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Category: Politics

Sweden’s pandemic experiment

Sweden’s pandemic experiment

Mallory Pickett writes: Sweden’s per-capita case counts and death rates have been many times higher than any of its Nordic neighbors, all of which imposed lockdowns, travel bans, and limited gatherings early on. Over all in Sweden, thirteen thousand people have died from covid-19. In Norway, which has a population that is half the size of Sweden’s, and where stricter lockdowns were enforced, about seven hundred people have died. It’s likely that some simple policy changes—especially shutting down visitations to…

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The Facebook loophole that lets world leaders deceive and harass their citizens

The Facebook loophole that lets world leaders deceive and harass their citizens

The Guardian reports: Facebook has repeatedly allowed world leaders and politicians to use its platform to deceive the public or harass opponents despite being alerted to evidence of the wrongdoing. The Guardian has seen extensive internal documentation showing how Facebook handled more than 30 cases across 25 countries of politically manipulative behavior that was proactively detected by company staff. The investigation shows how Facebook has allowed major abuses of its platform in poor, small and non-western countries in order to…

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Making America White again

Making America White again

The Washington Post reports: While concerns about changing views on faith, gender and sexuality were often expressed by many of the former president’s most die-hard supporters, fear about America becoming less White — and less “great” — was at the root of at least some of the loyalty to him. A widely reported 2017 survey from the Atlantic and the Public Religion Research Institute provided some insight into the views of White working-class voters who backed Trump. Nearly half (48…

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Official: Chinese vaccines’ effectiveness low

Official: Chinese vaccines’ effectiveness low

The Associated Press reports: In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost. Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu. Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote…

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CEOs plan new push on voting legislation

CEOs plan new push on voting legislation

The Wall Street Journal reports: Dozens of chief executives and other senior leaders gathered on Zoom this weekend to plot what several said big businesses should do next about new voting laws under way in Texas and other states. Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express Co. , and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., urged the leaders to collectively call for greater voting access, according to several people who attended. Messrs. Chenault and Frazier cautioned businesses…

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How Trump unleashed a domestic terrorism movement — and what must be done to defeat it

How Trump unleashed a domestic terrorism movement — and what must be done to defeat it

Mother Jones reports: Even the wifi password was a signal. Attendees at President Donald Trump’s rally in Dalton, Georgia, on January 4 who wanted to log in to the Make America Great network had to enter the phrase into their devices: “SeeYouJan6!” Trump was in town that night ostensibly to boost two Republican Senate candidates, but he spent much of his speech railing about the “stolen” 2020 election—and inciting supporters to descend on the nation’s capital two days later. “They’re…

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‘Mossad behind cyber attack against Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility’

‘Mossad behind cyber attack against Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility’

The Jerusalem Post reports: The Mossad was reportedly behind the cyberattack at the Natanz nuclear plant on Sunday that caused extensive damage to Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the security cabinet’s first meeting in two months to discuss Iran next Sunday amid increased tensions with Tehran. Western sources quoted in Israeli media said the attack, which was initially referred to as an “accident” by Iran, was carried out by the Mossad. Iran admitted on Sunday…

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Will latest push for accountability for Syria torture succeed?

Will latest push for accountability for Syria torture succeed?

Al Jazeera reports: As the world marked 10 years since the start of the uprising in Syria last week, renewed efforts are under way to hold President Bashar al-Assad’s government accountable for abuses in the war-torn country. Canada announced this month that it is joining the Netherlands in an international effort to seek justice under the United Nations Convention Against Torture, a process that ultimately could trigger a case at the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)….

