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Tax Day is Pay Pentagon Contractor Day
The $1.6 trillion discretionary spending request includes an eye-popping $886 billion for the Pentagon and military. This means that more than half — 52 percent — of the proposed discretionary spending is for the military and war. Almost half of that — or about a quarter of the total discretionary budget — will go to Pentagon contractors.
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Predictive Analytics Algorithm for Child Welfare
Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, argues that predictive analytics algorithms used by child welfare services exacerbate biases in the system and expand the surveillance of poor families of color.
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As U.S. Seeks Assange Extradition, Some Pushback From Australia
After Smith’s visit to the tiny cell where Assange has been confined for what will be four years come this April 19, fighting a Washington extradition request that if approved and acted upon would have him facing espionage charges in a U.S. court, Australia’s Labour Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that he had ‘said publicly that I have raised the issues’ of the U.S. charges under a century-old Espionage Act that has never before been used against a journalist
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“Critical Infrastructure” Laws vs. Protests for Environmental Justice and Police Accountability
A new investigation finds that the arrests of environmental justice and police accountability activists in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia have been tied to “critical infrastructure” laws, which make nonviolent protest near oil, gas, electrical and other forms of infrastructure a felony and ratchet up the punishment associated with the actions.
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More Research Needed on So-Called “Zombie” Drug
Senator Chuck Schumer has called for a special Drug Enforcement Administration team to help fight xylazine, a sedative used in animals that is often mixed with opioids like fentanyl and heroin. Harm reductionists are urging lawmakers, including Schumer, to invest in basic scientific research that would help scientists get information about xylazine out to healthcare providers and drug users.
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Maryland and Toxic PFAS Chemicals: * McGrath’s Corruption * Balt. Refuses E. Palestine Chemicals
“Emergency response teams in East Palestine, Ohio used firefighting foams containing PFAS on the burning railroad cars, according to Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Capito said the EPA had been slow to respond to her office’s inquiries on the use of PFAS-based firefighting foams in combating the fire… The EPA has so far resisted calls from Ohio’s U.S. senators to test for PFAS.”
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Driver Intentionally Plows Into Food Not Bombs Aid Effort, Killing One
On Monday, April 2, 2023, Reno Food Not Bombs volunteers Diamond and Clarissa Roman were helping a local woman select items from the clothing donation at the weekly meal when they were struck by a motorist. The three were rushed to the hospital where the woman seeking clothing was pronounced dead.
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Drug for Opioid Overdoses Now Available Without Prescription
The Food and Drug Administration has approved 4mg nasal spray naloxone (Narcan) for over-the-counter use. Harm reductionists say there are tradeoffs to the good news.
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Murder in Ecuador of Key Witness in Investigation of Scandal-Plagued President as Impeachment Begins
The Center for Economic and Policy Research notes that “With the mysterious murder of Rubén Cherres, a key witness in the potential links between the Lasso administration in Ecuador and organized crime has been eliminated.”
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Shatters Records
The Wisconsin Supreme Court election has shattered all records for spending in a judicial race because there are so many huge issues at stake.
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“With a tiny staff, it has managed to place on the air and in newspapers, points of view otherwise excluded from the national debate.”
Howard Zinn