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

W. Russell Callender took over as acting assistant administrator in charge of the National Ocean Service in November 2014, capping a long career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 2013, Callender was appointed deputy assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service and took over the agency the following year.   read more

“Offshore fracking has been shrouded in secrecy, but this settlement will finally force the government to tell us where oil companies are using this toxic technique,” said plaintiff's attorney Kristen Monsell. “Fracking pollution is a huge threat to marine animals, and the high pressures used to frack offshore wells increase the risk of another devastating oil spill.” Added Sakashita: “The thing that I find shocking is...this is the agency that’s supposed to be regulating offshore drilling."   read more

During the trial, though, Drake’s lawyers contended that the Pentagon’s inspector general destroyed evidence related to the case. That prompted the judge who oversaw the trial, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett, to ask another judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie Gallagher, to investigate the accusations. On May 13 she sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section requesting that they weigh in on the matter. She gave them until June 12 to respond.   read more

The decentralization plan is currently included in the Senate’s version of the $612 billion bill that funds the Pentagon. Contained in section 843, the provision is supposedly intended to speed up the procurement of weapons by giving the commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines more power to make decisions on weapons purchases, which would be at the expense of the defense secretary. But the White House has made clear its opposition and willingness to veto the legislation.   read more

Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) have joined together on legislation that would create a separate disaster account to pay for wildfires. For many years, the agency has raided funds from other programs to finance firefighting efforts. It's expected to happen again this year, particularly due to global warming’s role in extending the fire season—now 80 days longer than 15 years ago. The Widen/Crapo legislation is backed by such diverse groups as the NRA and the Sierra Club.   read more

Instead of paying $30,000 to $50,000 annually in tuition and fees at American private universities, students can attend German institutions for only a few hundred dollars a year. One example is Technical University of Munich, “one of the most highly regarded universities in Europe,” where a U.S. student pays only $120 a semester in fees. The fee includes a ticket that allows free public transportation anywhere in Munich, and student health insurance is less than $90 a month.   read more

The planes managed in just one month to conduct more than a hundred flights in 11 states. The missions targeted both large cities and unincorporated areas, the AP reported. The planes carry high-tech cameras and sometimes even sophisticated equipment that can track cell phones, raising questions of whether this surveillance has violated people’s privacy. The FBI’s air force was in the skies over Baltimore during the recent protests of the death of Freddie Gray in the hands of the police.   read more

Despite recent high-profile police killings of unarmed civilians, there are no official numbers on how often this happens. That question has been left to outsiders, such as The Washington Post, which found nearly 400 people—armed and unarmed—have been killed by police officers so far this year. Justice statisticians also don’t know how many prisoners are locked away in solitary confinement. Nor can the Justice Department say how many non-sexual assaults occur in the prison system.   read more

Wikileaks says the 26 chapters are kept under wraps by corporations that have been given access to what the group calls a “monster trade pact.” Said Wikileaks: “The treaty aims to create a new international legal regime that will allow transnational corporations to bypass domestic courts, evade environmental protections, police the internet on behalf of the content industry, limit the availability of affordable generic medicines, and drastically curtail each country’s legislative sovereignty.”   read more

A lack of judges has created a backlog of cases that now averages a year and eight months before conclusion. In some cities, the wait is much longer: Denver (819 days), Phoenix (806 days), Chicago (782 days), Los Angeles (768 days), Houston (636 days) and New York (605 days). Part of the reason for the delay is that the federal government prioritized cases involving undocumented minors and detained families. That pushed others who were waiting for a hearing to the back of the line.   read more

The Tribal Equal Access to Voting Act was recently proposed to reduce the distances that Native Americans and Alaska Natives must travel to reach a polling place.The bill would require elections agencies to put at least one office in each tribal community that requests it. “Our rights should be automatic,” said tribe cultural leader William Main. “Counties and states run elections, so they should be required to contact us and say, ‘Do you want an office? And where should we put it?’”   read more

Undercover investigators posed as passengers at dozens of the nation’s busiest airports to test the ability of TSA workers who conduct pat downs. “In one test an undercover agent was stopped after setting off an alarm...but TSA screeners failed to detect a fake explosive device that was taped to his back,” said ABC News. The report also said that $540 million spent on a checked-luggage screening system and $11 million for training failed to have any positive effect on security.   read more

The restrictions in both states came at the behest of oil and gas producers, who are big contributors to GOP politicians. Municipalities and environmental groups opposed the Oklahoma bill signed by Gov. Fallin. “There’s nothing in the bill that says cities can have the authority to protect local drinking water supplies,” said Norman Mayor Rosenthal. She's concerned about wastewater from fracking operations ending up in Lake Thunderbird, which supplies drinking water to about 200,000 people.   read more

Judge Durkin is the brother of Jim Durkin, the current Republican leader of the Illinois House. Despite the potential conflicts of interest, there has been no indication that Durkin will step down or be removed from the case. One expert said Durkin might bring up the contributions in court and ask if either side has an objection. “He could ask if anyone has a problem with that. Certainly, the government won’t have a problem with that,” said law professor Stephen Gillers.   read more

Governor Sam Brownback insisted after first taking office that cutting income taxes was the way to generate more income for the state. But now his plan would raise $428 million by increasing the sales tax from 6.15% to 6.65% and the cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack. He would also eliminate personal income taxes for some individuals earning up to $17,250 a year and couples earning up to $24,500. Democrats object to the plan because sales tax increases will affect the poor the most.   read more

One day before the fourth anniversary of Denyakin’s shooting, Rankin shot and killed William Chapman, an 18-year-old unarmed black teenager suspected of shoplifting from a Walmart. Prior to the Denyankin shooting, police supervisors had been warned that Rankin had use-of-force issues and was “dangerous.” Portsmouth Police Chief Edward Hargis refused to say why Rankin had been allowed to stay on the street after the problems had been reported. “That’s a personnel matter..." he said.   read more