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Category: Politics

Why evangelicals turned their back on PEPFAR

Why evangelicals turned their back on PEPFAR

Peter Wehner writes: In 2006, Ambassador Mark Dybul, then the United States global AIDS coordinator, visited an orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia. It was a sanctuary for more than 400 HIV-positive babies and young children found in garbage heaps, abandoned on the roadside, or left at the orphanage door. As Dybul and Michael Gerson, then a senior policy adviser to President George W. Bush, walked through the massive campus, they came to the dining hall, where…

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American academics being offered ‘scientific asylum’ in France

American academics being offered ‘scientific asylum’ in France

The Guardian reports: It was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country. For months, he had watched Donald Trump’s administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia – slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle…

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Trump’s war against immigrants threatens the freedom of all Americans

Trump’s war against immigrants threatens the freedom of all Americans

Chandran Kukathas writes: The tactics of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda have shifted from time to time, but the broader objective has remained consistent: to deport as many people as possible and, more broadly, to transform the restrictions and reach of America’s immigration system. President Trump and members of his administration believe they have a democratic mandate to do this. Their ultimate fear is that outsiders pose a danger to American values — the threat of not just taking our…

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ICEBlock developer on why Trump admin is targeting his app to report ICE sightings

ICEBlock developer on why Trump admin is targeting his app to report ICE sightings

  “ICEBlock”, an app that allows users to report sightings of ICE activity, has hit the top of the App Store charts for downloads. The app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, defends his reasons for making the mobile application and explains why the Trump administration isn’t happy with its rising popularity. Wired reports: US attorney general Pam Bondi was on Fox News Monday talking about ICEBlock, when she spoke directly about Aaron, the app’s sole developer. “We are looking at him,” she…

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Joe Rogan feels betrayed by Trump on immigration

Joe Rogan feels betrayed by Trump on immigration

Gizmodo reports: Joe Rogan, one of the most influential voices in American media, is turning on Donald Trump. And the reason cuts deep: immigration raids. Rogan, who endorsed Trump just hours before the 2024 presidential election, now says he was misled by the man he helped boost into office. The podcaster and UFC commentator, known for giving a platform to anti-cancel culture figures and free speech advocates, is now accusing Trump of betraying the very values he campaigned on. “We…

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Trump claims sweeping power to unilaterally nullify laws, letters reveal

Trump claims sweeping power to unilaterally nullify laws, letters reveal

The New York Times reports: Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show. In letters to companies like Apple and Google, Ms. Bondi wrote that Mr. Trump had decided that shutting down TikTok would interfere with his “constitutional duties,” so the law banning the social media app must…

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Trump is giving Putin every incentive to keep killing Ukrainians

Trump is giving Putin every incentive to keep killing Ukrainians

Anne Applebaum writes: The American president wrote, “Vladimir, STOP!” on his Truth Social account in April, but the Russian president did not halt his offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian president called for an unconditional cease-fire in May, but the Russians did not agree to stop attacking Ukrainian civilians from the air. Donald Trump repeatedly promised, during his campaign, that he would end the war “in one day,” but the war is not over. He spoke to Vladimir Putin yesterday,…

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The spy, private equity baron and ghost of a Trump donor: The revolving door behind a Gaza mercenary firm

The spy, private equity baron and ghost of a Trump donor: The revolving door behind a Gaza mercenary firm

Middle East Eye reports: The US mercenary firm overseeing a controversial Gaza aid programme is the creation of a bespectacled Chicago private equity baron and a CIA spy with old ties to a Donald Trump ally who participated in one of the Middle East’s nastiest diplomatic rifts. The story of Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) exemplifies the shadowy revolving door between old spies and Middle Eastern states, one that is increasingly being monetized by American investors flush with cash. The spies…

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‘Put his name on everything’: Social Security Administration disseminates Trump propaganda

‘Put his name on everything’: Social Security Administration disseminates Trump propaganda

