Author: David M. Rock

EcoWatch – by Lorraine Chow

Pope Francis, who has a strong belief in the science of climate change, called upon world leaders on Wednesday to “listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer most because of the unbalanced ecology.”

Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I, the head of the Orthodox Christian Church, will issue a joint message to commemorate the annual “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” on Friday, the Associated Press reported.   Continue reading “Pope Francis to World Leaders: ‘Listen to the Cry of the Earth’”

My neighbor is from Orange county originally, he received photos by family confirming this, we were discussing it last night.

The Orange County Register – by Greg Mellen

FOUNTAIN VALLEY — Jonathan An, a homeowner in the New Chase condominiums off Harbor Boulevard, points to a jacuzzi in the gated community.

“They bathe here a lot,” he said, referring to his new neighbors who live in a large homeless encampment that has sprung up on the banks of the Santa Ana River bordering his complex.   Continue reading “Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore”

LA Times – by Benjamin Oreskes and Paige St. John

Violence over this weekend by left-wing “antifa” activists in Berkeley has opened another chapter in the debate at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement over UC Berkeley’s plan to host several conservative firebrands next month.

University officials have vowed to allow speakers, including conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, to come even under the threat of violence, which has occurred at Berkeley and other universities earlier this year.   Continue reading “After ‘antifa’ violence, Berkeley debates whether Milo Yiannopoulos and other conservatives are welcome”

USA Today, February 2017

Milo Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart News, the far-right website where he was a top editor, after video surfaced in which the controversial figure appeared to condone sex between men and underage boys as young as 13.

“My employer, Breitbart News, has stood by me when others caved,” Yiannopoulos said during a news conference Tuesday. “They have allowed me to carry conservative and libertarian ideas to communities that would otherwise never have had them. I would be wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues’ important job, which is why I am resigning from Breitbart, effective immediately.”   Continue reading “Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart over child sex comments”

McClatchy DC – by Alex Daugherty

WASHINGTON – Marco Rubio has spent months pushing the White House to expand a temporary program that would allow Venezuelans who have fled Nicolás Maduro’s regime to stay in the United States, according to a previously unpublished letter from Rubio to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

The letter, dated March 20, asks Tillerson and Kelly to “review the existing conditions in Venezuela and consider granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to eligible Venezuelan nationals residing in the United States.”

“In light of the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, it is not in the best interests of the United States to deport non-violent Venezuelan nationals back to the country at this time,” the letter reads.
Continue reading “Marco Rubio calls for temporary protected status for Venezuelans”

Bloomberg – by John Follain

From his perch at a waterfront bar in the Italian port of Livorno, Marco Di Tanto sees far more despair than charm. Although the center of town—an area called New Venice—has scenic streets and winding canals similar to its namesake, the Tuscan city is still reeling from the shutdown of the vast Orlando shipyard in 2002 and the shift of most freight traffic to bigger container ports in Genoa and Naples over the past two decades. “There’s no real work in Livorno anymore,” says Di Tanto, 58, who in 2009 lost his job as a forklift driver at the docks and now picks up informal construction work when he can. “I’ve seen my old colleagues queuing at the soup kitchen.”
Continue reading “As Poverty Surges in Italy, Populists Propose a ‘Citizens’ Income’”

LA Times – by Michael Hiltzik

State and local officials in Iowa have been working hard to rationalize their handout of more than $208 million in tax benefits to Apple, one of the world’s richest companies, for a data facility that will host 50 permanent jobs.

The deal will help make Iowa an “innovation and technology” hub, Gov. Kim Reynolds gushed. It will ensure development of a big parcel of open land that otherwise would have remained fallow, local development officials said. It was a bargain, according to civic leaders in Waukee, the Iowa community that will host the data center — after all, Apple will be contributing up to $100 million to a local infrastructure fund, starting with money to build a youth sports center.   Continue reading “Iowa’s handout to Apple illustrates the folly of corporate welfare deals”

NPR – by Laurel Wamsley

Uber says it has ended its tracking of users after they complete their rides — a practice that caused immediate concern when the company added it in November.

A spokeswoman for Uber tells NPR that users will now have the option to share their location with the company only while using the app. That setting had been available before November’s change.   Continue reading “Uber Ends Its Controversial Post-Ride Tracking Of Users’ Location”

KDVR 31 News

DENVER — The Denver City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday limiting how the city works with federal immigration officials.

The Denver Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Act passed, 10-0, and bans city officials from asking an arrested individual’s immigration status.

The city also will ignore U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests and ban ICE from conducting in-person jail interviews without a warrant.   Continue reading “Denver City Council passes controversial immigration protections”

ABC News

The founder of the internet’s oldest white supremacist site said he was trying to get back online Monday after a company revoked its domain name following complaints that it promotes hatred and is linked to dozens of murders.

Don Black, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who has operated stormfront.org since 1995, said he didn’t receive any warning before Network Solutions blocked the use of the stormfront.org name on Friday.   Continue reading “Oldest white supremacist site shut down after complaint”

ABC News

U.S. home prices climbed higher in June with gains that are eclipsing income growth — creating affordability pressures for would-be buyers.

The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.7 percent in June, according to a Tuesday report. The separate national average rose as well, putting it 4.3 points above its housing bubble-era peak in July 2006.   Continue reading “US home prices surge in June, led by Seattle”