This is Water: David Foster Wallace’s Classic Commencement Speech

In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn't become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we've ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education.

Biotech Ambassadors: How the US State Department Promotes the Seed Industry’s Global Agenda

Food & Water Watch closely examined five years of State Department diplomatic cables from 2005 to 2009 to provide the first comprehensive analysis of the strategy, tactics and U.S. foreign policy objectives to foist pro-agricultural biotechnology policies worldwide.

Remarks by Senator Elizabeth Warren on Student Loan Interest Rates

Senator Warren Introduces the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act, her first piece of stand-alone legislation, on May 8, 2013. The bill would would students who are eligible for federally subsidized Stafford loans to borrow at the same rate the big banks get through the Federal Reserve discount window.

Syria’s Neighbors Have Rising Anxiety about Crisis (Three Aljazeera Videos)

Turkey is strategizing how to limit the impact of the Syria war on Turkey. Ankara is particularly concerned by the emergence of a relatively autonomous Kurdish area in northern Syria, fearing that PKK guerrillas might find refuge there. Turkey is also deeply worried about chemical weapons falling into hands of various sorts of guerrillas. Turkey [...]

Extra Medics in Guantanamo Bay for Hunger Strike

The US has reinforced medical staff at Guantanamo Bay to try to handle a spreading hunger strike by prisoners at the detention facility.

4-Year-Old Rape Victim Dies in India

A 4-year-old girl who was raped and dumped near a crematorium in central India died on Monday evening from cardiac arrest, hospital authorities said Tuesday.

Activists Pressure to Close Guantanamo as Hunger Strike Escalates and Senator Feinstein Calls for Restart of Transfers from the Prison

With the US military now acknowledging 94 hunger strikers at Guantanamo, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California; Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee) has called on President Obama to restart the transfers of prisoners “cleared for release” to their homelands or third countries and urged removing the blanket ban on the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners. Responding to this dramatic development and the escalating hunger strike, US activists are intensifying their pressure on the Obama administration to resolve the hunger strike in a humane fashion and take decisive action toward closing the prison.

13 Oil Spills in 30 Days

Via Heather Libby:

Moving oil is a dirty business, and never has that been more clear than this past month. Since March 11, the global oil industry has had 13 spills on three continents. In North and South America alone, they’ve spilled more than a million gallons of oil and toxic chemicals – enough to fill two olympic-sized swimming pools.

All spills in order of occurrence:

March 11 – 21: Gwagwalada Town, Nigera

A week-long leak of Kilometer 407.5 NNPC (Nigeria National Petroleum Corp) pipeline. No official # of barrels spilled released, however the spill saturated a hectare (10,000 sq metres) of marshy ground near a major water source.

Tuesday, March 19: Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories Canada

Enbridge Norman Wells Pipeline leaks 6,290 barrels of crude oil

Monday, March 25: Fort MacKay, Alberta Canada

Suncor Tar Sands tailings pond leaks 2,200 barrels of toxic waste fluid into the Athabasca River

Wednesday, March 27: Parker Prairie, Minnesota USA

CP Rail train derails and spills 952 barrels of Tar Sands crude oil

Friday, March 29: Mayflower, Arkansas

Exxon Mobil’s Pegasus Pipeline suffers a 22 foot-long rupture, spilling at least 12,000 barrels of diluted Tar Sands bitumen

Sunday, March 31: A power plant in Lansing, Michigan USA

16 barrels of an oil-based hydraulic fluid spills into the Grand River

Tuesday, April 2: Nembe, Nigeria

After suffering a reported theft of 60,000 barrels of oil per day from its Nembe Creek Trunkline pipeline, Shell Nigeria shuts off the pipe for 9 days to repair damage.

Wednesday, April 3: 350KM southeast of Newfoundland, Canada

A drilling platform leaks 0.25 barrels of crude oil

Wednesday, April 4: Chalmette, Louisiana USA

0.24 barrels (100 lbs) of hydrogen sulfide and 0.04 barrels (10lbs of benzene) leak at an Exxon Refinery

Monday, April 8: Esmeraldas, Ecuador

The OPEC-managed OCP pipeline leaks 5,500 barrels of heavy crude oil, contaminating the Winchele estuary

Tuesday, April 9: 29KM NE of Nuiqsut, Alaska USA

Human error during maintenance spills 157 barrels of crude oil at a Repsol E&P USA Inc pipeline pump station

President’s Weekly Address by Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother, Newtown

President Barack Obama has called on the mother of one of the children massacred inside a Connecticut school in December to deliver his Saturday radio and Internet address.  The White House is using an emotional appeal to seek public support for gun control legislation. With her husband David at her side, Francine Wheeler talked about her six-year-old son, Ben, as only a mother can. “Ben’s love of fun and his excitement at the wonders of life were unmatched.  His boundless energy ...

A Gun in Every Home? Nelson, Georgia Residents Debate New Law Mandating Forced Ownership of Firearms

City Council members in Nelson, Georgia, voted unanimously to require heads of households to own guns and ammunition on Monday. The so-called Family Protection Ordinance requires a gun in every home in order to "provide for the emergency management of the city" and "protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants." The ordinance has sparked national media attention -- and a local debate. We speak with Nelson residents on both sides of the issue: Jackie Jarrett, a member of the Nelson City Council who voted in favor of the gun requirement, and Lamar Kellett, former chair of the Nelson Planning Commission, who opposes it. "[Would you] rather rob somebody in New York, where they got strict gun laws or you can't own one -- if you do, just got to have three shells for it? Or do you want to come to Nelson and try to rob somebody, because, you know, they've got a weapon on the other side of that door?" Jarrett asks. But Kellett disagrees. "The Second Amendment gives you the right to bear arms. And I feel like an individual certainly has the right to not bear arms," he says. [includes rush transcript]