How Oil Companies Avoided Environmental Accountability After 10.8 Million Gallons Spilled
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, while stranded New Orleanians flagged down helicopters from rooftops and hospitals desperately triaged patients, crude oil silently gushed from damaged drilling rigs and storage tanks. Given the human misery set into motion by Katrina, the harm these spills caused to the environment drew little attention. But […]
From Impeachment to Voter Suppression
Fair Observer comments on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party win in the general election and President Donald Trump’s impeachment. While the latter seems a resolute response to corruption, Trump’s support hasn’t wavered. Meanwhile, Johnson mis-stepped time and again leading up to the election, exerting emergency powers to force a Parliament vote and losing numerous […]
After Admitting “It’s Always Been Republicans Suppressing Votes,” Trump Advisor Says Party Will Get Even More Aggressive in 2020
Reporting on Friday shows a top advisor for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign caught on tape in November bragging of the Republican Party’s history of voter suppression—and promising to go on the offensive in 2020. The revelation came from the Associated Press in a report Friday on comments by Trump re-election advisor Justin Clark at an event in Madison, Wisconsin. […]
How to Stop Fare Evasion: Make NYC’s Trains & Buses Free
Imagine a transit system where there are no turnstiles, where the police presence is minimal because cops aren’t lurking around to enforce fares. Picture a subway and bus network that is free, open and functional because those who profit most from it pay for it. Lawmakers in Kansas City, Missouri took a step in just […]
Hundreds of ‘pink slime’ local news outlets are distributing algorithmic stories and conservative talking points
An increasingly popular tactic challenges conventional wisdom on the spread of electoral disinformation: the creation of partisan outlets masquerading as local news organizations. An investigation by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School has discovered at least 450 websites in a network of local and business news organizations, each distributing thousands of […]
Clean Energy Loses Out in Congress’s Last-Minute Budget Deal
In the massive federal spending package that Congress passed this week, just in time to head off a government shutdown, lawmakers showed they are in no hurry for the clean energy future. They strategically slashed most of the tax credit extenders that analysts saw as this Congress’ best opportunity to accelerate renewable energy and cut […]
Corporate Media Find All the Wrong Lessons for US Left in Corbyn’s Defeat
Conservative leader Boris Johnson swept to power in the UK’s December 12 elections, winning 365 of a possible 650 seats. Labour’s socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn announced his resignation, after a bitterly disappointing night for his party. Across the spectrum, corporate media all came to the same conclusion regarding the election: Corbyn’s loss spells the end […]
New Report Calls Out Gross Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice System
Non-profit group The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) on Thursday (December 19) released a report exposing failures in the juvenile justice system that mirror ones found in the adult system. The study, “Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie 2019,” indicates that although the number of youths detained in juvenile detention centers has decreased by 60 precent since 2000, data shows that “Black and American Indian […]
Alaska’s Law Enforcement Crisis Is a Public Emergency. Here’s How Experts Want to Fix It.
Decades into a burgeoning public safety crisis, with a stubbornly high rate of sexual violence, Alaska finally may have arrived at a moment of change. The state board that regulates police officers is now, for the first time, working to identify and train officers who work for remote villages and ensure they meet basic hiring […]
Trump Touts Support from Putin Over Impeachment
You can’t make it up. President Donald Trump on Friday night touted a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin criticizing Trump’s impeachment. Trump did this amid continuing revelations that Putin helped sell him on the discredited theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidential election. The House impeached Trump on Wednesday night for abuse of […]