(By Juan Cole) A Gallup poll has found that only 35% of Americans are concerned about climate change, and that proportion is barely up from the previous year. Climate change has become a partisan issue in the US, such that a majority of Democrats is worried about it but only 29% of independents and only […]
After Karzai: Afghanistan votes for a New President amid Security Threats
Afghanistan poised for uncertain election as US forces exit (via AFP) Afghanistan heads to the polls Saturday to choose a new president after Hamid Karzai’s 13-year reign and a US-led military campaign which have radically changed the country but failed to defeat the Taliban. The first round of the election comes as the… —— […]
ACLU Complains: CIA to Filter Release by Senate of Torture Report
(By Sarah Lazare) The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to partially lift the media and public blackout of its 6,300 page investigation into widespread CIA torture, extrajudicial detentions, unlawful renditions, and lying to the U.S. government in the so-called 'War on Terror.' In an 11 to 3 decision, the committee voted to submit the […]
Hope for Ending Gas and Coal: US Wind Energy Is Breaking Records
Originally published on AWEA. Washington, D.C., — Wind energy is breaking records across the U.S., thanks to long-needed transmission upgrades that are relieving congestion on the power grid and allowing more clean energy to reach consumers. Last…
US National Security hijacked, flown into Bermuda Triangle of Mysteries
(By Tom Engelhardt) Isn’t there something strangely reassuring when your eyeballs are gripped by a “mystery” on the news that has no greater meaning and yet sweeps all else away? This, of course, is the essence of the ongoing tale of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Except to the relatives of those on […]
Top 5 Things wrong with US AID Social Media Plot Against Cuba
(By Juan Cole) The US Agency for International Development established a microblogging platfrom similar to Twitter for Cubans. It used it to promote critical discussion of the government but also to gather private information of users. Covert operations are supposed to be approved by the White House but it is not clear this one was. […]
Ted Cruz Pwned by own Facebook Poll on Obamacare (Young Turks)
Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks: “Facebook Poll Hilariously Backfires On Senator” Crooks & Liars writes: Ted Cruz, Don’t Ask The Question If You Don’t Want To Know The Answer (via http://crooksandliars.com) Ted Cruz thought he could rile up his followers on Facebook by posting the following “straw poll”: Quick poll: Obamacare was signed into […]
Supreme Court enshrines Plutocracy, but Dissent says Conservatives Substituted Opinion for Fact
Central to the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decisions in the John Roberts era is that the government’s only legitimate interest in this area is preventing direct, quid pro quo corruption — a donor demanding that a specific law be passed, or…
Alarming new study makes today’s climate change more comparable to Earth’s worst mass extinction
Posted on 2 April 2014 by howardlee The Permian Mass Extinction 251.9 million years ago, otherwise known as “The Great Dying,” was the closest this planet has come to extinguishing all complex life on Earth. Around 90% of all species died out in…