Why Should the Poor Pay High Drug Prices?
Truthout Stories | 2018-04-02
(Photo: DedMityay / Getty Images) | We have seen a lot of hyperventilating in political circles over Donald Trump's recently proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum. While these do not seem like well-considered policies, and are likely to do more harm than good even from the narrow standpoint of increasing manufacturing employment, they are not by themselves the horror story being presented. | Steel prices often fluctuate by 20 or 30 percent over the course of a year, as they did in 2016. If tariffs raise the price in the US by 10 percent, that would be unfortunate for downstream industries, but not exactly a catastrophe. | However, more important than the specifics of a steel tariff is the implicit assumption that the country as a whole has an interest in stronger and longer patent and copyright protection. Many pundits have attacked Trump's…
www.truth-out.org/news/item/44031-us-trade-policy-why-should-the-poor-pay-high-drug-prices
Trump's Protectionism and China's Emergence as a World Economic Power.
Prof. James Petras | Global Research | 2018-04-02
US Presidents, European leaders and their academic spokespeople have attributed China's growing market shares, trade surpluses and technological power to its "theft" of western technology, "unfair" or non-reciprocal trade and restrictive investment practices. President Trump has launched a 'trade war', …
globalresearch.ca/trumps-protectionism-and-chinas-emergence-as-a-world-power/5634351
The Isolation of Julian Assange Must Stop.
John Pilger | Global Research | 2018-04-02
If it was ever clear that the case of Julian Assange was never just a legal case, but a struggle for the protection of basic human rights, it is now. | Citing his critical tweets about the recent detention of Catalan …
globalresearch.ca/the-isolation-of-julian-assange-must-stop/5634306
Nations Won't Reach Paris Climate Goal Without Protecting Wildlife and Nature, Warns Report.
Truthout Stories | 2018-04-02
A sweeping new report emphasizes just how intertwined the challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity truly are. | The Paris Climate Agreement and several other United Nations (UN) pacts "all depend on the health and vitality of our natural environment in all its diversity and complexity," said Dr. Anne Larigauderie, executive secretary of the UN-backed organization behind the report. "Acting to protect and promote biodiversity is at least as important to achieving these commitments and to human well-being as is the fight against global climate change." | The report comes from the efforts of more than 550 scientists in over 100 nations, corralled by an organization often dubbed "the IPCC for biodiversity." | Much like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assesses the state of research on global warming and its impacts, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and…
www.truth-out.org/news/item/44035-nations-won-t-reach-paris-climate-goal-without-protecting-wildlife-and-nature-warns-report
Climate Change, Biodiversity, Wildlife and the Ecosystem.
Ashley Braun | Global Research | 2018-04-02
Featured image: Sierpe river mangrove in Costa Rica. Credit: Tanguy de Saint-Cyr/ Shutterstock.com, via IPBES | A sweeping new report released today emphasizes just how intertwined the challenges of climate change and loss of biodiversity truly are.The Paris Climate …
globalresearch.ca/climate-change-biodiversity-wildlife-and-the-ecosystem/5634392
Scandi Noir, Kim Wall and Murder.
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2018-04-02
Finland, a country noted for deep felt suicides executed during long dark winter months, has become the happiest nation on earth. This statistical superstition, contrived to feed a social-media diet free of substance and light on evidence, belies one fundamental point: Scandinavia can boast its examples of curious killings and extravagant murders. Little wonder, then, that…
counterpunch.org/2018/04/02/scandi-noir-kim-wall-and-murder/
Weapons for Anyone: 
Donald Trump and the Art of the Arms Deal.
