| | Bernie Sanders Troubling History of Supporting US Military Violence Abroad
Brecher's note to Sanders closes with a set of rhetorical questions, "Is there a moral limit to the military violence you are willing to participate in or support? Where does that limit lie? And when that limit has been reached, what action will you take? My answers led to my resignation." The attack on Kosovo is hardly the extent of Sanders' hawkishness. While it's true he voted against the Iraq War, he also voted in favor of authorizing funds for that war and the one in Afghanistan. More recently, he voted in favor of a $1 billion aid package for the coup government Ukraine and supported Israel's assault on Gaza. At a town hall meeting he admitted that Israel may have "overreacted", but blamed Hamas for the entire conflict. After a woman asked why he refused to condemn Israel's actions, he told critics: "Excuse me! Shut up! You don't have the microphone."
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 | Republican Loving Media Shamed As Publisher Forced To Make Revisions To Clinton Cash
The Republican activist and consultant who wrote the hit piece that is Clinton Cash and his publisher HarperCollins have changed "seven or eight" inaccurate passages in the Kindle version of the book. Amazon alerted readers, "significant revisions have been made." Ah, yes. Reality peeks its lonely head up over the beltway. Republicans like to "ask questions" in lieu of presenting facts. They "ask questions" about President Obama's birth certificate and now they are "asking questions" about Secretary Clinton's fitness for office based on a book devoid of facts and evidence.
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| | World population-food supply balance is becoming increasingly unstable -- ScienceDaily
Researchers report that as the world population increases and food demand has grown, globalization of trade has made the food supply more sensitive to environmental and market fluctuations. This leads to greater chances of food crises, particularly in nations where land and water resources are scarce and therefore food security strongly relies on imports. The study assesses the food supply available to more than 140 nations (with populations greater than 1 million) and demonstrates that food security is becoming increasingly susceptible to perturbations in demographic growth, as humanity places increasing pressure on use of limited land and water resources.
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| | Plastic pollution devastating the world's oceans -- ScienceDaily
The world's oceans are being swamped by microplastics, causing an environmental "disaster", say Danish scientists. Video provided by Reuters. [Be sure to watch "The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard, if you haven't already--easily found on YouTube. A book along these lines, From Cradle to Cradle, talks about the possibilities and many realities of designing products that are taken back by the manufacturers, and designed for reuse, recycling, and so on.]
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| Veterans Affairs improperly spent $6 billion annually, senior official says
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been spending at least $6 billion a year in violation of federal contracting rules to pay for medical care and supplies, wasting taxpayer money and putting veterans at risk, according to an internal memo written by the agency's senior official for procurement. Jan R. Frye, deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, describes a culture of "lawlessness and chaos" at the Veterans Health Administration, the massive health-care system for 8.7 million veterans.
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 | What Is the Progressive Agenda in Education?; by Diane Ravitch
Katrina vanden Heuvel describes an emerging populist agenda for the nation--and the 2016 election. " It is discouraging, however, to see that the putative progressive agenda offers so little hope to beleaguered public schools, students, and teachers. Not a word about the privatization steam-roller, nor about the attacks on the teaching profession and unions. Nothing about the NCLB-RTTT debacle. Nothing about reversing the federal demands to close schools, to fire teachers, to facilitate data-mining, to promote charters, to accept schools and colleges that operate for profit. Vanden Heuvel knows better. Her magazine has published some of the most hard-hitting exposes.., It is encouraging to see that the centerpiece of this agenda is a focus on reducing inequality by increasing jobs. Anything that reduces poverty will help children, families, and communities...BUT We will have to write..
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| Predictable Results: by Chris Tienkin
Tienken's research hasn't just shown the Big Standardized Tests to be frauds; he's shown that they are unnecessary.In "Predictable Results,"he lays out again what his team has managed to do over the past few years. Using US Census data linked to social capital and demographics, Tienken has been able to predict the percentage of students who will score proficient or better on the tests. peter Greene says: Let me repeat that. Using data that has nothing to do with grades, teaching techniques, pedagogical approaches, teacher training, textbook series, administrative style, curriculum evaluation--- in short, data that has nothing to do with what goes on inside the school building-- Tiemken has been able to predict the proficiency rate for a school. Tiemken's work is great news-- states can cut out the middle man and simply give schools scores based on the demographic and social data....
