatized Detroit serves as the model for U.S. urban policy; Libya and Syria are the scorched-earth footprints of a demented and dying empire. The lengthening shadow of economic eclipse by the East leaves the U.S. Lords of Capital with no cards left to play but the threat of Armageddon. | As China reclaims its historic place at the center of the earth, alongside the huge and heavily armed landmass of Russia, Washington flails about in a frenzy of firewall-building, buying time with the blood of millions, hoping to somehow preserve its doomed hegemony. But the "exceptional" superpower…
truthdig.com/articles/no-cards-left-to-play-but-the-threat-of-armageddon/
#MAGA Staffing Solutions (Video).
Mark Fiore | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-15
Now that Rex Tillerson is out of the way, it looks like the scary fun is really going to begin. While Tillerson was happily gutting the State Department, his relationship with President Trump was deteriorating for a variety of reasons. Chief among them seemed to be that Ol' Oilhound Rex wasn't sufficiently "America First." | Trump found his man for State in Mike Pompeo, a guy who is the number one all-time top recipient of Koch funding, has called for Edward Snowden to be put to death and has talked about how easy it would be to bomb Iran into oblivion. Pompeo a Tea Partier, who had been heading the CIA, seems like a perfect match for the insanity of Trump administration "diplomacy." | Tuesday was a busy day: Tillerson was out, Pompeo was…
truthdig.com/cartoons/maga-staffing-solutions-video/
Jim Hightower: Everybody Does Better When Everybody Does Better.
Jim Hightower, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-15
How to build a Democratic Party for the future. | My father, W. F. "High" Hightower, was a populist. Only, he didn't know it; didn't know the word, much less the history or anything about populism's rich democratic ethos. But he knew about bankers who regularly squeezed small-business families like ours with usurious interest rates. He knew how rough it was for a local business to fight off deep-pocketed chain stores that use predatory pricing and sledgehammer advertising budgets to seize local markets. And he saw with his very own eyes that the governor and legislature in faraway Austin operated as subsidiaries of Big Oil, the utility monopolies, and the other giants that were allowed to profit by picking the pockets of the general public. He and my mother, Lillie, knew one other thing, too: There was once a Democratic Party that stood up for. . .
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Britain's Not So Distant History of State Sponsored Assassinations.
Gavin OReilly | MintPress News | 2018-03-15
With the eyes of the world focused on the alleged nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal, the Russian who worked as a British double-agent before being exiled to the UK in 2010, since he and his daughter were found slumped on a Salisbury public bench last Sunday, one can't help but notice the hypocritical reaction of the British political establishment to the attack. | Addressing the House of Commons on Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May alleged Kremlin involvement in the incident due to 'Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations'. | These words were spoken in a self-righteous sense, one that suggested the UK held the moral ground over Russia and would never go so far as to conduct assassinations of political opponents on foreign soil. | Anyone with even a basic knowledge of British foreign policy towards Ireland however, would know that this…
Britain’s Not So Distant History of State Sponsored Assassinations
Pakistan's Wasteland: The Bhutto Backyard.
Naween Mangi | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-15
Marjan, a mother of six, and her husband, Mumtaz Ali, an unemployed driver, live in a mud hut with a thatched roof held up by tree trunks. Inside, a plastic bag holding a few tomatoes and a few sprigs of cilantro hangs on a nail, and along the walls the couple have displayed the few steel utensils–cups, plates and bowls–that make up their family wealth. | Like many of the few hundred homes in Marjan's community, the house has no toilet. Marjan's bathing area is at an open-air, rusty hand pump that draws water from the ground; she's been collecting bricks around it, hoping to build walls one day. Her kitchen is a tiny patch of land shaded by a discarded political banner where she squats over a fire fueled by buffalo dung as she cooks rice for her children. |
truthdig.com/articles/pakistans-wasteland-the-bhutto-backyard/
Anti-Pipeline Indigenous 'Mass Mobilization' Has Begun.
TRNN | The Real News Network | 2018-03-14
In what may become the 'Standing Rock of the North', thousands protest Kinder Morgan's Trans-Mountain Pipeline expansion, which would carry more toxic tar sands through First Nation territories…
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21366
Italy Shuts Down 'Worrying' Migrant Hotspot.
