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Trump is turning America into a banana republic

Trump is turning America into a banana republic

Tom Friedman writes: Of all the terrible things Donald Trump has said and done as president, the most dangerous one just happened on Friday. Trump, in effect, ordered our trusted and independent government office of economic statistics to become as big a liar as he is. He fired Erika McEntarfer, the Senate-confirmed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for bringing him economic news he did not like, and in the hours immediately following, the second most dangerous thing happened:…

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Judges no longer trust the government after DOJ lawyers have repeatedly misled courts

Judges no longer trust the government after DOJ lawyers have repeatedly misled courts

The New York Times reports: Justice Department lawyers have long enjoyed a professional benefit when they appear in court. As a general rule, judges tend to take them at their word and assume they are telling the truth. But in the past several months, as members of President Trump’s Justice Department have repeatedly misled the courts, violated their orders and demonized judges who have ruled against them, some jurists have started to show an angry loss of faith in the…

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Trump regime turns domestic disaster relief into a tool for shielding Israel from boycotts

Trump regime turns domestic disaster relief into a tool for shielding Israel from boycotts

Reuters reports: U.S. states and cities that boycott Israeli companies will be denied federal aid for natural disaster preparedness, the Trump administration has announced, tying routine federal funding to its political stance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency stated in grant notices posted on Friday that states must follow its “terms and conditions.” Those conditions require they certify they will not sever “commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies” to qualify for funding. The requirement applies to at least $1.9 billion that…

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Many Jewish voters support Mamdani and agree with him on Gaza

Many Jewish voters support Mamdani and agree with him on Gaza

The New York Times reports: Ben Sadoff knocked on roughly 1,000 doors as a canvasser for Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral primary campaign in New York City, and the voters he met brought up the same issues again and again: the cost of rent, the cost of child care and the sense that things in the city were going in the wrong direction. One thing they did not frequently mention was Israel, he said. And when voters — including Jewish ones…

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Hundreds of British Jews condemn ban on Palestine Action as ‘unethical’

Hundreds of British Jews condemn ban on Palestine Action as ‘unethical’

Middle East Eye reports: Hundreds of British Jews have written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper describing the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action as “illegitimate and unethical”. A delegation is expected to deliver the letter, which has been signed by over two hundred British Jews, to Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon. Lead signatories include authors Michael Rosen and Gillian Slovo, comedian Alexei Sayle and lawyer Geoffrey Bindman, who instructed Starmer when the prime minister…

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For America’s thirty-five million small businesses, tariff uncertainty hits especially hard

For America’s thirty-five million small businesses, tariff uncertainty hits especially hard

By Peter Boumgarden, Washington University in St. Louis and Dilawar Syed, The University of Texas at Austin Imagine it’s April 2025 and you’re the owner of a small but fast-growing e-commerce business. Historically, you’ve sourced products from China, but the president just announced tariffs of 145% on these goods. Do you set up operations in Thailand – requiring new investment and a lot of work – or wait until there’s more clarity on trade? What if waiting too long means…

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Epstein exposes Trump’s relationship with elites

Epstein exposes Trump’s relationship with elites

Peter Rothpletz writes: Democrats must not let Jeffrey Epstein die. They must highlight how this saga exposes the president for who he has always been. In the decade Teflon Don has spent on the national stage, no scandal has stuck to and haunted him quite so viscerally as the Epstein affair. He’s never before appeared so flustered, forced to answer question after question about the women and girls whose lives were destroyed by his former “best friend”. The world may…

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Israeli authorities are trying to silence humanitarian aid workers in Gaza

Israeli authorities are trying to silence humanitarian aid workers in Gaza

Jonathan Whittall writes: Gaza has been held under water for 22 months, allowed to gasp for air only when Israeli authorities have succumbed to political pressure from those with more leverage than international law itself. After months of relentless bombardment, forced displacement and deprivation, the impact of Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza’s people has never been more devastating. I have been part of coordinating humanitarian efforts in Gaza since October 2023. Whatever lifesaving aid has entered since then has been…

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Why Trump’s meddling in the Bureau of Labor Statistics matters

Why Trump’s meddling in the Bureau of Labor Statistics matters

George A. Akerlof writes: Imagine a group of 5-year-olds playing a board game. The rules are clear, the goal is fair, and one child edges ahead — until, suddenly, another child starts losing. That’s when the trouble begins. “He cheated!” the losing child yells. “I’m the winner anyway!” he declares. And then, like clockwork, he flips the board. In the world of kindergarten conflict resolution, we expect this kind of behavior. We chalk it up to development. We teach better…

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DOJ contradicts White House’s goal to arrest 3,000 immigrants per day

DOJ contradicts White House’s goal to arrest 3,000 immigrants per day

Politico reports: Stephen Miller was unequivocal: Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would seek to arrest 3,000 or more immigrants per day, a staggering target that he said was necessary to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day and President Trump is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every day,” the senior White…

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Trump and Miller are compelling colleges not to enroll international students

Trump and Miller are compelling colleges not to enroll international students

Stuart Anderson writes: The Trump administration is using rules, policies and formal agreements to compel and discourage U.S. universities from enrolling international students. A controversial immigration clause in the administration’s agreement with Columbia University represents the latest move to decrease international student enrollment. Settlements with other schools could soon follow. Despite what economists and educators view as the benefits of international students, Trump officials, led by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, appear determined to reduce the number…

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Laura Loomer attack results in another ‘casualty of casually manufactured outrage’

Laura Loomer attack results in another ‘casualty of casually manufactured outrage’

The New York Times reports: Hours after West Point pulled its offer to have her teach cadets, Jen Easterly posted a short essay in which she laid out what happened to her and what it meant for the country. “This isn’t about me,” she wrote last week. “This is about something larger.” Over three decades, Ms. Easterly, 57, had compiled an impeccable résumé as a West Point graduate, a Rhodes Scholar and an Afghanistan war veteran. She had served as…

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Expect coffee prices to soar as Trump’s tariffs backfire

Expect coffee prices to soar as Trump’s tariffs backfire

Reuters reports: China has approved 183 new Brazilian coffee companies to export products to the Chinese market, according to a social media post of the Chinese embassy in Brazil on Saturday. The measure, a boon to local exporters after the United States government’s announcement of steep tariffs on Brazilian coffee and other products, took effect on July 30. The new Chinese export permits are valid for five years, according to the post. The U.S.’s 50% tariff on some Brazilian products…

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The United States is complicit in genocide. Let’s stop pretending otherwise

The United States is complicit in genocide. Let’s stop pretending otherwise

Mehdi Hasan writes: Can we finally stop pretending that what we have been witnessing in Gaza over the past 22 months is a “war,” a “conflict,” or even a “humanitarian crisis”? Many of the world’s leading human rights and humanitarian groups – including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders – agreed months ago that what is being livestreamed to our phones on a daily basis is indeed a genocide. This week, Israel’s own leading human rights group…

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