William D. Hartung, TomDispatch | AlterNet.org | 2018-04-02
Trump wants to peddle arms to the hottest spots on Earth. | It's one of those stories of the century that somehow never gets treated that way. For an astounding 25 of the past 26 years, the United States has been the leading arms dealer on the planet, at some moments in near monopolistic fashion. Its major weapons-producers, including Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, regularly pour the latest in high-tech arms and munitions into the most explosive areas of the planet with ample assistance from the Pentagon. In recent years, the bulk of those arms have gone to the Greater Middle East. Donald Trump is only the latest American president to preside over a global arms sales bonanza. With remarkable enthusiasm, he's appointed himself America's number one weapons salesman and he couldn't be prouder of the job. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536639372/0/alternet
"Scandinavian Noir", Kim Wall and Murder.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | Global Research | 2018-04-02
Finland, a country noted for deep felt suicides executed during long dark winter months, has become the happiest nation on earth. This statistical superstition, contrived to feed a social-media diet free of substance and light on evidence, belies one fundamental …
globalresearch.ca/scandinavian-noir-kim-wall-and-murder/5634283
The Warm War: Russiamania at the Boiling Point.
Jim Kavanagh | counterpunch.org | 2018-04-02
Is it war yet? Yes, in too many respects. It's a relentless economic, diplomatic, and ideological war, spiced with (so far) just a dash of military war, and the strong scent of more to come. I mean war with Russia, of course, although Russia is the point target for a constellation of emerging adversaries the US is desperate to entame before any one or combination of them becomes too strong to defeat.
counterpunch.org/2018/04/02/the-warm-war-russiamania-at-the-boiling-point/
The Outrage Over Trump's Syria Withdrawal: "We Took The Oil. We've Got To Keep The Oil"
ZeroHedge.com | MintPress News | 2018-04-02
Weekend editorials and cable news pundit shows reacted in disbelief and horror – with charges of "chaos" at the Trump White House over Syria policy, and claims that "ISIS will come back. | The post The Outrage Over Trump's Syria Withdrawal: "We Took The Oil. We've Got To Keep The Oil" appeared first on MintPress News.
The Outrage Over Trump's Syria Withdrawal: "We Took The Oil. We’ve Got To Keep The Oil"
Charles Blow: The American Justice System Was Designed to Kill Black Men.
Ilana Novick, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-04-02
Police shootings like the one that left Stephon Clark dead are a feature, not a bug. | Protests erupted in Sacramento and around the country this week after Stephon Clark was killed by police, the latest in what's become a regular occurrence in America. These protests are necessary and even briefly cathartic, but as Charles Blow writes in his Monday column, the relief they provide is overshadowed by an ugly truth: the American justice system is designed to kill people of color. Whether it's Trayvon Martin in Florida, Michael Brown in St. Louis, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, or Eric Garner in New York, there is a "ritualization of these traumas in which the shootings serve as catalysts, a lancing of the boil, in which decades of oppression, neglect, desperation and hopelessness finds a venting valve. " The protests begin as a response to individual. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536608290/0/alternet
Trump Appoints Endangered Species Foe to Oversee Protection of America's Most Imperiled Wildlife.
FBD | Global Research | 2018-04-01
The Trump administration has quietly named Susan Combs — an outspoken foe of endangered species and a climate change denier — as acting assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. She now oversees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and …
globalresearch.ca/trump-appoints-endangered-species-foe-to-oversee-protection-of-americas-most-imperiled-wildlife/5634236
The Oligarchs' 'Guaranteed Basic Income' Scam.
Chris Hedges | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-04-01
Don't buy the oily declarations from the tech billionaires and others that they want to help you survive financially. What they want is to more fully stuff their own pockets. | The post The Oligarchs' 'Guaranteed Basic Income' Scam appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/the-oligarchs-guaranteed-basic-income-scam/
Ecuador Grants Open-Pit Mining Permits in One of the World's Most Biodiverse Areas.
Truthout Stories | 2018-04-01
The Ecuadorian government has opened huge portions of land to large-scale open-pit mining projects. Last week, Mindo residents were among the thousands who took to the streets all across Ecuador in a march to demand an end to environmentally destructive mining.Protesters march against mining on March 22, 2018, near Mindo, Ecuador. (Photo: Sophie Moon) | Mindo is a small village in the lush, tropical cloud forest that descends from the Andes to the coast just outside of Quito, Ecuador. The cloud forest is home to an abundance of wildlife, such as brightly colored lizards, wild cats, spectacled bear, and over 600 species of birds. Mindo was recently named one of the top 10 places to birdwatch in the world by National Geographic, and those who live there are known for their conservationist stances and fights against oil corporations. The area is so…
www.truth-out.org/news/item/44020-ecuador-grants-open-pit-mining-permits-in-one-of-the-world-s-most-biodiverse-areas
Delinquent $13.8 Billion Pipeline Company Receives Minor Fine For Major Oil Spill.
