Kenn Orphan (2018-05-24). Life, the Sea and Big Oil. counterpunch.org "It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist: the threat is rather to life itself." — Rachel Carson When I learned about the oil More

Justin Anderson (2018-05-23). Focus on Pruitt's Scandals Obscures Environmental Degradation Under Trump. fair.org Focusing on a $43,000 phone booth (Washington Post, 4/16/18), not on the $60 trillion that unchecked climate change is projected to cost (Nature, 7/25/13). | Scott Pruitt sure is busy these days. The climate change-denying head of the Environmental Protection Agency has been renting out a DC condo on the cheap from an energy lobbyist; installing a $43,000 soundproof booth for his telephone calls; passing out improper pay raises to aides; jet-setting around the world on first-class flights; hitting up Disneyland and the Rose Bowl with his oversized $3 million, 20-person security detail; receiving police escorts to trendy DC restaurant Le Diplomate; and even having a fancy dinner in Rome with Vatican treasurer, climate denier and recently charged child sexual abuser George Pell. | What's more, Pruitt's staffers at the EPA have continued to…

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, Daily Kos (2018-05-23). I Sued President Trump for Blocking Me on Twitter — And I Won. alternet.org The First Amendment defeated the president. | I wrote about what it's like to sue the president after we went to court in early March. Now I get to write about what it's like to win a lawsuit against him. (Spoiler alert: It's beyond surreal. )The case began in July 2017. Seven of us so-called "blockees," represented by Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute, filed suit against President Donald J. Trump. We argued that he and his communications staffers were violating the First Amendment by blocking users from his Twitter feed solely on the basis of our viewpoints. Our ask of the court was simple: Please clarify for the White House that blocking us is unconstitutional, and get them to unblock us. a. k. a. Set Trump straight. We made three major First Amendment arguments. First, the @realdonaldtrump Twitter feed used by the president is. . .

Nick Pemberton (2018-05-23). Maduro's Win: A Bright Spot in Dark Times. counterpunch.org The U.S. backing of Israel's massacre of Palestinians and Donald Trump's death threats to Kim Jong-Un prove that the United States' imperialism is alive and well. The government has been taken over by sadistic Republicans and useless Democrats. Corruption abounds when it comes to the United States foreign policy, as oil giants have their hands all over the Trump administration. Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil ran the whole state department. Trump is obvious, we will give him that. | More

Democracy Now! (2018-05-23). Headlines for May 23, 2018. democracynow.org President Trump Casts Doubt on June 12 Summit with North Korea's Leader, Congress Passes Sweeping Bill to Roll Back Dodd-Frank Act Regulations, Palestinian Authority Asks ICC to Investigate Israel for War Crimes, Stacey Abrams Is First Black Woman to Win Major Party's Nomination for Governor, The Guardian: Giuliani Helped OxyContin Maker Continue Drug Sales, Afghanistan: 16 Die in Explosion in Kandahar; Taliban Kill 22 Police Officers in Ghazni, Pakistan: Severe Heat Wave in Karachi Kills At Least 65 People, IACHR Condemns Nicaragua for Bloody April Crackdown Against Protesters, EPA Officials Bar Multiple Journalists from Summit on Water Contamination, 10 McDonald's Workers File Sexual Harassment Complaints, Virginia Judge Rules in Favor of Transgender Student Gavin Grimm…

RT (2018-05-23). Work of Satan? Sinkhole opens on White House lawn, Twitter in turmoil over its meaning (PHOTOS). rt.com A sinkhole has opened up near the White House press briefing room on the north lawn, prompting a wave of derision online as social media users revelled in the unique karma of the event.
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Cira Pascual Marquina (2018-05-22). Venezuela Slams New US Sanctions as Washington Hints at Oil Embargo. venezuelanalysis.com The latest measures fly in the face of international concern about the living conditions of Venezuelans.

