truth-out.org (2018-05-04). How Net Neutrality Can Survive the Trump Administration. truth-out.org 
Senate Democrats will move next week to force a vote on a resolution that would undo the Federal Communications Commission's decision in December to scrap its own net neutrality rules. Even if the resolution fails to pass, the political fight is just beginning. Net neutrality may be on life support, but it's not dead yet.Protesters display signs at a rally to save net neutrality in San Francisco, California, on September 12, 2017. (Photo: Credo Action) | After becoming president, Donald Trump installed a Republican majority at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that has worked furiously to roll back a long list of consumer protections established under the Obama administration, including the 2015 Open Internet Order that set net neutrality rules for internet service providers. | Net neutrality is now on life support, but it's not dead yet. | Crucial portions…
Staff (2018-05-04). Setback for LGBT Adoptions in Oklahoma. truthdig.com Legislators vote to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBT homes. In Kansas, lawmakers are close to passing a similar measure.
George Wuerthner (2018-05-04). The National Forests Should be Off Limits to Logging. counterpunch.org 
Logging, conducted ostensibly to "thin the forest," "reduce fuels" or for so-called "restoration," causes a net loss of carbon from forest ecosystems. One of the best strategies for reducing CO2 levels is by protecting our forests. Yet few environmental groups, even those who focus on climate change, advocate for the reduction of logging on federal More
C. L. Cook (2018-05-04). The Fault in Our Stars: Requiem for a Hollywood Fat Cat. counterpunch.org Let's all give it up for the #MeToo movement. Sexual assault and abuse is a scourge older than Methuselah. Since the beginning of recorded time, Patriarchy has made a Hell on Earth for women and girls. It continues to do so, and the fact Harvey Weinstein's career immolation served to spark awareness and activism going More
John Laforge (2018-05-04). Russian Sea Monsters: Rudderless Reactors on the High Seas. counterpunch.org Did you hear the one about the Exxon Valdez, Fuku-Chernobyl, Gulf Oil Titanic? Yeah: Russia floated two nuclear reactors on a bargeto power oil rigs in the Arctic Ocean and nothing went wrong! Unsatisfied with trouncing Japan at the Winter Olympics, 14 gold medals to four, Moscow wants to topple Tokyo as Oceanic Polluter No. More
wsws.org (2018-05-04). Decision not to prosecute over New Zealand building collapse ignored crucial evidence. wsws.org The police and judicial system is shielding those responsible for the Canterbury Television crash during the 2011 earthquake.
Sharon Lerner (2018-05-04). How Scott Pruitt Helped Arkansas Poultry Giants Pollute One of Oklahoma's Prettiest Rivers. theintercept.com 
Scott Pruitt, the embattled head of the Environmental Protection Agency, took the side of poultry companies and other businesses in Arkansas in a dispute over the pollution of an ecologically sensitive and economically vital watershed, environmental groups say. While he was representing Oklahoma as its attorney general, Pruitt helped to slow the implementation of a plan, forged years ago by both states, to clean a river in his home state. | Even before he was appointed to head the EPA, Pruitt faced questioning about his failure, as Oklahoma attorney general, to implement a standard for phosphorus levels in the Illinois River, which flows from Arkansas into Oklahoma. The river had high levels of phosphorus from animal waste, and poultry producers in Arkansas opposed the standard. In 2013, after receiving contributions from poultry companies that benefited from his inaction, Pruitt agreed to…
TRNN (2018-05-03). 'Poison Papers': US and Canadian Regulators Colluded with Manufacturers of Highly Toxic | Substances. therealnews.com Dr. Jonathan Latham explains how the EPA and Canada's Health Protection Branch concealed fraudulent tests of dangerous pesticides…
The Conversation (2018-05-03). This Is What I Learned from Attending an Actual Flat-Earth Convention. alternet.org 
While flat earthers seem to trust and support scientific methods, what they don't trust is scientists. | Speakers recently flew in from around (or perhaps, across? ) the earth for a three-day event held in Birmingham: the UK's first ever public Flat Earth Convention. It was well attended, and wasn't just three days of speeches and YouTube clips (though, granted, there was a lot of this). There was also a lot of team-building, networking, debating, workshops — and scientific experiments. Yes, flat earthers do seem to place a lot of emphasis and priority on scientific methods and, in particular, on observable facts. The weekend in no small part revolved around discussing and debating science, with lots of time spent running, planning, and reporting on the latest set of flat earth experiments and models. Indeed, as one presenter noted early on, flat earthers try. . .
TRNN (2018-05-02). No Financial Protection from Trump Admin, But States Can Help. therealnews.com As acting CFPB director Mick Mulvaney admits his subservience to the financial industry, states are beginning to provide consumers with protection from financial abuse, such as with New York State's new retirement system, explains CEPR's Dean Baker…
RT (2018-05-02). Back to earth, Bezos! Amazon chief under fire for space travel plans as workers struggle. rt.com 
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is facing criticism for plans to spend billions on space travel as his workers sleep in tents to save money and pee in bottles to avoid missing their daily work targets. |
RT.com
RT (2018-05-02). Climate change activists plan bizarre Donald Trump iceberg project. rt.com 
A climate change group is attempting to raise half a million dollars to fund its mission to carve the face of US President Donald Trump into an iceberg.
