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Category: Politics

Trump’s gutting of federal DEI programs will hit rural poor communities

Trump’s gutting of federal DEI programs will hit rural poor communities

CNN reports: Just hours after his swearing-in this week, as a raft of executive orders was presented and signed at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump authorized action to end “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.” Employees in federal positions overseeing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives were put on paid leave as officials were ordered to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in…

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Trump eliminates help for Black and Latino communities hit harder by pollution

Trump eliminates help for Black and Latino communities hit harder by pollution

The Associated Press reports: For four years, the Environmental Protection Agency made environmental justice one of its biggest priorities, working to improve health conditions in heavily-polluted communities often made up largely of Black, Latino and low-income Americans. Now that short-lived era is over. President Donald Trump in his first week eliminated a team of White House advisors whose job it was to ensure the entire federal government helped communities located near heavy industry, ports and roadways. Trump eliminated the “Justice40”…

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Fear permeates every aspect of life in Chicago, under threat of mass immigration deportations

Fear permeates every aspect of life in Chicago, under threat of mass immigration deportations

Chicago Tribune reports: “People are scared,” said Alvarez Vasquez [a legal permanent resident], 56, as she watched as her grandchildren Antonio, 9 and Yulisa, 5 — both U.S. citizens — played on the steps outside their Southwest Side school on Thursday afternoon. “They don’t want to go out. They don’t even go to work much because they’re afraid of being caught or deported.” Indeed, the week saw streets in the Little Village neighborhood, which typically bustle with crowds and businesses,…

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How Hitler tore down a democracy in just 53 Days

How Hitler tore down a democracy in just 53 Days

Timothy W. Ryback writes: Ninety-two years ago this month, on Monday morning, January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed the 15th chancellor of the Weimar Republic. In one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy, Hitler set about destroying a constitutional republic through constitutional means. What follows is a step-by-step account of how Hitler systematically disabled and then dismantled his country’s democratic structures and processes in less than two months’ time—specifically, one month, three weeks, two…

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Musk promotes nationalism at far-right rally; says Germans shouldn’t feel guilty about past ‘sins’

Musk promotes nationalism at far-right rally; says Germans shouldn’t feel guilty about past ‘sins’

Politico reports: Elon Musk made a virtual appearance at a rally for the far-right Alternative for Germany party on Saturday, reiterating his support ahead of the country’s Feb. 23 snap election and telling the crowd that it’s time to “move on” from “past guilt.” The Tesla CEO addressed the crowd alongside party leader Alice Weidel, saying that the party is the “best hope for Germany” and calling to “preserve German culture” and “protect the German people.” “Children should not be…

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Ontario’s premier promises he will hit back hard if Trump starts a trade war with Canada

Ontario’s premier promises he will hit back hard if Trump starts a trade war with Canada

Alexander Burns writes: Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, plans to rain economic punishment on Americans if President Donald Trump targets Canada in a trade war. Ford has threatened to cut power transmission to U.S. homes and businesses and banish U.S. liquor from Ontario shelves. Wearing a MAGA-like hat reading “Canada Is Not For Sale,” Ford has pledged to target red states with dollar-for-dollar retaliation. In an interview Wednesday, he described himself matter-of-factly as a brawler with a reflex for…

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Under direction from the Heritage Foundation, Trump implements Project 2025’s core objectives

Under direction from the Heritage Foundation, Trump implements Project 2025’s core objectives

Time magazine reports: President Donald Trump made clear during his campaign that he wanted little to do with Project 2025, the sweeping and controversial conservative policy blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation. But just days into his second term, many of Trump’s early actions align with the Project 2025 agenda. An analysis by TIME found that nearly two-thirds of the executive actions Trump has issued so far mirror or partially mirror proposals from the 900-page document, ranging from sweeping deregulation…

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Trump’s memecoin launch makes the whole crypto industry ‘look corrupt and self-interested,’ says exec

Trump’s memecoin launch makes the whole crypto industry ‘look corrupt and self-interested,’ says exec

