Federal judge who stood up to the Richard Nixon and George W. Bush administrations dies. “(Judge Damon) Keith rejected the government’s claim that it had the authority to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant on anyone it considered a national security threat.” https://www.npr.org/2019/04/28/718077751/judge-damon-j-keith-judicial-giant-and-civil-rights-icon-dies-at-96
Boeing CEO dodges responsibility for 737 MAX crashes, blames pilots. “Dennis Muilenburg said the pilots did not ‘completely’ follow the procedures that Boeing had outlined to prevent the kind of malfunction that probably caused a March 10 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet. A Lion Air 737 Max crashed under similar circumstances in October.” https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/29/investing/boeing-annual-meeting/index.html
U.S. once again world’s top spender on weapons of war, China a distant second, Russia drops out of top five. “The U.S. is ‘by far the largest spender in the world’, accounting for 36% of the total, spending almost as much as the next eight countries combined, researchers wrote. The U.S. spent $649 billion in 2018; China, which came in second on the list, spent $250 billion.” https://www.npr.org/2019/04/29/718144787/global-military-expenditures-up-driven-by-top-two-spenders-u-s-and-china
Poll: Majority of Americans believe the economic and political systems primarily benefit the wealthy and those in power. “Most Americans also feel that the U.S. political system is skewed to reward the powerful—72 percent of U.S. adults believe the American political system ‘works to benefit those in power’ rather than ‘all people’, the (Washington) Post/ABC survey found.” https://www.rawstory.com/2019/04/americans-reject-trumps-spin-62-percent-believe-us-economy-primarily-benefits-rich-and-powerful/
Nurses tape posters of GoFundMe pages to outside of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America office building. “The people inside this building spent $28 million on lobbying last year to keep prescription drug prices so unaffordable that some of our patients needlessly die.” https://www.rawstory.com/2019/04/demanding-medicare-for-all-nurses-use-band-aids-to-plaster-gofundme-pages-to-big-pharma-headquarters/
Tens of thousands of foreign troops and private security contractors still deployed in Afghanistan. “More than 5,800 privately employed security personnel are currently operating in Afghanistan under Pentagon contracts, according to the latest report released this month that the military headquarters overseeing Middle East wars compiles for Congress…. More than 17,000 uniformed troops from NATO and partner countries are currently operating in Afghanistan in support of local forces… Of those, roughly 8,500 are Americans. Another 5,500 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan for the separate mission of hunting insurgent forces like the Islamic State group and elements of the Taliban.” https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-04-26/us-employs-unprecedented-number-of-security-contractors-in-afghanistan
The case that Maria Butina may not have actually been a Russian spy after all. “As Butina was looking into master’s degree programs in the United States, (Rockefeller heir George) O’Neill offered to assist with her finances. The help was critical, since her parents in Siberia could not afford the expense. (Alexander) Torshin, her supposed handler, never offered to help pay her two-year tuition. Instead, it was O’Neill, and her boyfriend Erickson, who gave her the money to enroll at American University’s Graduate School of International Service. ” https://newrepublic.com/article/153036/maria-butina-profile-wasnt-russian-spy
“17 years, $900 billion and 3 presidents later, America must finally get out of Afghanistan.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/27/afghanistan-trump-taliban-opium-corruption-column/3589562002/
Iran allegedly executes two cousins for rapes committed they when they were 15. “Between 1990 and 2018, Amnesty recorded the executions of 97 prisoners who were convicted as minors.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/amnesty-iran-secretly-executes-minor-boys-rape-190429183050266.html
Trump administration accused of cutting funding for domestic terrorism investigators. “…from 2009 to 2018, right-wing extremists have been responsible for 73% of the extremist murders in the United States; an additional 23% were at the hands of Islamist extremists.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/26/joe-biden-charlotesville-trump-adl-white-supremacy-column/3575579002/
Just a trickle of corporate tax cut money actually reached workers, says group. “The bulk of the $150bn the tax cut put into the hands of corporations in 2018 went into shareholder dividends and stock buy-backs, both of which line the pockets of the 10% of Americans who own 84% of the stocks. Just 6% of the tax savings was spent on workers, according to Just Capital, a not-for-profit that tracks the Russell 1000 index.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/30/trump-tax-cut-law-investigation-worker-benefits
Tech recruiting firm reportedly ran ads for ‘preferably Caucasian’ and ‘female candidate only’ positions. “We are also looking at measures that could help us catch offensive or outside-of-policy ads before they ever go live to ensure this can’t happen again.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/29/tech-firm-apologizes-after-job-ad-seeks-preferably-caucasian-candidates
U.S. backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó launches coup attempt in Venezuela. “At this moment, I am with the main military units of our armed forces, starting the final phase of Operation Liberty. People of Venezuela, we will go to the street with the armed forces to continue taking the streets until we consolidate the end of usurpation, which is already irreversible.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelan-opposition-leader-juan-guaido-appears-to-stage-military-backed-challenge-to-president-maduro/2019/04/30/c7028eee-6b35-11e9-8f44-e8d8bb1df986_story.html
Residents of Hugo, Oklahoma protest accidental police shooting of three children, few details revealed about the incident. “Three days after the shooting, it remained unclear why gunfire broke out Friday when two Hugo police detectives tried to pick up William Devaughn Smith, 21, on a robbery warrant.” https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2019-04-29/residents-of-oklahoma-town-demand-answers-in-police-shooting
No gun found after New Haven police shooting that erupted when unarmed black man came out of his car with his hands up. “Hamden and Yale police officers stopped (Paul) Witherspoon’s car on April 16 after a 911 caller said it was connected to an robbery with a gun minutes earlier. Officials confirmed no gun was ever located.” https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-new-haven-hamden-yale-police-shooting-witherspoon-family–20190429-zb267zukzveuloppblalps2hfy-story.html
Residents protest Wethersfield, Connecticut police shooting of teen suspect Anthony Jose Vega Cruz, who was allegedly attempting to flee a traffic stop. “On Monday, activists protested outside the Wethersfield Police Department, demanding the dashboard camera video from the incident be released. They also demanded answers from Chief of Police James Cetran as to what transpired the night Cruz was shot.” https://www.courant.com/community/wethersfield/hc-news-wethersfield-chulo-vega-shooting–20190426-oan6gnfv2nb3xktlxlonmtdkqi-story.html
Vallejo, California requests Department of Justice assistance after string of fatal police shootings. “At a City Council meeting Tuesday, residents complained that city officials had not listened to them and family members of loved ones who died in police-involved shootings and implored officials to take action.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-spate-police-shootings-vallejo-california-officials-ask-doj-help-n999111
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Progressive News Service 