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Category: Politics

U.S. extracted top spy from Russia after Trump disclosed highly classified intelligence to Russian officials

U.S. extracted top spy from Russia after Trump disclosed highly classified intelligence to Russian officials

CNN reports: In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN. A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy. The decision…

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Jerry Falwell’s aides describe a culture of fear and self-dealing at Liberty University

Jerry Falwell’s aides describe a culture of fear and self-dealing at Liberty University

Brandon Ambrosino writes: At Liberty University, all anyone can talk about is Jerry Falwell Jr. Just not in public. “When he does stupid stuff, people will mention it to others they consider confidants and not keep it totally secret,” a trusted adviser to Falwell, the school’s president and chancellor, told me. “But they won’t rat him out.” That’s beginning to change. Over the past year, Falwell, a prominent evangelical leader and supporter of President Donald Trump, has come under increasing…

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Britain’s Tory rebels demonstrate courage and principles sorely lacking among their Republican counterparts

Britain’s Tory rebels demonstrate courage and principles sorely lacking among their Republican counterparts

The New York Times reports: Britain and the United States have often seemed lashed together amid the populist storms of the last few years — Brexit and the Trump White House echoing and amplifying each other across the Atlantic. But in one respect they have radically diverged. In London, rebels in the Conservative Party staged a dramatic insurrection in the past week against Prime Minister Boris Johnson, blocking his plan to withdraw Britain from the European Union even without a…

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We’re still trapped in the dystopian aftermath of 9/11

We’re still trapped in the dystopian aftermath of 9/11

Matt Ford writes: The FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center was created in 2003 because, as a FAQ on its web site explains, “The 9/11 Commission report found that agencies did not share counterterrorism information in an effective and timely manner.” This is true—to a point. The executive summary of the report recommends the following: “Determine, with leadership from the President, guidelines for gathering and sharing information in the new security systems that are needed, guidelines that integrate safeguards for privacy and…

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How Trump upended U.S.-Taliban peace talks

How Trump upended U.S.-Taliban peace talks

The Associated Press reports: With a series of tweets, President Donald Trump has upended nearly a year of U.S.-Taliban negotiations on ending America’s longest war. He has “called off” the talks and asserted that a planned secret meeting between him and Taliban leaders at Camp David, set for Sunday just days before the 9/11 anniversary, is now canceled. Some question whether it was a face-saving attempt after the deal his envoy said had been reached “in principle” faced serious challenges….

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NOAA administrators place fealty to Trump above national interest

NOAA administrators place fealty to Trump above national interest

On Friday, an official at NOAA who thus far remains anonymous, released the following statement: From Wednesday, August 28, through Monday, September 2, the information provided by NOAA and the National Hurricane Center to President Trump and the wider public demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama. This is clearly demonstrated in Hurricane Advisories #15 through #41, which can be viewed at the following link. The Birmingham National Weather Service’s Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms…

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Textbook corruption: The merging of Trump’s official duties and his commercial interests

Textbook corruption: The merging of Trump’s official duties and his commercial interests

The New York Times reports: At a table in the lobby bar of the Trump International Hotel this week, the final details of a black-tie, 40th anniversary gala for the Concerned Women for America were being worked out by the conservative group’s staff. There was the contract with the president’s hotel to be reviewed. And there was also unfinished business with the White House — logistical issues posed by two guests from the administration, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary…

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Is the Pentagon helping Trump’s Turnberry resort stay afloat?

Is the Pentagon helping Trump’s Turnberry resort stay afloat?