The New York Times reports: Dressed in ball gowns, tuxedos and “Make Bitcoin Great Again” baseball caps, a crowd of some of the country’s most powerful cryptocurrency executives gathered a few blocks from the White House for a lavish party three days before President Trump’s inauguration, toasting an incoming administration that had vowed to promote the industry’s interests. Even Snoop Dogg joined the festivities, offering a rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin.’” But the crypto millionaires and billionaires were caught off…

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North Carolina’s Republican justices signal support for overturning Democratic judge’s election

North Carolina’s Republican justices signal support for overturning Democratic judge’s election

Mother Jones reports: In early January, the Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court blocked the State Board of Elections from certifying the victory of Democratic Justice Allison Riggs after she led by 734 votes following two recounts. Riggs’ Republican opponent, Jefferson Griffin, had asked the court to overturn the election by throwing out more than 60,000 ballots. On Thursday, the court rejected Griffin’s extraordinary request to appoint him the winner—for now—and sent the case back to the lower…

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Former Trump supporter rejects pardon

Former Trump supporter rejects pardon

New Hampshire Public Radio interviewed Jason Riddle, who served time in jail for his participation in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol: At what point did you stop supporting Donald Trump? After I got out of prison, Trump had gotten indicted and he put on social media asking people to come out and protest for him. And I remember thinking, ‘What are you doing, Trump? Remember what happened at the riot? Someone might get hurt. Why would you…

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How immigrants contribute to U.S. economic growth

How immigrants contribute to U.S. economic growth

A Council on Foreign Relations brief: According to an American Immigration Council analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, immigrants—almost 48 million of whom now live in the United States among an overall population of roughly 335 million people—generated some $1.6 trillion in economic activity in 2022, the most recent year for which such data is available. They also contributed more than $579 billion in local, state, and federal taxes. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased immigration could reduce the U.S. federal…

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Trump has no authority whatsoever to change United States citizenship rules

Trump has no authority whatsoever to change United States citizenship rules

Harvard Law Today reports: The Constitution is clear: Those born on American soil, even to undocumented parents, are citizens of the United States, says Gerald Neuman ’80, the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School. Almost immediately after Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20, the second-term president issued a series of executive orders, including one touching on birthright citizenship — a constitutional provision that guarantees that those born within the boundaries…

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Reports of Navajo people being detained in immigration sweeps sparks concern from tribal leaders

Reports of Navajo people being detained in immigration sweeps sparks concern from tribal leaders

Arizona Mirror reports: As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensifies its efforts to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants throughout the country, concern is rising among Indigenous communities residing in urban areas about reports of Indigenous people being detained in the Valley. Since President Donald Trump issued his executive order for an increase in ICE raids, Navajo tribal leaders have received alarming reports that their tribal members are being detained, heightening uncertainties over the implications these actions have for their communities…

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On being Indigenous in America

On being Indigenous in America

USA TODAY reports: Wes Martel, of Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho heritage, sits with a plate of hash browns and fried eggs in front of him. At 74, he’s been active in tribal politics, buffalo restoration, environmental protection, and the fight for water rights. He thinks that Native Americans still live under the same legal constraints as they did a century ago. He points to the Doctrine of Discovery, enacted by the Pope in the 15th century, which gave control…

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Trump’s plan to crush the academic left is meeting little resistance

Trump’s plan to crush the academic left is meeting little resistance

Michelle Goldberg writes: Last year, Chris Rufo, the influential right-wing strategist who spearheaded the campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or D.E.I., initiatives, told me about his ambitions for a second Trump presidency. He hoped, he said, to see Donald Trump’s administration aggressively investigate Ivy League institutions that, according to Rufo, practice “rampant” discrimination against white, Jewish and Asian students and faculty members, particularly through D.E.I. programs, which aim to boost the representation of groups deemed underprivileged. If they were…

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How Assad’s drug trade fueled his downfall

How Assad’s drug trade fueled his downfall

Caroline Rose writes: Many years ago, in Beirut, I learned the first of many lessons about the Assad regime’s constructed counternarcotics narrative — something that simultaneously sustained the regime’s internal power structure and also fueled its very collapse. I was conducting some final fieldwork on a little-known (at least at that time) drug trade in an amphetamine-type stimulant called Captagon, which was quickly gaining popularity in the Middle East. The trip was part of a policy report that was initially…

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