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Category: Politics

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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The race to curb the spread of Covid vaccine disinformation

The race to curb the spread of Covid vaccine disinformation

Nature reports: In March, Twitter put its foot down: users who repeatedly spread false information about COVID-19 vaccines will have their accounts suspended or shut down. It was a new front in a high-stakes battle over misinformation that could help to determine how many people get vaccinated, and how swiftly the pandemic ends. The battle is also being fought in computer-science and sociology labs across the United States, where scientists who track the spread of false information on social media…

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Aleksei Navalny needs his doctors

Aleksei Navalny needs his doctors

In an editorial, the New York Times says: Aleksei Navalny’s wife, doctor and colleagues have sounded an anguished alarm that the incarcerated Kremlin critic’s health is rapidly deteriorating and his heart could stop any minute. They and many other supporters of Mr. Navalny are demanding that his doctors be immediately allowed to see and treat him. The decision clearly rests with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and he should promptly agree. It may well be that Mr. Putin would prefer…

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Iran, Saudi Arabia said holding direct talks to mend regional rift

Iran, Saudi Arabia said holding direct talks to mend regional rift

The Times of Israel reports: Five years after severing diplomatic ties, Iran and Saudi Arabia have reportedly been holding direct talks in Baghdad to mend relations and end the Yemen civil war. A Financial Times report on Sunday, which cited three officials familiar with the negotiations, said a first round of talks was held on April 9, with additional discussions slated for next week. The talks were described as positive. “It’s moving faster because the US talks are moving faster…

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What QAnon documentaries reveal about how conspiracies flourish

What QAnon documentaries reveal about how conspiracies flourish

Derek Robertson writes: A media suddenly bereft of the eye-popping right-wing extremism once peddled daily by the 45th president has found its methadone: a seemingly endless stream of QAnon-centric documentaries, books and essays. There’s Vice’s “The Search for Q” series; CNN’s “Inside the QAnon Conspiracy”; Daily Beast reporter Will Sommer’s announcement of his forthcoming book based on the topic; and the buzziest of them all: “Q: Into the Storm,” HBO’s six-episode documentary miniseries produced by Adam McKay, the Oscar-winning auteur…

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Throughout trial over George Floyd’s death, killings by police mount

Throughout trial over George Floyd’s death, killings by police mount

The New York Times reports: Just seven hours before prosecutors opened their case against Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, a Chicago officer chased down a 13-year-old boy in a West Side alley and fatally shot him as he turned with his hands up. One day later, at a hotel in Jacksonville, Fla., officers fatally shot a 32-year-old man, who, the police say, grabbed one of their Tasers. The day after that, as an…

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Least vaccinated U.S. counties have something in common: Trump voters

Least vaccinated U.S. counties have something in common: Trump voters

The New York Times reports: About 31 percent of adults in the United States have now been fully vaccinated. Scientists have estimated that 70 to 90 percent of the total population must acquire resistance to the virus to reach herd immunity. But in hundreds of counties around the country, vaccination rates are low, with some even languishing in the teens. The disparity in vaccination rates has so far mainly broken down along political lines. The New York Times examined survey…

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Marjorie Taylor Greene scraps planned launch of controversial ‘America First’ caucus amid blowback from GOP

Marjorie Taylor Greene scraps planned launch of controversial ‘America First’ caucus amid blowback from GOP

CNN reports: Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is scrapping the planned launch of her “America First” caucus after receiving blowback from leaders in her own party, despite confirming through a spokesperson on Friday that the caucus would launch. Nick Dyer, Greene’s spokesperson, told CNN in an email on Saturday afternoon the Georgia Republican is not “launching anything.” “The Congresswoman wants to make clear that she is not launching anything. This was an early planning proposal and nothing was agreed to…

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Restoring the ‘soul of the nation’ means taking in refugees

Restoring the ‘soul of the nation’ means taking in refugees

Adam Serwer writes: One of the Trump administration’s early priorities was engineering a whiter America through immigration restrictions. We know this because it told us so. “U.S. demographics have been changing rapidly—and undesirably in the eyes of top Trump aides, including his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, and domestic policy advisor Stephen Miller,” the Los Angeles Times reported in February 2017. The travel ban targeting Muslim nations was the first step in an agenda “to reshape American demographics for the…

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Immigration is a defining asset of the United States. Here’s how to restore confidence in our system

Immigration is a defining asset of the United States. Here’s how to restore confidence in our system

George W. Bush writes: Next week, I’m proud to publish a new collection of my paintings, entitled “Out of Many, One.” The book may not set the art world stirring — hopefully, the critics won’t call it “One Too Many.” I set out to accomplish two things: to share some portraits of immigrants, each with a remarkable story I try to tell, and to humanize the debate on immigration and reform. I hope that these faces, and the stories that…

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Marjorie Taylor Greene forming caucus to promote racism (aka ‘Anglo-Saxon political traditions’)

Marjorie Taylor Greene forming caucus to promote racism (aka ‘Anglo-Saxon political traditions’)

Forbes reports: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) are starting a right-wing caucus in Congress that seeks to “follow in President Trump’s footsteps,” which could prove yet another thorn in the side of Republican leaders already struggling to unite a bitterly divided party. According to a seven-page policy platform published by Punchbowl News, the group wants members to display “a certain intellectual boldness” and be willing to “step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows” – in…

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