News & Views | North Korea's Convincing Case Against US

A daily roundup of progressive headlines, opinion, and analysis [Click here](1f9d0/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) to view this message in a browser window.  [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] [] News & Views | 1/31/18 [] Feature... [] [From Lack of Paid Maternity Leave to 'Hell' of Student Debt, North Korea Catalog of US Rights Violations Makes Convincing Case](1f9d0/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct2_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Jake Johnson, staff writer Just as U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing to lambast North Korea as "a menace that threatens our world" in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Pyongyang attempted to undercut Trump's "ominous" rhetoric by releasing a white paper that highlights America's "gross" human rights... [] [] News... [] ['Outrageous' Gold Rush-Style Grab of Public Lands To Begin in Less Than 48 Hours](1f9d0/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument ](1f9d0/ct3_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer Despite protests from conservationists, local tribe leaders, Democratic lawmakers, and even the United Nations' expert on indigenous rights, at 6am on Friday the Trump administration will allow citizens and companies to start staking claims on sections of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah so the new stakeholders can conduct hard rock mining on the formerly protected lands. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Damning New Study Helps Explain Why Pentagon Will No Longer Release Afghan War Updates](1f9d0/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct4_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Julia Conley, staff writer New research gathered by the BBC finds that the Taliban has open and active presence in about 70 percent of Afghanistan, with ISIS gaining more ground in the country than ever before—more than 16 years after U.S. troops drove the Taliban from power and began an ongoing war to keep Afghanistan under government control. --------------------------------------------------------------- ['Disaster Capitalism Disguised as Progress': Critics Rip Trump Infrastructure Plan](1f9d0/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct5_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Jake Johnson, staff writer President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared that "Americans deserve the best infrastructure in the world," but judging by the policy blueprints that have emerged from the White House in recent days, critics argue that Trump is actually planning to deliver a heavy dose of "disaster capitalism" that will hand construction projects over to corporate America while running roughshod over the environment. --------------------------------------------------------------- [After Tobacco Stock Purchases Exposed, Trump's CDC Director Resigns](1f9d0/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald ](1f9d0/ct6_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald—whose short tenure has already been mired in conflicts of interest—resigned Wednesday after a report revealed she bought stock in a major tobacco company and others that were potential conflicts while directing the public health agency that leads the federal government's efforts to reduce tobacco use. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump SOTU Didn't Mention Climate Crisis Once. Sadly, Neither Did Democratic Response](1f9d0/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct7_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Jake Johnson, staff writer Despite the fact that President Donald Trump used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to celebrate "beautiful, clean coal" and further his war on the environment, the Democratic Party's official rebuttal to Trump's speech—delivered by corporate sweetheart Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.)—didn't once mention the climate crisis or how Trump's policies threaten to dangerously accelerate its already horrific consequences. --------------------------------------------------------------- [In Name of Bringing 'Freedom' to Drivers, Net Neutrality Activist 'Throttles Traffic' Outside FCC](1f9d0/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct8_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Jon Queally, staff writer In another attempt to educate the American people on what that vague-sounding term "net neutrality" means—and how people will be impacted if Trump's FCC gets its way by abolishing the vital standard which has governed the Internet since the beginning—an enterprising activist named Rob Bliss this week attempted to "liberate" drivers by forcing them to pay so that he would get hell out of the way of their cars. "By bringing internet traffic to real world traffic," Bliss said, "a lot of the issues become immediately apparent." --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More News](1f9d0/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] [] Views... [] [Something’s Rotten in the State of the Union](1f9d0/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) 1f9d0/ct10_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv by Michael Winship You think it can't get any crazier and then it just does. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump’s Speech Wasn’t The Scary Part: All The Republican Groveling Was](1f9d0/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) ["There's never been a president in history for whom words matter less." (Photo: Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call)](1f9d0/ct11_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Heather Digby Parton Trump’s SOTU was a forgettable, familiar litany. What’s new is the GOP’s brain-dead eagerness to do his bidding. --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Next Big Fight: Saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security from Massive Cuts](1f9d0/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [ "According to an analysis of census data, Social Security payments keep an estimated 22 million Americans from slipping into poverty." (Photo: Screenshot) ](1f9d0/ct12_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Robert Reich Expand and improve these programs: don’t cut them. --------------------------------------------------------------- [To Keep America Great, Legalize All Undocumented Immigrants](1f9d0/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) ["Imagine the industry gained from their integration, from ending police-state tactics that have turned the immigration service into a gang of goonish brown shirts well deserving of their icy acronym."(Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)](1f9d0/ct13_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Pierre Tristam The defense of legal immigrants becomes a mask for a denigration of undocumented immigrants that’s no less repulsive than the president’s racism. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Huge Military Budgets Make Us Broke, Not Safe](1f9d0/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) ["Worse still, the military can’t even say what it’s actually spending — it’s still the only federal agency that can’t pass an audit." (Photo: David B. Gleason/Flickr/cc)](1f9d0/ct14_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Miriam Pemberton Backing down from nuclear war would make us a lot safer than piling more money into the Pentagon. --------------------------------------------------------------- [A California Trend Worth Catching: College for All](1f9d0/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [The University of California-Berkeley (Photo: Mike Procario / Flickr)](1f9d0/ct15_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) by Chuck Collins America's left coast is showing how to break up concentrated wealth and fund higher education for all. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More Views](1f9d0/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] [] Newswire... [] [Trump Admin Attempts to Delay Clean Water Rule](1f9d0/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [State Lawmakers Form Multistate Alliance on Carbon Pricing](1f9d0/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Small Businesses Still Not Sold on Tax Bill, Trump Immigration Plan](1f9d0/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Green Party Rebuttal to President Trump's 2018 State of the Union Address](1f9d0/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Demos Releases Policy Roadmap to Lift Up Working People](1f9d0/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] [More Newswire](1f9d0/ct22_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] [] [Facebook](1f9d0/ct23_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Twitter](1f9d0/ct24_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] Share This Newsletter... [] [Support Independent Media](1f9d0/ct25_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [] Keeep Independent Media Strong --------------------------------------------------------------- [Rate us on Google](1f9d0/ct26_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) | [Follow us on Facebook](1f9d0/ct27_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) | [Follow us on Twitter](1f9d0/ct28_0/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. An independent, non-profit newscenter since 1997. Our Mission: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. [Subscription Preferences](1f9d0/q-003a/zout?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv) [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_1/1?sid=TV2%3AF1DNwisVv), PO Box 443, Portland, Maine 04112 | 207.775.0488 Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax deductible. EIN: 20-3368194