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Andy Borowitz | French Annoyingly Retain Right to Claim Intellectual Superiority Over Americans
Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "On Sunday, the people of France annoyingly retained their traditional right to claim intellectual superiority over Americans, as millions of French citizens paused to enjoy just how much smarter they were than their allies across the Atlantic."
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Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
Borowitz writes: "On Sunday, the people of France annoyingly retained their traditional right to claim intellectual superiority over Americans, as millions of French citizens paused to enjoy just how much smarter they were than their allies across the Atlantic."
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Trump's Muslim Ban Returns to Court Today
Carrie Johnson, NPR
Johnson writes: "One of President Trump's top priorities will get a test in court Monday when a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., hears arguments about the legality of his revised travel ban."
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Carrie Johnson, NPR
Johnson writes: "One of President Trump's top priorities will get a test in court Monday when a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., hears arguments about the legality of his revised travel ban."
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Anti-Protest Bills Would 'Attack Right to Speak Out' Under Donald Trump
Adam Gabbatt, Guardian UK
Gabbatt writes: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said more than 30 separate anti-protest bills have been introduced since 8 November in 'an unprecedented level of hostility towards protesters in the 21st century.'"
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Adam Gabbatt, Guardian UK
Gabbatt writes: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said more than 30 separate anti-protest bills have been introduced since 8 November in 'an unprecedented level of hostility towards protesters in the 21st century.'"
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Free-Standing ERs Offer Care Without the Wait. But Patients Can Still Pay $6,800 to Treat a Cut.
Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post
Johnson writes: "Across 32 states, more than 400 free-standing ERs provide quick and easy access to care. But they also are prompting complaints from a growing number of people who feel burned by hospital-size bills, like $6,856 for a cut that didn't require a stitch or $4,025 for an antibiotic for a sinus infection."
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Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post
Johnson writes: "Across 32 states, more than 400 free-standing ERs provide quick and easy access to care. But they also are prompting complaints from a growing number of people who feel burned by hospital-size bills, like $6,856 for a cut that didn't require a stitch or $4,025 for an antibiotic for a sinus infection."
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Mississippi's Richest County Uses Police Checkpoints to Enforce Segregation, Lawsuit Claims
Alan Pyke, ThinkProgress
Pyke writes: "Part of the reason Madison County, Mississippi, remains so divided, according to a new class-action lawsuit filed Monday, is that county leaders want it that way?-?and are willing to use local law enforcement to enforce an unofficial cordon around the county's roughly 40,000 black residents."
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Alan Pyke, ThinkProgress
Pyke writes: "Part of the reason Madison County, Mississippi, remains so divided, according to a new class-action lawsuit filed Monday, is that county leaders want it that way?-?and are willing to use local law enforcement to enforce an unofficial cordon around the county's roughly 40,000 black residents."
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Israeli Border Police Fatally Shoot 16-Year-Old Palestinian Girl
teleSUR
Excerpt: "Israeli border police shot and killed 16-year-old Fatima Afif Abd al-Rahman Hjeiji in occupied East Jerusalem Sunday evening, with witnesses saying she was 'executed in cold blood,' Palestinian media outlet Ma'an reported."
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teleSUR
Excerpt: "Israeli border police shot and killed 16-year-old Fatima Afif Abd al-Rahman Hjeiji in occupied East Jerusalem Sunday evening, with witnesses saying she was 'executed in cold blood,' Palestinian media outlet Ma'an reported."
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US Steel Chemical Spill Exceeds Allowable Limit by 584 Times
Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch
Chow writes: "A U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled nearly 300 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month, documents from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) revealed."
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Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch
Chow writes: "A U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled nearly 300 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month, documents from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) revealed."
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Lake Michigan. (photo: Rock River Times)
U.S. Steel plant in Portage, Indiana spilled nearly 300 pounds of a cancer-causing chemical into Burns Waterway last month, documents from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) revealed.
The release of hexavalent chromium was 584 times the daily maximum limit allowed under state law, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported, citing the documents. The plant is permitted to release only a maximum of 0.51 pounds daily.
The toxic industrial byproduct was made infamous by the environmental activist and 2000 movie of the same name, "Erin Brockovich."
The leak occurred between April 11 and April 12 and forced the closure of several Lake Michigan beaches and Indiana American Water's intake in Ogden Dunes. Burns Waterway is a tributary that flows into Lake Michigan, a drinking water source for nearby Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.
Following the spill, U.S. Steel has committed to sampling and monitoring lake water on a weekly basis to ensure it is safe through the swimming season, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spokesperson said. The discharge was reportedly caused by a pipe failure.
Sam Henderson, a staff attorney for the Hoosier Environmental Council, denounced the spill.
"If U.S. Steel had set up its system responsibly, it wouldn't have been possible for a single mechanical failure to dump nearly 300 pounds of hexavalent chrome into Lake Michigan," Henderson told the Times of Northwest Indiana.
"Spills like this show that U.S. Steel isn't taking that responsibility seriously. Industry needs to step up."
The chemical spill highlights concerns over the Trump's administration's proposed cuts to abolish the Integrated Risk Information System, the EPA office working on hexavalent chromium standards in drinking water. The cuts would also affect funding for scientific reviews of toxic chemicals and decrease the EPA's enforcement of environmental laws.
Henderson noted that IDEM's budget "has been slashed to the bone, and we see the consequences of that in accidents like these." IDEM is Indiana's agency charged with protecting the state's environment and human health.
"Now we face the risk that EPA will be severely cut back as well," Henderson said. "If those cuts go through, nobody will be minding the store. And if nobody's minding the store, it's inevitable that spills like this will become more common."
Cindy Skrukrud, clean water program director for Sierra Club Illinois, added that U.S. Steel's spill "illustrates the need we have for a robust EPA to prevent and respond to situations like this."
"We cannot bear cuts to the EPA staff and to its programs that protect the Great Lakes from pollution and cleanup legacy contamination sites. We are all depending on the EPA as we seek answers to the remaining questions about the impacts of the spill on the aquatic life in Burns Waterway," Skrukrud continued. "As potential penalties are considered, they should include funding for restoration projects in and near the impacted areal."
U.S. Steel said last month it takes all incidents "very seriously" and are "fully committed to researching and taking corrective actions to prevent a future occurrence."
The beaches and water intake reopened on April 17 after EPA water samples detected no levels of hexavalent chromium.
However, last month the National Park Service staff said they were concerned about the long-term potential impacts to beach users' health, wildlife and other park resources.
"Lake currents and waves have the ability to move this hazardous material onto park beaches at a later date," the park service said in a news release.
Officials said that periodic beach patrols will be looking for evidence of fish kills or other environmental damage.
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