RT.com
Human Rights Watch (2018-05-01). Bangladesh's Monsoon Season Threatens Rohingya Refugees. hrw.org 
Rohingya refugees try to take shelter from torrential rain as they are held by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) after illegally crossing the border, in Teknaf, Bangladesh, August 31, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | When I last visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh at the end of last year, a new sort of everyday life was taking shape. No longer were countless desperate people milling about by the road, on paddy fields, and in public buildings. Instead, I watched refugees line up for plastic, tarpaulin, and bamboo to help construct rows upon rows of shelters. | But these rickety structures won't be able to withstand the storms and heavy rains of the imminent monsoon season. And as dry earth turns to sludge in the coming weeks and months, there will be danger of…
Sharon Lerner (2018-05-01). EPA Adviser Albert Kelly Resigned Amid Ethics Inquiries. Is Scott Pruitt Next? theintercept.com Albert Kelly, a senior adviser to Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency, resigned Tuesday. Kelly, who was overseeing the agency's Superfund program, left amid questions about his banking career. Pasquale "Nino" Perrotta, Pruitt's head of security, also abruptly resigned, leading many to question whether Pruitt would be next. | As The Intercept reported in December, Kelly was the chair of SpiritBank in Bristow, Oklahoma, until he was banned for life from the banking industry by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Kelly, or "Kell" as he's known by his friends, had provided several loans to Pruitt, including mortgages and funding for his share of a Triple-A baseball team, the Oklahoma City RedHawks. While Kelly was its chairman, SpiritBank became financially unstable and unable to pay back most of $30 million it received from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program. | An…
David Dayen (2018-04-30). Whether America Can Afford a Job Guarantee Program Is Not Up for Debate. theintercept.com Sen. Bernie Sanders's endorsement of a guaranteed job for anyone who wants one, joining previous supporters such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker, reinvigorated a debate that has been roiling within economics Twitter and academic circles for a long time. Those more partial to a universal basic income untethered to work clash with job guarantee supporters from the left; those who see the job guarantee as a dangerous slip into socialism attack from the right. And mainstream Democrats not running for the presidency don't really want to talk about it. | Those fresh to the debate, meanwhile, instinctively ask what feels like an intuitive question: How on earth can we pay for that? | But if we're going to have an honest debate about whether the government should be spending hundreds of billions of dollars so…
Democracy Now! (2018-04-27). "You Really Should Resign": Lawmakers Slam EPA's Scott Pruitt over Mounting Ethics Scandals. democracynow.org 
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was grilled by lawmakers Thursday on Capitol Hill about a slew of scandals over his spending habits and ties to industry lobbyists. Pruitt faces more than a half-dozen investigations. Among the scandals, he paid only $50 a night to live in a Capitol Hill condo owned by the wife of a prominent Washington energy lobbyist whose firm represents a roster of fossil fuel companies. Pruitt had a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed in his office, which a government watchdog says violated spending laws. Pruitt had the EPA spend $3 million on his security detail, including 18 full-time agents. Pruitt routinely travels first- or business-class, reportedly because Pruitt was confronted by economy-class customers angry over his policies. For more, we speak with Emily Atkin, a staff writer at The New Republic. Her latest pieces include "Scott Pruitt Is Forced to Confront Reality" and "The EPA Is Acting Like Big Tobacco." We also speak with Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club.
RT (2018-04-27). Summit spoiler? US family sues Pyongyang for torturing son to death despite lack of evidence. rt.com 
The parents of Otto Warmbier have sued North Korea on the day the key peninsular summit, accusing the nation of torturing their son to death. Earlier medical reports said no signs of torture were found during autopsy.
RT.com
RT (2018-04-26). Multiple explosions at Wisconsin oil refinery, 10 confirmed injured (VIDEO). rt.com 
Two explosions and fire at a large oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, have resulted in at least ten casualties, according to the local fire department. Initial reports spoke of as many as 20 injured, but no fatalities.
RT.com
Democracy Now! (2018-04-26). Headlines for April 26, 2018. democracynow.org Supreme Court Justices Suggest They'll Allow Trump Travel Ban, U.S. Cancels Protected Status for Nepali Immigrants on Earthquake Anniversary, Veterans Affairs Nominee Ronny Jackson Withdraws Amid Misconduct Claims, EPA Chief Scott Pruitt to Face Lawmakers' Questions About Ethics Scandals, Trump Attorney Michael Cohen to Take the Fifth in Stormy Daniels Lawsuit, French President Blasts Trump's Policies in Address to U.S. Congress, Second Palestinian Journalist Shot Dead by Israeli Forces in Gaza, Afghan Journalist Abdul Manan Arghand Assassinated in Kandahar, Japan: Okinawans Protest Construction of U.S. Military Base, HUD Chief Ben Carson's Bill Would Triple Poorest Tenants' Rents, California Police Say They've Captured the "Golden State Killer", Philippines Activist Denied U.S. Entry, Claims Torture in CBP Custody, New Alabama Memorial Is Dedicated to Victims of White Supremacy…