(2018-03-10). Meet the Democratic 'Dirty Dozen' Working to Gut Financial Reforms. AlterNet.org This act of regulatory vandalism highlights everything that is corrupt about our political system. | As if to maximize the possibility of another major financial crisis, the Trump administration and the GOP have recently been busy undercutting the limited safeguards established a decade ago via Dodd-Frank. The latest example of this stealth attack on Wall Street reform is the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, appropriately sponsored by Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Appropriate, because this is literally a "crapo" bill. It provides a few "technical tweaks" to Dodd-Frank in the same way in which protection payouts to organized crime provide businesses with "insurance" against property damage. In reality, it is an act of regulatory vandalism, which highlights everything that is corrupt about our political system. We have grown to expect no less from. . .
(2018-03-10). Trump's Freaky Week: Tough-Guy Tariffs, a Porn Star and a Strange Bromance with North Korea. AlterNet.org Trickster demon Donald Trump had one hell of a week. | If Donald Trump had been sent to Earth by a malicious deity to expose human hypocrisy in its many forms, like a trickster demon out of the mythological past, I'm not sure he could be doing a better job. Indeed, that might be a more convincing explanation than any others we have available, and it conforms neatly with Neil deGrasse Tyson's 50/50 proposition that our universe is actually a computer simulationdesigned by a superior civilization. This week alone we have seen Trump reintroduce tariffs — a seemingly antique mechanism viewed with dread by both economists and history students — halfway admit to having cheated on his current wife with a porn star, and agree in principle to a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. None of those things. . .
(2018-03-09). Toxic Coal Ash Is Being Dumped in Puerto Rico, Which Already Suffers Worst Drinking Water in the Nation. Truthout Stories 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 US 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." | TRANSCRIPT | AMY GOODMAN: I want to bring in…
(2018-03-09). Toxic Coal Ash Being Dumped in Puerto Rico, Which Already Suffers Worst Drinking Water in the Nation. Democracy Now! 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."
(2018-03-09). Trump, risking trade war, signs off on steel and aluminium tariffs. World Socialist Web Site Trump's tariff announcement expresses the turn by the United States to the types of protectionist measures that characterised the 1930s Great Depression.
(2018-03-09). Trump's Travesty of Protectionism. counterpunch.org Trump's series of threats this week was a one-two punch. First, he threatened to impose national security tariffs on steel and aluminum, primarily against Canada and Mexico (along with Korea and Japan). Then, he suggested an alternative: He would exempt these countries if they agree to certain U.S. demands. | But these demands make so little economic sense that they should be viewed as an exercise in what academia used to call power politics. Or in Trump's world, Us versus Them, a zero-sum game in which he has to show that America wins, they lose. More
(2018-03-09). Fukushima: A Human-Made Disaster Brought on by Bad Faith. counterpunch.org "Nearly seven years after the triple reactor meltdowns, this unique nuclear crisis is still underway," Greenpeace International's Shaun Burnie wrote in a blogpost last December. The word "unique" is an understatement but true. The March 11, 2011meltdowns are the world's first combined earthquake-tsunami-reactor catastrophe. Moreover, while other power reactors have run out-of-control, melted down and More
(2018-03-09). What the Earth Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted. counterpunch.org
(2018-03-09). The Trump Admins Dubious Attempts to Link Terrorism to Immigration. MintPress News When you see an immigrant or a foreign visitor, especially from a Muslim country, should your first thought be that you might be looking at a possible terrorist? | Clearly, that's how the Trump administration wants Americans to react. It was the message in the president's first address to Congress a year ago, when he declared that "the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country." At that time, he urged that the U.S. immigration system be reshaped because "we cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America." | There's a misleading omission in Trump's formulation, though: homegrown fanatics have killed many more Americans on U.S. soil than foreign-born terrorists have. | The disparity grows much wider if you include mass killings carried…
(2018-03-08). Coast Guard Responders Harmed by Chemicals Used to Clean Up BP Deepwater Oil Spill, Research Shows. Global Research Featured image: Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Leonard watches oil and gas flare during the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Belson) | For thousands of Coast Guard members who …
(2018-03-08). Elizabeth Warren Refuses to Let Democrats Off the Hook for Their Latest Cave to Wall Street. AlterNet.org "The fight over the Bank Lobbyist Act isn't over yet. " | Thanks to the help of 16 Senate Democrats and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), a Wall Street deregulation measure disguised as a "community banking" bill is barreling toward passage—but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. ) vowed Wednesday to not let the bill sail through without forcing votes on a series of amendments aimed at showing Americans whose side their lawmakers are really on. "The fight over the Bank Lobbyist Act isn't over yet," Warren wrote on Twitter, unveiling 17 amendments that, if approved, would uphold strict oversight of big banks and shield consumers from Wall Street fraud and abuse. "I'm not going to roll over and play dead for the big banks. "First introduced last November by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the officially named "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act" ( S. 2155). . .
