No one understands better than impacted people — residents and workers in shale country, from the Barnett Shale of Texas and the Haynesville Shale of Louisiana to the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and the Marcellus and Utica Shales in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and beyond — the wisdom of Governor Cuomo’s historic decision today to ban fracking in New York State:
ALBANY — The Cuomo administration announced Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State, ending years of uncertainty by concluding that the controversial method of extracting gas from deep underground could contaminate the state’s air and water and pose inestimable public-health risks.
Gov. Cuomo to Ban Fracking in New York State, Citing Health Risks
North Korea behind Sony cyber attack
U.S. authorities have determined that North Korea is behind the recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures, a federal law enforcement official said Wednesday.
The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a formal announcement of attribution by the U.S. government could come as soon as Thursday. U.S. investigators had been moving quickly toward a determination in recent days, indicating earlier this week that attribution was imminent.
Fracking is poisoning the air we breathe
Toxic air pollution from fracking causes a wide spectrum of health problems for Americans across the country, an environmental group charged in a report released Tuesday.
"The health risks from fracking are not limited to what's in our drinking water -— oil and gas operations are also poisoning the air we breathe," said senior scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman of the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which produced the report.
5+ Die in Pennsylvania Spree Killing
The suspected gunman remains on the loose after a killing spree in Montgomery County that left five people dead at three locations.
A woman was found dead in Lower Salford Township, two people were found dead in Lansdale and two people were found dead in Souderton.
Meanwhile, police remain on the scene of a fourth location in Pennsburg. The exact situation in Pennsburg is not yet known.
Washington undecided on U.N. resolution for Israel-Palestine
Israel said it hoped the United States would veto any moves at the United Nations to set a time frame for its withdrawal from territory Palestinians seek for state, but a senior U.S. official said it was too early to say.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome on Monday to discuss various proposals for a Palestinian state that are circulating at the United Nations.
Only CIA Agent Jailed for Torture Program Is Whistleblower Who Confirmed Its Existence
There is only one U.S. government employee who has gone to jail in connection with the widespread torture program by the CIA documented in the executive summary (pdf) of the Senate report that was partially released Tuesday: the man who helped expose it six years ago.
John Kiriakou, who worked for the CIA between 1990 and 2004, stepped forward in 2007 and confirmed to press outlets some of the first details about the agency's widespread use of torture.
The Rank, Reeking Horror of Torturing Some Folks
"Let me put it plainly: these people do not belong on my television. They belong in prison, for the crimes of theft, torture and murder. They shattered the lives of thousands of American soldiers and millions of Iraqi civilians. They savaged the American economy paying for it all, and several of them got very rich in the process.
They should be in orange jumpsuits and fetters, picking mealworms out of their gruel while shuttered in very small, very grim, very inescapable metal rooms."
I wrote that back in June of this year because I thought I knew the whole deal. I saw all the pictures from Abu Ghraib, knew about the so-called "Black Sites" where innocent prisoners were sent to be torn apart, read all the books, and listened to the words of those who endured these seven hells and lived. Quite a crowd of people, including several prisoners who cannot be accounted for to this day, did not survive to tell their tale.
U.S. Closes Afghanistan Prison, No Longer Has Custody Of Detainees
The United States on Wednesday released the final three detainees from the Parwan Detention Center in Afghanistan, ending the U.S. operation of any prisons in the country after more than a decade of war, the Pentagon said.
Two of the detainees, including Redha al-Najar, were transferred into Afghan custody for possible prosecution, while the third wasn't considered a threat and is seeking resettlement in another country.
CIA Made False Claims Torture Prevented Heathrow Attacks
The Central Intelligence Agency repeatedly and falsely claimed that its use of torture had enabled it to stop attacks on London’s Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The report into “enhanced interrogation techniques” published in Washington yesterday said that “thwarting of the Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf plotting is one of the eight most frequently cited examples” that the agency gave to justify torture. In reality, neither plot was advanced, and both had been effectively disrupted when the people the CIA tortured for the information were captured.
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