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-14
Migrants disembark from the SOS MEDITERRANEE ship Aquarius at the Italian island of Lampedusa, April 18, 2016. | © 2016 SOS MEDITERRANEE | Good news! The Italian Interior Ministry announced yesterday the temporary closure of an abusive migrant processing center on Lampedusa, Italy's tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea. | The government decision came after damning reports by the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights, the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration, and IndieWatch, which documented how some asylum seekers faced lengthy detention in the facility, known as a "hotspot," intended only for use to house asylum seekers and other migrants for short periods while they are formally identified. It also found degrading conditions and lack of protection for women and children. One family that applied for asylum…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/14/italy-shuts-down-worrying-migrant-hotspot
US Senators Urge EPA to Keep Protecting Kids from Pesticides.
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-14
Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, answers a question during the Concordia Summit in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | Yesterday, while the world watched as US President Donald Trump fired his Secretary of State and reshuffled people in two top posts, 28 US senators made an important move that might not make headlines: They protested US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposals to weaken pesticide protections for children. | The lawmakers wrote to Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, after the EPA announced it was considering rolling back two Obama-era safeguards that prohibit children under 18 from handling pesticides on farms and in other workplaces. The Senators, led by Tom Udall (D-NM), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Dianne…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/14/us-senators-urge-epa-keep-protecting-kids-pesticides
White House Shakeup Threatens Legal Protections.
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-14
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | President Donald Trump's nomination of Mike Pompeo to head the State Department and Gina Haspel the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) do not bode well for US commitments to uphold basic rights and the rule of law at home and abroad. | Last year, Human Rights Watch opposed Pompeo to be CIA director partly because of his prior endorsement of torture. These concerns persist. During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo said waterboarding and other previously used interrogation techniques that amounted to torture were barred by a 2015 law. But in written follow-up questions, he raised the possibility that the law may have to be revised if it became an…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/14/white-house-shakeup-threatens-legal-protections
Challenging Trump's Greatest Crimes.
J. Whitfield Larrabee | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-14
One of the best responses to Donald Trump's energy and environmental policies, that are destroying the Earth by accelerating severe climate change, is for the International Criminal Court ("ICC") to promptly charge him with several crimes against humanity. On February 26, 2018, I filed a complaint with Fatou Bensouda, the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, asking her to prosecute Trump and EPA administrator…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/14/challenging-trumps-greatest-crimes/
4 Things You Should Know About Ayahuasca.
Jared Michaelson, Kahpi: The Ayahuasca Hub | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-14
If you're thinking about a spiritual journey with the hallucinogenic tea, read up. | If you boil the two plants Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis long enough, you'll end up with the powerful brew ayahuasca. But, I don't recommend you make it yourself, nor drink it along, unless you really known what you're doing. It's not something to approach lightly. When consumed, it usually creates extraordinary experiences of visions, intense emotions and possibly vomiting. In this article, you'll learn: Why people drink ayahuasca. What are the risks and benefits of drinking the brew. Why preparing for an ayahuasca retreat is so important. Why the period after a retreat is also so important. Who Is Drinking Ayahuasca? The brew has been used in special ways by many native peoples of the Amazon Rainforest for healing, magic and social welfare for at least a few centuries, possibly much longer. In. . .
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Skripal, Novichok, Russia, Israel, Syria, MI6 and Salisbury.
Craig Murray | Global Research | 2018-03-14
The same people who assured you that Saddam Hussein had WMD's now assure you Russian "novichok" nerve agents are being wielded by Vladimir Putin to attack people on British soil. As with the Iraqi WMD dossier, it is essential to …
globalresearch.ca/skripal-novichok-russia-israel-syria-mi6-and-salisbury/5632102
Critics of Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana Decry State & Company Surveillance of Protesters.
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-13
In Louisiana, newly disclosed documents reveal a state intelligence agency regularly spied on activists opposing construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which would carry nearly a half-million barrels of oil per day across Louisiana's wetlands. The documents show the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness regularly drafted intelligence memos on anti-pipeline activists, including a gathering of indigenous-led water protectors who've set up a protest encampment along the pipeline's route. Other newly revealed documents show close coordination between Louisiana regulators and the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners. This comes just one week after a U.S. district judge in Baton Rouge ordered a temporary injunction against construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline in order to "prevent further irreparable harm" to the region's delicate ecosystems, while court challenges proceed. For more, we speak with Pastor Harry Joseph of the Mount Triumph Baptist Church. We also speak with Pamela Spees of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/13/critics_of_bayou_bridge_pipeline_in
Notes on Terminology.
