Archives for August 2014

Ferguson Protesters File Lawsuit Against Police for Civil Rights Violations

Plaintiffs say police used ‘excessive force’ in arresting both protesters and bystanders.

Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri filed a $40 million federal lawsuit on Thursday alleging that police in the local and county departments violated civil rights and used excessive force to falsely arrest innocent bystanders in an attempt to crack down on the demonstrations that took place throughout the month. The death of Michael Brown, a black

Rendition Victims Urge Obama To Declassify Senate Torture Report

‘You must now take responsibility for telling the world — and more importantly the American people — the whole truth about rendition and American torture.’

As officials continue to delay the release of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's report on post-9/11 CIA interrogation techniques, 10 victims of CIA rendition and torture have signed an open letter (pdf) to President Obama asking him to declassify the heavily redacted report. The 500-page summary of the report, which includes details about

War Without Reason: Mark Perry On The Futility Of The Assault On Gaza

MintPress talks to author Mark Perry about Israel’s shifting goals in its most recent actions against Gaza and the amount of artillery it used in the area during one especially devastating assault.

Gaza

The Pentagon is reportedly in possession of a summary report that details how the Israeli army used up to 7,000 shells to bombard Shuja’iya in Gaza City on July 20, according to analysis run by Al-Jazeera America on Thursday. The amount of shells and artillery pieces used in Shuja’iya is significant because the bombardment was one of the more

Feds Set To Open Fracking Floodgates In California Based On One Flawed Study

Report raises grave concerns about fracking pollution’s threat to state’s air and water, say opponents, and also highlights fact that government officials have never collected the data needed to determine extent of danger and future destruction.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has put the ecosystems, water resources, and residents of California at urgent risk, expert critics are warning, by accepting a failed scientific review of the dangers of fracking in the state as a basis to begin issuing permits for the controversial gas drilling technique as soon as next year. The

Shell Renews Quest to Plunder Arctic in Search of Oil

Greenpeace responds with promise to escalate its campaign to ‘Save the Arctic’ from the dangers of oil and gas exploration in fragile region.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday indicated its continued desire to drill in the Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska by submitting new plans for exploratory operations to federal agencies. "Shell’s preparations are a red flag for the millions of people around the world who want to save the Arctic from catastrophe." —John Deans,

Obama: We Don’t Have A Strategy For Iraq-Syria War Yet

Obama is sending Kerry to assemble a coalition for conflict.

In a speech this afternoon, President Obama talked up the Iraq War in the broadest terms possible, praising the bravery of the pilots launching airstrikes in the country, and again taking credit for saving those “folks on the mountain,” presumably referring to the largely mythical Yazidi calamity that was the initial pretext for the conflict. At