TRNN | The Real News Network | 2018-03-31
In the last 12 years, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, who manage one of the largest petroleum pipeline networks in the U.S., has had 61 incidents, 12 of which have been in Indiana, including recent spill of 42,000 gallons of diesel. In the same week they had to pay fine of $300 thousand for spill last year but Sierra Club's Jodi Perras says that's 'a drop in the bucket' for the company which made a profit of $330 million last year.
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21465
A TigerSwan Employee Quietly Registered a New Business in Louisiana After the State Denied the Security Firm a License to Operate.
Alleen Brown | The Intercept | 2018-03-30
The company notorious for surveilling pipeline opponents at Standing Rock was pursuing a contract to guard Louisiana's Bayou Bridge pipeline. | The post A TigerSwan Employee Quietly Registered a New Business in Louisiana After the State Denied the Security Firm a License to Operate appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/03/30/louisiana-bayou-bridge-pipeline-tigerswan-private-security/
March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause.
Jon Jeter | MintPress News | 2018-03-30
The dynamism and interracial character of last week's March For Our Lives rallies provides further evidence that American workers have a chance of challenging the wealthy for a bigger piece of the pie only when they put their tribal differences aside to fight together. | The post March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause appeared first on MintPress News.
March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause
March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause
Jon Jeter | MintPress News | 2018-03-30
The dynamism and interracial character of last week's March For Our Lives rallies provides further evidence that American workers have a chance of challenging the wealthy for a bigger piece of the pie only when they put their tribal differences aside to fight together. | The post March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause appeared first on MintPress News.
March For Our Lives: A New Generation Sets Aside Tribalism for a Progressive Cause
The Mosquito Gap: Climate Change and Infectious Diseases.
Sarah Anderson | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-30
OK, I admit it, I'm a freeloader. My neighbors asked if I'd go in on a mosquito control service last spring, and I turned them down. I was skeptical about whether the "eco-friendly" service would actually work. But I was mostly taken aback by the cost: $750 for the season. Several neighbors went ahead and…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/30/the-mosquito-gap-climate-change-and-infectious-diseases/
The Mosquito Gap: Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Sarah Anderson | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-30
OK, I admit it, I'm a freeloader. My neighbors asked if I'd go in on a mosquito control service last spring, and I turned them down. I was skeptical about whether the "eco-friendly" service would actually work. But I was mostly taken aback by the cost: $750 for the season. Several neighbors went ahead and…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/30/the-mosquito-gap-climate-change-and-infectious-diseases/
Republican Climate Denialism Has Sunk to a Staggering New Low Under Trump
Sophia Tesfaye, Salon | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
We didn't think the party could regress any further, but here we are. | Climate and weather are not the same thing, but good luck convincing the president of the United States of that basic fact. As if his tweets dismissing global warming as a "hoax" manufactured by the Chinese and his decision to pull the U. S. out of the multinational Paris Agreement on climate change weren't depressing enough, now there is evidence that Donald Trump's determination to make the Republican Party the " stupid party" has been a wild success. In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536078008/0/alternet
Big Oil and Climate Science on Trial
TRNN | The Real News Network | 2018-03-30
Climate change science is basis of San Francisco and Oakland's legal case against Big Oil companies, to make them pay billions for rising public cost of rising sea level due to global warming. In surprise move, Chevron admits humans are causing climate change but say they are not liable…
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21481
Court Tosses Exxon's 'Implausible' Lawsuit Seeking to Stop Climate Probe.
Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. | A federal judge on Thursday threw out ExxonMobil's lawsuit that sought to derail New York and Massachusetts' probe into whether the oil giant misled investors and the public about its knowledge of climate change. Exxon tried to convince U. S. District Court Judge Valerie A. Caproni that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey were infringing on the company's free speech rights and the AGs were pursuing politically motivated investigations. But in a searing ruling, Caproni called the company's claims "implausible" and "a wild stretch of logic. ""The relief requested by Exxon in this case is extraordinary: Exxon has asked two federal courts–first in Texas, now in New York–to stop state officials from conducting duly authorized investigations into potential fraud," she wrote. "It has done so on the. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536180430/0/alternet
Melting Arctic and Antarctic Ice Sheets, Rising Oceans: The High Price of Delayed Action on Climate Change
Dan Drollette Jr | Global Research | 2018-03-30
New research (February 20, 2018) in Nature Communications found that in the 168 years that have passed since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the world's oceans have risen a total of about 8 inches. The study also found that …
globalresearch.ca/melting-arctic-and-antarctic-ice-sheets-rising-oceans-the-high-price-of-delayed-action-on-climate-change/5634099
Court Tosses Exxon's 'Implausible' Lawsuit Seeking to Stop Climate Probe
Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. | A federal judge on Thursday threw out ExxonMobil's lawsuit that sought to derail New York and Massachusetts' probe into whether the oil giant misled investors and the public about its knowledge of climate change. Exxon tried to convince U. S. District Court Judge Valerie A. Caproni that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey were infringing on the company's free speech rights and the AGs were pursuing politically motivated investigations. But in a searing ruling, Caproni called the company's claims "implausible" and "a wild stretch of logic. ""The relief requested by Exxon in this case is extraordinary: Exxon has asked two federal courts–first in Texas, now in New York–to stop state officials from conducting duly authorized investigations into potential fraud," she wrote. "It has done so on the. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536180430/0/alternet
Big Oil and Climate Science on Trial.
TRNN | The Real News Network | 2018-03-30
Climate change science is basis of San Francisco and Oakland's legal case against Big Oil companies, to make them pay billions for rising public cost of rising sea level due to global warming. In surprise move, Chevron admits humans are causing climate change but say they are not liable…
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21481
Headlines for March 30, 2018
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-30
EPA to Roll Back Fuel Efficiency and Emissions Standards, Leaked EPA Email Orders Employees to Mislead on Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Lobbyist Gave EPA Chief Cheap Access to D.C. Condo, Leaders of North and South Korea to Meet in April at Truce Village, Russia Expels 60 American Diplomats Amid Mounting Tensions, Gaza: Five Dead, Hundreds Injured as Israeli Troops Fire on Protests, Egypt: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Wins Second Presidential Term in "Farce" Election, Trump Says U.S. to Pull Troops Out of Syria "Like Very Soon", Pentagon Chief Meets John Bolton, Jokes That He's "Devil Incarnate", Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Allow Jailing of Pregnant Women, North Carolina Prohibits Shackling Women Prisoners During Childbirth, Boycott of Laura Ingraham Grows After She Mocks Shooting Survivor, Punished for Distributing Clean Water, MA Prisoner Enters Hunger Strike, Stephon Clark: Hundreds Attend Funeral for Sacramento Man Slain by Police, Texas Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for Voting While on Probation, Oklahoma Teachers Plan Strike as Lawmakers Grant Limited Pay Raise, New York: Activists Hold Jericho Walk to Support Immigrant Mother in Sanctuary…
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/30/headlines
Headlines for March 30, 2018.
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-30
EPA to Roll Back Fuel Efficiency and Emissions Standards, Leaked EPA Email Orders Employees to Mislead on Climate Change, Fossil Fuel Lobbyist Gave EPA Chief Cheap Access to D.C. Condo, Leaders of North and South Korea to Meet in April at Truce Village, Russia Expels 60 American Diplomats Amid Mounting Tensions, Gaza: Five Dead, Hundreds Injured as Israeli Troops Fire on Protests, Egypt: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Wins Second Presidential Term in "Farce" Election, Trump Says U.S. to Pull Troops Out of Syria "Like Very Soon", Pentagon Chief Meets John Bolton, Jokes That He's "Devil Incarnate", Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Allow Jailing of Pregnant Women, North Carolina Prohibits Shackling Women Prisoners During Childbirth, Boycott of Laura Ingraham Grows After She Mocks Shooting Survivor, Punished for Distributing Clean Water, MA Prisoner Enters Hunger Strike, Stephon Clark: Hundreds Attend Funeral for Sacramento Man Slain by Police, Texas Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for Voting While on Probation, Oklahoma Teachers Plan Strike as Lawmakers Grant Limited Pay Raise, New York: Activists Hold Jericho Walk to Support Immigrant Mother in Sanctuary…
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/30/headlines
Boston Will Survive If It Can Prevent The Effects of Climate Change.