Politico reports: In early Spring of this year, an Air National Guard crew made a routine trip from the U.S. to Kuwait to deliver supplies. What wasn’t routine was where the crew stopped along the way: President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort, about 50 miles outside Glasgow, Scotland. Since April, the House Oversight Committee has been investigating why the crew on the C-17 military transport plane made the unusual stay — both en route to the Middle East and on the…

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How the right has tried to rebrand anti-Semitism

How the right has tried to rebrand anti-Semitism

Mairav Zonszein writes: On August 20, after President Donald Trump told a reporter that any American Jew who casts a “vote for a Democrat… shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” outraged reactions flooded social media, attributing to his statement the anti-Semitic trope of “dual loyalty.” This is the idea, rampant in so much nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought, that Jews cannot be trusted because their allegiances are inherently divided between their Jewish and their national identities. Captain…

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Boris Johnson’s government falling apart: Minister resigns from cabinet and surrenders Conservative whip

Boris Johnson’s government falling apart: Minister resigns from cabinet and surrenders Conservative whip

The Guardian reports: Amber Rudd has resigned from the cabinet and surrendered the Conservative whip in protest at Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit. The Hastings and Rye MP said she was relinquishing the Tory whip after the prime minister sacked 21 rebels this week. The secretary of state for work and pensions posted on Twitter: “I have resigned from cabinet and surrendered the Conservative whip. I cannot stand by as good, loyal, moderate Conservatives are expelled. “I have spoken to…

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The West has lost confidence in its values. Syria is paying the price

The West has lost confidence in its values. Syria is paying the price

Anne Applebaum writes: The crisis of Western values has many aspects, many faces. There is a decline in faith in liberal democracy, a loss of confidence in universal human rights, a collapse in support for all kinds of transnational projects. There is a constitutional crisis brewing in London. There is a president who defies democratic norms in Washington. There are challenges to the free press and independent judges in democracies everywhere, from Budapest to Manila. But this same crisis —…

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Trump administration considering drastic cut in refugees allowed to enter U.S.

Trump administration considering drastic cut in refugees allowed to enter U.S.

The New York Times reports: The White House is considering a plan that would effectively bar refugees from most parts of the world from resettling in the United States by cutting back the decades-old program that admits tens of thousands of people each year who are fleeing war, persecution and famine, according to current and former administration officials. In meetings over the past several weeks, one top administration official has proposed zeroing out the program altogether, while leaving the president…

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How climate change is driving emigration from Central America

How climate change is driving emigration from Central America

A farmer carries firewood during the dry season in Nicaragua, one of the Central American countries affected by a recent drought. Neil Palmer for CIAT/flickr, CC BY-NC-ND By Miranda Cady Hallett, University of Dayton Clouds of dust rose behind the wheels of the pickup truck as we hurtled over the back road in Palo Verde, El Salvador. When we got to the stone-paved part of the road, the driver slowed as the truck heaved up and down with the uneven…

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The secret files of the master of modern Republican gerrymandering

The secret files of the master of modern Republican gerrymandering

The New Yorker reports: Thomas Hofeller preached secrecy as he remapped American politics from the shadows. The Republican Party operative, known as the master of the modern gerrymander, trained other G.O.P. operatives and legislators nationwide to secure their computer networks, guard access to their maps, and never send e-mails that they didn’t want to see published by the news media. In training sessions for state legislators and junior line drawers, he used a PowerPoint presentation that urged them to “avoid…

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Across generations, Americans suffer from, and die of, new levels of loneliness in an age of crumbling institutions

Across generations, Americans suffer from, and die of, new levels of loneliness in an age of crumbling institutions

Derek Thompson writes: In 1998, The Wall Street Journal and NBC News asked several hundred young Americans to name their most important values. Work ethic led the way—naturally. After that, large majorities picked patriotism, religion, and having children. Twenty-one years later, the same pollsters asked the same questions of today’s 18-to-38-year-olds—members of the Millennial and Z generations. The results, published last week in The Wall Street Journal, showed a major value shift among young adults. Today’s respondents were 10 percentage…

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Boris Johnson’s brother quits as MP and minister, citing ‘national interest’

Boris Johnson’s brother quits as MP and minister, citing ‘national interest’

The Guardian reports: Boris Johnson’s premiership has been dealt an extraordinary blow after his brother, Jo Johnson, announced he was quitting the cabinet, citing an “unresolvable tension” between his family loyalty and the national interest. The dramatic move by the younger Johnson, who had only recently returned to government, sent shockwaves through the Conservative party and appear to severely rattle the prime minister as he visited a police training academy. The speech by the prime minister in West Yorkshire was…

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