Browsed by
Month: March 2018

Despite his ties to porn stars and Playboy models, Trump’s white Christian nationalist supporters remain loyal

Despite his ties to porn stars and Playboy models, Trump’s white Christian nationalist supporters remain loyal

Andrew L. Whitehead, Joseph O. Baker and Samuel L. Perry write: How much a U.S. voter feared Muslims was as significant in predicting who voted for Trump as Christian nationalism. Overall the strongest predictors of Trump voting were the usual suspects of political identity and race, followed closely by Islamophobia and Christian nationalism. Many voters believed, and presumably still believe, that regardless of his personal piety (or lack thereof), Trump would defend what they saw as the country’s Christian heritage…

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Conspicuous corruption has become a trademark of the Trump administration

Conspicuous corruption has become a trademark of the Trump administration

David A Graham writes: For spring cleaning this year, President Trump is looking at his Cabinet. The Associated Press reported Monday that Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is near to being removed. When Trump fired H.R. McMaster as national-security adviser, that torpedoed a plan to dismiss McMaster, Shulkin, and Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, at once, according to Politico’s Eliana Johnson. Shulkin and Carson face the same problem: dubious use of taxpayer dollars in their duties…

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Land degradation by human activities pushing Earth into sixth mass extinction and undermining well-being of 3.2 billion people

Land degradation by human activities pushing Earth into sixth mass extinction and undermining well-being of 3.2 billion people

  Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): Worsening land degradation caused by human activities is undermining the well-being of two fifths of humanity, driving species extinctions and intensifying climate change. It is also a major contributor to mass human migration and increased conflict, according to the world’s first comprehensive evidence-based assessment of land degradation and restoration. The dangers of land degradation, which cost the equivalent of about 10% of the world’s annual gross product in 2010 through…

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Brexit campaign was ‘totally illegal’, claims Vote Leave whistleblower

Brexit campaign was ‘totally illegal’, claims Vote Leave whistleblower

  The Guardian reports: A whistleblower who worked for the official Vote Leave campaign has broken cover to raise concerns that the masterminds behind the 2016 vote – including key figures now working for Theresa May in Downing Street – may have flouted referendum spending rules and then attempted to destroy evidence. The allegations, from former volunteer Shahmir Sanni, are detailed in an interview in the Observer and supported by a mass of documents and files that he has passed…

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69 percent of Americans support tougher gun laws

69 percent of Americans support tougher gun laws

The Associated Press reports: Support for tougher gun control laws is soaring in the United States, according to a new poll that found a majority of gun owners and half of Republicans favor new laws to address gun violence in the weeks after a Florida school shooting left 17 dead and sparked nationwide protests. The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that nearly 7 in 10 adults now favor stricter gun control measures. That’s…

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After the Parkland shootings, the NRA went on a Facebook advertising rampage

After the Parkland shootings, the NRA went on a Facebook advertising rampage

Chicago Tribune reports: Immediately after the horror of the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the National Rifle Association halted all of its digital advertising, including ads on YouTube, banner ads on websites, and Facebook ads. Within four days, though, the NRA had returned in force, increasing its advertising aggressively on Facebook, and spending so widely and indiscriminately that its ads on YouTube showed up on videos for school-age kids. According to a…

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The crisis in modern masculinity

The crisis in modern masculinity

Pankaj Mishra writes: Many straight white men feel besieged by “uppity” Chinese and Indian people, by Muslims and feminists, not to mention gay bodybuilders, butch women and trans people. Not surprisingly they are susceptible to [Jordan] Peterson’s notion that the ostensible destruction of “the traditional household division of labour” has led to “chaos”. This fear and insecurity of a male minority has spiralled into a politics of hysteria in the two dominant imperial powers of the modern era. In Britain,…

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‘Shocking’ decline in birds across Europe due to pesticide use, say scientists

‘Shocking’ decline in birds across Europe due to pesticide use, say scientists

The Independent reports: Bird numbers across France have declined by a third in the past 15 years, according to new figures released by researchers. Linked to changes in agricultural practices such as pesticide use, the dramatic collapse is comparable with trends observed in other parts of Europe, including the UK. Nevertheless, the latest figures have shocked scientists who previously thought France’s bird population was relatively stable. “We had some idea because when you are working in the countryside you find…