(2018-03-08). Home-Grown Reactionaries, Not Russians, are Greatest Threat to Our Elections. counterpunch.org This past weekend, we once again gathered in Selma, Ala., to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," the March 7, 1965, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that was savagely put down by police. That march — and the march from Selma to Montgomery that followed under federal protection — helped galvanize public support for the Voting Rights More
(2018-03-08). Headlines for March 8, 2018. Democracy Now! Women Across the World Mark International Women's Day, Sessions Attacks California in Escalating Feud over Sanctuary Laws, 8 Students Arrested in D.C. Sit-In Demanding Gun Control, White House Claims Trump Won Arbitration Against Stormy Daniels, French President Blasts Trump's Decision to Move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, In Reversal, WH to Exempt Mexico & Canada from Tariffs If They Sign New NAFTA Deal, 11 Nations Gather in Chile to Sign New Version of TPP, Without U.S., Appeals Court Rules Youth Suing Trump Admin over Climate Change Can Go to Trial, PA Orders Emergency Shutdown of Pipeline After Massive Sinkholes Appear, Asheville, NC: White Police Officer Resigns After Video Shows Him Beating Black Man, Vatican: Salvadoran Archbishop àìscar Romero Will Become a Saint…
(2018-03-08). There's a Looming 'Existential Threat' to New Orleans That Should Frighten Every Sane American. AlterNet.org A proposed $210 million gas-fired power plant is on the frontlines of a national battle against fracking. | With the New Orleans city council set to vote Thursday on the future of Entergy's new fracked gas power plant—a $210 million gas-fired peaking power plant in New Orleans East—filmmaker/activist Josh Fox is calling on concerned citizens to stand up and join what he called in a recent email a "crucial fight for environmental justice. " He described the proposed plant, which would expose residents to many of the same health risks as living next to fracking wells, as "an existential threat" to New Orleans. "There is no city in the United States more vulnerable to the immediate effects of climate change," Fox writes. "The facts are simple: If climate change gets worse, there is no more New Orleans. Rising seas threaten to overtake the. . .
(2018-03-08). There's a Looming 'Existential Threat' to New Orleans That Should Frighten Every Sane American. AlterNet.org A proposed $210 million gas-fired power plant is on the frontlines of a national battle against fracking. | health risks as living next to fracking wells, as "an existential threat" to New Orleans. "There is no city in the United States more vulnerable to the immediate effects of climate change," Fox writes. "The facts are simple: If climate change gets worse, there is no more New Orleans. Rising seas threaten to overtake the levees, and the extreme storms we saw in 2017 make Katrina look like a walk in the park. You would think that doing anything that makes climate change worse would be impossible for city government to do, but that is exactly what the New Orleans City Council are in the process of doing. ""Mayor-elect Latoya Cantrell must vote as well," he notes. "We need these council members to understand that they. . .
