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Appeals Court Forces CIA’s Hand In FOIA Requests For Torture Records

Archives for August 2017

Death And Displacement Come To Qatif, As Saudi Forces Lay Siege To Awamiya

Saudi government propaganda calls it “development,” but the demolition going on in parts of Qatif province bespeaks a very different on-the-ground reality. It is part of a Saudi siege and bombardment, motivated by worship and oil, which has left death and displacement in its wake.

Roqayah Chamseddine
By Roqayah Chamseddine
The town Awamiya, in the eastern Qatif province of Saudi Arabia resembles a war zone following destruction by Saudi government forces. (Photo: Twitter)

Situated in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the small village of Awamiya has fallen prey to one of the most well-equipped military giants in the Gulf. This 400-year-old Muslim Shi’a district, with a population of only 30,000, has been under siege by Saudi forces since May and the government has turned the historic village into a war

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In Victory Over Arizona’s ‘State-Sponsored Racism’, Ethnic Studies Program Restored

The restoration of a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson, Arizona public schools is being hailed as an important step in telling the more complex history of the American West.

Dennis J Bernstein
By Dennis J Bernstein
Protesters gather to support the Tucson Unified School District as Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal announces that the Tucson Unified School District violates state law by teaching it's Mexican American Studies Department's ethic studies program at a news conference at the Arizona Department of Education in Phoenix, Ariz. (AP/Ross D. Franklin)

Advocates of Mexican-American studies are celebrating a federal court ruling restoring one of the most successful programs in Arizona public schools as a victory against “state-sponsored racism.” Nolan Cabrera, an associate professor at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona, has been involved from the

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New York Times Slammed For Running ‘Advertorial’ By Notorious War Profiteer

“Why is the New York Times op-ed page publishing Erik Prince’s sales pitch for more mercenaries?”

Jake Johnson
By Jake Johnson
Blackwater founder Erik Prince testifies before a House committee examining the mission and performance of private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, Oct. 2, 2007. (Susan Walsh/AP)

The New York Times came under fire on Wednesday for running what critics characterized as "uncontested propaganda" in the form of an op-ed by notorious war profiteer and Blackwater founder Erik Prince. As in his other prominent op-eds that ran recently in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, Prince—the brother of Education Secretary Betsy

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FDA Labels MDMA As ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ For PTSD

According to a press release from MAPS, which has long lobbied for the medicinal use of MDMA, the “breakthrough” status may lead to quicker approval for the substance.

Carey Wedler
By Carey Wedler
MDMA pills. (MAPS)

This week, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) announced the FDA’s August 16 decision to designate MDMA as a breakthrough therapy. Along with this designation, the FDA has approved Phase 3 trials to test the effectiveness of the drug in treating PTSD. According to a press release from MAPS, which has lobbied for the

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Trump Says Dialogue With North Korea Is ‘Not The Answer’

President Trump declared yesterday that talking with North Korea is not the answer” and claimed the US has been “paying them extortion money for 25 years.”

Jason Ditz
By Jason Ditz
A man watches a television screen showing President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 10, 2017. (AP/Ahn Young-joon)

Continuing to ratchet up the rhetoric on North Korea, President Trump once again disavowed assurances from his cabinet that the goal is a diplomatic solution, declaring yesterday that “talking is not the answer” and claiming the US has been “paying them extortion money for 25

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Hurricane Harvey Floods Texas Chemical Plant, Explosions Reported

The development comes a day after Arkema warned that the organic peroxides used in the site’s manufacturing process had begun to heat up after the plant lost its primary source of power and backup power from generators.

Jim Malewitz
By Jim Malewitz
The flooded Arkema chemical plant is seen on Wednesday. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle/AP)

The owner of a flooded-out chemical plant in Crosby said early Thursday it received reports of explosions at the plant. Arkema Inc. said the Harris County Emergency Operations Center notified the company at 2 a.m. Thursday of explosions and black smoke coming from its Crosby plant, which was inundated by Hurricane Harvey's floodwaters. But

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