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-13
Climate Crisis, Not "Climate Change" My next-to-last CounterPunch essay ("Someone Tell a Reporter: the Rich Are Destroying the Earth") elicited a smart criticism from a senior scientist:…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/13/notes-on-terminology/
Trump Attacks Earth, Resistance and Innovation.
Mel Gurtov | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-13
In 1992, 1700 scientists from around the world signed a "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity. The statement argued that "human beings and the natural world are on a collision course," and urged immediate, dramatic to reverse the trend. Last fall the statement was updated. This "second notice" has now been signed by 20,000 experts. As you would…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/13/trump-attacks-earth-resistance-and-innovation/
Singapore: Reject Sweeping Public Order Bill.
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-12
A general view of the Parliament House in Singapore June 2, 2016. | © 2016 Reuters | (New York) — Singapore's proposed public order law would further empower the government to repress freedom of assembly and speech, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should revise the Public Order and Safety (Special Powers) bill, introduced in Parliament on February 27, 2018, to ensure that protection of public safety does not violate fundamental rights. | "The Singaporean government's history of persecuting dissenting voices makes the proposed public order law particularly frightening," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Public protests are not a threat that justify the wholescale repeal of basic rights." | While international law permits government restrictions on certain rights for reasons of national security or public order, they…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/12/singapore-reject-sweeping-public-order-bill
Rising anger over aid delays in Papua New Guinea's catastrophic quake disaster.
WSWS | World Socialist Web Site | 2018-03-12
The humanitarian crisis resulting from the earthquake exposes the inadequate response of the PNG and Australian governments.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/03/12/pngq-m12.html
Fixing Global Warming is Bigger Than Paris '15.
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-12
The worldwide effort to harness, slow down, lessen, reduce, remove the threat of global warming is epitomized by the Paris '15 climate accord. This agreement calls for nations of the world to implement plans to slow down greenhouse gas emissions, specifically CO2 from fossil fuels, and to take other remedial actions necessary to hold global temps below 2 ∞C but preferably 1.5 ∞C relative to the start of the industrial revolution over 200 years ago.
counterpunch.org/2018/03/12/fixing-global-warming-is-bigger-than-paris-15/
Toxic Coal Ash Being Dumped in Puerto Rico, Which Already Suffers Worst Drinking Water in the Nation.
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-09
Even before Hurricane Maria struck the island nearly six months ago, the majority of Puerto Rico's residents lived with water that violated health standards set by the U.S. law. Since the storm, residents say the situation has only gotten worse. Among the sources of potential water contamination are mountains of coal ash generated by a coal-fired power plant owned by a private company called AES. For years, residents have demanded the company stop dumping toxic coal ash into their community, saying the waste is poisonous to their health and the environment. We speak with Mekela Panditharatne, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council who just returned from the island and wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post headlined "FEMA says most of Puerto Rico has potable water. That can't be true."
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/9/toxic_coal_ash_being_dumped_in
What the Earth Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted.
CP Editor | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-09
counterpunch.org/2018/03/09/what-the-earth-would-look-like-if-all-the-ice-melted/
Lori Wallach and Michael Hudson Debate Trump's Plan to Impose Steel & Aluminum Tariffs.
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-06
"Trade wars are good, and easy to win." That's the message President Trump tweeted on Friday, sending shockwaves across the globe and sparking fear of impending economic volatility. On Thursday, world stock markets tumbled after Trump announced he plans to impose new tariffs on imports of foreign steel and aluminum. The new tariffs–25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum–will benefit U.S. producers of the metals, while raising prices for companies that manufacture everything from cars to airplanes to high-rise apartments. Prominent Republicans and business leaders have denounced Trump's plan, saying the tariffs will hurt the manufacturing industry and U.S. competitiveness. Trump's announcement has also prompted concerns that other countries will impose retaliatory tariffs while challenging U.S. protectionism at the World Trade Organization. For more, we host a debate. Lori Wallach is the director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and author of "The Rise and Fall of Fast Track Trade Authority." Economist Michael Hudson is the author of "America's Protectionist Takeoff 1815-1914."
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/6/lori_wallach_and_michael_hudson_debate