Reuters reports: “A deadly explosion and fire tore through a fertilizer plant in a small Texas town late on Wednesday, injuring more than 100 people, leveling dozens of homes and spewing toxic fumes that forced evacuations of half the community, authorities said. They said an undetermined number of people had been killed, and that the…

BEAU GROSSCUP, bgrosscup at csuchico.edu Grosscup is author of several books on terrorism including Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment. He said today: “Initially, President Obama called the Boston bombing a ‘tragedy,’ a label for which he was roundly criticized by the political right. A day later he declared it ‘an act…

Parents from children in 33 New York public schools are boycotting testing.

“Gosnell is a rogue actor who does not represent the abortion provider community. Nonetheless, many anti-choice groups are using his case to further restrict access to legal, safe abortion care.”

Venezuela’s electoral authority reported that governing party candidate and interim president Nicolas Maduro has won Sunday’s special presidential elections to succeed the late president Hugo Chavez.

More than four out of five small business owners (85%) oppose a territorial tax system, which would permanently exempt offshore profits from U.S. taxation. See the poll [pdf].

“The largest share of federal income taxes went to the military, which accounted for 26.5 cents of every dollar. Meanwhile, education programs accounted for 3.5 cents on the dollar and science took a single penny.”

The fact that not one independent source (press/citizen) is allowed to verify what Exxon is saying to the Arkansas AG and the fact that the FAA is allowing Exxon to run the skies above ground should be part of any other journalist’s story.”

AP reports: Hagel and Dempsey [are] to testify [today] before the House Armed Services Committee on Obama’s 2014 defense budget, a day after Obama unveiled the $526.6 billion proposal to cover the cost of buying ships, aircraft, tanks and maintaining the nation’s war fighters.

President Obama has announced that he will propose a budget plan on April 10 that would cut Social Security benefits and increase Medicare deductibles.