When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

Figueiredo found himself on the other end of the get-fired-and-sent-to-America treatment later that year when Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff fired him hours before her second inauguration, allegedly for not having enough experience or knowledge about business as Brazil attempts to grow its economy. In July 2015, a document released by WikiLeaks revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) began targeting Figueiredo’s cell phone in March 2011.   read more

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder would periodically make sounds about lightening up on states where medical marijuana is legal (now 23) despite federal laws banning the drug. And then Haag, a 2010 appointee of President Obama, would bust a bunch of dispensaries and give voice to a far less conciliatory policy.   read more

Heidt was posted to the United Nations in New York in 2007 as a counselor for economic and social affairs. He returned to Poland in 2009 to serve as deputy chief of mission in the Warsaw embassy. Since 2012, Heidt has been executive assistant to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment.   read more

Not once did the moderators ask the candidates about plots by white supremacists and other right-wing threats. The recent shooting of parishioners of a predominantly black Charleston church never came up. In the 10 years that followed Sept. 11, right-wing extremists carried out an average of 337 attacks annually in the U.S., with 254 people killed, according to ThinkProgress. American Muslims, on the other hand, are responsible for 20 plots in 13 years that resulted in 50 deaths.   read more

The “problem was particularly acute in the United States, where neurological deaths in men aged over 75 have nearly tripled and in women risen more than fivefold,” the Post reported. “The rate of increase in such a short time suggested a silent or even a hidden epidemic, in which environmental factors must play a major part, not just aging,” said study leader Colin Pritchard. He pointed to environmental changes in the last 20 years that “have seen increases in...petro-chemicals.”   read more

HitchBot, a hitchhiking robot, spent considerable time wandering across Canada and Europe without trouble. But it took only a couple weeks in the U.S. for the robot to meet a violent end. While traveling through Philadelphia, hitchBot had its head, arms and legs torn off. “It was quite a setback, and we didn’t really expect it,” Frauke Zeller, one of hitchBOT’s creators, told CNN. “We were spoiled by the kindness of other people who had looked after hitchBOT.”   read more

The SEC had dragged its heels because of stiff opposition from corporations. It’s possible that some executives don’t want to reveal the ratio between their pay and those working under them because the gaps in many cases will be huge. One think tank reported that CEOs were paid 300 times more than their employees in 2013. The ratio 50 years ago was only 20 to 1. “We have middle-class Americans who have gone years without seeing a pay raise, while CEO pay is soaring,” said Sen. Robert Menendez   read more

Defense contractors are upset that the Pentagon’s budget was only $496 billion in fiscal year 2015, down from $528.2 billion in 2011. The Center for Public Integrity reported that “an army of more than 400 lobbyists” invaded Capitol Hill to urge increased spending on military hardware. It also said total lobbying expenditures by the 53 top defense contractors was up to $58.5 million during the second quarter of this year, compared to $45.7 million during the same period in 2014.   read more

The ruling said “SB 14 disproportionately impacts Hispanic and African-American voters” in violation of the Voting Rights Act. An analysis “revealed that Hispanic registered voters and black registered voters were respectively 195% and 305% more likely than their Anglo peers to lack SB 14 ID.” The "great news" is "bittersweet because we’ve now gone through a federal election with this discriminatory voting law in place,” said Brennan Center's Wendy Weiser.   read more

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission wants energy corporations to reduce the amount of wastewater injection by 38% in a 40-mile stretch northeast of Oklahoma City. That area experienced 359 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater in 2014 after only 14 the year before that. This year’s total is on track to be 20% higher, according to The New York Times. Reuters reported that the earthquakes aren’t related to fracking. It’s the re-injection of saltwater that is pumped out of wells.   read more

Under the proposal drafted by the Dept. of Labor, workers would be allowed to use the paid sick leave for themselves or to care for family members, including parents, children, spouses and domestic partners. “It would apply to absences from work resulting from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, if that time was used to seek medical attention, obtain counseling, seek relocation assistance from victim services organizations or prepare civil or criminal proceedings,” wrote the Times.   read more

Civil liberties groups have said the CISA bill could weaken privacy protections for Americans. DHS reported that CISA would allow tech companies to share the data they’d collected on their users with the government. “CISA’s vague language and expansive definitions will give the government new ways to collect and use the personal information and communications of innocent Americans, all without a warrant or any review by an independent court or overseer,” wrote ACLU's Nathaniel Turner.   read more

The law, drafted by the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, was passed last year after an animal rights group produced an undercover video of the Dry Creek Dairy showing workers abusing cows. Judge Winmill tossed out the law, saying it criminalized investigative journalism, undercover investigations and whistleblowing. Winmill even cited Upton Sinclair’s classic exposé, “The Jungle,” saying that if Sinclair had written that today in Idaho, he would be prosecuted.   read more

In New York state, more than 40 lawmakers were found to have collectively spent $7 million of their campaign funds on lawyers hired to deal with scandals or investigations since 2005. Former N.Y. Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver spent $1.5 million in campaign funds to pay for lawyers in his corruption case. “Campaign funds should not be used to keep someone out of jail,” said Lauren George of Common Cause. “And most donors didn’t have that in mind when they contributed.”   read more

The concern stems from a device used around the world to monitor natural gas facilities and their leaks. It relies on two sensors that are supposed to measure the amount of methane that escapes. However, researchers found that one of sensors sometimes fails to do its job, causing the device to undercount the methane leak. "The finding could also have implications for all segments of the natural gas supply chain, with ripple effects on predictions of the rate of climate change," wrote the Times.   read more

Experts at the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Switzerland said many glaciers are melting up to three times the rate of the 20th century. “The observed glaciers currently lose between half a meter and one meter of its ice thickness every year—this is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century,” said lead study author Michael Zemp. "These glaciers will suffer further ice loss, even if climate remains stable.” The researchers called it "a global phenomenon.”   read more