(2018-04-20). Loan Scandal Costs Wells Fargo $1 Billion; None of Fine Goes to Victims. Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists The banking giant will pay $500 million to the U.S. Treasury and $500 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's civil penalties fund. | The post Loan Scandal Costs Wells Fargo $1 Billion; None of Fine Goes to Victims appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
(2018-04-20). Our Greatest Threat Is the Hardest to Act Upon. Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists "No Immediate Danger: Volume One of Carbon Ideologies" | "No Immediate Danger: Volume One of Carbon Ideologies" | Purchase in the Truthdig Bazaar | A book by William T. Vollmann | A decade ago, the environmental philosopher Timothy Morton invented a new word: hyperobject. It describes something so "massively distributed in time and space relative to humans" that it eludes our understanding. The best example of a hyperobject is climate change. Its scale confounds our perception. It is everywhere-"viscous," as Morton has it—and yet it is hard to see directly. Its implications are so great that they verge on unthinkable. | William T. Vollmann's new book, "No Immediate Danger," tussles with the comprehension-defying nature of climate change. It is a 600-page amalgam of scientific history, cultural criticism, mathematical experiments, risk-benefit analyses of energy production and consumption, and diaristic meanderings through radiation-festooned…
(2018-04-20). Earth Day 2018: Ending Plastic Pollution in the Oceans, Land and Our Bodies. Truthout Stories This Sunday more than a billion people will celebrate Earth Day. This year's theme: ending plastic pollution by Earth Day 2020. Of the nearly 300 million tons of plastic sold each year, about 90 percent ends up in landfills, in the oceans — and in our bodies. Part of the focus will be microplastics, those small bits of plastic that are seemingly everywhere. We speak to Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute, who has led 20 expeditions around the world to research plastic marine pollution, and Priscilla Villa of the #BreakFreeFromPlastics movement. | TRANSCRIPT: | AMY GOODMAN: This Sunday more than a billion people will celebrate Earth Day. This year's theme: ending plastic pollution by Earth Day 2020. Of the nearly 300 million tons of plastic sold each year, about 90 percent ends up in landfills, in the oceans — and…
(2018-04-20). Earth Day 2018. The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good This is what April 22 is all about. Treasures from our archives including Denis Hayes, Barry Commoner, Ralph Nader, and Gaylord Nelson.
(2018-04-20). Economic Update: Why People Struggle With the System. Truthout Stories This week's episode provides updates on the teachers' strikes, how capitalism abuses Facebook and how colleges reward privilege and reproduce it. We also discuss Shell Oil knowing for 50 years that fossil fuels contribute to global warming and how Sinclair Broadcasting traps its employees. Finally, we interview Rob Robinson on water as human right as opposed to a commodity for corporate profit. | Download the show | To see more stories like this, visit Economic Update: Your Weekly Dose of Revolutionary Economics | To listen in live on Saturdays at noon, visit WBAI's Live Stream | Economic Update is in partnership with Truthout.org | Your radio station needs Economic Update! If you are a radio station, check this out. If you want to hear Economic Update on your favorite local station,…
(2018-04-20). The Bayer-Monsanto Merger Is Bad News for the Planet. Truthout Stories Two new studies from Europe have found that the number of farm birds in France has crashed by a third in just 15 years, with some species being almost eradicated. The collapse in the bird population mirrors the discovery last October that over three quarters of all flying insects in Germany have vanished in just three decades. Insects are the staple food source of birds, the pollinators of fruits, and the aerators of the soil. | The chief suspect in this mass extinction is the aggressive use of neonicotinoid pesticides, particularly imidacloprid and clothianidin, both made by German-based chemical giant Bayer. These pesticides, along with toxic glyphosate herbicides (Roundup), have delivered a one-two punch against Monarch butterflies, honeybees and birds. But rather than banning these toxic chemicals, on March 21st the EU approved the $66 billion merger of…
