News & Views | Trump Displays "Actual Sociopathy"

A daily roundup of progressive headlines, opinion, and analysis [Click here](1f9d0/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) to view this message in a browser window.  [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [] [] News & Views | 4/6/18 [] Feature... [] [In Display of 'Actual Sociopathy,' Trump Reportedly Asked CIA Why Drone Didn't Also Kill Target's Family](1f9d0/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct2_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Jake Johnson, staff writer President Donald Trump has shown little concern for civilian casualties overseas during his tenure as commander-in-chief, and according to a report published Thursday by the Washington Post , he actually wishes there were more of them. Reacting to footage of a drone strike in Syria in which the CIA... [] [] News... [] [As Gaza Protests Resume, Urgent Call for Israeli Soldiers to Disobey 'Patently Illegal' Orders to Shoot Unarmed Demonstrators](1f9d0/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct3_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Jake Johnson, staff writer As anti-occupation protests kicked off once more in Gaza on Friday just a week after Israeli soldiers massacred 17 Palestinians and injured over a thousand more, the prominent human rights group B'Tselem launched its first-ever ad campaign calling on Israeli soldiers to disobey "patently illegal" orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Upholding Assault Weapons Ban, Federal Judge Says Constitution Has Nothing To Say About Restricting the AR-15](1f9d0/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [ar-15](1f9d0/ct4_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer Amid growing demands for stricter gun laws nationwide, a federal judge granted a victory to gun control advocates on Friday, upholding Massachusetts' ban on large-capacity magazines and assault weapons such as the AR-15, which has become the weapon of choice for U.S. mass shooters. --------------------------------------------------------------- ['Callously Indifferent' BP Argued Oil Spills Would Provide 'Welcome Boost' to Coastal Economy](1f9d0/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct5_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Julia Conley, staff writer When pitching a proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight of the southern coast of Australia in 2016, oil giant British Petroleum (BP) attempted to allay regulators' concerns over potential spills by claiming that an oil spill could actually be good for the coastline. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Huge Surge in Political Activism, Engagement Has Direct Ties to Trump Presidency, Poll Finds](1f9d0/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct6_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Julia Conley, staff writer The Trump administration has given way to an unusually engaged public, with one in five Americans reporting in a new survey that they've attended a protest or rally since 2016—and 70 percent of those who rallied said they dispproved of President Donald Trump and his policies. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Amid Massive Teacher Revolt Over Starving Schools, Kentucky GOP Passes 'Huge Tax Cut for the 1%'](1f9d0/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [Kentucky](1f9d0/ct7_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer After Kentucky's GOP-controlled legislature passed a bill last week to slash teachers' retirement benefits—a proposal that has provoked a series of massive protests—lawmakers approved legislation that would cut taxes for the state's wealthiest residents while hiking taxes for the remaining 95 percent, moves that critics say clearly demonstrate the misplaced priorities of the Republican Party. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Ajit Pai's FCC Doesn't Want You to Know About the Secret Deliberations That Led to the Worst Video the Internet Has Ever Seen](1f9d0/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct8_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Jake Johnson, staff writer Remember that "monumentally unfunny" video of FCC chair Ajit Pai doing the Harlem Shake while wearing a Santa outfit and waving a lightsaber, published just days before h is agency voted to gut net neutrality?Apparently, the FCC doesn't want the public to know anything about Pai's behind-the-scenes deliberations with the right-wing Daily Caller that brought it into existence. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More News](1f9d0/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [] [] Views... [] [Trump is Right About Syria: It’s Time to Leave](1f9d0/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) ["Since a direct US-led war on Syria would have been a violation of international law, Obama unleashed the CIA to operate covertly with Saudi Arabia and other countries." (Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)](1f9d0/ct10_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Jeffrey D. Sachs The war has failed to accomplish anything other than to destroy Syria, destabilize Europe, and bleed the United States. Around 500,000 are estimated to have died in the war, with 10 million displaced . --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Oklahoma Teachers’ Strike Is a Mutiny Against Austerity](1f9d0/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [Even with the proposed pay hike, teachers’ salaries are still devastatingly low, despite being years into the economic “recovery.” ](1f9d0/ct11_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Michelle Chen Even with the proposed pay hike, teachers’ salaries are still devastatingly low, despite being years into the economic “recovery.” --------------------------------------------------------------- [Lest We Ever Forget, Three Lists for Donald Trump](1f9d0/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) 1f9d0/ct12_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8 by Michael Winship Whoever came up with that old saying, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit," saw this guy coming from a country mile --------------------------------------------------------------- [Guatemala Shows Why the CIA Must Be Held Accountable For Torture](1f9d0/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) ["What we know may be enough for the Justice Department to launch a probe into Haspel's actions at the CIA, especially her potential role in covering up evidence." (Photo: CIA)](1f9d0/ct13_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Elizabeth Oglesby As discussions around Haspel's nomination heat up, other contentious legal proceedings — the current genocide trials in Guatemala — remind us that U.S. sanctioning of torture has a long, dark history with which we have yet to reckon. --------------------------------------------------------------- [B’Tselem Calls on Israeli Soldiers to Defy Shooting Orders, Lest They Commit War Crimes](1f9d0/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [ "B’Tselem is implicitly warning that not only are soldiers bound to disobey the orders, but obeying them would place the soldiers in legal jeopardy of committing war crimes." (Photo: Mashhour Wihwak)](1f9d0/ct14_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Yossi Gurvitz This is the first time an Israeli NGO has explicitly warned Israeli soldiers that they are about to commit war crimes in advance of the act itself. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Three Countries Show How Near a 100% Green Grid Is](1f9d0/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) ["The incoming president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, says he is going to decarbonize the transportation sector, making electric cars and trucks standard in the country." (Photo: Shutterstock)](1f9d0/ct15_1/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) by Juan Cole The world invested more in solar energy than in coal, gas, and nuclear combined last year. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More Views](1f9d0/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3AVZGmz6oF8) [] [] Newswire... 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