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Category: Politics

The dawn of a new climate industry

The dawn of a new climate industry

Robinson Meyer writes: What does the new American climate policy look like? Last week, we got a better sense. On Friday, the Biden administration unveiled a massive investment — more than $1.2 billion — that aims to create a new industry in the United States out of whole cloth that will specialize in removing carbon from the atmosphere. As President Joe Biden’s climate law hits its one-year anniversary, the investment shows the audacity, the potential, and — ultimately — the…

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Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes

Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes

The Washington Post reports: The company formerly known as Twitter has been slowing the speed with which users could access links to the New York Times, Facebook and other news organizations and online competitors, a move that appeared targeted at companies that have drawn the ire of owner Elon Musk. Users who clicked a link on Musk’s website, now called X, for one of the targeted websites were made to wait about five seconds before seeing the page, according to…

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The clean energy future is arriving faster than you think

The clean energy future is arriving faster than you think

The New York Times reports: Delivery vans in Pittsburgh. Buses in Milwaukee. Cranes loading freight at the Port of Los Angeles. Every municipal building in Houston. All are powered by electricity derived from the sun, wind or other sources of clean energy. Across the country, a profound shift is taking place that is nearly invisible to most Americans. The nation that burned coal, oil and gas for more than a century to become the richest economy on the planet, as…

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Trump makes inflammatory statements after being warned about making inflammatory statements

Trump makes inflammatory statements after being warned about making inflammatory statements

Politico reports: Donald Trump slammed the judge presiding over his newest criminal case early Monday, testing her three-day-old warning that he refrain from “inflammatory” attacks against those involved in his case. In a Truth Social post just before 1 a.m., Trump assailed U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan as “highly partisan” and “very biased and unfair,” citing as evidence a statement she made during the sentencing of a woman who participated in the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan….

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Two months in Georgia: How Trump tried to overturn the vote

Two months in Georgia: How Trump tried to overturn the vote

The New York Times reports: When President Donald J. Trump’s eldest son took the stage outside the Georgia Republican Party headquarters two days after the 2020 election, he likened what lay ahead to mortal combat. “Americans need to know this is not a banana republic!” Donald Trump Jr. shouted, claiming that Georgia and other swing states had been overrun by wild electoral shenanigans. He described tens of thousands of ballots that had “magically” shown up around the country, all marked…

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Georgia RICO law

Georgia RICO law

Jay Kuo writes: [Fulton County District Attorney] Fani Willis understands RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization] law well. She’s famous for having brought broad state RICO charges to bust up a ring of administrators and educators who were in on a scheme to help students cheat on standardized tests, using money to reward those who aided the effort while punishing those that refused to help. Willis explained state RICO law perfectly then. “You don’t, under RICO, have to have a…

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Russian ruble at weakest level since early days of Ukraine war

Russian ruble at weakest level since early days of Ukraine war

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russia’s currency fell to its weakest level in over a year and the central bank called an emergency meeting, signs of intensifying financial pressure on an economy weighed down by Western sanctions and the war in Ukraine. The ruble’s decline picked up pace in recent weeks, and on Monday the currency fell past 100 to the U.S. dollar for the first time since the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. So far this year, the ruble has lost almost 30% of…

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The Ukraine War might really break up the Russian Federation

The Ukraine War might really break up the Russian Federation

Alexander J. Motyl writes: It’s time to start taking the potential disintegration of Russia seriously. A number of analysts see the shattering of the Russian Federation as a possible aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s catastrophic war in Ukraine. Although the world would be better off with a much weakened Russia, its fall may not go smoothly. The Jamestown Foundation’s Janusz Bugajski would probably agree with this assessment: “as a rump state, under intense international sanctions and shorn of its resource base…

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How Trump benefits from an indictment effect

How Trump benefits from an indictment effect

The New York Times reports: Early on March 18, former President Donald J. Trump hit send on a social media post saying he would be “arrested on Tuesday of next week.” “Protest,” he wrote on his Truth Social website. “Take our nation back!” Mr. Trump’s prediction was based on media reports, according to his lawyers, and his timing was off by two weeks. Yet the statement set in motion events that profoundly altered the course of the Republican nominating contest….

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Violent threats against public officials are rising. Here’s why

Violent threats against public officials are rising. Here’s why

NPR reports: For extremism researchers, the shooting death this week of a Utah man who was alleged to have made violent threats against President Biden and other public officials highlights a concerning trend. For years, they have watched a steady escalation in violent political rhetoric that appears to be fueling acts of real-life violence. On Wednesday, the FBI shot and killed Craig Robertson of Provo, Utah as they attempted to arrest him due to his alleged threats ahead of a…

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The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state

The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state

Ian Millhiser writes: Last June, a previously obscure Oklahoma state board voted to allow two Roman Catholic dioceses to operate a charter school in that state. Lawyers from several civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, responded just over a month later with a lawsuit alleging that this state-funded religious school violates the state constitution. This challenge to the religious charter school, known as St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, should be a slam-dunk — at least assuming that the allegations in…

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Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden’s clean energy buddy

Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden’s clean energy buddy

Politico reports: During the summer of 2020, there were few bigger Democratic super villains than Louis DeJoy. The postmaster general was accused of masterminding an attempt to steal the election for former President Donald Trump by subverting mail-in voting in the midst of the pandemic. He was hauled up to Capitol Hill to defend his policies. When Joe Biden won, it was generally assumed that his days were numbered. Now, nearly three years later, DeJoy isn’t just still standing atop…

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Ex-IDF general likens military control of West Bank to Nazi Germany

Ex-IDF general likens military control of West Bank to Nazi Germany

The Times of Israel reports: A former IDF general argued that Israel’s control of the West Bank has similarities to discriminatory policies under Nazi Germany, and expressed fear that soldiers will not be motivated to defend the country if the coalition succeeds in shackling the judiciary. Amiram Levin, who headed the IDF Northern Command, commanded the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and served as deputy director of the Mossad spy agency, told Kan radio on Sunday morning that the military is…

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Israeli scientists fear ‘destructive’ education policies will result in a brain drain

Israeli scientists fear ‘destructive’ education policies will result in a brain drain

Science reports: Until recently, Elena Itskovich, an Israeli stem cell biologist who earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University 2 years ago, was planning a return to her home nation. But Itskovich says she’s now “on the fence.” She is uneasy about the policies of the Israeli government elected nearly 8 months ago and largely led by conservative nationalists and ultra-Orthodox parties. She is not alone in her concerns. Israeli researchers have become increasingly vocal in opposing policies they say threaten…

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‘Better martyrs’: The role of women in the far-right movement is growing

‘Better martyrs’: The role of women in the far-right movement is growing

The Guardian reports: Researchers who track how the far right in the US mobilizes, self-promotes and recruits are reporting that women are playing a growing role in the movement. They often work behind the scenes to advance conspiracy theories through social media and softly attract new women into the fold. But at the same time, in recent years “alt-right” women have also shifted to influential public-facing roles in rightwing media production and far-right national politics. They have taken prominent roles…

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Republicans wanted a special counsel investigation of Hunter Biden. Now many oppose it

Republicans wanted a special counsel investigation of Hunter Biden. Now many oppose it

The New York Times reports: Congressional Republicans have for months repeatedly written to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland demanding he appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, the president’s son, over his business dealings. Some even demanded that a specific man be named to lead the inquiry: David C. Weiss, the Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. attorney who has long investigated the case. But on Friday, after Mr. Garland elevated Mr. Weiss to special counsel status, Republicans in Congress reacted publicly…

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