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John Bolton: The Mujahedeen Khalq’s man in the White House

John Bolton: The Mujahedeen Khalq’s man in the White House

Robert Mackey writes: Among the most alarmed by President Donald Trump’s selection of John Bolton as his new national security adviser on Thursday were supporters of the Iran nuclear deal, the 2015 international agreement that curbed Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for a partial lifting of economic sanctions. Rob Malley, who coordinated Middle East policy in the Obama administration, observed that Bolton’s appointment, along with the nomination of Iran deal critic Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, seemed to signal…

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Trump’s choice of a ‘beastly man bereft of reason’ as national security adviser 3.0

Trump’s choice of a ‘beastly man bereft of reason’ as national security adviser 3.0

The Washington Post reports: The appointment of Bolton, who has adopted a tough stance toward both Iran and the Palestinians, was widely welcomed by members of Israel’s right-wing government. Education Minister Naftali Bennett called Bolton an “extraordinary security expert, experienced diplomat and a stalwart friend of Israel.” But even in Israel, his return stirred concern. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied for the United States to “fix or nix” the Iran nuclear deal, some Israeli security officials have warned…

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How Cambridge Analytica reached the apex of American politics through a mix of bluff, luck, and psychological manipulation

How Cambridge Analytica reached the apex of American politics through a mix of bluff, luck, and psychological manipulation

Andy Kroll reports: One day in 2013, a knockabout Republican political consultant named Mark Block and his colleague boarded a flight from Los Angeles to New York. As the plane took off, they got to talking with the man seated next to them, an ex-military officer who mentioned he worked as a subcontractor for a company seeking US political clients. “They do cyberwarfare for elections,” the subcontractor said. Block dozed off as his colleague and her seatmate continued to chat….

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How Saudi Arabia and UAE bought influence inside the Trump White House

How Saudi Arabia and UAE bought influence inside the Trump White House

The New York Times reports: A cooperating witness in the special counsel investigation worked for more than a year to turn a top Trump fund-raiser into an instrument of influence at the White House for the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to interviews and previously undisclosed documents. Hundreds of pages of correspondence between the two men reveal an active effort to cultivate President Trump on behalf of the two oil-rich Arab monarchies, both close American…

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch now covers area three times the size of France

Great Pacific Garbage Patch now covers area three times the size of France

The Washington Post reports: Seventy-nine thousand tons of plastic debris, in the form of 1.8 trillion pieces, now occupy an area three times the size of France in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, a scientific team reported on Thursday. The amount of plastic found in this area, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is “increasing exponentially,” according to the surveyors, who used two planes and 18 boats to assess the ocean pollution. “We wanted to have a…

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Why Denmark dominates the World Happiness Report rankings year after year

Why Denmark dominates the World Happiness Report rankings year after year

Okay, we get it, you’re happy – no need to rub it in. Very_Very/Shutterstock.com By Marie Helweg-Larsen, Dickinson College The new World Happiness Report again ranks Denmark among the top three happiest of 155 countries surveyed – a distinction that the country has earned for seven consecutive years. The U.S., on the other hand, ranked 18th in this year’s World Happiness Report, a four-spot drop from last year’s report. Denmark’s place among the world’s happiest countries is consistent with many…

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‘Lone DNC hacker’ Guccifer 2.0 exposed as a Russian intelligence officer

‘Lone DNC hacker’ Guccifer 2.0 exposed as a Russian intelligence officer

The Daily Beast reports: Guccifer famously pretended to be a “lone hacker” who perpetrated the digital DNC break-in. From the outset, few believed it. Motherboard conducted a devastating interview with Guccifer that exploded the account’s claims of being a native Romanian speaker. Based on forensic clues in some of Guccifer’s leaks, and other evidence, a consensus quickly formed among security experts that Guccifer was completely notional. “Almost immediately various cyber security companies and individuals were skeptical of Guccifer 2.0 and…

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