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How a network of nonprofits enriches fundraisers while spending almost nothing on its stated causes

How a network of nonprofits enriches fundraisers while spending almost nothing on its stated causes

By Ellis Simani This story was originally published by ProPublica. In September 2020, the Federal Trade Commission joined regulators in four states to sue four men behind a notorious telemarketing company called Outreach Calling. The FTC alleged that the company, which it described as a “sprawling fundraising operation,” had raised millions on the promise of helping the needy — cancer patients, veterans, firefighters — but instead used the money to line its pockets. The case was meant to put fundraisers…

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Water is a cosmic gift. Climate change is turning it into a weapon

Water is a cosmic gift. Climate change is turning it into a weapon

Marina Koren writes: Water gave every living thing on Earth the gift of existence. And yet, of late, it seems determined to wipe us out. The Atlantic hurricane season, widely predicted to be a fierce one, is here, and early this morning the first named storm, Alberto, made landfall in northeastern Mexico and drenched everything in its path. And in Florida last week, it was as if the heavens had turned on the tap and simply left it running. The…

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Israel’s arms suppliers risk responsibility for human rights and war crimes violations, say UN experts

Israel’s arms suppliers risk responsibility for human rights and war crimes violations, say UN experts

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: The transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel may constitute serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian laws and risk State complicity in international crimes, possibly including genocide, UN experts said today, reiterating their demand to stop transfers immediately. In line with recent calls from the Human Rights Council and the independent UN experts to States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military…

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Israeli military official says Hamas cannot be destroyed, as rift with Netanyahu widens

Israeli military official says Hamas cannot be destroyed, as rift with Netanyahu widens

CNN reports: Israel’s top military spokesman has said Hamas cannot be made to “disappear,” casting doubt about whether the government’s war aim of defeating the militant group can be achieved and drawing a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas vanish — that is throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said Wednesday in an interview with Israel’s…

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Risk of nuclear war at its greatest since the Cuban Missile Crisis

Risk of nuclear war at its greatest since the Cuban Missile Crisis

Matthew Bunn writes: Dark clouds loom on the nuclear horizon, with threats from all directions: Russia’s nuclear bombast in its war on Ukraine, China’s construction of hundreds of nuclear missile silos, North Korea’s missile testing, India and Pakistan’s ongoing nuclear competition, and Iran’s push toward nuclear weapons capability. In response, US policy-makers are discussing whether a further American nuclear arms buildup is needed. At the same time, evolving technologies, from hypersonic missiles to artificial intelligence, are straining military balances and…

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Judge Aileen Cannon rejected entreaties from two other federal judges to step aside in Trump docs case

Judge Aileen Cannon rejected entreaties from two other federal judges to step aside in Trump docs case

The New York Times reports: Shortly after Judge Aileen M. Cannon drew the assignment in June 2023 to oversee former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case, two more experienced colleagues on the federal bench in Florida urged her to pass it up and hand it off to another jurist, according to two people briefed on the conversations. The judges who approached Judge Cannon — including the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida, Cecilia M. Altonaga — each…

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Could the global boom in greenhouses help cool the planet?

Could the global boom in greenhouses help cool the planet?

Fred Pearce writes: The world is awash with greenhouses growing fresh vegetables year-round for health-conscious urbanites. There are so many of them that in places their plastic and glass roofs are reflecting sufficient solar radiation to cool local temperatures — even as surrounding areas warm due to climate change. The extent of this accidental climate engineering is becoming ever more apparent as analysis of satellite images dramatically increases estimates of the area of the planet swathed in greenhouses. From southern…

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Chemicals from East Palestine, Ohio, derailment spread to 16 states, data shows

Chemicals from East Palestine, Ohio, derailment spread to 16 states, data shows

The Guardian reports: Chemicals released during the East Palestine train wreck fires in February 2023 in Ohio were carried across 16 US states, new research of federal precipitation and pollution data shows. Analysis of rain and snow samples collected from northern Wisconsin to Maine to North Carolina in the weeks following the crash found the highest levels of pH and some compounds recorded over the last ten years. That includes chloride, which researchers say was largely released during a controversial…

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A love for thinking brings benefits way beyond school and work

A love for thinking brings benefits way beyond school and work

Josephine Zerna writes: What is it that draws you to an article about a topic like psychology? Why not just mindlessly scroll through the feeds on your phone instead, or stare out the window? Perhaps it’s because you enjoy cognitive effort – which means you would likely score high on a trait called ‘need for cognition’. In everyday life, people can often choose how hard they want to flex their mental muscles. You might make that choice without even knowing…

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Norman Finkelstein: Through genocide, the whole legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state has been called into question

Norman Finkelstein: Through genocide, the whole legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state has been called into question

  We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval – one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest campuses in the world. They’re all fighting for Gaza, and against an increasingly isolated Israeli government and its Western backers. So are we witnessing a historic tipping point? Norman Finkelstein has documented the Israel-Palestine conflict for over 4 decades, with a particular focus on Israel’s actions in…

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White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

  Axios reports: The White House canceled a high-level U.S.-Israel meeting on Iran that was scheduled for Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video on Tuesday claiming the U.S. was withholding military aid, two U.S. officials tell Axios. Why it matters: President Biden’s top advisers were enraged by the video — a message U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein delivered personally to Netanyahu in a meeting hours after it was published, two U.S. and Israeli sources say. Then the White House decided to go a…

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Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

Iran signals a major boost in nuclear enrichment at key site

The Washington Post reports: A major expansion underway inside Iran’s most heavily protected nuclear facility could soon triple the site’s production of enriched uranium and give Tehran new options for quickly assembling a nuclear arsenal if it chooses to, according to confidential documents and analysis by weapons experts. Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed new construction activity inside the Fordow enrichment plant, just days after Tehran formally notified the nuclear watchdog of plans for a substantial upgrade at…

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More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

More immigrants boost economy, reduce budget deficit, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper says

HuffPost reports: A “surge” of immigrants has boosted the U.S. economy recently and is projected to add almost $9 trillion to it through 2034, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Tuesday. The CBO, in an update to budget and economic forecasts made in February, said the current level of immigration of “other foreign nationals” was well above historical patterns and would continue to add to the overall size of the U.S. population, providing more workers for…

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Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Something’s rotten about the justices taking so long on Trump’s immunity case

Leah Litman writes: For those looking for the hidden hand of politics in what the Supreme Court does, there’s plenty of reason for suspicion on Donald Trump’s as-yet-decided immunity case given its urgency. There are, of course, explanations that have nothing to do with politics for why a ruling still hasn’t been issued. But the reasons to think something is rotten at the court are impossible to ignore. On Feb. 28, the justices agreed to hear Mr. Trump’s claim that…

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