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Fugitive Ex-Georgian President Given Control of Odessa in Ukraine

Bryan MacDonald Russia Today
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has tapped yet another foreigner to help rule his people. But this one may be the most bizarre yet. On May 31, Poroshenko awarded Ukrainian citizenship to fugitive ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and appointed him governor of Odessa, the complex, primarily Russian-speaking region that is also geographically close to the western Ukraine. Saakashvili is wanted in his homeland for embezzlement and human rights abuses.

Wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan: 150,00 Dead and Getting Worse

Marisa Quinn Watson Institute/ Brown University
The wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan have left nearly 150,000 soldiers and civilians dead since 2001, a new US study estimates. Another 162,000 have been wounded since the US-led offensive that toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, says the study by the Costs of War Project, at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. And, according to the study, “the war in Afghanistan is not ending. It is getting worse."

Highlighting Government Failure, News Agencies Tally Killings by Police

Lauren McCauley Common Dreams
Highlighting the failure of the U.S. government to keep adequate records on the number of civilians killed by police, news outlets are now tallying the lives lost to police violence. According to a new database launched by the Guardian on Monday, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are killing people at twice the rate calculated by the U.S. government. The data further illustrates “how disproportionately” black Americans are killed by police.

US Underwrites Corruption and Violence in Honduras

Dana Frank Al Jazeera
The Obama Administration continues to champion Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández as a key regional partner and wants to send even more money to his corrupt regime. Hernández’s government, on a six-year-long march against human rights, the rule of law and civilian policing, is now embroiled in an exploding corruption scandal. Just how heinous does the Honduran regime have to be before the U.S. stops supporting it?

The Cheapest Way to End Homelessness ... Build Homes, Says New Study

Drake Baer Business Insider
"Close to half of all county expenditures were spent on just five percent of the homeless population, who came into frequent contact with police, hospitals, and other service agencies, racking up an average of $100,000 in costs per person annually." That's a ton of money. And it's why the simplest solution to ending homelessness — giving them homes — makes so much sense.

I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here's How.

John Bohannon io9
If a study doesn’t even list how many people took part in it, or makes a bold diet claim that’s “statistically significant” but doesn’t say how big the effect size is, you should wonder why. But for the most part, we don’t. Which is a pity, because journalists are becoming the de facto peer review system. And when we fail, the world is awash in junk science.

Bernie's Burlington: What Kind of Mayor Was Bernie Sanders?

Peter Dreier, Pierre Clavel The Nation
A growing number of cities -- including Seattle, New York, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Newark and others -- are now led by progressive mayors. What they can learn from Sanders is that good ideas are not sufficient. Creating more livable cities requires nurturing a core of activist organizations that can build long-term support for progressive municipal policies.

New Snowden Documents Reveal Secret Memos Expanding Spying

Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Charlie Savage, Henrik Moltke ProPublica
Without public notice or debate, the Obama administration has expanded the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international Internet traffic. The NSA’s activities run “smack into law enforcement land,” said Jonathan Mayer, a cybersecurity scholar. “That’s a major policy decision about how to structure cybersecurity in the U.S. and not a conversation that has been had in public.”

Friday Nite Videos -- June 5, 2015

Portside
Flashmob Nuremburg - Beethoven's Ode to Joy. Clinton Slams GOP for War on Voting, Calls for Universal Registration. Key & Peele - Basketball Commentary. Jefferson Davis Day in Alabama. Gay High School Student Delivers Valedictorian Speech He Was Barred from Giving.

Tidbits - June 4, 2015 - Korean War End?; Spanish elections; Puerto Rico; Oscar López Rivera; Emmy Noether; Gaza Peace Concert; Tiananmen Square; Angela Acquitted; more...

Portside
Reader Comments: Can Women End Korean War?; Countess vs. Communist-Battle to Become Madrid's Mayor; How the United States Strangled Puerto Rico; Obama's Human and Moral Challenge: Oscar López Rivera; The Press and Bernie Sanders; The Female Mathematician Who Changed the Course of Physics; Appeal by Dr. Kristin Neuhaus, successor to Dr. George Tiller; Cross Borders Concert at the Gaza Strip border; Today in History - Tiananmen Square Massacre; Angela Davis Acquitted