(2018-03-08). The U.S. Solar Industry Is Clouded by Uncertainty. Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists The US solar industry is losing its shine. Although solar power is seen as a key way to avoid the use of climate-changing fossil fuels, US solar companies are cutting investments and laying off workers. An industry employing more than 230,000 people and with an estimated worth of $28 billion is now warning of trouble ahead. | More than 10,000 jobs in solar were lost in 2017, says a report by the Solar Foundation, a non-profit research firm. | The clouds spreading across the US solar sector are in part due to a slowdown in sales in so-called mature markets in California and the US Northeast, both areas of double digit solar growth in recent years. | However, industry analysts say the main reason for the present travails in the solar sector is the announcement earlier this year by…
(2018-03-08). US Army Docs: Plan to 'Dethrone' Putin for Oil Pipelines May Provoke WW3. MintPress News A US Army document concedes the real interests driving US military strategy toward Russia: dominating oil pipeline routes, accessing the vast natural resources of Central Asia, and enforcing the expansion of American capitalism worldwide. | The post US Army Docs: Plan to 'Dethrone' Putin for Oil Pipelines May Provoke WW3 appeared first on MintPress News.
(2018-03-07). Pakistani Film Examines Mindset of a Dictator. Human Rights Watch News This morning a friend messaged me, worried that Human Rights Watch will be screening a documentary featuring Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's former military dictator, at its London film festival. "You might end up glorifying a criminal," my friend warned. Promo ad for Insha'Allah Democracy screening at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London March 9-10, 2018. | © 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival | I assured my friend that Human Rights Watch's position on Musharraf is clear — far from celebrating him, we want him to be prosecuted for the serious human rights violations that he both committed and was complicit in during his rule. Under Musharraf's watch, the Pakistan government arbitrarily detained hundreds of critics and tortured alleged terrorism suspects. A number of opposition politicians were…
(2018-03-07). What Colorado's Informed People Want! counterpunch.org On Oil Operators' Exploration and Production (E&P) This activity has, historically, been permitted with little regard for either public health and safety, or protection of the environment. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has seen its role largely as a promoter of the industry. Recently, this position of the COGCC was challenged in More
(2018-03-07). 8 Ways You Can Help Women's Rights. AlterNet.org Yes, we still need to protest this crap. | International Women's Day 2018 marks a pivotal moment for women's rights, according to the United Nation's Secretary General, Antonio Guterrez. In the entertainment industry, at workplaces, on social media, and in the streets women demand an end to oppression and discrimination, and zero tolerance for sexual assault and harassment. Historical and structural inequalities that long flourished now lie exposed. Guterrez's acknowledgement that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is the unfinished business of our time resounds around the world. Women's equality is among the most persistent human rights challenges of the last several generations. Globally, almost a third of the work women do is in agriculture. Much of the work is labour intensive, and poorly paid, with inadequate labour rights protection. Last year International Women's Day was the largest event. . .