(2018-04-20). Showing "Total Disregard for Indigenous Rights and Public Wishes," Trump Moves to Open Alaska Wildlife Refuge to Drilling. Truthout Stories Support from readers keeps Truthout 100 percent independent. If you like what you're reading, make a donation! | Demonstrating a " total disregard for Indigenous rights and public wishes," the Trump administration on Friday moved to expedite oil and gas exploration in previously protected lands in Alaska. | The Interior Department published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a public comment period and plans to draft an environmental impact statement for creating a leasing program for the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The filing follows legislation to enable the program that was tacked on to the tax law Republicans forced through Congress last year. | In response, critics who have spent several months fighting the drilling efforts expressed worries about how drilling will impact the region's native people as well as…
(2018-04-20). Energy Transfer Partners Pipelines Leaked Hazardous Liquids Every 11 Days for 15 Years, on Average. Truthout Stories According to a new report from Greenpeace USA and the Waterkeeper Alliance, Energy Transfer Partners — the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline — has spilled over 3.6 million gallons of hazardous liquids over the course of fifteen years. The report also notes that the fossil fuel industry's record of spills has only gotten worse over time.An aerial view shows a natural gas liquids pipeline under construction October 26, 2017, in Smith Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images) | 5,475 days, 527 pipeline spills: that's the math presented in a new report from environmental groups Greenpeace USA and the Waterkeeper Alliance examining pipelines involving Dakota Access builder Energy Transfer Partners (ETP). It's based on public data from 2002 to 2017. | All told, those leaks released 3.6 million gallons of hazardous liquids, including 2.8 million gallons of crude…
(2018-04-20). Why Marijuana Fans Should Not See Approval for Epilepsy Drug As a Win for Weed. AlterNet.org Healing, but no high? | A Food and Drug Administration panel recommended approval of a drug made of cannabidiol on April 19 to treat two types of epilepsy. The FDA is expected to decide in June whether to accept the panel's 13-0 recommendation to approve Epidiolex, which would would become the first drug made of cannabidiol, a compound in the cannabis plant, to gain approval from the FDA. While the panel's unanimous decision is not binding, the action will no doubt heighten public debate about the use of cannabidiol, medical marijuana, medical cannabis and hemp oil. Should cannabidiol, or CBD, or marijuana be legalized for medical purposes? What is the evidence that these products are beneficial? Are these products safe to use? Those who support the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes might have found the timing of the. . .
(2018-04-20). Earth Day 2018: Ending Plastic Pollution in the Oceans, Land & Our Bodies. Democracy Now! This Sunday more than a billion people will celebrate Earth Day. This year's theme: ending plastic pollution by Earth Day 2020. Of the nearly 300 million tons of plastic sold each year, about 90 percent ends up in landfills, in the oceans—and in our bodies. Part of the focus will be microplastics, those small bits of plastic that are seemingly everywhere. We speak to Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute, who has led 20 expeditions around the world to research plastic marine pollution, and Priscilla Villa of the #BreakFreeFromPlastics movement.