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 | The Perfect Lobby: How One Industry Captured Washington, DC; by David Halperin
Too many for-profit colleges leave their students mired in debt and facing grim job prospects. So why doesn't the government turn off the tap?"The industry that has been the most effective in buying protection in D.C, for its predatory practices is the for-profit college industry. It has hired the top lobbyist in both parties. It makes generous campaign contributions. It collects billions from taxpayers to underwrite its behavior. All of this money is used to enrich the industry leaders. "Diane ravitch adds: "these institutions are known for predatory practices and for supplying a lousy education.This article, written by David Halperin and published in The Nation, lays bare the power of this industry and how well it has used its resources to avoid scrutiny of it. ... more
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 | The telescope looking for the beginning of time
The universe is a big place. Let's rephrase that. The universe is a gargantuan place. At this moment in time, astronomers believe that it measures some 93 billion light-years across. When we look out across space, though, we're not just looking through distance. We're looking back in time. All of the light we see here on Earth is from the past, so observing something a billion light-years away means we see it as it existed a billion years ago. Since astronomers estimate the age of the universe at 13.8 billion years, all we have to be able to do is see something 13.8 billion light-years away, and we can see the beginning of time. The beginning of the universe. The beginning of everything we know. "The prospect that most excites me is looking at the most distant objects in the universe to a time when galaxies were young and still forming and acquiring their distinctive spiral shapes...
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 | House approves measure ending NSA bulk phone data collection program
A bill that would end the National Security Agency's mass collection of phone records won broad support in the U.S. House on Wednesday, but key Republican leaders in the Senate remain unconvinced of the need for reform as a crucial deadline approaches. The House approved the USA Freedom Act, which would keep vast troves of phone "metadata" out of government hands as well as make other revisions to the federal government's surveillance practices, on a 338-to-88 afternoon vote. Similar legislation was adopted last year in the House before stalling in the Senate.
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 | Swedish Supreme Court rejects Julian Assange's appeal of arrest warrant
On Monday, Sweden's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange against his arrest warrant by a 4-1 majority. The ruling was yet another blatant example of Assange's democratic rights being trampled upon. Julian Assange is in grave danger of being railroaded to Sweden, where he would not only be facing allegations of sexual assault. Due to WikiLeaks exposing the crimes of US imperialism and other major powers, the US authorities have made clear that Assange remains a target. Assange's lawyers are deciding on their next step and may take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
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 | Vatican recognizes state of Palestine in new treaty
The Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty finalized Wednesday, immediately sparking Israeli ire and accusations that the move hurt peace prospects. The treaty, which concerns the activities of the Catholic Church in Palestinian territory, is both deeply symbolic and makes explicit that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine. The United States and Israel oppose recognition, arguing that it undermines U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of Palestinian statehood. Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognition, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked.
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 | Could Fast Track Ultimately Destroy Dodd-Frank? (Yes.)
The White House has been going hard against Elizabeth Warren for making this claim--but she's right.All it would take is a Republican president and Congress (or any president and Congress inclined to weaken financial regulations), and indeed fast-track authority could be used as a glide path to dismantle not only Dodd-Frank but potentially other important regulations as well. Trade deals contain vast amounts of regulation and economic rulemaking, and fast-track authority is like a magic-carpet ride through the deadlocked Congress."[H]e wants us to vote on a six-year, grease-the-skids deal," she told NPR this week. Congress is making a blind promise of faith here, particularly if you believe--as most Democrats do--that this fast-track bill doesn't really force the White House to adhere to very much." THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE WITH THE REALITY of what is afoot...
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| Ukraine crisis: Kerry has "frank" meeting with Putin
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said he has held a "frank meeting" with President Vladimir Putin during his first visit to Russia since the Ukraine crisis began in early 2014. Both sides say that eight hours of talks between Mr Kerry and the Russian leadership were a welcome development. It is the highest-level trip by a US official to Russia since the Ukraine crisis began. For President Obama to send his top envoy all the way to Sochi is significant. That the Kremlin has now called the visit positive and said President Putin is ready to discuss a wide range of issues with him is even more important.
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 | Rekindling Human Contact in the Digital Age; By DAVID BORNSTEIN
"A recent study, examining data from 3.4 million people, found that people who were lonely, living alone, or socially isolated had a significantly higher risk of premature death".... "How does it feel to enter a bar and see a line of patrons immersed in their devices, thumb-typing away? Or to step into a subway car where half of the passengers are oblivious to one another, staring down into their phones? Even photographs of scenes like these evoke feelings of alienation. The emerging research about social isolation is sobering. Among people young and old in the United States and Britain, researchers are finding significant increases in loneliness. In 1985, one in 10 Americans said they had no intimate with whom to discuss important matters; in 2004, the figure was one in four...
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| North Korea executes defense chief with an anti-aircraft gun: South Korea agency
North Korea executed its defense chief by putting him in front of an anti-aircraft gun at a firing range, Seoul's National Intelligence Service told lawmakers, which would be the latest in a series of high-level purges since Kim Jong Un took charge. Hyon Yong Chol, who headed the isolated nuclear-capable country's military, was charged with treason, including disobeying Kim and falling asleep during an event at which North Korea's young leader was present. Kim had previously ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority.
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