Why Was a Whistleblower Advocate for US Spies Fired for Talking to Congress?
Kevin Gosztola | mintpressnews.com | 2018-05-09
A key United States intelligence whistleblower advocate, who worked in the Office of the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community (IG IC), was fired from his job by an ad-hoc board that was supported by no policy. One of the board members also had a substantial conflict of interest with the advocate. | April Stephenson, who was the acting inspector general for the Energy Department, was part of an executive review board that met in the IC IG's office on January 12. The board fired Dan Meyer, the head of the Whistleblower and Source Protection Program for the office, after he allegedly committed two "security infractions," including engaging in a "secret dialogue" with Congress. (Meyer learned of his removal in March.) | There is no directive that permits an ad-hoc board to be convened to fire an IG employee. | On October…
Why Was a Whistleblower Advocate for US Spies Fired for Talking to Congress?
Winners and Losers From Tuesday's Primaries
truth-out.org | truth-out.org | 2018-05-09
Voters in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina headed to the polls Tuesday to decide a number of key primaries. In West Virginia, the state's Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won a closely watched US Senate primary, defeating US Rep. Evan Jenkins and former coal baron Don Blankenship. Blankenship had served a year in prison after 29 miners died in the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. He faced intense criticism after releasing an ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his "China family." Patrick Morrisey will now face the conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November. In Ohio, Richard Cordray defeated former Congressmember Dennis Kucinich in the state's Democratic primary for governor. Cordray served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He will now face Mike DeWine in November to determine who will replace outgoing Ohio Governor…
www.truth-out.org/news/item/44422-primary-day-blankenship-out-in-wv-consumer-watchdog-wins-in-ohio-pence-s-brother-wins-in-indiana
Tourism's Climate Footprint Soars
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-05-09
Previous estimates of tourism's climate footprint have fallen far below the mark. Between 2009 and 2013 it increased four times more than earlier estimated, according to a comprehensive new study. | By 2013 the worldwide tourism industry was spilling an estimated 4.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. World tourism is now growing faster than international trade. | Scientists from Australia, Taiwan and Indonesia who explored the link between leisure and global warming report in the journal Nature Climate Change how they calculated the carbon footprint of the tourism business, in what must be one of the most complex studies of the global holiday sector ever undertaken. | "Our analysis is a world-first look at the true cost of tourism — including consumables such as food from eating out and souvenirs…
truthdig.com/articles/tourisms-climate-footprint-soars/
The Rohingya, Facing Turmoil in Exile, Welcomed Back to Myanmar With Words but Not Action
Dennis J Bernstein | mintpressnews.com | 2018-05-09
Dennis J. Bernstein spoke with filmmaker and human rights activist, Jeanne Hallacy, just back with horror stories from Myanmar and the massive Rohingya camps of over 700,000 in neighboring Bangladesh. | The post The Rohingya, Facing Turmoil in Exile, Welcomed Back to Myanmar With Words but Not Action appeared first on MintPress News.
The Rohingya, Facing Turmoil in Exile, Welcomed Back to Myanmar With Words but Not Action
Christian Petzold's Transit: The condition of refugees as hell on earth
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-05-09
The fate of refugees is the subject of Transit, the latest film by prominent German director Christian Petzold, which featured at the 2018 Berlinale and is now on public release in Germany.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/09/revi-m09.html
Primary Day: Blankenship Out in WV; Consumer Watchdog Wins in Ohio; Pence's Brother Wins in Indiana
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-09
Voters in West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina headed to the polls Tuesday to decide a number of key primaries. In West Virginia, the state's Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won a closely watched U.S. Senate primary, defeating U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and former coal baron Don Blankenship. Blankenship had served a year in prison after 29 miners died in the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. He faced intense criticism after releasing an ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his "China family." Patrick Morrisey will now face the conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November. In Ohio, Richard Cordray defeated former Congressmember Dennis Kucinich in the state's Democratic primary for governor. Cordray served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He will now face Mike DeWine in November to determine who will replace outgoing Ohio Governor…
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/9/primary_day_blankenship_out_in_wv
Colombian Human Rights Defenders Need Protection
amnesty.org | amnesty.org | 2018-05-09
The Washington Post Has a Major Hugh Hewitt Problem
Eric Hananoki, Media Matters | alternet.org | 2018-05-08
Hewitt's firm represents clients before the U. S. Department of Justice, SEC, and EPA. | The Washington Post repeatedly allowed Hugh Hewitt to write columns praising Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt without disclosing that Hewitt's law firm does work before the agency. Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt told Media Matters that Hewitt would no longer write about Pruitt. Hewitt is a conservative radio host who also works as a host for MSNBC and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. Off air, he is a partner at the law firm Larson O'Brien. That law firm position presents numerous potential and real conflicts of interest for Hewitt's media roles. Larson O'Brien stated in a May 5, 2017, press release that the firm will be opening a Washington D. C. office and "is currently representing clients before. . .
