(2023-04-21). A New Report Finds That 1 in 3 People in the US Breathe Unhealthy Air. truthout.org A new report by the American Lung Association found that more than one in three Americans were exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution between 2019 to 2021. Released on Wednesday, the 24th annual State of the Air report grades Americans' exposure to two of the nation's most pervasive air pollutants: ground-level ozone, an air pollutant that forms smog, and particle pollution… |
(2023-04-21). Judge in Abortion Pill Case Didn't Disclose Interview Disparaging LGBTQ People. truthout.org Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who recently ruled to suspend the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, failed to disclose two interviews he did prior to his confirmation in which he spread dangerous lies about LGBTQ people, despite requirements for federal judicial nominees to do so. Twice in 2014, Donald Trump-nominated Kacsmaryk appeared on a… |
(2023-04-21). Musk's SpaceX Rocket Explodes in Texas as Feds Approve New LNG Projects. truthout.org We get an update from South Texas, where Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket blew up four minutes after launch Friday and residents reported particulates or ash rained down on their neighborhoods near the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. We speak with Bekah Hinojosa of Another Gulf Is Possible, who has been targeted for participating in protests against SpaceX. She says… |
(2023-04-21). Biden Admin Vowed to Pursue Accountability for Opioid Crisis But Has Gone Quiet. truthout.org Early in President Joe Biden's tenure, his administration promised to play a key role in ensuring opioid settlement funds went toward tackling the nation's addiction crisis. During the 2020 campaign, Biden had laid out a plan to appoint an "opioid crisis accountability coordinator" to support states in their lawsuits against companies accused of sparking the overdose epidemic. The following year… |
(2023-04-21). In Light of Thomas Controversy, Durbin Invites Chief Justice Roberts to Testify. truthout.org Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has issued a rare invitation for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to appear before the committee to discuss whether the Court's ethical standards need more teeth. The committee is planning to address the issue, with or without Roberts, on May 2. The decision comes as reporting from ProPublica has revealed… |
(2023-04-21). Republican Lawyer to GOP Donors: Restricting Campus Voting Should Be Priority. truthout.org A longtime Republican lawyer who aided former President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election told GOP donors that the party should be working to roll back voting on college campuses and other initiatives aimed at expanding ballot access, according to audio obtained by progressive journalist Lauren Windsor. "What are these college campus locations?" Cleta Mitchell, a top GOP attorney… |
(2023-04-21). These Women Face Death by Incarceration, But They're Organizing for Their Lives. truthout.org When she was 20 years old, Sheená King was sentenced to life without parole. Two years earlier, King's boyfriend had coerced her into fatally shooting another woman, threatening to kill her and her family if she refused. She was convicted of murder, which, in Pennsylvania, mandates life without parole. It's a sentence that King, now age 50, and other advocates call "death by incarceration."… |
(2023-04-21). Capitalists Prey on Syria and Turkey Following February Earthquakes. truthout.org In early February, Turkey and Syria were both rocked by devastating earthquakes. Since then, the two nations have dealt with a series of destructive aftershocks, serious economic woes, currency challenges, and increasing poverty and unemployment. Underscoring a further relevant human rights dilemma was Turkey's demand for cooperation from Sweden and Finland with respect to control of Kurdish exile… |
(2023-04-20). Tennessee Education Bill Would Ban Discussion of Systemic Racism at Colleges. truthout.org Shortly after Democratic state Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson were sworn back into office on Tuesday, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill that would limit discussions on race on college campuses across the state. House Bill 1376, also known as the Tennessee Higher Education Freedom of Expression Act, would ban the discussion of 16 "divisive concepts… |
(2023-04-20). Grandson of Man Who Shot Ralph Yarl Says He Was Radicalized by Right-Wing Media. truthout.org The grandson of the man who shot Ralph Yarl — a Black teen in Kansas City, Missouri, who rang the doorbell of the wrong house while trying to pick up his younger siblings — believes that his grandfather may have been influenced by Fox News and other right-wing media. Yarl was asked by his parents to pick up his younger brothers in a Kansas City neighborhood, but ended up at the wrong address… |
(2023-04-20). County Autopsy Reveals Police Shot "Cop City" Protester Tortuguita 57 Times. truthout.org A newly released autopsy of forest protector Manuel Esteban Paez Terán reveals that police shot Terán at least 57 times during a raid of anti-"Cop City" protesters' camp in January — and that the police narrative that officers acted in response to a gunshot from the activist is likely completely fabricated. After months of calls from activists and family members of Terán — whose chosen name was… |
(2023-04-20). Transgender Lawmaker Responds After Montana Freedom Caucus Misgenders Her. truthout.org Republicans in Montana misgendered a transgender state lawmaker in their calls for her censure after she condemned their passage of a bill that would endanger transgender and nonbinary youth in the state. State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) blasted Republicans in the Montana House of Representatives earlier this week for passing a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth in… |
(2023-04-20). My Pillow CEO Ordered to Pay $5 Million to Expert Who Disproved Election Lie. truthout.org My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, a die-hard supporter of former President Donald Trump who offered a $5 million reward to any cybersecurity expert who disproved his conspiracy theory about the 2020 U.S. presidential election, was ordered Wednesday by an arbitration panel to pay up after a Trump voter called his bluff. Robert Zeidman, a 63-year-old software developer from Nevada, sued Lindell for breach… |
