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Donald Trump: A charismatic leader for white nationalists

Donald Trump: A charismatic leader for white nationalists

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Barbara McQuade writes: From my work as a former national-security prosecutor, I know that many individuals who engage in terrorism are alienated from society and are looking for something larger than themselves to find meaning in their lives. They have endured loss or unfulfilled expectations, and are looking for scapegoats. A powerful leader who speaks to their grievances can inspire them to act. For many radical Islamist terrorists, that leader was Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric who was born and lived…

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‘Blood on their hands’: The intelligence officer whose 2009 warning over white supremacy was ignored

‘Blood on their hands’: The intelligence officer whose 2009 warning over white supremacy was ignored

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The Guardian reports: Ten years ago, the Department of Homeland Security sent American law enforcement agencies an intelligence briefing warning of a rising threat of domestic rightwing extremism, including white supremacist terrorism. The economic recession and the election of America’s first black president would create fertile ground for rightwing radicalization, the 2009 report concluded. Military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, in particular, would be attractive targets for recruitment. Republican politicians and conservative pundits reacted with outrage and demanded a…

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White nationalists have become the face of terrorism in America

White nationalists have become the face of terrorism in America

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Time reports: When you think of a terrorist, what do you see? For more than a generation, the image lurking in Americans’ nightmares has resembled the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks: an Islamic jihadist. Not a 21-year-old white supremacist from a prosperous Dallas suburb. But long before that young man drove to El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3 and allegedly murdered at least 22 people at a Walmart crammed with back-to-school shoppers, it was clear that white nationalists have become…

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India just put democracy at risk across South Asia

India just put democracy at risk across South Asia

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Jonah Blank writes: If you didn’t notice that Prime Minister Narendra Modi just changed the status of the restive Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, I understand. On August 5, his government introduced legislation to abrogate Article 370, and even Article 35A, and—see, I’ve lost you already. But don’t let jargon and legalese distract you: This may be the most important event in an enormously volatile part of the world since the end of the last century, with repercussions that…

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The ‘warspeak’ permeating everyday language puts us all in the trenches

The ‘warspeak’ permeating everyday language puts us all in the trenches

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It’s a linguistic battlefield out there. Complot/Shutterstock.com By Robert Myers, Alfred University In a manifesto posted online shortly before he went on to massacre 22 people at an El Paso Walmart, Patrick Crusius cited the “invasion” of Texas by Hispanics. In doing so, he echoed President Trump’s rhetoric of an illegal immigrant “invasion.” Think about what this word choice communicates: It signals an enemy that must be beaten back, repelled and vanquished. Yet this sort of language – what I…

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Giant, active galaxies from the early universe may have finally been found

Giant, active galaxies from the early universe may have finally been found

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Science News reports: Astronomers may finally have laid eyes on a population of enormous but elusive galaxies in the early universe. These hefty, star-forming galaxies are shrouded in dust, which hid them from previous searches that used starlight. Now observations of radiation emitted by that interstellar dust have revealed dozens of massive, active galaxies from when the universe was younger than 2 billion years, researchers report online August 7 in Nature. These galaxies may be the long-sought precursors to heavyweight…

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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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