Unbelievable. I was a deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Appointed by President Biden. The agency has never issued such a blatant political statement. The fact that Trump and his minion running SSA has done this is unconscionable. pic.twitter.com/6XqYcjRGVg — Jeff Nesbit (@jeffnesbit) July 3, 2025 Rolling Stone reports: Throughout President Donald Trump’s second term, he’s used every means possible to promote himself and prop up his agenda in unprecedented ways — even as he pulls apart the government…

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Judge Luttig: Chief Justice Roberts’ ‘unforgivable reticence,’ failing to speak out directly against Trump

Judge Luttig: Chief Justice Roberts’ ‘unforgivable reticence,’ failing to speak out directly against Trump

  The Court of History’s Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz are joined by Conservative former judge, John Michael Luttig, who declares his independence from Trump. Judge J Michael Luttig writes: On July 4, 1776, our fellow Americans declared their independence from the British empire and its ruling monarchy. Thus began the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain to secure America’s independence from the tyrannical rule of King George III. On that first Independence Day almost two hundred and fifty years…

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Does Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement hold lessons for the United States?

Does Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement hold lessons for the United States?

  Yes, Pakistan’s Lawyers’ Movement holds valuable lessons for the United States, particularly regarding the importance of judicial independence, the power of collective action, and the role of civil society in challenging political power. The movement demonstrates how a professional group can mobilize and exert significant influence on political and legal systems. Here’s a more detailed look at the lessons: • Importance of Judicial Independence: The Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan highlighted the critical role of an independent judiciary in a…

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Profiles in congressional cowardice

Profiles in congressional cowardice

The New York Times reports: In the days leading up to House passage of Republicans’ sweeping policy bill carrying President Trump’s agenda, members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus were unsparing in their criticism of the measure. “That’s not fiscal responsibility. It’s not what we agreed to,” lawmakers in the caucus said in a statement after the Senate passed its version earlier this week with several major changes. “Republicans,” they added, “must do better.” Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas…

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The megabill’s war on the poor is built on a decades-old lie

The megabill’s war on the poor is built on a decades-old lie

Symone D. Sanders Townsend writes: There’s a persistent myth in American politics that poverty has a single face and that face is usually Black, often female, and somehow responsible for her own hardship. That myth was not born by accident. It was crafted, polished and weaponized. It was built on decades of policy choices and political messaging that added racial overtones to programs designed to combat poverty among all Americans in an effort to erode public support. Ironically, these programs…

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NYT grants anonymity to a eugenicist in order to smear Mamdani

NYT grants anonymity to a eugenicist in order to smear Mamdani

This story should not have been published. They hint at an accusation (Mamdani said he is black to get into a fancy college) they can’t back up. That this was published tells me that Mamdani’s most important opponent may not be Cuomo or Adams but a paper whose NEWS section will run stuff like this. [image or embed] — Perry Bacon (@perrybaconjr.bsky.social) Jul 3, 2025 at 5:52 PM The NYT granted anonymity to a eugenicist (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…) who obtained hacked college…

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Sweeping arrests across Iran in wake of war with Israel

Sweeping arrests across Iran in wake of war with Israel

The Washington Post reports: Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed half a dozen in a sweeping security crackdown that analysts say is aimed at exerting control after a brief but punishing war with Israel exposed Iran’s deep infiltration by Israeli intelligence. In the week since a ceasefire was declared, security forces have erected checkpoints in Tehran and other cities and urged citizens to report anything suspicious. The Iranian parliament also announced an emergency bill that includes harsher…

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DOJ explores using criminal charges against election officials

DOJ explores using criminal charges against election officials

The New York Times reports: Senior Justice Department officials are exploring whether they can bring criminal charges against state or local election officials if the Trump administration determines they have not sufficiently safeguarded their computer systems, according to people familiar with the discussions. The department’s effort, which is still in its early stages, is not based on new evidence, data or legal authority, according to the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. Instead, it is…

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