Michael McCaffrey (2018-06-07). Trump as Deadpool. counterpunch.org WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Deadpool 2and Avengers: Infinity War. Deadpool 2is currently resonating with audiences to the tune of $600 million at the box office, which does not bode well for Democrats in the 2018 mid-term elections. What does Deadpool 2 have to do with the elections this fall? Well, popular culture, most notably More

Cherise (2018-06-06). Warren Vows to Introduce Anti-Corruption Legislation to Padlock "Revolving Door" in DC. truthout.org "Change is coming," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) declared Tuesday at a War on Regulations symposium hosted by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and Georgetown University Law School. In her live-streamed speech, Warren revealed plans to introduce anti-corruption legislation to protect the American public from the Trump administration's corporate-friendly deregulatory agenda. | "When we send a message that corporate profits and powerful interests cannot overpower the health, safety, and economic well-being of hardworking families, we fire a warning shot," she said. "This is our time, our responsibility, our chance to build a country where government works, not just for the rich and powerful, but government that works for the people." | In her 30-minute address, Warren highlighted the Trump administration's efforts to defang the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency she helped establish. "The agency is under attack now. The Trump…

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement (2018-06-06). Two Top Scott Pruitt Aides Just Quit Their EPA Jobs As Corruption Scandals Continue to Mount. alternet.org Underlings continue to pay the price for the unapologetically corrupt boss. | It doesn't get any more Trumpian than this. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is mired in scandals. At least 10 new ones last month, and at least 15 through April. Call it a few dozen just to make it easy. What's not easy apparently is keeping your job if you work for Pruitt. Those who are accused of carrying out his likely law-breaking direction are the ones paying the price for their boss's unethical and likely illegal acts. "Two of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's closest aides at the agency resigned on Wednesday," CNN reports, citing an EPA official. "Sarah Greenwalt, a senior counselor to Pruitt, and Millan Hupp, who worked as Pruitt's scheduling director, both resigned on Wednesday. "Hupp was recently in the news, just this week, after the. . .

Hunter, Daily Kos (2018-06-06). Trump's Actual 'Plan' for the G-7 Summit Is to Just Go Around Confronting World Leaders. alternet.org The president is ready to embarrass the nation yet again. | The word "plan" here, is, I suspect, badly overstating things: President Trump plans to confront other world leaders at a summit in Quebec on Friday over what he believes is a global economic system tilted against the United States, several people briefed on the plan said, escalating tensions with U. S. allies who have expressed outrage at his pivot toward protectionism. The news here is that Trump's staffers expect the Quebec meeting to go badly—in fact, they seem to expect it's going to be an outright fiasco. They are therefore setting the stage for a claim that Trump meant to do that, by way of some nebulous "plan" that consists primarily or exclusively of Trump treating all the other assembled leaders like shit and everyone else in the White House nodding their. . .

Staff (2018-06-06). Dinosaurs' Deaths May Hold Clues for Climate Change. truthdig.com US geologists have identified the moment of the dinosaurs' death in the Earth's deep past as the time when the climate changed, even faster and more severely than it is changing as a consequence of human action. | That fateful moment occurred on the day around 65 million years ago when a vast comet or asteroid smashed into Earth over what is now Chicxulub in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and brought the Cretaceous era to a close. | The scientists used tiny bits of fish scales, teeth and bones to compose a temperature chart for the last 50,000 years of the Cretaceous, and the first 100,000 years of the Palaeogene, when planet Earth changed forever. | The planetary average temperatures rose around 5 ∞C [9 F] and stayed perilously hotter for at least another 100,000 years, and in the course of…

Human Rights Watch (2018-06-06). DR Congo: Respect Rights in Ebola Response. hrw.org Congolese Health Ministry officials carry the first batch of experimental Ebola vaccines in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2018. | © 2018 Kenny Katombe/Reuters | (Kinshasa) — The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo should ensure human rights protections in controlling the recent Ebola outbreak, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question-and-answer document about the response to the virus. Since 1976, more than 800 people have died in Congo during eight previous Ebola outbreaks. | The government and international partners should take effective steps to contain the Ebola virus, protect people at high risk of infection, and ensure treatment for those affected. | "Protecting human rights is key to responding to the Ebola outbreak," said Diederik Lohman, health and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. "Limits…

David Dayen (2018-06-06). Progressive Candidates Had a Very Good Night Tuesday. theintercept.com TUSTIN, Calif. — As the returns began to come in Tuesday night in California, Katie Porter ventured into the war room at her campaign headquarters, where the walls were covered with mailers and precinct maps. On one side was a giant number: 22,000. | "We felt that if we could get 22,000 votes, we would be safe," said Porter, a University of California, Irvine, law professor and consumer protection attorney. | It's good sometimes to shoot high. With all precincts reporting, Porter, a Sen. Elizabeth Warren protégé invested with the hopes of the progressive movement, ended with 19,453 votes. It was enough, putting her roughly 2,600 ahead of her main Democratic challenger David Min. With late vote-by-mail and provisional ballots, she's likely to approach the target and move on to the general election in California's 45th Congressional District, facing Republican incumbent Rep. Mimi…

