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The Great Grovel: How Trump is forcing elite institutions to bend to his will

The Great Grovel: How Trump is forcing elite institutions to bend to his will

Politico reports: One after another, a parade of the wealthiest and most elite institutions in American life since last November have found themselves confronted by unprecedented demands from President Donald Trump and his team of retribution-seekers. One after another, these establishment pillars have met these demands with the same response: capitulation and compliance. The details are varied but two themes are consistent. The first is an effort — far more organized and disciplined than any precedent from Trump’s first term…

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As Trump allies see Hegseth’s growing pile of mistakes, U.S. military pilots say their lives are at risk

As Trump allies see Hegseth’s growing pile of mistakes, U.S. military pilots say their lives are at risk

Politico reports: The White House is publicly defending Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he texted sensitive military information in a Signal chat. But behind the scenes, administration insiders are starting to express doubts about the Pentagon chief’s judgment. Officials agree national security adviser Mike Waltz, who accidentally invited a journalist to a group chat with senior leaders, could more easily take the fall for a scandal that has embarrassed the administration — which may end up sparing Hegseth his job….

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Officials confirm Waltz led multiple sensitive national-security conversations on Signal

Officials confirm Waltz led multiple sensitive national-security conversations on Signal

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump has decided for now not to fire his national security adviser over the revelation that he included a journalist on a group text chat to discuss and execute a military strike, but the damage to Mike Waltz’s reputation has put him on shaky ground in the White House, senior U.S. officials said. Despite repeated messages of support by Trump, Waltz has lost sway with the president and the backing of senior aides within…

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Trump’s science policies pose long-term risk for the U.S., economists warn

Trump’s science policies pose long-term risk for the U.S., economists warn

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s tariffs could drive up prices. His efforts to reduce the federal work force could increase unemployment. But ask economists which of the administration’s policies they are most concerned about and many point to cuts to federal support for scientific research. The Trump administration in recent weeks has canceled or frozen billions of dollars in federal grants made to researchers through the National Institutes of Health, and has moved to sharply curtail funding for…

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Top officials placed on leave after denying DOGE access to federal payroll systems

Top officials placed on leave after denying DOGE access to federal payroll systems

Wired reports: Top career officials at the Department of the Interior (DOI) were placed on administrative leave late last week after declining to immediately give affiliates of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) levels of access to a payroll system that would in theory allow them to, among other things, stop individual Supreme Court justices’ paychecks. The New York Times has reported that these officials include DOI’s chief information and information security officers; sources tell WIRED they also include…

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The Proud Boys and militias come to Elon Musk’s defense

The Proud Boys and militias come to Elon Musk’s defense

Wired reports: Over the weekend, thousands of people joined the “Tesla Takedown” protest movement at the company’s showrooms across the country. At the same time, a much smaller number of Elon Musk supporters turned out at Tesla locations for a counterprotest movement that some participants dubbed “Tesla Shield.” While the protest movement comprises people angered at Elon Musk’s role in the dismantling of federal government agencies, the counterprotest movement that showed up this weekend was peopled mostly by MAGA supporters….

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New study challenges the story of humanity’s shift from prehistoric hunting to farming

New study challenges the story of humanity’s shift from prehistoric hunting to farming

Phys.org reports: A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has turned traditional thinking on its head by highlighting the role of human interactions during the shift from hunting and gathering to farming—one of the biggest changes in human history—rather than earlier ideas that focused on environmental factors. The transition from a hunter-gatherer foraging lifestyle, which humanity had followed for hundreds of thousands of years, to a settled farming one about 12,000 years ago has been…

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Trump ‘running out of patience’ with Putin over Ukraine ceasefire, says Finland’s president

Trump ‘running out of patience’ with Putin over Ukraine ceasefire, says Finland’s president

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump is losing patience with Vladimir Putin’s stalling tactics over the Ukraine ceasefire, the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, said after spending nine hours with the US president – including winning a golf competition with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday. Stubb, who also spent two days with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, last week in Helsinki suggested in a Guardian interview a plan for a deadline of 20 April, by which time Putin…

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Trump’s latest executive order on elections is a sham — and a warning

Trump’s latest executive order on elections is a sham — and a warning

Marc Elias writes: The greatest threat to Donald Trump’s authoritarian dream is not the courts — it is free and fair elections. While the courts can stand in the way of his twisted vision for America, they can never completely halt it. Trump knows this. Trump operates on the assumption that there will be no political check on his power. His plan to subvert democracy depends on the subservience of a Republican-controlled Congress. His worst nightmare is a scenario in…

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Smithsonian braces for Trump rewrite of American history: ‘It reminds you of a fascist state’

Smithsonian braces for Trump rewrite of American history: ‘It reminds you of a fascist state’

The Guardian reports: In a brightly lit gallery, they see the 66m-year-old skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. In a darkened room, they study the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem. In a vast aviation hanger, they behold a space shuttle. And in a discreet corner, they file solemnly past the casket of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black boy lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman in the US south. Visitors have come in their…

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American hypocrisy about Israel’s nuclear weapons must stop

American hypocrisy about Israel’s nuclear weapons must stop

Victor Gilinsky and Leonard Weiss write: An extraordinary three-part series on Israeli television, The Atom and Me, lays out how the country got its nuclear weapons. It takes for granted what anyone who pays attention has known for years. But the series goes well beyond a general discussion about Israel’s nuclear weapons. It shows the country’s single-minded determination to get the bomb no matter what it took, including stealing nuclear explosives and bomb components from the United States and violating…

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Venezuelans sent to El Salvador’s most infamous prison: ‘You’re here because of your tattoos’

Venezuelans sent to El Salvador’s most infamous prison: ‘You’re here because of your tattoos’

Mother Jones reports: On Friday, March 14, Arturo Suárez Trejo called his wife, Nathali Sánchez, from an immigration detention center in Texas. Suárez, a 33-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, explained that his deportation flight had been delayed. He told his wife he would be home soon. Suárez did not want to go back to Venezuela. Still, there was at least a silver lining: In December, Sánchez had given birth to their daughter, Nahiara. Suárez would finally have a chance to…

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Musk and Trump’s fascism inspires young boys in Sweden

Musk and Trump’s fascism inspires young boys in Sweden

The Observer reports: Driving through western Sweden, through pine forests dotted with elk warning signs, Lars Stiernelöf says he has noticed a worrying new trend among young boys. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump in January, after which the US president’s top adviser and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, gave two fascist-style salutes, there has been a rise in children using the Nazi salute in schools in Värmland. “They don’t do it as a type of homage to Hitler…

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After spending more than a quarter of his days in office playing golf, Trump considers a third term

After spending more than a quarter of his days in office playing golf, Trump considers a third term

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends in early 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News. He also said “it is far too early to think about it.” The 22nd Amendment, added to…

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