(2023-04-20). Fox Was Not Required to Retract Its Election Lies Under Dominion Settlement. truthout.org We look at the historic settlement reached this week in Dominion Voting Systems's lawsuit against Fox News for promoting lies about voting machines being rigged against Trump in the 2020 election. Fox repeatedly aired conspiracy theories even though some of the network's most prominent hosts, including Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, as well as multibillionaire and Fox Corporation Chair Rupert… |
(2023-04-20). Ocasio-Cortez: NYC's New Police Contract Makes Cops Rich by Defunding Schools. truthout.org Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is speaking out against the New York City Police Department's (NYPD) latest contract, which would push many cops to top income brackets as the city is in the process of defunding crucial public goods like education and health care. This week, Ocasio-Cortez brought the "The Daily Show" to Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx to promote a program that reduces gun… |
(2023-04-20). Ignoring Protesters' Demands, TN GOP Passes Bill Protecting Gun Manufacturers. truthout.org Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature have passed a bill that would give gun manufacturers, sellers and dealers additional protections from lawsuits, ignoring the demands of protesters who have spent weeks calling for gun reform. The state Senate passed the bill in a 19-9 vote on Tuesday. The House had already passed the bill weeks ago, before a shooter killed six people… |
(2023-04-20). Progressive Library Boards Can Block Right-Wing Censorship. Here's How. truthout.org John Nystrom had been a Florida citrus grower for a decade, but when the freeze of 1977 hit, he changed careers. He'd spent a year as an art teacher before entering the orange business, but chose to work in the library when he went back into the system. In the more than two decades that followed, he worked as a certified school library media specialist in Orange County, Florida. When he retired to… |
(2023-04-20). SCOTUS: Mifepristone to Remain Available Without Tightened Restrictions, for Now. truthout.org This story was originally published by The 19th. A Supreme Court ruling Wednesday will allow abortion care providers to continue providing mifepristone — one of two drugs used for medication abortion — as usual, despite recent efforts from anti-abortion groups to restrict access. With Wednesday's decision, which extends a stay on a previous ruling out of Texas, mifepristone can be used for… |
(2023-04-20). While You're Lighting Up on 4/20, I'm Serving Decades in Prison for Selling Weed. truthout.org April 20, 2023, is the day for many consumers to celebrate cannabis. Some will seize it as an opportunity to get high and have fun. Activists will push for legalization in states where cannabis consumption is still illegal. Cannabis dispensaries will promote the industry and its products; and many notable musicians will perform at events, such as the Cannabis Cup, where they'll pitch the sales up… |
(2023-04-20). Critics Say House GOP's Debt Ceiling Legislation Would Benefit Rich Tax Dodgers. truthout.org The Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee said Wednesday that the House GOP's newly released debt ceiling legislation shows that the often fractious right-wing caucus is unified around at least one common objective: "Helping rich people cheat on their taxes." The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, unveiled by the House Republican leadership as the U.S. barrels toward a debt default crisis… |
(2023-04-20). Let This Conversation With Mariame Kaba Radicalize You. truthout.org "Hope for me is in the doing of things," says Mariame Kaba. In this episode of "Movement Memos," host Kelly Hayes talks with Mariame Kaba about their upcoming book, Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care. Music credit: Son Monarcas & David Celeste Note: This a rush transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity. Copy may not be in its final form. Kelly Hayes… |
(2023-04-19). Homeless "Sweeps" Increase Mortality Rates of Unhoused People, Research Finds. truthout.org New research, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), finds that police sweeps of homeless encampments have the potential to increase deaths among people who are unhoused by 25 percent by 2028. On a single night in 2022, more than half a million people in the U.S. were unhoused, the research found, with LGBTQ youth, Black people and Indigenous people experiencing… |
(2023-04-19). Trump Remains Most Likely to Win GOP 2024 Nod, as DeSantis's Numbers Fizzle Out. truthout.org Republican presidential hopefuls face an increasingly uphill battle to beat former President Donald Trump in the GOP primaries — including far right Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida), who was once considered a leading candidate for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination. Though DeSantis has not yet formally declared himself a candidate, many believe that an upcoming campaign announcement is all but… |
(2023-04-19). Crisis in California Shows Why Housing Must Be Protected as a Human Right. truthout.org Mayors from around California gathered in Sacramento last week to discuss the state's homelessness crisis. They urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to find $3 billion per year, on a rolling basis, to furnish a stable source of funding to provide shelter to the rapidly growing population of people living on the streets. Newsom's administration has already spent billions of dollars on homelessness… |
(2023-04-19). Fox News, Dominion Agree to $787.5 Million Settlement Over Election Lies. truthout.org A judge overseeing a defamation trial against Fox News announced on Tuesday that the trial would not be going forward, as the network and the company suing them, Dominion Voting Systems, had reached a settlement agreement. Dominion had alleged that the cable news network had spread false and damaging claims about the company in the months after the 2020 presidential election… |