www.alternet.org/washington-post-has-major-hugh-hewitt-problem
'Heinous acts': US Olympic committee accused of sex trafficking in new lawsuit
RT | rt.com | 2018-05-08
The US Olympic Committee is embroiled in a fresh misconduct controversy as a new lawsuit alleges that it knowingly allowed the sex trafficking and abuse of Taekwondo athletes for more than 20 years. …
www.rt.com/usa/426127-olympic-sex-us-taekwondo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Climate Change 10-Year Check-Up
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2018-05-07
Ten years ago Kevin J. Surace delivered a fascinating TED talk entitled "Worst Case Climate Change." Based upon credits at the end of his speech, data for his talk came from the following sources: — Fred Pearce, With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear — Tipping Points in Climate Change (Beacon Press, 2007) — John…
counterpunch.org/2018/05/07/climate-change-10-year-check-up/
Alyssa Milano branded a hypocrite for 'armed security' at anti-NRA rally (VIDEO)
RT | rt.com | 2018-05-07
US actress Alyssa Milano has been branded a hypocrite by NRA activists for allegedly attending an anti-NRA protest with armed guards as personal protection. …
www.rt.com/usa/426024-milano-nra-armed-hypocrite/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Nearly 90,000 Hondurans May Be Deported to Danger and Poverty as Trump Ends Their Protected Status
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-05-07
The Trump administration announced Friday it is ending temporary protected status for nearly 90,000 Hondurans now living in the United States, saying they must return home. TPS is an immigration status granted to foreign nationals who can't safely return to their home countries, and allows them to legally live and work in the United States. Hondurans were first given TPS in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. Critics note Honduras remains the one of the world's most violent countries. The Trump administration has also ended protections for El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. Only South Sudan and Syria were renewed. An estimated 300,000 people will be impacted overall. We get response from Patricia Montes, an immigrant from Honduras and executive director of Centro Presente in Boston, Massachusetts, which has worked with members from Honduras and Central America since the 1980s. She also has family members who will lose their temporary protected status.
www.democracynow.org/2018/5/7/nearly_90_000_hondurans_may_be
How Customs and Border Protection Illegally Tried to Unmask a Rogue Twitter Account
Shawn Musgrave | theintercept.com | 2018-05-07
When the Department of Homeland Security's attempt to unmask an irksome Twitter account imploded last year, few within the agency were surprised, according to newly released records. "Why would we do this?" one official asked in early April 2017 after Twitter filed a complaint in federal court, according to the heavily redacted emails. | The short-lived investigation into @ALT_USCIS, an anonymous account that claims it's run by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employee, sparked an uproar over First Amendment encroachments and potential abuses of power last year, including from members of Congress. | The new documents, released last week by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press after it sued the DHS and Customs and Border Protection, reveal a partial timeline of the abortive investigation. But more importantly, the emails show how a seemingly unsupervised CBP agent improperly attempted…
theintercept.com/2018/05/07/cbp-alt-uscis-twitter/
Lava fountains spew aggressively from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano (VIDEO)
RT | rt.com | 2018-05-06
Lava flows continue to persist from Kilauea volcano in Hawaii after the eruption and hundreds of earthquakes forced locals to flee the area. New footage shows molten rock surging relentlessly into the air in huge splatters. …
www.rt.com/usa/425974-lava-volcano-hawaii-kilauea/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Trump ends temporary protected status for 86,000 Hondurans
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-05-05
The decision all but ends the temporary protected status program, as 97 percent of total recipients will lose protection.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/05/immi-m05.html
Top Republican Plans to Use Fossil Fuels to Make Puerto Rico "the Energy Hub of the Entire Caribbean"
Kate Aronoff | theintercept.com | 2018-05-05
Puerto Rico could become "the energy hub of the entire Caribbean area" under a vision laid out by Rob Bishop, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who visited the island. | Bishop is not thinking of wind or solar. | In a press conference held in San Juan on Friday, with Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón — a nonvoting representative to the U.S. House — Bishop, R-Utah, said he had been consulting with oil and gas companies in Washington about how to bring more natural gas to the island. | "Puerto Rico could be a headquarters for the entire Caribbean area," Bishop said in response to a question from The Intercept. "That could be a source of energy not just for Puerto Rico, but it could be a source of export for that kind of energy to other places as…
theintercept.com/2018/05/05/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-natural-gas/
'Shaking side to side': Hawaii's massive 6.9 quake captured on VIDEOS
RT | rt.com | 2018-05-05
Terrifying, rumbling, ripping through houses; steaming cracks in the ground, and panicking locals — the powerful earthquake with aftershocks that hit the Big Island of Hawaii has been captured on videos. …
www.rt.com/usa/425913-hawaii-tremor-videos-shaking/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
Russian Sea Monsters: Rudderless Reactors on the High Seas
John Laforge | counterpunch.org | 2018-05-04
Did you hear the one about the Exxon Valdez, Fuku-Chernobyl, Gulf Oil Titanic? Yeah: Russia floated two nuclear reactors on a barge to 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.
counterpunch.org/2018/05/04/russian-sea-monsters-rudderless-reactors-on-the-high-seas/
Decision not to prosecute over New Zealand building collapse ignored crucial evidence
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-05-04
The police and judicial system is shielding those responsible for the Canterbury Television crash during the 2011 earthquake.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/05/04/chri-m04.html
Powerful 6.9 quake, numerous aftershocks hit Hawaii's Big Island near erupting volcano
RT | rt.com | 2018-05-04
A powerful earthquake measuring magnitude 6.9 has struck just off the Big Island of Hawaii as numerous smaller jolts, including a 5.4 tremor, shook the island in the past hours, amid ongoing volcanic eruption. …
www.rt.com/usa/425890-hawaii-earthquake-volcano-eruption/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
How Scott Pruitt Helped Arkansas Poultry Giants Pollute One of Oklahoma's Prettiest Rivers
Sharon Lerner | theintercept.com | 2018-05-04
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…
theintercept.com/2018/05/04/epa-scott-pruitt-oklahoma-illinois-river/
"You Really Should Resign": Lawmakers Slam EPA's Scott Pruitt over Mounting Ethics Scandals
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-04-27
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.
www.democracynow.org/2018/4/27/you_really_should_resign_lawmakers_slam
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