Valerie Vande Panne, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
Climate scientists, architects and engineers are rethinking Boston to cope with rapidly rising sea levels. | The city of Boston made news in March for receiving four nor'easters in just three weeks. The storms led to piles of snow and coastal flooding. While hurricanes may famously (and fakely) bring sharks to flooded streets, Boston's floods really do bring swans. That might be a sweet and peaceful picture. But the reality is that much of Boston was built on fill and subject to massive flooding. The city, known for its forward-thinking attitudes, takes the issue very seriously: Does it really want to surrender valuable real estate to mother nature? Paul Kirshen, a professor of climate adaptation at UMass' School for the Environment, is studying the idea of using barrier walls to protect Boston, though he stresses he doesn't advocate for them.
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536535490/0/alternet
Sustainability Tastes Sweeter: Here's Your 2018 Easter Chocolate Shopping Guide
Etelle Higonnet, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
By making better chocolate choices, we can help reduce deforestation, protect wildlife and defend labor rights. | The week surrounding Easter is the top chocolate purchasing week of the year worldwide. Kids and adults all over the world enjoy the fun of Easter egg hunts and savor delicious treats. But chocolate truly is a guilty pleasure. For the chimps in West Africa, sloths in Peru, jaguars in Ecuador, dwarf buffalos in Indonesia and other animals, many of whom are endangered, chocolate spells disaster as cocoa encroaches on their precious forest homes a little more every year alongside our rising global appetite for chocolate. In the fall of last year, Mighty Earth's groundbreaking report " Chocolate's Dark Secret" revealed how the chocolate industry was actually the number-one driver of deforestation in Ghana and Ivory Coast, responsible for around 30 percent of overall. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536098994/0/alternet
Sous Le Pave, La Plage: May 68
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-30
Fifty year anniversaries are important markers in our culture. This is the case whether we are acknowledging an individual's stay on earth or some greater historical moment. This is why so many are remembering the year 1968 in 2018. The nature of these reminiscences varies. Mainstream media coverage writes about 1968 as the year that…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/30/sous-le-pave-la-plage-may-68/
Sustainability Tastes Sweeter: Here's Your 2018 Easter Chocolate Shopping Guide.
Etelle Higonnet, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-30
By making better chocolate choices, we can help reduce deforestation, protect wildlife and defend labor rights. | The week surrounding Easter is the top chocolate purchasing week of the year worldwide. Kids and adults all over the world enjoy the fun of Easter egg hunts and savor delicious treats. But chocolate truly is a guilty pleasure. For the chimps in West Africa, sloths in Peru, jaguars in Ecuador, dwarf buffalos in Indonesia and other animals, many of whom are endangered, chocolate spells disaster as cocoa encroaches on their precious forest homes a little more every year alongside our rising global appetite for chocolate. In the fall of last year, Mighty Earth's groundbreaking report " Chocolate's Dark Secret" revealed how the chocolate industry was actually the number-one driver of deforestation in Ghana and Ivory Coast, responsible for around 30 percent of overall. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/536098994/0/alternet
Sous Le Pave, La Plage: May 68.
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2018-03-30
Fifty year anniversaries are important markers in our culture. This is the case whether we are acknowledging an individual's stay on earth or some greater historical moment. This is why so many are remembering the year 1968 in 2018. The nature of these reminiscences varies. Mainstream media coverage writes about 1968 as the year that…
counterpunch.org/2018/03/30/sous-le-pave-la-plage-may-68/
Regime Change, Partition, and "Sunnistan": John Bolton's Vision for a New Middle East.
