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Category: Politics

Trump’s witch hunt against his investigators raises national security concerns

Trump’s witch hunt against his investigators raises national security concerns

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The New York Times reports: President Trump’s order allowing Attorney General William P. Barr to declassify any intelligence that sparked the opening of the Russia investigation sets up a potential confrontation with the C.I.A., including over the possible implications for a person close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia who provided information to the C.I.A. about his involvement in Moscow’s 2016 election interference. The concern about the source, who is believed to be still alive, is one of several…

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Could a lack of humility be at the root of what ails America?

Could a lack of humility be at the root of what ails America?

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What happens when everyone thinks they’re smarter than everyone else? Ljupco Smokovski/Shutterstock.com By Frank T. McAndrew, Knox College There are a lot of reasons behind the political polarization of the country and the deterioration of civic discourse. I wonder if a lack of humility is one of them. In his recent book, “The Death of Expertise,” national security expert Tom Nichols described a type of person each of us probably knows: “They are young and old, rich and poor, some…

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Young people have led the climate strikes. Now we need adults to join us too

Young people have led the climate strikes. Now we need adults to join us too

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Greta Thunberg and 46 youth activists write: Tomorrow, schoolchildren and students will be out on the streets again, in huge numbers, in 150 countries, at over 4,000 events, demanding that governments immediately provide a safe pathway to stay within 1.5C of global heating. We spent weeks and months preparing for this day. We spent uncountable hours organising and mobilising when we could have just hung out with our friends or studied for school. We don’t feel like we have a…

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Why some Palestinians are backing Trump’s peace push

Why some Palestinians are backing Trump’s peace push

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Politico reports: Some prominent Palestinian activists and politicians are quietly rooting for Jared Kushner as he prepares to unveil the first part of his Middle East peace plan next month. That’s not because they think the plan will resolve their decadeslong conflict with Israel. It’s because they hope it will hasten the onset of a “one-state” solution they are coming to support. The push for one state with equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis has gained steam in recent years…

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How China uses high-tech surveillance to subdue minorities

How China uses high-tech surveillance to subdue minorities

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The New York Times reports: A God’s-eye view of Kashgar, an ancient city in western China, flashed onto a wall-size screen, with colorful icons marking police stations, checkpoints and the locations of recent security incidents. At the click of a mouse, a technician explained, the police can pull up live video from any surveillance camera or take a closer look at anyone passing through one of the thousands of checkpoints in the city. To demonstrate, she showed how the system…

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Nevada poised to become 15th state to ditch Electoral College

Nevada poised to become 15th state to ditch Electoral College

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NPR reports: President Hillary Clinton? That would have been the result of the 2016 presidential election — if the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact were in effect. With a state Senate vote Tuesday, Nevada is close to becoming the latest state to sidestep the Electoral College when it comes to electing presidents. According to the National Popular Vote organization, which oversees efforts to persuade states to join the compact, 14 states and the District of Columbia have agreed to pledge…

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Federal judge says Deutsche Bank, Capital One can give Trump financial records to Congress

Federal judge says Deutsche Bank, Capital One can give Trump financial records to Congress

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CNBC reports: A federal judge in New York City on Wednesday said Deutsche Bank and Capitol One can turn over financial documents related to President Donald Trump and his businesses in response to subpoenas from House Democrats. Judge Edgardo Ramos’s ruling came after a hearing at which lawyers for Trump, his three older children, Donald Jr. Eric and Ivanka, and the Trump Organization argued that the subpoenas to the two banks should be quashed. Ramos, an appointee of President Barack…

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New York passes bill giving Congress a way to get Trump’s state tax returns

New York passes bill giving Congress a way to get Trump’s state tax returns

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The New York Times reports: Even before he was elected president, Donald J. Trump had steadfastly refused to release his federal tax returns, bucking years of tradition among presidential candidates. His intransigence deepened once he entered the White House, defying a congressional subpoena for the tax records. Now, however, a nine-page workaround by the New York State Legislature may serve as a way for Congress to get its hands on a trove of Mr. Trump’s tax information. On Wednesday, the…