(2018-04-20). Headlines for April 20, 2018. Democracy Now! Released Comey Memos Show Trump Distracted by Rivalries, Fear, Rudy Giuliani to Join Trump's Legal Team, Nationwide Student Walkout Marks 19th Anniversary of Columbine Massacre, Dick's Sporting Goods to Destroy Assault-Style Rifles It Didn't Sell, Trump Admin Moves to Open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for Oil Drilling, Trump Admin Aims to Expand Sale of Armed Drones Globally, GOP Voter Suppression Architect Kris Kobach Found in Contempt of Court, Cuba: Outgoing President Raúl Castro Gives Final Speech at National Assembly, Nicaragua: Thousands Protest New Pension Plan, 4 Reported Dead, Chile: Massive Student Mobilization Protests Privatization of Education, Detroit Threatens to Shut Off Water at 17,000 Homes for People $150 Behind on Bills, Wells Fargo to Be Hit with $1 Billion Fine over Financial Crimes, Natalie Portman Refuses to Go to Israel to Accept Award over "Recent Events", Reproductive Justice Activist Alejandra Pablos Freed from ICE Detention…
(2018-04-20). Trump Fundraiser Offered Russian Gas Company Plan to Get Sanctions Lifted for $26 Million. The Intercept Shortly after President Donald Trump was inaugurated last year, top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy offered Russian gas giant Novatek a $26 million lobbying plan aimed at removing the company from a U.S. sanctions list, according to documents obtained by The Intercept. | Broidy is a Trump associate who was deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee until he resigned last week amid reports that he had agreed to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model with whom he had an affair. But in February 2017, when he laid out his lobbying proposal for Novatek, he was acting as a well-connected businessman and longtime Republican donor in a bid to help the Russian company avoid sanctions imposed by the Obama administration. The 2014 sanctions were aimed at punishing Russia for annexing Crimea and supporting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. | In…
(2018-04-19). Of Animals and Bees and Flowers Wild as Earth Day Nears. Global Research Nature cheers us. Animals can be powerful, beautiful, sleek, graceful. A field of wild flowers chanced upon can take our breath away. Wordsworth so moved by 'a host of golden daffodils' put pen to paper, and we are richer for …
(2018-04-19). Global Warming's Impact on Ocean Currents to Amplify Sea Level Rise. The Real News Network A new study shows that the Atlantic's currents have weakened due to global warming and are closer to catastrophic collapse than any time in the last 1,600 years, which could cause rapid sea level rise on the East Coast of North America. One of the study's lead authors explains…
(2018-04-19). Justin Trudeau Vows to Bail Out Profitable Oil Company, Kinder Morgan. The Real News Network Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sees the Kinder Morgan threat to abandon its pipeline project as a threat to the country's national interest and is now mobilizing local governments to maintain the project, says TRNN's Dimitri Lascaris…
(2018-04-19). Iraq: ISIS Suspects' Homes Confiscated. Human Rights Watch News (Beirut) — Iraqi security officers are denying immediate relatives of suspected Islamic State (also known as ISIS) members security clearance to reclaim homes being occupied or to seek compensation, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces have also destroyed or confiscated some property. Such acts, based only on family relationships to ISIS suspects rather than individual security determinations, are a form of collective punishment. Graffiti that reads "Daesh (ISIS)," marks the home of relatives of an ISIS member in a west Mosul neighborhood, Iraq. | © 2018 Private | "These families deserve the same protections that Iraqi courts provide to all citizens," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Courts should be the guarantors against discrimination that will only further sectarian divisions in the country and delay needed…
(2018-04-18). #FreeSiwatu: Pregnant Black Detroit Activist Jailed for Standing Her Ground & Protecting Her Family. Democracy Now! An environmental activist and young black mother in Detroit may be forced to give birth behind bars, after standing her ground during a frightening encounter. Since she was 15 years old, Siwatu-Salama Ra has fought for environmental justice. She campaigned against the Marathon oil refinery and the Detroit Renewable Power trash incinerator. She represented Detroit at the Paris climate summit. She's also worked to engage kids and educate young mothers about nutrition. Now, at age 26, Siwatu has been sentenced to a mandatory two years in prison, following an incident in which she brandished her unloaded—and legally registered—handgun while defending her mother and 2-year-old daughter. She was sentenced last month to two years in prison even though she is scheduled to give birth in June. We speak to two of her attorneys and Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter.
(2018-04-17). Headlines for April 17, 2018. Democracy Now! Theresa May & Emmanuel Macron Face Backlash over Military Strikes on Syria, U.S. & U.K. Issue Joint Warning About Risks of Russian Cyberattacks, Judge Rejects Trump's Efforts to Have First Access to Cohen Docs Seized by FBI, Watchdog Rules EPA Broke Law with $43,000 Soundproof Phone Booth, Philadelphia: Protesters Shut Down Starbucks over Racial Discrimination, Trudeau Continues to Back Controversial Kinder Morgan Oil Pipeline, Nina Simone & Sister Rosetta Tharpe Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Beyoncé Rocks Coachella with Historic Performance Celebrating Black Culture, Kendrick Lamar Wins Historic Pulitzer Prize for Music…
(2018-04-16). Animals Deserve Protection From Abuse. The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good In protecting animals, we also protect ourselves.
