Trump threatens lawsuits over Mueller probe

Trump threatens lawsuits over Mueller probe

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to file retaliatory lawsuits “all over the place” for damages he claims to have incurred as a result of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. In a multi-post morning Twitter screed, the president fiercely condemned the 22-month-long probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and also appeared to weigh in once again on the federal criminal case against his longtime political adviser Roger Stone. “These were Mueller prosecutors, and the whole…

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James Comey: Justice is supposed to be blind. Bill Barr can’t see that

James Comey: Justice is supposed to be blind. Bill Barr can’t see that

James Comey writes: Recent events have prompted a lot of talk about the Justice Department and threats to its credibility. Many alumni of the department believe the president and attorney general are doing grievous damage to an essential American institution. Other people might not understand what we are so worried about. They might not know this institution and appreciate the gravity of the threat. What is the Justice Department? Most people — even those who work there — don’t fully…

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Trump grants clemency to another round of crooks he saw on Fox News

Trump grants clemency to another round of crooks he saw on Fox News

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday granted clemency to 11 people, including several convicted felons who are either Fox News regulars or have been championed by the president’s favorite cable-news network. Among those granted pardons or sentence commutations were former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempting to sell former President Barack Obama’s Senate seat; former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was sentenced to four years in…

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Does Sanders have a ceiling? Maybe. Can he win anyway? Yes

Does Sanders have a ceiling? Maybe. Can he win anyway? Yes

Nate Silver writes: The Sen. Bernie Sanders rally that I attended on the evening before the New Hampshire primary drew a reported 7,500 people — about twice as many as his actual 3,867-vote margin of victory in the primary the next day. I say that not to endorse crowd sizes as an alternative to the polls. (Despite the large crowds, Sanders slightly underperformed his polls in New Hampshire, in fact.) Nor do I mean to imply that Sanders won in…

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Trump supporters have little trust in societal institutions

Trump supporters have little trust in societal institutions

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on Jan. 28 in Wildwood, New Jersey. AP Photo/Mel Evans By Miriam Boon, University of Amsterdam; Andreu Casas Salleras, University of Amsterdam; Ericka Menchen-Trevino, American University School of Communication, and Magdalena Wojcieszak, University of California, Davis President Donald Trump has a history of disregarding advice from experts, including diplomats, military leaders, trade experts and scientists. Trump is not alone in his distrust. Our unpublished research shows that people who support Trump have…

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A military perspective on climate change could bridge the gap between believers and doubters

A military perspective on climate change could bridge the gap between believers and doubters

A soldier stands guard at the damaged entrance to Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, Oct. 11, 2018, after Hurricane Michael. AP Photo/David Goldman By Michael Klare, Hampshire College As experts warn that the world is running out of time to head off severe climate change, discussions of what the U.S. should do about it are split into opposing camps. The scientific-environmental perspective says global warming will cause the planet severe harm without action to slow fossil fuel…

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When it comes to food, the more you have, the more you waste

When it comes to food, the more you have, the more you waste

National Post reports: Visualize the contents of your fridge: cartons of eggs, tubs of yogurt, chicken breasts or ground beef on Styrofoam trays, blocks of tofu or strips of tempeh, bags of apples, bricks of cheese, heads of broccoli and leafy greens, jar upon jar of condiments and other sundries, leftovers and prepared foods packed in containers. Now imagine pitching one-third of it. Until now, that’s been the commonly cited extent of our food waste — first put forward in…

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Barr must resign, says former U.S. Deputy Attorney General under George H.W. Bush

Barr must resign, says former U.S. Deputy Attorney General under George H.W. Bush

Donald Ayer writes: When Donald Trump chose Bill Barr to serve as attorney general in December 2018, even some moderates and liberals greeted the choice with optimism. One exuberant Democrat described him as “an excellent choice,” who could be counted on to “stand up for the department’s institutional prerogatives and … push back on any improper attempt to inject politics into its work.” At the end of his first year of service, Barr’s conduct has shown that such expectations were…

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These prosecutors want radical criminal justice change. Barr is fighting to stop them

These prosecutors want radical criminal justice change. Barr is fighting to stop them

NBC News reports: Progressive prosecutors, coming off one of the biggest years in their movement’s short history, are looking to 2020 with hope of winning key district attorney offices around the nation and boosting their influence with an overhaul of the system from within. Attorney General William Barr is standing in their way. Tensions reached a peak last week after Barr eviscerated the movement in a speech before the Major County Sheriffs of America. He said the “self-styled ‘social justice’…

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A moderate Democrat defends Bernie Sanders as front-runner stands up for democracy

A moderate Democrat defends Bernie Sanders as front-runner stands up for democracy

Jackson Diehl writes: Moderates who panic at the prospect of Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee have some good reasons to do so — above all, the risk that he will pave the way to Donald Trump’s reelection. On that, count me as one of the worried. It’s nevertheless hard not to recoil from some of the hyperbole being heaped on the Vermont senator and his platform. According to both Trump and some Democrats, Sanders would transform the United…

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Amazon’s Jeff Bezos launches $10-billion Bezos Earth Fund to fight climate change — employees respond

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos launches $10-billion Bezos Earth Fund to fight climate change — employees respond

USA Today reports: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Monday that he was committing $10 billion of his personal fortune to fight climate change with the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund. The announcement was made on Instagram. “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet. I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share,” Bezos posted. No details…

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Planting trees won’t save the planet from climate change

Planting trees won’t save the planet from climate change

Erle C. Ellis, Mark Maslin and Simon Lewis write: One trillion trees. At the World Economic Forum last month, President Trump drew applause when he announced the United States would join the forum’s initiative to plant one trillion trees to fight climate change. More applause for the decision followed at his State of the Union speech. The trillion-tree idea won wide attention last summer after a study published in the journal Science concluded that planting so many trees was “the…

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Palestine and the West: A century of betrayal

Palestine and the West: A century of betrayal

Avi Shlaim writes: Noam Chomsky described settler-colonialism as the most extreme and sadistic form of imperialism. The Palestinian people have suffered the unique misfortune of being at the receiving end of both Zionist settler-colonialism and western imperialism for the last century. The first and most crucial betrayal was the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It committed the British government to support the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, provided nothing was done to “prejudice the civil…

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How dark is the cosmic web?

How dark is the cosmic web?

Paul M. Sutter writes: The universe is permeated by a vast, invisible web, its tendrils weaving through space. But despite organizing the matter we see in space, this dark web is invisible. That’s because it is made up of dark matter, which exerts a gravitational pull but emits no light. That is, the web was invisible until now. For the first time, researchers have illuminated some of the darkest corners of the universe. A long time ago, the universe was…

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