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

The Chamber has become “the hammer for the tobacco industry,” setting up lobbying operations in other countries to fight anti-smoking laws. Its zeal to help American tobacco companies has gone so far as to convince Ukraine to file a legal challenge against Australia over that country’s right to enact anti-smoking laws on its own soil. The Chamber, led by Thomas Donohue, has also worked to ensure that international agreements won’t impede the marketing of tobacco products in other countries.   read more

A withdrawal of manufacturing and closure of military bases have caused some of the island's economic problems. Puerto Rico’s governor, Alejandro García Padilla, has called on lenders to allow deferring debt payments. He warned that if Wall Street doesn’t cooperate, it won’t just mean trouble for Puerto Rico. “If they don’t come to the table, it will be bad for them,” he said. “Our economy will get into a worse situation and we’ll have less money to pay them."   read more

The change “would restore the overtime salary threshold to roughly where it stood in 1975,” said The New York Times. It remains to be seen, however, if the plan goes into effect. Although the regulation could be adopted as soon as next year, Republicans in Congress might try to kill it. As the business community almost always does with any new rule affecting it, executives decried the plan as one that will hurt companies and force them to cut jobs.   read more

For now, Oregon pot smokers will have to grow their own—they’re allowed to have four plants each—or rely on the kindness of others to give them some. Another option is to drive into neighboring Washington, but bringing marijuana across state lines is a federal crime. Last night, Portland’s NORML planned to give away marijuana to celebrate--“Where adults will be allowed to give it away rather than allowing the black market to thrive on our new legality,” said NORML's Russ Belville.   read more

Calling a police officer unflattering names might not be polite but it is protected by the Constitution. The Marshall Project documented numerous cases demonstrating that police have exceeded their authority by arresting people for name-calling. In Washington State, a teenage boy called an officer a “motherfucker.” His conviction was overturned last week by the state Supreme Court. In Georgia, a woman won a $100,000 settlement after police arrested her for cursing at them.   read more

The toll on Americans from on-the-job chemical exposures is staggering. It’s been difficult for new worker safety rules to get established when manufacturing companies launch opposition campaigns to undermine OSHA’s efforts and those of labor unions and other advocates. Industry trade groups have filed lawsuits over the years to overturn new OSHA regulations. Congress has also contributed to curtailing the work of OSHA, which was dubbed the “Gestapo” of the government by Rep. John Boehner.   read more

Alabama’s chief justice, Roy Moore, has said he will resist the Supreme Court ruling, while his wife, Kayla Moore, head of The Foundation for Moral Law, wrote on Facebook that “the U.S. Supreme Court [has] no legal authority to redefine marriage.” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told county clerks to ignore the ruling and refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.   read more

The images show both the interiors and exteriors of CIA secret locations where detainees were held and interrogated. They reportedly include detainee cells, bathrooms, naked prisoners at the time of transport, confinement boxes that held detainees, and a waterboard in the “Salt Pit,” the largest CIA detention facility in Afghanistan. Also said to be depicted are members of the CIA and foreign intelligence services, along with interrogation program architects James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen.   read more

Ask a cop what kind of extremist they’re most concerned about and the answer is likely to be those opposed to the government, not Muslim terrorists. Anti-government extremists were listed more than any other by far: 73.8%. Al Qaeda-inspired extremists came in a distant second, at 39.3%. The researchers also found that that law enforcement “perceive violent extremism to be a much more severe threat nationally than the threat of violent extremism in their own jurisdictions.”   read more

Congress has invited dozens of world leaders to address U.S. lawmakers. But religious figures have never had the honor. Capitol Hill will be working overtime in maneuvering the logistics of this event, said the Post’s Michelle Boorstein. “Which presidential candidate gets close and who doesn’t? How much time should he spend in Boehner’s office and with whom? Will lawmakers stand and clap for lines they support and remain seated for those they oppose? Those are all elements under discussion."   read more

They put the cost of the post-9/11 fighting at $4.4 trillion. In addition to the costs of bullets and bandages, they included the interest on the money borrowed to fight the war (remember—Bush sought no tax increases to fund the fighting); the money it took out of the economy and cost Americans in increased interest; the future cost of treating and healing wounded veterans (expected to peak in 30 or 40 years at more than $1 trillion); and increased homeland security spending.   read more

The FBI has contended since 2010 that the IG’s office lacks the legal authority to see documents related to certain matters, including grand juries, Title III electronic surveillances and Fair Credit Reporting Act information. FBI officials also claim they don’t have to share documents related to two investigations of alleged whistleblower retaliation, or those pertaining to an IG review of the FBI’s use of telephonic metadata.   read more

Glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, will finally undergo analysis for its effects on endangered species by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA’s agreement is only the beginning of a long, slow process. The agency has agreed to complete its assessments by 2020.   read more

A bill now moving through both houses of Congress at the behest of ROV firms would mandate a study by the National Academy of Sciences—at a cost to the CPSC of $800,000 to $1 million—to investigate whether those standards are necessary. The study is beside the point, of course. Manufacturers are hoping that by the end of two years, there will be a Republican administration in the White House that will appoint a corporative majority to the CPSC and the rule changes will just go away.   read more

E.J.J.’s attorney, Lila J. Silverstein, said her client was only trying to protect his sister. One of the justices agreed he was right to be concerned. In a concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Steven Gonzalez, wrote that E.J.J. had reason to be concerned for the safety of his relatives because he “is a young black man in a city where the police have been found by the United States Department of Justice to use excessive force against nonviolent black youth.”   read more

As the economy, which cratered at the end of the George W. Bush administration, has improved since 2009, the average CEO of the 350 largest corporations has gotten a 54% raise and is making $16.3 million a year. His employees, on the other hand, haven’t done as well, according to a study from the Economic Policy Institute. The average pay in those companies in 2009 was $53,200. Five years later, it’s still $53,200.   read more