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Nancy Pelosi is demoralizing people the Democratic Party needs

Nancy Pelosi is demoralizing people the Democratic Party needs

Michelle Goldberg writes: On Saturday morning, Pressley, Tlaib, Omar and their fellow freshman congresswoman Deb Haaland spoke on a panel at Netroots Nation, an annual conference for progressives, which this year was held in Philadelphia and drew around 4,000 people. Aimee Allison, the founder of She the People, an organization devoted to mobilizing women of color, moderated. “For millions of us, these women of color in Congress represent generations of blood, sweat and tears, of struggle for us to have…

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Security reports reveal how Assange turned an embassy into a command post for election meddling

Security reports reveal how Assange turned an embassy into a command post for election meddling

CNN reports: New documents obtained exclusively by CNN reveal that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received in-person deliveries, potentially of hacked materials related to the 2016 US election, during a series of suspicious meetings at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The documents build on the possibility, raised by special counsel Robert Mueller in his report on Russian meddling, that couriers brought hacked files to Assange at the embassy. The surveillance reports also describe how Assange turned the embassy into a command…

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Gregory Bateson changed the way we think about changing ourselves

Gregory Bateson changed the way we think about changing ourselves

Tim Parks writes: [F]or Bateson the only worthy object of study appeared to be human behaviour, the kind of complex circumstances – the war, British academia, his family background – that had created the drama he was living through. What he would eventually do was to use the tools of observation and analysis that his father taught him, the zoologist’s attention to patterning and morphology, to bring a fresh approach to the study of behaviour in groups, and above all…

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Why Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson fear Ilhan Omar

Why Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson fear Ilhan Omar

Dina Nayeri writes: On Wednesday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson attacked Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for her ingratitude. “After everything America has done for Omar and for her family,” Carlson told his viewers, “she hates this country more than ever.” He called it “ominous” that Omar should have such disdain for his country’s values. “Our country rescued Ilhan Omar from the single worst place on earth,” said Carlson. “We didn’t do it to get rich—in fact it cost us money….

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In attack on freshman congresswomen, Trump’s untethered racism on full display

In attack on freshman congresswomen, Trump’s untethered racism on full display

The New York Times reports: President Trump on Sunday weighed in on the friction between a group of four freshman Democratic congresswomen and Speaker Nancy Pelosi: He suggested that the congresswomen — none of whom are white — should “go back and help fix” the countries they came from. His message was immediately seized upon by Democrats, who called it a racist trope. “So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete…

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Trump is a racist. If you still support him, so are you

Trump is a racist. If you still support him, so are you

Goldie Taylor writes: The president is a racist, in his words and his actions. Before you go clutching your pearls and extolling the virtues of “civility,” let me say this: Put a sock in it. This is not a new revelation, nor is it something that we can continue to ignore as though it were coming from a drunk uncle at the family barbecue. Bigotry is dangerous and, in the hands of our nation’s commander in chief, it can mean…

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The activist left already knows who they want to replace Trump

The activist left already knows who they want to replace Trump

Elaine Godfrey writes: It’s still early. There will be 16 more months of speech making and glad-handing and glitzy ballroom fundraisers before Election Day. Not committing to a presidential candidate just yet would make sense. But here at Netroots Nation, the premier annual convention for progressive activists, many attendees already seem fairly certain about their choice: They want Elizabeth Warren, the progressive senator from Massachusetts, to be their next president. And if they have to pick a second choice? It’s…

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Epstein scandal explodes in Israel as ties to former prime minister Ehud Barak comes under scrutiny

Epstein scandal explodes in Israel as ties to former prime minister Ehud Barak comes under scrutiny

The Miami Herald reports: Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest is reverberating in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud party are calling for a criminal probe into former prime minister Ehud Barak’s personal and business ties with the accused sex trafficker, Israeli media is reporting. Barak, 77, served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001. This month he formed a new party to run for prime minister against Netanyahu, who called for new elections in September. Once political allies,…

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Neanderthals were nearly as right-handed as modern humans

Neanderthals were nearly as right-handed as modern humans

By Anna Goldfield The human body is often visualized as a symmetrical form: Picture the geometric precision of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic drawing of a man’s proportions encased by a circle and square. In reality, we are actually quite lopsided. Most people have a dominant ear; the same is true for eyes, feet, and hands. Handedness is perhaps the most obvious of these asymmetries. From the time most children first start picking up and using objects, they tend to favor…

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Trump is poised to send future asylum seekers to Guatemala

Trump is poised to send future asylum seekers to Guatemala

The New Yorker reports: Early next week, according to a D.H.S. official, the Trump Administration is expected to announce a major immigration deal, known as a safe-third-country agreement, with Guatemala. For weeks, there have been reports that negotiations were under way between the two countries, but, until now, none of the details were official. According to a draft of the agreement obtained by The New Yorker, asylum seekers from any country who either show up at U.S. ports of entry…

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White evangelicals, ignoring the Bible, are least likely to say U.S. should accept refugees

White evangelicals, ignoring the Bible, are least likely to say U.S. should accept refugees

Stephen Johnson writes: It might seem like non-religious people would be most likely to say the U.S. doesn’t have a responsibility to accept refugees. After all, nonbelievers don’t follow a unified doctrine that explicitly tells followers to offer love, shelter and compassion to foreigners — you know, like Christians do. For example, the Bible states: Leviticus 19:34 — “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself,…

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White Christians are no longer the majority in America, but they’re still driving election results

White Christians are no longer the majority in America, but they’re still driving election results

Robert P. Jones writes: While white Christians composed only 43 percent of the population in 2016, they constituted an estimated 55 percent of voters. And although white evangelical Protestants composed only 17 percent of the public in 2016, they were 26 percent of voters. In other words, in the electorate, white Christians overall were 12 percentage points overrepresented, and white evangelical Protestants were nine percentage points overrepresented. When white Christians stepped into the voting booth in 2016, their electoral power…

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Glenn Greenwald becomes target of effort to criminalize journalism in Brazil

Glenn Greenwald becomes target of effort to criminalize journalism in Brazil

The Associated Press reports: Several weeks after publishing explosive reports about a key member of Brazil’s far-right government, U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald was called before a congressional committee to face hostile questions. “Who should be judged, convicted and in prison is the journalist!” shouted congresswoman Katia Sastre, an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro. And by some accounts that wasn’t an empty threat: A conservative website reported that federal police had requested that financial regulators investigate Greenwald’s finances. The Pulitzer Prize-winning…

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In China ruled by Xi, no one is allowed to speak truth to power

In China ruled by Xi, no one is allowed to speak truth to power

The New York Times reports: She was once one of China’s most feared journalists, roaming the country uncovering stories about police brutality, wrongful convictions and environmental disasters. But these days, Zhang Wenmin struggles to be heard. The police intimidate Ms. Zhang’s sources. The authorities shut down her social media accounts. Unable to find news outlets that will publish her work, she lives largely off her savings. “The space for free speech has become so limited,” Ms. Zhang, 45, said. “It’s…

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