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New Report Debunks ‘Myth’ That GMOs are Key to Feeding the World
by Lauren McCauley
Over the past 20 years, the report notes, global crop yields have only grown by 20 percent—despite the massive investment in biotechnology. On the other hand, it continues, in recent decades “the dominant source of yield improvements has been traditional crossbreeding, and that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.”

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Despite Dire Scientific Warnings, GOP Leaders Vow to Bury Global Climate Deal
by Lauren McCauley
“Even if the job-killing and likely illegal Clean Power Plan were fully implemented, the United States could not meet the targets laid out in this proposed new plan,” McConnell said.

In Reversal, Arkansas Governor Says He Won’t Sign Pro-Discrimination Bill
by Jon Queally
The bill passed by Arkansas legislators on Wednesday mirrors enacted in Indiana last week that created a national backlash and a wave of criticism against similar laws in other states.

Astroturf on Steroids: Did Right-Wing Group Fake Anti-Net Neutrality Emails?
by Deirdre Fulton
For Free Press, which is leading the fight for an open Internet and net neutrality protections, the revelations are unsurprising. “There’s a relatively small community of organizations fighting against net neutrality,” Free Press senior director of strategy Tim Karr said in a statement to Common Dreams.

Chorus of Outrage as Obama Administration Approves Arctic Drilling for Shell Oil
by Nadia Prupis
The decision opens up 30 million acres in the Chuchki Sea to fossil fuel exploration and drilling, a move which state and national green groups called “unconscionable.”

Disregarding Human Rights Concerns, US Resumes Arm Shipments to Egypt
by Jon Queally
The move comes as Egypt has joined with Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to launch airstrikes, and possibly a ground invasion, of Yemen.

Oregon Seeks to Become First State to Limit Antibiotic Use at Factory Farms
by Deirdre Fulton
bacteria commonly present on farms are mutating into stronger, antibiotic-resistant strains, which in turn find their way to the human population through numerous pathways, including contaminated food, airborne dust blowing off farms, and water and soil polluted with contaminated feces.

Closer to Justice as Palestine Joins International Criminal Court
by Lauren McCauley
“As Palestine formally becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute today,” Al-Malki said, “the world is also a step closer to ending a long era of impunity and injustice. Indeed, today brings us closer to our shared goals of justice and peace.”

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Feeding the World – Without GMOs
by Emily Cassidy
GE crops have done nothing to improve global food security—and there’s little reason to think that they will any time soon.

Burning Our Bridges: Failing Infrastructure in the Age of Corporate Tax-Dodging
by Sarah Anderson & Scott Klinger
To generate funds to shore up our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, the U.S. Congress is considering giving corporations large tax cuts on their offshore profits….The last time we tried this, in 2004, it failed miserably.

Iran Demands Lifting of Sanctions for ‘Irreversible’ Moves, Says Insider
by Gareth Porter
Iran has already made some significant concessions on the sanctions issue, the source revealed.

Guilty of Being Poor
by Karen Dolan
When a community issues arrest warrants for more offenses than it has residents, something’s deeply wrong. A democratic society that purports “freedom and justice for all” can’t coexist with one that profiles and criminalizes poor people and communities of color.

How Ohio’s Energy Economy Became a Radioactive 19th Century Relic
by Harvey Wasserman
After being at the cusp of major solar and wind power advances, the state has all but killed the prospects for any large new green energy projects. The state may now miss one of history’s biggest and most profitable technological transformations.

The Backlash Against Discrimination And GOP’s “Indiana” Problem
by Terrance Heath
In 2016 and beyond, Republicans will find it hard to strike a balance between “religious freedom” and discrimination. They will find it even harder to choose between either “caving” and alienating their base, or alienating the growing majority of voters and facing a grassroots onslaught.

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Ring of Snitches: How Detroit Police Slapped False Murder Convictions on Young Black Men

Aaron Cantú, Truthout: One jailhouse informant for the Detroit Police Department sent Lacino Hamilton to prison. Now, Hamilton’s fight to be released has revealed systemic corruption allegedly perpetrated by police, prosecutors and prisoner informants hoping for more lenient sentences.

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Laura Flanders | The Fight Against High-Stakes Testing: A Civil Rights Movement

Laura Flanders, Truthout: Jesse Hagopian, history teacher and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing, talks about the fight against high-stakes testing, the roots of that testing in eugenics movement and its insidious anti-democratic and anti-labor social goals.

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Rounding Us Up, and Exposing Us All to Cancer

Brian Moench, Truthout: The World Health Organization has just declared the most widely used herbicide in the world, glyphosate, a “probable human carcinogen,” a designation long overdue. Cancer is only one of many health consequences of the growing scourge of herbicides, pesticides and GMOs.

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It’s Time to Talk About the Next System

Cecilia Gingerich, Truthout: For systemic crises, relief will come only through systemic solutions. The Next System Project, which launches today, offers such solutions to the systemic climate, political, economic, social and cultural crises the United States is experiencing.

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Fatal Construction Accident Shows Higher Risks Faced by Latino Workers

Danica Jorden, Truthout: Three men were killed and one left in serious condition after a construction accident in Raleigh, North Carolina. The incident illustrates the differential risks still facing Latino workers, often employed by a tangled web of contractors and subcontractors.

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When Is the Next Ice Age?

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: If we want to prevent a new ice age for much of the planet, then we need to put a price on carbon now to fight back against climate change – the greatest threat our human species has ever faced.

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Impunity Fuels Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers in Spain

Inés Benítez, Inter Press Service: In Spain, immigrants are frequent victims of abuse and mistreatment by the national police, who are in charge of guarding them. Human rights organizations also complain about hurdles thrown in the way of investigations of reports of abuse and the prevailing impunity.

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What the Atlantic Coast Should Brace for if Offshore Drilling Gets Approved

Wilma Subra, Facing South: Offshore energy exploration, drilling and production on the Atlantic coast will leave permanent environmental damage and destruction. The physical environment will be severely negatively impacted in the name of “progress,” with no consideration of the devastation.

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Grabbing Africa’s Seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation Back Agribusiness Seed Takeover

Stephen Greenberg and Oliver Tickell, The Ecologist: The latest salvo in the battle over Africa’s seed systems has been fired with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa’s governments as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labor feed the continent.

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Court Steps in to #SaveH2B, but Is the US Guestworker Program Worth Saving?

Rachel Luban, In These Times: While many H-2B guestworkers are unhappy with the abuse and exploitation they suffer on the job, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want the program to go away, as the program often offers the only means of employment available for some workers.

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Climate Change: When It’s All in the Family

Felix Kramer, The Houston Chronicle: Could heartfelt pleas from family members move the people who run the world to an urgent response to our climate crisis? The families and friends of movers and shakers have a unique opportunity: They can spur what may have already begun.

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