Human Rights Watch (2018-05-22). After Typhoon, Who Is Responsible for Climate Change? hrw.org A fisherman paddles his banca amidst ruins of house stilts destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan on a coastal village in Tacloban city in central Philippines November 2, 2015. | © 2015 Reuters | "Will this be our fate — just to count the victims of climate change or be counted among them?" | Those words open a petition filed with the Philippine Commission on Human Rights after one of the most powerful typhoons on record — Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda — devastated the Philippine archipelago in 2013. | The petition, drafted and signed by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and other groups, requests that the commission conduct an "investigation of the responsibility of the carbon majors" — the largest companies producing crude oil, natural gas, coal, and cement, who are also the world's…

Adam Johnson (2018-05-21). Media Ignore Government Influence on Facebook's Plan to Fight Government Influence. fair.org Medium ( 5/17/18) | Facebook announced Thursday it was partnering with DC think tank the Atlantic Council to "monitor for misinformation and foreign interference." The details of the plan are vague, but Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab wrote in a non-bylined Medium post ( 5/17/18) that the goal was to design tools "to bring us closer together" instead of "driving us further apart." Whatever that means, exactly. | Behind its generic-sounding name and "nonpartisan" label, the Atlantic Council is associated with very particular interests. It's funded by the US Department of State and the US Navy, Army and Air Force, along with NATO, various foreign powers and major Western corporations, including weapons contractors and oil companies. The Atlantic Council is dead center in what former President Obama's deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes called "the blob"—Washington's bipartisan foreign-policy…

RT (2018-05-20). NASA's new exoplanet hunter TESS snaps 200,000+ stars in its 1st PHOTO. rt.com After passing the moon's orbit, NASA's planet-hunting satellite has snapped its first picture from one of four cameras on board, relaying the footage of some 200,000 stars back to astronomers on Earth.
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RT (2018-05-19). DAPL-style protesters could face jail under new 'critical infrastructure' protection laws. rt.com New laws introducing harsher penalties against protesters who target "critical infrastructure" such as oil and gas pipelines are now pending in half a dozen states in the US.
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Democracy Now! (2018-05-18). Headlines for May 18, 2018. democracynow.org Gina Haspel Confirmed as CIA Director, Despite Her Record on Torture, Trump Says North Korea's Kim Jong-un Could Suffer Same Fate as Gaddafi, Trump to Cut Funds to Women's Clinics, Reinstitute Abortion Gag Rule, House Farm Bill Would End Food Assistance to Over 2 Million People, Senate Intel Committee Republicans Cite Russian Interference in 2016, China Denies Trump Admin Claims of $200 Billion Trade Deal, Egypt to Reopen Gaza Border Crossing Until End of Ramadan, Congo: WHO Warns of "Urban Ebola" as Virus Spreads to Mbandaka City, Colombia Orders Thousands to Evacuate Amid Fears That Dam May Burst, In Reversal, NASA Administrator Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Republican Rep. Mo Brooks Blames Coastal Erosion for Rising Seas, New York Court Greenlights Summer Zervos Defamation Suit Against Trump, Fox News Names Longtime Roger Ailes Protégé Suzanne Scott as CEO, Hawaii: Geologists Warn Worst Could Be Yet to Come as Kilauea Erupts, New York: Calls Grow for Disbarment of Lawyer Filmed in Racist Tirade…

Democracy Now! (2018-05-18). Trump's EPA Doesn't Want You to Know Chemicals in Teflon Are Poisoning Waterways & Firefighters. democracynow.org The Environmental Protection Agency is facing a major new scandal after it worked with the White House to bury an alarming federal study detailing widespread chemical contamination of the nation's water supply. One Trump administration official warned release of the study would create a "public relations nightmare." The study found chemicals commonly present in Teflon and firefighting foam are a threat to human health at levels the EPA had previously called safe. We speak with Robert Bilott, the attorney The New York Times calls the "worst nightmare of DuPont," the manufacturer of Teflon. He successfully won compensation for his clients whose drinking water had been contaminated by toxic chemicals used to make Teflon. He is a recipient of the 2017 Right Livelihood Award.