(2018-04-16). Headlines for April 16, 2018. Democracy Now! U.S. Threatens Sanctions Against Russia After Military Strike Against Syria, Nikki Haley Defends Trump's Refugee Ban, Claiming Syrians Don't Want to Come to U.S., James Comey: Trump Is Not Morally Fit to Be President, Michael Cohen Faces New Scrutiny About Trip to Prague & Broidy's Affair Payoff, Afghanistan: 26 Government Officers Killed in String of Attacks, Nationwide Protests in India Denounce Rape & Murder of Muslim Girl, Palestinians Gather at Israeli-Gaza Border in Latest "Great March of Return" Protests, Ecuador Accuses Colombian Rebel Group of Killing 2 Journalists and Driver, Salvadoran Journalist Karla Lisseth Turcios Murdered, Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Barcelona to Demand Freedom for Catalan Leaders, Protests at Philadelphia Starbucks After Viral Video of Cops Arresting 2 Black Men Inside Store, Hundreds of Denver Teachers Join Teachers' Protests Sweeping Nation, South Carolina: At Least 7 Prisoners Dead After Uprising at Lee Correctional Institution, Alabama: Black Teen Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for a Murder Committed by Cop, Lawyer Self-Immolates in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, as Protest Against Climate Change, Tens of Thousands Gather in South Africa for Funeral of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela…
(2018-04-14). Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific. World Socialist Web Site The Odisha tanker drivers are employed by contractors for the state-owned oil corporations and are only paid about $US115 per month.
(2018-04-12). Parkland teacher arrested for leaving loaded gun in public toilet. RT US News A teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the February shooting that claimed 17 lives, has been arrested for leaving his loaded pistol in a public toilet, where a homeless man later fired it.
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(2018-04-12). Headlines for April 12, 2018. Democracy Now! Trump Tweets Syria Assault Could Come "Soon or Not So Soon At All!", Russian Ambassador Warns U.S. over "Sad and Serious Events" in Syria, Sen. Bernie Sanders Warns Trump Against Syria Strike, House Speaker Paul Ryan Will Not Seek Re-Election, FBI Raid on Trump's Lawyer Sought Documents on "Access Hollywood" Tape, Algeria: Plane Crash Kills 257, Including Western Sahara Activists, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Grilled on Privacy by House Panel, Trump Judicial Nominee Won't State Position on School Desegregation, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens Won't Resign over Reported Sexual Abuses, Study: Climate Change Is Weakening Gulf Stream Ocean Currents, Chicago Tribune Journalists Seek to Unionize, Former House Speaker John Boehner Joins Medical Marijuana Firm…
(2018-04-09). Headlines for April 9, 2018. Democracy Now! Israel Bombs Syrian Air Base; 60 Killed in Alleged Chemical Weapons Attack in Douma, Israeli Army Kills 9 Palestinians at Protest, Including Journalist Yaser Murtaja, Brazil: Lula Begins Serving Jail Sentence, After 2-Day Standoff, U.S.: Kim Jong-un Open to Talking Denuclearization in Meeting with Trump, ICE Carries Out Biggest Raid in a Decade, Arresting Nearly 100 in TN Meat-Processing Plant, Texas Deploys 250 National Guard Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border, Scott Pruitt Faces Scrutiny over $3 Million Security Detail, CNN: Trump Preparing for Possible Interview with Mueller, Hungarian Far-Right Prime Minister Wins Third Term After Xenophobic Campaign, Protesters Denounce Saudi Crown Prince's Visit to Paris & Saudi War in Yemen, U.N. Warns of Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, After Protests, Kinder Morgan Suspends Work on Trans Mountain Pipeline, Indonesia: 5 Dead After Massive Oil Spill Off Island of Borneo,…
(2018-04-06). A Standing Rock on the Border? The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good A desert tribe, tormented by border patrol, pushes back against Trump's wall.