Speed kills

Speed kills

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When Evan Williams created Blogger and triggered the social media revolution of push-button publishing, an unquestioned presupposition underpinning the creation of the platform was that there was inherent value in reducing the temporal distance between authorship and publication. Supposedly, if anyone, anywhere, could broadcast their words to the world without any barriers standing in the way, this would represent the greatest leap forward in communication since Gutenberg. That turns out to have been a false presupposition for several reasons. What…

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‘Everything we say to try to tear people apart, demonize particular groups, set them against each other, that all has consequences’

‘Everything we say to try to tear people apart, demonize particular groups, set them against each other, that all has consequences’

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“You’ll have to forgive me, these won’t be my best words…” On this heartbreaking day, Waleed reflects and calls for unity. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/mIOI0eGamb — The Project (@theprojecttv) March 15, 2019

Trump’s role in fomenting violence: A short history of his anti-Muslim bigotry

Trump’s role in fomenting violence: A short history of his anti-Muslim bigotry

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Brian Klaas writes: On Friday, 49 people were killed in a terrorist attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand — the country’s worst mass killing since 1943. A suspect charged in the attack was reportedly an anti-Muslim zealot. As news of the attack was unfolding, President Trump tweeted a link to Breitbart — a far-right “news” site. Breitbart has published vile anti-Muslim hatred, including calling Muslims “rapefugees,” mocking the notion of Islamophobia, and absurdly claiming that terrorist attacks are…

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Rogue state: U.S. bars entry to International Criminal Court investigators

Rogue state: U.S. bars entry to International Criminal Court investigators

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The Associated Press reports: The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. Pompeo, acting on a threat delivered in September by U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, framed the action as necessary to prevent the international body from infringing…

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The Trump camp sees Brexit as an essential step towards unraveling the EU

The Trump camp sees Brexit as an essential step towards unraveling the EU

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Natalie Nougayrède writes: If Brexit is halted, both the UK and the rest of Europe will reap the benefit – and Donald Trump, for one, will suffer a defeat. The sect of Brexit has passionate adherents far beyond Britain’s hardline leavers. It includes vocal and influential preachers in the Trumpian world of Washington – and the reality of Trump is having a deep impact on Europe, with the Brexit mess a key part of it all. The Brexit saga isn’t…

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White nationalism’s deep American roots

White nationalism’s deep American roots

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Adam Serwer writes: Robert bowers wanted everyone to know why he did it. “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” he posted on the social-media network Gab shortly before allegedly entering the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on October 27 and gunning down 11 worshippers. He “wanted all Jews to die,” he declared while he was being treated for his wounds. Invoking the specter of white Americans facing “genocide,” he singled out HIAS, a Jewish American…

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In overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, House calls for Mueller report to be made public

In overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, House calls for Mueller report to be made public

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The Washington Post reports: The House voted overwhelmingly and in bipartisan fashion to urge the Justice Department to publicly release the entirety of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 election, once completed. The move is an attempt to “send a clear signal both to the American people and the Department of Justice” that lawmakers expect to see the full account of Mueller’s work, according to the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)….

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Where Russian spies, Code Pink, David Duke and the Nation of Islam go to make friends and influence people

Where Russian spies, Code Pink, David Duke and the Nation of Islam go to make friends and influence people

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Alexander Reid Ross writes: At how many conferences can you be guaranteed to meet Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Russian imperialists, anti-Ukrainian fascists, Chinese spies, Qaddafi devotees, Corbyn fans, Assad apologists, neo-Nazis, Trump devotees, French Holocaust deniers, Western anti-war feminists, African American separatists, Venezuelan socialists and anti-Semites of every conceivable form and type? There’s really only one, and it’s run by an organization that the U.S. Treasury designates as a front for the Iranian regime’s most hardline power-brokers. And the New Horizon…

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Sandy Hook massacre: Remington and other gun companies lose major ruling over liability

Sandy Hook massacre: Remington and other gun companies lose major ruling over liability

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The New York Times reports: The Connecticut Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the firearms industry on Thursday, clearing the way for a lawsuit against the companies that manufactured and sold the semiautomatic rifle used by the gunman in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The lawsuit mounted a direct challenge to the immunity that Congress granted gun companies to shield them from litigation when their weapons are used in a crime. The ruling allows the case, brought…

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How the Syrian uprising began and why it matters

How the Syrian uprising began and why it matters

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Syrian anti-government protesters march as part of an uprising against the country’s authoritarian regime, in Banias, Syria, April 17, 2011. The Arabic banner at center reads: ‘All of us would die for our country.’ AP/Anonymous By Wendy Pearlman, Northwestern University Amid headlines about the Islamic State group and photographs of rubble, it can be easy to forget that the Syrian war began as a nonviolent uprising. March 15, the uprising’s eighth anniversary, serves as a reminder that any enduring end…

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How the body and mind talk to one another to understand the world

How the body and mind talk to one another to understand the world

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By Sarah Garfinkel Have you ever been startled by someone suddenly talking to you when you thought you were alone? Even when they apologise for surprising you, your heart goes on pounding in your chest. You are very aware of this sensation. But what kind of experience is it, and what can it tell us about relations between the heart and the brain? When considering the senses, we tend to think of sight and sound, taste, touch and smell. However,…

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Revoking article 50 is the only way to definitively avoid a no-deal Brexit

Revoking article 50 is the only way to definitively avoid a no-deal Brexit

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Jolyon Maugham writes: MPs have just voted against a no-deal Brexit. But this vote doesn’t achieve much by itself, because it’s just an indicative vote. “No deal can’t be taken off the table; it is the table.” You’ll hear this clever soundbite in the Twitter feeds of MPs and commentators on both sides of the Brexit divide, but it suffers from the serious defect of being wrong. When we talk about no deal being the table, what we really mean…

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America last: After 42 other countries put safety first, U.S. finally joins ban on flights of Boeing 737 Max aircraft

America last: After 42 other countries put safety first, U.S. finally joins ban on flights of Boeing 737 Max aircraft

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The New York Times reports: President Trump announced that the United States was grounding Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft, reversing an earlier decision by American regulators to keep the jets flying in the wake of a second deadly crash in Ethiopia. The Federal Aviation Administration had for days resisted calls to ground the plane even as safety regulators in some 42 countries had banned flights by the jets. As recently as Tuesday, the agency said it had seen “no systemic performance…

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U.S. pilots filed complaints about Boeing 737 Max 8 months before Ethiopia crash — manual ‘criminally insufficient’

U.S. pilots filed complaints about Boeing 737 Max 8 months before Ethiopia crash — manual ‘criminally insufficient’

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NBC News reports: Several American pilots submitted complaints about the Boeing 737 Max aircraft months before the same aircraft model crashed in Ethiopia on Sunday, killing 157 people. The complaints, first reported by the Dallas Morning News, were revealed as the Federal Aviation Administration doubled down on its decision to continue flying the Max 8 and Max 9 in the United States. At least five complaints about the Max 8 were made in October and November of 2018, and most…

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Trump’s defense secretary faces ethics complaint over Boeing promotion

Trump’s defense secretary faces ethics complaint over Boeing promotion

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Military Times reports: A government watchdog group has asked the Department of Defense Inspector General to investigate whether Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan violated ethics rules by promoting Boeing weapons systems while serving as a government official. Shanahan, 56, worked at Boeing for more than 30 years prior to being tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as deputy secretary of defense under former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. When Mattis submitted his resignation in December, Shanahan was named by…

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