Democracy Now! (2018-05-17). Headlines for May 17, 2018. democracynow.org Trump on North Korean Threats to Cancel Summit: "We'll See", U.N. Human Rights Council to Review Israel's Massacre in Gaza, Under Trump, Refugee Admissions to U.S. at Lowest Level in Decades, President Trump Calls Undocumented Immigrants "Animals", DHS Sought Negative Info on Haitians Ahead of Canceling Protections, Senate Approves Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Rules, Trump Financial Disclosure Reveals Stormy Daniels Payment, WHO Ships Experimental Vaccine to Congo as Ebola Outbreak Kills 23, Chile: Thousands March Against Campus Sexual Violence, Michigan State to Settle Larry Nassar Sexual Abuse Lawsuit for $500M, EPA Chief Pruitt & White House Sought to Block Chemical Release Study, Whistleblower Says Steve Bannon Sought to Suppress Black Vote, CIA Cites Hacker Joshua Schulte as Suspect in WikiLeaks Release, North Carolina: Thousands of Teachers March for School Funding, Brooklyn Man Exonerated 27 Years After Murder Conviction…

Democracy Now! (2018-05-16). Norman Finkelstein: Palestinians Have the Right to Break Free of the "Unlivable" Cage That Is Gaza. democracynow.org This spring's mass nonviolent protests in Gaza come as the human rights conditions in the "open-air prison" have even further deteriorated. Last year, the United Nations issued a report warning Gaza is already "unlivable." The majority of its water is contaminated, and electricity is limited to only a few hours a day. About half the population is children. Almost all are refugees who are prevented from ever leaving the tiny Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places on Earth. For more, we speak with Norman Finkelstein, author and scholar whose most recent book is titled "Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom."

Democracy Now! (2018-05-14). Headlines for May 14, 2018. democracynow.org Israeli Soldiers Kill Dozens of Palestinians as U.S. Opens Embassy in Jerusalem, Trump Admin Threatens to Sanction European Firms Doing Business with Iran, In Reversal, Trump Trying to Save Chinese Company Hit by U.S. Sanctions, Report: Trump Admin Eliminates NASA Program to Monitor Carbon & Methane, Afghanistan: Taliban Kill More Than 100 Afghan Soldiers & Police in Last Week, Pakistan Prevents U.S. Diplomat from Leaving, After He Killed 1 in Car Crash, Burundi: 26 Killed in Attack on Village, Days Before Controversial Referendum, Iraq: Early Election Results Show Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Lead, Indonesia: ISIS Claims Responsibility for String of Attacks on Churches, 1974 CIA Memo: Brazil's Former Dictator Personally Approved Summary Executions, White House Refuses to Apologize for Aide's Comments Mocking John McCain, American Bishop Michael Curry to Deliver Sermon at British Royal Wedding, Trump Admin Rolls Back Protections for Transgender Prisoners…

Democracy Now! (2018-05-11). Immigration Officials Are Using Pseudoscience to Justify Jailing Teenage Asylum Seekers with Adults. democracynow.org This week, the Trump administration announced it will detain asylum seekers and separate them from their children at the border. A case in California shows how some minors who arrived alone to seek asylum have been put in adult detention. Immigration authorities in California are refusing to release an Afghan asylum seeker from an adult detention center, even though a federal court had determined he is a child. His lawyers say the teenager, who has been held in adult detention for five months, is 17 years old. But ICE used a disputed "pseudoscience" age test based on a dental exam to insist he is over 18. The teen, who uses the name Hamid for privacy and protection, says he fled Afghanistan using a forged passport after the Taliban murdered his father. On Tuesday, Hamid spoke to Democracy Now! in his first phone interview from the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, California. We speak to his attorney Mariel Villarreal in New York.

Paul Dobson (2018-05-09). ConocoPhillips Moves to Seize Venezuelan Oil Assets as PDVSA Maneuvers to Safeguard Tankers. venezuelanalysis.com In response to the threat, PDVSA has allegedly ordered its fleet of tankers stationed in the Caribbean to return to Venezuelan waters.

Paul Dobson (2018-05-07). Venezuela: Zulia Governor Blames Illegal Crypto Mining for Continuing Regional Power Shortages. venezuelanalysis.com Sabotage, lack of maintenance, and climate change have also been offered to explain the crippling blackouts.

Paul Dobson (2018-05-03). Venezuela Offers Petro-Based Oil Discount, Denounces "Kidnapping" of Funds. venezuelanalysis.com Maduro has accused Euroclear of withholding USD$1.2bn as part of international financial sanctions against Caracas.

Paul Dobson (2018-04-26). ConocoPhillips Awarded US$2bn for 2007 Oil Field Expropriation, Venezuela Claims Victory. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuela claims the award ordered by the ICC is lower than the amount originally offered by Chavez as compensation and is only 10% of what the oil giant filed for.