(2018-03-07). Administration Sues California Over State Sanctuary Laws. Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Tuesday sued to block California laws that extend protections to people living in the U.S. illegally, the most aggressive move yet in its push to force so-called sanctuary cities and states to cooperate with immigration authorities. California officials remained characteristically defiant, vowing to defend their landmark legislation. | The Justice Department argued a trio of state laws that, among other things, bar police from asking people about their citizenship status or participating in federal immigration enforcement activities are unconstitutional and have kept federal agents from doing their jobs. The lawsuit named as defendants the state of California, Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. | "I say, bring it on," said California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat who wrote the sanctuary state bill. | It is the latest salvo in an escalating…
(2018-03-07). Activists Storm Washington, Demanding Protection for All Immigrants. Truthout Stories "We walked with the same resilience and strength that our community demonstrates in fighting for our right to stay in the US," says Maria Duarte, a Dreamer with Movimiento Cosecha. Duarte and Omar Cisneros, her fellow organizer and US-born ally, discuss their march from New York City to Washington, DC, and the steps they are taking to hold Congress — especially Democrats — accountable for not acting to protect immigrants.An immigration activist wears butterfly wings during a protest March 5, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images) | Stories like this are more important than ever! To make sure Truthout can keep publishing them, please give a tax-deductible donation today. | Welcome to Interviews for Resistance. We're now more than a year into the Trump administration, and activists have scored some important victories in those…
(2018-03-07). Mountains of Nuclear Waste Just Keep Growing. Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists Nuclear waste has been an intractable problem since nuclear power was invented more than 50 years ago, and for many countries it is becoming an ever more expensive and politically embarrassing issue. | Not that politicians would admit this: many still argue that nuclear power is an answer to climate change, forgetting that they are passing the waste buck to future generations. | To those in power the solution to the waste problem is always just around the corner, conveniently just beyond their term of office. But the history of the industry over the last four decades, across the globe, is of dozens of failed schemes. | Currently the United States, France and the UK are yet again wrestling with the problem of repeated failed attempts to find a solution, as scientists warn that continued neglect of the issue is…
(2018-03-07). Ohio Gas Well Was Spewing Methane Pollution Three Weeks After Blowout. Truthout Stories Nearly three weeks after an initial explosion and blowout, an environmental group's infrared camera found that methane was still spewing from a wellhead on an oil and gas drilling pad in rural Ohio. The accident, which displaced about 100 people and spewed toxic chemicals, is being compared to the massive natural gas leak in California's Aliso Canyon that drew national attention to the climate impacts of methane. Workers gained control of the well Wednesday morning.The XTO Methane disaster. (Screenshot: Earthworks) | This Truthout original was only possible because of our readers' ongoing support. Can you make a monthly donation to ensure we can publish more like it? Click here to give. | An oil and gas drilling pad where a fiery explosion led to the evacuation of about 100 people in Ohio's Belmont County last month was still spewing raw…
(2018-03-07). Indigenous and Rural Women Conserve Mother Earth and Empower Their Communities. Truthout Stories Women's rights and gender equality are crucial for not just women, but also for their communities and the environment. Increasing women's leadership in natural resource management, for example, is not only beneficial for biodiversity but also increases livelihood opportunities for women, thus improving their ability to plan for their families and resulting in positive outcomes for their communities.On this International Women's Day, we bring you a photo essay about Indigenous and rural women and their innate connection to nature. Women's rights and gender equality are crucial for not just women, but also for their communities and the environment. Women play a key role in the conservation of biodiversity and forests. A growing body of evidence shows that increasing women's leadership in natural resource management and governance is not only beneficial for biodiversity but also empowers women, increases their livelihood opportunities, improves their ability…
(2018-03-07). The Current Onset of Climate Tipping Points. counterpunch.org As extreme temperatures, the rate of sea ice melt, the collapse of Greenland glaciers, the thawing of Siberian and Canadian permafrost and increased evaporation in the Arctic drive cold snow storms into Europe and North America, and as hurricanes and wild fires affect tropical and semi-tropical parts of the globe, it is becoming clear Earth More
(2018-03-07). Fukushima Fallout: the Irradiated Sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan. MintPress News Coverage of the USS Ronald Reagan has been astoundingly limited, wrote Der Spiegel in a February 2015 story. Since then, nothing much has changed. | The German magazine was referring to the saga of the American Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier whose crew pitched in to help victims of the March 11, 2011 Tsunami and earthquake in Japan, then found themselves under the radioactive plume from the stricken coastal nuclear reactors at Fukushima. Since then, crew members in eye-popping numbers have come down with unexplained illnesses — more than 70 and still counting. Some have died. And many are suing. | The USS Reagan was part of Operation Tomodachi, a U.S. armed forces mission involving 24,000 U.S. service members, and numerous ships and aircraft bringing aid to the victims of the tsunami and earthquake. | On January 5, 2018, a federal…
(2018-03-07). Injustice At Sea: the Irradiated Sailors of the USS Reagan. counterpunch.org "Coverage of the USS Ronald Reagan has been astoundingly limited," wrote Der Spiegel in a February 2015 story. Since then, nothing much has changed. The German magazine was referring to the saga of the American Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier whose crew pitched in to help victims of the March 11, 2011 Tsunami and earthquake in Japan, then found themselves under the radioactive plume from the stricken coastal nuclear reactors at Fukushima. Since then, crew members in eye-popping numbers have come down with unexplained illnesses — more than 70 and still counting. Some have died. And many are suing. More
(2018-03-07). From Global Poverty to Exclusion and Despair: Reversing the Tide of War and Globalization. Global Research Global warfare sustains the neoliberal agenda. America's military agenda serves the interests of Wall Street, the Military Industrial Complex, Big Oil, the Biotech conglomerates, Big Pharma, The Global Narcotics Economy and the Media and Information Giants.
