US Republican leaders are now actively campaigning against any climate safety agreement in Paris.

An appeals court overruled the EPA's approval of a new neonicotinoid pesticide, sulfoxaflor.

It is ironic that the chemical was given a name suggesting the flowers that would kill bees if this pesticide has been used on them.

There are ways to assess a school, other than giving the students standardized tests.

However, the focus on assessing schools, and assessing teachers, misses the point that many schools in the US don't get enough funds. Moreover, the children in them are growing up in poverty, which means they are also under daily stress. It is very hard for a school to overcome the mind-damaging effects of such upbringing.

In effect, arguing about assessing the school is a way to draw the conversation away from those issues.

President Allende warned against the power of multinational corporations, and fought against them in Chile. Now the Chilean state is planning to complete their victory over Chile, by signing the TPP.

Don't make the mistake of calling the TPP a "trade treaty"; its main purpose is to give those companies the ultimate power and rewrite laws to suit them.

Garment workers in Los Angeles may not get the benefit of the increased minimum wage, because those companies flout labor law frequently.

From a short-term perspective, a job where you are overworked, injured and then cheated might seem better than no job at all. It might seem like valid reasoning to say we should tolerate companies that cheat workers in the US, rather than have those companies move and cheat workers in some other country.

Taking a longer view, why are those the only choices? Because of acceptance of that short-term reasoning.

I see no reason to allow importation from countries where workers are treated so badly. We should tear up the plutocratic treaties that say we "have to" allow this.