Author Archives: Andrea Germanos

Whistleblower: Trump administration overruled dozens of security clearance denials

House Oversight Committee says it will swiftly begin authorizing subpoenas to probe concerns

A White House whistleblower says the Trump administration cast aside “the best interest of national security” when it overturned dozens of security clearance application denials made by career officials. Continue reading

Challenge to Trump’s environmentally disastrous plan to ‘wreak havoc along the border’ blocked by Supreme Court

'A human-made barrier on the scale of the proposed border wall would have a serious impact on animals,' conservation group had argued

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear (pdf) a challenge to President Doanld Trump’s proposed expansion to the U.S.-Mexico border wall brought by conservation and animal protection groups who said the administration improperly skirted environmental laws in its pursuit of the project. Continue reading

‘How many more women have to die?” Days after lawmakers reject legalization bill, Argentine woman dies from at-home abortion

‘Secrecy saves no life. Secrecy kills.’

Less than a week after Argentine lawmakers rejected a bill that would have legalized some abortions, the apparent first casualty from their action has emerged: a woman died from complications from an at-home abortion. Continue reading

Google tracking user data even when ‘location history’ is off: AP

Android and iPhone users may be under the impression that Google is not tracking their location data if they’ve turned off “Location History” on their devices. Continue reading

Ignoring climate threat and economic realities, Trump brags about building fleet of LNG terminals in EU—and Europe ‘will pay for’ them

The need for new LNG terminals in Europe, said one analyst, ‘is like most of Trump's trade policy—illusory.’

Responding to questions from reporters during a joint press conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump echoed his “And-Mexico’s-Gonna-Pay-for-It” routine by announcing plans to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals across the continent for the expressed purpose of importing fracked gas from the United States. Continue reading

With tax scam complete, GOP caucus unveils insane budget blueprint to attack safety net

Programs like Social Security and Medicare are gutted while tax cuts are made permanent in plan

An ultraconservative Republican House caucus on Wednesday put forth its spending plan that represents a draconian wish list of attacks on the social safety net and consumer and environmental protections while including a plan to further enrich the wealthy by making making permanent parts of the GOP tax plan. Continue reading

With ‘merger from hell’ reportedly approved by DOJ, warnings of agrichemical chokehold on food system

Watchdog groups raise concerns after Wall Street Journal reports that Bayer's bid to acquire Monsanto has been approved.

Watchdog groups sounded alarms on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the proposed mega-merger of Bayer and Monsanto has cleared its final regulatory hurdle in the United States. Continue reading

As Bolton pick raises fears of preemptive attack, Pyongyang urges US to adopt ‘serious attitude’ for peace

Top North Korean official says Monday his country wants to be "free from aggression and war."

A senior North Korea official on Monday urged the United States to behave as if it seriously wants peace. Continue reading

Sparking far-reaching rights concerns, ICE now has powerful ability to track license plates nationwide

Development fuels concerns about possible civil liberties violations

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now has access to a nationwide license plate recognition database—a trove of billions of records that’s growing by the day. Continue reading

USA Today’s whopper of an editorial beautifully bashes ‘uniquely awful’ Trump

‘Trump's utter lack of morality, ethics and simple humanity has been underscored during his 11 months in office,’ editorial states.

USA Today, the most widely-circulated newspaper in the U.S, has penned a scathing takedown of President Donald Trump, calling him “uniquely awful,” unfit to clean the toilets in his predecessor’s presidential library, and a person “who can always find room for a new low.” Continue reading

Under Trump, brags Mike Pompeo, CIA will be ‘much more vicious agency’

Trump ‘has promised that he will have our backs,’ says CIA head

According to Mike Pompeo, the agency he leads—which has supported coups across the globe, engaged in targeted killings, and led a detention and torture program—has not been nasty enough. Continue reading

Researchers: Trump tweets reveal ‘neurotic’ and ‘unstable’ leader

Newly published study looks at how language of Trump's tweets compares with that of over 100 CEOs and entrepreneurs

What do the frequent tweets from Donald Trump say about his online personality? Continue reading

New lawsuit aims to stop Trump’s ‘sham commission’ dead in its tracks

Suit filed a day after White House releases commenters' personal information in comments that show hatred for voter commission

As the White House releases 112 pages of colorful comments—and personal information—after it asked for the public to weigh in on its so-called Election Integrity Commission and received an overwhelmingly negative response, a new lawsuit aims to protect voters’ privacy rights by stopping the controversial commission’s sweeping data demand. Continue reading

It’s settled: Trump either did or did not accept Putin’s denial of election interference

Presidents met, but reliable account of discussion is absent

President Donald Trump met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Hamburg, Germany, but what exactly was said remains unclear. Continue reading

Amazon extends tentacles further with purchase of Whole Foods

Online behemoth Amazon is acquiring Austin-based Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, the companies announced Friday—a development that watchdogs say will pad billionaire pockets and spell bad news for consumers. Continue reading

It appears Trump admin. wants to bury Senate torture report forever

The administration is complying with request from Republican senator to send copies of voluminous document back to Congress—which could prevent public from ever seeing it.

The Trump administration is moving to keep the lengthy Senate report on the CIA’s torture and detention program forever from the public eye, the New York Times first reported Friday. Continue reading

Trump escalates attack on healthcare, women with rebranded and expanded global gag rule

‘The Global Gag Rule doesn't protect lives; it destroys them.’

President Donald Trump spent part of his first Monday in office following in the footsteps of other Republican presidents by reinstating the Global Gag Rule, officially known as the Mexico City Policy. Continue reading

North Carolina’s voter ID law meets ‘its much-deserved demise’

Decision by U.S. Supreme Court not to review appeals court decision on 2013 law affords 'a huge victory against sham voter ID laws'

Monday brought a victory for voting rights. Continue reading

Group of mental health professionals warn Trump’s state ‘putting country in danger’

Despite professional rule barring them from doing so, psychological experts have argued that ‘too much is at stake to be silent any longer’

A group of mental health professionals gathered at Yale University Thursday to discuss what they believe is their duty to warn the public of the “danger” posed by President Donald Trump. Continue reading

Safe with ‘oligarchs and imperialists’ in US, Brazil’s new president admits coup plot

Ousted President Dilma Rousseff wouldn't enact austerity roadmap, so "a process was established which culminated with me being installed as president of the republic," Temer says

Proponents of her ouster argued that former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was targeted and ultimately booted from office for budgetary wrongdoing or, ironically, corruption. Continue reading

Texas readies to kill man—who killed no one—for murder

Jeffery Wood on track to be the 'least culpable person executed in the modern era of death penalty'

Texas—the state that leads the nation in number of executions—is on the brink of killing Jeffery Wood. Continue reading

‘Travesty of justice’: Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years

'Every aspect of this case sets a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions of whistleblowers'

Army whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for releasing a trove of government and military documents to WikiLeaks. Continue reading