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Senators slam Trump plan to pardon vets accused or convicted of war crimes

Senators slam Trump plan to pardon vets accused or convicted of war crimes

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HuffPost reports: President Donald Trump’s reported plans to pardon several U.S. servicemen accused or convicted of war crimes elicited bipartisan criticism in the Senate on Tuesday. “I think it’s a terrible idea to pardon someone who is legitimately convicted of committing war crimes. It’s unthinkable,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told HuffPost when asked about the New York Times report. According to the Times, the White House over the weekend requested the necessary paperwork to issue a pardon for a Navy…

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Trump’s unofficial judicial adviser runs ‘dark money’ operation using nonprofit system to influence judicial appointments

Trump’s unofficial judicial adviser runs ‘dark money’ operation using nonprofit system to influence judicial appointments

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The Washington Post reports: Leonard Leo stepped onto the stage in a darkened Florida ballroom, looked out at a gathering of some of the nation’s most powerful conservative activists and told them they were on the cusp of fulfilling a long-sought dream. For two decades, Leo has been on a mission to turn back the clock to a time before the U.S. Supreme Court routinely expanded the government’s authority and endorsed new rights such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Now,…

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Federal judge upholds congressional subpoena for Trump financial records

Federal judge upholds congressional subpoena for Trump financial records

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Politico reports: A federal judge on Monday upheld a congressional subpoena seeking President Donald Trump’s financial records from an accounting firm, arguing that Congress is well within its rights to investigate potential illegal behavior by a president — even without launching a formal impeachment inquiry. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling delivers a striking blow to the president’s efforts to resist Democratic investigations, and is certain to give Democrats further legal basis to investigate Trump, his finances, and his…

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Mueller and House Democrats at impasse over how much of his testimony would be public

Mueller and House Democrats at impasse over how much of his testimony would be public

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The Washington Post reports: Robert S. Mueller III and House Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement on how much of the special counsel’s expected congressional testimony would be public, and how much would take place in private, according to people familiar with the matter. The special counsel’s office, along with senior Justice Department officials, has been quietly negotiating with the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), has been eager to have Mueller testify as soon…

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Russian documents reveal desire to sow racial discord — and violence — in the U.S.

Russian documents reveal desire to sow racial discord — and violence — in the U.S.

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NBC News reports: Russians who were linked to interference in the 2016 U.S. election discussed ambitious plans to stoke unrest and even violence inside the U.S. as recently as 2018, according to documents reviewed by NBC News. The documents — communications between associates of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Kremlin-linked oligarch indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for previous influence operations against the U.S. — laid out a new plot to manipulate and radicalize African Americans. The plans show that Prigozhin’s circle…

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Kris Kobach presents White House with list of privileges he expects if he accepts position of immigration czar

Kris Kobach presents White House with list of privileges he expects if he accepts position of immigration czar

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The New York Times reports: Access to a government jet 24 hours a day. An office in the West Wing, plus guaranteed weekends off for family time. And an assurance of being made secretary of homeland security by November. Those were among a list of 10 conditions that Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has given to the White House if he is to become the administration’s “immigration czar,” a job President Trump has been looking to create…

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Why the Green New Deal doesn’t go far enough

Why the Green New Deal doesn’t go far enough

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Peter Fiekowsky writes: In early February, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced the Green New Deal (GND), a sweeping resolution that addresses the dual challenges of income inequality and climate change, and the first government policy document aimed at curbing climate change as one of its goals. This is significant. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in October 2018 stated that there will have to be some removal of carbon dioxide…

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EPA plans to ignore thousands of deaths by changing its methods of risk assessment

EPA plans to ignore thousands of deaths by changing its methods of risk assessment

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The New York Times reports: The Environmental Protection Agency plans to change the way it calculates the future health risks of air pollution, a shift that would predict thousands of fewer deaths and would help justify the planned rollback of a key climate change measure, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans. The proposed change would dramatically reduce the 1,400 additional premature deaths per year that the E.P.A. had initially forecast as a result of eliminating the…

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