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Category: Politics

How a teenager’s video upended the police department’s attempted cover-up

How a teenager’s video upended the police department’s attempted cover-up

The New York Times reports: The Minneapolis Police Department’s initial inaccurate and misleading description of George Floyd’s death last May “might have become the official account” of what took place, had it not been for video taken by a teenage bystander, Keith Boykin, a CNN commentator, wrote on Twitter. The video, taken by Darnella Frazier, emerged the night of Mr. Floyd’s death and drove much of the public’s understanding of what took place. Chief Medaria Arradondo of the police department…

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How 1.5 degrees became the key to climate progress

How 1.5 degrees became the key to climate progress

Bill McKibben writes: It’s Earth Day +51, as we near the end of President Biden’s first hundred days, and forty world leaders are scheduled to join him for a virtual summit on climate change. “For those of you who are excited about climate, we will have a lot more to say next week,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said last Thursday, which is a sweet way to think about it—better than “for those of you who are existentially…

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Fox News still thinks Tucker Carlson’s bigotry is good for business

Fox News still thinks Tucker Carlson’s bigotry is good for business

Timothy L. O’Brien writes: Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, asked advertisers gathered Tuesday for Global Marketer Week to press Fox Corp. to fire its resident flamethrower and ratings-magnet, Tucker Carlson. Carlson has been trafficking in white supremacist myths recently on Fox News and his broadcasts, Greenblatt said, offer an “example of how hatred is being mainstreamed in America in 2021.” He recommended that advertisers rein in spending on Carlson’s show. “You can hold them accountable…

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Derek Chauvin’s conviction is progress, but it ‘will do nothing to change’ urban policing on its own

Derek Chauvin’s conviction is progress, but it ‘will do nothing to change’ urban policing on its own

USA Today reports: The guilty verdict returned by jurors Tuesday in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin was a reason for joy among many, especially in the Black community. But it was also a vivid demonstration of what the criminal justice system could be if prosecutors went after all “bad cops” with the same gusto, legal observers said. During the 42-day trial, jurors heard from 45 witnesses and listened to hours of technical testimony about whether Chauvin,…

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Pressure on Biden to act on police reform will grow post-Chauvin conviction

Pressure on Biden to act on police reform will grow post-Chauvin conviction

ABC News reports: For activists, advocates and communities of color, the urgency behind the need for police reform does not end with the guilty verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges after kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, the killing caught on camera. The graphic images of Floyd’s murder ignited a movement across the country, forcing the nation to begin to reckon with how people…

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Anglo-Saxon’ is what you say when ‘Whites only’ is too inclusive

Anglo-Saxon’ is what you say when ‘Whites only’ is too inclusive

Adam Serwer writes: Last week, far-right Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar distanced themselves from a proposal to create an America First Caucus, after a document bearing the group’s name made reference to “Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” Both Greene and Gosar told the press that they hadn’t seen the document and did not endorse its sentiments, after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy condemned the effort, saying that America “isn’t built on identity, race, or religion,” and rejecting “nativist dog…

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Dozen megadonors gave $3.4 billion, one in every 13 dollars, since 2009

Dozen megadonors gave $3.4 billion, one in every 13 dollars, since 2009

The New York Times reports: A dozen megadonors and their spouses contributed a combined $3.4 billion to federal candidates and political groups since 2009, accounting for nearly one out of every 13 dollars raised, according to a new report. The report, produced by Issue One, a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce the influence of money in politics, shows the top 12 donors split equally between six Democrats and six Republicans. The list includes multiple Wall Street billionaires and investors,…

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How India allowed the virus to overwhelm it

How India allowed the virus to overwhelm it

Ramanan Laxminarayan writes: A lethal, fast-paced second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has brought India’s health care systems to the verge of collapse and is putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk. On Sunday and Monday, the country recorded more than 270,000 and 259,000 cases, respectively, of Covid-19, a staggering increase from about 11,000 cases per day in the second week of February. Reported coronavirus infections shot up from about 20,000 per day in mid-March to more than 200,000…

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Satellite images show Russia’s expanding Ukraine buildup