(2018-03-07). Trump Will Attend Private Dinner with Billionaire Members of Super PAC Supporting His Campaign. AlterNet.org The dinner raises legal questions in addition to the obvious ethical problems. | President Donald Trump is set to dine tonight with billionaires in a private mansion in Washington D. C. 's ritzy Georgetown neighborhood — many of whom are key members of America First Policies, a pro-Trump super PAC that formerly employed the vice president's chief of staff. CNN reported Wednesday afternoon that the dinner is being held at the Georgetown residence of Bush 43 White House counsel Boyden Gray, and will be attended by America First Policies' president Brian Walsh along with billionaire oil tycoon and GOP megadonor Harold Hamm. America First Policies, CNBC revealed in an investigation last week, is not only a newly-founded political action committee aimed at promoting Trump's agenda, but also is "conducting a large-scale polling operation that appears designed to benefit the president. " Election law experts. . .
(2018-03-06). These Cities Saw the Most Immigration Raids During Trump's First Year in Office. AlterNet.org Despite the protection of sanctuary cities, the number of arrests is climbing. | Raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have increased drastically since Donald Trump moved into the White House. Across the country, 2017 saw 30 percent more ICE arrests than the previous year. A number of these high-profile arrests are particularly despicable, from news that ICE seized a woman after she reported her husband for domestic abuse, to the arrest of a handicapped girl just out of surgery. For the past year, AlterNet has reported on ICE's notable cruelty since Trump's inauguration. Now the numbers are in, and they confirm that the stories of ICE targeting non-criminal individuals aren't just one-off aberrations. ICE drastically increased arrests for undocumented individuals over the past year, many of whom posed no threat to their communities. Pew Research Center tracked the cities. . .
(2018-03-06). Wall Street Just Sent Democrats and Republicans a 'Sweet Thank You Note' for Doing Its Bidding. AlterNet.org A new "Bank Lobbyist Act" is on the verge of sailing through Congress. | They don't call it the #BankLobbyistAct for nothing. Big bank lobbyists have worked tirelessly to shape the massive deregulatory bill currently making its way through the Senate, and on Monday 13 financial institutions delivered what Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. ) derided as a " sweet thank-you note" to the Democrats and Republicans whose support has the measure's passage all but certain. Signed by American Express, KeyCorp, SunTrust, and ten other banks, the letter expresses "appreciation and support for S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act," which is scheduled for a procedural vote on Tuesday. "Bipartisan cooperation and compromise has led to the creation of legislation that would make sensible and incremental changes to existing regulation, support the extension of credit, and spur economic. . .
(2018-03-06). Millennials Interrupt Fracking Lobbyist Meeting at Trump Hotel in D.C. (Video). AlterNet.org Young people are rising up to reject corporate influence. | Washington D. C. — A dozen young people interrupted the opening reception to an oil and gas lobbying event Monday at the International Trump Hotel in Washington, D. C. The annual 2018 "Congressional Call-Up" event, which focused on influencing federal officials in Congress and at the Environmental Protection Agency, was held by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a lobby group representing oil and gas companies. Before the opening reception, over a dozen young people—part of the Sunrise Movement, a millennial-led group looking to make climate change an urgent political priority in the 2018 midterm elections—stood in the reception entrance inside the Trump International Hotel. During the interruption, attendees displayed a banner that read "Oil Lobby Money Buys Climate Wrecking Politics," sang a song to the tune of "God Bless the USA," and spoke about the. . .
