Scott Pruitt Is Killing Us
truth-out.org | truth-out.org | 2018-04-26
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks to the press at a news conference at the Environmental Protection Agency on April 2, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Photo: Jason Andrew / Getty Images) | Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, who first gained Donald Trump's attention by devoting his life to the utter destruction of the EPA for the benefit of his friends in the fossil fuel industry, has turned that agency into a three-letter wrecking ball. He wholeheartedly believes that his agency's role is to serve polluters and big business, but he is also in service to Trump, who titters with glee every time some Obama-era protection is erased. | You have to see it all in order to really encompass it, and this isn't even all of it. What began with a headline in November of 2016 — "
www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/44286-scott-pruitt-is-killing-us
Are Israeli Snipers Censoring Palestinian Journalists by Murder?
David Palumbo-Liu | truthdig.com | 2018-04-26
On April 25, Ahmad Abu Hussein became the second Palestinian journalist Israeli snipers shot to death while covering the Great March of Return demonstrations, a series of weekly, massive Palestinian demonstrations demanding the right to return to their lands. Abu Hussein was 24 years old. Just days before, Israeli live ammunition killed 30-year-old Yasser Mourtaja. Like Abu Hussein, he was wearing a large, bright "Press" jacket that made clear he was a reporter. | The organization Reporters Sans Frontieres asserts that the Israeli Occupying Forces' targeting of journalists is deliberate and systemic. This would be in direct violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222 (2015), which states: "impunity for crimes committed against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in armed conflict remains a significant challenge to their protection and that ensuring accountability for crimes committed against them is a key…
truthdig.com/articles/are-israeli-snipers-censoring-palestinian-journalists-by-murder/
At Hearings, EPA Chief Seeks to Divert Blame for Ethics Woes
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-04-26
WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, yet another Trump administration official with his job on the line over ethical concerns, took heat from lawmakers Thursday over his profligate spending and lobbyist ties and tried to divert responsibility to underlings. | The EPA administrator said "twisted" allegations against him were meant to undermine the administration's anti-regulatory agenda, and he denied knowing details of some of the extraordinary spending done on his behalf at the agency. | The public grilling at back-to-back House hearings, called formally to consider EPA's budget, came as support has appeared to erode for Pruitt among fellow Republicans after revelations about unusual security spending, first-class flights, a sweetheart condo lease and more. Even Republicans who heartily support Pruitt's policy agenda said his apparent lapses had to be scrutinized. | Democrats excoriated him. | "You are unfit to hold public…
truthdig.com/articles/at-hearings-epa-chief-seeks-to-divert-blame-for-ethics-woes/
Scott Pruitt Violated All Three Principles He Committed to Protect at the EPA
Elliott Negin, Independent Media Institute | alternet.org | 2018-04-26
A little more than a year into his tenure, Pruitt has broken his own stated principles of process, rule of law and federalism. | With Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's job now hanging in the balance, it is a good time to recall that, just after his Senate confirmation, he gave a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that emphasized the three principles he said would stand at "the heart of how we do business at the EPA": process, rule of law, and federalism. A little more than a year into his tenure, he has violated all of them. 1. Subverting Process"Number one," Pruitt told his CPAC audience, "we're going to pay attention to process. "In fact, as we now know, Pruitt has a long track record–going back to his days in Oklahoma–of flouting official procedures when it suits him. Most. . .
www.alternet.org/environment/epa-chief-pruitt-even-violates-his-own-principles
Earth Week 2018: Environmental losses and solutions
Blake Skylar | peoplesworld.org | 2018-04-26
As the chaos of climate change becomes the new status quo, Earth Week gains significance with each passing year. First celebrated in 1970 as Earth Day, the annual event has since been expanded into seven days' worth of activities pertaining to the many environmental issues the world faces. It also provides an opportunity to review …
The Moment of Truth Has Come! What Now? Threat to Life on Planet Earth: Ozone Dying and the Deadly Ultraviolet Cosmic Radiation
PCVW | globalresearch.ca | 2018-04-26
The real threat to life is the deadly ultraviolet cosmic radiation that reaches the Earth's surface because the ozone layer can no longer stop it. That means, that a part of the atmosphere, the famous and unique Blue of the planet Earth is in is in the process of dissolution.
globalresearch.ca/the-moment-of-truth-has-come-what-now-threat-to-life-on-planet-earth-ozone-dying-and-the-deadly-ultraviolet-cosmic-radiation/5637864
Macron's Mission to Washington: Protect French Business Interests With Iran? Trump's Intent to Jeopardize the Iran Nuclear Deal?
