In what witnesses described as a huge explosion, a transformer at the Indian Point nuclear power plant just north of New York City caught on fire Saturday, billowing smoke and prompting the operator to shut down the impacted unit. Onlookers documented the explosion on Twitter: pic.twitter.com/pABGZZN50F — Gustavus Gricius (@GustavusHimself) May 9, 2015 At a wedding at #monteverde at old stone and just …
Forget Tanks. Russia’s Ruble Is Conquering Eastern Ukraine – Yulia Surkova and Daryna Krasnolutska
As a wobbly cease-fire keeps eastern Ukraine’s warring factions apart, Russia’s ruble is conquering new territory across the breakaway republics. In Donetsk, the conflict zone’s biggest city, supermarkets have opened ruble-only checkout counters to serve the fighters in camouflage lining up along pensioners. Bus and tram tickets come with a conversion from Ukraine’s hryvnia to the Russian currency. Gas-station workers …
Can We Reduce Bias in Criminal Justice? – Jason Marsh
This article is the first in a series exploring the effects that unconscious racial biases have on the criminal justice system in the United States. While this article reports on evidence of those biases, subsequent essays will propose ways to mitigate their effects. Long before Officer Darren Wilson fired the shots that killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, questions of …
Endangered Species: The Self-Employed Middle Class – Charles Hugh Smith
Including the professional class, perhaps 3% of the workforce is truly independent. Being self-employed (i.e. owning your own small business that does not require employees) is an integral part of the American Dream. Many start out dreaming of a corner office in Corporate America, but as they move up the ladder, many become disillusioned by the process and the goal: do …
Is the Federal Government Ready for War Against the American People? – Joachim Hagopian
Prior to even the beginning of the Jade Helm provocation strategically announced months in advance for the purpose of triggering reactionary alarm amongst US citizenry fearing martial law and FEMA roundups that the feds have been planning for years (see 2010’s FM 39.40 manual here), and now police killings in cities nationwide are ramping up urban tensions to the point that civil …
1 in 4 US Renters Must Use Half Their Pay for Housing Costs – JOSH BOAK
More than one in four U.S. renters have to use at least half their family income to pay for housing and utilities. That’s the finding of an analysis of Census data by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing. The number of such households has jumped 26 percent to 11.25 million since 2007. Since the end of …
Racism Is Real: The Real Reason Behind Baltimore Uprising – Robert Greenwald
The death of Freddie Gray at the hands of Baltimore police sparked outrage and protests by thousands [3] of Baltimore residents and people of color around the world. It seems that almost daily, the headline “Unarmed Black Man Killed By Police” [4] has pulled back the veil on what many white Americans, liberal and conservative alike, have been blinded to by privilege: racism is real in …
Journalists Face Most Deadly and Dangerous Period in Recent History – Andrew Emett
According to a report released on Monday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that terrorist groups and governments have made recent years the most dangerous period to work as a journalist. Targeted by both terrorists and national security agencies, journalists across the world have been subjected to kidnapping, torture, murder, government surveillance, censorship, and imprisonment. As Islamic State continues releasing …
We Aren’t Alone in Our Cities: 12 Ways Animals Have Adapted to Urban Life – Matt Soniak
As cities expand, it’s not just humans who are becoming increasingly urbanized. Concrete jungles and actual jungles are no longer realms apart, and as natural and human-created environments bleed into each other and intertwine, animals that walk on four legs, six or eight legs, fly or slither are calling cities home more and more. In Feral Cities: Adventures With Animals in …
Puerto Rico Exports Its Drug Addicts to Chicago – Adriana Cardona-Maguigad
It all started about a year ago when I began noticing more homeless men in the Chicago neighborhood where I work. Back of the Yards is a community that faces some of the city’s toughest problems: joblessness, crime, drug use. Many of these men would be sitting in doorways or shuffling along on 47th Street, many times asking for money. …