Today From the Neoconfederate Takeover of the Department of Justice

It turns out putting someone who a Republican Senate considered to be too racist to be a District Court judge in the 80s in charge of the DOJ may not work out that well: The crowd was small, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions's speech was short. But his message couldn't have been clearer: "This is a new era," said Sessions, who sported a dark suit in the hot Arizona sun.

Most of Gaza’s Libraries Have Been Closed or Destroyed-And You…

Palestinian sisters sort out their school books after finding them among the debris of their parents' destroyed home in Gaza City. There are as many opinions about Israel and Palestine as there are minds and mouths and fingers to type a tweet, but here is something everyone can agree on: People in Gaza need more books.

US Blocks G7 Climate Statement As White House Waffles on Paris Deal

Energy Secretary Rick Perry reportedly pushed for fossil fuel interests to be included in the statement-and his inability to commit showed the U.S.'s isolation at the meeting. Nations attending the Group of 7 conference in Italy were unable to put out a joint statement on climate change this week because of the Trump administration's foot-dragging on environmental policies, particularly its commitment to the Paris agreement, Reuters reported Monday.

Facing Stonewall, Groups Sue for White House, Mar-a-Lago Visitor Logs

Watchdog groups are suing the Trump administration , this time for failure to disclose records of visitors to the White House and to President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower residences. The lawsuit, filed Monday in New York federal court by Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington , the non-profit the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, charges that the Secret Service-which maintains White House visitor logs-has refused to turn them over in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

US Congress Calls for Action on Honduras in Response to Murders of Land and Environmental Activists

In two strongly worded letters to the new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, almost 80 United States legislators on Friday expressed their grave concern at the risks facing activists who defend their land and the environment in Honduras. A recent Global Witness report exposed how more than 120 land rights defenders have been killed since 2010.

Media Promote Baseless Assertions By Government Officials Of Russian Interference As Facts

The headline of a New York Times article published April 6, "C.I.A. Had Evidence of Russian Effort to Help Trump Earlier Than Believed," misleadingly implies not only that there was an effort by the Russian government to help Donald Trump win the American presidential election but that it is a settled fact that the CIA was in possession of hard evidence to that effect. The text of the piece does nothing to substantiate either claim.

Chemical Attack in Idlib: Duplication of Scenario in Eastern Ghouta

On April 7, two U.S. Navy battle ships USS Porter and USS Ross launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield in Syria's Homs province from the Eastern Mediterranean. The U.S. strikes particularly targeted the main landing strip, aircraft, radio locators, air defense system and fuel stations.

NC Lawmakers Want to Shield Factory Farms from Big Damage Payments to Victims

Buzzards alight on a carcass in what's known as a "dead box" at a North Carolina hog farm, among the various sources of noxious odors emitted by the state's industrial swine operations. A bill now moving through the state legislature would limit the amount of damages that could be collected in civil lawsuits by plaintiffs found to be harmed by the industry's practices.

4/09/2017

So the lesson from health care is that the White House needs to write its own legislation. What could go wrong? President Donald Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the U.S. tax system.

Why Trump’s Syria Strike Will Not End Well

A sign seen at a #HandsOffSyria event in New York City on Friday, April 7. U.S. President Donald Trump claims the objective of his cruise missile strike on Syria is to deter Syrian President Bashar Assad from using chemical weapons again. But six years into Syria's brutal civil war, Trump does not have the luxury of defining his objective that narrowly.

Media Praise Trump For Ordering Missile Attack On Syrian Airbase

Media figures and pundits celebrated President Donald Trump's "swift, decisive" order to destroy a Syrian airbase in retaliation for what is believed to be a chemical warfare attack against Syrian rebels that killed dozens of people, including children. Pundits praised Trump's "readiness to act on instinct" and declared that Trump "made Americans proud."