(2018-03-06). Lori Wallach and Michael Hudson Debate Trump's Plan to Impose Steel & Aluminum Tariffs. Democracy Now! "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."
(2018-03-06). Greece: 13,000 Still Trapped on Islands. Human Rights Watch News Ali, a 22-year-old Afghan asylum seeker with a disability, living in Moria camp, on the beach in Lesbos, Greece. He told Human Rights Watch he can't access showers in the camp and sometimes tries to wash himself in the sea. | © 2017 ZALMAàè for Human Rights Watch | (Athens) — Thousands of asylum seekers are trapped on the Aegean islands in deplorable conditions and without access to adequate protection and basic services, nine human rights and humanitarian organizations said today as part of the #OpenTheIslands campaign. The Greek government should act immediately to end the "containment policy" that traps asylum seekers in these conditions on the islands and move them to safety on the mainland. | As the two-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal nears on March 18, 2018, more than 13,000…
(2018-03-06). CBO Warns Bipartisan Bank Bill Heightens Risk of Financial Crisis. The Intercept The Congressional Budget Office confirmed on Monday that bank lobbyists had successfully altered language of the so-called Citigroup carve-out, potentially allowing mega-banks Citi and JPMorgan Chase to add leverage and put more debt-fueled risk on their balance sheets. CBO gave Citi and JPMorgan a 50 percent chance of convincing regulators to let them take the carve-out, and their lobbyists are still working to increase that probability to 100 percent. | Factoring in the reality that the major banks will be lobbying regulators in the Trump administration could plausibly increase the likelihood of their success. | CBO's cost estimate of S.2155, the bipartisan bank deregulation bill that faced its first test vote today, was obtained by the Washington Post on Monday and released publicly Tuesday morning. S.2155 would cost taxpayers $671 million over a 10-year period, CBO estimated, because of the…
(2018-03-06). Lori Wallach and Michael Hudson Debate Trump's Plan to Impose Steel and Aluminum Tariffs. Truthout Stories "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 US 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 US competitiveness. Trump's announcement has also prompted concerns that other countries will impose retaliatory tariffs while challenging US protectionism at the World Trade Organization. For more, we host a debate. Lori Wallach is the director of Public Citizen's…
(2018-03-06). Illinois Residents Say No More Coal Ash in Old Quarry. Truthout Stories Chicago-area residents worry a former stone quarry, lower right, will become a destination for coal ash now stored near four NRG power plants. (Photo: Google Earth) | Support from readers keeps Truthout 100 percent independent. If you like what you're reading, make a donation! | For months now, the Illinois Pollution Control Board has been considering the fate of coal ash stored near four power plants owned by the company NRG. In February, the board completed its second extended public hearing on the issue, with environmental advocates arguing the coal ash should be moved, and the company saying that the ash does not present a risk. | Meanwhile, residents of Chicago's southwestern suburbs are worried about a defunct quarry containing more than 2.5 million cubic yards of coal ash. It is not part of the hearings,…
(2018-03-06). Headlines for March 6, 2018. Democracy Now! North Korea Would Stop Nuclear Tests to Hold Talks with United States, Syria: Monitors Say 70 Killed in 24 Hours Amid Ongoing Gov't Assault on Eastern Ghouta, Trump Says He's Not Backing Down from Tariffs Plan, Ex-Trump Campaign Aide Sam Nunberg Says He Won't Cooperate with Mueller Probe, NYT: State Dept. Spent None of $120 Million to Counter Russian Election Meddling, Embattled at Home, Netanyahu Receives Warm Welcome at Trump's White House, 87 Muslim Leaders & Immigration Activists Arrested in D.C. Protesting End of DACA, Trump Taps Dow Lawyer to Head EPA Unit; Data Shows Coal Ash Polluting Groundwater, NYT: Sen. Hatch's Emails Show Oil Was Central in Decision to Shrink Bears Ears, Kashmir: Tens of Thousands Protest Killing of Civilians by Indian Soldiers, DRC: Dozens Killed & Hundreds Displaced in Recent Days Amid Fighting in Ituri Province, Trump Name Pried Off Panama…
