Reader Supported News | 15 May 16
The Progress Bar Is the Source of the Concern
If that were moving a bit more quickly towards completion we would be quite a bit calmer. It would also allow us to focus on what we actually do, which is not fundraising.
Small miracles can go a long way.
Marc Ash
Curator, Reader Supported News
Curator, Reader Supported News
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Robert Parry | Neocons and Neolibs: How Dead Ideas Kill
Robert Parry, Consortium News
Parry writes: "Hillary Clinton wants the American voters to be very afraid of Donald Trump, but there is reason to fear as well what a neoconservative/neoliberal Clinton presidency would mean for the world."
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Robert Parry, Consortium News
Parry writes: "Hillary Clinton wants the American voters to be very afraid of Donald Trump, but there is reason to fear as well what a neoconservative/neoliberal Clinton presidency would mean for the world."
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In Racial Profiling Lawsuit, Ariz. Judge Rules Sheriff Arpaio in Contempt of Court
Merrit Kennedy, NPR
Kennedy writes: "An Arizona judge has ruled that Joe Arpaio, who calls himself 'America's toughest sheriff,' is in civil contempt of court. Judge G. Murray Snow says Arpaio has repeatedly and knowingly disobeyed his orders to cease policing tactics against Latinos that he says amount to systemic racial profiling."
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Merrit Kennedy, NPR
Kennedy writes: "An Arizona judge has ruled that Joe Arpaio, who calls himself 'America's toughest sheriff,' is in civil contempt of court. Judge G. Murray Snow says Arpaio has repeatedly and knowingly disobeyed his orders to cease policing tactics against Latinos that he says amount to systemic racial profiling."
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Sheldon Adelson to Spend $100 Million Helping Trump Get Elected
Jonathan Martin, The New York Times
Martin writes: "The casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson told Donald J. Trump in a private meeting last week that he was willing to contribute more to help elect him than he has to any previous campaign, a sum that could exceed $100 million, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge of Mr. Adelson's commitment."
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Jonathan Martin, The New York Times
Martin writes: "The casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson told Donald J. Trump in a private meeting last week that he was willing to contribute more to help elect him than he has to any previous campaign, a sum that could exceed $100 million, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge of Mr. Adelson's commitment."
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Pfizer Ends Drug Sales for Use in Executions, Cutting Off Last Open-Market Source for Lethal Injection Drugs
Bryce Covert, ThinkProgress
Covert writes: "After pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Friday that it will clamp down on the distribution of its drugs so that they can no longer be used in executions, any state that wants to use lethal injection will now have to resort to getting them on underground markets."
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Bryce Covert, ThinkProgress
Covert writes: "After pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Friday that it will clamp down on the distribution of its drugs so that they can no longer be used in executions, any state that wants to use lethal injection will now have to resort to getting them on underground markets."
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Philly Police Admit They Disguised a Spy Truck as a Google Streetview Car
Motherboard
Excerpt: "The Philadelphia Police Department admitted today that a mysterious unmarked license plate surveillance truck disguised as a Google Maps vehicle, which Motherboard first reported on this morning, is its own."
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Motherboard
Excerpt: "The Philadelphia Police Department admitted today that a mysterious unmarked license plate surveillance truck disguised as a Google Maps vehicle, which Motherboard first reported on this morning, is its own."
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US Failing to Monitor Whether Billions in Weapons Shipped to Egypt Are Being Used in Human Rights Abuses
Julian Pecquet, Al-Monitor
Pecquet writes: "The Egyptian government is hindering Washington's ability to track billions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft missiles and other US weapons, the US government watchdog said in a blistering report just as Congress gets ready to renew the annual $1.3 billion request. 'The US government completed some, but not all, human rights vetting required by State policy before providing training or equipment to Egyptian security forces,' the GAO report states."
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Julian Pecquet, Al-Monitor
Pecquet writes: "The Egyptian government is hindering Washington's ability to track billions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft missiles and other US weapons, the US government watchdog said in a blistering report just as Congress gets ready to renew the annual $1.3 billion request. 'The US government completed some, but not all, human rights vetting required by State policy before providing training or equipment to Egyptian security forces,' the GAO report states."
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Will One of the World's Most Endangered Whales Be Saved Before It's Too Late?
Alicia Graef, Care2
Graef writes: "Conservationists took legal action this week to get protection for one of the most endangered species of whales on Earth."
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Alicia Graef, Care2
Graef writes: "Conservationists took legal action this week to get protection for one of the most endangered species of whales on Earth."
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Conservationists took legal action this week to get protection for one of the
most endangered species of whales on earth. (photo: Thinkstock)
onservationists took legal action this week to get protection for one of the most endangered species of whales on Earth.
The whales in question are a a genetically distinct population of Bryde’s whales who were only recently discovered. Bryde’s whales can be found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, but these whales are year-round residents of the Gulf of Mexico who live mainly in the DeSoto Canyon, off the Florida panhandle.
Genetic testing conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center recently concluded these whales are a genetically distinct subspecies, if not an entirely new species altogether. In addition to being genetically unique, they also have a distinctive song unlike the calls of other Bryde’s whales and are the only baleen whales living in the Gulf.
Unfortunately, at the time of their discovery the best estimate of their population put their number at fewer than 50 individuals, which raised concerns that they are one of the most endangered whales on earth who will likely disappear entirely without intervention.
In 2014, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) took action on their behalf and petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to have them listed under the Endangered Species Act, arguing they face a slew of threats putting them at serious risk of extinction.
“This is a unique group of whales, different from all others of its kind and it’s threatened six ways to Sunday,” Michael Jasny, director of NRDC’s Marine Mammal Protection Project and lead author of the petition, said at the time. “An Endangered Species listing would bring a recovery plan and the resources needed to save these animals … they just can’t make it in the Gulf if we don’t help them out.”
Not only are they isolated with little genetic diversity, but they face a host of problems from human activity that range from noise and organic pollution and being hit by ships to disturbances from energy exploration and living with the toxic aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Last year, samples taken from a Bryde’s whale in the area found a buildup of two metals, chromium and nickel, which raised yet more concerns for them because their calves are particularly vulnerable to toxic buildup that is passed on by their mothers when they’re pregnant and nursing.
Things were looking up last year after the National Marine Fisheries Service finally agreed that they need endangered species protection, which would lead to the development of a recovery plan and designation of critical habitat, but the agency has yet to take action on their behalf and it’s gone well beyond the timeframe legally allowed.
This week, the NRDC took legal action to speed things up, which will hopefully compel federal officials to enact protection for these whales before it’s too late to save them.
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