Adam Garrie | globalresearch.ca | 2018-04-26
In July of 2017, the French energy giant Total signed a $5 billion deal with Iran to develop the South Pars off-shore oil field. At the time, Total executives acknowledged the fact that they could lose all of their investments …
globalresearch.ca/macrons-mission-to-washington-protect-french-businesses-interests-with-iran-trumps-intent-to-jeopardize-withdraw-the-iran-nuclear-deal/5637930
From May 1968 to May 2018: Politics and Student Strikes
Daniel Warner | counterpunch.org | 2018-04-26
Much is and will be written comparing the student uprisings in the late 1960s in the United States and the current turmoil in some French universities. Like the nostalgia for the Cold War, the media is going back to what took place in the United States at a time when prestigious universities like Columbia and the University of California at Berkeley were shut down. Strikes by various unions accompanied and accompany the strikes in France so that, on the surface, comparisons between the late 1960s in the U.S. and 2018 in France seem to have some validity.
counterpunch.org/2018/04/26/from-may-1968-to-may-2018-politics-and-student-strikes/
Multiple explosions at Wisconsin oil refinery, 10 confirmed injured (VIDEO)
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-26
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. …
www.rt.com/usa/425241-casualties-wisconsin-oil-explosion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Convicted Al-Qaeda terrorist says admission of guilt was obtained with torture, sues FBI agent
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-26
The only "enemy combatant" in the War on Terror arrested on US soil now insists he was innocent and demands that those who allegedly tortured him while he was in confinement at a South Carolina naval base be arrested and tried. …
www.rt.com/usa/425216-qatar-al-qaida-torture-us/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Lebanon: Political Parties Shun Rights Issues
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-04-26
Candidates for Lebanon's parliamentary elections should commit to human rights reforms. | (Beirut) — Twenty-seven candidates and some parties running in Lebanon's parliamentary elections on May 6, 2018, have made public commitments to strengthen human rights protections. But none of the parties in the current cabinet were willing to make public commitments in response to a Human Rights Watch letter urging them to commit to human rights reforms on 10 issues. | The new independent parties Libaladi, Kelna Beirut, You Stink, and individual candidates committed to all of the proposed reforms. The Kataeb party, which is not in the cabinet, committed to the reforms except those related to refugee rights. | "It is deeply disappointing that none of the parties in Lebanon's current government saw fit to make strong commitments…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/26/lebanon-political-parties-shun-rights-issues
Colombia: Witness Linked to Uribe Probe Murdered
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-04-26
(Washington, DC) — A witness connected to a criminal investigation of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez was murdered on April 14, 2018, and other witnesses have been threatened, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should redouble its protection of witnesses and their relatives. | Senator Alvaro Uribe, Colombia's former president, attends a debate at the congress in Bogota, Colombia, October 3, 2016. | © 2016 Reuters | The Supreme Court ordered the investigation on February 16. Uribe, now a senator, filed a criminal complaint in 2012 against Senator Iván Cepeda, contending that he had used "fraudulent" testimony to implicate Uribe and his brother Santiago in paramilitary atrocities in the 1990s. The Supreme Court rejected the allegations against Cepeda and instead initiated an investigation into whether Uribe, who was president from 2002 to…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/26/colombia-witness-linked-uribe-probe-murdered
Headlines for April 26, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-26
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…
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/26/headlines
Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Leadership Pressuring Progressive to Leave Race
Lee Fang | theintercept.com | 2018-04-26
Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House of Representatives, has for years been a prolific campaigner on behalf of current and potential members of Congress. It was no surprise, then, that December found him in Colorado, where the party has hopes of knocking off Republican incumbent Mike Coffman. | Before Donald Trump had even been inaugurated, local resistance groups began deluging Coffman's public appearances, pressing him not to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and putting him back on his political heels. Levi Tillemann, an author, inventor, and former official with the Obama administration's Energy Department, moved back home to make a run against Coffman. | He focused his campaign on clean elections, combatting climate change, "Medicare for All," free community college, and confronting economic inequality and monopoly power. Another candidate for the nomination, Jason Crow, a corporate lawyer at the…
theintercept.com/2018/04/26/steny-hoyer-audio-levi-tillemann/
How Central Bank Independence Led to Impunity in Latvia
TRNN | therealnews.com | 2018-04-25
Latvia's extreme austerity and neoliberal experience has led it down the path of becoming a major hub for money laundering. Its Central Bank governor, Ilmars Rimsevics, is at the heart of the scandal, but enjoys the protection of central bank autonomy, explains former financial regulator Bill Black…
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21656
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's 'Days Are Numbered' for Ethics Violations
TRNN | therealnews.com | 2018-04-25
The ethics violations of Scott Pruitt keep mounting and now he has become too toxic for even the White House, says Todd Paglia, executive director of Stand Earth…
therealnews.com/idirect.php?i=21657
Armenian prime minister resigns after mass protests
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-04-25
Located in the oil-rich Caucasus, Armenia is mired in a deep political crisis that the pro-EU opposition is trying to exploit to advance its own agenda.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/04/25/arme-a25.html
Lessons for Nepal, Three Years After Deadly Earthquake
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-04-25
