science

Cenk Uygur & Ana Kasparian | ( The Young Turks) | (Video Report) | – – “Scott Pruitt has let go of scientists and replaced them with industry types. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down: “The Environmental Protection Agency has “eviscerated” a key scientific review board by removing half its members and seeking […]

Bush

Planet Ravagers: How Trump & GOP are like Aliens in “Independence Day”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – “They’re like locusts. They’re moving from planet to planet, their entire civilization. Once they consume every natural resource, they move on.” — President Thomas Whitmore, “Independence Day” You expect the Republican Party, when it wins a national election, to pass some laws benefiting the business classes. […]

Donald Trump

As Scientists March, Will Trump give away US Science Lead to China?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The marches for science in the United States and around the world are an expression of alarm about the Trump administration’s budget proposals, which slash public funding for science, medical and technology research and seek to increase the Pentagon budget by $54 bn. Federal funding for […]

Cats

Video of Day: Kitten tempted by Iran New Year Goldfish

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | (Video Clip) | – – March 21 was the Persian New Year (Now Ruz), marking also the first day of spring (the vernal equinox). In Iran on that day it is a custom to set out a table top with 7 things on it, the names of which […]

Authoritarianism

Making us Less Safe: Trump bloating Pentagon Budget, cutting Diplomacy, Science

contributors

By Miriam Pemberton | OtherWords | – – Throwing money at the Pentagon while gutting other programs that protect Americans shouldn’t make anyone feel safer. Millions of Americans are feeling uneasy, disgruntled, and insecure. That message sounded loud and clear throughout our turbulent election year. The Trump administration’s latest budget proposal isn’t likely to change […]

Climate Change

Study finds 6 600 spills from fracking in just four US states

contributors

The Watchers | – – Each year, 2 to 16 percent of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells spill hydrocarbons, chemical-laden water, hydraulic fracturing fluids and other substances, according to a study published yesterday in Environmental Science & Technology. The analysis, which appeared February 21 in Environmental Science & Technology, identified 6 648 spills reported across […]

art and photography

Image of the Day: Gemini Constellation, As Seen in the Heavens, Iran,1630

contributors

New York Public Library | Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library. “Gemini, as seen in the heavens. Mirror image of f. 91?” Tarjumah-i suwar al-kawâkib (Translation of “Images of the Planets”). Iran, c. 1630, possibly Mashhad. New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8d2bcb1e-42d4-7f14-e040-e00a180641da

Immigration

Immigrant Cali Sikhs open Temples to Oroville Dam Refugees

contributors

TeleSur | – – At least seven Sikh temples opened their doors to evacuees. "DO NOT TRAVEL NORTH TOWARD OROVILLE," was the message the Yuba County Office of Emergency Services blasted on its Twitter account Sunday. It was the warning issued to the nearly 200,000 people in Northern California who were told to evacuate that […]

Climate Change

Give us your Huddled Scientists: France woos US Climate Researchers, Inventors in age of Trump

contributors

By Frédéric Simon | EurActiv.com | – – The United States of America. Home of the free. Land of the brave. And, until Donald Trump became president, a beacon of science, research and technology. And Emanuel Macron wants a piece of it. Emmanuel Macron, who emerged this week as the favourite in the French presidential […]