News & Views | 'Deeply Disappointing' to 'Disgusting': Ire as First Democrat Backs Pompeo

A daily roundup of progressive headlines, opinion, and analysis [Click here](1f9d0/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) to view this message in a browser window. [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [] [] [] News & Views | 4/19/18 [] Feature... [] [From 'Deeply Disappointing' to 'Disgusting,' Heitkamp Draws Ire as First Democrat to Back Pompeo](1f9d0/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct2_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Jake Johnson, staff writer Flouting urgent demands by anti-war groups, environmentalists, and LGBTQ rights organizations to reject Mike Pompeo over his lengthy record of warmongering and bigotry, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) on Thursday became the first Democrat to declare her support for President Donald Trump's secretary... [] [] News... [] [With Deadline Approaching, 500+ European Lawmakers Tell Congress to Stop Trump From Ripping Up Iran Nuclear Deal](1f9d0/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct3_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Jake Johnson, staff writer As analysts warn that U.S. President Donald Trump could be planning to abandon the Iran nuclear accord as early as next month—particularly with national security adviser and war "fanatic" John Bolton whispering in his ear—more than 500 parliamentarians from the U.K., France, and Germany published an open letter on Thursday calling on Congress do all it can to keep the agreement alive and "protect the fruits of successful diplomacy." --------------------------------------------------------------- [Where Is the Body of This Man Tortured to Death by the CIA?](1f9d0/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [Gul Rahman](1f9d0/ct4_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer As the Senate prepares to reexamine the CIA's dark history of torture amid mounting opposition to Gina Haspel's nomination to run the agency, the family of an Afghan man who was tortured to death at a black site near Kabul, Afghanistan is demanding answers about what happened to his body. --------------------------------------------------------------- [A 'Defining Moment' to Stand Against Torture as Human Rights Groups Demand Senate Reject Gina Haspel for CIA](1f9d0/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct5_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Jake Johnson, staff writer As Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump's pick to head the CIA, continues to face intense scrutiny over her "central" role in overseeing the Bush administration's torture regime ahead of her May 9 Senate hearing, more than 40 national human rights and civil liberties organizations sent a letter to every U.S. senator on Thursday demanding that they refuse to confirm an author of "one of the darkest chapters in American history." --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [Help us today during our Spring fundraising drive. It is your financial support that funds our people-powered journalism.](1f9d0/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [Help Common Dreams Survive](1f9d0/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [] [] ['Beyond Comprehension': In Just Two Years, Half of All Corals in 'Forever Damaged' Great Barrier Reef Have Died](1f9d0/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [coral](1f9d0/ct8_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral system, has been "forever damaged" by anthropogenic global warming, according to a new study. Global warming, researchers warn, "is rapidly emerging as a universal threat to ecological integrity and function." --------------------------------------------------------------- [Vowing to Defend Ideals of Socialist Revolution, Miguel Diaz-Canel Steps in as Cuba's New President](1f9d0/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct9_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Julia Conley, staff writer Entering office as Cuba's new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday that he would focus his leadership on ensuring that "the revolution continues its course"—promising the modernization of the island nation's economy but making clear that he would fiercely defend its socialist system from outsiders who have pressured Cuba to change. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook Wants to Be Better About Privacy, Just Not With These 1.5 Billion Users](1f9d0/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct10_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Jake Johnson, staff writer Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent several hours of congressional testimony this month insisting that his company is seriously dedicated to improving user privacy protections in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but these rhetorical gestures have been undermined by the social media giant's ongoing efforts to deny privacy protections to a staggering 70 percent of its users worldwide. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More News](1f9d0/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [] [] Views... [] [In Syria and Beyond, What Would It Even Look Like If the U.S. Truly Wanted Peace in the World?](1f9d0/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) 1f9d0/ct12_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga by Robert C. Koehler On playing war in Syria. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Who Will Protect Elections From U.S. Oligarchs?](1f9d0/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) ["Nobody in Congress is talking seriously about passing bills to remove private cash from the public elections—or even to mandate reasonable “dark money” disclosure." (DonkeyHotey/cc)](1f9d0/ct13_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by Paul Street No other “democracy” in the developed world comes close to the United States when it comes to giving big-money donors unregulated power in their national electoral processes. --------------------------------------------------------------- [West Virginia Teachers and the Return of Labor Feminism](1f9d0/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [A major flashpoint for oppositional feminism is the Right’s continued attack on the public sector. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images) ](1f9d0/ct14_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by Rachel Johnson In struggles led predominantly by women workers—whose labor has historically been both underpaid and undervalued—we’re seeing the return of efforts to build meaningful alternatives to corporate feminism. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Gaza Deserves Our Support](1f9d0/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) ["Three punishing Israeli wars on Gaza (in 2008, 2012, and 2014) left over 3,800 Palestinians dead, 15,000 wounded, and an already dilapidated infrastructure even more devastated by deliberate Israeli targeting of civilian sites, like a sewage reservoir and a chicken processing plant." (Photo: Adam Helweh/Flickr/CC)](1f9d0/ct15_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by James Zogby Attention must be paid to this long-suffering people. --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Strike Warfare Chimera](1f9d0/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) ["Surrounded by the wreckage around the world wrought by strike wars stretching back over half a century, you’d think that it’s time for us to get into the rehab center and confront our addiction." (Photo: Reuters)](1f9d0/ct16_1/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) by James A. Russell Despite the uncertain results and colossal failures, we remain addicted to strike warfare, telling ourselves that we can police the politics on the ground by dropping bombs from on high. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More Views](1f9d0/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3ARGip2gPga) [] [] Newswire... 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