Obama May Bypass War Powers Resolution to Continue War in Libya
President Obama and his legal advisers may skirt the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to continue the war in Libya, The New York Times reported. Under the resolution, a president must cease any military operation that hasn't been authorized by Congress after 60 days. For the American participation in NATO's bombing campaign in Libya, the deadline is next week. The military could temporarily halt its efforts in Libya, while some lawyers are saying that if the mission is completely paused the US could rejoin the mission with a new 60-day limit.
Europe Moves to End Passport-Free Transport to Limit Migration
Fears of a flood of migrants from North Africa following unrest in the region have led European officials to reconsider the open-border policy of the Schengen system. If adopted, this decision will reverse decades of unfettered passport-free travel within the continent. Twenty-six governments will restore border controls, reported The Guardian UK, and moved to further combat immigration by pushing for “readmission accords” with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. This would allow refugees to be sent back to their home countries. The policy shift comes after arguments between France and Italy, and a small influx of refugees from Tunisia.
Laid-Off Worker Confronts Obama
A federal worker set to lose her job appealed to Obama during a CBS News town hall meeting, asking him, “What would you do, if you were me?” The pregnant woman, Karin Gallo, jokingly described her job at the National Zoo as “non-essential employee number seven,” reported CBS News. Gallo said she feared for her family's future. Without addressing the question directly, Obama said that slashing jobs couldn't be looked at as an “abstract” sacrifice. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in April was 9 percent.
Drug War in Mexico Escalates as More Headless Bodies Discovered
Eight more headless bodies were discovered in the northern Mexican state of Durango, showing an escalation of the deadly drug war between rival gangs. One was identified as the deputy director of a city prison, who had been kidnapped earlier in the week. This is the second time this week that bodies have been found in Durango – 11 bodies were found Monday, including six across the street from a school in the state's capital. Mexican authorities say that drug kingpins may be hiding in the state, which has become a battleground among the Zeta, Beltran Leyva and Sinaloa cartels, reported The Guardian UK. Durango is one of Mexico's most dangerous states, with a murder rate that has more than doubled over the past two years.
Europe Fights the Death Penalty – With Drugs
A Danish pharmaceutical company, which is the only manufacturer of the anesthetic used in executions by lethal injection in the US, is facing a dilemma. The company, Lundbeck, is opposed to the death penalty, but its drugs are also used to treat seizures and to euthanize animals in countries outside the US, reported The Global Post. The company has sent letters to prisons in 11 states demanding they cease using the drug in their lethal cocktail, because “this is just not what we stand for.”
Trump Sued by Hundreds
Hundreds of people who bought into buildings bearing the name of Donald Trump's company, or paid for classes bearing the Trump logo are now suing the real estate developer, “Apprentice” star and possible presidential candidate. Investors in several high rises in Ft. Lauderdale, partially supported by Trump International, say Trump pulled his support of the projects when the buildings ran into financial trouble and they were never completed, reported The New York Times. He is also being sued by former students of Trump University, a business school he opened in 2005. The university was awarded a D-minus by the Better Business Bureau.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy