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U.S. identifies Giuliani ally and Biden dirt-peddler as an ‘active Russian agent’

U.S. identifies Giuliani ally and Biden dirt-peddler as an ‘active Russian agent’

The Daily Beast reports: The president’s personal lawyer has been working closely with “an active Russian agent” trying to smear the president’s chief political rival. That’s the conclusion of the U.S. Treasury Department, which sanctioned on Thursday one of Rudy Giuliani’s Ukrainian allies for interference in the upcoming U.S. elections. Andriy Derkach worked closely with Giuliani—and with the Trump-friendly cable network, OANN—to push accusations of political misconduct against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Derkach, a member…

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Trump boasted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince MBS after Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Woodward’s new book says

Trump boasted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince MBS after Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Woodward’s new book says

Business Insider reports: President Donald Trump bragged that he protected Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from congressional scrutiny after the brutal assassination of the American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That’s according to the veteran reporter Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, “Rage,” set to be released next Tuesday. Insider obtained a copy of the book. Woodward conducted 18 wide-ranging interviews with the president for the book, as well as interviews with multiple senior White House officials and former administration officials. Still,…

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Russian state hackers suspected in targeting Biden campaign firm

Russian state hackers suspected in targeting Biden campaign firm

Reuters reports: Microsoft Corp recently alerted one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s main election campaign advisory firms that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, according to three people briefed on the matter. The hacking attempts targeted staff at Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with Biden and other prominent Democrats, over the past two months, the sources said. A person familiar with SKDK’s response to the attempts said the hackers failed to gain…

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Would you feel more urgency about climate change if all you could see was smoke?

Would you feel more urgency about climate change if all you could see was smoke?

Charlie Warzel writes: The American West does not have a monopoly on climate-related disasters. Hurricane seasons grow worse each year and devastating earthquakes loom. The flooding in the Midwest and storms like the recent derecho in Iowa are calamities that deserve equal attention. They’re also urgent alarm bells. Everyone on earth right now is experiencing unpredictable and dire weather. No region is alone in experiencing the tragedy of our dying planet. I’m not so naïve as to think that all…

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As quality of life has risen across most of the world over the last decade, it has fallen in the U.S.

As quality of life has risen across most of the world over the last decade, it has fallen in the U.S.

Nicholas Kristof writes: This should be a wake-up call: New data suggest that the United States is one of just a few countries worldwide that is slipping backward. The newest Social Progress Index, shared with me before its official release Thursday morning, finds that out of 163 countries assessed worldwide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off than when the index began in 2011. And the declines in Brazil and Hungary…

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Huge cavities threaten Antarctica glacier larger than Great Britain

Huge cavities threaten Antarctica glacier larger than Great Britain

The Guardian reports: British scientists have mapped cavities half the size of the Grand Canyon that are allowing warm ocean water to erode the vast Thwaites glacier in the Antarctic, accelerating the rise of sea levels across the world. Like decay in a tooth, the channels of warm water are melting the ice from below, threatening the stability of a glacier that is larger than Great Britain. Using an aircraft, ship and robot submarine, the British Antarctic Survey and a…

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Police shot Portland slaying suspect without warning or trying to arrest him first, says ordained minister

Police shot Portland slaying suspect without warning or trying to arrest him first, says ordained minister

The Washington Post reports: When police last week surrounded Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described anti-fascist suspected of fatally shooting a member of a far-right group in Portland, Ore., the wanted man wasn’t obviously armed, a witness to the scene said Wednesday. In fact, according to Nate Dinguss, Reinoehl was clutching a cellphone and eating a gummy worm as he walked to his car outside an apartment complex in Lacey, Wash. That’s when officers opened fire without first announcing themselves or…

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America’s complexity deficit has trapped us in a pandemic spiral

America’s complexity deficit has trapped us in a pandemic spiral

Ed Yong writes: Army ants will sometimes walk in circles until they die. The workers navigate by smelling the pheromone trails of workers in front of them, while laying down pheromones for others to follow. If these trails accidentally loop back on themselves, the ants are trapped. They become a thick, swirling vortex of bodies that resembles a hurricane as viewed from space. They march endlessly until they’re felled by exhaustion or dehydration. The ants can sense no picture bigger…

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Bob Woodward: Trump intentionally misled Americans about the danger of the coronavirus

Bob Woodward: Trump intentionally misled Americans about the danger of the coronavirus

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s head popped up during his top-secret intelligence briefing in the Oval Office on Jan. 28 when the discussion turned to the coronavirus outbreak in China. “This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency,” national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien told Trump, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. “This is going to be the roughest thing you face.” Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security…

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Are we on the cusp of an era of radical reform that repairs America’s broken democracy?

Are we on the cusp of an era of radical reform that repairs America’s broken democracy?

George Packer writes: “There are in history what you could call ‘plastic hours,’” the philosopher Gershom Scholem once said. “Namely, crucial moments when it is possible to act. If you move then, something happens.” In such moments, an ossified social order suddenly turns pliable, prolonged stasis gives way to motion, and people dare to hope. Plastic hours are rare. They require the right alignment of public opinion, political power, and events—usually a crisis. They depend on social mobilization and leadership….

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The Electoral College will destroy America

The Electoral College will destroy America

Jesse Wegman writes: Last week, Nate Silver, the polling analyst, tweeted a chart illustrating the chances that Joe Biden would become president if he wins the most votes in November. The “if” is probably unnecessary. It’s hard to find anyone who disputes that Mr. Biden will win the most votes. This isn’t a liberal’s fantasy. In a recent panel discussion among four veteran Republican campaign managers, one acknowledged, “We’re going to lose the popular vote.” Another responded, “Oh, that’s a…

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Whistleblower accuses Trump appointees of downplaying Russian interference and White supremacist threat

Whistleblower accuses Trump appointees of downplaying Russian interference and White supremacist threat

CNN reports: A whistleblower is alleging that top political appointees in the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly instructed career officials to modify intelligence assessments to suit President Donald Trump’s agenda by downplaying Russia’s efforts to interfere in the US and the threat posed by White supremacists, according to documents reviewed by CNN and a source familiar with the situation. The whistleblower claims that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf instructed DHS officials earlier this year to “cease providing intelligence assessments on…

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Emails show HHS official trying to muzzle Fauci

Emails show HHS official trying to muzzle Fauci

Politico reports: A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children. Emails obtained by POLITICO show Paul Alexander — a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs — instructing press officers and others at the National Institutes of Health about what Fauci should say during media interviews. The Trump adviser weighed…

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One cure for an ailing American economy: Legalize cannabis

One cure for an ailing American economy: Legalize cannabis

Tom Daschle writes: America’s next president will face an unprecedented array of challenges, chief among them an economy in ruins and an ugly social divide. Having served in government for nearly three decades, including as Senate majority leader, I know that there’s no silver bullet that can magically solve all of these problems. However, I’ve also learned that progress comes from unexpected places and that states often see the future before the federal government. Legalizing cannabis — as 40 states…

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