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Trump’s politicization of climate science poses a threat to the future of agriculture

Trump’s politicization of climate science poses a threat to the future of agriculture

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Politico reports: One of the nation’s leading climate change scientists is quitting the Agriculture Department in protest over the Trump administration’s efforts to bury his groundbreaking study about how rice is losing nutrients because of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Lewis Ziska, a 62-year-old plant physiologist who’s worked at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service for more than two decades, told POLITICO he was alarmed when department officials not only questioned the findings of the study — which raised…

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White House rebuffed attempts by DHS to make combating domestic terrorism a higher priority

White House rebuffed attempts by DHS to make combating domestic terrorism a higher priority

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CNN reports: White House officials rebuffed efforts by their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security for more than a year to make combating domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, a greater priority as specifically spelled out in the National Counterterrorism Strategy, current and former senior administration officials as well as other sources close to the Trump administration tell CNN. “Homeland Security officials battled the White House for more than a year to get them to focus…

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Anti-feminist rhetoric is a powerful gateway to violent white nationalism

Anti-feminist rhetoric is a powerful gateway to violent white nationalism

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Helen Lewis writes: Most mass shooters are men. Sophie Walker, the former leader of Britain’s Women’s Equality Party, tweeted that fact soon after 51 people were killed by a gunman in Christchurch, New Zealand. (A Mother Jones database of all U.S. killing sprees since 1982 records four female killers and 111 male ones.) In response, she was deluged with angry emails and accused of “playing the gender card.” A BBC journalist told her, “Not sure now is the right time…

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Trump goes where he’s absolutely not wanted

Trump goes where he’s absolutely not wanted

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Splinter reports: President Donald Trump is visiting Dayton and El Paso today in the wake of two mass shootings that left 31 people dead and dozens more injured—despite calls from Texas officials to stay away while people mourn. In the days after the shooting, the city of El Paso resoundingly rejected President Donald Trump’s plans to visit them. On Tuesday, El Paso City Council members expressed disagreement with Trump’s planned visit Wednesday, emphasizing his campaign still owes the city more…

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Seeds of fascism: Growing number of Republicans favor expanding presidential power

Seeds of fascism: Growing number of Republicans favor expanding presidential power

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Pew Research Center reports: Most Americans continue to say that it would be “too risky” to give the nation’s presidents more power, but the share expressing this opinion has declined since last year, with most of the change coming among Republicans. Currently, 66% of the public says “it would be too risky to give U.S. presidents more power to deal directly with many of the country’s problems.” About three-in-ten adults (29%) offer the contrasting opinion that “problems could be dealt…

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The next big vote on gun control may be in the Supreme Court

The next big vote on gun control may be in the Supreme Court

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Renato Mariotti writes: After this weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, pressure to reform gun laws has focused on Congress—and, as usual, Congress seems stymied about what to do. But with far less attention, an important strand of the debate has now landed in the Supreme Court. Last week, the gun-maker Remington, which had annual sales of approximately $600 million in 2017, asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Connecticut decision that gave Sandy Hook families the ability to…

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The only way to stop the catastrophe of a no-deal Brexit? Revoke article 50

The only way to stop the catastrophe of a no-deal Brexit? Revoke article 50

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Jonathan Lis writes: A run on the pound was once the kind of event that troubled a prime minister. If it was shown to be the direct result of a policy the prime minister refused to change, it might even have unseated them. No longer. Now a Conservative government’s central policy will not just crash the pound, but also end Britain’s manufacturing and agriculture overnight and block half the country’s transportation of food and medicines – and it shows no…

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‘Republicans are headed for extinction in the suburbs if they don’t distance themselves from the NRA’

‘Republicans are headed for extinction in the suburbs if they don’t distance themselves from the NRA’

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Bloomberg reports: After two gruesome mass shootings in a 24-hour span, some Republicans are raising alarms that their opposition to new firearm limits is making the party toxic to the suburban women and college graduates who will shape the 2020 election. “Republicans are headed for extinction in the suburbs if they don’t distance themselves from the NRA. The GOP needs to put forth solutions to help eradicate the gun violence epidemic,” said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor and oil-and-gas executive…

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The ‘white replacement theory’ motivates alt-right killers the world over

The ‘white replacement theory’ motivates alt-right killers the world over

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Rosa Schwartzburg writes: “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Those were the words that appeared in a manifesto published shortly before the deadly shooting in El Paso on Saturday. More than half of so-called “alt-right killers” are motivated by the “white replacement” theory, which refers to the belief that white people will be systematically replaced by black and brown migrants. The killer in El Paso, who law enforcement believes authored the memo, is apparently no…

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How strong is the link between mental illness and mass shootings?

How strong is the link between mental illness and mass shootings?

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Benedict Carey reports: People who blame mass shootings on “the mentally ill” are usually reasoning backward from the act itself: the person just shot 20 unarmed strangers, so he must be “crazy.” In fact, scientists find that only a small fraction of people with persistent mental distress are more likely than average to commit violent acts: patients with paranoid schizophrenia, which is characterized by delusional thinking and often so-called command hallucinations — frightening voices identifying threats where none exist. People…

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Stop blaming video games for mass killings

Stop blaming video games for mass killings

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The research doesn’t say what some lawmakers suggest every time there’s a mass shooting. Fredrick Tendong/Unsplash, CC BY By Christopher J. Ferguson, Stetson University In the wake of the El Paso shooting on Aug. 3 that left 22 dead and dozens injured, a familiar trope has reemerged: Often, when a young man is the shooter, people try to blame the tragedy on violent video games and other forms of media. This time around, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick placed some…

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A quarter of humanity faces looming water crises

A quarter of humanity faces looming water crises

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The New York Times reports: Countries that are home to one-fourth of Earth’s population face an increasingly urgent risk: The prospect of running out of water. From India to Iran to Botswana, 17 countries around the world are currently under extremely high water stress, meaning they are using almost all the water they have, according to new World Resources Institute data published Tuesday. Many are arid countries to begin with; some are squandering what water they have. Several are relying…

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Taliban say differences resolved on U.S. troop withdrawal

Taliban say differences resolved on U.S. troop withdrawal

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The Associated Press reports: The United States and the Taliban have resolved differences in peace talks over the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and guarantees from the insurgents that they will cut ties with other extremist groups, a Taliban official said Tuesday. The U.S. side did not immediately provide details about the latest round of talks held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. But Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy who has been leading the talks since…

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In Hong Kong, it’s now a revolution

In Hong Kong, it’s now a revolution

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Gordon G. Chang writes: Defying stern warnings from both the local government and Beijing, people in seven districts in Hong Kong—most notably teachers, airport workers, and civil servants—participated in a general strike Monday, shutting down portions of the territory. For instance, more than a hundred flights were cancelled. The strike followed weeks of sometimes violent protests in the territory, a semi-autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. Youthful demonstrators over the weekend surrounded and attacked police stations, and enraged…

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