Human Rights Watch (2018-06-06). EU: Data Protection Rules Advance Privacy. hrw.org (Brussels, June 6, 2018) — The new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enhance privacy and should spur other countries to improve protection of people's personal information, Human Rights Watch said in a question and answer document released today. The document summarizes key portions of the EU law and discusses what comes next. | "In the digital age, so much of what we do generates data that can reveal intimate details of our lives, thoughts, and beliefs," said Cynthia Wong, senior internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The GDPR is hardly perfect, but it strengthens protections for privacy in the EU and shows that strong safeguards for data are both possible and good for human rights." | As of May 25, 2018, the new rules are legally binding across the EU's 28 Member States. The law, agreed…

George Payne (2018-06-05). History Will Vindicate Modern Abolitionists. counterpunch.org The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of a fateful compromise between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. The law stipulated that "all escaped slaves, upon capture, be returned to the one who purchased or inherited them and that officials and citizens of free states had to More

South Front (2018-06-05). Video: Syrian Government, SDF Reach Agreement on Omar Oil Field. globalresearch.ca On June 3, Syrian government forces repelled an ISIS attack on their positions east of the town of Hasrat in southeastern Deir Ezzor. According to reports, ISIS used small boats to cross the Euphrates to its western bank and then …

wsws.org (2018-06-05). A day of reaction at the US Supreme Court. wsws.org In two separate decisions, the US Supreme Court set back rights for immigrants, the right to abortion, and protections for gay and lesbian couples.

Human Rights Watch (2018-06-05). US Slammed for Failure to Address Poverty and Health. hrw.org People walk around the neighboring streets around the Fred Jordan Mission, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. May 12, 2018. | © 2018 Reuters | Philip Alston, the United Nations' special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, did not mince words when he issued his recent report on poverty in the United States. | Recent policies under the Trump administration "seem designed to remove basic protections from the poorest, punish the poor and make even basic health care a privilege to be earned rather than a right of citizenship." | Alston's damning assessment is a stark reminder of the consequences of the US government's failure to recognize the right to health under international law. Articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the right was then codified by the International Covenant for…

Democracy Now! (2018-06-04). "A Source of Positivity All the Time": Remembering Palestinian Medic Razan al-Najjar, Killed by IDF. democracynow.org Witnesses say Israeli soldiers shot dead 21-year-old Palestinian medic Razan al-Najjar as she ran toward the border fence to provide medical aid to a wounded protester. Since nonviolent protests began at the end of March, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 119 people, including 14 children. More than 13,000 have been wounded. "It was clear to everybody that she was a paramedic, that that was murder. I mean, that was a crime committed before cameras," said Dr. Medhat Abbas, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip. We also speak with Najjar's cousin, Dalia al-Najjar, who says the response of the international community to the Gaza crisis has been "really disappointing," and notes the U.S. vetoed a draft U.N. resolution urging the protection of Palestinians on Friday, the same day Najjar was killed. "It's a shameful side that the United States decided to take."

David Dayen (2018-06-04). Mick Mulvaney Is Required by Law to Meet With His Consumer Advisory Board. But He's Refusing, Board Members Say. theintercept.com The leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is required by law to hold in-person meetings with its consumer advisory board, yet according to more than a dozen of its members, they are refusing to do so. | "It appears the bureau does not want to engage with us," said Ann Baddour of the consumer organization Texas Appleseed and chair of the current Consumer Advisory Board, or CAB, who joined a conference call Monday with other board members who have decided to speak publicly. "Staying silent would violate our ethical responsibility to the bureau and the American people." | The CFPB, under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, has canceled two in-person meetings with the CAB, as well as numerous conference calls. Contact has been limited to one phone call in March that was supposed to last one hour but ended after 20 minutes. The…