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How to avoid the anti-imperialism of fools

How to avoid the anti-imperialism of fools

Gilbert Achcar writes: The last three decades have witnessed increasing political confusion about the meaning of anti-imperialism, a notion that, in and of itself, hadn’t previously been the topic of much debate. There are two main reasons for this confusion: the victorious end of most post–World War II anticolonial struggles and the USSR’s collapse. During the Cold War, the United States and allied colonial Western powers directly waged several wars against national liberation movements or regimes, along with more limited…

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On Ukraine’s doorstep, Russia boosts military and sends message of regional clout to Biden

On Ukraine’s doorstep, Russia boosts military and sends message of regional clout to Biden

The Washington Post reports: Russia is steadily massing its largest military presence in years near the Ukrainian border — on land and at sea — as the Kremlin tests Western support for Kyiv and its battles against pro-Moscow separatists less than three months into the Biden administration. Russia’s motivations for the buildup are still unclear and do not necessarily signal a looming offensive, Ukrainian and Western officials said. But moving forces from as far away as Siberia — more than…

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Michigan’s virus cases are out of control, putting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a bind

Michigan’s virus cases are out of control, putting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a bind

The New York Times reports: Nowhere in America is the coronavirus pandemic more out of control than in Michigan. Outbreaks are ripping through workplaces, restaurants, churches and family weddings. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients. Officials are reporting more than 7,000 new infections each day, a sevenfold increase from late February. And Michigan is home to nine of the 10 metro areas with the country’s highest recent case rates. During previous surges in Michigan, a resolute Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shut down…

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Anti-Defamation League calls for Tucker Carlson to be fired over ‘replacement theory’ remarks

Anti-Defamation League calls for Tucker Carlson to be fired over ‘replacement theory’ remarks

The New York Times reports: The Anti-Defamation League called on the Fox News host Tucker Carlson to resign in an open letter published on Friday, accusing him of giving “an impassioned defense of the white supremacist ‘great replacement theory.’” Mr. Carlson, in an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, referred scornfully to the term “white replacement theory,” which describes a racist conspiracy theory popular in far-right circles, while arguing that the Democratic Party was “trying to replace the current electorate,…

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Proud Boys and other far-right groups raise millions via Christian funding site

Proud Boys and other far-right groups raise millions via Christian funding site

The Guardian reports: A data breach from Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo has revealed that millions of dollars have been raised on the site for far-right causes and groups, many of whom are banned from raising funds on other platforms. It also identifies previously anonymous high-dollar donors to far-right actors, some of whom enjoy positions of wealth, power or public responsibility. Some of the biggest beneficiaries have been members of groups such as the Proud Boys, designated as a terrorist group…

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The Republicans calling for their party to reject QAnon conspiracy theories

The Republicans calling for their party to reject QAnon conspiracy theories

CNN reports: Republican Rep. Peter Meijer has a warning for his party: He fears baseless conspiracy theories like QAnon will destroy the GOP from within if Republicans don’t decisively and unequivocally condemn the false and dangerous beliefs and take action to stop their spread. “The fact that a significant plurality, if not potentially a majority, of our voters have been deceived into this creation of an alternate reality could very well be an existential threat to the party,” Meijer, who…

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Ukraine is attracting Americans to fight alongside far-right extremists. What happens when radicalized soldiers return home?

Ukraine is attracting Americans to fight alongside far-right extremists. What happens when radicalized soldiers return home?

Christopher Miller reports: The staccato crack of gunfire rang out across the cloudy night, startling residents of a modest enclave in southwestern Florida. Lee County sheriff’s deputies, responding to a flood of 911 calls, raced to the area, but in the dark they were unable to find where the shooting had taken place. It wasn’t until the next morning, when employees of a nearby business complex called the Galleria discovered the crime scene. Fifty-year-old Deana Lorenzo was found slumped over…

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Biden creating commission to study expanding the Supreme Court

Biden creating commission to study expanding the Supreme Court

The New York Times reports: President Biden on Friday ordered a 180-day study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, making good on a campaign-year promise to establish a bipartisan commission to examine the potentially explosive subjects of expanding the court or setting term limits for justices. The president acted under pressure from activists pushing for more seats to alter the ideological balance of the court after President Donald J. Trump appointed three justices, including one to a seat that…

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