Whitney Webb | MintPress News | 2018-03-30
Bolton is likely to push for the creation of a new sectarian state out of Syrian and Iraqi territory, now that the groundwork has been laid and the path largely cleared to building a "new Middle East." Iran is currently the only country in the region with the potential to foil that plan. | The post Regime Change, Partition, and "Sunnistan": John Bolton's Vision for a New Middle East appeared first on MintPress News.
Regime Change, Partition, and “Sunnistan”: John Bolton’s Vision for a New Middle East
Regime Change, Partition, and "Sunnistan": John Bolton's Vision for a New Middle East
Whitney Webb | MintPress News | 2018-03-30
Bolton is likely to push for the creation of a new sectarian state out of Syrian and Iraqi territory, now that the groundwork has been laid and the path largely cleared to building a "new Middle East." Iran is currently the only country in the region with the potential to foil that plan. | The post Regime Change, Partition, and "Sunnistan": John Bolton's Vision for a New Middle East appeared first on MintPress News.
Regime Change, Partition, and “Sunnistan”: John Bolton’s Vision for a New Middle East
Teacher 'Rebellion' Spreads to Oklahoma.
Staff | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-30
OKLAHOMA CITY–A teacher rebellion that started in the hills of West Virginia spread like a prairie fire to Oklahoma this week and now threatens to reach the desert in Arizona. | In the deep red state of Oklahoma, the Republican-led Legislature approved money for teacher raises and more school funding, even hiking taxes on the vaunted oil and gas industry to do it. Republican Governor Mary Fallin rushed to sign the measures into law Thursday. | Oklahoma teachers were inspired by West Virginia, another red state where a 9-day strike led to 5-percent teacher raises. Oklahoma teachers haven't had a raise in a decade of Republican control and they won raises of between 15 and 18 percent. Now, teachers in Arizona thronged their GOP-run Capitol this week, demanding a 20 percent teacher pay hike. | "West Virginia woke us up," Arizona Educators Association…
truthdig.com/articles/teacher-rebellion-spreads-to-oklahoma/
Russia: Activist Attacked in Dagestan
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-29
(Moscow) — An unidentified assailant viciously attacked a representative of Memorial, Russia's leading human rights group, on March 28, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. | Sirazhutdin Datsiev after the attack, March 28, 2018. | © 2018 Memorial, Makhachkala | Sirazhutdin Datsiev, the head of the Memorial office in Dagestan was hospitalized with a head injury. Russian authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate the attack and punish those responsible. | "This cowardly attack can only be regarded as part of the ongoing harassment campaign against Memorial's work in the North Caucasus region," said Yulia Gorbunova, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Russian government needs to provide protection and put a stop to the violent campaign against activists who risk their lives to shed light on appalling human rights abuses in…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/29/russia-activist-attacked-dagestan
Russia: Activist Attacked in Dagestan .
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-29
(Moscow) — An unidentified assailant viciously attacked a representative of Memorial, Russia's leading human rights group, on March 28, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. | Sirazhutdin Datsiev after the attack, March 28, 2018. | © 2018 Memorial, Makhachkala | Sirazhutdin Datsiev, the head of the Memorial office in Dagestan was hospitalized with a head injury. Russian authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate the attack and punish those responsible. | "This cowardly attack can only be regarded as part of the ongoing harassment campaign against Memorial's work in the North Caucasus region," said Yulia Gorbunova, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Russian government needs to provide protection and put a stop to the violent campaign against activists who risk their lives to shed light on appalling human rights abuses in…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/29/russia-activist-attacked-dagestan
Trump's Nominee to Oversee Superfund Program Spent Decades Fighting EPA Cleanups on Behalf of Polluters.
Sharon Lerner | The Intercept | 2018-03-29
Though he has openly disparaged much of his agency's mission, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has remained steadfastly enthusiastic about Superfund, the federal program responsible for cleaning up some of the country's most contaminated industrial sites. The EPA budget brief released in February said the agency would "accelerate the pace of cleanups" and make an additional 102 Superfund sites and 1,368 brownfield sites "ready for use" by September 30, 2019. That move follows Pruitt's creation of a " Superfund task force," which laid out the program's priorities in July and, in December, issued a list of 21 sites to be fast-tracked for cleanup. | Yet even as he's offered up these promises, some of Pruitt's budgetary and hiring decisions have threatened the possibility that he'll be able to fulfill them. The EPA's proposed 2019 budget would cut the…
theintercept.com/2018/03/29/epa-superfund-scott-pruitt-peter-wright/
Russia: Activist Attacked in Dagestan.
