Notorious billionaire and war profiteer Erik Prince, who founded the disgraced mercenary firm Blackwater, is once again appealing to President Donald Trump to privatize the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan. Continue reading
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Notorious war profiteer Erik Prince refuses to give up dream of mercenary takeover of Afghan war
The billionaire's pitch comes as the White House is reportedly ‘preparing for a government-wide appraisal’ of the war strategy
With ‘carefully calculated strategy’ to slash safety net underway, White House claims War on Poverty ‘largely over’
New Trump administration report calls for imposing work requirements for federal benefits programs, which anti-poverty advocates warn would harm poor Americans
Anti-poverty advocates are rejecting a new Trump administration report that ridiculously declares the “War on Poverty is largely over and a success.” In the words of Rebecca Vallas at the Center for American Progress, it is “part of a carefully calculated strategy to reinforce myths about the people these programs help” and “to smear these programs with a dog-whistle of welfare, in order to make them easier to cut.” Continue reading
‘Madness’: In effort to revoke citizenship, Team Trump combing through decades-old fingerprints of immigrants
News of the program comes as federal officials are terrorizing communities with "military-style raids" and separating children from their parents at the border
In an “unprecedented” effort to revoke citizenship, the Trump administration is analyzing decades-old records of fingerprints from thousands of legally documented immigrants to identify anyone “who may have lied or falsified information on their naturalization forms,” according to the Washington Post. Continue reading
Trump taxpayer-funded coal and nuclear bailout decried as ‘breathtaking abuse of authority’
Environmental advocates on Friday responded with outrage to confirmation from the White House that President Donald Trump has ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to plot what’s being called an “unprecedented intervention” by the federal government to bail out financially strapped coal and nuclear power plants that can’t compete with the renewable energy sector. Continue reading
On World Wide Web’s 29th birthday, its inventor warns of threats to digital rights
On the 29th anniversary of the founding of the World Wide Web, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee—the inventor of the Internet as we know it and a long-time advocate of digital rights—penned an open letter to call for stricter regulations of the major tech corporations that aim to control the web. Continue reading
Federal Judge’s unprecedented order on climate science ‘could open floodgates’ for Big Oil lawsuits
With a decision that could have far-reaching implications, a federal judge in California has ordered the first ever U.S. court hearing on climate science for a “public nuisance” lawsuit, meaning that major oil and gas companies for the first time may have to go on the record regarding what they knew about the planetary impacts of their products—and when. Continue reading
Warnings mount that Trump’s infrastructure plan will make it harder to fight pipelines
The president's proposal ‘could be a significant blow to the slew of protesters who spent years agitating against the Keystone XL pipeline and more recently the Dakota Access one.’
As green groups continue to denounce the Trump administration’s recently unveiled infrastructure plan as a “scam” that’s designed to keep the nation trapped in its “dirty and destructive past,” analysts are also warning the proposal will “make it harder for the next big anti-pipeline movement” to launch successful legal challenges to new fossil fuel projects. Continue reading
Groundbreaking study maps ‘insidious’ (and alarmingly successful) strategy of anti-choice movement
A new report released Thursday details how American anti-choice activists have used their “insidious power” to chip away at reproductive rights, infiltrate the Trump administration, and advance “their fringe agenda” nationwide. Continue reading
‘Presidency for Sale’: Report details big-buck spending by influence seekers at Trump properties
President Donald Trump’s first year in office has been a “year of unprecedented conflicts of interest,” according to a new report that documents how dozens of political candidates, foreign governments, interest groups, and other private entities have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at the president’s properties since his inauguration. Continue reading
‘Death sentence for local media’: Warnings as FCC pushes change to benefit right-wing media giant
Free press advocates say rule changes are "massive handout" to broadcaster Sinclair that would have far-reaching and negative impacts in communities nationwide
In a series of moves last week that have alarmed free speech advocates and critics of media consolidation, the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) voted to abolish a rule requiring radio and television broadcasters to maintain studios near the communities they serve, and FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced further plans to end certain media ownership rules. Continue reading
As hopes for Trump’s impeachment persist, new warnings of a President Pence
As Republican insiders reportedly have new worries that Democratic victories in the 2018 midterm election could mean the impeachment of President Donald Trump, investigative journalist Jane Mayer, in her latest piece for The New Yorker, offers an in-depth warning about “the danger of President Pence.” Continue reading
Demanding ban on killer robots, tech experts warn of opening ‘this Pandora’s Box’
‘Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare,’ robotics and artificial intelligence experts warn
More than 100 robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) experts published on Monday an open letter urging the United Nations to ban the development and use of killer robots. Continue reading
As Don Jr. lawyers up, words like ‘collusion’ and ‘treason’ fly
‘It looks like clear proof of collusion,’ says Watergate prosecutor
Following the latest explosive details about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during last year’s campaign, in which he hoped to receive damaging information about Hillary Clinton, legal experts are saying the encounter could be proof that “collusion”—or even “treason”—took place. Continue reading
