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

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that use of e-cigarettes among middle school and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014. “This is a really bad thing,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, told The New York Times, noting that research had found that nicotine harms the developing brain. “This is another generation being hooked by the tobacco industry. It makes me angry.”   read more

Police are able “to stop and search people immediately based on nothing more than a gut reaction to the way someone looks or acts," said Salon. “Grand Rapids police are riding roughshod over the Bill of Rights by using these letters as a blank check to arrest anyone they don’t believe ‘belongs’ in a neighborhood. Any one of us who pulls into a gas station in Grand Rapids to check a map or make a phone call could be arrested under the GRPD’s illegal policy," said the ACLU.   read more

The many provisions of HB 2258 include a long list of ways welfare recipients cannot spend their assistance money. These include such questionable provisions as telling benefit recipients in land-locked Kansas that they can’t take cruises. They’re also forbidden from spending TANF money at movie theaters, swimming pools and massage parlors. That there’s no evidence that any significant number of benefit recipients spend money this way doesn’t appear to matter to Kansas politicians.   read more

The report found that nine of the 10 largest immigrant detention facilities are operated by for-profit prison corporations, which operate 62% of immigrant detention beds. Some lawmakers have been adamant about keeping the quota in place, and even objected when DHS released some immigrants from the centers. Two years ago, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) informed ICE that it was “in clear violation of statute” for not maintaining all 34,000 bed spaces following the release of 2,000 individuals.   read more

Two North Carolina judges who resigned rather than perform same-sex marriages want their old jobs back—and still want to be allowed to decline performing weddings they say are at odds with their religious beliefs. Breedlove and Holland filed a suit April 6, asking to be restored to their jobs, for back pay and credit toward retirement. But they also want an unspecified “accommodation” that will keep them from having to marry same-sex couples.   read more

An Illinois man who killed himself in front of the U.S. Capitol on April 11 was holding a sign that read “Tax the one percent,” according to bystanders. Thornton’s death appeared to make no impression on Congressional leaders. On Wednesday the Republican-led House passed a bill that would eliminate the estate tax, a proposal that would, thanks to exemptions already in place, apply only to—you guessed it—the top 1% of estates.   read more

As promised, Republicans used their new majority power in the U.S. Senate during the start of the year to focus on energy as well as environmental legislation. What do they have to show for it? Not a single law signed by President Barack Obama. By the end of its first 100 days, the Senate had voted 59 times on energy/environmental bills. Of the Senate’s votes, 44% were on Keystone, plus efforts to block action to reduce carbon pollution and proposals to sell America’s public lands.   read more

One engineer with years of experience in nuclear safety is concerned about the pipeline’s placement. “I’ve had over 45 years of nuclear experience,” said Paul Blanch. “I have never seen [a situation] that essentially puts 20 million residents at risk, plus the entire economics of the U.S. by making a large area surrounding Indian Point uninhabitable for generations. I’m not an alarmist...but the possibility of a gas line interacting with a plant could easily cause a Fukushima type of release.”   read more

The facilities investigated store more than 632 million pounds of toxic and flammable substances. Nine chemicals in particular—including acetone, calcium hypochlorite, fluosilicic acid, methanol, phenol, and xylenes—are considered particularly hazardous. “These chemicals pose serious risks to any communities near facilities that use large amounts,” the report states. Phenol, “one of the most dangerous chemicals” examined by the authors, is on EPA’s List of Extremely Hazardous Substances.   read more

Nightly news broadcasts of oil-laden train cars going up in flames in Lac-Mégantic, Canada, two years ago when 47 people were killed, left a stark impression in the minds of many. Anecdotal evidence in the form of exploding railcars may give Americans the impression that the nation’s railways have become dangerous. But statistical information shows that even with increased oil production and rail shipments, railroad accidents have actually decreased.   read more

The 2.5 billion gallons of ash, which contains heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead, is endangering nearby aquifers in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. “TVA has allowed the very pollutants that the coal ash ponds were supposed to treat and remove to enter the groundwater and nearby surface waters, including the Cumberland River, directly and through hydrologic connections in the groundwater, all in violation of the Permit and/or the Clean Water Act,” the complaint states.   read more

Dr. Christian Head testified about efforts to retaliate against him. “Isolate. Then defame. Moving me to a storage bin...they are sending a message. They are trying to suppress [whistleblowers’] willingness to try to make a better life for these veterans.” Head said the locks to his office were changed, that he was relocated to a “tiny, dirty...closet-sized office” and nearly kept away from one of his patients. Other VA whistleblowers have committed suicide due to the harassment they endured.   read more

The program is geared towards defending these systems from attacks by China and other countries. The $5 billion expenditure represents a moneymaking opportunity for arms makers, non-traditional suppliers and international firms. The government is seeking new technologies for rocket launchers, communications, remote sensing, satellite control, sensors and other systems to expand the Pentagon’s ability to monitor space-related activities.   read more

“It’s really clear that we have no basis to make almost any conclusions about the safety of the current food supply,” said Public Interest attorney Laura MacCleery. “We don’t know what people are eating.” The GAO report even stated that the FDA’s oversight process does not help ensure the safety of all new food ingredients, and it criticized companies’ ability to use new added ingredients deemed generally recognized as safe without informing federal food regulators.   read more

Koch Industries, the fossil fuel giant owned by ultra-conservative brothers Charles and David Koch, is trying to increase its visibility on college campuses, both to improve the company’s image and to recruit employees. The strategy is being implemented through a media buy and sports sponsorships that include 15 colleges or universities located from Texas to Minnesota. “Koch is looking for a way to connect on campus,” said Roy Seinfeld, rights holder for 10 of the schools and the conference.   read more

Some experts wonder if the Arctic Ocean will really be free enough of ice in just two years to allow for the unusual competition. “Although end-of-summer ice conditions in the Amundsen route of the Northwest Passage (the route they would take) have become milder over the past decade, ice conditions have been, and will remain, highly variable,” said Mark Serreze. “At the end of summer 2017 the route might be more-or-less completely ice free. [Or] it may be choked with ice."   read more