Human Rights Watch | Human Rights Watch News | 2018-03-29
(Moscow) — An unidentified assailant viciously attacked a representative of Memorial, Russia's leading human rights group, on March 28, 2018, Human Rights Watch said today. | Sirazhutdin Datsiev after the attack, March 28, 2018. | © 2018 Memorial, Makhachkala | Sirazhutdin Datsiev, the head of the Memorial office in Dagestan was hospitalized with a head injury. Russian authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate the attack and punish those responsible. | "This cowardly attack can only be regarded as part of the ongoing harassment campaign against Memorial's work in the North Caucasus region," said Yulia Gorbunova, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Russian government needs to provide protection and put a stop to the violent campaign against activists who risk their lives to shed light on appalling human rights abuses in…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/29/russia-activist-attacked-dagestan
Trump's Nominee to Oversee Superfund Program Spent Decades Fighting EPA Cleanups on Behalf of Polluters
Sharon Lerner | The Intercept | 2018-03-29
Though he has openly disparaged much of his agency's mission, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has remained steadfastly enthusiastic about Superfund, the federal program responsible for cleaning up some of the country's most contaminated industrial sites. The EPA budget brief released in February said the agency would "accelerate the pace of cleanups" and make an additional 102 Superfund sites and 1,368 brownfield sites "ready for use" by September 30, 2019. That move follows Pruitt's creation of a " Superfund task force," which laid out the program's priorities in July and, in December, issued a list of 21 sites to be fast-tracked for cleanup. | Yet even as he's offered up these promises, some of Pruitt's budgetary and hiring decisions have threatened the possibility that he'll be able to fulfill them. The EPA's proposed 2019 budget would cut the…
theintercept.com/2018/03/29/epa-superfund-scott-pruitt-peter-wright/
UN Independent Expert: Venezuela Should Take US to the International Court of Justice.
MAOMMP | MintPress News | 2018-03-29
Alfred de Zayas, a UN Independent Expert for the promotion of an international democratic and equitable order, told Venezuela's newspaper àöltimas Noticias that "it is time" for Venezuela to ask the International Criminal Court "for an investigation into the crimes against humanity committed by the United States for imposing sanctions against it." | Why do you consider sanctions as crimes against humanity? | In 2000, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights published a study that described sanctions as a serious violation of international law and human rights. In 2015, the Human Rights Council in Geneva created the role of the Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures. In his reports Idriss Jazairy, the Rapporteur, has demonstrated the adverse impacts of sanctions and has negotiated with governments so that sanctions are eliminated, as they are contrary to the spirit and letter…
UN Independent Expert: Venezuela Should Take US to the International Court of Justice
Defendants Acquitted After Using a 'Climate Necessity' Defense.
Staff | Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists | 2018-03-29
The Massachusetts trial appears to be the first in which the defendants successfully argued that their civil disobedience was justified by the need to stop climate change. | The post Defendants Acquitted After Using a 'Climate Necessity' Defense appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/defendants-acquitted-based-on-climate-necessity-defense/
Energy Independence Requires Steel Independence.
Leo Gerard, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-29
New tariffs and a deal with South Korea will help bring jobs back. | Shale oil and gas, now fracked from deep underground in two dozen states, is celebrated for delivering energy independence to the United States. But that goal can't truly be achieved if America depends on China, Korea, even Brazil for the steel vital to drilling. Sustaining steel independence is a big part of what President Trump's tariffs are about. They're intended to revive American steel production which has been hammered by illegal trade practices, particularly in China. Just this week, the tariffs helped secure a new trade deal with Korea that reduces by 30 percent the amount of steel and drilling pipe the Asian country can export to the United States. As fracking geared up across the United States, American steelmakers invested in their mills to meet drillers' needs, from. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/535882452/0/alternet
China's Gold Backed Petro-Yuan Challenges US Dollar Hegemony
Stephen Lendman | Global Research | 2018-03-29
Its introduction poses the first ever challenge to petro-dollar dominance. | China is the world's largest oil importing/consuming nation. Gold-backed petro-yuan futures trading began Monday on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, part of the Shanghai Futures Exchange — letting Chinese and …
globalresearch.ca/chinas-gold-backed-petro-yuan-challenges-us-dollar-hegemony/5634034
Here's What Trump Reportedly Won't Let His Aides Say About Russia.