Abandoned houses, damaged during the 2015 earthquake, stand in Bhaktapur, Nepal April 21, 2017. Picture taken April 21, 2017. | © 2017 Reuters | Three years have passed since a violent earthquake shattered Nepal, leaving an estimated 9,000 people dead and many hundreds of thousands injured and homeless, yet the country is still far from recovery. In its prioritization of human rights, the government should include adequate support for those devastated by the April 25 disaster. | In 2015, the response in Nepal and among its friends abroad in sending troops and equipment to help with the rescue and emergency relief effort was swift and generous. Such was the kindness of strangers that they also raised billions of dollars in assistance within a few days. | This tremendous outpouring of…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/25/lessons-nepal-three-years-after-deadly-earthquake
Pennsylvania golf club sparks race row by calling police on 5 black women
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-24
A Pennsylvania golf club has become embroiled in a race row after senior staff called the police to remove a group of five black women they accused of holding up play on the course. …
www.rt.com/usa/425001-pennsylvania-golf-club-race-row/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Bosnia Failing to Protect Asylum Seekers
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-04-24
Asylum seekers and other migrants gather in a park in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo, where volunteers provide them with food, blankets, and medical care. | © Emina Cerimovic/Human Rights Watch | When you think of refugees in connection with Bosnia and Herzegovina, you may think of people displaced by fighting in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But today the country is facing a different kind of refugee crisis as it strains to safeguard the rights of a growing number of people from other regions who are seeking protection. | According to the UNHCR, 1,138 asylum seekers and migrants arrived to Bosnia between January 1 and March 3, more than the total for 2017. Most of them are from Syria, followed by Pakistan, Libya, and Afghanistan. Some are fleeing conflict…
www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/24/bosnia-failing-protect-asylum-seekers
Macron in Washington DC to walk the line between criticism and adulation with Trump
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-23
As Emmanuel Macron arrives in Washington, the French President is expected to face pressure to tackle Trump on Iran, trade, and climate change, all while continuing to strengthen his cosy relationship with the US president. …
www.rt.com/usa/424917-macron-us-visit-trump/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
On Earth Day: Environmental Activism is Spreading
Consortiumnews.com | consortiumnews.com | 2018-04-22
Across America environmental activism is growing, and government and the fossil fuel industry are taking notice, say Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers. By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers Tree-sits are growing in West Virginia where people are putting their bodies on the… Read more ?…
consortiumnews.com/2018/04/22/on-earth-day-environmenal-activism-is-spreading/
Going Native: To Move Forward, Indians Must Reclaim Values of the Past
Mark Anthony Rolo | progressive.org | 2018-04-21
Prior to colonization, American Indians had their own values of tolerance and acceptance. Forgetting those values not only threatens our tradition, but our right to tribal sovereignty.
progressive.org/dispatches/going-native-reclaiming-tribal-values-of-our-past-180420/
US bank offers free identity protection… while admitting potential data breach of 1.5mn clients
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-21
While announcing details of free identity protection for clients, a US bank revealed that data belonging to up to 1.5 million customers may have been exposed and passed on to a criminal third party. …
www.rt.com/usa/424766-bank-data-breach-suntrust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Threat assessment: NASA's asteroid hunter reveals scariest, Earth-bound objects (VIDEO)
RT | rt.com | 2018-04-21
Hundreds of cosmic objects swarming unnervingly close to Earth come to life in an intimidating new NASA visualization, based on the latest data from its asteroid-hunting mission. …
www.rt.com/usa/424782-threat-nasa-asteroid-hunter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Media Support US Violence Against Syria, but Long for More
Gregory Shupak | fair.org | 2018-04-20
And by "reckoning," the Atlantic ( 4/14/18) appeared to mean "a war with Russia and its allies." | Corporate media outlets were glad that the US, France and Britain bombed Syria in violation of international law (FAIR.org, 4/18/18), but lamented what they see as a dearth of US violence in the country. | In The Atlantic ( 4/14/18), Thanassis Cambanis described the war crime as "undoubtedly a good thing," and called for "sustained attention and investment, of diplomatic, economic and military resources"–though the latter rubbed up against his assessment in the same paragraph that "a major regional war will only make things worse." Moreover, he described "the most realistic possibility" for the US and its partners in Syria as "an incomplete and possibly destabilizing policy of confrontation [and] containment. But a reckoning can't be deferred forever." | This…
fair.org/home/media-support-us-violence-against-syria-but-long-for-more/
Earth Day 2018: Ending Plastic Pollution in the Oceans, Land & Our Bodies
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-20
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.
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/20/earth_day_2018_ending_plastic_pollution
Headlines for April 20, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-20
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…
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/20/headlines
#FreeSiwatu: Pregnant Black Detroit Activist Jailed for Standing Her Ground & Protecting Her Family
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-18
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.
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/18/freesiwatu_pregnant_black_detroit_activist_jailed
Headlines for April 17, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-17
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…
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/17/headlines
Animals Deserve Protection From Abuse
Christopher Dale | progressive.org | 2018-04-16
In protecting animals, we also protect ourselves.
progressive.org/op-eds/animals-deserve-protection-from-abuse-180416/
Headlines for April 16, 2018
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-16
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…
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/16/headlines
A Standing Rock on the Border?
Tim Vanderpool | progressive.org | 2018-04-06
A desert tribe, tormented by border patrol, pushes back against Trump's wall.
progressive.org/dispatches/a-standing-rock-on-the-border-wall-180406/