Trump Administration Agrees to Protect Humpback Whale Habitat

Late last week, President Trump and his administration agreed to protect a humpback whale habitat in the Pacific Ocean. The agreement was announced after American Indian and conservation groups sued the government for leaving the whales vulnerable to “ship strikes, oil spills and entanglements in fishing gear.” The groups that filed the suit in federal court included the “Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation, a nonprofit that represents American Indian tribes.”


Convicted Murderer Osbaldo Jose-Nicholas Awarded Quarter-Million in Brutality Suit

Illinois inmate and convicted murder Osbaldo Jose-Nicholas was awarded close to a quarter-million dollars in an excessive force lawsuit against prison guards. The St.-Louis Post Dispatch reports that last week’s verdict included $1,000 in compensatory damages for Nicholas and $251,000 in punitive damages against prison employees. Jose-Nicholas, writes the Dispatch, says he was brutalized partway


Student Loan Watchdog Steps Down, Blasts Trump Administration for Enabling Predatory Lenders

The federal official tasked with protecting student loan borrowers from predatory lenders left his post on Monday. According to National Public Radio, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau student loan ombudsmen Seth Frotman the Trump administration has “turned its back on young people and their financial futures.” Written as part of a ‘scathing’ resignation letter, the





Fifty Years Ago

Over fifty years ago, human influence on global systems began to expand rapidly. As population rose, we began using more resources than could be renewed.