Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/g8-russia-idUSL5E8GHEQW20120517

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that military action against sovereign states could lead to a regional nuclear war, starkly voicing Moscow's opposition to Western intervention ahead of a G8 summit at which Syria and Iran will be discussed.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/rights/155487/tasing_a_pregnant_woman_in_front_of_her_kid_the_outrageous_--_and_dangerous_--_abuse_of_tasers_by_police/

In 2004, Malaika Brooks, seven months pregnant and accompanied by her 11-year-old son, was pulled over by two Seattle cops for driving 32 mph in a 20 mph zone. She was willing to accept a speeding ticket, but incorrectly thought signing it was an admission of guilt. She refused.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9273396/Queen-of-Disco-Donna-Summer-thought-she-became-ill-after-inhaling-911-particles.html

Donna Summer, the 1970s pop singer known as the Queen of Disco, has died of lung cancer, an illness she believes she contracted from inhaling toxic particles released after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. The 63-year-old singer, who had hits including Hot Stuff, Love to Love You, Baby and I Feel Love, died in Florida on Thursday morning. She had largely kept her battle with lung cancer out of the public eye. But the website TMZ reported that the singer had told friends she believed her illness was the result of inhaling toxic dust from the collapsed Twin Towers.

Link: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175543/tomgram%3A_barbara_ehrenreich%2C_looting_the_lives_of_the_poor/

Gordon Gekko, the infamously cutthroat capitalist and lead character in Oliver Stone's Wall Street, captured the heady years of the 1980s with a single, indelible line: Greed is good. Today, it is Edward Conard, a friend and former colleague of Mitt Romney's at the private equity firm Bain Capital, who has offered a new mantra for the 1%, a cri de coeur for the Gekkos of the twenty-first century: Inequality is good.

Link: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article21926

1). The Destruction of Democracy by the United States Supreme Court: In 2010, in a sickening display of their continuing disdain for human rights, justice, democracy and freedom, five of the most unethical and biased “justices” in the history of the Supreme Court—Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Roberts and Kennedy—ruled, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that corporations and labor unions are analogous to flesh-and-blood human beings when it comes to the right of “freedom of speech... It is clear that a legitimate democracy cannot exist in a milieu where candidates from the two major political parties must approach their corporate or billionaire masters on bended knee before they can run for public office, because the interests of their masters will always supersede the interests of the people.

Link: http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/israel-as-popular-as-north-korea-according-to-bbc-poll.html

BBC POLL: Israel is one of the countries with most negative global influence. Haaretz reported yesterday that, “Israel, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea were ranked most negatively by 24,000 people surveyed in an annual BBC poll.”

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/17

A federal judge in New York on Wednesday ruled in favor of a group of civilian activists and journalists and struck down highly controversial 'indefinite detention' and 'material support' provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act, enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last December. In their suit, the plaintiffs stated they could be detained 'indefinitely' for their constitutionally protected activities. Citing the 'vagueness' of certain language in the bill, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest -- who was appointed to the court by Obama -- agreed, and said the law could have "chilling impact on First Amendment rights" for journalists, activists, and potentially all US citizens.

Link: http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/op-ed-judges-plea-pot

Today, in a powerful and brave opinion piece in the New York Times, Judge Gustin L. Reichbach tells of how he relies on marijuana to tame the abysmal effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which in turn are meant to tame the cancer that ravages his body. Nausea and pain, he says, are constant companions of the treatment, and none of the drugs his doctors can prescribe him are any help. The only thing that helps is marijuana, which his doctors can’t prescribe – even when they, his doctors, know it is in his best interest – because lawmakers prohibit it.

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57436797/house-oks-continued-war-in-afghanistan/

The House endorsed the continued war in Afghanistan on Thursday despite acknowledgment from Republicans and Democrats that the American people are war-weary after more than a decade of conflict.

Link: http://www.paltelegraph.com/world/middle-east/77-middle-east/10571-bbc-israel-is-third-worst-country-in-the-world.html

Israel has been ranked in the top four countries that most negatively influence the word, according to a global public opinion poll conducted by the BBC. The poll, which surveyed citizens from 22 countries around the world, places Iran in first place, with 55 percent of those surveyed rating it as a negative country. Pakistan ranked second with 51 percent, and in joint third place were Israel and North Korea, with 50 percent of respondents negatively evaluating both countries.

Link: http://rt.com/news/al-qaeda-usa-sanctions-yemen-443/

The US is moving to place sanctions on anyone who opposes what Washington calls a democratic process in Yemen. Anti-war activist Susan Lindauer says this brings the US right into Al-Qaeda’s trap. Yemen is fighting an alleged Al-Qaeda insurgency with military support from the United States. On top of this, the Arab state continues to suffer from months of political unrest, with anti-government protesters demanding more reforms.