Associate Press Staff Reporters, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: Here is some wonderful good news about the Navy's sonar program that has been afflicting cetacea.
Dolphins in front of US Navy ship Benfold. Marine life will now be protected from Navy sonar.
Credit: Mark Wilson/Reuters
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the US Navy was wrongly allowed to use sonar in the nation’s oceans that could harm whales and other marine life.
The ninth circuit court of appeals reversed a lower court decision upholding approval granted in 2012 for the Navy to use low-frequency sonar for training, testing and routine operations.
The five-year approval covered peacetime operations in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
The appellate panel sent the matter back to the lower court for further proceedings.
A message seeking comment from representatives of the US Pacific Fleet in Honolulu was not immediately returned.
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Judd Legum, - Think Progress
Stephan: The Republican Party, which has pushed open carry of firearms is now facing the monster it created at its national convention, and even the police are scared, as this story outlines. The whole thing would be funny if it weren't so potentially deadly
Armed Republicans in Cleveland for the convention
Ohio is an “open carry” state which allows gun owners to carry them in plain sight. People have been exercising this right around the site of the Republican convention:
Strangely, in the area around the convention, “tennis balls, metal-tipped umbrellas or canned goods” are prohibited. But AR-15s or other firearms are not.
But now, the Cleveland Police Union has made an emergency request to suspend open carry for the duration of the Republican convention.
“We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from him. He could very easily do some kind of executive order or something — I don’t care if it’s constitutional or not at this point,” Cleveland Police Union president Stephen Loomis told CNN.
The request may be related to the violence in Baton Rogue, where three police officers were killed today. (Loomis also blamed Obama for those shootings, saying he had “blood on his hands.”)
The request will put Governor Kasich in an awkward position. In general Republicans […]
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Stephan: I am not sure I totally buy this turtle tale, but it's interesting and time and further research will test this hypothesis and we will see.
Credit: The Atlantic
Travel back in time to 260 million years ago, just before the dawn of the dinosaur era. Journey to what is now South Africa, and make your way to a river bank. Then, wait. If you’re lucky, you might see a small, hand-sized creature poking its head out of the mud. It looks like a fat lizard, with bulging flanks and stocky legs. But if you managed to grab it and flip it over, you’d find that its flanks are bulging because its ribs are exceptionally wide, broad, and flat, reinforcing its undersides. It’s almost like the little creature has half a shell.
This is Eunotosaurus, and despite its lizard-like appearance, it’s actually one of the earliest known turtles.
It was discovered in 1892 and ignored for almost a century. But by studying the many fossils of this enigmatic reptile, Tyler Lyson from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science has devised a fascinating new idea about turtle origins. He thinks that their iconic shells evolved not for defense, but […]
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, - Portland Business Journal
Stephan: Here is some lovely news about Monsanto. Eight cities are now suing them over their pollution. I hope they win and they award runs to billions.
The city of Portland has joined a case that charges Monsanto favored “profits over ecological and human health.”
Portland becomes the eighth American city to file against Monsanto. The case relates to PCBs, of which Monsanto “was the sole U.S. manufacturer,” (emphasis added) according to a release touting the case.
The city began exploring whether to join the suit earlier this year. Two-thirds of those responding to a PBJ poll on the issue said Portland was justified in taking legal action.
“Portland’s elected officials are committed to holding Monsanto accountable for its apparent decision to favor profits over ecological and human health,” said Tracy Reeve, Portland’s city attorney, in a release. “Monsanto profited from selling PCBs for decades and needs to take responsibility for cleaning up after the mess it created.”
Portland joins the California cities of San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, San Diego and Long Beach, along with Seattle and Spokane, in filing the case. The city filed the matter in U.S. District Court.
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David Halperin, - Truthout
Stephan: You want to know why America is becoming such a cesspit of pollution? Look no further than Kansas Representative Mike Pompeo, a poster boy of corruption. And did I mention he is a Theocratic Rightist and a Republican? Do I have to?
Republican Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas
Republican congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas, who represents Wichita, seems to be doing the bidding of the Koch Brothers once again: He has introduced legislation to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing or enforcing a rule to improve the safety of America’s most dangerous chemical plants. Wichita is the home of Koch Industries, which has been the most aggressive opponent of efforts to make these plants safer.
The Obama EPA’s proposed rule, issued in March, is — in the opinion of former George W. Bush EPA head Christine Todd Whitman, experienced retired generals, the US Chemical Safety Board, community and labor leaders and many others — far too weak to adequately protect the public from the serious dangers represented by hazardous chemical facilities, which Senator Barack Obama once called “stationary weapons of mass destruction spread all across the country.” But at least the rule takes some steps toward requiring chemical plant operators to address the problem. And that’s apparently too much for […]
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