Satellite images show Russia’s expanding Ukraine buildup

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russia has moved warplanes to Crimea and bases near Ukraine to an extent greater than has previously been disclosed, adding to its capability for political intimidation or military intervention, according to commercial satellite photos of areas being used for the military buildup. The photos, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, show Su-30 fighters lined up on a runway at an air base in Crimea. The aircraft, which are shown in a satellite photo…

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Why political sectarianism is a growing threat to American democracy

Why political sectarianism is a growing threat to American democracy

Nate Cohn writes: American democracy faces many challenges: New limits on voting rights. The corrosive effect of misinformation. The rise of domestic terrorism. Foreign interference in elections. Efforts to subvert the peaceful transition of power. And making matters worse on all of these issues is a fundamental truth: The two political parties see the other as an enemy. It’s an outlook that makes compromise impossible and encourages elected officials to violate norms in pursuit of an agenda or an electoral…

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Black and brown people’s defiance is not the problem. Our compliance is not the solution

Black and brown people’s defiance is not the problem. Our compliance is not the solution

Ibram X. Kendi writes: Chicago Police Officer Eric E. Stillman chased a boy down an alleyway. It was the early morning of March 29. In Minnesota, opening statements in the Derek Chauvin trial were coming in a few hours. Stillman had responded to reports of gunshots in Little Village, a predominantly Latino community on Chicago’s West Side. “Stop right now!” the officer yelled at Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old seventh grader at Gary Elementary School. “Hands. Show me your hands. Drop…

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Garland returns to Oklahoma City to warn that domestic terrorism is ‘still with us’

Garland returns to Oklahoma City to warn that domestic terrorism is ‘still with us’

Politico reports: Attorney General Merrick Garland returned Monday to Oklahoma City — the site of the nation’s most deadly act of domestic terrorism and of his formative experiences as a young prosecutor — to deliver a warning that the threat of domestic extremism is again on the rise. Delivering his first major speech as attorney general, Garland told a memorial service that the nation must remain vigilant against such dangers. “Although many years have passed, the terror perpetrated by people…

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ICE, CBP to stop using ‘illegal alien’ and ‘assimilation’ under new Biden administration order

ICE, CBP to stop using ‘illegal alien’ and ‘assimilation’ under new Biden administration order

The Washington Post reports: The Biden administration has ordered U.S. immigration enforcement agencies to stop using terms such as “alien,” “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants in the United States, a rebuke of terms widely used under the Trump administration. The change was detailed in memos sent Monday to department heads at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the nation’s chief enforcers of federal immigration laws, according to copies obtained by The Washington Post. It…

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Elizabeth Warren suggests U.S. explore conditional aid to Israel

Elizabeth Warren suggests U.S. explore conditional aid to Israel

The Intercept reports: At today’s meeting of the annual J Street conference, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., suggested that the U.S. consider conditional aid to Israel. “I support military assistance to Israel,” said Warren’s planned remarks, referring to the aid as “the elephant in the room.” “But if we’re serious about arresting settlement expansion and helping move the parties toward a two-state solution, then it would be irresponsible not to consider all of the tools we have at our disposal,” her…

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China, Russia fueling QAnon conspiracy theories, reports says

China, Russia fueling QAnon conspiracy theories, reports says

Michael Isikoff reports: Foreign-based actors, principally in China and Russia, are spreading online disinformation rooted in QAnon conspiracy theories, fueling a movement that has become a mounting domestic terrorism threat, according to new analysis of online propaganda by a security firm. The analysis by the Soufan Center, a New York-based research firm focused on national security threats, found that nearly one-fifth of 166,820 QAnon-related Facebook posts between January 2020 and the end of February 2021 originated from overseas administrators. An…

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Washington State plans to phase out new gas cars by 2030

Washington State plans to phase out new gas cars by 2030

Fast Company reports: The U.K. plans to ban new fossil-fuel-powered cars by 2030. The Netherlands and Germany have the same goal. Now the state of Washington plans to follow, making it the first in the U.S. to move as quickly to phase out polluting cars. In nine years, if you want to buy a new car or light truck in Washington, it will have to be electric. “When you really look at the issue, there’s not any single factor that…

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