Democracy Now! (2018-05-31). Indigenous Activist: Trudeau's Purchase of Kinder Morgan Pipeline Is "Huge Step Backward" for Canada. democracynow.org Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that the Canadian government will purchase Kinder Morgan's highly contested Trans Mountain pipeline, vowing to commit taxpayer money to expanding the pipeline despite widespread indigenous-led protests and a slew of lawsuits. If built, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will triple the amount of oil flowing from Alberta's tar sands to the coast of British Columbia. The Canadian government purchased the pipeline for 4.5 billion Canadian dollars—around 3.5 billion American dollars. The decision has sparked widespread condemnation from First Nations and environmental activists, who say that expanding the pipeline will increase pollution in Alberta's tar sands region, endanger indigenous communities and increase greenhouse gas emissions. We go to Edmonton, Canada, where we speak with Eriel Deranger, executive director of Indigenous Climate Action. She is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Democracy Now! (2018-05-31). Headlines for May 31, 2018. democracynow.org Pompeo Meets North Korea's Ex-Spy Chief in NYC, In Victory for Big Banks, Federal Reserve Votes to Loosen Volcker Rule, Report: U.S. Killed 50 Taliban Leaders in Helmand Province, Russian Journalist Admits Faking His Own Death, Trump Makes No Comment on Roseanne's Racist Tweets But Criticizes ABC for Not Apologizing to Him, Cable News Largely Ignores Deaths of 4,645 in Puerto Rico to Focus on Roseanne, Civil Rights Groups Urge DHS to Release Secret "Race Paper" Memo, Theology Student Studying Daniel Berrigan's Life Arrested for Protesting White Supremacist in Charlottesville, EPA Taps Chemical Industry Lawyer to Oversee Superfund Sites, Illinois Ratifies Equal Rights Amendment, Harvey Weinstein Indicted on Rape Charges in New York, 13-Year-Old Student Questions White House Inaction on School Shootings, Republican Congresswoman Says Pornography Is a "Root Cause" of School Shootings, Standing Rock Water Protector Sentenced to Three Years in Prison, U.N.: Mexican Security Forces Likely Involved in Recent Disappearances, Mexican Journalist Héctor González Killed in Tamaulipas, Report: U.S.-Backed Salvadoran Police Forces Involved in Extrajudicial Killings, Brazilian Oil Workers Stage Strike to Protest Plans to Privatize Petrobras, Florida Jury Awards Four Cents to Family of African-American Man Shot by Sheriff's Deputy…

Democracy Now! (2018-05-30). Headlines for May 30, 2018. democracynow.org Study: Hurricane Maria Deaths 70 Times Higher Than Official Count, Israel Launches Airstrikes in Gaza, Blocks Flotilla Seeking to Break Blockade, Poor People's Campaign: Hundreds Arrested Across U.S. in Nonviolent Protests, NYT: Trump Ordered Sessions to Un-Recuse Himself from Russia Investigation, GOP House Oversight Chair Says FBI "Acted Properly" Using Trump Campaign Informant, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to Resign Amid Sexual Misconduct & Corruption Scandal, ABC Cancels "Roseanne" Amid Outcry over Roseanne Barr's Racist Tweets, Arkansas Left with One Clinic for Medication Abortions as Supreme Court OKs Anti-Choice Law, French Police Evict 1,000 Migrants as Macron Welcomes Malian "Spiderman" Rescuer to Élysée Palace, Hungary: Offering Food, Water, Legal Advice to Migrants to Become Criminal Offense, Russian Journalist Arkady Babchenko Admits Faking His Own Death | , Justice Dept. Approves $66B Takeover of Monsanto by German Pharma Giant Bayer, Canada to Buy, Expand Trans Mountain Tar Sands Oil Pipeline, New Mexico: Trans Woman Seeking Asylum in U.S. Dies in ICE Custody…

RT (2018-05-30). Stolen sperm & cheese injustice: The most bizarre lawsuits in US history. rt.com The United States is known for being the most litigious country on Earth, and home to 80 percent of the world's lawyers. Some of the most bizarre and frivolous lawsuits in the world have taken place in the US.
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Democracy Now! (2018-05-29). Headlines for May 29, 2018. democracynow.org In Historic Referendum, Ireland Votes to Repeal Abortion Ban, Top North Korean General Heads to U.S. as Officials Try to Salvage June 12 Summit, Israeli Military Jets Bomb Gaza After Mortar Rounds Fired Toward Israel, Family of Claudia González, Guatemalan Woman Killed by Border Agent, Demands Justice, Ellicott City, Maryland, Hit by Second "Once-in-a-Thousand-Year" Flood in 2 Years, Colombia: Presidential Election Heads to Runoff as Peace Deal Hangs in Balance, Mexican Journalist Alicia Díaz González Killed, Brazil: Nationwide Truckers' Strike Shuts Down Businesses, Transportation, Schools, Pakistan Passes Historic Protections for Transgender People & Residents of Tribal Areas, European Commission Seeks to Ban Plastic Plates, Cutlery and Straws, Starbucks Closing 8,000 Stores Today for Anti-Racial Bias Training, "I'm Never Plugging That Device In Again": Alexa Records & Sends Private Conversation by Accident, NYC Taxi Drivers Mourn Apparent Suicide of Driver Yu Mein Chow…

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.

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.