(2018-03-06). The US Is Poised to Become World's Top Fossil Fuel Producer. Truthout Stories Thanks in part to the shale fracking boom, the US is poised to dominate fossil fuel production globally in the coming years. Wealth from oil and gas comes with the dangers posed by pollution, new pipelines and petrochemical infrastructure, pitting environmental activists and vulnerable communities against the world's wealthiest resource extractors.Booming oil production in the US will have an immediate impact on climate, public health and environment. (Image: Anton Watman / Shutterstock; Edited: JR / TO) | This story wasn't funded by corporate advertising, but by readers like you. Can you help sustain our work with a tax-deductible donation? | The United States is poised to become the world's top oil producer and may dominate fossil fuel production globally in the coming decades, thanks in part to the rise of fracking, which has unlocked deep reserves and sparked environmental controversies across the…
(2018-03-06). Don't Look Now but the West Virginia Teacher Strike Is Spreading. AlterNet.org Oklahoma could be the next site of a statewide walkout. | What is happening in West Virginia may not necessarily stay in West Virginia. As thousands of teachers in the state occupied the state house on the eighth day of a walkout that has closed every public school in West Virginia, momentum is gathering among teachers in Oklahoma for a potential strike to protest their low pay and high healthcare costs. A Change. org petition has gathered more than 25,000 signatures of teachers and supporters who object to the state's low teacher salaries—the lowest average pay for educators in the nation, at $42,460—with hundreds of signatures being added on Monday. Talk of a potential strike grew last month after a proposal called Step Up Oklahoma was defeated in the state House of Representatives. The plan would have raised taxes on the oil. . .
(2018-03-05). Political Tribalism: Why the Right is So Successful. counterpunch.org In "How America's identity politics went from inclusion to division" (Guardian, March 1, 2018), Amy Chua argues that the U.S. left has given us the U.S. right, or at least has provided opportunities for the political right to rise to power. Chua makes the case that identity politics on the left and right makes the More
(2018-03-05). Bank Earnings Are Soaring, but Congress Wants to Gut Post-Crisis Safeguards. The Intercept Dick Bove, a high-profile banking analyst, was feeling contrite. For years, Bove, a regular on CNBC, has been arguing for the rollback of regulations imposed after the 2008 financial collapse. | "But lately I've been trying to figure how regulation has hurt the banking industry," Bove confessed in an interview last spring. "And I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with an answer." | This week, the Senate considers the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, a bill that represents the greatest threat to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law since its passage in 2010. The bill would relieve all but the country's largest dozen banks of increased scrutiny and ease mortgage rules imposed after the financial crisis. It would undermine fair lending rules designed to counteract race discrimination and weaken the Volcker rule, which limits a bank's ability to make…
(2018-03-05). New UN Report Examines Challenges to Sustainable Development in a | Warming World. The Real News Network Prof. Petra Tschakert, lead author of a new UN report, explains that climate change adaptation can undermine sustainable development…
(2018-03-05). Ignorance and Greed: Trump's War on the Environment. counterpunch.org Under Donald Trump, the environment has been the hardest hit of any sector of society, carried out by executive actions, the overturning of Obama-era regulations, and the enactment of new rules via cabinet review. This assault is occurring just as NASA reports that we've just had another near-record year of global warming. It's insanity, and More