Cody Fenwick, AlterNet | AlterNet.org | 2018-03-29
A new report suggests the president still hopes he can craft a good relationship with the foreign rival. | Discerning the true state of Russian-American relations is becoming increasingly complicated. While President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his desire to improve relations with the country, the current administration's policy toward its foreign rival has become increasingly tough. Under Trump, the United States has agreed to provide weapons to Ukraine to fend off Russian forces, expelled Russian diplomats in response to an apparent chemical attack on British soil, and implemented significant sanctions on Russian entities in response to meddling in the 2016 election. All the while, Trump has been quite obviously reluctant to criticize Russia in public, significantly diminishing the strength of the administration's otherwise considerable efforts to rein in Russian aggression. A new report from NBC. . .
feeds.feedblitz.com/~/535975808/0/alternet
China's Gold Backed Petro-Yuan Challenges US Dollar Hegemony.
Stephen Lendman | Global Research | 2018-03-29
Its introduction poses the first ever challenge to petro-dollar dominance. | China is the world's largest oil importing/consuming nation. Gold-backed petro-yuan futures trading began Monday on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, part of the Shanghai Futures Exchange — letting Chinese and …
globalresearch.ca/chinas-gold-backed-petro-yuan-challenges-us-dollar-hegemony/5634034
German Beer Industry in Shock Over Glyphosate Contamination.
Sustainable Pulse | Global Research | 2018-03-28
The Munich Environmental Institute (Umweltinstitut Màºnchen) has released shocking results Thursday of laboratory testing it has completed on 14 of the most sold beers in Germany. The probable carcinogen and World's most used herbicide — glyphosate — was found in …
globalresearch.ca/german-beer-industry-in-shock-over-glyphosate-contamination/5633850
Israel and Palestinian Occupied Territories: Asylum-seekers risk deportation or detention
Amnesty International | 2018-03-28
Thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers are at risk of either being forced to go to Rwanda or Uganda, where their protection is not guaranteed, or being indefinitely detained in Israel. While some are already detained, the Israeli authorities have given others until early April to leave the country or be detained.
Israel and Palestinian Occupied Territories: Asylum-seekers risk deportation or detention
Headlines for March 28, 2018.
Democracy Now! | 2018-03-28
In Historic Trip, Kim Jong-un Met with Xi in Beijing & Discussed Denuclearization, Louisiana Will Not Charge 2 White Officers for 2016 Killing of Alton Sterling, Protests over Stephon Clark's Killing Disrupt Sacramento City Council, 12 States to Sue Trump Admin over Plans to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census, "Repeal the Second Amendment" Says Retired Supreme Court Justice, Stephanie Clifford's Lawyer Seeks to Depose Trump over Nondisclosure Agreement, NYT: Trump Hoping to Bring Rob Porter Back to White House, All 22 Female Senators Demand Senate Pass Congressional Sexual Harassment Bill, Kushner Under Investigation over $500 Million Loans to Family Real Estate Company, Zuckerberg to Testify over Cambridge Analytica Scandal, Facebook Faces Lawsuit over Discrimination in Targeted Housing and Job Ads, White House Ending TPS Protections for 4,000 Liberians, Orange County to Defy California's New Sanctuary Law, William Strampel, Larry Nassar's Supervisor, Charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct, Report: Investments in Extreme Fossil Fuels Skyrocketed in Trump's 1st Year in Office, Judge Rules Anti-Pipeline Protesters Not Guilty Because of Necessity of Fighting Climate Change…
www.democracynow.org/2018/3/28/headlines